“No, like this—Cut! Cut! Cut! DISARM! CUT!”

Ryo released the older boy’s arm and retrieved his razor sharp tanto from where it had fallen in the heather. For a moment she caught the reflection of the late morning sun high overhead in the glistening blade of the fine weapon, and shined it into his eyes.

Then, as the older boy reached the grab it from her hand, Ryo tossed the weapon up, giving it just enough spin to flip end over end three times, and land perfectly balanced on her out stretched pointer finger, digging in just far enough to raise one crimson drop of blood that also caught the glint of the sun’s rays.

Ryo once more flicked the weapon up and caught it by the blade, then threw it into the ground at the boy’s feet. Her own wooden practice tanto hadn’t left a single mark as it passed thrice across his arm and once more across his neck. But she was quite sure it had cut deeper into his soul than any knife.

Ryo smeared the drop of blood from her finger tip under her right eye, leaving behind a bloody tear drop. She shifted back on her right leg and struck a strong stance, retrieving the little wooden tanto from her belt.

“Now,” she began quietly. “Would you like to try again?”

The boy sheathed the tanto and backed away, then spit on the ground at Ryo’s feet, the only honorable reply Ryo’s gesture with the weapon.

He was sixteen, a good three years Ryo’s senior, but when he’d come at her with the knife she’d dispatched him as easily as though he were a child.

She should probably know his name. He was the elder brother of one of the girls in Ryo’s class, probably the girl she’d between at catisca earlier that day, both the children of a wealthy family. It was just a child’s game, nothing more.

* * *

Ryo walked slowly down the street, listening the bustle of life around her but not hearing it. It was clear to all that she was in a world of her own, and the bright smile she wore said that it was a good world.

Today she was thirteen, which is a very special day for young people in the capitol city of Ninpou. When a young Ninja is thirteen years old, they are allowed to leave school and join a ship at the lowest rank. Joining a ship meant a chance to see the world, and to gain fame and recognition. But Ryo was no ordinary little girl. Ryo, unlike everyone around her, she is in fact not a full Ninja.

It is a tale as old as time. Two individuals from opposing worlds meet, fall in love, and are torn apart by their the cruel whim of the tides. But this forbidden union had an added curiosity: Ryo.

In the world of pirates and Ninjas, where if you are a pirate you hate Ninjas and if you are a Ninja you hate pirates, Ryo was a half-breed. Her father was a dashing pirate, and her mother a skilled Ninja. One might think pore Ryo wouldn’t fit in anywhere, and one would be correct.

When Ryo’s mother returned home to Ninpou, her forbidden love was the talk of the city. When Ryo was but a baby, there was no question as to her parentage. To think, a half pirate in the capitol city of the Ninjas, how could such a thing be allowed?

But still, it could not be right to kill an innocent child for her mother’s sin. Ryo’s mother, Frunawho, also could not be punished formally, because such things as this were family affairs.

And so Ryo grew up amidst great frustration. Here was someone who was at least part pirate, and she was being allowed to walk the streets with equal rites. Yet no reasonable law could be made to bar her. If she committed any crime she could not be punished any worse than a full-blooded Ninja, for the laws did not specify ones heritage as a sentencing factor. Surely the laws could be changed, but how?

Government structure aside, if the people of Ninpou could not use the laws in any way to openly persecute Ryo, they would certainly find less obvious means.

That was how it was everywhere she went. Ryo had grown up getting the cold shoulder or worse from everywhere around her. When she was little, the other children wouldn’t play with her. A game of catch turned into a game of keep away when Ryo was about. Ninja children are taught from a young age to hate pirates, but since there wasn’t a single pirate in all of Ninpou, Ryo was used as an example.

Even now, as she walked down the street toward the harbor, a group of young children ran in a circle around her singing a children’s song about awful terrible pirates. Ryo had learned long ago to ignore them.

When she was little, and the other children wouldn’t play with her, Ryo had just played by herself. As she had grown and began studying the ways of the Ninja, she had had plenty of extra time to practice her ninjutsu while the other children were out having fun. Now, she was a better fighter than anyone her age, but her school marks didn’t show it.

Being half pirate gave Ryo an instant handy cap. She had to work twice as hard to get half as far. Her abilities were perfect, flawless, but yet the teachers still berated her on every perceived mistake. Her life had been like trying to play tag with one foot nailed to the ground.

Take the game of catisca; the other girl had cheated the entire time, but Ryo had won without even bending a rule. She always won, whatever the game or challenge, and yet there was no way she could earn their respect.

But that was all going to change for her, once she joined a ship. Out on the high seas a Ninja wasn’t judged by her lineage, she was judged by skill and deed. And as skilled a fighter as Ryo was, she was sure she could be a sailor.

This was the first real chance she’d had her entire life. Out on the ocean she could become a Samurai if she worked hard enough, she could finally get past all the prejudice she had grown up with. People would respect her, she would be known as Ryo of the Sea, or something like that, and she would someday have her own ship, maybe even a fleet.

And it would all begin today, when she joined a ship.

Ryo had headed to one of the larger ports, the port where all the ships went when they were taking on new crewmembers. Ninpou was the place to get fresh young sailors, something the ships were always looking for. The captains liked to get the fearless youths, the ones who may not have skill yet, but have a fire and passion for the seas.

Ryo was virtually tittering with excitement by the time she reached the port. She was very head strong by nature, and had gotten herself into more than a few situations she could have avoided by taking some time to think. Now was not the time to be headstrong, now was the time to be rational.

She surveyed the ships carefully. There was every type of ship here, war ships, clipper ships, merchant vessels of every shape and size.

Now was not the time to be rash. The decisions she made today would affect the rest of her life. If she choose a merchant vessel she could make a name for herself gallantly defending it from pirates, but only if it was a ship that ventured close to pirate waters. If she took a raiding ship or a war ship she could really draw positive attention with her incredible fighting skills.

Ryo drew an excited breath and raced for the closest vessel.

* * *

There were already several young people gathered around this ship, where a crewmate was explaining some of the perils of life at sea. Ryo already knew all about that, she spent many nights hanging about local taverns listening to the sailors speak. She had been waiting her whole life for this chance to go out to sea, to see the world and be judged for her abilities, not her lineage.

Ryo moved in behind the group. The sailor went on to say he was now going to be taking names, and that he would choose from among them who would come aboard to be tested for the open slots on the ship. The young hopefuls formed a line, and Ryo was immediately shoved to the back.

The boy ahead of her was tall and older, probably closer to eighteen, but he looked scrawny and not very strong. His glasses were as thick as whine bottles, but his face showed a mask of determination. He looked ready to overcome any obstacle by shear will alone.

“Name?” the crewmate asked.

“Nenyo Arroyo,” the boy replied.

“Fighting specialization?”

“Navigation.”

The crewmen looked up at Nenyo darkly.

“Fighting specialization?” he repeated.

“I’m fully schooled as a navigator,” Nenyo replied. “And quite skilled.”

“We’re not taking those who can’t fight,” the crewmen grunted and crossed Nenyo’s name off the list. “Next.”

The youth cursed angrily and stomped off in the direction of the next ship, tripping over a small barrel on the dock as he went.

“Name?” the crewmen asked. “Hey, kid, name?”

Ryo realized she’d been watching the boy Nenyo go, and hadn’t been paying attention.

“Ryo Sansen,” she replied confidently.

The man started to write the name, then looked back up at her as if she’d just insulted his mother.

“You’re that half breed girl,” he growled. “We don’t want you here, theirs no room on this ship for pirates!”

“But—” Ryo protested.

“Go!” the man shouted and started to stand. “Or I’ll call the city watch.”

Ryo bit her lower lip and walked away. While she was fully confident she could take the crewmen in a fight she couldn’t risk a confrontation with the guard, for her it would mean the worst possible punishment.

Ryo moved on to the next ship, where again she found herself in line behind Nenyo. For him it was the same situation, the crewmen on the dock asked Nenyo’s fighting specialization and then turned him away when he had none.

“Name?” he asked Ryo.

“Ryo Sansen,” Ryo replied. “I’m very skilled at—”

“Turn around, and walk the other way,” the crewmen hissed. “Or I’ll slit your throat while you sleep you little pirate filth.”

Ryo almost ran.

Once again, she found herself in line behind the boy Nenyo, and this time when he was turned away she didn’t even bother waiting to talk to the crewmen.

* * *

The sun set over the now quite harbor and the torches begun to be lit. By nature Ninjas were creatures of the night, but even the best Ninja needed a little light every now and then. The ships had all pulled up their gangplanks for the night, and Ryo was on the verge of tears.

Every single ship had been the same way: once they heard who she was, they turned her away. Even the ship that’d lost half its crew to scurvy and had the rest of its crew out begging for recruits turned her down. Ryo felt so terrible right then she’d almost run home crying.

But as terrible as it had felt she couldn’t stand to go home. She had said a long goodbye to her mother that morning, promising she would join a ship and make a name for herself on the sea. She was heart broken from the days rejection, but her mother would be even more heart broken to see her daughter fail.

As she sat on a wide patio up and behind one of the buildings, she took a deep breath and fought back tears. She had come here, to this secluded little porch that by day served as an out door tavern, because she couldn’t think of what to do next.

No ship, not one would take her.

“Ehhh, we all face rejection, don’t we?”

Ryo jumped. In the dim light of sunset she had mistaken the haggard old man for a pile of refuse left over from the day’s activities.

“I guess,” she replied sulkily after her heart had stopped beating so fast.

“Rejection, persecution, urp,” the old sailor was clearly quite drunk. Even so, he was making a good deal of sense.

“We all have hopes and dreams,” he continued. “Like I dream of another bottle, but we just can’t get what we want because the way the world is.”

The old man rocked forward for a few moments and started to snore. Then, very suddenly, he looked up and his eyes opened wide and filled with fire.

“Sullen Michael, he took it!” the drunk raged. “The map, yes, to it, to Ronin!”

There was a long pause as he stared pointedly at Ryo.

“But what if we could just change the world?” he asked. “With the Tiger’s Claw! Yes, the claw of the great Sabatoth! That can grant whoever possess it their one greatest wish!”

With that he raised a finger for emphasis, then fell forward on the table and began snoring again.

Ryo carefully slipped of the crate she’d been sitting on, and left the patio. It was dark now, and the sky was filled with stars.

The ships were closed down for the night, those that hadn’t left on the evening tide. The docks were silent, still, devoid of life. It was the one part of the city that already slept.

“We just can’t stand to go home, can we?”

Ryo spun around reflexively. It was the boy who’d been ahead of her in line for the first ship, the one who’d been turned down several times.

“I guess,” Ryo shrugged. It was unusual, people didn’t talk to her often, they didn’t even make eye contact. “They wouldn’t take you either?”

“It’s the same way every year,” Nenyo replied. “I try to find a ship, and all they want is fighters.”

“They won’t take me because I’m—”

“Half pirate? Everybody knows.”

Ryo folded her arms and glared at him.

“It’s not like I care,” Nenyo continued. “They always tell me I don’t have the right to put anyone down because I can’t fight at all. So I can’t very well be annoyed about your heritage.”

There was a long pause as the two stared uncomfortably at each other.

“I’m Nenyo Arroyo,” Nenyo finally said and extended a hand.

“Ryo Sansen,” Ryo replied as they shook hands firmly.

“So Ryo,” Nenyo began. “We seem to be in the same general predicament, got any ideas?”

“Change the world,” Ryo shrugged and began walking.

“Was that a joke?” Nenyo asked as he followed after her.

“Kind of,” Ryo said absently. “It sure wouldn’t be easy.”

“Mind elaborating?”

Ryo thought for several moments before looking back at Nenyo and sizing him up.

“Theirs this gem, I guess,” she explained. “It… has magical powers. It can grant whoever holds it a single wish.”

“Really?” Nenyo asked suspiciously.

“Yup,” Ryo nodded. “I have it on a very reliable source. Well, ok so it was a drunk, raving source, but I’m sure of it!”

She was sure. The fire in that old man’s eyes had been undeniable, he believed in the Tiger’s Claw. All they had to do was find a pirate named Sullen Michael in Ronin, in pirate waters.

“This Gem,” Nenyo began. “Where is it?”

“I don’t know,” Ryo admitted. “But I know who does, and where he is!”

“Feel like sharing?” Nenyo folded his arms across his chest and shifted his weight from one leg to the other.

“A pirate, named Sullen Michael,” Ryo explained. “In Ronin, in pirate territory.”

“Well,” Nenyo breathed. “That’s three reasons to go right there.”

Ryo shivered nervously and shrugged, unsure what to say.

“Then let’s make a plan,” Nenyo said seriously.

* * *

Ryo opened the door as quietly as she could, and slipped through the tiny house. To her astonishment the lanterns were still lit, and when she came around the corner into the kitchen, she found her mother sitting at the table.

To Ryo’s further amazement dinner was lain out for two on the fine china, and it was her favorite meal. Seaweed wrapped sushi with egg rolls and fresh miso soup. Frunawho smiled warmly as Ryo sat.

“How’d you know I’d be back?” Ryo asked glumly.

Frunawho’s smile faded. “I didn’t think you would to be honest, but I figured either way—”

Ryo smiled, she knew what her mother was thinking. Her mother had known all along know ship would take Ryo, but she knew just what to say to make Ryo not feel so put out.

“So was it to bad?” Frunawho leaned forward on the table.

“Not really,” Ryo replied as she started eating. “Only about half the ships threatened me with gruesome death, the others just told me to leave.”

“Ouch,” Frunawho winced. “But the ships usually baton up for the night at sundown, where have you been? I was beginning to think—”

“I met a friend,” Ryo said offhandedly. “We were talking.”

Frunawho looked as though she might explode with joy. “Who is it honey?”

“He’s a navigators son,” Ryo replied. “None of the ships would take him either because he can’t fight for beans. We’re going to try at some of the other ports tomorrow.”

Ryo decided not to tell her mother about the Tiger’s Claw. Frunawho would probably say something about it being a wild goose chase or superstitious nonsense. But if Ryo and Nenyo could find a ship…

After the late dinner Ryo helped her mother with the dishes. Ryo missed her already, and she hadn’t even left yet. She knew her mother was feeling the same way; Frunawho had been missing Ryo ever since the day she had told her she wanted to go to sea. But Frunawho was proud of her daughter’s determination, she knew Ryo faced many challenges just for who she was, but she always knew Ryo would succeed no matter what.

It was after midnight by the time Frunawho tucked Ryo into bed.

“I guess this is really the last time I’m going to tuck you in,” Frunawho said, smiling to hide her tears. “By the time you come back, my little girls going to be all grown up.”

“Don’t cry mommy,” Ryo said as she hugged her mother. “I’ll always be your little girl, no matter how big I get.”

Frunawho smiled for a moment, then frowned and brushed Ryo’s hair back. In that classic universal mothering gesture, she licked her thumb and rubbed it under Ryo’s eye, whipping away the faint stain of blood from that morning.

“You should be careful,” she warned. “People fear little girls who cry blood.”

Ryo nodded and shut her eyes tightly. It was the one thing Ryo and her mother had ever disagreed on.

She drifted almost instantly off to sleep. No matter what, she could always fall asleep when her mother tucked her in, no matter how excited or sad she was.

* * *

The sun dawned in a crystal blue sky, and Ryo met Nenyo in front of the tavern where they’d talked the night before.

“So what's the plan?” Nenyo asked. “We gonna try and find a ship to Ronin? Or maybe stow away.”

“We’re not going to get to the pirate city on a Ninja ship,” Ryo replied. “Unless it’s actually going there, and no Ninja ship would venture that far into pirate waters without a very good reason.”

“Aright…” Nenyo replied. “So what then?”

“Maybe we can charter a ship,” Ryo suggested.

“Charter ships are expensive,” Nenyo shook his head. “And their rates are based on how dangerous the mission is.”

“Maybe we can find a really crazy captain,” Ryo suggested. “And convince him it’ll be worth the risk.”

“Or maybe we can get a ship,” said Nenyo slowly. “Like as derelict, and fix it up. Then we’d just need a crew…”

“Then lets go out Swamp Bottom!” Ryo blurted a little louder than she’d intended. She started stomping hurriedly down the street, and Nenyo ran to catch up.

“Aren’t we being a little hasty?” Nenyo asked. “We don’t even know if—”

“We won’t know anything until we look around,” Ryo replied. “No sense coming up with ideas that won’t work.”

* * *

Swamp Bottom was the shallow, silty bay where two of the big islands rivers met the sea. As a harbor it was useless, only deep enough for the bigger ships to get in at high tide. The water was muddy and smelled bad from the rivers, and the bay was littered with trash. This was where Ninja ships came to die, or at least rest for a bit.

The dieing hulks lay on the bottom, hulls sticking out of the water at odd angles with rotting timbers. The few that were still a float had been picked apart by salvagers, leaving little but sleeping derelicts.

