Author's Note: I meant to say this at the beginning of the first chapter, but oh well. The first seven chapters are going to be introducing the seven dragoons and how they came to acquire their powers.

Chapter 2

Haru woke up at sunrise, as usual, and decided he would train at the docks today. Haru leapt out of bed and did his usual warm-up routine of stretching, two hundred sit-ups, and one hundred pushups. Once Haru was done with his routine, he grabbed his katanas and headed for the docks.

Haru was a master with his katanas. With both strapped to his left side, he walked patiently to the docks and started his rigorous training. Having unsheathed both swords, which Haru had named Compassion and Sensitivity, Haru started his all too commonplace training of attacking, parrying, and counter-attacking imaginary foes.

Haru's training was interrupted by Geddy, the mayor's son. Geddy was Haru's unofficial sparring partner. Haru never asked for Geddy to join him, but Geddy always managed to find out where he was training and challenge him to a match. To say Haru would win would be an understatement; he managed to beat Geddy in four or less moves every match. Geddy's stubbornness refused to allow him to accept defeat, which is why they would spar every morning in the middle of Haru's training. While most people see stubbornness as a negative trait, Haru viewed Geddy's stubbornness as an admirable trait. The way Haru viewed it, all Geddy wanted was to be strong enough to protect the people he cares about, and that's all Haru wanted as well.

"Are you ready for a beat down today, Haru?" asked the short, strong mayor's son with short black hair as he twirled around his naginata.

The six-foot tall swordsman with long, free flowing black hair shrugged his shoulders in indifference and took a defensive stance. Geddy charged towards Haru and attacked first. He swung the naginata straight down toward Haru's head, but Haru simply crossed his swords to parry. Haru countered with his right handed sword, Compassion, while keeping Geddy's blade busy with his the sword in his left hand, Sensitivity. Haru swung Compassion at head's height towards Geddy only to have Geddy surprise Haru. Geddy ducked and spun around, tripping Haru to the ground with the haft of his naginata. At this point Geddy got cocky and laughed getting ready for the finishing move while Haru leapt back up on both feet and held Compassion to Geddy's throat for the win.

"Never give your enemy an inch Geddy. Any delay is a chance for your enemy to get the upper hand like I just did. Good luck next time. Now let me finish my training please" stated Haru.

"You lucky son of a," said Geddy, "I'll best you tomorrow."

Haru had decided his punishment for allowing Geddy to have the upper hand during the match for the first time ever would be for him to train an extra four hours today. And so Haru continued with his training.

Not five minutes later was Haru being called on from the mayor. The mayor made his way as fast as he could to the docks to tell Haru urgent news.

"What is it, Marij?" asked Haru.

"I've just received a letter from Akechi village. Apparently they are being ransacked by a pack of vicious wolves every night and are asking you for help in vanquishing these wolves" explained Marij.

"Well you know I have never turned down a person requesting help before, so I'm not about to start now. Send them a letter stating I'm on my way and that I shall be there by tonight. I must go prepare now."

Haru went back to his place to get ready for his departure. Haru started off by laying across his bed the clothes he had chosen, a combination of two karate gis he owned. Haru then decided to take a long bath since it may be the last one he'll have in a while. When he got out, he put on his undergarments and put on the pants from the white gi he owned. Next, Haru put on the brown gi he owned and tied it together with the brown belt that came with the gi. Haru grabbed Compassion and Sensitivity and strapped them to his side. He was ready to go.

Haru headed down to the docks and boarded his sailboat. Akechi was about sixty miles south from Rouge and it would take him the rest of the day to arrive there. The boat ride to Akechi was peaceful and uneventful, which gave Haru time to think.

For the past seven years, Haru and been protected Rouge and the cities surrounding it. His skill as a swordsman was unrivaled and Haru had vowed to use this gift to protect whoever needed protecting. It amazed Haru about how much of his life had been based on something his father had probably said in passing. Nevertheless, Haru had been protecting the people surrounding him for ten years and it wasn't about to change now.

Haru arrived in Akechi right at sundown. Akechi was a village that appeared to be set at the base of a mountain. In reality, however, it was actually near the peak of the mountain since the actual mountain went all the way to the ocean floor. Haru was greeted by the mayor of Akechi, a man named Jun. Jun explained their predicament.

For the last week, a pack of ten or so wolves had been coming down from the top of the mountain every night and ransacking anything someone had been naïve enough to have left outside. To live with this is doable, but last night the wolves had murdered a local man named Flog.

"Then I shall start immediately," said Haru, "I brought my own supplies, so don't worry about needing to give me anything. I shall see you in the morning."

Haru headed for the mountain and spotted a cave where the wolves may have made their den about halfway between the peak and the base of the mountain. The sun was about to be completely gone, so Haru needed to find a torch quickly. If he had more time, he would have found out a way to make one his own, but he needed one now so he backtracked to the mayor's house. Haru knocked on the mayor's door.

"Here you go Haru," said the mayor with a ready to go torch in his outstretched hand. "I didn't see you have one of these, so I had one ready for you. I know you're too modest to ask for anything from anyone, but don't worry about it."

