Smoke and cries of anguished people echoed through the valleys. People despairing over lost loved ones, people screaming in the fires, and cries of battle, a battle that had clearly been lost by the occupants it once housed.

A figure ran through the smoke, avoided the enemies and tried its best to escape an otherwise impenetrable wall of dangers. An arrow pierced the figures shoulder lifting back its hood and revealing the face of a beautiful woman. She let loose a shrill scream but continued running as if her life depended on it. It did. And of the life of the baby wrapped tightly in expensive silks embroided in gold.

The child made no sound. She was alive but her eyes were closed and her breath was shallow due to smoke inhalation. Her mother leaped over roots and trunks, careful despite her injury only barely jostling the bundle in her arms.

A village was just over the valley, though it would take days to cross and she and the baby would not make it. Either dying from sickness and injury, hunger, cold, or being captured and killed by the enemy. And that was if they were lucky, for no one captured by the enemy ever expected a fortunate death.

The woman decided to make her way through the river. It was deep and dangerous and all she could find to help her get along the river was a flat piece of thick bark and a reasonably straight branch to use for direction. It some luck would be with her, in but a few hours she and the baby would arrive at the nearest human village.

The swift river carried them along safely. Their tracks would have been lost, as well as their scent. Not even magic could track them for even if the woman was fragile and weak looking, she was truthfully a witch. The makeshift boat slammed against rocks and branches along the river but was always kept afloat. The woman gained more injuries along the way but she paid little heed of them, instead she tried to hum a soothing lullaby.

The woman was human, but the song way an elven lullaby. The very words were magic themselves. Magic took many different forms. Kido, song, dance and sword arts. Not to mention the more powerful but almost never seen magics of emotion and dragon magic.

The woman's eyes filled with tears of disappear as she observed the oncoming waterfall. She had completely forgotten about the falls nearing the village in the spine.

A loud scream of anguish left her as she lost her grip on the baby and they both plummeted to the bottom. The baby, fortunately was thrown forward from the impact, landing in a small splash later rising to the surface with a loud wail. The water was awfully cold after all. In fact, most of the river had begun freezing already along the banks.

Her mother was not so lucky. Her scream ended abruptly and the forest fell silent except for the cried of the freezing and soaking wet baby and the raging waterfall. She had fallen to the sharp rocks that were icing over directly beneath the waterfall. This was surely the end of them. They had survived, escaped and made it this far, almost where they would be safe, only to die there.

A lone figure on a white horse travelled a dirt path along the village of Carvahal. No one payed him much attention even if he seemed rather wealthy. Especially because he seemed wealthy. The nobility among the humans was severely corrupt and it was dangerous to have any interaction with them because either they would kill you, or report the village to king Sousuke Aizen who would send his henchmen to destroy the village and kill its residents.

"Please sir, please come with me to look for my aunt? She just had a baby and she was supposed to be here days ago! I am worried that she ran into trouble in the spine!" A young girl begged a group of men who looked at her. They listed and some scoffed or shrugged but they returned to their previous conversation.

The figure narrowed his eyes at the scene before him. He watched the young girl who couldn't be older than six human years old, run to another group of people standing by the forge. She wrung her dirty dress between her small hands and bowed her head. She repeated her plea and while these men seemed more sympathetic, they didn't deem her plea worth investigating.

"'m Sorry lass. 'ave too much work 'ere for me to do. Go home and wait for 'er, Hisana." The smith said sympathetically. The figure on the horse had watched the encounter. He watched the girl run back through a grassy path, to where he believed her home to be. He pitied the girl for it was obvious to him that she would never see her aunt again.

He left the village headed towards the river. He travelled longer than he intended to and he was completely out of water. It had been days since he had last had a drink of water. While he could use magic, it was too dangerous to use is so carelessly.

After filling his fourth leather canteen with fresh water he disrobed and left his horse to eat its grass and drink its water. Strangely, the horse didn't have a saddle, reigns or anything one would expect a rider to use. After all, it was the tradition of the elves to help and be helped by animals as friends, not servants.

It was barely audible but he heard strange sounds coming from the falls. He was cautious and felt out the area to detect any enemies, but there were none. While he cared little for the wellbeing of competent beings, he was actually kind hearted and feared an animal was suffering. If it was hopelessly injured, he would kill it and feast. If it was only barely harmed, he would heal it and free it.

