Author's Note: Been a while, but I've got four chapters here for you smurfs. Not that it appears anyone's reading this. Ah well, it probably sucks anyways. If you don't think so, please, for the sake of my poor ego, review this thing. I'm not as good at putting meta-humor into this work as I'd hoped, so I think I'll just try and work more witty banter into the dialogue. Enjoy.

Ch. 4

As the cab streaked up the road, the driver clearly desperate to get away from the scene and unload this freak from his car, Takeshi staunched his wound and bound it with strips from his bag. He decided that he needed more information, and this taxi driver seemed to be a good man to ask.

"Alright, so what in hell were those people who attacked me?"

"Desians. They're separate from the main governments, and are really too powerful to confront. They take people and torture them in their human ranches. No one really knows why. People are powerless to stop them."

"And they don't produce anything, don't try to conquer the land?" These people were like no organization that he had seen before- they didn't appear to have a purpose other than causing suffering.

"Not that I know of. They basically rule this land anyways, "

"That makes no sense. I've never heard of anything like that."

"It is what it is, kid. Did what's-his-name, Hitler or something like that, really have a purpose for killing off the jews or whatever it was he did? (A/N: Godwin's law strikes again!) There's nothing we can do about it.

"hmmm."

They didn't say anything else to each other until they reached the village. Nor did they encounter any more Desians. Takeshi paid the cab driver (tipping him fairly well, considering), and the driver sped away like a bat out of hell. Shouldering his pack, Takeshi entered the village and went looking for his contact, an older woman named Phaidra. He was directed to a house in the northeastern part of the village, where he met Phaidra and the chosen, a young blonde girl named Colette. So this was the girl he was to be guarding. Based on introductions and dinner, he decided that she wouldn't be that bad of a traveling companion. Sure, she was clumsy and had a tendency to over-apologize over every little thing, but she was kind, and didn't treat him like another servant. He'd had too many missions where he had wanted to just give up and let the ninja he was fighting go ahead and kill his clients because they irritated the crap out of him. Sure, he figured that this girl's constant tendency to apologize would get annoying, but that was something he could tune out. Being called "ninja" every time he was addressed and treated like some servant was a bit harder. This might not be that bad. And the tea she brewed was excellent.

After dinner, the other two escorts came by. Raine was a healer, virtually useless in combat, but able to bring people back from the brink of death. That would certainly come in handy. She had demonstrated her healing abilities, easily healing the cut on his shoulder in about a second. Personality-wise, she was...abrasive. Rude but supremely intelligent, she would be a bad person to irritate. However, she seemed to be kind to Colette. Takeshi didn't really know what to make of her.

Kratos, on the other hand, he knew exactly what to make of. A mercenary, another one who seemed to think that he was God's own warrior. Takeshi had encountered dozens of men like him on his missions. They were all either brash and overconfident to the point of suicide, or aloof and arrogant, seeming to think that everyone was beneath them. Kratos was undoubtedly the latter. They tended to be more dangerous than the former, as they made less stupid mistakes, and better traveling companions, as they knew when to shut up (or, more accurately, simply never talked). But Kratos had the arrogance in spades. It was clear that he had never dealt with ninja before and seemed to regard the 17-year-old Takeshi as a child, more of a hinderance than a help. Takeshi had offered to give him a demonstration of just how accomplished his skills were, but the offer had been declined. Kratos had claimed that he didn't want to injure the poor boy. Takeshi had nearly roasted his overly long red hair for that comment. He'd certainly show him a thing or two about ninja over the next few weeks.

After the introductions were finished, talk turned to the journey. Takeshi knew the basics from his briefing, and didn't feel the need to enquire any more about what the actual release of the seals entailed. Quite frankly, he didn't care too much. They soon began to discuss logistics. Kratos, and, strangely, Colette, wanted to set off at first light. Takeshi raised no objections, knowing that it was often best to just go along with what the employer wanted. Besides, the sensible part of his mind told him that leaving that early made good tactical sense. Being responsible was a pain in the ass sometimes. Takeshi inquired as to how they would be making the voyage. Raine suggested a car, but both Takeshi and, surprisingly, Kratos, advised walking. Takeshi spoke from experience, having seen several cars taken out by jutsus and rocket launchers (and having taken several of them out himself), bringing up the case of the roadblock on the road as evidence of the Desians interfering with the quest and possibly causing serious harm. By Takeshi's logic, they weren't on any sort of timetable, and so it would make far more sense to keep a low profile and remain unseen. Kratos followed much the same logic. With that settled, Takeshi enquired as to where he would be sleeping. Colette was going to say goodbye to one of her friends, and Kratos and Raine were going to accompany her. Takeshi trusted that forest spiders and rabbits would pose no threat, and turned in for the night.