Twisted Turns Of Fate: Part One

     Creeping along the shadows, Quenten hurried along in silence. Seeing a streetlight ahead of him, he tried to make himself as thin as possible. He skirted along the beams of light, glancing back as he did to make sure no part of him had been caught in the rays.

     Suddenly, he saw a flash of silver; it was armor. He instantly knew who it was. 'I can ignore him for awhile,' he thought, and continued on.

     Just beyond the light pole was the door to the back storage room. He pulled the door open, slowly and quietly, and headed in. Looking around, he saw a large stack of dusty, cobweb-covered boxes in the corner. Using his sensitive Mynci nose, he smiled as he smelled the Negg. 'Definitely fish,' he thought, and quickly dug through the mess and found it.

     Quenten stepped outside, the Fish Negg tucked tightly under his arm. He turned and was about to leave when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He almost screamed as he whirled around, but didn't when he saw who it was. "Jeran!" He whispered angrily, frowning. "You scared me half to death!"

     The great Blue Lupe laughed. "Sorry. Is that you, Quenten?" He asked. When the black-clad, mask-wearing Mynci nodded, Jeran grinned. "I thought that was your voice."

     For a moment, they were silent. Then Quenten asked, "So what are you doing here?"

     Jeran glanced at Quenten's side. "Same reason as you, I see," he said, pointing to the Negg.

     Quenten's eyes grew wide. "What? Now way! I need it!" He paused. "Why do you need it, anyways?"

     "Skarl wants it." Jeran said, waving a paw passively in the air.

     "But I need it a lot more then you do!" Quenten countered, clutching the Negg tighter. "I need it for school! I'm not letting you have it!"

     "I don't want it; Skarl does," said Jeran slowly.

     Quenten just wanted to get off of the subject. "So, um...how's Lisha? I bet she was happy when she found you, and sad when you went in that battle...and then died. But then she was probably happy when you lived again because of that faerie, Psellia..."Quenten voice faltered. Jeran looked irritated.

     "Well, how's things in your neck of the woods?" Jeran asked, his voice straining to keep calm. He coughed, trying hard not to lose his cool.

     After Quenten said that, Jeran was just...really agitated. Only he and Psellia knew what would happen if he told anyone, even Lisha or his good friend Quenten, what happened that fateful day. If he even just whispered the details to a soul, well...he shuddered at the thought. He just didn't want to talk about it. He had almost failed Lisha; he didn't want to fail her again.

     Quenten broke through his thoughts. "So how's Lisha?" he repeated softly.

     "She's fine!" Jeran snapped angrily.

     Just then, a green Shoyru landed beside them. He was dressed in a knight's outfit; it was Fredrikson, one of Jeran's highest-ranking trainees. "Sir," He said, turning to Jeran. "Skarl wants to know what's taking you so long to get the Negg." Turning to Quenten, he saw it under his arm. "Oh," he murmured. "I get it."

     Jeran sighed. "Now what are we going to do?"

     "Um…let me have it?" asked Quenten hopefully.

     "We can't do that," Fredrikson said, shaking his head. "I know! Why don't we all go to Meridell and…"

     Quenten's mind raced. "No! I have to bring it to Sensei by noon tomorrow or…" He sighed. "Or I fail and get kicked out."

     Fredrikson sighed. "Sir, this is for the King. He needs it more than you. After all, you could just go to the Island Training centre and…"

     "But I don't want to go there! It's full of…" But Quenten was cut off as Jeran laid his paw over his mouth.

     The great blue Lupe laughed uneasily. "Sorry Fredrikson, let me just talk to my friend here. You don't mind, do you?"

     Fredrikson nodded. "I'll be waiting," he said, watching as they went off.

     Once they were out of earshot, Quenten threw Jeran's paw off his mouth. "What are you doing?" He asked.

     Jeran sighed. "Listen, I have an idea." He bit his lip. "But we're going to need to work hard to do it right. Here's what we do..."

     * * *

     The plan now in both of their heads, Quenten and Jeran went back to where Fredrikson was standing.

     "Now remember," Jeran said, winking as he wagged a finger at him. "Knights and Ninjas don't need to lower themselves down and talk with such vulgar. Am I right?"

     Quenten nodded vigorously, smiling too. "Right."

