Lo-Fi Games

Writing a story to go with a play through i came up with the other night. What can i say, i have strange dreams. Will be some screenshots to go with it.

Day1:
Veronica had always dreamed of being a Ninja, a trader too, but mainly a ninja. She had always loved watching ninja in the desert. The ninja near her home of Bark must not have been too good though, as they were usually limping or laying flat on the ground when she saw them. Veronica would not be deterred though, she would become one some day.

On her fourteenth birthday that time had finally come. Her father had always said she could be anything she wished to be, and her mother had never disagreed. Veronica decided it was time to set out and make them proud. She packed her bag with the few trade goods she had gathered, knowing she would have to do some trading to be able to afford her apprenticeship. http://i60.tinypic.com/xly16g.jpg

Setting off into the desert from Bark Veronica soon found a small band of ninja. There were three of them, but they seemed to have been beaten up recently. She felt sorry for them, so asked them about an apprenticeship. http://i61.tinypic.com/1687nsi.jpg Apparently they were offended at being spotted by a kid, as they continued on without so much as turning. It was for the best, as apparently they had a meeting with Dust Bandits over the next hill.

Veronica backtracked towards town. Finding a random wandering group of ninja around here was no use, maybe she would try her luck in joining a traders caravan. As luck would have it her Uncle Eon had just left Bark to go on a trading run along with five of his guards. He was a wealthy and respected traveling merchant so no doubt could teach her a few things. http://i58.tinypic.com/2v3skcj.jpg
Veronica shouted a greeting as she ran up behind them "Hi Uncle Eon, I'm going with you on this run."
"Oh are you?" replied Eon. "You have your parents permission then?"
"But of course!" said Veronica knowing he would not turn back to check.
"Well, just stay close, and stay out of trouble." Eon continued on his way.

They had almost reached the city of Black Scratch when one of the caravan guards muttered a curse.
"Dust Bandits" said another, followed by curses of his own. http://i61.tinypic.com/jax303.jpg
Eon looked at Veronica and said "Stay back here where you're safe. If you get a chance disarm them before they can get back up though." Which of course Veronica took to mean disarm with her own sword. She nodded in agreement. This would be her first fight.

There were seven of the bandits plus a boss, a fierce looking man in heavy armor and carrying a massive sword, much like the caravan guards. Veronica watched as the guards and Eon marched forwards to meet them. The caravan guards were all expert soldiers and stepped far enough apart so the bandits could not catch two of them in a single swing of their clumsy swords. The guards were outnumbered, and several bandits decided to double team some guards. Veronica rushed up behind one large bandit unnoticed and had landed several blows against his unprotected back before he fell. Their heart protectors were not much of armor, yet merchants paid well for them. Veronica quickly stuffed his large unwieldy sword in her bag, the guard she had just helped finished his other foe and ran to help another guard wit the Dust Bandits Boss.

Veronica glanced around and saw another guard in trouble, one bandit was in front and one behind him and he was desperately trying to block the blows. Veronica ran up and slashed at the nearest bandits leg, he staggered and the guard quickly landed a fatal blow before turning to the other bandit. Veronica grabbed the downed bandits sword and circled to help the guard finish off the bandit. The man turned and swung quickly at Veronica but missed, it gave the guard a chance to slash at the mans back, bringing him down, right on top of Veronica. His helmet cracked hard into her head and sent her staggering.

Veronica was still seeing stars when the last bandit was brought down, the guards quickly piled on the Dust Bandit Boss. Between his armor and blocking their blows he seemed to be holding out, hoping his men could revive themselves and rejoin the fight. Veronica scurried about the field and gathered their weapons before they could stand. Veronica drew her sword again and prepared to help with the boss, he saw her coming and grinned. The man knew she was the weak link here and a blow to her would send at least one guard trying to save her life.

Veronica stepped closer and closer, not yet within range to attack with her own short sword. The big man lurched in her direction and tried to bring his blade down, it was a fatal mistake. He was left defenseless of course, and the guards had seen it coming. His weapon was quickly retrieved by Veronica, as well as the armor, though that she did more for a laugh. http://i58.tinypic.com/30245cz.jpg

The caravan had trotted on a ways before Veronica caught up behind them, with various swords and armor clattering in her bag. She smiled, trading might not be so bad after all. This would surely be worth a few hundred cats.

A band of Starving bandits was assaulting the gate of Black Scratch. "Pathetic" muttered one of the caravan guards.
"They had no chance against all these Paladins." replied Eon
"I wonder why there are five on duty out here?" said another caravan guard.
Eon glanced at Veronica and saw her holding her hand to her head. "Your head hurting? Go rest in the flophouse, I'll wake you in the morning." He pointed to the flophouse then headed into a nearby shop to do his shopping. http://i58.tinypic.com/13z0e0y.jpg

Veronica visited a few merchants and sold the various bandits weapons and heart protectors she had picked up. She stepped over to the flophouse with almost ten thousand cats to her name. Not a bad start she thought, though she really had no idea what a true ninja would charge for an apprenticeship. Veronica stepped into the flophouse, unsure what to expect. She had never been to a big city before, or heard of a flophouse. Inside were five small beds, though they looked nice to her. Back home her parents had the only bed, she had just a few old blankets folded up as padding.

The guard at the door stared down at Veronica suspiciously.
"Oh a visitor" said Mr. Floppy. He glanced at his guard "Oh quit with the glaring, the kid is obviously not part of that caravan last week." He looked down at Veronica. "This caravan came through and rented all of our beds, even offered to set their own guard up at the door so mine could get some rest in."
The man guarding the shop shifted uncomfortably and stepped to the door, pretending he had heard something.
Mr. Floppy continued "Apparently throughout the night they slipped in and out and robbed the town blind, even took my mans pants right off him as he slept. It sure was hard to find replacements, they stole almost everything in town before they left. At least the paid the bill here."
The big shop guard stepped outside and attacked a passing starving bandit.
Mr. Floppy winced. "Usually we let the city guards handle those, but he has been a bit ill tempered since that incident. Now would you like a bed? The cost is one hundred cats a night."
"Oh yes, do i pay you now?" asked Veronica.
"If you don't mind" replied Mr. Floppy before calling out the door to his guard "See, she is not so bad." The guard ignored him.
Veronica paid Mr. Floppy then walked around the room to pick a bed. She felt the soft sheets and looked the beds over before picking the bed nearest the door. http://i60.tinypic.com/2ikw5tg.jpg As she drifted off to sleep Veronica wished some day to own her own bed, though she was not sure if Ninjas even slept in the city or not.

Day2:
Veronica woke and looked around the room. Mr. Floppy and Mr. Grouchy (she had decided the guard needed a name) were standing around as usual. Veronica rubbed her eyes and stood to stretch. She finally asked "Where can i get breakfast around here?"
Mr. Floppy replied "At this time of day i don't know, but the taverns will be serving lunch still."
"Lunch?" replied Veronica. "Are you saying they don't eat breakfast in this town?"
"Oh no, we eat breakfast at breakfast time, and lunch at lunchtime." replied Mr. Floppy. "It is now a hour past noon, but i bet they will serve you a good meal still."
Veronica quickly grabbed her bag and darted out the door. Uncle Eon had forgotten to wake her!

Veronica ran to the gate they had entered by the night before and was surprised to see the same Paladins on duty. Don't they sleep? http://i62.tinypic.com/2nkkom0.jpg
"Excuse me sir, have you seen my Uncle Eon, the trader? We arrived last night as part of a caravan." she asked.
The Paladin looked down at her "He and his men headed back out the way you came from last night." he replied in a creepy, hollow voice.
Veronica was surprised at how strange he sounded. "Oh, thank you sir. I'm sure he will be fine without me then. He did have five guards after all." She really had meant to help Uncle Eon get to the next town, but it seems he had gone back home.

