CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: The Iga Confrontation
"…so that's everything." I finished, yawning into my hand as Karin – wait no, Nightshade – gave me a cold look.
After meeting up on the tip of Japan's northern most island, we'd travelled down the main island mostly on the Shinkansen which didn't take too long; Erebus made contact with Hattori Yoshida, current leader of the Iga clan, and arranged a private ride for us. We went from Aomori to Tokyo in three hours. That's over six hundred kilometres, going from Calgary to Fort McMurray takes at least six hours at the same distance (roughly). I was asleep for most of it, my cheek squished against the window as Erebus slumped heavily on my shoulder. I doubted he slept at all, his entire demeanor changed once we hit the country and it felt like our training all over again – no nonsense, no bullshit. I caught myself calling him Sensei a couple of times in my head, thankfully keeping my mouth from uttering that word. One part of me assumed he'd think it cute, the other worried about pissing him off.
Then again, safely tucked away in one of Iga's hidden compounds (I had to be blindfolded), he'd started calling me "kouhai" which was kind of endearing…kind of.
Erebus had disappeared with Hattori which left me alone with Nightshade to discuss everything that had happened so far in terms of my life and the plan ahead. She'd been really patient with me throughout the entire conversation but I also knew she was trying to get a read on my mental state, I would've preferred she didn't. Erebus hadn't been counselling me per say but the training and his rigorous instruction helped focused me on the future instead of falling back into dreaming about the past. Apparently Snake Eyes let it slip that I was having trouble sleeping so Erebus made it his mission in life to train me until I passed out on the floor, too tired to even dream.
"Why didn't you call me, you had my number." Nightshade said evenly, taking out her katana and a whetstone. I flinched at the sound of the stone scrapping the metal.
"Honestly, I forgot. A lot of things were happening and I wasn't thinking straight." I answered quickly. "Besides, we weren't due for another shipment of supplies and you could've been busy."
"Don't assume so much in the future." She hissed, glancing up from her work to glare. Her gaze softened a touch before she resumed sharpening her sword. "Have they been buried?"
"Probably, I wouldn't really know." I pulled my knees up to my chest and leaned against the wall. On my right side was a small circular window where the moon shone fully over the snow covered grounds. The sliding paper doors were on my left, the few candles in the room made the people walking outside look like giant shadow puppets. I looked back at Nightshade as she pulled my naginata into her lap, pulling off the sleeve protecting the blade and eyeing it critically.
"Are you actually any good with this?"
"Yeah," I blurted indignantly. "I wouldn't've come if I wasn't good."
Liar.
"Now, now, it's too late for fighting." Erebus muffled voice groaned, sliding the door aside and shuffling into the room. Somewhere between our arrival and his talk with Hattori, he'd changed into a dark blue and white hakama, two swords hung loosely at his waist and he shrugged one shoulder.
"Yoshi says they've pinpointed Snake Eyes and Jinx's whereabouts."
"Yay?" I said anxiously, watching Erebus shut his eyes and sigh. "What's the problem?"
"They're claiming to be remnants of the Koga clan." He sent a look in Nightshade's direction before continuing. "But Iga has encountered no one from that school of ninjutsu in a few centuries."
Nightshade went rigid but her face held no betrayal of what her body was clearly sending out – Danger, Will Robinson, I thought childishly. Erebus nodded slowly and settled more comfortably onto his bum, crossing his legs and assuming a "thinking pose"; his fingers came together in a complete circle that hovered over his stomach.
"I believe these people claiming to be Koga are Red Ninja, defectors from the Arashikage."
"And?" I interrupted, glancing over at Nightshade questioningly. Erebus sighed, tensing as a shadow passed by the door, kneeling and placing something on the floor.
"Iga and Koga were the founders of ninjutsu and proclaimed a sort of clan purity, no outsiders allowed much less foreigners. Around the time Snake Eyes, myself, and Nightshade joined the ranks, there were whispers of a rebellion going on but the Hard Master was quick to dispel those kinds of rumours. However, after his assassination, a large portion of Arashikage defected."
