Chapter one- so? Will you join us?
Amber Blackthorn sat on the beach of port Skydale, knees curled up to he chest, stareing at the water. "I am a good Mage." The 12 year old whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek.
She looked at the puddle of water next to her and held out her hand. The water rose at her will and twisted into the shape of a mirror. In the centre a image of a guild hall appeared.
There was a man sitting on a table, laughing with the people around him. "Did you see here face! 'Can I please join your guild?'! Ha!" He laughed.
"As if we'ed take in a little freak like her!"
The people around him laughed and Amber let the water mirror smash on the ground.
Amber was a water mage. She was one teir down from a water elemental like Juvia, so she couldn't turn herself into water, instead she had a secondary seers ability. She couldn't see the past, but the present was easy as pie. The future was inaccurate and shoddy, as she could only see possibilities.
She had seen people coming to kill her parents and had tried to warn them, but she had been ignored, and her parents had paid with their lives. She had told an old lady she was going to die of a heart attack, but she had been laughed off by everyone. When it had happened, they weren't laughing anymore.
The guild had been her last hope. Talking to her was seen as an omen of death for the most part, and she had used her magic to survive, using whips of water to grab things and protect her from angry mobs. Now she had no where to go, except away form town.
Amber sighed and pushed her self up, her pony tail swinging behind her. She started up the side streets of the port, knowing that the main roads wouldn't be good for her health.
Then she heard the music. It was a woman singing an old song that her parent had taught her.
"When night is dark and hope is lost,
When victory comes at to high a cost,
You'll see a sign you'll win the day,
And soon the darkness will go away."
Amber made her way to the market, where she saw a strange sight. There was a woman standing in font of a large Woden caravan that was highly decorated. A sign on the side offered fortune telling for 10 jewles and remedies for 100 jewles.
Then she spotted the symbol on the singers arm. It was a red cloud woth a cut out crescent moon in the centre. "Night Cloud!" Gasped the girl.
Everyone had heard of Night Cloud. 'The gypsie guild' who made as much money performing as they did doing missions. But most importantly they traveled all over Fiore, meaning that she could leave this town for good.
She didn't want to stop the performance so she looked around for other members of the guild.
The only people apart from the blond singing were a pair of guys, one with a blue bandana and a steel grey mark on his arm, and another with short brown hair and a brown mark on his left hand.
She also saw a group of four horses, silver, black, brown and cream. As she looked towards them she noticed someone else. There was a girl who looked about 19, wearing all white, with two long green pig tails hanging down her back. As she turned around, Amber saw she had a white mark on the back of her neck, though for some reason, her moon was filled in with silver.
Suddenly she turned and looked straight in Amber's eyes, green meeting silver. Amber looked at her options. 'If I've got a chance,' she thought, taking a step forward. 'I'll go for it!'
"Hello," she said, fiddling with her tattered skirt. "Um, my name is Amber Balckthorn, and I was wondering if I could join your guild."
The green haired woman looked at her, and amber noticed a charm bracelet in her hand chink as she moved.
"I'm Finnel Asha Falsia, and I'm the current leader of the Fire Storm Caravan of Night Cloud. What is your magical talent?" She announced.
Shaking with nerves now, Amber stuttered out, "I-I'm a water Mage. Though I also have some seer talent."
That caught Finnel's attention. "Really? That's a rare talent!"
Amber smiled and nodded.
"Well, I suppose there is no reason not to let you in..." Said Finnel, "and we do have a probationary member spot in the caravan..."
"So I'm a member!" Cried Amber in joy.
"No." Said Finnel, causing Amber to shatter on the inside.
"B-but why not?" Croaked Amber.
"Only the guild master can make you a full member of the guild. But I can make you a member of the caravan, then once we've finished our season on the road, we'll all go back to the guild, receive proof that you've done the Fire Storm run, and you can become a member." Finnel said, smiling encouragingly.
"Really!" Squeaked Amber.
"Of course that means you'll have to be taught a lot on the road, both magically and skill wise, not to mention the history and guild lore that will be pounded into you like an over stuffed turkey..." Suddenly Finnel was cut off by a sobbing twelve year old talking her with a hug.
"I was so scared. I thought- I thought that I'd be alone for ever, that I wouldn't see my next birthday. Even the town guild threw me out on my face when I asked to join! I-I..." The girl just broke down sobbing.
Finnel soothed the child until she exausted herself. It only took about five minutes, showing just how exausted she was.
She picked up the girl, amazed at how light she was and walked up the caravan stairs. Inside there was a woman sitting a a desk, surrounded by objects, her face and hair covered by a veil, only her milky eyes visable.
"Maki-chan, pack every thing up. We're leaving town now!" Cried Finnel.
The other girl in the caravan nodded pulling the veil off her head, revealing messy blue hair. As Maki started to pack everything away, Finnel placed Amber in one of the beds in the caravan.
Stroking the girls hair, she smiled softly. She then turned around and stormed out of the caravan.
"Riely, Ken." She said, drawing the attention of the only men in the group, "get Max and Votive hooked up to the caravan, you two are ridding. We have a probationary in need of some care, and this town won't give it." She turned to the last member, who had stopped sinning. "Aria, your on sky watch, I want to know if anything comes within fifty meters of us." The blond nodded and jumped onto the roof of the caravan, using her wind magic to lift her up.
As the boys harnessed the horses, Finnel went back inside the caravan to look for Maki.
The blue haired girl was going over Amber's body. "What do you see, Tanaka?" Asked Finnel.
The milky eyed girl looked back at her friend. "Her magic was working overtime to heal the damage, but that settled down after I gave her a potion. Are you going to contact the master?" She said, nodding to a communication lacriama disguised as a crystal ball.
"Later," said Finnel, "right now we just need to get out of town."
Tanaka "Maki" Takashi smiled and nodded. Going back to tending to Amber.
Suddenly there was a banging on the back door. Finnel opened it to see Maki's boy friend Ken Hitoshi.
"We' ready to go when you are commander?" Said the ex-solider.
"Get on Yew then! Pulling outin two minutes!" She cried, running around to the front of the caravan where the black Max and creamy Votive were harnessed in.
The two were part of the team of horses she had been given when she'd achieved the qualifications to be a caravan master. She had mastered the parts of three the team members and had been on each of the 12 caravan routes. Her bracelet held the proof with the 12 proof charms. each was a proof token that the carrier had been on the route. Hers were currently all silver, but when she had lead the caravan of that route it would become gold.
With Ken and Riely leading the way, she drove the caravan through the city, smuggling out its most hated member.
A.n: more... More characters! I Need them!