The morning dawned bright and cheery, and robins sang as if their little hearts would burst.  Through the blinds covering Saran's window, beams of sunlight found their way into his dark room, one of them streamed over his eyes, piercing the protective lids, he stirred uncomfortably in his sleep.
Saran awoke to the new day with unbridled enthusiasm, Today is the day! he thought, today he would achieve the dream that had kept him going these past 15 years.

    He swung his feet out over the bed that was too small for him and stood naked to the waist stretching.  Cracking his neck he walked over to the small basin of clean water and splashed his face, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he then rinsed his mouth out and spat into a small bucket next to the basin.
Dressing in his best, his only, shirt and tunic, he pulled his soft leather moccasins over his feet and packed the only memories of his childhood into a drawstring sack, a silver mirror and a fine toothed
comb that belonged to his mother, and his fathers old maine gauche, or parrying dagger.
With a final glance around the chamber that had been his room since that terrible day so long ago he opened the door and left it behind.
 

    "Nichan (An Alanian term loosely translated as 'Big Brother') Saran is going away?!"  Cried the grief stricken boy.
    Father Thwait did his best to console little Airin, but he had such an attachment to Saran that it couldn't be helped, he began to sniffle and cry.  "There, there child.  We all move on someday, it is now time for Saran to move on as well."  Explaining Saran's reason for leaving was as hard for Thwait as accepting it was for Airin, they both loved him a great deal.
    "It's not fair!"  He wailed for the fifth time, he turned to see Saran coming out of the house and ran straight into a surprised Saran's arm's.
    "Hey Airin," he said scooping the child up off his feet, "Something wrong?"  He asked, already knowing the answer to his query.
    "Yes!"  Airin moaned emphasizing his feelings with as hard a hit as he could muster, summoning the most effective pout he could Airin glared meaningfully at Saran.
    "You weren't even gonna say good-bye!"  The little child accussed.
    Saran hung his head in feigned shame, though he was over dramatizing he did indeed feel bad, he hadn't wanted to say good-bye because it would hurt to much, Airin was like the little brother he never had.  "I'm sorry Airin, forgive me?"  He pleaded.
    Airin's pout deepened, "Okaaayyy, but just this once."  He hugged Saran tight, then wriggled out of his grasp, dropping to the ground he ran back to the main house waving good-bye as he went.  "Promise to come back someday ok?"
    "Sure kid!"  Saran waved back, he would come back, when he was a Dragoon, when they could be proud of him, when he could be proud of himself.  Turning to Father Thwait he stuck out his right arm, Thwait took it firmly in his own.  "Good-bye sir," he said, "thank you for all you've done for me, please watch Airin for me while I'm away."  He said looking back at the house.
    "Do not fret Saran, Airin is a strong willed boy, he will persevere, it is you, however, that I fear for."
He said, searching Saran's eyes intently he found the strength to ask the question that had been plaguing him since Saran had announced his departure.  "Do you think that this is so wise my son?"
    Saran returned the old mans gaze with equal intensity, jutting his chin forward at a stubborn angle, he was determined that he wouldn't be turned from what he saw as his destiny.
"I'm not so sure myself, but I know that I must do this, if not to honor my parents memories then to see myself why Alanis deemed it time to draw my mother and father to her breast while I was still only a child."  His tone of voice was civil, but it veiled an unspoken threat to anyone who would get in the way of him and his dream.
    Father Thwait seemed satisfied with that answer, though in truth he thought this was mere foolishness, who would not be proud of so noble a son?  "I cannot deter you from this course of action," he stated, "but I advise you to be careful, and please return someday, for my sake, and Airin's."   He smiled and patted Saran's hand.
    Saran acknowledged him with a nod, and with one last look at his former home he stepped into the outside world.  Each step he took away form that wonderful place was shear agony, but he knew that if he couldn't let go of this cherished home then he would be a coward the rest of his life, he
wiped the moisture from his eyes as the orphanage faded into the distance behind him.