Lavi

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Mate: --- Family: --- Occupation: Archivist

Artwork: ---

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Pheta and Rhina found a young Imperial, hands and cheeks covered in soot, seated in the depths of the Annex where she had absolutely no business being. They'd never laid eyes on the child before, and she reeked of ash and not the soft, mossy scent of the Wood. A golden egg sat in the fold of her crossed legs.

But, let us start at the beginning of her story. Long before she entered the Tangled Wood or laid eyes on the Annex, Lavi had been a child of embers and coal deep within the Ashfall Waste. She wasn't sure where she had been born, or who to exactly, her earliest memories were of dirt and the loud clang of metal on metal. Those were blurry, though, and gave way to memories of the rough hands that used to dress her in the mornings and pinch her when she misbehaved.

Lavi had grown up a thief, part of a bandit crew that scoured the Ashfall Waste for anything they had a want to plunder and add to their immense hoard. It wasn't a terrible life and she wasn't the only child among them, so it wasn't as if she was lonely. You worked to make your meals and if you failed then you didn't eat, it was a simple fact of life and it seemed logical enough to her. Lavi never went without food, mind you, because from the moment she'd begun setting her eyes on things she wanted, she got them.

Her skills in purloining grew with her, and even young as she was it wasn't difficult to tell that one day she'd be a master thief without peer. That fact alone kept her in the good graces of the bandit crew, her place of favor cemented by her charming looks and charismatic personality. There was even talk of one of the leaders adopting her if she made them enough money.

Lavi wasn't stupid. Her mind was a steel trap and she had instincts and wit enough to outsmart dragons several times her age. She didn't mind the life she led, her conquests brought her thrills like no other, but her life was an unsure one. The children weren't bandits really, just trainee thieves sent in to test the waters for the adults. If a couple died in the process, that wasn't too bad, because then the best ones would live and become bandits themselves.

With nowhere else to go, and no knowledge of a life outside thievery, Lavi had never really considered running away. And yet she sometimes found wandering off. On one such occasion, the crew had come to the outskirts of the Tangled Wood. It would have been quicker to cut through the Wood itself to reach their destination, but the leaders had decided it best they go around instead. Mutters of the dangers of the Wood, the tricks it played on the mind and the senses, were passed between the bandits. Superstitions, Lavi thought, but that was before she heard the Wood calling to her.

The Wood spoke in a playful whisper that tickled her ears, and though common sense told her not to trust it, curiosity was her fatal flaw. When no one was looking she went darting into the shadows, and soon she'd lost herself amidst the darkness. Moss glowed under her feet and little pixies darted between the boughs of trees when she blinked. Compared to the dusty desolation of the Ashfall Waste, this place looked like an exotic oasis out of one of her wildest fantasies.

It was a mystery how long she meandered between the trees, ducking beneath low hanging boughs and stumbling through shallow brooks. Time didn't seem to effect the Wood terribly much, so all she had to go off of was her instincts, and the Wood was muddling those too. Her eyes scoured the foliage for something precious enough to fill her pockets. Eventually she would return to the bandits, and she'd have to have something to show for it when she did. Though it was questionable if they'd even still be where she left them, they weren't the type to wait, and just as she thought this, she came upon the Annex.

Naturally, Lavi did not know that it was the Annex, only a wide open door in front of her which was practically begging her to come inside. The fact that the Annex was open seemed like foolishness on the part of its owner to her, not the truly unsettling act it actually was. The Annex was never open, not without purpose, and even if it was its gaping maw would be watched by its eerie guards. Lavi slipped past all of these and into the welcoming darkness of the Annex halls, and the door slid shut behind her, almost content.

Even for the eldest, most experienced Archivists the Annex was a labyrinthine mess of halls and alcoves that led to rooms and open atriums too numerous and strange to properly count. Lavi was lost in minutes, and fear began to gnaw at her thoughts. Just as she was about to give in and try to find her way back through the darkness, little flames flickered to life at her feet. They lit a trail of embers, and with nothing else to do but follow, she took to the path they lit.

