The small jet was painted midnight blue. It's six windows were tinted, letting no light out. The landing gear, which was currently extended was an endless black that reflected no light.
At the moment, a long shaft of soft yellow light was pouring from the open door to the plane, but even that light was dim. The stairs leading to the oval opening were covered in matte black pads, and were rather steep, with a least a foot between each individual step.
Kisa Souma watched as Kenneth and Drake preformed a preflight check on the black craft named the 'Dark Storm.' She had learned only several minutes prior to her arrival at the landing field that Ryu's cell would be accompanying them on their mission.
It wasn't really a comforting thought. Throughout the night, her only comfort had been in the thought that she would be leaving him and the danger that he represented behind her. She would be able to relax against his upcoming murder attempt.
In fact, if she went away, he would have missed his deadline. He had promised to kill her within one month. That month was nearly past. She had managed to elude him for three weeks.
She had managed to train and get better and most importantly, not get killed. She didn't have any illusions about his ability to kill her. She knew that he had been waiting for the proper time to arise, something that she was keen to keep from happening.
Ryu hadn't known about the mission, or at least she didn't think he did. Briar had told her only because he felt bad about putting her in an advanced Cell without prior training. He had told her so she would train harder and get better.
"I didn't realize in Dead Man's Swamp that you couldn't fight at all," he had told her after a long, hard training session. The black haired teacher had seemed disappointed in himself, but he kept it carefully concealed.
Kisa hadn't responded then. She had already known that she couldn't fight. In fact, the only reason that she had done any damage in that fight had been because of her stupid luck. The knife had gotten lodged in the tree, she had been able to pull it out and stab the shape shifted Ryu. It was luck, nothing more and nothing less. She had no illusions about that.
"We're ready to get loaded," Frost announced from behind her. The dark color of his clothes made his white blond hair stick out against the darkness of the school, and the piercing blue of his eyes seemed to bright.
Compared to Ryu, who was standing beside him, Frost looked bright and cheery. The other man's dark hair and eyes matched the pitch blackness of the night perfectly.
Struck with a sudden thought, Kisa asked a question. "Commander Frost?" She drew her arm across her chest in the ninja version of a salute.
"Aa." His cut sharply through the night air. His eyes had narrowed slightly at her. The look would have made him seem angry if not for the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Kisa almost glanced down at her feet. Frost didn't like it when she talked with her head down, she had gotten struck for doing it before. "How do you . . . blend in with your hair? I mean, it's so bright and - "
He didn't wait for her to finish. Instead, he pulled a black hood up over his hair, nose and mouth.
She blinked as his outline seemed to fade for a moment. When her eyes were open again, he was gone. Ryu offered her a smile. "Not really the wisest thing to say to your commander," he commented.
Before Kisa could respond, she felt a knife pressed against the base of her throat. She tensed in surprise and raised her hand to attempt some sort of defense.
"You're dead, and you even knew where I was to begin with," Frost said calmly from behind her. He sighed heavily and replaced the blade from wherever he had taken it from. With one hand, he pulled his hood back, revealing his bright hair again.
"I can't believe they gave us a mission. We should have been given more time . ." Frost murmured, his voice trailing off as he looked at Kisa.
"It can't be helped. He was your friend and you know him best," Ryu said. He started to head towards the plane.
Drake and Kenneth were motioning that their pre-flight check was finished. Both of them were standing in the doorway, blocking out the dim light and making it even harder to see.
Kisa perked up her ears, waiting for Frost to respond or Ryu to say something else. Neither of them said anything more as they boarded the plane.
She sighed softly. She hadn't known that their target was a former friend of Frost's. Nobody had told her that. Somehow, knowing made her sad. Would he really be able to kill their target?
Xeo was the only name given for the target. He was apparently seventeen years old. Like most ninjas, he had black hair and dark eyes. His numbers were more then impressive, they were unbelievable. Year 17, Rating 22,459, Cell Thirty-eight.
Apparently, he had killed his team. Then, stealing some sort of plans from Konimitsu's father's office, he had disappeared into the night.
Kisa hadn't been permitted to know what the plans contained. All she had been told was that they were extremely important to the safety of the entire country of Japan.
Like the others, she had two sets of orders, Team Orders and Separation Orders. The team orders were clear. She was to be in charge of communications between all the other team members. Frost had insisted that she stay at a safe location and the others had all agreed, although Ryu had seemed reluctant.
Those orders were simple and welcome. If she were in charge of coordination then there was absolutely no chance that she would be forced to kill someone. There was also a very high chance that she wouldn't get killed either.
