Shinobi sprinted to meet up with Laia and Vivienne at the ship. "Let's go." Shinobi said, boarding. Laia was at the controls. "What's the mission Lou?" asked Vivienne on her communicator. A humanoid looking CAST with pink hair appeared on the screen. "There is a major attack on Moatoob at an ancient ruin."
"No problem, we're on it." Shinobi replied from a distance, making sure that he and the others had enough ammo.
After about an hour, they finally landed. Moatoob is a planet of silt, highlands and bluffs, with limited water.
In other words, it was a desert planet. Shinobi sneezed. "Bless you." said the girls. "Thank you." Shinobi replied. "I thought you grew out of your dust allergy." stated Laia. "Me too."
Vivienne analyzed the coordinates Lou has sent her. "This way!" she said, leading the way to the temple ruins.
"Why are we trying to stop an attack on an old temple that no one uses any more?" asked Shinobi. "Nav has his reasons." Laia said simply. "Yeah, that explains a lot." Shinobi muttered under his breath sarcastically.
After about (surprisingly) ten minutes, the temple was within sight. "Let's go." The trio ran inside. Shinobi crashed into a large Idol statue. "Ow." he said, rubbing his nose.
After an hour of dodging booby traps, including, falling floors, darts from the walls and pendulums of death, they made it to the center of the temple. Vivienne and Shinobi was to step forward when Laia pulled them back. "Wait," Laia took out a coin and tossed it.
A dart flew out and impaled the coin and stuck it into the wall. Shinobi then looked at the ground and saw a thin space between the corridor and the floor. "Wait again." Shinobi said, stepping further.
Just then he lunged forward, dodging a blade coming from the cracks. He flipped, turned, lunged and sprinted, avoiding each trap…that is until a dart laced with knockout poison was shot into his neck at the end of the corridor.
A short time later, Shinobi woke up. "Uh…what happened?" "You triggered all the traps, and then got shot in the neck with knockout serum." Laia explained simply.
Shinobi then pulled the dart out of his neck. "I hope it's all gone." Then a quick sharp pain stung his arm. "No, it's out of your systems." said Vivienne, holding a needle. "Where did…?" "First Aid kit." "Oh."
They started to run, then Laia slowed them down. "Shush, look!" she whispered, pointing. It was the woman from before, with bluish-purple hair and leather clothes.
"Well at least we got the element of surprise." Shinobi whispered. As soon as he said that the woman turned and shot some kind of missile. "Hit the dirt!" Laia yelled. Shinobi leaped away, behind a rock.
Vivienne, never hearing the term before had no idea what to do. Shinobi noticed her confusion and said, "It means get the hell out of the way!" Vivienne then jumped out of the way. "Thanks, I'll save the data for next time."
The group stood up. "How the hell did you know we were here? We barley did anything?" questioned Laia. "I've got ways."
The only way to get to her was beyond a deep chasm. The only way beyond that was a very delicate rope bridge. Shinobi sprinted on the bridge. The boards snapped under his feet, causing him to nearly fall.
The only thing that stopped him from plummeting to his doom was the ropes that held the boards. "I'm dead, I am going to die."
Shinobi finally manage to get back onto the boards. He gently walked his way, his friends walking on the boards that didn't fall apart. "Almost there Shinobi!" Laia called out, hoping Shinobi doesn't get Acrophobia, the fear of heights.
There was a slight bouncing noise. "What's that?" asked Vivienne. Laia or Shinobi was going to answer when an explosion went off. It snapped the rope of the bridge. Laia and Vivienne grabbed on for life. Shinobi however wasn't quite lucky. He plummeted. 'So, this is how I die eh? I always thought I'd get shot or sick.'
Then Shinobi felt a sharp "kick" in his back. He toppled onto some kind of natural platform in the wall of the pit.
'You OK?' 'Oh god, not now.' 'Hey I'm the one that saved you.' 'Touché.'
Shinobi stood up and felt a sharp sting in his left leg. "Don't worry that's just a sprain. Nothing big."
"Laia, Vivienne, are they…?" questioned Shinobi, approaching the being. "They're still alive, but very saddened by your death." Shinobi was taken back by the statement, "I'M DEAD!"
"Well as far as they know anyway." Shinobi was relived to hear that. "Thank god." he said. "That's the spirit! But I think you should show them you're alive. I'm serious, Laia's really angry, if you listen carefully you can hear her." He was right.
"Get over here you son of a…!" Laia threw a large stone and threw it at the woman, whom Shinobi couldn't see.
"And if you listen even closer you can actually hear Vivienne crying. She really hates the concept of death, even though she only knew you for a day or two…"
Shinobi held a hand at his ear. He could hear sobs. Soft, emotional, even loving. "Is there a way back up?" Shinobi asked feeling an odd twinge of guilt. "It's hard, but possible. Do you trust me?" "Just barely." "Eh, good enough for me."
Several squares of solid photon platforms appeared. Shinobi jumped across the platforms. He finally made it across the pit and was staring up the wall of the cliff. "Think you can help me up?"
"I can't help you with everything. But, remember what Father McKenzie taught you? Remember the Morse Code? Or at least the distress call "
Shinobi had a quick remembrance of the lesson. (It was the only thing he could remember) Shinobi grabbed a rock and slammed it to make the sounds of dits and dahs. Laia stopped her angry rants at Helga, Helga also heard the noise, as did Vivienne.
It would have been written as this: …-… stop. …-…stop.
In normal characters it would be SOS. Save our souls or Save our ship.
Shinobi tried to fire a shot, but his pistol was damaged. So he chanted, "Fly on your wings like an eagle, fly as high as the sun!"
Laia heard Shinobi. "Fly on your wings like an eagle, fly as high as the sun!," was a phrase from a song by a band on Shinobi's home planet, that they agreed on if they were to get separated or confused. "Shinobi! Is that you?" Laia yelled down the casam.
"No! I'm an alien from another dimension! What do think?"
'Well you are technically an alien…to them anyway.' Anthony replied in his mind. A rope went down to Shinobi as gunfire sounded off. Shinobi quickly climbed up.
Helga was in a state of distracting wondering. She couldn't understand how the boy could have survived. That pit was thousands of kilometers deep. And now she was under heavy fire by Vivienne while the Beast was pulling the boy up with a rope. An idea dawned on her.
Helga shot around Vivienne's head a couple of times to make her dodge. Then when the firing ceased, she shot the rope.
"Oh crap!" 'Jump off the wall and grab the ladder!' Shinobi did as directed. He grabbed on and the board snapped.. He quickly snatched the rope. He quickly pulled himself up on land.
'Thanks Anthony.' Vivienne's face lightened. Helga then barked, "SEED, attack them!"
The monsters leaped across the pit. "For god's sake, don't you know how die?" Shinobi muttered. The monsters focused on Vivienne. 'No!'
He tackled one, and threw his saber at the other one. "I wish I knew where the neck is." he muttered under his breath.
Two more gunshots rang. The monster was dead. Then he began to wonder, 'Why did I care if she got hurt?'
'That will become clear in due time my boy.'