Authors Note: My friends and I are doing an RPG at my message board, Shining Stars; it's something of a spin-off of Care Bear Stars, the Youtube fanime. If some of you don't know what I'm talking about, I'll explain it thusly; this is based on the Care Bear Family being creatures of ancient times who fought against evil with many powers. When they could do this duty no longer, they passed on their powers to humans, who would genetically pass on the ability to use certain items to transform into a magical boy/girl fighter. If you've seen Sailor Moon, you know what I mean by "magical boy/girl fighter".
So, as a little explanation to the prologue - all three of the children are characters of mine, and will be playing roles in the RPG. I will be doing themes for each of them later and posting them up for all to see, kind of summarizing what they are feeling at the end of said day, during certain times, etc. But I will base some of them on things that actually have/will happen in the RPG. This prologue was not posted in the actual RPG, but I place it's occurance to have happened a few weeks before the beginning of the first chapter.
Care Bears (c) AVG, I think it was.
Care Bear Stars (c) JCTrance5
Adamina, Daniel and Salima (c) amanda2324 (aka, ME)
Care Bear: Elemental Stars (c) Wilson_Kieran_Kitsune
Prologue:
Darkness chased the last rays of sun-light to the horizon, and beat against it even before the sun was completely set. The sky slowly faded from its bright blue to black, diamonds appearing within its vastness with a bright shine. Such a magnificent display was not visible from the upper-parts of the city, where the rich dwelled in luxury; while down town, for some, the sun, the moon, and the stars were the sole sources of light.
For a little girl wandering the streets, they guided her way, warned her of the dangerous shadows, and provided a sliver of hope. Her big blue eyes were filled with fear as she glanced about nervously at the shadows looming in the dark alleys, and the occasional shadow that would sweep in front of her. She could identify some of the shadows, mainly figures of the many homeless people. She knew that this was the part of town that was poor, run by gangs and populated by folk who could not afford a proper home.
She swallowed hard, wishing silently that she could go back home soon. She knew she could not; not now, perhaps not ever. Even if she wanted too, she could not remember how many turns she made, and thus, she was lost.
Her bare-feet hardly made a sound as she trudged down the sidewalk, clutching tightly to her chest her worn teddy bear and the T-shirt her brother gave her. They, and the clothes she wore, were her only possessions. Not that she had much more at her actual home, but she did have a bed and some toys. As she passed another alley, she caught sight of a dim light in the distance. Curiousity filled her small figure as she rushed quietly to see what it was, this orange light of such rarety in this part of town.
The little girl hurried down an alley towards it, but slowed as she approached. It was a fire in the alley, and huddled around it were some of the homeless, trying to keep warm on this cool summer night. She watched the flames dance to a symphonia that she could not hear, and bow to a crowd that did not applaud, nor chant for an encore. It simply danced before its' silent audience, as if being alive was its' only joy. After a few minutes of this, she turned around to go somewhere else, but a raspy voice stopped her. "Where you goin', young thing?"
The young girl wasn't sure that this person was talking to her, but instinctively she turned around. A woman peered over the fire at her, her eyes without a sparkle of life, wrinkles deep in her face told of slight age, but also hard times. She motioned to her, inviting her to come sit with them at the fire. "Do come, child; it won't last long, but it's a very nice treat. Best not pass it up, darlin'." The little girl hesitated, her bashfulness displaying in her body language. Slowly she walked towards the fire and sat beside an elderly man who was rubbing his hands together. When she sat down, he glanced at her, shaking his head sadly.
"Oi, Sharlyn, yet another lil' one out on their own... it's heart breaking." Salima cast her gaze across the flames, watching as the dark-skinned woman nodded her head sadly, her whole body quaking as she sighed.
"A tragedy it is... and I heard that the orphanage is filled once more. As well as the homeless shelter." The little girl's attention did not stay with the adults' conversation for long, but rather considered her current predicament. It was cold, so she would have to use her brothers' T-shirt as a blanket, and probably sleep amongst the trash, using some of it as a pillow. Her teddy bear, as always, she'd keep close to herself, and pray that no one stole it while she slumbered.
As she watched the fire blaze, she realized that she was getting quite tired. A yawn escaped her lips, but she used her teddy bear to cover it. The elderly man beside her grunted in a low tone, glancing at her. "Sleepy, aren't ya? Just lie down and go to sleep... I won't be sleeping tonight, so I will watch over you." The little girl looked to him questioningly, but he simply nodded his head. She was to tired to argue, nor would she have had even if she wasn't, so she simply did as she was told. She didn't worry about finding a pillow, but rather spread her brothers' T-shirt over her and curled up with her teddy bear in her arms and close to her chest. The bear itself seemed to warm her as she slowly drifted to sleep; a soft, soothing lullabye close by, yet in the distance, playing quietly to ease her spirits and sing her right into her dreams.
