• It was dark, the sounds of clashing swords could still be heard, though it was dying out. Buildings, no, ruins now, still burned under once vicious flames, filling the air and the cloudy night sky with an orange glow. Tai ran through the ruins of what used to be his village, panicing, how could this be happening? He couldn't think straight, his heart was racing. He needed to hide, to find somewhere safe. Did such a place even exist anymore? As he ran, Tai tripped over the rubble from a ruined house that had spilled out onto the path. There was no fire close enough to leap on to him, but as he got up he felt a pain in his back. It was as if someone had dropped a boulder on him, but he could move so that wasn't the case. Quickly he rolled over, his adreneline beat out the pain. He hardly felt it. A dark figure stood, looming over him, Tai was almost paralysed with fear. The figure moved, it was a man. A sheath hung from his side, there was no hilt. That was because it was in the man's hand, pointed straight at Tai, blade first.

    "Tai?" A voice called out to him. Slowly the scene went dark. Tai sat up quickly, opening his eyes and light flooded in, almost blinding him. Once his eyes accepted the light, he was able to make out who the voice belonged to. It was Kain, a friend of his, well Kain was sort of like his gaurdian, so maybe friends wasn't the right term.

    "Kain? Sorry, I guess I fell asleep. Didn't get a lot of sleep last night, I was out late practicing my sword fighting." Tai's eyes still hurt a little, how long was he out for?

    Kain laughed a little, "Kind of an odd place to take a nap isn't it?" Tai nodded in response. He was outdoors, in a clearing just a few minutes away from his house. He always came here to practice, Kain came with him pretty often as well. Along with another of his friends, Naraku. "Well anyway, I came to get you. The council is having a meeting, and they wanted you to come too."

    Tai shot Kain a confused look. "They requested that I come? Im not even a formal member yet... Im still only 14."

    Kain just shrugged in response, "Well they didn't tell me any of the meeting details yet so I don't know either. Anyway we should get going."

    Tai nodded again, "Lets go then, I'll ask about it when we get there." He stood up and let out a sigh. It really was wierd to be sent for, even if he'd sat in on meetings lots in the past.

    To be Continued.