4 Chapter four

The sky was cloudy as Nano and Ichi slowly walked down the pathway.

A road that was dark due to the rain that hit this part of their town. People were walking around. Talking, selling street food. All together, hustling to make a good living.

"Listen. I am sorry about my wife. She just thinks you're a bad person," Ichi says.

Nano shrugs it off and smiles. I front of them, Nani looked at flowers that were neatly placed for the decoration of this part of town.

"It's okay. I understand her point of view." Nano looks down with a soft smile.

"Tell me." Ichi turns and looks at Nano. She does the same for him. "Why were you in the mountains. Father said he'd seen war up there. Blood. Greed. Another day up there, you'd be dead. What happened?" Ichi asked.

Nano went to a straight face. Memories began flooding back to her. "I'm from the Yunnan clan. Our master trained us from little kids all the way up until we were 18. Forcing us to take on missions he knew his training would succeed in. But I was a bad student. I'm originally from the Guizhou Province clan." Nano continues to speak.

__________

*flashback*

Nano was six at the time. She fell onto her back. Her nose bleeding and with a bruised up body. Her master, Shindo watched in the shade.

Oh how it was so every scorching hot outside. Nano sweated her ass off.

"Again!" Shindo demanded. Nano's partner, Ruonan, strands there. Her staff in one hand. Ruonan was one of the top fighters of the clan. Highly trained.

Nano got back up. Her eyes red and watering in anger as Ruonan got back into fighting position. "Focus, NANO!" Shindo yells from the shade.

His flowered robe shifts in the wind as Nano kept her angry eyes on Ruonan.

Ruonan was 7 years old. Long black hair, pale, and a healthy body for a seven year old. Nano hated her. The treatment Ruonan received made the others jealous and want to follow in her footsteps. Nano wipes the tears from her face.

Ruonan got back into fighting stance. Without Shindo saying anything else, Nano charged at Ruonan only to be kicked back onto her ass. Ruonan stood still.

Nano stands. "Nano!!" Shindo yells. The other students watched. About 40 of them witnessed Nano get her ass handed to.

But Shindo wasn't just Nano's master. He was her father.

Nano stands, kicking her staff away and screaming. Her face red and tears streamed down her cheeks. "I HATE THIS CLAN!" Nano took off running as Shindo and the other kids watched. Some tried not to laugh and others just seemed a bit sad Nano was the weakest out of the entire clan.

Nano lost a fight to each and every one of those students. Never once won a practice of real match against them. As if the training her father gave them was rigged.

That night Nano waited until everyone has had their supper.

Shindo was praying to the gods be believed in. The only thing that illuminated the room was a little candle he kept in that bare room.

Nano slides the door open ever so quietly, using the skills Shindo has taught them.

In her hand was the sword he'd told the clan to never use. She held it. Heavy. The silver reflected the candlelight in her eyes as she snuck up behind her father. He didn't seem to notice. She was raged with so much anger. She was blinded with envy that made her a murderer.

Nano raises the blade high and came down hard. The wakes of her father leaped through the walls. The village heard.

It only took 20 seconds for Ruonan to reach the room her master was in.

The sword stuck out of his back. Blood slacked they floor as Shindo lies there, motionless. Ruonan looks in the corner to see Nano standing there. "You're a monster!" Ruonan says.

Ruonan charged at Nano who dodged before kicking Ruonan square in the face. She fell to the ground and Nano quickly took off running down the stairs. The rain came pouring down hard as Ruonan ran to the opening, looking down at Nano who was running towards the exit of the village they lived in. Ruonan then ran back to Shindo, wrapping her arms around her beloved master.

It didn't take long for the word to get around the village that Nano had killed him.

______

*End of flashback*

"Nano? Nano?" Ichi waves his hand in front of Nano's face.

Nano came back to and looked back up to him. "I'm sorry. Just thinking about something," she says. Ichi nods.

"Listen. I can't stay here for long. They're after me. And I'm after them. If they find out who I'm staying with, they'd hurt you and your family. I need my things and I need a horse to get back to Yunnan," Nano says.

Ichi looks around at the beautiful village. "Of course." He says.