*Earlier that day*
*At the building of Internal Affairs, Morrison had called all available members of Shadow Eye to gather for an emergency meeting. The only members that were able to show up were Jade, Raika, Sanada, and Gael. All four members were in a room with Rika who was wearing a black skirt with long black socks, a short-sleeved black shirt with a purple necktie, and black heeled shoes. Everyone else was wearing winter clothing. Jade wore black pants and a hooded sweater that was black and white and had paw prints on it. Sanada wore a dark grey winter haori with navy blue pants. Gael had on a grey sweatshirt with a black haori jacket over it, and some blue jeans. Raika had a long-sleeved brown sweater with white lining and black jeans*
(Rika): Is this really everyone? I know Dust, Ryuuji, Amarti, Zia, and Alita are out but where are Morgan and Hibana?
(Jade): The professor has classes to teach at the university.
(Raika): Final exams are coming up so he can’t afford to skip or cancel classes.
(Rika): Yes, that is important. And Hibana?
(Sanada): She is watching over Sweet Heaven for us. And we mustn’t forget that she’s not an official member of the order. She’s a freelancer, she can deny our requests if she chooses, and without Dust here getting her to assist us is already difficult.
(Gael): Even getting her to agree to watch over Sweet Heaven was a chore.
*Morrison walked in wearing his normal black suit with a blue and white scarf on*
(Morrison): Greetings everyone. I apologize for the short notice but we have a situation out west near the Jexius Mountains.
(Raika): What’s the situation?
(Rika): Eclipses. A whole horde of them ravaging the land and invading our territory.
(Jade): So you want us to go there and back up the knights?
(Morrison): No. Blue and red knights have already been deployed. They’re good and have begun pushing back the Eclipses and saving any citizens caught in the attack. However, some of the Eclipses got through and have made their way into our mining site in the Jexius Mountains.
(Jade): Alright. Doesn’t sound like our problem. Just have the knights out there take care of them.
(Morrison): Actually, it is our problem. Because of the horde, the knights cannot spare to send anyone to hunt down the Eclipses. Not to mention our own vice commander is stuck up there protecting workers from the Eclipses.
(Gael): What vice commander? Rika’s right here.
(Rika): Not me. Our second vice commander. Nate Dessian. The Everyday Breeze.
(Gael): Nate Dessian?
(Sanada): Oh yeah, I guess you haven’t gotten the chance to meet him yet.
(Morrison): Nate is the second vice commander in the Black Tortoise Order. Back in the day, he was my assistant in the Blue Dragon Order. After the rebellion, I set up the Black Tortoise Order and Nate was one of the first people to join the order. The early days were tough and it was thanks to him that the order was able to become so successful. Even now he’s still one of the key members of the order.
(Gael): Sounds like one hell of a guy. So what was he doing out there?
(Rika): Apparently, he was performing an inspection on the mining facility when the Eclipses attacked. He and the knights put up a good fight, but even they had a tough time against these numbers. Some of the knights have already been killed, miners and facility workers have been injured, the Eclipses are blocking their escape route down the mountain, and their food supplies are running low.
(Gael): Can’t you just call in an airstrike and clear the area?
(Raika): Not with our men down there. They could get caught in the fire and the explosions could cause an avalanche and kill everyone.
(Jade): So it’s a rescue mission? Fight the Eclipses and get everyone off the mountain. Sounds like a fun day at the office.
(Morrison): I admire your optimism Jade, but this will be a tough assignment and I don’t like the idea of sending just you four out there. Normally, I would send other knights to assist with this rescue but I’m afraid they’re not cut out given the danger level of this mission.
(Rika): Which is why I will go.
*Rika’s announcement surprised everyone*
(Sanada): Are you sure about this Rika? We’ll do our best to watch over you, but you know as well as us that we can’t guarantee your safety.
(Rika): Your concern is appreciated, Sanada. But don’t think of me as some delicate flower that needs protecting. A member of my order who I respect is in danger. I won’t sit back and do nothing. Now on your feet, samurai. We have people to save.
*Sanada instantly stands up*
(Sanada): Yes ma’am!
*After realizing what he just did, he blushes all while closing his eyes and getting a snicker out of everyone*
(Raika): That’s our Queen of Darkness.
(Rika): Still got it. Let’s move.
***
*About half an hour later the group had arrived at the Jexius Mountain via aircraft. The pilot landed near the foot of the mountain with medical staff on standby to treat the injured and a few Black knights to watch the area for possible attacks. The group exited the aircraft with everyone fully dressed in winter gear to conquer the cold*
(Rika): Keep the area secured until our return. If worse comes to worst retreat and shoot a flare alerting us.
