Ralph glanced to where he had seen Raizen and Quill walking off with the one-arm man. He had seen the injuries Raizen had received during his fight with the one-arm man, but he didn’t know how serious it was. He hoped his teacher was alright. It would suck to finish to the mission without him and under Quill’s - he assumed - watchful eye. He didn’t know the other teacher’s teaching style, but he had heard rumors of it and it was considered to unorthodox.

“Hey,” Ben spoke up, “It will be alright.” Ralph turned to him when the half Tiefling paused, “Master Quill is with him and they should be back, shortly.” Ralph slowly nodded then he glanced where the two ninja masters walked off.

“Hey, Lilian, Enzo,” Ralph called out, causing his teammates to turn to him, “Raizen said he will be back after he gets checked out by the Hospital and said we should listen to them -“ He jerked his thumb to the other team, “if something should happen.”

Lilian raised an eyebrow as a thoughtful expression crossed her face before she nodded. Enzo sighed and muttered something that Ralph couldn’t hear, but he turned away.

“It must be bad if Raizen has to go to the Hospital,” Padme voiced, “We have worked with him when he had another team. When he was injured, he usually handled it himself.” She looked toward where their masters disappeared, “If it’s an injury he can’t perform first aid on himself, it must be bad.”

Lilian bit her lower lip as she turned a worried gaze toward the hospital. Enzo’s cheeks lost some color. Ralph’s gut tangled up with worry.

“Hey, don’t worry,” Anakin spoke up, “Quill is with him. Everything is alright.” They fell silent as they thought about what happened until Anakin spoke up, again, “Okay! We still have a mission to do, guys. Let’s get back to work.”

“He’s right,” Ben agreed, walking away from Ralph and went back to work. He grabbed several large tent poles, placed them on to his shoulder, and carried them over to the cart where he tossed them onto the pile.

Anakin followed his example, grabbing armful of debris and went to the trash cart. Enzo kicked the ground before he went to the remains of a tent and grabbed what he could carry before he went over to the cart.

Ralph watched his teammates before he joined them, falling into a rhythm of grabbing armfuls of trash, carrying it over to the trash cart, dumping it, and repeat until lunch time. They broke for lunch and went their own way.

Ralph sighed, thinking about what he should have for lunch. He should have packed his lunch. Maybe it would help save some money when he was tight on coin. There would be a chance he wouldn’t get burnt out a particular food like he was of certain noodle soup dishes. His stomach did a sickening twist at the thought of that noodle soup dish. He had enough of that for a lifetime. He crossed his arms over his chest, thinking.

“Hey, Ralph,” someone called out. He raised his head to stare ahead of him before he looked around until he spotted the person who called out. Ralph’s eyes widened in surprise as he sucked in a breath. It was Sion, another orphan who was given the name of Barkson upon entering Basic Training.

“Sion!” Ralph called out in excitement. He didn’t think he would ever see one of his ‘brothers’ again, in a name. Sion, a follow orphan, had finished his basic Training three years ago and left the Village for long period of times, once he achieved the rank advance Ninja. He had hoped Sion would have been his teacher, but according to the research he had done, Sion wouldn’t be able to take on a Team until he reached the rank of Master. Usually, that rank was achieved after four years of being a ninja. Ralph pushed his disappointment away and darted across the street to where Sion stood. “How are you doing?”

“I’m good,” Sion grinned, brightly, “I just got back from a mission.” His face became dreamy. “It was a wonderful mission as well.”

“Oh,” Ralph said, looking at Sion, “Where did you go if you can tell me?”

Sion blinked and looked at Ralph, “I can, but it is going to take some time.”

“On my lunch,” Ralph grinned, “I don’t have to be back on the job until 1.”

“Awesome,” Sion looked annoyed as he ran a hand through his blond hair, “I need to get a hair cut soon.” He muttered to himself, despite the fact Ralph heard him, before he spoke louder, “Where are you getting lunch?”

“I don’t know, yet,” Ralph admitted, looking at Sion.

“How about that Fried Chicken place over on 6th street,” Sion suggested, “It’s been a while since I ate there.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Ralph blinked. He had forgot about that place. He nodded in agreement over the suggestion and the two orphans walked off toward the fried chicken restaurant. Sion didn’t waste anytime, launching into what he had been doing for his mission. He waved his arms widely as he recounted his tale, “Roma. I had to visit to Roma to get back an item for a client.” He gave Ralph a look, “You really should have been there. It’s bigger then what they told us in Basic Training.”

Ralph looked at Sion wide-eyed. Roma was the largest city of the Christian Religion of Avalon led by the Pope who lived with an order of Paladins, the fighting arm of the Christian Religion, and an order of Holy Brothers. He remembered learning about them in his Avalon History class while he was in Basic Training and it was also part of the Political Class he had to take.

