Shiny black boots the size of a child's feet came shooting down towards the wet earth. With a huge splash, mud was thrown in all directions, nearly soaking the child's legs and getting a substantial amount on his mother directly to his right. Several smaller puddles were nearby, just as deep, and fed from his stomping into the last one. One after the other, in movements too fast for his mother to anticipate, the young lad had emptied them all onto him and his mother.

"For virtues sake, child! Cease this play or we shall all have to return home!"

There wasn't much else that could've stopped the young lad from continuing in his horseplay. The home referred to, though the child would not have understood why, was more of a research facility than a place for small children. It was torture for the child to live in such a building where he was allowed to touch nothing of the wondrous equipment the parents mulled over in their work. His parents sought to understand all that was learnable about the forces of their world, often incurring the distaste of other citizens. Citizens who the child's parents often referred to as "blind", and "followers of a man, and not rational thought."

"Come hither, and I shall make thee presentable again."

As the two stood, the mother attempted to wipe the mud from their clothes, and create some cleanliness for the trip into town. The father returned momentarily, he returned with a small collection of mandrake that had recently sprouted nearby.

"Are we off then? Come, let us make haste, for the rain shall soon be over us again."

The rest of the journey into town was blissful for the young boy. The forest was a favorite place of his, especially during or directly after a long rain. The water seemed to make everything magical, as if everything in the forest hinted at a refreshing of life itself. Often he had to be scolded when he would find a small sapling to shake the droplets out of, or a pond to dig small lizards out of. It was such joy the child found in experiencing the rainy forest that delayed the trip into town, if only slightly.

Finally, they cleared the brush and came upon two large buildings at the bank of what was a wide river. A thick fog prevented seeing what was on the other side of the water. Passing by the two buildings, the local inhabitants stopped and stared at the trio. Each person seemed to lose interest in their own task, and take notice of these three. These people were no friends of the family, but had certainly seen them come into town before. Yet, even so, never had the family received such attention as this when entering the city. It was as if the town itself had changed.

This was all nothing to the child. He was pulling his mother forward, eager to jump into the fog that awaited them on the other side of a long bridge.

"Come mother! Look!"

Thru the gauntlet of gawking interest, they at last came to the bridge over the wide river. The child pulled on his mothers arm, begging the two of them to hurry up their walking. A few steps onto the bridge, he broke free, and ran across the bridge, enveloping himself in moist blinding whiteness. The child was in his own element, and breathed deeply the fog that surrounded him. He marveled at knowing he was suspended over a raging river, yet currently blind to exactly what supported it all. Even sounds were wonderfully direction-less. His footsteps on the sturdy wood echoed slightly in the silence that the fog created around him.

"Come Mother! Come Father!"

"Child! Take care when crossing this bridge! Other citizens must also use it!"

"Yes Father!"

Without finishing the sentence he ran further across the bridge. There were many people milling about directly on the other side. Blind to anything but the elements around him, he ran his tiny frame past most of them, and directly into one of the halberd-wielding guards.

"A pardon sir!", as he continued running into the middle of town. He was now entranced by not only the silent, semi-blinding fog, but also of the sounds of town and normal commerce that excited all but the most dense of souls.

The fog suddenly got thicker for him as he was standing there near the bank. As he waited for the cloud near him to move on, he heard shouts come from the bridge he had just crossed.

"There They are!"
"Seize them!"
"Vas Rel P..!", a familiar voice bellowed.
"Grasp their hands so that they may not vanish away!"
"Guards! We have captured them!"

It took quite a while for this to die down into rational conversation, as there seemed to be many voices clashing, and much struggle over two people. Still, the fog had not moved on for the child, and venturing closer to the disturbance to get a glimpse was far too scary. Eventually it could be discerned what was going on.

"Silence Citizens! I wish to address these criminals!"

Sounds of a beating could be heard. It was clear, even thru the fog, that whoever was restraining the two people were also kicking, and beating on them with blunt weapons.

