Shien

Shien is a wary young man, constantly eyeing those around him and evaluating them. He's learned to be the caution to his sister's almost flighty interest, and has been responsible for getting them out of more than one dangerous situation. While his sister is chatting with anyone who catches her attention, and handing treats to younger children, Shien is standing back and watching everything, ready to make a move as soon as something goes wrong. Shien is clever - not educated or book smart (in fact he doesn't even know how to read) - but rather street and wilderness smart, and can almost always figure out a way out, be it by words or by deeds.

He doesn't trust easily, or often, but when he does his loyalty is given fully and unwaveringly -- it takes a huge betrayal for him to withdraw his loyalty. In fact, that's why he's still traveling around with his sister. Shien doesn't have wanderlust like Ruana does, nor her constant dreaming about what's over the next hill. No, he's much more down to earth, concerned with how they'll survive the day so that they can reach the next, and he knows that his sister wouldn't survive a month without his company. His loyalty to his sister demands he continue with her, until she either settles down or they die.

Shien's just pessimistic enough to believe that their journey will end with their death.

Scrawny and gangly because he hasn't quite reached his full growth yet, Shien is more graceful than most boys his age due to necessity. Clumsiness doesn't help a person survive in the wild, after all, and there are more than a few creatures willing to exploit an episode of clumsiness for their own benefit. Like his sister, he wears knee high boots - though of lower quality than his sister due to the fact that he's very much entering into his growth spurt - and men's pants, along with a rough undershirt and a long duster-style coat in black with white trim. All his clothes are large on him, to accomodate his future growth, and either rolled up or tied tightly with belts. Like his sister, he carries two daggers and a bunch of pouches at his waist, but he much prefers to fight from a distance with a sling.

Shien is much less scarred than his sister, due to the fact that he tends to fight from a distance rather than up close, but even he has his share of wounds. The most notable scar is the one on his right arm, where a wolf bit down when he was younger.

Shien has always been a loyal child, which is entirely the reason he's been wandering the world since he was barely 8 years of age. He was always close to Ruana, and when she told him she was leaving and he was welcome to come, well...

He might not have been capable of understanding exactly what he was getting himself into, that it was more than just a day of exploring the nearby woods like they had done before, but there was no way he would abandon her once they had left. Shien grew up hard and fast, having to compensate for his sister's restlessness by learning everything he could about preparations and survival - it may be luck that they survived those first hard years on the road, but now it's entirely based on Shien's skills no matter how young he is.