~Chapter 2- Fathers and sons~

The sun brightly shone down on Razan and his sixteen-year-old son Aero as they traveled atop a mighty canine beast known as a Chihuahua. Its name was Hopper, and the temperamental dog only allowed those it truly respected and cared for to ride him.

Hiking beside them was Lucar, and his blonde-haired son Jirro, also sixteen years old. The boy had taken his mother's hair color but took on all Lucar's masculine traits. The group traveled through the Saran plains.

Aero jumped off Hopper, "How about we race the rest of the way there?"

"You and Jirro?" Lucar asked, running his finger across the talon shaped scar over his brow.

"No, all of us."

"Pah!" Razan laughed from atop Hopper, "You're nowhere near fast enough to keep up with us yet boys."

Jirro raised an eyebrow, "Why don't we test that?"

Razan jumped down beside the others, " I know you two are tournament champions now, but don't get cocky."

"Oh yeah, we're doing this!" Jirro smirked. He and Aero jogged forward and lined up alongside each other, waiting for their fathers to join them.

"You and your big mouth," Lucar chided Razan.

They lined up alongside each other. Even Hopper stood beside them, ready to race. Razan counted down from three, and on go, all of them sprinted forward, cracking the ground beneath them as they pushed off.

Razan and Lucar hung back for a moment, wanting to see how fast their boys were. Aero and Jirro were shoulder to shoulder as they rocketed through the landscape, lagging just behind Hopper and his long strides. With each hard step, they left foot sized fractures in the ground.

Razan smirked and began to run. In mere seconds he zoomed past the boys and even Hopper, creating a trail of dust behind him. Lucar was close at hand.

In the distance he could see a dilapidated old house, with a fallen in roof and cracked walls, the impromptu endpoint of their race. Razan and Lucar traded first place several times before Lucar barreled past his brother, stopping just short of the home.

Razan caught up to him, "Ah, I let you win that one."

Lucar shook his head, "Sure you did."

They had to wait a little while for the others. When Aero, Jirro and Hopper finally did reach the house they were all out of breath. But for Razan and Lucar, it was only a light jog.

Aero placed his hands on his knees, "I didn't know anyone could be faster than Hopper."

Razan grinned, "You haven't even come close to discovering what you're capable of."

The house they found was one they lived in eight years ago. Four years before that they lived elsewhere. And four years before that there was another home. Razan and Lucar were forced to relocate often with the bounties which were once on their heads for being the notorious Sky Bandits. But Jirro and Aero had used their tournament winnings to pay for their bail.

To the south of them was the great desert, an expanse of sand that covered the southern end of their continent. A place Razan and Lucar had many terrible memories of.

Razan looked off at the desert and saw something peculiar. He saw a flash, and suddenly a beam of pure darkness shot into the sky from the desert for all to see. Once it reached its apex, it burst apart, and darkness spread across the Lands of Ralosia.

They were surrounded by the absence of light, and the world became quiet. But just as quickly as it came, the darkness dissipated from the world until all was normal. As if nothing happened.

"What was that?" Jirro asked inquisitively.

Razan and Lucar's heartbeats quickened. They looked out to the desert, to the origin of the darkness. It could only be one place, the Link Temple. They gave each other a knowing look before turning to their sons.

"There's something we have to deal with," Lucar announced, "We'll be back as soon."

They began towards the desert, but Jirro darted in from them, "You're not leaving us again! What's going on?"

"It's too much to explain," Razan countered.

Aero joined Jirro's side, "We paid for your bail! You owe us an answer! No more secrets!"

Razan wasn't intent on telling them anything, but Lucar replied, "Well. That darkness looks like it came from a temple in the desert."

"The underground one?" Jirro asked.

"You've been there?" Razan asked.

"A few years ago."

"Ah, well. The barrier in that temple might've been opened, and if that's the case then we might be seeing some people soon," Lucar explained. He was volunteering much more information than Razan would have.

