They called her Airanna; the rest of the world was clueless about what else to call her. She was there, just hanging on by the tip of her fingers, clinging to life. She was fearless, some say it was because of her past. Others say she was born like that. Nevertheless, no one really knows.

They know her as Airanna. And that's about all they know.

She stood a whopping 5'4, not the tallest but with all the more fight in her than a 6'7 300 pound man. In her hands she clutched the steel-silver railing of a staircase so hard that her frail already pale knuckles where looking quite ghostly. Her thin body looked about swallowed up in the jet-black dress she wore, it was a good 2 sizes to big. Her face and hair where about the only things that hinted she was alive, for they where quite colorful. Her hair was three colors, a fiery red, chocolate brown and golden yellow all twined together. Her eyes where darker chocolate than parts of her hair, and when you stared at them you felt as if you where being drug deeper down in to the pool of her loneliness.

"Hey you ok?" and overly friendly voice called out form behind the girl of 12. She turned her head vaguely not willing to spare the man any of her time. He approached her, walking up to stand besides her gazing out onto the sliver sea. The sun was just setting, and when the moon rose high over the Twin Mountains in the distance the sea would glow sliver like the moon itself, hence the name. The man gazed down on Airanna, as she gazed out onto the sea, though her eyes appeared to be facing the mountains, the man somehow knew they where looking elsewhere. There was no child left in her at all. "Do you want to come inside?"

She turned on him and for a second something vague and unreadable flickered to life in her eyes. "Why have you done this? All the others have given up already. I can see what your doing here." Her voice was like a robot, emotionless, monotone. A slight raise of the eyebrows was all the hint that her face showed.

The man was taken back. "Airanna, I'm trying here. I've done everything asked of me and more. Can't you see this is for you?" He asked rather forcefully. He had found that force worked with her, if nothing else.

"You are a good man I can see that." She said turning back to the sea. "Tomorrow when it is time, ask me if I am surprised." She said in a quieter voice, but all the more monotone and vague than before.

The man shrugged and walked back inside, his shoes making clip-clip against the linoleum floor. Airanna didn't even budge when he closed the door to the patio rather harshly. She had upset him, one to many times.

It was always like this, a single man or an ex-mother who thinks they can handle a young girl like her. They all turn out to be wrong, Airanna was only happy once. And that was way back to when she was young. Her brother was the only one who could ever read her, and make her smile.

The thirteen-going-on-75 year old girl touched the corners of her face. She couldn't remember how long it had been, nine maybe ten years? It didn't matter to her, they where gone now and all she had left was herself. The only people to ever understand her murdered while she was away, buying a new dress for her first year of school. It had to be longer then, she started school a year early, and the school board had called her gifted.

"Ridiculous, a child isn't gifted when they are so young.." Airanna said, her robot-voice breaking the settling silence. "So young and innocent they are.." She mumbled to herself eyes fixed on the rising moon. She watched in her still unmoving way as the light of the moon bounced off the sea and back into her face, illuminating everything around her on the patio in an eerie alien like manner.

The wind began to blow through the trees, like a lone wolf out on a hopeless hunt. Airanna turned and walked to the door looking back at the moon with one last glance. And before she slid the door open with the slightest noise, in fear of waking her foster father, she sighed. Her first real sigh in over a decade.

"C'mon..." the man's almost to familiar voice crawled into Airanna's ears. "At least we gave it a shot.." He said messing up her perfectly straight hair. Her eyes narrowed just the slightest at him.

"You are just like the rest Oliver.." She said as she stood once again on the steps of the cheery-oak orphanage. It was a tall red-brown colored building located a twenty or thirty miles away from Solaria, kind of in the middle of no where. No mans' land. Perfect for this hell-house. In three short years, this place had seen at least twenty new managers, all of which where ruthless. If a child was sick or hurt and showed it, they would be deported to earth, no questions asked.

The food was of poor quality, and hardly nutritious. (This explained Airanna's frail apperance) But worst of all as the discipline. Oh how the workers loved to discipline the children, whips, chains, and if nothing else was available, they'd use their belts.

Now you know why Airanna didn't like showing her emotions, she had spent her entire life at this place, only being picked up by one or two foster parents. No one wanted her as far as she was concerned, so she wanted know one. She was perfectly happy with the life she had made in her head and wanted no part in anything everyone was planning for her.

