The Trip

"So, the reason why you did that was to free your uncle even if it means you'll be captured?" asked Tony as they waited in an alley across the entrance to the school.

"Yep," replied Zhōng, he was leaning on the walls, watching the girls coming out. His cowl was up and his eyes were always moving from girl to girl as they walked out.

"And to ensure the black market is free again, you have to protect the princess until you arrive at Zhēn Lǐ then as payment…" began Tony.

"It's worth it." finish Zhōng as he continues his scan.

"Hunh, at least you ran into old faces while you were in the palace." pointed out Tony.

"They are either dead or sent somewhere else and die there." said Zhōng, he was becoming impatient.

"What about the captain? Wasn't he your personal bodyguard all the time when you were a prince?" asked Tony.

"If you're going to chat into my ear, then tell me what I missed at our last meeting." snapped Zhōng.

"Wow, you became very serious over your stay." muttered Tony.

"I heard that," said Zhōng. Since returning to School Town, he came to the gate and stayed there until the bell rang to indicate classes to start. When that happened he went back to his uncle's shop to rest and return when school was over for the day. However, today was the last day before the summer break as he waited for the princess. When she did, she was being escorted by Captain Howin and a loyal guard. "Speaking of old faces, since you like to talk about them," he said.

"Have a fun trip." said Tony as Zhōng left the shadows of the alley to intercept them.

Just as they passed the gate, the Dual Bladed Ninja was there to greet them. "I see you are here." commented Captain Howin.

"Did you honestly think I will forget?" asked Dual Bladed Ninja. They stare long and hard as if they were making up the time they miss away from each other.

"Ahem, captain, we should get going." interrupted Princess Zhen, she was wearing her school attire, a mid-thigh skirt with high white socks, and short sleeve uniform shirt with her sword on her left hip.

"Very well, your majesty." said Captain Howin to her, then he turned to the Dual Bladed Ninja and said, "You're going to need a horse."

"It's a pity I have one then." mocked Dual Bladed Ninja as they walked to the western gate.

Zhēn Lǐ was a week by single horse rider from School Town. However, by a party of twenty guards plus the captain, the princess, and a thief, it should be a week and a half at most. Two days into the trip, some of the guards went off to go hunting and were taking too long. Princess Zhen stepped out of her carriage to smell the country air before seeing the Dual Bladed Ninja sitting underneath a tree near the road. "What are you doing?" she asked him, he said nothing back but rather continued to stare in the meadow in front of them. "I'm talking to you, I know you aren't death."

"Glad to see you're showing some assertiveness, your majesty." said Dual Bladed Ninja before throwing a throwing knife into the bushes. Suddenly, birds scattered from the spot where the knife disappeared. He got up and went to retrieve the knife and his kill. "And I'm having better success than the real party." he said, holding up a rabbit.

Later that day, they stopped for another break, the Dual Bladed Ninja, the princess, and the captain were analyzing their progress. "We need to stop these hunting expeditions." voiced Dual Bladed Ninja.

"It's good morality." commented Captain Howin.

"But they are slowing us down." said Dual Bladed Ninja, "I say we eliminate most of them and the rest should be put on a limit."

"Who decided you gave the orders? I'm the captain of this journey also it's a good season for game around here." argued Captain Howin.

"And I thought you wanted me out of your hair as soon as possible." said Dual Bladed Ninja.

"I'm also considering my men's health then my personal conflicts," said Captain Howin.

Dual Bladed Ninja sighed, he knew he can't argue with that but they were wasting time. "Your majesty, Lord Zhe is waiting for you. If we want to make it, we need to quicken our pace." he said. He knew that she could object to hunting and push for more progress.

Princess Zhen was in a position she hadn't experienced. She knew she shouldn't keep the lord waiting, but also knew her men would lose emotions if they stopped hunting. "Captain, let your men know to be back at a certain time, if they don't make it, we'll leave without them." she said, giving her decision.

"A wise decision, your majesty." said Captain Howin. Princess Zhen looked at the Dual Bladed Ninja, however with his cowl still up, it was hard to read his expression as he got up and left.

