Author's note:
My first go at a sad story. That's all I really have to say about this. This story will probably only be about three chapters long. Once it's finished I will go back to working on 'The Silver Nasod Mansion'. I was going to get this up after the one-shot I was working on but that one-shot will have to wait just a little bit longer. So in the mean time, have this story instead.

Chapter 1: An Introduction

In a small, simple house in a clearing in the middle of the forest near the village of Ruben, there lived a man. A man with long black hair with a streak of red, tanned skin, yellow-golden eyes and scars all over his face and body. His most noticeable characteristic however, was his left arm. It wasn't a normal arm. No, it was a mechanical Nasod arm. The people of the village shunned and feared this man. Calling him a freak and a monster. His most popular nickname however, was 'The Devil's Arm'. This is his story. The story of a man named Raven.

Raven rarely visited the village of Ruben. He lived a mostly self-sufficient life in his home in the forest. Only visiting the village occasionally to buy any materials or supplies he couldn't produce himself. Whenever he did visit the village, the villagers would stand still, stare and whisper. Raven didn't mind. He simply went about his business so he could go back to his house as soon as possible, where things were peaceful and quiet.

The shopkeeper didn't speak much. He just wanted Raven out of his shop as quickly as possible. Raven bought a small supply of cloth so he could make some new clothing for the upcoming winter. Exiting the shop Raven was met with one of the few villagers that would actually go out of their way to confront him. He didn't know the man's name but he would recognize him anywhere. All Raven knew about this man was that he was a powerful magician.

"Showing your ugly face here again huh?" The magician tried to provoke Raven. Raven kept quiet, instead he only stared the magician straight in the eye, forcing the magician to look away. As he looked away the magician spoke with an annoyed tone of voice: "Just leave us alone you freak!"

Raven simply walked away, not speaking a word but with a certain confidence in his steps that infuriated the magician. "How dare that freak act so high and mighty? I'll show him!" The magician whipped out his wand and as Raven was walking through the village gates he cast a fireball at Raven's back. Raven felt the fireball approaching. He turned around and blocked it with the palm of his Nasod claw.

The villagers all fell completely silent, their whispers stopped. The tension rose as Raven looked at the magician with threatening eyes. The villagers feared that a fight would break out between 'the Devil's Arm' and the village's High Magician. Raven didn't allow himself to be provoked like this though. He simply turned around once again and left in silence. Not even looking behind him.

When Raven had disappeared into the forest a few villagers walked up to the magician in anger.
"What if you two had started fighting?"
"Innocent bystanders could have gotten hurt!"
"You could've burned down the entire village!"
Overcome with shame, the magician apologized to his fellow villagers. His embarrassment only served to fuel his hatred against Raven.
"That damn freak! Why doesn't he leave us alone? His very existence is disgusting!"

Back at his house in the forest Raven had just finished storing his newly-bought fabric and was walking into his workshop next to his house. In his workshop he had all the necessary equipment for glassblowing. Raven originally picked up glassblowing as a hobby to quell his boredom. Recently he had started selling his work to peddler known as Helen to earn himself some money should he need to buy things at the village. Raven used the fire from the flamethrower that was installed in his arm to light the furnace.

"What to make today? A few small glass statuettes? Something more practical?" Raven sighed. "I wonder if the people that buy my work from Helen like it?" Raven shook his head. "No, I shouldn't waste my time thinking about that. I just need to survive. I need to stay alive so their memory lives on." Raven fought back a tear. He no longer felt like doing any work today. He extinguished the furnace and went back into his house.

Back in his house, Raven walked up to a wooden chest next to his bed. He opened it and looked inside with a pained look on his face. Inside the chest was an old black uniform and a well-crafted sword. Raven took the sword out of the chest and looked at it. The sword looked like it was new. Its blade still sharp. Raven felt a tear run down his cheek. He was shivering and he gritted his teeth.

His grieving was cut short when he heard a cry for help coming from the forest. He shot up, his entire body on high alert. Without hesitation he gripped his sword tightly in his hand and stormed out the front door.

I hope you enjoyed that little cliff-hanger and that it gave you enough incentive to check this story again once chapter two is up. I'd be delighted if you could leave me some feedback. Does a story like this require more detail? Less detail? Writing a sad story is completely new to me. Heh, writing stories in general still feels rather new to me. Oh well. I'll probably keep writing until I run into the dreaded and feared writer's block. (No signs of that happening yet though.)

May we meet again, fare thee well