Almost done.

*~~~*~~~*~~~

Ausika's log 0850 hours:

I take up pen once more, only to confirm a rumor of the direst consequences. It is beyond my reckoning as to how these events were set in motion, but they where and of that I have no doubt. It was after the successful operation that took out Captain Takkahi's ship, The Trade Wind that I first learned of the whisper.

It is rumored that under the guidance of the Pirate King, the Pirates are sailing for destinations unknown. So it seems that in the manner they arrived, suddenly and without warning, is the manner they shall leave.

But not if I have anything to do with it.

It was over a steaming cup of Jasmine tea that I learned of the deeper reasons for the Pirate's abrupt departure, and that made me all the more determined to stow away and finish this war.....

I had knelt at the rough pine table, with no more thought on my mind than to escape the perpetual whining of the guild leaders. Head of the Saber clan I had been for five long years. I was well on the way to out-striping the Venerable Donji, the only female leader besides myself sit in this position. And now the leaders of the Ninja clans wanted me to pick a successor for my title - that or be wed and by the stars above will I not be married off like a water buffalo up for auction!!

So it was such circumstances that brought me to the local village tea house, in disguise of course. No one would think of searching for the Sensei of the Sabar clan in a homely little place as this. Though, aside, I quite enjoyed the informalities of the affair. And for their credit, their tea is almost as good as my personal brew. Almost, but not quite.

There, alone with my thoughts drifting on the spirals of sweet scented jasmine, a muted conversation caused me to pick my ears.

It would appear that the pirates are leaving to search for an ancient relic. And with this relic they were going to set up a kingdom on the opposing island of Yuna. We had the larger land mass - our home island being shaped like a crescent moon, Rue slightly encircled the island of Yuna. The guild leaders had begun settling Yuna when the pirates had disrupted our plans many centuries ago. They had formed a barrier between the motherland and our stranded companions. Once in a while a brave, if foolhardy, ninja would slip between the pirate ranks and bring us messages from the island.

We had not heard a word from the communities across the sea in the last five years. This was our worse fear - if the clans have not been able to retain control of the island, with this new relic the pirates would be in the finest position to take that land as their outpost.

The war would never cease until one of our kind was eliminated....

I vow it will not be the Ninja Clans. To seal this vow I had left the tea house and climbed to the summit of Mt. Eifnur. There the we, as leaders, met with our thoughts and planned the futures of our peoples. It was upon my head to stop this calamity - a task I only hoped I was capable of completing....

In the deep cool of the night I knelt in a tiny cave dedicated for the clan senseis alone and breathed in the soft wind that caressed my hair. In my mind's eye I could see the ships departing and the false hope spreading like a plague amongst our people. I could see the months of peace, and even years of quiet whilst our senses grew dull with stupor. Than the fear, the sudden strike that would decimate our lands and leave us helpless under the heel of the pirates. A cry of rage grew within my breast at the thought and I knew what had to be done.

I would sail out with pirates on the eve of my four and twenty years...

Asuika dropped her head. Alone in the depth of Mt. Eifnur, the scroll and pen fell from her shaking hand. She had never left her home lands, she had no friend to turn to, no one to bid farewell.

She did not know if this was a thing to rejoice over, or to weep. Whom could she turn to but the stars? Cold comfort their shining beauty was, and she allowed one tear. Just one cool droplet to slip down her cheek, one farewell to all she knew as home.

The guild leaders would only activate a final strike if they knew of these events - an occurance that would leave the pirates severly crippled to be sure, but defeated? Who knew....

No.

Asuika lifted her eyes. To use their own weapons against them - that was the way to grantee success. She would make sure that the pirates would never return to her homeland. It was the only way....

*~~~*~~~*~~~



Just about finished you know! One more, maybe two more "chapters" and it'll be done. Comment or criticism anyone?

X3, A.