However, her Separation Orders were more complex and dangerous. She was to proceed with the mission on her own. Her primary goal would be to recover the papers. Next, she would hunt down and kill Xeo after destroying the plans. If, by some weird stroke of luck she survived that, she would hunt down and kill all people - man, woman, or child - that had been associated with Xeo. The forth part was to return back to Shinobi Academy and register a full report.
She was certain that if it came to those orders she wouldn't survive.
She started up the steps and claimed her seat by a window. Clipping herself in, she watched as Briar gave Frost and Ryu some last minute orders.
"You really don't stand a chance in a fair fight so I . . . . . . do you understand? Oh, and about Ki . . . . . . . . . . " Briar added.
Kisa strained her ears, but he had lowered his voice was even went so far as to switch languages.
Ryu glanced over at her and nodded.
Frost didn't show any visible emotion. In fact, is not for the time she had observed him, she would have said that he didn't even care. But she noticed the minuscule tightening of his mouth. He was angry, but what was it about?
"We're ready to go," Kenneth announced.
The black haired teacher stood up and nodded. "Of course. Good luck. . . .and don't fail, ne?" Briar seemed to be dead serious. "Kill Xeo and burn his body if you must. I want confirmation on his death and the plans either in my hands or destroyed."
With those words, Briar turned and silently slipped off the airplane. Moments later the lights dimmed to a shadow casting hue and the door closed, sealing the six ninjas inside the craft.
Kenneth and Drake slipped past a heavy black curtain and into the cockpit.
After a couple of seconds, the low thrum of the engines came to life. Kisa glanced out the window, looking for any sign of the black buildings that housed the ninja cadets at Shinobi Academy. Nothing but a low white mist met her eyes, and the craft soon climbed high into the clouds.
Kenneth came back after they had been flying for a while. He saluted Frost. "We're set on course and will arrive at our destination in seven hours. I've already contacted Akai at Amazon Academy. She informs us that our additional equipment will be ready when we arrive."
Frost nodded to show he understood the younger man's words. "Call her back in about an hour and have her check around for some smaller weapons for Ki. He might be better suited to have a woman's weapon. The weapons that he has right now are slightly too big for him." He handed Kenneth a list. "These are the measurements on him, and a list of the weapons he has right now."
Kenneth took that list and saluted again. He headed into the cockpit laughing lightly. "Ki's going to get girl's weapons," he announced before the curtain slipped back into place and cut off his words.
Kisa glanced back at Frost, but he was deep in conversation with Ryu. She didn't know that they were going to a different school. She presumed that they were going to land at an airport or a private landing field at a secret military base. Hell, she even thought that they might land at an official military base.
"Mitsu-san?" she questioned the brown haired boy sitting across the aisle from her.
He looked up, an irritated look on his face. "Nani?" he asked impatiently. He had a book in his hands and had been reading in spite of the poor lighting.
"What is the Amazon Academy?" she asked, keeping her voice low so she wouldn't disturb Frost and Ryu.
Mitsu, as Konimitsu preferred to be called, shot her an acid look. "Obviously it's a ninja school in the Amazon," he said, rolling his eyes at her.
"Why are we going there?" she asked. "Is the school an alley of ours?"
"What makes you think that we have allies?" Mitsu demanded. "The Amazon Academy is a ninja school, but in a fight, they would turn on us right away."
"Why?" Kisa surprised herself by asking.
"You have to ask? What kind of man are you? The Amazon Academy is run by females and they only except female recruits. Since all women are weak and untrustworthy, they would turn on us in combat . . . . . . It's just the way girls think. They aren't loyal at all. Stupid little bitches, that's all they are," Mitsu spat.
Kisa was silent. She had grown rather still. If there was a training ground for female ninjas, then how come she hadn't been sent there? Why had she been sent to a boy's only academy? It didn't make any sense.
Mitsu reached across the aisle and grabbed a handful of her hair. "Hey, Ki! I'll bet that you could pass yourself off as a girl and enter Amazon Academy. They you could see naked chicks dancing around in the shower."
Kisa glared at him icily until he let go of her hair. She had been working on looking at people in a dangerous fashion. It had occurred that if she looked at them like she expected to be hit, they would probably comply with her expression and beat on her.
All the same, she was shocked when he actually let go. He seemed to be just as shocked. Within seconds of letting go, he snapped back at her and hit her full in the face with a rock hard fist.
Kisa's head snapped back and she saw stars. Mitsu laughed. "Bastard, you had best learn your place," he smirked.
Frost raised an eyebrow at Mitsu and then turned back to Ryu. "As I was saying. . . . . . " he started in on his conversation without another word.
