There weren't many magic wielders left in this world, Rey could feel that every so often, new ones would begin to bud, like flowers in a field. She had tried to seek them out, but every time someone else beat her to them. There was someone like her, but instead of nurturing that life, instead of bringing magic back to the world, they hunted it down and snuffed it out. It enraged her.
She picked her way through the dessert, she had traveled far to finally clash with whatever was destroying the future magic wielders. Without future magic wielders, the world would fall into disarray, leaving behind an empty shell of their planet. Life would die, life would no longer flourish. Rey climbed over a large sand dune, her dessert themed clothes, blowing around her wildly. She wore her scarf tightly around the top of head and around her face. Her goggles giving her an almost alien look. She looked down over a city. Built with large walls surrounding it, blocking out most of the sand and wind.
The city was a mix between new and old worlds mixing. Old buildings, with futuristic technology almost organically flowing out of cracks and windows connecting buildings to others. Parts of buildings that have gotten rough have been fixed with the new technology. Glowing blue and black lines and shapes coming out of broken corners.
As she neared the gates she put her staff across her back, the gate guards waved her through, with the hoard of people she slipped into. With darkness getting close, people were heading to their homes, trying to get out of the dust storms that blew through at night. Rey was here, searching for someone, she kept her face hidden; her arms covered with similar wrappings like her face and head. She walked to the closest Inn the town had, a rat's hole in some back alley. The perfect place to get information. Inside the inn was a bar. Rooms upstairs.
She sat down, ordering a drink from a server girl just by lifting her hand, the girl nodded before whisking away to the bar to fill new orders. She glanced at the group around her, all large men, who glanced over at her, she slide a coin towards one of them.
"I need information on a magic wielder who comes through here regularly." She said softly, a small voice warping spell she placed moments before. They looked back and forth between each other, before taking her coin and laughing at her.
"We don't talk to silly girls, or boys who have the stature of girls." One of the large men directly across from her said, he had a bald head, with a graying beard. Rey narrowed her eyes at them, before placing another coin on the table, and pulling a knife from her leg, gently touching it to the thigh of a man next to her. He glanced down, to see a knife longer than her arm pressing against his leg.
"I won't ask again. I can slice your friend's leg here; and he'd bleed out in a mere 30 seconds." She said, still softly, causing the ones farther down the table to lean towards her. To hear what she said. One of them snorted, before glancing at the coin. The one she had her knife on took the coin this time.
"This guy comes through here every once in a while, he checks on the kids in the orphanages, and takes them away. Kids who show signs of magic get dumped there. Parents here just can't handle the thought of having one of those kinds around." He said, all matter of fact.
'One of those kinds.' The words stung, Rey had forgotten how hated the children who shows any kind of magic were hated in the desert, being from one herself. Most desert cultures on the world of theirs, all seemed to hate magic. It was bad luck to them, the ones who caused the desert to be dry in the first place. People who were born there seemed to still hold that belief. Rey lowered her weapon, sliding it back into its hiding place on her thigh. She stood, handing a couple of gold coins to the bar maid in secret when she brought her drink to her. Rey left, leaving the drink untouched behind as she left the building.
'The local orphanage.' She thought, taking herself around the out skirts of the city. The blue technology pipes hummed softly in the night, she had been at the pub much longer than she intended, most everyone was already in their homes. She made her way to where the orphanage would be, in the back corner of the town, far away from where everyone wanted to be. A brothel stood nearby, some of the girls standing outside, waving their hands at the groups of men who stood nearby to them.
The pipes snaked into each building, the larger the pipes the more split off they would have once inside. The smaller the pipes were the ones who only had one or two things of modern design. Somewhere stuck between a new age, and an old one. People who didn't like the technology would stand at corners, shouting about the end of days. While the younger generation meant to try and stay ahead of it. Already finding ports to synthon what they could to use for themselves. One of those stolen setups led straight into the orphanage house. Though it was late, most of the lights were still on, the older kids still causing trouble.
