"Big Sister! Big Sister, look at what I made in my studies today!" The little boy in front of her smiled brightly, his raven hair cut just long enough to frame his round face. He held up a small hand painted bird house for her to see. The outside was a dark blue that was only a few shades short of being black, the only color to the painted wood being a single silver cresent moon that sat just above the entrance. "Did you make that for me?" She asked with a laugh. "Yeah! Your the best Big Sister!" Thin arms circled there way around her waist as he own settled around his shoulders in a loose embrace. Then in an instant, everything seemed to change.
The arms tightened with a strength that didn't belong even as the bird house crashed to the ground, shattering like glass as it hit. The grass rippled like water as emerald gave way to ruby. "Your the best so why did you leave me there? Why did you leave me to die?" His words drew her attention away from a world that was growing darker with each passing second. She dropped to her knees panic rising in her chest as the crimson that wasn't there moments ago continued to stain his white tunic. "Asuma? Asuma, what happened? What are you talking about? I would never let you be hurt?" Dull blue eyes watched her from an expressionless face.
"Yet you did." She startled not having noticed the three men who where suddenly there around then. "What? Elder please, Asuma's bleeding badly! He's Hurt!" She tried to get the boy to say something, anything. "No. He's dead. Him, your father, the villagers, everyone and its all because you weren't there." Her eyes flashed up to meet the oldest of the three men. Confusion mixing with panic. "I just saw them. They saw me off for my guardian training only days ago!" She held the boy by the arms in a grip that she knew would turn out to be bruising. "A mistake. We allowed you to train as a Guardian, a Priestess and in return you bring death to Crystalia."
Gnarled hands landed on small shoulders, pulling the boy from her hands no matter how desperately she held to him. She stumbled to her feet in an attempt to go after them only to be held back by the two men behind her. "Where are you taking him?! Asuma!" tears carved there way down her cheeks but despite her calls the boy did not move. "You are never to return. The last child of the noble house of Blade, you are banished from the Isle of Obsidian. You have disgraced the title of Guardian and tarnished the Priesthood. May you find peace before you meet your brother in the afterlife."
"No!No, that's my brother! Let me go! Let me go, please!" She begged as she was dragged away. Still the boy did not move. "Asuma! Asuma!" Her yells where torn from her throat and finally the youngest responded. With eyes that didn't quite focus he looked up. "You left me. You left me to die with them. You killed me." her had whispered the words but for her, they would have no clearer then if he had yelled them. "I didn't! I didn't leave you! Asuma, please!" The men that held her where shaking her lightly even as black began to eat away at the young boy she loved so much and the man who still help him. Just as the darkness consumed them she shook her head and met the boys eyes once more. "Wake up!" He yelled around a mouthful of blood.
She felt her body startle awake before her mind fully understood what was happening. for the slightest of seconds she was trapped in the darkness that had consumed her little brother. Her mind numb as it drifted between the world of nightmares and consciousness. In the distance she could hear the sound of a dying scream. The sound raw and harsh against the silence and it was with sick fascination that she realized the scream was her own. Then the scream, her scream, was cut off by harsh coughs that rocked her body and brought her fully into the moment. She expected the pain that came from using her voice to much all at once. She expected the burning feeling that was left on her cheek, a result of cracked sun burnt skin come into contact with salt water tears. She does not however expect the gentle hand that rubs her back or the soft voice that is trying to calm her.
In time she was able to stop herself from coughing and pealed her eyes back to stare up at who ever was there. The man was young by the worlds standards, perhaps a year older then herself, with eyes the color of tempered steel and unruly black hair. A splash of freckles dusted his cheekbones like stars in the night sky. "Who are you?" She asked softly as she forced herself to move backward until she could lean against the wall of the dingy she had made home for the last fee weeks. "My names Ace. A look out on the ship saw you out here. I came out to see if you where alright." The man said as he moved to sit inside the skiff. His movements where slow and deliberate, one eye on her at all times while the other searched for weapons. He was a smart man.
"What's your name?" He asked his voice even. She couldn't stop herself from chuckling. "You don't have to worry. I wont attack." She said turning her gaze to the sky. Endless blue mocked her, the same color as the ocean that held her hostage. "I know." Ace said. The words where said so surely that She felt her eyes flash to the man in front of him. "How do you know?" She asked brokenly. "Because I've seen eyes like your. Eyes that have all but given up on the world." She watched him for a while before nodding. "Yeah, but the only way to see into the eyes of the lost is to have once had them yourself." The old saying came unbidden to her lips.
Silver eyes widened before Ace chuckled "Yeah. I guess that's true." He rubbed at the back of his neck for a few moments before his smile dropped. "Question is, will you let me show you that the world isn't such a dark place?" This time the smile was her own. "I don't know if theres a light left out there that can break threw the shadows I see." She admitted in a voice that quivered as much as she did. The man's laugh returned. A hand reached behind him to pull a orange cowboy hat from his back and settle it on his head. "I know a few people that are pretty bright. Some people say they remind them of fire." The wind blew from behind her, wrapping invisible arms around her tired body and dancing between the two of them. "My name is Luna." She sighed ignoring his calls for her to stay awake as the darkness robbed her of her senses once more.