et's see then,"

The stout traviler syed the pain and agony of the story he was about to tell was evident on his face as if painted in bold type on his brow. Washing his face with his hands with watter that was not there in the coolness of the desert night, Sunstreakcontinued.

"It is always hard to find a place to begin this story is to be no exception to this, infact I would be venturing to say that it will infact be more so."

His voice was one of deep thought and feelings cool and calm almost seeming not to befit his rogind nomad exterior.

Jaden could see the pain in his face and imagined that he did not realy want to tell this story to him but rather that he had to. Like some inner self needed him to tell the story to someone just to prove to himself it was all not a dream and that he was not crazy. And with this thought Jadens curiosity grew to the size universe within its self and could not wait to hear what story this man had to tell, and he would sit and listen as long as it took eaven to the end of the earth if it so needed. Curriosity in such things had always been a downfall of his in its own tragic and peculure way.

"Well you will have to forgive me a bit as I will have to jump around a bit in this story to give you some proper background to me something that I most likely should not do but I fell that it is something that must be done non the less. I do not know how you will react or what you will think of me after but that is unimpotant the story must be told."

His voice was somber and almost forced as he began,

"Well I supose then the treu beginng of all this is to look at the turning years of my teenage time. I never realy was one to fit in with others at the time."

"Mother why must you keep things from me for what reasons can you have to hide the truth from me? Will I never treuly know about my past, how can I live likethis constantly tormented by others always referd to as the bastard child, and still you will tell me nothing of my father what happened to him or how you can still love him after leaving us like this."

John pleaded with his mother, tears forming in the back of his eye's but not showing them to the women that sat in the old wooden chair infront of him the smell of the old ale from the night before drying on the floor of the old tavren were he lived with his mother.

"Please son I am sorry but you know I can not tell you I know you do not understand but please try I do still love your father but we can not be together and I can not explain why it is not important you do not need to wory yourself, if and when the time comes for you to know it will not be me who will tell you. But please beleve me when I tell you that I love you and do not want to hurt you or to see you in such pain but no one can truly understand how complicated things are."

John's mother with a compation and sorrow of a great heart looking for understanding. Her hair hanging just below the sholder a sandy blond color of a well treted hard wood with its natural wave that made the women jelous and the men feel warmly energetic and a bit uncomfterble in the pants. Dressed in her night shirt and relaxing in one of the old chairs at a table relaxing after a long night of serving the drinks. It had been a rather regular night not too busy and only one fight to speak of that was over very quickly when one of the men passed out from the drink. And only one lonely man who needed to be escorted out by Grim the bouncer who worked for her something that was hardly a job for a man like Adam Grimstone, every one called him Grim in regards to the Grim reaper, a menicing site standing in the corner of the bar during the open hours, a larg man all of 7 feet tall and of a waight of around 400 with mostly no fat, broad in the sholder and a strait soled build. Always dressed all in sold black with his face having been permintly ink marked to look like the skull under the skin a thing that was horable to see all to add to his intimidation as if a man of his size needed any help.

"I know it is hard for you son, and I think it is time that you leave school and come work for me now I will teach you more, and I know you have been thinking it and think you should enter the open tunrament for the harvest festaval, you can show those stuck up high born brats that you are by far a better slinger then they will ever be with or without a father to guide you. You are better then any of them high traind you will be the first outsider to win."

The truth and sincarity in her voice wormed all of his bieng and he slowly began to forget about all the problems he faced every day with the thought of winning the gun slinger open contest at the beginning of the harvest festaval. He had thought for for many weeks about entering and had put it off but now with his mothers blesing he would he had only a month to prepare but he knew he was the best allaround gunman around hight born and traind in the old ways or not.

"Thank you mom."

John replyed with love in his voice. Then giving a her a hug told that he would go to bed know.

"Ok son I will see you in the morn I am going to stay down here a while yet and think and relax for a time the cool breeze of the morning air feels good."

"Night then mom, I love you"

With a sound of unsure honesty in hisvoice. John a young man of 14 went to the back of the bar and started up the stairs to his room having been up long agin to help his mom close down, finly getting to bed around 4 of the clock in the morn. A rather normal boy in his own of about 5'9" and of an avrag build. With dark black hair croped short. His mind once agin settled by his mother and he knew in his hart that things would be ok the boys and men who would haras him daily were of no mind they would all show the respect he decerved when he won the slinger compitiion. His thoughts of his success and how it would be filled his hole bieng with great joy, but how could he have known what would transpire in the time to come.

That night sleep came had as granit for the boy with the thoughs of tryomph deep in his head. When at last the sleep would come like somany other things in life it came with the unstopable force of a huricane. He sleep long and hard dreaming a dream that he would not understand until things had gone too far to turn back.

In the dream there was a a bear he held something in his paws John could not see what it was but there was a number of people chasing the bear, some screaming to see that what he carried others yelling he should not have it. John yelled to the bear to come over and show him what it was he was carring the bear did as he asked coming over to him. The bear then wisperd

"we all carrie our secrents and some have secrets that carry them."

Then oppening his Paws John saw a glass ball in his hands with his face in it, then John reached into his own pocket and pulled out a ball of his own with an image of the bear in it. Then both balls shaderd and the bear fell dead, John leaned in closser to get a better look only to find that he was looking at himself.

There was a long period of no sound till finly Sunstreak lifted his head slowly,

"if only I had realized then what was happening,"

the pain of times gone by and regret of there outcome was deep in his voice showing thrue with the contrasts of black and white.

"But then we can not change the past so there is no use in morning over it we can only learn from it and hope that others can also learn from out mistakes and not suffer the same fates. Oh well I should get on with the story it is long and there is much to tell but I will try to keep it short and only tell you the esencials of the story."

Jadens face was one that told with little dougt that it would not matter how long the story went on he was intensly listning to his new friend tell this story of his past. Jaden was now lying on his side proping up his head with one arm his elbow diging into the soft ground below. Red lay infront of him her back agnst his body her head resting on the ground next to his prop arm. Jaden's other arm over the side of red curessing her rib cage area and up to the underside of her neck as sunstreak continued the story explaining he would skip a few months ahead to about a week before the big turnamint.