Silence loomed over all of Sooga as night began to fall, everyone preparing to rest for the day. The lights began cutting out, and doors began to shut, as the people of the village waved farewell to their friends as they returned to their chambers. It was peaceful, though just a few miles away, it was the exact opposite.
"Gaahh!" James shouted in pain as the spear sliced at his side, just barely dodging being sliced in half as he backflipped away from his opponent. The man stamped his spear into the ground and glared at James, his dark and long hair flowing in the wind. James clutched his bleeding hip, backing up as the man and his squad of ninjas circled in closer and closer. James abruptly stopped backing when he looked back to see the edge of the cliff, which lead down to a pool of water riddled with rough and sharp rocks.
"It's over, young one." The man stated in a calm, yet booming and malicious voice. The ninjas pulled out their daggers as the circle around James started closing. The young man looked around, hoping to find a way to escape his situation. His eyes stopped at the edge of the cliff, as he watched the waves roughly splash against the cliff, revealing the sharp and jagged rocks when it settled for a brief moment. There was only one way out. "Just hand it over, boy!" The man demanded once again.
James looked the man in the eye, and took a deep breath. "Come and get it yourself."
With that statement, he threw the sword over his shoulder and jumped down the cliff, much to his opponent's dismay. "No! Get it, now!" He ordered, but the ninjas hesitated, not certain that they would survive the fall.
As James fell through the air, he quickly grasped his sword in his hands, and tightly shut his eyelids, concentrating. He was going to meet his gory end if he didn't do anything soon. "C'mon, work with me…!" A red aurora covered the boy as he safely flew over the sharp and jagged rocks at the last second, his eyes glowing a crimson red instead of their normal chocolatey brown. This didn't not last long though, as the aurora quickly faded, and James plummeted into the forest, passed out after exerting all of that energy within him.
The group of ninjas looked down the cliff, unable to see him. One of them spoke up. "Do you think he's..?" The leader quickly cut him off. "It doesn't matter if he's dead you useless idiots, all that matters is the power he holds." He slowly walked away from the cliff, heading down hill to investigate the scene. "Get the sword. Whatever it takes."
...
"A-Ah!" James jolted awake, sitting up and rapidly looking around the room. He calmed down realizing he was still in Garu's home, but sunk his head low. "It's only a matter of time before they find out that I didn't die in the water.." He got on his feet and stretched a little before his eyes landed on his neatly folded red jacket. He picked it up to get a better look, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the tears were stitched up. He smiled and slid it over his head.
"Garu must've done this.." He looked around once again, but Garu was nowhere to be seen. James opened the front door, the sunlight pouring into the house and temporarily blinding his vision. He covered his eyes with his hands and found Garu sitting there peacefully, meditating in the morning breeze. James walked down the steps and sat next to the ninja, crossing his legs in a similar fashion. "Thank you for fixing my jacket.." Garu simply nodded, letting out a quiet "Mhm." They continued to sit in silence, the sounds of birds chirping and leaves shaking on trees filling the area. Well, that was until Garu's stomach started to grumble. James smirked at this. "I guess even ninjas get hungry, huh?"
Garu opened his eyes and nodded, rubbing his stomach. He stood up and pointed to a place barely visible through the seemingly endless valley of trees. It was a village.. Sooga Village to be specific. "W-Wha..?!" James widened his eyes in horror and he froze up. He thought of the possibility that the group of malicious ninjas had found out he was still alive, and went out into the village to cause carnage while in search for him. He softly muttered in his state of paralysis. "W-What have I done?.."
Garu raised an eyebrow and grunted in confusion, which snapped the boy out of his trance. "O-Oh? Is that a village?" Garu nodded and began walking towards the forest. James hesitated, but he came to the conclusion that either they find him and people get hurt, or he finds them and stops them for good. 'Even if I can't stop them, Garu looks strong enough to finish the fight..' Nodding with sword in hand, James dashes towards the forest alongside Garu, hoping off of the top of sugar canes and jumping from branch to branch on the trees.
