A Ninja’s Resolve

The sun blared down it’s angered rays of light upon the dull sands of Cairo. It’s unforgiving heat only drew more inhabitants of the city to the shadows for some shelter and the rare chance of a cool breeze. The sight was accompanied by the groans and grumbling of slave and master alike, cursing who or whatever dared to anger Ra on this day. In lue of this, many offered prayers and incense to his shrine before making their way to bustling market. 

However, in the deepest shadows of this ordinary day, there was a stranger. Clocked in the darkness itself, only the stranger’s eyes visible to keenly watch the scene before them unfold, was a young man. He was barely visible if one looked down the side street and up on one of the multi-room houses. He was pressed against the mud brick wall and roof as he searched the street. His clothing was foreign, black as night and tightly covering any recognizable features he had. The man’s black hair neat and long, yet just short enough to be held back by a strip of cloth. The metal plate on his forehead was marked with a strange symbol that spoke of his linage. 

Breathe; I must be cautious. Szeth stilled his breathing as his hands flew to his side. There were slots on his belt that held two sets of shurikens. From his left, Szeth pulled out one to look it over again. It had  four straight points with a subtle green hue to the metal, on each end was stamped a Japanese character (kanji). It was from this set that he had travelled back through the passage of time to this strange place. Perhaps it had been his brash decision that caused his hand to choose the wrong set or merely his emotions that wished for a moment to give him silence from the task ahead of him. 

All he knew was that he had chosen these instead of the other pair. Szeth removed one shrunken from his right side. This one was the same design, same giant green hue, but with a different kanji on the ends. One subtle difference changed his course of direction for the moment. The shrunken were back in their place and as quickly as they had appeared as Szeth refocused his attention to the street. He wasn’t meant to be here but maybe, he’d find some peace of mind before returning to the tiled roofs of his hometown. 

As the ninja staked out this past market out of curiosity, he saw an apprentice, whom was called Aphobis, helping his teacher in setting up their shop on the side of the main street. The young man seemed eager to learn the way of haggling and selling their merchandise to passing shoppers. The jewelry they laid out looked well made for a simple merchant. Szeth found the designs, or what he could see of them, to be quite bizarre. Some kind of bug and hellish birds, the metal looks similar to the craftsmen back in my time. 

Szeth watched as Aphobis cried out in a strange language to a passerby, successfully bring them to their little wayside display. A simple life with no excitement while remaining in one place. The merchant and customer seemed to discuss some of the products which Aphobis displayed for his master. Some others even drew near as the merchant raised his voice to draw customers in. A flash of excitement in Aphobis’s eyes was barely visible to the keen-eyed Szeth. It was picturesque display to the clocked male. A mere dream for Szeth who was raised in the shadowed and bloody ninja arts. 

Yet, this was why he lived, to project the ones who lived simply by the works of their own hands. The ones who supported the town in which they lived, the ones who gave produce and kept the economy running. They were the pillars of society. But, sometimes corruption under the surface threatens that delicate balance and thus, ninjas like him existed in Japan. Szeth had decided. A blink of the eye, he was gone from his hiding place. Across the roofs to the alleyway where he landed without sound, the mice didn’t even flinch upon the stranger’s descent. 

The light from the sun glinted across the shuriken as Szeth whipped it out before him. It spun through the air, the kanji gleamed before a soft humming noise was heard to Szeth’s trained ears. The blades merged together and grew bigger until it formed a wide circle before him. The reflection of the night sky over his hometown was captured within its blades. Szeth jumped through, the ring vanishing with a sharp zing before he caught the shrunken behind him. 

Szeth landed soundlessly on the roof below. It is time for justice. 

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Opening the Skies

(For this story, I used a character and world from a book I have saved for later called Hidden Heart. Enjoy and don’t forget to comment! Due to someone’s concern about the email box above the comment box, you don’t need to include your email. Just submit  your comment and WordPress will let me know what you said!)

Mandie sat at the very bottom of the Stocklants Mountain Range. She was just sitting in the silence of the forest around her while waiting for her friend. He had begged and pleaded with both her and her boss, Mr. Cuttle, in order for her to be free this particular day. He did not explain why when she inquired his reasoning, only pacifying her with the reply, “You’ll enjoy it to the fullest, Mandie! I promise.”

“So, he did tell me to wait here, but what are we going to do?” The redheaded girl spoke her thoughts aloud as some birds cried out in the distance. That’s not much of an answer, is it? Mandie turned her attention away from her predicament and gazed around the area. Most called it ‘The Miracle Forest Planet’ given the fact it was hard on some of others planets that had societies full of machinery to keep nature alive. Ronus stood out from others like it in this way. (Ronus was an air planet characterized by it’s floating island upon a giant atmosphere. Deep dives into the skies below the islands revealed a small sphere of water surrounding its core.)

