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Description
Ciela opened her eyes slowly, trying to remember where she was. She sat up a bit painfully, since she was unaccustomed to sleeping on bare ground. Almost all of last night, she had unsuccessfully tried to search for the clearing she had seen in so many of her dreams, wandering deeper and deeper into the forest. Not wanting to stand up quite yet, she looked around.

Soft rays of sunlight peeked through the treetops, casting gentle shadows on the soft ground, which had a rich brown hue. Sinuous vines winded up tree trunks and onto branches, only to hang down from there, looking for the entire world like a tapestry hanging down a stone wall in a royal banqueting hall. It was truly a beautiful sight. So strange to think that just the night before everything looked so sinister, the light blood red from the fire in the town, the branches obstructions, and the vines like serpents waiting to choke the life from her.

Picking up her bag and ignoring the hunger pains beginning to form in her stomach, she wandered among the trees, admiring a flower here or there and chasing a few butterflies. Suddenly she felt that she was growing closer to her destination. Her pace picked up to a run, a blind chase for something that might not be there.

In a few seconds she found him standing in a small clearing. The two stared at each other, one in childish wonder, the other in complete confusion. What was a child doing here alone?

He was a handsome man in possibly anyone's opinion, his features highlighted by the unusual color of his eyes and his penetrating, honest gaze. The shreds of sunlight made tender patterns on his skin, showing his fairly light, but ever so slightly tanned skin. His hair extended down to his neck, and the hair closest to his neck was much longer than the others. These strands of jet black hair hung past his broad shoulders. The man seemed to be around nineteen years of age.

She ran straight into his legs and knocked him over. The man's perplexed thoughts slipped away when he realized that she was crying. He gently pried her off.

"What's wrong?"

After she finished telling him her story between sobs and sniffles, he sat back against a tree and turned away from her, muttering something along the lines of, "Stupid humans" under his breath.

She blinked at him. "What?"

"It's nothing." He turned back to her. "So you've run away from home."

"Yes." She smiled and thought, just as you have.

"What's your name, child?"

"Ciela Coresblue."

Upon hearing those two words, he shifted away from her, eyebrows furrowed. His glassy blue eyes, which had been cold a moment before, became suspicious with wonder and...pain?

It was her turn to ask him, "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing."

You're lying, you're lying, she thought teasingly.

"How old are you?" he asked.

"Seven."

Smiling, he continued, "What are you going to do, now that you've run away?"

"I don't know." She grinned at him with so much confidence that he thought she had gone crazy. After a few awkward seconds, he laughed and ruffled her hair. This was a child, after all. Innocent, harmless, trusting to a fault.

"Do you know Latimer?" he asked as a passing thought. Her eyes grew wide and she stared at him for a moment.

"How do you know my father?"

The man seemed thrown by the statement. Smiling sadly, he said, "Time certainly goes by quickly, doesn't it?"

Ciela opened her mouth and blinked at him, not understanding. Once again, he smiled. She noticed that his smiles never reached his eyes.

"I'm Arian Sorci. It's nice to meet you." He brushed a few errant strands of hair away from his left eye. As he did, she noticed a few strange markings on the left side of that eye—three dots running along the edge of the eye and three small triangles pointing out from the three points. Each triangle curved in at the side facing its point. They were as black as his hair, easily hidden.

She meant to ask him about it but decided to ask him about it later, since someone else emerged from the trees, talking even before he stepped into the light.

"Oy, Arian. We should get away from here, since I think there's a fire—" He stopped when he saw her, eyes immediately growing hostile. "Arian. What is this?"

"The girl is Ciela." He gave Regin a summary of her story, and then turned to her. "This is Regin Lux. Don't mind his rudeness."

She didn't respond at first, as she had been staring at Regin's face, or rather, the marks beneath his left eye. They were much bigger and much more intricate than Arian's. Two dots ran along the bottom left of his eye. Right beside it were two identical but inversed curves, thick at one end, and thin where they almost joined. From the lower curve, a longer one emerged, swaying and extending down the rest of his face freely, like water.

The marks were about the same shade as his sea green eyes. His hair was pure white even though he was young, making him look tanner than he really was; his skin color was almost identical to Arian's, just a slight shade lighter. She couldn't see his other eye, as his hair covered the right side of his face.

Even all this—the markings and their unusual eyes and hair—failed to convince Ciela that these two people were strange. Regin eventually decided that she wasn't a threat, just a naïve, innocent child, and sat on the floor.

"What is your family like, Ciela?" he asked. "Why didn't they try to protect you?"

"Oh, they did. But it would be dangerous for me to stay with them, I think, so I left. The villagers would have hurt them."

"Because of your dreams."

"Right. My older brother would always ask about them."

"Hayth, right?"

"Mmhm! He was really funny sometimes, you know. There was this time when he tripped and fell into a chicken coop..."

As Ciela kept going off on wild tangents, Arian's mind began to drift. Ever since the girl mentioned her name he had been noticing how much she looked like her—with the same brownish gold hair and the same deep, brown eyes. His eyes smiled for a moment. The same happy personality, even though she had always been silent. Was it a coincidence that he and Ciela had met, here in this forest of all places?

A snippet of Ciela's prattling pierced his thoughts. "My dreams always come true, so I feel like...everything happens for a reason, right? I think my brother said that once."

Arian reached out and ruffled Ciela's hair again. "Do you miss your brother?"

She nodded solemnly. "Do you miss someone, too?"

Slightly thrown off by this statement, he retracted his hand and gently set it down on the soft grass, soft as the smile in his eyes. "Yes. But I'm fine now."

