Time Past New Beginnings

[mistic395]

A war had raged for three years, both sides suffering casualties of all ranks. Falcons fought on both sides, though the winning side belonged to that of the Elendron kingdom of Falcons and its allies. Sad days, however, followed as the soldiers returned to Elendron and the news of those lost reached the ears of those of the families. Even the royal family found that it had lost as the young ward of the Akritian family had seemed to disappear. Some thought him dead and others thought him simply missing. However, as he had not been seen in the last year before the wars end, word was finally sent to the family of his death, the ring with the families crest arriving with the letter, along with his necklace that was his last remaining remnant of his biological family, were delivered to the Akritian and Elendron royal family. Cries of anguish came from both kingdoms upon news of the General of Elendron's death, the soldiers dropping to their knees at news of their commanders departure from the world.



Six months after the news of the general's death had reached the kingdoms of Elendron and Akrita, life had started to somewhat return to normal. The war was over and people were trying to move on with their lives. At that time two figures started moving into the village that surrounded the castle. One was a 5'9" tall male dressed in white with areas of his shirt torn and stained by blood, but he carried himself quite easily. His lower face was concealed by a mask that had white markings all around it, and his eyes were an odd mix. The left eye was an ice blue almost white in color and the other was a honey gold color. His black hair was long and held back by a band, much longer then it used to be, though no surprised since it had been near on two years since his last hair cut. Who the lone figure was might be a mystery, but the two swords on his back were not as they had belonged to the General of Elendron, Dyten Ryder. The figure carried himself like a warrior though there was no sense of threat coming from him like some might expect. The shadows stirred a bit at his approach but one glanced form his eyes in their direction settled them back down.




Holding onto the man's hand was a young girl that looked to be no more then about 6 years old. Her hair was a deep lavender color and she seemed to be quite nervous as she walked next to the man. She clung to him anytime a loud noise startled him, and the young man would laugh softly and calm her down before moving on. The young girl glanced up towards the man, though it was clear at that point that both her eyes were covered by a wrap to conceal their color and leading one to believe her blind, though that was not entirely the truth. She whimpered softly as soon as she heard the clang of metal as soldiers surrounded the two. The man pushed the young girl behind him in protection before looking between the group of soldiers. "Is there a problem gentleman?" He asked casually. The man reached up towards his mask only to hold his hands up to show he meant no harm when he saw several of them draw their blades. "Calm, please. I mean no harm, I was simply reaching to remove the mask." He stated, only to look over when he saw a small group coming. "Seems you have nobility coming to see what the commotion is." He stated. Upon the arrival of the nobility, the man who other didn't know was none other then Dyten Ryder, bowed his head to the group. "Forgive the disturbance." He stated as he looked towards the group. "I meant no harm, though it seems your soldiers may think otherwise." He stated just as Lilana stepped out from behind him and curtsied to the group that arrived. "Please...Papa Dy said we just had to come see the queen. He doesn't want to hurt anyone."

[Kiknessa]

Among the group stepped out a woman with fiery red hair. She was dressed in a low cut gold dress and stood tall
"Dy?" she asked, hearing the young girl speak. She held her hand up to the soldiers to calm and looked at the man "Who are you?" she asked "The queen has not taken any audiences in quite some time. Her advisor Jade and uncle Jerome currently oversee such things"

High up in the castle a dark figure sat on the balcony. She wore a simple black dress, made from the simplest matierials, her face covered with a black mourning veil. She sat quietly staring out at the distance as she did every day for the last few month

[mistic395]

"Well if you would have your men stand down I would be able to show you as speaking my name would not make you believe me." He stated, glancing towards the men. "Besides...last I knew the queen didn't take to kindly to scaring a child." He looked towards the men, his eyes meeting a few of theirs before he looked back towards the young woman.

"Papa Dy...." The little girl whimpered.