Rey would know, she use to be one of them. She opened the door that led into the house, the older woman jumped a little bit at the door being opened without a knock. Rey closed the door behind her, standing there still just in front of it. Looking around at how similar the place was, the walls stained from years of random rain floods that over washed the drain pipes that never got enough use to keep them in good condition. The rest of the walls were dirty from sand that got in every crack and crevice buildings had. She took her staff off from her back, leaning it up against the wall. Before pulling her goggles up to the top of her head and pulling her scarf down.
The old woman recognized Rey several minutes ago, and was now standing off to the side of where Rey was standing; just giving Rey a good look up and down. She crossed her arms, she was old, wrinkles on her face, around her eyes and mouth. Her hair pulled back into a very messy bun on the top, her hair white and thin.
"You've lost weight." She said, her voice soft and old, if it had a feel, it would be like old paper, crumpled up again and again, just to be smoothed out. Rey choked back a small laugh, before trudging over to give the older woman a hug.
"I've gotten taller too, I'm a lean mean fighting machine." Rey said, doing an odd stretching move, sticking one leg out as far as she could, bending at the knees; and lifting her arms up and flexing. The woman, had never actually told Rey her name, everyone who had lived here had only ever called her grandma. She was everyone's grandma. She would feed homeless who were too injured to be considered a value in their society, she took in anyone who needed a bed to sleep in. Many of the orphans she had raised often would come back to visit, having been better than when they had left. Some joined the military, or had gone off to become something of themselves.
Rey herself had been collected by an older man, her former master named Luke, he had felt her magic through the world, coming to pick her up; to train her to control herself. This town had never seen so much rain until the year Rey came into her powers. She had developed them late, Luke saying that someone who left her at the orphanage must have put a lock on them. To protect her, or something else they were never sure. Grandma laughed; making her sound winded, at Rey's stretching, to show off her 'muscles' or at least to show how fit she really was. A smaller child who stood at the edge of the living room, peaked around to see who was making grandma laugh so loudly; neither of them knowing she stood there off to the side.
Rey straightened out, turning serious almost too quickly.
"Grandma, I came here to talk to you about something important." Once several years ago, Rey had given grandma her a large sum of money, and a contact device, that would transmit messages in Morse code, or it could do a hologram video transmit. She had told her to contact her whenever she suspected one of the children was sensitive to magic, who showed any kind of connection to it. Even if it was too weak for Rey to detect or anyone else who was sent to collect them, to train them.
Grandma straightened herself out, feeling how serious Rey had gotten; she gestured to the kitchen, which stood behind a closed door. Grandma had the door installed, just so she could have meetings in there, and people in the living room wouldn't be able to hear. The living room held a small tv, with a rigged up connection to all the channels it could offer. This house held a tech-nut Rey noted to herself. Depending on how old they were Rey could offer them work. Though the once mighty council she was trying to recreate for had been destroyed, she still had some contacts hidden; while she worked with Luke.
The council that had judged the magic users had been destroyed before Luke collected her. Children who were developing magic can be sensed, but with the council gone, children were slipping through the cracks. If they weren't gotten to in time, someone else was getting to them. Her experience in the other towns and cities throughout had the similar problem. They were just disappearing and no one knew why.
Rey sat down at the table, watching grandma pour a cup of tea for herself and Rey. They had spent many years talking over tea. Rey didn't need a blood family when she had grandma, but that never stopped the rage of her not being good enough.
"What's going on dear?" she said, sitting down across from Rey, she looked at her hands, at the cup. The hot liquid was steaming upwards.
"Children who develop magic have been disappearing, people have been telling me that someone has been telling people they've been sent from the council, to collect these kids…" Rey took a deep breath, to steady herself for what she was about to tell grandma.
"..But they haven't been, this person. Has been killing them." She said, looking into grandmas eyes, who flinched as if Rey had physically hit her across the face. Tears welled up in her eyes. Grandma had been giving the magic children to this person. That's why Rey was here. She had here to find out what they looked like.
