Ninja in the Night

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     It was dark, very shadowy, and stars were twinkling brightly in the night sky. On Luna's clock, which hung from the wall adjacent to her, it read 1:52 a.m. The Ixi was emitting soft snores, her body rumbling every time she exhaled. A soft creak suddenly snapped in the still air. Luna snorted for a quick second, and then restarted her usual snoring.

     A dark shadow suddenly crept towards her, as silent as the air itself. It hurried alone and abruptly jumped to the ceiling when Luna opened her mouth and yawned. It looked around curiously, peering through the darkness to find what it needed.

     "Who are you?!" a voice suddenly yelled.

     The figure gasped; the pet had awoken! It flew towards the ground, placing a fin over the Ixi's mouth. "Shhh," it whispered.

     Luna's eyes widened upon seeing what it was. It was a Kiko, dressed as a ninja. Luna had heard of ninjas in the past. Friends had told her they were part of a small secret society, adorned in black costumes; as black as the night. They were extremely quick and powerful in wielding in their swords.

     The Ninja slid his fin off Luna's mouth. "Be quiet," he reminded her once again.

     She nodded, her legs suddenly feeling sticky and hot under the covers. Luna noticed that the ninja wasn't standing on the ground like a normal Kiko. He was actually floating in the air! Luna blinked a few times to see if this was simply an illusion her eyes were creating, but nothing changed. He really was floating!

     "Who are you?" she whispered, beads of sweat trickling down her brow.

     The Kiko stared at her for a few seconds. "I need supplies," he whispered, not replying to her question. He held a rather mysterious tone in his voice.

     Luna felt as if the words she was trying to emit were stuck in her throat. "S-supplies?"

     "Yes, some food. Well, actually, a lot," explained the ninja. "We've run out. The Maraqua battle caused our supply quantities to drop low. We need more. A lot more."

     Luna swiped her covers of her body, and placed her hooves on the cold wooden floor. "You were in the Maraqua war?" she asked.

     "Yes, I provided the Maraquan citizens with food since the Pirates were destroying all of their supplies."

     Luna raised an eyebrow but didn't reply to his explanation. She simply said, "Come with me."

     The ninja nodded and followed her down the hall and staircase and made a right into the large kitchen. Luna flipped the light switch on, illuminating only half of the kitchen. It was rather tacky, with a black and white tiled floor and cheap plastic wood for the table and pantries, but it felt comfy and homey to everyone in the house. She walked over to a cupboard and pulled it open, peering inside.

     "What kinds of foods do you want?" she questioned. "We have tons in here. My owner wouldn't even notice if a quarter of it was taken away."

     The Kiko floated over and looked inside as well. "Nothing here," he said. "I need some preservatives. Foods that can last a long time."

     Luna nodded and closed the cupboard shut. She walked up to the pantry on the other side of the room and swung the door open. "We have even more here," she whispered. "Help yourself."

     The Ixi then seated herself in a kitchen chair, watching the Ninja quickly maneuver his way around the kitchen. He snatched a garbage bag from the bottom of the pantry and started filling it with foods.

     "So," began Luna nervously, "I've never seen a ninja before. Are there many of you guys around here?"

     The Kiko abruptly stopped. "How did you know I was a ninja?"

     Luna rolled her eyes, amused. "I'm not stupid," she said. "I know things."

     The Kiko paused and then resumed his food-taking. "I see you are a smart Ixi," he whispered in the same mysterious manner.

     Luna nodded. "Right on the mark. And you're a Kiko, I presume."

     "Yes, I'm a Kiko. My name is Meyzhu. Yours?"

     "Luna," she said. "Fantasia, my owner, says it's one of her favorites names in the whole world."

     "Luna," Meyzhu whispered. "That's a beautiful name."

     "Thanks," she said. "I like the name Meyzhu as well. I haven't heard it before, but I guess that makes it sound even cooler."

     Meyzhu chuckled, the garbage bag already half-filled with food. "You are very generous for providing me with this food. It means a lot to us ninjas."

     Luna smiled and then said, "I have two questions, though."

     "Feel free to ask."

     "First, why do you need so much food? I mean, can't you just buy it?"

     "We are in a war with the Pirates. We're going to need extra Neopoints for weapons and armor. We also plan to build an enormous gate around our headquarters, which should cost us about a million Neopoints," replied Meyzhu.

     "A war?" Luna arched an eyebrow. "Why haven't I heard of this war?"

     Meyzhu laughed. "Not all wars are meant to be fully displayed to the public. This is a private matter. They have been our enemies ever since us ninjas formed together, and still are to this day. They destroyed our first ever headquarters, then kidnapped some of our members, whom we've never seen to this day, and then completely raided our supply room in our new headquarters."

     "Raided?"

     "Yes, they took most of the foods and burnt a bit of what was left. They left us with nothing. They're cold-hearted; almost soulless."

     Luna paused for a moment. She had always thought of pirates to be warm and smiling creatures, so this was all rather a surprise.

     "So will you ninjas be fighting back?" she said.

     "Of course," he replied, "or else it wouldn't be much of a war, eh?"

     "I guess so…"

     "Anything else you'd like to ask?"

     Luna looked up. "Why here?"

     Meyzhu wore a confused expression. "What do you mean?"

     "Why did you choose this house?" asked Luna curiously.

     "Well… because it looked the sanest compared to all these other dirty houses in this neighborhood. I thought it was a comfortable home where I could find some food."

     A smile tugged at Luna's lips. "Hehe, sane? Right," she whispered.

     Meyzhu suddenly closed the pantry door shut and quickly tied up a knot on the garbage bag. He cocked his head towards her and slid down the black cloth that covered his mouth.

     "Thank you," he whispered. "I expect to be seeing you soon…"

     "Huh?" The Ixi blinked, and then gasped. "He's gone!"

The End

Author's Note: Feel free to neomail me comments about the story. It's much appreciated. ;)