In the meantime, Mitsu had snapped another punch at her face.
"What the hell is your problem?" Kenneth demanded. He caught Mitsu's wrist and stopped the punch inches from Kisa's face.
He had been watching Kisa in the security cam that linked to the cockpit. He had been expecting her to object to receiving girls weapons and had been waiting to she what Frost did in retaliation.
He hadn't expected Mitsu to hit her, but he understood that Frost expected him to let the situation continue.
"Ki needs to learn to pick his battle more carefully," Frost had announced before they had bordered the plane. "I don't want him to receive any help on this mission. Just because he's a newbie doesn't mean that we have to baby him."
"Like I would!" Kenneth clearly remembered retorting. Still, as soon as Mitsu's fist had connected with the younger boy's face, he had left the cockpit and stopped the second shot.
Kisa looked up at him in surprise.
Mitsu glowered, but opened his hand and drew it back to his lap before turning and closing his eyes.
"I think that you were already told to pick your battles more carefully," Kenneth said quietly. He handed her an ice pack and a towel to wrap around it.
"I couldn't just let him pull my hair. . . . " Kisa murmured.
Kenneth grabbed a fistful of her hair and then let go. "You've got it too long," he told her. "It's easy to grab and hold onto. You need to get it cut either now or when we get back to the Shinobi Academy."
Kisa raised one hand to her head and almost brushed her hair wistfully. It had been hard enough to cut in the first place. She couldn't imagine cutting it shorter.
Kenneth pressed the ice pack to her face. "Just sleep, okay?" he whispered angrily. "You're going to need it."
"Thank-you," Kisa murmured as she closed her eyes. She really was tired and the punch she had gotten had caused her head to start pounding.
She heard Kenneth snort disdainfully. "Why the hell are you thanking me?" he hissed.
"Because you helped me. . . . ." Kisa muttered. Then she fell asleep. Kenneth watched her for several moments and then returned to the cockpit.
A loud bang jostled Kisa out of her sleep hours later. The smell of burning fuel filled her small nose, and thick black smoke was stinging her eyes. She coughed as the smoke filled her mouth, nose, and lungs.
"We're going to crash!" she heard Drake shout.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Author's notes;
At long last, another cliffhanger! I hope I was clear enough on their mission profile. I also hope that everyone likes it so far. Please review me . . . . I love getting reviews and am extremely happy whenever I get one.
Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan
At the moment, a long shaft of soft yellow light was pouring from the open door to the plane, but even that light was dim. The stairs leading to the oval opening were covered in matte black pads, and were rather steep, with a least a foot between each individual step.
Kisa Souma watched as Kenneth and Drake preformed a preflight check on the black craft named the 'Dark Storm.' She had learned only several minutes prior to her arrival at the landing field that Ryu's cell would be accompanying them on their mission.
It wasn't really a comforting thought. Throughout the night, her only comfort had been in the thought that she would be leaving him and the danger that he represented behind her. She would be able to relax against his upcoming murder attempt.
In fact, if she went away, he would have missed his deadline. He had promised to kill her within one month. That month was nearly past. She had managed to elude him for three weeks.
She had managed to train and get better and most importantly, not get killed. She didn't have any illusions about his ability to kill her. She knew that he had been waiting for the proper time to arise, something that she was keen to keep from happening.
Ryu hadn't known about the mission, or at least she didn't think he did. Briar had told her only because he felt bad about putting her in an advanced Cell without prior training. He had told her so she would train harder and get better.
"I didn't realize in Dead Man's Swamp that you couldn't fight at all," he had told her after a long, hard training session. The black haired teacher had seemed disappointed in himself, but he kept it carefully concealed.
Kisa hadn't responded then. She had already known that she couldn't fight. In fact, the only reason that she had done any damage in that fight had been because of her stupid luck. The knife had gotten lodged in the tree, she had been able to pull it out and stab the shape shifted Ryu. It was luck, nothing more and nothing less. She had no illusions about that.
"We're ready to get loaded," Frost announced from behind her. The dark color of his clothes made his white blond hair stick out against the darkness of the school, and the piercing blue of his eyes seemed to bright.
Compared to Ryu, who was standing beside him, Frost looked bright and cheery. The other man's dark hair and eyes matched the pitch blackness of the night perfectly.
Struck with a sudden thought, Kisa asked a question. "Commander Frost?" She drew her arm across her chest in the ninja version of a salute.
"Aa." His cut sharply through the night air. His eyes had narrowed slightly at her. The look would have made him seem angry if not for the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Kisa almost glanced down at her feet. Frost didn't like it when she talked with her head down, she had gotten struck for doing it before. "How do you . . . blend in with your hair? I mean, it's so bright and - "
He didn't wait for her to finish. Instead, he pulled a black hood up over his hair, nose and mouth.
