Ch 10
Ninja samurai
Gui Gui stared into open space, not moving a muscle. She was sitted against a wall, not staring at anything in particular, as if in a daze. Her eyes were unfocused. Those two brown orbs of hers were dazed. Her arms were by her side and her legs were spread out in front of her. It didn't matter how many times you passed by her; she didn't show any signs of acknowledgement. Aaron looked at her worriedly. She had been like this since training had started that morning. Did this have anything to do with what had happened the day before? She had been crying so badly...He waved a hand in front of her face but received no response. It was as if she was unseeing...
'Don't even bother,' a familiar voice said. 'She's always like that after she goes on a mission. She'll be fine after a while.' Aaron spun around to face Jade.
'Mission?' he asked, confusion clear on his face. 'You mean she went on a mission yesterday?'
'Yes,' Jade replied.
'What does she do on these missions?' Aaron shouted, momentarily losing control. 'She was crying last night!' Jade did not seem shocked by Aaron's sudden outburst. Instead, she looked away, her expression immediately guarded.
'You wouldn't want to know,' was her soft reply, her voice less than a whisper. However, though Jade's reply was soft, he could feel the grief that was in it. Her shoulders were withdrawn and it felt as if she wanted to escape from everything around her. He could see the quiver of her lip and the slight moisture in her eyes. Aaron frowned at Jade's reply but before he could utter a single word, she had walked out of the room, leaving him with a dazed Gui Gui.
Aaron stared after Jade's retreating self, the million questions he had fading away as he accepted the fact that they would remain unanswered forever. Just as Jade was about to leave the training room, the door burst open and Genie brushed past her, heading straight for Gui Gui.
'Gui Gui, get up! Snap out of it!' Genie cried, grabbing Gui Gui by the neckline of her shinobi. 'Snap out of it!' she shouted, shaking Gui Gui roughly by the shoulders. Gui Gui did not respond. She seemed lifeless as she sunk back to the ground, her eyes not even having looked at Genie once. Seeing this, Genie made to grab her again when her actions were intervened by Aaron.
'Genie! What are you doing? Let her be! Can't you see how much she is suffering?' he asked, his gaze sharp, even angry.
'What do you know? What do you know of the suffering she has gone through? Have you been through it? No! You have not! You know nothing!' she shouted, before proceeding to lift Gui Gui to her feet again. However, she was stopped by Aaron who blocked her with an extended arm, his expression firm and fierce at the same time. He felt anger, anger for what he viewed as unreasonable treatment of Gui Gui on Genie's part. This anger showed clearly in his eyes as those two mesmerizing orbs of his met hers. He found himself looking into a pair of eyes that were angry too and determined at that.
'Why are you doing this?' she asked softly, her voice controlled.
'Why are YOU doing this?' he asked back. 'Why are you doing this when she obviously needs some time alone?' he demanded. Rage flickered in Genie's eyes as she heard this and he could see the veins in her kneck standing out.
'You really know nothing do you? I do this to make her stand up, to snap out of this state she is in! Do you think it is very funny to see her like this? This is a weakness! This is a weakness she must overcome!' Genie snapped, whatever control she had displayed earlier evaporating instantly. Now, the veins in Genie's kneck stood out more prominently than before and her voice had risen to the highest decible manageable of a human, her emotions overflowing in waterfalls.
'Who are you to say this? What right do you have to do this?' Aaron challenged, unconvinced.
'And who are you?' Genie asked back in return. 'You are but a student of hers. You haven't even known her for a month! Who are you to say you know what's best for her?' Aaron was rendered momentarily speechless before he stuttered back a reply.
'Then...Then how would you know what's best for her?'
'How would I not?' Genie asked, incredulous. 'I'm her sworn sister!' Now Aaron was really speechless.
'What?' he thought. 'How can such a lovely person like Gui Gui have such a horrible person like Genie for a sister?'
'It's true,' a voice said. Aaron turned to find Jade standing next to him.'They are sworn sisters. Don't be so surprised.' But Aaron couldn't help it. He was flabbergasted and worse, he felt helpless. What should he do now? Should he let Genie have her way with Gui Gui? But even as he watched Genie's rough treatment of Gui Gui to wake her from her daze, he knew he could not allow it. The part of him that liked Gui Gui, whether as a crush or as a friend, just would not allow him to not interfere. Choosing to follow his feelings, he stepped in front of Genie, blocking all her attempts of reaching for Gui Gui. Finally, managing to irk Genie, Genie struck out with one of the most lethal moves in ninja history. It came at Aaron at lightning speed and Aaron almost did not see it coming; he only did for Genie had purposely slowed her move down as she did not really want to hurt Aaron. He only just managed to block it and he stood in shock, amazed at its astounding speed. However, Genie kicked out with her right leg, wrapping it around Aaron's kneck. A single powerful twist of the leg and Aaron would be dead. Unable to use the samurai arts for fear of being discovered, Aaron had no skills in which to defend himself and was rendered helpless. He knew how vulnerable and dangerous a position he was in. He could not help but to gulp as slight fear for his life crept into his heart. He knew that mighty warriors should not feel fear for their lives, but he did. No one could totally not fear for their lives, no matter how brave they were.
Genie had been staring at him with dagger eyes but now, seeing how helpless he was, seeing the spark of fear in his eyes, a small smirk broke out on her face. 'Not so big mouth now, are you?' she asked, arching her foot so that Aaron was forced to look up. Ugh, how he disliked her now. She was soo arrogant, soo mean. If only he could use his samurai martial arts...he would beat the pulp out of her.
