A/N:So this story I'm rewriting. Not much is changing, though I don't like the title and there are some things I want to fix up. I'm doing this with most of my writing. Plus I got really good idea for this! Hopefully you all will like it! Let me know please. Review and message please! Constructive criticism is always welcomed!
It was chaotic in the forest. Children were screaming and crying. Men were shouting orders. All because of a blazing fire that was ravaging the land.
A loud deafening sound was heard from a tree that came crashing to the ground, landing inches from a small burrow in which a small girl was hidden. She cringed deeper into the small space, curling herself into a fetal position as the ground shook.
The girl whimpered as she felt the leaves scrape her back. She tried to bury herself deeper in the burrow.
Then she heard her name being called.
"Sera!"
The voice called out desperately for the girl.
The girl's eyes widened. She then shuffled out of her position and crawled out of the burrow. Her eyes widened at what she saw.
A wall of red and orange was seen in the distance of the forest. Around her the trees were glowing with the flames in the background. The greenery was starting to turn brown as the flames came closer.
Sera gasped as she heard a crackling noise and a burning leaf came falling before her feet. The fire soon erupted and started to spread, following the trail of twigs around her feet. Sera's eyes widened and she turned around and started to run.
Mommy! Daddy! Her eyes widened as she thought of her parents. She then instantly closed them and wiped her eyes. Ashes from the fire were stinging her eyes. Sera continuously wiped them as she ran.
Where were they? What about Kimi?
She was outside with her mother and younger sister, Kimiko, learning a new song. Sera already knew this song; however, Kimi was much younger than her and was in the process of learning the song. During that time, Sera had decided to wander the forest as Kimi learned.
That was when the attack happened.
Sera then coughed. She looked up as she heard shouting and her eyes widened. Through the smoke, she saw a silhouette of an army of men. All of them were large, gigantic-looking in her case. They all held large torches, cursing the forest with their flames. Along with those men, there was another group. They were much larger and were carrying numerous objects.
Sera's eyes widened. She knew these were the bad people and turned around, still looking in their direction. She turned her head and started to run with her eyes shut tight from the ash burning it.
Around her, she could hear shouting and fluttering of the wings as people were trying to escape the flames.
That's when she heard her name being called again, followed by multiple coughs.
"Sera! Where are you?" She heard the male voice call out again. The girl looked up trying to see through the smoke. She tried to call out to the voice but ended up coughing.
"Sera!" An arm wrapped around her. She yelped as she was lifted into the sky. Her carrier pulled her close protecting her from the heat given off by the flames.
She then looked up to see who her savior was. "Daddy," she asked in a hoarse voice.
"Are you alright?" he asked glancing down at her.
The girl just nodded and then asked, "What's going on daddy? Where are Mommy and Kimi?"
Her father looked up continuing to fly. She heard him hesitate before he replied, "Don't worry about them they're safe now." His voice faltered as he spoke.
Though Sera was only a hatchling, she understood the look on her father's face. She could see the pain and sorrow in his emerald green eyes. She also felt his heart stop before he replied.
Sera looked up at him staring at him in horror, "N-no…"
"I'm sorry, Sera. The tree collapsed and they… they were both crushed," he explained.
Sera just stared at him in shock, "Mommy and Sister are…"
He just nodded and then he pulled her close.
"Don't worry my dear Sera. We're almost out of the forest. Hopefully the Hawk King will have seen the fire by now and—" Suddenly there was a crash. They both looked up to see a branch swinging towards them. The branch hit them head on and they were flung back.
Sera yelled as they fell to the ground. She hit the ground with a thud. Everything went black…
Sera groaned as she shook her head, rubbing the small bump that had formed on her head. It happened while she was walking through the back alleys to get to the main street. She was walking when she stumbled into a couple crates, knocking her head against one of them that fell.
Now she was on the main road, her head still hurting, but still walking, looking around.
It's so quiet… she noted as she walked through the, what looked like, vacant town.
The air was cold. Not from the weather, but from fear and hatred. Not many people were walking around this time. Most of them were hidden in their homes or shops, but there were few who risked going out shopping. It was one of those days… The bandits would come out to rampaged through their shops taking what they want. The people of this town knew instantly when bandits were going to attack. It was almost like instinct now. That and with the state the country was in, if it weren't bandits out walking about, then there would definitely be soldiers.
