The Ninja Apprentice: The Lost Scrolls of Fudo Shin

by Jon F. Merz

  Jimmy brought the cup to his lips and blew once before sipping the scalding tea. He recoiled from the heat but the flavor on his tongue was delicious. “It is very good,” he said after a moment.

  “Thank you.”

  Jimmy took another breath and blew again on his tea. This time when he tasted it, it didn’t scald his tongue. He drank a deep sip and then put the cup down. “I hope you will not think me rude, but-“

  “-but you wish to know where Khampa is if I tell you he is here and yet you do not see him.”

  “Well…”

  “Trust your eyes, Jimmy Dolan.”

  Jimmy frowned. “How do you know my name?”

  He shrugged. “It’s not important to the conversation at hand.” The monk’s eyes gleamed. “You may call me Khampa.”

  “You?”

  “Yes.”

  Jimmy almost grinned. Surely, the monk had to be joking. “But you’re...like, young. You can’t be much older than me.”

  “And how old are you?”

  “Fourteen.”

  Khampa smiled. “Ah, yes. I remember being fourteen. An interesting age if I recall it correctly.” He shrugged. “Regardless, I am Khampa and you and I must talk now about more pressing matters than whatever age you believe me to be.”

  “What matters?”

  “Your quest to locate the scrolls that are also pursued by the man known as Kotogawa.”

  “You know where they are?”

  Khampa inclined his head. “I know where the scrolls are, but I know not how to actually acquire them.”

  Jimmy sighed. “And what does that mean?”

  Khampa grinned. “I do recall now. Fourteen was the age of being perpetually in a state of impatience.”

  “Sorry.” Jimmy took another sip of his tea. “It’s just that this guy is out there after the scrolls and I think it’s pretty important that he not get his hands on them.”

  “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  Khampa shrugged. “Why should he not have them? What gives you the right to possess them over Kotogawa?”

  “He’s not a nice guy!”

  Khampa smiled and Jimmy thought that for someone who looked so young, the smile seemed ancient. “It always fascinates me that when we change our perspective, how much things change.”

  “Meaning what? I should imagine him being a nice guy? I don’t know if I can do that.”

  “Take me, for example,” said Khampa. “I sit before you and you see someone who is only a few years older than you. Your opinion of me is somewhat less respectful than if I appeared to you to be older. Isn’t that true?”

  Jimmy shrugged. “I guess so. I mean, I wasn’t expecting you to be so young.”

  “You see only an appearance. But do you see the truth?”

  Jimmy started to say something and then stopped. After a moment, he frowned. “I don’t know what I’m seeing.”

  Khampa smiled again. “Good. At least you can be honest and admit that you know not what you see before you. That is encouraging.”

  Jimmy waited another minute and then could restrain himself no longer. “If you really are Khampa, then why are you here?”

  “I am here to answer your questions.”

  “You knew I was coming?”

  “I have always known when a seeker is coming.”

  “A seeker?”

  Khampa sipped his tea. “A seeker of the scrolls. Throughout history, there have been many others. Some seemed destined to be successful and others were more easily persuaded that they should give up the chase before it consumed them.”

  Jimmy took another sip of his tea. “Has anyone else ever found them?”

  Khampa looked up at the ceiling. “That is a difficult question to answer. Some surely found their way to where the scrolls reside. But whether they ever obtained them in entirely another matter.”

  “Why so?”

  “Because the scrolls do not allow themselves to be possessed by any but one of a pure heart.”

  Jimmy nodded. “And that’s why Kotogawa shouldn’t get his hands on them. He doesn’t have a pure heart.”

  “Doesn’t he?”

  “No, he’s evil.”

  Khampa shrugged. “Pure doesn’t necessarily mean good or evil, Jimmy. It simply means that there is nothing else contaminating its but one quality. You may have a pure heart of good just as Kotogawa may have a pure heart of evil.”

  “But that’s not right.”

  Khampa finished his tea “That is the way the universe has deemed it. You or I complaining about it will not change the situation one bit.”

