Chapter 1: How Aurora met a Lesbian

“Repent! Less you be sent to hell! Repent! Atone for your sins and receive forgiveness!” the missionary preached unto the bazaar crowd. The streaming flock of people kept on walking past, some stopped to listen, others stared at the man in white robes standing on a pedestal. Most ignored him, as they did all priests. The people here weren't worried spiritually; they were concerned with where to get the next meal, and to watch out so that they weren't the next meal. A dog eat dog world. Nonetheless the priest continued his tirade of empty promises.

A small group of young people walked past the missionary talking to each other. Suddenly, one of them, a blond girl with a feminine figure, stopped to shout “Shut up! I can't hear what my friend is saying!” she marched away from her group and towards the priest, fury lighting up her face.

“Instead of listening to your friend you should listen to the voice of god, my child! For-” was as far as the priest got before the girl interrupted him again.

“I am not your child, fat man! So shut up, stop trying to get our money, and go home!” The missionary started to become quite vexed. Who was this that dared stop his word to the less fortunate? He hated it when people started to think about what he said, they should just listen and obey, that's why they were his sheep, so that he could shepherd them.

“I am everyone's father, for I guide those who are lost, I put the misdirected back on the path to purity, I am a vessel of-“was all he got before a fist connected with his nose.

“Who are you to decide who is on the path to hell or heaven? Huh? Who put you in charge of all things spiritual? Because of you and your bloody spiritual rules I can no longer see my girlfriends!”

The priest stared stupefied into the face of the blond woman. She had long blond hair, blue eyes, but the thing that struck his eyes first was the multitude of swords around her waist. It was as if she had made a skirt out of scabbards. As he stared at her, he forgot about the blood trickling down his nose and realised the meaning behind her words.

“WHAT?...Wait, you're a lesbian?”

“Yes, you've got a problem with that?” the woman growled aggressively. The priest was about to scold her and try to exorcise the demons out of her, when he saw what was behind the swordswoman. There was a guy with a mace hanging from his belt, with an old bandana strapped around his head. He had short spiky hair, and he was wearing only a pair of pants and some sandals. Next to him was another girl, who had long half-braided black hair with some red and green beads. Her skin was darker than the others, and she wore a light brown cloak and matching pants. She had an air of boredom around her.

As he counted his odds about living if he did anything other than breath, the dark woman walked up and laid a hand on the aggressive blond one. “Hey, it's not worth our time to pick a fight with every priest we come across, okay? Besides, it's only natural that people find it odd that you're a lesbian“

"Yeah, most guys would kill themselves, especially in the bar when they realise that all their drinks have been wasted” the guy added.

“Ha-ha, very funny Guy” she replied punching Guy's shoulder playfully, but she got off the priest and walked away with her friends. As they walked into the crowds the dark-haired girl turned around to face the lesbian.

“You know Rose; you get way too worked up about this whole priest/lesbian thing. What's your problem?” she asked her friend, puzzled.

“Aurora, they're the reason that being a lesbian is deemed wrong! If it weren't for them people wouldn't stare at me so often.” She replied to her friend. Guy smiled and faced them.

“No… the reason the priests and all the other guys stop and stare is that they can't believe that they will never have a chance to get laid with you…”

“Ah! So THAT'S why you were so shocked when I told you! I knew it Guy, all a guy ever thinks about is sex!” She accused him, crossing her arms to stare at him. Guy became flabbergasted and tried to come up with some kind of excuse. When he failed and al that came out was a mix of words and noises, Rose and Aurora laughed.

“Hey! It's not like you don't think of sex all the time!” He accused Rose. “All you ever talk about is: `Oh, it's so hard being a lesbian, poor me'!” he imitated her voice, and Aurora laughed again, clutching her stomach.

Rose grabbed Guy in a headlock. “Hey! It's called the sympathy act, okay!? How else can I get all those girls who think they are straight to stay with me? It's much simpler for you guys, since virtually every girl is straight!” she said while noggin his head.

“Hey, none of that stops you from trying to get the straight ones!” He accused her of, whilst squirming to get out of her lock, but to no avail. He never knew where she got the strength to keep him tied up, but she always managed to pin him down. So far in his life, he had only managed to get out of her lock once, and that was when she saw a very hot lady walking by. Guy failed to notice her because his head was down, but Rose tackled him when he too stopped and stared at the girl.

“I keep on telling you! They only think they are straight! Since they've never thought that they might not be, they've never tried the other way!” she said. Then she finally let him out of her headlock. “Anyways, we have to get more supplies remember? Or is your masculine brain so small you can't remember anything?” she said, still cross at him for questioning her.

