With the Shadows

Saya grew up in a small village, on an extremely small island. Her dad died when she was a year old. He was in the army and went off to fight but never returned. Saya's mom had cancer since Saya was six. Everyone knew it, but she tried so hard to hide it rather than ask for help. She tried to fight it at the same time but it never worked, the treatments always failed. When she died, Saya was barely eight years old, and had to go live with her uncle, on the opposite coast of the island. He was abusive to her, but she never had anywhere to go and Saya felt bad for him. His wife had died the year before, so he didn't think he had a purpose in life. The neighbors knew what he was doing, but didn't have the proof to bring it to the police. Saya heard of a tiquando class nearby, and wanted to learn to protect herself, so she snuck in every day and practiced from a safe distance. One day, two kids found her and they later became friends, their names were Lin and Jaune. When Saya was eleven, her uncle was murdered, and the police arrested her, since she was the only one living there. Later, Lin and Jaune were arrested trying to break her out. They've been there ever since.

Hey guys! So I know this is a long description, but that is just a little background information on the main character in this book. This is one of my first stories so please forgive me for whatever my seem stupid.