Chapter 1: "Tiponi"

Introductory

My name is Tiponi. At least, that's the name I have been given by the Ken Tribe of Foresters that raised me. I wasn't born a Forester, I'm not a native Marauder, nor did I come from the Eternals or Titans. Certainly I am not a troll or other uncivilized beast. I am, by all accounts, a complete mystery. I don't have the keen senses of the Foresters, the spirituality of the Marauders, the life span of an Eternal or the height of a Titan. What am I? That's the question that fuels my journey.

I'm female, at least I know that. I was discovered just outside of Twilight Forest as an innocent baby, bare and naked in the grass, easy prey for any predators lurking about. The Foresters are usually not welcome to outsiders, especially ones that look like mutated freaks like myself, but they made a special exception for me, because I was so young and wouldn't survive long. It was the only humane thing to do.

It hasn't been our differences that have made them so curious about me, but rather, our similarities. They knew that I was different, and I knew it too. However, they never made me feel less than them, as I believe myself to be. In their language, the name that they have given me, "Tiponi", means "of great importance". With such a name, they must have had high expectations of me, expectations that I regret that I will be unable to fill.