Frostblade

Chapter 1

She swung her sword at her opponent, proceeded to block, then swung again. A repetitive dance from her perspective, but it was one she enjoyed. She was closely matched with her foe, even though her sister was a few years older. They clashed in the middle of the field, then separated again. Rayne wiped her brow. There were no clouds, and the summer sun shone bright and hot on them. Her muscles ached, her head throbbed and she felt like her legs would give out underneath her, but she showed none of it.

"Tired already?" Her sister, Lyan, asked.

Rayne's only response was to leap back into action, sword at the ready. The other girl laughed and blocked. They continued their little "dance", paying no heed to anything except each other. Another swing, another block, until finally Lyan struck Rayne in the arm after the latter missed a heavy swing. They both took a few steps back, panting. Lyan then proceeded to ram into Rayne, sending her to the ground and then pointing the sword at her.

"It seems I win this round, little sister," Lyan smiled, then proceeded to offer a hand.

"You have never done this before, how could I expect it? It wasn't fair!" Rayne complained, but still took the other girl's hand.

"I think we should get home. We're in enough trouble already with these dirty clothes and especially that nick on your nose. You know she hates it when we fight. We were supposed to just go out on a walk with Keith and An..."

"But they are boring! All they ever do is gossip! And it doesn't hurt as much as it did in the beginning. Look, the blood's even stopped."

"Still, we promised... You know she won't be happy."

"Shouldn't she have gotten used to this by now? "

Lyan sighed. She knew she'd have to deal with their angry mother. Anna really had given up on most of her attempts to stop them, but she was still as disapproving as ever. She was a priest, but she rarely if ever used her skills. She was a fair mother, and her dream for her children was to raise two normal ladies. Sadly for her, they both took up their father's example. He was a warrior, one with great skill. Having grown up to his stories of adventurers, heroic deeds and epic battles, both of them grew to be strong minded, direct and absolutely unfitting for a normal, peaceful way of life. They both decided they wanted to become adventurers, Paladins of the Holy Light like the ones in the stories, to get to battle monsters and be praised as heroes. When he died in the Second War, their resolve to continue his legacy strenghtened even more. Anna still tried to make them a bit more ladylike, but each and every one of her attempts had failed. She finally accepted the fact that all she could do was watch from the side and support them when they needed it. This, however, didn't mean she approved one bit of it.

The two girls slowly made their way home, carrying their wooden swords with them. Both were exhausted, but neither would show it. They looked so different, and yet were so alike.

Rayne was fourteen and medium tall for her age. She had dark brown, almost black, shoulder lenght hair, grey eyes and a newly acquired cut on the bridge of her nose. Most people mistook her for a boy, and she took no little advantage of it. Lyan on the other hand was seventeen, tall, with light brown hair, green eyes and slender. People admired her beauty, though it left the wrong impression in them. She was every bit as wild as her sister, and most of the time the two of them would get in trouble together. They were the odd ones out of their little town. While everyone else was content about going on with their peaceful lives, the two of them came along and flipped everything upside down. They were avoided, but they didn't care.

They lived in the outskirts of Andorhal. Their way went through the whole town, but it wasn't that long. They had just about enough time to clean themselves up as best as they could to escape at least some of the scolding from their mother, though both of them knew it was not going to have much of an effect on her. They tried getting the dirt out of their clothes and even tried washing them in a nearby stream, but it would not do much good. Keith and An had probably already told Anna what her daughters had been doing the whole afternoon they were supposed to spend with them.

When they got home, Anna was already preparing dinner.

"So, you two have a good afternoon? I hope you can at least clean the dirt off your clothes"

"Yes Mama, we did." They chorused.

"You were supposed to spend the afternoon with Keith and An. You rarely even talk to them!"

"But-" Rayne started, only to have Lyan interrupt her.

"We know Mama. We are sorry."

"They came here to complain that you just left them out. You started talking about battles and adventures. Evetually you just ignored all their tries to talk with you two and started fighting with sticks!"

"It's not our fault the only thing they can do is gossip! Why should we be the ones to-" Rayne started again, only to have Lyan's hand clamp on her mouth.

"We are sorry Mama. We just got distracted." Her hand freed Rayne's mouth.

"As if you can call strange stares and giggling attempts to talk..." the smaller girl ranted on.

"Rayne!" both of them stared hard at her.

"Sorry..."

Their mother turned around. Her face was stern.

"You two should at least attempt to be socially acceptable to some degree! I have given up hope on you two growing to be proper ladies, but please... Just... Give me that."

Rayne looked down. She felt bad, yet justified. It wasn't her fault people were too simple. Why couldn't she and her sister just go on and do as they wanted to. They wronged no one. She hid her face behind her hair, so at least her cut wouldn't worry Anna even more. It wold probably scar with no healing, but she rather liked scars. Her body was still sore from all the fighting. Her hands, her feet, everything felt heavy. She just wanted to go to sleep, but she was hungry. She wondered if she could miss dinner. Her mother and Lyan were still talking as she zoned out.

Lyan barely managed to catch her falling sister, the latter having fallen asleep on the spot.

"You two really seem tired. Lyan, are you hungry or are you going to go to sleep as soon as your sister?" her mother chuckled.

"I... I think we better go to sleep... I'm tired too. It's been a long day."

"Very well. Tomorrow you'll be helping me out with some chores, and this time no sneaking out!"

"Yes, Mama."

Lyan carried her sister to their room. It was a small room in a small house. Nothing too grand, seeing as they couldn't afford it. The room was simple, two beds on each side, a small table and a chair. The table was heavy under a huge amount of books, used to replace (although not well) their father's stories. Some were diaries bought from travelers from faraway lands, others were snatched under someone's uncaring gaze. Lyan placed Rayne on her bed and went to her own. It had been indeed a long day, but then again, most of them were. She couldn't wait till her sister came of age to train. Their mother had agreed to let them go to train as Paladins of the Holy Light, but only after Rayne came of age. It had still been a really big concession from their mother's side, one both hadn't expected, but one that still annoyed them a bit. They still went and pestered passing paladins to teach them a thing or two, but that wasn't nearly enough for the two young sisters. There was even a paladin that suggested they can train under him, but their mother sternly declined, saying they aren't yet ready. Just as Lyan was slipping into sleep, a thud snapped her back to reality. She turned around and had to conceal a chuckle, as it was just Rayne rolling off the bed as usual. She then sleepily opened her eyes and murmured incoherently, then attempted to climb back on the bed. After the third amusing attempt she finally succeeded and immediately fell asleep again. Lyan chuckled and dozed off as well.

AN: Well... I've finally started a story. Been lurking around here for so long... finally overcame the total fear of failing and decided i want to give it at try. I also can't get the story out of my head, and Rayne won't stop popping under my pencil every time I draw... I have... to... get... it... OUT. So... This is the first story, and the first ANYTHING I have EVER written so... I hope it'll be okay, and not make people want to kill themselves over how bad it is. I also know my style is horrid, been told so multiple times. So, R&R, follow, favourite, it'll probably be the best feeling there is if I get an email about some of these things... c: Hope y'all like it, and feedback is MORE THAN WELCOME. Seriously. I need it, but I'm too ashamed to show the story to anyone I know. So... Help me fan-fictioners! You're my only hope!