Once finished with school, Valeria avoided contact with Erin, Sai, and her other friends and headed straight home. She wanted to make up with Erin. She wanted to spend more time with Sai. But those desires paled when compared to a deeper need; learning how to be a Rogue.

And that started right now.

When she opened the door, she found Jada and Frank waiting with a familiar guest.

"We meet again protégé," Xun said as she rose from the living room couch. Today the young ninja had opted for torn leggings and a halter top, with her hair clamped in an updo. "I hope you read the Art of War."

Valeria nodded nervously at her. She had read most of it. "So where are we going? Some kind of dojo?"

"Uh...no you ignoramus," Xun chastised. "What is the single most important lesson from the Art of War?"

Valeria paused a moment, trying to remember what she deduced from the novel's passages. "All warfare is based on deception?"

Xun massaged her chin. "So you read at least some of it. You're partially right. The main lesson is that warfare is a last resort. If you can find a way to deceive, misdirect, or undermine your enemy through espionage, you can usually avoid unnecessary conflict."

Valeria looked over at Frank and Jada, who smiled at each other.

"We'll leave you two alone," Jada said while Frank added, "Have fun, kiddo."

Valeria frowned as they laughed together and walked up the stairs, while Xun paced around her.

"Contrary to most pop-culture depictions of the Ninja, fighting is not our main expertise. We are masters of espionage, so no...we are not training in a dojo."

"So you're saying Ninjas are more like James Bond?"

Xun groaned. "Please do not compare us to that old, misogynistic alcoholic who parades around the world in fancy cars. Ninjas are discreet, modest, and invisible. Our guild provides all of the intelligence and information for the Rogue faction, and most countries around the world."

"You spy on other countries?" Valeria asked with surprise. "Are you...spying on the U.S.?"

Xun frowned as she said, "My allegiance is to the Rogue Faction. But yes, my country thinks I'm a spy on U.S soil, reporting information back to Beijing. The truth is that every country has Ninjas that both serve as spies for their country, but also serve as a communal group that share information for the better good."

Xun walked over to the couch and reached for her bag. She removed an odd pair of shoes, and tossed them to Valeria. "These are for you. They're special shoes that will help you creep along silently. Of course, you will need to learn how to creep, which is what we will practice today."

Valeria placed the new shoes on and found them rather comfortable.

"They fit?" Xun asked. When Valeria nodded without answering, she continued with, "Alright, before we start, I want to know Sun Tzu's five essentials to victory. Go."

Valeria paused a moment, trying to remember the chapter she read. "He will win who knows when to fight, and not to fight."

"Good," Xun said. "But since we're both women, you can say she."

Valeria nodded and continued reciting the other sayings. "She will win, who knows how to handle both inferior and superior forces. She will win, whose army is animated with the same spirit throughout its ranks. She will win, who prepares to take the enemy unprepared."

Valeria cursed under her breath. She couldn't remember the fifth one. She lost her concentration when Xun slapped her across the face. "What the hell?!" she exclaimed, massaging her cheek.

"I warned you to come prepared," Xun said. "The fifth essential for victory is she who has military capacity should not be interfered with by the Sovereign."

Valeria nodded, getting the gist of the saying. Basically means: one should be unafraid to act without permission from the ruler.

The rest of the day was spent training with Xun, who showed her how to creep along different areas of the house without making a sound. The shoes definitely helped, along with the different tactics Xun demonstrated.

First, Valeria watched the ninja master creep along the edges of stairs or near the walls of hallways to minimize sound. Xun explained how a ninja walks on their toes with the knees bent, placing weight initially on the little toes, and transferring it to the big toes.

She found the techniques more difficult than she anticipated, as it felt like she was discovering new muscles across her body, and they ached and groaned with each repetition. Her brow moistened with sweat and her breathing felt shallow after two hours of climbing and descending stairs without end. Just when she thought they would take a break, Xun took her outside, where she learned how to Fox Walk.

Valeria observed their small backyard for the first time, as it was a secluded little haven with a solitary Norway Maple tree nestled within the Brownstone buildings nearby. The tree and the high fence offered a reasonable amount of privacy while the two of them continued their training. The Fox Walk was similar to creeping indoors, but involved the side of the foot instead of the toes - and exhausted her twice as quickly.

