1- Kane

That was a special day to remember. The day I met Kane - Naia

 

“Delvalice is an ancient country full of amazing cultures that vary from the plains people of Redalni and the desert peoples of Donigo, to the old fashioned Castle City of Araili, the technologically advanced Lenoe, or steam-powered Temlan. Even the great capital city of Geldon. All of these places have their own technology, their own beliefs, and their own ways of life. Most importantly, they all hold their own mythology... There is one legend, however, that is known all across the land.

 

“Up to the north, there is a small city, once a small village, known as Weinsa. Once upon a time, in that small village, there was a priestess who relayed the words of our Lord Sola to the people of the North. In the mornings she would pray atop the mountain that stood next to the village, and at nightfall she would preach the Lord's word to the people in the snowy valley below. These people were honest, good folk who would never do badly onto someone else, being so far from the rest of the world that they only saw traders once or twice a year. And so, the good Lord saw fit to reward them.

 

“In the morn, just before the dawn, a bright blue light fell from the sky into the center of the village, but so silent and so swiftly did it fall that none woke, and only the praying priestess noticed the gift from the gods. She descended quickly to the village to see the glowing blue stone, in all of its magnificence, sitting in the snow. She went to it, and knelt before it as she recognized a gift from Sola for what it was. In that moment, the lord spoke to her, and told her of what was to come.

 

“To a woman with one eye of blue and the other green, twins would be born. These twins would be the guardians, the two who would one day prevent the apocalypse. Also, while the world waited for them, a new power would come to the world... this power is what we now know as 'magic'. This new power would bring with it a new race, those we know as 'wizards'.

 

“Time passed, and the wizards began to appear. They worked miracles and disasters alike, wielding the powers of nature as might the gods themselves. Their arte became known throughout the world, and something occurred to the people of the north. If their guardians were to save the world, they should do all they could to aid them. If the guardians were, as it was widely suspected, wizards, then they should have the best of all wizards for a teacher. A contest was held.

 

“A winner was chosen. The first and only Wizard Lord, Orian, was found.

 

“One very cold night to the north, the twins were born. There were no doubts to their identity, as the children would calm only when close to the stone of the gods- the cloudstone. Having no proper structures near enough to the stone, which sat at the base of the mountain, the people grew concerned. The Wizard Lord, however, was not. He called upon his power and turned the mountain into the most spectacular tower ever seen to man, and within those walls, the children were calm. There they were raised, and taught. There, as adults, they studied and waited.

 

“There, they disappeared.

 

“The twins went into the tower one night, and disappeared along with their master. They have not been heard from since that day, but the people of the north believe they are still hiding among us, and that one day they will return, in-”

 

The door flew open, illuminating the room and destroying the effect given by the blue flame candles and the old woman's voice. The silhouette that stood there impassively, five foot seven, somewhat slouched, with baggy clothes and unkept hair. “Hey. Am I late?”

 

There was a pause.

 

“Only by three hours,” the old voice croaked, and a hand illuminated by the blue candles waved him to the back of the room. The door closed behind him, shutting off the light to the room, and with a series of bumps and complaints, he found his way to an empty seat. The tale resumed.

 

“... The people of the north believe they are still hiding among us, and that one day they will return in the light of the dawn to stop the evil that will cause the apocalypse. On that day, it is said that the powers of fire and ice will clash and the end of days will be halted.”

 

With that, the candles flared and went out, and the blinds flew open. The classroom was illuminated by the many windows along the walls, and the ancient teacher in the front, dressed with a lop-sided white witch's hat and plain white robes, was glaring into the rows of students. More specifically, at the third row away from the door, second seat from the front.

 

“Well, mister...”

 

“Tren. Kane Tren.”

 

“Well, mister Tren, thank you for coming to class today.” She got to her feet and gestured for him to join her. “As I've been informed you only just moved in today, I can excuse your tardiness. Now, please introduce yourself to the class.”

