Ninjas And Yokai, The Prophecy

The Wolf and Master Zen

As Kate and I walk into the dojo, instead of the elder stood Master Sierra holding the custom book of herbs. "You're late." She says with a smile. "If I was the elder, you would be running for today and polishing weapons tonight." 

"Sorry, Master Sierra." We both reply bowing our heads to show our sincerity.

"It's okay." She says as we raise our heads and wait for her to continue speaking. "The elder had some important work to finish up, as does the rest of the masters. So for today you two will be going into the woods to collect some herbs that are used for a liquid painkiller. It doesn't harm your senses, but it does numb whatever pain you are feeling." She turns her eyes towards us. "Understand?"

Kate and I nod our heads. "Yes master."

"Good." She replies. "After you find the herb, you may retire for the rest of the day. Consider it a free day." With that she hands the book of herbs to Kate and leaves through the door of the dojo.

Kate and I wait a bit until we were sure she was gone and then high five each other. "Yes! No training today." Kate says with glee in her voice.

"I know! This happens rarely." I squeal. I do love training, but a day off once in a while is wonderful. "Let's grab the herb quickly so we can take a long relaxing bath later." Kate immediately nod her agreement and flips through the book for the needed herbs description. Kate finds what she was looking for and points at the picture of a plant with small purple color buds. "This is it." She says closing the book. Since we were both trained to instantly memorize important details of specific things, we only needed a few seconds to commit the herb to memory. Laying the book on the floor we leave quickly leave the dojo and head towards the woods.

It only took a few moments after entering the woods to discover the herb in the dark shade of a tree. Kate stuffs a handful of the herb into her bag, being mindful of the liquid sap that seeps through the ends of the plant. "Make sure not to touch the sap cause that's what gives you that numb feeling."

"Okay," I say as I pluck not as much but a few of the herbs into my bag as well. "Let's get going to that bath." Kate nod. "Yeah, I'm done with being in the woods." Linking arms, we turn around to make our way back to the village when a loud howl vibrates through the woods.

Kate and I instantly unlink arms and stand back to back with our throwing knives held up in defense. "What was that?" Kate whispers to me so softly I had to strain my ears to hear her. "I don't know." I reply just as softly. "Tree." Kate says and I nod. A ninja does not waste any words in case enemies were listening, so when Kate and I call for immediate action we only say one word. When Kate said 'Tree', I knew that she wants us to be in a tree in order to fully check our surroundings and hide from enemies.

On three, we run and jump from one branch of a nearby tree to another until we were side by side in the middle of a random tree. Not too high and not too low, perfect for watching and attacking.

We wait without moving an inch. Suddenly another howl similar to the first rang out, this time closer than before. Kate and I held our throwing knives closer to our bodies in case of any glares from the sun and wait. Soon we heard the sounds of running, both animal and human, heading in their direction.

A moment later, a great white dog ran through the bushes and stopped at the bottom of the tree we were hiding in. It took a moment to realize that the dog was not a dog, but a wolf. It was several times bigger than a normal dog and its teeth were just as sharp. I notice when it turns to snarl at its attackers who came upon the area right after the wolf. It was three men dressed in dark clothing, with masks covering their mouths.

"Quickly" Says one of the men "Shoot it so we can sell its coat."

Another man who held a knife replies, "Yeah, think of how much we can get for a pure white wolfs coat."