It didn't help that if you cried at night they'd beat harder, especially if they where drunk. "Ah. Airanna back again?" A cold quiet voice sank into Airanna's skull as she turned to see the all to familiar man called Jed. He was an odd one, eyes like a snakes, hair like a bears and yellow teeth that smelled of rot. He had been there the longest of all the workers and rumor among the orphans was he was the reason the new managers kept leaving.

Oliver, the man who had been taking care of her for an entire 7 months (which was longer than most people lasted) smiled kindly at the man. "Yes she's back. I'm sure your happy to see her..." He said looking from the short hard faced girl to the tall scrawny looking man.

A bad memory drifted back into Airanna's thoughts, about Jed. One very bad memory that had made her contact with people dim to less than it already was. In her thoughts it was all to vivid, the dark cold room her put in her in. She was only ten when she had first been fostered and her 'foster parents' had sent her back within the hour. Said she was too much to handle. Jed had decided to punish her, he said no child could be sent back within that short of time.

Airanna blinked tying to clear the vision that was forming in her head of the night when Jed had sexually abused her. She stayed so far away from that man now. "C'mon now child. In with you.." Jed said grabbing at her arm. She yanked it away and walked behind him. She allowed herself to be led around by anyone, just not him...

When they had reached the old damp smelling office which the newly appointed manager was in, Airanna looked around in spite. It was the same as she remembered it, hell in living colors. She tired to forget about it and just go on, lucky her another foster mom/dad had come to try and help her out. Hopefully they'd be better than before.

She closed her eyes as she walked up the long staircase and into the large room with about 20 beds jammed into it. A group of orphans playing cards looked up at her with the long drawn faces that this places puts on you. A mere twitch at the corner of her mouth was about all she showed in reconization She had spent two years with the extremely thin boy on the right until Oliver had 'tried his luck' with her.

Her feet moved automatically to the bed in the back of the room, entirely enshrouded in shadow. It was a four hour drive from Oliver's comfy warm inviting house to hell and it was only around one in the afternoon, but this corner of the room was always dark. Always, light barely ever touched the surface of the old moldy blankets, or graced the face f it's usual occupant, Airanna. She felt safe in the dark, well not safe, she knew the danger of the old greasy Jed hung in the air, but more comfortable. Airanna really hadn't felt anything in a loooooong time, except maybe hate. She knew when she hated someone or something.

Dropping her books onto the pale gray sheets she flopped onto the bed besides them and just sat their for a few minutes looking for a way out. She had tried four times to commit suicide. Sad for a young girl to try and take her life. This was an example of how unhappy this poor young girl was. Maybe it had to do with see her brother's head apart form his body when she walked into find her slaughtered family, innocent victims of a madman. No matter what the cause she had tired to end it all, she had looked for a way out. After the fourth and hopefully final time, she decided she didn't want to try again. "You just can't end it like that," the friendly nurse had told her. "life is a road and when you come to a fork you should take it. " Airanna had seen a fork, gotten scared and ran back with her tail behind her knees. If she felt anything, it was pride.

She closed her eyes and tossed the books onto the floor, not bothering to cringe like the others when they landed with a loud bang. She slid off her plain black shoes and socks then slipped underneath the covers. Today she didn't want to see anything, she had blown her chance with another foster parent. And there where only so many left who hadn't chosen her...

"Airanna..!" A small meek voice called and the girl suddenly realized she was being, touched. About to pull away she looked up at the small scrawny black haired boy who was trying to shake her awake. Er tension dying down a bit she blinked and continued to stare at him until he spoke again. "The inspcetors1 they're coming again! Oh this is not good. Jed will beat us again if they don't like what they see.." He whined a tear sliding down from one cheek and landing with a splat. Airanna watched it intently until it seeped in the ground. He was young, he'd learn not to give any hint to what he was feeling.

"Let them find what they want. They won't do anything about it." She said pulling away from his grasp and flinging the covers off her. When he still didn't move she stood up. "Kid, get over it. The more bruises you have the stronger your skin will get, the less likely you'll bleed." That was obviously the wrong thing to say as for the little kid, around 8 or 9 began to bawl like a 2 year old.

