Ninjiro: The Prologue

	It was a night as unassuming as any other. The moon sat high above in the sky, shrouded by the darkness of the surrounding clouds. Its dampened light struggling to even penetrate the forest valley just beneath it.

	Indeed, things seemed quiet this midnight. Only the chirps of crickets echoing through the trees broke the tranquility

	 Then, there was a fierce tapping! This was followed by a louder and more aggressive thumping. Finally, an ear piercing voice that bellowed,

	"YOU WILL NOT LEAVE THE CLAN ALIVE!"

	A piercing set of SHINKS followed, as three serated metal discs hit a tree, just narrowly missing the head of a man clad in a hooded blue robe and gi combo. A face mask lay over his mouth, his entire face concealed in pitch blackness except for a pair of wide glowing blue eyes. The man paused in his tracks, staring at his pursuer in disbelief.

	The person staring back at him was clad in a yellow attire, most similar to his opponent's.

	As they locked eyes, the blue one spoke out first, "You... did you...? Did you actually try to kill me?!"

	"Death is more honorable than deserting," the yellow one retorted, now circling his foe like a shark smelling blood in the water.

	"Honor? You speak of honor when our clan-- your clan, wouldn't know anything about honor?! Thieves and assassins, that's all we are! Does that sound like honorable work to you?"

	"The only thing that matters is honor by the clan. Honor by how outsiders view us is meaningless. You think of yourself as some kind of samurai, a hopelessly naive protector, rather than a true ninja."

	"Naive? Do you truly think that we shouldn't use our talent for something better than what we do now? Especially as the Grandmaster plans--"

	"There you go again!" the yellow ninja yelled, the sheer venom in his voice growing with every syllable, "Always talking down to me! Always wanting to play hero! You think you're better than me, you think you're better than all of us, even the Master! I'm gonna cut you and that miserable ego of yours down to size!"

	The yellow ninja unsheathed the blade concealed on his hip and attacked. The blue one held up his hand, his index and middle finger pointed out. He instantly parried, grabbing his opponent's arm and twisting it. The yellow ninja held back every urge to squeal out in agony.

	"Please just give me a chance to explain," the blue ninja pleaded.

	The yellow ninja did not even reply, instead throwing his sword to his free hand. Slashing downward with the weapon, he freed himself and left a large vertical cut both above and below his foe's left eye. It even cleanly cut through the cloth of his mask and hood.

	The blue ninja stumbled backwards, feeling the face wound. It didn't scratch out his eye, but it felt awfully close. Feeling no other choice, he took action. He unwrapped a section the red arm bands running across his forearms and started running circles around his opponent.

	Yellow could barely react as he was quickly wrapped into submission. He screamed out in a bloodcurdling mix of fury and anguish, wriggling around in his makeshift prison. For a second, it looked as if blue was about to kneel down to help his former friend, but chose not to as he heard what sounded like more ninjas entering the area.

	"I'm sorry," he said, departing the area as quickly as he entered. He had to find somewhere to hide, and quickly at that. The forest would soon be flooded by dozens upon dozens of his former clan mates, all of them searching for him.

	He had never been outside the Moon's Eye compound before, so he was unsure as to where he should go next. He had always heard tales of a city just down south of this forest, beneath the mountain trail. If the forest would not hide him, then perhaps the concrete jungle would be his next best bet.

	Continuing down from the mountain valley's forest, he threw the red bands on his arms onto the trees and pulled himself forward so that he could move faster than his followers. The yelling and the panic of the chasing ninjas soon went quiet. It seemed like his attempt to escape was successful.

	Eventually, the sight of the trees faded away and the moon sank further into the horizon. After a slight trek past the lake at the mountain's entrance, he found himself at the bottom.

	Making his way onto the nearby road, he heard a loud beeping as a light came hurdling towards him. It was a car! Luckily, he somersaulted over it just in time, landing on a boulder just off to the side of the rode.

	He latched one of his red bands onto the bumper of one of the other passing cars. The car pulled him forwards, yanking him back onto the road. He ran step by step with the car for a few seconds before leaping up and landing on the top of the roof. It's on that roof where he would lay down in exhaustion.

	He had nowhere to go and nobody to turn to, but at least he was free.

	Back in heart of the valley, a group of four ninjas returned their yellow clanbrother to their secret compound. Still wrapped up, they carried him throughout the halls of the hideout until they reached an ornate looking room. Sitting in the back of the room was a large throne atop a set of stairs. The only thing more intimidating than the throne was the man who sat in it, barely lit by the two torches flanking him.

	He wore a black helmet with a three pronged trident atop it. Pointing upwards, the red trident formed an angry brow for the round eye insignia beneath it. Attached to the helmet was a black faceplate with red accents. What little you saw of his face was concealed in utter darkness, his eyes shining a bright red. He had a sleeveless half gi with a small crimson shoulder cape attached. Under that half robe was a set of white wraps that encased his entire chest.

	He stood up from his throne, revealing just how tall he was. Speaking up in a deep and echoey voice, he said, "Where is he? Where is the one with the Reflex?"

