1 The Undercore

The sun rays pierced through the window glass and crashed on Shu's eyes. "Ahhh!" he screamed as he got out of bed. He walked towards the window and looked out. It was the neighbouring twins. They called themselves 'The Troublesome Twins' or T.T.T. for short. They usually waked Shu early by using a mirror to point the sun rays at him while he was sleeping. Shu let them go this time and walked downstairs from his room.

As Shu entered the living room, he saw a book lying on the sofa. It was there since Shu had left it 3 days ago. He had to return the book to the library today. Shu pulled on a hoodie and his jeans. He planned to go play games at his friends house after returning the book. "Mom! I am going to the library, gotta return the book!"

Shu walked to the library under the blazing sun. Because, his bicycle had a flat tire. He was basically drenched with sweat by the time he reached the library. He returned the book and started looking for another book. He was keeping his finger on the title of each book while sliding his fingers through books. Suddenly, something caught his attention. A book, a book with no title.

Shu pulled the book out. Just as Shu pulled it out, a mechanism started. The clonks and klinks of the gears and cogs behind the shelves could be heard. The shelves started to move themselves blocking Shu's escape. Shu looked right and a shelf blocked the path. He looked left, another shelf blocked his path. The sounds of gears got louder as the shelf from which he pulled the book, slid aside like a door and opened a huge gap full of darkness.

Shu looked around and the situation didn't really give him any other choice. He could go only one way, the darkness. Shu stepped inside. Everything was pitch black, he could not see anything. As he walked a bit. The shelf slid back, he couldn't go back even if he wanted to. He was panicking, his heart beat was getting faster. "Don't panic! Don't panic! Don't panic!" Shu kept saying to himself.

Shu then looked around. He had no option. But, to keep going through the darkness. As Shu walked deeper and deeper, the air around him got colder and colder. He had been at least walking for a 15 minutes. He was not tired. But, cold. He walked on and on. It seemed like it would go on for infinity. He was so immersed in just walking ahead that he didn't notice it was a bit warmer.

After walking for 5 more minutes Shu realised that the temperature was back to normal. He felt a bit better. He did not know, if what he saw was an illusion or real. He could see a very small dot of light. He wasn't sure, So. He ran. He could see the dot becoming bigger and bigger, and finally Shu exited it.

After coming out, Shu saw that it was cave. He walked around for a bit, and then realized he was lost. He did not know where to go, he was surrounded by trees. He was in a forest.

He heard a few twigs breaking, He looked around. But, could not see anything other than trees. There weren't even birds on the branches of the trees. Shu had lost all hope, when suddenly, he heard a growl.

Shu walked a bit and heared a loud growl. Then from the shadows of the trees, came out 5 wolves were circling around him. He was terrified. The wolves closed in every second. Suddenly, he got an idea. He didn't know if it would work as he planned or not. But, he couldn't really think of anything else. As one wolf got ready to pounce. Shu threw some dirt into the wolf's eyes.

The wolf howled in pain. Shu took this as his chance to flee. He dashed at another wolf that was getting ready to pounce. The wolf jumped at him with his claws extended and mouth open to bite. Shu ducked and punched the wolf in the ribs when it was in mid-air. The wolf hit the ground with loud thud and a painful howl. The wolves had an opening between them as one of them had fallen aside.

Shu sprinted as fast as he could and escaped through the opening. The wolves chased behind him. He was getting out of breath. since, he had to continuously sprint with full speed. He was getting slower with every heart beat. Suddenly, a shuriken hit the wolf. The wolf howled loudly in pain as blood started to come out of the place where the shuriken hit. Seeing that one of their pack members was wounded they all retreated.

Shu saw that the wolves retreated. He stopped, panting to take in oxygen as fast as he could. Just when he thought he was safe, a figure walked in through the shadows. "You are not from here, are you ?" The figure from the shadows said. Shu looked in the direction from where the voice came from. "Uh- no.."

The person who walked towards Shu was a boy, he was wearing a shirt and a pant. When Shu saw the boy, he let off a sigh of relief. "Hey, could you help me get back home ?" He asked the boy. The boy looked at him and said, "I need to kill you. If you are not from here!" As he unsheathed a katana from his back. "What! No! Why!" Shu said as he started walking backwards slowly, he tripped over something and fell down. The boy closed in with his katana.

Shu realized the boy wouldn't stop, he tried to look as intimidating as he could. while he searched the ground for something, he was staring at the boy as if he was preparing an attack. He searched the ground with his hand, he was looking for something. And he did, he picked a stone that was as big as a fist. He threw it at the boy who was coming closer to kill him. The boy saw the stone coming towards him and slashed it, cutting the stone in half.

This was enough time for Shu, as the boy had got distracted left an opening. Shu was near the boy before he knew it, Shu then punched him and grabbed his head which he smashed into his knee. Shu had got an opportunity and he would not let it go, he then grabbed the boy's arm and slammed him into the ground.

The boy still did not lose his grip on his katana even after getting slammed. But, nor did Shu.

He still had hold of the boy's arm. Shu then picked the boy up with his arm and threw him.

The boy managed to not fall on his head and stay on his knees, he maintained his balance using his katana. The boy stood up and dashed towards Shu, with his katana aiming for his heart. Shu analysed the situation and dashed towards the boy too.

The boy slashed his katana, which Shu countered by going for a sliding tackle just a moment before the boy could react. Shu tackled him, the boy fell on the ground. Shu looked at the boy fallen on the ground and said. "Can you tell me what's going on?" Shu asked the boy. The boy stood up and said, "Well, you don't need to know!" As the boy slashed towards Shu.

None of them knew what happened. The boy was on the ground. Shu was ok. An old man was standing between them. He protected Shu. He looked at Shu and said, "Say boy, want to be a ninja?" The old man asked, Shu wasn't sure if the old man was joking or being serious. But, the boy who had fallen got up and said, "What do you mean, sensei? not him, he's not from here." The old man looked at him and said,"What if he is not from here? he's the perfect volunteer." The old man smiled at Shu. But, the boy was still unhappy. "No sensei! You can't waste that on him!" The boy pleaded the old man to change his decision.

Shu looked at them and interrupted, "Wait a second... First of all. Where am I ?" Shu asks them both, shrugging. The old man smiled at Shu again and said softly,

"The Undercore."