My name is Lazuli. Yes, it's after the blue stone. I used to have a twin sister, but she went missing after my mother was murdered at our old home. I ran away, scared and unsure of what to do.
 

 
My best friend, Shae, found me camping in the woods. Unwilling to leave me alone, she too came with me into the mountains. Now we live as orphans, searching for answers to my family incident. What's with the big ears? We are elves. If we're lucky enough, you can be born with an unknown gift. Shae and I don't know yet if we have gifts, but doubt always comes by.
 

 
"Do you think," started Shae, "we could ask-"
I couldn't help but cut in, "NO! We don't even have any evidence that my mom was murdered. Much less that I have a twin sister that's gone missing. Astral won't care much, I've heard stories about her you know."
Shae sighed. She's always wanted to find a way out of our dreary life, and Astral's band was the only solution she could think of. "But they could really help us though."
 
Later on that day....
 

 
"I've been thinking about it." I cleared my throat so Shae could hear me better. "Maybe we COULD ask Astral about it. But only if we can find her." I began to play with my boot laces, wondering if I had said the right words. I could mentally picture a smile creeping across Shae's face.
"Great! I've heard they're in some village on an assignment with some skeletons. Let's ask around there to see if we can track them down." We both got up to head down the mountain, but all of a sudden I felt a chill rush through me.
 

 
Collapsing, my vision started to blur. Everything seemed lighter, a glowing feeling of some kind. I realized that I was entering a vision. My gift. I was about to enter, but then Shae turned around with a frightened look on her face.
 

 
"LAZULI!!!"
 
Everything went black.