I stood and with a flourish, bowed dramatically. There was no

  fanfare, no clapping. Just a pig snorting at me for being stupid. My

  smile widened and I turned to face the large pig. Standing at just

  over five feet tall, Jiggle was a menace of a boar. His small beady

  eyes stared at me and he snorted again at my antics.

  I giggled and

  stepped forward before grabbing his tusks and looking him dead in his

  little piggy eyes. “Next time you destroy the chicken coop Jiggle,

  Tama is going to have you for breakfast” I said with exaggerated

  seriousness.

  “Isn’t that what

  you said last time too little one?” I heard Sensei say behind me.

  My cat ears perked up and my tail stiffened. Whirling around, I found

  Sensei standing behind me. I blushed and stuttered “Well, that was

  different!”

  Sensei smiled down

  at me and nodded slowly “I bet” He said as he stood tall, his

  hands behind his back. His now once jet black hair now graying at the

  edges. He looked down at me with a glint in his eye and I knew I had

  messed up.

  “Now little one,

  you know you messed up. But can you tell me why?” He said

  curiously. His voice showing no hints to his anger. I knew better and

  tried my best to figure it out quickly. After a moment I responded

  “Because Tama let her Sensei sneak up on her without even checking

  for dangers.” I asked hopefully.

  Sense seemed lost in

  thought for a moment before replying “You think so?” He raised

  his eyebrow and leaned in slightly, his sapphire eyes shining in

  amusement.

  I paled and

  resisted the urge to flee, it would only make the punishment worse.

  He pointed at the chicken coop, now fully repaired by me and asked

  “Who’s job is it to make sure a certain pet “Jiggle” Doesn’t

  break into the chicken coop Tama?” He asked.

  “Mine Sensei” I

  said weakly, my tail curlign around my leg and my eyes facing down. I

  had a feeling it was going to be about this. “But!” I said as I

  looked up quickly “Tama fixed the coop really quick! Like it was

  never broken!” My tail lashed back and forth hopefully and my eyes

  filled with hope as I looked up at him. His six foot frame dwarfing

  my 5’2 frame.

  Sense sighed and

  looked at me disappointing, I felt my heart sink. “Little one, the

  chicken coop is fixable yes, but you miss the lesson here. It should

  have never been broken. If you had been doing your duty from the

  beginning, it would have never broken. Do you think your enemies will

  just wait for you to protect others? Or will they just kill them?”

  I resisted the urge

  to purse my lips. How did a chicken coop compare to protecting

  someone? “Tama understands Sensei, she won’t let it happen

  again!” I said with deference in my tone.

  Sensei shook his

  head and sighed. “When will you learn Tama, one day your actions

  will get someone close to you killed…“As he said this, he trailed

  off and looked into the distance.

  His eye’s watered

  for only a moment before pulling back to the present and meeting my

  gaze. “You are 16 givings old tomorrow, and yet you still act like

  a child. I have cared for you ever since the day I found you in that

  village. But tomorrow, you are going out into the wide world.” He

  once again paused as if uncertain what to say. Finally, he sighed and

  said “I hope one day you will understand what it means to protect

  others. I hope you never have to face the cost of true failure.”

  His voice sounded somber before he continued. “I won’t be

  punishing you Tama, you are too old to be punished. Instead, I am

  going to warn you. Tomorrow, you graduate. Take time to think about

  what that means for your future.”

  “Is… is this

  about Auntie Tulip Sensei?” I asked hesitantly. Sensei paused for a

  moment before nodding quietly.

  “Yes little one,

  it is. It is for her, and Aunt Talia, and so many of my friends. My

  failure cost me dearly, and while I didn’t lose everyone, the ones

  I did were devastating to me. I never want you to feel that pain.”

  “But Tama thought

  Aunt Talia was still alive?” I asked in confusion “and so is Aunt

  Tulip, isn’t she a traveler like you? So she can’t die?”

  Sensei sighed and

  rubbed my head, gently massaging my ear as he spoke “Yes, they

  survived. But they weren’t everyone now were they Tama?”

  I froze at that and

  my eyes fell to the dirt. “Sorry Sensei” I said as realization

  hit me.

  Sensei gently rubbed

  my ears and after a moment he leaned in and brought my head up to

  meet his gaze. “Don’t be sad they died Tama, be happy they lived.

  Just take this as a lesson, for every mistake you make, like a

  chicken coop being destroyed, you are just as likely for someone you

  care about to die. You must always be vigilant. I trained you to be

  the best ninja ever, and you have exceeded all my expectations. If

  anyone can do it, I know it will be you my protege.”

  I nodded and looked

  at Sensei, making sure to stand tall and look mature as I did so.

  “Tama will never let anyone die! She is the greatest ninja ever!”

  I said seriously.

  Sense nodded slowly

  before responding “Perhaps little one, perhaps. For now, you have a

  chicken coop to fix.”

