by Ino Lee
His hands were weaponless when a dark ninja attacked with a staff. Wong rolled beneath a swing and kicked out with his feet, one after the other, jarring the ninja back on its heels. He jumped on its shoulders, fired two more shuriken overhead, then stomped on the ninja’s face.
He advanced and scanned the ground for a weapon among the fallen bodies, finding a wooden cudgel beaded with steel rivets. It must have belonged to a city guard, the blunt weapon too clumsy for a ninja and too unrefined for a Shaolin warrior. Perhaps it was meant as a secondary weapon, designed to be light, yet have the added impact of steel. He shrugged and forged ahead rather than discarding it, deciding to pay homage to the warrior who took the care to fashion it—a matter of principle only he could understand. He thumped a couple more foes, finding the weapon more or less effective.
A tonkaija came at him with a naginata, its face masked by a sheet of mesh. It slashed at him, but Wong moved in close, having the shorter weapon, blocking the spear’s shaft while trying to land a punch. The elite ninja pivoted with the other end of its weapon and cracked him across the arm, then reversed again with its spearhead, causing Wong to back away. He studied the creature’s movement and tried to decide if it was a dark ninja or human. After several direct slashes and half strikes, he guessed ascended dark ninja due to its fighting form. More slashes and thrusts chased him.
He grew frustrated with the length of the struggle and felt his chi elevate. The tonkaija repeatedly jabbed and he violently swatted the spear astray, forcing the ninja to struggle to control each recoil before he found an opening and fired the baton directly into its mesh face. The ninja collapsed and did not move again.
Wong sneered. “Should have worn a metal mask.”
He retreated and found the weighted chain of his kasurigama again, yanking it free of the wall and studying the alley which was in mayhem. His approach would be more carefully planned this time.
He spun the blade in a circular motion overhead, accelerating it as he ran through the crowd and filling the alley with a threatening buzz that echoed between the walls. Three ninjas dropped, the blade’s motion barely disrupted. Now Wong whirled the blade in a figure eight, weaving around allies and tactfully lashing out at selected enemies. When he emerged from the alley, none of the ninjas were left standing.
He looked back at the remaining soldiers, satisfied that his efforts had made a difference. They stared at him curiously and meant to speak out, but he quickly saluted them and was gone in a puff of smoke.
“What was that?” a city guard said.
“That was the Blade Ninja,” another answered.
“Who?”
“The Blade Ninja. He’s back.”
28
TING EXAMINED THE wall of knives on the second floor of the hideout, in the rear of the building near her sleeping loft. She wondered how many times someone had nicked themselves on the narrow walkway after coming too close to the walls. There were weapons everywhere. The selection here interested her more than in other places since the weapons were small enough for her to handle, being comprised of knives and shuriken.
She picked up a throwing bolt and examined it, having played around with it earlier against a target. The design of the weapon was the easiest and most accurate to throw of all the shuriken, in her opinion; the others were too big or small, heavy or light, hard to grip, or not meant to fly straight. Though it was late and she wanted to sleep, she considered practicing again since Hojin and Kai were talking loudly at the ground floor table, plotting how to best take down the Poisoned Blood. They had discussed everything from disguising themselves as Blood Ninja, burning down the tower, and luring the ninjas out of Biyan into a trapped building. They even mentioned allying with the Eternal Moon, though she didn’t understand how that would be possible. She told them they should leave it to the Shaolin warriors, but they reminded her that’s who they were.
She put down the bolt and decided to turn in for the night, but when she looked up she saw an unan mask, bright red and immensely frightening.
“What are you doing here?” it yelled.
Ting screamed and ran down the gangway toward the stairs. Hojin and Kai perked up at the table and tried comprehend what was happening, but a dark figure dropped down from the second floor, landing on the table violently.
“What are you doing here?” it yelled again, spewing anger.
Kai and Hojin screamed. They fell back on their chairs and crawled to distance themselves. Kai flashed a light orb as a blinding distraction, while Hojin ran for a weapon. The figure back-flipped onto the second floor railing as Hojin smashed his sword into the table and Ting threw a bolt.
Kai dropped his orb, regaining composure. “Wong?”
The figure straightened up and removed his mask. “Oh, hi Kai . . . Hojin.”
“You idiot,” Kai said, taking a pear off the table and throwing it.
Wong caught it and bit into it. He dropped off the railing and smiled. “Hey, haven’t had one of these in a while.”
Kai ran over and hugged him.
Hojin lowered his sword. “We could have killed you.”
Wong laughed. “I don’t know about that. But you can tell her to put the bolt down.”
He nodded at Ting, who had grabbed another throwing bolt from the upper floor.
“What are you doing here?” Kai asked.
“It’s my house. What are you doing here?”
“Are you going to make us go back?” Hojin said.
Wong’s scrunched up his face. “Haven’t decided yet.”
“Are you going to kill us?” Ting asked.
Wong’s scrunched up his face again. “Haven’t decided yet.”
