AN: Well, here's one that not many people try. I hope you all like it. There are the usual pairings and everything so that might help.
Disclaimer: I don't own the damn thing so don't sue me. I don't have any money; I'm currently several hundred dollars in debt. And if you don't think that's a lot then you try being a poor student in debt.
Warnings: AU, violence, shounen ai and eventually yaoi later, language, Quatre being quite disagreeable.
Another note: Just to let you know, if you think that Quatre is acting out of character and want me to put an OOC warning, it won't happen. This is an AU and they have all grown up in different circumstances and that will be in application here. There is a reason for the behavior, but just because they act a little differently doesn't mean that I changed the overall natural demeanor of the person. So don't slap me with any OOC complaints, this is a fair warning.
Italics denotes thoughts
***** denotes scene change
Secrets of the Shadow Warriors: Prologue
A samurai1 wearing white ran through the forest. The dark of night lay around him, oppressing in its silent way. Not a sound could be heard besides his heavy footfall. Stopping he listened. The wind moved through the surrounding trees, pushing branches aside to let the moon shine down, silver patches on the dark green moss covered ground. The trees, close together, were perfect hiding places, the ground shrubbery, another ambush area. Nervous sweat trickled down the warrior's face as he realized how helpless he was. An attack in this dark was a great disadvantage. Gripping the hilt of his blade he waited. And waited. As his muscles began to cramp the warrior slowly lowered his weapon.
He jumped when a flash flew through the air and thunked against a nearby tree. Watching the direction from which the object came, he cautiously approached. The six-point shuriken2 winked in the moon's pale glow like the distant stars it resembled. A small strip of rice paper was pinned to the dark-brown bark. In flowing hiragana3 a few characters stood out in blood-red ink, 'Behind you'. The soft chink of metal reached his ears as he turned. The flash of flying shuriken rained down on him like a shower of shooting stars.
He gasped and released his sword, which clattered uselessly to the ground as the sound of pierced wood reverberated in the thick foliage surrounding him. At least a dozen shuriken were lining various parts of his clothing, effectively holding him to the tree. Pulling at his bonds, he tested their strength. As the fabric began to tear another onslaught of the miniscule weapons reinforced the hold as two more landed on either side of his head. The tips of the shuriken scrapped along his cheeks, the cold metal pressing into his face and holding him completely still. Breathing shallowly, the samurai's dark eyes quickly took stock of his situation. A faint crawling sensation tingled along his spine as he realized he was completely trapped.
The first shuriken still attached to the tree behind him, its sharp points scratching along his back, and the cool metal against his cheeks reminding him of how close to death he was4. The bark of the pine was rough through the fabric of his robes and the strong scent of pinesap oozing from the breaks in the bark made him dizzy. His stomach twisted with nausea as his opponents revealed themselves. The first of the two lithe slender figures slipped out from behind the very tree to which the samurai found himself pinned. The second dropped from a nearby branch landing silently on the ground in a low crouch. Rising he, or she5, the samurai couldn't tell, went to stand by the first.
They were about the same size, the second only slightly shorter than the first and a little more willowy as well. The black garments they wore were snug and any loose pieces seemed to be tied back with another strip of black fabric6. Their heads were covered with a black mask that resembled a shroud. From the slits for the eye holes the samurai could see nothing save a flash of unusual color. A small sword hung from the hip of the first as well as a varying array of pouches. The second's waist looked like a veritable throwing weapons showcase. Everything, from small throwing daggers to large four point shuriken, graced his belt in pouches or slings, every weapon at the ready. These two, small slender, cunning, and, in their own way, more dangerous than the best samurai, were part of the few who studied ninjustu7 and were brave enough to call themselves ninja.
This knowledge is what made the trapped warrior feel the stale taste of panic and bitter flavor of fear. The taller of the two drew his sword, slowly, making the samurai shudder at the cold rasp of steel against leather. The ninja regarded his sword almost thoughtfully a moment. Walking up, the ninja laid the blade along the neck of his captive tapping along the jugular once, twice, three times mockingly.
