Shinobi/Stories

General Stories Misc

Quotes

When Entering Dragon's Roost: Well met.; Have you need of me?; Indeed.

After Receiving a Gift: A token.; You have my gratitude.

After Bond Level Increase: Where there is light, there is shadow.; You possess talent.

Idle After Bond Level 1: Naught awaits my foes but blackness.; The ninja resides in darkness and shadow.; I am shadow, yet I remain fascinated by your radiance.

Idle After Bond Level 10: My shuriken are ever true.; Have you curiosity in my skills?; This place is replete with resourceful warriors.

Idle After Bond Level 20: If ever your radiance is lost, so, too, shall I fade into dark.; Ever do I watch over you from the shadows.; The ninja's fate is to die a noble death in anonymity.

Collection Portrait: From the shadows, I descend!; Behold the true secrets of the ninja!

Dragon Story Episodes
The Ninja Arts

A ninja works in service of justice,

and to that end they must discipline

themselves in their use of their arts.

This, then, is a cautionary tale

handed down among ninja villages.

Hinomoto was a land of provinces

where wars of conquest raged.

From this land came a ninja

whose lord ordered him to kill the

princess of an eastern province.

The princess cared for her elderly

father, considered her people, and

spread good governance. Upon

learning of her kindness, the ninja

reconsidered the justice of his order.

The ninja decided to spare his target.

Upon learning of his betrayal, his

former lord sent one new assassin

after another, while the ninja waged

a secret war against them.

One evening, the injured ninja hid

himself within a bamboo thicket--but

the scent of his blood drew fiends.

However, just as he was about to fall,

a voice roared out from the thicket:

"Disorder in my hiding place will not

go unpunished!" A hail of shuriken

then ripped through the fiends as a

black-scaled dragon clad in mail

suddenly appeared from the dark.

The ninja recognized these skills, and

knew the dragon to be Shinobi--a

creature of legend from whom all

manner of ninja arts had come.

The ninja touched his head to the

earth and praised Shinobi's skill,

thanking him for saving his life.

But then he asked the dragon for

an additional favor...

The ninja then spoke of the princess

and his sworn oath to protect her.

As he talked, Shinobi merely gazed

at the ninja, as though taking the

measure of his very soul.

"Please, great Shinobi! I implore you,

as our progenitor, to teach me some

sliver of your skills that I might use

them to defend this most honorable

woman from harm!"

"I once taught my skills to another

because I was charmed by their

radiance," replied Shinobi," and I

sense the same radiance from you.

Now, follow me into the thicket."

Accepting Shinobi's instruction, the

ninja soon learned to easily dispatch

any assassin. With his pawns finally

exhausted, the lord surrendered his

pursuit of the princess.

Shinobi then left the ninja with

these words. "You have done well.

However, should your radiance

ever leave you, I will see my skills

returned to me."

The ninja then disappeared into the

populace so he might protect the

princess from the shadows. But soon,

he would fall from the shadows into

an even greater darkness.

There was once a ninja who trained

under the dragon Shinobi in order to

protect a princess. After driving off all

her assassins, he chose to continue

watching over her from the shadows.

None knew even the face or name of

the ninja--much less the honorable

work he had done. But he was quite

content with this arrangement.

After a time, it was arranged for the

princess to enter a practical marriage

with a province poised to unite

Hinomoto. While most rejoiced at this

news, the ninja felt his heart darken.

The ninja's idolization of the princess

had grown into love, yet he knew

it could never be requited while

he stayed in the shadows. And so,

he began to formulate a plan.

Using the skills imparted to him by

Shinobi, the ninja traveled the land

and took the lives of those who opposed

this unification of Hinomoto.

As these nations saw their people die

and influence wane, the province the

princess was wed to grew more

powerful. Soon, its might would be

enough to unify the land.

However, the other lords of the land

suspected these assassinations as

the machinations of the burgeoning

province. As they readied for battle,

the ninja attacked.

Using a skill taught to him by Shinobi,

he set fire to the eastern province's

citadel, killed the princess's father

and vassals, and made his way

deep into the inner stronghold.

The ninja had used Shinobi's skills

to bring war to the princess's door,

for he felt she would have no choice

but to abandon her position and

live with him in exile.

As the stronghold burned, the ninja

reached the terrified princess and

begged her to flee with him.

But as he took her hand and made

to leave, she said something:

"The princess fled long ago."

With that, she stabbed the ninja

through the heart and transformed

into Shinobi as the stunned and

dying ninja looked on in horror.

"Your radiance has left you," said

Shinobi." I will permit you to foment

no further violence with my arts."

Thus did the ninja surrender his skills

and return to the endless dark.

The province fell. War raged.

Troubled times fell upon the land.

Had the ninja but endured his

unrequited love, countless lives

could have been spared.