Flying Shuriken

The sun was setting, and dusk had begun.

Bright hues of red, orange, pink, and blue dashed across the horizon, contrasting against the wooden pagodas and vibrant pink cherry blossoms.

Cultasho Tomashi, a student of the Blue Nebula Clan, sat upon a wooden rooftop, gazing into the night sky and savoring the cool breeze against his scales.

“Tomashii!!!” a faint voice called, seemingly a couple of houses away. “Tomashi!!! Sonada-san wishes to speak to youu!!!...”

Tomashi let out a soft sigh. “Ah, someone always comes to interrupt a calm night. Well, I had better go speak to the master.”

Tomashi rose to his feet, pulling his hood over his head and raising his mask over his face. In a flash, he leaped high into the air, soaring across rooftops, jumping one by one until he landed in the middle of an open courtyard.

“Welcome, my young pupil,” a soft, elderly voice emanated from a dark corner. “I am glad you have come.”

An elderly lizard slowly stepped out of the shadows, like the moon emerging from behind clouds. Tomashi turned his gaze to meet the elder. “Grandmaster Shinho, it is an honor to be summoned to the Sanctuary.”

Tomashi lowered his head and bowed to the old Grandmaster.

“I have heard rumors of a threat that may spell trouble for a nearby planet,” Grandmaster Shinho spoke with a concerned tone, “...we must investigate, try to help those poor souls, and in the process, protect the harmony of our homeworld.”

“Tell me, what could possibly threaten our homeworld, Grandmaster?” Tomashi asked with arrogance in his voice. “We have neither treasure in abundance nor exotic goods, and we possess one of the strongest militaries in the surrounding seven sectors.”

Grandmaster Shinho responded with a soft sigh. “Whatever this threat is, my young pupil, they seem to want neither gold nor truffles, nor are they deterred by our military might. I fear what they seek may be far more valuable and dangerous.”

“Very well, Grandmaster. I will investigate this threat and stop it before it reaches our home.”

Tomashi bowed slowly toward Grandmaster Shinho. With a great leap from the courtyard, he dashed across rooftops toward the spaceport.

As the breeze swept through the gaps in Tomashi’s garments, he thought to himself that this might be the last time he would breathe the air of his homeworld—the last time he would smell the sweet fragrance of the cherry blossoms currently in bloom, or hear the soft tones of streams trickling through the countryside. A couple of blocks from the spaceport, he stopped running and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to savor the sounds and scents around him.

“Mmm, Sari-san is making that sweet red bean mochi again,” he thought as a familiar sweetness drifted over the air. Letting out his breath, he opened his eyes, his gaze fixed with determination toward the spaceport. “For my home.”

He picked up speed, dashing faster until he slid through a high window and landed on a landing pad in front of a sleek black ship with metallic gray accents. Short in length and slightly oval in shape, the ship’s multiple flared wings gave it a distinct appearance. Across its bow, below the cockpit windows, words were etched in the native language of his planet. Tomashi read them aloud:

“Black Lotus.”

The name suited it perfectly. From certain angles, it resembled a black flowering lotus in full bloom.

Tomashi raised his hand and pressed a button on his wrist controller. The ship instantly lit up, bright lines tracing its edges as the interior systems powered on. Another press, and the ship groaned as the cargo hold door opened, lowering the walkway. Tomashi strode into the ship, his footsteps echoing along the sleek black corridors lined with dim white lights. He made his way to the cockpit and buckled himself into the pilot’s seat.

In front of him lay a smooth surface of semi-transparent glass. With a swipe of his hand across its base, the console came alive, lights and holographic buttons projecting across the surface. To the far right, a holographic projection of the system appeared, with multiple planets and moons labeled faintly in the air. Tomashi zoomed in and out, finally focusing on a planet in an adjacent system: Zanis.

He pointed, and the planet became highlighted with a glowing white outline. Suddenly, the ship roared to life.

The engines rumbled, a hot blue flame erupting from the twin engines at the rear. The Black Lotus lifted off almost silently before accelerating, erupting skyward through the open hangar bay doors. Once the ship broke orbit, it gave a slight shudder, and the space outside became a blur—it had entered slipspace. Tomashi was en route to his destination.

Two hours later, Tomashi awoke with a sudden jolt. The ship had come out of slipspace abruptly.

Tomashi blinked, looking out the cockpit window at the vast expanse of space. “Where did we stop…? Why did we stop?” he muttered. “This isn’t right. We shouldn’t be at Zanis yet.”

Suddenly, the console buzzed loudly. A holographic figure flickered into view.

“Greetings and welcome, my friend. My name is Cap’n Barge. Me and me crew have decided you will be our newest guest aboard me ship. I sincerely hope you’ll come quietly. I do hate breaking the bones of guests who resist.”

Tomashi’s eyes narrowed. “Who is this?” he thought. “And who does he think he is, making demands of me?”

Glancing at his instruments, Tomashi noticed the ship was no longer under his control. A gravitational force was pulling him toward a nearby vessel.

He let out a yell that echoed through the Black Lotus' corridors:

“They won’t get away with this. Damn pirates!”