She was completely gassed as the dusky skyline faded to black, and could barely stand against the kitchen wall as she chugged a bottle of water. While she felt on the verge of collapse, Valeria still felt an inner sense of pride as she realized her stealth had improved a little, and even Xun offered rare praise.

"Not too bad," Xun said. "You still need a lot of training. But, you could have become a great Ninja. You could have listened to me at the ceremony, but you chose to be a dumbass."

Valeria laughed. She was getting used to Xun's persona, and while others might have found her annoying, she found it refreshing."I'm an asshole," she said through labored breaths. "Just like you. Thanks for the training."

"You're welcome."

"Hey Xun, can I maybe ask a dumb question?"

"Not surprising, coming from you. Don't expect a nice answer."

Valeria chose her words carefully. "I always thought Ninjas originated in Japan. Why is the main Ninja guild in China?"

Xun rolled her eyes and crossed her arms against her chest. "Of course modern culture depicts the Ninja solely as a Japanese creation. The truth is that while Samurai are solely Japanese, Ninjas are a mix of both cultures. Monks from China fled the Tang dynasty around 900 AD, and brought Chinese battle tactics with them when they came to Japan. These tactics became a crucial part of a Ninja's training. Our Headquarters used to be in Japan, but was eventually moved to China around fifty years ago. Beijing was picked due to its size, political influence, and proximity to Sun Tzu's place of birth."

Valeria raised an eyebrow. "Sun Tzu was that important?"

Xun groaned as she huffed out her response. "The Art of War is possibly the most important book about strategy, battle, and warfare in the world. You didn't know that?"

Valeria remained silent and shrugged her shoulders. She didn't have a chance to respond as Xun promptly slapped her across the face again.

"Oww! What was that for?" Valeria asked, massaging her face again.

"That's for being dumb all the time," Xun replied. "You need to finish reading the entire book before our next session. I'll ask ten questions next week, and every time you answer a question wrong..." She trailed off as she slapped her hands together.

Valeria frowned at her. "You're not a nice person, you know that?"

Xun laughed and said, "I never claimed to be. See you next week, protégé."

Valeria waved goodbye before gathering her things and going upstairs. She tried to concentrate and work on her homework, but was distracted as her cell phone rang. She flipped the old phone open and studied the caller ID.

Erin Tyrell.

She tapped her fingers against the desk, sighed, and pushed the accept button. "What do you want?"

"V, please don't hang up. I'm really sorry, okay? The last thing I'd ever want is to offend you."

Valeria leaned back in her chair and exhaled. "But you did offend me. You said you won't be corrupted by someone like me. You think you're better than me."

"Not at all!" Erin protested. "You're the coolest girl I've ever met. What I meant was: I can't allow myself to be corrupted, even by a girl I really like or admire, a girl like you."

"Well don't worry," Valeria said, tapping her fingers on the desk, "You don't have to worry about me corrupting you anymore -"

"Do you think that's what I really want?" Erin protested, her tone defeated. "You think I don't want to get stoned, party, and spend all my time having fun with people I like? I do...okay? I've always wanted to, but I just can't."

"You need to get into a good college," Valeria said, her tone condescending. "I get it."

"No, you don't. You don't know me. You don't understand the burden I carry, and how I have to carry it alone."

Valeria paused a moment, her mind focused on one word in particular. She had felt alone all her life, and yet, she wasn't the only one who felt that way. She had no idea what Erin's burden was. It could be something simple like getting into a good college, impressing her adoptive parents, or something ambitious like becoming President someday. But her burden didn't sound simple or ambitious.

It sounded complicated and exhausting.

"What do you want from me, Erin?"

"I just want a do-over. I'll do whatever it takes. I'll smoke ten joints if you want me to."

Valeria chuckled under her breath. "Ten joints, huh? Why bother?"

"When I'm with you at school, or talking on the phone, part of my burden feels lighter. You're the only person who seems to get me, and I don't want that to end. I don't want to be alone again."

