Arryn woke up that morning, but instead of the normal blabber she head downstairs, it was silent. As she wandered down the halls, calling out for her father, she found the letter on the fridge. She assumed it said he’d be back later, because she didn’t know how to read, and it was a long letter. So she waited, and waited, and waited some more. Assuming he wasn’t coming home for a longer time than she thought, the oblivious girl started wandering about the house and into her father’s closet to get the jewelry box he always scolded her for looking at. It was pretty, with it’s wooden finish, and the golden lock. It was old, too, very old. 

        Opening the box, she shifted through the contents like the curious child she was, letting a few necklaces slide through her small fingers before finding a locket. Gently, Arryn opened it to find a picture of her father kissing a woman, a woman she ever so faintly recognized as mommy. Why did dad hide this? Closing the box, she took the locket and went back down the stairs, peeking out the window to look for her father. He had been gone a long time. 

        Arryn waited a few days, eating the contents of the cabinets before she sat down at the front door one day with the letter in her hand. It was then that she realized this wasn’t a “I’ll be right back” letter. It was too long. It was a goodbye letter because she’d never see him again. At that realization, the little girl let tears drip down her cheeks, sniffling slightly before touching the locket around her neck. Maybe she could go find her mommy… She’d love her, right? Shuffling to her feet, Arryn ran up the stairs and started packing a bag. She was a naturally smart kid, so she knew what she’d need to take with her: clothes, food, water, and knives to defend herself with. She also grabbed her viola. Dad had given her lessons, and she didn’t want to quit. 

        A whole year Arryn was alone on the streets with a few other lost kids. They didn’t care for one another, though. It was everyone for themselves. It was simply warmth to share during cold nights. She had to teach herself to steal, and learned the hard way to avoid police. They’d always try to drag her to that big building to find her father. Sometimes she looks back at those days, and wonders if maybe that was the way to find her mother, but as a scared seven year old the first thought was to run and hide. So she grew up out there, all alone. 

        At least..until Big Jim showed up. Unknown to her he was the biggest drug dealer across multiple planets. His big, snake like appearance made him terrifying, and those long fangs that protruded from his mouth made it all the worse. He was a kid’s worst nightmare. The monster under the bed. But he picked kids up off the street, and trained them to be his own dealers. Who wouldn't trust a cute face running around selling drugs? Kids were small, quick, and dangerous if trained properly. 

        Big Jim found Arryn hunkered in an old drain pipe when she was just eight, stuffing a stolen cracker into her emancipated body. He plucked her up by the arm, and dragged her off to his ship with another girl, Erin. The two girls grew close quickly. They were both terrified of this ‘Big Jim’, and had no idea what was in store for them. 

        Over the next two years, they found out Big Jim wasn't that bad. He fed them, clothed them, trained them, and made sure they were healthy and happy. It wasn't until they were fully trained at the age of twelve that they began work as ‘dealers’ and ‘smugglers’. He made sure both knew how to box, use a gun, and wield a knife. Erin was better with the guns, and Arryn was always better with the knifes and hand-to-hand fighting. Erin was too jumpy, and usually the one to watch Arryn’s back. Arryn was the one doing the deals, up front in the danger with her unstoppable attitude and quick wit. 

        For picking them up off the streets and ‘raising them’, Big Jim had his one term: as long as they paid their dues, they’d be safe. Arryn and Erin knew multiple other kids who dealt for Big Jim, and they’d tag team a lot to make sure they’d all make their dues. 

        After four years of this gig, Arryn had it down to a T, and quickly became Big Jim’s star drug dealer. She had always been known on the streets as Raven. Arryn was smart enough to know never to give her real name, unlike a lot of the other kids. A name meant an identity, and an identity meant a way to get caught. So she stayed slick, and branded herself as Raven. 

        During her street life, Arryn stumbled over an elderly homeless man. He slept most of the day, but like her, was lively at night. The old man, whom she knew as Paul, taught her to play the guitar. His was old and slightly worn, but she loved it. Sometimes, at night, they’d sneak into the church and he’d teach her how to play the large piano. It was a nice break from the rougher life she led on the streets, so she gladly took to it. Before she left to move onto another city per Big Jim’s instructions, Paul gave her his guitar as a parting gift. Over time, she engraved the raven and details into it’s wood to give it a bit of life. 

        Things started going south for Erin and Arryn… They knew this life was horrible. They lived in an old, dusty attic and they dealt drugs and sometimes illegal weapons. Erin was hooked on their own product, and Arryn could see the horrible side effects slowly killing her best friend. They were only sixteen, and Arryn regretted most of her life already. Any normal teenager would be sitting on a park bench, laughing with friends. She… she was slowly being strangled by the controlling grip of Big Jim and his followers. She wanted out. 

        Arryn tried to risk it, and not sell any of their product. Erin was with it, because she wanted out too. This stuff was killing them both. When the time came to pay their dues, and Big Jim came to the run down attic the two lived in, he was furious to find nothing to show for ‘all that he had done for them’. And in a rage of fury, he had two of his goons pumble the two girls, almost to the point of killing them until they managed to break away. The attic was destroyed, and the two fled down the halls to get to the bottom of the tall buildings. 

        In a stupid, split second decision, they decided to split up to get out faster. Erin went for the laundry shoot, and Arryn went out the fire escape. Arryn barely made it out alive (after snagging her little ferret Zion and a few other things), with bullets grazing her hands and arms, bruises littering her body, blood pooling from her mouth and down a cut on her head. Her shirt was ruined with blood, her legs ached from bruises and cuts, and she felt dizzy. But she kept going until she found a ship, sneaking aboard into the cargo unit and passing out. 

        Erin… Erin wasn't lucky. Big Jim caught her at the bottom, but there was a catch to what he was going to do. It was the perfect set up. The place was trashed, and whoever found Arryn would know she go into a fight. When they found Erin’s body, they’d know she too got into a fight, with Arryn. Not Big Jim’s goons. The snake-like-creature held a knife that belonged to Arryn, with gloves on of course. He killed the other girl with the knife. Now Arryn’s fingerprints were on the murder weapon, and he had the perfect crime scene set up. So he left. 

        Arryn is now wanted for her best friend’s murder, something she didn’t even do. And the girl still thinks her best friend is alive and managed to escape. All she does know is she woke up on some strange planet, and rolled out of the cargo bin to who knows where. All she has are the clothes on her back, Zion, the leftover drugs in her pocket, a few knives. Now.. now she didn’t know what to do. But all she could do was try to hide out and stay alive. She knows Big Jim still wants her dead, and is just waiting for her to show up at some point, somewhere. She had to find Erin and they had to get out of this stupid life.