Mustering up his courage and rallying his pride he fiercely reminded himself that ninjas were cowards and dishonorable. Preferring to run instead of fight, attacking at night, sneaking around, and killing helpless victims.
"Do what you will." He stated clearly, his voice betraying none of the fear he felt. "I am prepared to die with honor."
The shadow warrior drew the sword away in disgust.
"There is no honor in attacking a helpless opponent." The black clad night warrior spat.
The samurai gaped in disbelief at the shadow fighter. After studying the samurai's expression of surprise the ninja pressed swift black-gloved fingers to a pressure point on the man's exposed neck. With a shudder, the imperial warrior slumped down limply. The second ninja stepped up to the first and began removing the shuriken and stowing them in the proper pouch. Crouching, he then removed the samurai's money pouch. Loosening the tie at the top, he dumped its contents into his open palm8.
"This is a month's pay. I doubt he has more." A soft and surprisingly gentle voice stated.
"Only take half. I won't leave a man to starve." The first replied sighing.
Nodding the smaller ninja dropped exactly half of the coins back into the pouch before reattaching it to the man's belt. The thief's black-gloved hand glided along his own belt, slipping the remaining coins into another pouch.
"Let's go." The first whispered.
The second nodded and together they disappeared, leaving no trace of their existence.
AN: Well what do you think of the first chapter?! ^-^ Tell me what you think quickly. I won't continue until you do. OH! And who do you think the ninja are? .…. Well, what are you waiting for…REVIEW!
1) Samurai are ancient Japanese warriors. I'm sure most of you know this but I wanted to let you know you'll be learning a lot of feudal Japan history and how much of an asshole the average samurai actually was. Most were really not that nice.
2) Small weapon ninjas use. More commonly known as Throwing Stars. There are many different kinds and shapes. From three sided and four sided (These shuriken are HUGE. Bigger than the average hand size) to the teeny tiny six point shuriken. They all have one thing in common though. For straight throwing and balance purposes they all have a hole in the center of the star. More on these neato trinkets later. ^-^
3) Japanese is made up of three different kinds of letters or characters. Hiragana (correct me if I'm not spelling this right or if I say something false) which is used for native Japanese words. Katakana, which is used for words and names not native to the Japanese language (like kisu aka kiss). And finally kanji, which are complete words in and of themselves. The kanji are taken from Chinese and number over 1,600. That's a lot the memorize. And we wonder why it's such a hard language to learn. o.O;
4) Shuriken didn't usually inflict a lot of damage in and of themselves. The more commonly used ones, five and six point were too small and light to do more than nick a person. They were often used to distract people as the ninja snuck by and were sometimes tipped with poisons or venoms to render them deadly. This is part of how the legends of immortal ninjas started.
5) Female ninja were not only accepted, they were highly effective. They could sneak into places men couldn't dream of getting into, and they could get close to high security men more easily alone. An ideal for an assassin.
6) Black is not actually a color that ninjas wore too often. Even though the night is dark, to adjusted eyes, black clothes would stand out. They actually wore more dark blues and greens, and if there was snow, sometimes white to hide. And they didn't always go around in the classic ninja getup. Sometimes they would dress-up as Samurai or priests or simple villagers to fool people. Female ninja were famous for dressing up as geisha, Japanese courtesans, to assassinate victims.
7) Ninjustu if you haven't figured it out, which I'm sure you have, is the martial art style that ninjas study. It focuses on killing and sneak attacks instead of head-on tactics. In fact, that was the ninja's greatest weakness. Get one cornered and you were almost sure to win. They can't fight face-to-face to save their lives in most cases.
8) One thing ninjas were also taught was how to steal in case they didn't want to kill. Though they really are assassins they make kick-ass thieves too.
AN: Sorry about all the notes but I did a lot of research for this fic and wanted to get it all right.