Airanna spared him one last glance and walked away still wearing the same thing she had worn when she had come here. And from the looks of the little boy, he had been wearing that too. She quickly walked to the other side of the room and glanced out of the corner of her eye at her long forgotten enemy, the mirror. It had shown her all her lumps, bumps, bruises and cuts. It had been the thing that turned her against herself. All the foster parents wanted cute little healthy children, the ones who had just gotten there most likely. No one wanted an older child, who looked like she had been beaten with a sack of rocks, which was not to far off form what had really happened. As she stared into the mirror her dark brown eyes staring back at her, she realized that other than the fancy gold hoop earring that dangled form her right her (a late gift form her brother before he was murdered) she was rather plain. She had freckles, which made her look sort of country-hick-sigh, and a small nose, with a double chin and dimples. Yup, definitely the face of some cute country girl.

She turned her head away from the mirror and continued on to the bathroom to see if her diary, that she had kept as a little girl was still buried under the floor board. She opened what was left off the once oak door and looked down at the boards, counting to herself. One, two, three, four, ok there. She bent down and pried the board loose quickly reaching inside with one of her hands and snatching an old leather bound book. It wasn't so much the dairy she wanted it was what was inside the diary. She undid the latch and flipped through a few pages coming across to very stained paper bills, worth way the amount of the building she was in. She had made up her mind. She was leaving now, before she turned another might-be-adopter into a no-way-in-hell.

Glancing back over her shoulder she stuffed the bills into her dress pocket and walked quickly back into her room, through herself under the covers and went back to bed. She'd leave as soon as the dark fell. No problem, she'd known the way ever since she was young, out onto the roof hop onto the dumpster and then onto the ground. Don't look back just keep running until you reach the docks. She had even figured out a place to go, down to the docks, she had heard Azon was nice and that there where dragons there. The corner of her lips twitched. She was ready. Now all she had to worry about was Jed, that man could hear an ant walking across a velvet floor.

6 hours later she woke up form a dream she was having, something ridiculous about flying dragon back. No one would want her to ride a dragon, you had to be extra special to ride a dragon. Airanna was not extra special, she was just 'that weird girl'. She dismissed the image of her with a full toothy smile plastered across her face gripping the neck of some large crested beast. Quiet as she could she threw back the covers and got her feet. She glanced around her nervously, looking to see if the other orphans where asleep. The boy who had been worried about the inspectors rolled over and mumbled something about his shoes being to small. Poor kid, had probably been here for a while. That was another reason why Airanna liked the bed in the corner, you look without being looked upon, thanks to some flaw in the building design.

She slowly inched towards the window ready at any second to dash back across the room and throw the sheets over her head. If she didn't get caught she'd do it again tomorrow. She was determined to get out of this place, it only worsened her hatred for humanity. She quickly opened the latch which gave of a small click and noiselessly threw open the window. Looking once more at the place that had been her home for half of her wretched life she climbed as neatly as she could out of the window and onto the old shackled roof. Her weight made the singles sink down and she was beginning to think she wasn't going to make it. Maybe if she crawled. Taking another look down she realized that crawling would be a horrid idea, at least a dozen species of spider probably lived under that roof.

She walked quickly holding out her arms for balance, for the roof was quite slanted. Airanna bent down on the edge of the old mud colored shingles and looked at the spot where the dumpster should have been. It was Tuesday, they collected garbage on Tuesday. She saliently sized up the drop, somewhere between 10 and fifteen feet. If she made it she'd have to scamper off as quickly as she could, for surely she'd wake Jed if she didn't.

With a quick hop she landed on the ground in a puff of rising dust. Coughing she leaped up and jogged off, suddenly realizing that she had left her shoes in the orphanage when she stepped on a rock. Holding the pain on the inside, like she had since she was young she didn't even look back. She was free now, she only had to get to the forest then she could sleep in a tree or something, keep the squirrels company in her silence...

Airanna awoke feelings worse than she ever had before, her feet ached, her stomach growled (but not for the crappy mush they fed you at the orphanage) and her head was spinning. But the girl of such a young age didn't even flinch. She just arose to her feet patted the weeping willow that had shielded her form the outside world and walked out from under it's down hanging branches. She had ran/walked/stumbled 5 miles in the dark. She was now just outside of Killlaia, Opilaia's largest city. Quite a feat for a young girl to survive running in the darkness, especially with the weirdoes that inhabited this place. Zealtella had granted her safe passage.

She looked don at hr bloody feet, the first thing she'd do when she made it to Azon was soak them in the salt water. That'd give them a good cleansing. Little did she realized that salt water stung like crazy on wounds and cuts. She looked back up and realized she was staring at her first big city. It was like something out of a star-wars movie. Bright colorful lights, that would probably glow neon in the dark, big buildings with glass panels in the front, flying bikes (like revved up floating motorcycles) and the people, there were so many people.