In this case it could be soldiers. Many nights ago, Sera heard shouting about finding a group of rebels known as the Dawn Brigade; because of them, there had been an increase of soldiers in the area.
Sera sighed as she heard the sound of armor rubbing together as she saw three of them walk by on the street in front of her. She made a scowling face at the soldiers with their chest out, not bothering to pay attention to a small family consisting of a woman and three children crossing at the time.
The woman was carrying three baskets at the time, hanging from her arm and a box in her hands. Behind her, two of the children were boys carrying wood and the third one was a girl carrying rolls of towel. She seemed to be struggling with them trying to hold them all in her hands.
The woman saw the soldiers coming and ushered her children to hurry and finish crossing. The girl was the only one left to cross and was hurrying as the soldiers passed. She ended up tripping from on of the soldiers, lances that was being dragged along.
The girl yelped as she fell. All of the towels tumbled out of her hands to the ground at the soldiers' feet. Sera narrowed her eyes as she saw the soldiers turning around as one of the towels tapped their feet. She knew a scene was about to begin and instantly turned around, not wanting to be part of it.
"Keiko!" the woman gasped.
She paused, hearing the woman call out the girl's name.
"Oi! Watch where you're going!"
Sera turned her head to see what was happening.
One of them yelled as the rest laughed, kicking the towels away. Sera gritted her teeth as the soldier kicked it away, but didn't' say anything as she halted in her walking not wanting to run into them.
"I…I'm sorry sir!" she apologized, burying her face in the ground. From the looks of it, Sera could see the girl trembling in fear.
The soldier huffed, "Heh, you better be." He said as he walked off with the other two soldiers laughing with him.
Sera sighed as she calmed herself.
"Oh dear, Keiko dear are you alright?" Sera looked up to see the woman hurried over to the girl. She helped her up and placed the girl in her lap. "Keiko are you alright?" she asked. The two boys had gathered around her, unsure of what to do.
The girl sniffled as she started to cry, clutching her mother's shirt as she cried into her neck.
"They hurt." The girl cried.
Sera watched as the girl's mother tried to calm her daughter. She then sighed as she started to walk over. Normally in situations where people were hurt, Sera did her best to ignore them and continue on. Most of it was because if she did then they would assume that she was someone who associated with the Silver Haired Maiden. It had happened before and Sera didn't like it.
Not that she hated the Maiden. Sera actually had high respect for her and how she and the others members of the Dawn Brigade strive to help others.
Though what bothered her was how she had been living there for a year, hiding in the back allies, yet not once had she seen them.
The girl continued to cry as the woman looked at the small scrap on her knees.
Sera arrived to where the group was.
"Excuse me?" she called out to them. The two boys saw her and backed up as the woman looked upat her.
"Hello, may I help you?" she asked nervously. She looked back trying to shush her daughter.
Sera shook her head as she crouched down next to the woman, "I saw what the soldiers did. I have something that may help the girl's cut." She explained.
The woman's face brightened a bit. She seemed like she was desperate to get home. "Oh do you?" she asked.
Sera nodded, "Yes if you will allow me to that is." She asked as her hand traveled to her belt.
The woman nodded her head, "Oh yes please, go right ahead." She said.
Sera nodded her head. She let out a sigh with her eyes closed and then turned towards the girl, smiling at her.
"Always be kind and patient with your client even if they do start to annoy you because they are crying too much. Just ask them questions to get the off the topic." The voice rang through her head. Yeah, yeah Derek… being patient was your specialty not mines…
Sera sighed remembering those conversations. How long had it been since then? It had to have been at least four or five years.
"What's you name little girl?" she asked in a sweet gentle voice.
The girls just sniffled rubbing her eyes, "K-Keiko …" she replied.
Sera froze up for a second. Keiko… the name sounded a little like another name she had knew. The other name brought back many memories of the beautiful forest where they played. She shook her head getting back on subject.
"Well that's a pretty name Keiko. How old are you?" she asked the girl.
