Chapter One:

Dragons and Birds

He was on the run. Not that he was literally running at the moment, but he was every now and then casting a vigilant eye around the crowds of passers-by. This was the small village of Briel, nestled deep in the countryside of the world Gaia. It being one of the lesser kingdoms, it didn't have the giant bustle of commerce that more prosperous ones like Austria, Fanelia, Syrnia, Freid or Arzas had. Briel was a quiet town that's main source of livelihood was gained from the coast it bordered, fishing being one of the bigger trades. Briel did have a castle, located further up from the coast, the richer people of the town being the only ones able to afford the high priced homes. On the opposite side of town was the slums, broken dreary hovels that dotted the coast line. Between the two societies lied the market which was the busiest place, both rich and poor, noble and beggar coming together to enjoy the oddities it offered.

A strange figure noticed all of this with fascination, his dark, unseen eyes taking it in with thoughtfulness. Leaning against a brick wall next to an open-air stand that where a large, gray haired man was waving around potato's for sale, the boy drew the deep blue cloak closer around him. It reached all the way down to his brown leather boots, almost brushing the ground. It's inky hood was drawn up, falling down just past his nose, leaving only his lips visible. Perhaps this is the place, he thought with a small smirk, where I will find my peace. And with that reflection, he started off through the crowd, noting at the painful twinges in his stomach, that he would have to find some food soon.

"Hello there, Birdie!" Cried the old man, who was almost bent double with age. He had a short, white beard and moustache and was also the owner of the small flour and bean stand in the market. His light blue eyes twinkled merrily as he added, "What can I do for you this morning?"

The addressee was not a bird at all, but a young woman of nineteen years. She was dressed in a plain, pale green dress with a white apron tied around her middle. An emerald colored handkerchief was tied around her head, pushing the shoulder length golden-brown curls away from her ivory hued face. A few stray curls had found their way out, and fell into her ocean green eyes. As though her eyes didn't smile enough, her pink lips were drawn into a soft grin as she looked at the man fondly.

"Good morning, Leon." Her voice rang out sweetly. "I've come to pick up Eriya's order."

The old man glanced up at her curiously through his bushy white eyebrows and frowned. "You know I was gonna drop it off later, Birdie. You didn't have to come all the way down here!"

Birdie sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "I know I didn't have to, but I really wanted to get out to the market today, and so I found myself looking for an excuse to do so. Really, I can handle it Leon."

Birdie was not the outgoing type, and in all truth was downright shy. She wasn't one to get into confrontations, and didn't particularly enjoy solving them either. Not that the girl wasn't polite; she was well-mannered, soft spoken and no one had ever heard her raise her voice. Her green eyes were always alive and curious, and it made the girl come off as someone horribly innocent, someone that wouldn't hurt a fly (even if she tried). Someone who had never known the bad things of the world, someone who carried no hatred or regrets. When you looked into her eyes, you found yourself feeling a bit more alive, perhaps younger or lighter. Needless to say, no one was unkind to her, in fact, people found themselves inexplicably drawn to the girl, happy just to bask in her presence for awhile. These strangers, however, never stuck around long.

Birdie had come to Briel a year earlier, soon after meeting Eriya, who gave her a job at the small bread shop she owned. Over the year, Birdie had managed to make a few friends, one being the kind man before her.

"Oh, I didn't say you couldn't handle it," Leon had continued. "I just said I was going to drop it off later is all."

"Well, come off it Leon." She laughed. "Let me do it today, just this once."

He nodded and fumbled around in the stall and came up with a huge, burlap bag that contained flour. He set it next to her and Birdie handed him over some silver coins, which he shoved into his pocket dismissively. Before she took up her parcel, she turned back to him with a little glint in her eye.

"I brought you something." She said slyly as she reached under apron and produced a few, small round buns.

"Sweet bread!" the man laughed as he accepted them gratefully. "You know my favorite, Birdie."