"And what Erebus doesn't want to admit is that there's a possibility Storm Shadow is leading the Red Ninja." Nightshade pointed her sword in his direction boldly, Erebus merely stared at the pointed edge with a mildly annoyed look on his face.
"I figured you'd gathered your own intel after your capture. But what matters is the absence of the Koga-ryu style in these alleged Koga ninja."
"They don't know it?" I ventured carefully, Nightshade pushed my naginata back into my hands and returned to sharpening her sword although she moved briskly towards her sai in a very deliberate matter. I wondered if maybe these two had met before or maybe their personalities clashed a little too much.
"No, they don't seem to know it. That style died with its last teacher in 1958."
"So, where does that leave us?" Nightshade cut in.
"We move tonight."
Nightshade's eyebrows disappeared under the fringe of reddish brown hair, watching Erebus rise and step backwards towards the doors where he sat down again and opened the doors. He threw two bundles of clothing at each of us, grabbing his own and walking towards one corner of the room.
"Our mission is to retrieve Snake Eyes and Jinx, Nightshade is to apprehend Storm Shadow."
He slipped both arms out of his hakama and I turned around before I could see him fully disrobe. I caught the teasing look Nightshade had on her face as she brazenly pulled off her T-shirt, and instantly faced away from her too. I eyed the paper doors skeptically. The scars and bruises had mostly cleared up but the burn marks were still vague reminders of what happened, I certainly didn't want to explain the burn marks to Nightshade or anyone for that matter.
"Can I blow out the candles?" I pulled my arm out of my shirt and sat down in front of the trio of lights.
Erebus regarded me as he pulled on a skin tight black shirt with a high collar, tying a belt around his waist and securing his swords up on his hip.
"Sure, I'll help you."
"Um, no, I got it."
He rolled his eyes and dipped down, the candles went out and I felt the bundle of clothes disappear from my hands. My heart dropped into my stomach and started dissolving.
"There aren't any tags. I'd hate for my cute little kouhai to put her uniform on backwards." His cheerful voice said somewhere over my head. I felt his breath over my ear. "You undress, I won't touch you…I'll just give you the right side, alright?"
"Yeah," I spluttered, choking on the breath I'd been holding in. Erebus ruffled my hair.
"Relax, nothing is going to happen to you. Stick with me, I'll protect you."
Despite the snow on the ground, I was barely cold. Our "uniforms" consisted of layers of dark clothing, alternating long-sleeved shirts with vests and pants with shorts a few times over until we were well insulated. The Iga ninja were up in the trees with Nightshade doing the ninja way of breezing over tree branches, Erebus and I were stuck running through the snow trying not to fall flat on our faces. I felt a little bad that Erebus wasn't up with the others, he and Hattori looked awfully happy to see each other in their own reserved way. They almost looked like brothers but Hattori was distinctly Japanese in appearance while Erebus had some mixed blood in him.
"Hey, Erebus."
"Doing alright, kouhai?" he said, annoyingly cheerful.
"Yes, but I have a question, Sensei." I replied indulgently.
"Speak, and you shall be heard."
He pulled on my arm and tugged me around a large tree, following the multiple shadows that leapt over the ground and into the next patch of trees. There was a large hill up ahead, like, an absurdly large hill, with a single white searchlight moving over the ground. Poor security? Maybe this would be alright after all.
"Are you…an Iga ninja?"
We skidded to a stop and Erebus held up his hand, lifting a finger to his lips. Ahead of us in the trees, I saw the moonlight reflect off the cool surface of someone's sword. The sound of someone's quiet breathing nearby made Erebus drop into a low stance, I copied him out of habit. One of his hands wrapped around the hilt of one of his swords and he shut his eyes.