"Six…" she replied quietly. She had stopped crying now and was wiping the last tears away, but Sera could still sense the hesitation coming from the girl. It was understandable. Sera was a stranger to the girl, but Sera continued to smile at the girl.
"Six huh? Well for a six year old you were carrying a lot of towels there." Sera remarked. The mother sat there as she watch Sera talk to her daughter. She felt ridiculous talking like this, but when treating a patient who was feeling nervous, she was supposed to take the patient's mind away from the situation they were in and so that's what she was trying to do here, even if it was sounding ridiculous.
"Well big people attacked our shop…they broke lots of things so we need to fix them. So I wanted to help my bring the supplies." The girl, Keiko explained.
"I see… well that's a pretty big boo-boo you got there." She remarked looking at the scratch on her knee. Boo-boo? Ugh… There were so many other words she could have used there. Memories popped in her head of when she would scold anyone who used such words.
"I fell while carrying these towels." Keiko explained with her head down.
"Don't worry!" Sera assured her quickly, "I'll fix this up in a jippy." She smiled. She took out a bandaged hand from her cloak placing it on the girl's knee looking at the cut. The hand that held the scar reminding her of the painful memories she tried blocking for many years.
Sera looked at the cut closely. It wasn't deep so she wouldn't need to use her ability. That was assuring. It would have been unnecessary energy drainage and then people would be on her, associating her with the Maiden since they had the same ability.
Sera dug into her small pouch and pulled out a couple leaves and a cloth. She crushed the leaves up and mixed it with water from her container. Mixing it on the cloth, she placed it on the wound and wrapped it around her knee.
"There you go. It should be healed by tomorrow." Sera remarked as she finished tying it.
The woman looked at her, "Amazing… Thank you so much."
Sera nodded her head, giving her a light smile, "Of course, glad to be of some help; though don't touch it or scratch it, or else the herbs will rub off." she warned the girl.
Keiko nodded her head, "Thank you so much." she smiled looking up at her. She then jumped up, hugging her.
Sera tensed as the girl hugged her and gently, but quickly pushed her away. A strange feeling had formed in the pit of her stomach.
"You're welcome. Remember crying won't get you anywhere. If you fall just get right back up. We're girls. We can't let all the guys look tough and us girl look weak now can we?" Sera stated.
Keiko shook her head, "No we can't!"
Sera smiled patting the girl's head, getting up and brushing her cloak.
"Thank you so much for your help." The woman sighed getting up as well.
"Its fine." She smiled up at her. Then her face went serious, "Though if you don't mind, I would like you to keep what I did a secret. I don't want rumors to spread."
The woman nodded understanding. "Of course, I won't say a thing."
Sera stared at the woman for a second. Her eyes showed honesty. "Thank you. Well I better be off now." She started.
"I guess… thank you again." The woman smiled.
"Once is enough." Sera replied with a smile.
The woman just nodded, "Where are you going?" she asked.
Sera blinked taken aback by the question. Hmm…good question… "Er… I'm not sure exactly, you could say I'm just a traveler." she shrugged.
"Well in that case take this. You might need it while you travel." She explained handing you a brown pouch.
Vulnerary? "Oh umm thank you." She thanked her taking the pouch.
"You're welcome, after all you did heal my daughter just now."
"Did I not just say once was enough?" Sera asked. Though she was being nice, the thank yous were getting annoying.
"Please take it though, you might need it later on." The woman insisted.
Sera sighed as she clipped the pouch to the side of her belt then tugged it to make sure it was secure. "There I took it." she patted it smiling up at the woman.
The woman nodded satisfied, "Good."
"Well I'm off." Sera started.
"Bye!" Keiko waved.
Sera just smiled waving back to her, "Stay strong, Keiko."
Keiko nodded with a determined smile.
Sera smiled waving to them one last time then she was off out of their sight. As soon as she was, her face turned back into is normal, serious and strict face. The strange feeling was still here. Never once had someone hugged her… In the last five years that was. Not since that person's death.
Sera felt a pang of sadness appear in her. That person was a man and that man was a beorc. The only beorc she ever trusted. He was the one who accepted her for who she was and protected her from those that wanted her for money.