They stopped at a small village a day later, it was almost the afternoon. Zhōng decided to take the opportunity to explore since he was not allowed in political meetings. He didn't mind, the black market was his domain and as long as he fought for it, he couldn't care for anything else for now. There was a bookstore in the village as he entered to browse through books and maps. While he looked at books telling of the greatest villains of the Ninja Empire, a person walked by and bumped into him before continuing on. Zhōng knew he was an informant for the black market and people knew how to look for him since he always carried two swords and wore a watch. When he left the bookstore, Zhōng opened the scroll handed to him by the stranger, who bumped into him. What it said was a warning that Zhōng couldn't ignore.

"We should stay for the night." said Dual Bladed Ninja as he burst into Princess Zhen's carriage where the meeting was taking place.

"Well, I'm glad Lord Tyron didn't teach you manners still. Besides, we decided to leave right now actually." said Captain Howin, pushing the Dual Bladed Ninja out of the carriage as he went to ready his men for leave.

"You don't know what's out there." said Dual Bladed Ninja, following him. Princess Zhen heard the commotion and followed close behind him, curious as to what has alarm him.

"I thought you wanted us to leave and be there as soon as possible." said Captain Howin as he continued to walk.

"And do you care about your men?" asked Dual Bladed Ninja, following close behind.

Captain Howin stopped as the men that overheard their discussion stopped and were looking at him. He nodded his head, signaling his men to carry on what they were doing. Princess Zhen was a few paces behind the Dual Bladed Ninja as she was confused about what was going on. One moment Dual Bladed Ninja burst in as they finished, then followed Captain Howin. Now they are at a standstill as both parties change their priorities to get rid of the other. "You know something?" asked Captain Howin.

"An informant of mine, informed me there are a bunch of bandits between here and the next town which is a day's ride if the timing is right for us." said Dual Bladed Ninja. "They're perhaps there to steal from hunters who are hunting and if they see us, well could be the end for us."

Captain Howin looked around to see his men while they worked were listening to them. They looked frightened and unsure. "If what he says is true," he thought. Then Captain Howin started to laugh, making everyone confused. "You really think that perhaps ten or fifteen will be able to sneak into our camp and take us? I'll remind Dual Bladed Ninja, if they attack us, they'll lose momentum the minute our swords cling to theirs." he boasted. He looked to see his men were regaining their confidence and looked ready for a fight.

"If you think they'll run away for good, then expect more to come, our best chance is to stay." said Dual Bladed Ninja.

"If you want to stay with your tail between your legs, then be my guest. Though I never took you as a coward." said Captain Howin. For months, he was looking to find leverage to beat the Dual Bladed Ninja, now an informant comes and has the Dual Bladed Ninja scared of what's ahead.

"Nor I took you to be a fool, captain." said the Dual Bladed Ninja. He turned around and walked towards the princess. A guard walked behind him carrying something, he dropped it suddenly and pulled down the cowl of the Dual Bladed Ninja. What was revealed was scary, his hair was middle range, uneven cut, dark blond hair as strands were touching the tip of the left eyelid. His barely seeable dark blue eyes lit to a whole new level of heat and chills of ice. While his mouth was always visible, it looked menacing as the guard that pulled his cowl down couldn't move away and was trapped by the fury that was hidden underneath the cowl. "Let go," growled Dual Bladed Ninja as he turned around to face the guard. Immediately the guard let go and fell backwards as he crawled away. He looked around to see that the others paused their work and quivered as his sights set on each one of them. He then looked at the captain before pulling his cowl back up, and said, "Captain, if another of your men touched me, well it will be the one less to come with us." He turned around and stormed away to gather last-minute supplies.

The guards looked at Captain Howin after the Dual Bladed Ninja left. The threat was real and all of them felt the power behind it. Captain Howin looked at Princess Zhen, although he didn't look at her, she felt the cold release from underneath the cowl. "Get ready to roll out." roared Captain Howin as he walked over to the princess. "We'll use the fear we felt and make the bandits feel it." he whispered as he escorted her back to the carriage.

They went as far as they could before the sunset. Knowing it will be dangerous to continue, Captain Howin orders his men to place four infinite torches. One in front of them, one behind them, and two on each side of the road in the surrounding fields. Later, Captain Howin went to do his rounds, having his camp to the right side of the road and having a few staying up to perform watch. He walked over to Princess Zhen's carriage and knocked.

"Yes?" asked Princess Zhen.

"It's me, your majesty." replied Captain Howin.

