• The first question that ran through his head was what to do now. Since he was back in his world, he was wondering what his next course of action should be. Best bet would be to find Ryan. He can probably fill me in on my absence better than anyone he thought. He tried to figure out what the scenery was so that he could figure out which area he was in but he couldn't figure it out. It was a heavily forested region with thick trees that reached for the sky. It was obviously an autumn season as the tree bore colors of brilliant yellows, reds, and oranges. But something caught his eye that was definately out of the ordinery. There was a large town with a rather large building jutting out of it. "My My...what do we have here?" he asked himself. He could tell that it seemed familiar, but his mind was still trying to piece together his broken fragments of his past into a bigger picture. Shattered now sat up and took in a big breath of air. Honest to Rune Tail...It's so good to not be breathing in the scent of sulfur and blood! he thought. He stood and began to pick his way through the thick underbrush of bushes in the dense forest. Eventually, he got sick of trying to force his way through the branches and riddling his body with tiny cuts so he opened his tome and once again conjured his black rapier to hack through the thick branches.

    A sudden gun shot rang out over the quiet of the forest. Shattered instinctively ducked down behind a large tree. That gun shot sounded familiar. It sounded like one of Ryan's platoon sniper rifles. Intervention bolt action I think his mind analyzed. Shattered knew it wasn't Ryan's weapon. Ryan coveted his Werewolf made WA2000 sniper rifle. Another shot rang out but it was very close. It was the same sound as before. He now knew it was the Intervention. He now quickly used his agility that his race gave him to dart through the bushes while cutting a path into the obstacles in way. After he ran about a mile or so, he saw a soldier dressed in all forest green camoflouge standing in a clearing. He was wearing the army pants and back pack that weighed around a good fifty pounds and had a desert eagle handgun in his hip holster. In the man's hands, gleaming like the sharp tooth smile of a demon, was his Intervention fifty caliber sniper rifle. The man stood at six feet and around seven inches with wolf ears atop his head and a bushy tail protruding from his backside. He was wearing a typical army helmet which meant he was a foot soldier. On the back pack, was the emblem of Ryan's sniper force: It was four deep gouges in the form of claw marks and bullet holes surrounded the marks. Above it in big, bold, black letters spelled out THE 257th SNIPER SQUAD. "Where did that b*****d go?" the soldier muttered. Shattered could obviously tell that it was not Ryan. His voice was far too gruff. It sounded like sand paper against a pile of gravel in a strange sense. The soldier now kneeled in the clearing and brought the rifle scope to his eye. His radio crackled to life. "We have movement to the west," a voice said. Still wasn't Ryan's vioce. "Copy that," the soldier in the clearing replied. "Stay sharp out there. This b*****d is an elusive one," the radio voice said back. "Heh of course he is. He managed to escape us awhile ago," the soldier muttered under his breath.
    A breeze now entered the clearing. It was crisp and fresh and seemed to breath new life into the clearing. Autumn leaves began to flow off the tree in their brilliant colors in the direction of the soldier. It seemed as if the very trees themselves were rebelling against the soldier to cloud his field of vision. Then the stage seemed to light with a glint of metal behind the soldier back. From the leaves trailing behind the back of the soldier, a figure phased forth from the leaves. He was dressed in a ninja garb and was wearing a dark blue scarf that looked almost like it was too hot to wear for the warm autumn day. He had two blades wrapped in a black sheath that was tied to a gauntlet that ran from his shoulder to his wrist. The gauntlet was a strange purple color and held a purple orb with the japanese kanji for darkness in its glossy reflection towards his shoulder. lastly, below his fox ears, he had a white head band that had the japanese symbols for certain victory. The strange ninja held one of the two katanas in his right hand. He quickly place his left hand on the soldiers mouth, kicked his feet out from under him, and sank the blade into his stomach and twisted. The scream in which the soldier was try to produce was muffled greatly and soon after, the soldier was now lifeless. The ninja now ripped the blade from him with a gut wrenching slice. Another wave of autumn leaves entered teh clearing and the ninja figure phased from sight once again.