She returned his laugh, waving as she hoisted up the huge bag onto her shoulder and started off down the street. After a good ten minutes of walking, Birdie was starting to regret her idea of picking up the flour herself. Her shoulder was beginning to throb under its weight, the burlap sack was scratching painfully against her skin through her thin dress. Little beads of sweat had formed on her brow, and she stopped long enough to wipe them away.

"Birdie!" Cried a child's voice, and she turned to see a small girl running towards her from the square up ahead. Hitomi enveloped the little girl in a hug, fondly patting her pink hair that was in two small pigtails on either side of her head.

"Merle! What are you doing here all by yourself?" The older girl said as she pulled away from the child, frowning. Merle pulled on her own orange dress impatiently, grabbing Hitomi's hand with the other.

"Birdie! It's magic!" The girl cried. "There's a magic man in the square!"

Birdie hoisted the sack up once again and started towards the square with the little girl. "You mean a magician, Merle. A magic man is a magician."

"He knows how to do tricks like you do!" Merle said breathlessly in her five year old voice. "And he can do even neater things too! Like turn flowers in birds-and back into flowers again! Oh! Oh! Hurry Birdie!"

The little girl ran ahead of Birdie, and as the young woman neared the square she saw a fair amount of people gathered around the center of the square, around the fountain. Upon the fountain stood a person garbed in a long dark blue robe, whose face was hidden from the crowd by the hood that covered even his nose. The only thing she could see was his mouth as he whirled around the ledge of the fountain, a small smirk that appeared as children cried out happily - the paper butterflies he'd handed out earlier had suddenly burst into flight, fluttering over their heads.

Birdie found herself smiling too, as she stood near the back of the crowd that was growing larger by the second. She heard the familiar clinking of coins as they were thrown into a small plate at the base of the fountain. He silently went though his tricks, pulling a bird from a lady's purse, balancing a teacup (that he pulled from a disbelievers ear) upon the end of a pencil, and a some flying cards.

"For my next trick," His deep, masculine voice boomed out, drawing Birdie's attention from the butterflies and back up to him. "I will need a volunteer!"

A few hands shot up and he scanned the crowd carefully, settling upon a small hand waving frantically in the back, next to a young girl in a green kerchief who was sitting upon a burlap sack, smiling at the child while shaking her head.

"The young rose haired girl in the back!" He decided, and watched Merle give a little start of surprise as she looked around, then to the young woman she was obviously with, who nodded her approval. The crowd parted for her and the young girl ran up to the fountain to the cleared area in front of it.

He held out his black gloved hand to her, helping her up on the ledge where she stood attentively.

"Will anyone miss this unfortunate, charming child when I make her disappear?" He called out in a teasing manner to the crowd. They all cheered a loud 'no' to make him continue. His eyes rested on Birdie, waiting to see if she would stop him. Although she couldn't see him doing it, she knew he was waiting for her approval and called out "No! Get rid of her!"

Flashing her a quick smile, the magician turned to the now frightened little girl, bending down to talk to her. "What's your name?"

"M-Merle…"

He patted her head fondly, and smiled. "This isn't going to hurt or anything, okay Merle? I won't hurt you. So, don't be afraid, show them how brave you are."

Merle turned to the crowd and pointed back at Birdie. "You're gonna miss me when I'm gone!"

The crowd laughed and the magician jumped down off the ledge, and turning to Merle picked her up to set her down next to him. No one caught the silent words he spoke to her as he did so, his mouth never appearing to move. He turned to the crowd, turning the now smiling girl to face them.

"Everyone, I implore you to take one last look at Merle!" Everyone's eyes were on the girl and she squirmed under all the attention. The magician grabbed one end of his long blue cloak and held it up in front of her, blocking her from view of the watchers from head to toe. Birdie was standing now.

"Behold!" He cried, releasing his cloak once more, showing the empty space where Merle had once been. He twirled around in a circle, the audience gasped and clapped appreciatively, more coins were thrown. He gave them a slight, stiff bow. "That's all for today, thank you very much!"

