The Story Of Hajima The Nin Ronin, this is kinda long and addictive maybe.. Options

[jchamber]

I got inspiration from you guys, so thanks. Well here it is. Lemme know whatcha think.

(edited for fluidity, immersion, detail, and character touch up)

Chapter one- the begining
Part One
The Uncertainty

"Owww, my head..... dear Mephala!! What hit me?" I found myself with my face buried in a pillow on a hammock and my head was splitting in two. I can't remember what happened that was making my head hurt so bad or why I am lying down but I did know I wanted the pain to stop.

"Quiet, or the guard will hear you, he can be a mean sort." Said a gruff, deep voice. I turned my head to get a veiw of the guy and as I did so realized that I was on a boat, and that I didn't have a sea stomach as nausea overtook me and spilled my previous meal, which seemed to contain little more than a thin soup that I can't remember eating.

"Hey! Watch it!!" said the gruff voice that was now connected to a muscular dark elf with an ear ring, and scar on the right side of his face that took one eye out. He was wearing nothing but a pair of worn out, undyed, perhaps too used... pair of trousers on.

"Sorry 'bout that, I didn't see you were standing so close, good thing you were a little behind me."

"Yea good for yout health too, how are you besides being seasick?"

"My head is feels like it's going to explode, Several parts of my body feel like they have been wounded, I am still tired, and I haven't the strength to turn over to look at my body to see how bad the damage is."

"Well don't worry you'll be fine, gave that guard a mighty good fight though."

"What? Why is there a guard and just how hard did he hit me on the head, I don't even remember getting on this boat, or why I would be on one.. And why did I fight..."

"Slow down there," the man interrupted. "You are on a boat because that is where the guard put ya, the guard is here because I am a murderer and you have undoubtedly been found guilty of something...not that I am saying you did it, ... whatever it was. When the guard brought you to this boat I am guessing you knew you would get seasick or just wanted to escape and you just about did seeing as it took five guards to help the one you gave a thrashing to bring you down. I didn't see it but I heard it, and about it in good detail. I hear one had a hammer and got the back of your head when the other four were trying to get close enough to you, without getting hurt, to grapple you. I heard alot of scolding afterwards, seemed you were not supposed to be hurt getting on, that guard probably got his status revoked. As for this trip I am guessing we are about halfway there and I would suggest you go to sleep if you can't even turn over. By the way I am Jiub, we can will talk later, when you wake up, for now just rest."

And so I allowed myself to stop fighting the weary weakness that poisoned my mind and muscles and just let go...and soon I was standing in a windy foreign terrain. I had never seen anything like it before, the dirt was red and being picked up in the air, there was also another kind of dirt that seemed to be falling from the sky like a very light sprinkle in the storm of red. Before I could gather any more information about the place I heard a voice in my head of a soft but somewhat resounding tone, "They have taken you from the Imperial city's prison, first by carridge and now by boat. To the east... to Morrowind, fear not for I am watching. You have been chosen"

My shoulder was shaking, I began to wake up...to that gruff voice of Jiub's "Wake up, we're here. Why are you shaking? are you ok? Wake up. Stand up,... there you go. You were dreaming. What's your name? Forgot to ask before you passed out again.

"Owwwwww, I am still really sore, so take it easy on the sholder. Um, gimme a minute I just had a really weird dream.....Um .....BAH why can't I remember....I am sorry I can't remember my name right now, so just call me whatever you want."

"I think you seem like a Ganthar"

"That sounds bad lets go with Hanthimar instead."

"What do I care, it's your name."

"Fine then until I can remember my name we agree on Hanthimar"

"Ok, well, Hanthimar not even last night's storm could wake you, I heard them say we've reached Morrowind. I'm sure they'll let us go!" Jiub said hopefully. "Quiet, here comes the guard."

I could see him coming down the steps at the other end of the lower level of the boat, he looked very serious, but almost comical in that he only had one bracer on and one bracer off. His clothes were dark, but his boots and overvest were lighter. They might provide a little bit of protection...why am I thinking like that, I don't want to hurt the person who might let me go....now he was upon me and began to speak in a light, but very official, voice, "This is where you get off, come with me." I now noticed that the Imperial had some facial hair and was begining to bald, but that was at this point irrelivent. I was more worried about how I couldn't remember my own name. As the guard walked away I was caught up in my own thoughts, trying to remember something. The guard stopped and looked back threateningly.

"You better do what they say," said Jiub. So I got over my daze and followed the guard. When I got to the door in the floor of the top level a woman behind the stairs said, "The sooner you leave, the sooner we can move on." She was a ....well no better than a female dog let's say....That thought was interrupted by the gaurd from below that was escorting me,

"Get yourself up on deck and let's keep that as civil as possible." I paused for a moment to hate the woman, and the male guard gave me a small light push with a, "On deck now, prisoner" So I headed on up the stairs in front of me. I never could have guessed what I was to find at the top.

