Chapter Two

Author's Note: Well it's been awhile but here's a new chapter of Shinobi Hime. I know some of you have been anticipating it so here it goes!

Sora looked dumbfounded at the mop and bucket in front of her, "What's this?" she questioned.

"This is part of your training." Layla informed her.

"What am I supposed to do with it?" she blinked eyeing it carefully.

"You're to mop and scrub this entire dojo." Layla instructed her before walking away.

"How is this part of my training?" she called back to her feeling very frustrated with the task at hand.

"I need to see how dependable you are." She said before disappearing from her view.

"I've never cleaned a day in my life…" Sora sighed feeling out of the loop.

"Well I suggest you learn." Said a girl with fiery red hair wearing a black garb. She had piercing blue eyes and was a little shorter than Sora.

"Who are you?" Sora blinked eyeing her suspiciously.

"My name is Rosetta and my specialty is the Diablo." She stated looking at her intently.

"Specialty?" Sora questioned.

"My specialty is my weapon I wield of choice, everyone here has either a weapon they're extremely skilled at using or some have a power they can activate at any time." She enlightened.

"A power…Is it possible that I might have a power that I can activate in battle?" she inquired becoming very inquisitive.

"The only people who have these powers are the ones that are born under a full moon." She elaborated with a mystical look in her eyes as if she was craving a battle.

"Well do you think you could help me activate my powers if I have any or teach me a skill?" she asked leaning in closer.

"Sure I'll teach you a skill princess." Rosetta smirked as she pulled out an object resembling a child's toy.

'What kind of joke is this?' she thought to herself as she watched the young girl equip her weapon. Rosetta placed the childish looking object on a string and shot it through the air aiming right for Sora's head.

"AHH! Hey what are you doing!" demanded Sora dodging the attack before it hit her.

"You said you wanted to battle!" exclaimed Rosetta aiming her Diablo in all directions just like a missile.

"I don't have anything to battle with!" she yelped barely missing her onslaughts.

"Then activate your power princess or you'll die by my hand!" Rosetta warned her as the ambush of Diablo attacks became more frequent, so she grabbed the only thing at hand—her mop.

"Hi-ya!" Sora shouted jumping through the air towards her raider.

Rosetta stopped her attack with just one simple throw of her Diablo to the head leaving her unconscious. Sora saw thousands of stars swirling around her before she blacked out.

~X~

"Rosetta I precisely told you to test her not kill her!" the voice hissed.

"I just thought she needed a lesson in self-defense." Rosetta shrugged unmoved by the situation.

"She must be protected…She's the chosen one." The voice whispered in return.

"I didn't know! I promise I'll be more careful next time!" Rosetta apologized feeling astonished by this revelation.

"We mustn't reveal any of this to her until the time is right." The unknown voice instructed.

"Right." Rosetta nodded in full agreement.

~X~

"What happened?" Sora mumbled coming too. She held her head when she was reminded of the pulsating pain.

"You were hit in the head by one of our clan members." A voice she recognized told her.

"Oh so it wasn't a dream then…" she muttered as she continued to rest her head in her hands.

"I'm surprised that you actually took some initiative to defend yourself." Layla said emerging from the shadows.

"Layla?" she blinked very confused.

"Sora I think that perhaps you might be trainable after all." She retorted with a twinkle in her eye.

"Rosetta said there are powers that a few of the clan members are able to activate in battle…Do you have one of those powers Layla?" she questioned.

"That is Master Layla to you princess….I will not reveal any of my battle secrets to you until you prove your worth here as a servant and an opponent!" she exclaimed as fire and ice collided in her eyes—sending sparks of light throughout the room.

"I will Master Layla!" Sora said bowing humbly.

"Then arise and complete the task I have set before you!" she commanded throwing her fist in the air full of excitement.

"What would that be!" Sora inquired pumping her fist in the air excitedly.

"Mopping the dojo like I asked you to earlier now get to work!" Layla demanded handing her the bucket and mop.

"Yes Master Layla!" Sora saluted her like the captain of the guard would do before scurrying away.

"She has now mercy does she?" Sora sighed mopping the same room for the third time as she awaited inspection.

"Much better now clean the rest of the dojo!" Layla commanded leaving Sora with her work cut out for her.

"Who are you?" inquired a mysterious voice behind her.

"My name is…" but Sora slowly turned around before finishing her sentence to meet the face of another young girl around the same age as Rosetta—the girl who'd nearly forayed her earlier. The girl had soft blue eyes with tousles of blond curls.

"Are you dumb or something?" the girl shot out overly examining her.

"No I'm not! I'm the princess of this entire region as a matter-of-fact!" Sora defended herself boldly.

"If you're a princess then why are you mopping the floors?" the girl inquired curiously.

"Good point." She sweat dropped.

"You're funny." The young girl giggled.

"I feel very out of place here." Sora sighed leaning on her mop for support.

"I'm Marion…the clan leader's daughter." She stated introducing her herself.

