Prologue

A girl ran down the rolling hills. She gave off a small smile on her pale yet elegant dirt

smudged face. Her long silver hair flying behind her and her grey eyes sparkling, she ran back to

a small farm.

A woman with pitch black hair emerged from a run down house of stone and straw. She

was beautiful despite her plump form " Children! It is time for dinner."

A total of four children rushed into the house and gathered around a wooden table.

Already sitting at the table, was a burly man with a small auburn stubble.

As he sat down, all of the children started giggling. " What's so funny eh?" The man

questioned them which only caused one of them to snort creating a chain of laughter.

This continued on for quite some time, even during their simple but filling meal. After

they ate they explained with giggles that straw was tangled within their father's hair.

All of the kids ran off to finnish their evening chores while the father tried fixing his hair

and the mother went to stoke the fire for the night.

When both parents looked up from what they were doing, they saw one child standing in

the doorway. The pale silver haired girl, Hóngsè, looked at her mother and father with a scared

look on her face.

"Mommy, Daddy?"

"Yes dear?" Her father answered

" Why am I the only one not like the others? Everyone else has either black or brown

hair. I'm the only one with silver hair. Not only that, but I look nothing like any of you."

As Hóngsè asked this simple yet pressing question, both of her parents knew that the

secret they have kept for 13 years has resurfaced.

Her mother took a deep and shaky breath, then she spoke. " Well, it's a long story dear,

and definitely a complex one. For this is to make any sense, we are going to have to start from

the beginning."

Hóngsè looked up at her caretakers. They were no longer her family. She couldn't believe

that she was found as an infant in the dead arms of a red haired women presumably her mother.

As she walked away from her fake parents, Hóngsè knew that if she was ever to find out

about her mother and who she really is, she would have to embark on a journey. But first, she

needed to get strong, smart, and older before she could do anything because what could a 13 year

old possibly do alone.

Hóngsè slung her traveling sack over her shoulder and mounted her horse, Ryu. As she

began situating herself to be more comfortable, her caretakers slowly approached her.

" Hóngsè?" questioned the lady, "Are you sure you want to do this? You know you can

stay on the farm and take care of the land with us." She looked as if she hasn't gotten any good

sleep in days.

Hóngsè looked down at the woman who she believed for so long to be her mother. It has

been five years since she learned the truth of being an orphan. She was already an adult so there

was no one stopping her.

Without saying a word, she turned her back on the people who raised her and the land

that she grew up on to embark on a journey into the world. She knew that if she did this, there

was no turning back.

As Hóngsè rode off towards the capitol, the people who showed her love and cared for

her throughout all her hard times finally realized that their child would never forgive them for

keeping such a large secret for so long. The woman fell to the ground sobbing while the man, with a grey scruffy beard was quietly weeping.

Even as they cried, both parents knew that they raised a child who would turn the world

upside down.

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