I'm back again! Sorry it took a little longer than normal. Time to answer the reviews and offer our love to those who are loving this story! :-D
Nomi Norisu: Yeah, she's the Warrior, glad you like it. There's going to be more on that this chapter.
Elcall: Yeah, Jenna's the Warrior, and the original was a ten year old girl, but a capable ten year old girl, mind you. And yeah, Jenna's uncle is Viceroy, but you've got to understand, besides her grandfather, the man is her last family member. And, well, sorry that this one wasn't as quick as the others.
Ninjatana Warrior: That sounds pretty cool, actually. As you'll soon see here, Darkness and Light are allyed together to help maintain Order and defeat Chaos. :-)
Okay, that's taken care of. Enjoy!
Chapter 4: Defenders Past, Part 2
Winnie took a deep breath and let it out slowly, taking a seat on the ground. "Take a seat, it's a bit of a long story." she said, thinking. Jenna nodded and sat, watching with amazement and curiosity as the trees began to bud and grow flowers and leaves in fast forward.
Birdsong began to feel the air as the ground began to grow grass and flowers like snowdrops and daffodils and roses in fast forward all around them, and small, drawing-like butterflies began to flit around them. In fact, as she looked around, Jenna realized that everything except Winnie and herself looked like either an ancient drawing or more modern-ish looking doodle thing.
Digging into her bag, Winnie pulled out a cut-out looking paper scroll, unrolling it and holding it up to the open air, adjusting it like a picture frame on a wall before letting it go to float in open space. There were small bits of color along the bottom of the parchment, and Winnie tapped the red one. Above the little colors a curve-edged rectangular image appeared, almost like a tv.
A different place showed through, an open space with pine trees just behind it before someone appeared, like walking in front of a camera.
He wore an ink-black cloak embroidered with the "9" symbol of the Norisu and the Ninja, that covered him from the nose down, a clip, a glowing green version of the ninja mask, seemed to keep the cloak held up. His chest had rings of red on it, reminisce of the Nomicon, with a wild mane of bright red hair. The other highlights on the suit were red, the old parchment-like inside of his cloak filled with old writings, but hardly any neon doodles.
The bright green clip closely matched his blazing green eyes, and the figure appeared to be real, unlike the usual doodle-people and like Winnie.
He blinked in surprise, then seemed to smile widely beneath the cloak. "Heh heh, little sis, you're back! It's been a couple of hundred years, hasn't it?" he looked closer with a small, worried look in his eyes, seeming to frown. "Hang on, you didn't have any scars last time, what happened?" he asked, not bothering to try and hide his concern.
Winnie shrugged. "Damage was dealt to the book, and thus to me. But I didn't contact you just to chitchat; I need to know how much I'm allowed to tell her." she jabbed her thumb in Jenna's direction, as she was leaning over the smaller girls shoulder to peer at the scroll.
The guy blinked, pulling down the cloak a bit so his face could be fully seen. His worried frown could be plainly seen now, and he seemed to be debating something, a bit of wariness about his features.
"I already mentioned the Defending Six, and my name, so she may as well hear the rest." Winnie informed him, which seemed to sway the older teens decision, who looked to be about sixteen or so. He smiled thankfully, yet wearily, at her, as if tired but glad she was alright.
"Fine, but only your side. You make me sound like an idiot, Winnie." he told her, rolling his eyes playfully
"Love you too, Nomi." she replied, half sass and half caring. With that, the image disappeared and the scroll rolled up and dropped to the ground. Winnie picked it up and tucked it into her bag before facing Jenna.
"Okay, now, where to begin . . . . well, to start, I was part of a team with five others. Each of us had a main element that we could control using two certain, key objects; a piece of unassuming clothing, and a small stone we kept on us at all times, for it held the bulk of our power. We were united for two reasons; one, as friends, and two, to defeat the Sorcerer."
Jenna tilted her head, listening carefully.
"It was so long ago, about 800 years ago," Winnie continued, digging out a different scroll that had a wave symbol on it before spreading it out on the ground. Images came through, kinda shaky, as if filmed by a camera, and with a warm glow, like a flashback. Otherwise, it looked like how she contacted Nomi.
Three teens, an adult, and one younger girl were walking and chatting in a village consisting of Japanese style houses, and everyone wore strange clothing. Well, strange to us, anyhow.
