𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Ａｔｔｅｍｐｔ

It was the middle of the day and a very busy city block. The street traffic had just thinned out and the pedestrians were getting ready to head home for a well deserved rest or, alternatively, a quick bite to eat in the nearest store before returning home again to their various families. All the neighbouring kingdoms princes and princesses were arriving including Wakiya Murasaki the Prince of the Sakino kingdom and there was Prince Rantaro from Iwanoto that rarely never had a lollipop in his mouth. Prince Daigo from Hametsu. Yuma and a few other trainers were revisiting the rules and regulations to prepare for upcoming tournaments planned held. Shu and Rantaro had Muay Thai practice but most of all, they needed to make sure everything went smoothly with their respective teams so they could have at least one win to participate in the tournament. "Hey shu." Rantaro called.

Shu turned around as he heard his name being called and saw his friend approaching him. He smiled and greeted him back. "What's up?"

"You pumped about this new fighting style?" The albino thought for a while, he wasn't very used to hand to hand combat so the technique sounded a bit odd to him. "It'll help you improve your control and speed." He explained. Shu nodded along, he still hadn't practiced much in the recent days since he was too focused on training up his sword skills. It felt good though, having another martial artist that could give pointers. It would be nice to get some feedback.

The two took their stances on the ground and waited. As soon as Rantaro noticed Shu moving, he moved forward and tried a punch against Shu who easily dodged and counter attacked. Rantaro went in for another punch but was intercepted by Shu, the two engaged in a brief exchange of punches, kicks and parries until they were both drenched in sweat from the intensity. They ended up sitting down on a nearby bench after catching their breath, panting heavily. After several minutes of resting, Shu got up first, stretching and cracking his neck. He looked over to Rantaro, who was wiping the sweat off of his brow and giving him a thumbs up sign to let him know that he was alright. Shu smiled and walked to the dinner hall in the building that served as an informal gymnasium. The two ate together and then split up to prepare for tomorrow's matches. Both were pretty sure they would go far in the competition as they were both excellent fighters. Shu decided to take another stroll into the city to overhear some gossip from two tall masked men with daggers along their waists. As he got closer he quietly listened to them talking about their plans to kill someone. 'Not exactly what I would call quiet conversation', Shu mused, not wanting to interrupt their little discussion but also curious to hear more. The pair stopped talking when they spotted him eavesdropping. "Well if it isn't the prince of this little nation." The shorter man sneered, clearly displeased to be interrupted. Shu quickly stepped back. "Prince Shu? That is you right?" The taller man asked excitedly, grabbing Shu's arm and shaking it vigorously. "Yes, I am, are you ok?" Shu tried to pry himself out of his grip but the man didn't let up. "Oh I'm great!" The other man said excitedly, he finally removed his hands from Shu's arm only to grab his hand instead. He pulled Shu toward him in such a way that Shu almost fell over. Shu struggled to regain his balance and look away from the man's face but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the large scar on his eye similar to his. Shu wondered if it meant something, if it was somehow related to him. Suddenly, Shu felt a sting on his cheek and the tall masked man pulled his dagger back, aiming towards Shu. Shu didn't even see the attack coming as he watched in horror as the dagger almost pierced him but he managed to doge at the last minute. After the initial shock passed, Shu ran as fast as he could to where Rantaro was waiting for him inside of the gymnasium, "Shu are you ok? What happened?

"Some man tried to kill me and could be a threat to Viesta." Shu told him. "Let's go we need to meet with our coaches and tell them to keep an eye out." Rantaro told him in concern as they ran outside to where the rest of the group was.