"Who?"

Lucar paused before saying, "The other Sky Bandits."

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Razan, Lucar, Vos, and Diva were trained under Lunahreim's tutelage. He put them through rigorous training to harden their minds and bodies. After weeks of training, Lunahreim dropped the kids into a deep pit and left them. At first the kids thought he had abandoned them, but when Razan tried to jump out of the pit, he ascended several meters into the air. In a single bound he escaped the hole, as did the others.

Razan started to understand how powerful they had become. A sword could strike them but would not pierce their skin. They could knock down trees with a hefty kick. Run across great landscapes at unparalleled speeds.

Lunahreim strung them along by saying, "You could become even more powerful than this."

He taught them how to use Focus, a manifestation of energy being pushed out of their bodies. For those of weak constitution, using such an ability would spell certain death, but they learned how to control it. Becoming so powerful at such a young age led to bad behavior in the children.

In Age 962, when Razan was 9 years old, he and his brother returned to thievery. They no longer needed to steal to survive, but they did it anyways. Because they could, and there seemed to be no one who could stop them.

Diva discovered this and went directly to Lunahreim.

"Raza and Lucar were stealing!" She proclaimed.

Lunahreim looked at her from his hammock with half opened eyes, "And?"

"Aren't you going to get mad at them?"

"Did they get caught?"

"No."

"Then no. Well done boys," Lunahreim stepped out of his hammock, "In fact, you and Vos ought to steal as well. It'll serve as good training for you."

"Are you sure that's okay?" Diva asked.

Lunahreim simply nodded. Rather than punish their bad behavior, he only fostered it. He turned theft into a sport between the kids.

Who could take the most without being caught? Who could steal the most precious thing? Perhaps Lunahreim thought the sort of adversity it would bring would toughen up the kids even more. When Diva discovered she had the rare ability to levitate, it provided her an advantage against the others in this game.

Lunahreim flew the kids around the Lands of Ralosia on his crow. They traveled from town to town, taking what they pleased before hurrying away. When Lucar was caught trying to steal gems from a bazaar, Lunahreim tasked the others with setting him free.

"Do whatever it takes to get him out, just don't seriously hurt or kill anyone."

With their seemingly boundless strength, the kids fought through the authorities that held him before fleeing. It was remarkably easy. They stowed their many bounties away deep in a cave in the desert.

In age 966 Lunahreim flew them high into the sky, past the clouds to one of the hundreds of Sky Lands.

Lunahreim brought them to a particular one he called 'The Crows Nest'. One populated with wilted trees and many crows. He whistled, and four black crows came to the four teenagers.

"My crow has grown tired of carrying you all. Your job is to tame these crows and make them your own. Jump on top of them and make them obey you."

Razan looked over the edge of the sky island at the clouds beneath them, "What happens if we fall off?"

"You'd likely die. Make sure that doesn't happen," Lunahreim answered nonchalantly.

The teenagers nervously mounted their crows. Diva was the most at ease. Because she could levitate, she didn't have to worry about falling to her demise. She managed to tame her crow before any of the others. Her crow ferried her through the sky at exhilarating speeds.

Vos was second to tame his crow, followed by Lucar. Razan felt most uneasy about flight, constantly imagining himself falling and plummeting to an untimely death. But after a time, he too tamed his crow and soared through the skies with ease.

Soon after they gained control over their crows, they descended upon a town and stole all that they could, strong arming anyone who dared to challenge them. Once they were satisfied with their haul, they took to the skies atop their crows. The robbed citizens called their group 'The Sky Bandits'.

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Razan and Lucar explained their history with Vos, Diva, and Lunahreim as they traveled southward, towards the desert and the Link Temp.

"So, this Lunahreim guy pushed you all to become the Sky Bandits?" Aero asked.

"In a way, yes."

"What happened to all of them?" Jirro asked.

"There's still quite a bit more to explain," Lucar replied, "We'll tell you more as we go."