"I've.. been..?" grandma asked, choking on her words, Rey nodded slightly, barely moving her head. She watched tears dip down grandma's face, as the news registered in her mind. Rey felt bad, she really did; she had been too late the last few times she'd been on the way to come get them. So instead of still coming to visit, she would just turn around and head home. But after two or three times of doing that, she decided she should stop by and say something, so grandma wouldn't accidently keep signing those kids death reports. Grandma stood suddenly, going to the kitchen sink and standing there looking outwards. Gripping the sink edge hard. She use to do that when the kids would get in trouble for something. Rey had witnessed this action several times herself, it was how grandma would keep from crying. Not that when someone causing trouble would make her cry, it was just the person she was, any amount of anger, or stress, or anything would make her cry. Just who she was.
Rey continued to sit at the table watching grandma, she felt eyes on her, so she turned around in her chair, to make eye contact with the small child. Their eyes barley seeing over the edge of the door and the glass window connected. Their bright blue eyes stared into her brown ones, not even flinching when they had gotten caught. A small crop of brown hair was standing up at odd angles, probably from cutting their own hair, they seemed about that age when they felt the compulsion to cut it. They stared at each other just a few moments more, before their eyes slide to grandma, and another moment passed before the child darted off from view. Grandma turned, having calmed herself enough to keep composure.
"Who is that child with the short brown hair that's all spiky and messed up looking?" Rey asked, turning around to look at grandma.
"Oh, a new drop off. Just left on my front porch with a note saying 'I'm not lost'. Poor thing, she hasn't spoken a word since she's gotten here. Don't even know her name." Grandma said, dabbing at her cheeks with a napkin she picked up from the counter.
"Keep an eye on her, she might be gifted." Rey said softly, pulling out a small notebook and writing down the potential magic user. That child could be the magic she feels in the air slightly, not enough to completely feel or sense but it was there. Like the scent of rain in the air. Rey bit the inside of her cheek, almost regretting the thought before it even completely occurred. Using the child as bait.
Rey wasn't going to share that idea with grandma, after everything she's been through already that would just hurt her more, and make her angry at Rey also. Rey didn't like the feeling she had deep in her chest either, something was brewing and it wasn't just the sand storm either. She pulled out a large note pad from the bread cart that all the art supplies were kept on, and began asking grandma to describe the person or persons who has been coming around to collect the children. Rey wasn't a very good artist, not the best when it came to people at least, but having an idea of who to look for would be helpful.
After finalizing the sketch as best she could, she made contact with a fellow member of the re-worked, in process of being rebuilt. Finn answered the hologram chat, Rey witnessed his large smile spread across his face in the biggest grin she's seen in weeks.
"Good for you to finally check in." Finn said, his voice coming across the hologram almost too loud, Rey quickly adjusted the sound dial before responding.
"I'm at the orphanage, Grandma has been giving the kids to some guy- don't you dare laugh at my attempt of drawing him!" she barked at him, he was already chuckling to himself, but he tried to contain it for Rey's benefit. She placed the hologram projector onto the table in front of her, standing she pulled the drawing out and put it up for Finn to see. He hide his mouth behind his hand the second it came into view, and started coughing to hide his laughing.
"Okay you big jerk." Rey said, grinning, the drawing was funny. The man's long black hair was wavy, but in Rey's drawing it was puffy and stuck out at odd angles. He had been described as to having a very distinct nose, Rey accidently drew it too big. His mouth was in an angry frown, she almost hoped he wouldn't see it. Since it truly was bad.
"I'll put out word." Finn said, laughing out right at this point. His hard laughing and his hard breathing coming through the hologram until it started to get patchy and frizzy sounding. The video feed of the hologram glitched and froze in place.
"You're breaking up. We'll talk later." Rey cut the connection after borderline yelling into the hologram, hoping Finn had heard it. She stood up, looking around the kitchen one last time, before going into the living room and collapsing onto the couch. She was outrageously tired, and the sun would be up in only a few short hours. She quickly fell asleep.
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New story, ive got a bunch of AU's I thought up, so I'll have plenty of stories to work on. Please review and let me know what you guys think!