Save for one shabby vessel that looked complete.

“What do you think?” Ryo asked.

Nenyo shrugged. “A few coats of paint,” he said. “And she’d be fine. Yeah, just a few coats of paint, some new sails, probably a new hull—”

“You two gawkin?” an old man called. “Or looking to make a purchase?”

Nenyo and Ryo glanced at each other and walked down the pier to where the old man sat by the gangplank of the ship. He looked quite haggard and tired, but there seemed to be a deep fire burning in his eyes, even if time and alcohol clouded it.

“Is she for sale?” Ryo cocked her head an asked.

“Ai,” the old Ninja sighed. “And I’ll take almost anythin for her, so long as it buys enough saki to forget her.”

The ship was old, that was obvious, and its construction looked implacable. She was clearly built for speed, but was unlike any Ninja or pirate ship Ryo had ever seen. It was quite common for Ninja’s to steal pirate ships, and vice versa, but this ship was neither. In her day she must have been quite the vessel, but now the paint was pealing and faded and the sails were in rags, and she listed to the port as though she were a tired old woman.

“Forty years,” the old man raised a fist and pounded the air to emphasis his point. “Forty years I sailed the seas on that ship. Started as just a cabin boy and worked me way up, till the captain he gave her to me when he died. The Antelope was the fasted ship on the sea, could get from her to Rivanna Bay in under a month.”

Ryo and Nenyo glanced at each other and nodded in disbelief. That was a common trading route that usually took between six weeks and two months.

“My crews, they never understood,” the old captain lamented. “Left me, every last one of them they did, three years ago after our last run. Said I was ‘dangerous company’. They didn’t understand.”

“Why’d they say you were so dangerous?” Ryo asked curiously.

“Ai, twas for the way I captained her it was,” the man sighed. “Got em into a few rough scrapes I did. Course, they seemed not to care that I also got em back out. Adventurings a dangerous art it is.”

“Do you think we could put together a crew?” Ryo whispered to Nenyo. “And come up with enough gold for the ship?”

“And what adventures we had!” the old captain bellowed. “We took the Antelope deeper into pirate waters than any Ninja ever dared! Oh, to have such a great adventure as that again. I would gladly trade my life, for just one last great adventure.”

Nenyo and Ryo looked at each other again.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Nenyo asked.

Ryo turned to the old sea captain.

“Sir,” she announced. “How would you like the greatest adventure of all time?”

* * *

“We need a crew,” Nenyo said simply. “And enough capital to stock the ship.”

“I don’t have any money,” Ryo shrugged. “And neither does Captain Gaysu.”

“Well, let’s just look for a crew first,” Nenyo replied. “Then we can worry about money. Maybe we can convince whoever we recruit to put up capital—”

“Who would join a ship with no money?” Ryo interrupted. “It’s not my way to be pessimistic, but I don’t know how we’re going to do this right now.”

“Who knows,” Nenyo shrugged. “Perhaps a solution will present itself.”

They had entered the next harbor, a big one frequented by the raiders. They were just walking down one of the piers along the shore when a man was rolled down the gangplank in front of them.

“Please!” the man begged. “Let me stay on! I promise I won’t fall asleep again!”

“No!” the two crewmen who had thrown him off shouted in unison. “You were practically useless in the last raid! Now get going and don’t come back, and take your ‘fare share’ with you!”

One of the crewmen threw a small bag at the man’s head and struck him squarely, sending him to the ground.

The crewmen turned away and busied themselves with the ship, and Ryo rushed to the man who had fallen.

He wore all black and the scarf of a Ninja, and he was literally bristling with weapons. What surprised Ryo though, was that instead of being knocked out cold he was actually sleeping peacefully.

“Are you all right sir?” she asked as she shook him awake. The man’s eyes opened slowly and he looked at her, blinking.

“I think,” he said slowly. “Did I hit anything on the way down?”

“Just the ground,” Ryo admitted. “What happened, couldn’t you dodge that?”

“Oh sure,” the man rubbed his eyes. “If I was awake.”

“You fell asleep?” Nenyo asked.

“Yes.”

“Standing up?”

“Yep.”

“Pardon my asking,” Nenyo said slowly. “But how?”

“I dunno,” the man shook his head. “I just, ya know, fall asleep. When I get nervous.”

“That bites,” Nenyo apologized.

“I know!” the man stood up. “I’ve been thrown off of so many ships—”

“What's your name Ninja?” Ryo asked.

“I am called Shadoo,” Shadoo announced proudly. “Of the Towen House.”

“Shadoo of the Towen House,” Ryo repeated, imitating his proud voice. “Would you join our crew?”

“Depends,” Shadoo said slowly. “Who’s in it?”

Ryo gestured to Nenyo. “Him, me, some old sea captain we met in Swamp Bottom.”

“But we have a ship!” said Nenyo.

Shadoo bowed on a knee. “Fair lady, I would join your crew in a heart beat!”

Ryo hopped up and down excitedly. “Yippee!”

* * *

“Theirs just a few problems so far,” Ryo explained as she and Nenyo walked down the street with their new found friend and shipmate. “We have a ship, but not much of a crew yet, and no money to finance the voyage.”

Shadoo held up the bag the men on the ship had throw at him. “Will this help?” he asked. “I know I’m a skilled fighter, but my tendency to fall asleep quickly alienates me from most crews. All I want to do is sail and fight, I don’t care about the money.”

“Terrific!” piped Ryo as she opened the bag. To her astonishment it was full of cold and precious gems, enough to finance half a dozen voyages.

“We had quite a raid,” Shadoo sighed. “On a big pirate stronghold. I fell asleep, of course, coming off the ship, and by the time I woke up there was nothing left to do but carry away the treasure. The men who fought received a share ten times that, but—”

“This’ll be plenty,” grinned Ryo. “But we still need a crew.”

“Try the Ruffian Row,” Shadoo suggested. “A lot of fighters and sailors hang out there in between trips. There are some who will work cheap.”

“Some like you?” Nenyo asked.

“Basically.”

Nenyo nodded. “At this point we’ll take what we can get, no offense.”

“None taken. Where are we making for anyway?”

“Ronin.”

Shadoo stopped dead. At first Ryo and Nenyo thought he had fallen asleep again, but he was just standing still, eyes open, and shaking all over.

“You—we—are going to the pirate city?” he questioned.

“Yeah,” Ryo replied. “We need to find an old pirate by the name of Sullen Michael.”

“In the Pirate City?”

“Yes, that’s where he’s supposed to be.”

“The pirate city?”

“Yes.”

“The pirate city?”

“Yes, the Pirate City, Ronin, which stands at the far side of the globe and where no Ninja has ever set foot.”

The shining city of Ninpou sat directly over the southern pole of the Earth. Hence, all Ninja-built compasses pointed south, and Ninja-made maps used south as the dominant direction. A Ninja is always guided by the South Stare, it is said.

But for pirates, it was the north. Ronin was on the North Pole, pirates navigated by the North Star. And Ronin sat squarely atop the North Pole.

“Just checking,” Shadoo nodded. “Any particular reason this captains so special?”

“He’s supposed to know the location of the Tiger’s Claw,” Ryo explained. “A gem with magical powers.”

“That sounds awfully suspicious.”

“Hey,” Ryo said defensively. “We have it on a very reliable source that Sullen Michael knows where it is.”

“Really now?”

“Well, it was more of a drunk, raving source,” Ryo laughed nervously. “But still—”

“You’ve heard of this thing, you wanna go for it for whatever reason, and you’re doing anything it takes.”

“Yup.”

“Aright, I’m in,” Shadoo sighed. “Come on, I know a man who might join what could possibly be called our cause.”

They followed Shadoo to the Ruffian Row, where he took them to a small shrine. Next to the shrine outside an even smaller hut a young priest sat cross-legged. At first glance he was apparently praying, but as they got closer they realized he was drawing in the wet dirt with the end of his staff.

A priest’s staff was an interesting item. They were long, usually taller than the priest himself, and often covered with or made from metal. Bronze or brass was usually the order of the day. This particular staff was six feet long, and had a sort of simple loop at the head. The loop had four little brass rings around it, so that when the bottom of the staff was struck against the grounds, the rings would jingle musically.

What was often most notable about the staves was also the least noticed. Ryo’s practiced eye spotted it easily: a tiny seam in the metal about two thirds of the way up. A staff was a formidable weapon by itself in the right hands, but the staff of a priest also contained a concealed double-edged blade. Priests were masters of both staff and sword, but as a rule were never supposed to engage in combat. They trained solely as a form of meditation.

“Romanji! You old hound!” Shadoo called. “Holding up?”

“As well as anyone can,” the priest replied lazily. “Care for another anti-sleeping concoction, or perhaps you’d like to try the blessing?”

“Your potions make me sleep for days and your blessings are—” he glanced over his shoulder and smiled at Ryo and Nenyo. “—Ill effective. May we sit?”

“Please,” Romanji gestured to the grass around them. “Welcome to my shrine. My blessings are cheap and my potions are stomach-able, though neither is guarantied to work.”

“These two are chartering a crew,” Shadoo explained. “And given the dangerous nature of the voyage, I think a priest might be a useful addition to the crew.”

“Well, if you can find one of those you’ll be in luck,” Romanji replied with a laugh. “But in lieu of such a man I will gladly serve in his place.”

“Pardon me,” said Ryo. “But aren’t you a priest?”

“Not in the traditional sense,” Romanji explained. “I perform blessings and do the standard horology, but let me just say that—”

“Romanji doesn’t believe in God,” Shadoo chuckled heartily.

“An atheistic priest,” Nenyo scratched his chin. “Well, I suppose some sacrifices are to be made. Tell me priest, would join our crew?”

“What the hell?” Romanji replied and stood up. “Rents past due on my shrine anyway and the landlord said he’s gonna take it from my hide if I don’t have it tomorrow.”

“Just out of curiosity,” Nenyo began slowly. “Can you do anything else besides give bad blessings?”

“Sure,” Romanji shrugged. “While my horticulture and faith my be questionable, I am a skilled physician. The ruffians that live in this neighborhood can’t afford to go to the healers in the city; I found I made more money actually curing them than giving bad blessings. I don’t do the funky herb thing real good, but I have practical medicine down.”

“Yay!” Ryo cheered. “One more for the Antelope!”

“You’ll find the ship down in the Swamp Bottom cove,” Nenyo explained. “Tell Captain Gaysu we sent you, and that you’re to join our crew. It’s a long walk back to our side of town though, Ryo, I think we should get going.”

Ryo nodded. “It was nice to meet you!” she waved to Romanji and Shadoo.

“So how do you think we stand so far?” Ryo asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

“We have a washed up captain, a half sunk ship, a narcoleptic Ninja and an atheistic priest,” Nenyo replied. “How can we fail?”

* * *

Ryo arrived home again while the sun was still setting. Her mother was inside, sewing something, but she didn’t look surprised to see Ryo.

“Hi mom!” Ryo called as she walked in the door.

“Hello dear,” Frunawho smiled sweetly. “Any luck today?”

Ryo sat in a chair across from her mother and nodded vigorously.

“We couldn’t find a ship that would take us,” she explained. “But we found an old captain with a ship and no crew, and he said if we could find one for him, he would take us. So all we have to do now as put together a crew.”

A wide smile spread across Frunawho’s face.

“Oh Ryo,” she cried. “That’s what I love about you! When the world cuts off all paths, you just make your own!”

* * *

Down broke early and there was a knock on Ryo’s door. She threw back the covers and ran for it, still in her black cotton pajamas. Her mother was asleep, so Ryo only opened the door a crack, and looked immediately into Nenyo’s eyes.

“Hi!” she said excitedly. “Starting early?”

“We better,” Nenyo nodded. “I’ve got someone here I want you to meet.”

“Can it wait just a few minutes?” Ryo asked hurriedly. Then she noticed the man leaning over Nenyo’s shoulder and looking at her with a thoughtful expression.

“This is Miagi,” Nenyo explained. “He’s not much of a fighter either, but he’s strong and knows his way around a ship. He… sailed with my father.”

“Does he want to join our merry little band?” Ryo asked excitedly.

“He does, Nenyo replied slowly. “But… ah… you have to realize, he’s kind of a pacifist.”

“You’re a thing that babies suck on?” Ryo blinked curiously.

Miagi gave her a friendly grin.

“No, that’s a pacifier,” he corrected. “I am a pacifist, it means I don’t fight or engage in any kind of violence.”

“Well that’s ok,” Ryo nodded. “Because we don’t turn anyone down. We took a priest who doesn’t believe in God, I think a pacifist Ninja won’t hurt.”

“You met Romanji?” Miagi blinked.

“Miagi works for one of the larger store houses,” Nenyo explained. “The ones that supply ships for voyages. He’s got connections, he can definitely help—”

“Nenyo, just look at him,” Ryo said and gestured. “We’d be crazy not to welcome this guy!”

Miagi smiled again and nodded. “The young lady is quite wise beyond her years.”

“Miagi and I are going to start arranging for the supplies,” Nenyo said. “We’ll meet you down by the ship later, k Ryo?”

“K,” Ryo nodded.

She closed the door as the two walked away, and then grinned from ear to ear. She was worried that the storehouses wouldn’t sell them supplies for the journey, but with Miagi it wouldn’t be a problem. Plus he made six in the crew, which was very nearly enough. Gaysu had said the Antelope would take a crew of twenty, but they could probably manage her well enough with eight. There was also the chance they could pick up more crewmembers later, so Ryo wasn’t worried.

The fact that Miagi was a pacifist wouldn’t be a problem. They weren’t planning any raids, they instead intended to rely more on stealth. Tactically, not fighting would be the wiser.

Ryo was an avid scholar of tactics. She had heard an account once of a small band of Ninjas defeating a much larger army of pirates, and she wanted to know how. She had read and committed to memory everything she could find on the subject of tactics, searching for that elusive secret.

She had never found the simple answer, but she had learned: when outnumbered, avoid open conflict.

It was all coming together now. They had a ship, money, and most of a crew. For the first time it was truly beginning to look like a reality.

Ryo dressed as quickly as she could and raced out the door. It wouldn’t be long before they could begin the voyage.

As she made her way towards the Ruffian Row the sound of shouting in an alley called her attention. Cautiously, she peeked around the corner and saw four people arguing over a dice game.

“Come on!” a woman shouted. “Just gimmie one more go at it!”

“You ran out of money three rolls ago!” one of the men bellowed back. “Face it, you lost!”

“Yeah well, I didn’t want your stupid money anyway!” the woman spat back and stood to leave.

“Hold on!” one of the others screamed. “You still owe us fifty-seven weights!”

Slowly, the three men surrounded the woman and started reaching for knives.

“Sister! Sister!” Ryo shouted hurriedly as she ran into the alley. “There you are!”

“What?” the woman asked suspiciously. “Oh, yes! I’ve just been visiting with these—friends—of mine.”

“Come on sister!” Ryo shouted and grabbed the woman’s hand. “You’ve gotta come home now! Mommy needs you!”

“Ok, let’s go,” the woman said nervously and followed Ryo.

“Wait just a second!” one of the men snarled as she and Ryo reached the edge of the alley.

“Run?” Ryo suggested.

“Good plan kid,” the woman replied.

They raced through the now crowded streets of Ninpou in the general direction of the Antelope.

“What’s your name kid?” the woman shouted as they vaulted over a cart.

“Ryo,” Ryo replied.

“Thanks for the rescue then, Ryo,” the woman voiced. “I’m Lelu, in case you were wondering.”

They skidded around a corner and reached the long sloping road that stretched toward the bay of Swamp Bottom.

“Any idea where we’re headed?” Lelu asked.

“That way?” Ryo suggested. “Theirs a ship down there, and hopefully my friends.”

“Friends are good,” Lelu nodded.

They reached the gangplank of the Antelope, just as Miagi and Shadoo were walking down.

“Shadoo! We need help!” Ryo called.

Miagi eyed them curiously as he and the Ninja touched the cobblestones and turned to face Ryo and Lelu’s pursuers.

“That woman,” one of them panted. “Owes us—”

“Owes you what?” Shadoo glared as his hands passed over various weapons. “I have different swords for different disputes, you see.”

“She owes us money,” the man explained. “Fifty seven weights of—”

“Copper,” Miagi suggested as he stepped around Shadoo and folded his arms menacingly. “I suggest you say copper.”

“Or else what?” the man growled. “In case you haven’t noticed, we out number you!”

“In case YOU haven’t noticed,” Miagi informed him pointedly, and indicated Shadoo. “His swords outnumber all of us.”

Miagi dug into his pocket and produced a handful of copper and a few silver coins.

“I suggest you cut your losses,” he said and offered the pittance. “Or else allow him to cut them for you.”

“We’ll be back for you,” the man spat in the direction of Lelu. “Sometime when you haven’t got a cavalry of sods to rescue you!”