(Black knights): Yes ma’am!
*The Black knights get to work setting up and securing the area while Rika and the members of Shadow Eye headed toward the elevator shaft of the mountain*
(Rika): We’ll use the elevator to make it up to the mining facility level and clear out any Eclipses. Get everyone off the mountain and be back in Brister for supper.
*The elevator arrives, and everyone enters it to head up*
(Jade): You know this place is going to be overrun with Eclipses.
(Rika): Well we got a vice-commander, a wind samurai, a ranger, a legendary hero, and a wild dog. I’m sure we can take on any Eclipse that comes our way. By the way Raika, are you going to be okay? You’re going to be limited in terms of gunpower up here.
(Raika): Not to worry. I brought some silencers to limit the noise of the guns. Should be safe.
*The elevator stops. Once the doors open everyone exits the elevator with everyone drawing their weapons prepared to fight. However, to their shock, there was no sight of Eclipses in the area*
(Scene): This was not the scene I was expecting.
(Rika): This is impossible. Our reports said the mountain was crawling with Eclipses.
*Everybody continued to walk the path to the mining facility staying on guard*
(Raika): Maybe they heard we were coming and decided to run away.
(Jade): No. They’re here. I can smell them.
(Rika): You can smell them?
(Jade): Trust me. When you fought them as long as I have their stench never leaves you.
(Gael): She’s right. I’m sensing multiple auras in the area and none of them are friendly.
(Rika): That’s right. You can sense auras. Tell me, I’ve always wondered, what exactly does the aura of an Eclipse look like?
*Gael thought about it for a second*
(Gael): Shapeless. . .and dark. It’s like looking down into an endless abyss. I don’t know how far it goes and it’s like there’s nothing inside.
(Jade): Not surprising. They’re soulless monsters.
*Jade takes her club and thrusts it off to the right where she stabs a boulder. Except, it wasn’t a boulder, it was an Eclipse in the form of a chameleon*
(Jade): All they care about is destroying all life on this planet.
*Jade pulls back her club from the chest of the Eclipse and it falls to the group where it starts to disappear. All of a sudden, a bunch of similar Eclipses appear surrounding the group*
(Gael): Where they’d come from?
(Raika): They’re chameleons.
(Sanada): I was under the impression they couldn’t survive cold climates.
(Raika): They must have shed their skin to adapt to the cold environment.
(Gael): They can do that?
(Rika): They’re soulless creatures but they know how to adapt to their environments.
*The Eclipses started to crawl toward the group. Not wanting to wait, the group decides to go on the attack. Raika fired the first bullets and hit two of the Eclipses which staggered them and stopped them in their tracks*
(Raika): Their skin is harder too. Put your back into those swings.
*Everyone nods and charges at the Eclipses. Sanada slashes through one Eclipse vertically followed by a second Eclipse vertically. When three Eclipses were closing in on Sanada, he took a deep breath and charged as quick as the wind slashing through the necks of the Eclipses to kill them*
(Sanada): Tornado Stance: Cyclone Dance.
*Jade slashed through three Eclipses’ necks with ease using the blades on her club. Jade’s left arm got caught by one of the Eclipse’s tongue and started to get pulled toward the Eclipse’s mouth. However, Jade managed to plant her feet and stop herself from being pulled forward. Using her right hand to get a good grip on the tongue, she uses her strength to lift up the Eclipse and toss it to two other Eclipses. With their bellies exposed, Raika shot them to kill them. Another Eclipse snuck up behind Jade and attempted to catch her with its tongue but Jade sensed the attack coming and sidestepped the tongue. She then grabbed the tongue with her right hand and swung with her club to cut the Eclipse’s tongue off. The Eclipse screams out in pain as Jade ran toward it and thrusts her club into its underbelly. Then she swung the club up to slice it in half. Gael was busy dodging the tongue attacks of two Eclipses. Jumping and flipping through the air waiting for his opportunity to strike. When the Eclipses were positioned on both of his sides, they fired their tongues at him and he dodged them by jumping in the air. The Eclipses got their tongues tangled together and struggled to get them untangled. When Gael landed he ran toward the Eclipse on his right with an orb of light magic in his left hand and shoved it into the mouth of the Eclipse. This caused the Eclipse’s head to explode and the rest of its body to dissolve. This just left the Eclipse on the left who retracted its tongue. Using his speed, Gael reached the Eclipse with his light bo staff and began to whack it upside the head with multiple attacks before jumping and delivering a spinning kick. This attack sent the Eclpise flying toward Sanada who sliced it in half with his sword. As all of this was happening, Rika was blocking the tongue attacks of the Eclipses with her sword. She was currently surrounded by five Eclipses but didn’t seem worried or scared at all. After ducking the attack of one of the Eclipses, Rika slips past the tongue and ran toward the Eclipse where she swung her sword upward to decapitate the Eclipse and turned around to focus on the remaining four who were now bunched up together and fired their tongues at her. Maintaining a calm demeanor, Rika struck the ground with her sword to make a purple circle around her and disappeared. Rika would shortly appear behind the Eclipses slowly sheathing her sword*
(Rika): Fall, you fools.
