Unafraid (On Hold)

Chapter 1: Practice

*The Present*

The long hall stretched out in front of Faith as she made her way towards the two large doors that stood in front of her. It was so silent between her and her father that the sound of their breathing and heart beats could be heard by anyone who stood near them. Faith and her father are close, but when it comes to practicing the feelings between these two becomes intense. As they got closer towards the two Large Bronze Doors, Faiths father turned to face her.

"I know what to do daddy, no need to remind me." She said before he could even speak. She began to turn around but he quickly stopped her.

"Faith dear, there's no need for that anymore."

Faith's eyes widened, this couldn't be right. What was her father talking about? "Daddy, what's going on?"

"I'm not hiding the secret of opening these doors anymore."

"Wait...you're letting me watch now?"

Her father smiled and nodded. He placed a hand under Faith's chin. "You are old enough now. I trust you." After he spoke those reassuring words he kissed her forehead.

"Thank you." Faith whispered. 

She found herself filled with utmost joy. Never in her life had she thought she would see the day her father would let her know the secret way of opening the bronze doors. That tradition was passed down from generation to generation, from father to their eldest son. Being Faith's parents only had one child, and not to mention a daughter at that, she never thought her father would be willing to break tradition and pass on the secret to her. She'd only seen this happen in her dreams but now it was reality. 

The Large Bronze Doors held what her family considers their most prized possessions, their weapons. Faith's father stepped a few feet away from the door. He quickly glanced at Faith to see if she was watching, and she certainly was. He took a deep breath and used a bit of his power to remove a protective barrier from around the doors. That was something he taught Faith to do when she was yet a child. Once the barrier was broken he took out a small pocket knife from his pocket and created a small cut on his index finger. Faith's father squeezed his slightly bleeding finger and allowed a drop of blood to drip into a glass container connected to and located on the side of the bronze door.

"The blood from someone in our family's blood line will open the doors. The doors were created by the eldest member of our family to only open once it recognizes the family's blood." Her father explained.

At that moment the doors latch opened and the Bronze Doors slowly began to slide apart, revealing the large room that held the weapons that this family is determined to protect. Faith stood in the open door way in disbelief; never did she think opening the door was that complex. Her father turned to her and tapped her on her shoulders.

"Well...what are you waiting for? Get inside; it's time for us to practice." He ordered.

Faith approached the glass case that held the weapons; she slid the glass door aside and took out her assigned weapon: the Japanese geisha fan. The fan is a light coral with a floral print.  When her father first assigned her the weapon she couldn't help but laugh. 'What exactly can a fan do to defend her?' Is what she thought, but she knew little then. In fact a fan is such a perfect weapon, it’s a great disguise, and it's not the fan that holds the power, it is the permanent owner of the fan who does. That's another unique thing about this family; their weapons can't be used against them. The only person who can use the weapons of Faith's family is the person the weapon was assigned to.

                                                         

Once Faith took her gorgeous fan out of the glass case she turned around to say something to her father, but she didn't see him. Faith quickly scanned the room but her father wasn't anywhere to be found. 

"Daddy?" She started to yell.

Her heart started to accelerate. She could've sworn her father was right behind her about a second ago. After two seconds of silence, and no reply Faith started to walk towards the entrance of the room. Before even the slightest piece of hair escaped the room, a sudden force sent Faith crashing towards the floor. Someone or something had just tripped her. Faith fell towards the floor face first. When she was about an inch from the floor, she felt her arm being pulled and before she knew it she found herself standing once again.

Faith looked around her in shock. Everything happened so fast it was as if it never happened. When she finally snapped back into reality she found her father standing in front of her, he was grasping onto her arm. He smiled at her, showing his white teeth as they contrasted against his dark skin.

"Daddy?" Faith spoke, her voice squeaking a bit.

"Always be alert. You never know when someone is going to attack." He explained.

"Wait...that was you?"

Faith's father nodded.

"I thought something happened to you. Or that you just ditched me."

"Once we enter this room Faith practice is in session. You out of all people should know that."

Faith looked away. "I just forgot for a second."

Faith's father grabbed the Japanese geisha fan out of Faiths hand and opened it. "Show me what you know." He ordered.

Faith nodded and took her weapon from her father. With a quick spin of her body Faith created a powerful gust of wind and sent her father flying across the room and his back hit against the wall.

She stood up straight and waited for her father to approach. In about a second or two her father walked up to her.

"Nicely done." He told her with a smile.

"Thank you."

"Well...enough chit chat. Let’s get down to business."

~Later that night~

Faith walked into the kitchen to find her mother making homemade soup over an open fire. She happily greeted her and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek.

"Faith dear, do you mind doing me a quick favor?"

"Not at all. What do you need me to do?"

"Will you go down to the grocery store and get me some potatoes?" Her mother asked, handing her two coins.

"How many?"

"Three should be enough."

Faith nodded. "I'll be back, I shouldn't be too long."

As she made her way towards town, Faith couldn't help but feel a bit odd. She felt as though she was being followed or watched. "Always be alert. You never know when someone is going to attack." She heard her father say in her head. She was now putting her guard up and paying attention to every movement she caught in her peripheral vision. It was then she spotted him. She spotted the boy who was following her around for the past three days. He was hiding behind a tree, and once she looked in his direction he quickly hid behind the tree so she wouldn't see him but it was a little too late for that.

Faith approached the tree she saw the boy standing at but when she got there the boy wasn't there. She quickly scanned the area and saw him running in the opposite direction. Fed up with these childish games Faith decided to take matters into her own hands. She decided to follow him.