Purple Thunder

Back To Blue Bay

Lara sighed as she grabbed her duffel bag from the back and glanced at the house that they parked in front of. This was a decision she had made weeks ago but why did it feel strange for her to be back in Blue Bay when she knew no one here, save five people at the latest. "You sure you're going to be okay here?" her mentor asked her as they got out of his jeep and loaded her street bike on the curb of her brother's place.

"I'm sure. There's nowhere else for me to go but be with my brother. I can't face my dad yet, he'll want me to be the innocent young girl he thinks I am and I'm not ready for that." Lara looked over at the bike that her mentor brought along with them. She only kept it because her mother had given it to her before she died. She didn't want to ride anymore but the last present from her mother meant a lot to her.

"At least now you can be safe here with your brother," he commented and Lara looked up at him, nodding. She had spent the last few years with him and he was a great father figure to her. He thought her so much and he knew what she was going through so them separating would leave her vulnerable and she didn't like that one bit.

"It'll be nice to spend quality time with him." Lara agreed as she fidgeted with her duffel bag strap. "I'm just sad you can't stay."

"Lara." her mentor laid a hand on her shoulder and she raised her eyes to look over at his face. She knew he didn't want to leave her but where he was going, she was probably not safe there.

"Yeah?" she asked as she looked at the small place her brother lived.

"You know it's not your fault what happened, right?" Lara looked back at her mentor. It was as if he had read her mind about the events that took place weeks ago. She couldn't understand it at first but she needed answers on why it happened in the first place.

"I left and the moment I came back it gets ripped into shreds. That couldn't have been a coincidence." Lara gulped as she tried not to give in to the tears that she could feel were coming in.

"It was a coincidence. You can't help what happened." her mentor sighed. "Look, I'll be at Reefside, trying to lay low. I'll be able to try and figure out what happened. Maybe you can do something that can take your mind off of it. Get yourself busy, go back into the dating scene. Anything to distract yourself. I promise I'll tell you if I find anything."

Lara sighed as she nodded at him. Distracting herself, she could do easily, but she knew her focus will always be on the events that happened weeks ago. She knew she had to seek answers and she was going to, with or without her mentor's approval. "I understand."

"Maybe you can race again, with your brother?" he suggested as he wheeled out he carried her street bike out of his jeep. "Don't forget what I thought you. I expect to meet you every fortnight in the woods just so your training doesn't dwindle. Even then, I want you to train by yourself." Lara smiled shaking her head. Trust her mentor to tell her to get distracted but still maintain her daily training routine.

"Okay but I'm not making any promises about racing again. I'm done with that." Her mentor looked at the young girl that he's gotten to know for four years. She was like a daughter to him and he cared for her but sometimes you have to let the baby bird get itself the confidence to learn to fly on their own.

"I'll always be here for you, Lara, but remember, how can you move on when you're still holding on to your past mistakes." her mentor hugged her, tightly, not wanting to leave her but he knew he had to. Lara shut her eyes as she hugged him back. He was always a breath of fresh air, someone who would be by her side no matter what happened. It was going to be different from now on. She would be a hardened shell, someone who wouldn't let anyone trample on her. She couldn't risk being broken again.

"Thank you," Lara looked up at her mentor. "For everything you've done for me in the past few years, Tommy."

"It's been a pleasure watching you grow, Lara." Tommy smiled and with that, he climbed on his jeep and drove to Reefside, glancing back to his rear side mirror to see Lara looking back at the house that her brother was living in.

Lara sighed. "Now, what to do?" she asked herself as she carried her duffel bag to the front door and knocked. "Here goes."

A figured walked up to the entrance of the Wind Ninja Academy, their staff lowered, crouching down in front of the waterfall. In a split second, they could hear movement and shift in the trees around them.

"What do you want?" a masculine voice asked from behind.

"How did you find this place?" another asked.

"Are there more of you?" another voice squeaked.

"I need to talk to Sensei Watanabe. We have matters to discuss about my school." the ninja declared and the group of young Wind Ninja Academy students formed a circle around the intruder.

"You're going nowh-"

"Stand down." Sensei Watanabe declared, glancing across the waterfall at his student.

"But Sensei-"

"You are dismissed." Sensei looked at the ninja intruder. "Perhaps we can discuss your predicaments during afternoon tea."

"It's urgent." The ninja insisted. There was no time for tea but unfortunately, the Wind Ninja Academy's Sensei knew nothing of what was to come.

"You wouldn't have come here if it wasn't." Sensei lead the ninja to the entrance of his school and the ninja followed.

Once they were alone in the Sensei's private chambers, Sensei Watanabe offered the ninja jasmine tea to calm the mind and give the ninja time to collect their thoughts. The ninja set down their cup of tea as they explained why they were there.

"I come from the Thunder Ninja Academy. I resided there for three years. Sensei Omino himself trained me in the ways of the Thunder Ninja and due to my advanced training, I was able to graduate early and had taken my absence on my ninja duties. Sensei Omino sent me away to deal with the death of a loved one and once that settled, he expected me to return to become a sensei. He sent word to come back to the Thunder Ninja Academy. I suspected they needed a sensei sooner rather than later. When I arrived a few weeks ago, I watched as students were imprisoned, aliens burning down all our sacred buildings and my sensei was nowhere in sight. My school turned into ruins in seconds and sucked into space. After the attack, I scoured the entire perimeter for survivors. There was no one left." The ninja looked up at Sensei Watanabe. "I know that the Wind and Thunder Ninja academies have quarreled over the years but I come to you for advice and ask of your knowledge about who might have attacked my school, where I can find them and get the Thunder Academy back to what it once was."

Sensei Watanabe was distressed about the revelations and felt sorry for the young ninja in front of him that witnessed the destruction of their school. "I am sorry for your loss but I'm afraid I was unaware of the attack."

"Of course you didn't know, I'm the only one left standing. Is there anyone that can help? Anyone that might know who did this?" the ninja asked, their eyes watered under the ninja mask they wore. "Please. The Thunder Academy was my home and now it's gone. I need answers. I need my school back."

Sensei Watanabe sighed, seeing the distress of the ninja. "I will look into this matter further and get back to you. You are welcome to stay here as long as you need."

"Thank you for the offer, Sensei Watanabe, but I'm fine with my living arrangements. I'll be residing in Blue Bay Harbour while I figure out who did this to my school. Please do send one of your students if you need my assistance. Whoever did this, they may come for your school next." The mysterious ninja stood up. "Thank you also for the tea, while soothing, it does nothing to help with the loss of my school." With that the ninja streaked away.

In the woods, Lara crouched down, taking her mask off as she buried her head into her hands. Her school vanished and no one knew anything. She clenched her fists. "I don't care what I have to do, I will get you back." She promised as she let more tears spill out and her anger bubbling her motivation to get back the people that made the school her home. She didn't know who she was really promising to, her sensei, her friends, all she knew was whoever had done this to her, they will pay. "I'll get you back, no matter what."

And you know what they say, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

AN: I was going to wait another week until I posted something but I was just too excited to write this. Since I'm back to writing I'll be posting each of my works once a month so, for example, Purple Thunder probably won't be updated until I finish posting chapters for 'Best Friends in Blue Bay', 'I Need You', 'Living Life Perfectly', and 'The Jock and The Geek' but we'll see how it goes. Hopefully, you'll like this story as I write it and thanks for your patience if you're an old follower excruciatingly waiting for the next chapters to my old works.