Hello, and welcome to my fanfic. This is a 'for fun' story, but we'll just see how far it goes.

Disclaimer: Okay, I'm only going to say this ONCE: I own nothing except for what is obviously original! There! I'm done! No more!

Stillness- By Strati AKA Faetis

Prologue

To hear about the numerous bastard orphans wandering the streets was one thing, but to have one in front of you… that was different. The Hammerites advertised them as weak little lost things that only needed a home and the Light of the Builder to become good, God-fearing citizens. To his private shame, Artemus had bought into the 'weak and lost' bit… but that was before he met Garrett. To think that the awkward adolescent he had practically raised was now the invisible master of shadows nearly made Artemus crack a smile. Nearly.

Garrett had always been an odd one, even as a boy. It seemed ironic to think of how he turned out. Among the Keepers he had stuck out like a sore thumb, with his rough 'gutter' accent, sharp tongue, and the street slang that his instructors had tried in vain to erase from his vocabulary. He had been small even then, but was still all gangly arms and legs, and had sharp features that belonged to someone twice his age. To think of him as weak was laughable.

He had been so young, only eleven or twelve at the oldest. When Artemus initially asked Garrett his age the boy immediately said he was fifteen. It was a very smooth, very practiced lie. When Artemus asked him again he actually flushed a little and said he didn't know exactly. Artemus didn't even bother with asking if he knew his surname or who his parents were. The Keeper record simply noted him as "Garrett Brown, age 12", but really it was anyone's guess. After a while the invented surname faded to little more than the ink on his record, and after he left, it mattered not all.