Sorry for the late update everyone! Things have been a bit crazy on the homefront, not to mention the new semester is about to start up. So updates will be taking a bit longer than usual. So please bear with me as you have in the past. Ok enough rambling let's get on with the show!
~*A Clue*~
"She's progressing well." Musashi thought to himself as he sat in the shade of the tree.
Somehow he'd been conned into training Yuuri. Purely for self-defense of course. He had yet to learn how to resist the puppy dog eyes of both Tonya and Yuuri combined. So naturally he hadn't been able to say no. Musashi turned his attention from where Yuuri was practicing with her fans to where Tonya and Saizo were fighting. The ninja was working on long range attacks, keeping the girl blindfolded. She was doing remarkably well as she was able to fend off Saizo's attacks with ease. Musashi looked down to Fang who let out a yawn beside the huge samurai.
"You tired of just watching too huh?" Musashi asked as he reached out and scratched Fangs ears. The wolf leaned into him.
"I'm done Musashi!" Yuuri called out as she came running over to them. Sweating up a storm in the process as Musashi nodded and stood.
"Alright. Take the rest of the day to rest." Musashi said as Yuuri puffed out her cheeks at him.
"Why can't we continue?" She asked as he reached out and gripped her arm. Earning a wince from Yuuri as Musashi let her go.
"That's why. Your body isn't conditioned for this. Besides, just because you yourself aren't doing anything doesn't mean you can't learn from others." Musashi motioned towards where Tonya and Saizo were training as Yuuri couldn't help but stare in awe.
It had seemed like training with Saizo had pushed her much more than with Sasuke. Probably because Saizo had a bit of a sadist side to him and enjoyed to see the girl in pain. So now Tonya was hell bent on proving him wrong and dealing out some damage of her own as they trained. It was a good motivator and actually made the girl be serious for once.
"She's holding her own. I must say that girl is something special." Munenori said as he walked over to the two.
"What's up Munenori?" Yuuri grinned as Musashi remained quiet. While he was tolerant of the man, he didn't exactly warm up to him as Tonya and Yuuri had.
"I actually have good news." Munenori said as he held up a slip of paper.
"About what?" Saizo asked as the samurai turned to see the ninja and Tonya walking towards them.
"Perhaps about this 'eye of chaos' you all are curious about." Munenori smirked as Tonya's face brightened up.
"About time!" She cheered as the rest wondered why the samurai was smirking like the Chesire Cat. They soon found out why…
_._._
Tonya just groaned as Cosset fixed her friend's hair. Turns out the clue Munenori had gotten was for a ball for some of the richer fat cats. And one of the works that had been donated was a very peculiar gem known as the Chaos Shard. There was supposed to be a legend behind the very old, and very expensive, shard. So Munenori figured it couldn't hurt to check it out. He'd easily scored invites for everyone, figuring that if they were thinking of checking out this event then their enemy would as well. Only catch was that it was formal attire. And Tonya absolutely despised dressing up.
"I don't know why you're complaining. Munenori paid for everything." Yuuri grinned as she twirled around in the off the shoulder dark green dress provide for her. It had an empire waist line and flowed out perfectly around the girl. Accenting her silver hair that was for once freed from its usual braid. Falling in soft waves down her back.
"Why do I feel like everyone is laughing at my expense?" Tonya muttered as Cosset put the final touches on her hair.
"You look fine! Look at it this way, it's all part of your training. I mean, you have to learn how to adapt to any kind of situation." Cosset grinned as she turned to give herself a once over in the mirror. She had on a halter style icy blue mermaid dress that helped to accent the blue tints around her sea foam green eyes. She had her hair pinned into a half up half down style for the evening.
Tonya sighed as she stood and looked over herself as well. She was in a strapless dark purple dress that hugged her figure up top and then flowed around her legs with a slit clear up to her thighs. Cosset had pulled Tonya's hair to the side and pinned it up with a lily hair clip. While the other girls were enjoying dress up, she dreaded it. Mainly because it wasn't her thing. A topic her and the other two had constantly butted heads on growing up.
"Let's go." Tonya groaned as the four left the room and headed down the hall.
Downstairs the ninja were waiting on them. Munenori had gone ahead to scope the event out with Musashi acting as his body guard. It made Tonya feel better to know that Musashi had pitched an even bigger fit at dressing up than she had. While Cosset and Yuuri chatted happily, Tonya just focused on making it down the stairs without tripping over herself.
"Wow, you girls look good!" Sasuke whistled as the other two just blushed at the compliment.
Kotaro bowed slightly as he offered his arm to Cosset who took it with a smile on her face. Yuuri latched on to Sasuke as the two began discussing how much fun the event would be. As for Tonya? She'd just barely made it to the bottom of the stairs when she heard a slight gasp. Looking up, she saw Goemon just staring at her. Tonya wondered what was wrong as she began to look over herself. Hoping that everything was in place as she tried to figure out why Goemon would gasp as her. Finally, he regained his composure and turned to head to the waiting car as Saizo shook his head at the man.
