The Beginning

It was a peaceful day in the Village of Hope. Children were happily laughing and playing together. Snow was gently falling from the skies above. No creature came to attack them from the nearby forest.

What's special about the Village of Hope comes from location. The early ancestors of the village had settled down between the dark forest, Nuhleir, and the enchanted creek, Novri. Despite it's dangerous location, the humans that lived there survived for generations, evolving as they lived. Humans that come from the Village of Hope were called Ambrosials by anyone that was not one of them. People come to recruit the villagers for protection or mercenary work due to their magic. Most Ambrosials decline such work as they are needed to protect the village in which they live, but there's always that few that want to explore elsewhere.

Visitors to the village always are sent to see Orin and his brother Naf. These two own an Inn and have a small library of their own research on the creatures from Nuhleir and the magic of the village people. Despite the brothers being Ambrosials, they are left to their own devices and kept at the edge of town due to no one actually knowing where they come from.

On this peaceful day, Orin was working on updating his library. More specifically, organizing powers known in the Village into broader categories: Horos, Glamos, Genos, Sensos, Peros, and Chronos. Yet, he was having some difficulty deciding what magic abilities go under each category. His concentration didn't even last long when he heard a thud come from outside of his window.

"Orin!" Naf called to his brother. "Someone's outside!"

Orin rolled his eyes. "You're closer to the door, you open it."

"They aren't at the door and I'm cooking! You don't want to chance me letting the Inn catch on fire do you??"

"Fine, just give me a sec." Orin sighed as he got up. As he exited, he grabbed his blue cloak off the wall. He peaked into the kitchen to check on his brother, just to see him almost done with making the food. "You can be a real bone in my side."

"Just go!" Naf stated.

When Orin made it outside, there was a girl climbing her way out of a snowbank. Orin went over and helped her out. "Are you alright there, kid?" He asked.

The girl rubbed her head as she looked at Orin. "Yeah, I'm fine. Geez, that was one heck of a fall..." She looked up at the sky from which she fell.

From inside, Naf called out "Orin? Who was it??"

"Just a guest!" Orin called back and looked back at the girl. "What is your name if you don't mind my asking?"

The girl started to brush the snow off her "My name is... Calli?" She didn't seem too sure of the name, but went with it anyways. "It's definitely Calli. What may I call you by?"

"The name's Orin." He took a chance to see if she was injured anywhere. Calli's clothes were torn and tattered, definitely not something someone should be wearing in the cold of winter. If it wasn't just torn up, the clothing would be an odd design for anyone from the Village or anyone he's seen visit. "Let's get you inside, and with new garments. You must be freezing wearing that." Calli nodded and followed Orin inside. "Naf, go set up a room for our new guest!"

"Already did!" He smiled as he brought a bowl of soup into the lounge area for the new guest. Orin motioned for Calli to sit in a chair by the fireplace. "Hello! I'm Naf. And your name?"

"It's Calli." She smiled a bit and watched the fire dance among the logs. "It's been a while since I could get some warmth..."

"Appologies for the questions, but where did you come from?" Orin asked as he sat in a chair nearby. "I don't recognize the style of your clothes. Not only that, how did you make it here? there wasn't any prints in the snow from a horse, much less human."

"Orin, leave the poor girl be. You don't need to pry into others lives."

"It's fine... I don't remember how I got here anyways..." She took the bowl of soup "Although, I do remember seeing someone that looked a lot like you, Orin. Except, they had more of an artistic outfit than you did."

"An artistic me?" Orin thought to himself. I doubt it was not a trick of the forest, but what if he did send her here? Why would he send her here?

"Do you know anything about it?" Calli asked Orin

He shook his head. "The only thing I can think of is a trick from Nuhleir."

"Now that you know, can you leave her to relax, brother? Despite how she got here, she looks tired and cold. Leave her be and help me out with a few things. Orin glanced at Calli then got up, knowing that his brother was right. "There's a lot of bookwork we need to do with the Inn."

Suddenly, one of the village children rushed through the door. "Orin! Naf! Lady Zaria has come back across Norvi! She brought back books and supplies!"

"That's great, En. Go on ahead and tell her that we'll be on our way to help go through it once we settle down our new guest," Orin smiled.

"New guest?" En looked over into at Calli "New person! Howdy! I'm En-" Orin stopped him.

"Don't forget you are on supply duty this week, you need to get back to help Lady Zaria. You know kids that don't do their fair share doesn't recieve a gift."

"But I already have a gift," En whined. When he tried to create a flame to show off, it came out as a small spark. "See?? I can make fire!"

"Alright, show off. Go do your duty. I'm sure Toh will be back today if Lady Zaria is back."

"You're right!!" En ran out of the Inn, excited to see his friend once more.

"Someone's excited," Calli giggled a bit.

"He always has something to look forward to. I just help him along sometimes. Otherwise he would forget what he needs to do."

"Sounds like someone else I know when he was younger," Naf laughed. "Orin would try to work on five projects at once if I didn't help him focus on one thing at a time."

"Do you still try to do that?" Calli asked.

"At times. My current project is just organizing some of my research that I have in the library here. That and taking care of Naf."

"I believe it's more of me taking care of you," Naf smiled, recieving a shrug from Orin.

"It's so nice to see you two enjoy each other. I don't remember ever having something like what you have, much less remembering my family at all."

"I'm sure with some time you will remember them, Calli," Naf encouraged. "If you don't, then you can just make new memories. I would hate to see you all alone."

"You're too nice... Would you mind if I join you when going to deal with those supplies? I would like to get to see the village a bit."

"Not one bit!" Naf smiled. "I know the best parts of town! You're lucky I can get some free time to show you around."

"I'm sure you are the best tour guide," Calli smiled and finished up her soup.

"I'll go fetch you some better clothes." Orin stated before heading off to their spare clothes closet.