“Good luck!” Lelu waved as the three men retreated hastily.

* * *

“Well, thanks again,” Lelu exhaled as the three men rounded a corner.

“Don’t mention it,” Ryo waved. She turned curiously to Miagi and raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were a pacifist?”

“I am,” Miagi nodded. “But, one need not make their intentions not to fight clear, in order not to do so.”

“Well, whatever he says, I owe you guys,” Lelu grinned.

“Just like you owed those guys?” Shadoo suggested.

“Nah, that was money,” Lelu waved. “I mean I really owe you! Hey, what’s going on over here?”

“We’re forming a ship,” Ryo shrugged. “For a voyage to Ronin.”

“So… the other side of the globe?” Lelu asked. “I think I like the sound of that, got room for one more?”

“You’re not afraid of going to pirate city?” Shadoo blinked.

“Should I be?”

“It is the pirate city.”

“And this is the Ninja city,” Lelu shrugged. “Theirs not a lot of difference as far as I’m concerned, except that I don’t have any debts there.”

“I’ve never met such a fearless Ninja,” Shadoo said reverently.

“And you still haven’t!” Romanji shouted as he came up the street. “Lelu, small city, ne?”

“Yes, very,” Lelu nodded. “What’s up Rom?”

“I told you not to call me that,” Romanji hissed.

“What did you mean by ‘I still haven’t met such a fearless Ninja’?” Shadoo asked disappointedly.

“I mean Lelu here is not a Ninja,” Romanji replied. “She’s a con-artist, a smuggler, and a compulsive gambler. Oh, and she’s also a mermaid.”

“A MERMAID?!”

“A girls gotta have hobbies,” Lelu shrugged.

“A smuggler?” Ryo asked hopefully. “Does that mean you know your way around a boat?”

“I know a lot of things,” Lelu replied.

“Honestly,” Romanji began seriously. “Despite her—checkered past—I think Lelu’s expertise on this particular voyage would be a valuable asset. She can sail better than anyone, she’s a fast thinker, and she knows how to avoid detection.”

“Plus I can hold my breath for a really long time,” Lelu nodded.

“And, Ryo did say we don’t turn people away,” Miagi stated. “If she would like to join the ship.”

“I think we’re starting to look like a crew,” Ryo grinned.

* * *

“This is absolutely perfect!” Ryo grinned excitedly.

“I would hardly call it perfect,” Nenyo moaned as they made another long walk up to Ruffian Row. “This is the most mismatched crew I think I’ve ever heard of!”

“But that’s what makes it so perfect,” Ryo explained. “We all have these strengths and weaknesses that perfectly compliment each other.”

“We’ve got two none-fighters, a Ninja who falls asleep, an insane captain, an atheist priest, and a mermaid who lost her fins !” Nenyo lamented.

“No, we have a trained navigator, a strong man with experience stocking ships, a battle hardened Ninja, a seasoned captain, a doctor, and an ex-smuggler,” Ryo replied.

“Optimistic, aren’t we?” Nenyo laughed. “But you’re right, working together we can do anything, I hope.”

They had reached a corner where a few people sat around an open wok and a dark-faced Ninja sat skillfully frying food. As they approached, the few people gathered around took their food and walked hurriedly away.

Ryo and Nenyo sat in the vacated seats and looked up at the sullen chef.

“What will you have?” he asked sulkily.

“You know,” Nenyo said, turning to Ryo. “We need to think about finding a cook for the ship. I mean, we’ve got everything else, but we are going to need someone who can cook.”

“Do you have any prospects in mind?” the cook asked.

Nenyo and Ryo looked at him curiously.

“You just said you were looking for a cook,” the man shrugged. “I’ve been looking for a ship.”

“Well that was convenient,” Ryo laughed.

“The ruffians here don’t like me much,” the cook shrugged. “Say I dampen the mood to much. I’ve been looking to get away, maybe see a bit of the world.”

“We’re planning a very dangerous voyage,” Ryo hazarded.

“Danger, safety, it doesn’t make a difference to me,” the cook shrugged. “I’m Krim by the way.”

“Hi Krim,” Ryo waved. “We’re going to Ronin.”

“That’s suicide,” Krim pointed out.

“Is that a problem?”

“Nope.”

* * *

It was late morning as the ramshackle crew of the Antelope formed a chain from the cart on the road to the deck of the ship.

The bags of rice and flower and other provisions were being piled on the deck, and if all went well they would be shoving off on the evening tide. Ryo had said goodbye to her mother once more, and was again feeling the exhilarating mix of excitement and apprehension. This time it would work, this time it would happen.

The Antelope was going to Ronin.

One item in the cart that surprised Ryo was several bolts of fabric in a variety of colors. They had dozens of other things, sails, salted fish, lengths of bamboo, but the fabric seemed most out of place.

“Mine,” Lelu smiled as she handed a bolt up to Ryo. “I had an idea late last night.”

Ryo nodded and passed the material on up the chain, not in a mood to question it further. She was too excited; she just couldn’t focus on anything. Just doing her job without shaking was hard enough.

“You guys must be planning quite a trip,” the young man who had driven the wagon said. “Going anywhere special?”

“Specially suicidal,” Krim sighed. “We’re apparently trying to get to Ronin.”

“You mean the pirate city?”

“The very same.”

The man glanced cautiously over his shoulder.

“So, far away from here?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“When?”

“As soon as the ship is stalked,” Ryo shouted from her position in the line. “We’re hoping tonight, on the evening tide.”

The man glanced up and down the road again.

“Do you think,” he began cautiously. “I could come with you?”

“Is everyone who wants to join our crew trying to escape someone else?” Nenyo asked tersely.

“I’m only trying to get away from a bad reputation,” the man admitted. “See, I haven’t been on a ship in three years. My last voyage—ended badly, I was lost at see for a month, then when I was rescued the ship I was coming in on sank in the harbor. Since then no ship will take me. They say I’m… cursed.”

He looked around at the crew of the Antelope hopefully.

“I only want to redeem myself,” he explained. “Prove that I am a true Ninja.”

“It seems like most of us here have something to prove,” Nenyo replied. “What’s your name, Ninja?”

“Haku,” the man replied with a grin. “Just Haku, no last name now.”

It was a sad thing when a Ninja lost his last name. A family name meant honor, heritage, a connection to the community.

They had tried to stripe Frunawho of the Sansen name when Ryo was born, but her valor in the last battle of Receon had won her great, if temporary, fame. Talk had persisted of stripping Ryo of her family name, but the Code wouldn’t allow it. She was a child, and children of Ninjas were inherently pure. Still, as Ryo entered adulthood, she would no doubt become a nameless on like Haku, for without a name a Ninja could not have honor.

“Well, Haku,” Gaysu said with a confident grin. “Welcome aboard the Antelope.”

End Chapter 1

The Antelope, thirty days out of Ninpou:

“Gaysu was right,” Nenyo commented. “She is a fast ship.”

Ryo was looking over his shoulder curiously at the maps he had spread our across the deck.

“I had no idea navigating was so complicated,” she said.

“My father was one of the best,” Nenyo shrugged. “He taught me everything.”

“But you’ve never been to sea?” Ryo asked.

“Neither have you,” Nenyo pointed out.

Lelu wandered unsteadily across the deck and slumped down next to them.

“I was born in the sea,” she smiled.

“Then how come you can’t walk so good on deck?” Ryo inquired.

“I was born in the sea, not on it,” Lelu spat.

“Speaking of IN the sea!” Haku shouted from the crow’s nest. “I see something weird!”

“Weird as in…? Nenyo called back.

“As in weird!” Haku shrugged. “I’ve been sailing ten years, never seen anything like it!”

“Well what’s it look like?” Nenyo asked.

“Kinda like… a weird thing!”

Nenyo rolled his eyes and glanced questioningly at Ryo.

“I’ll go take a look,” Ryo said and hopped to her feet. “And from now on, Haku doesn’t man the crows nest!”

Ryo scaled the lines quickly and reached the small barrel where Haku stood, his eyes locked on a disturbance out ahead of them.

“You’re right,” she said as she followed his gaze. “It does look like a weird thing.”

“Can’t one of you be more descriptive than that?” Nenyo screamed.

“Yeah,” Ryo finally said. “It looks like a really bit snake.”

“Big snakes?” Nenyo turned towards Lelu. “A relative of yours?”

“Depends,” Lelu shrugged. “Where are we?”

“We’re in a region known as the Soratami Sea,” Nenyo explained and pointed to his charts. “It’s known for being some of the deepest waters on earth.”

“Mermaids tend to live in shallow coastal waters,” Lelu shrugged. “And it’s a myth that we’re related to any kind of fish.”

“Hey guys!” Ryo called from atop the mast. “Whatever it is, I think it’s swimming towards us!”

“What else does your map say about the Soratami Sea?” Lelu asked quickly.

“Nothing special,” Nenyo replied. “Just the usual supersticous nonsense. ‘There be dragons there’ and all.”

“I think it may be less supersticous than it sounds!” Ryo screamed. “It’s coming off the port side!”

Nenyo stood quickly and took a step forward, then turned nervously to Lelu.

“Which ways port?” he whispered.

“Left,” Lelu giggled.

Nenyo and Lelu ran to the port side of the ship and looked over.

“I don’t see it,” Nenyo said.

“LOOK OUT!” Ryo screamed.

Something green and scaly shot out of the water and towered over them. Its body was long and thin like a snake, but covered with huge fish scales. The head was unlike anything any of them had seen, with big black eyes and a long crocodile snout full of sharp saw-blade teeth.

It hung there for a moment, staring down at them.

Then it leaned down, it’s slimy, dripping body covering the ship, until the head dove back into the water, creating a wide green loop around them.

“It’s like a constrictor,” Nenyo screamed. “It’s going to wrap around the ship and break it in half!”

“Never going to happen,” Gaysu shouted fiercely. “That’ll never crack the Antelope!”

Ryo swung down from the mast, sword drawn, and landed on the monsters back. She drove her short katana in clean up to the hilt, and tried to twist it.

The head came back up and the monster prepared to make another loop.

This time, it was Shadoo who acted. He had come out on deck with a longbow, and knocked a black tipped arrow.

“You’re not taking this ship!” he screamed and shot the monster in the eye. It cried out in pain and flopped backwards into the ocean, and the first loop of its body pulled tight.

The railings shattered instantly under its might.

Ryo tried unsuccessfully to pull her sword back out, then finally drew a tanto and stabbed again.

The ship’s hull creaked unsettlingly.

The rest of the crew was on deck by now, each striking at the monster’s body with various weapons.

Shadoo had fallen asleep.

The monster squeezed even tighter.

Ryo ran out of weapons.

“How come the ships not breaking?” Lelu asked curiously.

“I said the ship wouldn’t break and I meant it!” Gaysu shouted as he struck unsuccessfully at the beast’s long body.

“Its mussels are like steel!” Ryo screamed as he kicked it.

“They’re not stronger than my ship!”

The monster’s head came back out of the water with the arrow still sticking from its closed eye. It shot them a look that conveyed extreme hatred, and gave the impression that they weren’t worth its time.

The sea monster’s muscles relaxed and it squirmed off the ship, disappearing back into the ocean’s depths.

“What happened?” Shadoo blinked.

“It… left,” Ryo gasped. “Wait—it left with my sword and tanto!”

“Well you shouldn’t have stuck them in so far!” Nenyo replied. “I don’t get it, how come it didn’t crush us?”

“I keep telling you!” Gaysu growled. “It’s impossible for anything to crush this ship!”

“Maybe it was all the damage we did to it…” Nenyo uttered. “Hey! We need to check the ships structure! If we’re leaking below the water line—”

“Shadoo, Haku, check the ship!” Gaysu ordered. “Ryo, man the crows nest. Nenyo, see to your charts.”

“But I—” Nenyo began to protest.

“Find us an island to make for,” Gaysu cut in. “We’re running low on water and I want to know we’ll have some place to go if the ship is damaged.”

Nenyo nodded resolutely and sat back down with his maps. He didn’t mind that Gaysu wanted a destination, but he had been eager to prove he could do something besides look at maps and charts.

Ryo reached the crow’s nest and looked out across the horizon. She could see something now, distant, and black. She hoped it wasn’t another sea monster.

* * *

“Ryo!” Nenyo called from the deck. “Look north and a little to the east, sea anything?”

“Just the black dot I’ve been watching for a while,” Ryo replied. “It’s not moving though, so I don’t think its another monster!”

“If we’re lucky it’s Sarasota-Riot,” Nenyo shouted. “A little uninhabited island, but theirs supposed to be a stockade there and a small dock. Theirs also a lot of fresh water and fruit trees.”

“No one lives there?” Haku asked.

“Nope,” Nenyo shook his head. “It’s mostly a watering stop, but the place isn’t big enough to support to much. The whole islands kind of a basin, they built a and an aqueduct that feeds a fountain down near the dock, so it shouldn’t be hard to take on water.”

Gaysu turned back toward Romanji, who was manning the helm for the time being. He was leaning on the wheel and mostly holding it steady, watching the sails flap back and forth.

“Point us toward the island,” Gaysu ordered.

“Will do,” Romanji nodded as he carefully eyed the compass and turned the wheel ever so slightly. “I’m remembering how much I liked life at sea.”

The ship was moving at a good clip even though the wind seemed light. Her sails were wide and her hull was sleek, and the graceful path she cut through the water left a white trail behind her.

The sea monster hadn’t left any serious damage, aside from turning parts of the rails into toothpicks.

The day wore on and the island became clearly visible. It was late afternoon by the time they sailed into the shallow, natural harbor, and spotted the dock.

It was far to small to accommodate a ship the size of the Antelope, looking to have been built for the smaller launches all oceangoing vessels carried. The ships boat was launched, and Ryo, Haku, Shadoo, Lelu, and Romanji went ashore along with a few empty barrels.

“We’ll be spending the night here!” Gaysu called from the ship.

“Got it!” Romanji waved back.

The four adults rowed furiously while Ryo worked the tiller, not that there was much steering to do on the calm bay. With the sun still high in the sky they had a few hours of light left, and they intended to use it.

The boat reached the dock and Romanji leapt out, expertly tying it to one of the wooden posts.

“All right,” he said commandingly. “Haku, Shadoo, Lelu, and me will start filling up the barrels. Ryo, head into the magic forest and look for some fruit.”

“I can help fill up the barrels!” Ryo piped.

“Or you can go look for fruit,” Romanji suggested. “But don’t eat any of it, just bring some back here. You never know what’ll be growing out here.”

“Fine,” Ryo growled and stalked out into the thick jungle.

There was a path that led past a squat building and turned steeply up around the earthen damn that held back the water. The trees down by the beach were mostly palms, but further up she could see a heavy variety of growth. Trees, their branches hanging low with fruit, seemed to linger just beyond the next turn in the path.

It felt like no one believed she could do the real work on the ship. They all treated her like… like…

Like a child.

They never let her do the heavy work, just seemed to find something that didn’t even always need to be done. Like the fruit, it could have easily waited, or been someone else who went to get it, but they wanted Ryo out of the way while the adults took care of the water.

Ryo reached a fork in the path. One way continued along the edge of the ninjamade lake, while the other curved off into the thicker jungle. Since she hadn’t passed any fruit trees with branches low enough to reach, Ryo turned down the smaller path.

She followed it for nearly an hour before reaching a cliff where the path opened onto a wide clearing. With the angel of the sun it was very bright, but the cliff overhung most of the place, and it looked like it wasn’t bright here often. The ground was very moist and spongy.

There was a crack in the rocks out of which a little brook flowed.

Curiously, Ryo squeezed through the hole and found herself in a cave. The sun came in and reflected off the water, then further bounced off hundreds of glistening crystals in the walls, making the entire cavern well lit and quite beautiful.

She began walking, staring in awe around the secret cave.

Movement caught her eye and she spun around, reaching for the swords that were somewhere imbedded in the person of a sea monster far away.

What she saw though didn’t look threatening, despite his attire. It was a man, dressed in elaborate plate armor and chain mail. He didn’t look like a ninja, but then he didn’t look like a pirate either.

Given his size and the amount of armor he was wearing, Ryo couldn’t imagine how he’d fit through the crack in the wall, but here he was, standing in front of her.

And smiling warmly.

“Hi,” he said disarmingly. “What’s your name?”

“Ryo,” Ryo replied cautiously.

“Good to meet you, Ryo,” the man grinned. “Say, I hate to bother you, but I seem to be rather lost. I’m not quite ready to give a try, so could you tell me where I am?”

Ryo blinked at him uncertainly.

“You’re on the island of Sarasota-Riot,” she said. “Thirty one days north of Ninpou.”

“Of course I am,” the man sighed. “Not that I have any clue where either of those places are.”

“Well, you have to know you’re on an island,” Ryo stammered. “Did—did your ship leave you behind?”

