Mission 427
by Raye Bloodstreak

Mission:
Raye Bloodstreak woke up to hear someone calling her name. The call was so urgent that she sat up straight and smacked her head on the bunk above her. Grumbling, she staggered out of bed, grabbed her scythe, and stumbled out the door. "What?! What is it?!" "Raye! The Emperor has a mission for you!" "Me?! Why me?! I'm new 'ere! Why doesn't 'e pick one o' his stronger soldiers?" "Beats me, mate." her friend Redfang shrugged. "But ye'd better git yer tail down there! Git movin'!" "Aye..." she took off for the castle.

***
She stepped meekly into the Emperor's throne room. "Sire? I 'eard you 'ave a mission fer me?" she bowed to him as she walked in. He nodded. "Yes, Raye, I do." he smiled. "Something has been sneaking around the treasure chamber and stealing from it. I want you to go down there and find out who-or what-it is." "Aye, sir!" "I'm locking you down there until you find and kill it." his eyes narrowed. She gulped. "L-l-locking me down there?!" "Yes." he led her to the door that led to the underground chambers. "Watch out for the coral snakes I keep down there." "Coral snakes..." she groaned. "Don't worry about lighting, there are many torches in wall brackets down there. Oh, and, you know what will happen to you if you fail me." he said, and with that, he slammed the door behind her and locked it. She held her scythe out infront of her, ready to take on whatever was down there, waiting for her. She heard a hissing sound and felt something brush past her footpaw. She jumped backwards, grabbed the snake by the head, and continued walking. The snake struggled against her paw. It hissed, angrily. As she walked, she came across the guards to the treasure room. Monitor lizards. She trembled. 'Uh-oh...' "Who are you?!" demanded the largest one. "I'm Raye Bloodstreak. The Emperor sent me down 'ere ter find out who or what's been stealing from th' treasury." "I zee. Well, you might az well take a look inzide the treazure room, then." he stepped aside and let her look around. She let the snake go inside the chamber. "Wow! This is incredible! I've never seen so much gold in me entire life! Hey! I 'ave a question for ye." she turned back to the lizard. "You 'aven't seen anything come through 'ere, right?" "Nothing but the znakez, but thoze thingz can't zteal treazure." "That's it, eh?" "Aye. It'z zo ztrange, whatever it iz can just walk right through here and take thingz without uz zeeing it! It'z driving us inzane!" he growled. "Well, I'm goin' ter look down th' hall." "Good luck, wolf!" "Thank ye, lizard." she turned a corner and found herself staring down a long, empty, quiet hallway. 'Too quiet.' she thought. She heard the swish of a weapon directly behind her. She jumped foreward, barely managing to dodge the attack. She whirled around to face whoever it was. There was no one there. "Alright! Show yerself!" she demanded. A creature stepped out of the shadows. It was a direct image of her. She gasped. "What?! But....but....You're not....you're not me! That's not possible!" "Your right, I'm not you. But, I won't reveal my true form until you figure out what I really am." her opponent said. "I'll give you some clues. I can take on your image for a short time. I can disappear into thin air. I can use magic." the image said. Raye scowled. 'I know it can take my shape with its magic. It can disappear into thin air. That's the easiest riddle I've done in years!" "Yer a Marlfox!" she exclaimed. "You're right." the image of her disappeared, and, in its place, was a handsome Marlfox. "You are wise. You do know the legend. I underestimated you." "I know a few Marlfoxes myself. I know all about your magic." she grinned. He held out his battle ax. "Now comes the real challenge. Can you fight me with that scythe of yours?" "Yep! I'm well known for my talents with a scythe!" they locked blades. She jumped back, twirled her scythe above her head and brought it down apon him. He blocked it with the ax, and kicked her in the stomach. She sat down hard, and swung her scythe upwards as he swung his ax at her. She slashed him across the chest. He fell to his knees. "You shouldn't have relied on stealth so much. You should have practiced your battle technique." she grinned, shaking the blood out of her fur. He groaned. She stood up. "I'll put an end to your pain." She killed him, then looked up to see the monitor lizards standing nearby. "Nize! Well done!" "Thanks..." She walked away. When she reached the door she had come through, she pounded on it and shouted, "I finished it! It was a Marlfox!" Ublaz opened the door. "Well, look at you. Good job, Raye." "Thank ye!" she bowed. "Go clean the rest of that blood out of your fur before it dries." he said, handing her a bag of gold. "Thank ye, sire!" She saluted and ran to the beach to clean the blood away.