The tallest and eldest, a man in his late twenties, looked a bit like an Indian, with dark skin and brown-black, short, shaggy hair and keen, brown-grey eyes. He wore dark green pants, dirt-brown sleeveless shirt, pale green belt, no shoes, and had a sack flung over one shoulder.
"That's Chikyū. He basically supervised us and acted as our uncle." Winnie explained, pointing at him.
The second tallest was a teenager, maybe about seventeen years old, with coppery hair and peachy skin. He was only a little shorter than the first man, his bright blue eyes wide with curiosity as he gazed around himself. His clothes were mostly of pale shades; a pale green short sleeved shirt, pale beige pants that tucked into leather cowboy boots with metal spurs, a cowboy hat propped up on his head. He wore a carefree, happy smile as he sauntered along with the others.
"And that's Wally. He's always fun to have around. He tells the greatest stories and isn't that bad at singing, either. We could never sneak up on him." Winnie continued.
The third tallest looked like the guy Winnie had called "Nomi". He looked about the same, but with different clothes. Now, he wore a red long sleeved coat with black pants and a white band for a belt, his hair a little longer and pulled back in a ponytail that stood out from his head and leather sandals.
"That would be Nomi, pronounced 'Nah-me'. He's my honorary older brother." Winnie rolled her eyes with a fond smile.
The third teen was as tall as Nomi, a girl, with olive skin, bright grey eyes, sandy blond hair, and primarily pastel yellow clothes. She wore a long sleeved shirt, a white skirt with pastel yellow markings that went over plain grey pants and dark brown leather sandals.
"That's Hikari. She's like the older sister slash cousin. She taught me how to sew up the rips in my clothes." Winnie continued with a note warmth in her tone.
The shortest, the girl, looked like Winnie, but a little smaller than her current age, with no scars on her cheeks. She wore a dark grey long sleeved coat and pants with a blue belt and satchel slung over her shoulder, and no shoes.
"We were just having a good time that particular day." Winnie continued. "It was all fun and games."
As they passed a building, heading towards a pine forest nearby, a shadow stirred and detached itself from the wall. It slunk closer before grabbing Wally by the shoulders, shouting random gibberish. Everyone startled, Wally jerking away with terror clear in sky blue eyes, swinging a fist back that hit the mysterious person on the cheek, knocking him to the ground.
The mystery person seemed to fade from inky blackness into color, even though he was in the sunlight.
It was a teenage boy, with short, dark blue hair, ocean-blue eyes that had white pupils, an angular face with pale skin, and long canine teeth that poked out from under his top lip. He wore dark, murky purple pants, dark blue long sleeved shirt, and a long, open robe/cloak that trailed on the ground behind him a little. The robe draped over his shoulders and latched under his neck with two shiny black buttons, with long sleeves that he wasn't currently using.
He had a dark, murky purple top hat, that was currently knocked aside on the ground, and an onyx stone set in dark pewter, that glinted dark shades of blue and purple when the light hit it right. It swung about his neck by a dark pewter chain as he looked around wildly, blindly, a hand to his cheek while his other scrabbled about on the ground for, presumably, his hat.
"That's Moor-ee," Winnie continued, indicating the new figure on the ground. "Muri is my best friend, and we've always been there for eachother. Whenever we have a problem, we chat about it. He always liked trying to prank us, especially Wally, since no one else can sneak up on him." Winnie finished.
Winnie hurried over to him, grabbing his hand and helping up to his feet before picking up his top hat. After dusting it off and returning it to him, she began to shout at Wally angrily, waving her hands around. Wally ducked his head, a look of fear in his eyes as the much smaller girl advanced on him. Muri, meanwhile, snapped his fingers, a long, dark brown cane appearing from no where.
At the top was a carved wolfs' head, which he gripped as he tapped the extremely thin end on the ground, like a blind man. He was a little taller than Nomi and Hikari, but it was quickly revealed through Winnie's protective, angry shouting that Muri was fourteen, while Hikari and Nomi were sixteen, Wally seventeen, and Chikyū twenty-six, and herself ten.
