Chapter One: And so it begins

"Wake up!", "Wake up, boy!" said a deep voice as he kicked me awake.

"Huh? What's going on?" I said half awake, and squinting at the morning sun in my eyes.

"I need you to move." The voice said. "It's morning and you're in the way." Is

"Oh, sorry I fell asleep here." I said to him standing up and dusting the dirt from my pants.

"Well no shit seeing as I just woke your ass up." He said to me as he moved past to open the door. "Where is your mama boy? Shouldn't you still be being coddled by your mommy?" he said in a sarcastic tone and a small smirk on his face.

"I don't have no mama." I said to him meeting his eyes. "I grew up in an orphanage away from the capital. When it closed down I ran away so I didn't have to go back to another orphanage. I hated it there. All the other kids teased me cause I was small, and couldn't do all the things that they could. So I ran here. I was told that the capital is where people can go to be happy, and make a name for themselves. So far I've been nothing but hungry and alone." I said shrugging my shoulders. The man just stood there looking at me for what seemed like an eternity. Now that the sun wasn't in my eyes I could see him so much better. He was short, bald, and fat with a belly that looked like the moon when it's full. His eyes are what impressed me the most though. They weren't like anything I've ever seen. They were gold, and shimmering. It was actually beautiful.

"What's your birth, boy?" he asked leading me inside and grabbing a chair.

"The dark." I said sitting down in the chair he grabbed. "I can make any shadow mine. If the sun isn't out I can make an entire area as black as a starless cloudy night sky. I can even put out a fire if it isn't too big. Don't really know how it works but it does." I said shrugging my shoulders.

"Well it ain't that fucking crazy." the fat man said laughing as his belly bounced up and down. "Can ya show me? That sounds wild as all hell I've never met someone with a birth like that"

"Sure, but what is this place?" I asked the fat man as he walked behind a counter at the back of the room. Now that I got a better look around, and my eyes adjusted I could see how old this place was. The countertop was made of wood, and it was cracked and worn in places, but it was kept spotless. There were chairs and tables spread about the place, and only two windows looking towards the outside. I could get the faintest smell of flower coming from the back room. Behind the counter was a cloth hanging from a wooden bar covering what seemed to be a door.

"This is a bakery, and I'm the baker. I own the doorway you slept in. By the way what's your name, boy? He asked as he pushed the cloth out of the way and disappeared. "Don't worry I can still hear ya' from back here!" He bellowed from the other room. It took me a while because I've been by myself for so long.

"Uh...Mister Baker Guy I don't have a name. In the orphanage we had numbers!" I yelled to him, and waited for his response. After what seemed like an eternity he finally came out of the backroom. He was carrying a barrel over one shoulder, and two bags over the other. He laid them both down on the counter before looking up at me.

"You mean to tell me that you don't have a name? You look like you're about ten years old." He said not breaking his stare as he said this.

"Yeah… and I'm twelve. I was Number Seventeen. It's been like that forever I'm just used to it at this point." I said shrugging my shoulders, and looking down to the floor of the shop.

Now looking back on that moment I never realized how weird that must have sounded at that moment. Everyone has a name no matter where you're from. The fact I've lived my entire life up to this point not even having something to call myself. It's ridiculous.

Suddenly I felt a rush of air go around me and then the baker was suddenly right in front of my face. He put his hand right on my shoulders and looked me right in the eyes.

"Boy, there are somethings that you need in life that are more important than anything else. My Pa' told me that nothing is as important than your word and your name. You must do anything you can to keep both of those in good standing. No. Matter. What. Do you understand me?" he said with all the seriousness of a declaration of war.

"Y...Y...Yeah I understand, but what is your name then sir?" I asked timidly.

"Speak up when you speak, boy. No point talking if no one can hear you, and my name is Mikael. I'm born of air, and because of it I'm the best baker in the entire capitol. With the air i control I can fluff up the dough. Because I do this it makes the things I bake 'legendary', or at least that's what people have told me." He said, his chest seeming to overflow with pride. "So I'll ask you this question. What do you want your name to be?"

Well ...since Darkness is something like a friend to me. How about….Tenebris. It means darkness, and I just like the sound of it." I said with a hopeful smile.

"Thats a wonderful name. Nice to meet you Tenebris."

"Nice to meet you Mikael." I said with a smile on my face finally being recognized as a person, and not just some number to be thrown away.