Bara huffing and trying to breathe:
I hope this leads to somewhere good. I really hope this leads to somewhere nice. And I really, really, hope it leads to somewhere secluded.

This was his wish after all and he hoped for it to come true with all his heart. Two nights ago thirteen year old Bara has escaped his parent’s house just barely. For so many years he was nothing more than a slave to his mother, father, uncle, and cousin. His parents didn’t like him because they thought he was a cursed child since he came out with long, wild, purplish hair, large wolf ears, and black diamond eyes. His skin color was slightly off as well. His parents were a deeper shade of bronze blue while he was more bronze yellow, thus the one thing that really made his parents fearful of him, and treat him badly was the strange marking on his chest. They treated him horribly making him do all the chores, locking him in the barn with the animals at night, and feeding him nothing but scraps. He was so thin and was close to fainting but he stepped bravely onto the side rail and waited as it carried him across to a foreign new island. As he steps down from the rails he notices that the trees are a bright pinkish color and this makes him smile, for he felt that he’d come to a more peaceful place where his parents couldn’t find him.

Bara:
They’d never think to find me here. They’d never try crossing these rails. Hopefully I’ll be better off in a new place.

Bara thought to himself as he began wandering down a winding road. He’d seen the sign after leaving the rails and thought that Feerial Village sounded like a nice place to lead a new life. Walking along the road he thinks back to two days earlier when he had to run away and never look back on his terrible, sad life again…

Latha tossing food into the barn:
Here you go boy eat up you need your strength to work the fields in the morn.

Latha Traith, Bara’s mother had come in from the house to feed her son and make sure he had just enough strength to work the next morning. Bara Traith of the Third Clan was apart of the spirit healing clan, but his spirits failed to heal themselves since his family tore him down at every turn. Bara was small for his age standing only at about 5’2 and withering away to nothing, but that didn’t stop his family from cutting him down even more. They beat him mercilessly, yelled at him, and treated him worse than the animals they cared for.

Bara sadly after licking up his food:
C-c-can I please have a bit more?

Latha with a deep voice full of anger:
DO YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT YOU HAVEN’T HAD ENOUGH TO EAT?!! AS IF TO SAY THAT I DON’T GIVE YOU ANYTHING?!!!! HOW DARE YOU, YOU UNGRATEFUL THING!

Bara trying not to cry:
Believe me mother I—

Latha holds up one had to stop him from speaking any further. Bara stops talking abruptly and stares at his mother in fear. He didn’t know whether she would slap him or simply give him the evil and spit acidic words at him cutting deeper than the actual beatings put on him.

Latha:
No, you shall not call me by that name; you are no son of mine I tell you. You are Baarda’s child. You belong to the Devil God with that—that mark on ya! No son of mine would ever carry such a mark of pure evil!

Bara:
I know that you feed me well, (swallowing hard) but I would love to have some more since it was very good.

Bara used this type of flattery towards his mother to gain more of what he wanted. She sometimes fed into it and gave him what he asked for, but mostly she just ignored him. However, she was in a “good mood” and decided to give him a bit more.

Latha tossing in more scraps of food:
Fine then eat up! Eat up now!! This is the last of it.

Bara after picking up the scraps of food:
Can I ask you a question please?

Latha with an angry sigh:
If you must. Go ahead let’s hear it!

Bara sadly in a small voice:
Why don’t you love me? Why can’t you hug or kiss me? Why won’t you lay with me sometimes and tell me things will be okay?

Latha paused for a minute with a look of sadness in her eyes then walked into the barn where her son sat in the hay ready to go to sleep. She stood over him looking sinisterly at the child she was once so happy to carry in her tummy. She bends down, and Bara who is used to being slapped about, flinches a little as Latha scoops him up in her arms and hugs him tightly. She felt the bony child as she hugged him with love. At that she felt terrible at what she’d done to him. She had a plan to take him away from this misery once and for all.

Latha whispering to Bara:
Run Bara, run away and never come back. (With tears in her eyes) please go. Go on and don’t look back you hear me!

Bara in a surprised tone of voice:
But Latha—

Latha with a trembling voice and tears in her eyes:
Do not call me that! I’m your mother I said go! This is the end of this discussion. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t go on like this when you are my child. However I can’t keep living with the devil’s child either. Your father thinks me cursed as well because I bore a cursed child. Well, he can hurt me, but I can’t keep letting him hurt ya anymore. I simply refuse!

Bara crying and hugging her tightly:
But I’m not Baarda’s child I’m yours. I’m yours!

Latha:
Listen child you’re leaving here tonight and I don’t want to hear another word about it. Your father, his brother, and his brother’s wife will try at nothing to stop you, or worse, kill you if they catch you. I will provide you with a way out so that you may get out alive and live a life of your own. And Bara…I do love you. But, I can’t keep loving you. In fact I have to forget you.

Just then Bara’s father walks into the Barn as Latha thrusts him back down on the hay. Jetha looks at his son with hate in his eyes then pulls his wife back out the barn and shuts it closed killing the little light that kept Bara feeling safe. He shivered in the cold barn but was soon asleep in a matter of minutes. Several hours later Latha comes back and swings the barn door open with such force that it shakes the whole barn. Bara awakes with a start then stares blankly at his mother who looks frantic.

Latha with tears running down her cheek:
Okay Bara dear it’s time to leave. Get up now and take this with you.

Latha hands Bara a bag full of clothes and food. Deep inside, she truly cared about her son and wanted nothing but the best for him. Sadly she couldn’t give this to him and on the surface she hated the fact that he was born the way he was. Bara quickly dresses in his all black servants’ uniform rather old worn work pants slightly too big and a too small shirt that showed his stomach. He ties his hair back and grips the bag in his hands then carefully exits the barn.

Bara kissing Latha on the cheek:
Thank you mommy I love you.

She hugs him tightly then shoves him towards the woods and sprints back towards the house. Bara runs with such speed into the woods and doesn’t look back once until he hears a yell so violent that he stumbles a bit and almost falls face first to the ground. He gathers his balance and keeps going because he knows that his father and Uncle Saithe are both on his trail. It was near his time to awake anyway to start his work and Jetha was known for waking him earlier than he really wanted to be. He hears them in the distance and decides to ditch the path and follow a different way.

Jetha:
Get back here you puny little punk!! I WILL KILL YOU WHEN I SEE YOU!!

Saithe:
Jetha what will happen if he comes into contact with real people? They will fear for their lives! He’s got that mark o’im. You’ve got to put him down!

Jetha:
Don’t you think I know this?!! Just keep going we’ll find him. He can’t get far…

That was two days ago and Bara still hadn’t been caught by either one of them. He was happy about this since he was weak and didn’t have much strength after going through the woods stumbling trying to find smoother ground. As he walked around Feerial in the dark he noticed that there were no people around. It wasn’t that late into the night yet, there wasn’t a soul still lingering about. Bara walks slowly down a street and then turns and walks down another. His mother had given him food, but no money so he couldn’t stay anywhere. He walks down a dark alleyway and sees that one of the buildings is abandoned. He pushes open one of the windows and slips right through; this is where he now called home.

**

Casee is walking with Yuki and Fazil down an unfamiliar part of Feerial smiling and goofing off. Casee watches as her two friends play sprite a type of game of tag played by Arcanthians and smiles to herself. She was really happy and so were they. Casee continues watching the two boys’ play she was steadily walks behind them. They were having so much fun, but inviting Casee into the game would make it even better.

Fazil:
Casee you want to play with us? It’s really no fun with only two people. No offense Yuki, but it’s not.

Yuki:
Don’t worry I was feeling the same way. No fun.

Casee laughing:
Hey Yuk why do you always do that—end your sentences with either one or two words like you’re summing it up?

Yuki with a thoughtful expression:
I don’t know really. Not sure.

Casee laughing harder:
You did it again!

Yuki with a shy smile:
I know. I can’t help it Case. Now play with us we’re bored playing with just the two of us. The game’s no fun without at least three people. And Fazil you’re still it.

Casee:
Fine. I’ll play. Now Fazil it’s time for you to spin around three times and point the direction for us to run in. Go!

Fazil closes his eyes, spins three times then points straight ahead. Casee and Yuki begin running in the direction of Fazil’s finger and the game begins. As they play out the day laughing and having a good time, Fazil realizes that it is time to start collecting the goods.

Fazil:
Okay Case you and Yuki need to go back to the underground and wait until I return. Remember: the grate is to be placed over and you guys are to be quiet until you hear me drop the penny down. Do not come until you hear the coin drop otherwise stay put and wait until I do return.

Casee:
We know the drill Fazil just go, and please be careful.

Fazil:
Aren’t I always?

Casee:
I don’t recall that but I do recall the first day we met where you were almost caught by that vendor.

Fazil:
Yeah, yeah, yeah keep bringing that old stuff up. That was clearly the past Case. Have I gotten caught since? Have I been spotted by any of the patrol since that first time?

Casee:
Well no, but that’s because you’re lucky. You are a lucky one.

Fazil:
You keep saying that and you won’t eat.

Casee:
You know I’m just pulling your leg. Now go, Yuki and I are gone out of sight.

Fazil walks in one direction while Casee and Yuki walk in another. As they separate Casee decides to sing Yuki a song. They pass the familiar streets where they met and smile at each other. As they pass the alleyway where Fazil stumbled upon Casee, she stops and looks at it and sees it in a different light.

Casee:
I guess I was lucky to be in that alleyway the day Fazil fell over me. I’d run away the year before roaming everywhere when I happened upon that alley.

Yuki:
Yeah I know what you mean. When I see the fountain I see it differently. It has become my lucky spot where I met you. Every time I look at it I just think of how lucky I am to have you and Fazil as friends. I may be a person who constantly lives in fear, but with you guys around I feel maybe the teensiest braver than I do on my own.

Casee laughing a little:
Yeah Yuk? That’s good. And this spot is mine where I met Fazil, unwillingly, but thankfully at the same time. I guess we were meant to come together.

Yuki:
This has been the best two months of my life. I’m never going back home. Completely forgotten.

Casee:
I’ve been gone almost two years. Fazil ran away at least six months before. Now look at us. We’re actually happy!

Yuki:
Come on I’m ready to go home. My feet are killing me. (Pointing to his feet) Pain.

Casee and Yuki are about to walk away from the alley when they hear soft sobs coming from the abandoned building. As they get closer Yuki becomes even more afraid of the sobbing sounds and just wants to walk away. Casee on the other hand, the sympathetic person she was, wouldn’t dare walk away from someone in trouble.

Casee:
Yuk you hear that?

Yuki hiding behind Casee:
Yeah now can we get away from it?

Casee:
Wait it sounds like someone’s crying.

Yuki:
I hope you’re not thinking of checking it out! If you are I’m waiting right here.

Casee:
You won’t be brave with me and come along?

Yuki:
If you hadn’t noticed I’m not actually the brave type. (Pushing Casee forward) You do it.

Casee grabbing Yuki’s hand:
You’re coming with me. Now let’s go.

They walk up to the building and listen first. There’s a little boy inside crying harder and harder. Casee looks into the broken window and sees him sitting all alone in the middle of the charred and dirty floor.

Casee:
Yuk it’s a little boy crying. I wonder if he’s another one of us. You know a run-a-way just like us.

Yuki:
Well you go check I’ll stand watch.

Casee:
Don’t be such a baby Yuk, come on we’re going inside. I want to see if he’s all right. It will only take a second Yuk. What if he’s really hurt or hungry or alone? Something?!

Yuki makes a face of unconcern, but Casee grabs Yuki again and they both slip through the window and walk over to the boy. They see that he is filthy and wearing rags for clothes. His face is smudged with grime and very oily. His shoes are worn and his once bronze yellow skin is covered in dirt. He is wiping his eyes with his dirty hands and doesn’t see Casee and Yuki standing there until Yuki hiccups loudly.

Yuki with a smile of embarrassment on his face:
Excuse me.

Boy getting up in fear and anger:
Who are you people?!! I claimed this spot fair and square! Leave here now get out of here and don’t come back around!!

Casee in a soothing tone:
Don’t worry we don’t want to take your spot. We heard you crying outside and thought we’d come in and see if you were okay.

Boy in a hostile tone:
I’m fine! Now you may leave me alone!

Yuki becoming a bit angry:
You don’t look fine. You look like you haven’t eaten in years, you’re covered in dirt and you’re sitting in an abandoned building crying. None of that qualifies as being fine.

Boy:
Nice of you to point this all out to me, but I am fine. Now leave.

Casee:
Are you a run-away? Did you leave home? Where did you live before?

Boy:
I don’t know. All I know is that I’m on my own and that’s the way I would like to stay. Now if you two don’t mind leaving.

Yuki:
He’s thick in the skull! No one in this state wants to be alone. (Throwing his hands in the air) Craziness!

Yuki goes off to the other side of the building and stands there with his arms crossed. He looks out one of the dirty windows and stops listening to Casee and the boy. He wasn’t too happy with how the boy was acting around people who were trying to care about him.

Boy:
Please just leave me alone I’m fine here on my own.

Casee:
Listen, if it helps, Yuki and I are run-aways as well. We stay together with another friend of ours. Maybe we could take you to where we stay and you could eat and get some better clothes that actually cover you. We have clothes there that I’ve made out of things thrown out.

Boy trying to calm down:
I don’t trust the likes of you! I don’t trust anyone.

