Chapter I: The Beginning

"It's beautiful out tonight," thought Ryze to himself, "I enjoy nights like these." He sighed. Nights like this brought back many memories. Ryze found his unusual power under the night sky. He remembered it like it was yesterday. He was lost in the woods after hunting for several hours. Hunting was one of the only ways he could get food for his family, which was his baby sister and his mother. Ryze shivered as he vividly remembered the terror thinking he would never make it home. He had been in the woods at night before, but this night, the clouds hid the sky. The stars usually helped him find the way home. Ryze remembered sitting on the ground just wished the clouds would go away. When he looked up next, the clouds were rolling away with a small gust of wind. He still doesn't understand his power completely, but he thinks it's best not to try to understand. Other memories occur to him as well. Memories of his mother…

He shook that feeling off. He was on a mission. So Ryze continued on, silent in his footsteps. He was always careful to be silent and leave no trace of himself when he went out like this. He wasn't proud of stealing, but he had to feed his sister, and no job in his small hometown of Kunhal paid enough even for himself. Ryze made his way into Tolbi, the rich city that severely taxed his own village. "These people are so rich," he thought, "they'll never know if I take just a little bit." And he was right. For years Ryze took small amounts from different houses there, just enough to feed himself and his sister. If he took too much like that one time…

Ryze did not want to think about his Mom right now. He had work to do. He silently whispered "Hide" and disappeared. Whenever he used this power he could become invisible, and no one could see him. However, his sister, Kurliah, told him she could make out his outline. Again, he doesn't understand why. With this magic spell, he crept into a house. Just one look at the inside and he could tell who ever lived here was super rich. Certainly they would not miss a few gold pieces. He gathered a few pieces he found lying around the house, a few food items, he even found some herbs.

"This should be about enough," he thought to himself, but the sound of a girl's shriek stopped his thoughts. Ryze slowly turned around to see a girl, possibly around 17 years old, his age, staring at him. "This doesn't make since," he thought to himself, "my invisible barrier is still up, how can she see me?" His mind drifted to how Kurliah can see him when he is hidden. "Is this the same thing?" he questioned. He did not have time for that now. He started to rush out the door. "Wait!" exclaimed the girl. Ryze knew what to do. He quickly unhid himself and whispered, "Sleep". She let out a gasp, and passed out. "Izimmi, is something wrong?" a voice asked. Ryze knew it was time to leave. Only as he was leaving the city did he hear the yelling of an angry man in the house.

Ryze made his way to his village and then to his small home. "No use in using hide to get inside," Ryze thought to himself, "Kurliah could see me anyway." Ryze's 13 year old sister did not approve of his midnight raids. Kurliah works all day to earn a little bit of gold. "It's not fair," he often rants to his sister, "you work hard all day and only get a few gold pieces. I should teach that old man a lesson…" "It will be alright, brother, we will survive," she would respond with. "She's much stronger than I will ever be," he thought. He entered quietly, but it was no use. His sister was waiting for him in their small one room house.

"Hello, Brother," Kurliah said, with a sad look in her eyes. "Kurliah, I know what you're thinking…but I didn't take much! Just a few coins and herbs…nothing noticeable! Those rich folk certainly couldn't- "

"Brother, every night you go out and steal from others. It's wrong. You put me and yourself at risk every time you do this. What would happen if you got caught?"

"I wouldn't get caught-"

"You got caught once."

"…that was different. I was young and foolish, I stole too much at one time. And trust me…I'll never forgive myself for that night…but this is different!"

"How is it different?"

"I don't steal much from one single house. They'll never notice-"

"But what they do?" Her voice started to rise as tears started to form in her eyes. "What if they capture you, Ryze? They would take you away and lock you up…or worse, like Mama…then I would be left alone…" Tears started to stream down her face. "Please don't leave me alone, Brother."

"Kurliah…" Ryze had no idea what to say. She had a tougher time than him. She would be helpless without him. "Kurliah, I'll never leave you alone. Please…stop crying…"

"Will you stop stealing then?"

"Kurliah…if I didn't take from people, we wouldn't make it. I can't make enough here to support us…for now you'll have to live with it."

"…did anyone see you tonight?" Ryze's eyes widened.

"What?"

"Were you seen?" Her question was met with silence. He could not lie to his sister, that girl had saw him.

"Oh I knew it. Ryze-"

"Kurliah, come outside with me." She stared at him for a minute, but agreed and walked outside. They had a bench set up behind their house, even though they usually had no time to enjoy rest. They both sat down and stared at the sky as they talked.

"Brother…if someone saw you-"

"It'll be fine. She only saw my face for half a second before I knocked her out."

"You…knocked her out?"

"Yes…with my ability…"

"Oh…" They both did not know where this weird power came from, and when Ryze told his sister about it the first time, she had trouble believing him.

"Hey, Kurliah…what did you mean before?"

"What do you mean?"

"When you said that you knew it?"

"…I don't know." She stared at the ground. "I dreamt it."

Ryze looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"I dreamt soldiers took you away…it was unbearable…when I woke up, you were gone. I was really scared, Ryze." She looked at Ryze, and noticed his ring gleaming in the moonlight. "Why do you even wear that? Dad abandoned us, why do wear his gift?"

"It's my only gift from him…Mom thought it was important to wear it, so I do."

She lied down with her head in his lap. "You're crazy." We both smiled, her purple eyes gleamed in the moonlight.

"Ryze…"

"Yeah?"

"Tell me about Mom again."

Kurliah never knew her Mom, guards took her away when she was about a year old. She would often ask Ryze to tell her about her. "She was very kind and gentle. She had beautiful blonde hair and purple eyes just like yours and mine. She loved you and me very much, and made sure we were always safe. She would do anything to protect us. When we were sad, she would find a way to make us happy. We were her prized possessions," he looked down to see his sister was sound asleep, and a smile formed on his face, "and I'm sure she's smiling down on us right now." He stared up in the night sky, gazing at the stars.

End of Chapter 1

Author Notes: What did you think? Any suggestions?

I'll try to post one once a week, probably Wednesdays.

Thank you for reading.