Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, they all belong to SquareSoft, (if I owned them, do you think I'd be writing this?), except for some of the children I made up. You'll know who they are. The ideas are mine however, the story about Auron's past. I don't know if someone else thought of them first, but I decided to give it a go anyway. (I also don't know Auron's real last name, so I made one up…If someone could help me out with this one, I'd be much obliged).

Scarlet Warrior

Part One: Scarlet Blood

Chapter 1: Auron's Childhood

Auron's father was killed by a Fiend shortly before his birth. He never knew his father, or what he did, until much later.

A little boy with jet black hair and russet eyes ran towards his house, the smell of dinner thick in the air, dancing across his senses. He was excited because tonight was the big Feast of Warriors, and he was going to be in it for the very first time. He was five years old, the youngest boy to ever be accepted as the Sword-Bearer for the traditional bonfire. This also meant he was allowed to stay up late. He burst into his house, his eyes shining when he saw what was being prepared. His favorite, Macalania Roast with pickled sausages, made by his mother. Each family had to contribute at least one part of the meal, and this year, the Hybrid family, was to prepare the main course. This was the hardest job, and one of the problems was that the Hybrid family only consisted of two people. Sienna and Auron.

"Auron, honey," his mother looked at him reprovingly when he tried to steal one of the pickled sausages. "Could you go back outside and let mommy finish her cooking?"

"But, mom…" Auron started to whine.

"No buts, today, little mister." She said firmly as she scooted him outside. "Go find that brat Braska and go play until I call you home." Auron found himself locked out of his house with a growling stomach. He decided that he would go and see if Braska would be willing to ask his mother for some food. It didn't take him long to find the youngster playing in the field known to all the children in the village as the Battlefield. The boys played war and the girls were rescued. There were a few girls that had started to play war with the boys, however, and this had proved quite interesting because they had beaten some of the leaders of the teams. One of them was Sonja, a four year old girl who was about as aggressive and as pushy as girls could be. Auron spotted Braska's dark hair in the midst of a duel with one of the older boys, Erik, a seven year old, trying to rescue his favorite girl, Jasmine, a five year old who had bright blue eyes and raven hair that was always in pigtails. Auron strode forward and yelled his name, but Braska was in too deep a concentration to hear him. Auron decided he could wait, and looked for someone to duel to get his mind off of his stomach. Everyone was starting to crowd around Braska and Erik, forming a large circle. Auron counted how many kids there were in all, twenty, not counting the duelists and the girls. Auron knew all of them, and the oldest one there was nine. He was Oliver, and he was the War Strategist who sold his skills to the highest bidder.

The sun was starting to set, setting off pink and orange highlights in the clouds, and swirling the reddish colors in the sky, mixing them with the blue. The grass was a dark, cool green, and it was soft when one walked barefoot upon it. The forests behind the field beyond the village boundaries was becoming dark, and the birds were chirping to each other as they found their place of rest for the night. The smell of food was in the air, and the sounds of pots banging and people talking was drowned out by the cheering and jeering being caused by the children. A cool breeze drifted over the field, rustling Auron's wavy black hair. He stood quietly in the crowd and watched Braska being beat by Erik. Erik liked Jasmine, but so did Braska, so it was quite the skirmish when Jasmine made it known that she wanted to be "saved" when she sat herself upon the large, rounded boulder in the middle of the field. The only one to have ever beaten Erik was Auron, in the match that decided who the Sword-Bearer would be for the ceremony. There was more to the fighting than just children's play. It was a way of training. At the age of ten, the boys would become apprentices to the swordsmen and warriors in the village, and train and learn with them until they were eighteen. The girls, however, were used only for breeding, but some of the girls were allowed to become warriors themselves, but only in special exceptions. The weapons they used were wooden swords, or sticks in some cases.

Braska had just gotten his feet knocked out from underneath him, and Auron watched as Erik thrust his stick in front of Braska's heaving chest.

