I picked a flower from the grass nearby, it was pretty and yellow.

  Large men ran by holding big weapons. They had been doing that a lot

  lately. I walked down the road of my village towards home. I don’t

  remember what I learned, but I was so excited to tell mommy. I

  stepped out of the way as more of those tall men and women came by.

  They all looked like me. Their ears and tails were different colors,

  but we were all Nekojin and this was our home. I made it to my home

  and mommy was out front. She looked down at me with a smile. She

  seemed worried, but she picked me up and took the flower “For me

  sweetie?” She said. I nodded and gave her a kiss. She gently played

  with my ears, it felt so good. I purred as she did, my tail lashing

  behind me in pleasure. A large girl came up with a spear, her tail

  lashed chaotically and she looked scared “Miss, I need you and your

  child to wait inside.”

  Mommy

  nodded and she brought us inside the house. Daddy had armor on and

  was holding a weapon, it looked sharp. He kissed mommy on the cheek

  and whispered in her ear “Keep her safe darling, I will be back.”

  Mommy

  nodded, but she looked like she was crying. “Mommy?” I asked. I

  didn’t understand, but I wanted to help.

  “It’s

  going to be okay sweetie” She replied, her voice making me scared.

  There

  was a loud sound outside like a horn blowing. A strong smell hit me,

  it was so strong. My eyes watered at it and I cried. Mommy held me

  closer and comforted me. Her scent masked the horrible smell.

  Then

  everything got darker. There were screams, cries. Mommy held me

  tight, and pushed me into her chest. I couldn’t see anything. I

  tried to pull away but she wouldn’t let go. “Mommy! I cried “I

  can’t breath!” She didn’t even flinch as she held me even

  tighter.

  Another sound, like

  a loud crash nearby. I felt her tears on my cheek as she held me

  tight. Then her grip loosened and we fell. There was a small gasp

  from her as we hit the wooden floor. She knocked the air out of me

  when she landed and I couldn’t move, she was so heavy. I looked

  into her eyes. Lifeless, vacant. I began to cry and push harder. But

  it was no use. The night went on like this for what felt like

  forever. Finally, it was over. I lay there in a burning house,

  staring into my mommy’s dead eyes. Tears streamed down my cheeks

  and I had given up trying to move. My body pinned under her. Suddenly

  she moved and her eyes looked into mine. Her mouth opened as her face

  went pale “Run Tama!” She screamed. Everything went black and I

  jerked upright in bed panting. My tail lashed viscerally and my whole

  body felt tense. I was drenched in sweat and my eyes darted around

  the room, as if expecting the attack could come at any moment. I

  reached to my nightstand and grabbed my dagger out of its drawer. I

  held it close to my chest as I took deep calming breaths. “Just a

  nightmare Tama, Just a nightmare” I said to myself. The unease

  didn’t go away though and the memories continued to come back as I

  sat there.

  Slowly, I climbed

  out of my bed and turned on the lamp hanging from the ceiling. The

  room lit up and for a moment, everything was destroyed or on fire.

  Then my vision cleared and it was all the way it was meant to be. I

  sighed in relief as I walked over to the mirror and looked at myself.

  I was alive, I was safe. That was what was important. Still, Sensei

  had not come back earlier and I was worried. Maybe he had snuck in

  after I went to bed. I shook my head and closed my eye’s. Holding

  my dagger to my chest.

  Finally able to calm

  myself, my tail slowed but didn’t stop lashing. I turned and walked

  over to the door. I gently opened it and looked into the hallway. It

  was dark and silent as I expected. Still, I grabbed the lamp from the

  ceiling and gently brought it out with me to the hallway to look

  around. There was the pitter patter of rain and I jumped at the sound

  before remembering my room was soundproof to help me sleep better. I

  made my way down the hallway but paused when I saw a shadow. Only to

  realize a moment later it was my own and had to calm my beating

  heart.

  I slowly made my way

  down the stairs. At the bottom everything was quiet aside from the

  now louder sounds of rain outside. I stepped towards the front door

  and paused as my hand paused on the knob. Then frowned as I really

  thought about what I was doing.. this didn’t seem right. I took my

  hand off the door and turned around to go back to my room. Behind me,

  hanging from the ceiling was sensei’s dangling corpse. I screamed

  and dropped the lamp. Fire spread everywhere. I jerked up in bed

  again in the darkness. This time, I instantly jumped out of bed and

  turned on the lamp to look around the room.

