Yet another story preview!

Edit: Hey folks! Thank y'all for the feedback, I'll let you know that I've set this part aside and I'm reworking on it. So thank you all for your help!

This is an excerpt from... yet-to-be-named-feudal-Japan-story (isn't the title simply fantastic?)

It's the introduction of the fourth and final MC, this guy named Sora. Yoru, another MC, kindly agreed to help me with this...
I actually like this scene, but I cannot be impartial in judging my own writing. So I have questions but, to avoid spoilers, I'll put them in the end.
Also, be aware that the story contains some spoilers (revealing the nature of the magic used in the book)

Heavy, black smoke arose from a nearby house, while flames engulfed the wood that . A large crowd had gathered and was trying to put out the fire.

Sora, though, was running in the opposite direction.

A thief. And not an ordinary thief, it seemed. He set a nearby house on fire, waited until everyone was focused on it, then grabbed the weapons from his family’s store.

And he might have gotten away with it, too, if Sora hadn’t turned around at the last moment.

How dare he! How dare he steal, and even worse, damage someone’s house just to steal a weapon!

There he was! Sora recognized a minute figure running away, dressed completely in black, locks of black hair escaped from his bun and flying in the wind.

Sora accelerated, catching up on the thief. He was fast, but no one was faster than Sora. He  ran so fast it seemed his feet didn’t even touch the ground.
The world around him became blurry, all his attention on the running boy. In a few seconds, he covered the entire distance that separated them, and reached out to the thief. Sora’s fingers grabbed his kimono’s cape, causing the escapee to lose his balance and fall on the young merchant. He grabbed the boy’s wrist, before staring at him in complete surprise.

It was a girl. nothing more than a little girl, no older than him. Cute, even, if it wasn’t for the scar that ran across her nose. Just a little girl.

Ugh, no. It did not matter if she was a girl. She was always a thief. He should just bring her back, and let her have her right punishment.

The thief grinned and the next thing Sora knew was that he was on the ground, his head aching and the thief running away.

How could she! For an instant, Sora’s vision became blue, a shocking blue that enveloped everything else. A moment later, he was flying over the roofs, over the village, his eyes still focused on the thief who was escaping. He dove, his long, sinuous tail drawing spirals in the air, and forced the thief to the ground with his long claws. She struggled to free herself, but his grip was too powerful. The villagers were looking at him, astounded. He stared at his hand - no, his paw. A tapered, blue paw, ending in long, sharp, black claws. The longer he looked at it, however, the more human it seemed to him - until it was a perfectly normal, human hand, no different than it should have been. He gazed at it in awe, before remembering the thief.
She cursed heavily for a few minutes, and Sora let her do as she pleased, albeit wincing at her language. When she finally calmed down, he loosened her grip and rose, preparing to take her wrist and guide her to his house.

But she wasn’t there anymore.

“Damn it!”

He quickly started running in her direction. She was faster, this time, though, and Sora immediately lost sight of her.

Doooone! Now, the questions - was it confusing? I obviously know what's going on, but you don't (nyah-nyah!), so was it somehow understandable?

The Storyteller's Challenge - Summary

Whew, it's DONE! And I won the Challenge, yay! It was fun I might do it again... not before a couple of months, though.
Now, first of all, I was not the only one. Other writers participated in this Challenge. Unfortunately, right now I can remember only two of them, who linked their stories to me, but if one of the participants I forgot wants me to include him in this post, just say it! Send me a link to your blog or wherever you wrote the stories, and I'll gladly put it here.
The ones I remember were Dominic Lowery (http://writerscometolife.blogspot.com/) and Miles Nagaharu (http://writingnagaharu.blogspot.com/), give them an applause!
Now, back to my part of the challenge.

- Day 1 - Rain
Did I like this one? Yes, I did. It was fun to write, and both characters wouldn't stop talking. They basically wrote the story themselves.
What have I learned from this? Trust your characters. They know better. Also, grumpy characters are fun to write.
- Day 2 - Town of the Beginning and the End
Did I like this one? Yes! It felt like a prologue, but Josè and Tonino were refreshing characters for me. I can't remember the last time my characters were so cheerful and innocent, and I really enjoyed it, both writing and reading. And the idea was nice, so this one may be one of my favorites.
What have I learned from this? I can't write a decent short story without making it feel like a prologue. It happened more than once, actually. Also, children are fun to write, and I should do it more often.
- Day 3 - The solitude of Darkness
Did I like this one? The first part, yes. The second, not much. It was different from what I usually wrote, but I'm glad I tried. It was totally worth it.
What did I learn from this? As Jessica Fry commented, "one story can be complete in a very short span". I should have stopped after the first part, but, oh, well, you learn by making mistakes, right? (I'm gonna further explore this concept in Day 5... -.-)
- Day 4 - A storyteller's name
Did I like this one? Meh. I think the basic concept was nice, but I wasn't capable of transforming that idea into a story. That means more training for me! Write, write, write!
What have I learned from this? If inspiration isn't there, the story isn't good. But I don't blame this entirely on inspiration. I need to get my mind working on translating a concept into words. I don't know how, but I need to. Any advice?
- Day 5 - The dancing shadows
Did I like this one? No comment. Don't get me started.
What have I learned from this? I CAN'T FIND AN INTERESTING IMAGE, THINK OF A STORY (and a title) AND WRITE IT DOWN IN FIFTEEN MINUTES! Not if I want it to be at least decent. But, as I said, I'm going to learn from my previous mistakes. Have to train more and become a great ninja err, writer.
- Day 6 - Dangers (not) lurking beneath the sea
Did I like this one? Yes, I did! It was a nice change, from no-inspiration-quick-writing-boring-story to this light-hearted story which actually had somewhat of a plot. It was also my first attempt on writing some humor. Don't know if it was good, by I found it enjoyable, at least.
What have I learned from this? I've learned to recognize what makes me laugh in a story, how is the punchline delivered, why do I find it funny, etcetera, etcetera, and to apply it to my own stories. Like I said, it was a first attempt, and I'm satisfied with what I've achieved.
- Day 7 - Sincerely
Did I like this one? Yessssss! It was adorable writing as Junko and Gabriel, and I'm going to stop there because I could talk for about an hour (or several pages) about everything I liked.
What have I learned from this? I enjoy writing letters, and every moment of my everyday life is potential inspiration. In fact, I decided to write "Sincerely" while chatting. Ha! Aaand, I've also learned that I really need to know when a previously read story was "inspiring" and when I used too much of its concepts. The story I was inspired from was also called "Sincerely", and talked about two boys writing to each other. I used both the concept of a boy being mistaken for a girl because of his name and this person telling about violent acts to protect a sibling, and asking to the other if he hated him. The characters personalities, preferences, etc., though were original, not like I copied the story!

Overall, did I enjoy the Storyteller's Challenge? Of course! I think I've learned much from it, and am satisfied of 5 stories out of 7 which is a good number. I knew from the beginning I would have ups and downs, so I expected more or less a similar result. Also, I proved to be able to write a different story everyday, without taking breaks! It's a good way of boosting self-confidence.
What about you? Did you enjoy the Storyteller's Challenge, and which stories were the ones you liked the most? Thank you for coping with me as I had writer's block and wrote ridiculously long stories, as I blabbered about just anything, etcetera, etcetera.
See you next time! *Goes back to writing a longer story*