Veronica looked around town before finding a tavern and had a quick breakfast, or lunch rather. She then headed South out of the town and up the mountain to the West. At the top was a patrolling Holy Paladin and some of his servants. Veronica hoped he did not have the same hollow creepy voice the other Paladin had.She approached the patrol before asking "Sir, might you know where i can find some ninja?"
"I have not seen any lately." came the hollow reply. How creepy!
"Oh." replied Veronica feeling rather crushed. "Well, if you are heading into the desert i'll follow you a ways." The Paladin carried on without a reply, his men followed without a word as well. http://i58.tinypic.com/14y74n8.jpg

They made a big circle without seeing so much as a ninjas footprint in the sand. Veronica was almost ready to give up on them when the soldiers drew their weapons and charged, none made a sound as they assaulted the Starving Bandits ahead. Veronica drew her own sword and joined in, she didn't really dislike these guys, but she was rather bored. http://i61.tinypic.com/10qkkzk.jpg After the bandits were dispatched the patrol continued on silently. Maybe they are scared of me thought Veronica as they trudged on.

It was another hour before the soldiers drew their swords again, surely it must be ninjas this time! Veronica was left disappointed, it was only a few Dust Bandits and one of their boss. The Holy Paladin and his soldiers, with Veronica's help, quickly dispatched the Dust Bandits. http://i60.tinypic.com/zn7ee.jpg

Veronica had just disarmed the last Dust Bandit when another stood and took off running, away from the Holy Soldiers. All of the soldiers and the Paladin gave chase. Veronica followed warily, thinking it might be a trap. Indeed it was, but it was not an ambush. The bandit ran as fast as he could, straight off a cliff. The Paladin and soldiers charged straight off after him, their weapons held high. Veronica stopped in shock. She had never seen anything like it.

Knowing there was nothing to do for the poor soldiers Veronica continued on her way, they had made it halfway to Fort Simion before the patrol charged over the cliff. Maybe someone in there had a bed for rent or could give her directions to find some ninja. She trudged on, not seeing a single bandit.

Veronica arrived in Fort Simion and sold the Dust Bandits weapons she had confiscated earlier for a few thousand more cats then asked about a place to stay. Much to Veronica's surprise this town too had a man named Mr. Floppy, and he just happened to have five beds for rent. How strange. The beds looked rather inviting, so Veronica went ahead and paid the one hundred cats for a night. Perhaps being a traveling ninja merchant was not so bad. http://i57.tinypic.com/5l73lw.jpg

Day3:
Veronica woke the next morning and headed out the nearby gate. She stopped out front to ask the Paladins for directions.
"Excuse me sirs, do you know where i can find some ninja?" she inquired. There was no reply, they just stared blankly at the wall. http://i58.tinypic.com/25kodia.jpg These Holy Paladins sure are weird thought Veronica as she shrugged then walked off into the desert. Perhaps someone at Eyesprocket would have a clue.

Veronica was halfway to Eyesprocket when she met a traveling merchant. http://i60.tinypic.com/6sdrv6.jpg
"Hello sir, would you happen to know where i can find some ninja?" she asked.
The merchant replied "Can't say that i do or that i would wish to run across any. Maybe someone at Eyesprocket would have an answer for you."
"Oh, I've not been able to get much of a reply from the Holy Paladins. They just stand and stare like they are a hollow shell or something." Veronica replied. "Well, thanks anyway."
As Veronica trotted off she heard one guard say"Smart kid seems to have the Holy Devils figured out" and another answered "If she were so smart she'd not be looking for ninja" they all laughed.

Veronica was just a short distance from Eyesprocket when she heard hurried footsteps behind her. She glanced back, Dust Bandits approaching fast. http://i58.tinypic.com/11sm88k.jpg She dashed to the town gate as quick as she could. Even if they were too dense to talk much the Paladins would at least take care of these Dust Bandits. Seeing the Dust Bandits the Paladins charged forward and quickly left them face down, eating dust.

After the Paladins returned to their posts Veronica stepped up to one group. http://i59.tinypic.com/2eltjwk.jpg
"Do you know where i could find some ninja?" She asked, not really expecting an answer.
One Paladin pointed into the desert. Another spoke in a normal voice "Try near Trader's Edge, though be careful of those Samurai, almost as bad as the ninja."
"Oh thank you!" Veronica replied. "You sure sound different than the other Paladins i met, they hardly seemed to be there."
"New recruits" was all the Paladin replied with, as if that explained anything.
Veronica shrugged and turned to the desert, she had a long ways to run before the sun set today.

Halfway to Traders Edge Veronica heard a clanging of steel and shouts from over the next dune. She crossed cautiously and found a Holy Paladin and his Servants fighting a large group of Dust Bandits, and losing. Veronica drew her sword and charged in, attacking one bandit who was distracted by a Holy Servant. She rapidly slashed at his back three times, down low where his heart protector offered no coverage, the bandit crumpled to the ground. The Holy Servant turned to engage another Dust Bandit as Veronica glanced around the battlefield.

A bandit she had not seen slashed his sword down from her right. The blade had barely grazed her right arm and leg, an older more experienced warrior would have shrugged it off. Veronica was barely fourteen though, and not used to combat. She staggered from the blow and would have been in serious trouble had the Holy Paladin nearby not just finished the Dust Bandit Boss and been seeking a new target. The bandit who had cut Veronica did not get a chance to take a second swing, the Paladin caught him straight in the chest with his massive sword and sent him staggering.

Veronica was terrified and the pain brought tears to her eyes. She recovered her wits though and grabbed her medical kit to take care of her wounds. http://i57.tinypic.com/335fpk5.jpg Once they were bandaged as best as she could she looked up- the battle was almost over. The Paladin and his men were finishing the last bandit off. Veronica decided to grab as many bandits swords as she could before they got back to their feet. She had disarmed the one nearest her and moved away just in time too, the man stood, took a quick glance around and darted off into the desert, with the Holy Soldiers chasing after him.

Veronica quickly grabbed the other swords and looked to see where Traders Edge was from here. Oddly it was right in the path that the running Dust Bandit as well as the Holy patrol had taken.

Night was falling as Veronica topped the hill, and she could hear clanging of steel just over the hilltop. Veronica drew her sword and approached cautiously. As she stepped over she could not believe her eyes. http://i60.tinypic.com/10ddwcp.jpg The Holy Paladin and his patrol had chased the Dust Bandit right to the edge of town, and the Samurai charged out thinking the Holy Nation was attacking. The Holy Paladin and his men were badly outnumbered, but they held their ground, at least until they were finally overwhelmed.

A nearby Samurai Lord shouted for someone to disarm the attackers. Seeing noone else step forward Veronica felt obliged to do the deed, though she was kind enough to tend their wounds when noone was looking. Pretty soon the Holy Soldiers were disarmed, and without armor. Veronica was no doctor and had to remove the armor to get to the wounds. She also did not want to leave it laying there, someone might stump their toes, so she stuffed it all in her bag. Stepping up to the Samurai Lord who had ordered her to disarm them she timidly asked "What now sir? The attackers are unarmed." She had never seen a Samurai before, much less a Samurai Lord, and was in awe of how graceful they had been in the battle. She also liked their fancy armor.
The Samurai Lord glanced down at her, then saw the large backpack and how she was straining under the weight. "Oh, you gathered all of those? Well you are strong little one. Take them to any merchant in town, they will reward you for your trouble." He resumed watching for threats to the town.

Veronica entered the gate and stepped inside the nearest building to see if this would be worth her effort. The merchant's eyes grew bigger as she spread her wares (she was really enjoying playing merchant right now) on the counter.
"That is a lot to lug across the desert little one." the man began. "How many guards did you travel with? You have a small fortune here."
"Oh, i did not carry this far, just from the gates. A Samurai Lord told me to see what i could get for them. Their former owners attacked the town." Veronica replied.
Hearing mention of a Samurai Lord the merchant decided not to cheat the young trader, at least not by more than half. "Well, i only have twenty thousand cats on hand.. How about these Seven armors?" He smiled.
Veronicas eyes grew wide. Only her third day and she had mad a huge sale. "Oh yes, that will work nicely" she replied.
"Thank you for your business sir!" She gathered the remaining items, a few swords, boots and helmets.
"The merchant replied "Thank you, young one. I hope we can do many such profitable transactions."
Veronica headed out the door, then looked for another traders hut.

