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The Ninja & The Warrior Princess

DateOne-ShotViewRead the...
07/11/13The Ninja & The Warrior Princess(Blog) (Forum)Disclaimer
RatingRating Explanation
T+Graphic imagery, mild cursing w/symbols.
The Ninja
Being a ninja isn't all that.
Being a ninja isn't all that.

Being a ninja isn't all that. The people you work for are jerks, and talk to you like you're nothing, even though you could rip their heart out with the right punch, or cut their head off in an eye blink. They all think they're these evil grandmasters, moving ninjas like pawns against their enemies, when all they are, really, are spineless cowards who want someone else dead, but don't have the guts or the skills to do it themselves. Yet they expect you to act with honor, because that's what they've seen in a hundred martial arts movies, or they think we're all bound by the mores of a culture that's thousands of years old. Give me a break.

The martial arts are part of our way of life, and I took to kung fu because frankly, I liked the idea of being able to whip some a**. Turned out I was really good at kung fu. Also turned out I whipped a** on the wrong self important, self entitled bully one day, and he came back with a band of friends late in the night - some biker boy, Yakuza wannabes - and wiped out my entire family in retaliation. Missed me though, because I was with the bully's sister - the reason we had been fighting to begin with. Got back just in time to see them retreating into the darkness on a bunch of Yamahas.

So I buried my family, sold what was left of their holdings to interested buyers in Kyoto, and I went to the real Yakuza, offered all of my money to the biggest boss I could get to, and told him all I wanted in return was to be put in touch with some ninjas. He laughed, but amazingly enough, he arranged the meeting. I told them I wanted to be a ninja. They laughed, and then one of them tried to kill me. Like I said, I'm really good at kung fu, so one dead ninja later, and I started learning ninjitsu. I've killed a lot of people since then. Just not the one I want.

The Warrior Princess
The princess... brought the handle of The Talon to her cheek, catching a tear...
The princess... brought the handle of The Talon to her cheek, catching a tear...

"My young lover was chosen to make my brother angry, among other reasons, but I did not think he would be so brash. I thought he had gotten beyond that several decades ago, but I underestimated his anger over father giving me The Dragon Fangs, which will give me the power to find the form of our ancestors. Because he prefers the prestige of form over the power of function, my brother never bothered to learn what he had been given. He has only himself to blame for losing The Dragon Talon, but responsibility has never been his strength. Father told him this when he gave me the Fangs, and as usual, our aged father was right. He shouldn't have wagered with my boyfriend over their fight. He thought it might come between us, but instead my eager lover immediately handed the blade over to me, smirking at my brother the whole time. This is when he became so murderously enraged, that he would later kill the boy's family.

"The Dragon Talon is special. It is the last of its kind to be unearthed from the honeycombed caverns of the dragon's lair. There are twenty-nine Talons in all, five of which are enchanted fakes, and the other twenty-four being real. They have been scattered throughout and beyond the empire, but if one were to possess four of them; four of the real ones - enough to represent one dragon paw - then they would become very powerful. If one could find them all, they could rule with no fear of opposition. With my brother's Talon, I now have three - two real, and one fake - the boon of the last few centuries. Pitiful for so long a search, but a testament to how well they are hidden."

"Is that why we are here?" asked the escort. A few fat drops of rain began to fall. Just enough to be heard hitting the gravestones, but not quite enough to start getting wet. The escort opened his umbrella, and held it over the kneeling princess. "Is another Talon among these graves?"

The princess looked sorrowfully at the gravestone before her, and brought the handle of The Talon to her cheek, catching a tear and letting it soak into the soft red ribbon that wrapped the handle. "No," she answered. "We are here because I miss my lover. He has been gone for so long, chasing vengeance against my brother, but he can never succeed on his own. No one can kill the immortal, unless they have talked to death face-to-face."

The escort blanched. "Princess...please, no!"

"Do not fear. I am here to use the Talon, yes, but a dragon's talon does not just take life. It also has the power to give life. So I am here to raise my lover's sister, that she may enact his revenge, and satisfy his need to restore his family's honor. Although he has cast all other traditions aside, he still clings to that one."

Next 1-Shot: How Lincoln Really Died.-
Please let me know what you think, and thanks! -cbOriginally Presented In: CCC #1 and CCC #2.

Story and characters owned by Chris Bishop, copyright 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.

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