Disclaimer: I do not own Guild Wars

Dedication: To my sweet lil ducky editor Zefi! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

It was her birthday. That was the first thing that ran through her head that bright sunny morning on the outskirts of Ascalon. The sun was shining, the birds where singing, Melandru was surely smiling upon the world that day, but Zefi wasn’t smiling. It was her birthday and her nii-san and her aniki weren’t there to meet her! So picking up her wooden bow and a dozen or so arrows her to her back she stalked after them with all the determined-ness a 10 year old can have. She had checked the forests, Ascalon, the shrines of Melandru, everywhere but she could not find them! She even searched the shallow end of the underground caverns. She had looked inside the temples and the secret caves where Zefiros and she had hid from their brother’s wrath after a prank. Zefi found neither hide nor hair of her twin Zefiros or her nii-san Pumkin Sniper.

Although Zefi and Zefiros shared a birthday it was Zefi who celebrated, Zefiros being the antisocial anomaly of their small family was content to watch his sister have fun. Whatever joy she felt in partying and receiving attention he gained by watching her be happy. Why? Is it not human nature to want material things? Yes it is. But this is the power of love between brother and sister, the pure love between those who have been joined since the beginning of their time. A bond that only twins and close siblings could have. This was a bond that allowed for one to compensate for the other’s short comings, for them to feed off each other’s emotions, a bond that ran deep into their cores, a bond etched in blood.

A child’s love, a simple love, a love that granted infinite power. This love creates not only happiness but also loneliness, for there is no such thing as eternal joy, and in turn eternal misery. A child’s love grants power, a special power to those who receive it and feel its effects. For Zefiros and Zefi the bond of children’s love between them gave them great joy and bliss by simply being by each other’s side. For Pumkin and his siblings as a trio harmony and serenity washed over them by being united.

For Zefiros and his beloved Amatsu, their bond gave a sense of unity, for while Zefiros loved his sister beyond all else, he was truly one with Amatsu. This is a bond that only those of the Ranger path, and perhaps those of the Necromancers can understand. This bond that makes you not love, but be one. There is no “he” or “she” it is “me”. It is not Zefiros and his pet, or Zefiros and Amatsu, but Zefiros. Zefiros and Amatsu are one; they are the same, Zefiros the analytical and rational part of the brain, the Super Ego, Amatsu the animalistic and unrestrained force of raw power, the Id. Combined they create the Super Ego, a mix of want and morality. A perfect balance is achieved, and even those who are of these two listed professions do not always understand. It takes someone of great understanding and will, yet someone in dire need of another half to understand. Through the magic of Beast Mastery and Death Magic: Minion Arts, this bond is created.

Back to the point of a child’s love, when Zefi and her twin are apart a great pain is felt, a feeling of being alone and empty. For them a growing sense of fear rises within them, paranoia that one is hurt, that they will be attacked or caught off guard without their other half to complete them. For that is what they are, two halves of a whole, with Amatsu being a half of Zefiros’ half. So when Zefi woke up on her straw pallet that fine morning with the sun blazing and the sky as blue as her brother’s mask to find that said brother was missing, it is safe to say that she panicked.

It was her 10th birthday and neither of her brothers where anywhere to be found. What tragedy is this for any 10 years old? It is her special day and the two people she wanted to share it most with are missing. Zefi had planned for this day to be perfect, to be special. She and her brothers would do anything she wanted that day, that is what Pumkin had promised her, and she knew Zefiros would never say “no” to her, least of all on her birthday. Did they want to take back their word? Did they not want to be with her on her special day? Doubt and fear laced her mind, she was afraid, had she upset her brothers some how? What could she have done?

She spent all morning searching the their modest hut, no note, no traces of a break in or attack, no sign that her brothers where hiding, nothing at all! Curse the fact that they where all Rangers, couldn’t they leave SOME evidence that they even existed for just ONCE in their lives? If only to assure their little sister that she hadn’t been abandoned? She let out a frustrated sigh.

She searched the catacombs (and was almost eaten alive by Zombies, she was saved by a passing Necromancer, she never really did understand why people didn’t like them), the fields (some grawl spotted her but she quickly took them out with a couple of Point Blanks), the temples (there where some meditating monks, she decided to leave before she was noticed and persuaded into become their latest recruit), the barracks (she didn’t see her brothers but she did see some interesting looking warriors), the forests (she spotted a few bears which she followed, she was 10 her attention span wasn’t that great, what’d you expect?), the lakes and rivers (a few skale played a wicked prank on her, causing her to set them on fire with some Ignite Arrows), the shrines of Melandru (although she did not spot her brothers she only thought it fit to sit and pray there for a while, the leaves where so pretty after all, it was only fit she thank Melandru for such a beautiful day), she had even checked Ascalon (she knew how her brothers loathed crowds, her twin being the antisocial strange thing that he was, something about not allowing animals in and how humans where animals themselves, she hadn’t been paying attention at the time really). She had searched everywhere she knew and yet nothing!

Had her brothers forgotten? No! They couldn’t have! She had been waiting all week for this, she had told her brothers about it several times, reminding them every few seconds, constantly pestering them about it. What could she say? She really wanted this day to be special. Where they mad that she was like that? She was like that every year! Had she gone too far this time? Pumkin looked pretty annoyed when she carved it out on the side of their house earlier that week…but just yesterday he laughed and ruffled her hair saying how he couldn’t wait to celebrate with her! Did he lie to get her off his back? Oh Melandru! What had she done? She’d scared of the two most important people (the only people really) in her life away!