As luck would have it right next door was one. She stepped inside and approached the counter.
"Greetings" said the shopkeeper. "Are you looking to buy or sell?"
Veronica glanced around and saw swords of varying sizes on racks on the walls. A weapon trader she guessed.
"I'd like to see what these are worth, then maybe see if you have anything i need" she replied. Veronica began placing boots and helmets on the counter, then the large swords she leaned against it.
The merchant took his time looking the helmets and boots over, he was indeed more of a weapons guy, yet felt his young customer deserved a fair deal. "Well" he began "I truly don't know that much about armor, especially the Holy Nations stuff, but i can offer two thousand for these" he said pointing at the boots and helmets.
"Are they worth that much?" asked Veronica.
"I certainly think so." replied the merchant. "The craftsmanship is not so good from what little i know, but the iron and steel itself is decent quality. Better than a lot of our shop guards have in town, so i think i can make a profit at that price. Do you agree?"
"Of course!" said Veronica. "Are the swords worth anything to you?"
The merchant picked them up one by one, testing the balance and running his hand across the edges. "Rather low quality i am afraid, but they are still good for blocking an attack. Someone will be willing to buy these" he said pointing at the weapons of the Holy Servants. "If you'll consider a trade however i can offer you a better deal. I see you have a short ninja sword. A good blade no doubt, but not the best for every situation. You prefer Katanas to Sabres, right?"
Veronica replied "I really don't know much about all of these, i just began traveling three days ago, and only then picked up my first weapon. I just know the big ones are too hard to attack with.."
"The big ones like you brought in are the Sabres, more for defending. The one like you have with you we call Katanas, better for attacking with." He turned to a sword rack and pulled down two large blades. "A Nodachi and a Topper. Both are a kind of Katana. Want to give either a try?"
Both swords looked rather large to her, but Veronica was feeling adventurous. The shop guards quickly stepped back to the walls and glanced at the shopkeeper. Veronica paid no attention to them, she picked up the Topper. It was nearly as long as she was tall. She took a few practice swings through the air, then set it back down. The Nodachi was next. She felt more comfortable holding it and practiced swinging it around as well. She finally set the sword back on the counter.
"Between the boots, helmets and swords, i mean, Sabres i brought in, how much would i owe you for both of these?" Veronica pointed to the Nodachi and the Chopper.
The shopkeeper smiled "Do you really need both?"
"Well no, but i like both. I kind of felt one might be better than the other against different weapons" Veronica replied.
"I'm no true weaponmaster, but I'd think so too. It may be more of what you're more comfortable with though" the shopkeeper replied. Seeing she was still looking at both he continued "Well, we had agreed on two thousand for the boots and helmets, and those Sabres are worth maybe five hundred each for the seven of them. That would put me at owing you fifty five hundred cats. Each of those Katanas you want sells for about that, but i did say i would offer a deal on a trade. Call it fifteen hundred cats and both are yours."
Veronica carefully counted out the fifteen hundred cats, then strapped the Nodachi on her back and put the Topper in her bag. "Thank you for your help in deciding, and of course for the deal" she said before heading to the door.
"Anytime" the man shouted back before he began the process of removing the Holy Nation markings from the various equipment.

Veronica saw the sun was sinking low and began to look for a place to sleep when she heard shouts from the gates, she rushed over to see if it might be a ninja. Her heart sank as she saw it was just the Samurai laughing at the unarmed and armor less Holy Nation soldiers just now recovering from their early defeat. One of the Samurai drew his sword and ran forward to attack, the Holy Soldiers fled in terror into the desert, with other Samurai following after. They were bitter enemies it seems.

Veronica walked back into town to find an inn, she stepped inside a store and her jaw dropped. Standing beside two shopkeepers, and in the middle of the shop guards was a ninja! http://i57.tinypic.com/ekq17c.jpg Her heart was racing as she approached the man.
"Sir, are you taking on apprentices?" she asked.
The man replied "Do you mean guards? No i am not. I am just a lone traveling merchant, though i can take care of myself."
Veronica looked him over carefully. "Wait, are you not a ninja then? You sure look like one.."
Everyone in the room burst into laughter. "Hah, if i were a ninja I'd have robbed this store blind little one. Besides, real ninjas don't come into town, especially not right in front of the shop guards. I really am just a merchant."

Veronica left the building feeling crushed once again. Would she never find a real ninja? She was looking at the signs on shops when she saw one with a bed, much like the signs from the Mr. Floppys in Black Scratch and Fort Simion. She stepped inside and found it was exactly like the others.
"Hello traveler. Looking for a bed for the night?" the man asked.
"Would your name be Mr. Floppy?" she replied.
"Well of course. That is what we all go by anyway" said Mr. Floppy.
"We?" asked Veronica.
"Yes, We. The men who run the flophouses under the brand name Mr. Floppy. Just thinkof us as a group like the traders guild." said Mr. Floppy.
"Oh i see. Then the rent is one hundred cats just like the others?" she asked.
"Of course. We keep the price the same everywhere and for everyone" Mr. Floppy replied.
Veronica handed him the one hundred cats then picked her bed for the night.

Day4:
Veronica spent the day outside of Traders Edge meditating. She felt it was a ninja type thing to do, and rather appropriate given the lack of ninjas around. A few bands of Starving Bandits had tried raiding the town early that morning, the Samurai had given chase and been gone all day. There was nothing else of note until well past noon.

Veronica heard the patter of footsteps, as if someone with very light armor was running through the desert at full speed trying desperately to escape pursuit. There was also a second set of footsteps, these were much heavier sounding, and accompanied by the clanking of heavy armor. A Samurai chasing a ninja perhaps!

Her hopes were now the highest they had been in several days. The footsteps were rapidly approaching. They were just moments from passing the top of the dune... And then a head popped into view!

Veronica jumped with excitement. She stood to get a better view. She knew it would happ- Holy.. Her heart sank. It had been the same unarmed and armorless Holy Servant from the day before, still being chased by that same Samurai. http://i62.tinypic.com/29ykpjn.jpg She watched the pair dash past, the Holy Servant intent on.. running in circles in the desert for days? Maybe he meant for the Samurai to pass out in that armor. The Samurai of course was only thinking of what would happen when he caught his prey. Soldiers. Veronica shook her head and decided she had had enough of this town. Traders Edge was not the ninja haven she had hoped for.

Veronica was halfway down the mountain and on her way to Brink when she ran across another traveler. http://i60.tinypic.com/or1cee.jpg He wore heavy looking plate armor and had a huge sword, much like a caravan guard. Instead of a helmet he had what looked to be a huge bandaid on his forehead, partially covering one eye. Could this be a ninja trick or disguise? Maybe that was why she had yet to find any real ninja.
"Hello sir, you seem to have lost your helmet and taken a hit to the head" she began. "Was it by chance a ninja that attacked you? I have been trying for days to find any."
The man looked around confused, then seeing noone else around decided she must be talking to him. "What helmet and what hit to my head? This is news to me" he replied, sounding rather offended.
Maybe this is one of their Jounin thought Veronica, and he is in a very good disguise. "Oh, my apologies. No doubt a great warrior like yourself would not have fallen to a mere ninja. Why is there a bandage on your head though? And have you seen any ninja about, maybe even showed mercy by letting them pass without giving battle?" Surely such was the way to talk to the great ones.
The man shook his head and replied "You have been out in the sun too long young one, if you think i would have let live any ninja that crossed my path. As for my head that is no bandage, but rather a headband. It keeps the sweat from my eyes. I also hear it is in style in the town of Bark, where i aim to visit my friend Eon the trader."
"Oh, i was starting to think maybe it was some ninja trick to escape pursuit" said Veronica. "Well, tell Uncle Eon Veronica says hi, and please have him tell my mom and dad i am doing fine. My trading business is doing great out here, though i have yet to find a ninja to take me on as an apprentice." She began running full speed before the man could try to convince her to return home. He simply shook his head and continued on.

Veronica arrived in Brink and found a Samurai Lord just leaving the town to go out patrolling. http://i61.tinypic.com/2ze9t2x.jpg She stepped up to him and asked "Sir, where do you keep your ninjas here?"
"Over in the police captains jail, though we try not to bring any inside the town. That is just what they want. If you see any let us know though" he replied.
It seems everyone wants to learn from one thought Veronica as she sped on into the town, to see if any ninja were indeed inside with the police captain. If so perhaps she could become a ninja police captains apprentice!

