~If we go down,
We all go down together!
If we go down, down, down,
We all go down together!
We are wrong 'til it's right,
Falling all as one tonight!
If we go down, down down,
We all go down together!~
"Tara! Tell me you saw that! Please…" A tall, tan-skinned boy with brown hair called.
The girl looked up at him, hazel eyes meeting brown. "And if I didn't?" She replied simply, scrunching her nose in amusement as the boy fumbled with words to reply.
She stood up from her crouch next to his motorbike, oil smeared along her cheeks and forehead. He pulled a rag from his pocket and handed it to her. "If you weren't my sister who was letting me live with you I'd say I hate you." He sighed with a shake of his head, staring down at Tara who cleaned her face with the rag.
She shrugged and laughed a bit, patting his shoulder with a wink. "If you weren't my brother, Dustin. I'd probably tell you to find another mechanic." She replied, handing the rag back to the dark haired teen.
He shrugged in response, the two looking around the store they both worked in. "But then Kelly would have to find another one and she'd have to pay them more. You're like a discount. Manager and head mechanic." He laughed, Tara rolling her eyes and swatting his arm.
She scowled at him. "You have a track to practice on don't you?" She grumbled, glaring at the ground.
Dustin's eyes widened. "Oh man!" He shouted in fright, turning on his heel and grabbing his gear, the rushed over to his bike Tara was leaning on with a grin on her face.
He glared at her. "Don't you have dance?" He responded, crossing his arms over his broad chest.
It was Tara's turn to run around in fright. "Crap, I knew I was finishing your bike quicker for a reason!" She shouted, slinging her shoulder bag over her shoulder and running out of the store, Storm Chargers.
Dustin shook his head and grabbed onto his handlebars, slowly pushing the bike forward towards the loading dock. "Love you too sis…." He grumbled.
xXx
Tara bounced around the studio room while humming to herself, not bothering to tone it down as no one really cares what sounds come through the doors. She turned the music up full blast and backed into the middle of the room, staring herself down as she counted in her head, waiting for her cue. Krewella's music blasted through the speakers with a sudden base drop, earning fast and pointed movements from the teen as she moved and dance perfectly to the beat played through her ears. She almost didn't hear her phone buzzing in a notification she was so focused.
But instead of ignoring it like she wanted, she glared at the screen and picked up the phon. "What do you want Dustin? I was in the middle of a hard sequence." She hissed into the phone, feeling the temperature in the room rising steadily.
He gulped on the other end of the line. "Sorry, but Sensei said he wanted to see you as quick as possible….and like, now now." He said quickly, and she just knew their sensei was standing right next to him, urging him to talk.
Tara sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Could you put him on the phone for me? I don't need to get in trouble with him just before my graduation you know." She mumbled, hearing the phone be passed from one hand to another.
She cleared her throat and bit her lip as she heard the familiar voice of Sensei Watanabe. "Tara, glad to see your training has paid off...unlike some." He said, and she just knew he was giving a pointed look to her brother.
She grinned and did a small happy dance, clapping her hand on her forearm as the other one was still holding the phone to her ear. "Happy to please you Sensei. Now what did you need me for?" She asked him, stopping her happy dance and getting right down to business.
He made a clicking noise somehow and she could tell he was nodding his head. "Right….I would like you to get here as fast as you can. I would like to speak of an urgent matter." He said quickly, handing the phone back to Dustin before she had a chance to reply.
Dustin blinked as the phone was returned to him. "Uh, right. Did you get that Tare?" He asked, glancing at Sensei for a moment before shaking his head; that was really weird and really quick.
Tara chuckled and nodded her head. "Yes, Dear Brother of mine I did. I'll be there in a flash." She responded, clicking the end call button and ninja streaking towards the waterfall which hides her ninja school.
xXx
As soon as she stepped foot on campus, she was tackled into a hug by a blonde. "Tori! I missed you too." Tara laughed and pat the girl's head before wrapping her arms around her shoulders, the two clinging to each other while stepping towards the three waiting for them.
Shane smirked and nodded his head at her, the faintest blush reaching his neck as he looked towards the ground. The last time the four hung out was just before she ended up finishing the last of her training. Sensei hadn't let her come back since as she would've just distracted the pupils from doing their training. Tori continued to cling to the brunette and pouted when Shane gave her a look.
Tara patted Tori's head and looked at her sensei expectantly, thought spotting his uneasy look between the three around made her think twice about starting her chat with him. "Uh, Tor…..guys, gimme a minute would ya?" She asked softly, gently and slowly starting to push the blonde off her.
The three nodded, albeit unwillingly and moved away from the two meaning to talk. Tara then lifted her head to look her sensei in his eyes. "Okay, now what is it?" She asked him softly, noting the uneasiness set in his features.
The older man gave a small puff of air in confusion and sighed. "I fear something evil is coming. Someone coming back for revenge. I was hoping you'd come now to help me train those here. If anything happens to me I need to know you'll be okay in taking care of things here." He said lowly, making sure no one else could hear the conversation.
At seeing the serious look on his face she nodded her head, not even a moment's hesitation as she thought about what he was asking of her. "But there's the problem of my being a fire wielding ninja Sensei….no one here has this ability like I do. Do you think I can do it?" She asked, biting the inside of her lip in self doubt.
