-=Ryu’s final words=-

The village hidden in darkness. One village among many, based in the darkest part of the world. A small town overall, with people who lived everyday lives of working, shopping, eating, sleeping, and playing in and around it. Unlike other villages, however, this one had a unique defense: rather than conventional soldiers and grand walls, this village used ninjas and thieves to protect it’s people, stealthily taking out unwanted intruders, using the means of non-detection to keep the village safe. In addition, the village was shrouded in a magical darkness that only the eyes of the villagers could pierce, commoner and defender alike. Shadow Viper, Lord Scorpion, and Yuka Umino were no different.

The trio was making haste to the town hall, having gotten word of something interesting found among the inventory of Ryu Hayabusa II, the legendary village hero who had died a week ago. As they ran towards their destination, they talked among themselves about what it was that had been found.

“Any idea what it was, Scorpion?” Shadow asked.

“No idea, I’m afraid,” Scorpion replied. “All I know was that hanging in the hall, looking for possible missions to undertake, when some of the medical people rushed in, letting everyone know what they found. One of them was waving some sort of paper.”

“A piece of paper,” Yuka pondered. “Could that be the item they found?”

“I’m not sure,” Scorpion explained. “I knew it was extremely important the moment they let everyone know, so I dashed off rather quickly. For all I know, it could just be some medical document.”

“There’s only one way to find out!” Shadow said. The three of them picked up the pace, heavily intent on seeing what was found, hoping it could show some insight as to what Ryu was doing, perhaps how he died.

*whoosh*

The town hall was in an uproar. People filled most of the building, with even more waiting outside. Every one of them had the same thing on their minds: “What did Ryu leave behind?” Knowing the legendary status Ryu once held in the village, every villager considered this important, and didn’t want to miss one part of the revelation, no matter how long it took.

Inside the hall, four village elders waited outside a room, waiting patiently for the result. One elder, Lord Hakkera, went over what they did know of the situation.

“So, the letter was written in the secret ninja and thief code,” he said, “the writing itself was done in blood, along with other bloodstains not part of the writing, the words seem to trail off at the end, and the overall letter is somewhat long, written in a manner that suggests Ryu was in a big hurry to put down lots of information.”

Another elder, Iruka, posed a possible explanation. “Perhaps he was ambushed, and knew he couldn’t survive, so he put together that letter with the one thing he had: blood. The words trailing off…maybe he was interrupted, something.”

A third elder, Asuma, spoke up. “In any case, we can’t quite read it yet. It was written in the secret code of the ninjas and thieves, a code even we don’t know. We were fortunate when Izumo was able to find a ninja to assist in deciphering the code, though.”

“I only hope it doesn’t take too long,” Ebisu, the fourth elder, said. “They’ve been in there for over an hour, and I fear the villagers may get impatient.”

Suddenly, the door opened. The fifth elder, Mizuki, and the ninja translator walked out towards the other elders. Hearing what Ebisu said, Mizuki replied, “Well, I’d say we timed it right, then.”

*whoosh*

At this point, Shadow, Scorpion, and Yuka managed to make it to the throng of villagers waiting outside the town hall. Unfortunately, the crowd was to thick to try and get through. The three of them sat, catching their breaths from the run they had earlier.

“Great,” Shadow complained. “The entire village already knows, and because of that, we can’t get in!”

“I wonder how we’ll find out what they found, then,” Scorpion wondered.

As they sat, Yuka noticed the five elders coming out to the crowd. They beckoned everyone to come into the building.

“Looks like they found a way to tell us,” Yuka said hopefully. The three of them got on their feet, and followed the crowd inside.

*whoosh*

The town hall was a vast, grand building, the biggest in the village. Inside, all of the day-to-day vilage management was carried out, as well as offers for missions for the ninjas and thieves to undertake.

Everyone was seated inside the meeting room. This room made up more than half of the building, made big enough so that every single villager, commoner and defender alike, could fit inside.

The elders gathered at the stage at the end of the room, the letter written by Ryu at hand. A hush fell over the entire room.

“Today,” elder Hakkera began, “we have summoned all of you for an important announcement. With the aid of a ninja, we’ve successfully read over the letter. In this letter, the cause of Ryu’s death is revealed, along with information of a coming threat to the Maple World that may expand to other worlds, ours included.”

The audience lit up instantly, talking among themselves with tones of worry, concern, and confusion.