She looked around her face still expressionless, spotting a rather interesting looking man, followed by something even more interesting, a 54 ft long starry blue dragon. If she would have thought about it later, she would have realized running into a rider at the very entrance of a big city that stretched for miles was zero to none.

But what pulled at her emotionless mind even more was that the starry's ice blue eyes where locked on her deep chocolate one. The blue had odd spine like things running down his back and very large unfriendly looking claws. Id she had not been frozen in almost-amazement she would have turned and ran the other way. The dragon's rider, a blue skinned half demon turned on his heels and looked at her also. He looked as scary as his dragon but the smile that crossed his face was all but that.

He waked up to her and again she didn't run. She remembered or sensed from some old memory or feeling that you could trust riders. "Hey.." He said slowly his eyes looking glazed over. "Do you want to come back with me to Azon? My friend...Sar-he wishes to speak to you about something." The grin he wore was almost comical, for his demon-like fangs hung over his lips.

Airanna, still looking blank-faced raised her eyebrows ever-so slightly, like she had doe to Oliver. "If that you be ok by your Dragon." She said her eyes still locked on the blues.

Of course...The arrogant blue muttered for once in his life completely taken surprise by the strength of the young girl that stood before him. If dragons can e tongue-tied, Phantom was.

"Ok then good, Have you ever flown before?" Kurt said breaking the tension with his cheery voice. Airanna looked up at him her face still deadly serious.

"Only in my dreams.." He said her voice unwavering. The memory of her dream flickered to life in the back of her mind re-playing itself hundreds of times to it's owner.

Kurt nodded and helped Airanna onto Phantom's back, his spines ran all the way down to the tip of his tail and for a second she had her suspicions of where she was going to actually sit. Until the starry blue lowered his retractable spines so that they lay flat and someone could sit upon them if they would. She waited unexpectedly, just thinking that they would flap off into the sky until Kurt mounted. "Ready?" He asked looking over his shoulder at her. She nodded.

Airanna suddenly felt the odd and tingling sensation of being pulled to between. The air was so cold she felt like she was going to choke. Almost feeling herself fall backwards she grabbed onto the half-demon for support and closed her eyes until she felt the sun beating down on them again.

When she opened them again, she felt she had died and gone to heaven. Dragons filled the skies like multicolored butterflies on hot summer days. The sun gently beat down on her face and the wind tickled her ears and nose. She looked to her left, and then right, looking for the fabled Azon sea, which was located right next to the Sanrix. She was sure as she stared up at the large building that she was staring at a Sanrix, until Phantom told her wrong.

Sargon said to bring you here. He consulted Tiyanni, she said there was someone here that you are going to meet. Rather you like it or not. A draconic smile pulled at the corner of his star-struck blue mouth. Oh yes since you’re a native Rayllomian I think you'll find yourself lost in this wild world of *ern. If you get lost, just find yourself someone to talk to and hold on for the ride. The starry blue cackled in a draconic way as Kurt helped the stunned 12 year old off his dragon's back.

"don't listen to that nut. I know your young but there's something about you that I can't read. And I'm pretty good at what I do. Look around for Branvanth. I think you two will get along good." Kurt whispered to her messing u her hair like she was a little kid. His friendliness was appalling, reminded her of Oliver and she narrowed her eyes a bit.

"Sure." She said simply and turned around, deciding she mind as well find this Branvanth guy or girl. Little did she realize that Branvanth was a dragon and that she was just searched by Searchrider Kurt of Sanrix Azon., best friend to Sargon, casual friend of Tiyanni, the retried weyr-woman of Ryslen, where she stood now.

Airanna looked up, still dazed from all that had happened to see a slightly silvering dragoness spiral slowly towards the earth. On her back was a woman who reeked of power, and obviously someone important. Wanting to turn and hide, but somehow staying where she stood Airanna watched in amusement as the elegant woman slid down from the dragon's back. She pulled off her riding goggles to reveal twinkling blue-green eyes and warmly smiled at the girl. Airanna was reminded so much of her mother, if she wasn't as strong as she was she would have ran over to the womn and hugged her. Thankfully she did not.

"welcome to Ryslen." The woman said brightly, her blue-green eyes sparkilign even more than before. "May I help you find someone..?" She asked kindly.

