Kaira had a difficult life before making it onto Dakota's crew.
Kaira grew up in a fairly typical set up for Reah'Kiali. She had five siblings and two parents who were always out serving in the army. Second youngest of her siblings, she saw her two oldest go out to war. One never came back. Likewise, her parents eventually both never returned, their bodies sent down the river by the sacred Couriers. By the time she was twelve Kaira had amassed four silver notes, the cards given to the families of those lost in the war. Her older sister, the only surviving veteran of the war, tried to keep the family in tact during the short visits to their home town. Her younger brother starved to death one brutal winter.
Eventually, the three remainders--Kaira, her twin brother, and her older sister--couldn't stay any longer and left the village, making the older sister a deserter in the process. The travelled for days. The three of them took odd jobs in towns they came across to scrape up enough money to buy them food, but spring had yet to come and they were still cold at night. Her older sister worked the hardest, almost never stopping for a break or to rest. One day, it was too much and the older sister didn't have the strength to wake up. The others tried everything they could, but it wasn't enough to bring her back. Mournfully, they left. They travelled for days, starving and barely keeping warm, before arriving on the port city. They tried to find jobs and managed to get a few, but nothing stayed. One day, when they were huddled in an alley trying to stay warm, a passing citizen asked if they needed some help. Tentatively, they accepted, and she led them to her ship.
Turns out, she was the infamous Storm Rider and they were now fugitives. Kaira found she didn't mind. She was happy, even. What had the government done for her other than kill all of her family? It had never offered to help, only demanded that she work for it. They assimilated quickly into the crew and were soon a trusted part of the community. Dakota kind of adopted Kaira as her niece, watching over the young one and making sure she was happy.
(MY plans for the future, not Kaira's) At some point she meets Shezi. She tries to get the young Interpreter to see the fault in the government and the gods, tries to just be her friend. But Shezi can't. She wants to be Kaira's friend; she really does, after being so socially starved of people her own age. But she can't, because Kaira stands against everything she ever swore to uphold as Interpreter of the sunset, as a follower of the gods. Kaira tries so desperately to get her to see, but she refuses to.
I'll make her brother at some point.
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