Kai

by Greg Farshtey

  Kai picked up a rock and threw it with all his might toward the woods. Fifty yards short of the line of trees, it struck something and dropped to the ground. Zane’s eyes widened as a spiderweb of cracks suddenly appeared in empty space. He went to the spot where the rock had impacted and reached out. Where he would have expected to feel nothing but cold air, he instead felt a smooth, hard surface.

  “It’s a mirror,” said Kai, “a big one, too. There are probably others around as well. Makes it look like there’s just trees and snow all over. Our pal didn’t vanish — he just slipped behind the mirror.”

  “Then that is where we’re going, too,” said Zane.

  Samukai smacked the skeleton warrior who stood before him with two of his four hands. Then he smacked him with the other two for good measure.

  “Idiot,” the ruler of the Underworld growled. “Dumb pile of bones. I gave you a simple job, and you screwed it up.”

  “But, Master, I defeated them in battle and successfully escaped,” the skeleton whined. “I thought you would be pleased.”

  Samukai sat down hard on his throne of bones. “Understand something: The day I want Kai and Zane defeated, it will happen without aid from you. The point of this exercise was not a test of strengths, but a masterpiece of deception.”

  It had, truly, been one of Samukai’s most inspired ideas. He knew two of Sensei Wu’s ninja would not be visiting a tiny village just for fun. There had to be some treasure concealed there that Wu wanted to get his hands on. He could have simply had skeletons keep an eye on Kai and Zane and pounce when they grabbed the treasure, but what if one of the villagers took it and hid it in the meantime? No, he had to know the precise location of the ninja’s goal and then be able to get it without their interference.

  And so he put his plan into action. First, Kruncha and a large group of skeleton warriors descended on the village. While a few remained behind to make sure the villagers behaved, the rest went to work building a duplicate of the village not far away. Giant mirrors would keep the ninja from spotting any signs of the real village when they were in the fake one.

  Unfortunately, Kruncha’s bumblers were not yet done when Kai and Zane arrived. At Kruncha’s direction, the villagers made the ninja welcome, or as welcome as frightened humans could. That night, during the feast, they gave the two ninja tea with certain herbs in it that put them to sleep. The skeletons then transported Kai and Zane to the fake village.

  The plan was simple. The ninja would wake up and be faced with the mystery of the disappearing villagers. Fearful, they would race to retrieve the treasure, not knowing they were being spied upon by the skeletons. Once the hiding place was revealed, Samukai would be notified and his warriors would get the treasure from its place of concealment in the real village.

  The ninja surprised the skeletons. They did not go searching for the treasure, but the villagers. Impatient, Samukai sent a warrior in with instructions to get captured and further motivate the ninja to get the treasure. That had not worked out well.

  “They will be on their way there,” muttered Samukai, “in search of the treasure. And as soon as they have it … we will take it away from them.”

  When Kai and Zane slipped around behind the giant mirror, they should not have been surprised by the sight that greeted their eyes … yet, still, they were. There, not far in the distance, was Zane’s village. It had been so close all the time and they had never been aware of it.

  “Let’s go,” said a determined Zane. “Someone is going to pay for tricking us.”

  “Not so fast,” said Kai. “Look.”

  On the outskirts of the village, skeleton warriors were patrolling in pairs. Beyond them, villagers could be seen working under the watchful eye sockets of more skeletons. The little town was now an armed camp.

  “I see,” said Zane. “If we go charging in there, innocents might get hurt. But we can’t just leave them all to be prisoners of the skeletons.”

  “What does Sensei Wu always tell us? ‘Use your opponent’s strength against him,’” answered Kai. “Well, what do the skeletons want? Based on what our ex-captive said, they think there’s treasure in the village. They probably also think we know where it is. So let’s lead them to it.”

  Zane looked at his friend, puzzled. “How? There is no treasure.”

  Kai smiled. “But they don’t know that. Come on, we have a lot of work to do.”

  By that evening, the two ninja were ready. Carrying shovels, they slipped into the woods close to the edge of the real village. They crouched down by a pair of tree stumps and watched the skeletal guards on patrol for a few moments. Then Kai whispered, “Stay here.”

