Okay, basically, this is an idea I've been working on for a while. I had to write a story for English, so I used it as an excuse to start on this story. Because of the guidelines of the assignment, this is actually the middle-ish of the story. It should still make sense though, seeing as this is the first part of the story told from Vaughn's perspective and it is the first part that Vaughn is in. Unfortunately, I kind of procrastinated when it came to this assignment and had to write it all in one night. As a result, it kinda sucks. I really liked the idea for the story though and wanted to write it, so I hope you read it and can give me some pointers for making it better. Also, the 3 years latter part is actually quite a bit further in the story and stuff happens during those 3 years, but, again, because of the guidelines for the project, I had to write it like this.

Vaughn entered the cabin Seras and he had been staying in during the week long voyage. His coat had to be around here somewhere. It was starting to get cold outside. Vaughn scanned the room, but didn't spot the coat. He crossed the room towards the two rickety beds lined against the far wall of the room. He dropped to his knees and glanced first under his, and then Seras's bead. Nope, he thought, not here either. Vaughn sighed, moved to stand up, and froze. There was someone in the room with him. Vaughn felt the presence moments before he heard the door snap shut. With the closing of the door, also came the extinguishing of the room's main source of light. The only other opening to the world beyond this room was a small window between the two beds, which did little to brighten the dim room. A voice spoke.
You're Seras's brother, aren't you?" Vaughn spun around. A man stood by the closed door, wearing a dark cloak with the hood pulled up. In the dim light of the room, Vaughn could see little more than the stranger's cloaked outline, so the man's facial features remained a mystery.
"Who are you?" Vaughn asked in a steely tone.
"It matters not," the stranger said, crossing to the table at the side of the room. "But know that I have come here to harm neither you, nor your sister." Vaughn narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"Of course not," Vaughn said in a calm voice, trying desperately to hide all traces of fear which had accompanied this stranger's arrival. "What reason would a stranger have to harm two mere travelers?" The stranger remained silent. He pulled out a chair by the table and sat down.
Feeling slightly annoyed, Vaughn turned to look out the small window. The sun was still hidden in the overcast sky, giving everything a distinctly gloomy appearance. Through the window, Vaughn could see his younger sister, Seras, grinning happily as she leaned against the rail of the boat. Standing beside her was another girl who appeared to be a few years older than Vaughn. She wore a jade green dress with a headband of the same color woven throughout her copper hair. Aside from Seras and the girl in green, the only other person on the deck was a figure standing some distance from Vaughn's sister, staring out to sea. Like the stranger in Vaughn's room, the figure on the deck also wore a black cloak with the hood pulled up, successfully hiding any features that might indicate any thing about the person's appearance. However, judging from the figure's height, he seemed to be about Vaughn's age. Finally, the man in Vaughn's room spoke.
"We know about Seras's abilities." Vaughn whipped around to face the stranger.
Fighting hard to keep the alarm out of his voice, Vaughn said, "I have no idea what you're talking about." Who was this man? Could it be that he was one of the Chira, the organization responsible for tracking down and killing children like Seras. Could it be the organization that hunted all those who possessed these magical abilities, killing them like wild animals? No, Vaughn chided himself. Don't be ridiculous. There was no way the Chira would have followed Seras this far without having already attacked. There were, of course, Chira on this boat, just as on any other boat to leave the country, but there was no way that the men pursuing Seras could have gotten word to the Chira on this ship. Besides, what reason would they have to speak to me before killing Seras? No, this man definitely wasn't a Chira.
Ignoring Vaughn's previous statement of denial, the stranger continued. "We have come to take Seras away. You can no longer protect her." Vaughn instinctively turned to the window. The sun was emerging from behind the clouds, lighting up both the boat deck and Vaughn's room. Vaughn saw Seras standing at the bow of the boat and felt a flash of anger towards the stranger. What does he know of it? Vaughn thought savagely. I have taken care of Seras, protected her for eight years now. Ever since our parents died, I have protected her. Now this man thinks he can just come and take her to lord knows where? What has he done to prove that he can protect Seras better than me? Still gazing out the window, Vaughn said quietly, "I won't let you."
"You fool!" the man shouted, jumping to his feet. Vaughn glanced over his shoulder at the man and gasped. The stranger's hood had fallen back, revealing sky blue skin covering his face and short horns sticking out of a thick mane of silver hair, tied in a tress at the base of his neck. This was no man. He was an Immortal.
Vaughn lunged for his sword, which was resting in the corner by his bed. Pulling the sword from its sheath, Vaughn spun back around to face the Immortal; sword at the ready.
"I told you this to make it easier for you," the Immortal growled. "If you wish to fight me, go ahead, but you cannot stop us." Vaughn hesitated. Although he, like Seras, possessed the abilities that, when revealed, made one a target for Chira and Immortal alike, he knew that he could never be a match for a true Immortal. The two stood in silence; Vaughn with his sword drawn, facing the seemingly unarmed Immortal.
