[center][h1][color=LightYellow][b][u]Introductions[/u][/b][/color][/h1][/center]


	As far as places to grow up in, Harri was not the worst. There were plenty of trees and nice meadows to play in, the farms aways made enough food, and the stream that gave the town its water came directly from the mountain side and was clear as the skies were every summer day. The biggest downside, however, was that it was almost insufferably small. Exactly one hundred and twenty-four people claimed to live in Harri. About half of them were single families that had staked out some swath of land in either the rocky hills surrounding the town or tried to build in the marshes down river. The idyllic valley that housed the actual village and the rest of the people could be circumnavigated in less than two days.

	For children in Harri, friends were slim pickings. If you wanted to ever see a new face, all you could do was make the walk to Horfon’s Crossing and hope that some traveler decided to take a shortcut when passing between Redbrook and Stagwood. This isolation forced the children of Harri to examine all their options and begrudgingly accept that they had to be friends with everyone they could. even the Alminaki kid. They made do; at least they weren’t stuck in Tinmine!

	So thankfully, Forral’s Alminaki blood did not mean he was abused by the other children. Sure, that combined with the fact that he was named after a bird, meant that he was relentlessly teased. But when do you expect children to [i]not[/i] relentlessly tease each other? Since Forral could play the game and relentlessly teased back, there was little excuse to exclude him from the communal teasing and mild abuse that children call friendship.

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	“You seriously don’t want to leave Harri?” Broun laughed as he pushed aside a low hanging branch.

	“I never said that!” Tongold exclaimed as she picked her way through the soft forest floor behind Broun, “I just don’t think I will ever be able to leave, so I might as well start putting down roots!”

	The two humans strolled up the wooded wall of the valley, the morning sun shone watery light down into the cool shade. It would be a miserably hot day, but right now it was a wonderfully pleasant morning. Broun was sixteen and browned by long days working in the sun. Tongold was a plain looking girl half a year younger than Broun, but when she stood just right in the light, Broun could see the shining radiance that he had been the first, and so far only, to see. Neither had ever left Harri and both were climbing to the most beautiful part of the valley.

	“You’re never going to be able to leave?” Broun turned around and began walking backwards so he could face Tongold, “The Grand Army is probably going to come by this year or next, if you want to leave Harri that’s the way to go.”

	“Like I’m going to join the army!”  Tongold scoffed and smiled, “Besides, I’m not a man. There is no reason for me to enlist.”

	“Just because you can only list as a Rouman doesn’t mean you shouldn’t join,” Broun suddenly lost his footing since he wasn’t looking where he was going, his arms pinwheeling in the air. Tongold caught him in her arms and the two laughed, Broun continuing like nothing had happened, “Plus, there is a woman on the Vir’s Council, that could be you!”

	“It could, except she’s a witch,” the girl rolled her eyes as she threw her friend out of her arms and at a tree, “Plus, the only women who join the Grand Army are either rich heiresses, barren, or whores.”

	“Hey, my sister is a Rouman!” Broun growled in fake indignation.

	“And she enlisted when you were a baby,” Tongold countered and scrunched up her face, “She could be a whore for all you know.”

	Broun just shrugged and started walking again. They fell into silence. The pair continued their climb up the side of the valley, winding through the lush trees and up to the stony overlook that was both the most secluded and impressive part of the valley. AS they approached their destination, Broun turned back Tongold and, with a smile on his face, began to talk.

	“So, even though you think you’re fated to be stuck in this lame valley for all eternity,l wasting away like a dying tree-”

	“That’s uncalled for!”

	“I’m not finished! Even though you think you’re stuck here, I think there is something very important in this valley, something that will make it all worth the while!”

	“Oh really,” Tongold sighed, unimpressed with his speech, “And I suppose that is why you’re dragging me all the way to the Lookout.”

	“Precisely!” The trees had sputtered out to the occasional shrug and the cliff ledge was almost in view, “Now close your eyes, it's a surprise!”

	“Really, you’re doing that whole bit?” Tongold still made a show of shutting her eyes, despite her complaint. Broun still put his hands over her eyes as a double measure before guiding her the rest of the way. 

	“Why can’t I just walk myself?” She asked as she stumbled over a rock, reaching to push away her friend’s hands.

	“Hey, no peeking!” Bround laughed as he elbowed away her arm, “I’ll tell you when!”

	Tongold sighed but gave no further protest. Broun led her all the way to the spot where the verdant grass made a beautiful bed that crowned the clifftop that overlooked all of the picturesque valley. Waiting there in that special spot was… nothing.

	“Dammit, Forral!” Broun cursed under his breath, where the hell was all the stuff?

	“What was that?” Tongold tried to open her eyes, “What went wrong?”

	“Nothing, I just need to fix something,” the boy tried to hide the frustration in his voice, “Just keep your eyes closed a little bit longer.”

	Broun dashed away from Tongold, looking through the grass. Where in the world was all the stuff? Forral was supposed to set up the scene an hour ago! The damn kid was ruining his chance. Broun continued rooting around in the grass, hoping to find all the stuff he had planned just hidden all while Tongold impatiently called out. Eventually, he accepted the fact that he would just have to improvise and kicked a rock to vent his frustration. The stone tumbled off the cliff

	As Broun turned back to his friend, the gears whirring in his brain, the rock hit something with a resounding thwack that was quickly followed by a yelp which inturn was followed by an angry shout:

	[color=BurlyWood]“Hey! Watch where you’re kicking those things!”[/color] The voice welled up from down the cliff.