The elder held up a hand for silence, then continued. “The letter is written in the code of the ninjas and thieves, a code we elders do not know. For convenience, I’d ask for a ninja or thief to come up here and read the letter.”

Sitting in the back of the room, Shadow, Scorpion, and Yuka heard the announcement. Knot’s formed in their stomachs. It wouldn’t be easy to read about how their best friend died, especially when reading it to a crowd of people. Shadow, however, quickly fought back the sick feeling inside him and stood up. Though it would be painful, he still wanted to know how and why it happened. He wanted desperately to know why it was that Ryu would never walk the earth again.

Proceeding through the audience, Shadow reached the stage and took the letter. Standing in front of the entire village, he held the letter up to read. Taking a deep breath, he began:

*The final journal entry of Ryu Hayabusa II, Sept. 26th, 2006:

I am writing this letter to say that I have failed miserably, and will not live to talk about it. I’m not sure if I still have strength to write everything I wish to write, but I will do my best, in the hopes of keeping the village safe.*

*Recently, I had finally garnered the training I needed to expand my power as a ninja bandit; I finally had what it took to become a chief bandit. After much fighting and many quests, I was ready to meet with my trainer, Dark Lord, about getting myself started in the class.*

*When I got to him, Dark Lord deemed me ready, but told me of a problem as well. It seemed that a powerful darkness had been sighted in the Maple World, in a place normally unreachable by anyone except during rare circumstances. The power was very similar to his, except much darker, with hatred and evil pulsing from it.*

*Dark Lord felt this disturbance needed to be destroyed, and that I should be the one to do it. He saw it as a chance to rid the world of a possible evil, as well as a chance to prove myself worthy of the class of Chief Bandit.
I accepted his offer. He told me once I had finished, I was to report to El Nath to continue my path to being a chief bandit. He then directed me to a portal in the swamplands where the evil was supposedly coming from.*

*I made my way there and entered the portal. Inside, I was in a cave comprised of shining rock. Working my way ever inward, I came to a huge chamber, meeting the source of evil. It was a person who looked exactly like Dark Lord! At first, I thought he tricked me, but I could sense none of the true Dark Lord’s personality in this imposter. All I could sense was darkness, hatred, anger, and, of course, pure evil. Steeling myself, I charged into battle.*

*His abilities were that of an assassin, throwing stars and daggers with absolute ease. I can honestly say no foe I’ve ever fough was as challenging as him. Using every trick I learned, I fought back at him with my dagger, using the advantages of melee against him. Eventually, the tides turned, and I soon had him figured out. I was able to beat him back into submission.*

*This evil figment of Dark Lord retreated to a corner of the room, appearing utterly defeated. Victory in my grasp, I rushed in for the final blow.*

*That was the biggest mistake of my life.*

*Two tauromacis suddenly popped out of thin air, blocking my way. The element of suprise on their side, I was instantly subdued by their lighting. I fought back as best as I could, but soon the evil Dark Lord jumped in, adding to the mayhem. Eventually, both tauromacis struck me with lightning at the same time, effectively stunning me. That was when Dark Lord secured the killing blow: a throwing dagger to my head.*

Shadow’s body began to tremble as he continued reading. Clearly, this death was no accident.

*The evil Dark Lord and his cohorts disappeared upon recognizing my defeat.*

*At this point in my writing, I am fading. My vision dims, my muscles weaken….I can’t way everything I feel I need to, but I will say that, after the battle, I heard an unknown voice proclaim something about a great evil power’s victory being close at hand. Then, evil laughter, followed by silence.*

*The only way you can know more is to send someone else in my stead. Please make sure that when their time comes to fight the evil Dark Lord, that they be more skillful and wise than me. My time is coming soon. I can only end by saying to everyone of my village, including my wonderful girlfriend, Yuka: I’m sor….*

Upon reaching the end of the letter, Shadow ripped the letter apart, dashing out of the town hall. Scorpion and Yuka followed him out. None of the three had a dry eye.

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Hello everyone! LOOOOONG story today! What can I say, I have a lot of ideas. Couple things to explain(btw, yes, I’m sure these notes are better befor the story than afterwards, but I didn’t want to delay anyond from reading my story): 1. I’m in the prestory phase, basically the story that comes before the setting moves to Maple Island.
2. The *whoosh*s simply separate certain topics in the story. Enjoy! *leaves behind a box of Mountain Dews*