Sera sighed as she wiped her eyes. And now here she was in tears. What did she just say to the one girl? This was unacceptable.
Sera continued on walking. It was late in the afternoon. Sera looked at the whole town. It looked so gloomy under gray skies. Its all because of Begnion… all of it. She growled thinking of the country. It was because of that country that everyone had to live in misery and fear.
Sera sighed calming her self. She pulled her blonde hair back and tucked it under hood, looking up at the sky. It's not like she could have done anything about it. She was a mere wind sage. Yes, as a sage she was very skillful, but one person could not change an entire country. It would take hundreds—no thousands and thousands of skilled men to take back a country and based on how things were going here, that did not seem to be the case.
There was the Dawn Brigade, but that was just a small band of people and Sera had yet to see them actually take action. Then again, she was one that did not want to take part in any chaos and normally avoided it.
Suddenly she bumped into someone hard falling back. "Ow… damn it…" She groaned as she rubbed her nose, "watch where you're standing. People are trying to walk ya know?" she growled and then looked up realizing whom she had spoken to. Up before her, stood a large, robust but muscular man, wearing ragged clothes. He turned around as he saw her and instantly started to grin. Sera instantly realized how this was a bad idea.
"Well, well. Looky who we got here…" The man smirked as he took a couple steps towards her.
Sera's eyes narrowed as she took a step back, only to bump into another thug that appeared behind her. When did he get there?
The man laughed as he grabbed her by the shoulder and then leaned over her shoulder, "Well yer sure a pretty one." They remarked tugging at her blonde hair.
Sera shook her head, the hair flying out of his hands, but then he grabbed it again, tugging it downwards, straightening Sera's hair. Sera bit back a yelp of pain. She then opened her eyes and saw in a distance that there were a couple others, but they were all hidden in the alleys or shops in the area.
Oh wonderful… She growled mentally.
"Well what should we do boss?" the man in front of her asked. He got a laugh as a response.
"Well whaddaya think? She's too pretty. We'll make a fortune with her," The one holding replied. As he did, she felt his hand trail from her hair down her neck, folding the collar to her quipao down.
Instantly she let out a growl and her eyes narrowed. "Don't you dare." She shook her head backing up but bumped into one of them behind her. It hurt when she slammed her head in his and it made her dizzy as well, but that caught the bandits off guard and she managed to move away. She ducked past the other one only to find a wall in front of her. It was a dead end. Of course… Sera gritted her teeth and turned around to find a third one there.
I'm surrounded… She thought as she reached back into her pouch and got her tome out. The bandits all stood there, looming over her with their greedy grins. "You don't plan on fighting all of us do you?"
Sera thought to her self. This was the only option she had. That or she could give in and follow them, but then what? Everything that he did for her would have gone in vain. Sera looked in between the three. If she could just be quick enough, she could escape down the alley into the old run down building. Even if they did try and chase her, she would have the advantage of surprising them.
"Hey! There you are!" a voice suddenly called. Sera blinked as she felt someone grab her shoulders and turn her around. She then found herself, face to face with a young, cheerful looking boy with brunette hair. The boy suddenly pulled her in for a hug.
"What's with you going and running off all the time, you had us worried." The person asked.
Sera was too confused and shocked to do anything, and then pushed away. "Who are you? And get away from me!" She said as she pushed away.
Behind her the bandits stood there with raised eyebrows and slightly confused. One of them coughed as a reminder they were still there.
The boy who had grabbed her, blinked and looked up. "Wow… as usual you go and caught by the bandits… seriously, you attract to much havoc." He chuckled as he pulled Sera back, in the process mutter, "Just play along." He muttered as he did so.
Sera blinked, who was this boy and why was he was helping her? The boy then started to chuckle, waving to the bandits before giving them a slight bow. "My deepest apology, for my friend here. She can be a little snappy at times."
Sera frowned at that remark. How dare he? She was about to snap a retort but stopped as she saw a look from him of urgency. Instead she just crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. The bandits just growled.
"Step aside boy." He ordered, walking forwards.