She blinked as his outline seemed to fade for a moment. When her eyes were open again, he was gone. Ryu offered her a smile. "Not really the wisest thing to say to your commander," he commented.
Before Kisa could respond, she felt a knife pressed against the base of her throat. She tensed in surprise and raised her hand to attempt some sort of defense.
"You're dead, and you even knew where I was to begin with," Frost said calmly from behind her. He sighed heavily and replaced the blade from wherever he had taken it from. With one hand, he pulled his hood back, revealing his bright hair again.
"I can't believe they gave us a mission. We should have been given more time . ." Frost murmured, his voice trailing off as he looked at Kisa.
"It can't be helped. He was your friend and you know him best," Ryu said. He started to head towards the plane.
Drake and Kenneth were motioning that their pre-flight check was finished. Both of them were standing in the doorway, blocking out the dim light and making it even harder to see.
Kisa perked up her ears, waiting for Frost to respond or Ryu to say something else. Neither of them said anything more as they boarded the plane.
She sighed softly. She hadn't known that their target was a former friend of Frost's. Nobody had told her that. Somehow, knowing made her sad. Would he really be able to kill their target?
Xeo was the only name given for the target. He was apparently seventeen years old. Like most ninjas, he had black hair and dark eyes. His numbers were more then impressive, they were unbelievable. Year 17, Rating 22,459, Cell Thirty-eight.
Apparently, he had killed his team. Then, stealing some sort of plans from Konimitsu's father's office, he had disappeared into the night.
Kisa hadn't been permitted to know what the plans contained. All she had been told was that they were extremely important to the safety of the entire country of Japan.
Like the others, she had two sets of orders, Team Orders and Separation Orders. The team orders were clear. She was to be in charge of communications between all the other team members. Frost had insisted that she stay at a safe location and the others had all agreed, although Ryu had seemed reluctant.
Those orders were simple and welcome. If she were in charge of coordination then there was absolutely no chance that she would be forced to kill someone. There was also a very high chance that she wouldn't get killed either.
However, her Separation Orders were more complex and dangerous. She was to proceed with the mission on her own. Her primary goal would be to recover the papers. Next, she would hunt down and kill Xeo after destroying the plans. If, by some weird stroke of luck she survived that, she would hunt down and kill all people - man, woman, or child - that had been associated with Xeo. The forth part was to return back to Shinobi Academy and register a full report.
She was certain that if it came to those orders she wouldn't survive.
She started up the steps and claimed her seat by a window. Clipping herself in, she watched as Briar gave Frost and Ryu some last minute orders.
"You really don't stand a chance in a fair fight so I . . . . . . do you understand? Oh, and about Ki . . . . . . . . . . " Briar added.
Kisa strained her ears, but he had lowered his voice was even went so far as to switch languages.
Ryu glanced over at her and nodded.
Frost didn't show any visible emotion. In fact, is not for the time she had observed him, she would have said that he didn't even care. But she noticed the minuscule tightening of his mouth. He was angry, but what was it about?
"We're ready to go," Kenneth announced.
The black haired teacher stood up and nodded. "Of course. Good luck. . . .and don't fail, ne?" Briar seemed to be dead serious. "Kill Xeo and burn his body if you must. I want confirmation on his death and the plans either in my hands or destroyed."
With those words, Briar turned and silently slipped off the airplane. Moments later the lights dimmed to a shadow casting hue and the door closed, sealing the six ninjas inside the craft.
Kenneth and Drake slipped past a heavy black curtain and into the cockpit.
After a couple of seconds, the low thrum of the engines came to life. Kisa glanced out the window, looking for any sign of the black buildings that housed the ninja cadets at Shinobi Academy. Nothing but a low white mist met her eyes, and the craft soon climbed high into the clouds.
Kenneth came back after they had been flying for a while. He saluted Frost. "We're set on course and will arrive at our destination in seven hours. I've already contacted Akai at Amazon Academy. She informs us that our additional equipment will be ready when we arrive."
Frost nodded to show he understood the younger man's words. "Call her back in about an hour and have her check around for some smaller weapons for Ki. He might be better suited to have a woman's weapon. The weapons that he has right now are slightly too big for him." He handed Kenneth a list. "These are the measurements on him, and a list of the weapons he has right now."
Kenneth took that list and saluted again. He headed into the cockpit laughing lightly. "Ki's going to get girl's weapons," he announced before the curtain slipped back into place and cut off his words.