"I'm Sora, and I'm the princess of the Kaleido region. My kingdom was attacked four days ago, and I was brought here wherever here is." She said sighing sadly feeling very lost and alone.

"Don't be sad Sora! You'll be home again very soon I'm sure of it!" Marion jumped in exuberantly.

"You really think so?" Sora asked perking up a bit.

"Uh huh!" Marion assured her.

"Thank you Marion…but can you tell me where I am?" Sora queried still very unsure of her remote location.

"You're at least a day's trip from home." Marion retorted.

"I see so do you know what anyone's planning to do about my kingdom?" she asked feeling her tongue burn with anticipation.

"No one has said anything about your kingdom princess." Marion informed her.

"I see." Sora sighed feeling a bit at unease.

"You have a purpose here Sora…" Marion said as her gaze sharpened. The wind whipped wildly through the trees as if they were speaking to her and then she looked down to see that Marion was gone.

"Did I just see a ghost…?" Sora inquired to herself feeling very frightened. She slowly looked to her left and then to her right, but she was nowhere to be found.

"This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder." She said to no one in particular as her mopping began to get slower and slower.

Sora began to contemplate all sorts of strange things. She was really dead and this was purgatory. She was stuck in a coma, and she'd somehow dreamed all this up or this really was reality and she would have to deal with it.

"Not too bad." Layla said examining her work.

"What would you like me to do next Master Layla?" she asked carefully.

"Get some rest; you've passed the first part of your training. Tomorrow will be the real deal." Layla informed her before sauntering off.

Sora lied down on her tatami relieved that she could finally rest. She wondered if she would be able to keep up with the rest of whatever Layla had planned for her. She shuddered at the thought of what her future held here. Could she truly embrace the life of the shinobi and become the one thing Leon had tried to protect her from? She laid on her stomach and began to drift off to sleep and then began to dream.

~X~

Sora found herself in a forest with the sound of the wind howling around her, but the trees weren't blowing at all. She looked down to notice that she was wearing different attire from the one she'd been given at the dojo. She was wearing light pink robes with the symbol of a full moon on the front. The sleeves were long like a kimono but were slit up the sides. She had on boots that came to her knees; they were strong and made easy for movement. She also noted her hair was pulled back in two long braids securely fastened by two sakura hair clips.

"Where am I?" she said aloud to no one in particular admiring her new outfit.

"You're in hell!" someone shot out from behind moving swiftly behind her. Sora jumped in the air to avoid being run into the ground by her newfound foe.

"I'm Sora Princess of the full moon! Be prepared to die by my sword fool!" she cried taking the newly discovered sword from her hilt nailing her perpetrator to the ground. She only caught his garments, so she pinned him down to the ground with her knee and looked at him with blazing eyes. He was wearing a mask, so she pulled it from his eyes to notice that in horror he had no features at all. He was a faceless man. She jumped back in horror as the thing laughed at her menacingly.

~X~

She woke up in a cold sweat breathing heavily.

"It was only a dream…." She assured herself, "Just a dream." She said again trying to calm her breathing.

She stood up and dusted off her robes to notice that her room was very dark except for the tiny candle flickering in the corner of her room. She picked up the candle and opened the screen door and headed towards Leon's room. She opened the door and closed it. He was still sleeping but had new dressings for his wounds. She knelt down beside him and brushed a lock of silver hair from his eyes gently.

"Leon tomorrow I start my first day of training with Layla…I wish you could be there to watch it." She sighed feeling lost within his darkened room.

"I promise that I'll get stronger so that I can protect you from everyone who seeks your life. I feel like I'm meant to be here for some reason. I think maybe that I'm the one who can save us all." She said surprising herself with her foolish statement.

"What I'm trying to say is please get better quickly Leon-san so that we can go home!" she exclaimed feeling a strange sensation course through her body like there was something inside her that needed to come out.

"Goodnight Leon-san…" she whispered goodbye before leaving his room. She shut the door behind her and walked out into the night to notice a full moon had risen above her. It exemplified the sensation she was feeling and it allured her into its mesmerizing presence.

"Don't go any closer!" a voice shouted and before she knew it she was being tackled to the ground by someone wearing a black garb.

"You're very lucky she didn't take you." The tackler told her removing their garb to reveal none other than Layla herself!

"Master Layla what's wrong with me? Why do I feel like I'm about to explode from all this pressure building up inside of me?" Sora asked holding her head in anguish.

"Come back inside now!" Layla said forcefully yanking her up and dragging her back inside the dojo make the feeling inside her lapse.

"Why do I feel like I'm being pulled in every direction?" she asked again feeling very dizzy.

"Sora I think you just might be her." She stated heavily.

"What do you mean?" Sora questioned.

"I think you're the one who will save us all." She respired feeling very sure that the girl standing in front of her was the final piece that they all needed to complete the puzzle.

A/AN: Three new characters…Rosetta the Diablo master, Marion the mysterious clan leader's daughter, and a mysterious person who is yet to be revealed! What's wrong with Sora and just what does Layla have planned for the young princess? Is there more to her than meets the eye? Stay tuned and find out! ^_~