"Enter," said Princess Zhen and Captain Howin entered. The carriage was huge and had space for a wardrobe and a shelf for books and other relics. The bench when slid out became a bed for her to sleep in while the walls were covered and dark windows provided her privacy. While it may give away her status, it provided her with the best protection. "What can I do for you?"

"You wish to speak with me." replied Captain Howin.

"Yes right," remembers Princess Zhen as she gathered up her thoughts. "What do you think of the deal that the Dual Bladed Ninja signed to do?" she asked.

"With all due respect, your majesty, I don't think my opinion matters." replied Captain Howin. He knew Princess Zhen would not press the issue, she was not that kind of person.

"Tell me, what do you have against him?" pressed Princess Zhen, surprising the captain and herself.

Captain Howin sighed, and said, "The last time I saw someone, who ran that way and became friends with royalty, he was a traitor. I did not know how capable he was nor did I know how strong the Dual Bladed Ninja is. The payment he's getting could be our greatest mistake given to the black market, we must be careful."

Princess Zhen thought of the information told to her. She knew the captain was Former Prince Zhōng's personal bodyguard and went everywhere with him. It was said that the former prince would walk around the streets of the capital and play with kids his age. "Will you kill him if necessary?" she asked.

Captain Howin paused, something from his past haunted him from that saying. "I will slay him where he plans to do it to you," he replied.

Princess Zhen dismissed Captain Howin and he left through the opposite door and shut it. "Where he plans to do it to you," said Dual Bladed Ninja after the captain shut the door. He was sitting down on the rear wheel of the carriage. "Shouldn't your response to her question be immediate? What's with the pause? Did what she said made you remember something important?" he asked.

"How about you be like my guards and remain silent while on post." replied Captain Howin.

"I could do that, but I'll remind you that I'm not part of your code." responded Dual Bladed Ninja, shimmering down on the wheel to find a better incline spot.

Captain Howin sighed, he was the most mysterious and stubborn than anyone he met, and he had sources that even he didn't have. "Who are you really?" he asked.

The cowl of the Dual Bladed Ninja moved and two blue eyes looked at him. "Someone you don't want to be against, otherwise it will mean the end for you," he said. His eyes supported his statement and although covered, Captain Howin knew he put his left hand on his sword.

"Captain, we have a problem." stated a guard who came up to them.

"What is it?" asked Captain Howin, turning his attention to the guard.

"It's the torch." began the guard. A few moments later Captain Howin came with the guard to the front of the party. Past their lights coming from their camp, there was darkness and silence.

"What happened?" asked Captain Howin.

"We don't know," said the guard.

"It was lit one moment ago, then the next it went completely out," said another.

"Must have run out of fuel," suggested the first guard.

"Unlikely," said Dual Bladed Ninja, scaring all of them since he didn't come with them at first and looked uninterested in moving. "Captain, you personally made sure all of them had fuel. The problem could be something is blocking or someone shut it off without us seeing it."

"It's impossible for them to be shut off, you'll have to bring it down to deactivate it." stated the guard.

"If that's your theory, I'll take a look." stated Dual Bladed Ninja. The hand of the captain grabbed his shoulder stopping. He looked at him as his fury lit into his eyes.

"What if it isn't." said Captain Howin remembering the warning given before they left town.

"It's too late to turn back." said Dual Bladed Ninja. Captain Howin lets go and Dual Bladed Ninja disappears into the darkness.

Dual Bladed Ninja continued to tread carefully, it felt like the further he was, the darker it got and louder a humming came. "What's that?" he thought. He arrived at the torch and noticed it was still activated. He looked around for a machine that can block out light. He decided to follow the sound of the humming until he found a box. "Time to shut you, annoying thing, off." he thought. With a slash of his sword, sparks flew, the torch was lit again and he was surrounded by bandits. Both were surprised by each other but before the bandits could react, Dual Bladed Ninja killed four with his two swords before activating his Longus and rushing back to camp.

"Kill him." scream a bandit as they fire on the retreating Longus. The majority of their storm found the mech but couldn't bring it down as Dual Bladed Ninja made it back and deactivated it as he tried to put away a couple of fires that somehow caught his cape.

"It's an ambush! Wake up everyone!" screamed the guards.

