The Immortal Thief Roleplay; Rebirth

[Edaniel]

Shinobu had taken refuge in one of the many unclaimed rooms upstairs, seated on a dust mattress, staring at the wall with her arms folded overtop of her torso and her teeth grinding nervously overtop of her bottom lip. She was deep in thought.
'How could I run away again? It doesn't matter how strong I am, experienced I am or how I wield a sword if I can't be brave in even the most simplistic of social confrontation. I can't believe I hid from him as I walked by... I should've said 'hi' in the very least, it wouldn't've cost me anything, we wouldn't have to take from that point on. Why did I just hide? I can't justify my behavior by making excuses based on how I act around Haru, it's just not fair, to me or him.'
She paused, taking in a deep breath, lifting up one of her arms to tangle it in her silvery hair, frowning.
'How is it that, in battle, I'm fearless, but with people, I'm often awkward and far too shy? Especially in the case of Haru. I need to bring the strong attitude I get from the battlefield into all aspects of life. I can't simply hide from them as I do.'

'But I already know that, I haven't just figured this out for myself. I've known that I must toughen up around others in a social setting for a long time now, yet nothing has changed. I need to motivate myself.'  

[Ratherion]

As Haru finished his meal, he glanced out towards the theater. Shinobu acts so peculiar whenever I see her. When I see the others, they don't seemed to be phased by my presence, it is a bit disturbing to constantly feel ignored. Haru thought to himself but was he just being over critical about the situation. Perhaps he just pays too much attention to Shinobu's actions when she is around or perhaps... could it be more? Haru shook off the thoughts in his mind that vexed him so. He held his head for a second. I mustn't show such weakness's and these thoughts should not invade my mind when a mission is so close. Haru tried to ignore his mind; however, his mind tended to always continue pondering that which he could not answer, even if he wished to pay no mind to it.

Haru began packing up his tools slowly as he continued to think about the matter. Do I give her a bad look when I pass that makes her fear talking to me or perhaps I am being selfish myself. I rarely say hello to anyways, I always wait for a greeting rather than making one. I always considered the form of talking a waste of time if it was not beneficial to both people; however, is it possible that being this antisocial could have left me to give off an unfriendly or rude attitude? Perhaps that is why Shinobu doesn't say anything or acts weird around me; but, what about everyone else? Everyone else seems okay with my innate sense of silence. Haru stumbled with picking up his gear due to his constant thought. This is madness, I am thinking too hard about an issue that I shouldn't concern myself over. Haru put out the fire and then cleaned up. He put all his materials in the empty sack that held the rice. Izumo can handle Shinobu, he always seems to anyways so I shouldn't concern myself over it.

Haru began walking away from the site and back to the theater. Izumo... Haru felt uneasy as the name came into his head. The thought of Izumo made me tense but why was that? I have no quarry with him nor do I care... Haru stopped himself, Do, I truly not care about anything besides why I am immortal or is there something deep within... Haru entered the theater and began walking back to his door and as he passed a doorway, he glanced inside and swore he saw Shinobu again at the same spot staring at him but he was mistaken. My mind plays tricks on me, and now it has distracted me of my duties. Haru paused at the doorway and then after a few seconds, he began to move again towards his room to put away everything.  

[Alastor Phoenix]

"Ha!" A voice shouted out as a small thunk was followed by it. In the forestry area, the tree infront of the young boy seemed like a wooden pin cushion as small blades stuck out of it. "Hm, looks like one of the constellations I saw last night." The boy says moving too the tree as he plucked out the small knife blades. Placing them back into a small bag that was at his side, he moved back to his previous position.

"One...two...three...go!" He says pulling out the small blades as he thrusts three of them at at once one the tree. They each hit the tree making the thunking noise once more as the knives pushed themselves into the wood. The young thief known as Suki had came a small distance away from the hide-out as he didn't want too bother they others in this monotonous task. So he had decided to go out and train alone, his older brother was somewhere although he currently couldn't find him he felt that he should try and do things alone to be able become better alone.

Although what he wanted to do was stare at the stars at night though it was a little ways until the sun went down and they already enough so they didn't need to rob anything although he did draw a few diagrams of the mansion, just out of boredom. His eyes gazed over too the large mansion as he went over once more wrenching out the small daggers out once more. He sometimes wondered why they were assassins and thieves and why not be out helping the people, with other tasks but as his older brother explained too him, that they were considered demons by the regular populaces and would never be accepted. Giving off a slight sigh he brushed his blonde hair from his eyes as he thrusted his dagger out at the tree. "Ha!"  

