The cavernous dungeons beneath Bajah's compound were dark, dirty and foul, though only in different ways than his den. The only difference between his dungeons and his chambers was that the rats that lived here had the dignity to stay on four legs.
The guard they had assigned to watch her obviously did not share her views. He was nervous, his hand on his sword at all times. He looked around every few breaths, unsure of what else shared the room.
He was unfocused, barely able to keep his eyes on her as she hung upside-down by her ankles. An old trick of the men of Clan Snoota; when the blood pooled in her head, she would make that much more of a satisfying mess when they lopped it from her shoulders.
This guard, however, was no man of Clan Snoota. He lacked the experience and cruelty necessary to serve the wicked Samurai. Though he couldn't stand to look her in the eyes, she could see it in his: he was young and naive, perhaps he had been a gentle rice-farmer before enlisting under Bajah's hand.
She could not feel sorry for him, however. Sympathy makes for sloppiness. And she prided herself on never being sloppy.
She waited...watching him carefully. There was the sound of tiny claws scurrying across the dirty stone. He looked, wide-eyed to see what it was.
Just a rat. Nothing to worry about.
The sound of empty chains swaying softly in the air, however, was a different case.
By the time he saw that the prisoner was gone, there was one final noise: that of his blood-choked gurgle as her garrotte bit into his throat and swelled his face to a bright red, like a beet in the river.
Guard Vorago: *gurgle*
RosaMaru: Forgiveness, please, guardsman, but you should have paid attention to the internal dialogue.
Guard Vorago: Curse...my inability...to read italics...
The next sound was his heavy body flopping lifelessly on the floor and the jingling of the keys being lifted from his belt.
And then, there was the sound a kunoichi makes as she slips from her captor's grasp:
Nothing.
quote:
OtakuPenguin had this to say about Matthew Broderick:
Did I die? =(
IS IT TOO HARD TO READ?
DID PAPPY NOT LEARN YUH YER LETTERS, CLETUS?
Here, out of Bajah's vile lair, she could do what she did best.
She slipped into the darkness, and it embraced her like a long-forgotten parent. Shadows trailed her like a loyal hound, masking her footsteps and covering her progress as she hastily crept through the labyrinthine halls.
It was a little disturbing that this place of rats and refuse was a second home to her, but there was little time to dwell on such a notion.
She had lost the advantage of surprise, and been given a surprise of her own. With Kagramada present and her own presence discovered, eliminating Bajah would be near impossible.
And so, like the patient predator, she must flee, hide and disappear until another opportunity presented itself.
Suddenly, the halls shook with a mighty roar. Her first instinct was to disappear from the oncoming beast that made it. It came again.
She focused her ears upon it this time. It carried a deep resonance, but lacked any ferality.
It was no beast.
Curiosity both suited and unsuited the ninja. An over-curious ninja could probe a little too deeply and find herself in over her head...and yet, curiosity is what drove her to become a ninja in the first place.
Birth instincts took precedence over survival instincts tonight. She rounded a corner carefully to see what else shared this dark corner of the underground with her.
Going great so far. 
However, as she peers around the corner, her expression turns to surprise and amazement as she sees that the noises all come from the same creature.
A man, or rather a very large boy, throws himself against the iron bars of his cage, causing the stone that holds them steady to rattle with each mighty lunge.
He is tremendous and powerful, like an ox. Yet his face is bereft of all but fine peachfuzz and boyish naivete. That, and several bruises the size of grapefruits.
Despite the purple tone of his skin mixed with the redness of his blood, he continues to rear back, roar, and hurl himself at the bars again. Each time, he makes more damage to himself than his prison, and though his body speaks of great anguish, his spirit does not.
She watches him with morbid fascination. So much so that she is surprised when he looks at her with terrified eyes. She had become so engrossed in his struggle she had completely forgotten stealth.
Prisoner: Ninja! Does Bajah lack the spine to execute me himself?!!!?!!!?
RosaMaru: Sheathe your excessive punctuations, boy. I am no foe.
Prisoner: I AM NO BOY! I am LENLALRU!
RosaMaru: Apologies, Lenlalru. What is a man of your...age...doing in such a place?
Lenlalru: When Bajah's men came to destroy my village, all the others fled!
