Gabriel Morales.

He hated the Waru. Sure, it was all he had known, living in the mountains with only one friend that wasn't his family, constantly being watched by the horrible people who worked for the Waru. Plus, now that it's the time when the legend said six heroes would be defeat the Waru the small village is being watched even more carefully.

But everyone knows that the legend isn't real. A stupid little myth to get people's hopes up.

Gabe didn't believe in it but he sometimes hoped it was real. That the six would save them from the grasp of the Waru. It wouldn't happen of course. That kind of stuff doesn't happen.

"Hey Gabriel." His only friend came into the little building he and his family called home.

"Hey Josiah. What's up?" Gabe asked

"Let's go to the stream." Josiah said, tugging on Gabe's arm

"Why?" Gabe asked but followed Josiah anyways.

"Because I'm bored." Josiah shrugged

"Seriously Jo? You wanna go to the stream because you're bored?" Gabe rolled his eyes

"Duh! We live in the mountains Gabe, there's really nothing to do!" Jo said and pulled his friend towards the stream.

The stream was small, the village was on a flat part of the mountain but the stream still flowed. Nobody got water from there, it was basically just there for decoration. It was surrounded by trees too. Only some went here, they were usually teenagers or preteens. Nobody but Jo and Gabe were there today though. Gabe was glad, he didn't really like the other kids in the village. Jo and his older brother were the only two he actually really liked.

The two boys took off their shoes and socks and sat down with their feet dangling above the stream. The two talked about things, both avoiding the topic of the legend. Neither boy believed in the legend and didn't want to talk about it at all. Soon, Jo had to go. Gabe stayed there though, it was peaceful and he liked being alone sometimes.

The water felt nice and warm, the trees nested birds that sung beautifully and the clouds parted for the sun. It was a nice day today. Gabe stayed there for what seemed like hours just enjoying the serenity. Then, out of no where a giant storm came.

Gabe was soaked in seconds. He got up from sitting at the stream and stretched. He wouldn't be able to go home just yet. During storms you had to lock your doors so he was stuck there. He was honestly content with staying there. It was raining buckets but there wasn't any thunder or lightning. If he stayed under a tree he would be fine, soaked but fine.

So with that, Gabe ran to the nearest tree and hid under the leaves. He watched as the rain poured down. Suddenly the stream began to move. It started going up as if making a wave but that was impossible, it was a stream. Gabe watched, half terrified, half interested.

The stream basically made a wall and Gabe could see letters forming. He read the words forming on the water wall.

One, two, three, four, five, six,

A horrible error you must fix,

The legend you know is not a lie,

You are the next Keeper of the Sai

Gabe was shocked at the words that he didn't notice the rain ending. He snapped out of his trance when the water wall splashed back into the river like nothing happened.

"Keeper of the Sai?" Gabe wondered aloud.

He approached the stream cautiously. The stream wasn't deep and it was clear so you could see the bottom of it. Something shiny was visible that wasn't there before. Gabe knew he shouldn't but he felt like he had to find out what it is. He was drawn to it somehow. He got onto his knees and reached into the stream. Then he found out that it was not one but two items. He pushed his other hand in and grasped the two objects and pulled them out of the stream.

When he did he was surprised to see that they were perfectly clean and no dirt or mud was on them. He didn't know what they were at first until he noticed the three sharp tips at the top of both items. They were identical, both had indents on the handles, K.o.t.S.

They were Sai.

"The legend." Gabe whispered and suddenly the stream seemed to morph into a wave again.

Gabe had no time to react as the stream swallowed him up. He tried to struggle against it but he was being pushed somehow. The ground seemed to open up beneath him as he fell into the lake.

He still clutched onto the Sai as he was pushed deeper into the stream. He held his breath and deeper he went. There was no light. No air. When Gabe couldn't hold his breath any longer he passed out. Swept into the darkness of his mind, somehow he knew he wasn't going to die.

~~~~~~~

A/N

The first six chapters are probably going to be shorter than what I usually write, which is 1000+ words. This one was just above 800 words.

-CG