[Kevkas]

Juromaru continued his smouldering as he walked towards the towns. He'd been seekign blood for days, and he'd had enough, he was going to get it.

Juromaru was always put off by the calm aura that most of the thieves exuded. What was the point? they were IMMORTAL! if they wanted to they could have a titanic clash of intereests, try to kill each other and end up in warfare for the rest of eternity.

He shrugged. Wouldn't be that bad. Maybe he'd get to try and cut open Yue. Or for that matter little Aoki. She was always talking about how she'd trained with her sister, how powerful she was. Maybe she was actually telling the truth. Juromaru shrugged. Who cared anyway?

All fo the pacifists were all talk anyway, people like Yue were just too weak to fight properly. That's why they were such advocates for calm, they didn't want to be hurt.

Smiling to himself Juromaru found himself wandering out into the forest thinking of just how much pleasure he'd have from 'gutting' Yue herself.  

[Edaniel]

After some time passed, Shinobu had decided there was very little point to her worrying about something so trivial as her attitude towards a certain person when truly she was the only one who really seemed to care about this, or notice, and so she left the theatre. The sun was bright outside and as she reached the field where she’d trained before, Shinobu could feel the still charm of one of her favorite training spots, the grass still lying flat in most areas as she had left it from her previous bout here, she sighed, shrugged and took a seat, cross legged, on the firm, dry ground.
'Aoki-chan. I'm ready to train you now.'
~~~

Not much time after this, Shinobu caught her first glimpse of her sister entering the clearing, squeezing her tiny body through the trees that lined the field, careful to watch her lovely little dress of the tree's greedy branches, and she was leading Yul along by the hand.
Shinobu waited for her sister to make it to the centre of the field before she stood up, smiling at her kin.
"Alright. Thank you for being so prompt, Aoki," the silver haired woman said, nodding towards her sister and then towards Yul, "and Yul, I appreciate you lending us some of your time."

"Oh, not a problem!" Yul replied gleefully, his eyes traveling to the corners of his sockets as the blue-haired man took in the landscape of the field around them. It looked as though there might have been a battle here recently, and something like that to occur so close to the hide-out was a bit alarming, but seeing as Shinobu no doubt had already noticed this, it must've been from training, probably with her and her sister.
Yul had to admit, he did feel a slight bit honored that the sister's had allowed him entry to one of their most secretive training spots, that, and now he was being given the chance to observe, and quite possibly have a part in, this top-secret training.

"Aoki, the following technique is a highly sought after one of a kind that cannot be mastered or even performed by just old anyone. It took me a considerable among of private training just to be able to operate it, and I told myself I wouldn't get you interested in learning it if I couldn't. But since I did, you and I share the same blo.od and, in the past, you have been the more spiritual one of the two of us, I feel you are ready to learn this. Or at least try to learn this."
Shinobu paused, relaxing her hand that was casually laid upon the hilt of her sword.
"You need not be worried. However, what I want to explain to you know is fairly secretive, on a need-to-know basis, and I'd prefer is our stander by..." her silver-haired woman's gaze drifted slowly to Yul, "...would kindly refrain for eavesdropping on this one part of our training session, is that understandable, Yul-sama?"

Yul nodded, smiling. He'd suspected something like this might happen.
Yul turned around and crouched low to the ground, sticking his index fingers in his ears, humming to himself softly.

Shinobu winced and chucked softly, but wasn't swayed; she was still very serious when it came to training sessions. She would always be it was important for her to show Shinobu just how serious training can be.
"Okay," she began the introductory speech where she'd left off, "The technique I'm about to tell you is only possible with people like you and me because we reach two significant qualifications. We are both people who are blessed with the gift of the 'mind link' something that can connect our thoughts to each others and a means of which to relay missions through our minds without needed for anyone else to hear them, an ability we have use well on several occasions during the past. The other qualification is that you and I are immortals who cannot sustain lasting damage and will never die, meaning you and I can take as long as we need to, without fear of interruption, to learn and develop this technique, because, as I learnt and heard from lucky others who have learn it, it takes a long time to master, and it helps if you can avoid distraction."
"Are you still interested, sister? I will continue if you feel up to this, but if you don't then you need not worry about it. I you want my honest opinion, there is no point in time when learning this should be able to damage you, it isn’t very dangerous, but it is complex, very hard to achieve, even hard to understand the process.


[I kinda wanted to go longer with this, but I took some pills for my dental surgery and they’ve got me all weird right now. It's mad... I'll be better soon. Besides, its dental surgery, I'll still be able to type, and I don't use my face to type.
Funny thing is, because of these , I probably won't remember ever typing this post. XD I do right now, though... kinda... Well, I ramble. Just wanted to let you guys know why if there’s SOOO many spelling errors.]
[I'm not godmoding here. I already discussed with Tsubs what I was going to post.]  

[Mikujin]

"Excellent, my boy, excellent!" His old hands in a continous cylce of folding one over the other. This old man... Jin? Jun? J-something... his expectant gaze was all Izumo needed to confirm that he had acquired the proper item.

He tossed the trinket lightly toward the old man. Taken aback by the sudden, unexpected, action, the old man fumbled awkwardly trying to catch it. Once it was safely secured in his withered hands he looked at Izumo with piercing eyes.

