30TALES OF THE WARRIORS: Nabiki
Many warriors come from all sorts of places. They come in many shapes and sizes. Each appearance in unique. They all have their own style of martial arts, unique talents, and personalities. These are the tales of the warriors. This is the tale of Nabiki of Japan.
The night was quiet and hot. There was stillness to the air as the faint noise of crickets could be heard off in the distance. In the middle of a small clearing was a fortress belonging to a group of bandits. The boar bandit guard noted the calm weather as good luck as he walked down his section of the fortress once again. So far there had been no threat from the locals, which was nice and allowed his gang to relax and enjoy the things they have plundered from a local village. The bandit smiled as he placed his hands by his sides. How lucky he was to have this job indeed. After all, who would be foolish enough to attack this place?
A silent flapping sound made him frown as he surveyed his surroundings. There was no breeze, so the trees weren't rustling, no signs of life other than his fellow bandits enjoying their spoils. When he felt all was okay, he relaxed a bit and continued his patrol. About a minute later, he heard another sound; like soft shoes on the grass moving rapidly. He looked again but once more saw nothing.
The boar bandit was beginning to wonder if he should tell the other guards to listen for unusual sounds. There it was again. Feeling concerned, he looked over the wall and down at the ground. This time, he caught a glimpse of something dashing towards the fortress. Panicking, he began to shout to the other bandits.
"Hey! We're-"
Something struck his neck causing him to stop. He reached over and pulled out a needle, beginning to feel dizzy. It was a needle laced with some sort of poison. The boar falls over backward unconscious. Still his efforts weren't wasted as one of the other boar guards heard his yell and saw him fall over. The other guard raised the alarm.
"We're under attack! Sound the alarm!"
The other bandits immediately got up, even the ones who had been asleep, and quickly grabbed their weapons shouting as they searched around desperately for the intruder.
"Show yourself!"
"Who's there!?"
"Stop hiding!"
In response, a shower of needles appeared from the air and struck down several bandits. Then those in the back were suddenly knocked down by several kicks from a figure clad in dark clothing that covered his face. From his shape he appeared to be some sort of canine species, the same size as the bandits. He kicked down two more before suddenly vanishing back into the shadows. No sooner had he done so, another person appeared, a bird probably, and flew through the bandits and knocking them over.
While all of this is happening, a female ninja managed to sneak into the fortress with four others while the bandits were distracted. Together they navigated through the halls to find the room with the stolen stuff. The ninjas hurried and began packing some of the loot using sacks to carry them.
The female ninja managed to gather a few things before noticing a beautiful necklace that only a high-ranking lady would wear. Seeing that it was important she walked towards it, reaching out to grab it. Suddenly she had to backflip as several spears struck the spot she was in seconds earlier. The kunoichi got into a fighting stance as a boar larger than the others appeared. He glared at the ninjas as he picked up the spears.
"You ninjas are going to regret coming here!" He snarled. "Get them!"
Several bandits appear from the rooms in the hallway and hurried towards where the five ninjas were located. Quickly the other four ninjas threw several needles and smoke bombs at the charging bandits, giving themselves the chance to get past them towards the exit. The kunoichi attempted to grab the necklace again but was stopped by the boar leader.
Undeterred, the kunoichi whipped out her wakizashi in a reverse grip and dashed towards the leader. The boar leader threw his spears at her one by one. She dodged the spears with several cartwheels before jumping up and stabbing down. The bandit leader pulled out his sword and blocked her strike. She lands and slashes at his legs, but he hopped over the blade before striking horizontally at her head, forcing her to duck and roll forward. She got back to her feet and blocked several strikes from his sword. Then she spun around him and landed a kick to his back. He stumbled before coming back around with powerful strikes.
The kunoichi back pedaled and did several flips away. Seeing an opening, the bandit then struck her with a punch. She flew back and lands on her back. She gasps as the bandit attacked from above. She rolled away as his sword landed where her head had been. She gets back up, but he was ready for her.
"Take this!"
He hits her with a powerful kick sending her flying again. The kunoichi hits a pole and falls to the ground. The bandit ran forward with a battle cry when another ninja, the canine, appears from nowhere and grabs his head with his legs. The canine quickly did a flip and used his legs to throw the boar into the wall. Then he helped the kunoichi up as more bandits appeared.
Together they pulled out their smoke bombs and threw it to the ground. The bandits coughed loudly as they tried to go through the smoke only to find no one there. The bandit leader was absolutely furious, because the prized necklace was gone too.
Deep in the forest, the ninja's maneuvered through the trees with relative ease, only slightly slowed down by their sacks. Together they rushed into a hidden cave that only they know and took the chance to catch a breather. The canine was the first to take off his mask, revealing himself to be a Chinese Chongqing Dog.
"All right everyone, mission was a success." He said.
The others took off their masks for as well. Only the kunoichi kept hers on as she admired the necklace in her hoof. The Chongqing Dog looked in her direction.
"Nabiki-chan." He said.
The kunoichi now known as Nabiki looked at him. "Yes?"
"You can take your mask off now. No one will find us here." He said.
She nods. "Hai."
Reaching up, she pulled off her mask to reveal that her species as a Thompson gazelle with orange reddish fur with black and white markings on her face and side. Like the females of her species she had no horns. Her eyes were blue like the sky and she appeared to be twenty years old.
"How soon do we leave?" A crane asked.
The canine addressed the crane. "Once everyone feels ready to go. If we handle our speed properly we'll be able to get there by morning."
"Tenzo-san, what if the bandits follow us?" Nabiki asked.
"Then we will have to fight them off again. It is all part of our training to be able to fight off any opponent." He replied.
"While also being able to sneak past any obstacle to reach the goal and complete our mission." A feline added.
Tenzo nodded "Correct. Now let us get going."
"Hai." Everyone said.
With impressive speed the ninjas left the cave as though they were never there.