*All of a sudden the four Eclipses were slashed by multiple sword slashes. They were shredded apart before their bodies began to disappear*
(Rika): Any other Eclipses in the area?
(Gael): I don’t sense their auras.
(Jade): And I don’t smell anything. I think we’re clear.
*Everyone takes a sigh of relief as they gather together*
(Raika): Good work everyone. Let’s continue but keep your guard up.
*Everyone nodded and proceeded to make their way to the mining facility with Jade and Gael leading the way, Rika and Sanada taking up the rear, and Raika in the middle*
***
*As they proceeded toward the facility, they came across more Eclipses but none of them were as strong as the ones they faced earlier*
(Rika): We’re almost there. Just over this next hill and we should see the site.
*Everyone continued to march forward*
(Gael): So, what’s this Nate guy like?
(Sanada): Curious, huh? If I had to describe him he’s-
(Jade): Plain. Incredibly plain.
(Sanada): I was going to say calm, understanding, hard-working, and focused but yes, plain is the best word to describe him.
(Gael): Plain? What does that mean?
(Raika): Just like it sounds, he’s plain. No real discernable features or abilities. He’s just a plain guy who does good work and that’s it.
(Rika): If I had to compare him to an Arcana card it would be the Moon. He doesn’t take the spotlight and works from the shadows. He doesn’t seek recognition. As long as the job gets done he’s happy.
(Gael): Huh. Trying to paint a picture of the guy but I’m getting nothing.
(Sanada): You’ll know what we’re talking about when we see him.
(Jade): Speaking of which.
*The group was on top of a hill overlooking the facility. They saw power stations, smaller buildings, and one large building that served as the facility building. Past the buildings was a mine cave with cart rails leading into it. As they looked around, they saw Eclipses in the form of polar bears walking the area*
(Rika): There’s certainly a good number of them. I see why Nate hesitated to make a move with this many around. If we rush in we’ll be surrounded and attacked.
(Sanada): Our chances of success depend on luring them away from the facility.
*As Raika continued to look around she noticed the communication tower off to the side far away from the facility building. She then began hatching a plan*
(Raika): I’ve got an idea. But I’ll need Jade’s help to pull it off.
***
*A few minutes passed as Sanada, Gael, and Rika stayed hidden surveying the area and waiting to see what Raika and Jade had planned. All of a sudden, the sound of Jade howling could be heard over the area attracting the attention of everyone. Upon hearing the howling, the Eclipses turn their attention to the communication tower where the sound was originating from. A majority of the Eclipses began to make their way over to the tower while others stayed behind. Seeing this opportunity, Sanada, Rika, and Gael charged toward the facility building. Along the way Rika and Sanada slashed through eleven Eclipses total to make it to the building. While they were fighting their way to the building the Eclipses that made their way to the communication tower were closing in hoping to eliminate any potential threat in the area. At a higher point overlooking the tower, Raika was watching while holding a detonator in her hand*
(Raika): That’s it. A little closer. Almost there.
*Raika licked her lips in anticipation as the Eclipses got into position. Her thumb is firmly on the detonator*
(Raika): Oh, sorry.
*Once the Eclipses are in position, Raika presses the detonator button and the ground surrounding the communication tower begins to glow yellow. Electricity begins to surge through the ground shocking all trapped within the electric field. The Eclipses trapped within the field get shocked with the stronger and bigger ones falling down paralyzed while the smaller ones began to disappear. Once the field died down, Jade emerged from a pile of snow with her club in hand. She ran to the nearest Eclipse on the ground and chopped through it while Raika shot through another one to kill it. As the two fierce ladies were cleaning house, Rika’s group made it to the facility building and knocked on the metal gate door. Looking up, they saw a camera and waved at the camera. The people inside who saw this acted quickly and disabled the lockdown protocol on the building. The metal gate went up and two Blue knights ran toward the doors. One was dark-skinned with short blonde hair and green eyes with a muscular build and the other was short with light short blue hair and red eyes. They both wore dark blue winter coats with the Blue Dragon order emblem on the back, black pants, and black boots*
(Dark-skinned knight): Oh thank the Gods you arrived.