“Ship?” the man raised an eyebrow. “Kid, last thing I knew I was—well, let’s not get into details about where I was last. The point is I’ve been wandering around this cave for the last hour trying to find my way outside.”

“Why not just go out the way you came in?” Ryo asked.

“Out the way I—wait, kid you’re a genus!” the man laughed. “I don’t have to know where I am to know where I’m going!”

He grabbed Ryo by the shoulders and spun her around triumphantly.

“Thanks,” he smiled.

“You’re… welcome…” Ryo replied uncertainly. Then she noticed his sword, apparently the only weapon he carried.

It was quite unlike any sword she’d ever seen before. The hilt was big, heavy, and long, and wrapped in braded wire. The wires formed the letters for three words in the standard tongue.

“Truth, Liberty, Justice,” Ryo read. “I’ve never seen a sword like that before.”

“Few people have,” the man grinned. “This is a very special sword.”

He saw down on a rock and pulled Ryo onto his knee, then reached around her small body and pulled the weapon a few inches out of it’s scabbard.

“This is a sword of great power,” he explained. “It has the power to end wars, to save lives.”

“How can a sword save lives?” Ryo asked.

“Well, like everything it’s all in how you use it,” the man explained. “Intent, in the end, is the key to everything. This is a sword meant for defending the weak, for righting wrongs, and for making a world where those who can’t fight, don’t have to. That’s what it was forged for, but like any object, it gains its intent from whoever holds it. Like you, Ryo. Who are you, and why are you here?”

Ryo blinked at him uncertainly.

“What is your intent?” he asked finally.

“I guess… I don’t know,” Ryo shrugged. “I was kind of mad, so I just went exploring on my own, and found this cave.”

“Were you really exploring, or were you running?”

“Running,” Ryo admitted. “I wanted to get away from them for a while.”

“Friends, enemies?” the man asked.

“Ship mates,” Ryo explained. “We’re aboard a ship called the Antelope. They… don’t really think I can do anything besides gather fruit.”

“By ship, I assume you mean a sailing ship?” the man asked.

“Yeah,” Ryo nodded.

“Well, it sounds like your ship mates are very wise,” the man shrugged. “To send the one who can climb the trees best, on such an important mission.”

“Important?” Ryo asked incredulously.

“Yes,” the man nodded. “You have no idea how important fruit is on a ship. Fruit keeps you healthy, alert, and alive. You have to have fruit on a ship out at sea.”

“But I could have helped them with the water,” Ryo protested. “Water is much more important!”

The man looked at her thoughtfully for a moment.

“You know,” he began. “I’ve been on a lot of ships in my time. Now, most of them were a bit regimented, but whenever I was in command, I liked to use a style called ‘strategic division of labor’ to get the jobs done. Do you know what strategic division of labor is?”

Ryo shook her head.

“Strategic division of labor,” the man explained. “Is when everyone does a little of everything, to make sure every job gets done in the same amount of time. Like, for instance, gathering fruit and taking on water. Maybe today you’ll gather fruit, and then tomorrow you’ll help take on water, so that when the ship is all ready to leave they have exactly as much fruit and exactly as much water as the crew needs. Understand?”

“Yeah,” Ryo nodded. “I’m just worried that they don’t think I can do it. Help, I mean. I’m afraid they don’t think I can do anything useful.”

“Oh, that’s horse pokey,” the man waved. “You don’t need them to believe in you, you can do anything, even be a hero as long as you know who you are, and what your intent is.”

“I guess maybe I’ll get lucky every now and then,” Ryo shrugged.

“Not luck,” the man waggled a finger in front of her face. “It’s what you do that makes you do that makes you a hero.”

* * *

Ryo trotted down the path toward the beach as the last rays of the sun fell. The Antelope’s crew was all ashore now, sitting around a bonfire and debating whether or not to send out a search party.

“It’s a small island and theirs no wild animals,” Haku insisted. “She’ll be safe until morning.”

“I’m the one who sent her out into the jungle,” Romanji replied. “If she’s lost it’s on my hands.”

“I’m not lost!” Ryo shouted as she came to a halt and lowered the blanket full of fruit. “I just got a little side tracked up there.”

“You’re ah…. Not still mad are you?” Romanji asked cautiously. “I didn’t mean anything by it, honest! It just seemed like it’d be easier to send you after fruit while we took care of the water, that’s all.”

“It’s fine,” Ryo waved. “I’m fine, really! I just needed to figure some things out.”

“All right then,” Romanji said cautiously and sat back down. “Well, this will be our last stop before we hit pirate waters, better get a good nights sleep while we’ve got dry land under us.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, and soon settled on who would take the first watch.

“Nenyo,” Ryo said as they lay down around the fire.

“Yes?” Nenyo replied sleepily.

“Remember how your map said ‘there be dragons there’?” Ryo asked.

“Yes.”

“It was half right.”

* * *

The Antelope, ninety-five days out of Sarasota-Riot:

Ryo looked out at the horizon, her face a mix of wonder and fear. By Nenyo’s calculations they had crossed the dividing line three weeks ago, the Antelope was now soundly in Pirate waters.

They discovered now why Lelu had brought so much fabric along: she’d been making pirate costumes since the day they left. As the only member of the crew who’d ever spent time consorting with pirates, she knew how they dressed.

They had left the island sixty-one days ago, and provisions were growing scarce. Already the water had to be severely rationed, and they were starting to run low on food stores. The Antelope could support a crew of twenty-one for sixty days, and that was how they’d planned the provisions. But nine people eat differently than twenty-one people, and after ninety-five days they were starting to worry.

The big problem now was that the only port near by was of course a pirate one. They might chance meeting a ninja ship this deep in pirate waters, but it would have to be a raider vessel, and not likely to part with what they needed.

So it would soon be time to use Lelu’s costumes, and go ashore.

Gaysu and Nenyo were sitting on the aft castle, hammering away at the coins Shadoo had given them. Pirate money and ninja money were not interchangeable, and they would be acting suspicious enough without trying to pass ninja coins. The standard practice, at least in Ninja cities, was to take any captured currency and melt it down, exchanging it for weights of gold. A weight was the standard unit of currency, weights of copper, silver, and gold.

More specifically, a weight was a small, round coin with a square shaped hole through the center. No one was entirely sure why the coins had these holes, but it wasn’t a commonly discussed topic.

The island was now in sight, and they would be there soon. Everyone was tense, nervous, except Shadoo, who would likely sleep through the entire pit stop.

Ninja’s never set foot in pirate cities unless they were raiding them, and the Antelope was no raider. If they needed supplies, they would have to pass her off as a pirate ship.

* * *

Ryo sauntered casually down the streets, trying to hide the look of wonder and excitement on her face. This was definitely her first time in a pirate city, and while it was a part of her past, she knew nothing about it.

The Antelope had landed in the port of Receon, the Pirate city where Ryo was born. She didn’t remember it, as her mother had fled with the last of the Ninja’s just hours after Ryo’s birth. Back then there had been two cities on this island; one of pirates and one of ninja’s. After many years of harsh fighting the two sides had come to an uneasy peace, and in this peace there was Ryo.

Both cities were very small, and when an unmarried woman was pregnant word spread. Everyone knew Frunawho wasn’t exactly first in line to join the raiding parties, and when none of the men on the island claimed responsibility it was fairly easy to conclude where the child had come from.

This of course had somehow spread to the other side of the island and a huge riot broke out. The peace forged by years of bloodshed was shattered, and the pirates attacked with unholy furry. The ninja’s were outnumbered, and rather than be slaughtered they fled. There weren’t enough ships to carry them all, and many brave ninjas volunteered to stay behind.

Frunawho had been one of them. Partially because she felt responsible for causing the commotion, and partially because she hoped to see her pirate love again. But mainly because she was at this time seven months pregnant and a large but besieged fortress was more comfortable than a cramped and difficult sea journey.

In the end the ninjas showed they’re true loyalty. Frunawho went into labor as the ships pulled into the harbor. Most of the ninjas in the fortress abandoned it to meet the pirates who raced up the beach, but a few very brave warriors stayed by Frunawho’s side as Ryo was delivered. Then they all ran, and by the sheer strength of the ninjas who had come to the rescue, made it onto the ships and out to sea.

In the years that followed all trace of the Ninja settlement was destroyed, and the pirate city grew in prosperity. Back then it had been a small town, but now it was a bustling port.

It occurred to Ryo that some of her family might still be here, but she had no idea how to find them. Her mother had told her all about her father, but unfortunately Frunawho simply hadn’t known very much about the man she loved. They had fallen in love instantly, and then been torn from each other, and all Frunawho had of him was the sword Ryo now wore at her hip.

Ryo knew the pirates knew she existed, but they didn’t know what she looked like or that she was here. To them, she was just another ordinary pirate child walking down the street on a sunny day.

As she rounded a corner she saw a group of children poring out of a red brick building. This was probably the pirate’s idea of a school, Ryo mussed. They looked about her age, so she continued walking and tried to get into there midst without being noticed.

“Hey!” someone shouted and grabbed her shoulder. Ryo flipped around, hand on the hilt of her sword, and looked up at a very tall man with wild white hair.

“Where’d you get that sword?” he asked harshly. “You know swords aren’t allowed in school—wait, you’re not one of my students… In fact I’ve never seen you before…”

“I’m new in town!” Ryo squeaked hurriedly. “I just got in today—on a ship.”

“Oh,” the teacher smiled pleasantly and nodded. “Welcome to Receon then, sorry I startled you.”

“Its all right,” Ryo replied and slowly took her hand off the weapon. She wanted to look like she could draw it in an instant, and not like she had no idea how to use it.

“So, has your family moved here?” the teacher asked. “Or are you just passing through on a trip?”

“Just, on the way through,” Ryo shrugged nonchalantly. “The ship had to stop for supplies, so I went out to look around for a bit.”

“Mmhmm,” the teacher nodded. “Must be hard, traveling in the middle of the school year like this. Tell me, are you continuing your lessons while you travel, or are you just putting them on hold for a bit?”

Ryo opened her mouth to say that she was already finished school, but thought better of it. The pirate system of education seemed to be slightly different from the ninjas, and Ryo didn’t want to give herself away.

“I—have a tutor on the ship,” Ryo replied carefully. “The priest, actually. He’s very learned—”

“Your ship has a friar onboard?” the teacher was taken aback. “Well, I’ve heard of stranger things I suppose. How would you like to come to afternoon lessons? I’m sure your friar is as wise as he is round, but you can never match the structure of a classroom.”

Ryo considered his words carefully. She could very easily be caught in this situation, and if the school was anti-sword she would be unarmed. She had heard Pirate schools were much less developed than ninja schools, they either ran longer or the teacher thought Ryo was younger than she was.

But what an opportunity! She was being given a chance to go to a pirate school for a day, and learn about pirates! This was to good for Ryo to pass up; and besides, she could always run if things got out of hand.

“I’d love to,” she smiled sweetly.

“Good,” the teacher nodded vigorously. “What is your name?”

At least Ryo was prepared to answer this question today.

“Jennifer Zimmer,” she replied confidently.

“Well Jenny, I’m Claudius, and I look forward to seeing you in class when the bell rings,” the teacher said. “But… do try to be without that sword when the time comes?”

“All right,” Ryo nodded.

* * *

Ryo had just enough time to run to the Antelope to stow her blade, and got back to the schoolhouse as the bell was ringing. She entered cautiously with the other students, hoping none of them would notice her right away.

There was one room in the school, and it was divided in half by a central isle, with four rows of desks on either side. Ryo spotted Claudius up at the front by a chalkboard, and he signaled her over.

When the class had settled down into their seats Claudius rang a small hand bell for silence and the children stopped, and noticed Ryo for the first time. Ryo felt a little uneasy, every eye in the room was on her.

“Class, this is Jennifer,” Claudius began. “She’s on a voyage with her family, and will be joining us today. Jenny, why don’t you tell us a little about what it’s like on the ship?”

Ryo smiled nervously and began thinking about what a bad idea this had been.

“Well, uh, it’s not real easy,” she stammered. “The crew is kinda small and the ship is really big, so we all have to work double hard to, uh, make the ship go, and uh, even Ro—the friar—has to help haul in the sails and… stuff like that.”

Ryo finished and stamped her foot slightly for emphasis, wondering if the students could tell how badly she was shaking.

“Um… yar me maties?”

One of the other girls cautiously raised her hand, and Claudius acknowledged her with a nod.

“What’s it like wearing pants all the time?” she asked.

Ryo stared dumb founded, trying to think of an occasion in which she hadn’t worn pants. Back home in Ninpou she owned one formal kimono she couldn’t even remember the last time she’d put on, and aside from the robes priests like Romanji wore, pants were the standard equipment for covering ones legs.

Ryo looked curiously around the room at the other girls. They all wore skirts and dresses in varying lengths and styles, and not one of them was wearing pants. Pirate children were so very odd indeed.

“Comfortable?” Ryo hazarded.

Claudius came up behind Ryo and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“I’m not sure how it is in other parts of the empire,” he explained. “But here in Receon young ladies wear dresses while on land. Many of the older women don’t feel the need to drag two sets of clothes with them to sea, but it is somewhat odd to see a little girl wearing pants.”

“Ahh,” Ryo nodded understandingly. “Well, uh, theirs not a lot of room on the ship, so we just sort of make do.”

On of the boys raised his hand.

“Have you killed any Ninjas?” he asked excitedly.

Ryo’s face burned for a moment. She had been taught since she was young to hate pirates, but here she was standing in a pirate city being civil—and pretending to be a pirate.

“We’re kind of just a merchant ship,” Ryo explained nervously. “Not really any fighting, much—er.”

“All right, I think that’s quite enough questions for our guest,” the teacher said, and gestured to an empty desk in the front row. “Jennifer, why don’t you have a seat, and we’ll begin with this afternoon’s lesson?”

Ryo nodded hurriedly and slipped into the seat. It was interesting, the differences here. First, all the girls were sitting on one side of the room, and the boys on the other. Then there was how differently they dressed; back home boys and girls all dressed pretty much the same, but here it was night and day.

The desks were also very curious. Only grown ups used desks like these back home. They were tall, and wide, and had chairs, although they were really more like benches. At the school Ryo had gone to, the students knelt on pads and worked at low, small desks, and they usually sat mixed in a circle around the teacher.

Ryo had always been made to sit near the back, and she always had last pick of the supplies. The lumpiest pad, the wobbly desk, the brush with the least number of remaining bristles. It was heartwarming to be in a classroom where no one hated her…

The first lesson was about mathematics, and Ryo was quickly lost. Apparently pirates believed fighting ninjas required a significant amount of math.

It was followed by a geography lesson, which Ryo found very educational. She felt that with enough of this, she could start to make sense of Nenyo’s maps.

Back at her school in Ninpou, the afternoon’s lessons had always been devoted to fighting. Ryo used to be beaten up after school almost every day, until she became skilled enough to defeat the entire rest of her class. That was probably the most unsettling part of school back home, she could best anyone there, yet her marks were always failing.

Only after they’d finished math and geography did Claudius give a brief lesson on fencing. It was presented in chalk on the blackboard at the front of the room, and not particularly educational as far as Ryo could tell. But, if Pirates thought they could fight ninjas with math and chalk, more power to them.

“You know what?” Claudius asked and set the chalk back in its little tray. “I think perhaps a more practical lesson will be in order. Ryo, would you care to step up here?”

The breath froze in Ryo’s throat. In Ninpou, when the teacher said ‘practical lesson’ and called Ryo to the front of the room, it meant a lesson about killing pirates. But Claudius’s smile was genuine, and so far he hadn’t done anything threatening yet.

With shaking legs, Ryo joined him in front of the black board, where he handed her one of several long measuring sticks leaning against the wall.

“Ryo, you must have had at least some training with the sword,” he said. “Am I correct?”

Ryo nodded nervously. She was an advanced swordsmen, but she’d never even tried to use a pirate sword.

Claudius took up a second measuring stick and stood opposite her. He angled his body towards the students, thus presenting a much smaller target to Ryo, and held the wooden weapon out in front in his right hand, while his left hung in the air behind his head.

“This is the proper collegiate stance,” he explained.

Ryo attempted to mimic his stance, but it simply seemed so… inefficient. Sure, he had made himself harder to hit, but he was unguarded on both sides, and that second hand was just hanging there, doing nothing.

“Ryo, what are you doing?”

In Ryo’s experience, a free hand meant you had dropped your second weapon. Off hands had a place, they even had special weapons. Ryo was blessed with the gift of ambidexterity, which meant she wasn’t right-handed or left-handed. She had trained herself with both hands to such a degree where the off-hand distinction no longer applied.

With this in mind, she grabbed a second wooden stick and stepped reflexively into the shinru-stance.

