The Deal

Hana is living another day when she is called by the leader of Chisoku only to learn that she has been chosen for a job she had never thought she'd do.

I sat with my back against the tree in the middle of the clearing. I had been with this tree almost my entire life, growing up with it. My sword lay to the left of me as I watched the sky with my emerald eyes. Christal and Merrin said that they had found me here as an infant in a silk cloth. And they still have that blanket. I held the picture they had also found with me in my left hand but then I stuffed it into my pocket. I heard the bushes rustle and instantly grabbed my sword. I relaxed as I saw that it was only Shana, my childhood friend.

“The kids are waiting right outside the village for you.” She said.

“That time already?” I asked. Standing up I re-sheathed my sword and looped it through the sewn-on hole at the side of my shorts. I followed Shana through the forest and soon we came to stand outside of Chisoku. Shana pointed off to the side where a group of about 10 kids waited for her. I nodded to her as she went off to her family’s shop. She came from a blacksmith family. She’s the one who made the sword that was positioned at my hip. I walked over to the kids and began running them through warm-ups. Afterwards I reviewed with them the basics of hand-to-hand combat then explained different ways to kick someone and from different angles. I then put them through some practices.

“Alright! On the count of 3 everyone will perform a high-kick and hold it for 20 seconds.” I announced.

“Ok! 1, 2, 3, up!” I yelled. I watched all of them kick one of their legs into the air as high as they could. I had counted to 8 when Cloreece lost her balance and fell. I sighed silently. She was the only one who could never keep her balance. The other kids burst out laughing and began to chant.

“Clumsy Cloreece, Clumsy Cloreece!”

I grew angry.

“Quiet!” I yelled and all the kids stopped. Cloreece was sitting on the ground, fiddling with the grass.

“You all should know better then to do something that could create internal problems. We constantly have Syllus breathing down our backs and trying to take our land! The last thing we need is conflict that could decrease our chances of winning a battle! As punishment everyone but Cloreece will run 15 laps around the village and walk 5.” I said and then motioned for Cloreece to come up. She stood up and walked over to stand beside me.

“Before you start I have one more thing to say. I’ve chosen Cloreece to become my apprentice.” I said calmly.

“What?!” Everyone, even Cloreece yelled.

“B-but Hana!” A boy yelled.

“No ‘buts’! I believe that she has potential.” I said. The kids kept complaining. Everyone said that becoming an apprentice of mine would be an honor because of my fighting skills.

“Hush! You all may begin your run now.” I ordered. They grumbled but obeyed.

“Are you sure Hana? I can hardly hold my balance and…and..” She started to explain.

“It’s alright. I feel you have potential. We just need to work on your balance. That seems to be your only problem. You’re a fast runner and that’s very good since I trained my fighting based on stealth.” I explained to her.

“Now let’s try that high-kick one more time so I can see what you’re doing wrong.” I said.

“Alright.” She mumbled.

“Ok. 1, 2, 3, up!” I said and she kicked her left leg into the air. Her blonde hair swayed as she did so. She was flexible enough to get her foot above her waist. I noticed that her posture was sloppy and her leg was shaking from the effort. I had gotten to 10 seconds when her leg finally buckled beneath her. She looked at the ground in frustration.

“Alright, that was better. And now I see where you’re having difficulty.” I said and she looked up at me with her gray eyes.

“You’re trying to put your balance into your leg when you should be using your abdomen. When you do that you have to tighten the muscles there and you’ll be surprised how much it helps. And another thing is that your leg muscles are not that strong. Now let’s try this one more time.” I said. Cloreece nodded and stood up.

“1, 2, 3, up!” I yelled and she kicked up her leg again. I noticed she was not having as much trouble. Her leg still shook a bit. Running and other leg exercises will fix that. She should also do sit-ups to strengthen her stomach muscles.

“Hey Hana!”

I looked around and saw Shana’s older brother.

“Asher!” I exclaimed. Asher was ranked as the #1 fighter in the village. I was 2nd and Shana was 3rd.

“I saw you have the kids running.” He mentioned.