  Jimmy sipped his tea and then looked at Khampa. “If Kotogawa came here and asked you to tell him where the scrolls are, would you tell him.”

  “Most certainly.”

  Jimmy frowned. “So, you aren’t really an ally then after all. I thought we could count on you.”

  “Mine is not the role of savior, Jimmy. I am merely the holder of a small piece of information. It is not for me to keep this information secret; those who ask me properly will be given it freely.”

  “Will you tell me where the scrolls are?”

  Khampa poured himself another cup of tea. “Are you asking me to tell you the location?”

  “Yes.”

  Khampa sipped his tea. “Then I will tell you that the scrolls are nestled deep in the Himalayan mountains.”

  “Whereabouts exactly?”

  “There is a temple there. Hidden deep among the forgotten valleys of time where the snows conceal every trace of their existence. Finding the temple is the key to finding the scrolls, although even then, they will not come into your hands easily.”

  Jimmy shook his head. “And how am I supposed to find this temple?”

  Khampa leaned forward. “Do you have a pure heart?”

  Jimmy nodded. “I think so.”

  Khampa laughed. “Thinking you have a pure heart is not the same as having a pure heart. You must peer deep into your very soul and see the reality of your world and what role you have been chosen to play within that world. If you doubt your existence, then your heart will not be pure. To undertake the mission to obtain the scrolls must only be done if you are convinced that you are exactly where you are supposed to be.”

  Jimmy leaned back on his heels and sipped his tea. He thought about his life and how everything had changed since Vanessa had scooped him out of the orphanage. He thought about how he’d always felt out-of-place at the orphanage. As if he’d been destined for something else.

  Something greater.

  And it wasn’t until Vanessa had shown up that his life started to feel more…like him.

  Khampa watched him quietly, choosing moments to sip his tea before once again staring at Jimmy.

  Jimmy thought about the race to stay ahead of his would-be killers on the way to Los Angeles, the journey on the ship. He thought about everything that Vanessa had taught him. He thought about Goro and the voice in his head and the secret gorge on Mount Matsuda where the waterfall flowed like crystal and the serenity seemed unbroken by anything manmade.

  And he thought about the chase here in Nepal, the assassins that had tried to kill him, their gunshots coming so close to his flesh that they had left their mark on his cheek. He reached up one finger to touch the line of dried blood there, felt it crusty and brittle under the probe of his finger.

  I do belong here, he thought. And I am supposed to be doing this, although I have no ideas how to go about it.

  And then he looked up at Khampa. “My heart is pure.”

  Khampa smiled. “You know, Jimmy Dolan, I think that I agree with you. Your heart, although unsure in many ways, is nevertheless pure.”

  “Will you tell me how to find the temple?”

  “I do not need to tell you,” said Khampa.

  “Why not?”

  “Because you will know how to find it when you are out on the mountains yourself.”

  Jimmy took a breath. “Very well, if that�
�s the way it has to be. I’ll go tell the others to get ready to leave.”

  Khampa held up his hand. “I have neglected to tell you one more important thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You must undertake this part of the journey…alone.”

  Jimmy blanched. “By myself? Are you crazy? I can’t survive in the mountains by myself.”

  “How do you know? Have you not already survived many other harrowing ordeals?”

  Jimmy took a breath and then stopped. The truth was he didn’t know. He hadn’t known he could do any number of incredible things that he’d learned over the course of this journey. But he’d done them anyway.

  Maybe he could do this, too.

  “I’ll need equipment.”

  Khampa nodded. “It has all been prepared for you in advance of your arrival here at the temple.”

  Jimmy stood, his mind still reeling from what Khampa had told him. But under the wave of doubt, he felt something else. Certainty. “Then I should get going.”

  Khampa led him out of the room and down another corridor. As they walked, Khampa kept his voice low. “Your friends will no doubt set off after you. I will be unable to stop them from trying to follow. I can delay them for another hour or so. You will do well to be far away from here by that time.”

