"No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.

~Buddha

Chapter One

The Traveler and the Lost

She was five when she became a murderer.

Runi tried not to dwell on it too much.

It was nearly dark, and their torch light flickered and died. Wisps of smoke fluttered away, and Runi reluctantly tore her eyes away when Nefer-nee took her hand, walking faster. They'd gone grocery shopping. A loaf of bread, and some fruit. To them it was a feast.

They were barely ten blocks away from home when she tripped and fell sideways, and everything went downhill from there. She remembered the sensation of Nefer-nee's hand slipping out of hers as rougher hands took her by the shoulders, dragging her back. They'd pushed Nefer-nee against a wall, and leaned in real close.

Nefer-nee had screamed, and Runi saw red.

She'd sunk into some unknown depth of her consciousness. Anger rushed forth, along with fear, desperation, and power. Pure power.

Runi snapped.

There was a scream. A spray of blood.

When she opened her eyes, the bad men were dead.

Nefer-nee wouldn't look at her.

Nefertiti was dead now.

Runi's older sister, her precious person, dead. She'd perished years ago, along with half their village, one particularly bad winter.

Runi wasn't affected physically by the cold, though. Only psychologically.

It was frigid tonight. The paths were frozen. It was a good thing she couldn't freeze to death, though. That would prove rather problematic, seeing as she had no place to go at the moment.

Monster.

Murderer.

You're better off dead, freak.

They'd said worse to her. Much, much worse. But Runi couldn't bring herself to care. There was only one person in the world whose opinion Runi cared about, and that person was dead.

Runi… did you do this?

Nefer-nee… She'd broken down sobbing, rushing towards Nefer-nee's open arms. Nefertiti backed away, eyeing blood-splattered Runi with an expression Runi couldn't identify.

She knew it now, though.

I'm sorry, Nefer-nee. I'm sorry!

It was fear.

Runi curled up beneath an abandoned fruit vendor's stall, lying on pillows of snow and sheets of ice. She closed her eyes, searched out the Power in her mind (she'd named her ability, sometime long ago) and materialized another blanket of snow to cover her up.

The cold embrace felt comforting, and if she tried hard enough, she could imagine it was Nefer-nee's arms wrapped around her instead.

Runi cried herself to sleep.

When she woke, Runi was not alone. She wasn't buried in her pile of snow, either.

"Are you all right?" Runi's head snapped up, only to meet the eyes of a kind-eyed stranger sitting in a chair by her bed—wait, since when did she have a bed? Bewildered, Runi took another moment, drinking in the sights and sounds of the room she was in. A fireplace blazed in the corner, barricaded by stone. The walls were wooden, and sunlight filtered in from a window high above her head.

Runi was young, but she'd learned the hard way already not to trust strangers. "Who are you?"

The stranger only smiled. "Call me Yunan." He had long fair hair underneath his strange, black pointy hat, and calm blue eyes.

"Why did you take me here?" Was he some sort of slave trader? Why would he kidnap her? Or maybe he hadn't kidnapped her. Maybe he'd seen her in the snow and pitied her—no, that was impossible, she was a monster—

"Calm down. It's all right, little one. Don't worry." His voice had this calming sincerity, and suddenly, in her mind's eye, little white birds began to flutter around him. Runi stared, enraptured.

Yunan looked pleased. "You can see them?" He held out a slim, pale hand, allowing one of the birds to land on his outstretched pointer finger. "They're called Rukh."

"Rukh…" She tested out the word, liking the sound. Runi laughed as one landed on her shoulder. "They're beautiful!"

"Indeed." Yunan smiled. "How old are you, Runi?"

Runi frowned for a moment, deep in thought. "Nine... I think. Maybe ten."

"When is your birthday?"

"January second." That, at least, she knew. Nefer-nee had drilled her birth date into her at a young age.

"It's January twentieth now." Yunan smiled at her again, though worry was ever present in his gaze. The Rukh around him fluttered about, distressed.

Ah. So she was ten. Time flew when you were homeless, she surmised.

(Actually, it passed agonizingly slowly in the beginning. It was only when you stopped caring that you lost track of time.)

"Here, have some broth." Yunan might as well have handed her a pot filled with pure gold. Stolen fruit be damned, Runi couldn't remember the last time she'd smelled something so delicious. Even the fruit pie she'd snagged from some unsuspecting baker didn't compare. Runi wolfed it down.