“Yeah, I-“

“Hana! Hana! I did it! I held the kick for 23 seconds before I fell! I’ve never gotten that far!” Cloreece exclaimed while jumping up and down and I laughed.

“That’s great. Now all you need to do is strengthen those muscles of yours. I want you to do sit-ups every morning. At least 20. Ok?” I said. She nodded happily.

“Good, you’re dismissed.” I ordered. Cloreece ran off while yelling over her shoulder.

“Thank you Hana!”

“So…you chose Cloreece as your apprentice?” Asher asked.

“Yup.” I said proudly.

“I wonder how the other kids took it.” He said.

“Not good.” I stated and began walking towards the village myself. As we walked out of the shade of the trees I could see Asher better. He had black hair and his bangs came down to his cheekbones. He then had light blue eyes.

“How is Nina doing?” I asked. Nina was his wife who was currently 6 months pregnant.

“She’s doing fine.” He said.

“She gets excited every time it kicks.” He smiled.

“I remember when she learned she was pregnant. She was hopping all over Chisoku telling everyone.” I laughed.

“She always wanted to start a family.” He explained.

“Yeah…” I said and watched the ground as we walked. I was knocked out of my thoughts when I felt a slap on my back. I almost fell forward from the force of the blow.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure there’s some guy out there somewhere for ya.” He said. I smiled.

“Thanks. But…you could have just told me that instead of slapping my back!” I yelled and punched his arm.

“Hey! We need that arm!”

We turned to see Shana. We had wandered over to their house. Shana was in the yard while Nina was on the porch.

“Nina!” I exclaimed and ran past Shana to the porch.

“I feel so loved.” Shana said sarcastically.

“I could give you a hug.” Asher offered.

“Ew! I don’t want love from you!” Shana yelled and Nina laughed.

“It’s good to see you Hana.” Nina welcomed. I gave her a small hug.

“How are you?” I asked.

“She’s fine.” Michel said as he walked out of the house and closed the door. He was one of the village doctors.

“That’s goo-“ I started but was cut off.

“Hana!” A boy from the group of kids yelled as he ran towards us.

“Tymus wants to see you.” He said after catching his breath and then ran off.

“Ooooo. Hana is in troublllle.” Shana teased. Tymus was the person in Chisoku who made the big decisions and was the one to punish people, though that rarely happened.

“What does he want?” I wondered aloud but I walked away with a small wave to everybody. His house was located I nthe middle of the village. As I approached I saw a man in light armor leaving on a horse. I walked up to Tymus who was waiting in front of his house.

“Was that someone from Syllus?!” I yelled. Syllus was the kingdom that thrives near us. Ever since I was little they have been trying to claim the soil beneath our feet.

“Yes, he was a messenger.” He said calmly.

“What was he bringing? A threat?” I said rudely.

“A deal.” He stated.

“What?”

“They will let us live where we are if we send people to bodyguard both princes.” He said.

“And they’ve requested the best we have.”

“Asher is the best but Nina is going to give birth in 3 months time.” I said.

“I know.”

“You’re not going to send him, right?”

“No.”

“Then who?”

“You.”

It took a few seconds for his answer to sink in.

“What?! No! No way! I am not going!” I yelled

“It’s an order.” He stated.

My fists shook from the effort of not hitting anything.

“Gah! I hate you!” I yelled at him.

“But, on the upside you can choose the second person to go with you.” He explained. I thought about this. Maybe this job won’t be as bad as I thought.

“No! That’s the last thing I want to do!”

“But Shana!” I whined.

“No!” Shana yelled.

“I heard they have great Blacksmith tools.” I suggested.

“Mine are fin thank you.” She said matter-of-factly.

“What if I told you they have Rodem?” I said slyly. I smiled as I saw her perk up.

“Rodem?” She asked happily.

“Y’know. That rare medal you’re always babbling about.” I said.

“When do we leave?” She asked quickly.

“2 days.” I replied.

“Ok!” She said happily and hummed as she skipped off. She passed Asher as he was walking in my direction. He stopped and looked at her as she skipped by.

“What did you do to my sister?” He asked. All I did was laugh.

Author's Note

i think I put too much Dialogue.