Inquisitor's Promise (Act Three, Chapter Eighteen)

The Holy League had been united, but the Grey Globe continued to move towards Earth. Aeneas and the members of his inner circle knew they had much to do and little time to prepare.

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Chapter Eighteen: Kunoichi’s Struggle

Kunoichi opened her eyes, her head felt so heavy. But slowly she regained vision. She looked around and could see that she was in a room, dimly lit. The felinid girl was tied up, both arms and legs. She tried to remember how she got to where she was until she realized that it would be impossible. After she was captured by her clone, she was forced to drink a disgusting concoction. Afterwards, everything went dark for her. No doubt some sort of anesthetics.

In front of her, there were four people around her. Two of them were dark skinned men with guns, Arnold’s henchmen. The third was Chief Arnold, the man who looked like the spitting image of her husband Shaka, but aged. The third was her clone ‘sister’, Kunoichi II.

“I think she’s waking up, sir,” one of the men said to Arnold and the clone Kunoichi.

“Did you have a good sleep, sister,” the clone asked mockingly.

“No,” Kunoichi answered flatly. “Everything hurts.” Meanwhile, she was struggling against the ropes that was binding her.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, missy,” Arnold said to Kunoichi.

“Yeah,” the other henchman said while leering creepily at the felinid girl. “There’s four of us, and only one of you.”

“What do you want to do with me?” Kunoichi asked.

“Easy,” Arnold answered. “We use you for ransom. In exchange for his dear wife’s life, my nephew will leave us be.”

Kunoichi shook her head. “That’s not going to happen. Shaka’s a professional. He won’t jeopardize our mission, not even for me.”

“Is that so?” the clone interjected. “And you are fine with that?”

But before Kunoichi could answer, there was a large explosion. This was followed by a series of more explosions.

“What’s going on?” Arnold demanded.

It was at this point that the door was opened by another one of Arnold’s henchman. “Sir, we’re under attack.”

“What?”

“My sister was right after all. A professional indeed,” the clone said.

“So much for ransom,” one of the henchman said. “I guess we just have to kill the black cat.”

“That’s a darn shame, she’s a pretty one,” the other henchman said as he caressed Kunoichi’s face. The man was fortunate not to have his hand too close to her mouth, as she was itching to bite it.

“I didn’t know you have the hots for a cat, a little weird if you ask me.”

“Tell that to the Chief and his nephew.”

“Enough of this!” Arnold snapped. “Get to your stations, both of you!”

The two henchmen clumsily acknowledged the chief and quickly left the room with their weapons.

“I’m going to give your husband the welcoming party he deserves,” Arnold said to Kunoichi. The usurper chief moved to leave but was stopped by the clone Kunoichi.

“Let me go with you,” she said.

“No, you stay with her. We’ll figure out what to do with her after we drive them off,” the chief responded.

“But…”

But the clone was silenced when Arnold began to kiss her. Kunoichi quickly looked away from their illicit display of lust. She still remembered the conversation that she had overheard about the Chief’s wife.

Disgusting.

And Arnold soon left, leaving Kunoichi alone with her clone.

The felinid girl looked at her counterpart. She was still curious about the scar on her face.

“I’m sure you have many questions,” the clone said.

“Your scar,” Kunoichi said.

“Papa gave it to me,” the clone answered. “He was so upset that I was defeated in Texarkana… that I lost my sword. He beat me, over and over again. I would have died, but he nursed me back to health with Dark Age technology.”

“You mean that tank thing that he held me in?” Kunoichi asked.

“Yes, something like that.”

“Shaka told me that he had been expecting you ever since the two of you fought in Texarkana. But you never show up. This explains it,” she said sympathetically.

“After what had happened, he thought me useless and tried to replace me with you,” the clone said. “But clearly that was a mistake.”

Kunoichi said nothing. She did not know what to say. Seeing the person in front of her was like looking at what could have happened to her if she hadn’t been adopted by Honda Nintendo. If she hadn’t been rescued by Aeneas when she was kidnapped by Bashan.

But Kunoichi was taken out of her thoughts when she felt a sharp pain to her cheeks.

“I want none of your pity!” the clone cried as she backslapped her counterpart.