The crowd dispersed slowly, leaving only Birdie there, scanning the scenery carefully for the little girl. When the square was finally empty, she turned back to the magician who was patiently waiting for her. She approached him, a slight frown on her face.

"…Where is she?" Her nervous voice came swiftly.

The magician gave her a smirk. "I thought you told me to get rid of her. And so I did."

The woman shook her head at him slowly. "I didn't mean it of course, I was just playing along with your act. …Could you bring her back now please?"

The man shook his head, turning from her to collect some stray coins from the fountain's ledge. "It's not possible. Unless…"

"Unless what?" She said quickly, her voice laden with panic.

He turned to her once more. "Unless of course, you do miss her that badly. Do you?"

The girl's emerald eyes were glowing with worry. "Yes! Yes I do miss her!" And she heard a small giggle from behind the man. The Magician was grinning at her. With one arm, he lifted the front of his cloak to the side and she could see he was wearing black pants and a dark red shirt. Tiny arms were clasped around his middle, hands locked at his front, and a bit of pink hair showed from behind his shirt.

"Merle," the man said. "I think we've scared her enough."

With that, the little girl emerged from behind him and ran into the other's frantic arms. The magician turned from them, collecting the small coins from the plate on the ground and the few that had missed their target. His stomach growled.

"Oh God, Merle, you scared me half to death!" Birdie breathed into her hair. "You're mum would've killed me had I came home and told her a story like that! 'I'm sorry Eriya, I let your daughter get magicked away by a wizard in the town square.'"

Merle giggled as Birdie let her go. "I told you that you'd miss me when I was gone."

Birdie shook her head at the girl, her dark gold locks cradling her face gently. "You're not amusing at all. Come now, we've got to get back."

As she turned to leave and retrieve the flour bag, the little girl grabbed her hand and remained firmly planted in her spot. Birdie shot her a questioning look.

"Show him your magic, Birdie!" Merle said quickly. "Show him your trick!"

Birdie looked back to the man who was just now standing, placing his earned income into a small, brown leather satchel with a black gloved hand. It disappeared beneath the blue robes. The young woman shook her head.

"No Merle," she said patiently. "he's a real magician, he would know how they work. Let's go home."

Merle stamped her foot. "Not those! That one trick you do! Please?"

She was about to protest the girl again when the blue cloaked man leisurely ambled over their way. "I would love to see your magic trick, Miss Birdie."

He noticed her cheeks light up a pretty shade of pink at the use of her name, and she noted his soft smile that emerged slowly, making her turn and even deeper shade of red. Yet she shook her head again. "I-I can't."

"I promise not to laugh." He said in same teasing voice he'd used during Merle's earlier demise.

"It's not that." Birdie replied matter of factly, calming herself to rid her cheeks of the embarrassingly pink shade. "Good day, Magician."

She turned from him and finally made it to the flour bag, Merle hot on her heels.

"Dragon." He said from behind her.

Birdie turned to him slightly as she was about to pick up the bag. "Excuse me?"

"My name," He replied coolly, bowing at the same time. "Is Dragon."

The green eyed woman stood once again, giving him a once over. "Dragon?" She finally questioned with a smile as he came closer, standing a few feet away. "Do you breathe fire too?"

"Only when I'm really annoyed." Dragon broke into a new smile, adding after a second of thought. "and for exceedingly pretty girls."

Merle turned her huge, bewildered eyes from Dragon to Birdie. "He breathes fire Birdie!"

Birdie rolled her eyes. "Merle, he's jo-"

She was cut off as Dragon quickly cupped his hands around his mouth and turning his head from her, blew out between them. A great ball of blue flame shot out from his hands above them in the air, and both the girls let out a surprised gasp.

When he turned back to them with a confident smirk, he saw Merle gazing up at him in admiration, and Birdie with her hand over her heart, eyes wide with shock. Merle was first to recover.

"He thinks you're pretty!" She said, tugging on the back of Birdie's dress.