  My heart was

  pounding now and I was horrified. The first nightmare was normal, but

  that last one was new.

  I remembered

  sensei’s words about how nightmares worked. This time, I tested it

  and smacked myself… hard. The pain was a shock and actually helped

  clam me down. It told me this wasn’t a dream anymore. It didn’t

  remove all my fears, but it greatly helped ground me. After a moment

  I began to laugh. It was so obvious now that I thought about it, why

  would I go downstairs and open the front door?! Sensei’s room was

  literally next to mine, I would have at least checked there. The

  whole dream felt silly the more I thought about it. I mean, Sensei

  hanging from the ceiling? That was comedy gold if I ever saw it. As

  if he would ever die from something like that! I paused for a moment,

  praying I wasn’t tempting fate by thinking that.

  I grabbed my dagger

  from my nightstand.. just in case. Went to walk out of the room. I

  paused it front of the mirror and giggled. Another lovely flaw with

  the last dream, I had clothes on! I never wore clothes to bed! I

  looked at my naked form for a moment, reveling in the fact I was

  fully awake. Then I turned and walked out the door. I didn’t bother

  with taking the lamp, I was literally a ninja and lived in shadow for

  crying out loud. I held back my amusement as I used my inherent night

  vision as a nekojin to see in the dark.

  I walked to sensei’s

  door and gently opened it. As I entered the room my heart dropped.

  The bed was made and empty. Fear gripped me for a moment before I

  took another calming breath. It wasn’t a corpse after all, just an

  empty bed. He might be in the study!

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  I turned and shakily

  left the room, closing the door behind me. I slowly climbed down the

  stairs, stealing glances behind me as I did. Just in case, I pinched

  myself hard again. The pain was still there, good. I made it to the

  bottom and instinctively looked at where his corpse was in the dream.

  There was nothing there of course. Just my imagination, my horrible

  nightmare. I made my way over to his study and instantly saw the

  gentle glow of a lamp. I felt myself calm further, but I needed to be

  sure. I crept carefully to the study and entered. The lamp’s glow

  was dim and the room was empty. I tried to rationalize, but it was

  finally to much. I held my chest. Panic flooded me and my vision

  began to grow dark. My heart beat now felt like it was tearing out of

  my chest.

  “What are you

  doing out of bed Tama?” The voice caught me entirely off guard and

  I screamed, whirling around and throwing the dagger hard. Sensei,

  holding a half eaten sandwich in one hand, deftly caught the dagger

  and continued chewing.

  I fell to my knees

  in shock and stunned silence. Sensei casually took another bite of

  his sandwich before asking “You want one, it’s got that bread you

  like. The one with honey berries!”

  I stared at him

  blankly before nodding slowly.

  He smiled and pulled

  another one seemingly from nowhere. I would have been suspicious, but

  sensei did that literally all the time. I took the sandwich and took

  a bite. It tasted as described, delicious and comforting. I looked

  down at the sandwich and noticed something. There was a small bit of

  red on the sandwich. I paused and stared at it before looking back up

  to sensei. He was finishing his sandwich, but I looked closer. I

  noticed there were cut’s all over him. His gi was torn and he

  looked like he had been through a blender. I opened my mouth to say

  something but he held up a finger “I will be fine Tama, finish your

  sandwich and get back to bed. You have a big day tomorrow” His

  words sounded casual, but I heard the steel in his tone. I wanted to

  argue, to help in some way. But I knew that tone all too well. I

  slowly stood, finishing the sandwich as I climbed back up the stairs,

  I paused halfway up and looked back. He smiled at me and gave a

  thumbs up “Get to bed Tama, I’ll see you in the morning” He

  said. I didn’t believe him, and that scared me more then any

  nightmare could. Still, I could say nothing, I simply turned and

  walked back to my room. I crawled into my bed after turning off my

  lamp and I laid there, unmoving.

  I didn’t fall back

  asleep, I tried, I really did. But after everything I couldn’t do

  it. My rooms silence from the runes almost felt like a cage now as I

  worried about sensei.