Kisa glanced back at Frost, but he was deep in conversation with Ryu. She didn't know that they were going to a different school. She presumed that they were going to land at an airport or a private landing field at a secret military base. Hell, she even thought that they might land at an official military base.
"Mitsu-san?" she questioned the brown haired boy sitting across the aisle from her.
He looked up, an irritated look on his face. "Nani?" he asked impatiently. He had a book in his hands and had been reading in spite of the poor lighting.
"What is the Amazon Academy?" she asked, keeping her voice low so she wouldn't disturb Frost and Ryu.
Mitsu, as Konimitsu preferred to be called, shot her an acid look. "Obviously it's a ninja school in the Amazon," he said, rolling his eyes at her.
"Why are we going there?" she asked. "Is the school an alley of ours?"
"What makes you think that we have allies?" Mitsu demanded. "The Amazon Academy is a ninja school, but in a fight, they would turn on us right away."
"Why?" Kisa surprised herself by asking.
"You have to ask? What kind of man are you? The Amazon Academy is run by females and they only except female recruits. Since all women are weak and untrustworthy, they would turn on us in combat . . . . . . It's just the way girls think. They aren't loyal at all. Stupid little bitches, that's all they are," Mitsu spat.
Kisa was silent. She had grown rather still. If there was a training ground for female ninjas, then how come she hadn't been sent there? Why had she been sent to a boy's only academy? It didn't make any sense.
Mitsu reached across the aisle and grabbed a handful of her hair. "Hey, Ki! I'll bet that you could pass yourself off as a girl and enter Amazon Academy. They you could see naked chicks dancing around in the shower."
Kisa glared at him icily until he let go of her hair. She had been working on looking at people in a dangerous fashion. It had occurred that if she looked at them like she expected to be hit, they would probably comply with her expression and beat on her.
All the same, she was shocked when he actually let go. He seemed to be just as shocked. Within seconds of letting go, he snapped back at her and hit her full in the face with a rock hard fist.
Kisa's head snapped back and she saw stars. Mitsu laughed. "Bastard, you had best learn your place," he smirked.
Frost raised an eyebrow at Mitsu and then turned back to Ryu. "As I was saying. . . . . . " he started in on his conversation without another word.
In the meantime, Mitsu had snapped another punch at her face.
"What the hell is your problem?" Kenneth demanded. He caught Mitsu's wrist and stopped the punch inches from Kisa's face.
He had been watching Kisa in the security cam that linked to the cockpit. He had been expecting her to object to receiving girls weapons and had been waiting to she what Frost did in retaliation.
He hadn't expected Mitsu to hit her, but he understood that Frost expected him to let the situation continue.
"Ki needs to learn to pick his battle more carefully," Frost had announced before they had bordered the plane. "I don't want him to receive any help on this mission. Just because he's a newbie doesn't mean that we have to baby him."
"Like I would!" Kenneth clearly remembered retorting. Still, as soon as Mitsu's fist had connected with the younger boy's face, he had left the cockpit and stopped the second shot.
Kisa looked up at him in surprise.
Mitsu glowered, but opened his hand and drew it back to his lap before turning and closing his eyes.
"I think that you were already told to pick your battles more carefully," Kenneth said quietly. He handed her an ice pack and a towel to wrap around it.
"I couldn't just let him pull my hair. . . . " Kisa murmured.
Kenneth grabbed a fistful of her hair and then let go. "You've got it too long," he told her. "It's easy to grab and hold onto. You need to get it cut either now or when we get back to the Shinobi Academy."
Kisa raised one hand to her head and almost brushed her hair wistfully. It had been hard enough to cut in the first place. She couldn't imagine cutting it shorter.
Kenneth pressed the ice pack to her face. "Just sleep, okay?" he whispered angrily. "You're going to need it."
"Thank-you," Kisa murmured as she closed her eyes. She really was tired and the punch she had gotten had caused her head to start pounding.
She heard Kenneth snort disdainfully. "Why the hell are you thanking me?" he hissed.
"Because you helped me. . . . ." Kisa muttered. Then she fell asleep. Kenneth watched her for several moments and then returned to the cockpit.
A loud bang jostled Kisa out of her sleep hours later. The smell of burning fuel filled her small nose, and thick black smoke was stinging her eyes. She coughed as the smoke filled her mouth, nose, and lungs.
"We're going to crash!" she heard Drake shout.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Author's notes;
At long last, another cliffhanger! I hope I was clear enough on their mission profile. I also hope that everyone likes it so far. Please review me . . . . I love getting reviews and am extremely happy whenever I get one.
Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan
