a hero appears {Ean/Kara}

Ean sat quietly on one of the boxes, on the port, of Hargeon’s harbor. Sola was quietly coiled on top of Ean’s head, resting. It was a quiet evening not much different than any other. Since Ean didn’t live too far off from the shore, he usually watched the sunset from off ports shore. All of the fishermen were starting to come in for the day and were bringing in their haul. Their source of food and income for the day was hauled in within boxes and nets depending on what was caught and what resources were available to the various boat crews. Ean enjoyed their talks between each other. Occasionally they noticed him there but not often. Since they always forgot Ean’s name, they usually referred to him as ‘ghost boy’ because it was something they could more easily remember.


Ean was reading one of the new books that just came into his guild’s library, titled, ‘the story of the Hero’s blade’. It was a story about a Fiorian boy named Alex who became a legendary general after finding a mythical sword known as Clarentine, the sword of peace. Ean had only just started the book but was always fascinated with stories of heroism he felt he’d never be able to achieve in his life time. Especially stories like this where a normal person like himself turns into a legendary hero. Ean wondered if he would ever be capable of something like that.


Ean decided it was best to get out of the worker’s way and hopped off the box he was on after marking his place in the book. “HEY GET BACK HERE!” Ean heard a yell from down the pier as he looked over to get a body full of tackle as he was run over by someone who was caught pick pocketing the fishermen as they were unloading. The man, like most, didn’t notice Ean, and fell over with him only to quickly get back up and start bolting into the city in an attempt to get away from the mob of angry fishermen who were charging in Ean’s direction, ignoring some of the jewel that he had dropped on the way. Ean would have gotten out of the way but his ankle sprained when he was knocked over and was now in a state of helplessness.


Like the low time bandit, they didn’t notice Ean who was now on the ground and were only a few steps away from trampling the boy and his pet pipe fox, whom had fallen off Ean’s head and onto the ground next to him. He was trying to pull Ean by the neck but was too small to move Ean any substantial distance as the mob closed in on the duo. For a split second, Ean’s face showed fear. Ean’s face rarely showed any emotion at all but in his current situation, his life was on the line, and he wasn’t even capable of doing how little he was able to do regularly as he muttered to a non-existent person in the world. “Help me.”


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word count: 516

Kara was walking near by, she heard a rumbling. "Ah? What is that??" She looked over toward one of the piers to see a boy, around her age, on the ground. And a mob of angry fisherman, not noticing him heading in his direction. "Hey! Move out of the way." She called to the boy, but he looked at her helplessly.

"Help me." She heard him say. With lighting quick speed she sprinted across the pavement, grabbing the boy and his snake like pet, much to her disapproval and pulling them aside. "Are you attempting to kill yourself?" She questioned the boy, helping him up, "honestly, you would have been trampled to death." She fixed the fur lining around her and brushed the dust off her short dress, adjusting Tsubaki on her back.

Ean felt a tug on his collar that was much stronger than Sola’s. Thanks to that tug he was pulled out of the way and wasn’t trampled by the mob as Ean’s expression calmed down back to its emotionless poker face with a sigh. Ean immediately looked to see who his savior was to see a lovely red-headed woman carrying a rather elegant sword on her back. Is she a noble? Ean asked himself in his thoughts, noting her attire as well, which was rather extravagant.

“T-thank you,” Ean stammered slightly, still emotionally distraught from the situation thought it no longer showed on his face. As Ean reached his feet he felt a sharp pain in his right ankle and went back down to a knee as one of his eyes closed in pain. He really wasn’t going to be walking right after this, at least not to his home. Fortunately for Ean, his little shack was close by.

Sola on the other hand was even more relieved that Ean was alright than even Ean as he slipped up the woman’s leg and coiled himself around and slithered up her leg, then her body up to her neck to coil gently around her neck, the furs tickling as they passed the skin. Sola put her small head in front of the woman’s, before letting out a small squeak of thank you and pecking her nose in a kiss before making a jump from her neck, to Ean’s to coil around and gently to the same to Ean’s cheek. Ean let out a light smile as he scratched Sola’s head with his finger. “Don’t worry Sola. I’m fine,” Ean assured the young pipe fox, although he really wasn’t sure how he’d get home and sleeping next to the ocean without a blanket to shield you from the cool winds wasn’t exactly a pleasant option. Ean looked up to his hero with the same light smile. "Sorry about that. Sola was just saying thank you."


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She flinched back at Sola, "I-I see." she mutters, "he's sweet." She stated patting Sota's head. She notices his ankle, "you're injured." She says, she squats down to further examin the ankle, "sit. Please," she motions to a near by crate on the pier.

"What were you doing? That you are injured and sitting in the middle of a pier, you could have gotten killed."