“Come downstairs, Ting,” Hojin said. “He’s not going to kill us.”
Ting took her time getting to them, cautious of the stranger.
“This is my sister, Ting,” Hojin said, putting an arm around her.
Wong walked over, stooped to her level, and examined her. “So this is the little one who got you all in trouble.”
“How did you know that?” Kai asked.
“I talked to Han and the elders. They told me everything.”
“So you know about the Koon Gee and Blood Ninjas?”
“I know what they know, but I suspect you know more.”
“Is that why you’re here? To take them down? You can help us! We can fight together. I’m stronger now. You’ll see.”
“Whoa. Slow down a second.”
Kai jumped up and down. “We know where they are. We have a plan. We can do it together.”
The three kids looked at him expectantly. Wong wondered what he had walked into.
“Anyone hungry?”
Wong brought everyone out to his favorite late night eatery. There was a curfew still in effect, but it was hardly enforced and an increasing number of emboldened shops remained open. Fortunately, one of them happened to be the one that Wong liked. The small shop was nearly full when they took a private nook and promptly ordered. By the time their food arrived, they had already caught up on the details of all that had happened.
A mound of food was placed before them, the selection inexpensive but varied.
“You must be really hungry,” Hojin said.
“Try eating fruit, nuts, grubs, and wild forest game for a year, then get back to me.”
Wong promptly began stuffing his face with crispy dumplings and meats.
“Was it fun to live with the monkeys?” Ting asked.
“It was easier there than here.”
“Why?”
“Cause he’s a demon now,” Hojin said bluntly.
“Oh yeah. Is it weird to live here now?”
Wong enjoyed the simplicity with which they spoke.
“No. I’m glad you’re here to break me in. It’s easier to go from magaus to kids, th
an magaus to adults.”
“Do you regret not going to Tanjin with the magaus?” Kai said. “Like you abandoned them?”
“What happened to the kid talk?” Wong said. “That’s a grown-up question.”
“I’m not a kid. I’m a Shaolin warrior.”
“I feel bad, but they’re in good hands.” He looked around to make sure their conversation was still private. “Jaguan and Xiong are there, but here is where the real danger is. Here is where I’m needed.”
“Glad you agree,” Hojin said. “What’s the plan?”
“Yeah, what’s the plan?” Ting added.
“We should see what’s inside of that tower,” Kai said.
Wong held up his hands. “Easy, one step at a time. There is no plan. The only plan is to eat dessert. And I have a craving for some coconut jelly.”
Hojin finished his tea and thumped the cup down on the table. “Well, we already worked some things out. We’re going to take them down, with or without you. You can join our clan if you like.”
“Clan? I can join your clan?”
“Flying Dragon Monsoon.”
“We know what we’re doing,” Kai said.
Wong wanted to laugh. “How are you going to take them down? It’s not as simple as storming the tower. There’s more to it. You’re not going to trick them all into leaving the building, you’ll never pass for Blood Ninjas, and even if you did want to do something as stupid as storm the tower, you’d do it with the Shaolin warriors, not some sketchy ninja clan like the Eternal Moon.”
Hojin looked shocked. “How did you know?”
“You were spying on us!” Kai said. “You were listening to us before you jumped inside and scared us.”
“You’re mean,” Ting said. “You scared us on purpose.”
They shot him an angry look. Wong was taken aback and snapped his fingers to catch the attention of a server to distract them, then pointed at the table.
“Coconut jelly.” He pointed at the others. “Coconut jelly?” They ignored him. He signaled back to the waiter with four fingers. “Four coconut jellies.”
“Stop treating us like kids,” Kai said. “We’re capable warriors and you know it.” He narrowed his eyes. “Wait. You weren’t just trying to scare us, were you? I mean, you were because you’re a jerk, but I know you better than that. I know how you think.”
Wong wondered where he was going with his line of reasoning.
“You heard us talking the whole time about the Blood Ninjas. You wanted to see what we knew and came up with.” His face brightened. “And you wanted to test us. See how we reacted.”
Hojin caught on. “That’s why he wore the mask and scared us.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Wong said. “What would I be testing you for?”
“To see if we could handle Hanai,” Kai said.
Hojin turned to Kai. “What did we do though? We were scared at first, but then—wham—you shot a light orb right in his face.”
“Then you used the distraction to grab a sword. It was out before he almost had a chance to dodge.”
“Even Ting knew to go for a bolt. We weren’t some scared rookies.”
“It’s true. He’s not going to turn us in. If he didn’t want to deal with us or think we could handle it, he would have just let Shian and Riyon know where we were without showing his face. That’s how he does things.”
They shot him a look again. The server returned with four cups of dessert, but they did not lift their gaze.
Wong nodded to each, returning their accusatory stares, but instead of answering, smoke shot up from his seat and clouded the area.
When it cleared again, he was gone, including his cup of coconut jelly.
29
“IS HE STILL sleeping?” Hojin said. “It’s past noon.”