(Blue-haired knight): Is the area clear?
(Rika): Yes. How many of you are there?
(Dark-skinned knight): Counting us there’s eight total. Four knights and four miners. One knight is injured and one miner injured as well.
(Rika): Bring the injured out first and we’ll make our way down the mountain. Hurry!
(Dark-skinned knight): Yes ma’am. Right away.
*The two knights hurry to get the others. Rika and the others stood out to watch the premises for any more Eclipses. The two knights returned with the miners and other knights. The injured knight had his right arm in a sling and his right leg heavily taped up. He used an arm crutch to maintain his balance. The injured miner was being held up by the other two miners. His body heavily bandaged with blood spots on them*
(Injured knight): Lay that man down and put him in the hammock. We’ll carry him out.
(Blue-haired knight): Captain, what about you? You’re heavily injured too and need to rest.
(Injured knight): Don’t worry about me, I’ve handled worse. Besides, he needs it more. I’ll be fine.
*As the two knights and miners got to work slowly placing the injured miner into the hammock another man wearing a black suit, with a white shirt, and a light blue tie began to approach Rika and the others. His eyes were grey and his hair was short, sleek, and black*
(Black-suited man): Hello Rika. Thank you for coming to rescue us.
*Rika turned around and smiled seeing the man before her*
(Rika): My pleasure, Nate. How are you holding up?
(Nate): I’m fine. Not the first time I’ve spent all-nighters at the office. And I see you brought Shadow Eye.
(Sanada): It’s good to see you again, Nate.
(Nate): And you as well, Sanada. Is this the new member I’ve heard so much about?
*Nate turned his attention to Gael who stared confusedly at him*
(Nate): Ah, where are my manners? My name is Nate Dessian. Vice Commander of the Black Tortoise Order. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Here’s my card.
*Nate reaches into his pocket and pulls out a card to hand to Gael who accepted it with a puzzled look on his face*
(Gael): Uhh~ thank you. I’m Gael. . .Tristian. Newest member of the order. Wow, you. . .really are plain just like everyone says.
*Nate smiles cheerfully*
(Nate): Thank you. I get told that quite a lot.
(Dark-skinned knight): Okay, we’re ready to go.
(Rika): Excellent. Sanada, you and Gael take the rear. I’ll take the front with Nate. We’ll meet back with Jade and Raika and make our way down the elevator to get back down.
*As soon as Rika finished her sentence Jade came flying by them followed by Raika who was shooting off into the distance. Jade landed in a pile of snow while Raika was caught by Gael*
(Raika): Thanks for the catch, Gael.
*Gael sat Raika back on the ground*
(Rika): What happened?
(Raika): We attracted some unwanted attention.
*Everyone heard a terrifying roar and looked to see an Eclipse in the form of a polar bear standing on two legs with two long fangs hanging out of its mouth and sharp claws made of icicles*
(Sanada): That’s a big bear.
*Rika draws her sword and gets ready to attack*
(Jade): Don’t. Its skin is tougher than the others. Your sword will bounce off that thing and leave yourself wide open to attack. It’ll shred through you like wet paper.
(Rika): If we leave it it’ll just catch up to us. You guys go ahead, I’ll keep it distracted.
(Nate): That won’t be necessary, Rika. I’m still on the clock so let me handle it.
*Nate places his hands on his knees and does a couple of squats while taking deep breaths before standing back up and loosening his tie*
(Nate): Allow me to earn my paycheck.
*Nate then charges at the Eclipse. When Nate is within range the Eclipse swipes at him but Nate dodges the attack with a sidestep and strikes the Eclipse in the stomach with a right jab. As he struck the Eclipse, grey wind magic particles surrounded his fist. This in turn pushed the Eclipse back a few inches and stunned Gael who sensed nothing special about the attack. Once the Eclipse recovered from the punch it let out a roar and swiped downward hoping to squash Nate but he did a backstep to avoid the attack. Nate then ran up the arm of the Eclipse to deliver a one-two wind punch to the side of the Eclipse’s face. This in turn broke its fang. Once Nate landed back on the ground, he began to deliver rapid punches to the stomach of the Eclipse. Gael was again stunned at what he was witnessing. The attacks were effective but plain to see. Nate continued to dodge the attacks of the Eclipse all while focusing his attacks on the stomach area of the Eclipse. When he finally believed he had done enough damage, Nate prepared to unleash his final punch*
(Nate): Wind Spear Punch.