"What were you doing, boy? You could have damaged it! Ooooh.. I'm almost tempted to cut your pay just for that, however, you not only returned it to me in pristine condition, but you did it fast. Give me a moment to fetch my coin purse..." He turned slowly, glancing often at the coral sphere held in his hand. The wooden door closed slowly behind the man, and Izumo stood there, in thought, as always, for what seemed an eternity.

Why did the old man care so much for some such item? What would cause him to have no qualms killing others and endangering the lives of anyone who the item could be traced to? What value did this item have the he'd put its value above the lives of so many? After all, any injury or death in its acquisition had a ripple effect, causing pain and suffering among any who knew or cared for those that were lost. Such wanton disregard for life.

It was his job, he knew, to teach this old fool the value of life.

"C'mere, boy, my old bones don't work as well as they used to," the man beckoned, cracking the door open slightly. Izumo walked slowly to the door, drew his blade in his right hand as he pushed the door open further with his left. He saw the old man sitting next to a table, counting coins while still clenching the sphere in his hand. A glint of sunlight flashed toward him from Izumo's blade, catching his glance. An odd look, almost one of defeat, came accross the man's wizened face.

"Well, I suppose the payment I promised isn't sufficient, then, eh? You want it all..." The look on his face changed, almost instantly, to one of disgust. "Fine. I have what I want. Take it," he muttered, throwing the coin purse at Izumo, "Take it and leave me be. I have what I want now."

Izumo raised his left hand deftly, catching the coin purse. He stuffed it into his satchel, and stood there.

"Be gone, I said, boy. I've no more use for you - and that's all the money I have. I'd not be living in this shack if I'd more to give." He waved his hand violently at the door, turned his head to put Izumo out of sight.

"Have you learned anything in your life time?" Izumo asked in an inquisitive tone.

"Eh? I thought I asked you to leave... And what matter is it of your's, anyway? I've learned plenty in my day, but it doesn't matter."

"Why?" A simple question.

"Because, boy, no matter what you learn, you lose it eventually. We all take what we know to the grave." He chuckled. "Unless we're a mockery of life, like you. Everliving, though you are."

"I see. So what have you leared of life, old man?"

He turned, hunched over so far Izumo thought he'd fall forward to the floor. "Of life, my boy? Life... it's short. Too short, it seems, sometimes. It's fragile. It needs to be cared for, nurtured, because if it's not it's--"

"All too easily lost."

"Y-yes, exactly. It's not hard to understand, I can see." The old man let out a wheezing chuckle. Perspiration seemed to be beading on his forehead; Izumo hadn't noticed a temperature change.

"You seem to understand the value of life, and yet you knew I'd have to kill to retrieve that thing. Why did you still send me?"

The room was silent for a moment. Breathing deep, the man finally responded: "Because some things in life are worth more than life itself. This is something I've learned, but something you may not be able to understand... because no matter what, you'll never die."

He bowed in defeat, even before Izumo's blade pierced his heart. And as he drew his blade from the man, he did not flinch, not once. His position was entirely resolute - he remained as dignified as possible until death.

In the end, Izumo though, perhaps the man was right. Perhaps he would never fully understand what in life was worth more than it; what could possibly be worth dying, worth killing for.

Far to the west, the sun was setting, it's crimson flame dancing on the coral-colored trinket, still sitting on Jahzuun's open left palm  

[Tsubasa Reservoir]

{Gonna be short, fo shos.}

Aoki nodded in agreement, her sister must have found something useful to be so eager to teach her. 'Sister seems to passionate...' She thought absent-mindedly, listening to Yul as he mindlessly hummed a tune.

Pointing to Yul without looking from her sister, Aoki started speaking. "Guinea pig?" She asked, not excited about what may happen, but intrested. "Onee-san, is Yul is our test subject, mind-linking may be difficult, Yul-san seems to have lost his..."  

[Edaniel]

Shinobu stopped her rational train of thought in explaining the technique to her sister and just stared for a moment, blinking confusedly at what she had heard.

And then broke out in a hearty laugh.

"Aoki! Shh!" she hushed, still giggling after the bulk of the fit had passed and she was able to speak once again, pressing a hand softly on her sister's mouth, which was completely unnecessary as Yul still had his fingers in his ears and surely couldn't hear a thing.

"Aoki, you need to be more respectful to your elders, like Yul-sama!" she giggled.

After a moment to calm down and regain her composure, Shinobu continued speaking as seriously as she was before.

"Okay, so, if you're sure that you're up to this, then we will proceed with the learning of this technique. It isn't dangerous in any way, I must emphasize, and Yul won't fall to harm no matter what you do, but... yes, he will be required for testing in this technique's development, especially in you, Aoki. I'm more than confident Yul will make a fine test subject. Please try to be serious about this."

Shinobu removed her hand from her sister's mouth and pulled her sword out of its sheath with a soft shuffling noise, plunging it swiftly into the fresh ground below, leaving the weapon to stand like a solitary tree in the flattened field.

"When the shadow of my sword points eastward, the direction of the brown bush just a few meters from here, it'll be time for us to stop practicing, because, by then, you'll no doubt yearn a break. Plus we don't want to overwork our partner and impose upon his daily schedule. I assume we'll have an hour, maybe two." Shinobu recounted factually. "Which should be plenty time for a first lesson, but I find it very hard to believe you can master a technique that took me many days of training to perfect."