  When daylight

  finally came through the rune enchanted window, I had not slept at

  all. Even so, I jumped out of bed like I was dodging attacks and

  rushed out the door, only stopping to grab my dagger and swing

  sensei’s door open. He wasn’t in his room. I rushed down the

  stairs three at a time and looked in the study, empty. I rushed over

  to the kitchen, there was a sandwich and a note. The note was for me

  and it was written so I would understand.

  “Tama, if you are

  reading this, I am not back yet. I had to go finish some things. Have

  this sandwich for breakfast and check on Jiggle. You are not to leave

  the clearing no matter what! – Sensei.” I took a step back as my

  breathing began to spike again. He didn’t really leave hurt like

  that did he?! Was he insane?!

  I stared at the

  letter for what felt like an eternity as thoughts raced through my

  head. It really came down to two options. Did I come for him? Or did

  I listen and stay here? Those two thoughts did laps in my head as I

  stood there dazed. Finally, I decided I needed to calm down first.

  Check on jiggle like the note said, and after breakfast, make a

  decision then. I grabbed the sandwich, making note there were a few

  blood spots on it, only worrying me more. Then I turned and walked

  out the front door to check on Jiggle. I realized near instantly as I

  walked outside into the cold morning air… I forgot my clothes. I

  considered ignoring my clothes, after all it wasn’t that cold and

  sensei wasn’t here… Then it hit me

  I turned and rushed back up the stairs to my room, I quickly put my

  ninja gi on and my dagger. I turned and rushed back down and outside

  again.

  I

  noticed Jiggles cage had been repaired and there were fresh runes all

  over it for durability. There was just one small problem, there was

  no Jiggle. I looked around the clearing, blinking on top of the cabin

  to search for him. Nothing, he was nowhere. My eye twitched and I

  tried to enter meditation. I failed instantly and stood back up. I

  paced back and forth on the roof until finally I made up my mind. I

  trusted sensei, but I was a ninja too and I wasn’t just going to

  stand by while he did everything himself!

  I

  was lying to myself, I knew that. But It was a sweet lie and one I

  would happily eat into. I jumped from the roof and made my way

  towards the edge of the clearing. I had nearly made it to the edge

  when a voice came from behind me. “You won’t survive, you will

  only get him killed Tama.” The voice was sudden and I tensed as I

  whirled around to face Manna. She looked at me seriously and her lips

  pursed.

  I

  considered her words before asking “Why”

  Silence

  filled the clearing and Manna simply looked at me without an answer.

  I scowled at her, she knew I knew the answer and didn’t want to say

  it out loud. I was weak, I was frail, and I would only slow sensei

  down. What was worse? She was right and I hated her for it. “What

  about being the chosen one and all that!” I snapped at her angrily.

  She

  smiled at me sadly, only angering me more “Oh little one, you don’t

  understand. Every hero has a journey, and yours begins very soon.

  Whether you want it to or not.”

  “Don’t

  call me that! Only sensei can call me that!” I screamed at her, my

  rage boiling over.

  “I

  can’t let you leave here Tama, you are too important and he has a

  better chance if you aren’t there anyways. See reason” She said

  simply.

  There

  was a long moment of silence. Then I blinked forward in a rage and

  sliced my dagger down at Manna. She sidestepped it easily and tried

  to grab my arm. I pulled away before she could and blinked behind

  her. I stabbed forward for her kidney but I was deflected by her

  barrier. She twirled around as I blinked backwards and jumped back a

  few more steps.

  “I

  will save my sensei and you won’t stop me!” I screamed at her.

  She

  shook her head sadly at me and asked “Do you truly believe you

  stand a chance as you are Tama?”

  Red

  filled my vision and I blinked at her again, this time she grabbed my

  arm before I could move. But I had moved my dagger to my left and

  stabbed with everything I had. My dagger bounced harmlessly off of

  her barrier and I felt my energy leave me, replaced with

  hopelessness. I hung there in her arm as she held me. I began to sob.

  Manna

  eventually let me go and I fell to the floor in heap, sobbing

  uncontrollably as I wrapped my arms and tail around my knees and put

  my face into them. I rocked back and forth on my side as my tears

  streamed freely down my cheeks.

  She

  watched me silently for a long moment before speaking “I hope you

  understand one day Tama, this was always going to happen. But I also

  hope you realize it hasn’t yet.” I felt a burst of wind as Manna

  grew her wings and took off. I didn’t bother getting up