Birdie's eyes shot from the little girl, then up to the quietly smiling man before her, her face burning hotter than the flame he'd just breathed. "I fancy him as being quite irritated." She finally managed.

"Why can't you show me your magic trick?" He asked her before the little girl could argue the point.

"Because she can't see your eyes!" Merle piped up behind her.

"Merle!" Birdie frowned.

"Now I'm quite interested." Dragon admitted freely. "If you don't show me this trick soon, I might really become annoyed."

Birdie wished her face would stop burning, sighing as she looked around nervously. After another moment of hesitation, she finally walked close to him, closing the gap between them. Frowning slightly, she swallowed while examining his mud-spattered, leather boots.

"I do need to see your eyes…" She explained in a quiet voice, not looking up at him.

"I'm not stopping you, am I?" Dragon replied evenly, not moving an inch.

Birdie's frown slowly disappeared, taken in by the awkward moment between them. She raised a hesitant hand up to the inky hood that concealed his face, grasping the top of it between two fingers. Gently, she lifted it ever so slightly, not pushing it from his head. Her lips unconsciously parted as she examined his features. His eyes were a dark color she couldn't make out for the shadows that still poured over him, but his face she could see, was unlined and smooth. He was young, and couldn't be much older than her she realized. A few locks of shadowy hair spilled down into his eyes but the hood made everything so dark she couldn't tell what color it really was, and his lips… She jerked her attention back to his eyes quickly, seeing the amusement lying there. Birdie frowned at him; there was something terribly familiar about the man.

"Do I…" She said quietly, her eyes still searching his face in confusion. "…have we met?"

Dragon's lips drew into a quiet smile, but on the inside his mind was racing and panic fired up. He was quite sure they hadn't met, but feared she might connect his face with something she might've seen somewhere. He ignored the faint, tugging feeling in the back of his mind as though something was desperately trying to resurface and replied, "No. I would've remembered you."

Birdie waited a moment, digesting the information slowly and at last, to his relief, nodded.

Dragon's relief didn't last long because the deep ocean green eyes that were gazing at him softly had turned serious…as though she was searching for something in his eyes. Staring down into his soul. Looking… It unnerved him.

"Oh…" She finally whispered quietly, revelation dawning upon her. "Oh, I see. How strange."

And with that her spell was broken, and Birdie backed up from him quickly. He was frowning.

"And?" Dragon asked as she untied the green kerchief from her hair, her freed golden tendrils spilling around her face.

"Shhh!" Merle told him. "Watch!"

Birdie lay the kerchief down over her flattened palm, and Dragon watched it carefully. She closed her eyes in concentration for a moment, then with one swift movement whipped it off her hand. In her outstretched palm was a small loaf of bread. Dragon's eyes shot up to her curiously.

"You have talent." He smiled in wonder, taking it as she offered it to him and forcing himself not to devour it like the ravenous creature he was in front of her.

"Not really. I can't make paper butterflies soar, or balance teacups on pencil points." She admitted, then turned to the beaming pink haired girl at her side. "You are quite satisfied now?"

Merle nodded. "Yes."

Birdie nodded at him once, lifting the bag of flour to her shoulder. "Good day, Mr. Dragon."

As she walked away, Merle quickly whispered to him before following her. "The real magic isn't making the bread appear, but knowing what your favorite kind is."

Dragon frowned slightly, watching the girl skip to Birdie with ease. He observed them until they disappeared around the corner, still unsure of what to think. For a moment I thought it was over… He told himself bitterly as he tore off a piece of the bread, popping it into his mouth. Apple-cinnamon. He chewed on it thoughtfully, knowing that Merle had been right about the girl's magic. But she didn't seem to make any connections, and seemed like the type that would tell me if she had. Despite the intense urge to devour the whole loaf, he ate a third of it and reluctantly stashed it away in the haversack under his robes. He unhurriedly set off down the street in the same direction the girls had gone, towards the slums, knowing that it would be the only place he would be able to afford lodgings for the night.