The Formidable Stranger (Trilogy)

The Formidable Stranger

Days passed as the thought resonated in Casper's mind, he was still a little reluctant in going along with the plan but ultimately he made up his mind that if he really wanted to defeat Jasper then there wasn't much of a choice to make. By this time his friends had heard everything and they were fully supportive, Drew was tired of the abuse he kept on getting from Jasper and had his best friend's back all the way. Penelope however, was sad to see him go; he was also her best friend from a longer while and now the love of her life, but she still wished him well. He had not told her the full extent of the truth but a vaguer story like the one he told Katherine, he had all his stuff together and was ready to board the family jet to Japan on the next Sunday morning.

The Saturday night before his flight his friends decided to throw him a going-away party; Drew, Tammy, Cipher and Penelope all gathered at Casper's home with pizza and board games, they played charades too and laughed together for the entire night. By the time it was midnight everyone was so tired and even too drunk to go home, Katherine invited them to stay the night, Cipher took the couch and Drew and Tammy had the guest room. Penelope laid in bed with Casper that night as neither of them could sleep, instead they were up for half the night talking.

"3AM, I don't think we're falling asleep tonight" he said to her

She laughed softly and replied "Come back to me in one piece"

Neither of them could hide the truth that they were going to miss each other terribly, they cuddled and remained silent after talking for hours until they began kissing; captivated by the sweet aroma of Penelope Shanae, Casper could barely control himself as his hands began to wander off into the tender and welcoming valley of her thighs, and she was ready to give herself to him.

As the kissing got deeper, racing to catch their breaths he heard her whisper softly "I can't.."

"Why not?" he asked

"I .. there's some things about me Cas, that if you ever found out... I know you would hate me"

"I... will never hate you Penny" he reassured her, but she was steadfast in her decision

"We'll get there, just not now baby" she said as she looked into his eyes, he loved her and only wished for her happiness so he respected her wishes.

They laid together and finally fell asleep only to wake up again by 6. Everyone was awake and Katherine had Tammy and Penelope help her in the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone to eat before they went to the airstrip. They arrived there at 7:15, the family jet was fueling up to transport Casper to Tokyo and everyone said their farewells. They watched as the jet took flight and stood there for about two minutes before leaving, Casper was now gone and wouldn't be back as soon as they'd all like.

The flight lasted almost 14 hours, and without a doubt Casper slept for most of that time due to the night he had before. The jet touched down in Tokyo at 8:50pm and Casper was picked up from the airstrip there in a blue sedan; the car drove up to him and the window came down, he saw an old Japanese man in the back seat who said "I am Sensei Yakaturi, Ming and I spoke over the phone, get in"

They drove to an area far up in the hills of Japan where there were no houses or any establishment of any kind, just a lot of trees and a very long road. Finally, Casper looked ahead over a kilometer wide trench and could see where he was being taken; it was the base of the shadow warriors and it would take about ten more minutes before they got there. When they did arrive however, he was shown to his room; his roommate was a tall young man by the name of Zaotan who spoke only in Japanese. Casper thought to himself how much this felt like a jail cell, with a window with only bars at the back of the room there would only be cold nights to come. Every morning thereafter he would wake up at 4am to begin his training, along with Zaotan and 18 other young warriors, fifteen men and three women. They had to run four miles uphill every morning, and back down again for breakfast, throughout the day there would be various meditation sessions as shadows needed to perfect the art of being very still for several hours; so calm that they can quiet even the beat of their hearts and kill discretely making little to no sound at all. They would also have a lot of fighting exercises and weapons training, unlike every other dojo in the world which used safety methods when teaching this sort of stuff, the shadow warrior recruits were often hurt and their blood spilt by the masters. This was proving to be a very hard and dangerous six months and only the fittest and determined could survive.