The Second Master of Wind

Before...

3rd Person POV

Many Years Ago...

One day, on the streets of a small town, two children, a boy and a girl, brother and sister, were running through an alley chasing after one another in a game of tag.

The boy wore a thin white shirt and pants that were stained and dusty with dirt and mud and had longish black hair with a streak of light green in it.

Meanwhile, his little sister wore a plain white tunic over some faded leggings, a loose sweater over it, a small rucksack hidden under with her few things in it, and had her long black hair in two pigtails with her bright purple hairstreak running along the left side of her head.

The girl decided to change the game a bit and made a sharp turn, throwing her brother off and hiding behind a trash can, putting both of her hands over her mouth to stifle her giggles. She was peeking out of her hiding spot to see if her brother was around when she felt herself get lifted off the ground from behind,

"Gotcha!" Her brother tried to toss her up, but, being too heavy for him, they both toppled over, laughing to themselves.

"You have to catch me again!" The girl squealed as she jumped up and raced off again her brother shouting after her,

"No fair!"

Their fun was interrupted when the girl's stomach growled loudly at her and pinched a little bit. She slowed her running and clutched her stomach in pain.

"Hey what's wro-" The boy caught up and saw her position, a worried frown taking over his face as he asked,

"You hungry?"

The girl didn't say anything, but her grimace and tiny nod were all he needed to see.

"Don't worry, we'll find something to eat soon... I hope." Her brother told her in assurance, whispering the last part to himself, as he took her hand and led her through an alley that opened to a market place.

When they got there, they stayed hidden behind some trash cans and watched as vendors sold their goods to passing people.

"I'll go distract them while you grab what you can." The boy said as he gestured to a big platform surrounding a cherry tree near the stands.

"Ok." The girl nodded as she took the rucksack off her back and made room in it. Nodding to each other, they both went off on their own, the boy leaping onto the edge of the platform and pretended to slip and fall off the stairs that led up to them.

"Ow!! My leg, it hurts so bad!" He clutched his knee as people started to gather around worrying about him. This gave the girl the opportunity to sneak around behind them, snatching all the food she could from the stalls and carts they were in and stuffing them into her rucksack.

When she finished filling it up, she signaled to her brother by waving her free arm in the air and running back into the alley. She had hidden her rucksack behind a can and was just about to hide a small watermelon she managed to carry next to it when a large hand roughly grabbed her by the collar and lifted her into the air.

"Thought you could steal from me and get away with it aye?" The man gruffly asked as he grabbed the melon out of her shaking hands and walked over to an old water well that was near the market, but no one really used it.

"N-n-no please n-not again!" The girl cried out in fear and started twisting in his grip as she knew what he was about to do.

"You street rats need to be taught a lesson." He sneered as he hauled her up over the edge and dropped her in, leaving her alone in the well.

The water was freezing and furry with algae that grew on the stone walls, making it too slippery to get a good hold and stay above water. Just as the girl was about to slip under, though, a bucket on a rope came splashing down. Looking up, she saw her brother at the top, holding the rope with one hand and waving the other one yelling urgently,

"Quick get in!" And she did just that without hesitation.

When she got hauled back up to the surface to her brother, he grabbed her out of the bucket and hugged her tightly.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, the big man took the melon and dropped me in the well... again." She said silently and she buried her face into her brother's shoulder.

"Come on, let's get out of here." With that, they ran back to the alley to retrieve the rucksack of stolen food and hightailed it to the small hut they had made for themselves deep in the woods outside of town.

It was constructed from some tree branches as the frame and some cloth as the cover. For light, they used a paper lantern that had some rips in it, but still managed just fine as it was lit by the boy coming in and closing the main entrance flap behind his sister.

"What'd you grab?" The boy asked as he settled himself on his 'bed'.

"Some apples, nuts, a fish, a few dumplings and... broccoli." She wrinkled her nose at the green vegetable she pulled out of the sack.

"Hey, at least now we have some food." The boy reminded his sister as she looked down in shame for complaining and broke the broccoli in half as best she could so they could share before digging into the other food she stole.

Later that night, they were getting settled under their blankets and the boy was about to blow out the lantern when his sister asked,

"Are we ever going to find a home so we don't have to steal anymore?" She looked at him with big hopeful black eyes.

"I don't know sis, most people judge us based on how we look and we look-"

"Dirty." She finished for him and he nodded in disappointment.

"I just thought.. that maybe someone would want us..." The boy looked concerned at the tone of sadness in his little sister's voice as she hugged her knees and rested her chin on top of them.

"Hey, we have each other, and that's all we really need..." The boy sat up and placed his hands on his sister's shoulders, making her look him in the eyes. She managed a small smile at that as he ruffled her hair and she did the same to him before going under their blankets,

"Goodnight Aeria." The boy whispered as he blew out the lantern.

"Goodnight... Morro..."

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