  The Ninja of Fire got to his feet and moved off, purposely letting the moonlight reveal him to the skeletons. The two warriors immediately started following Kai into the woods.

  My friend was right, thought Zane. They didn’t attack him. They want to know where he’s going and what he might find there.

  Once Kai was sure he was being followed, he started walking faster. Then he began to run. Behind him, the skeletons were running, too. They knew that losing sight of the ninja now would mean punishment from Samukai.

  Kai spotted the old, rotted log he and Zane had left as a marker. He picked up speed and leaped, landing in the snow about ten feet past the log. He turned to see the pair of skeletons jumping over the log. There was a series of sharp cracks and the two warriors disappeared from view, falling into the concealed pit Kai and Zane had dug. Some sticks and some snow had hidden it well until it was too late.

  “That’s two down,” said Kai.

  Not far away, Zane had his own trap set. Once he was certain he had attracted skeleton attention, he went to work. Scurrying halfway up a hillside, he came to a natural rock wall. He immediately started banging one of the large rocks with his shovel, attempting to wrestle it free, and muttering angrily about how stubborn the stupid piece of stone was turning out to be. Finally, he threw up his hands in seeming frustration and stalked off.

  Once he was well clear of the spot, Zane hid to watch what would happen. After a few minutes, a pair of skeletons raced over to the wall and wrenched the rock free. They had about two seconds to feel proud of their accomplishment before the entire wall collapsed on them, followed by the ton of snow the wall had been holding back.

  Satisfied they would be digging themselves out for the rest of the night, Zane moved on to his next targets.

  For the next three hours, Kai and Zane whittled down the numbers of the skeleton warriors. Now it was getting tricky. Samukai, Kruncha, and three skeletons were in the town meeting hall, along with all the villagers. Two other skeletons were in the center of town, mounted on a Turbo Shredder vehicle. The fearsome machine, with its skull grill and chomping, front-mounted “jaws,” could end the ninja’s night in a big hurry.

  “I know how to get the villagers free,” said Zane. “But we need the Shredder to do it. Any ideas?”

  Kai smiled. “Let’s head for the toolshed. I think it’s time to chop some wood.”

  Later, Zane sat high in a tree, ready to spring their trap. Down on the ground, Kai was calculating distance. “Okay, when I pass Genn’s house, you need to start cutting,” the Ninja of Fire said. “The timing has to be just right, or else Sensei Wu is going to be short two ninja.”

  “Good luck,” said Zane.

  Kai waved and ran off into the village. He raced right up to the Turbo Shredder and started jumping up and down, saying, “You guys couldn’t catch a cold! The other ninja wanted to help, but I told them I could handle twenty skeletons by myself. What did you think, that you snuck into this village without us noticing? We could hear your bones rattling a hundred miles away!”

  The skeleton driver gunned the Turbo Shredder to life. Kai wheeled and ran for the woods, the vehicle on his heels. He could hear the jaws clamping down behind him and knew that if he so much as stumbled, he wouldn’t be getting up again. He sped past Genn’s house, hoping that Zane saw him an
d was sawing away.

  The Ninja of Ice had indeed spotted his friend. Counting down to himself, he sliced the thick ropes he and Kai had rigged up. He had just finished when Kai ran past, followed closely by the Turbo Shredder. The last strand of rope gave way then and the huge tree trunk the two ninja had rigged swung free.

  The skeletons never knew what hit them. The tree trunk slammed into the Turbo Shredder, sending it rolling onto its side and hurling the two warriors out into the snow. Kai knocked them out with two well-placed chops as Zane scrambled down the tree.

  “Help me get this thing back on its treads,” said Kai. “Then we’ll go pay a call on Samukai.”

  Kai stood in front of the town hall. Light blazed within the building and he could hear the soft cries of children coming from inside. He wanted to march right in and pound Samukai and his skeletons for scaring all these innocent people, but better to stick to the plan. The important thing was getting Genn and the others out safe.

  “Hey, skullface!” he shouted at the closed doors. “I have something you want!”

  The door opened a crack. Kruncha poked his skull out. “Uh, like what?”

  Kai shook his head. “I only talk to your boss. Let’s see his ugly face.” When Kruncha hesitated, Kai added, “Or I could just take the treasure back to Sensei Wu like I’m supposed to.”