	“Who was that?” Tongold dropped her hands and rushed with Broun to look over the cliff edge.

	There they saw, clinging to the cliff face like a spider, a small fourteen year old boy. He had his sandy hair tied back and out of his face, revealing a line of closely trimmed feathers and a small gash on his brow. He wobbled a little bit as the wind caught on the large sack that was haphazardly strapped to his back by jury-rigged rope.

	“Forral?” Tongold shouted in surprise, “What in the world are you doing down there, that’s a hundred foot drop! You could be killed!”

	[color=BurlyWood]“Well, before Bround so rudely hit me with a rock,” [/color]The quarter-Almanaki grunted as he started scaling the rocks once more, [color=BurlyWood]“I was trying to climb to the top of the Lookout before you two got there.”[/color]

	Forral was a swift climber and closed the distance in a very short time, the other two teenagers helped haul him onto stable ground before interrogating him further.

	“Why did you need to beat us up here? Why didn’t you just walk around like a sane person!” Tongold huffed, “And what is even with the bag? Did you just want to be even more reckless.”

	[color=BurlyWood]“I’m glad to see you care about me, [i]Mom[/i],”[/color] Forral scowled as he sat cross legged and began unwinding the full sack, [color=BurlyWood]“This bag was the whole reason I had to climb in the first place.”[/color]

	“What is the bag even for?” Tongold sat back and crossed her arms.

	“Yeah!” Broun piled on, “And why did you need to get it here now?“ Then, through his teeth, “And not earlier like I asked.”

	[color=BurlyWood]“Calm down there, don’t start a landslide,”[/color] Forral said, [color=BurlyWood]“Let me work and then I’ll be gone!”[/color]

	Quickly, before either of the two people could respond, Forral began pulling things out of his sack and arranging them. First, he threw a cloth over a medium sized stone on the cliff top and just as quickly produced a loaf of bread, a small flask of wine, and two wooden cups.

	“Forral, what are you doi-” Tongold stated but the boy just held up a hand and continued working.

	He took the crumpled flowers that Broun had spent the last week picking and weaving into a lovely garland and placed them between the food. He put the small candle in the center of the garland, lit it, and went back into the bag for the last thing.

	“Broun, is this the surprise?”  Tongold chuckled, turning to face her friend, smiling, “Did you get Forral to set all this up?”

	Broun was smiling sheepishly at his crush, rubbing the back of his neck, “Maybe, I just wanted to show you that Harri wasn’t all bad-”

	The two continued talking, but Forral tuned them out, too busy staring down into his hands. In each palm, shielded from his two friend’s views, were a half of a statuette. Broun hand carved it from wood, he had spent months on it. It was a gift for tongold, for when he finally told her he loved her. He had poured his heart into crafting it and it even almost looked like here! Somehow, it had been split in two while Forral had been climbing.

	Forral uselessly clunked the two pieces together, as if just touching the breaking point would fuse them back together. He had ruined it, Broun would be so mad at him. He scrunched his eyes tight, trying not to show his distress to the other two, squeezing the two shards together. Maybe he could just put it back in the bag and hide it?

	“-Forral!” Someone called, breaking him out of his reverie.

	[color=BurlyWood]“Wha-”[/color] The boy looked up, blinking.

	Broun and Tongold were hugging, sharing the bread and laughing, it had been Broun who had called him.

	“Show her the thing I made!” Broun’s eyes lit up with pride and Tongold’s with excitement.

	[color=BurlyWood]“Oh… right.”[/color]

	Forral stretched out his hands, still squeezing the small figurine together, hiding the split with his palms. He paused for a little, cringing away before he even showed his mistake. Eventually, under the eager eyes of his two companions, he sighed, closed his eyes, and opened his palms. As he did so, he felt a twinge in his gut, preparing to be berated, but also another strange sensation, dancing all across his body.

	“Oh, it’s beautiful!” he heard Tongold cry as the idol was snatched from his hands.

	Forral let out a noise of confusion and opened his eyes. Tongold held the figurine, somehow completely repaired, more than repaired really, it was now polished and smoothed like it had been made by an expert. She had thrown herself around Broun’s neck and was hugging him deeply. Broun laughed and squeezed Tongold back as Forral sat in amazement.

	“Hey, Forral,” Bround chuckld, tearing his gaze away from Tongold and tearing Forral out of his stupor“Could you give us some, uh….Privacy?”

	[color=BurlyWood]“Yeah, sure.”[/color]

	And with that Forral stood up and started walking quickly down the mountain side, taking the regular path, walking too quickly to stop and think about how that figurine had magically repaired itself.

[hider=Summary]
A short story that introduces Forral, the 14 year old avatar of Iternis that doesn’t know yet that he is anything special. It kinda sorta not really describes the setting he grew up in and also shows the first time he ever did anything that suggested that maybe he wasn’t so insignificant after all. 
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