Across the wide open sea, many great heroes have laid claim to tales told from generation to generation. Many of them have slayed great beasts, created everlasting kingdoms, forged a new order, and many more. All of these tales have been told one after the other; one child however dreams of such tales to be told of him, and his name is– Arion.
In the slums of Folion lay an impoverished set of siblings. One of them, a boy, had ragged clothes that looked more like a piece of cloth than actual clothes; his fair skin was covered in sooth and body was only skin and bones.
He however was a sharp contrast to his little sister. Although they lived in an alleyway as they had lost their home, she was very well groomed and looked as though she had proper nourishment. She had clothes; not high quality ones but good enough to be considered clothes.
The siblings were clearly not well off as they had nothing to their names but their own bodies.
Amidst the bustling city of Folion there was sadness and despair, and that trait is very apparent on the male older sibling.
"Arion, do we still have any food?" The little girl asked Arion; her tone of voice displaying sadness.
You see, the reason why the little girl looked better than Arion was because of one reason, Arion made sure that she was handled first, even if he was starving, he would feed her first.
"No… I'll find more later. Mister Cane was looking for workers earlier, I could maybe do some odd jobs as well!" Arion replied while trying to seem positive as to not dismay his little sister. "Don't worry Den, I'll make sure that you can eat lots!" He said.
"Arion– don't… lie, Mister Cane already turned you down 5 times this week, and look at your body, you're weak looking. I may be only 6 but I can understand when someone is trying to look happy in front of me." Den said to Arion with a heavy and serious voice.
These two siblings were young. Arion was only 16 and Den was 6, Arion knew very well that if he didn't do something soon, they would perish.
His mind was and has always been filled with thoughts on how they both can survive, this world is cruel, he knows it.
Their life is difficult, they are starving, they are suffering, any form of salvation would be accepted, and so it did…
Arion stood up to walk to see if anyone was looking for workers. He was very hungry, so each step felt heavy, but he kept going. Suddenly however, a gust of wind swept Folion coming from the 'Sea of Philio" it was heavy.
This gust did bring something along with it, a flyer. It was a flyer that read, "To whomever finds this flyer in their hands, join us. The princess of Lima seeks out adventures to go across the 'Elkron Ocean' to find the sword of Zelkron. Whoever returns the sword to her majesty will receive riches none could ever imagine."
Arion stared at the flyer with deep intent. He needed the money, but he knew how dangerous it is to go on that adventure.
You see, the 'Sword of Zelkron "is located on the isle of Silon, the northernmost point of Erilia(the continent of origin). Silon is also extremely cold and the ice alvians live there, they are very aggressive and will attack someone not of their own.
But, despite all these negatives, he knew he had no choice.
He looked back at Den who was tidying their little alleyway home and smiled. He loved his little sister, it's either go on the adventure or die.
He kept thinking about what to do, and when he looked up at the blazing sun he remembered his fathers words…
"My son, out there is a world you have yet to explore, one where you can make a name for yourself and do what you wish to do. The untamed seas call for you. The immovable land calls for you. The brazen sky calls for you. The world calls for you. So when I'm gone, hear their calls." Arion thought of those words, words that he deeply carved in his heart.
To him this was an opportunity, an opportunity to follow the words of his father.
He held it tight, but he put it in his pockets, to him the risk was too high.
Arion kept walking around this time to go look for work. Folion as a city is full of jobs(labor intensive jobs) because of recent attacks by rebels.
"Oh no, those are 'Night Hounds' , what are they doing here?" a murmur could be heard in the background.
"I know. I heard that they were the reason why Groh attacked last time." A man replied.
"The audacity of them." Another bystander replied.
The goons just kept walking, they did not care about the public's whispers. They don't deal with that nonsense.
As they kept walking towards the north face of the royal castle, Arion was heading towards the south gate.
Arion was too focused with his thoughts on how they could survive. This motion of his, would bite him in the back however.
In the midst of their motion they bumped into each other, "THE FUCK!?" one of them replied after bumping into Arion. "Hey kid, watch where you're watching!" the same person said.
"Oh… im– ughhh… sor– SORRY!" Arion replied with a flustered voice. He was intimidated by the 3.
"Fred, we're gonna be late if we don't head back to HQ fast!" One of them exclaimed.
"Kid, you gotta pay me for this mess. You dirtied my leather jacket," Fred said whilst dusting off his jacket; his big-long nose was in the way however.
"I'm sorry sir, but I don't have money accessible to me right now," Arion said as he tried to help dust offFred's jacket.
"GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OF ME!" He replied as he pushed Arion off as he also made a punching motion…
Just like that, Arion was down and getting beaten up, unbeknownst to his sister…
Punch after punch he took it, retaliating would only make it worse(poor boy).
Back to Den however, she was beginning to worry about her brother. Him going on long walks was common for the siblings, but not for this long. She laid on the pavement praying for his safety.
"Oh Zelkron, please protect my brother, he's been good, don't let him get hurted!" she whispered under her breath.
The world is extremely grueling.
On Arion's side, his face was unrecognizable, his hands that he formed to protect his face was giving out.
No one dared to intervene. You couldn't really blame them, the Night Hounds were that powerful, sad but true. Arion knew that no one would save him.
Den could no longer hold out much longer, her worry was too great. She chose to go and look for her brother.
"I wonder where he could have gone?" She asked herself. "I saw him go in the direction of the south gate, maybe he went there!" She said,
And there she goes to the south gate.
"Please stop… PLEASE!" Arion begged Fred.
The pain was too great.
"It's too late for that now kid." The other goon replied. "Fred got dumped by his girlfriend earlier, dude is upset, let him get off steam, save us the time kid."
Hearing those words made Arion realize how severe the situation is, begging would not save him. It was hopeless, his face was already ruined but Fred did not stop.
Poor Arion could only keep trying to get away.
Amidst all the punches he turned on his back. Trying not to expose his organs whilst also trying to crawl away.
"Ssssttttooopppp." He begged under his bloody mouth.
Dragging himself out of the area wasn't working as Fred just pulled him back, but he didn't stop. His will was too strong so he kept trying to get away. It all truly seemed so helpless.
"Someone is getting beaten up by those bastards again?" A passerby said beside Den.
"Do you know what they look like?" Another asked.
"Like a skinny twig, no older than 16."
Den heard those words and realized… it was her brother they were talking about, so she ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and–
"ARIONNNNNNN!!!" She exclaimed to the top of her lungs.
Everyone stopped. Arion looked at her; his face covered in blood and his back bruised.
"Ddddeen, whhhhat're doingggg here?" He asked with a smile.
"You dumb fucking idiot RUN!" She screamed at him while motioning him to follow her.
"Watch your words! Okay!" He replied seemingly getting his energy back, he ran as fast as he could.
Like a torpedo he went.
Fred and the others did not follow, it wasn't worth it. Fred seemed to have cooled off already.
"Den! Lets go to Silon!" Arion said to Den.
"Silon? Now? Why?" She asked.
"No time, let's just go!"
"Treat your wounds first," She said while clutching his hand as they ran.
"Let's just keep going!" He replied.
Meanwhile, at the docks of Folion. A beautiful woman looked onto the vast sea. She was standing on her dinghy, preparing to go on her own adventure. An adventure across the sea…
TBC…