Shadow in my Memory.

Chapter two

"Okay, so tell us about yourself. We know where you come from-" Roadblock gestures to her uncovered arm that gives away the fact she was in the Arashikage clan, probably accepted in a similar way as their friend Snake Eyes.

"-what? You know what this means?" Night Stalk asks, looking down at her arm, then glancing at Snake Eyes, leaning against the door frame of a room at the current base. After a few minutes of watching him in silence, she uses one of the gifts she learned in the clan, and recognizes him.

"Oh, Silent Master." She breathes.

"So, why did the Cobra Commander have you locked up that way?" Lady Jaye asks, also sitting at the table.

"You don't seemto have any fear of us, despite what you had been through." Flint comments.

"A good master doesn't follow their own emotions, they follow what is best for others. I was there because- actually, as soon as I graduated to Mental Master- Cobra Commander kidnapped me and forcefully brought me to the warehouse. He asked me to join his forces, if not he would make me want to. After my first refusal, he tortured me gently. Second, even worse. Third, everything you could possibly imagined. I've been pierced, burned, frozen, drowned, my senses have been cut off to try and make me go insane, locked in sound proof rooms, and anything else you might conjour up." She says without blinking an eyelash. After a few minutes the group slowly turn their heads to look at each other, faces in expressions of confusion and pity. When she got their, her first request was a shower and soap, which they gave her. Afterwards, she asked for food and water, which they also gave her. The different marks on her skin were obvious, no longer covered in assorted bodily fluids and muck. A line of twin dots flowed down her right arm- piercings- while the rest of her body was covered in fresh clothing, assorted bruises splotching the leftover skin. She may have looked pitiful on the outside, but she didn't sound afraid to the G.I. Joes at all.

"How much do you know of Cobra Commander? Location? Current activity?" Roadblock asks her, but she shakes her head.

"I was always in that room, only that room. He only showed himself a few times, never enough to know much about him." She explains, arms crossing. Her body was very thin, much deteriation from what she was probably before. In time, it would come back, but the G.I. Joes were confused.

"Why do you call yourself a Mental Master?" Flint asks.

"That is who I am. When I joined the Arashikage clan, I was only a girl. I was allowed to join because of the same reason I became Mental Master. I'm special, different. I trained hard, but mostly my mind was my savior. In time, you will see what I speak of." She explains.

"Why do you trust us with this information?" Lady Jaye asks.

"I trust the Silent Master to find good compainions, so I shall trust you." She states, uncrossing her arms.

The G.I. Joes give each other looks, and Roadblock slowly nods his head to Snake Eyes.

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"Girls! Time to get going!" Night Stalk cries into the house, currently rolling up a poster and setting it into a girl's backpack. Two little girls come barreling down the stairs, Roadblock's kids, and into the kicthen where they grab their lunch boxes and run out the door, Night Stalk behind them.

She asked to slowly insert herself into the world again before doing anything related to her past, other than train. The G.I. Joes agreed, but wanted her on their team. They would let her be the girl's nanny for now, but when the time came she would join the G.I. Joes incombat and show them why she was called the Mental Master.

Night Stalk spins the keys on her finger and gets into the driver's seat, the girls buckling themselves up. With a growl the car starts down the street, Night Stalk clad in casual wear in this country. She has been doing this for several weeks now, completely acustomed to this life she picked up here.

"Remember about show and tell!" One of the girls reminds her. She wanted Night Stalk to come in and talk to the class about being a ninja.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't miss it." She laughs.

"YAY!" They both scream and giggle.

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