One
Two
Three
He leapt forward and unsheathed his sword, plunged it into a body, flicked the blood off and sheathed his blade all in one practiced movement. Iga ninja moved in to dispose of the Red Ninja, identified clearly by their red clothing, and Erebus ushered me into a sprint.
"No. I have distant cousins in the clan though. Yoshi and I do look a little alike, don't we?"
"Yeah. That was…Iaido, right?"
He shot me an impressed look, shoving me behind him as a shadow jumped down from above. He drew the other sword, performed two clean cuts and directed me away as the body was removed. The thumping of several footsteps behind us forced us over gnarly roots, listening to the sharp whistle of ninja wire pulled taut over skin, the choked gasps of those too slow to avoid them.
"Yes, I'm surprised you recognized it." Erebus murmured as the two of us joined the lucid shadow of Iga ninja scaling the hill.
"Saw a demonstration at a con."
"Cool."
Small talk was going to be a regular thing, and I relented when Erebus told me to get onto his back. He was taking a risk, bringing me along. Nightshade knew it, Iga knew it. I felt them close in around us as we dipped under the searchlight. We branched off, one side climbed left and the other right. The fastest of us converged from both sides at the searchlight, shutting it down and dispatching the guards. We slipped inside the hill which was more of a building, and Nightshade waved us over.
"Hattori says they're in the lower levels. Are you ready?" she looked at me, piercing me with that violet gaze.
I nodded. "I'll cover you."
"Don't worry about killing them," Erebus advised which seemed like something stupid to say. "Knock them out, knock them over."
Nightshade was listening but then I saw her whip her head back and dart down the hallway, throwing herself along the floor and sliding under a row of legs. Erebus swore and took off after her as more ninja filled the corridor, he waited until he was in range before pulling out his swords and digging into the crowd of bodies swarming Nightshade. I glanced back behind us, catching sight of Hattori's ponytail as he disappeared into the shadows. Even as the experienced fighters in front of me finished their batch of prey, I felt his eyes still on us, still looking after us.
"Don't do that again." Erebus was saying when I finally walked over, ignoring the rag doll placement of the corpses. "I'm leading this mission, you follow me." Erebus growled and I flinched at the flippant look on Nightshade's face.
"Then lead." She challenged, moving aside as a something flew passed her head, grazing my cheek on its path behind us.
I felt the thin scar bleeding on my cheek and Nightshade tried a half-hearted look of apology before twirling away and engaging the enemy. Erebus swore again, this time in Japanese, and stalked forward like wave about to break onto the shore, a dull roar before thundering down with a powerful whoosh! I shadowed him, blocking katana strikes and shoving them off his back, right into Nightshade's alternating blade play – a sai was stick in her teeth, the other clutched in her left hand as the katana sung in her right.
We continued down the narrow hallways, fighting off ninja until the corridors got colder and darker. They weren't as eager to fight us the further down we went, making Erebus assume they were congregating in the space Snake Eyes and Jinx were. And congregate they did.
Scores of Red Ninja filled the room like an impassible sea of red terracotta soldiers, still like death but almost moving minutely, swaying from side to side as if to hypnotize us. On a raised platform at the back of the room stood Storm Shadow, his mask missing and his eyes sweeping over us causally. Until he saw Nightshade. In that moment his perfect mask fell apart and he stumbled into the railing as he looked at her, shock and anger slowly moving over his face. Nightshade smirked and bid us a dramatic farewell, parting the red sea as easily as a wolf would part sheep.
She looked so bloody confident as she strode up the stairs and stood brazenly before him, but she was shaking. Her face was beautiful in a terrifying way, her eyes bright and the smile too sharp, too angry. Behind them sat Snake Eyes and Jinx, both chained to the wall with their hands bound high above their heads. Jinx seemed to take most of the beating, both her eyes were black and the front of her shirt had been cut open.
