Ys

He was but a boy when the red haired hero came to his land. Barely eight years old. Old enough to remember the horrors the demons inflicted, young enough to be impressionable by the savior. From the instant the demons were shattered and his world had been rescued from the brink of despair, he knew the thing he wanted most out of life was to emulate his hero, everyone's hero, Adol Christin.

For the next few years of his young life, he fantasized about going on grand adventures. He dreamed of rescuing helpless maidens and terrorized old men. He play-acted fighting and defeating evil creatures of all sizes and shapes imaginable. His father fashioned for him a wooden sword which rarely left his hand, even during meal times or when he went to bed.

He also kept an ear open for news of his hero. Word of Adol's travels always found its way to Ys, and he soaked up every scrap of information he could gather like a thirsty sponge. Two years after their first meeting, Adol returned to Esteria. But by the time that knowledge reached him, Adol had left again, back to Selceta where the latest danger loomed. It was then that he asked his father for permission to adventure on his own. His father refused.

It wasn't that the father discouraged his son's dreams. Quite the opposite. He hoped, or perhaps knew, that the life of a bridge keeper, or a farmer, or a priest was not for his son. Indeed he wanted him to forge his own unique future. However, at ten years of age, he simply lacked the skill, the discipline, the knowledge to start out on such a journey.

So he waited. He taught himself to fight with his wooden sword. Not the mock battles he had done in the past, but actual combat. But there was only so much he could learn on his own.

In the meantime, he discovered there was something he loved even more than Adol - the two Goddesses of Ys, Reah in particular. Ever since She had spoken to him when he had been imprisoned in a rocky cave, he had come to admire and respect Her. And then, when the battle was over, and the Black Pearl destroyed, he had met Her. Face to face. He had spoken to Her, and touched Her. She was more than an image, an idea. She was real. And he loved Her.

So when he wasn't practicing with his sword, he was in the shrines. Rarely did he hear what the priests or priestesses said. He spent his time studying the statue of Reah. Every curve, every line, always hoping, begging that She speak to him once more. And though She never uttered a word, he always felt She was with him.

He vowed never to fight for himself, nor for Adol. Not even for those helpless to resist their oppressors. He would only fight for Her.

He was also proudly Ysan. In a time when Ys and Esteria had reunited, he was fiercely patriotic. Oh he loved Esteria, sure, had made plenty of Esterian friends, and enjoyed exploring the docks, hounding anyone who would spin a tale of faraway lands. But Ys was his home, and he was as much a part of Ys, as Ys was of him.

His big break came when he was eleven and happened to meet the woman from Selceta. She had come to Ys to visit other lands Adol had rescued from evil, just as he had done in her home the previous year. Upon discovering her talents, he relentlessly begged her to train him, to teach him to become a warrior and a leader. She was reluctant, but he persisted. His enthusiasm won her over. In truth, with her skills no longer in demand in her homeland, she was unsure what the future held in store for her. Carna needed him as much as he needed her.

They spent more than a year together, not unapproved of by his father. Carna was relentless in her training, and he often returned home at night sore, bruised, but no less eager to learn. His wooden sword was soon shattered, so Carna presented him with a proper weapon. The day he finally defeated her in combat, cutting her arm open in the process, was a day of mixed emotions for him. Carna announced he was ready, that there was nothing more she could teach him. She also said she must return home. She had been away far longer than she had intended, and wished to check on the progress her friends, her family, her country were making.

Carna kissed him before parting, a kiss meant for someone much more than a student. Then he was alone once more.

And then She spoke, and Tarf's destiny was truly about to unfold.