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As he moved to leave Sora called, “Where are you going?”
Roxas looked back at him. “I’m not sure, just thought I’d take a look around.”
The brunette nodded, Selphie walking up to his side. “We’re going to be at the fire near the windmill later if you’d like to have dinner with us.” The boy turned and pointed over the rooftops, the top spire and two blades of the windmill clearly visible over the houses even in the dimming light. The boy motioned to himself when the blonde’s eyes moved back to him. “I’m Sora, this is Selphie,” he paused then added, “and you’ve already met Lily and Anna.”
The woman was on her feet, walking past Sora towards Roxas and extending an arm to embrace him. “Thank you so much, I thought I had killed you both. I’m so sorry to place such a burden on you…” Lily laughed at her side, playing with the flowing sleeve of her dress. Anna hugged him long and hard, then pulled away with tears in her eyes and said once more, “Thank you...”
“Roxas,” he finished for her, “my name’s Roxas.”
“Thank you, Roxas.” She said with a smile, bright red curls falling down her shoulders. “I’ll never forget your kindness.”
As she walked off towards the windmill Selphie followed her, playing with Lily’s chubby little hand as they disappeared between two large red-stone houses. Sora stayed, watching Roxas for a moment before asking, “Do you want me to show you around the city?”
Roxas hesitated then asked, “Do you know anything about the people playing music near the forest entrance?”
“They’re gypsies from Tailbetta, to the west. I’m not sure if they’re all from the same clan, but I know the girl who was dancing earlier is from the Western Sky.”
“I thought the Akai Ookami were only attacking villages along the southern border?” Roxas asked as Sora walked to his side, the two boys heading back towards the gypsies.
Sora nodded, “They are now; Tailbetta was one of the villages to be attacked right after the assassination. It was burned to the ground before the official decree.”
So many cities, so many homes, so many lives…destroyed. Roxas, thinking for a moment, asked, “You’re letting the Eastern Sun live among you in a refugee camp that they themselves are at fault for creating?”
The brunette blinked, blue eyes showing his confusion. “I thought surely you knew the truth, the boy with you was from the Clan of the Eastern Sun…” He linked his fingers together behind his head, walking alongside Roxas and saying, “The assassination wasn’t the work of the Eastern Sun; they were framed by someone on the inside of the royal court, someone who was close enough to the Prince to kill him without him fighting back.” Roxas listened silently, the other boy continuing after a moment. “They thought it was the sunlight-wielders because of their binding abilities, but someone from the Clan of the Eastern Sun couldn’t have been the assassin. Every member of the Eastern Sun was accounted for at the Ceremony of Sun Blades held in the fallen castle of Hyne southeast of here. There’s no way that one of the Eastern Sun could have made it from southeast of the border to the Crimson Castle mere hours after the ceremony ended to assassinate the Prince, which is exactly what would have had to happen if someone from the clan had killed him.”
“Everyone was accounted for?” Roxas asked, the other boy looking towards him, meeting his eyes before nodding.
“Demyx said the ceremony’s a big deal, no one missed it. They took a charter when they entered the clan to attend all of the Blade Ceremonies.” He lowered his hands to his side, adding, “If someone hadn’t shown up they would have been greatly shamed.”
“Didn’t anyone mention the possibility of the clan’s innocence before the King sent his pack off to kill people?”
Sora laughed, “Of course. The messengers were deemed traitors to the crown and their villages were the first to burn.” The boy looked past Roxas and pointed towards a group of gypsies, the people laughing and playing music together around a small cooking fire. A girl in a white dress was dancing to the music, swinging her arms gracefully and spinning in circles. “I heard the Western Sky was one of the first clans to defend the Eastern Sun.”
Roxas and Sora stepped closer, several of the older gypsies turning to greet them warmly, and then returning to clapping in rhythm with the music. Two women were playing violins, an older man sitting on the ground strumming a sitar. Across from them a young girl was shaking a tambourine, the man sitting beside her blowing into a long wooden flute. The girl in the white dress spun in circles, hands thrown above her as her dress fanned out in a large wave, several layers of colored skirts beneath her outer dress revealed with her movements. Her skin was tanned, her jet black hair cut short around her curved face. As the song ended she snapped her heels together and came to an abrupt halt, her skirts continuing to flow around her for a moment before settling against her petite frame. She opened her eyes as her audience began to clap, hazel irises brightening her tanned complexion. She curtsied then noticed her two watchers, smiling and walking over to them. “Sora! You’re back again.”
The brunette smiled, rubbing the back of his head. “Yeah, you’re an amazing dancer Yuffie.” He motioned to the blonde at his side. “This is Roxas. He’s the boy I was telling you about, he found Lily and brought her back to Anna.”
