Chapter Text
Waking up with a little groan Heather looked around before trying to move her arms and feeling herself being stuck. Quickly whipping her head around she noticed the other two being in a similar state. The person that brought them there didn’t seem to be in the room which caused her to try and get the ropes to loosen around her wrists. Instead of loosening she let out a little hiss, her insistent moving got the ropes to burn into her wrists which didn’t help with her throbbing headache. She looked over at the other two once more to make sure they weren’t hurt too badly before attempting once more to get herself free.
“Just sit still Heather, you'll hurt yourself more and make our chances smaller.” Heather jumped hearing the sudden snappy voice before realising it was the other Heather.
“Yeah what do you think we should do instead? Just sit here and waste time?” She got a sigh in return and decided to glare at her friend. “Listen this situation sucks and we both know we all need to get out of here.”
“Yes but do you remember the last thing we heard? Are you looking for me? So maybe we are where we’re supposed to be…well I would hope so.” The girl in green didn’t seem sure of herself but she was also clearly not in the mood for the snappy attitude Chandler tended to give her.
“Well yes but why would the master actually tie us up? Weren’t we supposed to learn from them? I swear Heather…”
Before she could even finish her sentence another voice made her shut up. “Oh please both of you stop fighting, we can find a way to get out, maybe it’s a test.”
“A test of what exactly Heather?” Chandler asked genuinely confused on what the girl in yellow meant.
“Well we are fighting now but maybe it’s a test on how we work together?”
“Okay? How would we get out of this together?” Duke made a valid point with that question, one that even Mac didn’t have an answer for but still it was a nice effort.
“I don’t know honestly…maybe it was a stupid idea nevermind.”
“Don’t worry you at least said something that could have helped.” Chandler let out a little sigh while trying once more to get out of the ropes. After struggling and biting her lip to stifle the hiss from the pain a voice made her stop.
“Heather I don’t think that is gonna help either you’re probably only hurting yourself worse.”
Chandler looked at the girl in yellow that almost seemed ready to cry and sighed sitting fully still “I’m not about to be just a sitting duck either you know.”
“You already were the entire time.” A sudden voice made all three girls look around to the corner where a figure seemed to slowly appear in the shadow. “The three of you are clearly not very skilled at going past things unnoticed. Or on how to work together instead of petty fighting. If I could capture you this easily anybody else could have as well.”
Chandler furrowed her eyebrows trying to figure out who this random person in the room even was. Before she could ask, the person raised their finger towards her as if they already knew she wanted to say anything.
“Fire without the ability to control it so she can get out of the ropes? Or did you forget you even have that power? The girl controlling earth not having noticed another person sneaking up while standing on the ground? The girl controlling air not noticing a change in the wind or the fact that it all fell quiet? You all let someone sneak up on you and knock you out, now you’re not even doing everything in your power to get out instead you’re just fighting each other…that’s the ninja’s I’ve been sent?”
The more judgemental the voice started to sound the angrier it made Chandler. She didn’t want to use the fire that she could conjure for the sole reason that a little flame in her hand wasn’t too difficult but a flame accurate enough to genuinely go through the rope without burning to other things required a lot of concentration and with her head hurting she didn’t think she even could. Although she didn’t think she could do so in general.
“Who are you even?” Duke’s voice cut through the silence that rang the minute the stranger stopped talking. Like usual the girl in green didn’t care about her own attitude. Although her tone sounded more shaky as if this random stranger scared her. The same way the stranger seemed to scare Chandler.
“Who am I? I think you should know that already and if you still don’t know who I am the question is more do you deserve to know?” With how cryptic it all sounded Duke rolled her eyes.
“Right, just be difficult also fine. We can figure it out ourselves.”
“Well I mean how many people know who we are, Heather?” Mac asked a little confused why the girl in green seemed even more annoyed as usual. She didn’t think it was possible to piss the girl off with one sentence but clearly it was something this person could do.
“Clearly it’s someone…that knows us and hearing from the voice it’s clearly a female, yeah that’s how far I’m getting.” The girl in green sounded more and more annoyed with each sentence she spoke.
The silence that fell over them after that sentence was eerie, the three seemingly trying to think of who the mystery person could be. There should be a clear giveaway but clearly the headache wasn’t helping them think.
“Well it seems like you three aren’t cutting it. If you can’t even figure out who I am…you’re either instructed poorly or you’re not ready for this and should be going back to your village.” The voice sounded more mocking the further she went with the sentence and it was seriously pissing two Heathers off. The only one that didn’t seem too bothered was McNamara, but again she wasn’t easily bothered in the first place.
Chandler was getting more pissy the longer this woman seemed to taunt them. She knew she should stay calm and think of a way out but it was getting increasingly more and more difficult with how much they got ridiculed by the mystery voice. Although the way the woman phrased things made a little lightbulb go on over her head. “Heather, you’re really good with people I’m sure you know who she is.”