“Bashan had mind controlled you!” Kunoichi cried. “Just as he did me.”

But the clone shook her head. “No, he didn’t even bother. He found a new toy to play with, some sort of robot body. To him, I am a mere afterthought. That’s why he sent me to disrupt supply chains instead of stopping that Inquisitor of yours in Meridian.”

“Bashan’s going to Meridian?”

“Oops, I said too much,” the clone said as she took out her weapon, a katana. Kunoichi’s eyes widened as she recognized that weapon. It was the sword that Shaka had given her, clearly it had been pilfered when she was unconscious. “But it doesn’t matter now, because you won’t live to tell anyone about it.”

Kunoichi yelped as the clone swung her sword. She had expected to die right then and there but instead the ropes that bound her feet was cut loose. The felinid girl was surprised, even more so when her counterpart was cackling madly.

“You should have seen the look on your face!” the clone said. “You think I’m going to give you a quick death? No, sister. I’m going to hurt you, little by little. And then I’ll add it up. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be begging for death!”

Kunoichi grimaced as she watched the clone cackled once more. But she was not intimidated by that display in the least. She prepared her legs for something crazy; it was a good thing that they had been cut loose.

The clone Kunoichi’s sadism would be her downfall.

“Now, where should I begin,” the clone said as she examined her weapon. “I’d say your face. I wonder how your dear Shaka would feel when he sees you a bloody mess.”

With the clone moving towards her, Kunoichi made her move. She swung her legs as high as she could and struck her counterpart right in the face.

The clone was thrown towards the door and her head struck its handle, leaving blood on it. Her body then slumped to the ground.

For her part, Kunoichi was also thrown to the back. She fell over with her chair. It had hurt all over, but it was better than being slowly tortured to death. Her arms were still bound, but it did not take long for her to loosen that bind.

She thanked God that whoever bounded her arms had done such a sloppy job. Perhaps he did not expect a situation like this to arise.

Kunoichi soon got up to her feet. As she made her way towards the door, she picked up the katana that had been dropped. The felinid girl then looked at her counterpart lying on the ground. If the kick hadn’t knocked her out, then the door would have.

She considered ending it right then and there. To put an end to the clone’s sabotage operations were their mission. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She saw too much of herself in that clone. And besides, there was no way that she would kill a defeated opponent.

On the other hand, letting her loose was not an option either. She decided to carry the clone with her to their camp. She took the ropes that she had been bound in and used it to bind the clone.

The longer ropes she used to bind the feet. The shorter ropes which were earlier cut by the clone, was used to bind the hands.

Kunoichi then quickly exited the room. Going up the stairs, she found out that she was in the Chieftain’s House. Looking out the window, she could tell that the battle was still ongoing. She knew that Shaka should be somewhere in the Kraal and would like nothing more than to reunite with him.

On the other hand, she would most likely be shot in the heat of the battle. She had surmised that Shaka had freed the slaves at the Boer Mine below and attacked the Kraal with their help. Her own allies would either not recognize her as Shaka’s wife or mistook her as Chief Arnold’s lover.

Resolving to move through the Kraal undetected, Kunoichi exited the Chieftain’s House through the window. With her katana in hand and the kunoichi clone carried over her shoulder, she made her way through the streets of Boer Kraal. With the use of her felinid hearing, she was able to do so undetected.

As she moved, Kunoichi began to feel the weight of her clone bearing on her. It was true that felinids, especially felinid women, had lower body mass than baseline humans. Nonetheless, it was still a burden for her to carry the clone for such a long distance.

Kunoichi felt hopeful as she neared the rear entrance of the Kraal. It was smaller than the front gates. More importantly, it was unguarded. Every guard at the Boer Kraal had been called to defend against Shaka’s attack.

All she needed to do was to exit the Kraal and make a roundabout to the front entrance. Shaka’s soldiers would be less likely to shoot her when they were no longer in the heat of battle.

Little did Kunoichi know, that the clone had been playing possum for some time. The ropes that bounded her hands had been loosened, yet Kunoichi had failed to notice this danger in her focus to escape.

Outside the village, Kunoichi couldn’t help but appreciate the grassy look of the hills that the Boer Kraal was located on. But that thought was interrupted when she was punched in the face by the clone.