Dyten smiled softly behind his mask and knelt down. "It's okay Lilana." He assured her, speaking softly. "I won't let them hurt you. Just like I promised." He stood and looked towards the men once more, his hands still held where they could see them so he could show them he meant no threat to any of them. Shadows swirled between his fingertips but it was something that had become a bit common for him as the shadows had grown during his captivity.

[Kiknessa]

"I did try to get them too but apparently they are too thick to recognize non verbal instructions" Claret said sending a glare towards the men until they stepped back. She looked at the little girl and smiled gently "Be calm child. you will see no harm" she looked back at him, the shadows swirling "From your sword and the name she addressed you by i have my suspicious as to who you are, Black Falcon" Claret said a smirk crossing her lips "Please remove the mask"

[mistic395]

Dyten laughed softly. "You would be correct in believing you know me, Lady Claret." He stated. "Considering Jerome is the nephew to my grandfather, Necros." He stated with a smirk as he reached up and let the shadows seep into the mask to unbind it. He easily removed the article of cloth and shook his head slightly to straighten his hair out which was a little longer then shoulder length. "Speaking of...how is the old man? I am assuming he is still around the old house he fixed up before the war?" He asked, with a slight tilt of his head before looking towards the soldiers when the gasped at seeing how was behind the mask. "Surely I trained you better then that. Nobility tells you to stand down and you disobey a direct order." He shook his head. "I should have every one of you cleaning the stables on your hands and knees." He shook his head slightly and sighed before looking towards Claret. "May I see Adara now?"

[Kiknessa]

Claret laughed "That's not exactly it though is it. If any of these other clowns had said anything you'd not want your men to listen" she said gesturing towards the other nobility that had been walking with her. She knew that Dyten disapproved of most of the nobility. The other nobles were too in shock to react to her insult and she stepped closer to Dyten, holder her hand out to shake his "It's so good to see you alive" she smiled then a small frown came to her face "Of course we'll take you to Adara. I mist warn you though she's a little different than you might remember" she gestured for him to walk with her, winking at the child before looking abck at him "Since news of your apparent death she has not left her chambers, even once. She doesn;t speak to anyone. Jade had been reading her will through her mind. She just sits there and stares into the distance most of the time"

[mistic395]

Dyten smiled fully at her comment and bowed his head before glancing towards the other nobility and raising a brow. "You all look as though you see a ghost." He stated before looking towards Claret and following after her. He reached down and picked Lilana up to carry her so they could move a bit quicker, setting her up on his shoulder easily. He frowned when he heard about Adara. "My...death?" He said, this being the first he had heard of it. "That's why they took the chain." He said, reaching up to touch a scar on his neck where the pendant he had worn had been ripped from his neck and had cut into it. "They came in about three weeks before my escape and took my father's chain and pendant." He said, looking down with a frown. "I should have gotten out sooner." He sighed.

"Papa Dy...don't be sad. You got me out, remember? You tried to escape and they threatened to kill me and momma because we helped you. Remember?"
Lilana stated as she gently ran her fingers through Dyten's hair, a soft smile on her lips.

"I remember, baby girl." Dyten responded as he looked up at her. "You gonna keep your eye cover on?"

"Mhmm...Sun's to bright." She said softly.

[Kiknessa]

"That's why everyone looks stunned"she said, glancing at the people's whose jaws were falling open as they passed, seeing Dyten there "The General of Elendron was dead as far as any of us knew" Claret looked at the little girl "How rude of me" she said suddenly "I forgot" she smiled at the child, realizing that she likely didn;t see her assuming she was blind "I am Lady Claret" she said softly to the child "Your momma and you helped Dyten did you? thank you for that" she glanced at Dyten for some indication as to where the girl;s mother was

[mistic395]

"It is nice to meet you." Lilana said, looking towards Claret. "I am Lilana." She tilted her head slightly with a soft smile on her lips as she clung to Dyten.

