Free White Ninja by Tiffiny Hall Page A

stick. It feels warm, seared by the many hands that have fought with it. At first, the stick feels clumsy in my hands and my wrists are stiff, but after a while I find I can spin the stick around my body, copying Jackson. We stand mirroring each other’s movements. Jackson speeds up to challenge me. I’m up for it.
    â€˜Why do you need me?’ I ask, spinning the stick.
    Sabo moves between us like a referee and we stop spinning the sticks when we see the black velvet case in his hands. My questions vanish as he opens the case to reveal a set of glittering silver stars.
    â€˜ Shuriken ,’ says Jackson, ‘or throwing blades — a ninja’s number one weapon, used to paralyse an opponent from afar.’
    â€˜The ninja star will show you who you are,’ Sabo says.
    I look down at the constellation of stars: they are all different, some with serrated edges, others with fat spikes, some with knife points, others with blunt points intended to maim rather than kill. I select a silver star with a serrated edge and an orchid symbol in the centre.
    I hold the star in my hands and close my eyes.
    A flash of shoulders, a scream, my mother’s ponytail in my face — she’s running, with me on her back. I’m a baby, no more than a year old. I clutch her neck for dear life. I feel something at my feet. I look down and see the head of a sword tucked into her black belt. There are men on horses charging after us, men in front of us. My mother is kicking and striking her way through the men, using her katana sword. Her sapphire-midnight hair gallops against her back as she spins. Her ninja shinobi shozoku and her porcelain cheeks are striped withwarrior blood. She is panting white-hot breath into the night, her silver sword flashing light into her dark eyes.
    A man with a sword approaches, his eyes red with rage. He lifts his sword. Mum reaches her elbow back behind her ear, lifting the ninja star past my cheek. The star has serrated edges and in its heart is an orchid. Just like the ninja star I now hold in my hands.
    â€˜Wow,’ I whisper, opening my eyes. ‘Mum’s ninja star.’
    I think back to the words my mother wrote yesterday on my hard-boiled egg: Reach for the stars . Maybe she meant ninja stars.
    Sabo nods. ‘Ninja is passed on strongest through the female line,’ he says.
    I’ve often wondered if there is any ninja in Elecktra or me. But Mum has always told me it’s impossible because of who our father was. And our father remains a mystery.
    I look at Jackson. He’s smiling at me. ‘And the White Warrior?’ I ask.
    â€˜Legend has it, the White Warrior is born with the power to control the martial arts elements of wind, water, earth, fire and invisibility,’ he says. ‘He wears a white shinobi shozoku because of his amazing powers. Only one White Warrior is born every century — and they’re hunted by the samurai and ninja clans, becauseif you kill a White Warrior you get his powers.’ Jackson’s eyes are intense.
    â€˜You want to kill the White Warrior?’ I ask.
    â€˜No,’ Sabo says, ‘I want him for the demo team. Earthquakes, storms and all that — it’ll be awesome!’
    â€˜You’re not serious?’ I say.
    Jackson laughs. ‘Long ago, the ninjas swore to protect the White Warrior, and in return the White Warrior protects the ninjas.’
    â€˜Against who?’ I ask.
    â€˜The samurai, who still hunt the White Warrior. They want that power for themselves. As the Tiger Scrolls are the link to the White Warrior, Hero wants to find them first. If he succeeds, the ninja clan will lose all our protection and the samurai will become all-powerful.’
    My heart traps in my throat. My saliva turns to cement. ‘This must mean Hero is a samurai!’ I blurt. This takes his bullying to a whole new level. Hero is not just a bully; he’s my mortal enemy , I think as