~~~

"Now then, to quickly re-interate upon what I have just explained seeing as how it took..." The albino woman glanced quickly towards the sword, serving as a sundial, standing in the earth just left of her, "...about an hour to explain fully, you may have forgotten the key details."

"This is a process of which we are going to use our mind linking abilities to leave the restricted chain between me and you and break off into other people's minds, giving us the possibilities of mind control, affecting other's thoughts, mind reading abilities and incredible foresight. To do this is not easy, but it basically requires you to think of another as you would of me. I know that using our other-worldly abilities to talk with your sister must by now be nothing more than a moment's work, you could probably do it in your sleep, and you probably have in the past as you and I tend to have similar dreaming patterns, but doing this with someone completely outside of our bloo.dline could be extremely difficult. I suggest you first try this with someone close to you, I had to use strangers for my rather secretive training, which resulted in me making a lot of friends I really didn't need. We, however, are fortunate enough to have Yul here with us, who I'm sure is more than casual with you, so it shouldn't be impossible to make a link."

"Aoki," Shinobu began once more after pausing to take a breath and to think. "You need to form a link with Yul. Stop thinking of him as an entirely different being, but as one that is just in perfect reverse to yourself, like the two sides of a coin who shall forever be separate but always be one. His mind is your mind, you can waft into it like air through the clouds because it is within your grasp. He isn't confined to his head and you aren't confined to yours, you and Yul have become free and roaming energized spirits capable of communication on a higher level. Look at Yul, become Yul, become one with Yul."

She paused.

"On a mental level."

Yul grunted.

"Have I missed anything?"

"I certainly hope not." Yul interrupted, now nothing more than a tired heap of human lying on the ground in the field in which they stood, hands no longer to his listeners, but having long since given up and fallen to his sides. "Trust me, love, you've covered everything."

Shinobu glared at him, 'tutting' softly.

"Fine. Good then, you can do it without me, I'll step back and let you try, Aoki."

Yul scrambled to his feet, ready to see what was going to happen, anxious, but not at all worried.

"Go ahead, Aoki-chan. Take your time."

[Not to be crass, but I expect a large post this time. This situation simply requires one.]  

[Tsubasa Reservoir]

'How oddly sounding that was will never fail to give me a good laugh in the future, for sure. At least Shin-onee-chan enjoyed the joke...'