'Let him go, Genie,' Jade said, peeling Genie's foot away from Aaron's throat. Genie reluctantly lowered her foot, looking at Jade with an annoyed expression.
'You're not my ma, you know Jade?' she said. Then, suddenly, her annoyed expression turned to one of pain and her voice became soft with grief. 'My ma...' she whispered. Sadness seemed to have overwhelmed her and she suddenly seemed so vulnerable, an extreme contrast from the strong presence she had been earlier. Then, in a wink of the eye, she was back to normal again, all vulnerability gone. Once again she was the domineering Genie. Regaining her composure, she looked at Aaron sharply. 'Well?' she questioned. 'Are you going to get in the way of doing what's best for my sister?' Aaron glared at her in defiance and was about to say something when he thought better of it. He left the room in a huff and once out of the room, Aaron ran. He ran and ran, out of the hall, out of palace, out of the ninja kingdom. Finally. Finally, he was out of the ninja kingdom. He was free, at least for a while. Looking back at the ninja guards he had knocked out, he smiled at them apologetically, slightly guilty for having taken them by surprise. Then, staring at the blue bright sky above him, he felt all the unhappiness and hatred that was in him being unleashed. A genuine smile broke out on his face as that indescribable feeling of freedom overwhelmed him. He was free now, free from physical limitations to where he could roam and free from his negative feelings. He knew such freedom would not last but he was determined to make the best of it while it did.He had not been out of the ninja palace for ages and now that he had 'escaped' from it, he simply loved the feeling of being out of its walls. Not wanting to waste a moment of his new found freedom, Aaron broke into a run once again. Running at high speed, he reached his destination in no time. He had arrived at a favourite place of his, a place where he and his samurai friends had often hung out at in the past. It was a beautiful place, a green paradise with trees, bushes and grass surrounding a beautiful crystal blue lake. The lake's water was always crystal clear with little fishes swimming in its waters. He loved it here for it was a natural haven where he could totally relax. Here, he could let go of all his worries. He no longer had to think about the worries of his life nor did he have to think about how he could help Calvin solve problems of the samurai kingdom. But now, even as he settled down on his favourite rock, he found that he could not keep thoughts of Gui Gui and Genie out. He thought of beautiful, pitiful Gui Gui. Then, his thoughts turned to those of Genie. He thought of her meaness, of her rough treatment of Gui Gui, her dislike and unfriendliness towards everyone. She had an aura of not botheredness, even heartlessness. He dislike her, even hated her and, on top of that, had come to heavily suspect her too. The more he thought of it, the more it seemed likely that Genie had been the one to assassinate Calvin. His eyes narrowed and his fists clenched in anger. Then, before he knew what was happening, he heard the sound of a sharp blade descending swiftly upon him. Instinctively, he rolled to the side, off the rock and on to the ground just as the blade connected with the rock with astounding force. Aaron looked up to see the crack in the rock where the blade had hit it before he heard it descending again.With fast reflexes, Aaron pulled his sword out and blocked the deadly strike. Rolling to a stand, he lifted his sword even as he heard two other blades being pulled out and defended himself from onslaught. Blades flashed through the air, their movement too fast for the eye to follow. The fight was so intense, Aaron could not even or rather did not have the time to see who his opponents were. They were strong, that he knew.Furthermore, there were three of them. It was an unfair fight but then again, the world was full of unfairness. He clenched his teeth and his lips were set in a grim line as he fought for his life. His reflexes were fast, his blade moving at lightning speed. However, the three experts were just too much for him to handle alone. Desperate, he pulled out three shurikens from his shinobi and threw them, remembering the lesson where Gui Gui had taught him how to use them in times of need. They flew threw the air, whizzing threw the air so swiftly that they were hard to block. 'Schrgh.' One of the shurikens had lodged itself in the calf of one of Aaron's attackers. In pain, the hurt attacker fell to the ground, blood gushing out from the wound. Immediately, the other two attackers rushed to help him. Sensing that this was his chance of escape, Aaron turned his head to go, only to see three samurai acquaintances in front of him. Shock followed as he realized that those people who had attacked him were those of his own people. He was flabbergasted. Had the situation become so bad that even the samurais were initiating the fights between them and the ninjas? Momentarily, he was lost in his thoughts until he spotted a face staring at him with more shock than he felt. It was Wu Chun. He was the one that had been injured by Aaron earlier and now he was staring at Aaron in shock, mouth agape while the other two samurais fussed over him. Aware that he could not be discovered, not even by his own people, Aaron left hastily, afraid that Wu Chun had truly recognized him.
Wu Chun stared in open shock at the empty space before him, even as images of the fleeing ninja ran through his mind. He was really, truly stupified. Had that been Aaron he had just seen? The ninja...he had looked exactly like Aaron and even his martial arts standard seemed to be as good as Aaron's. Furthermore, Aaron had been missing from the samurai kingdom for a significant period of time now. Did that mean that...Aaron was going undercover as a ninja? Wu Chun bit his lip. Whatever it was, he had best tell Genie.
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i hope this chapter is interesting enough and hopefully it has enough action to sastify. haha. wow, i realize that i really like to put the actresses that i like the best as bad characters. haha. O.o not so nice genie lol...love her... :D
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