The boy stood up straight and looked at them. "Sorry, no can do." He replied and then grabbed Sera's hand. "Come on, the others are waiting." He said and then started to pull her along. Sera then realized that he had moved her towards the corner of the building. Before she could say anything, the boy got in front of her and shoved one of the bandits down.
"Let's go!" he hissed and pulled her along.
"H-Hey! Wait!" Sera tried to protest. Behind her she could hear that bandits yell out in protest and then after some orders they started to chase after them.
"Uh-oh… not good." The boy sighed. Sera glanced back and saw two behind them.
"Come on quickly!" the boy said pulling her faster.
"Wait!" Sera tried to protest as they hurried down an alley. The boy suddenly came to a halt and looked around before pushing Sera into a smaller alley and then hid himself.
Sera moved her head around in the small area. It was tight, but luckily there was space between the two. The boy glanced out the area, looking around to see if anyone was coming. Sera listened. She could hear the bandits yelling to search for the two.
"Well looks like we're not getting rid of them anytime soon…" the boy muttered and then turned towards Sera. "Are you okay?"
Sera just nodded her head, not looking at him. "Yeah I'm fine. Though that wasn't really necessary." She replied.
The boy blinked. "Well it didn't seem like that was the case."
Sera just frowned, "I had a plan set up and it would have worked too had you not interfered."
The boy then frowned, "Well, sorry about that. From what I saw, there were three bandits around you and then many spread out. It didn't look like there was a chance to escape."
Sera huffed as she shifted, "You shouldn't assume things then." She argued. Why was she being like this? The boy helped her out, but then what? He would probably ask for something in return. That's how everyone was.
The boy just sighed, "Well I'm sorry for ruining your plan, but now that we're both stuck, how about we work together and find a way to escape?" he offered.
Sera looked at the boy, meeting his eyes. Her eyes narrowed. The boy seemed hopeful, but why? What did he want in return?
Sera sighed as she nodded her head. She knew better than to refuse. She didn't have a choice. From what she could tell, this boy was going to help her, even if she didn't want the help.
"Very well…" she spoke.
She saw the boy's face brightened, "Excellent. Thank you." He blinked as if he remembered something, "Oh I never introduced my self. The names Edward." He suddenly introduced himself.
Sera nodded her head, however; before she could introduce herself, they heard yelling. "Check down these alleys now!" It was the captain shouting orders. "I want that girl." He growled
Sera tensed as she heard the man. He was right there now. She could see the shadow and felt Edward in front of her, moving back. This forced Sera to take a couple steps back into the alley, however; in doing so, caused her to step on a crate, which ended up cracking. Both Sera and Edward tensed and the shadow paused.
Edward glanced back at her to see what happened and noticed the crates. He then looked up as the captain walked towards the alley. "Show yourself!" he called.
Sera held her breath as she saw the shadow right there along the wall. Her eyes widened a bit.
"Uh-oh…" Edward muttered and he brought a hand down, ushering to Sera to move deeper, but Sera couldn't.
"Crates…" she hissed.
Edward bit his lip. The captain was almost in sight now, but suddenly a crashing noise came, causing the two to jump. From the way the shadow moved, the Captain's head shot up as another crash came.
"Heh, you're a clumsy one, you are." He grumbled as he ran forwards.
The footsteps could be heard going down another alley. Sera let out the breath she forgot she was holding. Next to her, she felt Edward relax.
"That was too close now…" he muttered.
"Edward!" the two heard another hiss. Edward looked up. Sera saw his face brightened.
In the alley across from them, Sera saw a figure standing there. From the looks of it, Sera could see that it was a girl.
"Come quickly, the coast is clear!" the girl hissed to them.
Edward instantly nodded his head, "Come on!"
With out giving her a chance to answer, Edward grabbed her arm and pulled her with him. He peaked out of the alley to make sure and then ran over to the alley. It was much larger and they could actually stand with out being pressed up against the wall. Sera could hear the bandits off in a distance, but the other two she stood with didn't seem to worry.
Sera then looked at the two. Her eyes fell on the girl and she tensed. The first thing she noticed was the hair. It was silver. Sera's eyes widened. It was her, the silver haired maiden. The one they all talked about.
