Bane
"Why don't you try to be normal, or even nice for a change?" the young male elf said loudly.
"Why don't you take a running leap off a cliff?" the female growled menacingly. The aura of danger around her was so clear to the other youthful elves that they backed away from the argument. It was times like these that they were all reminded of why they called her Bane.
"Because I'm not a deformed freak like you!" Navar shouted, answering her challenge.
Bane's arrogant rival didn't even have time to mutter a spell before the tall, thin female was on top of him. She brought her fist down on his face with perfect accuracy, and felt a satisfying crunch beneath her fingers as Navar's nose snapped.
"Enough! Nuanen, Navar, get off of the ground this instant!" All of the young elves dispersed immediately from around the two combatants, trying to look innocent as they hurried away from the scene. The older elf that had broken up the fight looked down sternly at the miscreants before him.
Navar's nose was mangled and bloody, staining the surrounding earth red. He cupped a hand gingerly to it, trying to stop both the bleeding in his nose and the tears in his eyes from coming out.
Bane, or Nuanen, as she was known to the older elves, was fuming; she was obviously not finished breaking the bloody elf's bones. Her blood-red hair and yellow eyes, added to her anger, made the young female appear even more frightening.
The elder took a moment to survey Navar's injuries before he healed them, and stood silent for a moment. Bane knew that he was waiting to hear the traditional greeting in the ancient language, but did not deliver it, even after the other young elf had.
"Nuanen, when will you learn that violence is not acceptable? You cannot simply break innocent peoples' noses whenever you get angry! What were you two even fighting over?" the old elf said angrily, clearly put out by the younger elf's rudeness.
"What makes you think that Navar is so innocent? He is arrogant, rude-"
"She started it, yelling and complaining about everything-"
"I did not! You can't accept anything different from yourself, and I'm the one who gets in trouble-"
"Enough! Navar, you may go; Nuanen, stay here." The old elf cut in. The handsome young elf looked smugly at his assailant and walked away without a sound.
"Nuanen, when will you learn to be responsible, like all of the other young ones? No one will respect you for being violent. Your parents would be ashamed!"
"I think my parents would rather I fought that cocky, arrogant, pompous fool than tangle with anyone else." Bane replied sourly. She didn't like the name Nuanen, preferring Bane, which fit her more comfortably. No one knew why, and no one asked.
"Why don't we ask them, then?"
The young female elf, which was actually only half elf and half human, grudgingly followed her elder to her home. She walked with a smooth gait, keeping pace easily with the slightly taller person. Her blood red hair stood in stark contrast to the starlight and raven of the other elves, as did her yellow eyes.
The pair walked in silence for a few moments, after which they reached a tall cliff, with a drop of at least a thousand feet. The valley below them was covered with ancient pine and oak trees. Between the trees was thick brush of every kind. Everything not inhabited by trees or small plants was crawling with moss, as though the plants all were intent on living in the valley, no matter where they had to grow.
Far to their left was a huge, ancient, gnarled pine tree with a house-sized hollow in the trunk. The elder turned and started off towards the pine tree when suddenly, his companion ran straight for the cliff and threw herself off of it!
"Nuanen, come back!" the elder called sternly, as though he was not in the least surprised alarmed that the half human had jumped from a monstrous height. Instead, he seemed rather frustrated that she had made the suicidal leap.
Bane grinned mischeviously as she fell with increasing speed, as though the whole thing was a big joke. The light child was hurtling toward the ground so fast, she would be skewered by the tops of the trees unless, by some miracle, she was saved. She did not even attempt a spell; in fact, she couldn't use magic. But that didn't bother her in the slightest. Because at the last moment, just as she could see every pine needle and hear every bird sing, Bane whipped out her wings and flew.