-=Looking to the future=-

In the village hidden in darkness, the ninjas and rogues who reside there perform many duties. Their primary duty is defending the village, keeping it safe from any sort of threat, especially those unhindered by the magical darkness covering the village. However, these ninjas and rogues perform many other tasks, some of which take them out of their home. Depending on the skill level of the stealthy combatants, the tasks range from simple, common chores such as babysitting, assisting in gardening, or obtaining certain goods, to extremely difficult missions such as escorting important people across long, dangerous distances, retrieving important items from hostile, heavily guarded locations, and even carrying out assassinations.

As genin, Shadow Viper and Lord Scorpion were limited to partaking in fairly simple tasks, but they considered them worth the work. After all, they knew that being rogues wasn’t simply about being stealthy, fast, and deadly in combat. It was about being the best they could be in life and helping others around them through a profession that required discipline, concentration, and the will to never give up.

Shadow had concentration, discipline, and an iron will, and all three carried him through 2 years of training as a rogue. He knew these things, along with his two close friendships with Scorpion and Yuka, were important in his training and his missions. Little did he realize that very soon, these things would be put to the ultimate test.

One month went by since Ryu Hayabusa II’s passing. During that month, Shadow spent countless hours training and refining his dagger skills, always with his best friend and training partner, Scorpion. Together, the two of them consistently kept their abilities in peak condition, always keeping the possibility of another monster attack from the Maple World in the backs of their minds.

Whenever Shadow wasn’t busy with training or missions, he would usually spend leisure time reading books of fictional adventure, hanging out with his friends, and playing various tunes on his flute. Other times he would spend in private with Yuka, continually helping her come to terms with her uneraseable inner grief that was losing her boyfriend Ryu.

No matter what he did, one thing remained in Shadow’s mind: when would be the next time a ninja or rogue would be sent out into the Maple World, and would that next person succeed?

On the 30th day since Ryu’s death, those questions would be answered.

That day, Shadow woke up in his usual fashion: meditating, then gering up for early morning training. As soon as he had finished preparing himself, he heard a knock on the door. He opened it to find Scorpion and Yuka, looks of concern on both of their faces.

Shadow could tell something was amiss. “What’s going on?” he asked them.

“The village elders have summoned all ninjas and rogues to the town hall for an important meeting,” Scorpion explained. “We’re the only ones left here. We remained behind to get you.”

Shadow thought for a moment. “I take it the elders have found something important,” he surmised. “Something that has to do with Maple World.”

“Yes,” Yuka said. “It turns out they’ve managed to discover more of the evil plot that Ryu explained in his last letter, and….and….” She tried to continue, but she couldn’t. Her voice wavered, her body trembled, and her eyes began forming tears. She soon found herself holding onto Shadow just to keep herself from falling.

Slightly alarmed, Shadow turned to Scorpion, who already had what to say in mind. “Shadow,” Scorpion explained, “the threat we face has become such that the elders have considered sending the next one of us out to Maple World. Normally, chunin and up are allowed to go, but our recent training has added the two of us, genin, to the list.”

“Then we should be on our w-” Shadow’s words were cut off by a sudden loud explosion. The force of the explosion jolted him and the others. Quickly, the trio dashed outside to find a scene of utmost terror. The upper part of the town hall had suffered tremendous damage from a cannonball. Beneath, every ninja and rouge were dashing out of the building, some helping the elders and other workers from the heavily damaged building.

Shadow’s mind instantly turned to action. “Scorpion, get Yuka to safety. I’ll go help fend off whatever is attacking us.”

Scorpion quickly objected. “I can’t leave you here alone!”

Shadow ignored the objection. “Don’t worry about me right now. Just get her to safety with the other villagers. Right now, we’re in danger that seems all too familiar, but I won’t let it destroy any of us.”

Scorpion was still worried about Shadow, but complied with him anyway. he hurried off with Yuka, knowing that Shadow was right: the ninjas and rogues were here to defend every villager from any and all attacks at any cost, even their own lives.

Shadow headed off towards the entrance, quickly finding a pack of angry looking pigs, some of them with red ribbons donning their rotund bodies. Quickly unsheathing his twin daggers, Shadow charged towards them, shouting, “We drove the likes of you off before, and we can do it again!”

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Heh, cliffhanger! Will the monsters be driven off? Find out next time! Until then, well, right now I’m off to dinner. It’s been a busy day, but I sure enjoyed gettng the next installment of my story in. Hope you enjoy it! *Leaves behind a grocery cart full of cans of Mountain Dew*