RosaMaru: Yet you stayed to fight?
Lenlalru: YES...actually, I was running around with a hoe when I tripped, and it flew out of my hands and impaled Bajah's horse.
RosaMaru: Ahh...Hoeality. A grave crime.
The boy nods, then rears back, and hurls himself at the bars again. This time, he draws back again, but staggers.
RosaMaru: How long have you been trying to free yourself like that?
Lenlalru: Let's see...I came down here many days ago...I started this on the second day...so...I think I have forgotten what pie looks like!
RosaMaru: You pitiful creature. I cannot allow you to die like this. I shall free you so you can rejoin your family.
Lenlalru: My honor forces me to inform you, lady, if you release me, I must follow you on a quest. It is the law of these stories.
RosaMaru: So it is. Though, I may yet have use for someone who can beat himself for days and still be standing.
Lenlalru: Yes! I can defend you, lady, and your womanly self with my mighty strength.
RosaMaru: That, and you can open a jar of pickles.
Lenlalru: Just like the Great Samurai Lords of old!
She opens his cage with the guard's unwilling donation and releases the man. He seems to have found new strength and moves with the spirit of a newborn piglet.
Lenlalru: ...my description sucks.
RosaMaru: There is no time to dwell on such things, Lenlalru. We must escape to the RPCrest Province.
Lenlalru: Such a place my people have dreamed of! Why do we go, lady?
RosaMaru: There are ill tidings here, and Clan Snoota is behind them. We must see Lord Zaza-san and see to it that action is taken.
With that, they are off down the hallway. Moving oddly together: the graceful cat accompanied by the moose.
Lenlalru: ...our descriptions do get better, don't they?
RosaMaru: Do not fret, Lenlalru. In ancient Japan, all things are compared through silly analogies. Much like the turtle writing a novel...
Lenlalru: ...I should have stayed in the cage.
It is clear they await something, and by the tension and anxiousness etched across their faces like stone, it is clear they await something bad.
Bajah: ...Kagramada left for his homeland today. Undoubtedly to report to Lord Snoota.
nem-x: To report cheese, no doubt!
Skaw: Why so dejected, my lord? We understood that Clan Snoota's presence made you wary.
nem-x: Probably because he's got no mo' cheese.
OtakuPenguin: Is it the cheese, my lord? We can get some more, if-
Bajah: FOOLS! You make me regret going to an Anime Convention to recruit you.
OtakuPenguin: That ninja never would have escaped if I had my Gundam costume.
Bajah: SILENCE! I am dejected, fools, because Clan Snoota placed their faith in us and we FAILED.
Skaw: I...I never grasped the direness of our situation until you used the bold text!
Bajah: Indeed. We are not so fortunate as to simply be rid of Clan Snoota, however...
Eerie Voice: No, you are from that fortunate.
They whirl around and freeze like corpses at the sight of their new arrivals.
He stands at least nine feet tall, like a giant. Clad from head-to-toe in Samurai armor, black with the colors of Clan Snoota. No evidence that he is even human is visible, save for two glowing red eyes peering out from his helmet.
She rides upon his shoulder, clad in black kimono and wearing a kabuki mask, black tears streaming from its eyes. With a groaning creak, he bends down and she deftly hops off.
Lady Nicole: ...there was a ninja here last night...she no longer remains. And Clan Snoota has your incompetence to thank.
Bajah: Apologies, Lady Nicole! We knew that she must be kept, but-
Lady Nicole: BUT...did you know she is in the service of RPCrest?
Bajah: RPCrest? A weak and dying nation. What does the might of Clan Snoota have to fear from they?
Lady Nicole: Nothing...but it is whom they may tell of our involvement. Lord Zaza-san will speak to Emporer Drysart, who will investigate and bring attention to our operations...attention we do not need.
Bajah: We shall pursue her at once!
Lady Nicole: You shall...but I shall not trust your ineptitude twice. Mortinawa! The seeds!
His armor groaning and creaking in protest, the hulking Samurai approaches and drops in Nicole's hand a small bag of six seeds.
She leans down and pokes a hole in the ground, one for each, and plants them. In mere moments, sprouting like vile weeds of evil, six hunched-over, gibbering creatures clad in black and weilding metal claws, stand before them.
