The sun beat relentlessly down upon the patio stones of the academy, cracking the tiles beneath the student's feet. The sound of clashing metal rang heavy in the air accompanied by the tired grunts of the young men wielding the weapons. A gong stopped the clashing of the swords and forced twenty pairs of eyes upwards. A man stood at the top of a flight of stairs, clearly disappointed with the performance of his students. He walked slowly down the stairs turning his head left and right, daring anyone to make eye contact. All of the students sank to their knees placing their blades on the ground in front of them.
Off to the side of the grounds, hidden by a wall of bamboo knelt another boy, skinnier than the others and clearly less well off. The make-shift wooden sword sat on the grass in front of him. The boy smirked, through the gaps in the bamboo Pian-dao could clearly see the sweat on all the other boys faces while he remained quite full of energy.
The instructor stopped in the middle of the courtyard and with lightning fast reflexes, grabbed a boy by the scruff of his neck, holding the boy in front of him. Even from his impaired vantage point Pian-dao could see the ice in his stare.
"I'm sorry sir." The mumbled, clearly scared speechless
"For what?" Pian-dao could never get used to the steel in the man's voice.
"I...don't know sir" the quiver in the boy's voice was unmistakable
The instructor dropped the boy and walked several steps away before stopping. The boy landed awkwardly but quickly scrambled to his knees. The instructor kept his back turned.
"Sir…?" Pian-dao winced, he had been "attending" the lessons to know what the instructor was about to do.
The instructor spun, unsheathing the blade at his waist and held it against the boy's throat. This process took less than a second.
"Clearly you have a reaction problem."
The boy quivered, unsure how to react to this devilment. Pian-dao turned his head, unable to look. He knew that the boy was not going to be hurt but the steel in the instructors eyes would beg to differ.
"S-s-sorry sir…"
"You should be."
The instructor withdrew his blade and began to walk away as if nothing had ever happened. The boy collapsed, clearly scared to the point of tears. Several of the other boys eyed him, unsure whether moving to comfort the boy would wise in the presence of a mad man.
Pian-dao turned, unwilling to watch the cruelty continue. He began walking the concealed path to wall of the estate, completely lost in thought. As such he did not see the fallen trunk of bamboo across the path. This was quite possibly the worst thing that could have happened.
To Pian-dao the moment happened in slow motion. The thoughts of the instructor cracked and shattered like a broken mirror. The fall itself had little consequence but sound is the stealthy's worst nightmare.
The instructor's head swiveled faster than the eye could track. His eyes narrowed, pin-pointing the sound of a young boy falling in his garden.
Pian-dao scrambled to his feet, abandoning all illusions of silence. He didn't know what he was expecting but he wasn't sticking around to figure out what. The wall was less than thirty feet away but to the fleeing child it felt like miles.
A series of loud clacks drew his attention behind him. In the half second that Pian-dao saw the source of the noise it took him more than half of that to get over disbelief the remained was split between a silent profanity and a dive.
Pian-dao hit the ground hard. Thanking the spirits porously when he heard the hiss pass over his head. He raised head to see that the finely detailed blade had impaled itself in the wall above him.
Pian-dao jumped grabbing the wall looking desperately for a hand hold above him. His eye was drawn to a glimmer next to him and in a fit of irrationality Pian-dao grabbed the sword suck in the wall before scaling the barrier to freedom.
first story so tell me what you think in the comments. ill be updating about once a week. four of the members will have several chapters stoy lines that will end at the finaly. also check out my friend fluff kitty on the site, until next time, peace.