The young boy stood nervously in the middle of the dirt driveway, watching his new father walk towards the house and disappear inside without a word. He was left alone and scared just hours after his adoption. Roran Wheeler or Roran Dei Venn as he was now called clutched a small suitcase in front of him, which was actually quite large in proportion to his body. The sights, sounds, and smells were frightneing. Mommy, he whispered. But she wasn't there. She had gone, just like his father had. He blinked a few times, trying to memorize his surroundings. Goroth Dei Venn's grand manor stood directly in front of him, two stories high and as big as a mansion. Trees dotted the lush green grass on the lawn, flowers bordered the edge of the house, and a large fountain was set in the middle of the circle driveway. Roran spotted some children playing off in the distance, abandoned his suitcase, and raced off to see who they were.

As he got closer, he saw there were three girls and three boys, all seeming to be around his age. Upon further inspection, he found they were all peasants--probably his new father's slaves. He stuffed his hands in his navy blue pants pockets and scuttled over to the group nervously. The girls dropped their dolls and took a step back, the boys on the other hand whispered for a moment before the oldest one stuck out his hand to Roran.

"Hi, I'm Gary Apperson and this is Joel and this is Levi.." Gary appeared to be eight or nine but was a good inch or so shorter than Roram. All three of the boys were dressed in dirty clothes, but Roran guessed that they were dirty all the time. They wore no shoes, their hair wasn't combed and their faces had smudges all over them.

"Hi, I'm Roran." He took Gary's hand and shook it cautiously.

Levi stepped forwards and shoved the other boys out of the way and dragged Roran over to the girls. "These are my sisters Brooke, Kate, and Jillian." He pointed each of them out and gave their ages, "Brooke is nine, Kate is six and Jillian is four."

Roran waved to each of the girls, but Kate caught his eye. He didn't have time to dwell on it because Levi grabbed his arm and yanked him back over to the boys.

"Come on! Lets go play by the creek...no girls allowed!" Gary laughed and stuck his tongue out at the girls and started running towards the creek. All of the boys follwed, but Roran stayed behind and stared at the girls who were looking very sad now. "Come on Roran!"

He looked up as his name was called and followed reluctantly. For the first time in Roran's life, he had made some friends.