Shadow of a Hero

Part 1 - The Hero's Shadow

I was told that when my brother was born, his eyes shined with a radiant yellow glow, which persisted his entire life. I was also told the Legendary Hero from over a thousand years ago beamed with that same light in her eyes. I mean, my parents didn't have to tell me all that. I could tell just by looking at him that he was destined to be the next Legendary Hero. Kai is 14 years old now, and I'm only 11. We may be brothers, but my magic and physical power is nowhere even close to reaching him.

He never took pride in his power, though. He would train and work every day, but when he came back to our room to go to sleep, he would never even mention what feats he accomplished that day. I would always watch from afar while I attempted to train myself, so I already knew how powerful he'd already become. But he would talk to me at night about my day, what I had accomplished, and he would praise me for the things I learned and got better at.

He always looked so confident, his pitch black hair would shine in the sunlight, and all of the villagers (mostly the girls) would all stare at him in awe, though he always turned away from them. My hair, which was white as snow, as well as my red eyes, all made me a freak. I looked nothing like my brother or my parents, so I was always an outcast in my village, even if my brother wasn't the legendary hero.

I wouldn't mind living in Kai's shadow if the village and especially my parents didn't look down on me. 'That's the younger brother of the Legendary Hero' I would hear, followed by 'Yeah, but isn't he much weaker? Why keep him around?' It didn't bother me too much, since the village was full of morons anyway, but my parents were another story.

We ate dinner together every night, but my brother was all they would talk about. Kai noticed this and tried changing the topic a few times, which my parents would shut down instantly. I wasn't important enough to be talked about at the dinner table. I wasn't strong enough to be acknowledged anywhere. When dinner was over, Kai would try to comfort me by talking with me or giving me some snacks he bought earlier in the day. At least one person in this kingdom seems to care about me.

I love my brother. He's the only person who saw me for who I was, instead of the 'useless younger brother of the Legendary Hero'. I'm also the only person to ever see my brother for who he really was, instead of 'The reincarnation of the Legendary Hero'. We both hated how the village and our parents treated us. He never took advantage of the people who offered him everything, yet when he did, he always gave those things to me. He's the only reason I haven't ran away or given up yet.

That was until yesterday. It was my 12th birthday, the day I become old enough to attend school for magic and swords. I woke up to my brother standing over me with a giant smile on his face. As soon as my eyes were focused on him, he picked me up with ease and carried me over his head.
"Good morning, Suri!" he exclaimed loudly, tossing me in the air and catching me.
"K-Kai, what are you-" I tried to speak, but he laughed to cut me off.
"You know it's tradition, lil bro!" He continued to laugh as he tossed me up and down, finally setting me down on my feet.

"Tradition?" I asked, still disoriented from the way I woke up.
"It may as well be, since I do it once a year." He said, calming down. He smiled at me again. "Happy birthday, Suri. Anything special you wanna do?"
"Go back to sleep." I said, laying down. He picked me up again before I could get the blanket back over me.
"Not happening! You've got your extra two hours of sleep today, it's time to get up!" He began tossing me up and down again.
"L-let go of me!" I yelled. I couldn't help myself from breaking into laughter.

That's right. I always forget my birthday since there was only one person who really cared about it. I was finally able to attend magic school, which I've trained for up until now. My brother finally let me back down. I stretched and yawned before standing in front of him. I was only a little shorter than him, but we didn't look anything alike despite being brothers. Of course, our eyes were the largest difference we had. Mine were red, which was a rare and unlucky color indicating misfortune to those who were born with them. The superstition wasn't too far from the truth, to be honest. His, of course, were always glowing yellow unless he closed them. A constant reminder of my place in our family.