     Fredrikson looked at both of them, a confused look on his face. He could sense something funny was going on, but just couldn't put his wing on it. "You guys feeling okay?" he asked.

     "Oh yeah," Quenten replied. "And by the way, I've decided to let you guys have the Fish Negg. ONLY," he added, seeing the happy look on the green Shoyru's face. "If I can come with you. I didn't work so hard to get it for nothing!"

     Fredrikson sighed. "Fine then. But how are you going to get back to Meridell?"

     Quenten smiled mischievously. "Ninjas have their ways."

     Reaching behind him, Quenten pulled out a round object from his Ninja belt. "See you at the Castle!" And with that, he threw the orb down. Immediately, the alleyway filled with blue smoke. When it left, he was gone.

     "All right Jeran, what was that all about?" questioned Fredrikson.

     "Oh, nothing. Now let's go; I'll bet Lisha's getting worried..."

     So with that, the two set off, Fredrikson still scratching his head in confusion at what was going on.

     * * *

     By dawn, they had reached the Castle. "Just a second, Fredrikson," Jeran said. "I'm going to see if I can find my friend. He still has the..." Looking around, he lowered his voice. "...The Negg." Secretly, he was just going to update him on their plan. 'So far so good,' he thought. 'Let's hope it stays that way...'

     Then, just as he rounded a corner, he saw Lisha running toward him. "Jeran, you're here! Finally; I waited all night for you!" she exclaimed

     "Yeah, I've missed you too…" gasped Jeran, as Lisha was hugging his waist so hard.

     "I'm so glad you're back," the happy yellow Aisha murmured.

     Jeran looked into the trees and saw movement. Quenten! "Uh, okay," He said, gently pulling away from Lisha. "I have to go...um...meet someone, over there."

     "Who?" Lisha asked.

     Sighing, Jeran thought fast. "I'm...I'm meeting with a Mutant Draik who wants to become a knight. Want to come?"

     Lisha pulled a face. "Um, no thanks. I'll go read. Bye!" And with that, she scampered off in the other direction.

     "Phew," Jeran whispered, wiping his forehead with his paw. "That was close. And now, to check up on Quenten..." He hurried off into the trees. "Quenten, is that you?" he asked.

     "Yeah. Who did you think I was? Sloth?" he replied sarcastically, frowning.

     "No, but still...."Jeran's voice trailed off. "I made some changes to our plan."

     "You did? Now what?" asked an exasperated Quenten. "I'm exhausted!"

     "I know you are. It's just that I think Fredrikson is getting suspicious."

     Quenten sighed. "Well, okay then."

     "So," Jeran whispered, leaning closer. "This is how we're going to do it..."

     * * *

     Jeran walked out from the trees, Quenten close behind. They rounded the corner and met a very impatient Fredrikson on the other side.

     "Finally!" He let out an exasperated sigh. "You got the...thing?"

     "Well…" Jeran was cut off by something grabbing him. This was not part of the plan...and worst of all, Quenten was with him too. At least Lisha was gone...or so he thought.

     "Jeran! Jeran!" Lisha screamed in his ear as she tugged on his waist. "There's a NINJA here!" She pointed to Quenten, who sighed. He gave Jeran a look that said, 'What are we supposed to do?'

     Jeran thought fast. "Well, uh...he's...uh..." He took a deep breath. Would this work? Was Lisha gullible enough to believe it? "My prisoner."

     "Your-Your prisoner?" Lisha stammered. "What for?"

     "He was trying to steal the...you know," he said. "I'm taking him to Skarl."

     "Oh..." the little Aisha murmured. She looked at Quenten and grinned. "Ha! You're going to get yours now, Ninja!" Then ran off.

     Fredrikson frowned. "What was that all about?"

     "Uh...It's a joke. Ta-da! " Jeran spread his arms in jest and smiled meekly. But his voice faltered as he saw the disbelieving look on the Shoyru's face.

     "Jeran, you may be honored, but I just don't trust you anymore," Fredrikson said, shaking his head.

     Jeran leaned over and whispered to Quenten, "Do you have any memory-erasing potions in that belt of yours? I could sure use some, if you catch my drift."

     Quenten laughed. "Sorry, but no."

     Jeran sighed. "Thought so." Then he, Fredrikson and Quenten set off to the Throne Room of Castle Meridell.

To be continued...