Much to Veronica's disappointment the police captain did not have any visiting ninja. She wandered around the town a bit, and was beginning to think maybe it was time to just go become a fulltime trader. Veronica stepped out the gate and looked around. She almost jumped for joy! There was a ninja running right up to say hi to one of his police friends! Veronica ran full speed to see the two. She stopped back a respectful distance, they had clearly agreed to meet for some sparring practice. http://i62.tinypic.com/1zqezok.jpg Knowing the ninja were great warriors she thought the Samurai might learn a bit from watching, so she shouted out "Everyone look here, a policeman is dueling a ninja to the Southwest!"

Lots of Samurai came, though they did not seem to want to just watch, but rather to practice as well. In the end the ninja had to duel close to thirty Samurai before he passed out from the exercises.
"Girl" shouted one of the nearby Samurai Lords "Take this Jounin to the police captain."

Being the only girl around Veronica knew he had meant her, so she quickly tended the mans wounds (he must have been hurt before the practice she said) and grabbed his sword. She had seen a bed in with the police captain, and knew the Samurai Lord had meant to put him there.

As Veronica walked up the hill carrying the Jounin she heard shouts behind her, another Jounin had arrived! She knew she had to hurry if she wanted a turn at practicing with him. She rushed up to the police captain, who for some reason gave her five thousand cats for helping his friend, then quickly rushed back. She was not quick enough though, the second Jounin had worn himself out. Noone had to say a word this time, she tended his wounds and removed his sword so he could lay down comfortably in the captains quarters. She trudged back up the hill and in to see the good police captain, who was still holding the other Jounin. They must have been really close she thought. The police captain once again paid her five thousand cats for bringing his friend in, and since the captain had his hands full Veronica went ahead and put this one to bed before heading back out.

The sun was slowly sinking, and though she had not managed to talk to or train with either Jounin who had stopped by Veronica just knew things were looking up. Perhaps in the morning the two would be up for some practice. Veronica stepped into Mr. Floppy's and paid one hundred cats for a bed. Just as she was dozing off for the night she remembered she still had the two jounins swords in her backpack. Well, she could return them in the morning.


-notes Sadly i didn't think to get a screenshot of the second Jounin being mobbed, or of the captain still holding the first when i brought in the second. I had meant to let Veronica practice lockpicking, then get some medic skill as the two tried to make an escape, but the captain would not lock the ninja up, and i could not use the cages either. Maybe he was waiting to secretly carry the guy off to the cannibals.

Day 5:
Veronica woke early, today would be an exciting day. She stood and quickly stretched then grabbed her backpack and headed off to inquire about some practice with the towns visiting Jounin.
"Good day captain" Veronica began as she stepped inside. "I came by to see about-" she saw the nearby beds were unoccupied. "Oh, are the two ninja gone?"
The captain laughed "Well, that is one way to put it." he replied before going back to his paperwork.

Veronica sat near the gate of Brink for a while to meditate, she was really just sitting and thinking, but meditate sounded neater. The ninja didn't seem to stay long when they visited here, so they must have gone to visit another nearby town. What other towns were nearby.. What was the one with a funny name. Clownville? Clownhome? Clownsteady? Well whatever, Veronica knew roughly where it was. It was almost noon when Veronica headed off to find the town.

Day 6:
It was a bit after midnight, and technically the sixth day of her ninja career when Veronica topped a hill and saw Clownsteady nearby. Suddenly she heard a shuffling of feet. Three ninja appeared out of the darkness near her. http://i59.tinypic.com/2ufrkhz.jpg She had run into the ones like these before, they were bound for trouble. Not much of ninjas. Veronica shook her head sadly, she had wanted to be like these guys since she first saw them from a distance near her home town of Bark.

The ninjas carried on, ignoring Veronica. Over the next hill they ran headfirst into a gang of Dust Bandits. Veronica watched from the darkness, they at least tried to put up a fight. Then the Dust Bandit Boss saw Veronica and began charging up the hill, she turned to run to the town.

The guards at Clownsteady saw her running, then saw the approaching Dust Bandits. Veronica sped past them to the gate as they rushed forward to engage the bandits. Just as she was about to run back to help the guards a group of Dust Bandits came around the corners of both walls. Three packs had decided to raid the town that night!

Veronica fought bravely, and the clanging of steel alerted the other guards in the town. They arrived shortly after Veronica had fallen. In the end the combined gate guards and shop guards had beaten the Dust Bandits but it was close. Veronica finally awoke, the guards had been too stingy with their medical supplies to even bandage her. Her head and chest were badly injured and she could not see straight. Veronica did manage to get herself bandaged and staggered to her feet. Veronica looked around, it was well past noon she knew. Apparently she had been out all morning and through most of the day. That was close she thought as she staggered off to find a bed, she really needed time to heal up and think. http://i58.tinypic.com/1670apc.jpg

Veronica was about to head in to Mr. Floppys to get a room for the night when she saw two tall people standing at the steps of a barracks type building. Why were they up there she thought before approaching cautiously. As she drew nearer she could make out two women, with funny bandage looking hats on their heads. Probably not ninjas, but she was beginning to think she needed a few friends, so she approached anyway. http://i58.tinypic.com/122kyue.jpg
The two were deep in a conversation about medical stuff and did not see Veronica approaching, both women jumped when she spoke. "Hello, what brings the two of you up here so late?"
The pair looked around into the darkness then finally glanced down at the steps before spotting Veronica.
"Oh, we were just out here to talk" replied one.
The other said "The people in the tavern got tired of hearing us ramble on about medical stuff and kicked us out."
Veronica looked them over. Maybe they were some kind of soldiers who had been discussing old battle wounds and grossed out the customers, she knew that always turned her stomach.
"Are either of you looking for some work?" she asked.
"What kind of work exactly?" said one woman.
"Is it honest work? asked the other.
"Yes. I am a traveling ninja trader, though an honest one of course" Veronica replied proudly.
"Well, we don't come cheap, no less than twenty five hundred cats each" said one woman.
The other began "I'm Rei and she is Rin, but we are not ninjas, we are just medi-"
Veronica cut her off "Oh you're hired! My trading business has been going great and i would gladly pay twenty five hundred for each of you" She had her money out and was counting, both women were rather broke so they did not protest any more.

In the end Veronica had loaned one woman her Topper and the other the Nodachi as they were much better than the rusty blades both women had. She took them to the clothing store to trade their head bandages in for proper ninja hats. They had tried to protest that they were not ninjas, but Veronica assured them she would see them trained properly. In truth Veronica was not so sure how she would get them all proper ninja training, but she knew the leader should not show doubt in their plan. She left the two to practice, or talk about medical stuff, or whatever overnight while she went to rest at Mr. Floppys. In the morning they would begin training.

Day 7:
Veronica stood and stretched. She felt great today asides from her head still hurting, but a real ninja would just trudge on. She had seen enough of them in the desert to know that. So Veronica headed outside to begin showing her new apprentices the ropes.

Veronica had the two halt at the gates while she turned to fill them in on her plan. http://i60.tinypic.com/2ir9hqa.jpg
"Today we will head to Brink. I know the police captain there has some Jounin friends and it is just a matter of time before we get our chance to train with them."
Rei shuddered at the mention of a Jounin, she was clearly impressed.
Rin replied "Are you sure it is a good idea to practice on those? I thought they were the best."
"Well of course they are, nothing but the best for us!" Veronica replied. She then glanced around before continuing "Truth be told i have not been too impressed with the regular ninja. The first three i tried to become an apprentice for just ignored me, then ran right into Dust Bandits. The others i have seen since then were about as smart. I want to learn from the best, which seem to be the Brink police captains friends, the Jounin."
Rei and Rin exchanged a quick glance.
"Wait, you mean the police captain in Brink is friends with a Jounin?" asked Rei.
"Well of course he is. His friend stopped by to practice swords with one of the policemen the other day, but then the Samurai joined in and wore the Jounin out. One of the Samurai Lords asked me to take the poor guy to the police captains house, and then another Jounin showed up. The Samurai all practiced with swords with him too, and the captain was so happy i bandaged his friends up he gave me five thousand cats for bringing them both home." Veronica looked at her apprentices "There is so much more to being a ninja i have to teach you two, but i don't think this towns gate is really the safest spot to stand and talk. The guards have apparently gone off again, and we need to be going as well."
Veronica turned and began marching into the desert before either could reply, so they both shrugged and followed her. They reached Brink without seeing so much as a single bandit.