“Two swords?” Claudius asked incredulously. “Well, I suppose that does stand to practicality. All right then, begin—”

Ryo only had to rotate her hips and extend her left arm to tap the teacher deftly on the chest, directly over his heart. It suddenly, very, very suddenly, occurred to her what an incredibly horrible idea this had been.

Back in Ninpou, the used teacher called her up for demonstrations all the time. When she had become skilled enough to beat even her teachers, they got angry. A half-breed couldn’t be allowed to defeat a full blooded ninja, and so they’d whipped her for her skill.

But Ryo didn’t stop. She never stopped; every time they called her up to demonstrate, she beat her opponents even more soundly, until finally they stopped allowing her to spare ins school. It was to embarrassing, that a half-breed should beat a full-blooded ninja.

But Claudius didn’t grow angry or even frown. He looked surprised, but the surprise quickly split into a wide grin.

“I can see even I have something to learn,” he mused. “All right students, Ryo has just helpfully demonstrated to us the most pinnacle underlying foundation of swordsmanship, and that is speed. Speed of hand, speed of mind. I am an old pirate and quite slow in both, but you should all take the time to practice speed.”

He looked back at Ryo and nodded approvingly.

“Thank you Ryo,” he smiled. “The youth truly are our future, I’m sure you will kill many ninjas in your day.”

Ryo smiled despite herself as she returned to her desk. It was the first time she’d ever received a compliment from a teacher.

Throughout the day other students kept whispering to her while the teachers back was turned. Not the way they’d whispered back at schools in Ninpou of course, where the students kept whispering insults and death threats. No, these students were curious, they wanted to know everything about Ryo. Where she was from, what she was like. If not for the constant fear of discovery, Ryo would have reveled in all the attention.

As school let out, Claudius gestured for her to come up to the front.

“You are welcome to come back tomorrow,” he smiled. “If your ship is still in port.”

“I will,” Ryo grinned back.

As she left the schoolhouse, she looked back at the crowd of students she’d spent the afternoon with. Most of them smiled and waved, or just looked at her with curiosity. There was no hatred though, no distain. It was so unlike anything she’d ever experienced that she couldn’t wait to come back the next day.

She did notice someone in particular, the girl she’d sat next to all afternoon. She was standing next to an older boy, someone who looked a few years older than Nenyo, and she was talking to him and pointing to Ryo.

Ryo smiled nervously and started immediately in the other direction, towards the Antelope and relative safety. She remembered now that she was without her sword, and so very afraid.

She reached the ship a half hour later, having walked slowly to avoid suspicion, and very quickly made her way up the gang plank and to the wooden bin where she’d stowed her sword.

“Ryo! There you are!” It was captain Gaysu, who was standing just inside the door to the aft cabins. “I’ve been waiting for you to come back, where have you been?”

“I was at school,” Ryo replied defensively.

“You went to school?” Gaysu blinked. “Here?”

“Yes,” Ryo nodded.

“Well, that was bold,” Gaysu gulped. “Listen, ah… do you think you could run an errand for me? I am… slightly worried about being recognized here.”

There was an awkward silence as the old sea captain smiled weakly.

“I… led a raid on the city twenty five years ago,” Gaysu explained. “It was a… well, a bloody one. People don’t tend to forget raids like it.”

“Sure,” Ryo laughed. “What do you need?”

“Well, ah, the rest of the boys—they’ve been running all over the city gathering provisions,” Gaysu explained. “Nenyo’s off helping Miagi secure some vegetables and, ah, he said he needed some charts, you see his charts don’t include so much of the pirate waters and—ah, he had asked me to go get them but—”

“But your afraid to set foot off the ship?” Ryo grinned.

“Yes, exactly, that’s it,” Gaysu nodded. “Leave it to Ryo to grasp the situation so completely. Anyway, he gave me the address of a map maker he found in town, if I give you some gold…?”

“Sure,” Ryo said. “I’ll go get the maps for you.”

“That’s a good girl,” Gaysu sighed with relief. “Off you go then.”

A few minutes later, Ryo was back on the streets, realizing with some degree of apprehension how hurried she’d felt to get off of them. Then she remembered that she now had a sword again, and a rudimentary twenty-minute chalk lesson in how to use it.

It was unquestionably better than not having a sword.

“Well, that pretty well confirms it.”

Ryo spun around again, this time the sword came half way out of the sheath.

“Easy there kiddo,” it was the young man she’d seen talking to the girl before. “While it’s the sword I’m interested in, I’d rather not see it through me.”

“What do you want?” Ryo asked cautiously.

“To talk,” the man shrugged. “I’m James, in case you were wondering. And you are Jennifer? Or Jenny, I suppose?”

“Either’s fine,” Ryo said passively and finally pushed the sword back into it’s scabbard.

“I’d kinda like to know your real name Jenny, but I guess you’re not likely to tell me,” James shrugged. “Come on, we’ll want to talk someplace private.”

He led her off the main street and into a graveyard. The grounds were very well kept and full of flowers. It was so well manicured in fact that it was hard to tell that it was a graveyard, and not just a garden.

Cemeteries in Ninpou were always overhung with trees. Ninjas believed the spirits of the ancestors felt comfortable in the shadows, and so the cemeteries were very dark.

“All right,” James began. “Let’s start with that sword, where’d it come from?”

“I got it from my father,” Ryo replied proudly.

“Well, that’s fairly interesting,” James nodded. “So, you know what intrigues me so much about that? It’s that I’ve only ever seen two other swords like it in my whole life. Do you know why?”

Ryo shook her head.

“It’s because that particular sword,” James explained. “Was one of three my grandfather, the master sword smith, made specially for his three sons.”

Ryo gulped and started looking for escape routs.

“So,” James continued. “You either stole it, or you’re my cousin. And since I know Kiros doesn’t have any little sisters…”

“I told you,” Ryo growled. “It belonged to my father.”

“I’m not denying it,” James waved his hands. “I’m simply pointing out that it was made by my grandfather, and given to one of his three sons. Now since my dad and Kiros’s dad live here in Receon, and you said you’re not from around here, I can only assume your dad was the brother who disappeared during the… unpleasantness, that happened around thirteen years ago.”

So her family had found her.

“Now, I don’t know much about the ugly rumors,” James went on, pacing slightly. “But from what I heard, he was in love with a ninja woman.”

Ryo gulped again.

“Now, you look about thirteen,” James said.

* * *

Children, in the city of Ninpou, were loved. There was nowhere they were unwelcome, even the shadiest taverns of places like the Ruffian Row were safe for kids. Ryo had spent a great deal of time in the taverns around the city, listening to the old ninjas tell stories of the sea. As long as they didn’t realize who she was, she was welcome.

The truth was all ninjas believed in there children. They believed that children were the future, and thus worth investing in.

Pirates, apparently, didn’t share this sentiment. The Tavern Ryo was now sitting in was dirty, smelly, and filled with smoke. Ryo was no stranger to pipe smoke, but the tobacco most ninjas burned was mixed with spices and incense, so the smoke had a sort of sweet aroma to it. What fogged this room; however, smell more like the pirates were burning manure.

On the subject of pirates, Ryo was currently seated with three of them. James, her cousin, and two dark and mysterious strangers they’d picked up in an alley.

One of whom introduced himself as Garret. He had the same sort of easy-going air about him as James, and the same winning smile. Ryo found his mannerism more than slightly disturbing, particularly because she believed every word he said. But he was a pirate, and pirates can’t be trusted.

And untrustworthy was quite how the other pirate looked. He was the same age as James and Garret, but Kiros was a polar opposite. While the two were friendly and out going, Kiros said nothing. He just sat quietly, sipping his drink, and trying not to make eye contact with Ryo.

“Like I was saying,” James continued. “Quiet Kiros here is my dad’s brother’s son, so mine and your cousin. Small world, eh?”

Ryo nodded vigorously, trying not to inhale too much of the acrid smoke.

“And then Garret over there,” James gestured. “Well he’s just Garret.”

“And that’s a certifiable fact,” Garret grinned.

“Now, being the bunch of rich sons of guns we are,” James explained. “We have done quite a bit of traveling. Been from here to Montego Bay and back again, and everywhere in between. If you want to sail these waters, you’ll need our help.”

“I dunno,” Ryo shook her head apprehensively. “You are pirates after all.”

“Hey, come on kid, we’re family,” James put one arm around Kiros ad the other around Garret. “You can trust us!”

“I’m not a kid,” Ryo mumbled irritably.

“Right,” James nodded. “Garret, poor the not-kid a drink.”

Garret shrugged and dumped a small measure of rum into a tin cup, then pushed it across the table toward Ryo.

Ryo stared in disbelief at the offering before her. Ninjas had a lot of uses for rum they captured from the pirates. It was good for cleaning blades, starting fires, even removing paint. She had heard distantly that pirates drank the stuff.

“Come on Jimmy, you can’t give rum to a little girl,” Kiros snapped.

“Right,” James agreed and retrieved the cup. He threw it nonchalantly over his shoulder and expertly pegged a drunken pirate several paces behind him.

“Time to move,” James grinned.

* * *

“I sent you for maps, you bring back pirates,” Captain Gaysu spat. “Ryo, you very much need to learn to follow orders.”

“He’s my cousin,” Ryo protested.

“And the other two?” Romanji raised an eyebrow.

“They’re along for the ride?”

“The ride, that sounds like fun,” James grinned. “See, the kid here says you guys are going to Ronin.”

“That’s right,” Gaysu nodded.

“And you’re all ninjas?”

“She really wasn’t supposed to mention that part,” Gaysu frowned.

“I guessed it myself,” James shrugged. “Look, you guys are all completely nuts, ok? We get that. Well, if you guys are all nuts, we’d love to join you.”

“What?”

“You guys need guides,” James explained. “We’ve all been to Ronin. Now granted, you’ve fit in surprisingly well, but this is an outlying port. You won’t make it to Ronin without us.”

“Can we trust them?” Gaysu asked.

“Can you afford not to trust us?” James asked with a winning smile.

“This is unbelievably insane,” Romanji shook his head. “Unbelievably.”

“Well, we’ve got to finish taking on supplies tonight,” Gaysu sighed. “We’ll be ready to leave tomorrow, on the morning tide.”

“Do we have to go out in the morning?” Ryo asked timidly.

“I’d prefer it,” Gaysu spat. “Why?”

“I was just…. Hoping I could go back to school tomorrow,” Ryo frowned.

“That’s right,” James laughed. “You were sitting next to my little sis all day!”

* * *

The Antelope, ninety one days out of Receon:

“I’m telling you, this is not a good idea,” James said.

“You said we needed your help to get to Ronin,” Nenyo replied. “Now we’re days away and your telling us it’s a bad idea?”

“Yeah, I underestimated this tub,” James spat. “Look, normally, it takes a fast ship more than a hundred and forty days to make this tripe, we’re what? Ninety one days to Montego Bay? That’s not normal.”

“How does our traveling faster create a problem?” Ryo asked.

“It doesn’t, it just throws off our timing,” James explained. “At this rate we’ll be in Ronin during the Yellow time.”

“‘Yellow Time’?” Ryo replied incredulously.

“It’s ah… something Yellow Beard the Corsair came up with,” James shrugged. “Basically, it means all pirates head for Ronin, get together, get drunk, sing, talk about killing ninjas, the usual stuff. Long story short, you won’t want to be there.”

“When is it starting?” Gaysu asked.

“Four days,” James shrugged.

“We can be in and out in four days,” Gaysu stated.

“You understand, not a single ninja has ever set foot in Ronin,” Nenyo pointed out.

“We’ve been through two pirate cities already, not an ounce of suspicion,” Gaysu spat. “Cept for these fellows, who only found us by Ryo’s sword. We’re not likely to be found again.”

“It’s dangerous,” James insisted. “But then so was getting on a boat full of ninjas, and here I am. All right, but it will be safest if fewer people go ashore, how are we set for provisions?”

“Enough for another month, at least,” Miagi replied.

“Then we shouldn’t risk taking on provisions,” James said. “We’ll just get in, get whatever it is you guys are going there for, and get out. Sound fun?”

“Fun?” Nenyo blinked.

“Hey, I signed on out of a certain amount of insanity,” James shrugged. “We go in, we go in. Whatever happens, happens.”

“Pirates repeat themselves a lot,” Ryo surmised.

* * *

The Antelope drifted gracefully into the wide artificial harbor of Montego Bay. Ronin was known for not having nearly enough natural harbors for the amount of traffic the city received, so many generations ago the pirates had built Montego Bay by lowering giant stone blocks into the water to build up huge artificial break waters. The outer edges of the harbor were said to be hundreds of feet deep.

According to the stories, Mermaids had helped build the structures. Lelu grimaced at this prospect, but admitted that it might be true. She said the Mermaids liked to build, and didn’t care so much what it was they were constructing.

The crew was silent as they glided in on the tide. The large island of Ninpou was literally ringed with natural harbors, and so the city had basically sprung up around the edges. The middle of the island was primarily used agriculture, growing the grain and rice that supported the population.

But Ronin was different, the island was dominated by large mountains and most of the city existed around this artificial harbor, much of it even built on pylons above the ocean. Still other buildings simply floated on pontoons, Ronin was truly a city on the water.

“I guess pirates haven’t figured out terracing,” Ryo mussed as she stared up at the mountains. In Ninpou, much of the island was also covered by steep slopes, but the ninjas there had build terraces into nearly all of them, so that the land was still quite arable.

“A lot of food comes in from other islands,” James shrugged. “And they eat a lot of fish here.”

“Sushi?” Nenyo asked hopefully.

“What?” James raised an eyebrow questioningly.

“Never mind,” Nenyo sighed.

“Hey, I got a question,” Lelu began. “Ryo, you said you were coming here to talk to a sea captain named Sullen Michael, right? Well Ronin’s a big city, how exactly are you planning to find him?”

“I was… planning to have a plan?” Ryo suggested. “Look, I just know that he’s here, and he knows where the Tiger’s Claw is.”

“Ahhhhh, so that’s what ye be after,” Garret laughed. “The legendary Claw of Sabatoth.”

Garret was one of the three pirates that had accompanied them from Receon. He was an old friend of James, and had the same easy going air to him. No one could complain about his company, even if he was a pirate.

“Yeah,” Ryo blinked. “Do you… know where it is?”

“Nope,” Garret grinned. “Just every sailor worth his salt at least tries to find it once.”

“What about Sullen Michael?” Ryo pressed. “Any thoughts on him?”

“Just that he sounds like a good for nothing rough and tumble son of a gun,” Garret shrugged. “You might try the taverns in up town, a lot of old salts hang out there. At the very least, ask around, someone probably hates him.”

Ryo gulped.

“All right,” Gaysu said determinedly. “We’ll send two teams ashore. Garret and Ryo, and James and Lelu. You’re to try and find Sullen Michael, and report back here before daybreak. We’ll have the night to look, if all goes well we’ll be sailing back out on the evening tide.”

“A lot of ships come in an out of here,” James breathed. “This is maybe not so crazy as it sounds.”

“That’s good,” Gaysu nodded.

“Oh, don’t misunderstand me,” James waved. “It’s still fricken’ nuts. But, that is one of the advantages of a completely insane plan. Guys we can do this! Ryo, ready to be the first half ninja in Ronin?”

Ryo nodded confidently, and patted her father’s sword.

* * *

“Stop gawking so much,” James hissed.

“It’s my first time in Ronin!” Ryo replied quickly.

They’d been to one other pirate port since Receon, but neither was anything like Ronin. Huge buildings, some as high as five stories dwarfed the crowded, narrow streets. It was like being deep in a canyon, except the walls were brick and blaster instead of dirt and rocks.

What impressed Ryo the most about Ronin was the masonry. She had often heard stories of the place in which it was referred to as “the stone city” because so much of it was built out of stone. Ryo liked ninja construction; wood had a sort of cheery, solid characteristic about it that made it pleasant.

But the pirates chose stone to build their cities, every building was constructed partially or wholly out of granite or marble blocks, with only the facades made of plaster and lightwood.

Stone always seemed so brittle to Ryo. As one who had at an early age mastered the art of shattering granite blocks with her bare hands, the entire city seemed somewhat to be tottering on a knife blade.

Wood was easier to break, by all means. But wood could also give, bend a little, like the Antelope’s hull when the sea monster had constricted around it. Stone simply broke or it didn’t, there was no in between.

Still, the pirates built their city of stone, and it was a marvelous sight to behold!

They had turned off one of the main cobble stoned thoroughfares and entered this alley, where the buildings were high and hung out so far they almost touched overhead. People even had laundry strung across the narrow street, to hang and dry from the thin lines.

“Bet I could run across those,” Ryo whispered as she stared up at the close lines.

“Shh,” James hissed. “This is not exactly a nice part of town, at least not so nice for children anyway.”

“How could anywhere not be nice for children?” Ryo blinked.