    The radio crackled to life. The voice was gruff but familiar. Shattered had never smiled so widely in years or felt so much relief as hearing this man's voice. It was Ryan. "We lost the corporal on the heart beat sensor. Keep your eyes open and aim in the corporal's last known position. Aim carefully brothers!" he said. Shattered burst into the clearing and dived onto the radio that was on the man's belt. He wanted to get his message across should the ninja return. His voice was quick and full of anxiety. The uncomfortable feeling of someone watching him seemed to permiate the air. "Ryan! Do you copy? I repeat! Do you copy?" he shouted into the radio. "Hey shutup and calm down green!" Ryan replied. "Now who is this and why are you on our frequency?" Shattered struggled to remember his name before he died. They suddenly like the light of day, he remembered it. "This is Nick, leader of the fox demons, battle conjurer of the fox and wolf alliagance. It's been awhile my friend," he said looking around the clearing in angst. "Ok how can you be Nick? He was assassinated three days ago. Three dumb hoes took his place and they're having us attack this uncharted territory of the Kingdom. Seriously if you want to pull my ******** leg, then at least make a big entrance!" he replied in a disusted manor. "Ok you want a big ******** entrance?? Then fine you idoit!' shattered shouted back. Shattered quickly opened his tome, still glancing around like a paranoid schisophrenic. He looked for his spell to make the Dark Thunder. "Ok here it is," he muttered to keep his composure up. He was going to have to fire it skyward to make sure not to hit allies in the arc of electricity. "Ryeteno Iroken Ray!" he shouted as he threw his left hand to the sky and released a huge bolt of jet black electricity. It arced into a cloud which vaporized it into nothing. Shattered's brow was drenched in sweat, his breathe heavy in short uncontrolled burst. He was still a nervous wreck over the unseeable enemy. Suddenly the radio crackled to life once again. "Holy s**t Nick it is you!" he said in a surprised voice. "Yeah. Now do you want to know what the hell just killed your soldier?" he asked as he retreated under the hollow out roots of a tree. "That would be nice," Ryan replied. "Ok well the thing that killed him was a Fox demon ninja. I mean yeah that may sound clechay or stupid, but it's what I saw!" shattered said quietly. "Ok well that would actually make perfect sense. Our snipers cant paint a bead on this guy. When ever we see him, the wind blows and the leaves cloud our vision. He must stay out of sight till the wind blows," he replied. "Well actually I think he's the one controlling the leaves. Before I saw him run a blade through your soldier, he phased out of a wave of autumn leaves. My conjurers sight was able to pick up the trace amounts of wind acarne magic. I mean I've never seen or heard of a ninja using a sort of arcane magic cause arcane is incredibly difficult to use and while trying to run and dodge, it makes life pretty difficult. But this one made it look like it was nothing more than a simple barrier spell to me. I think you should pull back your men cause we're out powered in this fight. I don't even know where he is. And we shouldn't lose men over an uncharted territory that I had a bad feeling about in the first place." He heard a crackled and muddled sound of a sigh through the radio. "I'm afraid that you're right Nick. I won't spend lives on a useless fight." "Good decision my friend. Where can I expect to meet you and your soldiers so we can prep for a retreat?" "Two miles north of your current location. We have you on heartbeat sensor. How soon can we expect you?" "You're gonna have to give me fifteen minutes. I need to carefully make it to your location or I might attract attention to that ninja." "Understood. Ryan out!" the radio replied as it now went silent. He now carefully creeped from beneath the tree and began to head to Ryan's location.