Yuki:
Whatever. And Casee why did you tell him my name? We don’t know who this psycho is Case! He doesn’t trust us? Truthfully we shouldn’t trust him! And I preferred that to stay a secret. Why did you tell him my name?!

Casee:
From who Yuk? From who?

Yuki with a heavy sigh of defeat:
Never mind.

He goes back to looking out the dirt stained window while Casee continues coaxing the boy out of the building.

Casee sounding sympathetic:
I know you have to be scared in this building alone. We would be happy to be your friends and look after you. You look rather young and I’m sure your wings haven’t come in yet. How do you survive?

The boy is taken aback and calms down the angry tone. It seems that Casee has hit a sore spot.

Boy stammering in a small voice:
I-i-i I m-make a way.

Casee:
Well, let us help you. Come with us. It’s going to be okay. We won’t let anything bad happen to you believe me, we’re not like that.

Boy finally giving in to Casee:
Well fine, but if I want to go you won’t try and stop me will ya?

Casee:
Of course not. Now what’s your name?

Boy:
I’m Bara Traith.

Yuki brightening up:
Wow you’re a spirit cleanser! That’s awesome I’ve never met one before. Awesome.

Casee to Yuki:
Oh now you perk up! (To Bara) Okay where did you come from?

Bara:
I came from the bottom of Traal the Fourth Island It leads straight to Sael, at least that’s what the sign said when I stepped on the side rail to this island. I took it and landed here in Feerial Village. I wandered around for a bit and then I found this building and decided to live in it. I’ve been here ever since I got to this island.

Casee:
Wow. How old are you?

Bara:
I’m thirteen.

Casee:
Oh cool Yuk he’s the same age as you!

Yuki sarcastically and unenthusiastically:
Ooh whoopee. That’s so cool.

Casee makes a face at Yuki then turns back to Bara.

Casee:
Okay Bara welcome to the family. Now come on it’s time to go. I don’t want to get back and Fazil is there. He will surely have a fit.

Bara:
Who’s Fazil?

Casee:
Don’t worry you’ll meet him soon enough. He’s the head of our wonderful family and he would be happy to meet you.

Yuki:
Or angry. Either way, it’s gonna be a surprise…

**

While inside the tunnels Casee, Yuki, and Bara are sitting in the middle of the left tunnel eating sappas. Bara turns around and looks down one of the tunnels to the right and wonders where it leads.

Bara:
So have you guys explored this place below the city? It looks rather interesting.

Casee:
Well… no we’ve used the rail though. That’s so much fun, but Yuki almost fell off so we haven’t done that in a while. We mostly just walk around above ground.

Yuki with his mouth full:
Yeah and I’m not really up for exploring dark tunnels right now. (Swallowing his food) I’ll wait till I’m a little older.

Casee rolls her eyes:
We just prefer not to go looking for trouble is all.

Bara:
Well that makes sense. I just wonder what’s down here. What did this tunnel used to be?

Casee:
It used to be a quicker way for travelers coming in from other islands to get around. It’s rather unique and Feerial is the only village that is home to the underground Express Travel Station, or ETS. Fazil told me that. He and I are natives here if you will.

Bara:
Well I’m not sure which island I’ve come from. But I believe its Traal the Fourth Island. I’ve learned to read a bit on my own. My parents never let me out of their sight and they kept me locked up in a barn, so I couldn’t explore my surroundings. They never taught me anything so I don’t know much. I know of what I hear and what I teach myself.

Casee sounding sad for him:
Aww, that’s rather sad Bara. I know what you must be feeling. My mother and father never taught me, but my mother’s friend taught me as much as she could that’s how I learned to master the Wikgun in my hand.

Yuki:
What’s that? Is it dangerous?
Yuki decides to back away from Casee just in case it was something very dangerous and could do much harm to him.

Casee laughing:
No Yuk it’s a special weapon used to protect us Arcanthians. There are outside worlds out there that we don’t know about. They might be very hostile and we have to have ways to protect ourselves, or just from people like our loser parents.

Yuki:
So how does it work?

Casee:
Well you have to really need it or want it to show. My mom’s friend, Lorn, says that it only appears when you call for it to come. Once you’ve mastered calling the Wikgun it will come when you want it to. Also it shows up in different forms mostly from the way you use your powers.

Yuki:
So you use your hands to cleanse and heal the heart?

Casee:
That must be the case I guess.

Yuki thoughtfully:
Uhm, I wonder how my Wikgun will appear. It would be cool to know how I use my power to cleanse the mind.

Bara sounding a bit sad:
I’m not really sure how or what my power of cleansing is or does. I know nothing about myself really.