With the lit torch now in his hand, Haru headed back towards the mountain. It took Haru about thirty minutes to get to the opening of the cave. The glare from his torch showed two sets of yellow eyes appearing inside the cave. He kept the torch in his left hand and unsheathed Compassion with his right. Haru inched forward to find that the two sets of eyes he was looking at turned out to be two wolves. They were the only ones inside the den; the others must have been out hunting. These two wolves looked really pissed off to Haru and before he knew it they were attacking him.

Haru used the torch to scare the wolves from getting near him while attempting to wound them with his sword. These wolves were not stupid however and the only thing the wolves attempted to attack was Haru's left arm. Individually the wolves were not accomplishing their mission of removing the torch from Haru. It was when they decided to both attack Haru's arm from the front and the back that they succeeded. Haru dropped the torch, but the wolves took a hit. In order to stop them from biting his arm, Haru impaled the wolf that had bit him from the front and the other wolf was smart enough to let go. The torch was on the other side of the cave now, and with low visibility, Haru didn't want to risk going for the torch. Instead, Haru unsheathed Sensitivity and stood perfectly still listening to the movements of the wolf. The sound of the wolf stepping ceased directly behind Haru and he acted like he did not notice. Just as the wolf was attacking Haru, turned around, fell to the ground, and crossed his swords above his body. The body of the wolf fell on top of Haru, while the head landed on top of the torch causing the den to smell like nasty, burnt hair.

Haru sheathed both his swords and walked to the opposite side of the cave to pick up his torch. Underneath the torch lay a golden sphere and it was shimmering. It was one of the prettiest looking things Haru had ever seen. Haru picked it up off the ground and a bright, golden light illuminated the entire den. A voice entered his head.

"The Golden Dragon has chosen you as its new master. With this power you can control the earth element. You can use this power to destroy the rest of the wolves plaguing the town down below without fear of dying. Hold the orb upward in front of your chest to understand what I mean."

Haru decided to do what the voice was telling him. He held the orb in front of his chest and the golden light glowed so bright it was blinding. Haru all of a sudden found himself encased in a suit of golden armor. It covered almost his entire body and based on the weight of it, seemed to be very capable. He looked at his back to discover that attached to the armor were wings that had sprouted out of it. He could fly now. His two swords were no longer in sheaths and weren't even made of metal anymore. Compassion was now composed of solid black shale but still just as razor sharp. Sensitivity was now one large diamond in the shape of his old sword. With the new power, Haru had no doubt that he would be able to take care of the rest of the wolves.

"The rest of the wolves are attacking Akechi down below right now. You do not know how to yet, but if you do discover how, do not use your earth magic because you may destroy parts of the town. Fly down now and destroy the wolves. When you finish you need to travel to Bale via Seles, and meet a man named Americ. He will tell you everything you need to know."

Haru took the advice of the voice appreciatively and flew down the mountain into the village. The wolves appeared to be attacking the village in two packs of four.

"Perfect," thought Haru, "this will give me at least a little time to learn how to use this."

Haru swooped down into the middle of the first pack and with a single swipe of both Compassion and Sensitivity, he had disemboweled one wold and decapitated another.

"What power!" thought Haru. The other two wolves and encircled Haru and were preparing to strike. Without even thinking, Haru sent his two swords hurling towards each wolf, impaling them both. Haru went to the two carcasses and withdrew his swords. Haru didn't know to where the other pack had gone off. The sound of a woman screaming to his right clued him however. The wolves had trapped the mayor and his wife inside their house and were breaking windows and doing whatever they could to get inside. Never wanting to see anyone get hurt, Haru flew over and dropped right in the middle of the pack. Haru started slashing like a madman and before he knew it, the mayor was yelling at him to stop. Lying before him were what could only be described as four piles of meat.

At this time the effect of his new power wore off and Haru found himself in his old clothes with his old swords back to normal.

"What was that?" asked an astonished mayor.

"I'm not sure, but I am glad I received this power for it allowed me to protect you all" said Haru proudly.

"I have a journey that I must take once I get back home. I am going to request that Geddy become the new bodyguard of these islands. He has become quite the fighter and will be more than capable of accomplishing any task you all need accomplished" stated Haru.

Haru had no desire to sleep, so he immediately set sail back to Rouge to tell everyone of what had happened. When he arrived back in Rouge, Geddy and Marij greeted him.

"I need to talk to you both in private," said Haru. Geddy and Marij could tell something was up and took them to their house. Haru explained all the events that had occurred and showed them what happened when he held the orb up to his chest. Both of them were astonished. Haru also explained that the voice that was in his head told him if he wanted to know more he should head to Bale through Seles.

"I need to know what this power is, so I will be leaving in the morning to find out" stated Haru. Haru told Geddy and Marij that he needed to go get his things ready, but as he was leaving he pulled Geddy aside.

"You have become a great warrior, Geddy. Since I am leaving, I have nominated you to be the new bodyguard for Rouge and the neighboring islands. Do you accept?" asked Haru.

"You bet I accept. Now I can finally prove my worth to this community," said an enthused Geddy.

"Congratulations, Geddy. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go get some much needed sleep."