Skaw: What...what are those?
Lady Nicole: Teganinjas...courtesy of the gardens of Clan Snoota. They shall take care of our problem if you cannot.
Teganinja 1: Oh no!
Teganinja 2: Ohno!
Teganinja 3: Oh-no!
Teganinja 4: OH YEAH!
Teganinja 5: KOOL-AID!
Teganinja 6: Kool-....awwwww.
The mortals amongst them scream and cower.
Bajah: They are Oni! There is nothing else they could be!
Lady Nicole: They are creatures of questionable origin, true...but they shall get the job done. As shall we...
Mortinawa lowers himself and she takes a seat upon his shoulder. He turns and stomps through the gates, the babbling Teganinjas in tow.
Bajah: Quickly, you fools, we must take flight after RosaMaru! We must not disgrace ourselves in front of Clan Snoota!
OtakuPenguin: Yes, lord, we sent nem-x to get the horses.
Nem-x returns, leading four horses by the reigns.
nem-x: Look, comrades! I have captured four ninjas!
Bajah: ...when we run out of food on the road, we will eat him first.
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite. - John Kenneth Galbraith
Shadows were safe. Shadows were concealing. Shadows were practical.
And yet, sunshine was so much more enjoyable.
That pleasant thought accompanies her as she was walks down the great dirt road in the afternoon. She walks softly and steps lightly for fear of getting dust on her solemn kimono and shawl.
Her companion has no such caution.
He is strong, determined and fierce, but he has all the grace of a tortoise with peg legs. He stomps, stumbles, kicks up dust and otherwise gives signs of their passage.
There is no time to stop and teach him how to prevent it, however. For stopping with pursuers at their back is often death.
Lenlalru: So tell me again of what pursues us, RosaMaru.
RosaMaru: She is our foremost danger. Lady Nicole: peon and shugenja under Lord Snoota's command. With powers of mortal sadness and tears of human woe, she taps into the world of demons. Where he comes from...
Lenlalru: He...
RosaMaru: Mortinawa. A demon dressed like a samurai. He comes from a world of pestilence and disease. His touch withers all and his breath expels the fury of a world in slow decay.
Lenlalru: How can we possibly hope to escape such creatures?
RosaMaru: She is but of flesh and blood. And he is flesh and blood with iron. They can be killed...
Lenlalru: But how?
RosaMaru: You ask many questions, grasshopper. This is good. It always does one well to learn about the world around him...
Slowly, she comes to a stop.
RosaMaru: And here, you are about to learn another lesson.
She points ahead and he follows her finger. In the road, a humble man lays, a large sack of goods atop of him. He is breathing, but bruises marr his clean-shaven, well-groomed face and head.
Hovering over him like vultures are a pair of apes disguised as human bandits. Wearing dirty clothes and dirty hair, the only thing clean about them is their weapons, having regularly been bathed in blood.
One of them looks up and grins a broken-toothed grin, heaving his tetsubo over his shoulder and approaching.
Azureusu: My ancestors favor me today! First, a merchant, and now a working boy and a lovely lady. All shall fetch a high price in the market.
Arttemushu: Flee while you can, travellers! These brutes do not show pity!
Blin Di: Quiet, old man! Or we shall sell you as meat for the dogs.
RosaMaru: It seems we are at an impass, good men. We wish to get by, and also wish to see that merchant come to no more harm, and you wish us to stay.
Azureusu: It is good that you are an observant woman, I can see why your spineless brother here permits you to speak instead of he...
Lenlalru moves to reply with his fist, anger flashing in his eyes. But she stops him with a wave of her arm. She knows that brute force will not win against killing instinct.
RosaMaru: I propose a challenge to you, bandit. Are you man enough to call my brother a coward but not to accept a woman's offer?
Azureusu: I fear man, beast and woman!...wait...wait...that didn't come out right.
Arttemushu: Lady, I beg of you! Do not trust them!
Blin Di: I warn you, old one...
RosaMaru: If we win, you will allow us to pass with the merchant, unharmed.
Azureusu: A high price to ask...
RosaMaru: And if you win, you may take us and do as you will.