Kai looked at the second floor balcony, near the front of the house where a motionless lump on a mat was covered by a blanket.
“I think so.”
“Well, he better not sleep the whole day. I don’t want to waste it. I’m beginning to wonder if we’re better off without him.”
“That’s like saying we’re better off going into battle without Jaguan or Xiong.”
“But look at what he did last night. Who does that? The worst part is he left us with the bill. What if we didn’t have enough money? At least Jaguan and Xiong are adults and not crazy.”
“Jaguan and Xiong would have sent us back to Shaolin already. Wong is willing to help.”
“You have a point . . . but he didn’t actually say he’d help us. He just said he’d let us stick around.”
“He won’t let us down. You’ll see.”
“Are you sure that’s even him under the blanket? Maybe he put a bunch of stuff there and left. I wouldn’t put that past him.”
Ting walked in from the back door. Her hands were dirty.
“He’s there. I poked him with the birdie stick before and he moved.”
“What’s a birdie stick?”
“The one he brought back from the monkeys.” She pointed at his magau stave, which now occupied one of the spaces on the wall.
A loud crash shook the table. Wong had jumped on it from the balcony.
Hojin flinched. “What is wrong with you?”
Ting laughed.
“Morning kiddies.” He focused on Ting. “Why were you poking me? And what were you doing with my magau stave?”
“I used it for digging and wanted to tell you I finished making your slug garden.”
“Really?”
“It’s outside.”
“Heh. Don’t touch my weapons.” Wong stepped off the table and walked out the back entrance.
The garden was sparse, with a few benches and planters that had weeds growing out from the top. A large shallow pot appeared on the left, with a trail of dirt taken from one of the planters.
Wong examined Ting’s handiwork. A few sembu slugs lay in the moist dirt, along with a few rocks and a replanted weed. The clay jar used to transport the slugs was also buried halfway on its side to look like a small house. He guessed a couple more slugs were hidden inside.
“Nice,” Wong said. “A little messy, but nice. It needs more water, though. These slugs need swamp. Did you reuse the mud that was inside the jar?”
“Yeah,” Ting said. “Is it good enough? Can I have it now?”
“Go for it, but don’t touch anything else.”
Ting ran off. Wong poured another cup of water into the pot.
Hojin looked impatient. “Why are we wasting time on these stupid slugs? What did you say she could have?”
“A throwing bolt. She wanted one, so I said she could have it if she made me a slug sanctuary.”
Hojin raised his hands. “Are you kidding? You gave her a shuriken? She shouldn’t be playing with that.”
“She handled it pretty well last night.”
“She’s just a kid.”
“You’re all kids. And you want to mess with Blood Ninjas.”
Wong slushed the mud around to better incorporate the water. “You know, Hojin, I remember you being more of a free spirit. What happened?”
“I grew up.”
“No. It’s more than that. You seem a little uptight.” He stopped fiddling with the garden pot and thought. “Don’t tell me. Someone at Shaolin got into your head. You must have a dedicated master now, right? Who is it?”
“I’m uptight? First of all, you’re the weird one—you always were—and now that you’re back from the Koon Kagi, you’re just plain crazy.”
“You’re still mad about the restaurant, aren’t you?”
“You left us. You could at least pay us back.”
“Right.” He checked his empty pockets. “One doesn’t really carry money around the Koon Kagi. Tell you what, you
don’t have to pay me rent and we’ll call it even.”
Hojin huffed and stormed back inside.
Kai looked at Wong disapprovingly.
“What, you, too?” Wong said. “I was kidding. I’ll pay you back. I just don’t have any money on hand right now.”
“Hojin’s just being protective of Ting because he lost his parents. He’s been through a lot with the Koon Gee. You should know what that’s like.”
Wong sighed. “I’ll talk to him.”
“You need to take us seriously, too.”
“I don’t like it when you speak to me like an adult. How did that happen? I just got back from the Koon Kagi, you know?”
“I know. We both sort of grew up.”
Wong tried to imagine what it must have been like at Shaolin the past year after the unan attack. Probably pretty stifling.
“I’ll do better. Let’s get inside.”
Wong lifted the pot and brought it inside. He placed it on the table and wondered how to engage them.
“These are sembu slugs. Do you know why they’re important? Their slime breaks down unan tar. We tried sending back a few before but they didn’t survive. That’s why I’m being so careful.”
Hojin and Ting showed interest, coming over.
“What do you mean, it breaks down unan tar?” Kai asked.
“Dissolves it, eats it up. If you put some on a weapon, say a throwing bolt, it will burn and cause damage to the unan. If you get cut by a weapon laced with toxic unan tar, this will completely neutralize it. Sembu slime is good to have when you are in a city full of unan, allied with a ninja clan that uses poisons.”
“Do you think we can keep the slugs alive?” Ting said.
“We can try.” Wong clasped his hands and rubbed them. “So ends lesson one of surviving Hanai.”
