Ninja 3006 and the retrieve of the source

The Deadly Encounter

His face hardened, "I see."

Sara stared, "Are you not surprised?"

"No, but it's serious. The Dark-Hunters always try to reduce our number as much as possible as they fear we'll overpower them. But since they don't have much luck with the trained ones, they target the new ones, who are not aware of our ways of attack and defence. In a way, you can call it cowardice. Yet very dangerous."

Sara thought about it for a minute. She wondered if it was all happening because of her; she was the newest member of Ninja Academy, and one more to the team of ninjas meant a loss for the Dark-Hunters. What if they stole the source to eradicate all the ninjas just because she joined their cause? She felt a sickly pang of guilt.

"So, what are we gonna do?" asked Sara.

Thomas just shook his head miserably, "I don't know how many ninjas we have lost this way. We will have to keep you secure as much as possible."

"Woah, Woah, wait a minute. Do you mean to say you have lost people before? Secondly, who do you mean by we?"

Thomas's face hardened again, but he wasn't looking at Sara. He shouldered past her and examined the alley behind her. Then suddenly, he yelled, "DUCK DOWN!"

Sara didn't know how, but her muscles immediately responded. When she got up, she saw the blade of a knife deep into the tree. She wouldn't have survived such a powerful throw had she not ducked.

 From the alley, the two men came into view. They muttered something among themselves but before they could finish, Thomas turned his badge clockwise and changed into Ninja 2369. He attacked the taller of the two whereas the other man looked at Sara. She didn't wait for his next move; she ran into the neighbouring building and hid. Shortly, the man came into the building and sought to seek her. Sara clutched her badge, wondering if she should transform as well. But the glare would give her away. Also, she didn't know how to hold herself if she was found. For a moment she wished she were invisible. 

She was still hiding there, holding her badge, when the man started ransacking the whole place with sudden madness. At one point, he also lifted the large stone slabs behind which Sara was hiding. Sara braced herself, ready for whatever may befall her, but surprisingly, the man just turned away. Sara trembled, bewildered and clueless. She looked at her free hand, but it wasn't there. She could feel she had lifted it to eye level, yet nothing but air could be seen. It was just then she realised she was still holding her badge. She wondered if it wasn't a coincidence that right when she was holding her badge, she wanted herself to be invisible. Not daring to take her hand off the badge, she went out to check on her friend. 

It turned out he wasn't doing well. Both of them were injured badly. However, Ninja 2369 was more tired than the other. The last thing she wanted was the other man giving up on his search and joining his comrade. But that was exactly what happened. She wondered if she could take some account of her invisibility. This time, she didn't bother to hide. She tried the strategy she had used on her first encounter with a ninja; distraction. But this time, she had only lifted the stone when both the men looked at her. She couldn't blame them to get distracted by a large hovering stone when there was hardly any wind. The man who had been pursuing her a few minutes ago went back to Sara but she threw the stone in full force. The man was struck unconscious, and Sara knew it would last long. Her sentience wandered back to Ninja 2369. She noticed that although the man was fighting hard, his attention lingered near his mate. At last, when Ninja 2369 fell, his first action was examining his associate's body. Sara crept across him swiftly on her tiptoes and took the sword from Ninja 2369's grip. He didn't even protest, like he knew it was her. The man was still checking his intimate's pulse when Sara closed her eyes and bought down her sword onto his back. She didn't want to know what happened next, but she reluctantly opened her eyes to find her victim dead. Her hands were still trembling when she helped Ninja 2369 up and handed him his sword. 

"Good work," he said, but it didn't make her feel any better. She took her hand off her badge and Thomas turned his and changed back. They went back home silently without exchanging a word and Thomas dropped her home before heading for his.

Sara could sleep peacefully that night; although she knew the source was missing and their lives were in danger, the thought that no one would be there to tag her throughout her normal activities was comforting.

Her dreams, however, did not correspond to her peace of mind.