Laina's+backstory

The Day Her World Burned

The smoke suffocated them before the fire burned them. Or so Laina had been told. The day had been a good one until that moment, a pocket full of riches and an escape to be remembered. The man had been an easy target, his full interest on the side show that he hardly noticed the scrawny girl bump into him. He noticed what had truly happened the next time he checked the time. Laina walked towards home, whistling to herself quietly as she’d seen her father do many a time. Grinning to herself she imagined the man’s shocked expression as he examined his hairy wrist to discover his very expensive watch to be gone. Guilt would not plague her, the man was a bastard and she knew it, in fact everyone knew it. She had always been warned, “Do not steal from that man with the silver hair and dark eyes. He is a wicked man.” Well boy would she show them! She managed to trick the wicked man without ever being discovered. Or, so she though. A man, not the victim of her latest crime, came and grabbed her left arm. The man, dressed in a pristine black cloak, was intimidating, his shadow covered Laina entirely as if the cloud had gone behind a dark cloud. “Are you the one who stole from the Master?” Eyes wide she shook her head hastily, eyes fleeting from his hand on her arm to the others walking the street. Panic flooded through her, she looked everywhere but at her pocket with the money. “N-no Sir,” she stammered. The man watched her through slitted gray eyes. With a smug smirk he released her arm. “Of course. My apologies.” He brushed off her arm and walked away without another word leaving the ten year old frozen to the spot. Two long minutes passed before she felt her heart slow enough to move again. After that close escape Laina thought she deserved a treat. Her mouth watered at the thought of a biscuit. A shop near by sold them, she knew. Resuming her walk home after a long break in which she ate two delectable biscuits Laina felt relaxed and good about her job that day. As she turned the corner before her home she ran into a man, without saying a word she silently slipped around them. Hesitating a few yards after the encounter she turned, almost positive the man had been wearing the same pristine black cloak as the man who worked for ‘the Master’. It was then she heard the yells. The yells of fire. The cries of terror. The smoke hit her next, a suffocating smoke she did not see coming. Turning back around the flames were prominent. The flames coming from a one story wooden building. Her home. Several hours later a distraught Laina sat by the river, waiting for tears. Waiting for that emptiness to fill with her sorrow and drown her from the inside out. Many realizes occurred to her, pointless realizations that could only torment her and would for years to come. The man, the master, there was a reason she was not supposed to steal from him. The pristine black cloak, he knew the entire time she had lied. He had stolen the money from the watch back when they ran into each other on the corner. Her family, they would have been smart enough to stay away from the master. They probably died because of the master, because of her. They suffocated on that smoke before they were even burned. She heard a soft whine and look up, a dog stood beside her, head bent patetically. His fur was the color of ash. A single tear finally escaped down her cheek and she held out a hand to the schnauzer, “Hey there, boy, hey Stranger,” she whispered hoarsely. The dog let out a sympathetic whine, lying down and placing his head on her lap. “G-good dog,” she sniffed patting his head. “Good boy.”