The earth was dark now; the sun was gone, the stars sparkled against the black velvet where they were placed. The dark figure glided down the alleys of the poorest parts of the city, occasionally glancing about at the figures of the homeless who were just laying down to sleep for the night. They were not intimated by this young, dark figure, for she often roamed the streets at night. They knew her attire, some knew her name, but most only knew her as the Young Guardian. Rumors sprouted about heer background, but none of these tales could ever be confirmed as truth. The only time she would speak of herself was when she told her age or her name, and little else.
This figure, a young teenaged girl, stopped beside a man who sat on a crate, quietly weeping. She knew him, she knew why he cried; but she said not a word. In silent communication, she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder to make him aware of her prescence before she wrapped him in a hug. She knew not why, but she found that this comforted him. He would embrace her in return and weep on her shoulder for a few minutes, then break off, thank her, and she would go on her way. Such was the ritual since she had discovered him upon this same crate some nights ago. He was not a poor person, he was not an orphan; he was a reject, an exile. He would come here at night to escape the world, and here she would find him, and offer some sort of comfort. There was once, the third time she found him, where he had actually talked to her, told her about everything through tears and sobs, and asked her for advice. She spoke to him in blunt words, but they seemed like a motivational speech to him. Even now, though, it was hard to live out her words.
As their ritual broke off, she took the time to nod her head in reply to his expression of gratitude before she continued down the alley towards the side-walk, allowing the street-lamps to illuminate her. They displayed what little features there were about her with her cloak and hood hiding her physical details. Her head remained bowed as she began to walk down the sidewalk towards the beginning of a down-hill. At the bottom of it and beyond were more homes, most in better condition than those behind her, and all had lights on in the windows, indicating that they belonged to someone. Many belonged to families, or so she imagined. She never went down the hill; she confined herself to the part of town that she often wandered, that she knew by heart. No telling what these people, the middle class, or their higher-classed counter-parts, would think of her, or those she lived with; the below low-class, the rejected, exiled, the poor, the law-breakers, the lonely, the alone, and the unknowns.
However, one day, she would venture down and explore that part of the city. Its' buildings closer to perfection than the abandoned, run-down structures that housed only things and worthless storage for the land-lords, sometimes they housed gangs, religious folk who sought to deny rich luxuries, or insane hermits. Her gaze narrowed slowly as she took off her hood, revealing her short brown hair, but her face remained within shadows for the most part. She listened in silence, as she always did, to the noises of the night, and to the silence that was sure to follow. Her thoughts' swirled in her mind, played in her subconscious dreams, and registered into the back of her mind as memories she would savor for the rest of her life. In her listenings, she heard a faint sound... a song, a harmonious orchestra, soft and soothing to her mind and soul. It seemed distant, and yet so close to her. She simply closed her eyes, using the loss of this sense to power her hearing, in order to better hear the beautiful piece of music.
Feet with great speed flew down the sidewalk, quietly pounding against the concrete. One glance over his shoulder and the teenager gave a smirk. No one had seen him slip into the store, nor swipe a small bag of apples and flee. To simple, much to easy. His attention returned to where he was headed, his pace quickening before he darted around a corner at fullspeed. He entered an alley, the darkness of night hiding him, but he continued on; running down alleys and bursting around corners until he approached his place. Night was upon this place, but he could see well in the darkness. He spotted the dancing flames of the poor-folk fire from where he stood, and he jogged toward it, trying to remember how many apples were in his bag. As he approached the fire, he slowed to a walk, quickly counting the people around it as he reached into the bag. Silently, he handed out the delectable fruits to each of his fellow-homeless, but stopped when he discovered a new face among them. A little girl slumbered near Jenkins, her teddy bear held close to her. His expression fell, but he handed Jenkins his apple, nevertheless. "I can watch over her, Jenkins," the boy offered, sitting beside the sleeping child.
Jenkins laughed, shaking his head. "Oh no ya don't, boy. After all you do for us, you need your sleep. Sleep beside the girl, perhaps it'll keep her warm after the fire goes out." The teenager wanted to argue, but he was tired, and he knew he needed more energy tomorrow for the open-market. He gripped the last apple tightly, hiding it in the bag before he lay down beside the little girl. He'd give her the fruit in the morning as her breakfast, he thought. She was probably new to the homeless life, and thus she would only be able to skip one meal every so often. He'd have to steal more often to provide food for her, or be sure he was very successful tomorrow.
As he rested his head on the cool concrete of the alley, he emptied his thoughts in order to prepare himself for slumber. Only the sounds of the night washed through his mind... until he picked up a song. It was so gentle and serene; it was like nothing he had ever heard. The music seemed to play just for him, wishing to be this nights lullabye. He thought of nothing but how beautiful it sounded, allowing it to overtake him and soothe him into slumber for the night.