At Brink things seemed quiet. Veronica had her apprentices help the Samurai guard the gate. She knew a real ninja would be out patrolling the desert to hunt down bandits and other lowlifes, but she wasn't ready to send the apprentices off alone yet. Veronica had a plan though, and she needed more people for it. She stepped into the first tavern, where apparently jobless people stood around all day saying they were looking for work.

Veronica quickly found one such man who called himself Bark. She was from a town called Bark and found it rather suspicious, so in the end she had to turn him down.

The second tavern had two men looking for work. The first had said he was an engineer and began talking about building stuff. Veronica yawned a few times and he didn't notice, nor did he notice as she slipped away to see about the other man who was seeking work. He was a tall man, and carried a Topper, though not the same quality as the one she had loaned her apprentice. He looked to be an alright type, so Veronica stepped up to his table.
"Hello, are you looking for work?" she asked.
"Why yes i am, if it is honest work" he replied.
"Oh very honest. I am a traveling ninja trader" said Veronica proudly.
The man looked confused. "A what?" he asked.
"A traveling ninja trader" replied Veronica.
The nearby shop guard had heard all of this and said "She is the one who brought in two Jounin to the police captain the other day for the bounty."
The man with the topper raised an eyebrow, he was clearly impressed.
"Oh yes, they were too wounded to walk so i bandaged them up then carried them to see the captain" said Veronica.
"Hm.. well i am a former soldier, but maybe i could learn a thing or two from a warrior such as yourself. If you can afford me. The cost is twenty five hundred cats" said the man. He doubted the kid could really pay, but thought it was worth a shot.
Veronica quickly counted out the coins and laid them on the table. "I'm Veronica, do you have a name?"
He looked at her in shock, she did indeed have some money. "Of course, you can call me Plant."
"Plant? Like a plant?" asked Veronica.
"Well yes, but my legs are not stuck in the ground." Plant stood to show her that indeed, his feet and legs were not buried.
Veronica stood as well "Ok time to get you some proper ninja clothes then meet my other apprentices, they are helping the Samurai guard the gate."
The engineer was still at his table, talking about building things.
Veronica led Plant to a store and found the most suitable stuff they had, not the best, but he was just an apprentice after all.

It was a bit past lunchtime when Veronica had her three apprentices line up at the gate. http://i61.tinypic.com/1584l85.jpg She was just about to tell them they would wait here for a Jounin to come by for practice when a Samurai Lord and his men ran past, into the town. Veronica wondered if Dust Bandits had snuck past her apprentices or something when the shouting began. The town must be under attack!

Inside the town was chaotic, soldiers and police running here and there, checking all of the houses, they were trying to find someone.
"Stay close" Veronica told her apprentices. What kind of mischief could this be?
Suddenly there was a shout, and a man with no clothes ran out of a building, several police officers were chasing after him. The Samurai all joined the chase as well. The man was making for the gate, with Veronica and her apprentices still nearby.

Veronica started to draw her blade then recognized the man- this was one of the Jounin, the police captains friend. http://i60.tinypic.com/2krj83.jpg They must just be playing hide and go seek, Veronica had played the game once with other kids in Bark. As he ran past Veronica asked him to lead them all to his secret ninja camp. The Jounin ran out the gate and started down the hill to the Southwest with the police and Samurai still trying to tag him. They all seemed to want to be it next.

Veronica called for her apprentices to come as well and started out of the gate. The three glanced at eachother then followed their fearless leader. http://i60.tinypic.com/21jpp2q.jpg

The Jounin was a fast runner, yet he kept pausing to let the Samurai catch up. He must be having fun thought Veronica. http://i57.tinypic.com/16acqkz.jpg Shortly after they passed the foot of the mountain the police all turned back to the town, the Samurai all kept on. They had heavy armor on but were not tiring.

The Samurai as well as Veronica and her apprentices dashed after the Jounin for hours into the desert, finally he led them to a few of his apprentices who decided to have some sword practice with the Samurai. http://i59.tinypic.com/2mzgz7a.jpg The poor apprentices were wounded, so Veronica and the others tended their wounds and continued on, following the footprints of the Jounin and Samurai.

Veronica and her apprentices had fallen behind when they tended the wounded and finally lost the tracks in the canyons near Catan. Veronica was not so sure where to go when they heard the sound of battle from the nearby town. Veronica charged on up to help with the towns defense. There were a lot of Dust Bandits and some had even made it past the gate. Veronica and her three apprentices helped the guards fend off the attack. http://i57.tinypic.com/dw4daq.jpg

After the battle Veronica began grabbing bandits weapons and armor when Plant asked "Why are you looting them? Are you a battlefield scavenger?"
"Oh no, i am a traveling ninja merchant, like i told you. These guys tried to attack the town so their equipment has become our wares. Grab as much as you all can" Veronica replied while busy stuffing her backpack.
Rei and Rin did the same. Plant didn't seem to care for the idea until the first bandit stood and drew his sword.
"Oh, i see why you remove the weapons now" said Plant after he helped the guards take the man down. Plant then dutifully looted the battlefield.

Heading up the ramp Veronica saw three hurt ninja, she called for Rei and Rin to tend the wounds of two while she took care of the third. http://i62.tinypic.com/zujhao.jpg
Plant interrupted "But why are you helping the ninja?"
"Because they helped defend the town, poor guys got hurt doing it too. Besides, we are ninja" replied Veronica.
Plant was still not convinced, but he saw both Rei and Rin were not going to question the order. Plant shrugged and crossed his arms, then watched as a bandit without a weapon stood up, glanced around then darted off into the desert. He was just a simple soldier, but Plant saw the wisdom in taking their weapons. He grabbed the three ninjas blades when noone was watching.

Veronica had her apprentices help her take their wares to various merchants and sell them. Each of their eyes widened seeing the money change hands, they clearly liked being merchants too. She had picked some good apprentices, but she felt they needed more. Veronica found a tavern to see about more apprentices.

Inside the tavern were three men and a woman sitting at a table. Veronica walked up and introduced herself.
"Hello, i am Veronica the traveling ninja merchant. Would any of you be interested in signing on as apprentices?" she said.
The nearby shop guard glanced around at the mention of ninja, then saw it was a kid and went back to doing nothing.
The four at the table glanced at each-other.
The young woman spoke first "Are you serious?"
"Well of course. I've got three apprentices already, but the Dust Bandits travel in such large groups that i want a few more just to be safe" replied Veronica.
"And just what is it you want your apprentices to do exactly? No-one here is interested if you mean robbing merchants" asked one of the young men.
"No of course not" replied Veronica, he clearly knew nothing of ninjas. "We go out in the desert to fight bandits, then we take and sell their stuff. We won't be fighting any merchants."
Before anyone could get another word in the barkeeper approached the table. "Before any of these four go trotting off anywhere they are paying their bills. The young men each owe seven hundred cats. That girl though is a heavy drinker, she owes twenty five hundred for her bill" he said. Wow thought Veronica, water is expensive in this town!
"Well, if i pay the man will the four of you come with us?" asked Veronica.
"Yes, call me Bland" said the first man. He certainly looked rather plain.
"I'm Thumper" said the second.
"Leaf, i'm a medic" said the woman.
"Peace" said the fourth man. Well, he might have to learn to live with a new name, but for now it will do thought Veronica.
"Nice to have you all with us. Let's get you some proper ninja equipment" she replied, then led her four new apprentices off to various shops.

They found a large building in the center of town that was unoccupied, it had a few training dummies and beds though, so Veronica decided they would use it for tonight. http://i61.tinypic.com/302w5d5.jpg

Day 8:
Veronica woke early to wake the others. They had a busy day ahead of them and there was no time to waste. Everyone gathered at the gate and lined up. They were beginning to look more and more like ninjas. http://i57.tinypic.com/14cuuk4.jpg
"We are going to run down to Traders Edge first thing this morning to see about a few more recruits there. After that we will head back to Brink. I just know the Jounin around there will be ready to practice with us soon." Veronica turned and motioned for everyone to follow her as she trotted off.

