The Nightstalkers

Ok, this is a re-write with the actual title instead of umm... So enjoy.

The Moonlight pierced through the midnight clouds shedding light onto the darkened rain drenched meadow. Two shadowy figures appear as the clouds and open up to the night sky. The shadows flank each other on the field, positioned as if to engage in a deadly dance. The forest is eerily quiet this night, the moonlight shines on the dew stricken grass as a slight breeze from the east kicks up. Almost as if the breeze were like a starting gun at a track meet the shadows move towards one another with effortless motion and stealth. They move with such grace it seems as if they float across the field towards one another. Suddenly they both draw swords, the cold steel clashes with the moonlight as the charge becomes full speed. They jump in unison at each other like a well choreographed ballet. They both come to rest on the field. One stands tall, the other hunched over. The injured shadow falls to his knees. Blood slowly trickles down the blade of the shadow standing in the moonlight, “I’ve been waiting a long time for this Jin…” He says softly. He slowly turns to face his injured hunched over adversary. “Tell me where she is,” his voice quivers with a slight hint of anger. The adversary slowly raises his head to look upon his opponent with pain but also a light arrogance in his eyes, “Damien,” Jin coughs out his reply. “Old friend, you are weak. Predictable, you were never man enough to protect her. You’ll NEVER find her….” He lets out an evil laugh and lowers his head in pain. “You’re not a man,” he mutters softly. Displeased by that remark Damien clutches his ninja-to, raises it over his head, “So be it then,” he interjects and with one fail swoop, cuts off Jin’s head. The clouds roll in to envelop the moon. It begins to rain as Damien stays steadfast. “Adelynn….” He mumbles under his breath.

 

As he stands for a brief moment in the rain, he watches the blood drip from his blade and pool with the rainwater as it disappears into the soil. In the silent solitude of the night he hears something whiz by his head at point blank range. “Huh?!? What the….” He exclaims as one of the objects cuts through his clothing and slicing his ribs deeply. The sound is too familiar as he almost instantly knows what it is. “Throwing Knifes…” he gasps as he clutches his side. At that very moment he knew Jin, the man he had just killed was not alone. He turns quickly to see the rival clan appearing from the tree line behind him. He makes out ten shadowy figures then quickly and stealthily makes his move for the opposing tree line. The gang of ten gives chase immediately as they drift across the open meadow in pursuit of their target.

 

As Damien reaches the forest edge he continues in a few meters and looks for a strategic point where he can use the trees to his advantage. The rival shinobi clan catches up to him and encircles him like a pack of hyenas slowly circling their prey. Damien figures he can’t run forever, he would rather die with honor unlike that snake, Jin. Damien stands at attention and brings his sword up to grasp it with both hands. The bloody blade points skyward as Damien closes his eyes and begins to chant under his breath. “father protect me and make my blade swift as accurate,” he mutters. The rain slows to a drizzle and there is a break in the clouds as the moonlight shines through. He hears their blades scrape their scabbards while removing them for battle. He opens his eyes. Their blades glisten in the moonlight like twinkling stars. Suddenly there is a bustling sound from the tree canopy above. The surrounding ten glance skyward only to find nine shadows descend upon their positions. The shadows make quick and silent haste with their kills and catch the tenth pursuant off guard as the cold steel point of a ninja-to is thrust against his throat. “Drop it…. Rookies…” one of them blurts out. They take the pursuant into their custody, sword still eagerly pressed against his throat. Damien turns as he is not facing these shadows and takes a defensive stance. “Whoa, sunshine withdrawal your sword,” one of them says as she steps out of the darkness and removes her hood, her red hair and blue eyes pop as the moonlight shines upon her face. “Sophie?!? How did you?!? What the…?!?” Damien questions. “I found the battle scroll you know, if you don’t want people to see it, hide it better…” says another as he steps out and removes his hood. His dirty blond hair shines in the moonlight, a shadow casts upon his face but that strong jaw line gives him away. “Charlie?!?” Damien exclaims. “Yeah, you really didn’t think we were going to let you have all the fun now did you?” Charlie says with a smirk. “Get on with it so we can go home.” Someone shouts. Damien focuses his attention to the pursuant. He searches his garb for any noticeable marks of any known rival clans and finds none. “Who are you?!?” Damien questions as his voice quivers with anger. “We are the nightstalkers, you cannot stop our plans and you will NEVER find her… You will feel the wrath of the Eagle soon enough!” The captured shadow exclaims letting out a wicked sinister laugh. Before Damien can proceed with his questioning an arrow pierces the captured’s throat with precision accuracy. He chokes on his own blood as he gasps for air and dies a painful death. Damien spins around and sees a lone shadowy figure standing in the middle of the meadow. The shadow appears to be holding what looks like a bow, raises it up and breaks it over its knee but before they could identify it, it vanished.