In Ninpou, as in other ninja cities, children were held in the highest possible regard. Children were the future, and the future had to be protected. Even at the Ruffian Row in Ninpou, where the meanest, toughest ninjas the high seas had to offer made their homes, a child could walk safely down the streets. Even the deadliest of ninjas had a smile waiting in their scarf for a youngster.

“Let’s just say the bad people tend to hang out here,” James growled, and fingered his sword reassuringly.

“Most of our crew are ‘bad people’,” Ryo replied. “And we get on just fine.”

They turned down another, narrower alley, this one just barely wide enough for them to walk through side by side. Ryo was small, and James was somewhat thin, a broad shouldered man like Haku would have had trouble in here.

High above, many of the buildings did touch. Planks from doorways and windows, and even the odd corridor crossed the narrow walkway, which wound through the buildings and finally opened out onto a wide, dark street.

One thing to be said for most of Ronin: it was bright. Ninjas tended to place a lot of emphasis on night vision, so the lanterns in Ninpou were usually only lit for an hour or so after sundown, even though the city was still busy late into the night. But Ronin had street lamps EVERYWHERE! Even the narrow alley off the main road had been lit with lamps. Only the very narrow passage they had so recently left had been dark, but now here was this wide road it was pitched black.

And it shouldn’t have been pitched black. The stars were out and the moon was still up, and the way the light reflected off the stonework made it plenty bright enough for Ryo’s eyes, but here in this alley it was black as pitch.

It was because four stories above them, wide beams extended out from the roofs of surrounding buildings, and formed another roof over this forgotten avenue.

“Welcome to Dark Alley,” James announced in a low voice. “Haunt of the slimiest filth who ever liked the boots of the scum of the earth.”

“Sound’s homey,” Ryo growled.

“See, the pirates who live down here,” James explained. “They built that roof high overhead so the matriarchs couldn’t watch them from above. It was kind of a silly idea, because nothing actually illegal goes on down here, but it does give the place a nice, friendly atmosphere.”

Dark Alley was dark, the only light except what little slipped through the cracks around the roof came from hissing pitch torches around the various stalls and doorways. The venders sold all kinds of wares, from weapons to guns to kitchen utensils.

“I saw a dozen markets on the way in,” Ryo whispered. “What makes this one so special it needs to be hidden?”

“Everything in it is stolen?” James suggested. “Its not like theirs any law against selling stolen goods, its just for some reason the denizens here feel like they need to hide what they’re doing. Come on, this is the place.”

“Ye Throttled Sod?” Ryo read the sign.

“Yeah, kind of an interesting story,” James shrugged. “A long time ago it used to be called ‘Ye Bitten Dog’, then they changed it to ‘Ye Mangled Owner’, and from there ‘Ye Beaten Dog’ and then finally ‘Ye Throttled Sod’ for the guy who throttled the guy who was mangled by dog he beat for biting him. See theirs this other tavern on the other side of the city called ‘Ye Throttler’s Den’ that has a similar back story.”

“Sounds like a cheerful place,” Ryo mused.

“No really,” James shook his head. “Listen, if things get ugly in there—which they often are—just stay behind me and keep low, got it?”

Ryo nodded and strolled through the door behind him

There was a large alcove next to the entrance full of swords and axes and guns, and a sign hung above it which read ‘Stow Yur Weapons’, to which James immediately un-strapped his sword and leaned it against the wall.

This was another oddity Ryo had never seen. At taverns in Ninpou one would never consider drawing a weapon, no matter how vicious the brawls got. It was a matter of honor not to use a blade against another ninja.

Ryo steadfastly held onto her sword as they waded through the crowd towards the wide counter, behind which stood a fat man with a patch over one eye and a shaved head.

“HEY!” he snarled angrily when he spotted Ryo. “You gotta leave that by the door!”

He pointed a meaty finger at Ryo’s sword and grunted authoritatively.

“Ahh, she’s just a lass,” James waved. “Let it go, she’s not going to start anything.”

“Ehh,” the man snorted and gestured with a meaty hand. “How much damage could one little girl do anyway?”

James reached the bar and waited expectantly, glancing this way and that at the other gruff men at the bar.

“I’m curious,” he said politely to the barkeep. “If you would happen to know about a sea captain by the name of Sullen Michael?”

“Ehh, who hasn’ heard a ol’ Sully?” the barkeep barked. “Ee’s over the, in the corner.”

The man waved one thick hand across the room to a small table tucked back in a darkened corner.

At that moment, a pirate with a big black beard that covered most of his face demanded another drink, and the barkeep moved away from James.

“Shall we?” James shrugged at Ryo.

They crossed the room, weaving in and out through the big crowd of unwashed, unshaven filth that may have included pirates, and reached the small table. A few empty crates sat around it and served as stools, which Ryo and James sat on. The figure at the table sat against the wall, with one hand firmly on a bottle and the other clutched around a dirty wooden cup. He face was back in the shadows, but a long, unkempt gray beard hung down his stained and threadbare coat.

He looked just slightly down on his luck.

“Are you Sullen Michael?” James asked brightly.

“Ai,” Michael replied with a voice like gravel and nails mixed with whisky and set on fire. “Who wants to know?”

“Just a couple of intrepid young pirates,” James shrugged. “Off to search for the greatest treasure ever heard of.”

“They redefine ‘young’ recently, and fail to inform me?” Michael asked. “Yur little baby’s barely fit to wipe a man’s boots, let alone sail for treasure.”

“Yes, but in her heart she’s ten feet tall,” James grinned. “Would you happen to know to which treasure I am referring?”

“Ai,” Michael nodded slowly and filled his glass to the brim. The cup disappeared for a moment into the shadows, and came back empty. “Ain’t a pirate alive who hasn’t dreamed of finding the Claw. And ain’t a pirate alive neither who hasn’t come to me askin where to find it.”

“I have it on good authority that you know where it is,” James said smoothly.

“Ai, I know exactly where it is,” the glass filled again and disappeared again, and this time returned to the table accompanied by a small belch. “It’s those dammed Utopians, you know? They have it, and they’re keeping it, and they ain’t about to give it up. Nobody should have the power of God, they reason, so they should keep it and never use it.”

“Makes sense,” James nodded. “From their point of view at least. Lucky for us, we’re pirates, and don’t share their point of view.”

“Ai,” Michael growled. “But unlucky for us, ain’t a pirate brave nuff’ nor strong nuff’ to go and take it from em’ nor stupid nuff’ to try!”

“Oh, I know one pirate who is,” James smiled slyly. “You say these ‘Utopians’ have it, where might we find them?”

Michael laughed from the depths of the shadows. It was a laugh as utterly devoid of mirth as the deep ocean is of light, but it was a laugh all the same. It made Ryo shiver.

“You think,” he began with a last, sullen chuckle. “I will just tell you where Utopia is?”

“I was hoping,” James shrugged. “How about it?”

“Information like that ain’t cheap youngster,” Michael spat. “In fact it be very, very pricey. So pricey in fact I doubt ye have the gold for it on ya.”

“Oh, I dunno,” James said casually. “Care to name a figure?”

“Arr?” Michael grunted the question and furrowed his brow in thought, at least as well as a shadowy figure can be said to furrow its brow.

“A price,” James explained. “For the information.”

“Arrrr,” Michael growled. “There be no ‘price’ big enough, no number high enough, to represent the value of what I want.”

“What do you want?” James asked curiously. It was at this point that Ryo finally realized James’s strategy in all this. The young pirate was a skilled talker, and had drawn out quite a bit of information from Sullen Michael simply through direct but casual questions.

Sullen Michael leaned forward out of the shadows for the first time, revealing a tired and wrinkled face framing sunken, hollow eyes. A mouth devoid of teeth worked for a few moments and finally opened to accept another drink, then swallowed and spoke.

“Fifty years ago, I was but young pirate like you, and I went after a great treasure,” the mouth began. “Not the Tiger’s Claw, no, not as great as all that. But great, yes, I went on the pirate raid to end all pirate raids, I went to the Temple of the Sun in search of the Golden Idol. Worth ten thousand weights if a single copper!”

Sullen Michael paused again for another drink and a hiccup.

“Lost me sword there I did,” he continued. “Dropped it whilst I was running, for fear of me life. I never did work up the courage to return to that cursed island, that horrible temple. I searched the whole of the ocean for a sword that suited me as well as the weapon I lost there, and I never did find one. That sword to me is priceless.

“A course, the Idol be not so priceless, it has quite a hefty price indeed, though I care not for the money. That one raid on that temple cost me forty brave men, and I walked away from it with less then I’d entered. Forty brave men and my sword, and nothing to show for it.

“Now the sword, it be mighty special. Not another like it on this whole blue earth. The metal, she be light as feathers, and the blade sharp as a lions teeth. I know not from whence it came, but it had two initials on the blade: just an H and a J. If ye find it, you’ll see what I mean. No name on that fearsome weapon, just the initials.

“Bring me my sword, and the idol, and I be willin’ to part with the location of Utopia.”

Sullen Michael leaned back into the shadows and sat there silently, breathing like the bellows of a forge that had stoked too much coal.

“And another bottle,” he grumbled unhappily.

James quickly slipped a silver coin to Ryo and whispered for her to run up to the bar and buy Sullen Michael another drink, while he procured the location of the temple.

Ryo quickly dodged her way back through the crowd, and reached the bar. She had to stand on the brass rail around the bottom to see over the top, and it was quite some time before the barkeep noticed her.

“Um,” she began uncertainly, suddenly realizing she had no idea what to say. “I want another drink for Sullen Michael.”

“Well isn’t that just somethin lil’ deary?” the barkeep spat. “Don’t we all just want somethin?”

Several of the gruff pirates joined the man in a hardly laugh.

Ryo hopped angrily up and stood on the counter in a low crouch, then reached out with one hand and yanked the barkeep towards her.

“I want a drink for Sullen Michael,” she hissed angrily.

A sudden movement to her right caught her eye, and a heavy wooden crate came sailing towards her.

Ryo had trained extensively with moving objects, it was an integral part of being a ninja. It was a universal truth that every single object was made of much, much smaller objects bound together by unseen forces. It was also true that those forces existed within a kind of order, and that every single object had a specific point that if struck with a certain force, would cause the bindings holding it together to be destroyed. Ryo had trained very carefully in the ancient art of finding this so called ‘breaking point’, and using it to shatter objects.

As the crate cam towards her, her eyes narrowed. The breaking point appeared before her, and she lashed out with her free hand.

The box shattered, and was quickly followed by a punch.

Ryo dodged the blow and flipped back onto the floor, into a circle of very angry, very drunk pirates.

Humans and other living things did not have a breaking point, they were much to fluid to be broken like wood or stone. Ryo had, however, learned that all men had a certain point about their persons that had nearly the same effect. With this in mind, she aimed low.

Three screaming men fell on the floor and Ryo leapt into the air, dancing skillfully across the heads and shoulders of her pursuers.

She nearly slipped on one particularly greasy pirate, but saved herself by jumping to a hanging lantern.

She could feel the thin chain on the lamp stressing, and she reacted quickly by scaling strait up it, and into the dank rafters.

The lantern fell and shattered on the floor, splashing burning oil all over the angry mob bellow. The room fell into a frenzy as the men hastily began trying to beat the flames out, and then even more hastily beating the men who had beaten them while attempting to help beat the flames out.

In an instant, the room was full of burning, brawling pirates.

The rafters were very dark, and full of cob webs and soot. Ryo crawled across the beams quickly, trying to keep from coughing too much, until she reached a window and slipped out onto the relatively quiet and safe Dark Alley.

James grabbed her from behind and starting pulling her along quickly.

“I gotta hand it to you Ryo,” he shouted over his shoulder. “You sure know how to make an exit!”

“They started it!” Ryo replied tersely.

“They usually do,” James shrugged. “Listen, unless you’d like to fight the entire drunk half of Ronin, I suggest we try and loose them!”

“No arguments here!” Ryo shouted as she saw the mob poring out of the tavern. They were mostly still on fire, which worried her greatly, because thus far pirates had proven to be just slightly more incendiary than napalm.

James pulled her towards the narrow alley they had entered through, then quickly came up with an idea.

“Climb,” he ordered.

“What?” Ryo blinked.

“Come on kid, you’re a veritable monkey!” James shouted. “Climb up and run along the roofs, the whole city generally slopes towards the harbor, move!”

“What about you?” Ryo yelled as she began the trek up the side of the building.

“I’ll be fine, I disappear!” James replied and, to Ryo’s surprise, disappeared.

Ryo blinked for a moment, then quickly continued up the building. Climbing was as much a part of being a ninja as wearing black and seeing in the dark, and in the narrow alley full of ledges and holds, it was a child’s game.

In Ninpou, if the streets were empty, it usually meant more people had chosen the rooftops. They were considered slightly more amusing roads. As Ryo made her way across the roofs of Ronin, she observed that it was like a whole other world.

Far below the lit city streets still teamed with life, but up here it was a quiet, lonely world of desolation. Chimneys spewed smoke, here and there an odd bird took flight, but otherwise there was nothing.

Nothing but Ryo, emptiness, and a brilliant sky with stars like a thousand diamonds spread out across the heavens just for her.

* * *

Ryo reached the ship with still a few hours till dawn. James was already waiting for her, a smug smile on his face. She walked down the docks to great him just as Lelu and Garret came up from the street that bordered the harbor.

“You know, we could have covered a lot more ground if you hadn’t spent so much time ,” Garret was saying as they reached the edge of Ryo’s hearing,

“Hey, I gotta get the goods while the getting’s hot,” Lelu replied. “I made a small fortune off those loan sharks!”

“Which you promptly lost at the dice tables!” Garret spat. “And it doesn’t count as ‘making’ when you borrow money and promise to pay it back.”

“Hi!” Ryo waved as she trotted up next to them. “How’d you guys do?”

“Nobody we talked to had a clue who Sullen Michael was,” Garret sighed. “Of course we spent most of our time at the casinos, and it doesn’t seem like the sort of place someone called ‘Sullen Michael’ is likely to hang out.”

“We found him at our very first stop,” Ryo grinned. “Then we burned the place down and ran like little girls.”

“Well I suppose that’s characteristic for you,” Garret shrugged.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ryo hissed.

“That you’re a little girl.”

“Oh.”

They had reached James by this point, who’d been standing nonchalantly with his hands in his pockets. He also, coincidently, was soaking wet.

“Hi,” he said casually. “Warm night.”

“How did you escape?” Ryo asked curiously.

“Let’s just say I really know how to disappear in a city with full plumbing,” James shrugged. “How was your trip?”

“Interesting,” Ryo replied. “The roof tops of Ronin are very empty. Did you get anything out of Sullen Michael before the… fire?”

“Yeah,” James nodded. “He says go three thousand miles to the south, south being the direction away from the angry mob storming the streets in search of us. Anyway, that’s where we head.”

The four of them hustled up the gangplank and drew it back into the ship, then entered the cabin where the rest of the crew waited in silence.

“Well?” Captain Gaysu asked fearfully.

“Sullen Michael wants us to go to the Temple of the Sun and get his sword and an idol,” Ryo explained. “He says its three thousand miles south of Ronin.”

“The lost Temple of the Sun…” Nenyo breathed. “Wait—Ryo, we’re at the North Pole! From here, every direction is south!”

“Well that’ll make finding the place easy,” Ryo grinned.

“No, you don’t get it,” Nenyo spat. “If we sail in any direction form here, it will be considered south.”

James turned soggily toward Ryo and raised an eyebrow.

“We really should have bought him that second drink.”

She slept uneasily, and what was interesting was the way it changed her dreams. Growing up, she rarely remembered her dreams, and when she did they were sparse and vague.

But since leaving home and sleeping on the ship, she had begun to have much longer, deeper, and more memorable dreams; she suspected it had something to do with the fact that she wasn’t sleeping as deeply.

Right now she was dreaming a memory from long, long ago. When she was still a very little girl, she and her mother used to go to a park in Ninpou all the time, to watch the cherry blossoms.

Parks were popular in Ninpou, most days you could go there and find the place filled with families sitting on blankets, and children laughing and playing. Ryo and her mother never went on those days. They preferred to go when it was quieter, emptier. Ryo and Frunawho were outsiders, and weren’t often welcome in crowds.

This day in her dream they were lying on their backs on a grassy bank, staring up at the sky scattered with clouds. As they watched, a dark shape emerged from a particularly large cloudbank, and crossed an expanse of clear blue like a schooner on a calm bay.

“What is that mommy?” Ryo asked curiously, and poked her mother.

Frunawho giggled affectionately, and squinted up at the shape.

“That,” she said sagely. “Is a Utopian dirigible.”

“A what?” Ryo blinked.

“Nobody knows where Utopia is,” Frunawho explained. “But we see their great airships from time to time. They remain hidden in the clouds, but every so often they pass overhead.

