Prologue: Rebirth
One shot. That's all it had taken to end the life of Liha Irden's mother—a beautiful fortune reader belonging to a nomadic band of gypsies. That one bullet had changed thirteen year old Liha's life in a heartbeat (or lack thereof). Thus, Liha found herself in a most undesirable predicament; stray droplets of her mother, Nadya's blood streaked down her pale cheeks, and the limp form of what was once a magnificent woman lay at Liha's feet. Liha watched in horror as the white of the elder woman's coarse bodice slowly spider-webbed into a dark crimson. A tanned and wrinkled man stood a few paces away from Liha and her mother, the silver of his revolver still glinting in the low-light of the performer's tent (this was a man far too wrinkled for his young age of forty-five, the epithelial indents most likely having been developed from the theatrical expressions forced upon a daily basis, or simply from the stress of his nomadic lifestyle). What was supposed to have been routine practice for Liha and her stepfather Gunari's gunslinger act had quickly soured when Gunari had unexpectedly turned upon the dark haired girl, his eyes gleaming strangely. Without so much as a word of warning, the performer delivered a shot to the heart. This particular bullet, however, missed its intended target's vascular organ and hit Nadya's---the only woman Gunari had ever truly let into his own heart. Nadya had jumped in the line of the bullet in order to save her beloved daughter. Both Gunari and Liha stood there in shock until Gunari sprung forward, eyes fixated on the corpse lying on the floor of the dusty ring, its dirt slowly soaking up viscous red. He knelt down beside her, gingerly taking her head in his hands, her dark tresses sweeping the floor as her head wilted back, lifeless. Gunari let out a cry of despair. Liha stood stock still, clasping hard to the metal pistol her stepfather had lent her for their act.
It took two easy shots to send Gunari to join Nadya on the floor of the gypsy tent.
AN: I won't disclose much aside from the fact that the main character will not remain thirteen in the coming chapters. Chapters will most usually be longer than this--it is simply a prologue designed to set some framework, after all. Review and let me know what you think!
-Concordia Discors