"It was a bobtail and there was this hornet. They looked familiar-like I've seen them before, somewhere." Denko continued speaking about the opponents he had faced. Han Guan and the other new recruits had to be brought to speed regarding the threat immediately.
"Well none of us are Japanese." Reidak pointed out, referring to himself and the Brotherhood.
"I'm just a guard." Han Guan responded sheepishly.
Denko scowled in frustration. "They'll be back-I'm sure of it. And when they do return we'd best be ready for them."
Reidak shrugged. "I'm always ready."
"So are we." Hei Zei added.
Han Guan beamed at them all. "I'm sure whoever's trying to rob this place is going to have a very nasty surprise!" The evil-sounding laugh that followed was not a sound Han Guan normally made.
"Right. Well I'm going to go meditate." The avian sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"This will do." Wing said, for once sounding satisfied.
Saras was having a twitching fit with his right eye and left ear. "Three Master bedrooms, a sitting room complete with furniture, a large kitchen, a dining room and on top of that a swimming pool? Is all this really necessary?"
Wan turned to him. "You've never been on a heist before have you? Trust me, we need this."
"But a swimming pool?! Is that really necessary?"
Su gave him a look. "We were stuck in barrels for three days. We are getting a swimming pool."
The fox drooped low. "Fine, have the swimming pool. Have it all." Then he turned and walked away on all fours. "I'm going to go train."
"Train what?" Wan asked.
The fox withdrew several scrolls from a bag none of them had seen before. "Er-c-calligraphy." He dropped one, which rolled away from him. Wing picked it up and was about to unfurl it when the fox snatched it back from her. "It's private!" And with that he left.
"What's up with him?" Wing asked.
"I think he's going through puberty." Wan finished.
"So this kid just starts poofing away after he's robbed your scroll? And a raven lightning-zaps you? And a blindfolded tiger comes out of nowhere and kicks your butts?" Sutoaraiki was struggling to make sense of it all. "What on earth is happening?"
"Sutoaraiki-san, shut up. I'm trying to think, and stop my fur from imploding." Izumi remarked.
"The fox is involved with the Silver Fang." Chibiki was pacing around their hideout. "The tiger I don't know about, but the raven is also involved. He must have been guarding the estate." The black bear pounded a fist into the wall. "Hoku-sama didn't mention that did he!"
"And where are all the guards?" Sutoaraiki asked. "There should be like twenty of them at least!"
"That's what he said." Chibiki growled. "The raven. According to you he's alone?"
"I suggest we press on and attack with all our strength." Izumi suggested.
"No! There's still the fox, he's after the same thing as us. He may even be watching us now."
"So what do we do?" Izumi demanded.
"We'll wait it out! When he attacks! We attack, and then we kill him and the raven." Yes, everything was back in his control. And Hoku could suck himself and his lies.
Jin chose to call it a day early. Between a new job and the discovery that his old friends weren't dead he found he needed rest most of all. He was just about to go to sleep when a familiar scent found it's way to his nose. Wan. He missed her already. He could smell a trace of Su as well... And Wing. His eyes snapped open as his heart began to pump faster. He could definetly, definetly smell them.
He sat up, sweating already. They couldn't be here! Not in Japan! The scent followed out of the window. He had to make sure…
Lang was sick of cards, but Hei Zei and Han were starting their twelfth match. He had decided to head for some training when he spotted Jin sneaking out of the estate. Something struck him. Jin had not exactly been himself that day... Deciding something was up the wolf loosened his metear hammer and followed close by.
On a flat tract of land of soft, green grass situated atop a waterfall in the center of the woods. There were nine scrolls open around him in a circle. Hedgehog, Armadillo, Mole, Crane, Mouse, Platypus, Catfish, Hummingbird and Dragon. Saras stood in the center, taking deep breaths. He would do this this time.
"They must all be unique, have something special. There must be a reason for you choosing them." The old vulture had said.
"But I still get to pick an animal to turn into?" The young fox asked.
"Yes that is the gist of it." Was the deadpan reply.
He thrust a fist into his open palm. There was a flash of green and he stood there, shorter, with light brown fur and darker brown quills. "Fox to hedgehog…"
He flipped onto his paws. There was a flash of green, and standing there with the scaley natural armour of an armadillo, his plates pink and purplish in colour.
"Hedgehog to armadillo…"
He curled up into a ball. A flash of green later and with a thick, purple crash helmet, blue goggles and dark grey fur he unfurled as a mole.
"Armadillo to mole..." And he buried into the earth, then burst through again. "Mole to crane…"
Dark grey, black and white feathers covered his body, now topped with a golden rice hat. He spread his wings wide and flapped into the air. A flash of green later and he was falling through the air in light brown fur, with little, white buckteeth and a pink tail. He landed on his paws, and flipped himself back to his feet. "Crane to mouse…"
He punched his palm again, and a flash of green later he stood with the brown fur, golden bill and tail and webbed feet of a platypus.
"Mouse to platypus…
Another flash and he was slumped against the grass, with a long, chubby pink body striped black and white whiskers.
"Platypus to catfish…" He curled up and green flashed. He stood there, minute and blue as a hummingbird.
"Catfish to hummingbird…" He flapped his small wings repeatedly. "Hummingbird to dragon…" He flapped into the air, his light blue wings were a blur. He dove for the grass and a flash of green later…
An oddment crashed into the ground. It had the tail of a fox, bill of a platypus and feathers of a crane.
Saras got up snarling in frustration. He got onto all fours, dug his claws into the ground and focused.
Head of a fox, tail of a crane, body of a mouse.
Catfish head on a mole. Armadillo with spines. Hummingbird with crane legs. Mole with webbed feet. Fox with mouse tail.
He fell on his stomach into the circle of scrolls, his now-normal tail limp behind him.
Ever since his reunion with the Bei gem he had progressed at a fantastical rate. Daitui had discovered his potential as a shapeshifter after he had accidentally grown the quills of a hedgehog on the back of his head after sneezing once at breakfast. The rest was history. Ten forms. Daitui had summarised. That should be his limit. Yet his last form had been ambitious. A dragon. And he was slightly regretting that. It was hard enough changing into a mouse. It was hard for several reasons. A dragon could not be learned from firsthand. He had followed moles, cranes and mice around, picking up their attributes. He had studied armadillos, catfish, hummingbirds and platypi in scroll after scroll of knowledge. He was a fox naturally. But a dragon? That was a bit much… Maybe he should have picked a gorilla instead. He snarled in frustration once more. He could do it. He would do it.
Climbing to his feet he prepared to repeat the procedure, when he heard slow clapping and the distinctive sounds of a language he did not understand. He noticed a raven, clad in navy blue clothes, watching from nearby.
I probably should have picked a more secluded spot...
Footnote: A shorter chapter, but the next one should make up for it.
I also enjoy the idea of Saras' failures coming out at mixed forms and think his training scene was something the old Heist should have had.
Now Saras as a character has changed... A lot since I first wrote him. Originally, and I'm not joking. He was meant to be Crane. Hence why he got little development in the original stories. It was meant to be a plot twist like no other, that two unconnected characters were truly the same person... But then Saras happened. His name means Crane in Hindi by the way, for that reason. All the Deleted Archive stories were written with this idea. But he grew on me as his own person and I guess eventually became one, an OC rather than an OOC. I'm really glad he did actually.
Anyways Enjoy.