Aoki contemplated what to do. Certainly Yul and herself where friends, but she had hardly even thought of anyone other than her sister as the same being of herself. There was certainly going to be a long though-process involved with learning this. Placing her hand thoughtfully on her chin, Aoki tried to think of a way to think Yul as herself. There certainly wasn't a lot she had in common with the other thief, to be sure.

There had to be some way, because if her sister could, there was no doubt in her mind she could. They both knew the basis of the telepathy, but this seemed to be entirely different.

She sat down and stared at Yul in concentration. Becoming Yul would take a while to copy his thought process. He was usually very calm and collected,a fun guy to be around, but he was tired and bored, it seemed.

"Calm down Yul-san, don't be quite so eager. It takes me a while to catch on to these things."

She didn't know how to make a connection yet, but certainly she could imagine. Things like his point of view and perspective from where he stood were easy. Aoki would be in the center of his view, and there would be grass and trees. He seemed a little eager, or nervous, something of the like, so that would make a person feel a certain way. His hair would sway gently from the afternoon wind, and one eye was covered. Damn... That would shift his whole view to one side. Her mental view of Yul's mind shifted slightly. His clothes obviously counted for something, and Aoki patiently observed his clothing to understand the feel. Becoming Yul was... Odd. Aoki was never one to be so critical, so detailed in her observation of others.

Trying to keep her focus on her fellow thief, she took a moment to view her side of the field. This concept was new and very difficult to grasp, but certainly she was well trained enough to learn something.

"Shin-onee-chan." Aoki called, not taking her gaze off of Yul. "When you said 'become one' with Yul-san, do you mean copy his senses and mind pattern, or something more profound and annoying?"


She was sure there was a connection with the way Yul and herself thought. They both seemed eager to finish this, or even take a break. Although it was in their minds, it obviously wasn't at the forefront of their thoughts. It was worse than being in love. More time-consuming and not as fun. Just staring and understanding each other would be a rather long and difficult process for her. Sighing boredly, she brushed her action off as involuntary.  

[Edaniel]

"Er... I suppose so." Shinobu replied. "Imitation may be a way to get through it... but... what you need to do is think as one with him, not by becoming another Yul all your own, you need to be the same. It can be difficult to understand."

Shinobu pondered this thoroughly. To successfully perform this technique before now she'd needed to get to know another person in a way they had become a piece of herself, it was difficult to explain, and put into words, no doubt, but Shinobu had, upon the learning of this technique, become an increasingly open-minded person, looking at separate individuals in entirely different ways. She had to wonder if, upon completion, her sister would be so radically changed by the technique as she was.

If they could both master it... they'd be unfathomably powerful. But that was quite the reach from that moment, right now she'd need to give her sister some sort of boost, in the very least a push in the right direction. Right now the young looked lost and perhaps a bit annoyed at the complexity of the situation.

"Let me see... Yul?"

He snapped to attention, redirected his gaze to the woman standing behind him.

"Aye?"

Shinobu stiffened but continued with her originally thought out plan, if it were the only thing to get things moving, it would have to do.

"What do you think my sister is thinking? Right now? A year ago? When she is in danger? When she is in love? When she is hurt, alone, afraid, angry, confused, overjoyed, miserable of petrified?"

Yul did not reply.

"Exactly. Aoki," Shinobu's gaze flicked to her sister. "Think about these things, they are complex, unidentifiable, powerful, strange and unknown. But that doesn't mean you don't have the strength to rule over them. Yul cannot answer this, and you cannot either. It is irrelevant and impossible to solve, but the point is that sometimes things must be. You must think of Yul as yourself, even though he is not and cannot ever be."
 

[Mikujin]

( There's something coming from me... in the near future... probably... )  

[Edaniel]

[ That's nice to know. Things are moving slower than I'd like right now... ]  

[Mikujin]

Izumo stopped, squatted down next to the river bed. He reached in, splashed his face with the cool water. Refreshing. He withdrew his blade, cleaned from it the remnants of his days work. As the crimson wisps swirled and disspitated in the river, Izumo's mind began to wander.

Back to the old man's dying words: "Some things in life are worth more than life itself."

He removed his edge from the water, wiped it clean. Senile old fool. Izumo went over every situation he could think of in his mind, every logical situation. Still, he couldn't think of anything worth dying over. It was all perception, he gathered, to some people, some things were worth dying for - family, friends, fortune, fame, honour. All subjective matter, for where one may see a worthwhile cause for dying, another might see senseless loss. The old man died, he assumed, for fortune. For a simple trinket. Most would not have died for such an object.

