CHAPTER

(-5-)

The Shadowy Ninja and the Two Thieves

They arrived at the cave early the next morning. There was a man dressed in a soldier's uniform. Edgar explained to Terra that he was a returner agent.

"King Edgar!" Said the soldier "Where are you headed?"

"Through the cave," said Edgar "and eastward to South Figaro." then he leaned in closer and whispered "Send word to the castle, and tell the others we're safe."

"Yes, Sir! I will, Sir. Take care, Sir!" They walked into the cave and through the passageways. Everything was cold, dark, and damp. Ugly looking larvae-like creatures weren't too hard to spot off to the side of the cave. Nobody liked walking through that cave, but eventually they got to the other side of the mountain. South Figaro wasn't too far away.

The city was busy and bustling. People walked every which way. Smells from a nearby bakery met their noses quite nicely, although other smells didn't leave quite as nice a smell with them. They quickly found the cafe and stopped there to refresh themselves a bit and inquire as to the location of a nearby inn. They talked to the man behind the counter they each ordered some dinner.

"You don't happen to be one of 'da man Duncan's students, do you?" He asked Edgar.

"No." He replied back, "Who's he?"

"He's a local martial artist trainer, one of the best in 'da world they say"

"His name sounds vaguely familiar" Said Edgar.

"I'd swear, one of 'da man's students looks just like you."

"Okay." Edgar said as he walked to his seat. He sat down. Just then Locke exclaimed "Mushrooms! I told them to hold the mushrooms. Can't stand mushrooms." He got up to go complain to the man at the counter, but stopped when he heard a low, menacing growl.

"Better watch it, " a deep, even voice said from a dark corner "that dog eats strangers for breakfast."

He continued on and got a mushroom-less meal and sat back down. "What's that guy's problem?" He asked. Just then, the man stood up. He was wearing a dark black ninja uniform, two katanas sheathed behind his back, and an array of throwing daggers and shruikens at his side. There was an aura of mystery about him.

"He seems vaguely familiar." Said Edgar "Wait a minute! That's Shadow. He owes allegiance to nobody, and would do anything for money. He appears and disappears like the wind. He'd probably kill his own brother for enough gold."

"Best to steer clear of him then, I guess." Said Locke They finished eating, paid for the food and left.

"Now we should go and find the inn." Said Edgar.

"One last stop." Said Locke "First, we need to get Terra a weapon." They found the weapon shop and looked around a bit. The building was not large, but not small either. It had an array of swords, battleaxes, spears, knives, and many other sorts of weapons hung on the walls.

"We need a weapon that someone like this young lady can use." Locke asked the shop's owner. "What do you recommend?"

"'Ow 'bout somezeeng light, like a dagger, or cutlass"

"What do you have in the way of cutlasses?" Locke asked the shopkeeper.

"I know just vhat you are looking for." He said, disappearing behind a back door, then popping back out after a minute.

"Heer it is, it is called ze Regal Cutlass."

"Does that mean it was owned by kings?" Asked Locke.

"Vell, nope."

"Queens"

"No."

"Princes? Princesses?"

"Nope."

"Then why is it called the regal cutlass?" interrupted Edgar.

"Because I like ze name. Eet is only one-hundred gil."

"Alright, Alright, we'll buy it." Said Edgar, wanting to be rid of the man. They paid for the cutlass and left, thankful to be rid of the shopkeeper. They went to the inn and got a room. They all quickly fell asleep after such an eventful day and had a good nights sleep.

***

As they left the inn the next morning, they found it just as busy as when they first found it. There was a newspaper boy yelling "Extra! Extra!" and talking about someone named Duncan who had disappeared early the previous morning, and how police thought he was murdered by his son, Vargas.

People walked this way and that, but the three adventurers needed to continue through to the returners hideout. They found their way out of the city and continued on their way to the hideout. As they walked through the countryside, the scenery got more and more beautiful, the trees were greener, and the sounds of various animals could easily be heard. It was getting very dark and cold, they needed to stop somewhere soon. Things changed though, when they stopped by a certain house. Something was wrong. There were two men breaking into the house.

"What are you doing?" Asked Edgar, in his most authoritative voice.

"Oh, well" Said one of the men "We were trying to get into my house but the key broke in the lock."

"Is that all," Said Locke "if you want, I can pick the lock for you."

"But the key..."

"No problem."

The two men looked at each other, "All right."

Locke started to walk past the men, but pulled a sudden move. He pulled the man's pant leg up. "Hey!" Said the man.

"Just as I thought," Said Locke "a concealed weapon. You men are thieves."

"Not true, sir." said the man, "We just got off guard duty, me and my friend were here to warm up a bit. We just forgot to remove these daggers."

"Then why aren't your faces all red? If you were on guard duty all night, your faces would be red from the cold."

"Get him!" Said the thieves. Before they could even move, the two thieves had already thrown their throwing knifes and drawn their daggers. Edgar ducked, which is fortunate, for both of those knives were aimed at him. He pulled out his crossbow and pulled the trigger. Instantly, a volley of arrows were launched at the two assailants. They dodged them with relative ease. They charged Edgar and Locke with their short sword raised in the air. Normally, short sword welding opponents are easy to take down, but these men had super fast reflexes. Suddenly, a voice called out, "Thunder" and two bolts of lightning came down and struck the men's hands. They both fell to the ground, stunned.

They tied the two men up, and when the stunnedness wore off, Locke said, "Now tell me, what are you really? Your reflexes tell me that you are martial artists of some sort. I would say that you were trained under master Duncan, but he's a good man, and none of his students would do such a thing. But, I am fairly certain that you aren't just petty thieves. Tell me, what are you?"

"I am just a regular thief." Said the man.

"He's lying." said Terra. "I can just sense it. He has more sinister reasons for being here."

"How did..." said the other man before he was interrupted.

"Just shut up." said the first man.

"You might as well just tell me," said Edgar, "we're going to find out anyway."

"Well, we..."

"Just..." but then, Locke gagged him. "Now go on" he said.

"Well, wez'n just humble assassins. Sum'n came to us and asked us to knock off this man. What was his name? Rabbit, Robbin, that's it, Sabin. We were just about to break in and put some of this stuff into his orange juice..."

"Sabin?" Said Edgar "Where is he? Is he here?"

"He's probably out meditating on top of Mt. Kolts. Many of Duncan's students meditate there.

"Then let's go!" Said Edgar as he started running toward Mt. Kolts. The others followed him.

"Hey there!" Said the man, "Aren't you going to untie us. You've got to at least report us so that we don't have to wait here all night."

"We'll send someone... Eventually."