Mirror

Author: Seth


"And so do two halves meet to make a whole, two who could not be more different, yet were drawn together still by the shared pain and the overarching Destiny that binds them to one another."

Fluffy flakes of snow swirled madly around, harried on in a mad and deadly dance by the sub-zero winds that enveloped the northern Sector of the Miwajin. Obscured by the raging blizzard, a blue haired figure struggled through the storm, making his way home.

"Snowstorms falling from clear skies mid-summer. This doesn't bode well, not one bit." The young teenager muttered to himself, leaning forward into the oncoming wind.

True, the year had already been unusually harsh, but this was the first time something so bluntly unnatural had come to pass. If the wind kept up, even the sea about the docks might start freezing, and that would greatly hamper their self sufficiency greatly.

"Looks like another thin winter." He grinned to himself without humour. "At this rate we're going to have to buy our food." He shuddered, and it had little to do with the cold.

The progress through the storm was slow, and would have been nigh on impossible if it weren't for the boy's incredibly accurate internal compass, and his longtime experience with the region. His progress was aided by the bursts of air that periodically erupted from him, bringing with them pieces of rock, more shards of ice, and rapidly extinguished flames. Not for the first time the teenager cursed his inability to adequately control his magic. Creating a constant flow of pure air to counteract the storm's winds would be far easier, and wouldn't tire him so much to boot.

That particular flaw, as history would show, was the greatest piece of fortune (Misfortune some would argue, but then they were the ones that debated what happened, not what was) the ever befell the reserved Fuwajin.

"We need to get the boat out of the water before the ice crush- huh?" A particularly large burst of fire (One that he silently mourned for the wasted energy) had bitten into the snow about him, revealing a disconcerting sight. A pale elbow, tinged with blue was poking out of the snow to his left. "What kind of idiot is out in a storm like this?!" The green-eyed boy hissed as he hurried forward to dig out what was quite possibly a corpse.

The bluette made short work of the snow covering unconscious stranger, quickly uncovering a young boy who couldn't have had more than nine or ten years to his name. He also had brilliant orange hair, and clothes that were far too light and of uncommonly fine make.

"Hiwa Sector. Some high house, going by his clothes. Maybe even royalty. Would have to be if he was sheltered enough to even consider running up here." He mumbled to himself as he leaned down and trained a careful eye on the younger boy's lips. The smallest hint of vapour. Still breathing. Alive then, but for how long?

The Fuwajin considered the frail body in front of him. Kindness was something he could ill afford, especially considering who he and his siblings were, and another mouth to feed was the absolute last thing he needed. On the other hand, he had just been contemplating the possibility of buying food for the winter, and for that he needed money. Seen in that light the young noble might be an unexpected windfall for him, and he'd learned to seize what little instances of luck came his way.

Something else stirred in him, a feeling of familiarity that didn't belong there. Something shared that he didn't understand, the nature of which he swore he was going to discover.

The freezing child would have to survive first, though.

Carefully gathering the surprisingly light bundle in his arms, the green-eyed boy set back off for home, haste now in his steps.