"Idiot." Saizo grunted as he walked forward and offered his hand to Tonya. "Since he's otherwise occupied, shall we?"
"Sure." Tonya smiled as she took Saizo's hand.
Tonya was silent the entire ride over. She just couldn't get into the mood like everyone else. Even the usually quiet Kotaro was loosening up a bit as they got closer and closer to the venue. The brunette looked out the window as she wondered or not whether this would really get them closer to finding the ninja princess or not.
"Not caring for dressing up either?" Saizo muttered as Tonya nodded as she turned back around to face him. All the ninja were dressed in black tie suits and Tonya had to admit, they looked really good.
"Not really. But it's all part of the job description right?" She muttered as she played with her hair. "I just don't care for being around stuffy shirts like these people is all."
"You sure you can handle this?" Goemon smarted off, finally speaking for the first time that night.
"You don't think I can do this?" Tonya growled as Saizo could sense a fight brewing.
"I believe that temper of yours will do you more harm than good. You won't last long with this type of crowd." Goemon smirked as Tonya arched a brow.
"Wanna bet?" She returned his smirked as Goemon liked the sound of this.
"What's the wager?" Goemon asked as Tonya held up a finger and smiled.
"The loser has to be a slave for one day for the winner." Tonya said sweetly as both Cosset and Yuuri froze. Recognizing that tone of voice.
"Uh oh." Cosset muttered as she shook her head.
"What's wrong?" Kotaro asked as Yuuri motioned for them to get closer.
"Whenever Tonya makes a bet, she never loses. Ever." Yuuri explained as the ninja wondered just how this night would turn out.
As they rolled up on the event, Tonya gathered herself as the door was opened for them. Stepping out first and flashing a big smile to those around them before striding forward on her own. You could never tell she'd been nervous only moments before. She was all smiles as she was stopped by various people. It wasn't long before Munenori found them and drew the girl to his side. Earning her even more attention as she just took it all in stride. Laughing off any negative comments she may've received as the others just watched in awe.
"I think you just dug your own grave." Saizo snickered as Goemon found himself watching the girl.
She was glowing as she laughed and smiled amongst the people there. You could never tell that she didn't belong. Sticking close to Munenori as the rest of their party had dispersed out to do what they'd been sent there for. As the night drug on, Tonya excused herself from the party and headed out to get some air. Enjoying the cool breeze blowing as she leaned out on the banister and looked up at the night sky.
"Manage to pull away from your many fans?" Goemon called out as Tonya glanced over her shoulder.
"It's too stuffy in there. There's only so long I can keep up the act before I want to hit someone." Tonya muttered as Goemon walked over and joined her.
"Oh really? You looked like you were doing just fine." Goemon admitted as Tonya faked shock.
"A compliment? Hmm it may just decide to snow out of nowhere." She teased as Goemon rolled his eyes before a grin worked its way on to his lips.
"Seriously, how are you?" Goemon asked as Tonya turned and sat on the banister.
"Ok I guess. I mean, things like this aren't my scene. I'm just following Ninja 101 and adapting to the situation." Tonya shrugged as Goemon nodded.
"You are doing quite well. And here I thought we would have much more to teach you. Yet, you already seem to know so much." Goemon praised as Tonya began to swing her feet a little.
"Well, uncle wanted me to know as much as possible before sending me away. I think I was mainly supposed to learn the old ways from you four by living in the mountains and learning to give up a lot of things from my world. We see how well that worked out." Tonya snorted as she lowered her gaze. "Master Goemon…..I just wanted you to know I had no intention of things turning out like this. I really do appreciate everything you four are doing."
Tonya turned to look at the red head as the two locked gazes. He could see everything in her eyes. How she was so excited to train with them, how sorry she was for being so selfish, and how grateful she was that they were helping her in this time of need. Goemon was the first one to look away as he realized he may've been a bit too hard on the girl since meeting her. Not that he would ever admit it out loud.
"You aren't so bad yourself." Goemon figured he could at least give her that as Tonya's face lit up. She hopped down off the banister and held her hand up as Goemon wondered what she was doing.
"What'dya say we go help the others?" Tonya winked as Goemon couldn't help but chuckle at her enthusiasm.
"Agreed." He grasped her hand before the two took off to do some sleuthing.
The party was still in full swing below. The shard wouldn't be revealed till sometime later that evening. Which gave them plenty of time to sneak around beforehand to try and find it since they had no idea which room it was being held in. Sticking to the upstairs area, the two quickly checked each and every room. They were sure the rest were busy looking around downstairs for the shard as well. Goemon couldn't help but be impressed once again as he watched how meticulous the girl was. How quickly she'd shifted gears and was now acting like a true ninja. He smiled, figuring there may be hope for her yet as they entered the one room they'd had yet to check. They finally found it.
Sitting in a glass case positioned in the center of the room, surrounding by various other artifacts, was the Chaos Shard. It was a black gem that when the light hit it just right, threw off various colors. Tonya wondered how a gem as black as night could give off such a warm aura. She could now see the meaning of the name. The conflicting colors gave one a feeling of chaos inside the gem. Almost as if the colors were fighting for dominance as to which one would shine the brightest. It was almost as if the black around them helped to keep it all in balance. Tonya couldn't help but feel drawn to the curious gem as she walked forward in a daze.
