Objective: Fire

Chapter 21

His eyes were covered, and he was unable to see anything... but that didn't prevent him from feeling the cold surrounding them. The wind was strong and pulled onto his clothes. They weren't at the base anymore... that's for sure...
" we're here.." Morro's voice appear. By the sound of all the footsteps surrounding them, they weren't the only ones. His hands were tired on his back, and suddenly he was forced down onto his knees.
" remove the blind folder" a darker voice commanded and a man standing to Brine's left walked over to him and pulled off the blindfold. At first, the light was blinding him. It took some time, but his eyes slowly got used to his surroundings.
The whole place was covered in snow. There was white everywhere... they must be up at a mountain... because last time he was out, there wasn't this much snow.
" home sweet home, isn't it 01..?" A dark voice appeared, standing before him. He hadn't noticed the tall figure at first, neither had he noticed the large building behind him. He kept quiet for a moment, trying to take in his surroundings. He recognized the place... but where could it be..? It was then it all hit him... they were back at his village... at Pipers true home...
" why are we here?" Brine growls angrily at the leader, who he also recognizes.
" I warned you, if you failed to obey us.. we will punish. And it obviously doesn't help to punish you... because you truly don't care about yourself... but unfortunately... you care for them."
Brine's eyes widen. This village was his home... his people... and he had promised himself to do anything in his power to protect the last thing he had left of her... this was Pipers home... her family...
" these are innocent people! Children! Families!" Brine yells, trying his best to not lose his temper. Nothing good would come out of that...
" yes.. they probably are, but you should have thought of them before you decided to betray me"
" don't hurt them..." the wind was storming around them, and people from inside the town were hiding in their houses.  They recognized these people... it had been the same ones who had been there and caused the large storm to surround the village... it hadn't stopped until the green ninja had arrived...
" these people... why would you choose to protect them..? They're nothing but farmers who takes good care of the rare healing fruit... why choose to live here?" The leader slowly turns to face Brine.
" why live here... why leave the league? You had a brilliant mind, a bright future. You were the chosen one.. why give it all up for that pathetic girl?"
These words were not expected, and Brine studied the tall leader in front of him, unsure of how to react... because how did he know..?
" you're a former league agent... aren't you..?" Brine replies. A smile crosses the mans face and he moves closer to Brine.
" see? Brilliant mind" he then pokes Brines forehead and turns his attention away from him.
" Burn it" the words left his lips as if it was nothing and 8 of the squadron agents moves towards the small village, holding up large torches in their hands.
" what!? No! Leave them out if this!" Brine yells out to the leader, who just simply ignores him.
The agents reaches the first house and sets it on fire. 5 more does the exact same and sets more houses on fire as two of them moved towards the small forest a bit away from the houses. The healing fruits...
" stop! Leave them alone!" Brine managed to shake off him the guard that was holding him down and runs towards the leader, ready to punch him when he suddenly feels a shooting pain run through his body, the source of the pain coming from his wrist.
The snake slowly moves and digs both it's fangs into his skin, unleashing the poison it holds within.
A smug grin crosses Morro's face as he holds up his own wrist, watching the snake bracelet hurting his fellow teammate. All strength leaves Brines legs and he falls to his knees in the cold snow. He uses his free hand to grab the bracelet and uses all his strength to try and rip the evil object off, but it doesn't budge.
" agh! Get it off me! I will kill you all!!!" The snow around them begins to melt as the heat from the houses reaches them. Screams and cries from mothers and children surrounds them. Multiple people tries to put down the fire, but it's to no use...
Another wave of fire bursts up from the forest behind the houses and the villagers goes crazy at the sight.
" no! The threes!" A man calls out from the village. Multiple men tries to gather enough water to put down the fire, but they soon realize there was no hope in doing so. If he could, Brine would have killed off all the people responsible for this evil crime, but he couldn't... all he could do was to lay in the snow, pain soothing throughout his body and watch the people suffer... watch Pipers home fall apart... his home...

" what did you deliver to the ninja?" As the fire continues to burn, a figure in the distance appears. The figure catches Brine's attention as he recognizes him... it was the Clan leader... Pipers father...
" I'm talking to you" a large hand grabs his hair and forces Brine to face the leader himself. The poison in his body made him feel numb, but he was still capable of talking...
" I'm not afraid of killing them as well.. so you better talk." One of the guard's holds onto a small child, bringing it over to them.
" see this child...?" He moves Brines face so he could see the child. It was a young girl... about five years old. Her eyes were full of tears and she looked frightened. Her dark eyes were drowning in tears and he knew she recognized him..
" she will die if you don't talk. Think of it...Her blood will be on your hands"
This wasn't good... he knew this girl... and he knew her parents...
Slowly, he turns to face the dark figure. He was human... but could he possibly have a heart? Because it didn't seem so...
but did he have any choice..? if he didn't tell them.. then this little girl would die.. and that was the very last thing he needed...
" what if I told you..." the leader bowed down his head and came closer to Brine, whispering the last words.
" what if I told you that your beloved dead girlfriend could come back to life..."
Shock ran through Brine at the mention of piper. This surly caught his attention.
" that's not possible." Brine replies angrily, not believing a word he said.
" oh I believe it's absolutely possible. If we can bring back a dead dark lord, then bringing back a girl would definitely possible." A smug grin crosses his face and he carefully let go of Brine, knowing this catches his attention.
" and how do you know that for sure? How do you know that it's even possible to bring back the dark lord? It all just sound unrealistic to me" he looked over at the small child.
" it's possible 01" the leader replies band carefully removed his own mask, revealing his face. This wasn't a face Brine recognized, but he was younger than expected. Dark hair, and his skin was almost grey.
" if we work together, we can accomplish anything Brine... even bring Piper back..." Brine narrows his eyes at him. How did he know...her name..?
" you have two choices Brine. Watch this village burn down or join me, work together to reach a common goal. I want to bring back my father, the true leader of the X squadron, and you want your girlfriend, but only the dark lord has the power to bring any of them back, so please... let's team up. Tell me what you gave the ninja, allow this small girl to live. Together, we can bring back the dark lord and rule along side him."
Brine glances over at the crying girl. This wasn't her fault and she didn't deserve to be in this position.
" let the girl go, leave these people alone. If you do that, then I'm in."
Morro somehow felt uncomfortable about this all. What was going on? This wasn't a part of the plan... was it? He knew the leader well, and he knew Ash, as it was his true name wasn't much older than Brine wasn't the type of guy to negotiate like this... but he just did. Why would he want Brine on his side? It was obvious that he didn't want to be a part of it...
The guard to his left, who was holding onto the small girl, carefully lets go of her and they watch her run into the burning village where the rest of the people were fighting the fire. The trees that grew the healing fruits were all burned down... but most of the houses were left untouched.
Ash gave the order to help the Villegas's put down the fire and they did. It didn't take long, but Morro didn't like this.
" now tell me... what did you hand over to the ninja? And why did you do it?"
The snake finally pulls out its fangs and goes back into a normal position. Brine still felt ill, but he slowly began to gain strength.
" Kai needed a favor. I delivered the dagger of earth to them..." Brine tells him.
He didn't care if he was a snitch. He didn't care if Kai would end up getting trouble, all he cared about was to get Piper back.
" then I guess we have someone to pay a visit. Fits well to our plan, because we need the green ninja as well."