The fog of unconsciousness slowly lifted as Sara came to. She fought the urge to moan and give herself away, and instead went about gathering as much information as she could from her surroundings. She was lying on her side blindfolded, that much was clear immediately. She wiggled her fingers and toes before trying to move her wrists and ankles. Her heart sank when she discovered that all four limbs were tied up and she was effectively helpless and at the mercy of whoever sleep-darted her. Well, I guess I should be thankful that at least it was a sleep dart and not a poison dart. I probably wouldn't be waking up at all if that were the case.

Sara listened intently as she honed in on the noises around her. There were quite a few people around by the sounds of it. She couldn't understand anything that was being said, however, no matter how much she strained her ears. It sounds like I am at a camp...most likely the one came across earlier. She could smell a stable, likely horses, and also food. They're well-established, whoever they are.

"Oh good, you're awake."

Sara froze immediately. How the hell did I not realize there was someone in here with me?

Light and feathery laughter filled the room as she felt herself being picked up and put in a sitting position with her legs bent at the knee.

"I'm very good at what I do, young lady. Which is why you weren't able to sense me earlier until it was too late, and why you didn't realize I was standing right next to you until you heard me speak."

Sara heard the sound of a liquid of sorts being poured into a cup and suddenly realized just how thirsty she was. Her vision was suddenly filled with fantasies involving gulping down refreshing glasses of water.

"I mean you no harm and have no intention of allowing any to come to you. Using the dart was the fastest and least dangerous method of bringing you in for questioning. I did not wish to engage you in a confrontation that could have resulted in any bodily harm."

Sara listened quietly as the woman spoke. Her Anglicus was slightly accented, but easy to understand. She didn't pick up any obvious deceit in the woman's voice, but that was always something easy enough to disguise if you knew how. She heard the woman approach and tensed up, not knowing what to expect.

"I'm going to hold the glass of water under your nose for inspection. Surely your training has covered scenting liquids for toxins or poisons?"

Sara nodded her head once and waited for the glass to be brought up to her nose. She sniffed at the cup several times and determined that the water contained in it was clean. She nodded once more and sighed with relief once the container touched her mouth and the cool liquid made its way past her parched lips. She gulped greedily at the refreshment.

"Hey, hey...slow down! There's a lot more where this came from."

Sara immediately regretted trying to drink so quickly as she began to cough and sputter. The woman moved up behind her and patted her back lightly while she whispered soothing words to calm her down. Once she had stopped coughing, the cup was brought to her lips once mo

"There, let's go a bit slower this time, shall we?"

Sara drank until the cup was empty. When she was offered more, she shook her head. She had had enough for the moment.

"Name and rank."

"Sara Crispino. Lead Royal Assassin."

"Crispino...hmm...that's a name from Italia, isn't it? You're quite far from home."

Sara was floored that someone from such a far-away land would know that she came from Italia based only on her family name. Whoever this woman was, she was well-traveled and knowledgeable.

"Correct."

"Who do you serve, Sara?"

"I serve King Viktor Nikiforov, ruler of Occidentis and leader of the Ice Dragon Magic Clan."

"Well, isn't that interesting. Our clans go 500 years without ever interacting with one another and suddenly we have two Ice Dragons land in our lap in just about as many days."

Sara's heart skipped as she did not miss what the woman had implied. Two Ice Dragons...the only other unaccounted Ice Dragon was Squire Plisetsky! Stay calm Sara...don't give her something to use against you.

"How about you? Who are you and who do you serve?"

The woman laughed. "Trying to change the subject, hmm? Alright, I'll bite.

"I'm Minako Okukawa, Royal Shinobi. I serve Emperor Katsuki, ruler of Orientalis and leader of the Phoenix Purification Magic Clan."

Sara was overwhelmed. There was so much new information in the woman's statement that she didn't know what part of it to address first. She settled for the one word she'd never heard before.

"Shinobi?"

"Ah, sorry about that. I'd forgotten that Shinobi is not a word used frequently outside of Orientalis. I believe you may know the word 'Ninja' instead."

Sara was really glad for that blindfold at the moment, because her eyes grew so large that she feared they would fall out of their sockets. 'Ninja' was a word that was legendary in Occidentis. Mysterious warrior assassins who were stealth personified. They had an uncanny ability to blend in with the shadows. Some even said that they were inhuman beings made purely of shadows. To have one be in the same room as her was morbidly curious. There was so much she wanted to ask the woman. Instead, she chose to reign in her awe and excitement and tried to stay as neutral as possible.

"Ah, I see. Phoenix Purification Magic Clan...that's the other clan the gods chose to bestow their power upon, correct?"

"Correct. Our clan wields fire magic. Well, direct members of the court do. Those closest to the Emperor. Other members of the court wield other forms of elemental magic. I imagine that things work just about the same with the Ice Dragons?"