"Battle positions men!" cried out Captain Howin. "How many did you see?" he asked the Dual Bladed Ninja since he was no longer on fire and drew both of his swords again.

"At least ten," noted the Dual Bladed Ninja.

"They're coming from here as well," cried a guard from the camp.

"Defensive positions men!" screamed Captain Howin as he began open fire with his mech arm at the bandits coming from the road. But there was so much more than what the Dual Bladed Ninja counted. The bandits began to overwhelm the party as they began attacking on the other side of the carriage. "Fall back!" he cried, "Let's get into a better position."

Princess Zhen heard the cries and fire of artillery to know there was a fight outside. When she heard the captain say to fall back she cautiously opened the door of the carriage. She was on the outskirts where the Dual Bladed Ninja once sat before the attack. "Princess! Get down!" cried Dual Bladed Ninja as he tackled her just as an arrow flew right past them. He grunted from something as he activated a weapon from his Longus and fired at where the arrow came from. Suddenly the road behind them lit on fire and was blocked by trees as another bandits party sprang from the same side that the arrow came from.

They were trapped by three sides of bandits and a fire tree blocking the path to the rear. "Captain, we're losing our men," exclaimed a guard.

"Well, this is what war is like." said Captain Howin disgusted. "Set up a defensive barrier with every man we have left around the princess's carriage." he ordered.

"That's not going to help us." commented the Dual Bladed Ninja, his cowl was pulled down, revealing his face once again. "We need to scare them back."

"And how do you suppose we do that?" asked Captain Howin.

"Do what they did, except they would feel it." said the Dual Bladed Ninja, turning his head to look at the torch.

"That's suicidal," said Princess Zhen she stayed with the Dual Bladed Ninja's side since the arrow flew past them.

"Got any better ideas?" the Dual Bladed Ninja asked her. "We need to scare them and they'll go away."

"Then I'll go, it's my fault we're in this mess." said Captain Howin he prepared to activate his mech before the Dual Bladed Ninja stopped him.

"You'll never make it and if you do, you won't have the energy to fight," said Dual Bladed Ninja. Captain Howin knew he was right, he won't last long once he's there with his mech. "I'll go, I have two for a reason."

"You know I can't let you." said Captain Howin as the bandits advanced closer.

"I wasn't asking for your permission." said the Dual Bladed Ninja as looked at Princess Zhen, "Nor yours." He activated his Longus and charged at the torch. The bandits noticed this and concentrated their firepower at him. His Longus was badly damaged just before the showers of bullets and arrows as he struggled to keep it going. With one last lunge, he tackled the torch and it went out.

"How do we know he won't betray us?" asked the guard as the bandits returned their attention to the party.

"That's not going to happen." said Captain Howin, he watched as his soldiers struggle to fend off the advancing bandits. They just reached their camp and were coming closer and closer. "We'll be gone before he has a chance." said Captain Howin as he took Princess Zhen by the hand and pulled her behind him and a few guards that surrounded her to give protection.

Suddenly, there were screams coming from the darkness. Everyone froze, even the bandits stopped as it sounded like their own. The screams were coming from where the torch once stood and more screams came as the sound of a mech slicing through, faintly. A bandit from the force advancing from the road, fired a rocket in that direction. It missed but revealed a silhouette of a black mech flash into the darkness. Suddenly rockets flew from it and crashed on the other two advancing bandits with another wave coming soon after. The waves continued and the bandits screamed from the spot grew. The bandits who left were terrified and began to flee as their momentum was stopped by a black mech firing in the shadows. "Was that?' asked a guard as the air became silent again except for the crackling of fire due to the fight.

They heard something heavy crash, then a seconds later, a small fire lit and grew revealing a tired person. "It's him," exclaimed another guard.

"How did he do it?" marveled Captain Howin, he counted his men that could still stand and knew he was short, he then looked at the torch and saw the person nodding at him. "Those who can stand, command a post," he ordered.

"Shouldn't you send someone to help bring him back?" asked Princess Zhen as she followed him away.

"We suffer too much, otherwise I would. He's not the only one who won't be getting any sleep tonight." said Captain Howin. He looked at the torch and saw the Dual Bladed Ninja was exhausted and collapsed at the base of the torch.