She ate alone; eating a piece of honeycomb she found when she was tracking the bears. She washed her face in the stream she followed, taking a sip of cold clear water. She then began the long trek home; she had covered miles of land following random animals there. The sun was setting, she was sure that it must have looked beautiful, but she couldn’t enjoy it knowing that her brothers were nowhere to be found. She had ruined her own birthday! She let out a chocked sob. She saw their small little hut in the distance, just at the edge of the trees. This would be her first time alone, she had never been alone her life, there had always been Amatsu, or Pumkin, or Zefiros, the only time she was alone was when she prayed to Melandru or bathed! Those times weren’t very long either. Zefi thought she was going to cry.

She was a few yard from their hut now, she dragged her feet and stared at the worn path, how many times had she skipped along this path with arms full of wood for arrows? How many times had she tripped and fell and had her nii-san scoop her up and wipe away her tears and make her laugh? How many times had she run along this path while Zefiros and Amatsu playfully chased after her? Never again would she take such things for granted if she where to experience these things again.

A thin muscled leather clad arm suddenly scooped her up tossing her into the air, she let out a small squeak before she was caught again. She stared into the laughing brown eyes of her nii-san.

“NII-SAN!” she screamed clinging to his neck. She felt more than heard his laugh as his cloth mask tickled the side of her face. She liked how his eyes crinkled and how his head tilted backwards causing the blue, green, and silver beads braided into his hair to click. He set her down.

“Imoto-chan why the long face?” She could tell he was smiling under his mask.

“I couldn’t find you! Don’t do that to me again! I was scared that Charr took you away!” Like they took Mama and Papa away…The unspoken words hung in the air, weighing it down. His eyes didn’t smile as brightly after that. He bent down to her level and gripped the sides of her arms with his broad hands.

“I will never leave you.” Pumkin said, his voice grave.

“You promise?”

“Yea I promise.”

“ZEFIROS!” Zefi suddenly screamed, whirling around and making a mad dash for the side of the hut. How did she know he was there? Because of the bond of children. Did Pumkin know he was there? No, this is a bond of children, while he is their brother, he is not a child, and his power of the sixth sense has faded as he grew up. Is that not how it is with all children? They’re sensitive and aware, but as they grow older and learn more of the world and what has happened they loose their sensitivity. Perhaps this is because their psyche can’t handle all the information. Maybe this is because they can’t handle all the information, all the emotions flooding in, and can’t deal with how to manage this. Perhaps as they become more sneaky and deceiving, as they learn to live in the world they loose this sensitivity.

Zefi tackled her twin into a hug all the while screaming of how he was a such an idiot leaving her alone on her birthday of all days without any warning. The twins stood in an embrace for a few moments before Zefiros cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry sissy, I had to get your present.” He said, his usual monotone laced with just a hint of guilt.

“Present?” all day she had been worrying over Zefiros and he was away because of a present? “I don’t need a present aniki! You didn’t have to!”

“I wanted to.” He said and tugged at her hand. He led her to the back of their house where there was a crate. The crate moved.

“…it moved.”

“She moved.”

“What?”

“…”

“What did you do?”

“Open it.” And she did, and inside the crate was the most beautiful, sweet, angelic looking tiger she had ever seen. In her books and scrolls she had seen pictures of the elegant red orange cat in front of her. Cats that had eyes of fire, and black stripes that made them look like ripples! So elegant and graceful! Yet proud and strong, she had always wanted one, but none where in Ascalon, all of them lived in Cantha, when she grew up she had planned on going to Cantha to catch one.

“Oh my…Melandru…how?” She drew next to the cat, staring into her hypnotic eyes. She placed a tentative hand on her head, the cat purred and rubbed against her. The bond between an animal and Ranger is formed. For the first time in her life she fully understood what Zefiros and Amatsu had between them. Before she thought she knew, but now it was like a veil had been removed from her eyes. A strong feeling to say something gurgled up from within her, she just had to say something! “Chaud.”

“Pardon?” Pumkin blinked, he had been watching from afar, how his little sister had bonded with the tiger, it was awe inspiring, and then she said “Chaud”.

“Chaud. Her name is Chaud.”

Zefiros smiled, Amatsu rubbed against his side, now the four of them where one. The bond had just grown bigger. Pumkin kneeled down next to her while she petted Chaud, and he quietly twined something into her hair. The sudden weight made her blink. She turned her head, surprised when she heard a strange tinkling follow. Out of the corner of her eye she saw blue. Through Chaud’s vision she saw three white feathers pointing downwards, attached to a cluster of four blue oval gems, and a string that led down to another cluster of four blue gems. What was it?

“I thought that it was time that our precious imoto have her own set of beads.” Pumkin explained. Zefi felt her eyes water, her own set of beads. To a Ranger that meant belonging, to truly be one with Melandru and be apart of the Ranger community. She was now acknowledged as one of the Bane clan (although it no longer existed, save she and her brothers), she had her beads, in the colors of her clan, blue (the gems), white/silver (the feathers), and green (the string). Her brother had his braided into his hair, her twin had his twined into his hair as well as on the sides of his almost always ever present mask. She was finally one with them.

“Happy Birthday imoto”