Blitz was now aged eight years. His family was stronger than ever and he had a happy childhood. He played dozens of games with the tribe kids. Many were his friends despite his higher rank. Among his best friends were: Tina and her identical twin sister Mina, Terance, and Rake. 

Currently he was in a race with his friends. The children were all fond of horseback riding and did so as frequently as possible when chores were few. 

"Blitz! You can't jump your horse that is CHEATING!" Rake shouted as Blitz guided his horse over a fallen tree. He snorted good naturedly at his friend but ignored the remark. Suddenly, nearly from above him, Terance jumped his horse in front of Blitz while he was seated backwards. "Hey." He said casually, his physical features gave away the extent of his effort though, as his palms turned white holding on to his horse's mane. "Hi..." Blitz responded hiding a smile for his friend. 

The three boys galloped their horses to the finish line, marked by a line of pine cones and Tina and Mina on their respective horses, waiting.

"COME ON BLITZ!" Mina shouted. She was rooting for him to win since she had a bet with her sister. As for the opponent of the bet, neither had chosen to bet on Rake, as such Terance was the opponent. 

Terance won and the girls traded the dolls they had betted on, Mina with a dark scowl on her face towards Blitz. The children then ran to the berry bush patch. Each had a basket in order to place the fresh and sweet fruit.

While the sun warmed their back, and the wind cooled their skin, Blitz raised his head to look about him. He loved his homeland, the mountains were always in view, far beyond the horizon and capped with a crown of snow, they blended into the clouds and sky with their colors of blue and white. Blitz could smell the pine forest all around him and felt the presence of the tall trees as a warm shelter. 'They were like tipis' he thought. 'Tall, warm, and safe'. Smoke from fire pits around his camp fogged the air with a perfume of the burnt trees. It was a strong scent, and a welcome one. It was comforting as he knew the tribe was either smoking the meat his father had caught with his party of hunters, or perhaps cooking the salmon for tonight's gathering. 

Tonight was a special night by all standards, it was the first night of summer, and marked a time when the tribe of the Friesians would arrive to the Shire homeland. 

The Frisians were Shires that had moved to live in the mountains, they sought a dangerous life, and enjoyed learning of the antics of the world, their position in such an elevated place gave them those benefits. 

And indeed, as Blitz looked onward towards the south, he saw the caravans of the Frisians walking at a steady pace towards them. "Mina, Tina! Rake! Terance!" Blitz yelled, "The Frisians are here we need to find my dad and tell him!"

"I'll go and search the smokers near the river!" Mina offered, Tina joined her and the girls ran off. Blitz sent the other boys on different paths hoping that they would find his father. 

Blitz was so excited when he had seen the Frisians he had almost forgotten what to expect upon their arrival. 

His father was alerted and soon enough, the Shire had gotten together to greet the Frisians. When the tribes had set up tents and organized blankets of tradable goods then the party had begun. 

A celebration of the seasons, a dance to welcome the guests, and a feast to satisfy a king. 

A bon fire was made, larger than the chief's tent and hotter than lava. The flames threw everyone into light, so that their figures were seen strongly against the black of the coming night.

Terance had sought himself a girl ever since a year ago, although only eleven at the time he still found no trouble trying to get himself a lass to dance with. That was another purpose of the Uniting of the Seasons (as the gathering was called), the children were sized up with each other by parents and by the kids themselves. Each planning to find a partner in the midst of the dance. The sole purpose of the dancing was to unite the young men and women, each getting a chance to dance the moves of the drum. The women spun and lept, the men bowed and jumped in arcs of grace and landed in impressive stunts to try and gain the women's appeal. 

When the couple dance began, each male danced with each female in a line. The men moved so that each dance was with a separate woman. When the boy found a girl he particularly found to like, he would offer his hand as a way to dance away from the crowd, and it was her that made the call whether to accept or decline his invite. 

Although the dances were for the kids, they were for the older ones, those that were seventeen and up. Other children were still allowed to dance, but unceremoniously.

Terance was dancing with a said girl then and Blitz found it quite funny to be frank. So did Rake, Tina and Mina. When going to grab a food item however, Blitz found himself in the presence of a very handsome young boy around his own age. The boy had dark, perfectly even skin, not a flaw was visible on his exposed chest. His muscles were lean but well built for a child of eight, his hair was placed in two braids of equal length on either side of his face, the color being black and shiny (not a very good description as it fit nearly everyone in the shire). His eyes were a dark brown and shapely, his jaw was still soft from his youth but the evidence of a future sharpness was consistent in him as well. The boy caught Blitz staring and smiled kindly, he walked up to the Chief's son and said, " Hi, I'm Ranako, what's your name?"

"Blitz!" Blitz now saw that not only was the boy dashing, but he was kind as well, grinning he offered one of the salmon bites to the boy who took him upon his offer happily. 

"Are you familiar with the Chief of the Shire?" Blitz asked casually, it wasn't good manners to keep his rank a secret. "Yes actually, my father is the Chief of the Friesians, Chief Sole, so he talks a lot of Chief Roven. Why?" Blitz grinned boyishly and said, " I'm the son of the Chief as well!"

Ranako beamed and said, "Cool so we should be best friends!" Blitz nodded eagerly and the boys began a conversation on the many horse games that they enjoyed to play. 

" Yeah, I love the races during the summer time, it's so refreshing!" Ranako answered to a question Blitz offered. He stopped and looked at the couples dancing near the fire. " I can't wait until I turn seventeen then I can join, I mean I already know all the moves and everything."

"Realy?" Blitz didn't think that a boy his age ( eight ) would be able to manage so much as one move, he himself could manage but a few. Ranako looked at him and smiled, " sure I can, let me show you."

He began the first moves of the solo dance, by the time that he was in the middle other kids had gathered around to watch, Ranako was sweating from the effort, for this dance was relative to breakdancing and that was no easy feat by itself, by the time he had completed the solo all the children and some teens from both tribes applauded politely but were gaping in shock, Blitz guessed that he hadn't shown anyone his talent otherwise all the tribes would of heard by now. 

Ranako beamed and then, jokingly, took a bow, having to sweep his long black braids back as he walked to Blitz. Blitz found that he envied his new friend's looks, talent and self, but he knew it was the devil's trick to envy so he pushed those thoughts aside while he clapped for his friend. 

Ranako looked so touched when he saw Blitz still there however, "Oh wow! You stayed?" Blitz nodded, not feeling entirely understanding of the situation. "Why, would you think I would leave? "

"Kinda... that's what most of my new friends do whenever I try to dance or show them something, they really hate me for it. I don't mean to come off as a show off but I just love to move and dance!"

'No wonder the boy was shocked', Blitz thought and any trace of jealousy disappeared as he looked at the boy with a new found interest, " well you don't have to worry 'I' wouldn't hit a fly... Well maybe if it was really irritating." Both boys laughed and Ranako looked relieved. "Thanks, maybe we can become good friends one day, and maybe when you and I grow up we can join our tribes together ."

" Yeah, that could happen..." Blitz thought longingly. Ranako left to his tent and all became quiet again. 

Thanks for reading! I know that it may be a little dull and boring here, but stay with me the best is yet to come! Please comment!

Thank you again!

*coughs* 

I have edited now... jeez that was messy... *thinks* I feel like I had to clean up a room that hasn't seen a broom in it's life.