 

The boy nodded and stood clearly in front of the students, seemingly at ease with his relaxed posture, simple green t-shirt bearing a three leaf clover, and his black hair that was, in the popular way, black with red, orange, and yellow dye along the tips in the semblance of flames.

 

“Hey everyone. I'm Kane. I came here all the way from Lenoe, and I am happy to be here in Araili. I am thirteen, and I'm a junior wizard. Great to meet you.” With that he took a small bow and, at the teacher's request, returned to his seat.

 

“We should all be very kind to Kane, as he's traveled a long way and will need our assistance to adjust to the change between our wonderful cities. Would anyone like to volunteer to show him around?”

 

One hand shot up among the students.

 

“Oh yes. Naia. If you would be so kind, after school, please show him around and explain some of what you know about our lovely city. Now, thank you all for coming, and I'm sorry to tell you now, Kane, but today is a festival day, and so our classes are dismissed at noon, which is...” She glanced over at a clock on the wall, one of the few technological objects in the building, “In about five seconds. See you all tomorrow!”

 

______________________Naia

 

I remember it like it was yesterday. The day I met -'Kane'. He was a sweet guy, just into our little one-room schoolhouse on the outskirts, outside the Araili walls. In class, sure, he liked to be an a*s. He was a boy, you can't hold that against him, and besides it was kind of cute. When he showed up right before the end of class the first day, however, I was less than pleased with him. I volunteered to show him around because I knew nobody else would.

 

Class was over, so I went over to his desk and greeted him, introducing myself as Naia, and little more than that. My mother and I never liked to bother with last names. He gestured for me to take the lead and I headed out of the class. While most of the other kids ran straight off for the fair, I asked him if he'd like to see the town first. Our little 'part town' out of Araili, because I knew that it would take hours to get into the city that day.

 

We walked away from the schoolhouse and I glanced at his hair irritably. It was the most common thing in the world, those fiery colors, and it was entirely because every boy in Delvalice wanted to look like a criminal. I huffed and turned away quietly, trying to decide where to show the new boy, hoping to get him on a good track so he wouldn't hang out by the shore burning things and throwing rocks at birds like many of the others.

 

He stopped me before we got anywhere, though.

 

“Hey, Naia, wait a sec,” he grabbed my arm to stop me, and then knelt behind me. His backpack unzipped and a small shadow slithered its way out. Two big green eyes were suddenly staring at me and I gasped.

“Oh, a cat!”

 

Kane smiled then, “Yah. His name's Lucifer, and he's my familiar.” He scratched the feline behind the ears and it purred loudly before slinking my way and inviting me to join in the fun. I laughed and obliged.

 

“You keep your familiar in your backpack?”

 

He thought for a moment, “Are we allowed to bring them to class?”

 

“No.”

 

“Then yes, I do. Luce goes everywhere with me, and there are no exceptions.”

 

“Really? ... Wow, my star and I are only together at home. She doesn't like going out.”

 

He shrugged, and smiled at me. “So you are...?”

 

“A white witch in training,” I said with a nod. “My mom's teaching me.”

 

“Cool.”

 

“What about you?”

 

“Me? I'm just a wizard, and Lucifer is as close as I have to a teacher.”

 

“How does that work?”

 

He shrugged, but never answered. I sighed.

 

“Well, there's a few places to show you!” I grabbed his wrist and pulled him along with me, having decided on the worst first. From the schoolhouse we ran over to the stores, of which we had a pharmacy, a bakery, a general store, a small bookstore, and a tailor. Also, a small restaurant owned by a friend of my mother's. That was nothing special, but then I dragged him over to the waterfront.

 

We were actually across the river that looped around the castle like a moat, and our waterfront was what made our community so proud. With stone benches and river walls, a boardwalk, and Captain Nicholas' ferry boat, it was the best place to be in town at any given time. There was also a park off to one side, where we all liked to play from time to time.

 

From there it was time to hit the festival. Kane, however, was not interested. I told him it was only just across the river, and that the ferry gave round-trip passes cheap during festival, but he took one look across and told me he was not in the mood. I had no choice but to let him go.