Suddenly, Vaughn felt a stab of pain in his left temple as images came barging, uninvited, into his mind. One of the Chira in his unmistakable uniform was advancing towards the two girls at the bow of the boat. Neither of them had noticed the man. As he approached the girls, he loosened the dagger at his waist. His thoughts raced not only through his mind, but Vaughn's mind as well. So this is the girl Adman and his troops had been chasing? She is but a small child. Killing her will be easy.
Vaughn's mind, once again his own, snapped back to where his body stood. Vaughn gasped in horror. How had this man found out about Seras? Knowing from past experience that he only had seconds before that very vision came true, Vaughn made to sprint for the door, but the Immortal stepped between him and his escape.
"I will not let you jeopardize our mission," he said, drawing a sword of his own from beneath his cloak. Vaughn felt a feral growl rising at the back of his throat. This man claimed to want to protect Seras and now he was inadvertently helping Seras' would be killer.
"Out of my way," Vaughn shouted, sending all of his rage flying towards the Immortal. Caught off guard, the Immortal soared backwards, his head slamming into the wall with a crash like two boulders colliding. Vaughn ran past the unconscious Immortal and onto the deck.
Sure enough, there was a Chira almost to the bow of the boat, dagger drawn. "Seras," Vaughn cried, trying to alert his clueless sister to the approaching danger. Both Seras and the girl in green looked up. The Chira raised his dagger, ready to kill Seras. "No," Vaughn shouted, now running towards the bow. Vaughn saw the girl in green raise her hand in front of her face as if to protect herself from the blow. However, the girl in green was not the dagger's target. Vaughn saw, as if in slow motion, the dagger descending towards Seras's heart. He wasn't going to make it in time!
Suddenly, a powerful wind began to blow, seemingly from the hand of the girl in green. The wind blew the unprepared Chira backwards. Vaughn, no longer running, watched in amazement as the Chira crashed through the ship's railing and into the foaming water below. This girl was an Immortal as well, which meant that she too would be after Seras.
Vaughn began walking towards the bow again. It seemed a bit ungracious to kill the person who had just saved his sister's life, but there was no other way. He could sense the girl's power and knew that he was stronger. These people couldn't possibly protect Seras better than he.
However, as Vaughn approached the girl in green, the cloaked figure on the deck made his move. Vaughn took another step, and then froze. Faster than his eyes could follow, the cloaked stranger drew his sword and swung it around towards Vaughn's neck. The katana stopped less than a hair's width from his neck. The cloaked stranger said nothing. He didn't need to say anything. His message was quite clear. Cross us and die. Vaughn glanced at the boy. He wore brown leather boots and loose black pants cut off just below the knee. His shirt was a deep green and seemed to be made of the same loose material as his pants. There was a mask of some sort covering the boy's mouth and nose. The hood of his cloak kept his eyes in shadow.
Vaughn looked past this boy to the bow of the boat where Seras still stood. She stared back at him, a mixture of shock and fear reflected in her dark, almost black eyes. Vaughn heard footsteps behind him, followed by a familiar voice. "Ava, it's time to get going. Summon Guijicha." Well well, Vaughn thought. Looks like the Immortal regained consciousness.
Vaughn now shifted his gaze to the girl in green. She nodded to the Immortal and kneeled down on the deck. She began a complicated chant, making signs with her hands as she went. Vaughn found himself transfixed by the spell as Ava began to chant faster and faster. A loud roar came from the sky, and she finally opened her eyes. Vaughn looked up and found a sight that he had never fathomed he would see in his life time. A dragon swooped down from the sky. Its scales glittered, seeming to contain every color conceivable. As if this weren't a big enough shock in itself, the blue skinned Immortal walked to the bow of the boat and sprouted wings of sheer white feathers. Vaughn stood aghast, staring at the man as he picked up the girl in green and soared up towards the dragon.
Well, Vaughn thought, at least that only leaves this boy for me to deal with. Vaughn's muscles tensed, waiting for the boy to make his move. Finally it came. The boy spun around in a lightning fast movement, meant to knock Vaughn unconscious with the back of his sword. The dull side of the boy's katana almost succeeded in its mission, but Vaughn was too quick. He swung his own sword, which hadn't left his hand since his face off with the blue Immortal, up to meet the boy's sword.
Again, Vaughn summoned his rage to use as a weapon. He threw those feelings at this boy with all his might. The boy stumbled back several paces, and then dropped to his knees, digging his fingers into the deck. Vaughn's eyes widened in shock. His blast of power should have blown this boy from the ship, but instead, he was only a few meters away from where he had started out. This boy was strong. The boy remained crouched down, his hand still grasping the deck. As he remained in this position, Vaughn spotted a strange tattoo on the boy's hand. It appeared to be some sort of ancient markings. Vaughn was suddenly brought back to reality as the boy stood up. Concentrate, he told himself vehemently. You're in a battle for crying out loud. This is no time to be admiring tattoos.
