Ninja 3006 and the retrieve of the source

Runaway

She walked out of Ninja Academy, unease at mind, a feeling haunting her inner self and conscience as she thought of the prospect of an unofficial quester. But she would have felt the same had she not done it. Nevertheless, she couldn't help but ask herself- Was she doing the right thing? She had never broken the rules before till recently- when she had reached late that morning while helping the ninja. Becoming a ninja only bought more trouble and the source was stolen. Till now, whenever she had helped people, she always had to forsake a bit of something from her end, which bought herself to the door of trials and problems. So far, she was only standing in front of it. Taking up this quest would mean going through the door and exploring the chamber inside it. She would have to sacrifice her very life if she wanted to take over one of the most dangerous syndicates in the world.

These thoughts followed her to the gates of her school. She took a deep breath, shook the thoughts off her cognizance and proceeded.

Since it was early, only a few people were in the school. There were only two students in her class, Quentin Richard and - Thomas Johnson?

"I know right!" Quentin grinned before Sara uttered a word, "Thomas is here,  and just look at the time. "

"I-I know what time it is," Sara said, and shot an interrogative glimpse at Thomas. He just shook his head and smiled.

"Quentin, I don't know what's so remarkable about me comi-"

"You don't know?! Do you even know what time you come to school every day?! And today, you are the first one here. Oh, my God! Wait till everyone hears this."

Thomas looked at Sara helplessly but she just shook her head and placed her bag beside her seat. She wondered if she should tell her plan and ask in a civilised plain manner if she could join the quest. It would lift the weight of her conscience off her shoulders. But something held her back. She just walked out of the class while more students piled in as the echo of Quentin's surprised yells boomed across the four walls of the class. 

Sara felt relaxed outside the class as she had the school field all to herself. Sometimes she thought that spending a normal life as anyone else was much better than being a ninja and hopping in and out of the fray of action and danger. She knew nothing would feel the same after this adventure; every lungful of air she'd breath would make her stay on her guard thinking it may be a precarious gas; she may as well not touch her food, sceptical about it being poisoned; she would not be able to walk on the streets in peace for the alarm of attack. She stared into the horizon, wondering what to do. Finally, she made up her mind. She walked back to class.

By this time, there were already more than 10 students in class, Violet and Lavender among them. They waved her over. 

"Salvanius was here, did you know?" Violet said.

"I see," said Sara, mildly surprised, "what did she say?"

"She bet on us that you'll be late again," Violet said, rolling her eyes.

"She was quite wrong then, wasn't she?" Sara said tranquilly.

"At least today you haven't forgotten your bag," Lavender chuckled.

"No," said Sara silently. Violet frowned.

"You seem quiet today. What's wrong?"

Sara raised her eyebrows, "Honestly Violet, I am always quiet."

Violet thought for a minute. "Yeah, but... not with us."

"Are you hiding something?" Lavender asked, a look of concern filling her eyes.

In all the nervous tension of her decision, Sara had forgotten about Lavender and Violet.

"Of course not!" she said, trying to sound as incredulous as possible "Why would I?" 

Violet and Lavender shuffled their feet uncomfortably.

"Don't mind us saying," said Violet, "you've been acting... I dunno,... jumpy?"

"Like someone or anyone would come out of nowhere and murder you," added Lavender. Under different circumstances, Sara would've considered this idea ridiculous, but unfortunately, it was only too true. However, she tried to look as if her friends had gone insane.

"Are you guys out of your mind?" she asked, but before she could continue, their class teacher Miss Anne, walked in. In Sara's list of the most polite teachers, she ranked second after Miss Washington. All the children ran back to their places and settled.

"So children," she said, "I have some announcements to make."

All the children sat up. Announcements were not something they received every day.

"The school will be closed for two weeks," she said, a slight frown on her face.

The students waited for a follow-up reason and compensation dates, but none came. They were all stunned. 

A student was bold enough to stick up his hand, "But why, ma'am?"

"The principal's decision," said Miss Anne, her frown increasing slightly, "she didn't give such a valid reason, only that you children need a break from your studies."

Sara couldn't immediately register what she was told. An aimless holiday by the principal? She could figure out something was awry. But it was definitely in favour of her plan of escapade...

And that is when it struck her. The war was coming in a week and her school was a neighbour of the battlefield, Ninja Academy. The aftermath was not something the school or ninjas wanted to witness. Now, a holiday resembled a level-headed, prudent idea.

She glanced at Thomas. He was grave but considerable relief showed on his face. 

Strange, eh? said Violet, but Lavender and Quentin looked pleased. "A holiday! This is so COOL!"

"Sure it is," Sara muttered absent-mindedly. 

The rest of the day at school went on quite eventlessly, but there was mirth about their two-week holiday. Of course, if they only knew the real reason...

As school ended, Sara went home without looking back once.

She had done all her planning at school so she decided not to analyse much about it. If she did, it would affect her combat jitters and make her tense.

**********************

The next morning, the bamboo she had planted had grown by an average of 10 centimetres. She jumped over all of them five times, to and fro, but her legs were not tired. She surmised it was her super strength at work. Then, she ran five rounds around the stadium but still was not tired. After this, Ninja 9999 taught her another feature of her badge- spirit form. 

This was slightly harder than the other two features. She didn't need to clutch her badge for this. She had to "Calm yourself down, concentrate hard on your inner spiritual self; your soul, absorb its powers and then, the body can't be touched, only visible, and the hand which tries to touch the body will either simply go through or perish."

'Easier said than done' thought Sara. She took a deep breath in, tranquillized herself completely, shook off the thoughts of the plan in her mind and concentrated on her soul, though she didn't know how to. All she knew about the soul is that it is like the battery of life, except, it doesn't get worn out or the chemical energy doesn't get used up. It is the driver in the body. Its presence makes the physical body alive.

So she tried meditating on the source of her life and tried her best to keep any thoughts about her body aside; after all, it was only the outer covering of the soul to differentiate one from another. Then she tried absorbing the essence of her life, its features, its powers...

Then she opened her eyes. She certainly felt as if she had started life anew, but didn't know if it worked. Judging by Ninja 9999's nod, it had. 

That day, they finished at 7:15 AM, which was quite early. It was time for her to put her plan to action.

At 7:30, she saw the two figures coming out of the academy. Clutching her badge, she followed them. 

She turned invisible and stuck to the bushes, in case the powers wore off after a few minutes. She followed them close behind.

They both were wearing normal clothes to prevent unwanted attention. They just walked 200 meters before they halted. They turned their badge, became ninjas and then instantly turned invisible. They looked around, then Sara could've sworn the older boy was staring right at him. Then it struck her that though invisible, she, too, could see them. Her heart hammered in her chest. The boy muttered something to Ninja 2369. He frowned, but he didn't turn to her. However, he looked frightened. 

"Please," Ninja 2369 said, his voice sounding like he was close to tears, "we must do something."

"What can we?" the boy responded his voice cold but worried, "we can't turn back. Besides, he must've done this for a reason."

"But th- this reminds me-" he took a deep breath, steadied his voice, and said, "of Angelina."

The boy's eyes grew sad. "Ah yes, that was unquestionably unfortunate."

Sara couldn't understand who Angelina was, but judging by their voices, she was someone dear to them, and perhaps, another casualty of a fight.

Anger fuelled in her. She had to put an end to this monstrosity. But suddenly, Ninja 2369 turned to Sara, "Come here, will you?"

Sara stared.