The Elemental Trials

Skye

Skye Aerina was a small, eight year old girl, with strange yet beautiful short white hair, who lived in the city of Deganwy, Wales with her mother and father. She had no siblings, and seriously struggled to make friends, due to her tendency to speak her mind even at a young age. Luckily for her, she managed to get along well with her parents, who both treasured her due to her being their only child. Her mother was an old woman, roughly in her mid fifties, but still as lively as she was in her younger years. She was around five and a half feet tall, with dark hair than flowed down past her shoulders and contained numerous grey streaks. Her name was Iona, and she made a good amount of money for her family by selling her artwork locally, although she never pursued her creative gift further than this. Skye's father was in his early fifties, not too far off Iona, though he had a full head of grey hair which he had come to accept over time. His name was Eli and he worked at the docks a short distance away from his home, earning nowhere near as much as Iona but making a decent income nonetheless. Skye spent most of her childhood going on adventures with her parents; visiting small islands, climbing hills and mountains, going to beaches, and anything else they felt like doing. The only person around Skye's age who she considered her friend was her cousin, Lilian. Lilian also lived in Wales, though in the much more Urban area of Cardiff. She lived with her mother and father in a one story house which only had two bedrooms with one bed each, a bathroom, and a living room which was attached to the kitchen. Her father, Eli's brother, was a drunk, and refused to work in order to provide his family with basic necessities like enough food, or electricity. This forced Lilian's mother to start working numerous jobs throughout both day and night, meaning Lilian hardly ever saw her at home, and if she did it was only for a few brief moments before she disappeared into her room and passed out on the bed. Every once in a while, Lilian and her family would take a trip to visit Skye and her parents. Eli and Iona never knew it, but these visits were arranged by Lilian's father purely so that he could borrow money from Eli while staying in his luxurious rural home. Despite the nature of them, Lilian and her mother adored these visits, as Skye's parents were extremely kind hearted and welcoming. Although Lilian was two years older than Skye, the two got along incredibly well, to the point where they were practically inseparable whenever Lilian stayed over. One weekend, Eli and Iona planned to take Skye up north to an island just off the coast. The day before the trip Skye fell ill, and the two prepared the cancel the trip altogether. However, Skye convinced them to go themselves and enjoy it, while she stayed with a babysitter. Iona wasn't entirely sure, but Eli knew it would only be for a day, so managed to persuade her to go. So, they left Skye with one of their friends in the town and headed off the next morning. Unfortunately, the two never made it back to their young daughter. They made it to the island, and once there decided to rent out their own boat and sail around the smaller island's nearby. Tragedy struck, and the two ended up caught in a horrific storm, which conjured up massive waves, causing the boat to overturn and, eventually, the two to drown. News reached Skye a few days later, and she felt devastation like no other. Never before had she experienced such trauma, and it definitely broke her. Since Iona and Eli had no other relations, Skye was sent to go and live with Lilian and her family, which her father would've been more displeased about had he cared about the financial state of the family in the first place. Skye found slight comfort in Lilian, but she knew full well her life was never going to be the same. From that point forward, Lilian's living standards dropped drastically. Since her mother now had to provide for a whole other person, and no longer had the assistance of Eli's loans, their struggles increased tenfold. Skye and Lilian sometimes went days without eating anything, and as time progressed they were getting more and more desperate. Eventually, when Skye was around 10, she came up with a plan to help make some extra money for her and Lilian. She would disappear on occasion in order to test out her plan, and would always return to Lilian with a hefty amount of cash. The other girl became curious, so Skye decided to let her in on her secret. The two headed into the city, which was relatively busy during the day, and began wandering around. Skye scoped out the area and spotted the perfect victim. A middle aged man happily walking down the street with his wallet hanging out of his back pocket. Lilian stood and watched as Skye slowly approached the man. Once close enough, she stumbled, bumping into the man. Lilian watched Skye apologise to him, while her hand reached out and lifted the wallet out in one swift motion. The man continued walking, completely oblivious to the fact he'd just been pick pocketed, as Skye ran back over to Lilian, a wide grin