"Don't you get it?!" Winnie carried on. "His grandfather may have wonked up, but Muri hasn't, and he doesn't deserve to be treated this way! He's just the same as the rest of us! We're a family!" she sniffled a little and rubbed at her watering eyes. "We're a family . . . . "
Hikari was the first to comfort her, pulling the younger girl into a hug, stroking her hair. "Sh, sh, it's okay, Winnie." she directed an annoyed glare at Nomi, Chikyū, and Wally, daring them to say the wrong thing. One by one, they all apologized to Muri and and Winnie, and they carried on with their walk, going out of town and into a pine forest.
Winnie and Muri were having a rather strange conversation, going on about ghost-bats and leviathans, cave-creepers and giant squid. The others couldn't help but glance at eachother with confusion and a small bit of wariness. Muri did talk kinda strange, and his appearance was rather off putting at the best of times. Nevertheless, as the conversation turned to one of stealth tactics and sneak attacks, the others joined in.
Wally, Nomi, Muri, and Winnie were especially passionate about these subjects, as all were, in a way, like ninjas. Sure, they had their differences, and not everyone saw eye-to-eye when it came to certain things, but they were a team; no, not a team.
They were family, and they had to start acting like one.
"We were a family, and now that you're the next Warrior, you have to find four other people, and help them find the other books. I'll help you find the books, and the right people, later on, but for now, you need to practice using the suit." Winnie explained, pausing what the scroll was showing, ending with all six smiling and laughing with one another.
Jenna nodded. "I think I understand. I was able to talk with the Ninja on Monday. He . . . he was about to reveal his secret identity, but I stopped him." Jenna admitted.
Winnie nodded thoughtfully. "Good choice; Nomi would've thrown a fit had the Ninja revealed himself to a stranger like that. The Ninja knows Nomi as a book called the Nomicon. I'd better send you back now."
Jenna didn't even have time for a nod as Winnie snapped her fingers. Within moments, Jenna was sucked out and awake on her bed, sprawled on top of the open grey and blue book. She sat up quickly. Looking down at the open page, she saw words scrawled across.
THE SUITS BOUNDS
ARE ONLY LIMITED
BY YOUR IMAGINATION
Jenna nodded with a yawn, closing the book and gently pushing it aside before turning over and flopping onto the pillows, pulling a blanket over herself as she fell asleep.
Winnie turned back to the scroll after Jenna fell asleep and let it continue playing.
However, as the trail twisted deeper into the trees, they heard shouts of fear and terror. As one, they turned, and, after a single glance among themselves, hid in the trees off to the side of the path, splitting up to go their separate ways.
At the village, night had begun to fall, and the Sorcerer had a brand-new companion. The Sorceress. Six shapes appeared on nearby rooftops and on the ground, slinking closer in the shadows or racing across the ground or rooftops.
The first to arrive was a samurai wearing earthy brown armor with jade green marks; stripes that went up his legs from his feet, over the knees. From the back of the hands, another set of stripes did the same thing, going over the shoulders, a single band going down his chest and over the heart, outlining an earthy brown image of three mountain peeks, the third the tallest while the other two flanked it.
A jade green band went around his waist as a belt, and a dark brown headband with thick streaks of jade green was tied tightly around his forehead, the ends fluttering in the wind.
The Sorcerer and Sorceress both grinned evilly at him. "Well, if it isn't the Earthen Samurai; come to try and save another village only to fail again?" the Sorceress asked, and the Earthen Samurai glared in return, drawing a heavy stone hammer from out of no where, similar to Thor's, but with roughened, sharp edges. He stilled his breathing, trying to calm down so he could properly feel the earth beneath his feet.
On a rooftop nearby stood the First Ninja, sword drawn and ready to be used.
Across from him on a different building stood a figure clad in similar clothing, but with different colors. They wore a marshmallow white suit with slanting pale yellow markings that all seemed to move inward, towards the heart.
The marking over her heart was a seven-pointed star made of pale yellow. A band of pale yellow fabric wrapped around her waist as a belt, and two bands of pale yellow fabric ran from her wrists to her sides, which she could make grow or shrink at will, like wings, or detach one from her side as use for a grappling hook.
Down below, in the shadows, a person wearing a dark, murky blue hooded cloak that had dark, murky purple markings scattered across it, making him difficult to be seen. A dark, murky purple scarf with strange dark, murky blue markings was wrapped around his neck and face, covering him from the eyes down. The cloak fluttered behind him as he moved, revealing dark purple long sleeved shirt and pants with dark blue on all the outside edges of the fabric, and dark blue-purple boots. Over his heart was a rough outline of a two legged, four winged dragon, done in dark blue on his purple over his dark purple shirt.
