If the Sword Dreams

Chapter 1:

     It was a beautiful day at the restaurant in the small town located on a fertil strip of land on the out skirts of QingDao. The restaurant was settled close enough to the ocean so that a faded scent of ocean mist was carried by the wind, into it's tiny wooden windows. It was surrounded by small ferns, bare tiny trees, and thick bamboo. There was a path leading from the small town to the restaurant's front door, which was really just a large rectangle cut out of wood, with a light blue curtain cut down the middle that read Welcome written in messy symbols on either flap. Inside of the small building were mahogany tables that stood 14 inches from the floor, and square pillows of red and green on either side. there were only four customers sitting at a small table; they were regulars.

Huang ZiTao was in the back of the restaurant, the only seperation being a drape that read Do Not Pass in clumsy calligraphy. His black hair was messy again, but noone seemed to complain, besides his mother, who always found something to complain about. He wore a white long sleeved thin undershirt under a deep blue, silk shirt. The neck was widely rounded and on the right side where it connected through neatly tied knots. It drapped down to his ankles and covered most of his legs, only splitting on the sides to reveal loose black pants and tan feet hiding under black cloth shoes.

"ZiTao, take this to the guests." His mother said as she passed a wooden tray with glass bowls full of rice, vegetables, and endless meat to her son. She had black hair and soft chocolate eyes, the only thing Tao didn't inherite. She was dressed in a pink cloth shirt, and white cloth pants, an apron wrapped around her waist to keep frood from filthying her up.

"Yes, mother." ZiTao answered obedientlyand left the back room. He was greeted by loud singing, and soon cheering once the food was spotted. He walked over and smiled wide to the customers. The group all seemed to be happy-go-lucky. He twirled around the table of guests with quite a speed, placing the plates before their owners and when the tray was empty he swung it over head with such momentum it twirled beautifully, and everyone aw'd. When it came twirling down he spun around and outstretched a hand behind his back. It landed gracefully on the back of his hand, fingers spread beneath to level it, and then slipped his hand away and caught it with his other by one of the corners before it could get anywhere near the ground. He smiled as the group cheered for his success.

"Show us more~!" Xiang Lili, the woman sitting beside, cheered for him. She was a regular at the restaurant with Li Bao and Rika Misami. He heard millions of stories about their adventures together. They were travelers who some times found a bit of trouble they had to deal with. They went from town to town, city to city, and Misami and Lili had even traveled out of China. Misami was Japanese after all, and the daughter of a once very famous samurai. However, he had betrayed his lord and was shunned into living the rest of his life as a ronnin. Misami fled the village and found her way into China, where she met Lili, and later Li Bao came into the picture. Sitting at the table was also a little Korean boy with dark black hair and sad eyes. They found him in a destroyed village, all by himself, crying and hugging his knees to his chest. He never gave them his name(nor did he ever even speak a word), so the three travelers referred to him as boy, or small Xiao Hai.

"Perhaps~!" ZiTao said politely and then turned to hurry into the kitchen. He stopped. In the doorway of the restaurant stood a man dressed from head to toe in general's armor, and on either side of him stood a soldier. There were three other soldiers removing their helmets. ZiTao smiled nervously, no one of such high ranking had ever come to the restaurant before.

"P-Please, take a seat where ever you would like~!" ZiTao said then hurriedly ran off to the kitchen.

"Ma~!" Zitao cried out as his mom came into sight. She spun around, a look of confusion on her face. "There's a general in there!" He cried out. His mother gasped and took the empty tray from his hands. ZiTao watched as she hurried over to a box tucked at the very back of the room. She pulled the heavy lid open, then lifted a sheathed sword from inside and turned to ZiTao.

"Entertain the general with your sword act." She said and handed him the sheathed sword. He unsheathed it and gazed at it's beauty, even if he had seen the sword plenty of times. It belonged to his father before he died. It was a short sword with a red dragon embeded into the blade of the sword through ruby's, saphire, and gold, and the sharp edge was painted in misty black from the bolsten to the tip.

As soon as he came into sight of the travelers with the sparkling short sword in his hand, they all perked up. They seemed to be aware of just how special this sword was, but ZiTao didn't understand why it was so special. He walked to the center of the building, some where between the traveler's table and the general's table. He glanced at the general, who seemed oddly familiar, and then he closed his eyes.

There was no explaining how nervouse he was that the general was there, watching him. What if he decided to arrest him? He shook the thoughts away and exhaled in an attempt to calm his rapidly beating heart.

He lifted the sword over head with one quick movement, and everone went silent. When he looked up, he spotted a section of his mom's face peering from behind the kitchen curtain. He smiled at her, and then brought down the sword swiftly. He began rotating his wrists, his other hand mimicking the movement to stay intact. His body moved fluently as the sword danced, and he spun around quickly, small leaps here and there.

He tossed the sword and let it twirl back behind him. He flipped back once, twice, and stopped just before the traveler's table with his hand raised towards the sky and the sword's handle fell perfectly into his palm. His fingers locked around and he twirled the handle between his fingers, and just when he thought he lost control, his other hand shot up instinctively and grabbed the blade of the sword and he twirled it up again.

There was a loud sound, like wood being peirced, and the everyone in the room gasped. ZiTao looked down at his shaking hands, moist with sweat and unbelievabley red, and then he looked up to find where the sword had landed.

He met the general's eyes, cold, dark, and angry, and then his gaze lowered to the handle of the sword. His eyes widened. The sword was sticking through the thin wooden table, and just from the sight, he was sure it must've been stabbing into the general's leg.

