A short snippet of Rihnn’s past, and him losing his little sister at a very impressionable time of his life. Takes place in the Dravanian Forelands when Rihnn was just ten years old. No one heard his screams and cries for help. The forest was silent. Not even a chocobo cry could be heard.

WARNING: Contains death, abuse & trauma. Very dark themes ahead!!

“Rihnn! Rihnn, wake up!” A little miqo'te girl of seven summers with lavender colored hair shouted exuberantly, bursting open the flap to her older brother’s tent room. The other darker purple haired miqo’te child groaned, tossing over onto his back groggily when she leapt onto his messy bedroll. B’rihnn, who was just three summers older, finally opened his eyes and scrubbed at them with the heels of his palms, his large ears turned down from the screeching young girl.

It was raining outside, and the chill of the Dravanian autumn air already crept its way into the very large leather tent he shared with his family, draining his motivation to leave the comfort of his warm fur blankets.

B’rihnn’s parents were holed up a few doors down, while B’rylen’s room was right beside his. The perks to being the Nunh’s son; they had the privilege of occupying the largest tent in the tribe. B’rihnn’s father had recently killed another male attempting to strip him from his coveted title. He guarded it jealously, and no one dare to challenge this man’s rule. B’rihnn’s small corner room, however, was the most run down, water droplets from the pouring rain could be heard hitting the bottom of an empty pot on the other side of his bedroll. There must have been a small tear in the seam of the tent that had yet to get fixed.

“Riley... the sun hasn’t even come up yet. Go back to bed,” he grumbled, falling back against his pillow once more with a tired sigh.

“Get up! Papa is gonna take us hunting! He convinced mama!” B’rylen’s long lavender hair was still messily strewn over her head, the young girl most likely too excited to bother brushing it. She crawled on top of her brother and stared down at him with sparkling teal irises, grabbing his wrists and tugging on him excitedly.

“He’s gonna show us how to shoot the hunting rifles today! I overheard them talking about it last night! Mama didn’t sound too pleased still... But I told her we would be fine!” B’rylen’s tone dropped at first, but she immediately pushed it away and smiled at her older brother. There was this profound amount of admiration every time she looked at B’rihnn. Those shining eyes full of love and wonder and adoration.

B’rihnn let out a gasped “oof” when she jumped on him and was about to get more agitated with her once she grabbed hold of his wrists to yank him around, but as soon as he looked up into her beautiful, large bright eyes, all he could do was return a scoffed smile and a short chuckle. Hidden behind it was hesitancy and uncertainty, however.

While B’rihnn has already started learning the basics of hunting with his father, they were... not always the most pleasant outings. His father was brash and controlling and harsh, his word always final. The miqo’te boy learned rather quickly the consequences of speaking back to his father and arguing with him. The scar on his chin was evidence of that. Even complaining about some minor things while they were out together found him within ilms of the raven-haired man’s face, remembering clearly the annoyed anger that lit his father’s emerald eyes.

The prospect of bringing his sister with them into the woods to start teaching her worried him. B’rihnn was ever protective of her, even from his father. It was no secret that him and his mother fought often. Some nights he could still hear her cry out in agony from the other end of their tent. It would always prompt him to rush to her aid, but he was only met with the same volatile venom.

“I guess...” he sighs and finally gets up, shoving her aside. “Go get dressed. I’ll go talk to father to see when we’re leaving.”