 

***

 

I saw him again at school the next day, and he ignored me at first. In my usual eleven-year-old-know-it-all way, I thought this was an outrage, and immediately moved to confront him. I dropped my bag on the desk in front of his, and sat facing him while we waited for the teacher to appear.

 

“Hey Kane. How are you?”

 

“Good,” he said, and his expression seemed undecided between confusion, surprise, and happiness. “How was your festival?”

 

“Great,” I told him, honestly. “I got a ring onto one of the bottles, and I won a big soft dragon toy. Its in my room, I could show you... it's all orange and furry.”

 

He smiled again, that bright smile. “I'd love to see.”

 

And so, after school that night, he did. I dragged him to my house, and he met my mother, Rachel. She welcomed him with open arms, and invited him over for dinner a few hours later. After the introduction we rushed off to my room.

 

About two feet tall, and almost as wide with the wings, my cute dragon toy sat on my bed. He stared at it for a moment and congratulated me on my win, commenting on how big the toy was and how much fun it would be. I was happy, for that.

 

“You should come over more often,” I prodded, “we can have fun together. I know you're new around, so we could be friends, can't we?”

 

He considered my words absently for a moment, “That would be a bad idea.”

 

I wasn't sure whether I should be more offended or confused. “Bad? Why?”

 

He shook his head, and smiled at me. “I move around a lot. Chances are that I'll be gone by the fall, and then you'll miss me too much.”

 

“That still gives us all summer...”

 

“Naia...”

 

“Oh come on, Kane!”

 

He frowned at me for a long time, and then sighed. “Fine. We can be friends. But remember, anything that goes wrong with this, is not my fault.”

 

He was odd before he said that, but now he was the strangest boy I'd ever met. I hugged him, and he laughed a bit to himself. Then we left and I tugged him out towards the waterfront, ignoring his questions about where we were going, until we got to the boat. He frowned.

 

“You aren't going to try to make me go into town again, are you? I really don't want to yet, I'd get lost,” he seemed rather stubborn on that point. Fortunately, it wasn't quite what I'd wanted.

 

“Nope. Just on a ride,” I said sweetly. Lucifer poked his head out of Kane's bag and sniffed the air, then pawed Kane's shoulder as he searched for attention. The boy stroked his familiar as I explained that Captain Nick's boat gave shorter rides, just up and down the river, as well. I'd managed to get us both tickets, and I wanted to show him the view. He was hesitant at first, but eventually he agreed.

 

Getting onto the boat, he seemed to pay particular attention to his steps. Odd. “What are you doing?”

“Stepping on with the right foot,” he said intently. Having done so, he relaxed and turned back to me. “The left foot is bad luck.”

 

I snickered. “Wow. Obsessive... is that a part of your teachings?”

 

“Well everyone knows that your luck is important in your magic,” he recited, as though to his teacher. “I take up every one of the rituals that I can to be the best wizard I can be.” I had noticed that. From the clover on his shirt the day before, to the horseshoe on his sweater today, and the various keychain charms hanging from his backpack, he seemed the very superstitious type of person.

 

I mimicked his motion as I walked onto the ship, and he tapped the wood before we walked up to the front to see the captain. I giggled, wondering at how fun it would be to hear about all of Kane's little rituals.

“Oh, Naia! So this is your little wizard friend?” the captain noticed us the moment we got to the front of the ship, and I ran up to give him a hug. He was my mother's long-time friend, and he often asked me to call him my uncle, but I seldom did. I just gave him hugs and waved when I saw him, not that it would be difficult to see him in a crowd. His hair was the strangest greenish blue shade, from dying it, we all knew, and he wore a patterned bandanna of a darker color all of the time. He was also clearly in good form from his work on his vessel. His blue eyes always shone with kindness, as they did now while he looked at my friend.

