Book 2: HomeFront

Mastering Rule #3

 The building was not nearly as impressive as Leonardo imagined. If he was left wandering the village himself, he would have passed it up completely. There was no fancy decorations, no gold trim or bright red walls. The Wu Kwan was the same muddy, brown color most of the village buildings were. The only thing that distinguished it from the homes was the absence of a porch which was replaced by a short flight of steps into the building. Leonardo and Venus stepped lightly as they approached the door. It was very sturdy with hard paper covering the cut out squares. Venus reached for the knob and turned it. Very steadily did she let it open, not omitting a single creak from its hinges. The two poked their heads into the room. There was a woman sitting on the floor. Her back was turned to them as she sat in a criss-cross position. In front of her was an array of candles before a mural of a metallically colored dragon on the wall. Beside her was a small, colored teapot and teacup. Leo did not know nearly anything about Chinese tradition, but as a Japanese-reared boy, it appeared she was merely enjoying herself and taking in the fine detail of the art before her.

"Hexie." Venus spoke, disturbing the silence. The woman stopped. The cup's rim barely pressed up to her lips before she calmly set it back down beside her. Silence followed.

"Meinu." The woman finally spoke. Surely, she stood up and turned to reveal her face. She was a middle aged, Japanese woman. Her outfit was all black, like a true ninja, complete with yoga-like pants and a long sleeve turtleneck. Her hair and makeup were the most interesting. Her haircut was blonde underneath and a natural black color overlaying it. Her tresses were short with the exception of a single strip on long, black hair on each side dangling down to the middle of her neck. Black eyeliner carved out her small eyes with an edgy flavor to them. Lastly, a splash of red lay underneath the ends of her eye wings. She was most interesting indeed, but such an abnormal creature was no less a beautiful, older woman. This must be Miwa, but the tension of the room made no assurance of that.

Her hand whipped out from her side with the form of a Frisbee thrower. Flying from her hand, three familiar, shape-pointed discs were whipped into Venus' direction. The turtle girl made no move to the side and out of the way, as Leonardo did. Instead, she stood perfectly still. She appeared to be waiting for the shurukin to come to her. Speedily, the discs came for her. Suddenly, her three-fingered hands slowly rose up to her vision. Her hands began to glow and an irritated look on her face grew. The shurukin came near her face until they began to glow with the same, blue aura of her hands. The course of the discs was changed, rounding themselves near her face before heading straight to the woman who threw them. Leonardo was not sure that the other woman was magical as well, but he knew she'd be in for a flurry of cuts in a matter of seconds. The woman did not move either. Instead, she picked off the shurukin as they came close, throwing them down to the ground and stopping their deadly movements.

"Couldn't catch them today?" The woman's defensive posture dropped. She became loose and comfortable as she strode towards the two.

"They came in too fast for me." Venus shrugged, leaning on her left side. "I'll get it down soon." The woman let out an audible 'Hm', smiling. The turtle girl removed her hat and left it and her robe hanging on an available hook. Funny enough, there were only two hooks up to her reach as compared to the rest of the hooks underneath that were meant for the rest of her normal sized students. Venus tapped the back of her finger on his shoulder, telling him to hang his hat and coat up. Miwa must have been a stickler for having outerwear in the Wu Kwan. Leonardo obeyed, wanting to remain on the woman's good side, even if it compromised his identity. He didn't see it, but Miwa held on a look of surprise. Instead of addressing it directly, she treated it as if anyone could look like that and did not let her curiosity get the best of her reunion with her old student.

"You're repelling abilities are getting stronger." She complimented. Her voice was smooth and soothing for such a rock-hard woman.

"Oh yeah. If anybody throws something at me less than an ounce, I'm so in there." Venus spoke sarcastically, using outrageous hand gestures to prove her point. The woman giggled before they both bowed to one another.