 

The sun breeches the mountain ridge in the distance and shines its warm radiant rays on a small village nestled on a cliff on the opposite side of a large gorge. The ten friends sit on a moss stained roof on the village’s edge and watch the sun find its way up the wild blue sky. “Ewww!!! Deyvis, you’re supposed to clean the blood off of your sword! Is that a crack in your scabbard? Take care of your stuff, the Wolf is gonna get pissed!” Sophie shrieks with a grin on her face. “But I was going to!” Deyvis says with a disgraced look as he lowers his head. He is noticeably shorter and younger than the others in the group. He was a standout pupil and was moved up a class, he learns quick but procrastinates a lot. His looks, dark skin, dark hair and baby face will get him by when it comes time to venture out into the world but that won’t be for another year or so. They all bust out in laughter at Deyvis. “It’s not funny….” He says as he franticly tries to wipe the almost dried blood off. “Man, I tell you every time and you never listen to me!” says Charlie as he laughs. Damien cracks a smile and looks of into the distance. “awww I know sweetie, we’ll get her back,” Gabrielle says as she tries to comfort her friend. She reaches over and rubs his back. Her light brown hair flows in the gentle breeze that wisps up from the gorge. She has looks to kill literally the best student male or female when it comes to throwing weapons and poison. Her eyes are as green as emeralds as they sparkle in the sun. “It’s not just that, Jin was our brother and he felt like a real brother to me, we came here from the same orphanage, all three of us… I looked up to him, how could he betray us like that? He betrayed the clan, he betrayed all of us, we’re his family… I just don’t understand…” Damien says as he tries to comprehend the events of the previous night. Gabrielle notices the tears welling up in Damien’s eyes. Gabrielle says softly,” I don’t know sweetie, I just don’t know…” As the other mess around on the rooftop, suddenly they hear a commanding voice. “HEY!” They stop laughing and look around for the origin of the voice. “I SAID HEY!”Sophie looks down over the eave of the roof and sees a man with a shaved head dressed in dark clothing clenching a bow staff in one hand sees Sophie and shouts “GET OFF OF THAT ROOF!!!” Sophie darts back and whispers in panic, “Oh shit! It’s sensei Bun!!” the rest of them look over. “Sophie, Charlie, Colleen, Justin, Gabrielle, Deyvis, Bella, Danzo, Kim and you too Damien, GET OFF THAT ROOF!!!” Bun thunders. “Yes sensei!” they all answer in unison. They franticly scramble to get off of the roof and line up in front of Bun. “Now get back to the temple, the wolf is expecting all of you!” Bun exclaims with a slight tension in his voice. “Yes sensei!” they all answer in unison. They turn and make the trek to the compound with sensei Bun at the other edge of the village, behind the monastery, known as the temple.