Mac looked at the girl clad in red a little confused before furrowing her eyebrows. She wasn’t sure why the girl wasn’t going for the girl in green considering that she seemed to be more the brain of the operation but she wasn’t going to question it.
“Tik tok, tik tok…you only got so much time to decide before I’ll decide for you.” The mystery voice said and it made Mac more anxious, as if this person knew exactly what would bother them all. “You know quiet communication is another thing, if you’re gonna call everything out everybody will know. Which in this economy isn’t really a good idea now is it? You never know what captures you.”
Those words made Mac think a little harder, finding it a little strange that this person didn’t attack, show their face or do anything else. Which caused her to think it wasn’t a bad person, well at least not someone who was really out to hurt them. Sure the voice pissed her friends off but it was more the words she spoke. Which upon further analysing every time seemed to imply that she was expecting them. And sure anybody could say that but to Mac all those things didn’t make sense for somebody who really wanted them gone. After all three inexperienced ninja’s is easier to beat than full fledged ones so if this woman really wanted to harm them she was doing a horrible job. Although that put only one more thought in her head and she started to grin at the other two, only giving them the look of ‘the master’.
The other two nodded ever so slightly making sure Mac knew they understood what she was saying. Chandler gave them both a look that said ‘I’m gonna countdown from 3, when it’s 0 we all say it at the same time.’ When she got a nod from both of them she indeed went to countdown still through looks. “You’re the master.” They all said at the same time.
When they all said it there was no sound for a little bit until there was a sarcastic and mocking applause. “It took you this long to figure out who I am, and still you’re not out of your bounds. Come on show me what you girls have, someone has to be able to get out right?” She was still not willing to let them go until they actually started to prove themselves worthy of being her students. “I wasn’t kidding, if you can’t get out of this or do anything why did you leave the village to get trained. You need to do something useful.”
Chandler wanted to strangle the voice so much but she instead took a deep breath and closed her eyes, willing herself to calm down for as much as her mind would allow her. As long as she could just make a little flame the rope should let go. She just hoped it was enough to buy her a little time. While concentrating herself she started thinking of a small flame in her hand, knowing how to conjure it although it would still be all destroying since she wasn’t really one with the little flame. But it was enough to hit her ropes and burn right through them. Once they fell off of her she jumped up and dashed to Mac, having heard the voice closer to Duke and not wanting to risk the voice stopping her.
For her it was a miracle when Mac was free thanks to the same ability, knowing that all that’s left was to go for Duke. She looked at the girl, who seemed to be in deep concentration, before walking up slowly. Mac walked with her and kept her eyes open to see if she could see the mystery woman. The minute Chandler wanted to reach out Mac grabbed her and pulled her along so a hand couldn’t grab her. They heard really quiet shuffling and looking at the girl in green she leaned her head in the direction where she heard things. Duke was helping them locate her so Chandler could get near. Mac’s quick reflexes keep her from getting grabbed and being able to distract the master even if it was for a little bit. As soon as the bounds holding Duke in place fell the girl jumped up so they could all stand back to back.
Using the others for cover they all kept glancing to the shadows to see where this woman would come from this time, only to find all of their attacks being stopped when she got near. Instead of having any luck with her they seemed to just exhaust themselves more, to the point that they felt like they were gonna sink to the floor any minute. Instead of being attacked once more Chandler felt her hands roughly being yanked forward causing her body to follow the movement before she landed back into the chair. She wanted to struggle only for the woman to silence her. “Training is over, all of you sit down.”
The other two Heathers stayed vigilant since they still didn’t trust the woman. “Sit down for now.” Heather said, causing the other two to snap into action and sitting down in the chairs once more. They both felt a sense or relief washing over them since their bodies were aching from everything that happened. The headache left Duke nauseous while Mac felt like she was gonna faint soon.
Instead of hurting them the woman seemed to grab a first aid kit before treating Chandler’s rope burn. She made sure to bind it with some extra bandages so the girl wouldn’t hurt herself as much anymore. She made sure to check the others as well, mostly for rope burn at that moment before her footsteps seemed to retreat. They didn’t have time to question whether or not the woman was still in the room before her voice reached them once more. “I’ll put on the light so be careful since you’re all still sensitive from the capture. Afterwards I’ll lead you to the rooms so you can get some rest. Tomorrow we’ll talk and actually start official training.”
Chandler hissed once the lights went on, the little bit of light from before not matching with how bright the room suddenly seemed. The girl felt like her skull was gonna burst in half and her body seemed to really reject the idea to function with her. As if the pain in her wrists wasn’t enough she also started to get nauseous and dizzy, while trying to pretend she was fine so as to not worry the other two.
Duke groaned from the light and felt her nausea becoming worse. She felt like she might become sick so she closed her eyes to dim the brightness a little. She knew she couldn’t do much in that state and was willing her body to function with her so she would be able to even follow the woman instead of getting sick before going anywhere. She wasn’t about to faint or vomit in front of a woman like that.