"How long have you been on your own?" Yunan asked, not unkindly. Some part of Runi reminded her to be cautious, but after years of living on next to nothing, anyone who gave her food immediately gained her trust.

"I dunno." She said through a mouthful of broth. "Two years. . . I think. It's hard to keep track."

"I see." The smile in his eyes faded, but Yunan's voice remained soft and gentle. "The winters can be brutal. I commend you for surviving."

Runi's gaze hardened and she slowly lowered the broth from her lips. The question hadn't been asked directly, but it was still implied. How have you survived the cold?

He didn't know, she realized. He didn't know who she was. He didn't know she was a murderer. Runi trembled; she couldn't bring herself to tell him. It was so selfish, considering how he'd been kind to her. He'd kick her out, and Runi would be alone again.

"It's okay." Yunan's voice was kind, encouraging her. "If something's bothering you, you can tell me."

Runi broke down, sobbing and shuddering violently. Yunan rubbed her back comfortingly, and absently she wondered if that was how a father would act. Finally, she calmed down enough to look him in the eye and speak rationally.

Runi told him everything. Well, almost everything.

First, she told him about Nefer-nee. She told him of the Power, lurking deep within her mind and giving her access to create snow and ice at will. It scared her, because the Power was this dangerous monster she couldn't control, rearing it's ugly head at her wildest emotions. Only now had she somewhat been able to control it. Runi told him how the villagers called her a monster, how Nefer-nee had passed away. Memories blurred after Nefer-nee's passing. Nothing had seemed important after that.

Yunan was silent for a while. Finally, he addressed her directly. "How long have you been able to manifest this Power?"

Runi hesitated. "I… Years ago, I did something bad. With my power. That was when it awakened."

Yunan raised a fair eyebrow at her choice of words, expression indecipherable. "Awakened… How bad was this 'something bad'?"

Runi scowled, hiding her face. If she looked up, she'd probably cry again. "Pretty bad."

"I see." Yunan turned to look her in the eye. "Runi, you are not a monster. You are a magician."

He took a moment to let this sink in. Runi blinked, taken aback. "What?"

"This power of yours you speak of… it is magic. You are also very powerful. Most magicians can barely cast magic without use of a staff. The fact that you can, and to this level…" Yunan looked troubled.

Runi formed a snowflake, and let it dance around her fingers. "What am I supposed to do?"

Yunan was pleasantly surprised at her calm, rational tone. "For now, I will teach you. However, I cannot tutor you in the ways of magic forever. There is only so much I can teach you."

"Are you a magician too, Yunan-san?"

Yunan turned away so she wouldn't see his nostalgic smile. "Of a sort."

The Rukh began to gather around him, forming a halo of light. Runi gazed at him in wonder. "Who are you?"

"An immortal traveler." Yunan smiled again, and offered her his hand. "Come along, child. You have much to learn, if I am to be your teacher."

She wasn't a freak. Not only that, but she had a teacher. A real teacher, who would teach her to control the Power. Runi bowed, trying valiantly to push down her enthusiasm in favor of scholarly respect. "I will not disappoint you, Yunan-sensei!"

Yunan dipped his head. "I'm sure you will not."

"Her destiny is intertwined with that of the Miracle Child."

Yunan looked up, mildly interested. "Is that so?"

"Yes. Theirs is not a romantic bond, but both will grow to be very powerful."

"But will they fall to the dark Rukh in the process? The lure of power can be tempting."

"That is true. But only time will tell."

There was a fleeting image of a king, with flowing violet hair. Beside him stood a crimson-haired woman, snowflakes falling around her. Behind them stood more; a swordsman, another magician, a white-haired assassin in docile off-white robes.

"I look forward to their growth." Yunan mused.

"As do I."

Honorifics used in this chapter:

-nee: Older sister (i.e. Nefer-nee)

-san: A respectful suffix denoting that the person being spoken to is of equal or nearly equal social status. (i.e. Yunan-san)

-sensei: Teacher (i.e. Yunan-sensei)

A/N: The story will loosely follow the Adventures of Sinbad/Sinbad no Bouken plot, but will deviate after the ending of the SnB anime to accommodate characters like Yamuraiha and Sharrkan. And Ja'far. Oh, Ja'far.

By the way, Runi's name means 'secret lore'. Nefertiti's name means 'beautiful', and is the name of a famous Egyptian queen.

Keep an eye out for Chapter Two!

~Ember