The man nodded with a smile, easing the worry from her features in mere seconds. He could tell being the only fire ninja here weight down on her shoulders more often than not. There was no one else like her, no one else for her to train. She was alone in her confusion as even he-at first-had no idea how to train the girl. "It'll be fine. But now that you've agreed to it, measures must be taken. There is a room already made up for you so you may start your new life here whenever you're ready. I'd like it if you could stay here for a couple days and get adjusted. You can still have your own home with Dustin as well, I'll be sure to help with that however I can." He told her, motioning towards the temple.
She bowed to him, her hands clasped together-one fist over the other-and headed towards where he pointed. If this evil was as bad as he claimed, she would need to be as ready as possible. But how long did she have? How long did any of them have? She sighed when the thoughts started swirling around her mind. Dustin, Tori and Shane were here, the three people she promised to keep safe no matter what. As long as they kept to their training here she could watch them and it would all be fine.
xXx
Tara was about to stomp out of the temple in her boredom when someone stopped in front of the sliding door. They knocked gently on the door before she looked up at it and stepped towards the door. When she opened it, she wasn't entirely surprised when she saw Cam standing in front of her a surprised look on his face when she didn't look like she wanted to murder him.
She smirked at his face and tilted her head innocently. "Cam….why so surprised? Didn't Sensei tell you who would be living here?" She asked sickly sweet.
He gulped and nodded his head. "He told me….I just wasn't expecting you to talk to me….or seem so nice…" He responded quietly, clearing his throat from embarrassment.
She chuckled and shook her head. "I don't have to deal with people annoying me here anymore, unlike you," she said softly, giving a small frown for a moment at his pained expression, "did he tell you too?" She wondered.
He nodded stiffly and gave a weak smile. "Looks like you're getting a job here." He said quickly, hoping she'd change the subject.
She gave a weak nod and opened the door wider for him to walk in. "Are you here to keep me from getting bored and burning down the temple again? I swear it wasn't on purpose." She said, paling at the memory of her last boredom episode in the wood and paper made temple.
It was his turn to chuckle as he nodded his head. "Something like that. Dad told me you were in here and he wanted me to talk to you about the new role you're practically thrown into….uh, are you gonna live with us here?" He asked softly, tilting his head in question.
She blinked in surprise at the question and opened her mouth to respond when someone cleared their throat. "Cam...I think she should have a moment to collect her thoughts before you ask her those questions. This is all being rushed on her." Sensei Watanabe lightly scolded his son.
Cam nodded in understanding. "Sorry." He mumbled softly, giving a short head bow. She just smiled in response sympathetically.
She was just about to stand up and head out of the temple when tree figures stopped in the doorway wide eyed. Tori stepped in hesitantly and moved to sit beside the brunette, looking at her in awe. "You're going to be a sensei here….like, real...true….sensei." She whispered hearing the scoffs of the two guys behind her.
Tara chuckled and nodded her head. "Yeah I am….and to answer your questions Cam, I think I might...but only a few days a week, I still need to watch Dustin and make sure he gets his homework done." She said teasingly, winking at her brother who whined in response.
Tara was about to look up and ask their sensei something, but noticed he had already left the room. She sighed and shook her head softly, stretching until her back popped. "I think I'm going to go home for the night and pack my gear to bring back here. See you tomorrow Cam." She said with a smile, standing up and kissing his cheek before walking out the door.
Three sets of footsteps followed after her as they all moved towards the entrance to the school slowly, each teen trying to ask her questions at once. "When did you become a teacher here?" Shane asked her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
She immediately grabbed his arm and set it back to his side, no thought process needed in the action. "Well, he asked me to join today. But I had a feeling he'd be asking at some point. With everything going on, he needs another sensei around. And since I'm the first with fire, he probably wanted me around for when more show up like me." She replied with a small sigh, watching children run around them before running off to spar some more.
Tori linked their arms together and bumped their hips a moment. "Does this mean we can have sleepovers in the temple? That would be AWESOME." She said with a laugh.
Tara smiled but shook her head in response. "No, no sleepovers here. But I'm still going to be at my house so you don't have to worry about it. Dustin was going to move in officially after I bought the new house. And with Sensei's help, I should be able to buy it easily, no problem." She said quickly, squinting her eyes against the sunlight.
The blonde pouted but nodded, ignoring the looks the guys were throwing each other at the thought of sleepovers and her moving alone. "Wait, I'm moving with you? Since when? I thought Mom and Dad didn't want you going anywhere." He said with a small laugh, ducking away from her swing at him.
She gave an innocent smile and shrugged her shoulders. "That was before I told them of my promotion at Storm Chargers. You're looking at the new manager! Kelly thought it would be easier for her if I helped fix the bikes and kept the boxes with stock and such in order while she dealt with the customers. I'm more helpful in back than out front." She said with an easy shrug.
Shane laughed and shook his head. "True, but with you out front it helps with business….you're like Storm Chargers' mascot. The cute worker." He said, immediately closing his mouth as soon as the words escaped him.
Dustin started laughing and Tori gave him a glare. Tara just chuckled and shook her head. "Thanks Shane, you certainly know how to bring a girl up in spirits. Now then….I know I said I don't officially have the house yet, but I already have a key aaaaand…..who wants to sleepover?!" She called before ninja-streaking away from the three who groaned, "Sensei actually lets her get away with that?"
~We are giants,
We are bigger than the monster.
Every second we are taking back the power
On the run,
'til we get a fucking answer.
Try to hold us down,
BUT WE'RE ONLY GETTING STRONGER~