Abigail's Adventure

A ninja encounter

Abigail has been running for two days now, knowing that stopping to rest is out of the question, but her body is talking back with every stride. She only wants to get as far away from her old life as possible. Now the teen is in the forest on the outskirts of town. She stops for a few minutes and looks up toward the sky to help her get her bearings. Once she gets her barring, she takes a granola bar and a bottle of water out of her backpack. She eats the bar quickly, drinks the whole bottle of water in one gulp, puts the bag back on, and continues running. She goes deeper into the forest and finds an old, dilapidated cabin.

"Beggars can't be choosers," She says.

She walks up to the cabin. She opens the door slowly; suddenly, a bunch of birds and other small creatures scamper out of the doorway. She quickly dodges the creatures and lets them get by. She walks inside to find what she expected to see. Holes in the roof, broken floorboards, and cobwebs in every corner of the room, but oddly enough, the stairs leading up to the next level are in good shape. She climbs the steps and sees a straw bed in the far corner. She crawls over to it. She flops down on it and closes her eyes as soon as her head hits the makeshift pillow.

A few minutes or hours later, Abigail wakes up refreshed from the nap. She gets out of bed, stretches all her muscles, heads downstairs, pushes the front door closed, and continues on her way. She gets a few feet deep in the forest when she is grabbed by a man in a white ninja suit.

"Who are you?" she asks the man.

"Storm Shadow." The man answers.

"Fine, Storm Shadow, what do you want?" She demands.

"I want you to help me fight my brother Snakes eyes," he answers.

"I'm sorry my dad always told me not to get involved with other family problems. I'll never help you!" She snaps.

Storm Shadow slams her against the tree. She screams in pain and hears a loud pop from her right shoulder. Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, Abigail's scream echoes through the forest.

"Did anyone else besides me hear someone screaming?" Tunnel Rat asks.

"I heard it too, Tunnel Rat," Duke answers.

"What is someone doing out here anyway?" Roadblock asks.

"I don't know but let's go check it out," Scarlett says.

The rest of the Joes followed suit, everyone except Snakes Eyes. He went on ahead of the group. Back with Abigail and Storm Shadow, he asks her a second time to join him. Abigail refuses again, so he drags her further up the tree. He threatens to drop her if she refuses him again. He asked her one last time to join him. She tells him she would never work for him. He is sick of the girl's stubbornness, so he drops her. Abigail screams as she starts to fall to the ground fast. She is seconds from hitting the ground as she sees another man dressed in black catch her in his arms. He sets her gently on the ground, and she looks up at him.

"Thank you for saving me, whoever you are." She says.

*I'm Snake Eyes. Don't worry. You're safe now. Storm Shadow won't hurt you. * Snake eyes sign to her.

Abigail is confused why he didn't just say that. She is glad that she knows ASL. Then watches as the two of them start to battle. She was impressed with their swordsmanship but rooted for Snake Eyes because he saved her.

"You may have won this round, brother, but I will defeat you one of these days." Storm Shadow snaps as he retreats.

Snakes Eyes walked back over to Abigail. He spots a necklace on the ground next to the tree she was propped up against. Abigail reaches over to pick it up, but the sharp shooting pain in her shoulder stops her. Snake eyes pick it up and hand it to her. He sees a look of relief in her eyes as she puts it into her pocket.

*Why is this necklace so important to you? * He signs to her.

"It was a gift from my father." She answers and tries her best not to cry.

Snake eyes ask for her name, and she replies Abigail. He was going to ask her why she was out there, but he noticed that she had fainted from the excitement. He picks her up carefully so as not to make her injured shoulder worse. Then Duke and the others show up after the battle ends.

"Is that who we heard screaming?" Duke asks the ninja.

The ninja nods his head in response to the question.

"We should take her back to the coyote," Scarlett suggests.

"Don't we have enough bodies in that truck as it is?" Tunnel Rat whines.

"No whining, grunt," Scarlett snaps.

They all head back to the coyote in silence.