  “I still don’t understand why they can’t come with me.”

  “Because their destiny is not the same as yours, Jimmy. And for them to be involved would only deprive you of the lessons that go along with realizing your true place in the universe.”

  Jimmy saw a door ahead of them and sighed. “All right. I don’t quite get all of this, but I’ll do my best.”

  Khampa nodded. “The gods will go with you.” He pointed to the door. “Outside of this door you will find a rickshaw waiting to take you to the airport. A ticket awaits at the small airline servicing Jomsom. You will fly you to Jomsom. From there, you will take a horse and journey north toward the Mustang region. It is treacherous going so be careful.”

  “That’s it?”

  Khampa smiled. “That is all you need, Jimmy. The rest will come to you when it is supposed to. Trust in yourself. Trust in your pure heart.”

  Jimmy put one hand on the door and then looked back at Khampa. “Thank you.”

  Khampa bowed low, then turned and disappeared back down the darkened hallway.

  Jimmy waited another second then pushed through the door back to the outside world.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  The rickshaw whisked Jimmy back to Tribhuvan International Airport and from there, he found a ticket awaiting him for a small twin-prop plane that would fly him to Jomsom. As Jimmy ducked his head to enter the plane, he thought it might have been able to land back at the temple, it was so small.

  He found a seat back at the rear of the plane and strapped himself in. Next to all the other planes on the runway, Jimmy thought they might be crushed. But then the single flight attendant climbed aboard and strapped herself into the chair facing the four passengers flying up.

  The engines on the plane started with a bang and Jimmy almost jumped out of his chair. But then the propeller started turning and revved up to full speed in short time. The tiny plane kicked out of its starting position and eased out to the tarmac.

  Jimmy leaned back and closed his eyes, willing himself to relax. It was one thing to fly out of somewhere on a giant jet. But this plane seemed so small, he had a hard time believing it could make it all the way to Jomsom.

  The sudden punch back into his seat removed all doubt. The plane shot down the runway and lifted free of Katmandu. Jimmy craned his neck to peer out of the window, hoping that Vanessa, Merlin, and Hideaki would understand why he’d had to leave them behind. It would have been nice if he'd been able to say good-bye to Merlin at least. He frowned. Like she even cared...

  He turned back around and sighed, then settled back and closed his eyes for the rest of the journey to Jomsom.

  He awoke when the plane suddenly seemed to drop out of the sky as it began its final approach to the tiny village of Jomsom. Jimmy looked out of the window again as the plane banked once around the airstrip. He saw a single windsock and a few huts scattered around the bumpy dirt strip.

  “That’s it?” he heard himself say in wonder.

  “Not much to look at, is it?”

  Jimmy turned and saw a young, bearded man sitting across the aisle from him. He smiled. “I know it doesn’t look like much, but it’s a nice little place.”

  “Really?”

  He smirked. “Well, if you’re going climbing, it is. Sort of a last stop before civilization fades away.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” said Jimmy. He turned back just as the plane dipped lower and then the ground came rushing at them. Jimmy tensed and then relaxed as the wheels touched down, bumped up, and then touched back down again.

  The plane spun around, taxied over to the main hut and then the propellers died. Jimmy hoisted himself out of his seat, grabbed his hanbo and the bag that Khampa had packed for him, and shuffled toward the front of the plane.

  Jomsom smelled a lot better than Katmandu had, even though it was light years less modernized than the capital city. Jimmy headed into the town proper. He’d need to get out on the trail and find his way up north. That was what Khampa had said he need to do.

  The dirt road leading into the town showed an advertisement for Pepsi and Jimmy wondered if he could find one around. He was suddenly dying of thirst.

  “You looking for something?”

  He spun around and once again found himself facing the bearded man he’d met on the plane. “I was wondering if there was a place I could find a Pepsi here. Kinda thirsty all of a sudden.”

  The bearded man pointed at a small storefront. “A buddy of mine used to run that a number of years back. Might still find something in there.” He patted Jimmy on the back. “Tell you what – I’ll buy a round if you don’t mind the company.”