	All of the ninjas kneeled before him and lowered their heads. One spoke out, "He... he has escaped, Grandmaster."

	"I let him escape," the yellow one interjected. "I could have stopped him, I should have stopped him... but I failed to."

	Stepping down from the stairs, the Grandmaster motioned to the other ninjas to drop the yellow one. They complied. One of them then handed him an ornately decorated sword laid out on a velvet pillow. Using the sword, he cut all the ribbons tying up his student with one simple swipe.

	The yellow ninja quickly stood up and just as promptly knelt before his master.

	"I am sorry."

	"I have been told that he came to you first, tried to convince you to leave. Is this correct?"

	"It..."

	The yellow ninja choked up, struggling to get the next words out. Try as he might, he just couldn't talk.

	"Speak to me," the Master demanded sternly.

	"It is true. Yet, my loyalty to the clan outweighed our friendship. Were it not for me, nobody would have even known he left us before the sun rose."

	"You do not seem to understand the severity of your failure. You had the chance to stop him, yet you did not. Your loyalty means nothing without results."

	"But--!"

	The master rose his hand, silencing his student.

	"Your punishment must be of an equal loss."

	Cocking his head to his left, a nearby ninja clad in gray marched out, exiting through one of the side doors. He then returned, holding a wooden board in his hands. Two more ninjas nodded their heads, grabbing the yellow ninja's arm and forcibly placing it on the board.

	The yellow ninja did not resist, understanding that this is what happens to those who fall short of the Grandmaster's expectations. He clenched his eyes shut and braced for impact.

	The Grandmaster raised the sword high above his head and slashed downward, lopping his pupil's forearm completely off. Blood spewed out from the wound until a fourth ninja came in with a towel and wrapped it tightly around the stump. The yellow ninja tensed up, reeling from sheer agony. He was shaking, fighting every urge to scream.

	"Take him away and replace it," the Master demanded, this time with a hint of anger starting to leak into his voice.

	The four ninjas obliged, taking the yellow one away into their custody.

	Left alone, the Grandmaster threw the sword into the wall as he ranted to himself, "He is a powerful enemy indeed. Powerful, yet foolish! Without training, he'll never be able to master the Reflex! It is only a matter of time until we find him again and capture him."

	Assured in his inevitable victory, the Grandmaster slowly cackled as he strode back up to his throne. Reclining back in his seat, he shut his eyes and folded his hands, "There is nowhere he can run while I am watching."

	Returning to the blue ninja, he finally arrived in the city. By this point, he had completely passed out on the car's top, the exhaustion finally setting in. He could have napped there for hours were it not interrupted by a booming thunderclap.

	Jolting up, he raised two flat palms up in defense as he shouted, "WHAZZAT? WHO?" Hearing more thunder roar in the distance, he realized it was just the weather.

	Rubbing his eyes, he took a good look at his new surroundings. The high rise buildings, the bright neon lights, and all the people roaming the sidewalks. It was completely unlike anything he was familiar with. It was hard to tell what time it even was thanks to the dreary weather. It seemed like it had been a few hours since his escape at least, but the ninja couldn't be certain.

	Few pedestrians even took notice of him taking a ride, far too busy with their own lives to care. Being cloaked by the rain and the darkness of night certainly helped a lot too, of course. Jumping up from the car, he latched himself onto a gargoyle at the side of the nearest building with one of his red wraps and slung himself up to one of the higher floors.

	Taking refuge by shimmying up against one of the windows, he was just barely cloaked by the curtain covering it from the inside.

	At that same time, a door opened on the inside. Stepping into the room was a fairly tall lady. She wore dark clothes that completely contrasted her pale skin and shoulder length bright pink hair. Hair with a bang that almost entirely covered her right eye. Said eyes were a deep shade of blue, further emphasized by the heavy eyeshadow surrounding them. A pierced bottom lip completed her look. In her fingerless gloved hand, a black gym bag.

	Shutting the door behind her with her hips, she sauntered in, completely oblivious to the stranger latched onto her window. Then lightning struck, causing a large person shaped shadow to cascade across the whole room.

	Her eyes bugged out. Looking to the ground and then to the window, she dropped her bag. Taking action, she bolted towards the source of the shadow.

	"BIG MISTAKE, PERV!" she wailed as she ran towards the window. Hearing someone coming, the ninja closed his eyes and once again stuck out his two fingers.

	The girl threw the window open and attempted to grab the supposed peeping tom. Instead, he latched onto her arms just as she was reaching out to him, then used them as leverage to backflip into her apartment.

	Gritting her teeth, she slammed the window shut and turned back to him with stunned anger. Her snarl turned to a wry smirk as she chuckled, "Snrktt... nice jammies, creep. You lose a bet or something?"

	The ninja was unsure how to introduce himself and tell her that he wasn't here to hurt her. Not that he had much chance to, as he collapsed onto his knee. He heaved heavily, the one arm holding him up about to give way.