 

As they walk through the sleepy village in the morning mist towards the temple, no one says a word. The monastery grows larger with each approaching step as Damien feels his heart start to race. The monastery is an ancient structure that’s withstood the test of time. The old stone walls are a pale lime color now and the soot rubs off into your hands if you touch it. As they pass the monastery gates they turn to look at the group of monks cleaning the monastery grounds. “EYES FORWARD..” Bun thunders as everyone turns to look ahead at the approaching layer of trees. They march through the layer of trees to a large opening where an ancient feudal castle sits. The castle was in very good shape for its age. The Purple Lotus Clan has taken care of it for centuries. The armaments are still intact and are heavily fortified. The castle itself it not very big as it was probably built for a smaller lord but it is in a very strategic location backed by high natural granite walls. It’s as if the castle was built into the side of the mountain range. The gate slowly opens as the group approaches. Damien lowers his head and mutters, “ here we go…”

 

As the group enters the castle gates into the courtyard, a large group of about 100 students meditates in silence. The overseeing instructor looks up with a hard gaze. His eyes follow the group as they try to sneak past the others as to not break their concentration. Bun walks by and taps the instructor on the shoulder, stops and says quietly, “Yashu, continue with these desperados to Neosan’s chambers, he was punishment for them.” Yashu is quick to jump to his feet, he is a striking young man with broad shoulders although not too tall; he is easy on the eyes. He comes off as quick witted but is eager to please. “Yes sensei,” he mutters under his breath. Already some meters away, the group turns to look as Yashu catches up to them. “Ok, carry on. No looking around. Some of you remember what happened last time.” Sophie looks at Yashu and rolls her eyes. “The last time Yashu?!? The last time?!? I got lashings the last time because of you!” Sophie shrieked. Yashu glares at Sophie, his anger gets lost in her ocean blue eyes momentarily then he snaps out of it, “This is not a debate, I said get a move on!”
​“Whatever you say…. Apprentice,” someone mutters as the group turns away and chuckles. “MOVE IT!” Yashu commands once more as he grips the scabbard of his sword angrily. The group moves towards the castle, to the area known as the wolf’s den.

 

Uh, characters are ppl from the game.

 

The castle guards slowly pull open the large heavy hard wood doors to reveal a torch lit corridor. The group shuffles in with Yashu bringing up the rear. The door slowly closes behind them as they walk down the corridor. The red painted brick walls have seen better days, the soot from the burning torches collects on the walls and angle of the ceiling. The turn the corner and come to a flight of stairs at the top of the stairs is the opening of the castle's inner courtyard. The group scurries up the stairs. There is a partition which yashu hurries to slide open the door slowly. The door opens wide enough to reveal the entire group. The Wolf is addressing a new set of freshly recruited students. It's a medium sized group, bigger than the last few, about 45 recruits. "I am pleased to offer you this obligation, we have brought you here because you all have been abandoned by the world. You don't have to be alone anymore. We are a family here. Your brothers and sisters are all around you. I am your father. I will teach you a very skillful trade, one you will cherish for the rest of your life. You will go to school, have a set of chores, and most of all practice this trade. All within our close nit family unit. If this does not sound like the life you want, stand now and we will take you back to the orphanage you came from." The wolf looked up at the 11 standing at the back of the yard after he finished his speech. His glare strikes fear in the heart of most members of the group. They look on. No one stands up. "well then I would like to welcome you all to my family. Yashu will get you started and show you around, raise your hand Yashu." says the wolf. Yashu proudly raises his hand as the recruits turn to look at him. Of course no one stands up, everyone wants to be part of a family. Unlike other shinobi clans the purple lotus clan recruits from a worldwide network of orphanages. Not just from within Japan like others. The thought is it's easier to infiltrate the world market if you have operators that look native to the terrain. The recruits are always young 6-9 years old. "these are some of your older brothers and sisters," exclaims the wolf as the recruits turn to look at Yashu. "Go with Yashu, will show you around." The group stands as the ten in the back greet the new recruits as they exit the yard. Yashu shuts the door behind them. "Now to deal with all of you," The Wolf says as he turns to face his back to the group.

 

Been busy

 

Plus I don't think anyone really reads it. So I don't really upgrade it. Doesn't get alot of comments.

 

Thanks dev...