Finding Wu Yi Fan

Prologue - Run

Yi Fan sprinted. He leaped over the fallen trees and bushes effortlessly and dodged the tall trees that made up the forest. Adrenaline shot through him - this was the fastest he's ever being in his whole life. Well, for about a minute anyway. The unchanging scene that he was in demotivated him, and he slowed to a jog. Jogging proved to be slower than his walk, so he stopped running abruptly and started walking instead.

After about five minutes or so, the excitement completely wore off, and the events of earlier this day came back to him. The memories almost knocked him out, and he struggled to breathe for a second.

One hour earlier, he had watched a gang of tall and scary looking men raid his town and shoot everyone. His beloved dog, Ace, his best friends, and worst of all, his parents.

The only reason he was still alive was because he was buying turnips in another town. And when he came back, he saw half the town burned down. He hid in the forest when he saw the tall men wearing well polished white and black armour equipped with dangerous and high tech looking gears and gadgets swarming through the town and taking all the valuables.

That's when he remembered what his parents said.

'If anything ever happens to us, it'll be J.E.M. Don't go to them, ever. If any scary looking men come in uniform, it'll be them. Run as soon as you see them, Yifan! No matter what.'

He didn't know whether he should run or protect his town and his family. Although, what can a puny eight year old do to a trained organization equipped with gear that the government probably doesn't even know about? What can Yifan do to the twenty or so professionals who even his parents feared?

While he was still arguing with himself, he heard three loud bangs. Turning, he saw, just barely through the window of his house, an outline of a figure that resembled his mother fall. And two men carrying large artillery walked out.

Yifan stood there, shocked frozen.

He couldn't move for a long time, even after the band of terrorists were long gone. But he took up his courage and walked towards the entrance of his house. The image confirmed what he already knew. Feeling sick, he stumbled backwards and away. Doubling over, he vomited. The sick stink of blood was so strong that he couldn't breathe without wanting to heave.

He wiped his mouth with his sleeves and turned towards the entrance of his house again. All the belongings were gone, save for a few broken chairs and scattered glass. Looking at his parents for one last time, he ran, leaving behind the town that he had lived in all eight years of his life.

''Ace!' He grinned happily. He thought his beloved pet was dead, but apparently not! The scraggly looking dog and a mangled tail, but other than that, he appeared fine. His tears threatened to fall again. Last night, he had cried himself to sleep underneath a palm tree. He was only eight. He didn't deserve this. He shouldn't be going through this. He thought back to the grotesque image of his dead family. He didn't want to remember that. Nor did he want to remember anything that had happened yesterday.

This morning, he had woken up with an air of despair and hopelessness. Until that is, a cute and fluffy dog bundled up to him.

'I can't believe you survived i - it!' He hiccuped. He nuzzled Ace's face. But he noticed his limp and gasped. 'You're hurt! Your leg...I remember, I saw you lying on the floor yesterday with a bullet wound!' He banished the image from his mind immediately.

'Well, let's fix you up then, shall we?!' He said cheerfully. But it was all acting. He had no idea what to do in times like this - his parents never thought he would need to know about how to treat bullet wounds.