Casee:
Well you’re part of the Traith Clan or the Third Clan that cleanses the spirit. You are a rare form not many Traith’s are born and not many are seen here on Arcantha. They are said to be the most powerful of all four clans.

Bara smiles at Casee and finds that he likes his new home even if it was dark and filthy and had a rather pungent odor. It was better than that burnt down abandoned building where he stayed alone. He looks down the tunnel towards the entrance where the grate is held in place over the top of the hole and hears a pinging sound of something falling in.

Bara:
Hey there’s a sound coming from the grate. It sounded like something falling in. is someone coming?

Casee about to get up:
Finally it’s Fazil he’s been gone for too long. Come on let’s see what he’s got Yuk I hope it’s something good like more sappas.

Yuki:
Those are so yummy I can never east just one!

Bara stays behind and starts rummaging through the clothes that Casee took and put in a pile on one of the walls. He begins changing finding a shirt with no buttons and a small t-shirt with weird pictures that he can’t make out pasted on it. Casee and Yuki come back with Fazil walking slowly behind. He has his arms full of an assortment of food and walks over to where the other foods are stored and drops them down. He then turns around and sees Bara dressing on the opposite wall and pauses to get a better look at him.

Fazil to Yuki and Casee:
So this is the new guy huh? What’s his name again?

Casee:
This is Bara, Bara this is Fazil. He’s very nice and harmless. He comes off as defensive at first but he’s a good person. Sometimes he acts like a big kid even though he’s the oldest.

Fazil:
Listen life’s a blast live it! That’s what I believe. So Bara, since you’re going to be a new addition to our little band, tell me, what’s your story?

Bara:
Not much to tell I ran away because I was tired of being a slave to my family. My mother told me to leave one night, so I did. I haven’t looked back since. Casee and Yuki found me in an abandoned building and brought me here. You don’t mind do you?

Fazil in a cool tone of voice:
Hey, that’s how we got Yuki. Casee found Yuki by the fountain. Have you seen it yet? It’s very beautiful and Casee likes to pray there. She is the hopeful one out of all of us. She keeps us feeling good about ourselves, and so to have her around is a good thing when you’re feeling sad or alone.

Bara:
Well I didn’t get out much. I was so hungry that my head began hurting. I couldn’t leave and all I did was cry.

Fazil:
Well now you’re one of us and you can have as much food as you like. We share here and we try and get along since we’re all each other have. We are our own family as Casee says. Most importantly we stick together.

Casee:
Yay! I’m so happy now! Come on let’s eat I’m starving.
They begin to eat and are laughing and having a good time when Yuki spots the mark on Bara and wonders what it is.

Yuki:
Bara, what’s that mark under your shirt? Is it a spot of dirt?

Bara trying to cover it up:
Oh it’s nothing don’t worry about it. It’s been here since I was born.

Fazil staring at the mark:
Oh that’s a sign of the Head Goddess and Head God Sidia and Charma. It means he’s a special spirit cleanser who can call on Sidia and Charma to come to his aide, tell of future danger, and ask advice. That right there says you’re really powerful Bara.

Bara perking up:
Really! My mom and dad kept telling me it was the sign of Baarda the Devil God. They would keep their distance from me and keep me in the barn away from the rest of the family. They even told me I was a cursed child and have been telling me this all my life. I wonder if they knew the truth all along.

Casee:
Well, either they did and kept you from trying to tap into your powers or they really didn’t know and thought the sign was Baarda’s, either way it’s still wrong of them to treat you the way they treated you.

Fazil:
My mom used to tell me about the Four Clans all the time. She would tell me as she tucked me in bed at night. It was like a bedtime story. I know a lot about them and what powers are supposed to do what.

Casee:
So do I, but my mom’s friend told me. She was the one who taught me everything that I know so far. What about you Yuk? How do you know everything you know?

Yuki:
I used to read the books that my mom and dad would leave in their study. It was always locked so I had to find a way to get in. I would keep a special pick with me and when they weren’t around, which was always, and then I’d unlock it with my pick and sit there reading their books. They are filled with tons of information about the Clans and what they do and the history on how we came about. It is an epic read I must say. All of it was very helpful and rather interesting to read. I learned a great deal from them. I haven’t gotten through them all, but I learned a lot.

Bara growing angry inside:
Why, why were my parents such evil people?! They never told me anything about myself or my powers. You guys know so much about yourselves but I hardly know anything except from what you’ve told me just now.

Fazil:
Don’t worry Bara we’ll find out who you are and how to use your powers. We’ll find out more about all of us and how we can all use our powers. Right now we settle in as a new family and eat. Tomorrow is a new day.