“Whoa,” Ralph breathed, “So, what did you have to get for the client?”

Sion shook his head, “Can’t tell you. Top Secret, you know.”

Ralph nodded his head in understanding. It must have been a S-class mission. Those usually marked as Top Secret and only involved the people who needed to know about it. According to those mission parameters, Ralph didn’t need to know. He pushed that topic out of his mind. “How long will you be in town?”

“Probably just for today,” Sion said, “I got goals for the future. I want to find out what happen to my family - before I was dumped at the orphanage - and regrow the family name.”

As far as Ralph could remember, that was Sion’s goal. The older teen knew something had happened, but he didn’t know what. He only had faint members of his mother and father. Ralph knew Sion would dream of them, waking up, muttering about blood everywhere and screams of several women. Ralph didn’t know if Sion ever got his birth records from the orphanage or not. If he did, it could explain the reason why he was given to the Orphanage instead staying with a family member after his parents’ death - assuming they are dead and just didn’t want to deal with a child - for some reason.

“You will get there,” Ralph said, “But first, you have to find a woman willingly to put up with you.”

Sion pouted, “Don’t remind me.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “You think since that new law about women have to have three children, they would be trying to get that job done and over with, but, no!” he vented, “So far, all of the women I know of want to join the single life for a bit, work on their ninja skills, and wait a while before they settle down to start working on a family.” Ralph didn’t say a word, letting his ‘older’ brother rant, “And most civilians won’t let me even near one of their daughters, saying because I’m bastard born, I’m not fit for their daughters.”

“Do you realize I will be facing the same thing you are not,” Ralph asked, slowly. Sion paused, a thoughtful expression went across his face, and he nodded. Ralph continued, “They are judging you by your actions and since we share the same last name, the same orphanage, they will do the same to me.” He paused, allowing his words to set in, “And to our other brothers and sisters who don’t know their birth families and forced to take the name Barkson or Barkdottirs - they will have the same trouble. Unless they decide to go outside the Village for a bride or a bridegroom.”

Sion sighed, “Yeah, I know.” He kicked at the ground as he walked, “I’m thinking about that - finding a woman in a small village and make her my bride. Hell, depending on how many kids I have, I could have my own ninja village in a few years.” He laughed lowly. “Maybe have more then one wife to make sure my family name lives on and spreads out.”

“Isn’t that Not allowed by the church,” Ralph asked as they turned onto the street they were looking for.

“Yeah, if you follow the church,” Sion winked, “There are many more religions out there who don’t limit the men to one wife. If a man wishes, he could have as many as he wants.” Ralph blinked at him as Sion grinned, brightly, “It’s one way to make sure my family name and line continues on.”

Ralph shook his head. Sometimes, he didn’t know what to do about Sion. Other times, he would join in whatever Sion had schemed up. He chalked this time up as Unsure about Sion. “Enough about continuing the family line. I mean there will be plenty enough time to talk about that, later, Sion,” Ralph started, “ Did you go anywhere else?”

Sion gave him a wide grin, saying, “Of course, I did.” He straightened up, puffed out his chest, and placed his hands on his hips. “I went through the Barrier to Earth.”

Ralph’s jaw dropped. He felt immediately jealous. He knew there was a chance he would go to Earth one day, but hearing Sion already did - it burnt. Despite the fact many of the Bark Ninja had the ability to go Earth, they chose not to. From when he asked them their reason on not visiting Earth, they often gave the reason they didn’t have a reason to visit and had no desire to go there. He still didn’t understand why. Earth, from his understanding, was their original homeland. In the past, their forefathers traveled from there to Avalon. Some of the Clans ended up in the Dead End Forest by accident and decided to start over like the Sakura Clan did. Other Families had their Original Clan Head from a country on Earth who got lost and found themselves close to the Village with no knowledge on the way back.

However, according to the rumors Ralph had heard while he was still in the orphanage, there were a handful of children who were kidnapped and brought to the village to fulfill the Family Mission every Ninja was required to complete before they turned 35. Those children were adopted into families and grew up in the village. Some of them did vanish for a short while once they accepted an Earth Mission, but they returned, changed, and emotional hurt. They eventually became themselves again and continued accepting missions, but always refused to visit Earth again and never explained their reasoning.

Ralph glanced at Sion. Maybe he was one of the kidnapped children from Earth and he just hadn’t found his birth family yet. Of course, there was a chance Sion wasn’t and was born in the Village, but something had happened to his family and the ending result - Sion became an orphan. Ralph tried to push his jealously away. It was a dangerous emotion to experience. Instead, he grinned when he saw the chicken restaurant and pointed it out to Sion. They hurried toward it. The conversation about their future, Families, and visiting Earth forgotten as they entered the restaurant and ordered their lunch.