A/N: Welcome to my first ever fanfiction! I hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to give me constructive criticism; it's the only way I'll get better.

This story is a prequel to the Mistborn books - following Reen (Vin's half-brother) and their early life. I intend to regularly publish new chapters, but I'm not sure if how far I'll go with this story.

*Disclaimer* - I haven't read Hero of Ages yet, but I was hit by the inspiration to write my first FF. I'm told by my Beta (Infernas81) that there is a good chance that things in this story won't marry up with HoA, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

I do not own Mistborn or it's characters.

Chapter 1.

Reen didn't understand who this man was that came to his house to 'visit' his mother; he just knew that he shouldn't pay attention to him. He was nothing like the many other men that came to the house. The tattoos around his eyes, bald head and his robes were enough to tell him that this was not a man to be trifled with. He had tried to ask his mother once why he kept visiting, but his mother cautioned him not to ever ask ANY questions and to make sure he was outside whenever the visitor was there.

So, Reen spent a lot his time outside their hovel, wandering around in the ash-covered fields. Sometimes he'd help with the plants, other times he wandered about kicking up the ash as he walked.

After the visits Reen's mother seemed more and more paranoid; she would jump at any strange noises, pushing him under the bed whenever she heard something.

As well as the paranoia, Reen noticed that his mother seemed to be growing larger despite eating very little. He finally plucked up the courage to ask her;

"Mother, are you sick?"

"No Reen. Why do you ask?"

Reen thought for a moment how to phrase his question, he was worried that if he asked her in the wrong way that it would either start her paranoia off or lead to a beating.

"Ermmm…it's just that I noticed that you don't eat so much…but your tummy is big" he finished with a whisper, looking at the floor.

His mother looked at him before kneeling on the floor next to him so she could look into his eyes.

"Reen, I'm going to have a baby. You will have a brother or sister. You will have to help me look after and protect him or her".

Reen looked at her shocked as she continued,

"You must never tell anyone about the man that comes here or tell him about the baby. It will be our secret".

Her eyes looked at him pleadingly as she finished. Reen looked straight into her eyes and nodded, he didn't like it but would do as he was told.

Several months later his mother gave birth to a girl and named her Vin. She was a squat little thing who always seemed to be bunched up. Reen doted on her doing whatever he could to keep her safe and happy. Unfortunately, he noticed that with the arrival of his half-sister that the paranoia of their mother was so much worse. She would ramble on about "Obligators" and "Inquisitors". Reen had no idea who or what these things were but he was very afraid and didn't want to find out.

When Vin was just over a year old the tattooed man came back to the house. Reen saw the horse riding along the road and when he recognized the man he picked up Vin and took her out of the house to hide her away. When he went back into the house his mother grabbed his arm,

"Reen, you and Vin must stay away. I'll find you when the man is gone", her eyes were wild as she told him this.

Reen just nodded his head and returned outside with a blanket in for Vin in case it got cold, but he didn't stray too far from the closed door, he decided he wanted to listen and find out who this man was and why his mother was so afraid.

"My Lord" he heard his mother meekly address the man "I did not think I would see you again".

"Where is your boy?" responded the man gruffly.

"Out, my Lord"

"Nothing...happened the last time I visited, did it?"

"No, my Lord" came her response quickly.

Reen then heard footsteps as the man walked over toward his mother. Reen managed to find a small split in the door so he could barely peek into their hovel. Reen saw the man grab his mother's hair and pull her head back before kissing her roughly and then throwing her toward the bed. He then proceeded to start ripping her clothes away. Reen had seen and heard enough, he turned around and ran toward the edge of the village where he'd hidden Vin.

He sat in the bushes with Vin as the sun started to set. She was getting fed up and hungry and he was struggling to keep her there and keep her quiet. More importantly, he needed to get them inside before the mists came. No-one had directly told him about the Mistwraiths that came with the mist, but he'd heard the other Skaa talk about them and knew he never wanted to be out after dark. He wasn't sure what to do, he couldn't go home but they couldn't stay outside much longer either. He looked around and saw the tool shed, thinking that there was nowhere else and they really needed to get inside he bent down and picked Vin up and took her into the shed.

The next morning Reen was awoken by sunlight coming through a few cracks in the wood. It had been a difficult night, they had both been hungry and scared. He'd done his best to keep Vin quiet and eventually she had cried herself to sleep in his arms. She was still asleep now thankfully, so he decided to slip out and see if he could see their mother and get something to eat; it should be safe enough to leave now, now that the sun was up and the mist should be gone.

After wandering around for 10 minutes he noticed that the man's horse was gone, which would mean he should be able to return home. He tentatively unhooked the latch and let himself in. His mother was sitting at the table with the head in the hands. When she heard the latch, she looked up and Reen stopped mid-step. His mother's face was covered in a huge bruise and her lip had a cut. She jumped up from the table so fast her chair fell backwards and she started shrieking at him,

"Where's Vin? Where's Vin?!"

"Asleep in the tool shed" he responded with his eyes glued to the floor.

"Keep her there in case he comes back!" she almost screamed at him as she shook with tears streaming down her face.

Reen could only nod his assent as he grabbed a small crust of bread for them to share as he left.