1 Ash

I was three. My father was a Palesthenian soldier, shipped off to do the Noble's dirty work. The Palesthenian Army was infiltrating the Solomon Kingdom, and planning on expanding their territory; however, a spy from the Solomon Kingdom leaked information on the attack, and they were ambushed. After that, it was just my Mother and I, alone in the world.

I wasn't a very outgoing child and my Mother was busy working to keep a roof over our heads, so she relied upon our neighbor to babysit me. The woman who was babysitting me was kind, and gentle, with drapes of golden blonde hair falling around her shoulders, like a coat of the finest fur. She carried an aura with her that mesmerized me, and had blue eyes that seemed to have the movement of the sea with every flicker.

The woman had a son with oily black hair, and emerald green eyes, who looked at me with curiosity, not being able to speak yet. This boy was a polar opposite of his mother, yet he smiled the same kind, and gentle way that she had.

The days that I went over to their house, my mother was gone. I never knew where she would run off to, but I became fond of playing with Ryo, the black haired boy. When I was with him, I seemed a little less lonely. Sometimes though, it seemed Ryo's mother was just as busy as mine, so I would be left with a strange man to care for me.

The man was a bigger build than that of the average adult I saw, so I became curious about him. The man seemed annoyed by the fact that there was a six year old following him, so he attempted to lead me off his track while walking around. Eventually, he realized that his attempts were futile, so he got angry.

The first moment he yelled was when I realized the truth. He didn't want me around, so I began to turn around to go home, when it hit me. This man was supposed to be watching me and was neglecting his duty. Having this thought, I spoke my mind to the man who turned around and smacked me across the face, knocking me down. "I have better things to do than watching a whore's child!" These words seared into my mind.

"STOP CALLING MY MOTHER THAT!!!", I screamed back, furious, despite not knowing what a 'whore' is yet. This only seemed to anger him more.

"I'm not gonna let some brat talk to me like that", he said as he grabbed me and threw me into the port next to us. "Maybe that'll teach you not to yell at your superiors!" he laughed, as he walked off.

I ran back to my home, wet and freezing, to find Ryo in front of his house sitting there, with nothing to do. Furious at that man, I started to look into swordsmanship, only to find that swords are very expensive. Finding this out, I decided to carve two wooden swords out of a tree branch nearby with a kitchen knife my mother used for cooking.

With these 'bokken', I set out to find a friend to train with. There were lots of kids in the slums so it wasn't very difficult. A scarfaced kid named Amber was who I decided to spar with. The moment I asked her, her eyes lit up like an Auburn sky. The reason I had taken interest in her was because I had always seen her sparring by herself during the cold nights. So from then on, I began sword training, to get back at the man who insulted my mother in front of everyone.