"I win, Braska!" Erik's green eyes flashed as he stepped back and ran his hand through his fiery-red hair. He turned to Jasmine, beaming and smiling like an idiot, but she looked rather dissapointed and crossed her arms, sticking her lower lip out, pouting. Erik's smile faded when he saw this, and threw down his sword and stomped away, the crowd clearing a path for the blushing boy. Jasmine also proceeded to turn and walk away, taking some of her friends with her.

"Next time, Braska," Jasmine called over her shoulder in a high-pitched voice. "I want you to win, so train hard!" She blew him a kiss and giggled, then skipping to catch up with her friends. Braska was blushing madly, and he stood up and started taking a very long time to dust himself off in order to hide his hot face.

"Next time, Braska…" Auron jeered as he walked over to his friend. He laughed when he saw Braska's face almost turn purple with embarrassment. The crowd was starting to dissipate, and Auron slapped Braska on the back. "Well, I suppose if you really want me too, I could show you how I beat that big oaf." He said with a confident smirk.

"The only reason you beat Erik is because you cheated!" A high-pitched, accusing voice said behind him. "You're nothing but a big fat cheater!" The voice belonged to Sonja, a golden-haired girl with green eyes. She was also Erik's little sister.

"I don't cheat!" Auron shouted. The crowd of children was drawn back by the shouting.

"Oh yeah?" She looked at him defiantly. "Prove it!"

"I don't have to prove anything, especially not to a stupid baby like you!"

"What's the matter…Afraid of being beat by a stupid baby?" She taunted. "Look everyone! Auron doesn't want to fight me 'cause he's afraid he's gonna lose!" Auron grabbed Braska's sword out of his hand and leapt for her.

"Shut up!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. He slashed downward, but she had already moved and was circling around behind him. He jumped to the side when he heard her foot hit the ground when she lunged, and he grabbed her free arm as she went past. He twisted her arm behind her back and pushed upwards as hard as he could. The arm snapped, and everyone heard it crack. Auron let go of the arm, a look of total shock on his face. She screamed in pain, and tears started to stream down her face. The entire crowd was silent, and a few of the children went for help. Sonja was trying not to cry, especially not in front of Auron, but it hurt so bad that she sobbed very loudly. "I'm sorry…I…" Auron was speechless. He didn't mean to hurt her that bad, just enough to make her shut up.

Villagers were now running at full tilt towards the group of children, and when they finally reached Sonja, she had forced herself to stop crying.

"What happened?" The young man asked between breaths. One of the children stepped forward. Joskan, the tattle-tale.

"Auron broke Sonja's arm…"

"I…It was an accident…" Auron stammered. "We were fighting, and…and I…"

"It was my fault!" Sonja cried out. "I allowed him to get me pinned and I moved the wrong way." Auron looked at Sonja, amazement and wonder in his gaze. She looked at him for a second, mouthing some words, and then she was led away to see the doctor. If the villagers had found out that rage allowed him to willingly hurt Sonja, he would have been thrown out of the ceremony in disgrace and never allowed back in.

"Auron…" Braska came up behind Auron and put a small hand on his shoulder. "Auron, let's go." Braska led Auron to the bonfire's site. Auron was still wondering why Sonja would take the blame herself when she had a chance to ruin him forever. Her last words before she was led away confused him even more. I'm sorry. She'd said. "Auron, are you listening to me?" Auron snapped back to reality and looked at Braska walking beside him. "I want you to teach me how to beat Erik, okay?" Auron nodded. He forced himself to not think about Sonja until after the ceremony. Pride filled him as they came upon the bonfire. It had already been lit and was growing in size. "This is gonna be a night to remember…" Braska said happily.

"It already has." Auron replied stiffly.

Author's note: All right people, there you have it…tell me what you think…R+R…and tell me whether you think I should have a chapter about the party, or just skip ahead to later years. I planned to skip ahead, but if you people wanna know how the ceremony goes, let me know, I'll write a sub chapter. It won't be important to the story, but it should prove interesting.