  Jimmy shrugged. “Sure.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Jimmy. You?”

  “I’ve had a lot of names over the course of my life.” He grinned. “Guess you can call me Mitch. That’s what it says on my passport right now.”

  Jimmy eyed him. Who was this guy? “You’ve got a fake passport?”

  “Nah, it’s real enough. Just the guy it supposedly belongs to doesn’t really exist.”

  “So, what’d you do: kill him?”

  “Nah, no need. The name matches my picture but there’s not really a Mitch with my last name living in Boulder, Colorado.” He shrugged. “Although, if you go and do a background check on him, he does indeed work for a local accounting firm crunching numbers all day long – fun junk like that.” Mitch nodded toward the door. “Let’s go see if we can get that drink.”

  The interior of the store looked more like a bar. Mitch nudged Jimmy up to the bar. “You’re old enough to travel by yourself, so I’m guessing no one will have a problem with you sitting at the bar.”

  Jimmy smirked. “Okay.”

  Mitch waited until the barman came over and then ordered them a couple of Pepsis. The barman took out two frosted glasses, filled them with ice and then cracked two cans over the top. Jimmy watched the fizz bubble up and produce an inch-thick head. His mouth watered at the sight of it.

  “I didn’t think a soda could ever look so good.”

  Mitch laughed. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

  The bartender put both glasses down in front of them and then moved off. Mitch hoisted his and held it up to Jimmy. “Here’s to new friends. Cheers.”

  “Cheers.”

  Jimmy drank deep and tasted the sweet caramel flavoring of the drink. He put the glass back down. “Wow, it feels like it’s been a long time since I had one of those.”

  “How long?”

  “Weeks.”

  Mitch smiled. “You sound like me when I come back from being away overseas.”

  Jimmy took an
other sip. “And just what is it that you do, Mitch?”

  “Ah well, you know. A little of this and a little of that.”

  Jimmy looked at him and then smirked. “Guess I can’t blame you for not wanting to talk right now.”

  Mitch’s eyes narrowed. After a moment, he leaned back vaguely amused. “Who’s been schooling you, kid?”

  “Professionals, near as I can figure.”

  “I’d say.” Mitch glanced around the bar. “Where you headed?”

  “Supposed to go north to Mustang. Not quite sure how to get there.”

  “Well, you don’t get there alone,” said Mitch. “At least not at first.” He took a sip of his Pepsi and then turned to Jimmy. “We’ll grab a couple of horses and ride out together. My journey will take me apart from you after a day or so. But at least you won’t be riding alone.”

  “Dangerous?”

  Mitch smirked. “Jimmy, everywhere in the world is dangerous if you know what the dangers are.”

  Jimmy finished his Pepsi. “How soon can we be going?”

  Mitch slapped a few dollars on the counter. “How’s right now?”

  * * *

  They rode out of Jomsom on two horses that Mitch had secured after haggling with a farmer near the edge of town. Jimmy saw him pass over a wad of American cash and the farmer’s eyes fairly turned white at the sight of so much money.

  Jimmy couldn't explain why he felt so at ease with Mitch. Part of him wondered if he was being foolish. Mitch might be one of Kotogawa's men, eager to either kill Jimmy or follow him to the scrolls.

  But he didn't think so. There was something about Mitch that Jimmy couldn't quite place, but whatever it was, he felt Mitch wasn't one of the bad guys.

  After leaving Jomsom behind, Mitch guided them north along a well-worn trail bordered by mosses and small spindly trees. “So, what’s in Mustang, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “A temple.”

  Mitch eyed him. “Kinda young to be so religious, aren’t you, Jimmy?”

  “I’m not really that religious,” said Jimmy. “But I need to get to the temple.”

  Mitch nodded. “Fair enough. You got a GPS to find it?”

  “Nope.”

  Mitch slowed his horse to a crawl. “So, how are you going to find it then?”