I wanted to see Snake Eyes but I was quickly aware of the waves of wrathful energy rolling off Erebus. He'd positioned himself in front of me the moment we stepped into the room, we were still close enough to the door that the others in the room were not so aware of me, but they had to be. My heart was pounding, I felt like my veins were tightening around my throat and trying to strangle me.
Erebus moved a hand to pull a cloth mask over his face, he then grasped both swords and held them out on either side of him.
"Stay with me, I'll protect you." he whispered thickly, I nodded numbly and adjusted the grip on my naginata. The blade hovered over the ground, I waited for him to move. When he did, all hell was going to break loose. He breathed in deeply and took several steps forward, I turned around and pressed my back against his and the room moved all at once, red on all sides, shutting us in. I tried getting a red on them, any of them, but they all looked the same. Most started at Erebus, perhaps recognizing him. The ones who stared at me did so with looks of distain or pity.
"Breathe," he rasped. I felt the muscles in his back move.
"Do they need an invitation?" I asked Erebus and then he was gone.
I ducked under a slash, raising the naginata up and lodging it awkwardly in someone's throat. The wet gurgling sound startled me, I jerked backwards, yanking the blade out and spinning around, warding off other attacks. Erebus returned into my line of sight for a moment, hacking off arms and impaling chests with the same cold gaze. His crimson eyes shone brighter, I struggled to meet up with him, slamming the staff end of my weapon into anything that got in my way. I felt sick, really sick. I only winded them, but Erebus was ripping through them, taking advantage of their staggering away from me.
I whipped around, awkwardly blocking a sword and whimpered, the ninja from before had found me again, his throat growing darker and darker with all the blood pouring out. I shut my eyes for a second, just a second, and when they opened a part of his face was missing. I teetered backwards as a wave of nausea hit me, crumpling and clutching my stomach. Both actions preventing my beheading, and I thrust upwards blindly. The blade got stuck again, going up through the chin and catching on the bone of the ninja's forehead. Wincing, I yanked it but out, kicking his body backwards and flying over it towards Erebus. He cast me a brief look, elbowing me behind him and tangling his swords against three others.
"The stairs." He ordered lowly, shoving his attackers back and roaring.
The Red Ninja pushed us towards the back of the chamber, underneath the metal platform where Nightshade and Storm Shadow were screaming at each other.
"You idiot!"
"Where have you been?"
"As if you care! These people killed my father, you bastard!"
Erebus shoved me towards the stairs, yelling at me to get to Jinx and Snake Eyes. I nodded, shaking, and watched the Red Ninja throw themselves around his arms, forcing him down onto his knees. I felt a pull in my chest and thrust forward, catching someone's shoulder and ripping through the skin there. None of them ever made pained sounds when injured, this one merely turned his head and stared dimly at me. I pulled back, adjusting my stance and raising the naginata up, bringing it down quickly and blinking as it cracked into his skull. That made heads turn. Two ninja came towards me, flipping their swords expertly and herding me away from the stairs.
"Oh great," I wheezed as they came on either side of me.
Stay calm. They'll want to test you first. They'll attack one at a time. I heard Erebus say, so I waited. Like them, I had a mask on but it didn't wrap around my head, my blueberry hair was still very much centre stage. I tried mirroring their expression, narrowing my eyes and furrowing my eyebrows but it felt really stupid the more I focused on that.
The one of my right eased forward, sword at waist height. I reacted, swinging around and hoping to catch his throat but he moved back. The second jumped forward when I turned my back, I thrusted blindly behind me and hit his stomach. Twirling, I swung around and slashed through his chest, jumping back into the wall with a curse. The first one moved in again, slashing at me wildly. Stupidly, I threw the naginata at his chest, watching him drop his sword and stumble backwards with the sudden weight in his arms. I reached down for his sword and made to stab him with it but he caught it in his hand, kicking my feet out from under me. I straggled him awkwardly, shoving the sword into the ground and lodging it there. I slammed my fist into his throat until his body slackened and a few more ninja had gotten interested. I wrestled my naginata off him and made a beeline for the stairs, clamouring up and sliding along the floor like Nightshade had.