The girl’s eyes widened. “The boy from the burning of Cellus? I thought you said he and the little girl were dead?”
“We thought so, but obviously we were wrong.” Sora smiled over at Roxas, saying in a regal tone. “He’s a hero, running through burning houses to save little girl’s lives!”
Roxas glared at him. “I’m hardly a hero.”
“It’s very noble of you,” Yuffie said, Roxas looking over at her, “to rescue a child you had no ties to, and then return her to her mother. Cellus is far away; I’m sure you went through a great deal of trouble to get her here.”
Roxas looked away from her intense gaze. He hadn’t even thought about it like that before. He felt it was a responsibility to a decision he had made. He could have ignored the attack and gone a different way, he could have left Anna crying in the streets, he could have let Lily die…but since he chose to save her he felt he also chose the path of keeping her safe and returning her to her mother. The other choices had been cruel, unacceptable decisions he would never have been able to make, so for this girl to regard him in such a respectful manner… It felt wrong to him.
“I didn’t think about it being any trouble,” Roxas said softly, “I just thought she deserved to live; deserved to be safe and happy, and be with her mother.” He met her hazel eyes, the girl listening silently, “I couldn’t knowingly let her die like that.”
“You have a good heart, a good aura.” Yuffie said gently, reaching out and placing a hand on his arm. “You’re a deep, intense blue. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.” She smiled, drawing her had back. “It reminds me of my grandmother and her old stories. She used to tell me legends from times long ago about a boy with a deep ocean-blue aura, the last of the cold-blazers from the Clan of the Northern Sea.” She sighed, looking towards the sky with a sad smile on her lips. “I miss her…”
Roxas’ mind whirred, thoughts rushing through his mind. Another clan who knew tales about the Northern Sea, the same description as the Akai Ookami boy had given him, the thoughts sending a wave of familiarity over him, that blue-eyed girl’s laughter echoing in his ears. “Aoi Yuurei…”
“What did you say?”
Roxas looked to Yuffie, the young gypsy’s eyes wide. “Someone’s told me about that legend before. They said the boy was called Aoi Yuurei.”
Yuffie reached over and took his hand, saying in amazement, “Your aura is pulsing like the waves of the ocean, or a fire. The name, Aoi Yuurei, what does it mean to you?”
“I don’t know; it’s just a name…”
Yuffie shook her head, clasping his hand tightly in hers. “Do you wield the light? Are you a magic user?”
Roxas was silent for a long moment, then nodded.
She searched his eyes, asking, “What color? What flame do you command?”
The blonde closed his eyes, pulling his hand back. “Never mind, I shouldn’t have brought it up…”
Yuffie held on, locking her eyes with his. “What light lies within you?”
Slowly, like a candle flickering to life, a soft blue glow crept from Roxas’ fingertips. It covered his palm and flitted across the gypsy’s fingers, the girl watching in shock and slowly moving one of her hands from Roxas’ towards her face. “It’s…cool, like water, but it’s fire… Blue fire…”
The boy called it back to him a moment later, the light fading as if nothing had ever been there. Sora, who had been watching from Roxas’ side, and Yuffie both looked over at the blonde in utter amazement, the two seeming to be the only ones who saw the blue light. “Can you tell me what it means?” He asked softly, the girl’s eyes widening in realization.
“You don’t know who you are?”
He hesitated only for a moment before shaking his head. “I can’t remember anything past about a week ago.”
Yuffie looked over at Sora, the two exchanging a glance, then the gypsy leaned in a whispered, “If you truly are a cold-blazer then you’re the last of the Clan of the Northern Sea, the clan of blue fire that was destroyed centuries ago.” Her hazel eyes shimmered as she spoke, her voice soft and low, “Legends say the son of the chief will return some day to destroy the tyranny overcoming the land, that he will battle and over come all other fire and magic and finally restore peace to all the Clans. The legends call him Aoi Yuurei, the Blue Ghost.”

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-vomits- 20 pages for the first chapter? -dies- I literally could not stop writing this for a week. I had a weird dream and this is what spilt out. -glares at muse- She’s on hyper drive, I’m working on three fics at once now! (In case you wanted to know; yes, chapter 18 of Unseen Emotions is something I’m currently writing as well. I’ll expect reviews and cookies, so hop to it!)

Here’s some info for you:

Ma-Muang and Ma-Feung are actual fruits! Ma-Muang is also known as the Thai Mango, and Ma-Feung is also called a Carambola Starfruit. I described their shape, color, and how they taste based on the actual fruits!

The village names are pretty simple:
Cellus (sell-us)
Arukei (are-ew-kay)
Tailbetta (tale-bet-uh)
Hyne (hi-nh)

And for the Japanese names there are the translations:

Aoi Yuurei - Blue Ghost
Akai Ookami - Fire Wolf

Yay! Was that everything? Did I miss anything? -passes out- Oh well, I’ll correct it another time. I’m off to bed, yay! Please leave me a pretty little review and I shall write you another chapter very, very soon! Nite!

~Tasogare no Raikou

P.S. - Those aren't supposed to be smilies, they're page breaks. -.- Stupid automatic smilies.