Cloud

Rainwood Monastery is located in a sleepy forest town of the same name in southern Solismenamus. This monastery is home to the Sisters of Ignisia, members of the Order of Fire and devotees of the goddess of fire, Ignis. The sisters generally busy themselves with prayer and public service.

One fateful night, a sister found a basket abandoned on the steps of the monastery. It contained: a generous donation of gold coins, a scrap of paper with the word "Cloud" written on it, and a baby boy. The sister, Sister Lucia, scrutinized the paper and the coins for clues about who might have left the infant, and the entire order searched valiantly for his parents... but when they could not be found, the sisters decided to take the boy in.

And so, Cloud was raised in the Rainwood Monastery by the Sisters of Ignisia.

Under the sisters' attentive care, Cloud grew into a bright and untroubled boy who saw the monastery as his home and the sisters as his family. Though he was aware he'd been found abandoned, he never let that darken his demeanor.

Though Cloud knew his family was unlike other children's, he never minded, content as he was to spend his time with the sisters, learning all he could about their faith and its teachings. But, despite his dedication to the Order of the Fire, Cloud's elemental affinity leaned heavily towards ice and the cold.

Whenever he ventured outside the monastery, Cloud noticed that the townspeople gave him odd looks. He tried not to let it bother him; after all, some of the townspeople, like Verna and her parents, treated him like he was family.

Sometimes, though... Cloud wondered what he would ask his parents if he were to find them. Where would he even start? But he tried not to daydream too much, if he ever did meet his real parents, he was sure that the important questions would become clear.

For now, Cloud was content to enjoy his peaceful life with the sisters at the monastery; the child of Ice had a home surrounded by the Order of Fire.

Cloud's arrival at the monastery was big news in the small town. Since no one was able to determine where he came from or who his parents were, many townspeople were hesitant to interact with him out of fear of possible consequences from the outside world.

Cloud growing into the town's biggest mischief-maker did him no favors, either. However, any trouble he caused was never out of any malice, but rather from naivete and curiosity. No matter how much the townspeople iced him out, he never lost his bubbly, sunny energy. Eventually, he won over their hearts, even if they didn't show it. While the townspeople still chastised him for his pranks, most of them believed he was a good kid at heart.

Cloud became fast friends with Verna, a girl his age training at the monastery, and he was embraced by Verna's parents, Kotina and Stella. While Verna and Cloud sometimes got along like fire and ice, Cloud could always count on Verna to help him whenever he was in a bind, and Verna was grateful to have someone receptive to her ideas. She understood that his pranks were mostly a mix of immaturity and curiosity, rather than something more sinister.

Cloud became especially close with Verna's mother, Stella, as she taught him archery and always invited him over for dinner after their lessons.

"So, what have you been up to since our last lesson, Cloud?"

She would often ask the young boy about his day, and listened attentively to his response.

She'd listen to him talk about his interests or the troubles that he was facing and always had kind words and helpful advice.

Cloud wasn't always sunny and bubbly. When he was young, he didn't understand why the other children called him an orphan and said he didn't have a real family. He went to Sister Lucia for answers, and she told him the whole truth.

It was too much for a young child to handle. He didn't understand why he didn't have parents, or why his family at the monastery didn't count as real. The revelation ate away at him, and he couldn't sleep.

Then, one day, after being teased for being an orphan one too many times, Cloud snapped and tackled another child. Their fighting drew the attention of nearby adults, who came rushing to the scene and came down hard on Cloud, and Cloud alone. Overcome with anger and frustration, Cloud fled into the forest.

Cloud sobbed late into the night. As the sky overhead grew darker, he was approached by a small Slimelet, who quietly led him to a clearing deep in the forest, where the moon's serene light illuminated a gathering of monsters.

Cloud was stunned; the monsters were cheering, laughing, and enjoying a meal together. He was afraid at first, but he quickly realized that the monsters were friendly and accepting.

So he enjoyed the festivities and let his sorrows melt away. And then, when he was finally exhausted, he fell asleep in the grass next to his new Slimelet friend.

Meanwhile, Sister Lucia had realized that Cloud was missing and gathered the townspeople to look for him. Worried, everyone went out to search for the boy near the town, while Kotina gathered the town watch and headed deeper into the forest.

They searched all night, but only found Cloud after sunrise. He was sleeping on the ground beneath a blanket of fallen leaves. Kotina and the others gently woke him, and the boy responded by squinting his bleary eyes and telling them what he'd seen the night before. But neither Verna nor the adults believed him.

"It must have been a strange dream, Cloud. You had a hard day yesterday."

Cloud nodded, pretending to accept that explanation, but he knew deep in his heart that what he'd seen was no dream. In the far future, he would be proven right: that night, he'd been invited to a monster celebration known as "Walpurgisnacht."

The experience had a deep impact on Cloud; it allowed him to accept that his parents were gone, and it redefined what "family" meant to him. Cloud returned to being his bright and bubbly self, but he also developed a newfound curiosity about monsters and their habits, with a special soft spot for Slimelets.

Cloud also began having dreams about the future. Not all of them came to pass, but they usually did as long as he didn't change his actions as the result of a dream.

Overall, his night in the woods made Cloud stronger and wiser, as he became fiercely motivated. He treasures the bond he formed with monsters and the strange ability it awoke in him, and he dreams of one day uncovering the secret behind what happened that night.

Verna's parents Kotina and Stella told the children incredible stories about their time as adventurers, and Cloud hung on their every word. By their telling, they had been quite accomplished prior to their retirement, and they'd only stopped because the road was no place for a baby.

Cloud especially looked up to Stella, and her fantastical stories fueled his dream of one day becoming an adventurer himself and meeting every kind of monster.

While Verna had an affinity for elemental fire and honed her swordsmanship under her father Kotina's tutelage, Cloud instead had an affinity for elemental ice and preferred to practice archery with Stella. Stella also taught him survival skills and to respect nature, things that all good adventurers should know.

When Cloud was thirteen and Verna was fourteen, they were roaming the forest when they stumbled across one of the fiercest monsters in existence. It towered over them and approached them with rage in its eyes, and Cloud and Verna would have died if not for Stella's timely intervention. However, this caused her old injuries to flare back up, and she collapsed on the spot.

While Stella lay in bed, the children learned that she'd been battling a disease contracted during her adventuring days for as long as they'd known her, and the stress of the battle had made her condition take a turn for the worse.

In her final moments, Stella grasped Cloud and Verna's hands with the last of her strength.

"Cloud... I want you to protect Verna."

Through his tears, Cloud, took her words to heart.

While Stella's passing was a source of great pain for both Cloud and Verna, it made the two of them more determined than ever. When they both turned seventeen, they left Rainwood for the nearby city of Hananis to become trainee adventurers at the Monster Tamers guild.

Miller, the Hananis branch master, was well acquainted with both of Verna's parents and paid special attention to the two newbies. While he didn't openly show his affection for them, he worked behind the scenes to help Cloud and Verna grow as adventurers by giving them advice and making sure the tasks they were assigned never put them in any serious danger. Both Cloud and Verna grew in leaps and bounds with Miller's help, fueled by their memories of Stella's final words.

Cloud doubled down on his training in archery and ice manipulation, and Verna's mastery of fire and the sword were beyond her years. While they had their fair share of adventures under their belts already, having met, fought against, and studied all kinds of monsters, Cloud felt that his journey towards becoming a true adventurer was only just beginning.