Beginnings Part 1

Rayne was never the normal one. preferring solitude to a boisterous life, he spent many hours in the wilderness, learning the ways of nature rather than the ways of a social life. but he was never alone. he had with him a constant companion, a sister, if you will.

Rayne and Silva, there was no force in Remnant that could keep those two apart for long. even when they were at odds, they never strayed far from one another. which, i guess, is why they came to be 'Siblings'.

Rayne was adopted, his family years before having disappeared, leaving rayne on Silva's family's doorstep. no one knew where they went, but as years flew by, No one seemed to care. Rayne especially. he had memories, even fond ones. he sometimes sang a lullaby his mother sang to him when he was an infant, and he could remember his fathers hearty laugh. but as far as Rayne was concerned, The Ignacious Family was his Family, and it made no difference to him whether that name was hereditary or given.

Silva was to be a twin sister to a boy, as fate would have it. But in the process of birth, there were… complications. The boy was born, but not born fully. his breathing was shallow and his heart feeble, and worst of all, he was born without eyes.

The doctors believed Silva, as an unborn fetus, to have cannibalized parts of her brother in the womb, because when she was born, she seemed a little… too developed.

at the age of five, Silva was learning what would later be her favourite activity of her life- archery. after being showed how to shoot, Silva had almost perfect accuracy-her minor hiccups being due to the distraction of her 'brother' who would tip her bow or pretend to have a coughing fit as soon as she readied.

Nuisance or not, Silva enjoyed the company of the red-haired Boy she had come to love as a brother. She followed him everywhere, including into the center of a dark forest in the middle of the night.

Rayne wanted to prove to Silva he could survive in the woods. he had come to learn- mostly through trial and error, and sickness- what was edible, what was not, how to build a fire, and how to hunt for his next meal. Silva tagged along because she wanted him to prove it, and she hated being alone in their room at night, having a fear of the dark.

Rayne caught a squirrel, and was roasting it on a smell of roasting meat wafted through the woods, attracting the worst sort of attention- Beowulves.

Yes, the monstrous pack-hunters, having had no luck in catching a deer, were seduced by the smell of the roast, and came to investigate. what they found was even better: two small human children, stupidly camped deep in the woods and this moonless night.

Rayne hadn't forgotten about the dangers of the woods, he had a hand-crafted spear sitting beside him, and was carving another for his sister. But the beasts were quick, their empty bellies fueling their bodies for their next meal, and they circled the camp, and charged in, bellies and mouths growling.

Silva had heard them, and silently alerted Her brother. he was ready for the first wolf, who pounced on him, only to be greeted by a crude, yet sharp, wooden pike. as Rayne tried to pull his weapon out of the belly of his dead foe, the next Beowulf lunged, and the next. silva parried the first, the butt of her spear colliding with the body of the beast, pushing it into the fire, knocking off the now burnt squirrel and throwing it into the brush.

the commotion with the squirrel distracted two of the Beowulves, who fought each other for the tasty morsel, but the second one that had lunged at Silva made its mark, pinning her and knocking her weapon away.

Rayne struggled with the stick still, until the packleader walked in and swiped him out of the way with one paw. his eyes were on Silva, who looked tastier than the boy. The packleader clamped onto Silva with his mouth by the leg, and dragged her out of the cmp into the brush. the Beowulf that had been knocked into the fire sprawled out from under the burning logs and pounced on Rayne. But Rayne did not care about himself at this point, and he yelled out for Silva, who was being dragged away, her little fists beating on the boney head of the packleader, bawling her eyes out.

Rayne reached out for his sister, trying to grab her as she slid past, but she was out of reach. her head tipped backwards, and Rayne locked on to her teary eyes, and those eyes burned him. It was at this point, that rayne could take no more. His rage turned into a fire, and the ground around him burned. they to beowulves that were descending on him, ready to feast suddenly yelped in horror and pain, as every hair on their bodies ignited into an inferno.

The packleader heard the cries of his kin, dropping his prize, he looked up to see Rayne charging him, both spears in hand. The packleader reared on his hind legs, attempting to swat away the evil sticks, but no sooner had he done that, than a searing spear of fire cut through him, and he too burst into flames.

the pack reorganized, those who had been standing in the shadows charged the flaming boy, but Rayne had only one thought on his mind: he had to save his sister. a wall of fire burst from the ground, and began spiraling around the two children, a pocket on the inside, keeping them from harm.

as the flames lashed out at the Beowulves, they began to realise that perhaps this mean was more than they had bargained for. leaving their dead packleader and charred brothers behind, the beowulves whimpered and cried into the the blackness of the forest. but at this point, Silva had bled out enough that she had passed out, and with no one around to snap him back into reality, Raynes firestorm raged on unto dawn, when he too passed out, but from exhaustion.

Dawn broke, but one would not have been able to tell due to the smoke. Silvas family, accompanied by two huntresses, scoured the forest for their missing children. they had almost given up hope, until they saw the smoke rising, and they ran towards it.

Their mother arrived first, and her piercing wail encouraged the others to arrive quicker. as their father arrived, he looked at the fireplace which was in a state of chaos, ashes having been sprayed all over the place, he assumed the fire had spread out of control, and sumed maybe his children had succumed to the smoke. but then he saw the beowulves, and assumed the worst.

the huntresses arrived next, and quickly came with the-mostly correct- conclusion. they saw the spears, and the wounds on the beowulves, and they explained to the couple that their children had managed to kill an almost Ursa-sized beowulf. the second recognized the flame pattern on the corpses, and suggested maybe the fire had killed a few. neither of them had come to the conclusion that there was a magical explanation to it all, even after seeing the ground, and more importantly- the crystals- that lay scattered about the campsite.

Rayne and Silva remembered what happened, but they never fully explained what had transpired to their parents, not that they seemed to care, they were more overjoyed that their children were alive, and then quickly distracted by putting restrictions on them, so they could never leave the house after dark again.

the years went by, but after that night they were never the same. Rayne grew sickly for many weeks following the incident, his body was as though it was on fire, though nobody knew why. nobody but Silva and Rayne, that is. in the company of his sister, Rayne would combust, trying to burn of what was leftover from that night, he discovered that the more he burned, the harder it was NOT to be consumed by fire. though he himself seemed resistant to the flames, objects and people around him were not.

Silva helped by dousing him in water if he ever got too how, and Rayne grew quite fond of cold showers, that were unnaturally steamy after he got out. But they kept their secret, the secret of Raynes power, and the Secret of the strange mark that had appeared after the incident on Silvas leg, which unknowingly Rayne had used his Fire to cauterize the wound, sealing it up so she no longer bled out, but it left an odd mark in a fire-like design that wrapped around her whole leg. the bite had healed but the mark hadn't, But Silva didn't care, and she bore the mark with honour.

The two Huntresses were impressed with the Children's actions in the woods, having killed a total of five beowulves using only crude spears, or to their knowledge that is. before they left, they told Silva's parents that their children may be suited for combat school, when they come of age. Their mother resisted, but their father encouraged the idea, and when the time came, Rayne and Silva were enrolled in combat training courses.

They were ready, Silva and Rayne, and they worked hard. they had their eyes on one goal, and nothing would stop them. Never again, would anyone-creature or otherwise- come between Rayne and Silva. they would protect each other with their lives, until the day comes when they would fight, and die, together, as any brother and sister should.