Five men were lost and seven more were badly injured as they pulled into town for their next stop. Captain Howin went straight to work to find any reserves that were willing to travel. The Dual Bladed Ninja was guided by an innkeeper up to the second story of the inn. "She's staying in this one, there is a room available right next to it." she offered while pointing it out.

"No, that won't be necessary." said the Dual Bladed Ninja handing her bag full of coins. "A bench outside her door will be fine." the old woman nodded and had the bench come up to the spot he requested. He settled down and took a big sigh as soon as they were gone. His cowl was up, but scars from the fight could barely be seen. He reached for a kit, unclipped his cloak, and removed his shirt as he took a look at the wound on his right shoulder. It was badly cut from the arrow that aimed for the princess before he tackled her. Using the kit he began stitching himself up. He grunted as he pushed the needle into himself, he had no way to numb the pain as he made another pass. The door opened as Princess Zhen saw him standing his cowl up and cloak wrapped around him. "Your majesty," he said politely as he bowed.

"Would you come in for a little bit?" asked Princess Zhen.

"As you wish," replied the Dual Bladed Ninja as he bowed again and entered her room. As she closed the door behind them, the only thing that remained was the bench and his shirt outside. The room was like any other inn room, there was a bed, a dresser with a mirror, a bowl of water sitting on top of it, and a table with two chairs.

"Sit down and remove your cloak." ordered Princess Zhen with authority. The Dual Bladed Ninja obeyed, sitting down on one of the chairs, he pulled his cowl down and unclipped his cloak again to reveal his bare chest and the needle and stitches in his arm. She washed her hands with water provided and brought a clean towel to clean the leaking blood up and went to work on stitching him up.

The Dual Bladed Ninja was surprised by her actions. "It's just a scratch, your majesty." he said.

"Even a cut this deep should be treated more than just a scratch." said Princess Zhen, she worked patiently and carefully the cut was deeper than it looks. "Why did you save me? You could have let them kill us and slipped away." she asked.

"Hmpf, first, you have to tell me where you learn to stitch up a wound," said Dual Bladed Ninja.

"Promise you'll tell?" she asked as she paused from her work.

"I will, but you won't like it." he warned her. Princess Zhen paused for a moment then continued working.

"During the war, I traveled with my mother. We always went with her army, however, because of that, we couldn't stitch clothing since we didn't have the materials to do it. So, my mother, had me practice with wounded soldiers. It was uncomfortable at first but as the war dragged on, it became normal for me to do." she said.

"Until you were captured." noted Dual Bladed Ninja in a pitiful voice. Princess Zhen looked up from her work to see the boy's face again. He looked young and around her age. His rage and fury had disappeared and been replaced with something else. His eyes once looked cold and dangerously sparkled as his hair, dirty and disorganized, swayed on its own. His back of course looked more like a man as few bruises from the fight could be seen but they were marks that weren't from that.

"Yes, until I was captured." she said as she went back to work.

A few minutes went by before the Dual Bladed Ninja said, "You're right, I could let you all die, but I didn't. I could say the price I'm working to achieve is what had me save you, but it was for another reason."

"And what's that?" Princess Zhen asked.

A few more moments went by before he said, "I told you that day, I have more than one reason to fight. Another reason is keeping a promise to someone."

Princess Zhen paused and the needle started to shake in her hand. "He doesn't mean," she thought.

"I told him I was protecting you for a while," explained Dual Bladed Ninja, "he told me to keep a promise, 'That I will protect you from any danger I know of'."

"You know him?" asked Princess Zhen, quivering from the statement.

"He helped me during my lows as I did with him, he now wants to help you but knows he can't. He said to me, 'I could never do it, not what I've recently been told about her'." said the Dual Bladed Ninja.

"Where is he now?" she asked. "Can I really trust his words?" she thought.

"You're not going to find him, he'll find you. He told me he wants to be your friend again but knows he can't do it, so he sent me to do it for him."

"He wants to be my ally? Why?" asked Princess Zhen.

"Because he'll never forgive himself for not knowing sooner." said the Dual Bladed Ninja, he looked at Princess Zhen. His dark blue eyes became a black hole as his fury started to show again. Suddenly, he was back to the way he was.

Princess Zhen said nothing and decided to finish stitching him. "What's your name? Your true name." she asked as she finished.

"Truman," said Zhōng as he stood up and put his cloak back on and cowl back up. "My real name is Truman.