The hiss of steam overheard followed by the cries of sailors drew mandie’s attention upward. A giant air ship brig was passing over heading toward the docks just outside Magehaven. Probably supplies from the construction or just regular imports, Mum probably knows. Mandie sighed before a fit of coughing took over her. Her breaths came out in wheezes, making her chest feel tight like chains were binding her lungs together. Feeling the need for her inhaler, she scrambled inside her side pouch as her body felt the brunt of her fit. Feeling around blindly, her fingers felt the familiar shape of her inhaler. Mandie wasted no time pulling it out and waiting until she could properly take her medicine. 

After a moment, she was able to breathe steadily and processed with her treatment. Inhale, hold, exhale. Inhale, hold, exhale. Finally, she was at peace again and the forest around her seemed to relax as well, as if it had been held up in suspense, due to the rare human who ventured in being in danger. Mandie decided to start braiding her long hair to pass the time although even she was starting to be impatient. “Where is Fowl, anyway?”

“Did someone speak my name?!” “Ahhh!!!” Mandie jumped forward, rolling on the ground before lifting her face toward the source of the voice. A grinning, bright-eyed young man with messy brown hair was standing on the rocky ledge that overhung where Mandie was sitting. “Zebulon Fowl Inchcombe! That was not nice at all!” Mandie tried to stop herself from shaking while Zebulon, commonly known by his middle name, snickered. He saw his friend hug herself to stop her own reaction and felt a little guilty. Mandie was a tender soul so while her reactions to his surprises and scares were entertaining, they weren’t good for her. 

He jumped down with a repentant smile. “Sorry, Mandie. Both for scaring you and for making you wait so long, so come follow me!” He started to walk into the woods so Mandie got in step with him. “Fowl, what do you need to show me that requires us to leave Magehaven? Couldn’t you have just showed me there?” “No, because there’s no space for it!” “For what?” Mandie was even more puzzled but she started to have a feeling for what it was. Fowl stopped right at the edge of a clearing and spread his arms out in a grandiose manner. “For this baby!” 

Mandie looked over his shoulder and finally understood. “Your own air ship schooner?””Yes! So, now that it has been approved for flight and I have my license, why not take the maiden voyage with me? There’s the little island that used for Hukrine ores; I’m sure Mr. Cuttle would like some extras for the shop.”  Fowl nudged Mandie with a wink. He knew that the shop owner especially wouldn’t mind Mandie being absent if it meant they brought back something of value to the The Misty Clock.

Mandie’s facial expression relaxing, Fowl took that as a yes. “Then let’s wait no time!!” Grabbing her hand, he ran up the ramp and quickly pulled the lever for it to retract. “Hoist the main solar sail! Start up the inner engines and let’s go flying!” Mandie had to jump to and fro to avoid the sailor androids which were built to be small and were connected to the ship’s mainframe. I’m not so sure about this. Swallowing her fear, Mandie clutched the side of the shrouds. 

The sound of fabric flapping against the wind filled her ears along with the hum of the material soaking up the sun’s rays. The energy made it’s way through the sails, into the post and down into the ship’s hold. Gravity lost its grip on them as they slowly lifted up. As the schooner picked up speed, turning starboard away from the city, Mandie clutched the shroud and shut her eyes. 

“Mandie,” Fowl’s voice whispered with a hint of a tease. Mandie turned her head away, her chest was feeling tight again. Her knuckles were white from her death grip on the rails. 

“Come on, you’ve been holding the shroud for ten minutes. Open your eyes to see the view, you don’t want to miss it.” 

Shaking, whither from fear or the chilly air she didn’t know, Mandie peeked at her surroundings. 

The endless sea of white and blue laid before her. Clouds wandering across the endless atmosphere, huddling closely to hide its heart below them. The distant cry of the wild Vapras could be heard and the glint of their foamy green and pink scales were flashed from their fluffy playgrounds. Mandie felt a sense of ease wash over her as she aged at the splendor around her. Fowl grinned, happy to see his friend relaxed again. “Now, let’s focus on our adventure!” He held his fist in the air to rally her spirits. Mandie giggled a little before meekly punching the air as well. “Yeah!” 

A Plea from Me to You

Hello! It’s been a while since I’ve done a post as myself. However, I need to say this here since this is the main place in question for my post.

As a writer, I enjoy creating worlds and stories for people to read in their free time. I post them here and on Wattpad and that feels good. Knowing that I accomplish something that I can be proud of. However, another important aspect of being a writer or any kind of creator is what the audience does with what you put out there.

Over the past few days, thanks in part to me promoting the sites I use to write, I’ve seen a couple more viewers to each site. That’s great and I’m happy, it’s the silence is unsettling. I don’t hear what y’all think about my work. I can’t tell if you hate or love it or if you don’t for it at all. It’s discouraging and I believe in part to why I hit a rut in writing for a while.

I’m just starting to get out of that rut but I don’t want to be met with more silence. Please, I implore as a writer, tell me what you think. If it’s correctly my grammar or telling me you enjoyed the story; anything you say back to me is better than saying nothing at all. It’s so important.

So I leave you with this plea, think about it. If you have time in your day to read either site, you can spare another minute to tell me what you thought about it.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1