Dyten glanced towards Claret then down. "She passed away." Dyten said. "The day we escaped from the slave pits she caused a riot. She had also managed to get my swords free from the guard and got them to me. We got out but, the injuries she took during the fight were life threatening. She passed away a day later, but she was free." Dyten patted Lilana's leg gently. "I don't think I would have gotten out if it wasn't for her help."

"Papa Dy you helped us to. You made sure me and momma got plenty of food, even though you went without several times. You also took beatings for momma so she could stay with me and so I wouldn't be scared." Lilana stated.

Dyten shook his head slightly. "Your momma and you are safe now and that's what matters." Dyten said glancing up towards her.

Lilana smiled and looked towards Claret. "Papa Dy missed all of you a lot. He told me stories about growing up with all of you while we were traveling here."

[Kiknessa]

Claret smiled "Thank you for bringing him back to us safely" she looked towards the castle as she heard someone running over
Jade turned the corner and skidded to a stop from in from of them, panting from running. He looked at Dyten with shock and relief then collected himself, standing up straight as if he was not tired from running and giving a serious face "Well It's about time you got back" he said, as if he wasn;t surprised by this

[mistic395]

"Is that the puppet man you told me about?" Lilana asked when she saw Jade come running up.

"Jade." Dyten said both in confirming what Lilana said and in greeting to the man. "Where's your shadow?" He asked, referring to how Sandra had always been around when Jade was around, especially once she realized her feelings for him. The girl being eighteen now walked through the hallways towards them. "Uncle Dyten." Sandra said in shock. "My nose didn't deceive me. It's really you?"

She ran over and hugged him, a few tears forming in her eyes. "Your alive." She said as she stepped back and reached up to dry her eyes. "Sorry."

"It is okay." Dyten assured her. "I'll explain it all later for now, can I please see my fiancée?"

[Kiknessa]

"that's a little racist don\t you think" Jade joked. He knew Dyten meant because she followed him around but since Sandra was a shadow panther he had to joke about it. He stepped aside to let Sandra go fully to Dyten smiling a little and winked at the child "the Puppet man am I?"

Claret laughed at all this then looked at Dyten "You know your way to her room, i assume?" she asked "You don't need up, Dyten. This is your home. Go on up" she said with a smile

[mistic395]

Dyten nodded once and looked towards Lilana. "Can you stay with Sandra? She can show you a place to stay."

Lilana was hesitant but looked towards Sandra. "Okay." She said as Dyten set her down.

Sandra smiled and knelt down. "I'm Sandra. It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Lilana." the girl said. "It's nice to meet you to." She stated. She reached up and took the band off her eyes and blinked a few times to get the adjusted to the dimmer light in the castle. Sandra stood and held her hand out to the little girl before smiling towards Dyten and nodding once.

Dyten nodded before he immediately took off for Adara's room. Once outside the room he knocked, reaching his mind out to brush against hers gently. He didn't want to just burst in though he was aching to hold her at that moment. He reached towards the handle to open the door, his heart racing.

[Kiknessa]

"Dyten?" young eyes blinked at him from shortly down the hall. Though he was older than when Dyten last saw him Jakie's features were distinct. Now eight Jakie was patroling the hall with a wooden sword having looked after Adara and kept her company while she was mourning, though she didn;t ever once speak. He ran over and hugged the man's legs happily then stepped back "She won't answer. and she won't come to the door." He said looking knowing Dyten just wanted to see her "She zones out sometimes. Doesn't have her mind reading fixed inside the castle so she doesn't always hear. just go in"

[mistic395]

Dyten knelt down and hugged his young cousin. "Hey bud." He said with a smile. "Can you do me a favor? There's a little girl down with Sandra. Her name is Lilana. She could use a friend right now. Think you can keep an eye on her for me while I visit with Adara?" He asked him. Once he got his answer he moved to go into the room. The sight before him made his heart feel like someone was squeezing it. "Adara?" He spoke as he looked towards her. "Adara, I'm home."