"Tonya?" Goemon asked as he watched her place a hand on the glass case.
"I don't know why, but there's something about this gem." Tonya whispered as she looked on at it.
"Then that means we're on the right track." A voice chuckled as an earsplitting sound could be heard.
Both Goemon and Tonya dropped to their knees as the sound caused them intense pain. All the glass in the room shattered at once as Goemon moved to cover the girl. As the sound stopped the two looked up, temporarily deaf as they tried to get their bearings. The sound had not only harmed them, but had messed with their other senses as well. Tonya was the first one to regain her bearings as she looked up to see Hachisuka ninja dropping in. Gritting her teeth, she broke free from Goemon and threw herself at the gem. Just barely reaching it before her enemy as her fingers closed around the gem. She tucked and rolled, quickly rising to her feet and turning to see multiple ninja surrounding her.
"Hand it over now girl." The leader growled as Tonya pushed the gem into the top of her dress and pulled out her hidden kunai.
"You want it, come take it." She snarled as she took up a defensive stance.
"Heh, if you insist." The leader shrugged as his men took up position.
Tonya glanced past the men to Goemon who nodded as he inhaled deeply and stood at the ready. Tonya threw herself to the ground as Goemon let his flames go. Burning quite a few of the men and giving Tonya the opening she needed. She jumped past the burning bodies and towards Goemon who turned and ran with her. The two quickly jumped out the window and flew through the air. They executed a flip perfectly and landed on their feet as they glanced back up. An alarm had been set off inside, meaning that backup would come soon enough. Goemon turned and handed Tonya a kunai with a paper bomb on it as she wondered what he had planned.
"Take the gem and run. Find a safe place to hide and stay there. When it's safe here I'll send up a flare to let you know. When you see that then send up that paper bomb and I'll come find you." Goemon said as he turned his back on her.
"You want me to run?" Tonya asked, a bit annoyed as Goemon glanced back over his shoulder.
"Your orders are to protect that gem. It's what the enemy wants. I know I can trust you to do this. Don't prove me wrong." Goemon grinned as he gave her a thumbs up.
Tonya nodded and took off. Despite how much she wanted to stay and fight, she knew it was more important to keep the gem safe. She didn't know why she'd been so drawn to the gem, but she knew that she couldn't allow the others to have it. She wondered if the gem even had any special powers to it when she'd said what she had. Tonya would just have to find out after this mess was all over with as she kept running. It didn't take her long to hit a snag though, literally.
"Damnit!" Tonya hissed as she felt the train of the dress get caught in a branch. "Hope Munenori won't be too mad."
Tonya grunted as she began hacking off the dress. This slight distraction was all the enemy needed as they took aim at the girl. Tonya happened to look up in time to see the gun barrel pointed at her. Remembering the pain from the last time she'd been shot, she threw herself to the ground just as the trigger was pulled. She could hear the bullets whiz past her head as Tonya tore herself free from the last bit of the dress and took off running again. Much faster this time since she wasn't being weighed down by the train.
The girl was cut up from the glass from the explosion earlier and twigs that kept hitting her, her lungs burned, and she knew that she was still being pursued. The girl had gotten her wish. She was now going to have to fight. Tonya slid to a stop as she turned, took aim, and let her kunai fly. She heard two cries ring out as she quickly charged towards them. Knocking their weapons away as it turned into a hand to hand fight. The girl easily held her own against the men as she was suddenly glad for all the beatings she'd taken from Saizo. Their strikes were nothing compared to his, plus they didn't move near as fast. It was easy for her to block out the pain as she took them out one by one. But her good luck can never seem to last. As is the way with war.
"Aah!" Tonya screamed out as she felt various needle hit her all over.
They had to be the worse pain she'd felt by far. In some areas they were embedded in her skin, in others they had pierced all the way through. Tonya sank down as she glanced over herself. She could see various needle tips sticking out of her arms and legs. And she could feel many more in her back. She just hoped they weren't coated in poison or she'd really be in trouble.
"Got you." The needle master snickered as he moved out of the shadows and towards the girl. "Hey, go alert the others. Hey! What are you idiots doing?"
The master hollered as he looked back to where his forces should be. A lone figure walked out of the woods and for a minute Tonya felt hope blooming. Maybe it was one of the masters. Had they been able to reach her in time? The figure quickly streaked across the field towards the master and grabbed him by the throat. Surprising both Tonya and the ninja as they looked upon the figure. It was Ryu. And he was squeezing the life out of the ninja in his grasp.
"You….but why?" the ninja wheezed as Ryu glared at him.
"I told you not to harm her." Ryu snarled as he easily crushed the man's windpipe.
A little dancing fun to add a little humor for you all. And then a an action scene to end it with. This one didn't have the usual flow that my other chapters did, but I didn't have the heart to change anything without changing up the entire chapter. So if you all find it a little 'meh' I'll understand. For now I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the subject.