All the indication that Airanna gave was a mere flicker of her chocolate eyes from the golden-silver dragon to the woman, where they remained, sort of frozen in time. "He said to find Branvanth." She said, voice as monotone as ever.

The woman didn't looked phased one bit, she just smiled wider. "Well tehn! Come with me I know exactly where Bran is usually hiding." She said, suddenly taking off towards the abandoned den. Airanna quickly followed, wondering where they where going. She didn't really care, but she didn't ant to be face to face with another dragon as fierce looking as Phantom. As they where walking, Tiyanni, as Airanna had learned, asked her a few questions. Name, age, where she came form, the bascis, the girl was beginning to wonder fi this woman actually beilieved she had a chacne with this Bran-a-wathdith. What ever he/she was. Maybe they ahd found her another foster parent...

As they reached a dim-cast lair with two dragons inside, Airanna's body suddenly tightened up with tension. Bran is a dragon? She asked herself trying to keep herself calm. As she narrowed her eyes to get a better view of the dragons, all her tension vainished. A deep chesnut-red brown dragon lay in front of her, feet carelessly sprawled out in front of him, crested head resting on one paw. He glanced over at them with uncaring eyes hat seemed to stare off into the same place that Airanna's chocolate brown ones stared. "Branvanth...this is Airanna." Tiyanni said gesturing for the girl to step forward, she did because she was told to.

Her expression stayed the same and so did the dragon's. Hello He said a thick unwavering robot like voice muttered half-heartedly into her head the same way that Airanna spoke to others. They where alike though so different, a 12 year old girl and a brown rylsen born felding. Quite a pair..

Though Airanna didn't know it, Tiyanni sure knew that with that one word sentence Bran had taken Airanna as his bond, maybe she could help uncover his caring side and maybe he could help uncover hers. "Hi." She said simply but not with her usual robot voice, this was a more firnedly and trusting voice as she reached out to touch him. He felt smooth, like soft leather but Airanna could feel his muscles relaz under her touch.

The dragon rose to his feet and followed Airanna out into the full sun. He blinked tkaign it all in, he obviously had not seen it for a good while from the looks of him. He galcned almost curiouslsy at Airanna, form what she could tell. She was used to reading the emoitionless, everytime she looked into a mirror. "You’re a pretty color Bran." She said sitting down on the grass and looking up at the sky like she couldn't have cared less. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them.

You think? He said simply as he came to sit besides her. He folded his wings so that they rest easily on his back. Turning his head to look at airanna as she looked at him their eyes locked. All of Airanna's hidden grief and all of Bran's caring seemed to hang in mid air between tehm as they made their bond permanent. They need not speak to tell each other about what was going on in their heads, just catching each other's glance would do, for now.

Airanna reached out to touch the dragon once unable to hold herself back. "Yes I do think.."

"your getting bigger.." Airanna commented as she stroked the large brown dragon's neck watching the sun set from the docks of Azon, where Kurt and Phantom had taken her. She had loved it here, it was beautiful, islands with snow white sand, seas than shown silver in the moonlight and dragons glore. Bran flexed his wings and shifted his head that lay on her lap as he to gazed half-heartedly out onto the water that was changing to red-orange before their eyes.

Yes I am. He said. the corner of Airanna's mouth twitched as she watched the sun cast it's final colors onto the sea, red then purple then a deep blue, right before the moon rose. "I bet there are a lot of females out there who like you my beautiful brown."

I will have none of them, my only concern is your well being. Branvanth said closing his eyes lazily. He twitched stretched out his legs in front of him like a cat.

"You have to fly. It's in your blood. Your a flyer I won't mind." Airanna said also stretching out her arms.

You are to little to experience anything of the sorts. No I will no subject you to that until you are at least sixteen. The large brown said yawning to reveal rows of sharp looking teeth.

"Sixteen?" Airanna complained folding her arms across her chest. "That is not fair you sound like my mother."

Someone has to. Bran replied his many fauceted eyes swirling a variety of colors. If I fly it will be somewhere where somebody like Kurt can keep and eye on you. He said raising to his feet and stretching out his wings so that the rising light form the moon played off them and made the large brown look rather eerie.

Airanna jumped to her feet to stand besides the brown, she had learned that if she stood next to him made her feel the safest she's ever felt, since the day her parents had died. "Bran, I'm 14 it's been 2 years since I've found you. There has been no child in me since I turned 4." She said revealing another part of her retched past to the ryslen born brown.