Description
Ciela opened her eyes slowly, trying to remember where she was. She sat up a bit painfully, since she was unaccustomed to sleeping on bare ground. Almost all of last night, she had unsuccessfully tried to search for the clearing she had seen in so many of her dreams, wandering deeper and deeper into the forest. Not wanting to stand up quite yet, she looked around.

Soft rays of sunlight peeked through the treetops, casting gentle shadows on the soft ground, which had a rich brown hue. Sinuous vines winded up tree trunks and onto branches, only to hang down from there, looking for the entire world like a tapestry hanging down a stone wall in a royal banqueting hall. It was truly a beautiful sight. So strange to think that just the night before everything looked so sinister, the light blood red from the fire in the town, the branches obstructions, and the vines like serpents waiting to choke the life from her.

Picking up her bag and ignoring the hunger pains beginning to form in her stomach, she wandered among the trees, admiring a flower here or there and chasing a few butterflies. Suddenly she felt that she was growing closer to her destination. Her pace picked up to a run, a blind chase for something that might not be there.

In a few seconds she found him standing in a small clearing. The two stared at each other, one in childish wonder, the other in complete confusion. What was a child doing here alone?

He was a handsome man in possibly anyone's opinion, his features highlighted by the unusual color of his eyes and his penetrating, honest gaze. The shreds of sunlight made tender patterns on his skin, showing his fairly light, but ever so slightly tanned skin. His hair extended down to his neck, and the hair closest to his neck was much longer than the others. These strands of jet black hair hung past his broad shoulders. The man seemed to be around nineteen years of age.

She ran straight into his legs and knocked him over. The man's perplexed thoughts slipped away when he realized that she was crying. He gently pried her off.

"What's wrong?"

After she finished telling him her story between sobs and sniffles, he sat back against a tree and turned away from her, muttering something along the lines of, "Stupid humans" under his breath.

She blinked at him. "What?"

"It's nothing." He turned back to her. "So you've run away from home."

"Yes." She smiled and thought, just as you have.

"What's your name, child?"

"Ciela Coresblue."

Upon hearing those two words, he shifted away from her, eyebrows furrowed. His glassy blue eyes, which had been cold a moment before, became suspicious with wonder and...pain?

It was her turn to ask him, "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing."

You're lying, you're lying, she thought teasingly.

"How old are you?" he asked.

"Seven."

Smiling, he continued, "What are you going to do, now that you've run away?"

"I don't know." She grinned at him with so much confidence that he thought she had gone crazy. After a few awkward seconds, he laughed and ruffled her hair. This was a child, after all. Innocent, harmless, trusting to a fault.

"Do you know Latimer?" he asked as a passing thought. Her eyes grew wide and she stared at him for a moment.

"How do you know my father?"

The man seemed thrown by the statement. Smiling sadly, he said, "Time certainly goes by quickly, doesn't it?"

Ciela opened her mouth and blinked at him, not understanding. Once again, he smiled. She noticed that his smiles never reached his eyes.

"I'm Arian Sorci. It's nice to meet you." He brushed a few errant strands of hair away from his left eye. As he did, she noticed a few strange markings on the left side of that eye—three dots running along the edge of the eye and three small triangles pointing out from the three points. Each triangle curved in at the side facing its point. They were as black as his hair, easily hidden.

She meant to ask him about it but decided to ask him about it later, since someone else emerged from the trees, talking even before he stepped into the light.

"Oy, Arian. We should get away from here, since I think there's a fire—" He stopped when he saw her, eyes immediately growing hostile. "Arian. What is this?"

"The girl is Ciela." He gave Regin a summary of her story, and then turned to her. "This is Regin Lux. Don't mind his rudeness."

She didn't respond at first, as she had been staring at Regin's face, or rather, the marks beneath his left eye. They were much bigger and much more intricate than Arian's. Two dots ran along the bottom left of his eye. Right beside it were two identical but inversed curves, thick at one end, and thin where they almost joined. From the lower curve, a longer one emerged, swaying and extending down the rest of his face freely, like water.

The marks were about the same shade as his sea green eyes. His hair was pure white even though he was young, making him look tanner than he really was; his skin color was almost identical to Arian's, just a slight shade lighter. She couldn't see his other eye, as his hair covered the right side of his face.

Even all this—the markings and their unusual eyes and hair—failed to convince Ciela that these two people were strange. Regin eventually decided that she wasn't a threat, just a naïve, innocent child, and sat on the floor.

"What is your family like, Ciela?" he asked. "Why didn't they try to protect you?"

"Oh, they did. But it would be dangerous for me to stay with them, I think, so I left. The villagers would have hurt them."

"Because of your dreams."

"Right. My older brother would always ask about them."

"Hayth, right?"

"Mmhm! He was really funny sometimes, you know. There was this time when he tripped and fell into a chicken coop..."

As Ciela kept going off on wild tangents, Arian's mind began to drift. Ever since the girl mentioned her name he had been noticing how much she looked like her—with the same brownish gold hair and the same deep, brown eyes. His eyes smiled for a moment. The same happy personality, even though she had always been silent. Was it a coincidence that he and Ciela had met, here in this forest of all places?

A snippet of Ciela's prattling pierced his thoughts. "My dreams always come true, so I feel like...everything happens for a reason, right? I think my brother said that once."

Arian reached out and ruffled Ciela's hair again. "Do you miss your brother?"

She nodded solemnly. "Do you miss someone, too?"

Slightly thrown off by this statement, he retracted his hand and gently set it down on the soft grass, soft as the smile in his eyes. "Yes. But I'm fine now."