  I frowned at his

  words, realizing a moment too late what he meant. The loud crash as

  Jiggle rammed into the chicken coop, smashing the door and collapsing

  the building caused me to scream in frustration.

  I turned to Jiggle

  as he stood, eggs in his mouth as he chewed on them. I was like, 110%

  sure boars were not supposed to even eat eggs! “Jiggle!” I

  yelled. I heard Sensei’s laughter behind me as my eyes narrowed.

  I jumped forward

  and grabbed Jiggle by the tusks before using them as leverage to jump

  into the air and do a flip, landing behind him. I brought up my hands

  and a stream of forceful water pushed Jiggle out of the now destroyed

  coop. I hopped out after him and he huffed at me. “Get into your

  no-no cage now Jiggle!” I said in anger and my teeth clenched and I

  glared at the boar.

  Jiggle snorted at me

  and began to stomp his front right paw. He was going to charge me! I

  glanced over to see if Sensei was still there. When I saw he was

  gone, my anger was replaced with a wide grin. I winked at Jiggle and

  jumped right as he charged. I wasn’t actually mad at Jiggle, he was

  too cute for that. But Sensei had to think I was being serious. I

  grabbed Jiggle’s tusks right as he went under me, he pulled me with

  him, but only for a moment as I used my blink to bring us both to a

  nearby tree. Jiggle continued his ram, except instead of me or the

  chicken coop, Jiggle met the tree of a large oak and got them stuck.

  The trees around us in the Trelloark forest were filled with Jiggle’s

  tusk marks for this exact reason. I laughed maniacally as I walked

  over to his no-no cage. “Can’t outsmart Tama Jiggle!” I said

  while giggling to myself. Jiggle’s response was to snort and keep

  trying to pull himself free. He would be able to, but not before I

  got him in the cage.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  I climbed on top of

  the large metal cage the goblins had helped me make for him and

  gauged the distance. Deciding on a good path, I blinked and appeared

  next to Jiggle. I grabbed him, and helped him get out of the tree, he

  of course turned and instantly tried to charge me again. I jumped

  back and grabbed his tusk’s right as he reached me, Blinking

  instantly and then jumping into the air. Jiggle once again rammed

  himself into something, but this time it was the back of his no-no

  cage. I smirked and slammed the steel door shut.

  “Tama is just that

  good Jiggle! But you already knew that!” I said with a twirl of my

  hair. Jiggle snorted and sat down on his hind legs, clearly not

  amused.

  I rolled my eyes

  “Everyone’s a critic!” I said as I held back laughter. Sighing,

  I turned and faced the destroyed chicken coop. I shook my head, the

  smile on my face falling for the first time since Sensei left. “Tama

  really doesn’t want more chores Jiggle” I whined.

  I turned back to

  Jiggle but he was pouting now. So I whirled back around and walked

  over to the tool shed next to the chicken coop. My tool’s were

  already out, but I needed more wood mend to reform the wood. I

  could’ve gotten them from one of the tree’s. But I didn’t want

  to cut another tree down right now and Sensei hated when I did that.

  Grabbing the large

  container with a pink label on it that said in messy handwriting

  “Tama’s wood mending stuff” I walked it over to the coop and my

  tools. I popped open the lid and inside was a gel like material. It

  smelled horrible and I winced, my nose scrunching in disgust. Still,

  I activate my water and poured it into the gel, the gel quickly

  attached to the water and mixed. After a moment, it become a pink

  foam. I controlled the pink phone with my primary water affinity and

  brought it out. Walking over, I grabbed my hammer from my toolbox and

  began reforming the walls of the coop. As I did, I used the enchanted

  hammer to hammer in nails that it itself summoned. After a few hours,

  and Jiggle’s whiny antics and constant charges into the cage walls.

  I finished fixing the chicken coop. I had asked why we couldn’t

  have the chicken coop be made of metal too, but Sensei said it would

  scare the chickens. “Like the chickens aren’t scared enough when

  Jiggle breaks in and eats their unborn children!” I whined to

  myself as I put the finishing touches on the coop, including the

  latch on the coop door and putting the chickens who had fled back

  inside.

  I looked down at my

  sweaty clothes and sighed. I hated clothes so much. But sensei had

  made it clear I had to wear clothes outside my room or when I was

  cleaning myself. I smiled at the once upside of all this hard work. A

  bath! I heard my kind hated baths, I didn’t see the distaste. I got

  to be myself in the bath! Not have all these things on me. Sure, the

  water wasn’t pleasant, but it was a worthy trade off to remove

  these stupid things I was forced to wear.

  I quickly blinked

  to the roof of our cabin, then behind the cabin to the large bath. It

  was empty, as expected. I poured water slowly out of myself until my

  water heated to the temperature I liked it. Then I had to take three

  breaks between filling the bathtub up with my water. I happily

  removed my clothes and climbed in. Nice and cozy!