“My grandfather once told me that in his great grandfathers time, the Utopians once landed in Ninpou to meet with the Samurai. It was an auspicious occasion, one that has never since happened again.”

“How do they fly?” Ryo whispered in awe.

“They stay in the air because they are very light,” Frunawho sighed. “The one that landed her long ago just hung above the ground! But they ride up and down on currents of air, on birdlike wings.”

Ryo gasped and stared up at the dark shape as it disappeared into another cloudbank.

Ryo stirred slightly, she was again falling through nothingness.

She still hadn’t gotten used to sleeping in the net bed, and her mornings usually began with a close encounter of the deck kind. Right now she was fast asleep, and falling through nothingness.

Her fall was interrupted sharply by the floor.

This was certainly normal, but what was not normal was the moonlight poring in through the porthole.

At first Ryo didn’t even wake up fully, she just lay there on the deck for a moment in her half sleep, contemplating if it was worth getting back in the hammock or not. When the deck began to pitch and role she knew it was time to get up.

The Antelope shook and pitched as Ryo ran out on deck. A storm had blown up suddenly and the meager crew was racing to their stations.

Ryo knew it was probably just another squall, but she raced to the riggings all the same. The sails had to be drawn fast, or the winds would tear them to shreds.

Haku was at the wheel, struggling to keep the ship pointed into the wind. Waves like mountains rose up on either side and Ryo dove for a rope.

A wall of water crashed down atop the Antelope’s deck. Ryo had just enough time to wrap her arms around the thick line before it hit.

For a moment the deck went under.

The antelope roared up out of the water like a whale surfacing.

Lightening cut the sky, and thunder bellowed. Ryo checked the line she had grabbed and found it tied firmly to the main mast. She tied one end around her waste and ran for the sails once again.

The Antelope rolled to the port. Ryo saw Shadoo and Romanji come up through a hatch with lines already tied and move for the riggings. Everything was happening to fast.

Krim reached the helm and helped Haku turn the wheel. Ryo reached the riggings and climbed it opposite Shadoo and Romanji.

It was supposed to take at least six people to draw the main sail. They usually managed with four, but Ryo knew they didn’t have time to wait for another.

Romanji and Shadoo grabbed the rope of the yardarm with one hand and reached to pull the sail with the other. That was the way it usually went up here, one hand for yourself and one hand for the ship.

Ryo couldn’t pull the rain soaked sail alone. Grunting angrily, she threw her whole body over the yardarm and grabbed the sail with both hands. Together they all started yanking, and the heavy canvas lifted up.

Miagi was just getting out of the cabin. Ryo leaned back and screamed at him to grab a line.

The Antelope came up over a swell and slammed back down on the water. The entire vessel shook.

Ryo was off balance, and she wasn’t holding on. In a moment the wind and jolt of the ship tore her from where she hung on the mast.

The deck was lain out below her. She could see the whole ship from up there.

Another huge wave slammed the side, and the Antelope was washed out from under her.

A moment later Ryo hit the water hard. It knocked the wind from her lungs and she sank instantly into the blackness.

The water was darker than velvet, and cold as ice. Ryo struggled against the current, disoriented and unable to find the surface.

In desperation, she drew a breath.

* * *

“Man overboard!” Haku screamed. “Err… woman!”

Lelu raced out on deck and dove off the side as the Antelope shuttered.

Krim crossed the deck and climbed the riggings to help Romanji and Shadoo with the sails.

Lelu had disappeared below the water, and Miagi had started haling on Ryo’s line by the time Gaysu and Nenyo made it out on deck.

Captain Gaysu took the wheel and Haku raced up the riggings like a money. Nenyo stood next to Gaysu and tried to keep his balance.

Lelu’s head popped out of the water some ways from the starboard deck. She pushed Ryo’s head out, but a wave crashed over them. Lelu took Ryo under the arms and started swimming with one hand back to the ship, trying all the while to keep Ryo’s head out of the water.

She reached the side with Ryo and Miagi threw a line to them, then heaved the two on deck. Nenyo ran down the steep stares and helped Lelu carry Ryo into the after cabin.

The storm raged on outside.

In the relative calm of the small cabin Lelu laid Ryo’s unconscious form out on the floor.

“She’s not breathing,” Lelu shivered.

“Come on Ryo,” Nenyo hissed. “Don’t give up!”

He tiled Ryo’s head back and pinched her nose, then carefully put his mouth over hers and forced air into her lungs.

“Come on,” he growled and gave Ryo another breath.

“Wait,” Lelu said urgently and put a hand on his shoulder. “Her heart has stopped.”

“I’m not giving up!” Nenyo shouted in her face.

“Neither am I,” Lelu screamed back. With her fingers she found Ryo’s sternum and then pushed with the palm of her hand.

“Now breath,” she commanded of Nenyo.

Nenyo bent back over Ryo’s still form and gave her two more breaths.

Lelu pushed again and Ryo began to cough up water.

She coughed for a few moments and then drew a long ragged breath. Lelu tipped Ryo on her side and started slapping her back as she coughed up more water, and in a moment Ryo sat up and started breathing shallowly.

“Ryo!” Nenyo cried and threw his arms around her.

Ryo gurgled and returned the hug before Lelu pried them apart and wrapped a dry blanket around Ryo. They were all soaked and freezing, and Ryo couldn’t stop shivering.

And the storm raged on.

* * *

Ryo huddled in the galley next to the now cold hearth. The fire had had to be doused as soon as the storm had picked up, but it had still been warm when they brought her down there.

She was wrapped in three blankets and her clothes were still wet against her skin, but she had managed to stop shivering as much. The storm had been battering the Antelope for days now, and Ryo had spent the whole time curled up in the galley, braced between the clay stove and one of the latched cupboards.

The others were all out on deck fighting the storm, and had been since it picked up. Ryo wanted to be out there with them, but Gaysu and Nenyo had insisted she stay below. Her little tumble into the water had scared everyone, and it was only through they’re combined efforts that she was still alive.

Ryo didn’t want to think about how the fight was going up on the deck. She felt almost guilty as she nibbled on a small piece of bread, there had been no rest or food for any of them for two days, and Ryo was sitting below decks in the galley wrapped in blankets.

She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination or not, but it seemed to be getting worse. She decided to ignore Gaysu’s command and got up to head out on deck. They needed an extra hand, no matter what anyone said.

Ryo stood up, swaying with the ship, and shed her blankets. The hold of the Antelope was as dark as the water she’d fallen in to, but flashes of lightening outside told her where the hatch was.

She walked down one side of the hold, feeling with her feet and hands, and never taking her eyes off the slightly lighter patch that she knew was the way up on deck.

The Antelope lurched suddenly.

Ryo knew just by the way the ship shuddered that it was no wave. The vibration started at the keel and went all the way up to the top of the mast and the Antelope heaved on to her side. Ryo was thrown across the hold along with a shower of crates and kegs.

Ryo landed between two of the great wooden ribs of the ship.

Something landed on top of her, maybe it was one of the big grates that covered the cargo hatches, and trapped her in between the ribs. She heard more huge grates and objects land on top of her, but whatever was trapping her had also saved her.

She waited, and listened as wave after wave pounded the ship.

Somehow, Ryo couldn’t imagine how, she fell asleep while the storm hammered the Antelope outside. Something was wrong, she could hear the waves hitting the hull, but it was as still as a stone.

When she awoke all was calm.

Ryo was still shrouded in darkness. She knew she had hit the side of the hold, but she was lying on her back now, and when she pushed the grate felt like the entire contents of the ship was sitting on top of her. She looked around futilely, and then slid on her back down the side of the ship.

Under her feet was a hole no other member of the crew could have made it through, but Ryo inched past without much difficulty. The chamber she merged in was equally as dark, and equally as cramped, but in addition to all that is smelled fowl and damp. She had come down through one of the condensation drains and into the bilges.

Ryo took a breath of the disgusting air and then started groping along the narrow passage. Her clothes were dirty and still damp, and now she was getting slimy, but she didn’t care. Ryo realized now why it was the Antelope had stopped moving the night before: she had run aground on a sand bar.

This meant they were near land; dry, safe land.

After an educational journey through the bowls of the ship Ryo emerged on the high side of the hull. She saw the stack of crates she’d been under, and to her disbelief sunlight streaming in through the open hatch.

Ryo jumped from the hole she’d crawled through and landed on a box, then sailed in an arc right through the open hatch.

And out over the blue water.

Ryo had just enough time to let out a yelp of surprise before she landed.

At least it was warm. She swam to the surface and spat water and rejoiced in feeling warmer than she had in days. As she flipped on to her back and started kicking happily in no immediate direction, she spotted the raft.

Lelu and Romanji dove into the water and started swimming towards her before she could signal to them that she was all right. They grabbed hold and pulled the protesting Ryo to the raft and started rowing toward the island.

As Ryo sat in her once again sopping clothes she got a look at the Antelope. She was on her side, oddly out of the water, but she looked intact.

“We hit a sand bar,” Lelu explained. “Big wave set us right on it at low tide. We’re hoping we can get her off when the tide comes in.”

The raft bumped ashore.

Ryo walked slowly up the beach, realizing only now just how tired she was. Even though she’d been sitting in the galley for days it had been cramped and uncomfortable. Now she flopped out on the warm sand and lay starring up at the sky.

“Are you ok?” Nenyo asked cautiously.

Ryo realized she was laughing out loud.

“We made it through the storm,” she said. “We’re alive.”

“All of us!” Gaysu replied. “Every last one! And the Antelope is intact! And we’ve landed on a wonderful little island to boot.”

Miagi and Romanji pushed the raft back off and headed into the bay. They found the ship’s boat still lashed firmly on the deck, cut it loose, filled it with provisions, and headed back for shore where Krim and Nenyo had started a fire. When the boat arrived the ragged crew of the Antelope had their first good meal in days.

Ryo had a piece of hard bread in one hand and strips of salted beef in the other. The sun was warm, and all that mattered for the moment was sharing a meal with her friends and regaining her strength. Her quest was forgotten, but only for a moment.

Ryo glanced down the crescent shaped beach. Far from where they sat at the edge of the jungle there was a large rock half buried in the sand. It struck her as oddly out of place, but as she stared intently at it a shape emerged. It was round, a big round disk, and there were weathered markings on it.

A huge grin slowly spread across Ryo’s face.

“So anyway,” Nenyo said through a mouthful of beef. “When the tide washes in, it should lift the ship up. I’ve been trying to figure out the tides by the beach markings, and I think its somewhere around seven to ten feet.”

“Antelope’s draft is a might bit deeper than ten feet,” captain Gaysu replied. “But look at the way she’s lain. If we pull while the waves are hitting the other side, we might be able to get her off the sand bar and into deep enough waters.”

“If we tie a line to the main mast we’ll have more leverage,” said Krim darkly. “Though I doubt it’ll be enough.”

“That might tear the mast out,” said Nenyo. “The best place will be at the base of the mast, or to some fixture on the far side. That’ll give us the most leverage I think.”

“We can use that tree over there for even more leverage,” Shadoo pointed to a big palm at the edge of the tree line. “Yasya Palm, roots run deep.”

“Who’s going to go for the idol?” Ryo asked.

Everyone stared at her.

Ryo pointed to the rock. “See those markings in the shape of the sun? the Temple of the Sun is on this island.”

There was an awkward moment of silence.

“No,” Romanji grunted. “No, no, no! I refuse to believe that a freak storm could just happen to blow us ashore on the exact island we need to be on!”

“Well believe it,” Ryo said and stood up. “Lets get to work, no sense waiting around.”

“Right!” Gaysu replied and shot to his feet. “Nenyo, you and Ryo go to the temple and get the idol. The tides coming in, time to get my ship righted.”

The crew stood up slowly, complaining all the way, and Haku started to push the boat off the shore. Nenyo and Ryo headed for the rock with the sun markings on it, but before they got far Shadoo stopped them.

“Here,” he said, and handed Ryo a wakasashi, a length of rope, and a tanto. “You might need these.”

Ryo nodded and took the weapons. She tied the rope back and forth around her shoulders and hung the wakasashi from her hip, then stuck the tanto in her boot.

She noticed that Shadoo’s swords were somewhat better than the blades she’d had so recently lost. Weapons were expensive, and Ryo had had to cut a lot of corners to get hers. Most of the smiths wouldn’t even sell to her, so she had bide her time, find opportunities. Her last sword she’d been able to buy when the smith was down on his luck and desperate. It was a good sword, simplistic but well made. She would never see that blade again unfortunately, it was at the bottom of the ocean with the sea monster now.

“Thanks,” Ryo smiled sweetly and headed off down the beach.

* * *

There was a clear trail through the jungle starting right next to the big round rock. The island was round except for the bay, and had a large cone shaped mountain in the middle. The whole land was covered with thick jungle growth, except for the beach and the path.

Up near where the mountain started getting steep the jungle opened into a grassy clearing that was invisible from the beach. At the far end a stone structure that looked older than time itself sat hunched against the side of the mountain. In the center a flight of steep stairs led to the entrance to what could be nothing but the Temple of the Sun.

Ryo and Nenyo looked up at the entrance to the temple.

“This is it all right,” said Ryo. “The Temple of the Sun. Scourge of ninja’s and pirates alike. No one knows who originally built it.”

“Yeah,” Nenyo replied. “What a place. I guess it’s not to bad, lets get this over with.”

Nenyo and Ryo climbed the stairs together and entered the temple. Just inside the door they found a rusted old shlogger with the initials H and J on the blade.

“Well, I guess now we know we’re in the right place,” Nenyo mused. Ryo grabbed the sword and threw it like a javelin into the grassy hill under the steps.

“We’ll grab it on our way out,” she said. “Come on.”

The temple was dark inside, but after a few turns a strange red light became visible. One more turn and they were looking into a hall covered with elaborate carvings. The carvings were pictures of dragons, and from each mouth spat intermittent fireballs. The hall stretched out and turned, and around the next bend they could see more fires.

“This is bad,” Nenyo said. “Very bad.”

Ryo was watching the fireballs carefully. “Wait… see the spots with no burn marks? The fires are a pattern, all we have to do is get the sequence down and run from safe spot to safe spot.”

“This is insane,” Nenyo shook his head.

A fireball erupted from a low carving right in front of them. Ryo raced forward and made it to a little safe zone.

“Come on!” she shouted as another fireball roared.

Nenyo whined for a moment and then ran.

Ryo intently watched all the fire spouts directly in front of her. They fired in a complex sequence and Ryo and Nenyo ran.

* * *

Nenyo landed gasping against the cool stonewall, panting for breath. Ryo was close on his heals, and together they sat staring back at halls of fire.

It had been like a maze. A simple maze, but a maze all the same. Each hall was identical, yet the fireballs moved in a different sequence. Since they had to keep running back and forth to escape the flames it had taken them forever to get through.

“Wonder what else they’ve got in here?” Ryo asked.

Nenyo glared at her angrily.

Ryo smiled.

Nenyo sighed and returned to his feet. “No sense dallying around here, lets get that idol.”

Ryo stood up behind him and followed down the next hall. This one was cool and dark, but there was a curious swooshing sound up ahead.

A few twists and turns later and the source of the noise became visible. There was just one hallway that they could see, and it was being crisscrossed by huge axes.

They weren’t so much axes as large wooden axe heads covered with cruel looking spikes. Unlike the fire hall the sequence thoroughly sealed the hallway. The way the axes crisscrossed each other there wasn’t time to run from one safe spot to another, and Ryo wasn’t willing to bet they could run all the way through in one go.

“How are we supposed to get through this?” Nenyo groaned. “Maybe we took a wrong turn, or—”

Ryo jumped on top of the nearest axe and moved across as it swung. She waited until the sequence brought the edge of her axe up to the next, and hopped to it, then climbed across and jumped to the next.

Nenyo stood watching her, tittering nervously as Ryo jumped from swinging weapon to swinging weapon. If she fell it would be over before she hit the ground.

Ryo reach the other end and jumped off, than stood and looked quizzically at the contraption. She could hear the cogs of the machine that kept the axes swinging and in time, but there was another sound that revealed itself to her as she concentrated.

She put her ear against the wall and listened intently. There was something on the other side, something that sounded different. There was water, and strange hissing noise, and gears that were out of sink with the ones in the ceiling. Ryo felt carefully along the wall until her hands found a small hole and she peered through it.

There was only darkness on the other side, but she was sure that was where the mechanism that drove the axes sat. Casting about desperately, she found a rusted iron pole leaning in a corner.

Ryo grabbed this, and pushed it through the hole for several feet. When she struck a solid end she heard the hissing noise stop and the gears slowly grind to a halt. The swinging axes slowed, and stopped leaving a gap just wide enough for a single person to walk through.

Nenyo stepped gingerly down the passage, holding his arms up to avoid the sharp spikes. He kept glancing up at the ceiling with a sort of awe as he looked down at the balanced axe heads. This was such an intricate contraption, timed as perfectly as a clock.