She was led down spiraling halls and into a room, and in this room there sat a golden egg on a soft cushion. The room was warmly lit by open fires on all sides, the tongues of flame casting a glittering glow over the shell. Lavi did what any young thief would do and snatched the egg from where it sat. She wasn't sure what she'd planned to do with it, even as she reached for it she wondered why she was doing so. But the moment the egg was in her hands, she couldn't look away. It was warm and heavy, pulsing a steady heartbeat that kept time with her own.

Who knew how long she'd been there by the time Pheta and Sei-Shun found her. The Archivists were puzzled by her presence, but no more hostile than she was. They spoke between themselves thoughtfully about how long the egg had been there and how the Annex must have chosen Lavi for a reason. Lavi wasn't sure what any of it meant, but neither of them tried to take the egg, and she was grateful for that.

After some debate, Sei-Shun took her ash covered palm in his own and led her from the Annex and out into the Wood. Pheta was left behind them, and though curious as to what he was doing, Lavi was easily distracted by the Pearlcatcher's gentle voice. He led her to their clan, which seemed to emerge from the shadows and the trees themselves, and there she met with their leader, Avon-Kei.

As it happened, the egg she held housed an unborn phoenix, and it had been within the Annex for a very, very long while. There had been no intention to remove it from its resting place, now or ever, but it would seem the decision hadn't been theirs to make. Whether it was something Annex knew, or had simply decided, it was how it was. Lavi had bonded with the egg, and so the responsibility of tending to it and the creature that would be one day born from it was hers. Avon-Kei assured her that no one had any intention of taking the egg from her, and offered her shelter within the clan.

Lavi opened her mouth to refuse him, but then paused to consider. She thought of the bandits and the other children, all grimy and covered in soot like she was, wondering if they'd make enough to pay their way to tomorrow. The thrill of a flawless heist was addictive, but the pit in her stomach every time she remembered she had no choice but to put her life on the line dampened the high. If she returned to the bandits and their hoard, what would become of her phoenix? Would she ever see it hatch, and if she did, what then? They would not be as kind as the dragon before her, to be certain, blinded by their greed and gluttony.

As if it could feel her turmoil egg trembled in her lap, and as she watched the first crack appeared on its glimmering surface. Lavi made up her mind then and there. She lifted her head and boldly requested to make Nocte her home. And though she had been prepared to prattle off a laundry list of uses she could be put to, Sei-Shun and Avon-Kei merely smiled and nodded in assent, as if this were the answer they'd expected all along.

To her displeasure, Lavi was relegated to the nest until she properly reached maturity. As much as she wanted to leap headfirst into her new life, the peaceful days gave her time to learn more about her new home. And there was very much to learn. The nature of the Annex confused and excited her at the same time, and though the tales of the heroic Warriors and brilliant Alchemists were certainly entrancing, it was the Archivists that caught her attention. To search the world for hidden things, to seek them out and snatch them up-- Why that was her most prized talent!

Eventually Lavi reached maturity, as all dragons do, and on that day so did her egg. It hatched with a handful of Archivists and the Nest Mother as witness, glittering shell shattering as the creature inside burst forth. Her phoenix was small, just a little ball of fluffy feathers and dewy amber eyes, but Lavi loved the little bird immediately. They were never apart thereafter, the avian always perched on her shoulder no matter how big it began to grow. As weeks past, its feathers grew in length and vibrancy, and it found its voice, with which it belted out brilliant songs.

Lavi too began to grow into herself, eagerly taking to the apprenticeship of the Archivists. She attended her lessons with verve and passion, even through the most boring topics, for in everything she found he promise of adventure and wonder on the horizon. The soot and ash had long since been cleaned from her skin, and nowadays the scent of fire had left her entirely. It crossed her mind only once to wonder if the bandit crew had tried to follow her into the Wood, or if they'd simply gone on without her. By the time she thought of it, she had already become a part of the Wood, and the thought of her former companions stumbling to their deaths amidst the shadows only amused her.

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