Chapter IV: The Boys

          “Get him!” yelled Ari. Rasha and Cheres were shuffling around, trying to land a punch on each other. Excited, Kiya ran over next to Ari. The three boys were ruffians and Kiya’s playmates.

          “Go Cheres!” Kiya cheered. Cheres was the wild one, always doing everything without thinking. Kiya’s favorite. He was the quickest at sparring. Rasha was not so quick.

          “Hi, beautiful,” said Ari, the total flirt. Laughing, Kiya grabbed him by the scruff and threw him into the fight.

          “I’d rather be called dirty foot!” she shouted.

          Cheres wrestled Ari to the ground. “Respect dirty foot!” said Cheres. Ari was stuck. “Say foot!”

          “Foot, foot, foot!” shouted Ari. “I said it!”

          “Free him!” ordered Kiya.

The four kids shared a sense of humor unparalleled. It made them feel alive.

          Cheres let go of Ari and yanked him off the ground.

          “There’s something I need to tell you three,” said Kiya, donning a serious face.

          “What?” they asked.

          “My brother Kheti was murdered last night.”

          They stared at her in shock. “Who’s responsible?” asked Cheres.

          “A bandit. I was there. He said I was next if my father doesn’t buy stolen treasure from him.” She used the same story, not wanting to get Salih in trouble. Ari, Rasha, and Cheres weren’t known to keep their mouths shut.

          “We’re sorry,” said Cheres.

          “Do you need a hug?” asked Ari.

          Rasha just stared in amazement.

          “I’m dealing with it,” said Kiya. Her heart still hurt, but she didn’t see any use in crying again. “What I need to focus on is killing this bandit before he kills me, and I can’t do it alone.”

          “I’ll go on the front line!” Cheres roared.

          “I’ll protect you, princess,” said Ari.

          “Count me in too,” said Rasha, jumping in excitement.

          “It’s not a hayride, Rasha,” she teased. “This is going to be extremely dangerous. Any of us could die.”

          “Maybe we should form an army,” suggested Cheres.

          “If we could,” said Kiya. “Right now I only have one other team member. His name’s Salih and he’s an old friend of mine.”

          “Cool,” said Rasha. “Where is he?”

          “Resting. He got injured fighting against bandits.”

          “Sounds hardcore,” said Cheres. “When will we get to meet him?”

          “Soon. Tomorrow maybe.”

          “Competition,” Ari complained.

          Kiya ignored him. “For now we need to plan our method of fighting.”

          “I know a good blacksmith,” said Cheres. “Makes daggers. Even those deadly long ones.”

          “If we want to go long distance, there’s Amen the fletcher,” said Rasha.

          “I’ll get a shield to protect the princess,” said Ari.

          “It’s dirty foot!” shot Kiya.

          “How are you going to fight?” asked Cheres.

          “My friend Seto told me about a secret art being taught in the palace. He’s getting me in tomorrow.”

          “You trust that snob?”

          “Yeah. You just hate him because he won’t agree to fight you.”

          Cheres laughed.

Reviews

[Trigorin]

Your writing is technically correct, for the most part, but I'd suggest adding a bit more exposition instead of just telling the story through dialogue alone, for the most part, and also expanding this chapter a little - it doesn't quite stand on it's own, plot-wise, which is something a chapter should be able to do.