"Have restraint! These two shall not escape their fate!"

"Rober and Millie, thou'rt both charged with violating Lord British's laws in banishment of practicing dark magicks in Britannia. Thou art sentenced to death."

"By my word thou shalt not take our lives! Thou dost not understand what it is that my wife and I seek to uncover! Take me to Lord Blackthorn if thou dost wish an explanation!"

"Silence! Your son is also to be put to death for thy crimes, for it is not known what manner of evil aether you may have bestowed upon him as well. Tell us where he is."

"Child! Run! Do not be captured!"

"Find him citizens! Do not let the fiend escape! The two of you shall regret thine actions!"

The voice was so familiar that it cut thru the child like death itself. Fear was gripping him such as like a drake were to stomp on its victim, he knew not where to go, or how to get there. finally, as his legs collapsed underneath him did he find the motivation to run around the back of the bank, further, down between the jewel shop and the artists guild, he ran. The fog was giving him sufficient cover, and he managed to cross the bridge to the beekeepers, and past the fishing docks. He had not known how far he had run, eventually he dropped to the cobblestone besides a building known as Vesper Customs. He pulled himself tightly between two barrels full of seawater and smelling of days old fish.

It began to rain.

The child felt quite hidden there, and soon began to cry himself to sleep, half shielded from the rain by the overhang of the building's roof.

He did not know how long he had slept there. Perhaps days, by the ping in his stomach. It was still raining though, and this only added to the child's disorientation as he attempted to grasp his situation.

When the splashing of seawater all over him brought him to full cold reality of where he was, he huddled up further. As he did so, he knocked an empty, crookedly placed barrel over, and three others fell down. The nearly blind fisher paid it no heed, yet it got the attention of a wise looking man just outside of the building, on his way to the reagent shop. The rain was still coming down quite hard, and the man was reluctant to delay his shopping. Many things piqued his curiosity, and barrels moving on their own was certainly one of them.

He tugged at the reigns of his horse and brought himself alongside the building. He dismounted and brought himself in for a look at what could've knocked the barrels over. His horse then protested at being left in the rain, and attempted to move himself under the overhang.

Searching amongst the shadows behind the barrels, their eyes finally met. The child was terrified, and shook with fear at being discovered.

The man was tall, wearing a blue robe and black cape. his hair, beard and moustache were all of a white so pure it matched the fog around them. On his head was a magicians cap that was wet from the rain, its brim dripping each time the man bent over. Underneath that, he seemed to be wearing some kind of armor, but the child couldn't quite put his finger on what it was called.

"I am Xander Xavier, Who art thou, child?"

Fear again made the child shake and attempt to bolt away from him. Diving into the rows of barrels, Xander caught him expertly and attempted to continue his questioning.

"What is thy name? Where are thy parents?"

The tone of the voice made the child finally reach out. This man wasn't here to capture him, and his manner was only gentle. He threw his arms around the man, and wouldn't let go. Between sobs, the child tried to communicate what happened as best he could.

"Moter said go 'way! I ran 'way! Mother said go 'way! I ran 'way!"

"Hush now, calm thyself. Thou sayest thy Mother told thou to run?"

"aye!"

Dumbfounded, Xander consoled the young lad in the rain as long as was wise.

"Come young one. There is space in my room at yonder Youth Hostel. Thou wilt stay with me until thy parents come to find thee. Come Sage!"

The horse responded to his command, and came forward to his master. The stallion sniffed along the face of the young lad just before Xander lifted him up onto the mighty horse. In seconds, Xander had a cloak out of the horse's pack to give to the child.

"Put this on, keep the rain off thee child."

"Rainchild," Xander muttered to himself, "an appropriate name," he thought. He grabbed the back of the horse and mounted.

"I shall call thee Rainchild, is that agreeable?"

The child nodded, not knowing if it were safe to reveal his parents, or his name.

Off into the rainy, misty city they rode, for Xander was low on mandrake.