“I'm the one who told you that we had to get supplies” he mumbled sulkily, cringing slightly away from her in fear of retaliation. But Rose seemed not to notice, and they walked on in the crowded bazaar. The place was filled with all sorts of people selling a variety of things. A foreigner was selling odd two-handed blades. Another was selling a set of plate armour that nobody was buying since anyone who wore it would probably suffer heatstroke here in the desert sun. Yet Aurora saw that there were still people buying from the trader. Probably since they are going away from the desert, she decided.

The Bazaar was often filled with unusual people from all over the world. She was used to its noise and hubbub. She enjoyed mingling in the crowds; it was almost as if the mass of people was a current pulling her this way or that. But if given the choice, she would rather be alone in the desert. She enjoyed the barren wasteland, and saw it as her own personal playground. Not many people dared cross it, since there were bandits and many monsters in the desert. Yet, many traders travelled along routes that were protected by soldiers. Aurora had tried going by these trails, but they were slow and wound strangely across the desert. When she asked why it didn't go more straightforward, people told her that all the most horrible monsters were in the middle of the desert, and that the bandits had their own towns there. Aurora didn't believe this, since she herself often travelled along the desert, and didn't have any major problems with monsters or bandits. Not that she travelled very far on her own.

Aurora and her friends liked to travel across the sands, camping here and there. Sometimes they went out because they needed money, and they did jobs that not many people would do. Like checking if a rumour about a monster was true, or if a caravan wanted a quick and safe route to the next town. The group had notices set up around the bazaar, saying that “we can go anywhere, anytime, with no problems!' Often people turned them down when they realised that they were only sixteen, but just as many accepted their help. So they got money and feed their bellies.

But mostly they went into the desert to get away from the town. They enjoyed each other's company for many reasons, but key among them was that they could just sit around a campfire and not talk at all. It wasn't that they didn't have something to talk about, there was always something happening in their lives, it was just that sometimes they enjoyed lying in the sand and looking up at the night sky, just thinking about their lives. Aurora did this often, even when she was on her own. She always felt more at ease in the desert, as if it were her home. Aurora’s thoughts returned to earth when Rose grabbed her by the waist.

“Daydreaming again, huh?” Rose whispered in hear ear. Then she started tickling her so hard that Aurora shrieked with laughter.
“What was that for?” she asked, when Rose was done teasing her.

“You look so gloomy, Aurora. I swear, you're becoming more melancholy by the day.” Rose told her with a slight frown of worry on her face. “I'll tell you what, you go out and sand board while Guy and I finish the grocery shopping. We'll meet you at the tavern.” She said.

“I'm not melancholy-“she started saying before Guy put a finger to her lips.
“Hey, we all know that you get sadder and sadder when you haven't been to the desert for a while.” Guy told her seriously. His face looked oddly concerned for her, and she felt odd. Usually it was her looking after him and Rose, not the other way around. Something had to be up.

“And besides, you're birthday is coming up soon, remember?” Rose asked her.

They were both right Aurora thought. She did get depressed when she hadn't been to the desert for a while. And she loved sand boarding. So, with little afterthought she said yes and disappeared into the crowds. It wasn't before she had reached the soaring walls of the town that she remembered Rose's last question. She stopped short in her walk and groaned out loud.

She had forgotten. She forgot every year. It wasn't that she didn't like her birthday; it was just that she could never remember it. And it wasn't even her real birthday. One day Rose had asked her, and she had replied that she didn’t know. Guy had been surprised too, but the only reason he hadn’t asked her was that he didn’t know that it was such a big deal. Rose had told them both that it was a festive event.

Aurora smiled at the memory whilst walking a path. She was heading towards the south gates, because she had hidden her sand board somewhere in the dunes near the gates. Walking down the path, she saw an alley to the side. A grim foul place, and she could clearly see the children huddling within its depth. Staring at them, it reminded her of her own childhood, that had been almost as bad as theirs. As she arrived at the gates, and since she had another hour before the gates opened, she started to think about her childhood.

She remembered a clear blue sky, and the heat. She liked the heat, and she was never cold during the night. Animals played with her, small scorpions and adder snakes where her favourite. But she also remembered something else that she liked, but she wasn't sure what it was. She kept on thinking what it was as she waited for the gates of the town to open
.
As she stared at the engraving on (should be “at” I think) the gate, it jogged her memory a bit. She remembered odd ethereal creatures during the nights. They would come when the lights in the sky shone bright, and became a curtain of green light. She would stare amazed at those lights for hours when she was young. But apart from that the creatures seemed to be made of light, she couldn't' remember anything else about them

Aurora's other clear memory was of being in the town and meeting Guy for the first time. She had been staring at the merchandise of the baker, and she had been starving. Guy had come up beside her and asked “Are you hungry?” and she had just nodded. Then he had said “So am I”. Later that same evening they had scammed the baker to give them two bread loaves each. They had never stolen from the baker since then, even when they were hungry.