Ean staggered himself back to the box he was previously sitting on to let the girl check his ankle. Honestly it may have kept Ean from moving but it was only a sprain, he could limp and he’d be fine in a day or two although he really appreciated the concern. He rarely got extended attention from anybody and this was the longest conversation he had had in two days, even if the circumstances were a little less than desirable.

“I was about to leave when I was run over by whoever those fishermen were chasing,” Ean explained as the red-haired girl looked over his ankle. “He probably stole something. With how foul mouthed these sailors can be it would be difficult to insult them,” Ean deduced about his little issue. Ean looked over to where he was almost trampled to notice ‘The story of the Hero’s Blade’ was a mess and barely in one piece. That was going to be fun explaining things to his guild master. Ean looked down at the back of his left wrist at the white Lamia Scale guild mark that blended in with his skin tone, making it almost as unnoticeable as Ean was. It was his own backyard, his guild’s backyard, and he couldn’t even deal with a lone thief. He was weak, he couldn’t do anything on his own, and was now being helped by a complete stranger who had to help him. Ean couldn’t help but get depressed even though, like most things, it never showed on his face and if it did, it was only very subtle and momentary at best.

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She nods, listening to his story. "Well, your ankle appears fine, just some swelling. It's a pretty nasty sprain though." She sighs and gets up, adjusting her sword, "yes well, you never know what kind of people can so things, especially thieves." She says, her voice is cold and emotion is almost nonexistent. She gazes down at his hand.

"Is that the lamia scale mark?" She questioned, taking his wrist and examining it, "I almost didn't see it the colour is so light." She remarks.

That’s a rather pessimistic view, Ean thought to himself as he let his eyes go back to the girl who got up and once again readjusted her sword. Despite her good looks, it seems her personality was a little less so, but perhaps she’s just a little more unwelcoming than others. Or perhaps she was an obnoxious, snobby, little brat who thought of us all as beneath her.

“Yes. I am a member of the lamia scale guild,” Ean replied to the girl bluntly as she grabbed his hand and inspected it. Was she just curious about the guild mark or was there a particular reason she was intrigued. Did she have some business with Zuo Cii? That was possible, he did rebuild this city from scratch after it was destroyed and restored the Lamia Scale guild, so nobles around the area were on good terms with the senile guild master. Or perhaps she was from farther away and seeking to join the guild. “Do you need something from us?” Ean asked politely. It would be a bit of a walk to go to the guild and it wasn’t always as lively some nights as it is others but he wouldn’t mind walking all the way out there. Well, he wouldn’t exactly be walking with this foot, Limping was the better word. He could probably find a stick to carry himself around on so it wouldn’t be so bad and at the very least they would probably find Zuo Cii there and hopefully he wasn’t asleep. Ean really didn’t want to wake up Zuo, he knew how he was when he was awake, he shuddered at the thought of how he would be if his sleep was interrupted. Yeah sure, he could be better or more relaxed but he could also become even more difficult to handle than he already was, which was what frightened Ean.

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word count: 316

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Kara realized her behaviour, and stepped back, blushing deeply. "I-I apologize." She bows formerly to him in a Japanese style manner. "I was rude." She looks at the boy more closely, drawn off, skinny and shy. She wondered what kind of boy such as that is doing as a mage, or in a guild. He looked like a boy that came from a smaller village, like she used see back home.

She straightens herself once more, "no, I have no affiliation with your guild." she smiles at the boy lightly "why hide a mark that shows who you are? Are you ashamed...?" she asked carefully.

Not really. Ean thought to himself. If you were being rude I would have told you. The girl looked a little more human now. Well, that wasn’t the right way of putting it. Was there even a good way of putting it? The best way may be to say she seemed less cold and had actual emotions, at least for a second.


“I am not hiding anything. Things just happened this way,” Ean replied, explaining he didn’t care about the color of his mark so they just used what was more readily available. At least he explained it in the least specific and vaguest terms while still being his usual blunt and to the point self. “I take pride in my guild,” Ean stated calmly yet firmly. Even though our guild master is a terrifying, overly eccentric, senile old man, Ean thought behind that emotionless exterior of a face. Nobody ever realized what he was thinking even though he knew what others were thinking. He was very timid in that regard and very watchful of others and their actions, allowing him to deduce when somebody was nervous or when somebody was afraid. It was just something the weak did. They watched and waited before doing anything.

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She smiles "I see, that is understandable." She waits a second, "oh, and my name is Kara." she introduces. She tries to be as friendly as possible but she still sees the uncertainty in his eyes. Ah, I think I frightened him slightly. she laughs a little, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. He seems so shy, I feel like I could scare him off if I wanted to.

She shifts from side to side, not that well at small talk, she was a fighter, not one for taking in long conversations. She grew up alone with her parents, speaking with others was not a strong suit for her.