on her face. Lilian was awestruck, amazed at how smoothly Skye managed to pull of the scam. From that moment forward, Skye and Lilian went around the city every week, stealing whatever they could. Skye was incredible at it, and at times it seemed like she simply hovered her hand over people's purses or wallets and they would float into her hand. She had never been caught once, however the same couldn't be said for Lilian. She wasn't anywhere near as good as Skye, and ended up getting caught on numerous occasions. Although, whenever this happened she would simply drop whatever she had attempted to steal and dart off as fast as she could, and the victim would hardly ever chase after her since she never actually stole anything. They made much more money than they ever expected, and would use it to buy food for the week, which they would plant in their house, since Lilian's father was too drunk to notice any extra food, and her mother was too tired to care how it got there. This continued into the girls' teenage years, with Lilian now seeing her mother much more often since she no longer needed all her extra jobs. Her father was even cutting down on the amount of alcohol he was drinking, though he was nowhere near completely recovering from his addiction. Despite her mother's many attempts to find out how she and Skye managed to pay for all the food, Lilian kept quiet about their dirty tactics, much to Skye's appreciation. Although she was happy whenever she was with Lilian, Skye still felt empty inside, and that something would always be missing in her life. Stealing from people always seemed to work as a distraction from her thoughts though, so she continued, until one day her hobby caused her to cross paths with a man who would change her life forever. Skye and Lilian were wandering the streets, searching for an easy target to pickpocket as they usually did. Skye was thirteen now, though her appearance hadn't changed much, except from her looking a little rougher than she did before her parents death. Lilian was fifteen, and her long, blonde hair swayed from side to side as she walked alongside her younger cousin. "What about him?" Lilian whispered to Skye, nudging her in the arm and motioning with her head to a man eating lunch outside a cafe. "No" Skye said, shaking her head "He's too old. Plus, he's alone. I'd feel pretty bad..." Despite being experienced in the art of pick pocketing, Skye was still aware that what they were doing was wrong, and tended to stray away from stealing from those who could use all the money they can get. "Hmm...oh, right there. Guy at the stall, two o'clock." Lilian muttered to Skye, keeping her eyes forward as she walked. Skye glanced over in the direction Lilian mentioned, and spotted a tall man buying something from a fruit stall. The man was wearing a long cloak, but had his hood down, so that his long, messy brown hair was clearly visible from the back. He reached into his pocket and took out a small pouch, which seemed absolutely filled with some sort of currency. He took out a coin and handed it to the woman behind the stall, paying for whatever it was he was buying. "Strange fashion sense...and who the hell keeps their money in a pouch anymore? Lets do it. You know the drill." Skye said, looking at Lilian, who gave her a nod in return. The girls separate, with Skye making her way towards the man and Lilian simply walking off to watch from a distance. Skye approached the man, moving to squeeze past him and the fruit stall. "Excuse me..." She mumbled as she brushed past him, her hand slipping in and out of his pocket so smoothly and subtly that no one around would've taken a second glance. Skye continued walking, with the pouch now secured in her hand. Yet another successful swipe. Or so she thought, until she felt a hand land on her shoulder. "Sorry, I'll need to ask for that back now." A voice said behind her. Skye slowly turned around, only to be met with the gaze of the man she had just stole from, his emerald green eyes looking right at hers. The first thing she noticed was that he had a kind face and spoke calmly, and that, despite the fact she had just attempted to pick pocket him, didn't look angry or displeased. In fact, he looked a little excited to be interacting with her. Skye took all of this in for a second, but then her instincts kicked in and she took off speeding down the street. She was fast, much faster than anyone could possible imagine someone was at her age, and she didn't even look back as she bolted down the street, darting in and out of people. Eventually, she took off down and alleyway, and stopped to catch her breath. She glanced behind her, looking out at the street just to make sure the man wasn't following her. She breathed a sigh of relief, which is why her heart almost stopped when she turned back around to see the man standing directly in front of her in the alleyway. "Skye Aerina." The man said softly, giving her a tiny smile which calmed her slightly, though didn't get rid of the overwhelming confusion she felt. "I'm Alexander Wright. I'm a friend, you can trust me. There's something I want to talk to you about."