	Against her better judgement, she ran over to help support him. Placing his arm over her shoulders, she pulled him over to the couch and laid him down upon it.

	Flopping down on the couch like a dead fish, the ninja looked up at her with the most pitiable expression one could imagine.

	"Why are you helping me?"

	She glared down at him and crossed her arms while sticking her hips out to the side, "Would you prefer I let you bleed out onto the floor?" She then pointed her index finger right up to his nose, "By the way, if this is some kinda trick, you're gonna wish I let you bleed out."

	"Heh, you wanna see a trick? Check this out."

	He snapped his arm forward, releasing a red band that whipped over to the fridge in the next room over. Pulling back, the fridge door opened. With his other arm, he snapped a second band forward, using it to grab a bottle of soda from the shelf. Then, pulling his arm back, the soda and ribbon came flying back towards him.

	She snatched the drink out of the wrap before it ever reached him. While impressed, she poorly tried to mask that by saying, "And, uhhh, who told you that you could be drinking MY stuff?"

	The ninja, conversely, was just as impressed by her quick reflexes. Not many people would have been able to snatch that bottle out of his grip so cleanly and effortlessly. He stared at her for a solid few seconds before he was able to muster a response.

	"I just felt like showing off a bit."

	"I bet you do that for all the ladies, huh?" she quipped quite quickly.

	"Only for the ones who let me into their home uninvited."

	"Ooooooh, well look at the little firebrand! You've got some attitude for a guy wearing THOSE clothes."

	He then clutched the left side of his head and groaned, interrupting their little banter session.

	"Seriously, do I need to call a doctor or something?" she asked.

	"No, no. It's fine. I've survived worse, believe me. Don't let anybody know I'm here."

	Despite his current injuries, he pulled himself up just enough to give her some room on the couch. Taking the hint, she sat next to him, folding her hands rather awkwardly.

	"You got a name?" she asked, her eyes darting away from him.

	He tapped his fingers together, like he was unsure how to respond.

	"Well?"

	"Nin... ninja... ninja hero," he mumbled quietly. When you're part of a ninja clan from birth, let's just say that being given a proper name is a rather low priority.

	She cocked an eyebrow as she repeated, "Ninjiro?"

	He nodded enthusiastically.

	"Really now? Name like that, it's like you were born for the job you have. Assuming you're a real ninja and not some kinda psycho playing pretend."

	"It's not really a job, but I mean, I guess I was born into it."

	"You'll have to tell me about it sometime. Oh, before I forget, my name's Jennifer but Jen or Jenny works too."

	"You got it, Jenners!" he replied with a thumbs up.

	She raised the soda bottle, as if she was about to bat him upside the head with it, but she lowered it and merely handed it to him instead.

	"You are so lucky you're dying right now. Seriously. Don't call me that."

	"Why not? It's cute!" he said, grabbing the soda.

	She only groaned in response. It was then that Ninjiro noticed something sparkle from inside her mouth. Squinting, he could make out what appeared to be a metal tooth.

	"Heeey! What's the story behind that?" he asked, pointing right at it.

	Jennifer yanked his face mask and snapped it right back at him, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

	Paying little mind to that nonanswer, Ninjiro cracked open his drink and held it in a curious fashion. It was as if he was deciding what to do with it. He raised the top of the bottle over the lip of his mask and slid it down to his mouth.

	Jen could only glare at him in disgusted bafflement as she asked, "What are you DOING?"

	"Tahken uh dwinkhh," he replied, soda leaking out from his mask and onto the couch. All while the bottle was still wrapped around his bottom lip.

	"Great, like I don't have enough of a mess to clean up already. Y'know you can just take that mask off around me, right? What've you got to hide?"

	"Wouldn't you like to know?" Ninjiro retorted with the smuggest expression he could possibly muster with only his eyes.

	While at first she sneered from getting her own answer thrown back at her, that slowly slipped into a smile.

	That smile led into light chuckling as she said, "You're a dick, dude."

	"I appreciate the hospitality," he began genuinely, with only a hint of a sardonic undertone that got thicker as he continued, "but you seem really chill about a guy who just broke into your pad without warning."

	She yawned and stretched while she replied, "I knooooow. Guess I'm too tired to be concerned. Maybe when I wake up I'll kick your ass out or somethi..."

	As she trailed off, Jennifer's eyelids became heavy. Leaning against the arm of the couch, she quickly fell asleep.

	Ninjiro huddled up against the opposing arm. While his future was uncertain, he at least successfully escaped the Moon's Eye. More than that, he might have found someone he could rely on. Someone he could even call a friend if things worked out nicely. While that hadn't been the case for the whole night, SURELY one thing must go right.

	Even still, if this all fell apart tomorrow, he at least felt peace for tonight. All thanks to having a place he could feel comfortable in, even if it's all still very unfamiliar to him. Anything is better than the oppressive atmosphere of his previous home.

	As he drifted off to sleep, Ninjiro couldn't help but think about how this could be the best sleep he's ever had in his life. A better tomorrow finally seemed to be on the horizon.