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Last modified Fri, 16 Mar 2007 21:37:44 GMT
Once, many moons ago, there was a young man by the name of Hyung Hee. He had heard countless rumours of a wise and very old master ninja who lived in a nearby monastery. As he had always aspired to be a powerful ninja, he decided to see him. On his sixteenth birthday he bid farewell to his family, packed a few belongings and travelled to find him.
The monastery was rumoured to be hard to find, but because he arrived unharmed and without much trouble he became overly brash in his manner. Upon finding the Master, Hyung Hee quickly introduced himself and asked to be told the secret of becoming a powerful and feared ninja.
The Master looked him over from head to toe, seemed to reach a conclusion and said, "Very well, if you would learn the secret of becoming a powerful ninja follow me and I will show you."
The master lead Hyung to a door at the end of a corridor. When the master opened the door Hyung felt an warm breeze sweep over them. No matter how hard Hyung strained his eyes, he could not see a single thing beyond the doorway, not even a shadow or a silhouette. The wind that spiraled out from the door brought a sound like the din of a thousand voices screaming mad chants. Hyung Hee, being the foolish young man he was, decided this of course would have to be a test. Stiffening his resolve along with his upper lip, he proceeded to follow the Master through the darkened doorway.
On the other side of the doorway was a very small landing, barely big enough to fit both the master and Hyung. Beyond the landing a stone stairway dropped away into the darkness. The master continued on, leading at a sedate pace. By the time they reached the fifth landing down Hyung was growing very impatient, he could barely stop himself from speaking but somehow he managed to restrain himself. However, the master seemed almost to read his mind and sped up, leaving Hyung in the dust.
After what seemed like days they finally reached the bottom of the staircases. Hyung couldn't see what was so special about the room to warrant its being hidden away at the bottom of the monastery, almost as if it had been buried at the bottom of a pit. The room was perhaps ten feet square and contained nothing except ten wheels and a lot of dust.
Each wheel was a different colour and a different size. Not able to hide the confusion from showing in his face, Hyung turned with a puzzled look to the master. The master gestured in economical movements towards the wheels and said, "You must keep all of these wheels turning, for one hour. If you succeed you will then know the secret of how I became a powerful ninja."
Hyung once more grew cocky thinking to himself that this was an extremely easy task. As before, when he couldn't conceal his puzzlement from showing in his features, his smug cockyness was now revealed in the lines of his mouth.
The master stepped back towards the wall and told Hyung, "You may start now". Hyung stepped foward, and with renewed vigour, began to turn the wheels. As the hour drew to a close, Hyung was satisfied with himself, of course it had been as easy as he thought it would. He turned with a smug look towards the master only to find him quietly pointing towards one of the wheels; it had stopped turning. Once again Hyung turned towards the wheels and started them turning. Unlike the time before, he worked up quite a sweat and was soon blinking the perspiration out of his eyes. Constant movement kept him pacing back and forth between the wheels only to be defeated once again by overlooking a wheel.
At the end of the first day the Master left him there, frantically turning the wheels. It is rumoured that his voice has become one of many, wailing up the winding staircase, and to this day he turns the wheels, now because he knows no else.
A ninja, known only as Master Tuhung, had tracked a notorious enemy of all ninja, Xuihi, to a small town. Seeing him in a local inn Tuhung quietly drew his blowpipe and prepared to fire, but Xuihi noticed him and fled out the back.
Tuhung quickly pursued him, but Xuihi had a good headstart and the ninja only just saw him leaving on horseback to a nearby temple.
Tuhung took his time collecting his own horse as he thought about what to do next. It was forbidden by the Sensei to shed blood on holy ground so he could not inhume the coward Xuihi while he remained in the temple.
Arriving outside it, Tuhung saw a small grove of cherry trees and, picking a large one to sit under, decided that waiting was preferable to dishonour. Soon the minutes turned to hours and the hours to days and still Xuihi had not emerged. Tuhung was not discouraged and continued to wait patiently.
As the leaves went red and started to fall from the cherry tree he waited.
As the branches of the tree started to sag with the heavy snows of winter he waited.
As the snow melted and the first blossoms of spring burst into colour he waited.
As the leaves grew and the fruit swelled he waited.
As the cherries ripened he waited.
And one day the door of the temple opened.
And there stood Xuihi, certain that he was safe at last.
And there died Xuihi, smug smirk still on his face and a poisoned dart in his neck.
In Agatea it used to be that a single contract would be handed to two ninja at a time, to ensure that it was closed in a timely manner. On one of these occassions the two ninja were required to inhume a rather rich merchant who had become excess baggage to a rival. Both ninja knew that the rich merchant would stop in Bes Pelargic on his travels, so they stationed themselves outside of the city gates to wait for him.
Hours and then days passed as they waited patiently for the merchant to show himself. Finally they both spotted the trail of dust rising from an approaching caravan. Both readied themselves and were stationed in their chosen positions long before the caravan arrived.
As it came within sight of the gates the first ninja took one look at the first carriage in line and decided that it was the one. It was ornately decorated and lavishly styled. There were several guards hanging from the running boards on the sides. The first ninja decided now was his time and jumped onto the carriage as it passed, overpowering two guards and fighting his way inside rather brashly.
The second ninja, more patient than the first, took time to study the caravan in depth before deciding which carriage contained the rich merchant.
She looked at them all and then focused more closely upon the third carriage which was quite plainly decorated. However, the ninja noticed that it was placed in the middle of the caravan, and that being rather plainly decorated and apparently unguarded it would probably be the last one attacked should someone try to rob them.
Having made her decision the second ninja jumped quietly onto the third carriage and slipped inside. The rich merchant lay there slumbering wrapped in silk sheets. The second ninja quietly finished what she had come to do and slipped away in the night.
The second ninja went on to become one of the most revered. Her exploits were noticed and promotion after promotion came through.
Alas, no more can be said about the first ninja, because no more is known. He was last seen entering the first carriage.
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Last modified Fri, 16 Mar 2007 21:37:44 GMT