The punch had thrown Kunoichi to the side, closer to the cliff.

Kunoichi had dropped the clone down. But more importantly, she had dropped her sword. Kunoichi looked on in horror as her clone took that sword and cut off the ropes that was binding her feet.

Once freed, the clone pointed her sword at Kunoichi.

Kunoichi quickly realized that the tables had been turned on her. As her clone counterpart moved ever closer with the sword, Kunoichi fell back. But soon she stopped as she realized she couldn’t move further back; cliffs were behind her and down below was the powerful River Draka.

“Of all the things that happened, I never expect this,” the clone said with a sneer.

Kunoichi gasped as she saw the face in front of her. The scar was one thing, but the bloodied face combined with that sneer…

The clone then lunged with her sword, Kunoichi instinctively guarded her belly. And she was struck on her shoulder.

The clone Kunoichi cackled again. “You should have finished me when you had the chance, sister.”

Having fallen on her knees, Kunoichi waited for death. As for the clone, she raised up her sword ready to cut off her enemy’s head.

But a shot rang out.

And the clone herself fell on her knees, having been shot on the leg. Her sword was dropped to the ground.

Behind her was Shaka and a group of former slaves who had come with him. Every one of them pointed their rifles at the clone.

“Let her go,” Shaka said sternly.

“Wait, Shaka,” the clone pleaded. “Friendly fire!”

“Nice try.”

Kunoichi rose back to her feet, still clutching her bloodied shoulder. “Please, you don’t have to do this anymore. We can give you another chance.”

“I don’t want another chance!” the clone cried. “I want his love.”

The clone then lunged towards Kunoichi in an attempt to tackle her. But the swift felinid girl was able to dodge her opponent completely. Having missed her target, the clone fell down the cliffs below to River Draka.

Kunoichi looked in horror at the river below. It had turned red for a few seconds before returning to its normal blue.

With the Kunoichi clone situation seemingly resolved, Shaka and Kunoichi returned to the camp to recuperate. Since Kunoichi was still wounded, the two of them were in the clinic as the felinid girl was being treated. It was then that Louis entered the tent and greeted the two.

“Thank you, Lord Shaka. I was ready to give up, but you stepped up in the end. Now it’s time for you to take your rightful place as the Chief of the Boer Kraal,” he said.

“You have it all wrong, Louis,” Shaka responded. “I didn’t do it for you or any of my people. I did it because my wife was captured, and I needed the manpower to rescue her. I don’t deserve to be your chieftain.”

“Nonsense, the prodigal son had returned!” Louis declared.

“Shaka,” Kunoichi interjected. “These people love you. It’s not right for us to turn our backs on them.”

The pathfinder considered his options, he was still reluctant. But in the end, he knew that his wife was right. He had been selfish for far too long. No more.

Having accepted his birthright as the Chief of the Boer Kraal, Shaka was then able to convince Louis to leave the two alone. Shaka had thought that he was about to lose his wife; having recovered her safe and sound made him want to spend as much time together with her as possible.

But then the ninja commander Ryu arrived.

“Sir,” he said.

Shaka breathed deeply in frustration. “What is it?”

“My apologies, sir. But we have finished the search for the clone Kunoichi’s body as you had requested,” Ryu explained.

“Did you find her?” Kunoichi asked. “Did you find my sister?”

At this point, Ryu looked away uneasily. “We did. But her body, especially her face, had been badly mangled by the jagged rocks of the river. I wouldn’t recommend looking at it, especially given…”

“I understand.” Shaka interrupted. “Thank you, Ryu.”

Realizing that he was being dismissed, Ryu bowed respectfully before he left the tent.

“I’m the last Kunoichi now,” the felinid girl said, a hint of sadness in her voice. “My first sister was killed in Castle Aquila, the second met her end in the waters of River Draka.”

Shaka couldn’t think of anything to say to his wife. For the next few moments, his thoughts were of the clone Kunoichi’s fate. To fall into her watery grave below. Shaka couldn’t help but think of what would have happened if Ryu and his ninjas hadn’t found her body.

She would have been swarmed by the fishes.

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