July 24, 2014. Prompt challenge. I had the idea and a bit of it written out early on, but time was really not on my side this week. I had wanted to make it a lot longer, to improve that aspect of my writing (that is, being able to write something longer than 2000 words).
He was joined by Snake Eyes, as a last minute addition to the mission. Snake Eyes had disappeared for a week, taking a mandatory vacation presumably at his cabin. And while it was always good to see his brother, especially when relaxed and ready to take on the world with him, he was surprised at being handed a small, square box. He didn't have time to question it or Snake Eyes though, and tucked it away, paying attention to the maps detailing the layout of several different buildings they were to be infiltrating. He put his two cents in on the main building. Upgrades had been implemented, per his suggestion, back when he was still working for their enemies and it was now a bit more difficult to get into.
It wasn't until after they were on their way back that he remembered and had time to deal with the box. He pulled it out, the only real decoration on it being the family symbol. He looked up as he caught Snake Eyes signing, telling him that it was something his uncle's wife, the appropriately named Obake Obaasan, had found. Snake Eyes further explained it was something Tommy's father had left for him, but had been put aside and then forgotten.
The knowledge itself wasn't something he'd expected at all - that his father would leave him anything or that his father had anything to leave him. They were a clan of ninjas. Material things weren't something they highly valued. Oh, for the clan itself, painfully detailed records were kept, multiple copies in multiple locations. There were pictures even, once the technology had been invented. But personal mementos, knickknacks, and even weapons were not something a ninja considered keeping. There was always a chance it had to be abandoned or could be destroyed, so what point was there in keeping something special? They instead trained themselves to have excellent memories and it was there, that the mementos were kept. Locked in the mind, where it was safest. And even then, it still wasn't guaranteed that it couldn't be destroyed. He had more proof of that than he had ever wanted. The evilness of madmen knew no bounds, not even that of the mind.
As he lifted up the lid and looked inside, he smiled, few memories of his mother and father together coming back to him.