A short ways from Catan they saw a lone figure walking along. He looked rather familiar from a distance so Veronica stopped to wait for him. http://i58.tinypic.com/2wogeih.jpg He drew nearer and nearer until Veronica finally recognized the man, one of the Jounin from Brink!
"Well hello. I see you don't have the Samurai with you today. How did your game of tag go?" she asked.
The Jounin spit on the ground and muttered a few curses. He was clearly not a good sport. Veronica shrugged and resumed her journey to Traders Edge.

They had crossed two sand dunes when they heard the sound of battle up ahead. Veronica could not yet see over the sand dunes, so they all proceeded cautiously. As Veronica and her apprentices finally topped the sand dune she saw it was a Samurai patrol fighting Dust Bandits. She knew as good upstanding ninja traders it was their duty to join in, so she led her apprentices as they charged down the hill. The Dust Bandits stood no chance. The Samurai walked off without so much as a Thank You. Well whatever, since the bandits had attacked the Samurai Veronica had her apprentices grab their weapons before they carried on. http://i59.tinypic.com/20axc8x.jpg

They were almost to Traders Edge when a band of eleven Starving Bandits decided to try their luck against Veronica's Traveling Ninja Merchants. http://i57.tinypic.com/1236x5l.jpg Not all of her apprentices were very good in battle yet, but they won the fight without anyone being hurt much.
http://i62.tinypic.com/2vwfx92.jpg

They continued up the hill and into town, where Veronica picked up two new recruits, a medic named Double and an engineer named Fish. At least the engineer had not rambled on about building things. They did not have time for that anyway, or to see about equipping her new apprentices. Veronica knew they must press on to Brink before dark.

Veronica led her apprentices up the hill to Brink a few hours before sunset, and it seemed they were almost in time to meet one of the traveling Jounin who liked to train the police and Samurai in both swords and athletics. http://i60.tinypic.com/5krh5h.jpg They were not in time to train swords with him, it was for the best though, as he had suffered an accident in his last match.

Veronica patched the man up and carried him in to see the police captain. The Jounin must have been daydreaming, well having a bad nightmare really, Veronica remembered her own nightmares as a kid. The Jounins nightmare must have been as bad as hers though, as he was screaming "No! Not to the police, please anywhere but there!" or something like that. Veronica knew it must be a nightmare, as he was obviously friends with the captain. He had a funny accent thought Veronica.

The police captain didn't seem to mind the mans shouts, and paid Veronica and her apprentices five thousand cats for delivering his injured friend. Oddly the captain walked over to lock this man in a cage. http://i58.tinypic.com/34edr9g.jpg Veronica asked the captain what he was doing. During this time the poor Jounins nightmare seemed to be getting worse, as his screams were getting louder and including very bad language. The captain never did tell Veronica why he had put the man in the cage, but she later figured it out. With his nightmare fit he would no doubt wet the bed or hurt himself, and might have even jumped off the cliff. Kind of like that Dust Bandit had so many days ago, followed by the Holy Paladin and his Servants.

Veronica left the captains office and for some reason the captain shut the door behind her, the screaming was not so loud then. Though as she walked off with her apprentices it seemed to grow louder again. The poor thing, maybe he was sick with a fever?

As they neared the gate Veronica saw the Samurai charge down the hill, they had sighted a few bands of bandits gathering down below and wanted to engage them before more joined. Veronica and her apprentices dutifully followed down below to help the Samurai. It wasn't much of a battle, they were mostly Starving Bandits with a few Dust Bandits here and there, they seemed to be fighting each-other as much as they fought the Samurai. Still her apprentices needed the practice.

After the battle the Dust Bandits were looted, and Fish said one looked to be a bandit leader who was worth something called a Bounty. http://i61.tinypic.com/rctx6e.jpg Veronica let Fish take that one back to the police captain, who Fish had said gave out Bounties. The other apprentices she had sent back up with Fish, Veronica wanted a little time to think, and they deserved at least some time off.

As she neared the walls of Brink Veronica heard the patter of feet, followed by the louder clunking of the heavily armored police officers running. She looked up- The sick Jounin she had taken up earlier had escaped his cage and was running off into the desert! http://i57.tinypic.com/2zisxzo.jpg
Veronica tried to stop the poor man, but he had just screamed something rude at her as he dashed off. Well, no doubt that one would be a rather poor teacher, even if he survived his fever. Veronica headed on into town and made sure all of their wares were sold before she told the apprentices to take the night off. She then found a flophouse and went to bed early, it had been an exhausting day.

Day 9:
Veronica was having nightmares and woke early, maybe some fresh air would help her. As she walked around the town to stretch her legs she saw the police captain returning with his sick friend he had left town to help the other day. http://i60.tinypic.com/10zy93r.jpg
"How is your friend today captain? I saw the sick thing running off yesterday" she asked.
"Ran for hours, i got him in the end though" replied the captain.
Odd he did not mention if his friend was feeling better or not, but the man was not screaming like the day before, so maybe the fever broke.
"Well good night captain, you must be tired" Veronica continued on her walk.
There was nothing else of note that night.

When the sun rose Veronica had her apprentices line up at the gate, it was time to go out on a patrol.
"We'll follow a Samurai patrol today, see if we can help them a bit like good ninjas" said Veronica. She was beginning to feel rather proud of her apprentices, some were kind of slow, like Plant, but even he was learning. http://i57.tinypic.com/2uo6j61.jpg

They picked the first patrol to leave for the day and followed them. The hours passed slowly with noting interesting happening. http://i58.tinypic.com/2i8f4id.jpg This Samurai Lord must be avoiding the bandits thought Veronica, she quietly motioned for her apprentices to follow her in the opposite direction. He would probably be fine without them for today.

Veronica led her apprentices for less than a hour before they found their first battle. Three young ninjas had been attacked by seven Dust Bandits so Veronica and her apprentices rushed to their aid.
http://i62.tinypic.com/2wq66vr.jpg They had finished all but the last two Dust Bandits when one apprentice, Double, accidentally hit a ninja with a wild swing of his sword. The other ninjas retaliated, and poor Double was left laying on the ground. The ninjas then tried to attack the rest of Veronica's apprentices, who retaliated.

The three ninjas were left disarmed there with the bandits, they should have known better! Veronica was rather angry with them and did not have her medics bandage these ninjas up. Poor double had to be carried back to town. http://i61.tinypic.com/2qwpje1.jpg

On the way back up the mountain Veronica spotted a Jounin laying on the ground, as he was disarmed and with no clothing left she thought this must be another sick one. He was probably delirious and dropped everything in the desert. http://i61.tinypic.com/2ze9jl4.jpg These guys really needed to spend less time in the sun. The police captain in Brink knew how to treat the sick Jounin though, and he was always so generous when Veronica rescued his friends. He was such a kind warmhearted friend, Veronica wished she could have one like him some day. Did ninjas keep many friends? Well she was not sure, but she hoped she might.

Veronica had just taken the Jounin in to his friend when there was a shout from beyond the gate. She led her apprentices to investigate and saw there were no guards around. They all passed the gate then saw the commotion, a small band of Dust Bandits had tried to attack the town and been pursued a ways by Mr. Floppy. Veronica and her apprentices charged to his aid, but he was not much of a fighter and was badly hurt before they could save him. http://i62.tinypic.com/2a4pxj6.jpg

The Dust Bandits were quickly defeated and disarmed, Veronica was proud of her apprentices. She no longer had to tell them to do everything. Veronica bandaged up poor Mr. Floppy and had Fish carry the unconscious man back to his flophouse. The guard inside had just glanced at Fish as he put Mr. Floppy to bed. Not much of a guard, but at least he had not tried to charge them for the bed.

Fish returned to join th eother apprentices and Veronica decided to do a little more patroling. Just down the hill to the Southwest a Samurai patrol had been caught between two Dust Bandit parties. Veronica saw one Dust Bandit Boss take down two Samurai as her apprentices charged to save the men. After the battle the Samurai tended their wounded and began walking off. Veronica's apprentices looted the nearby bandits and stood guard while the Samurai regained their senses. http://i62.tinypic.com/r1hs9t.jpg

The Samurai patrol headed back up to Brink, which Veronica thought was a good idea and decided to do as well. She never liked the dark, it was scary. They were just about to enter the gates when a naked ninja ran by, training a few police officers in athletics. http://i57.tinypic.com/29e4uvl.jpg The Samurai patrol joined in as well. Her apprentices still needed more practice, but Veronica only let them run a short ways. They needed to sell stuff and get some rest for the night.

