Last Sky

Chapter 1 Rin

"Filthy trash." "Flawed." "Why don't you just leave?"

These were the insults and catcalls that followed me after leaving the schoolhouse of my village. I didn't pay any particular attention to them as I headed towards the woods. I trekked up a narrow path to the boundary. Today, two small kids, maybe six years old, followed me for part of the way, still calling me names. I ignored them and continued up the increasingly difficult slope. They eventually paused and hurried back to the village. Towards the edge of the forest, at the top of the valley, was a field, which was part of the wind clan. No one dared to venture too close to this boundary, and so it became a perfect place for me to hide. After reaching the boundary, I'd usually lie in the grass and watch the clouds, or do something equally useless. Every now and then, I'd brush up on the skills I learned in school. Not that I needed to.

Shora is an island country in which there dwelt five clans. The clans were spread into corners, and a center circle, and each part of the country fit the clan's specialization and skills. The Wind clan is quick-witted, clever, and has some excellent strategists. But they can be a little crazy and tend to hold festivities for any occasion. Fire clan members are often passionat and have hot tempers, but are very powerful and can have fierce loyalties. Members of the water clan are usually peaceful, but when they do fight, their torrential attacks can demolish an opponent. Many people remarked on the gracefulness of water clan members, and so, the water clan is famed for its beauty. Satoyama, the village that I live in was part of the earth clan, and so, specialized in defense and healing techniques. Earth clan members were more reserved, but they supported all its members, much like the trees in a forest. The center circle was where the Sky clan lived, or in other words, the Royal Family and the High Royals. This clan, I despised.

People are usually born with certain skills, ones that match one of the clans, excluding Sky. Most of the time, people born in the clan would adopt that clan's skills, but every once in a while, a child is born whose specialization is that of a different clan. These children are raised in the village and when they turn twelve, they are brought to their appertaining clan, and a ceremony is conducted, signifying that the clan accepts this new member. For example, if a child is born in the Fire clan, but has a water specialization, they are brought to the water clan leaders and adopted into the water clan. Sky clan is made of only Royals and the High Royals. The High Royals are the King and Queen, the Royals being their family. You have to be born into the Sky clan and named a Royal.

Children's specializations usually appear around the age of ten, but when I first did one of the specialization tests, which would determine what clan I would belong to, I came away with no answer, meaning I had no specialization. And the same thing happened the following week. Then the following year. And the year after that. It was bad enough that I was an orphan, taken in by the earth clan out of kindness, but now I was also a kid which didn't have a specific clan. To make me even more of an outsider, I have long black hair and pale blue eyes that people say glint with silver flecks. Few people had black hair or eyes as lightly colored as mine.

And so, at the age of sixteen, I was completely isolated and alone, with no clan.

Except I did have a clan.

And I knew exactly which clan it was.