"He didn't mean to." One of the travelers said standing from the table behind ZiTao. He didn't regester which one of the travelers had spoken. The general motioned one of the soldiers to remove the sword, and with a hard tug it was removed. The general slowly stood and glared at ZiTao. 

"Arrest him." The general spat angrily. Three of the soldiers rounded the table and made their way towards ZiTao, but just before one of them could grab him, there was a loud clatter from behind and then a loud smack from in front of him. He turned to see Lili holding a thick bamboo walking stick, the other end of it was bouncing back from the soldier's chin. ZiTao stumbled back as the another soldier ran past him to attack Lili. There was another loud smack and the man stumbled back holding his shoulder.

Li Bao stood before ZiTao, blocking the soldier's from their target.

"Move aside."

One of the soldiers growled. Li Bao gathered his saliva and with a thick spit, it cascaded over the man's face in nasty droplets. The soldier wasn't shaken at all by this, haveing gone through it plenty of times built his immunity, however, he wasn't used to some one grabbing his wrist through mid-punch. He was harshly yanked to the side and he stumbled into an empty table and broke a few chairs. The soldier who had ZiTao's sword charged at Li Bao. The traveler lifted his foot and kicked the soldier in his temple. The sword flew out of his hands, and in the blink of an eye, Tao's sword was in his grip.

"The black-" Li Bao growled to ZiTao as he rammed the sword into the soldier's throat. "Is poison." He finished and forced the sword to cut out through the side of the man's neck. ZiTao gasped and looked at Li Bao with shock, fear, and admiration. The traveler looked up from beneath caramel bangs and smiled a genuinely kind smile at the waiter, then tossed the sword back to him. "That sword is really something. Don't lose it." Li Bao said and crossed his arms. The soldier who had crashed into the table was on his feet again, and now he was charging at Li Bao's open back. ZiTao's eyes widenned and he opened his mouth to warn the traveler, but in a split second, a thin blade impaled  the soldier's chest. Just as soon as it was there, it was gone with a small gush of blood. The soldier topled to the ground and both men stared at Masami. Seh was scowling at the soldier odiously, but when she met ZiTao's shocked eyes, she smiled, and then turned to LiBao.

"Well he went down fast." She said with a look of disappointment. Li Bao nodded and motioned for her to follow.

"You can't arrest him." Lili growled angrily as she waved her bamboo stick at the general. 

"Don't bud in you old hag." One of the soldiers growled as he walked up to her and outstretched his hand to slap her hard across the face. I a swift movement the end of Lili's bamboo stick smacked hard against the soldier's face, then with a loud thump it smacked against the side of his face in a harsh slap. She drew it back only for a few seconds so that she could redirect it. In another swift hit the man was knocked off of his feet with a loud shout. The general stepped forward with his hand on the hilt of his sword, but after a loud smack he looked down at hi stinging red hand and cursed loudly. He glared back up at her, and when she moved in for another hit his hands flew up and took hold of her bamboo stick. He swung the stick harshly to the side, causing Lili to lose her balance and roll off to one side. 

When the general looked away from the fallen traveler he was met with the sight of Masami charging at him with her katana. He with the bamboo, the sharp sword peircing through, and almost stabbing into his chest. He twirled the bamboo and the girl gasped as the katana spun out of her grip. But she wasn't the problem. From behind her leapt the third traveler, Li Bao, with his sword drawn and raised to execute the general. 

The general threw the bamboo stick at Lili who had just gotten to her feet, knocking her back down again, and he drew his sword just in time to black an attack from Li Bao. Their swords clanked and slid against each other until finally the general found an opening. 

Tao's mom had reached his side after everyone had hurried to the front of the restaurant, and she wrapped her arms around him tightly. He was terrified, grateful, and sad. He didn't understand why the three had to kill the soldiers. What about their families? How would they mourn? His mother slapped him and he blinked a few times.

"You need to leave. Now." She said desperately. He peered over he shoulder and he paled. The general had peeled Li Bao off his sword with a harsh kick, and then attacked Masami as she retrieved her katana from the bamboo. He stabbed her in the side and from that attack went straight into stabbing Lili's stomach. They were all on the ground, all coughing up blood, all trying to lift themselves to fight.

And then he spotted the little boy hiding in one of the corners of the restaurant.The Korean boy who had come from a dead village, only to see more deaths.

Tears began to leak and he ran towards the boy, ready to scoop him up and go. Ready to run away. To live with the boyd, raise him, teach him right from wrong. This was wrong. Wrong is painful, and this was too painful.

Arms wrapped under his own and trap his body. He kicks and screams and the boys eyes meet his.

"RUN!" ZiTao shouts throwing his arms out. The boy's eyes flickered to the travelers, and then to ZiTao. They're faces matched. Both red, both tear stained, both painful.

His mom hurries to the boy, lifts him into her arms and hurries into the kitchen.

He's thrown outside on the dirt, and he rolls painfully before he comes to a stop. The sound of running draws his attention, and when he looks up he sees the silver flash coming down at him, but just before he closes his eyes he sees a foot and the sword is kicked away. The he hears a laugh and feels a body fall on him.

When he opens his eyes, he sees light brown hair, the back of a smooth neck, and light blue robes.

"Damn you~!" The soldier yells coming at the man laying ontop of ZiTao with the tip of his sword. Then another man appears. There's a gurgling sound, and the soldier falls back. The general growls something in anger, upset with the turn of events.

"Sehun," The man says as he turns to the man ontop of ZiTao. "Please don't do that again."

AAAAH I hope you guys liked it~! :D