The Dream Shifter

Chapter 123

"That's enough, Tamotsu. We press on!" Chiharu turned away from him and focused ahead of her sprinting forward expecting him to follow her. The layout of the mansion had placed them near the central section where all of the wings linked together. It was a main pathway and expected to be heavily trafficked by guards. They slipped back outside into the grounds as they neared the main block. There were no guards in their way allowing them to return to the other wing unnoticed with their target nearly in sight.

Security in the new wing was light and nearly non-existent. It made Chiharu concerned, but she pressed on to the chambers of the Head of the Higoshi Clan. The winding hall they followed ended in a widened antechamber like space, but it was too small to be considered a room. However, unlike the rest of the wing it was guarded by four men.

Chiharu lifted herself back against the wall facing Tamotsu. "This is the place and there's four guards to deal with. It should be easy dealing with them and then our target."

"Be careful, Lady Chiharu."

"It's all part of the plan. Nothing has deviated yet from my schedule." Chiharu stepped out into the hall immediately drawing the guards' attention towards her. They prepared to move out, but hesitated with the lights suddenly turned off. It cast the entire hall into a pitch black curtain. Her short sword came bore out glowing faintly as it picked up the slight bit of light that managed to exist. It gave it a white appearance with a menacing aura. Tamotsu joined her about to move out when a message came across their ear piece.

"Team One under attack!" Chiharu narrowed her eyes expecting it to have happened eventually. "What the hell?! How is that possible?! Team One un—" The line was dead interrupting the broadcast. She took a glance over to Tamotsu not seeing him, but feeling his body's presence nearby.

"Team Five under attack! Hey what are they using?! Retreat n—" Her eyes widened in shock at hearing another one of her team going down.

"Team Thr—"

She was getting reports from all of the teams only to have them cut off abruptly. Sweat began to build up along the side of her face trying to understand how her plan was falling apart so suddenly. 'What's going on? I don't understand what's happening to my men!' Chiharu staggered back in the dark suddenly feeling as though the walls were surrounding her. It was all closing in on her and crumbling away with no footing.

Emergency light flickered on renewing sight for everyone in the hall. However, there was a middle aged man standing behind the guards staring out towards Chiharu. He narrowed his eyes reading the situation and trying to learn the intruders' identity. Both Chiharu and Tamotsu's faces were covered up with only their eyes visible leaving them in safe anonymity. "Having some trouble little girl?" the man sneered.

Chiharu held her tongue as she tried to sort out the new development. The presence of the head of the family so close it made her job a lot easier. She did not hesitate in launching a kunai from her belt towards the face of the man. It looked like she was going to make it when it suddenly dropped in mid-air. 'What happened? There was nothing for it to hit!'

"Confused, child?" The man signaled one of his guards to step forward looking ready to attack. "The world you knew is no longer the same. The rules have changed!"

"What are you blabbering about?"

"You'll understand in a moment, child!"

The guard stood in front of the middle aged man and several steps from the rest of the guards. He raised his hand up to his suit and pulled at it sharply tearing the fabric. An instant later it was all removed and the man stood in black cloth, otherwise known as the traditional ninja garb. The man clasped his hands together before slamming his right palm into the floor. Blue light shined around the man's body as it was succeeded by thin sparks.

Chiharu took a step back not certain what was happening. It was unlike anything she had ever seen. It was something impossible. Her mind went back to the radio broadcasts from her team. 'Is this what they were talking about?! What nightmare have I walked into?' She lifted up her tanto in reflex uncertain how she was going to defend against whatever the man had in store.

The light pulled away from the body of the man funneled into the arm and down into the floor. Sparks bounced from his fingers spreading rapidly out into the panels. Soon the walls were being engulfed in sparks that turned to electricity. Lightning jumped from the gathered spot charging at a deadly speed towards an unprepared Chiharu; her eyes widening in shock.

Chiharu stepped back as her mind went blank in completely confusion. She could not understand what was happening or how it was possible. It froze her body with her tanto falling slightly from its previous defensive position. The electricity was charging down through the hall at her slower than its natural counterpart, but still too fast to out run if Chiharu had been thinking. '…grandfather…'

An explosion of the lightning reached its target blanketing the entire area in white light before fading into a dust cloud. The scene was unreadable, but the Head of the Higoshi Clan still pulled up a wide grin in expectation of a b****y sight. "I don't know who hired you, but it was your mistake to think that you could take the Head of the Higoshi Clan!" He gave a brief laugh pleased with himself and the demonstration of their new power.

