Tome 1- The Court's Return

Deep within the southern forests of Albion, there lay a small town named Oakvale. Years before the fall of the Jack of Blades, and the rise of the Hero of Oakvale, a boy lays within a pleasant hill in the town, with the golden rays of sunlight piercing through the emerald green leaves above. The Guild of Heroes are recruiting once again, for the first time in almost a decade, and children with "potential" from the farthest corners of Albion have gathered to prove themselves to the Guild's newest representative, Maze. The morning air is rich with younglings' excitement at the Hero's eventual arrival. Ranger lays in the field, sighing, and generally avoiding the crowd in the town center.

Kat is by a tree, puking his guts out from teleportation. His slim build hides surprising muscle, and his height makes him look older than he really is. "Ick" he whispers.

Ranger fails to hide a grin, and mutters a chuckle. "Not a big fan of teleporting?" he says calmly, without opening his eyes to look at the person who intruded on his meditation.

"It makes me sick. Made my mother sick too." Kat speaks very quietly, and the last part is totally inaudible. He stands back up, and straightens his hair. "Hello."

"Good morning. Are you here about the Guild recruiting?" Ranger asks, though he doesn't seem too enthused at the idea.

"Yeah. M'parents say I'm talented. I dunno. I just beat the bully." Kat looks shy, not making eye contact. His hair falls over his face, and he pushes it back again. Seconds later it falls back.

Ranger stands up, and looks at Kat. "I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Ranger, my brother and I sailed into town a few weeks ago, and are staying in the inn by the town square." He extends his hand.

"Katherine. Call me Kat, please." Kat looks even shyer, almost shrinking away.

Sabre is trying to avoid Maze. His father, on the other hand, looks proud.
"A son of mine, going to the Guild!"
"A son of OURS, I think you mean."
"Right honey! Our son! Glorious!"
Sabre looks even more distressed, clearly dismayed by his parents' expectations.
"I-I-I'm not s-sure I-I-I-I w-want to g-go..." He said, eyes looking down at the ground.
"Nonsense, Boy! Of course you want to go! The Guild can teach you control. Besides, it might toughen you up." Sabre's father looks at his pale, yet strong frame with a mixture of disappointment and optimism. All this, however, disappeared from his face as his son sneezed. This was not an ordinary sneeze, however. As Sabre sneezed, a fireball formed and flew towards Maze. A look of absolute horror appeared on Sabre's face, thinking he could actually hurt someone.

Maze enters the town, and drinks in the pleasant, peaceful atmosphere of Oakvale. It'd been too long since he had last visited the serene little town in the middle of nowhere.
Well, at least it was a peaceful entrance, though as soon as he entered the town, he was greeted with a less-than-friendly fireball hasting its way towards Maze.
"Woah!" he extended his arm, grabbed the fireball, and redirected it to fly into the sky, and dissipate above the clouds.

Ranger opens his mouth ready to speak when an explosion is heard in the distance, coming from the farms near the gates.
"We... Might want to go check that out."

"We probably should..." Katherine is already on his way, his moral instinct pushing him to try and help if there is danger.

"Oh my... Mister Maze, sir, I-I-I'm SO sorry!! Please don't kill me!" Anyone who knew Sabre would be curious that his stutter seemed to have disappeared for the most part. Indeed, his parents were giving him strange looks.

Ranger follows closely behind Kat, trying in vain to look for some sign that somethings' gone horribly wrong.

"Ah, you must be one of the trainees-to-be. I must say, I've not seen a fireball quite that powerful from anyone short of two years training." Maze says, trying to brush off the insinuation that he would kill a child.

"I-It isn't anything s-s-special, s-sir. I-I-It w-was an accident."

"Nonsense! Having will potential is a good thing, no need to diminish yourself because you can't control it." Maze looks at Sabre as kindly as he can, the tattoos on his body dimming their previous bright blue glow. "We can help you learn to control it." Maze looks around and asks Sabre "Do you know where the others are?"

"I-I-I d-don't kn-know. I am alone." Sabre's expression turns to a mixture of serious and sadness, a look no ten year old should have.

"Hello. I'm Katherine Ternos. I'm enrolled already." Kat speaks softly, walking into view at just the right time.

Sabre glanced at the new person, before shuffling off slightly. It was quite a feet, as after he glanced over, he kept his eyes staring down at his own feet

As one might imagine, Kali is in a tree. After all, she seems to think that trees are, in fact, where she belongs. She's just a yard or two over from the rest of the group, watching with a grin as she plucks an acorn from the tree, aiming carefully and tossing it towards Kat to get his attention. ...Or possibly just to see it bounce off the boy's head. You never know, with that girl.