She had Storm Shadow pinned underneath her, her knees digging into his side the two of them held tight to each other's necks. For a second, I forgot they were fighting.
I pulled down the mask as I set to work on the locks around Jinx's wrists, ignoring the unimpressed look she had on her face as she stared blearily up at me. I grabbed a small knife from a pack on my hip and wiggled it around a few times, glancing back occasionally as Nightshade and Storm Shadow rolled towards us. Nightshade had the keys in her mouth and she spit them at me, reaching down with her free hands and grabbing Storm Shadow's crouch. His black eyes fixed her with a look so cold I thought she falter but Nightshade merely smiled and forced Storm Shadow to roll over until she could sit on his chest again. I quickly freed Jinx and watched warily as she stood up, swaying back into the wall and folding her arms over her chest with a moan. I put a hand on her shoulder and she shook me off with a hiss, putting a hand over her eyes and mashing her lips together. Then I looked at Snake Eyes.
His suit was all torn up, the visor cracked cleanly in half and the mask ripped in such a way that one blue eye was visible under a fringe of sweaty blond hair.
"Hey there, stranger," I squeaked, shuffling over to him and slamming the key into the lock. He leaned into my arms and sighed deeply, his body shaking despite himself. I lowered a hand and pushed my fingers through the gap in his mask, feeling the coolness in his forehead with a sense of dread. Once I got his arms down, he sagged into me and wound an arm around my back, shivering terribly.
"Come on, don't do this to me again, Hayabusa." I saw Jinx cock her head at the nickname. "We need to move and you're heavy."
He huffed as I moved his arm over my shoulder, forcing him to stand properly where he promptly fell into the wall, his eye rolling back into his head. I looked at Jinx desperately, darting down and grabbing my naginata as a Red Ninja flew up the stairs. I stabbed into his thigh and kicked him into the stairs, impaling his chest and watching him roll helplessly down the stairs.
"Storm Shadow drugged him, I do not know with what." Jinx reported robotically, I turned back towards Nightshade as the white ninja threw her off his body with a snarl.
Nightshade hit the ground once and she flipped back onto her feet with a mouthful of blood. She spat it out, taking a quick look of her surroundings before stalking back towards Storm Shadow. He batted her way with a dismissive slap, watching her back crash into the railing before he grabbed her neck and tossed her at us. I caught her sloppily in my arms and winced as she pushed off me with a glare.
"You want to truth, Karin?" he said bitingly. "I did not kill the Hard Master."
"Do those lies help you sleep at night?" She deadpanned, her gaze pinning him down.
"No, it is true. I will gladly submit myself to the tribunal to prove my innocence." He replied stubbornly, his eyes roving over Snake Eyes's body. The black ninja weakly raised his arms up and I lurched forward to catch him before he toppled over. He grunted angrily, trying to get his hands to work.
"Of all the chances you had to do this, why pick now?" I asked irritated, receiving a grateful nod from Snake Eyes as I helped steady him again.
"Because I will better serve as your ally instead of your enemy, and something big is coming." Storm Shadow looked imploringly at Snake Eyes and sunk into his knees, sheathing his sword and surrendering it before him.
"Brother, trust me." He bowed and behind him I could see the Iga ninja surging into the chamber. Erebus roared and I didn't need to look down to know he'd finally broken free. As for us, Nightshade was quiet. She stared hard at Storm Shadow's submissive form and looked to Jinx who vehemently begged Snake Eyes not to listen to his former friend. I watched his face warily, the one eye that was visible cleared up as he stared at his once best friend. He looked down at me and nodded, so I let go and watched him walk over. He practically fell onto his knees and Storm Shadow straightened immediately, catching his friend worriedly.
"I trust you, Storm Shadow. Don't make me regret it."
"Never again."
That's when the shuriken tore into Snake Eyes's throat.