"You-You're the Silver haired maiden aren't you?" she heard herself asking.
The girl looked at her and smiled softly, nodding her head, "Yes, that is what everyone calls me. My name is Micaiah. May I ask what yours is?"
Sera blinked. She was asking permission to know her name? Sera suddenly felt uneasy by this girl. She wasn't sure what it was. Sera just swallowed before speaking.
"My name is Sera." She replied. Why did she feel weird suddenly? Looking at the girl, she could see that Micaiah was studying her as well. Sera could feel that she was being read and frowned and closing herself off.
"I just realized I never asked you for your name," Edward suddenly spoke, "Well met Sera!"
Sera looked to see that he was smiling. She furrowed her brows a bit. The boy was interesting. Even with everything going on at the moment, he didn't seem to be worried at all.
"It is nice to meet you Sera. Now we must get moving. Leonardo won't be able to distract them long enough." Micaiah spoke.
Leonardo? Sera wondered. However she decided to stay quiet.
"Leonardo caused the distraction?" Edward asked. From how he asked, Sera could tell that he was surprised, but it was more along the lines that he was expecting someone else.
Micaiah nodded her head, "Yes but it won't last long. They will be searching. We must move."
Edward nodded his head. "Yeah good idea. Let's go. Micaiah you lead the way. I'll watch the back." He decided.
Micaiah nodded her head and then looked at Sera, "Alright then, let's go."
Sera blinked and shook her head. "Wait, me too?"
"Of course!"
"Thanks but I'll be fine on my own now-"
"Don't be ridiculous." Micaiah spun around and looked at her sternly. Sera blinked, taking a step back as Micaiah continued, "there are soldiers and bandits running around. They will surely capture you. Come on, we will help you back."
Sera looked at her uneasy, "that really isn't necessary now…"
"Yes it is. Now let's go." Micaiah decided.
Sera let out a sigh. This woman was persistent. There was no way she would be able to shake her.
Instead she sighed and nodded, "Very well then."
Micaiah was suddenly smiling, "Good now, let's get going." She decided and started to walk off in a quick pace.
Sera bit her lip. She heard a chuckle and remembered Edward. He had been quiet and just let Micaiah speak.
Sera didn't bother to say anything to him and just followed after Micaiah and Edward came behind them.
The entire time, they were quick and quiet. Sera was thankful for that as she could tell Micaiah wanted to ask her something, but Sera wouldn't allow it. They needed to hurry. She wanted to get away from the group. Any longer and they would definitely assume she associated with them. So far Sera managed to stay quiet and hidden. She preferred to keep it that way. Sera did not want to get involve with all this. There was nothing this group would be able to do and by associating with them she would only be getting her hopes up again.
Sera learned the hard way that things did not come easy lives had to be taken in order to succeed. It was obvious this group was ready to sacrifice themselves and that was something Sera didn't like.
Sera slowed her steps as she recognized the area. She then came to a stop and called to Micaiah and Edward to stop as well.
"This is where you live?" Edward asked, looking around at the area. They were rows of run down shops that had been destroyed by bandits and now abandoned.
Sera just nodded her head as she crossed her arms again, "Not the most prettiest but it'll do till I leave."
And the questions begin…
"You mean you don't live here?" Micaiah asked.
"I…I'm just a traveler…"
"Where are you traveling?" Edward asked curiously.
"I'm on my way back home…"
"Alone?" Edward asked again to which Sera shrugged. She would have answered, but then they heard soldiers.
"You two should get going and meet up with your third friend. I'm sure he's looking for you guys," Sera remarked, remembering there was a third.
Micaiah nodded her head, "You're right. Leonardo will be waiting. We should get going."
Edward looked at Sera then Micaiah then back at Sera. Sera raised a brow, as he seemed like he was about to ask something. Before he could, she spoke, "Thank you for your help back there," she started then looking between the two, "It was nice meeting you guys."
She then bowed a bit out of respect.
Micaiah shook her head, "It is out job to help out this town all we can."
Sera nodded slowly. So they were whom she assumed.
After bidding goodbye, the two were off and Sera slipped into a shack, but only when heard the talking of soldiers.