He dressed himself in the strange human clothes he had to wear for disguise, but he released the spell that enchanted his features into that of a human. His ears became elegantly pointed and his eyes slanted. His features became more pointed and his body became slightly taller and leaner. Contrary to belief, he was far stronger than he appeared. He remained muscled but he lost the bulk board muscles that his human guise possessed.

He left his horse as he slowly made his way to the clearing near the waterfall. His eyes widened and he gasped in despair. There, floating on the frosting water was a baby. It was blue and its eyes and lips were even bluer. He used his magic to draw the child to his waiting hands. Children were miracles, blessings among his people. If a child could be saved, no matter what race it was, it was elven law to save it.

He was not a lover of humans, he was quite xenophobic towards other species to be honest, but he couldn't live knowing a child, a baby, froze to death because he chose not to help. He used his magic to heal the baby of its ailments. It was surprisingly wrapped in expensive looking robes, indicating that it was the child of nobility or something similar.

No one would believe that he, the coldest most uncaring of their race had cleaned, changed and cuddled a young human baby. The colour began returning and the child began regaining its liveliness. Once he was sure it would be fine, he scoured the surrounding area looking for anything that would indicate its origin.

He didn't look long. A rare flicker of emotion passed his usually emotionless fey grey eyes. If it wasn't so tragic and ugly, it would be beautiful. A beautiful woman lay upon the frosted rocks beneath the waterfall. The sharper pieces protruded her body but otherwise it seemed almost like she lay upon a crystal altar.

The elf used his vast magic to walk upon the water and he leaped onto the icy coffin. She would have died instantly, but still, water that could only have been tears was frozen on her eyes. He sighed and looked through the woman's robes. His eyes widened at the image of a sword, quiet like his own. But what was a human doing with a sword forged by the elves? And for the life of him he couldn't determine the name of the sword. Usually they were engraved with their names after being forged but this sword was nameless.

It was troublesome but the elf decided to spell a solid crystal coffin over her body. He detested humans, but she was obviously a cut above the rest and it was the lest he could do for her daughter.

A thought struck him with relief. The young girl from the village he had just passed had obviously been searching for these people, at least the baby had a family. It was his responsibility to care for it as he had saved it, however he could pass off that responsibility if the child had family. Hopefully they would accept the child.

The mother had few possessions on her, only her sword and a ring, apart from her wedding band of course. She wore few jewels but he left them with her. He only retrieved the ring and sword for the baby for when she was older. She would undoubtedly want a memoir of her mothers.

It was late already and the village should be quiet enough for him to deliver the baby. He walked towards his camp and checked on the now awake and bright-eyed baby. He couldn't help but stare at the child in shock. It had the most…unnatural eyes! They looked blue from a distance but to his heightened elven eyes, they were actually violet with light pink streaks about the pupal. It would make since if she weren't human or if she was afflicted with albinism, but she had a healthy glow to her skin and pitch-black hair that seemed to curl just in the middle of her forehead.

A pang in his chest made him watch to keep the child on a whim. But what would he do with it. He passed off the fascination and stomped out the fire. He nestled the baby in his coat and sat upon his horse that quickly trotted back towards the village.

He passed like a ghost through the village, he didn't need a spell to be discrete and invisible because he excelled in stealth. He found a small farm that obviously wasn't wealthy or doing well but he deposited the baby on the ground at the door along with the sword and ring as well as a note he had written.

He said not more than what had happened. The mother was found death and the child was identified as their family. He knocked loudly and the baby began to cry. Its bejewelled eyes looked up at him as if it knew it was being abandoned.

He smiled at the child. A rare action from him. After some thought, he dropped a bag of coin next to the baby and began walking away from the baby towards his horse that watched him from the forestry in the distance. The crying stopped but he knew the baby was staring at his back. It was rare that children were blessed but he decided that if he didn't spell a blessing upon this child he would surely regret it. She seemed to already possessed beauty and strength and she would have to develop her own character. But still…the path ahead of her, an orphan, would be painful and arduous.

"Be brave." He spelled her and kissed her forehead. She fell asleep and he sprinted to the bushes, he sat upon his horse but watched as a man picked up the baby.

"Rukia?" He heard the man say. Indeed, it was a peculiar name. Beautiful and unique. He called his wife who hurried towards the door. He told her that her sister had died and she cried out in anguish. She picked up the baby and hugged her to her chest. Another infant cried from within the house. It seemed as though they too had young ones.

He left once he was certain that the child had been accepted and disappeared into the forest. It wouldn't be long until the dragon egg he had secretly been carrying began shaking. It stopped though, and it remained still. He never even noticed. His thoughts were too troubled.