Mac blinked a few times harshly against the light, some black spots dancing around in her vision. She felt as if her body was about to faint and she wasn’t sure how to stop it either. She was exhausted and the light was painful to her head as well. Her breathing became a bit more shallow as she tried to ease herself into feeling comfortable. With how tense her body was, it seemed like it was impossible to relax and her head felt so heavy.
The woman let out a little sigh, watching all of their reactions to the light. “Alright maybe I’ve pushed you three a little too far but it’s good to know where the limits are. Once you are in your rooms you will find some aspirins and some food for when you are up for it. Furthermore I would recommend you three to get some rest.”
Hearing the voice they all seemed to follow the sound and look in that direction, still squinting against the light. What they saw wasn’t exactly what they expected. The woman seemed to be around her fifties or sixties and looked like she couldn’t really be a ninja, sure the age seemed to work in her favor since the girls all knew that in most stories the master seemed to be an old man or old woman but this woman didn’t look all that special, her personality didn’t help that process either.
“You’re the master?” Is all Chandler could say, disbelief still etched on her face. Sure she knew not to underestimate this woman since clearly she was more skilled but at the same time this woman seemed almost fragile…although that wasn’t the right word for it either. A little too much of a hippie? Well at least that’s what she was assuming.
“Just like a ninja, the master should be able to blend in with the people. Just because I don’t look like much doesn’t mean I haven’t trained for years. Stop doubting my abilities the same way you’re doubting your own. The name is Fleming, keep that in mind.” The woman seemed a bit short in her answer although Chandler could understand it this time. If being a hippie was her disguise it truly was working for her. “Now if you could follow me.”
Chandler slowly got up before feeling another wave of nausea and dizziness hit her. She steadied herself for a bit before looking at the other two to see if they would be able to manage. Duke pushed herself up and became quickly very pale before closing her eyes to steady herself as well. Mac took it easier and slowly managed to get up from the chair. Her body is still feeling really disoriented. Before she could fall a pair of strong arms kept her up, looking back she could see Chandler stabilizing her. She honestly couldn’t ask for more at that moment. As long as she could manage to follow the woman like this. Slowly the three of them started to follow the strange woman through this place.
It seemed as if they were placed in some sort of interrogation room since there seemed to be nothing around, but as soon as they left the room into the hallways the place seemed to get more lively. In the hallways the light was more dimmed, giving a more comfortable feeling while they stumbled through them and the further they went through the maze of hallways, the more comfortable it got. It was like they were getting closer to an actual house. Upon arriving at a door the woman…Fleming seemed to grab her key and open it before letting the three of them stumble through it. It was an actual house they were in at the moment, so the weird hallways and stairs from before were basically some secret basement base or whatever.
Fleming led them through another set of hallways before arriving by some doors. “Each door contains a room, pick a door and that will be your room.” The woman said before leaving to fetch them everything they would need to be comfortable. Duke just grabbed the first door on her left since it was the closest before stumbling in, hoping that laying in the dark would fix her nausea. Chandler helped Mac to the second door on the left so she could fall down on the bed as well. Once Heather was settled Chandler went to the door opposite of that and went inside as well.
Their bodies were screaming for rest but they forced themselves to be awake for a bit longer, luckily they didn’t have to wait long before Fleming showed up with food and painkillers for them to get through the night. They even found some clothes that they could wear as pjs so they could lay comfortably while letting their bodies crash on them. The beds they were laying on were comfortable and gave them more rest than the cold floor they laid on before while trying to find this woman.
Clearly this was still gonna be a long road but they were hoping that they would feel better the next day and that the woman would provide them with more information. In Chandler’s case she was hoping the woman had a good explanation for making them feel that awful. Why did she kidnap them either way and treat them as good for nothing, but she knew she had to wait because for now her body wasn’t even letting her be angry without her head splitting apart so instead of thinking she closed her eyes and hoped that the darkness could consume her anytime soon.
Duke didn’t even care for the motives of their so-called master for the moment, with how her body was rejecting everything she could only hope for her stomach to settle soon. She was doing her best to not even think of the woman and her weird ideas on how to ‘help them’ to her it was all stupid anyways. If she was the one that was teaching them she didn’t understand why they first had to be treated like she was gonna kill them. Although her usual anger couldn’t even get a hold of her since she was feeling more and more like her body would like to pass out.
Just like the other two Mac wasn’t sure what to expect. She was partially excited they finally found the master but she was also kind of confused about the whole thing that happened. And with her vision going more dotted every second she felt like it was best to just not worry and see what would happen the next day. Her body enjoyed the idea of rest and even if something bad would happen at least she would be ready for it. As long as she just let herself pass out for now. Tomorrow they would see what was happening and what it all meant for now they all just focused on getting enough rest to face the woman the next day.