"Yes. I am not a direct member of the King's court, therefore I do not wield ice magic. I am just a human assassin."

Sara paused, the question she was about to ask would be telling sign of what was to come, good or bad.

"So, if both our clans were given magic from the gods to fight the demons...shouldn't that mean that were are...allies?"

Sara held her breath as she waited for the Ninja Woman to answer. She heard a rustling noise, and sensing that the woman was coming in close, braced herself for the worst. Instead of being harmed however, she had her blindfold removed. Sara squinted and blinked a few times before her eyes adjusted to the light in the room.

Once she was able to see properly, she eyed the foreign beauty before her. Her hair was long and a rich milk chocolate color. Her eyes were a gray she hadn't seen before, the color of a stormy sky. She was wearing a black skintight one-piece suit with metal shoulder guards, gauntlets with elbow spikes and plated greaves. She was also armed to the teeth with multiple swords and some type of projectile she had never seen before. As she looked down at the woman's feet she saw that she didn't appear to be wearing shoes. Her suit seemed to extend all the way down to her toes, with a kind of thong made of red cloth separating her big toe from the rest. Sara couldn't help herself and blurted out he first thing that came to her mind.

"Isn't it uncomfortable? Running around nearly barefoot like that?"

The Ninja woman laughed heartily at the younger assassin's curiosity. She's kind of cute, this one!

"Nope. It's what allows me to have the high level of stealth that I do, actually."

Then she pointed to Sara's boots.

"Those may look great and protect your whole leg, but they make for some really loud footsteps. I heard you trying to sneak around long before I saw you."

Sara was feeling quite irritated that her feet had given her away. She'd practiced her stalking for hours on end and had always thought herself a pretty silent one. To find out that something as silly as her choice of footwear had given her away was infuriating.

"Anyway, to answer your question from earlier...there has never been an official alliance between our clans. We've pretty much kept to our own continents for the past 500 years and dealt with the demons within our reach. I don't think our Emperor is opposed to forming new alliances, though. His motto has always been 'strong alone, stronger together'."

Sara breathed a sigh of relief. At least my life is not in danger here.

"We did save that mouthy Archer friend of yours earlier. So I'd like to think we've earned some future ally points for that."

Sara's head snapped up the mention of the 'mouthy archer'.

"Squire Plisetsky...he lives?"

Minako got down on one knee and leaned forward.

"He does. We got to him as he was on death's door, but pulled him back into the world of the living with some powerful antidotes and potions. He's just about fully recovered and will only suffer a small scar on his leg from where the demon dagger pierced him."

Sara just about cried with the relief of knowing that Squire Plisetsky was not only alive, but alive and well.

"May I...see him? I have some...*ahem* important things to tell him."

Sara laughed.

"I bet you do. I said some 'important' things to him earlier as well. He's currently meeting our Emperor and sharing a meal with him."

All the color drained from Sara's face when she learned that the brat was meeting with a foreign leader...by himself. A foreign leader they could make an alliance with. An alliance which would most likely be ruined by his mouth before it even began.

"Oh God. He's going to turn us into enemies before the meal is over."

Minako had to laugh heartily at that. She laughed so hard that she cried.

She patted the young assassin reassuringly on the shoulder as she wiped a tear from her eyes.

"You're right! He's most likely in there right now getting his foot stuck in his mouth...again. I've known him for a very short time...but can already tell that he is trouble. I don't envy you at all."

…

Michele was back at the rendezvous point, waiting impatiently for his twin Sara to return. He hadn't seen any distress signals or any of her secret messages, so he didn't yet have a reason to worry. She most likely found the brat's trail and is just following it as far as it takes her and gathering all the information she can. She's always been incredibly thorough with her tracking. She probably just lost track of time. Michele wandered off to the shore and started looking around for something he could catch for dinner. As he looked out to sea, he saw a dark blob on the horizon approaching the island. He took out his collapsible telescope and extended it fully before bringing up to his right eye. To say that he was startled to see a royal ship heading toward him was an understatement. That's the King's ship! The King himself is on his way here?

Michele's thoughts raced ahead at breakneck speed. If the King is personally leading the mission to recover Squire Plisetsky...it must be because he thinks the people who have captured him are dangerous! Oh, no! That means Sara's in danger! If she's tracking him and she encounters these people, they could try to harm her!

Michele collapsed the telescope and placed it in its pouch at his hip. He turned on his heel and ran off as quickly as possible in the direction that Sara had gone earlier. He had to find her. He had to make sure she safe. As he ran, a dark look crossed his face. I'm going to cut off the hands of any bastard who has dared to lay a hand on her. I don't care who these people are. They will pay if they've harmed Sara in any way!

_phrases_

The phrase 'strong alone, stronger together' is from the third person looter shooter game Anthem