" Valerie!" Young Lordling Darius Ankereon shouted for his sister who he saw not to far off. His twin sister's blue dress and black furs could even be seen in the moonlight. He had no idea what she was doing in the Allon forest. They were deep in the wood, far away from their castle, making her being out there an odd occurrence. For him, not so much. But he had a feeling he knew why she was in the woods. " Valerie what are you doing out here?"

Her small, heart shaped face turned to him quickly, and her aqua blue eyes widened. She'd looked like a doe in headlights, like she hadn't expected for anyone to be out there...or she hadn't expected to get caught. She jogged through the snow towards her brother. " Be quiet Darius!" she whispered harshly, her voice carrying through the cold winds.

She stopped when she reached him and stood in front of him. " No one is supposed to know I am here."

Darius raised a dark brow, " Well why are you here? Father told you to stay home." he reminded her.

He remembered the happening vividly, for it'd happened hours earlier. This outing to the forest was a special occasion, solely for Darius and his panther, Durik, and for only the eyes of the men and their respective panthers of the Ankereon line. It was a special ritual, that every Ankereon would experience when they reached the age of ten. That day had been his turn, and Valerie had obviously wanted apart of it. Even though, as a woman, she would never have the chance. Though Valerie was completely capable of being the lady of Allon one day, she would never be. And Darius knew she hated that fact.

" I wanted to see. No Ankereon girl ever gets to see and I wanted to." Valerie answered, and a small frown found it's way to her face.

" You saw it all?" Darius asked, his hand involuntarily went to left hip, where the famous Ankereon scar had just been imprinted on his body. A panther scratch, given to him by his own Panther, started at his left hip went all the way up his side, and went through to where his shoulder blade met his spine. It was wrapped up, a blue colored syrup put in the wound so it would leave a scar, but it still hurt. He couldn't complain, the idea that he was actually becoming a man, growing up, overjoyed him. And when the time came, and he was the lord of Allon, he'd get a matching scar on the other side, just like his father. Only the Lord of the house got those, and Darius was proud to eventually be one of them. This was only the first step.

" I saw everything, yes." Valerie nodded, putting a lock of hair out of her eye. " Even though I'm sure Durik might be a little angry with you...He didn't look to happy when you gave him his scars."

Yes, he remembered that. He did feel a little guilty, but Durik had to know it was only tradition. He had to give him scars along the left side of his body with his sword to be synonymous with his own scars. That's one of the reasons Durik wasn't with him now, he was just a tad bit upset.

" I know, but he'll get over it." Darius shrugged, " If he was human I think he'd understand." he chuckled, if only to brighten his sisters mood just a little. But it didn't work, she only shrugged.

He didn't know why exactly he didn't expect her to be upset about this. It seemed like throughout their lives, she was always let down. Overlooked. Because he was the oldest male, he would be looked to for everything, would inhabit all the responsibility, and she would get nothing.

" I'm sorry, Val." Darius said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

" I know." She looked down at the snow below her briefly, and when her head came up and her eyes met his, she wore a completely different expression. She looked calmer, the moment spent looking at the ground was used to get her emotions under control. They both did that, it was easier to take a breather then to get too emotional.

She smiled, it wasn't completely realistic, but she was trying. She wanted to be proud of her brother, " Do you want to go for a walk?" she asked.

He nodded, " Of course, I can't sleep anyway." he linked his arms through his sisters and traveled through the woods, farther from his family's camp.

...

As they walked, they chatted about menial things, Darius didn't want to talk much else about the ritual, knowing it would upset her. He wanted to gush, but that would have to wait. Perhaps he'd tell his friends when they returned to Allon. He knew their other brother, Duricon would love to hear the story. And while Darius told him about that, Valerie could tell Elle, their sister, how upset she was. It was basically a win-win.

Interrupting his thoughts was the sound of crunching snow. It signaled other footsteps were near. No one was supposed to be there, and this bothered Darius. He looked over to his sister, who had also heard the noise.

" What's that?" Valerie whispered and Darius shrugged in response. Usually no one was in these woods, with the exception of the many animals who called it their home.

Darius' eyes scanned the forest, looking for the culprit. He didn't see anything but trees and snow. When he was just about ready to simply pass of the noise as a trick of the mind, a gold glint caught his eye. He followed it, and saw three men, all in gold armor. A symbol was carved in the middle, but he couldn't make out the shape, so he didn't know who they were.

He'd caught their eye at the same time they caught his, and they changed route towards them. The soldier leading the other two spoke as they walked closer. " You all shouldn't be out here." the first said.

" Lots of animals that would love you for supper." The second said, and the rest joined him in laughter.

Darius looked at Valerie, who stayed silent, but seemed nervous. He didn't get the happiest vibe from the men either, and opted to keep his mouth shut. He chose to keep calm though, and simply took his sisters hand. They turned, and began walking back towards the camp. If they could get to camp, their family would help them.

" Aye! You know it's rude to not speak back to your elders." Another voice, the third man, said. Darius didn't respond again and continued to walk but at a faster pace. The soldier sounded angry, and even though Darius was confident in his abilities, he was only armed with a small dagger, and he didn't think his sister had her bow or dagger with her.

He squeezed her hand, to reassure her it was alright after he felt her trembling slightly. " Just keep walking..." he whispered, and she nodded.

" Did you hear me?.!" He shouted, and Darius could hear the men starting to pick up their pace. Their longer legs enabled them to get closer to them quickly. This worried Darius. " Get back here!"

The twins began to run, there was no way they were getting caught by them. If they weren't killed, they would get injured. Nor Darius or Valerie had any time for that.