It wasn't long before they came to a path that lead to the village, and James gasped in wonder at the sight. The village, though small, was brimming with color and life. Everyone walked around, happily greeting each other as the children ran chased each other about. The village was full of personality, and James was sucked into its charm. Garu let out a light chuckle at his reaction. Though he still seeked honor and was relatively stoic most of the time, Garu had learned to loosen up just a little bit over the years. "The village is so beautiful, Garu.." Garu nodded in agreement, but pointed forward as the best had yet to come. James beamed as they approached the intricately designed and colorful front door of Goh Rong, the most successful restaurant in the village.
A delectable aroma entered their noses as they walked in, and James was completely blown away. "What in the world could smell this good..?" Before Garu could possibly answer this question, a voice called out in their direction. "Hey Garu, over here!" They both looked over to a table and spotted Abyo and Ching, waving at them. "Are these your friends..?" Garu simply nodded and walked towards the table, sitting with the two. James sat down as well, and the pair of strangers looked at him curiously. Ching was the first to speak up.
"Garu, is this a new friend?" He nodded, and looked towards him. James smiled as kindly as he could and outstretched his hand. "Um, Hi! I'm James. And you are..?" Ching smiled sweetly and shook his hand. "I'm Ching! And this is my bird, Won!" Won hopped on her head, as if it was a way to greet him.
"And I'M the best Kung Fu master in Sooga, Abyo!" He jumped into the air and let out a mighty "HIYAAA!" as he tore his shirt in half, swinging his nun-chucks around like an absolute maniac. Unfortunately for poor James, a half of Abyo's sweaty shirt slapped directly against his face. As much as James tried to keep his smile, he couldn't help but cringe as a sweat drop rolled down his head. "Tha-...That's great, Abyo.." Ching lightly giggled as she was head over heels for Abyo, while Garu shared nearly the same expression as our poor, sweaty James.
Their attention was quickly pulled away as the doors to the kitchen swung open, a figure happily skipping towards the table with bowls in hand. Garu's eyes widened in horror as the figure approached, and James recognized her almost immediately. Turns out Ching wasn't the only one head over heels for a boy, as the figure approaching landed a kiss directly on Garu's lips before settling the bowls on the table. It was none other than Sooga's golden girl, Pucca. She giggled lightly as Garu stuck his tongue out in disgust, while James watched curiously, an eyebrow raised as he watched the scene in front of him. 'Guess they are dating after all..' Pucca planted continuous kisses onto Garu, holding him close as he struggled out of her grip. Luckily for him, Ching came to rescue unintentionally.
"Pucca, Garu brought a new friend!" Pucca gave Garu one last wet kiss as she turned to look at James, who's eyes moved from the lipstick covered ninja boy to the girl in front of him. "Ah- Hello! You must be Pucca. I'm James, and it's really nice to meet you!" Pucca gave a wide smile and shook his hand. She was impressed by how polite he was being. James was impressed by how strong her handshake was. This of course was the first of many things Pucca would do that impressed him. She rushed back to the kitchen and came back with two extra bowls, placing them in front of Garu and James, but not before planting a kiss on Garu's forehead, who groaned in response. James glanced into the bowl to look at it's contents, and was surprised to see noodles. James had come from an western area, so something like this was kind of new to him. Clamping the chop sticks in his hand, he picked up a clunk of noodles, and placed it into his mouth. He froze almost immediately as soon as it was down his throat.
The flavor, the boldness...it tasted delightful to him. In fact, he ate more, and more, and soon enough his bowl was empty. "That….was probably the best thing I have ever tasted."
Pucca nodded and grinned while she picked up his empty bowl. "Yep, best joint in the city." Abyo commented, wiping the stains off his face with his sleeve. "So what do you guys wanna do today? I wanna show the new guy around!" As Garu, Ching and Abyo discussed what they would do for the day, James looked around the restaurant, glancing at the people eating happily. 'Everyone looks so nice, and they seem so friendly..' He thought. 'Maybe I won't mind staying here for the time being.'
But then...he noticed something. His new friends had stopped speaking, and turned their attention to the wide open front door, as did the rest of the customers in the restaurant. James looked over, and his stomach dropped. In the doorway stood a group of ninjas, swords in hands and looking at the James and others were sitting. The boy could do nothing but mutter,
"O-Oh no.."