This post has been edited by jchamber: Feb 15 2006, 06:37 AM

[jchamber]

I acctually wrote this when I wrote the last update but I was really tired and didn't realize I had gotten to a good length and cutoff point.....so I had to cut this out and wait a bit before posting it...now

Chapter 2- Roots in a Strange Place
Part Four- The Pain and the Talking

(rejected part names....The Second/Moment after, The New Strange Guy and His Rival, Of Guards and Mages.)

I had started to dodge, but it met me on the way to the way to the ground. Then he threw the next one and cut the rope made from plant fibers, releasing himself from the harbor.

"Are you OK there? Oh, you're an outlander. Did you get a good look at his face? Why did you help him and he betray you?"

"He was holding me hostage and told me that if I didn't untie the iron chains that he would kill me before he left...he seemed scary when he said it and he had blood all over him so I was afraid, I couldn't let him just kill me, I don't even have a weapon to try to protect myself with."

"Hmm well I don't know if I believe that but we have our ways of seeing what is what around here, so I will not question you for now. Just go up to those guards and tell them everything you know about that man."

"OK" I didn't like him and really wished there was some hope that the guards could deal with him, but in reality I didn't see much chance of that. I expect that if I were to tell them where he might be headed, which I didn't know myself in the first place, they would just get killed if they followed him. I had to lie to them to protect them from him. I was glad the dagger he had hit me with hit me in the leg where it did, it was non-lethal and was just enough to let them think he was really trying to hit me.

As I neared the approaching guards I saw they had their weapons out and at this point were looking disappointed that they had failed to get the guy they were looking for. "Go get Najimano, Larry!" The leader instructed his fellow officer. The leader now turned to me, "That's a nasty limp you have there...OH, and a nasty cut as well, let's get you some medicine up at the station...well not really a station so much as a spare building" He seemed friendly enough, allowing me to lean on his shoulder. Najimano was coming toward us. There was something.... but I couldn't quite lay a finger on what was weird about it.

"Thanks for coming Najimano, can you get to that guy out on the water for us?"

"I am afraid that is quite impossible at the moment. He would probably kill me the minute I got near him, and I have a feeling about him....he seems to be able to predict movement and I am not willing to risk it. Besides I am too tired to preform a leap that far today, I have been up for nearly forty hours straight." That is what it was, he was magically moving his body forward while he was walking, so when his feet moved him two steps forward, he had traversed nearly twenty feet forward, it was an uncanny thing to see.

"Well, why are you waisting energy using it to walk to me then? You should have saved up for a useful purpose."

"How I use my magic is my own business, and I am sorry we differ in opinion of what is important but I wanted to give this bleeding man a relief." The blade in my leg appeared in his hand and some salve seemed to have materialized on my wound. "That should be all better in the morning if you are easy on it during your sleep."

"Well, this man was the last person seen with the dangerous criminal you just let escape."

"I am sorry inspector, but didn't you let him get away as well?" The mage had a little smirk on his face.

"You just don't want to get him because you are being lazy, if I could prove it you would be in jail by now!"

"Did you get a jail cell that can hold me? I didn't know you had such resources at your disposal, Captain Habnar." His smirk had grown into a full blown smile of sheer delight at torturing the Nordish captain.

"This prisoner isn't going to get much sleep tonight because he is going to be visiting our interrogation department."

"You shouldn't show so much favoritism to her over your other men, just because she is sleeping with you to climb up the status ladder." At this point the captain let go of me pulled his sword out and pointed it at Najimano ...who disappeared!

"You shouldn't pull that out when you are in town..." I turned around as he said this as I was surprised to hear Najimano's voice behind me. "You could poke someone's eye out." and at that very moment the captain had turned around and scraped my head with the blade causing my weight to shift to my bad leg, which made me fall....but if I had been facing the other way I really could have lost an eye, but I probably would have moved because I would have seen the blade coming. In any case it really shook the guard who immediately put his weapon away.

"Are you OK? I didn't see you there, I didn't mean to hit you."

"I...uhn" I grunted as I tried to get up off the ground.

"I said you should take it easy on that leg. Captain, you have assaulted this man. I am going to have to take him to prevent further guardsman brutality. I take personal responsibility for him, beside your 'investigation department' took a late evening and just went to bed so she is in no condition to work at the moment."

The captain looked furious with the tricky mage, but he nodded and let us go, I didn't have much worry about going with the mage, he seemed more than capable of causing an almost infinite amount of trouble and settled with just messing with the local guard. The captain was out of hearing range before he said anything to me as we walked back to his house.

"So you can sleep at my place, let that leg heal and in the morning we will talk about what you really know about that guy I let get away. What is really interesting about the guy, I am willing to bet, is what I know and you don't."

This post has been edited by jchamber: Mar 9 2006, 02:40 AM