The hermit’s hut was a wooden single-room building nestled under a large weeping willow. They say that the willow was the largest in the kingdom and that it held ancient magic. It was with caution the two ninjas approached the hut, wary of any traps set for unwanted visitors. And the rabbit and goose ninjas knew that they would not be welcomed.

“Go away,” a voice confirmed for them. They were at the door, the goose poised to politely knock and announce their presence. They saw movement behind the window. The rabbit gleefully waved at the glare Taemin, the hermit, directed at him.

“You and your loyal pup can go away and leave me alone,” he repeated. “I am not letting you in!” At the last, both ninjas came up to his window with wide, pleading eyes. He looked at them; they looked back; and Taemin’s shoulders slumped in defeat.

“Aish! Ok, ok!” he shouted at them and turned towards his door, muttering against his cursed luck. The two ninjas entered with eager steps when Taemin told them that there were fresh meat dumplings on the table. He continued to mutter curses about getting ered into one of their games, yet again.

The challenge was agreed upon and the Emperor’s guards resumed their search for the missing Empress. Kazi cleared her mind and took a deep breath. She spoke magical words to focus her spell, and the faint image of the five ninjas appeared. They watched them run ahead with the Empress piggy-back riding one of the ninjas. The image of a rabbit flashed on his arm. Minho, Key, Saori, and Kazi followed their ghosts to the edge of a clearing. A large weeping willow stood at its centre and a thin man in dirty grey robes was working in a small garden near the wooden hut beneath it.

As if guided by a sixth sense, the man rose and turned to meet their eyes. When his gaze fell upon Kazi, his face lit up with a greasy enthusiasm. “I like you.” His whisper was heard with full clarity despite their distance and the bodyguards immediately went on guard. This man had powers.

Taemin smiled at their responses and made his way up to them. “Who are you, visiting this lonely hermit?” he asked Kazi. She paled from his attentions and allowed Minho to answer for her.

“We are the great Emperor Onew’s bodyguards, on a mission.” he told Taemin.

Taemin’s eyes narrowed at the news. This was new and yet unsurprising development of events. He quickly calculated and decided upon the most inconvenient option for his recently departed guests, the rabbit and goose ninjas.

“I have just been robbed,” he told Minho. “Could you help me bring justice?”

Minho hesitated. He needed to rescue the Empress (and thus be declared the best warrior of the kingdom) but he also mustn’t bring shame to Emperor Onew’s honour. “As I had said earlier, we are already on a pressing mission,” he tried to evade Taemin.

But Taemin would not be deterred. “The thieves we speak of are the one and same,” he told them. Saori pushed Minho aside to face Taemin directly. She demanded for more information and the hermit pointed into the forest where they would go. “Oh, and one of them has a goose emblem too.” Taemin added and laughed at their bloodless faces.

Onew’s bodyguards looked at each other and shared the same thought. The Emperor’s brother was involved and the direction pointed out to the led to his castle.

The two ninjas heard their pursuit and shared a glance in silent agreement to move up into the trees. They went into different directions and began to move through the forest canopy. They were close to their goal and would not fail in their task.

Beneath the ninjas, Minho was running point. He could sense their quarry was near and he kept his bow and arrow ready as he moved ahead. Key and Kazi were also light on their feet, their eyes darting about to respond with their defensive magic. Saori was at their rear, poised to cover them all.

The rabbit watched them from above, a merry smile in his eyes. He shifted on his feet and sprang onto the next tree bough. He moved stealthily until he misjudged the distance and fell to the forest floor. He landed upon a thick bunch of ferns with a low groan. Goose shouted out a warning from above, motivating the fallen ninja to roll away and run forward. An arrow buried itself in his vacated spot.

Key climbed the trees and pursued the goose ninja, a ball of electric energy forming in his hand. The goose yelped and swung down to the ground as Key’s magic flew at him. Down on the ground, the goose turned back to throw shurikens at Key, only to have them deflected from the shield the other formed in front of him.

The chase took them to the edge of the forest and onto the border of the Emperor’s brother’s lands. The castle was in view. With a fresh burst of speed, the rabbit ninja dodged all sorts of ammo (both physical and magical) to trip over an upraised root. Minho loomed over him, a blade out and ready to strike, when the ninja kicked at his hand and disarmed him. The rabbit painfully leapt back onto his feet and moved towards the castle.

The pursuit continued across the grasslands. The rabbit ninja was desperate to complete his mission and the adrenaline dulled the pain he felt and gave him the extra sense to dodge the attacks made at him. He scaled the castle walls and fell over on the other side. Minho followed, close on his heels.

As if guided by fate, the ninja zeroed in towards one of the many buildings and burst through the doors. Inside, the Empress was calmly gazing out at the rock garden, her embroidery forgotten in her hands. She turned with surprise at the loud entrance, her hands covering her open mouth. But she did not scream but cried with delight when the ninja fell onto his knees in front of her and gave a weak laugh as he removed his mask.

Minho stopped at the scene with horror and disbelief. The others caught up and collectively sagged to the floor when they saw the result. Within their group was an irritated unmasked ninja complaining loudly into Key’s ear. The goose ninja stopped yammering when he saw their reaction to his companion in front of the Empress and gave a hoot of celebration. They had succeeded.

The Empress helped the man in front of her to stand, and the bodyguards bowed low and then fell to their knees. Onew winced at the pain he could now feel in his ankle from tripping on the tree root and sat down onto the nearest chair. The Empress found a seat next to him and held his hand. Jonghyun limped away from Key and sat down on the chair with the fluffiest cushion. He handed Onew a cushion too and Onew repositioned himself as comfortably as he could before turning his attention to his famous bodyguards. He impishly smiled at them.

“Does this mean that I am the best in the kingdom?” he asked.

Taemin tsked at the sight in front of his door. Onew gave him a shy wave. Taemin made to close the door in his face when a slim hand stopped its movement.

“Brother, don’t be rude.” The Empress scolded Taemin, who gave out a long sigh and moved aside. He told them that there were fresh meat dumplings on the table and Onew moved with eagerness, despite his bandaged legs and chest. He couldn’t wait to be fully healed and begin another set of games, because Taemin’s meat dumplings were the best to be had in the kingdom.

A/N: Did you enjoy it? Did I succeed or fail in my first comedic fanfic? =u=

Thank you for reading and much love!! <33