Vaughn raised his sword again, expecting the boy to charge at him, but instead, he turned and ran towards the bow of the boat. He ran towards Seras. With a sudden feeling of panic, Vaughn ran after the boy. It was no use. The boy was faster and only a few feet away from Seras. She screamed as the boy wrapped an arm around her waist and jumped from the boat. As the two began to fall, the boy swung his free arm around and Vaughn saw three blurs fly from his hand. Vaughn tried to dodge the lethal shiriken, but two scraped along his cheekbone, leaving a pair of stinging cuts.
Vaughn scrambled up from where he had fallen and rushed to the railing. He leaned over the railing, expecting to see Seras and that boy floating in the water, but instead, he saw only churning sea water as the boat moved steadily onwards. Panic gripped his heart as he searched wildly for Seras' form in the water below.
"Brother!" It was Seras. However, the cry had not come from below. Vaughn looked up to see Seras still being held by the boy, whose other arm was extended upwards, grasping the wrist of the blue Immortal.
"Seras," Vaughn cried, but it was too late. The three figures were already disappearing fast into the cloudy sky.

3 years later

Vaughn walked briskly towards the shop with a fresh bushel of apples. It had been three years since he had last seen his sister, but he had not forgotten her. Even now, Vaughn's thoughts were on that day on the boat. For the first few months in Sranon he had lived on the streets, nearly starving to death before Garum had taken him in as an apprentice. Now he worked for the old man bringing supplies to the store and occasionally running the store for him.
As Vaughn entered the store, he saw Garum at the counter with a customer who was wearing a heavy cloak with the hood pulled up. Just like the boy from the boat, Vaughn found himself thinking. No, it can't be. That was three years ago. Just forget it. Vaughn shook his head to clear it from these thoughts.
"Ah, Vaughn," Garum said, spotting him in the doorway. "Put that barrel down and come help this customer. I have to feed that darn dog before he scares all the customers away." Sure enough, no sooner had this been said, the sound of Teya's howling erupted from the back door to the store. Vaughn smiled. Teya was just about as spoiled as a dog could get. She always started howling when she wanted something and she always got what it was she wanted. Even though Teya sounded ferocious, the whole village knew that she would never hurt a fly.
"Sure," Vaughn said taking Garum's place at the counter. He glanced at the items on the counter and quickly did the math in his head. "Forty-two" He said promptly, as the customer reached into his money purse. As the customer placed the money on the counter, Vaughn's heart nearly stopped. There was a tattoo of ancient markings on this person's hand. They were identical to those of the boy from the boat. A loud bang startled Vaughn out of his recollection. He glanced over his shoulder to see Garum walking back towards the counter, apparently finished with feeding Teya.
Vaughn turned back to the customer only to find that he had left. "Garum, I'll be right back. I. . . . Forgot to do something at home." Vaughn was already out the door before Garum could answer.
Once outside, Vaughn scanned the roads, hoping to see the guy from the store. He finally noticed the familiar cloaked figure walking down a side street, heading for the woods. Vaughn followed him. Once he reached the old woods, the figure seemed to vanish, but Vaughn soon caught sight of him again. As he stealthily followed the figure into the woods, Vaughn loosened his sword from its sheath, careful not to make a sound. Since that day on the boat, Vaughn had carried his sword with him everywhere. Some had called him paranoid, but he was glad to have that "paranoia" now.
The path took a sharp turn and Vaughn lost sight of the cloaked figure for a moment. He turned the corner, expecting to see the figure's back as he continued down the path, however, that was not what he saw. For the second time in his life, Vaughn found this stranger's sword at his throat. He had been caught. A voice came from the stranger, slightly muffled Vaughn guessed by the same mask he had worn three years earlier.
"Why are you following me?" Why was he following him? Vaughn could almost laugh at the absurdity of this question. Didn't he know?
"You should know why I'm following you. You took my sister from me. Now, either tell me where my sister is or fight me." Vaughn said, tightening his grip on his sword. The cloaked figure stepped back, removing his sword from Vaughn's neck. He registered a moment of surprise as the figure sheathed his sword.
"I will do neither," he said, taking another step back. Vaughn raised his sword.
"If you will not tell me the location of my sister, at least face me like a man and fight." The figure let out a chuckle. "Why are you laughing?"
"Because, you seem to have made a mistake," he said. He reached up and pulled back the mask and hood that had been covering his face. Then he turned to face him. Vaughn gasped in shock. He had made a mistake. This person wasn't what he had thought he was for three years. It was a girl.