Alexander didn't have many good memories from his childhood. His mother and father always reprimanded 

him every time he showed signs of being weak or emotional. He had never thought much of his future, happy to live each day without worrying about the next. But he always felt that he wasn't quite in his place. 

    His father was friends with the mayor of the village which meant that Alexander had to be friends with the mayors son, Liam. They, at first, didn't get along well. The morning they met was one that Alexander would never 

forget. 

    There was a knock at the door and Jaxon sent his six-year-old son, Alexander, to get it. Alexander opened the door and looked up at the mayor. 

    "Is your father home, lad?" he asked with a smile.

    Alexander nodded as Jaxon came to the door and welcomed them inside. Then, Alexander realized that the mayor wasn't the only one coming for a visit. Behind him stood a small boy, about his age, with blonde hair and green eyes. 

    "This is my son, Liam. I brought him so that he and Alexander may be acquainted," the mayor said.

    "What a wonderful idea!" his father said. "Alexander, take Liam up to your room and show him around."

    The mayor and father walked away and Alexander led Liam up to his room. It was messy and Liam stared from the doorway, then said, "Can you even stand in there?"

    "Um, yeah, I can at least," Alexander said as Liam stepped into the room.

    "Why do you have so much dolls?"

    "Dolls! These are figurines of ancient samurai, not dolls!"

    "Opps, my bad."

    Liam stared around like he was taking in every square 

inch of the room, from the wrinkled mat for sleeping, to the samurai figurine stabbing another figurine in the face.

    The silence was so awkward that Alexander began sweating. He finally found his voice and said, "So, what do you want to do?"

    "Father says that the first thing to do once you meet someone for the first time is to be presentable and bring them somewhere presentable. I have looked over everything in this room and concluded it is not presentable."

    "Well, if I had been warned Mr. Perfect was coming then I would have possibly tried making a little effort to

make my room "presentable" for you."

    Liam stiffened like he had never been treated that way before. "What was your name?" he asked.

    "Alexander Leo Pilkar."

    "That's a long name. How about I call you Xander."

    "Xander? I-I . . . I like it."

    "I know."

    "Okay."

    " . . . . . . . . . . . . soooo, do you want to play with your do-I mean, figurines?"

    "Yeah, sure. Which one do you want?"

    "Phew, at least you know how to share."

    Alexander started to laugh and Liam, at first looking confused, joined in later. 

    They had been playing for a while once the argument started. Now, young kids, especially kids that are only six, tend to want their way all the time. It was worse with these two because they were both spoiled boys and weren't used to playing with other people. So once Liam said his samurai killed Xander's by slicing his armor, Xander replied,

    "What? No, you can't do that."

    "Why not?" asked Liam.

    "Because my armor is so strong you can't cut through."

    "No! My sword is armor piercing!"

    "But my armor is super strong and it kills you instantly if you try and slice it with a sword. Your samurai is dead!"

    "No, because he has a potion that gives him instant health, so he drinks it and smashes your guy into the floor."

    "No, because he isn't strong enough."

    "Well, the potion also gave him super strength!"

    "That's not fair!"

    "My guy wins! Accept that and stop being a baby!"

    "Hey! These are my figures, so I get to decide who wins! And my guy does because you made up a bunch of

fake stuff!"

    "But that is not fair!"

    "Now you're being a baby!"

    The two father's walked upstairs at the sound of their boys fighting.

    "Alexander," Jaxon said, entering, "what are you doing to Liam?"

    "I win, fair and square!" Liam said as Xander got up and jumped on top of him.

    The mayor and Jaxon worked to pull the two boys apart. "Liam, you're going home. Imagine what your mother will think," the mayor chided his son.

    That night, Xander sat in front of his mother and father as they reprimanded him once again. But Liam soon returned to play more, even though they had fought. And the two boys became close friends.

                                      .    .    .    .    .

    The Pilkars' were heroes. The plague had finally been defeated and life went back to normal. All the dead had been buried and a new generation was starting, but Xander still felt out of place. 

    Recently, he hadn't been able to see Liam because his father had begun training him for some reason. "The purpose for this training will be revealed soon enough.