  Kruncha withdrew. An instant later, the door opened wider. Samukai, all four arms and fierce expression, appeared. He took a moment to size Kai up, and then said, “Where is it? And what is it?”

  “Where you won’t find it,” answered Kai. “And you’ll find out what it is when you get it, which you will … in exchange for the villagers.”

  “Sensei Wu is getting soft in his old age.” Samukai chuckled. “Trading a treasure for a few dozen humans? And not even human warriors?”

  “Some of us think all humans are important,” Kai replied. “We’re funny that way. Do we have a deal?”

  “First, show me the treasure.”

  “No,” said Kai. “First, show me the villagers. I want to be sure you haven’t … lost any.”

  “Fair enough.” Samukai nodded. He barked an order to someone behind him. Then he flung the doors open wide. The villagers were all crowded in behind him, just where Kai wanted them.

  “Now!” shouted the Ninja of Fire.

  There was a roar like an angry dragon and then Zane smashed the Turbo Shredder through the back wall of the town hall. Skeleton warriors were scattered like leaves in a windstorm. The villagers surged forward, pushing Samukai ahead of them.

  “Go! Run!” yelled Kai. “Get as far from here as you can!”

  Inside the building, Zane was turning the Turbo Shredder this way and that, chewing up floor and furniture as the skeletons fled in terror. Two jumped out the windows while the third scrambled into the chimney and tried to climb up toward the roof (only to get stuck halfway).

  Samukai got to his feet and brushed the snow off himself with his four hands. He glanced at the chaos inside the town hall, then at the fleeing villagers, and finally at Kai. “No treasure?”

  “Guess not,” said Kai.

  “Then why did you and your friend come here?”

  “I don’t think you would understand,” said Kai. “It’s a human thing.”

  Samukai shrugged. “Probably not. You realize I could destroy you and your friend?”

  Kai slipped into battle-ready stance. “I realize you could try.”

  The ruler of the Underworld smiled. It was a ghastly sight. “But if there is no treasure, there would be no point. We will meet each other again, little ninja, and all questions will be answered. For now, I see no need to soil my hands in combat with you. Oh, and you might tell your friend to turn off the engine. I am sure these people would like a town hall to return to, for the little time that is left to them.”

  Before Kai could respond, Samukai had vanished. Evidently, I was right about one thing, the ninja thought. There is a portal to the Underworld in this town.

  By the next morning, the villagers had returned. Most looked ashamed for the part they had played in tricking the ninja.

  “We had no choice,” said Genn. “But that doesn’t make it any better.”

  “It turned out all right,” Zane assured him. “Kai and I have to move on, but I will be back to check on all of you. I don’t think the skeletons will come back again. If they do, Kai and I will give them a proper welcome.”

  Genn gave Zane a hug. The other villagers came up to shake the ninja’s hands, pat them on the back, and thank them for their help. When everyone had had their say, Kai and Zane turned and left the village.

  “Imagine those stupid skeletons,” Kai said, laughing, “thinking there was some great treasure hidden there.”

  “Well, there was,” Zane replied. “But they never would have recognized it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Zane looked back at the village. “Each and every one of those villagers welcomed me — a stranger — into their community. They gave me shelter and food and friendship. When I left, I did so knowing that if I ever needed to come back, they would take me in. That makes them the closest thing I have to family in this world.”

  Kai thought about his sister. She was all the family he had left in the world, and there was nothing he would not do for her. “I get it,” he said, “and you’re right, Zane — that is a treasure.”

  The two walked on in silence for a while before Kai said, “Hey. We got so wrapped up in solving the mystery in the village that we never learned anything about your past.”

  “I know,” said Zane. “I still want to … need to … learn where I came from. But maybe for today, it is enough to think about where I am and with whom. Whoever I was before, it led me to good friends and a life with purpose. For the moment, I don’t need more than that.”

  “Then let’s get back,” said Kai. “Maybe if we tell our tale well enough, Sensei Wu will forget to punish us for being gone so long.”

  “You don’t really believe that,” said Zane.

  Kai did his best to look very serious. Then his expression cracked and he burst out laughing. “No, no, I really don’t. We are so in for it, but at least we got a good story out of all this.”

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  First printing, August 2011

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-76594-7

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