“Come on,” Ryo gestured as she continued cautiously on to the next hall, which had a wide gap high in the ceiling that let in sunlight. The floor was spacious and even, and there was no fire or swinging blades in their way. Ryo breathed a sigh of relief and started walking.

Nenyo grabbed Ryo’s arm.

“Stop!” he shouted just as Ryo made to put her foot down. “Look at the floor.”

Ryo looked. The floor looked like a jigsaw puzzle, only instead of a small peace of a picture each uneven section held a letter.

“I think it’s a trap,” Nenyo said. “It… doesn’t seem right.”

“Its just the décor,” Ryo scoffed and put her foot firmly on the ground.

It was the letter J she had stepped on, and true to Nenyo’s prediction it gave way instantly under her weight. Fortunately he was still holding onto her arm and with all his might heaved her back onto solid ground.

“Ok, maybe it’s not the décor,” Ryo panted.

“Look at this,” Nenyo said and pointed to an inscription on the wall. “I think it’s a riddle.”

“If to cross the gap ye sees, ye must answer me the question that is key. The Stones shall guide ye way,” Ryo read carefully. “That sounds like pirate.”

“Yeah, but what is the question that is key?” Nenyo asked as he reached out to touch the inscription. The wall was covered with soot from muskets and dust and grime of ages, and cobwebs. As Nenyo brushed at it he revealed a second inscription underneath.

“That’s kanji script!” Ryo shouted. “Can you read it?”

Nenyo nodded. “What is greater than God, more evil than the devil; the poor have it, the rich want it; and if you eat it, you’ll die?”

“Poison?” Ryo suggested.

“Somehow I don’t think that’s it,” Nenyo shook his head. “Greater than God? I wonder which God they mean?”

“Well if this place was built by pirates than it’s the pirate god, which means the ninja God is greater,” Ryo said confidently. “But on the other hand… that is Kanji script, which means it could be ninja, and they just threw in the pirate stuff to confuse the pirates, so what is greater than the ninja God?”

Nenyo, on the other hand, was scratching his chin and looking out at the sea of letters.

“The letters are in standard,” he said out loud. “I think I understand! It’s a riddle see? And we have to figure out the answer to the riddle and what it is in standard, then we just hop from letter to letter until we get across. So now we just need to find the answer to the riddle!”

Ryo, on the other hand, was looking at the large pile of rocks around the doorway of the hall. She hefted one cobweb-covered stone and heaved it out onto the floor. To her satisfaction it broke through and left a large hole around one stone pillar.

“I got a better idea,” Ryo said. “Lets throw rocks at it until the breakaway parts gone.”

“Now that’s thinking like a pirate!” Nenyo shouted and picked up another rock. Ryo decided to ignore his comment as she picked up another and heaved it, but noticed the one Nenyo grabbed was less than half the size. His was barely a double handful, but he seemed to be having more trouble with it than Ryo.

Ryo sent yet another, larger stone, crashing out onto the floor. “I can handle this if you like,” she offered.

“No,” Nenyo panted. “I—I’m ok, I’ll—be—fine.”

Ryo tossed one last rock like a shoot put over the chasm they had opened up and watched it land on hard ground with a satisfying crash. They had revealed seven stepping-stones over the gaping hole, and Ryo immediately jumped to the first.

It wasn’t very far, she thought that Nenyo wouldn’t have any trouble with it, but she turned and called to him all the same.

“You can stay here!” she said. “It can’t be to much farther, I can get the idol alone!”

“No,” Nenyo gulped. “I’m coming. Just—give me a minute.”

Ryo shrugged and jumped the next two stones before turning to check Nenyo’s progress. He was still at the ledge.

“Don’t tell me your afraid of heights!” Ryo called.

“Heights? No,” Nenyo shook his head. “Heights are fine. It’s falling from them that scares me.”

Ryo noticed that he had started to wheeze.

She hopped back a stone so there was only one empty space between her and Nenyo. The stones were small, not quite so small only a good ninja could balance them, but small enough someone like Nenyo might be in trouble.

“It’ll be fine!” Ryo called. “Its not very far at all, you can do it!”

“But—what if I—fall—” Nenyo stammered.

“You won’t fall,” Ryo did her best to reassure him. “You’ll be ok, just trust me.”

Nenyo was shaking so hard Ryo was sure he would fall, but she knew if she left him like this he would only try to do it on his own and then he would fall, no question.

“Come on,” Ryo said. “Trust me. Jump.”

Nenyo took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and jumped.

Ryo gulped as she watched him soar through the air.

By some obscene twist of fate he landed firmly on the stone and only wobbled for a moment. Ryo let out a sigh of relief and jumped to the next pillar.

“Ok,” she said. “One more now!”

* * *

Nenyo jumped to the last step and lost his balance. Ryo caught him by the belt and yanked him easily back over the ledge.

“Come on,” she said without a moment’s hesitation. “We’ve got a treasure to get.”

As Ryo raced on Nenyo took a moment to read the letters they had hopped across.

“Nothing,” he read slowly, shrugged, and turned to catch Ryo.

“What’d it say?” Ryo asked as Nenyo caught up.

“Nothing,” Nenyo replied.

They continued on through the mazelike series of passageways, until they entered a wide hall with a chasm down the center.

“This place looks familiar,” Ryo said, scratching her chin.

“We just left here half an hour ago,” Nenyo groaned. “We’ve been going around in circles!”

Ryo let out an obscenity before turning back to the labyrinth.

“We have got to get in there!” she whined.

“Let me lead the way,” Nenyo insisted.

Ryo shrugged and followed him down the halls. “Whatever you say, I’ll try anything at this point.”

Nenyo proceeded slowly, taking each fork and crossway with careful judgment. Every time they’d come to a choice he would stand for several minutes and think.

“I don’t suppose you’d like to clue me in on your little strategy,” Ryo said as she leaned against a wall.

“Its no strategy,” Nenyo replied. “I’m just mapping the maze as we go, that’s all. We need to go this way.”

He then led them confidently though a complex series of halls and forks and doorways until finally they arrived at a wide chamber with two doors at the end.

“I think this is the end of the maze,” Nenyo said. “Unfortunately I can’t say which door to go though…”

Ryo approached the left door hastily. “Well then we just back track a bit if—”

She heard a horrible sound that was somewhere between an animal dieing and a door creaking. She looked to her right where sat the source of the noise: two extremely old parrots. One of them was wearing a tiny little pirate’s hat, and the other a small ninja scarf. It looked very odd.

“Oh, hi there,” Ryo said as she stared at them. “Polly want a cracker?”

The parrot on the left made that awful noise again and bobbed its head up and down.

“One door leads to safety,” the parrot said slowly. “And the other door leads to a horrible death.”

“You may ask us one question,” said the second parrot. “But one of us always lies.”

“Why does everything have to be a freaking riddle with this place?” Ryo screamed. “Its always some kind of stupid riddle in this place. Riddle to get past the freaking saw blades, riddle for the stupid ditch, the maze was just evil, and now this!”

“If you were your lying brother,” Nenyo said slowly to the parrots. “Which door would you say is the incorrect door?”

The parrots glanced at each other.

“Which one of us are you asking?” the second parrot inquired.

“It doesn’t matter,” Nenyo replied confidently.

The parrots glanced at each other again, and then wobbled their head slowly to indicate the door on the left.

“That door,” they said in unison.

Ryo stepped away from the door quickly with her hands out to ward off anything that might leap out to get her.

“How do you know you’re right?” Ryo asked.

“Simple,” Nenyo explained and pointed to the left parrot. “If he is the liar, then he will say the opposite of what the one telling the truth would say,” he pointed to the other parrot. “On the other hand, if he is the one telling the truth than he will say what the one telling the lie would say if we asked the liar, so it doesn’t matter who we ask because either way we’ve got the right answer.”

Ryo looked suspiciously at the parrots and stepped cautiously to the door on the right. She grasped the handle and pulled experimentally. The door wouldn’t budge.

Ryo pulled hard and the door heaved open, but as it went a rusty bar was slid across the left door, and when the right door was fully open they heard something break inside the wall, and the door was held fast.

“Looks like we only got one chance,” Nenyo said.

“Lets hope you were right,” Ryo replied and walked slowly and carefully into the dark passageway.

Nenyo followed close behind her, and together they moved down the passageway, leaping at every stray bit of dust that fell around them.

At length the passageway went around a sharp turn and ended on the wall of a great chasm. It was lit, inexplicably, and huge. The other side was at least a hundred paces away, and there was no trace of a bridge or piton hold.

“How are we supposed to get across this?” Nenyo asked. “Its huge.”

“I think we have to jump it,” Ryo replied as she sized up the passageway. The doorway was uneven and they couldn’t stand up straight in it. Plus there was the turn they had just come around, so you couldn’t get a running start. The only possible way was a standing jump.

Ryo gulped.

“Its impossible, no one could jump that,” Nenyo shook he head. “We’ve been tricked.”

“No,” Ryo replied. “This is the right way. It’s the final test, somehow…”

“It must have been the other way,” Nenyo scratched his chin. “But how do we get through…”

Ryo jumped.

“Ryo!” Nenyo hollered as Ryo sailed across the gap.

About halfway she reached the apex of her flight and started falling back down.

Ryo screamed.

And landed.

“RYO!” Nenyo screamed. Ryo was sitting in the middle of the chasm, seemingly floating in mid air.

Ryo crouched on her hands and knees and felt carefully at the surface she was sitting on. It felt like cold stone, but she couldn’t see it. All she could see was the walls of the canyon fare bellow her.

She pulled out her tanto and tapped it experimentally. It made a sound like stone, so she put a little scratch in it.

The scratch finally gave her the perspective she needed. If she threw her eyes out of focus and concentrated on the scratch, she could just make out the edges of the bridge.

It wasn’t clear. It was exactly the color of the walls, and blended perfectly even from where she sat. Ryo slowly crawled to the other side.

“Its ok!” she called to Nenyo. “Theirs a bridge!”

Nenyo starred in disbelief.

On the other side Ryo grabbed a handful of sand and pebbles and threw it out across the bridge, then waited for Nenyo to follow her.

“What an interesting trap,” Nenyo mused when the reached the other side. “Its all clear from here.”

“Yeah well, at least we’ve crossed,” Ryo said and tromped off down the passage. Finally they reached a wide room with an elaborate stone floor. On the far left wall the stones depicted an army of pirates, and on the far right an army on ninjas. At the far end of the chamber a raised alter held what they had been searching for: a small, solid gold idol. The idol was on a dais some six feet up from the floor, and had steep stairs leading up the side.

“Who the hell built this place?” Ryo screamed and started across the floor.

There was a puff of a blowgun and the whiz of a dart, and Ryo dodged by a hairs breath. She looked down at her feet at the small round stone she’d stepped on, and very cautiously took her foot off it.

Ryo gulped.

“It’s ok Ryo,” Nenyo assured her. “Just… don’t step on the little round ones.”

Ryo gulped again and surveyed the floor. It was covered with little round stoned.

“I can do this,” she hissed. “For I am a Ninja!”

She went up on to her toes and lurched her shoulders forward, extending her arms out for balance.

She reached the stairs. Though there were no small round triggers the stares were made of rocks the same color, and Ryo was sure if she stepped on one it would be her death. She could see the edges of the blowguns peaking out of the walls, there were a few dozen angled at her. She could not stand on the steps.

Anger boiled up inside Ryo and she jumped straight up, flipped in the air, and landed firmly at the top of the dais.

“Piece a cake!” she shouted triumphantly and grabbed the idol.

The alter slowly began to sink, and there was a great rumpling sound that filled the ancient temple.

Nenyo looked pleadingly at Ryo.

“Run?” Ryo suggested.

Nenyo nodded.

Ryo threw the idol across the room to him and leapt into the air, flipped, and landed in the middle of the floor. Two darts fired and Ryo dodged them with lighting quick reflexes, then jumped again and grabbed a vine on the ceiling. She swung to safety and together she and Nenyo raced out of the room.

The whole temple was shaking now. They hammered the stones with their feet, crossing the bridge and into the labyrinth without even bothering to see the parrots.

Nenyo’s excellent mapping took them through the labyrinth in no time, but as they reached the long hallway with the letter chasm a new threat appeared overhead. A second passageway they hadn’t noticed before had opened in the ceiling. It was wide and round like a lava tub, and a boiling stream of magma was pouring out of it.

Ryo and Nenyo ran down the hall towards the chasm. Two of the pillars in the middle had collapsed, and now there was no way to jump it. Ryo knew she could do it, but not Nenyo.

Ryo untied the rope she had around her shoulders and drew her wakasashis. There wasn’t a moment to lose.

She tied the rope to the hilt of her sword and threw it into the ceiling where the blade stuck in the soft stone.

“Hold on!” Ryo shouted to Nenyo and wrapped her arms around him and the rope.

Together they swung across the chasm moments before the lava hit the rim.

They landed hard in a heap on the other side. The chasm wasn’t as deep as it looked, and the lava was quickly filling it up.

Nenyo got up first and helped Ryo to her feet, and they continued running.

Through the hall of axes and into the hall of fire, the molten stone always at there heals.

Ryo paused at the doorway.

“Not this again!” she whined. “It took us thirty minutes to get through here before!”

Nenyo glanced back at the hall they’d left and watched the lava sweep around the corner.

“No time!” he wheezed. “We’ve just got to go for it!”

With the idol in his bag and grabbed Ryo’s hand, and together they raced through the hall with their eyes closed.

Nenyo and Ryo reached the entrance and jumped from the top of the stares. They reached the grassy slope at the bottom and rolled into the bank.

“Look at that!” Ryo screamed and pointed up at the mountain. The jungle-covered cone was ablaze and smoke and fire was shooting out the top. The whole island was vibrating.

Ryo got to her feet first and grabbed the old pirates sword. Nenyo was on her heals and they ran down the path as lava shot from the mouth of the temple.

It was like a nightmare. Wildfire raced through the jungle on either side of them and the ground rocked and pitched like the deck of the Antelope in a storm.

In the bay the ship was righted. Ryo was glad Captain Gaysu and the crew had managed to pulled her off the sandbar and repaired any hull damage so fast, the ship looked ready to go.

Gaysu and Haku were waiting in the boat on the beach. There were no more breakers, it was like a lake.

They jumped from the dunes in unison and landed in the boat. Haku pushed them from the shore and the boat moved across the bay as if by magic.

Now Ryo saw the rope tied to the bow. It ran all the way through the water to the Antelope, where the whole crew was hauling on it like madmen.

“Make sail!” Captain Gaysu ordered. There was a thunderous explosion from the mountain and the water began to drain from the bay like someone had pulled the plug in a bathtub.

They didn’t have to rig the sails. The Antelope was pulled right out of the lagoon and sucked out to sea before the people in the little boat could even get on deck.

Captain Gaysu raced to the wheel with youth beyond his years. He pointed the ship right into the current and began barking orders.

“Clear the mizzen!” He shouted. “Raise the sails! Make fast the hatches!”

The crew bustled around like a beehive following his orders and bumping into each other. The sails went up and what little was left on deck was tied down. Finally the crew all ran to the aft deck and watched Captain Gaysu steer.

The Antelope went up a huge swell.

“What is this?” Ryo screamed. “I’ve never even heard of a wave like this!”

“It’s a Tsunami!” Gaysu screamed with joy. “I live for moments like this!”

The Antelope’s wheel broke off in his hands and fell apart.

“By the gods!” Gaysu shouted.

“Move over old man!” Shadoo shouted and drew his big katana. “I live by the sword—now I’ll steer by it!”

He drove the tip of his weapon into the peg of the tiller and began steering inexpertly.

A moment later he keeled over and started snoring.

“Damn sleeper!” Gaysu swore and grabbed the sword hilt. The Antelope rode the wave like a surfboard for miles before the great mountain of water settled out.

All at once the seas became calm.

“HAHA!” Captain Gaysu screamed. “We did it! I told ya the Antelope could take anything!”

Gaysu rolled the sleeping Shadoo over.

“He’d be a samurai for this if not for his little problem,” Gaysu shook his head.

Miagi picked up the sleeping Shadoo.

“I will take him below decks,” he said.

“Good,” Gaysu nodded. “We need to find a port, someone try and get our bearings!”

Gaysu moved back to what was left of the wheel. “I’ll try to fix this.”

Ryo collapsed onto the deck, shaking, unable to believe it was over. That had been probably the single most life-threatening event in her life, but now it was all over and she was safe on the Antelope once more.

But through it all she had somehow known she would be safe. She had known she wasn’t going to die the entire time, because her friends had been with her. Back at home she had always been alone, she had never known what it was like to have friends. Now, aboard the Antelope, she understood. When she had her friends by her side, she could do anything.