Azureusu: Part of me wonders if this is not a trick...and yet...for a lovely such as you...it is a deal.
The merchant groans, Lenlalru shoots her an astonished glance and the bandit leers at her disgustingly. She ignores them all.
She knows what she is doing.
yay! (I'm waiting in anticipation)
I'm so dead.
quote:
Blindy McBlinderson had this to say about dark elf butts:
How can you have ninja theater without the local legendary swordsman?
You're in it, look closer. 
quote:
Someone Else stumbled drunkenly to the keyboard and typed:
You're in it, look closer.
I retract all statements.
Grimacing, she quickly brings her challenge to mind. She will be all too happy to get out of this place.
Azureusu: Very well, woman. What is your challenge?
RosaMaru: You have courage to try a woman's challenge, bandit. But have you brains? My challenge is a simple riddle.
Azureusu: I am the most intelligent man in the land!
Arttemushu: Then why do you pummel helpless old merchants?'
Blin Di: This is why!
The blindfolded bandit clubs the old man over the head.
Artttemushu: Ah! I see your point!
Azureusu: Speak, woman. My patience grows thin as does my package.
RosaMaru: ...very well.
She assumes a gentle, humble pose, being sure to extend her leg a little further out...just to distract him a tad, and speaks.
RosaMaru: In the Parceshindo province, near the Stufu River, the two dragons: Dryshu and Taranzhu, engaged in a debate. Taranzhu said to his brother: "I have taken twenty maidens from twenty villages in twenty minutes." To which his brother replied: "Ah, but there are only fifteen villages in the land."
Azureusu: Hang on...lemme write this down...
RosaMaru: My question is: Where did Taranzhu get the other maidens?
His brow creases and resembles great fissures in the earth. Miniature waterfalls of sweat pour down his face. His teeth grind like two great mountains.
All must face their fears at some point. Be it monsters, darkness, or even being bested by a woman. The bandit, however, has never faced anything without his tetsubo.
Azureusu: I have arrived at an answer.
RosaMaru: And?
Azureusu: And, I will have you and your friends no matter what the outcome, so why strain our brains on your riddle?
He reaches for his tetsubo, only to find it gone. He casts a glower at his companion, who has a noticeable bulge in his pants now. Growling, he reaches down and withdraws his great bludgeoner.
Azureusu: Stop doing that! And quit hiding blowgun darts down there, too.
Blin Di: ...sniff.
Azureusu: Now, then, woman. I will show you why I am the best in the land.
He roars and lunges forward, swinging wildly. She takes a quick step to the side and, like a coiled cobra, her hand leaps out and lightly pinches him on the shoulder.
RosaMaru: No...
His roar becomes a growl becomes a faint murmur as the massive bandit collapses upon the ground like a great water buffalo.
RosaMaru: ...you will show me why you are the sleepiest in the land.
She glowers at his companion from under her shawl, just enough to show two eyes glimmering with anger.
RosaMaru: And you, will show me why you are the best runner in the land.
He needs little more persuasion. With a cry befitting that of a child, he runs stumbling through the nearby grove of trees.
She watches him for a moment, and turns to see her brutish companion hoisting the bruised man to his feet as though he were a bail of hay.
Lenlalru: Are you hurt, merchant?
Arttemushu: Only as hurt as one is after taking several blows to the head, my large friend. And please, call me Arttemushu.
RosaMaru: Where do you wander, Arttemushu?
Arttemushu: I come to sell my many wares to the villages beyond this road!
Lenlalru: You come too late. The villages are laid to waste, the people penniless. It is not a place for a merchant.
Arttemushu: My sympathies for them. Perhaps I can alleviate their difficulties...
RosaMaru: The best way to do that is to free them of their tyrant ruler, good merchant. To do that, we travel to RPCrest.
Arttemushu: RPCrest! The place of legends! They say music fills the air, even when no one plays, and beautiful women surround every street corner!
RosaMaru: Then you will join us?
Arttemushu: I must see this place for myself! Come, friends! Let us be off.
And so the kunoichi, the peasant and the merchant continued down the road. As they drew further and further out of the Parceshindo province, the dead trees thinned out and everything grew a littler greener with each step.
It mattered little, however, for even as they walked away from death...death followed them.