The thick dust in the air slowly began to settle from the ignited state the lightning had on the area. All that could be seen was a thick spread of blood on the mats and walls. Chiharu's body still masked out by the stubborn cloud. It was enough for the middle-aged man to turn away in assurance that the threat had been eliminated. "Weaklings such as you can no longer exist in this new world!" He walked back into his room leaving the mess to be cleaned up by his men.

Once everything had finally settled, the guarded ninja stood up straight from his attack. He had hit both of the assassins. Tamotsu was laid over top of Chiharu and blood thrown against the walls and floor. The man stepped forward moving to confirm his kills and if need be end their fading lives. There was not an immediate sign of life from the two bodies in his approach. However, he would not leave it to chance leaning down to check on Tamotsu. His hand reached out to the neck looking for a pulse, but an arc flashed in front of him taking him back. Another sudden arc lunged at him forcing him to jump away to safety. When he checked on his arm there was a thin line of blood from the initial strike. "Still alive…"

The body on top of the child began to move looking as though he was recovering. It pulled the ninja into a defensive stance watching the situation before making an attack, now questioning his options since it had not managed to kill one of the assassins. Soon his original assessment was changed seeing that the assassin was not so much moving as it was being shifted away by the child assassin underneath. The child pulled up resting the other assassin on their back and leaned over examining the body. "I see now…you were protected it by the other one…"

Chiharu spared a momentary glare for the guard that attacked them. 'I couldn't move…' She internally chastised herself while trying to see if Tamotsu was alive or not. There had been no more signals from the rest of her men. The thought of another death choked her throat. '…Tamotsu, you protected me… I'm still so useless… Grandfather and now you…'

A dull cough shook through Tamotsu's body harsh enough to increase some of the blood flow spilling out of him. It gave enough hope back to Chiharu to know that he was still alive. She stood up and turned to face the guard her eyes narrowed fiercely. "I'll make you pay for that!" Chiharu's tanto was borne in front of her with the tip of the blade dripping blood that it had freshly tasted.

The ninja smirked back becoming amused by the scene. "A child is threatening me? You should just run away now. This is no place for a child trying to play at ninja."

"I'm no child! I'm a ninja!"

"Your words taint and dishonor its proud heritage. Stop now before you make me angry."

"You can't talk of dishonor after what you people did!" Chiharu was quickly getting the man just as enraged as she was currently.

The man gave her a questioned stared for a moment before snapping back at her. "I don't know what you're talking about child! You're really starting to piss me off!"

"You can't deny it! I know the truth!"

"You don't know anything, kid!"

Chiharu became dragged into the man's denial. The thoughts of her grandfather only served to fuel her inferno that burned inside her heart. She would not allow them to forget or ignore his death. Chiharu's body began to move on its own reacting to her emotions when something suddenly took hold of her ankle. She turned down to see that Tamotsu was straining his hand to get her attention. '…Tamotsu…'

"…it's pointless…to…argue with…him…they'll never…admit to it…" Tamotsu coughed through the cloth mask that covered his face. The pain from speaking was enough to send his body into convulsions.

Chiharu leaned down to Tamotsu trying to look more closely at how serious his injuries were for him. "Don't talk anymore, just rest." She placed a hand on his shoulder trying to keep him still to conserve what life he might have left. 'I don't know how bad he is, but I have to get him out quickly. I doubt that they'll let me leave so easily though despite his attitude.' Chiharu rose back to stare down the man with the strange powers lifting her tanto back up into a defensive stance. 'I don't know what strange tricks he's using, but I won't be able take another if it did such damage to Tamotsu… I'll have to keep him from using it again…'

"So the child has a plan?" The ninja held a very confident tone that could easily be mistaken for arrogance, which it perhaps was a little. He mocked her more than humoring her stance by taking a very weak offensive position. "If he couldn't take my Clawing Lightning what makes you think you can?!" His hands began to move to press together when Chiharu suddenly released a kunai at the man forcing him to dodge out of the way breaking his motion. Another attempt was begun by the man to initiate his attack, but Chiharu sprinted to close the distance while he had been evading her first throw. 'Kid's fast and smart in reading my moves already…guess I can't take the child lightly…' He dodged effortlessly out of Chiharu's thrust with her tanto.