*Nate did a left jab at the Eclipse as the wind magic around his fist formed in the shape of a drill spear and tore through the stomach of the Eclipse leaving a hole in its stomach for everyone to see. The Eclipse began to disappear and Nate tightened his loose tie to return it to normal*
(Nate): We should be good to go now. I suggest we get moving before more possibly show up.
*Nate quickly rejoined the others and together they all made it to the elevator and escaped the mountain*
***
*Sometime later, they were all back in Brister and it was nighttime. The miners and Blue Knights were taken to the hospital for medical treatment. Nate declined any medical treatment assuring the staff that he was fine and left with Rika and the members of Shadow Eye. They were outside the building of Internal Affairs with Nate bowing to them*
(Nate): Once again, thank you all so very much for saving me. I’m sorry for any inconvenience I might have caused.
(Raika): Don’t worry about it. Anything for a friend.
(Nate): I would still like to show my gratitude for the rescue. Perhaps I could treat you all to some ramen.
(Sanada): Hmm~, that sounds delicious.
(Gael): Yeah, I’m starving.
(Raika): I could eat.
(Rika): As could I.
(Jade): I’ll take a raincheck on that ramen. Morgan messaged see so I’ll go see what he wanted. Take it easy guys.
*Jade begins to walk off*
(Nate): Wait, Jade.
*Jade stops and turns around to face Nate*
(Nate): The extension you asked for on the temple is almost up.
(Jade): I don’t suppose I can ask you guys for another extension?
(Nate): Afraid not. Even now it’s a miracle you haven’t been thrown out yet. I’ve done everything I can. You have until the end of the month to find a head priest for the temple otherwise the kingdom will take possession of it and you’ll be forced to leave.
(Jade): Alright. I’ll keep that in mind. See ya.
*Jade waves goodbye and takes her leave*
(Gael): What was that all about?
(Rika): By law all temples within Brister must have a head priest or head nun residing at the temple in order to continue its operations. If a head priest or nun aren’t there then the temple is handed over to the kingdom who can decide what they want to do with it.
(Raika): We’ve been trying to help Jade find a head priest for the temple but so far nobody wants the position.
(Gael): Then couldn’t she just become a head nun? Wouldn’t that solve everything?
(Sanada): Becoming a head nun takes at least three years of training. She doesn’t have the time. The only other option she has would be to marry another priest and borrow their name to keep the temple open. But like we said, no priest is interested in the temple. There are no followers, it’s not in a high-traffic area, and the place could use a number of repairs. It’s not worth the investment or time in their eyes.
(Nate): We’ve tried reaching out to the former followers to see if they’ll take over but tracking them down has been difficult. They all scattered after the former head priest passed away.
***
*In an unknown location a tiger demihuman wearing a straw hat and monk clothes that were brown, green, and red arrives at an inn. He was holding a shakujō (monk staff) with a brown bandana on it. Upon entering the building he removes his hat to reveal covering his black hair and brown eyes. He approaches the innkeeper who was Milano*
(Milano): Good evening. Welcome to the Takaragawa Inn.
(Demihuman monk): I seek a room for the night. Do you have any openings?
*The demihuman hands Milano his credits*
(Milano): Of course. One room for a mister-
(Demihuman monk): Mumen. Mumen Benkei.
Author’s Note: This was another calm chapter where we focus on the rest of Shadow Eye and meet some new faces. I like the idea of showing what the rest of the team is doing when another team is away. The others aren’t sitting around doing nothing; they’re actually having their own little adventure or mission. Nate was a character I thought about introducing earlier in the series but decided to hold off as I wanted to focus on establishing the other characters first and felt his character would be easy to establish. He was inspired by everyone’s favorite gym leader, Larry, as well as Agent Kay from Men in Black and Question from DC. With so many outlandish characters and personalities, I thought it would be funny to have this normal, plain, straight-as-an-arrow guy who just wants to do his job and live a normal life. He’s used to the madness of the world and instead of reacting to it wants to use that energy for something better. He’s normal guy living in a world of magic. The bit at the end with Jade losing the temple does add a bit more stakes as we enter the next arc of the volume and shows that even though Shadow Eye has vast resources, there are some things that not even they can resolve. The newest character Mumen’s last name comes from the famous warrior monk Benkei Musashibō and originally was going to be an owl demihuman, but the magic and fighting style I have planned for him didn’t match that of an owl demihuman in my opinion. Look forward to seeing a unique and different fighting style from Mumen down the line. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.