The guards, though. Were they not there protecting the gem? Did they not die for it? But perhaps their's was a wholely different reason for guarding it. Perhaps it was some sort of religious icon. Perhaps, somehow, it was the source of their small village's wealth. The guards. His perfect reasoning was disturbed by them. Most seemed to defend it tenaciously, putting their whole body, their lives behind each sword stroke. And the agony, the desperation in their eyes as they died... It was as though they had lost something worth more than just their lives.

Izumo kicked pebbles into the river in frustration. Was his logic flawed? Was his reasoning not sound? The ripples from the pebbles disturbed his reflection, only slightly, before the river's gently rushing waters restored his image. He sheathed his blade, pointed himself away from the setting sun. To the east. Towards home. Or, at least, to where it was he rested his head between excursions.

The shades of orange in the sky seemed to be awash with grey wisps. An inkling of an oncoming storm, perhaps. The least of Izumo's worries, and the last thing on his mind.

Why did the question plague him so? When he'd answers for everything, there was now this one thing that escaped him. As he seemed to close his grasp about it, seize his final answer, it had become something he failed to contain. This small idea had become something much more, and no he wracked his brain over it. Infuriating! He closed his eyes, tried to calm his spirit.

What is... he began to wonder. What is worth dying for?  

[Lord Bean]

The book weigh heavy in her arms, it was a thick, quite large, leather bound book. The pages were worn down and its black cover was dusty, the silver letters on it hardly readable. As she silently walked through the cold corridors she thought of what trouble she had to go through to obtain it. Pieces and bits of the text she had found everywhere, but they were of no use, only the complete book held value. It had been the old man who had set her on the right trail, well of course he himself hadn’t she had to squeeze it out of him. A faint grin appeared on her face, squeezed was indeed the right word, people were like oranges, first you had to cut them, then you could squeeze them out to get their juices, the only thing worth having. The man had posed a thought enemy though, not in any physical way, no he was just an old man, but in spiritual ways. It had cost her much effort to get the information out of him. But she had succeeded none the less, a combination of pain and mental forces had cracked him in the end. Looking back it was actually quite enjoyable she realized, cutting open his belly, slowly pulling out his intestines and at the same time easing his pain by sending him soothing images only to bring him back to the harsh reality a second later to let him feel the pain double as hard. He had told her about this library and the fact that the book was here. The library clerk on the other hand had had it a lot easier. He had been astonished that a small girl like herself had asked for this book, but after a few words he had quickly offered her an excerpt, apologizing that he could not give her the whole book, because special permission was needed. She hadn’t even blinked, but a second later the man lay dead on the ground, blood dripping from his ears and nose, his eyes icy blue and clouded. She had taken the book and was now on her way out, a small spark of excitement in her soul because she had finally got what she had sought for.

Nia awoke from her deep thoughts as she heard the faint sound of rustling clothes. With a sudden concentration she quickly scanned the area and found two persons in the vicinity. They were both above her on the wooden beams, both dressed in black and carrying a katana. Ninjas she thought in disgust. “You can come down and die on the ground or stay there and die even quicker” she said just loud enough for others to hear it. With a small thump two shadows landed on the floor in front of her. “Give us the book and you’re free to go little girl” the tallest of the two hissed unsheathing his sword. A small grin appeared on Nia’s face: “Empty words, Ka’allu didn’t kill me and neither will you.” She turned around and laid the book behind her on the ground, and then turned to face the two ninjas again, just to feel a katana tearing through her stomach. The man started to laugh, a deep and roaring laughter: “Empty words aye? Look at you know, slain in a matter of seconds, Quontin will be delighted to hear this. And…” suddenly his face filled with terror: “No, no, this cannot be, I…”. With one smooth movement Nia had pulled the sword out of her belly. Blood dripped out of the gaping wound that slowly began to close: “Yes… it can be.” she whispered just before she decapitated his head with the sword. She turned around and saw the second ninja speeding down the hall, the book under his arm. She snapped her fingers and watched him fall to the ground, she knew how he felt know, like his muscles were being ripped of, fiber by fiber. Slowly she approached him, the she kicked him on his back, his face was stiff, only his eyes gave expression to his feelings, which didn’t seem to be very pleasant. She took a small silver dagger from a pocket of her kimono, played with it for a brief moment and then slid his throat. She pulled the book from under his arm and continued her way, the danger had passed, the worst she could encounter now were some city guards. Nice…