    After around a mile or so, shattered began to hear soft whispers. It was two voices: That of a man who sounded to be twenty years of age and a woman who seemed to be the same age. He quickly hid behind a large tree trunk. Upon looking around the side of the tree, he saw a sight that surprised him greatly. Standing in the clearing of the forest, was the ninja and a woman. He was able to now take a closer look at the ninja. His hair was a healthy and dark black. His fox ears purched atop his head were a bright orange color that stood in sharp contrast with his blue eyes. He stood at five feet and eleven inches with a medium muscular build that could somewhat be seen through his ninja garb. His belt appeared to be made of a strange and acarnic kitusne silk that seemed to float and curl to his wind power. His blue scarf was wrapped around his neck deliquetly to as to not constrict his beathing. This ninja figure now spoke, "I cannot allow you to be out here." He was obviously talking to the woman. The woman was stunningly beautiful. Her hair was a shimmering and mesmerizing meduim brown color. Her fox ears were a strange brownish tint that seemed to somewhat match her hair. She stood at a tall five feet and nine inches and was a close rival to the ninja's height. Her nails were a dark green and seemed to hold some sort of hidden magic within the nail polish almost as if it came from the plant used to make it. Her eyes were hazel that matched her hair to the perfect degree of brown. Her breasts were slightly visible from the tiny amount of clevage that her kimono was showing. Her kimono ran to her knees and her legs appeared to be soft and attracting. Even shattered felt his heart leap into his throat when he layed his eyes on her. "You know I cant leave you to fight by yourself. I am your wife after all!" the lady replied. "But these enemies are heartless and cold. The country in which this army strikes from no longer has a leader. He was assasinated three days ago from what our outside sources tell us. Three women have taken his place and they rule with an iron fist. Something tells me that we cannot trust these soldiers either," he explained. "But you know that I can never leave your side my love! I cannot let you face this enemy by yourself. Should you die.....," her voice suddenly choked off almost as if someone hit a switch. The ninja responded to this in a very loving manor. He approached her and stroked the side of her face with the knuckles of his hand. "You know that I fight to protect you right my dear?" he asked her. A couple tears streamed down her face. "Of course I do, but what will I have to fight for or love or look forward to in life should I lose the one person inwhich I love the most. That person is you Ryoken," she responded in a hurt and pain filled voice. He now placed his arms around her shoulders and kissed her forhead. "Don't worry Misume. I won't leave this world without you. I already promised you that. But from what my Carrier of Vocals spell is telling me, the enemy is organizing a retreat. At least let me push them back and then I shall return to you unharmed," he replied in a soothing voice. She now returned her gaze to his eyes and she gave a nod to show she trusted him. "Thank you Misume," he said softly. He now slowly released his arms from around her shoulders and turned to walk away. Suddenly the woman grabbed the ninja's hand and said in nearly flawless ancient fox langauge, "Une (I) Lyroness (Love) Nye (You)..." The ninja nodded in reply. Shattered could tell that fear permiated both of their bodies. The man knew that he might not return alive and his wife could also sense that, but the woman knew she could trust him. It was like something out of a romance novel in a way. The woman now turned and raised a hand toward a tree. The nail polish on her hands glowed a dark green with tendrils of black and brown dancing inside of the spectrum. The branches of the tree bent in an akward direction but strangely enough didn't break. He grabbed hold of the branch and muttered a phrase that he couldn't exactly hear. Upon the words leaving her mouth, the branch flung her deep into the forest and out of sight. The only person left in the clearing was the ninja. He was standing and seemed to be in deep though no doubt strategizing the possible tatics for the battle. "Zephyr. I need to speak with you," he muttered in a serious voice. A sudden blast of wind entered into the area and condenced into a shining light blue ball. A voice now emitted from this ball of wind and elemental fury. "Yes Ryo? How are you doing?" the voice rang out. It was that of a young girl. She couldn't have been more than ten years of age. "Should we activate the wind aura to put those soldiers on the run?" The ninja asked looking into the glowing sphere. "No that would be kinda mean don't you think? I mean they are running away after all. You should use that cool metal star trick where I multiply the stars to hit multiple people?" The ninja stroked his chin with his right hand in thought. "Yeah that would probably be the best course of action right now. Don't want this place erupting in a wind storm. We're too close to home after all," he paused to take five shiruken throwing stars out of his pocket. They were around the size of his palm and were painted a glossy dark blue shade. Shattered could barely make out the ancient fox demon word, "Hetoromiso" which meant Protector, on the blades of each throwing star. "Can you precast the ritual on these zephyr?" "Of course I can Ryo!" more wind rushed into the clearing and seemed to be sucked into the five shiruken throwing stars. The wind seemed to stop suddenly and the stars glowed a light blue like the wind ball. He put the skiruken in his pocket and said, "My thanks Zephyr." The ball then replied, "Anytime Ryo!" A wave of autumn leaves blew into the clearing and the ninja phased from sight once again. Shattered decided not to dwindle in the area and he jogged off towards ryan's direction.