Up above the town, a man wearing pale, grey-white long sleeved shirt and pants, boots, cowboy hat, all covered with silvery tendrils and curlicues. Large, feathered, silver-white wings adorned his back, flapping in the faint breeze, his hair black and eyes amber-golden in color. Covering his face starting with his nose was a pale grey-white bandanna covered in silvery tendrils and curlicues.
His holster held a pistol on the left hip, a coiled up whip on the right, and a coil of rope was looped around his left shoulder. The whip's handle and sharp end were silver, and the rest pale grey, the rope pale grey-silver, and the pistol silver with tendrils of grey-white wrapping over its surface. Over his heart was a silver strand of three coils, like shells, nestled together, one on top and two underneath.
On the ground, not even bothering to hide, was a figure clad similarly to the Ninja, but with pastel grey with navy blue markings. The markings were wavy, like water, where the Ninja's were straight, a wave-in-a-circle symbol over her heart, and blue tear/rain drop-shaped markings under the eyes, four under the left and five under the right, giving a false appearance of crying.
At her belt was a wavy navy blue strip of fabric; like the Ninja's headband/scarf, she could use it as a grappling hook or to tie up enemies. Another odd addition to the suit, fingers on the gloves were webbed with a see through, durable bluish material. The suit covered her all the way, even her eyes, which, where the Ninja's suit had open fabric, her's were covered by the see-through, aforementioned durable bluish material.
While the Earthen Samurai kept them distracted, the others crept ever closer before striking. "Warrior! Get her!" cried the Sorcerer, trying to blast the dark grey and navy blue clad girl, who only ran faster. A huge slab of earth rose in front of her, taking the brunt of the attack, and she leaped on top before lunging down, throwing some ninja stars at them.
The Sorcerer and Sorceress quickly dodged aside, letting go of eachothers hands, while the pale grey-white and silver figure swooped in, grabbing the Warrior by the arms and belt, helping her make a soft landing before circling higher.
"The Cowboy!" the Sorcerer shouted in shock, moving to attack the winged fighter, just as an explosion of light blinded him and his girlfriend.
"The Guardian of Light?! Impossible!" the Sorceress shrieked, pawing at his eyes in an attempt to restore his sight. Said Guardian the white and yellow claw figure, dodged in and out of view on the rooftops.
Then, the figure with the cloak, who had previously snuck up behind them, leapt forward, simply colliding with the Sorceress and knocking her further away from the Sorcerer. Grabbing her tightly to keep her arms pinned, he simply absorbed the raw power off of her, making her weak. Just as he was starting to become overwhelmed with the vast amount of energy, the two beings of chaos regained their sight.
"The Magician of Darkness?! Your family was wiped out!? You shouldn't be alive right now!?" the Sorcerer shouted, gathering up some magic to throw his way. But then, the Ninja dived down, tackling him aside, the Guardian and Samurai swiftly joining him. The Magician shoved the Sorceress away, and began to mutter and chant under his breath, eyes beginning to glow slightly, using his hands to open a swirling yellow and black portal.
The Warrior and the Cowboy then worked together to attack and distract the Sorceress, respectively, before the Ninja kicked her into the portal, which closed swiftly after. Drained from containing so much raw magic all at once, the Magician collapsed, and the Warrior, who had stayed near him, quickly checked to make sure he was all right.
The other four continued to fight and drive the Sorcerer away from the village, and the people of the town became unstank'd. The Six Defenders of the village stayed briefly, just long enough to receive some thanks, before they all disappeared in the direction of the nearby pine forest.
The next day, Wally, Chikyū, Muri, Winnie, Nomi, and Hikari cautiously made their way back into town, shocked by the damage dealt. They asked around to try and find out what had happened, astonished and amazed at the brave deeds of the six hero's. Working with the townsfolk, they began to fix and rebuild the town.
Okay, well, that happened. I wanted to show how the suits looked. Also, I meant to have a little more in this, but it was getting to long, so I cut it in half. Expect the next update in a few hours, give or take. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed. :-) Please review!