Day 10:
Veronica and her apprentices gathered at the gate as usual. http://i59.tinypic.com/a1h645.jpg She had a long day of adventuring in the desert planned, they needed to find some bandits and more of their wares to sell. Her money was running a little low. Veronica started down the hill to the Southwest and saw a trader and his guards practicing swords with three ninjas.
As they were walking off one guard muttered "Thanks for the help" followed by some rather rude comments. Several of the others made similar remarks. Veronica found it rather rude and stopped the traveling trader to tell him so.
"Sir, you can you let your men talk to other travelers like that, especially when we so graciously decided not to interfere in your practice with the ninjas."
The trader stopped and stared at her. "Are you serious kid? Did you really think we were just practicing? Those ninjas were trying to kill my men and steal all of my goods and money."
Veronica just knew that could not be true at all, no real ninja would do such a thing! Suddenly there was a shout from one of her apprentices. Veronica looked over to see Double staggering and bleeding badly, one of the ninjas had stood and attacked him! Veronica and her other apprentices piled on that ninja, quickly leaving him with many cuts. That was such an unfair fight, and no way to train an apprentice! Veronica kicked the ninja and told him so, then quickly had her apprentices remove their weapons and armor. These were some kind of fake ninjas and not worthy of wearing all of this. Double was quickly patched up. http://i59.tinypic.com/1495ysk.jpg

The merchant and his guards had observed all of this and simply said "Told you so, near got one of your own killed kid. Have to watch those ninjas." The man walked off without another word.

Veronica and her apprentices returned to town and sold the ninja gear the fakes had been wearing. Maybe there were a lot more fakes out there, so Veronica decided to see about some hiring.
The first tavern was empty of people seeking work, and the second had that man who had claimed his name was Bark, which Veronica knew must be a lie, that was a cities name. There was also that odd engineer from three days ago. Veronica approached his table and found he was still talking about building.
"Excuse me for interrupting, but are you looking for work?" she asked.
"Well of course, haven't i been saying so all along?" He looked down at her. "I was just giving you my list of projects completed. Now for references-" he started to say more, but Veronica knew she had to cut him off, they had so much to do today.
"Oh i don't need all of that, i am sure you will be an excellent ninja trader. How much is it to hire you and what is your name?" she said.
He began "Well i am an engineer, not a ninja, but the cost is twenty five hundred cats. You can call me Double."
Veronica looked at Double, well, the first Double, who was a medic. She had known him a while, so his name would stay. This one would have to learn a new name later when she knew what to call him. Veronica handed over the twenty five hundred cats, then told everyone they needed to get moving.

They were almost to Trader's Edge when they saw group of Samurai fighting more of the fake ninjas, so Veronica and her apprentices joined in. http://i62.tinypic.com/2r711xd.jpg They quickly defeated and disarmed them, and stripped them of the honor of wearing ninja clothing before continuing on.

Trader's Edge did not have anyone in their taverns for hire, so Veronica decided to continue on to Port South before calling it a day, so on they went.

Not even a single bandit had tried to keep them from reaching Port South, so the journey went quickly. Luckily there were two taverns in the city, and both had several acceptable people for hire. Oh, and the second Double was introduced to his new name. He was now Dublee. He hardly seemed to notice, he had been talking with the other engineers turned to ninja traders about building. Veronica yawned before seeing about hiring the available people.

The first tavern had a table with three young men talking. Veronica stepped up to see which might want a real job.
"Would any of you like to join a traveling ninja traders band?" she asked.
"What does a traveling ninja trader do exactly?" asked the redhead.
"We hunt bandits and fake ninjas and take their stuff to sell in town. Sometimes we help the sick Jounin get in to see their friend the police captain in Brink, he always pays five thousand cats just for helping them out" replied Veronica.
All three raised their eyebrows, but none of them spoke.
Veronica stood. "Well, if you're not looking to sign on i need to be going, i still need to check the other tavern before we call it a night."
"Wait" said the black haired one. "We're interested, it just sounds a little too good to be true." The other two nodded in agreement.
"Oh, i found it hard to believe people would impersonate ninjas too, but i saw these attacking merchants and even Samurai earlier, so i knew they had to be fakes. The engineers i hired on keep talking about building stuff, so i was thinking making a real ninja school or something would be a good idea. It's been really hard getting this far in my own ninja training, and i still have not got the Jounin near Brink to teach me much. Well, other than they stay out in the sun too much and get a fever, then go crazy and run a lot. The poor Samurai and police try to catch them and stop them" She looked over the three one last time. "If you want to sign up now is the time, it's getting late today."
The one with black hair stood "Call me Clifford, and I'd love to become a ninja."
The red haired one shrugged and stood "Nikon, I'll give it a shot too. Just so long as we don't turn into the ones raiding towns and robbing merchants."
The third stood as well "Well someone has to keep these two out of trouble, I'm Blend."
"Ok great to have all three of you then. Go outside and meet the others, you'll know who they are, they look like ninjas of course" replied Veronica. She headed outside and down the street to the other tavern. She knew her apprentices would begin showing these the ropes.

The second tavern had an older man and woman sitting at a table talking quietly.
Veronica started to approach and stopped, she thought she might be interrupting something so started to turn to the door.
"Hey kid wait" said the man.
Veronica turned and he waved her over. She approached cautiously.
"Did you happen to come in here looking to hire by chance?" asked the woman. "We're wanting to leave town, the sooner the better."
"Well yes i was looking for more people." Veronica looked at the two. No doubt they were good people, they looked like her grandparents had, they were not young enough to become ninjas though. "I don't mean to insult you, but i was looking more for young people to help me start up my ninja school though."
The man laughed. "Ninja school huh? Well it would sure beat being stuck here." he looked around before quietly continuing "The local Lord could not keep bandits from raiding our farm all of the time and stealing our crops. Then of course tax time came and we could not pay our taxes in crops, so the Lord seized our lands. Our children he conscripted to join the army, then sent them off on a raid aimed at the Holy Nations. None returned from that raid." He hung his head.
"Yes" said the woman. "life has not been good to us here. Take us out of here with you and we will gladly help at your ninja school if you will have us."
Veronica thought.. well they were awful nice, and they looked so much like her grandparents. They were gone now of course, they had died last winter when they ran out of wood to heat their house in Bark. Winters were awful hard up there in the mountains, especially for the old people who could not go cut their own wood and bring it home.
"Well ok, I'll even try to teach you some ninja stuff too" Veronica replied.
The man stood "I'm Beanhop, and this is my wife Meow."
"Nice to meet you both. Come on outside and meet my other apprentices." Veronica stepped outside and started down the tavern steps.
A woman grabbed her arm and said "I heard you inside kid, you need soldiers. Five thousand cats and i will join as well." Well she clearly has no manners thought Veronica as she glanced down at the massive hand that had grabbed her. "Oh sorry" the woman said as she released her.
Well maybe she is not so bad thought Veronica. She looked her up and down. She had a Topper for a weapon, and a real ninja hat like her other apprentices, so there might be hope for her.
"You are a soldier you said?" asked Veronica.
"Well i was, sort of. The couple you met inside were my neighbors. When i was fifteen their Lord conscripted me to the army. Bandits raided the family farm until we could not pay taxes, the Lord seized our farm and forced me into the army" she hesitated. "We were given minimal training and then sent off to raid one of the Holy Cities. One of their patrols crossed our path on the way, so we fought and lost. I was cut up rather badly by the Paladin leading them, we had no real warriors with us that could handle him. They thought i would die, so did i. They left me there." The woman shuddered as if deeply troubled before continuing. "The others.. well they were carried off while unconscious. I saw some later, just hollow shells, like the life had been sucked right out of them. They had been converted into Holy Servants."
"Oh.." was all Veronica could say.
Beanhop and Meow had all of this though neither had spoken.
Meow stepped forward "You were Theresa then, right?"
"Yes" replied Theresa. "I saw your children from a distance after they were in the army, they were spared that fate at least. The Holy Soldiers killed everyone in that squad."
"Well better that than.." began Beanhop before he fell silent. Meow just nodded.
"I'm sorry to hear all of that. Join us and we'll find somewhere far from things like that. I never did like those Holy Nation guys anyway." said Veronica as she counted out Theresa's pay. "Let's get you introduced to the others, then in the morning we will go find a spot to start our ninja school."

