* SiXtEeN * Difficulty: Easy or Hard?

"Still, if there was a sign we were desperate, I think it just knocked on the door and said hello." -Quote by Alistair on Dragon Age: Origins

I walked to my parents' room and slowly opened the door to have hot air blown into my face. Shylo followed quietly behind. We peered in and saw nothing broken. I walked to the bookshelf to see the sculpture perfectly fine. "It's ok! Let's go for food!" Shylo exclaimed.
"Don't you think someone could be in here? There were guards. Maybe another is in here," I explained cautiously.
"If it makes you feel better," Shylo sighed, walking to the closet and expecting nothing to come out. She pulled open the door, and we looked in and saw Eeris cowering between shoe boxes. Quickly I grabbed her by the shirt, pulled her out of the closet, then shoved her against the wall.
"What do you think you're doing here?" I asked angrily.
She looked at me with shock that then changed to anger. "I'm just doing what I was told," she answered haughtily.
"That doesn't mean you have to obey that. Don't you know that Rio pretty much kidnapped you? Yet you listen to whatever he tells you to do."
"But . . . "
"He's just using you for his own selfishness, idiot! He experimented on you! You can join us and help us kill him or I'll kill you now, so you're not in the way later," I threatened. I was thinking her living and helping us would be more useful than her being killed, and then she could live a real life that doesn't involve being bossed around all the time. "So what is it?" I asked calmly.
She closed her eyes in thought then answered, "I'm guessing Dan told you about me, and I've seen your skills. I'll join you, because I know you guys can get rid of Rio."
I eyed her her expression carefully to see relief in her eyes, "Okay, you're in."
"What? You're letting her join us this easily?" Shylo asked with surprise.
"We let Koki join just as easy as this."
"True . . . " Shylo replied with an unsure tone.
"Okay then. If you do anything stupid, you're gonna be in big trouble. Got it?" I asked Eeris.
"Yeah, of course-but-" she started but was interrupted by me being grabbed from behind. I was pulled away and thrown into the opposite wall. I opened my eyes to see some guy in a ninja-looking outfit. Quickly I stood up, pulled out one of my glowing knives, and stabbed him as he came at me. He stumbled back and ran off really fast. In the confusion, I let my knife slip from my grasp, and he ended up keeping it with him in his stomach. I looked at Eeris who was in a state of shock.
"Since when did Rio have a ninja?!" Shylo shouted.
"You distracted us?" I asked Eeris as if I was going to burst anger shouts at her no matter what she answered.
"No, I was about to warn you!" she retorted with worry.
I chuckled, "Yeah, I know."
"A-freakin'-ninja!!" Shylo exclaimed as if excited yet shocked.
"Shylo, if I just stabbed him, he's not a very good ninja," I said with a smug smirk.
"But did you see how fast he was?! That was so cool!"
I rolled my eyes, "I know. Normally I love ninjas; but, considering he tried to attack me, he's evil!"
"He took your knife," Eeris said quietly.
"Ah . . . looks like he did. Aw-well, I can always get it some other day, if we meet him again," I replied calmly. It was just a small knife, and I have another one.
"So, Eeris, would you like to join us in our quest to get groceries?" Shylo asked, smiling.
Eeris thought quickly and answered, "Sure."
We walked to the front door of the house and stopped to see Koki and Tai coming in.
"Who was THAT?!" Tai exclaimed out of breath.
"Did you see the ninja, too?" Shylo asked excitedly as if that "ninja" was a celebrity.
"He chased me!! Then after I made it closer to the house he ran off somewhere!" Tai said, huffing for air.
"It was comical," Koki chuckled.
"Well, he threw Taryn across your parents' room," Shylo said as if, in a competition, being thrown beat being chased.
"He was here?" Koki asked now unamused.
Shylo nodded.
"I stabbed him, but I reacted too fast, so it probably didn't injure him enough," I said calmly.
"Good enough . . . I'm starving!" Koki stated with a smile then noticed Eeris behind us. "Um . . . where did she come from?"
"A closet," Shylo smiled.
Tai and Koki gave blank stares toward Eeris then looked at me.
"She wanted to join us. If she does anything out of line, feel free to punish her," I explained as simple as it could seem.
"Oh, ok then," they both answered.
Eeris was looking unsure about them.
"They will only attack for a reason, so don't give them a reason," I smirked. Then I noticed her expression change to be calm and thoughtful one. I followed her gaze to see her looking at a dazed Koki as if she could read his mind.
"We were on our way to get food so . . . " Shylo interrupted my curiosity.
"No need, we stopped to get some!" Tai said, grabbing bags from Koki and surprising him by the sudden movement.
"Well then, what are we having?" I asked.
"Rice and chicken!" Tai exclaimed.
Shylo snatched the bags and headed for the kitchen; I followed quietly, pulling Eeris with. Once we came in, Shylo turned to me and said sternly, "Leave Eeris with me. You go chill and look around for anything of yours missing."
"Oh . . . okay. Thanks," I answered with a warm smile.
"No problem!"
I watched as Eeris asked what to do, and I decided to go look at my room some more. I couldn't think of anything of mine that could have been stolen. Then I walked in and automatically looked at my desk full of stuff. I picked up the book I was reading before my parents met Rio that day. It made me wonder why I didn't remember seeing Rio and Droi before. When I heard someone come in and start yelling I watched from the stairs with Tai and saw who I now know are Rio and Droi, but there was another person with them . . . a boy with short brown hair. Shocked out of my memories, I heard a thump close behind me and turned around quickly. I saw Koki holding my sketchbook and looking down at the box that fell. He looked up at me and said with a sheepish smile, "Sorry."
"It's fine. Just a box I made. So what are ya doing here?" I asked, crossing my arms.
"I wanted to see if you drew anything new since the last time I saw this," he said, holding up the sketchbook.
"Nothing new. It's been here the whole time."
Koki eyed a picture carefully and smiled. "Who do you think this was?" he asked, showing me the picture Shylo showed me.
"Well, I thought it was Kei at the time, and now it still may be Kei."
Koki made one of those buzzer noises. "Wrong! It was me! I was dozing off in the sun and thinking of the yummy batch of cookies you made that day."
"The cookies?" I asked with amusement.
"They were delicious, of course. I was upset when you yelled at me for pigging out on them."
"It's not my fault I wanted to save some for my parents," I replied calmly. When he didn't reply, I looked over at him. He was staring at me calmly in unbelief. "What?"
"You never show your emotions, Taryn," he stated.
"What do you mean?" I asked with confusion.
"Usually when someone would talk about someone close that died or something, they would get upset about it easily; but you don't show anything. Have you hidden all your feelings so much that you never show your true feelings anymore?"
"I . . . hid my feelings?" I whispered.
"You never cried around anyone, when we were younger. No matter what happened, you never cried."
I stared at him carefully. "How are you so sure that was you I drew?"
He huffed angrily and decided to give up questioning. "Because I looked at you drawing at the time, but I didn't know it was me 'til now."
Suddenly something seemed to ping in my head, and I cringed at the noise.
"Food's ready!" Tai called from downstairs.

Author's Note

A ninja!!!