Their friendship had grown after that. They had helped each other out with food, and started stealing from all sorts of people. One of them would start begging for money, and then when their target was distracted, the other one would swipe their purse. They succeeded as often as they failed, but it was the only thing they knew how to do, and no one cared about two four year old orphans.

That's what they were. They had known it ever since people had asked them “where are your parents?”, and every time a kind person asked them, they had no idea what to say. Guy had asked Aurora where hers were, but she had said that she didn't know. Guy answered the same. So they decided to be brother and sister to each other, two four year olds facing the grim town. They soon learned how to survive in the street. They learned through experience who to beg and who to steal from. They didn't often get caught by the police, since the gangs of children where their real concern.

Aurora and Guy never joined the children's gang because they didn't fit in well with them. They were to straightforward, and since they were already a group of their own the leaders of the gangs saw them as a smaller and weaker gang that could do nothing against them. They had only ever gotten into one fight with a gang, and that was at the same time that they meet Rose.
It was during the drought, six years after they had met. There was scarcely any food for those that could afford it, so it was even harder on the street kids. Aurora and Guy had managed to steal some leftover bread from the baker. He hadn't noticed since there were many people demanding bread. Fortunately, none of the rioters had seen them. When they managed to escape into an alley, a Red Viper gang member had seen them and had sprung of to tell his friends.

The Red Vipers was one of the biggest gangs in the city. They had plenty of members, and they only allowed people to join if they killed another person who was looking to join the Vipers. They were ruthless against other gangs and stole anybody’s food, if they couldn't defend it. When they had been told that somebody had food, they immediately gathered their members and headed towards the alley.

Aurora remembered that the Vipers came right after she and Guy had shared their bread. Seeing that there was no more food, the Vipers had been driven by anger to attack Aurora and Guy. They were hungry and not very strong, but there were many of them.
Aurora saw them advance as one, and she had felt something gathering inside her. At first she thought it was fear, but she had experienced both fear and adrenaline, and this feeling was like no other. She felt…. Different, as if an immense power was gathering inside her. And she felt that if she didn't release it, it would destroy her. As she pushed her arms out to release her power, the sand in the alley moved around. The sand moved like snakes, striking the gang members in their chests, but they were fuelled by anger and starvation, so the people in the back just rushed over their fallen comrades.

As the power left Aurora, she felt completely exhausted and fell to her knees, her arms dropping beside her. The sand snakes in front fell from the air, returned to nothing but sand.

“Aurora!” Guy screamed out. Seeing that the gang members were still advancing towards them, he picked up the nearest thing he could find. It was a stick, which was thick at one end like a club. Liking the weight of the club, Guy hit the nearest gang member who was running towards him. There was a terrible crack, and then the kid fell like a stone, blood running from his head. Guy managed to get another member of the gang before he got overwhelmed.

They hit, kicked, and even tried to bit him. Guy just hovered over Aurora so that she wasn't hit by them. He endured the pain without screaming, and now and then he managed to hit somebody with his club, but he knew it was worthless. They would both be killed over scraps of bread, although he suspected that the gang had forgotten about the start of the fight. Then, he heard a roar of rage coming from behind the gang.

A girl about his age was running towards the gang, her blond hair flowing behind her. She held a two-handed sword above her head and charged into the crowd. Guy heard several loud cracks as the girl hit them on their heads. The gang members quickly fell or ran away. As the mob parted, running anywhere to get away from the wild girl with the sword, the girl was standing alone amidst a pile of groaning bruised bodies’

Her hair was messed up, her sword was still in her hands, but her arms had fallen down. She was panting hard, and then she fell down, exhausted. As Aurora ran forward to catch her, she saw how the girl looked up close. She looked as if she were just made form skin and bones plus older wounds that couldn’t have come from this fight, and Aurora didn't know where this girl had gotten the strength to scare away an entire gang.

“What's your name?” Aurora had asked the warrior girl.

“R-r… R-ro… Rose” She finally whispered to Aurora as she fell unconscious. Aurora had looked at Guy after the girl had been knocked out. She screamed as she saw what state Guy was in. His lips were cut, he was bleeding from several places, and he had several black marks of where he had been hit. Faced with two friends that were severely hurt, she had dragged both of them to their regular hideout.

Aurora had nursed both Guy and Rose back to health, and after a week it seemed as if Rose had always been with them. Soon after, Guy had come up with the idea of starting their own mercenary job, and they had gone to the desert as their first job. As they had reached the desert, Aurora had felt the same sense of power as the day when the Vipers had attacked, and she had realised that it was the sands making her feel that way.