Veronica led her newest three apprentices to meet the other three new ones, as well as the rest of the group. After the introductions they rented beds in a flophouse, though a few stayed up late to talk. Veronica heard the engineers going on about building as she drifted off to sleep.

Day 11:
Veronica woke as the sun was still rising over the mountains and gathered her apprentices. http://i60.tinypic.com/2mchmyp.jpg
"Today we're heading to Trader's Edge. It's not that far of course, we'll let our engineers gather whatever they can find to begin building with." The engineers began talking about various ways to build stuff, Veronica didn't understand a bit of it or really care to. She just wanted to go start her ninja school. Maybe once it was up and running the Jounin around Brink would come to her place to stay, or at least visit.

Everyone followed their leader on to Trader's Edge, with the engineers chattering the whole time. Once there they picked out what they said was the best building materials. The building merchant seemed to be offended, and had tried to convince Veronica it was all worth buying, but in the end she just told him it was the engineers project and he needed to convince them. Of course he could not, they tried to show the man the various cracks in his boards, how twisted and warped things were and told him he needed to throw it all out. Veronica could not see any of that and neither could the merchant, or at least he claimed he could not.

With their bags fully packed they set off across the desert to where one engineer suggested they go. Veronica was beginning to have her doubts about all of this, but they all seemed so excited that they were rushing on despite the overloaded bags. Despite their complaints of that merchants wares they had bought a lot of his junk.

They marched for hours and had just staked their claim by placing a houses foundation, whatever that was, when three men walked up.

Two of the three looked like some kind of soldiers and had big toppers on their backs, while the third man Bland, one of Veronica's ninja engineers, insisted looked like an engineer. That man had a flimsy looking sword, big was awful big and muscular thought Veronica. She was glad to have so many ninjas around if these three wanted trouble.

Veronica and her apprentices formed a line and waited on the three men to get close enough to talk. When they did the two soldiers had stood back and their engineer stepped forward.
"Hello, nice place to build isn't it?" he asked.
Veronica looked around, unsure what the areas laws were on claiming property. Luckily Plant was an expert on such laws, as he spoke up.
"Indeed it is, and as you can see this area is claimed by Veronica's Ninja Traders" he pointed to the house their engineers had begun building.
The other man replied "Oh we were not here to try taking your claim, if that is what you were thinking. I was traveling from Clownsteady to Trader's Edge looking to build new home there when i got ambushed by bandits. Luckily for me the bandits only wanted to beat me up, they seem to like picking on lone travelers. Luckily for me Garr and Harp" he pointed to each man "had been part of a merchant's caravan near there and stopped to bandage me up. That merchant got rather mad that his guards were helping another traveler, and they were both without a job and shorted on their pay for that trip."
Garr decided to speak "The greedy merchant got what was coming to him, though i feel pity for his other men. A cannibal party picked them up after we had been fired. A Samurai patrol caught the cannibals who finished off their prisoners before the battle."
Harp shrugged and said "We lost out on the pay, but kept our lives."
"So these two escorted me to Brink, where we met the patrol that evening and heard about the cannibals getting the caravan. Then we continued on to Trader's Edge where the building merchant told me about several customers who picked over and insulted his wares the day before, of course he had a rather low opinion on you, but the remains of his wares were indeed bad. My opinion of this group rose then, so i asked my new friends to test our luck in finding you" he shrugged. "And here we are, on your doorstep hoping you would take three more in to your ranks."

Veronica still wasn't sure what she thought of these three turning up out of nowhere, she felt they did need a few more people though.
Plant spoke again "A strange tale. I'm not too inclined to believe it just yet. We've been attacked by so many bandits and ninja we have a lot of enemies, and i bet they would love to get a few men in here to catch our leader at night."
The engineer turned to leave "Well my name is Dirt, if you happen to change your mind, and the bandits or ninja don't get us first you'll find us on our way to Catan."

He was a short ways down the hill when Plant turned to Veronica "I'm convinced now they weren't bandits or ninja. Can we take them in?"
"If you're sure then go ahead and have them come back" she replied. "Does anyone object?"
No one felt it was a bad idea, so Plant shouted out for the three men to come back and join them. Dirt was soon busy helping the other engineers with building the house, the first of many buildings the five men were planning to build in their future city.

Veronica and everyone who was not busy building spent the night watching for bandits or ninjas in shifts. Those who slept had to do so on the ground. This was not so bad though though Veronica. The sand was actually more comfortable than the floor back home, and she could lay there and watch the stars all night without her parents making her go back inside, or being stepped on by patrolling guards. Veronica slowly drifted off as she tried to count and name the stars in the sky. The engineers hammered on through the night, not even noticing that it was indeed night.

In the morning Veronica woke to find they had not only finished the house but built several other things as well. They kept trying to explain, they were all so excited.. One thing they said was to dig up stone in, another to turn the stone into building materials so they did not have to buy more, another device provided what they called power, then there was something to experiment on. It was a lot to take in, Veronica was once again having doubts about her ninja school. one of the medics had gone to the experimenting thing, and pretty soon had called over the engineers, who excitedly rushed around getting building supplies. There was all kinds of banging and hammering, and Veronica was convinced they were tearing the house up when the head engineer, Bland, called Veronica inside.

They had built a bed. http://i62.tinypic.com/2j607kw.jpg

Veronica looked at him and said "Are you all building a flophouse? We should have brought one of the Mr. Floppys with us if so."
Bland laughed and replied "No this is not to rent out. This one we built for you. As our leader we felt you needed a bed. Once we can we will build another house, as well as enough beds for everyone of course."
Veronica was shocked.. she had her own bed, and it had only cost her a few thousand cats worth of building materials! Just maybe this ninja school would work out.


Bit of a corny ending for now. Have family coming into town tomorrow, so this is on hold, or i may leave it as is. Maybe the cannibals will stop by for dinner or something fun like that over the weekend. If anyone's actually reading or lost as to how something came about feel free to comment.

Awesome story! This makes me crave kenshi. I really hope there's small missions or stories or whatever later on in kenshi that give a little more life to the game and adds some immersion. The dialogue between the characters and the different personalities really reminded me of mount and blade for some reason.

The coolest part of this was being able to imagine everything was goin on in the kenshi universe. Maybe Chris should hire some writers for some quests?

Xx BoD xX wrote:Awesome story! This makes me crave kenshi. I really hope there's small missions or stories or whatever later on in kenshi that give a little more life to the game and adds some immersion. The dialogue between the characters and the different personalities really reminded me of mount and blade for some reason.

The coolest part of this was being able to imagine everything was goin on in the kenshi universe. Maybe Chris should hire some writers for some quests?

He has. He got a writer to write him some dialogue.

Enjoyable evening read. look forward to more after your family have left.

Oh yeah I forgot about that :p

Its good to know at least a few folks read and enjoyed it, thank you all. Maybe once they get the game going again for 32 bit i can do another story or two. Been spending a lot of time at the hospital with my Grandmother, who has been in and out since Thanksgiving, and could really use something like this again to help unwind. As great as the experimental was when i wrote my two stories was (i really can't recall a single crash, despite my pc being an old piece of junk!) i can't bring myself to fire it up knowing their are new critters and enemies in the new version that would add so much more fun to the game and stories. Have family back in town for the next few weeks again anyway, so i couldn't do much playing or writing, but i can at least thin of a few whacky character ideas. Half finished game and it already allows so much more creativity than so many others out there. Got a heck of a bargain when i picked this up years ago, probably worth double what the current price is.

this was a great read <3 gj

This is awesome! Keep it up!

Tried continuing the story, new pc but the game is crashing like crazy now. I'll give it another shot down the road. Deleted the two small parts I had added.

More Ninja trader please.