 

Kane's own shining blue eyes held their same mysterious and undecipherable look, with their own flash of appreciation as the two shook hands. “I'm Kane Tren. Good to meet you.”

 

“Nice to meet you, kiddo. So this is your first time on a ferry?”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

“Then you and Naia head up to the top deck, hm? I'll send up some drinks, on me.”

 

I blushed deeply, “Uncle Nick!”

 

He ruffled my hair and laughed, “I'm allowed to treat you, Naia. Just go enjoy yourselves!”

 

With a gentle nudge in the right direction, we soon found ourselves climbing the stairs to the upper deck. Kane looked back at me with a smirk, “Uncle Nick?” he asked.

 

“Just a good friend of my mom's.”

 

“Rachel seems to be a popular person.”

 

“Yah. She's very nice, and she helps everyone out.”

 

He hummed to himself as we reached the top, and then ran over to the rail and stared out over the water. It sparkled in the sun, and shone like the distant towers of Araili. For the first time I'd seen, Kane was truly impressed.

 

“This view is beautiful,” he whispered, staring out over the water. Lucifer climbed out of his bag and onto his shoulder, staring with his own feline brand of appreciation. I hummed my agreement and for the longest time we were only staring. This was interrupted when one of the boys who worked on the ferry brought up two bottles of baelne juice for us. We gratefully accepted them and sat down on one of the benches.

 

“So what brought your family to Araili?” I wondered, glancing his way. He shrugged.

 

“Just business. My father's a businessman, and he needs to travel around to establish routes for the company he's building up in Lenoe. They make hoverdisks.”

 

“Must have trouble here,” I murmured. “That kind of technology isn't very popular.”

 

He shrugged again. “I know. But then the Araili council has been complaining about their lights lately, and how often they seem to be broken. Father thinks this might be the answer.”

 

“That's interesting... maybe you should ask your parents if they would like to join us for dinner sometime. I'd love to meet them, and I'm sure my mother would too.”

 

“I'll try, but he's a busy man.”

 

I glanced over at the small message board near the front of the ship; one side posted the schedule and the rules aboard the ferry, the other Nick had set up for locals to post messages. A few wanted posters decorated the bottom of the board, as always, and I looked over them with a sigh.

 

“Blaze,” I murmured, reading one of the names. Kane's eyes darted towards me, and then the posters on the board. “Have you heard of him?”

 

For a moment he hesitated, then sighed and chuckled. “What does my hair say?”

 

I looked him over and nodded. The fiery colors of his hair said volumes. “Yah, I guess. So you're one of Black Fire Blaze's fans?” He gave a non-committal shrug. “Why would you want to dye your hair like a murderer?” I asked soon after.

 

He stiffened slightly, offended. “Not like a murderer,” he said, “but like someone I once met.”

 

I stared at him incredulously, “You met Blaze?!”

 

“Yes. He saved me from drowning, once.”

 

I gaped at him for a time. He laughed to himself again. “The guy isn't all bad. I'm not sure his reputation fits... we hung out for a while and he seemed like a nice, normal, person. I think it's just that the moment he was involved with Torgan everyone called him a killer.”

 

“Right.” My bitterness was obvious as I turned away, “because everyone else is just wrong, and mister Blaze is a perfect model citizen like you and me, who got framed by the darkest wizard of all time for no apparent reason.”

 

“Maybe?”

 

“You are ridiculous, Kane Tren!”

 

He rolled his eyes. “Okay, I'm ridiculous, but I'm also your friend and I want to change the subject.”

 

I sighed and gave in. My new friend was ridiculous and strange, but he was interesting, and that whole day was filled with odd conversations the type of which I seldom had with anyone else. I was looking forwards to seeing him again.

 

Reviews

[Drow]

"good folk who would never do badly onto someone else," sounds kind of...awkward. I like the revisions though [No way I'll be able to tell you what they all are, but...] I think I like Nick's hair ^^ I kinda reminds me of what I do with mine when I'm allowed.
Kudos!

[jess]

wow....long....but.....it was amazing!