  After a quick bath,

  I washed up clothes and hung them out to dry before I blinked on top

  of the cabin. I stood tall, hands on my hips and eyes closed as the

  wind blew and I felt the comfort of it caressing my body. I sighed

  contentedly before taking a knee and checking on Jiggle. He was still

  in his no-no cage and had stopped trying to break free for the

  moment. But there were dents everywhere now. I giggled at his antics.

  It seems I needed to visit the goblins again, they were always fun to

  play with.

  But first, I sighed

  heavily as dread filled me. It was time for the big event. I stepped

  off the edge of the cabin and fell forward, doing a front flip I

  landed perfectly on the cabin porch directly in front of the front

  door. Sensei liked to say it was my nekojin traits. That cat’s

  always landed on their feet. I think he was just jealous of how good

  I was at landings!

  I turned and opened

  the door slightly, peaking inside. Technically, I was supposed to

  bring my clothes with me and get dressed when I got out of the bath.

  What sensei didn’t know didn’t hurt him right? I made sure the

  coast was clear and slipped inside, making sure to close the door

  quietly and tip toe quickly to the stairs. I was stealth I giggled

  quietly to myself.

  “Why are you naked

  again Tama?” Sensei’s voice came from behind me and I jolted,

  flipping and and blinking back towards the front door. Sensei was

  standing right behind where I had just been. He was eating a sandwich

  and looked amused. As sensei would always say, I called hacks!

  “You never know

  sensei! Tama could be using an amazing new skill that just makes her

  clothes invisible!” I said defensively. Sensei laughed hard at me

  and my cheeks flushed red. I blinked past him to the stairs and rain

  up them. His laughter echoed down the all and I heard him say “Next

  time, try to make yourself invisible too, a ninja is nothing of she

  is seen little one!”

  I winced at his

  words, as if I wanted to be seen! Besides, trying to sneak past a

  ninja of sensei’s level was insane anyways…

  I sighed, the truth

  was these were excuses. I hadn’t tried very hard and had been

  caught, it was that simple. I made my way down the upstairs hallway

  and into my bedroom two doors down on the left. Walking in I paused

  in front of my full length mirror, it was taller then me so I got to

  see myself. I turned away quickly, not wanting to see those parts of

  me. It felt freeing to not have clothes on, as long as there were no

  mirrors around. I gently ran my fingers through my hair as I walked

  over to my dresser. Sensei had made it for me out of heartwood,

  saying that I was his heart. I smiled at the dresser, sensei really

  said strange things sometimes. I grabbed my underwear, and after

  struggling with my bra for over a minute I just threw it back in the

  dresser. It wasn’t like I needed it anyways! Instead, I put on a

  T-shirt that said “World’s Best Ninja!” and a pair of short

  purple shorts.

  I walked back in

  front of the mirror and, using my secondary element wind to

  straighten my hair, looked myself up and down. I did not like what I

  saw, my long purple hair and lovely blue eyes as sensei called them

  was the only two things. My eyes were large and round, my form short

  and lithe. I had muscle, but I was built for speed and endurance, not

  strength. My skin was slightly tanned from working in the sun

  constantly. I stood at a whopping 5’2 inches… I sighed even as I

  tried and failed to make myself seem taller. I was not tall or wise

  like sensei, instead in the mirror was a child. I was turning 16

  givings tomorrow, and all life had given me was a bunch of strange

  feelings in my body and the unchanging appearance of a child. My tail

  wrapped around me as if to comfort me and I sighed but smiled. I

  gently held and caressed my long purple cat tail, I gently brought my

  hand up to my cat ears and gently massaged them, but stopped after a

  moment. It wasn’t the same if sensei wasn’t doing it.

  I let go of my tail

  and walked over to my nightstand, pulling out my dagger and sheathe,

  I wrapped the harness around my waist and put the dagger in the

  sheath. I was about to visit the goblin’s after all, and it was

  important to defend myself.

  I quickly made my

  way out of my room, instead of going the normal boring route, I

  blinked to the roof and opened the hatch on my ceiling before

  crawling onto the roof. Closing the hatch, I walked to the edge of

  the roof. It seems Jiggle had made a few more dents in his no-no

  cage. I grinned at his persistence. That was Jiggle for you!

  I jumped off the

  edge and fell for a second before blinking forward and landing

  gracefully in front of Jiggle. Jiggle rammed the cage in front of me,

  clearly trying to reach me. I smiled back at him and shook my finger

  “Naughty Jiggle! Looks like Tama needs to enchant the metal again!”

  Jiggle, in his

  infinite wisdom, just snorted at me and began stomping his foot for

  another charge. Jiggle was truly one of a kind, and I wasn’t just

  saying that cause he was the biggest boar I had ever seen, nor was I

  saying that because he tried to kill me on a daily base and eat all

  the chicken eggs. No, I was saying that because Jiggle was Jiggle and

  no one could ever replace him.