. . .

Omar, where are you now?

As my horse clattered over the cobblestones, I couldn't help pondering how my life had changed so dramatically since that fateful afternoon in the study with Professor Brown. Since that day when everything changed. No longer was I condemned to my life of misery and servitude. Now I had a new station in life. True, I still served, but now, my service was no longer scrubbing. I had been inducted into the secretive circles of... the ninja clan.

My horse shied at some noise from a nearby alleyway. Instantly, all my senses were at alert. In a heartbeat I was off the horse and in the shadows, my natural home. My new masters had explained this. The ninja's place is in the shadows, and for me more so than for anyone. I listened for any further noise from the alley. Nothing. My instincts, though, told me that I was not alone. I slid around the corner into the alleyway.

I made out, in the near-perfect shrouds of darkness, the figure of a black-clad man. A silken voice spoke. The ninja's voice is not the worst of his weapons. "So. The Master's new apprentice. And is your mission the same as that of his last apprentice?"

"I will not reveal The Master's secrets."

"Fool! I am Sheng Lung! I am the one you seek!"

"Then call upon your ancestors, for you shall be joining them." I threw a small handful of shuriken at him, and without watching to see if they struck, performed a jumpkick toward his face. Somehow he sensed it coming, and caught the blow in midair, spinning me about and hurling me at the wall. I managed to catch myself before being hurt, but it was difficult. Sheng Lung was skilled indeed. I recovered myself fully and we circled like twin panthers.

"It is not too late to give up this path. I can train you more than The Master ever will. I have learned much in the days since I was his student."

"The Master has been more than a father to me. I shall not betray him as you did."

"Then look to your own ancestors." This time he struck first, a lightening series of blows. Only one made it through my defenses, but that one hurt like a mother... I mean, that one had much power behind it, though I was not seriously injured. I responded with my own strikes, which he turned aside with ease. I began composing my soul. My ancestors were not of the ninja clan, but they would be proud to welcome me nevertheless, should my skills not be up to the task The Master had given me.

After a few more moments of this, blood was beginning to soak into the fabric of my black gi. My opponent was unharmed. I had to utilize all my cunning to distract him for one brief moment. All my ninja training came to the fore, and from my gut, I cried, "Look! Behind you!"

His glance backward was brief, but it proved to be his undoing. When he turned toward me once more, my blade had given his throat a brief kiss.

I turned and headed back to The Master's house to report on my success.