Their decision only angered the soldiers who also began to run. Darius and Valerie weaved in and out of the trees, needing to avoid them at all costs. They knew the forests like the back of their hand, they had played in them every day. They knew how to avoid simple trees.

But their tricks werent enough, and soon Darius felt a heavy armored hand on his shoulder. The soldier gripped it, and pulled it quickly towards him, causing Darius to fall backwards on the snow, bringing Valerie with him.

The newly gained injury burned against the biting cold, and Darius shouted out.

" You will speak when we are talking to you, you little cunts!" The first solider shouted, putting his golden boot on Darius' chest, pushing him farther into the snow. It hurt so badly, he couldn't actually move.

" Now you'll get it." The man unsheathed his sword, and held the metal by the young lordling's neck. Darius could do nothing but look at the man, and try not to focus on the pain running through his body, the cold blade at his neck.

But then, he heard a cry, and the man fell over, dropping his weapon beside Darius. He sat up and glanced at the fallen soldier, already beginning to get to his feet, then over at his sister, who already was sat up, looking at the soldier. Darius followed her gaze to find Valerie's small dagger in the mans side! It had cut through the metal, and jammed into the skin. Blood had already began to leak out of it.

The man's friends had no idea what was going on, and were a bit shocked at Valerie's achievement. The whole scene had come to a standstill. Two men staring at Valerie, Valerie staring at the dagger, and Darius staring at the sword next to him.

It was probably going to be heavy, to heavy for him, but it was a weapon that would work much better than his own dagger. Quickly, everyone moved, like someone had suddenly pressed play.

Darius' small hands grabbed the sword next to him, and he jumped to his feet just as the two men lunged at Valerie. She screamed, and it carried throughout the entire forest.

Darius' heart stopped. They were going to hurt her. The other man would have to wait for now. The other two weren't expecting him now, regardless, he could get a hit or two off before the other got to his feet.

Darius lifted the sword above his head, and it took just about all his strength to slam the blade down. He stumbled as the sword lodged into the man's back, and he fell over on his side dead. The wound was jagged, but he'd done his job.

Darius had no time to celebrate this victory before the other man took notice. He let Valerie go, and raised a fist before slamming it into Darius' face. Darius' head snapped to the side, and he fell backwards into the snow, his head throbbed and he didn't move for a few moments until he realized the man coming closer to finish him off.

He reached down to his belt, and grabbed his own dagger, identical to Valerie's, and shoved the blade into the man's heart as he came for him. He was glad for the days and days of training he'd received in his younger years, for he wouldn't have gotten that stab in the heart so exactly.

He got to his feet once more, and grabbed Valerie's hand. He turned to her to check her over. She wasn't bleeding, but there was a red spot on her neck from the dead soldiers hand. It would leave a bruise.

The man she'd hurt was still on the ground, and therefore they still had time to get away. But Darius' wasn't sure he wanted to leave just yet. This was the kind of thing he'd been trained all of his life for. And when he got back to his father, and told him of his achievements, he would be proud. All of his family would be proud of him, and Darius wanted that feeling. It was his first time really in the thick of something, he wanted to be appreciated for it.

Valerie realized his decision before Darius had a chance to voice it. " No, no no no." she shook her head furiously, " You are not staying. Let's go." she grabbed his hand and yanked him forward, trying to run back.

" No, I can't. I can take him, Valerie." Darius insisted, taking his hand out of her grip. He had to stay, he could do it.

" I don't care!" She shouted, growing irritated at Darius' stubbornness. This was really not the time for it. Darius could die if he stayed. He was skilled, but he'd just gotten lucky this time. His odds could be bad for the last soldier, and both of them knew it. But unlike Valerie, Darius wanted to go against those odds.

But, the fear in Valerie's eyes caused him to give in. He sighed, heavily. " Fine let's go." And they ran, without even looking at the man, who had risen to his feet by the time they gotten ten steps away.

He yelled nasty things at them as he ran, he'd put the pain aside, and ran on pure adrenaline. It'd worked out in the end, and soon he was just a step away. But it was the boy who he was mad at, he didn't care about Valerie. Valerie hadn't killed his men.

" I'm takin' ya. The both of ya if I have to!" he screamed.

He slung his arm out, and wrapped it around Darius' neck, yanking him back. And Darius felt a small blade against his neck, Valerie's.

Valerie, only a few steps ahead, looked back at her brother. Fear in her eyes. She looked between the soldier and him, and he could see that she was judging whether to do something. But she didn't have a weapon, and she only had two options: Try to help him, and possibly get caught in the process, or run home.

In a second she'd made her decision, and Darius knew what it was by a simple look...and he couldn't let her do it.

" Run." He said, trying not to say it too loudly, and cut his throat against the blade.

Valerie stopped and shook her head furiously, tears began to form in her eyes, " No!"

" Run!" Darius screamed, his voice sounded louder and more firm than it had ever been. This was a decision his father would have made, he knew. It was the most wise, most noble. He couldn't drag his sister down with him.

She jumped at the fierceness in his tone, and with one last lingering look, she turned and took off, disappearing in the trees.

" Mm. I'm gonna have fun with you boy."

Darius said nothing, his face fell as he thought of the journey before him. He let a simple tear fall from his eye, cursing the gods for letting this happen to him. An exciting, happy night had taken a turn for the worst.

Then his face went hard, and he decided no one would ever see him weak. He wouldn't give the man the satisfaction. He would bear whatever would come to him, and he would do it with pride.

He was an Ankereon after all. Everlasting Strength was the motto, and he would be a damn good example of that.