On a String

Chapter 7

"This pistol is a Beretta 92, and is also designed to be used when going on the offensive as it is used for shooting opponents. Due to its relatively small size compared to longer range weapons such as sniper rifles, the Beretta is better designed for combat at close quarters or a medium range." he walked further down the table, picking up two identical, pieces of metal which had multiple points. "And, these of course, are shurikens, also known as 'throwing stars' or 'Ninja stars'. You throw them at your opponents- hence they are offensive weapons and can be used in a short to medium range depending on how far you can throw,"

Kai nodded. "Is that it?"

Zane paused, turning back to table to study the objects. "I suppose you could use the hammer as a club for close combat, but it would be a rather unwieldy 'weapon'. That is all that I can identify,"

Kai gestured for him to get back in line. "Did Zane miss anything?" he asked the group, but silence greeted his words. "What weapon would you all chose from this table?" Kai pressed. "What would you use if you were under attack?"

"Definitely the shurikens," Zane stated.

"Beretta," Cole decided.

"Beretta or shurikens," Lloyd said thoughtfully.

"I'm not the best at throwing shurikens, so probably either the Gerber Mark II or the Beretta. If there was an attack, the closest one would do just fine," Nya grinned.

"Yeah, I'm flexible like that as well," Jay nodded. "Knife or pistol, whichever I can get my hands on fastest,"

"Sensei Wu?" Kai asked.

"Oh, I'd have to agree with Nya and Jay on that one- whichever is closest, although I would prefer the knife or shurikens over the pistol,"

Kai ran one hand through his spiky hair as he examined the group. "Right," This was a great start to the lesson. He paused, causing the other Ninja to look at him worriedly.

"Did we say something wrong?" Lloyd asked softly. "I thought we identified all the weapons,"

Kai walked around the bench, a slight frown on his face as he considered what he was going to say next. When he arrived in front of the team, he clasped his hands behind his back and looked each Ninja in the eye before continuing. "You didn't even identify half the weapons on the table,"

Five mouths opened and gasped simultaneously.

"What?-"

"How?-"

"We did, I'm sure-"

"Are you sure?"

"But I thought we did!"

Sensei Wu quietly waited for the lesson to continue. It was interesting to watch Kai like this. The Master of Fire had clearly been changed by his experiences with The Puppeteers.

Wu was pleased to see that Kai had grown in terms of knowledge and competence and became much more patient and a lot less reckless. But the old Master could only wonder at what price those changes had come at.

Whatever the price was, Wu was sure it was higher than Kai had been able to pay. Perhaps that was why the old Kai had all but disappeared.