She paused and looked up at the ceiling, taking a moment to let Erin's words sink in. Part of her felt the same way; she had always felt alone after her parent's deaths. Frank and Jada had started to fill that void, but they had a long way to go. They had no idea how she felt; being asked to juggle all the pieces of her life at the moment. The toll of balancing a traumatic past, a traditional teenage present, and the future expectations of becoming a powerful Rogue.

She had her own burden to bear.

"Please forgive me, V."

"I forgive you," Valeria said, her tone sincere. "But I do want to know one thing."

"If it's about my burden," Erin replied with a sigh, "I can't tell you. It's not that I don't want to -"

"Would you really smoke ten joints? I'm not gonna lie, I'd kinda like to see that."

Erin laughed, her relief evident. "I could try if you really wanted me to."

"I'm pretty sure you'd die. Then I'd be sad."

"Seriously," Erin pressed, her tone light. "How can I repay you?"

"By being my friend," Valeria said, her tone sincere before switching to a more playful one. "But some more tutoring would also be nice."

"You got it. Good night, V."

"Good night, Erin."

Valeria yawned as she dropped the phone on the desk and hopped into bed. Her body was exhausted from the physical demands of training all day, but her mind was equally tired. Part of it was the demands of a normal teenage life: balancing school work with a social life. But she was also drained after dealing with Sai and Erin. She had never felt a connection with anyone her own age before, let alone two. She thought about them while laying in bed, trying to sleep. But they had occupied her mind, and when she finally drifted off to sleep, they invaded her dreams.

#

The next day flew by even more quickly. Valeria spent most of the school day trying to balance her time with the nerds and the elites, which really meant spending equal amounts of time with Erin and Sai. After school, she returned home for training with Penny the Pirate. Jada made sure to supervise this visit and immediately scolded Penny's first planned lesson about alcohol consumption.

Jada removed the bottle of rum and replaced it in her bag. "I think getting a protégé drunk on a school night is not a great idea," she replied distastefully. "Why don't you teach her knots? Those could be much more useful."

Penny groaned as she reached in her bag and removed several pieces of rope. "Knots are so boring. But if you insist, Sovereign."

Valeria watched as Penny demonstrated seven different types of sailor knots. She explained how the knots were useful on a boat, but also useful when restraining people, or creating rappels to climb or descend great heights. Valeria tried to recreate the different knots, but kept mixing them up. Luckily, Penny was patient with her and decided it might be easier if they tried outside.

While in their backyard, Penny pointed to the small Norway Maple tree and demonstrated different knots on the small tree's lower branches. The pirate master explained how one could use these knots to both climb and descend the tree safely, before allowing Valeria to try.

Much like her session with Xun, the pirate master's lesson forced Valeria to use muscles she rarely used before. Her back and shoulders felt stiff as a board, and her arms felt like jello as she climbed up and down the rope like a gymnast.

While her leg muscles were mostly able to endure such an endless onslaught with Xun, Valeria realized her arm muscles were not up for this task. She normally would have thrown in the towel early on, but just when it felt like she might give up, Valeria would notice Jada watching her across the yard, and newfound strength would suddenly manifest and allow her to carry on.

"Not bad love," Penny cheered as Valeria came down successfully after what felt like a million failed attempts. "You finally got one. Maybe next time we can hit the waves!"

Valeria heaved in breaths as she looked over at Jada uncomfortably. "Umm, that might not be a good idea. I usually get seasick."

Penny scoffed. "Blimey, the best way to cure that ail is to keep riding the waves until you've puked everything out. Trial by water, you know what I mean?"

Jada massaged her temples. "You mean trial by fire?"

Penny shrugged. "Same difference. Alright Sovereign, are we done here?"

"Yeah," Jada said. "I think we're done here. See you next week Penny."

Valeria and Jada both showed Penny to the door. Once she had left, Jada turned toward Valeria and said, "You need to be careful around Pirates. They have their own set of useful talents, but they're also usually reckless and unreliable. Just keep that in mind."

Valeria nodded silently. It sounded like Jada didn't trust Penny too much.

"What about Bounty Hunters? I train with one of their leaders tomorrow, right?"

Jada nodded, her tough expression morphing into a smile. "You train with Hami tomorrow. Frank and I both trust him. Especially Frank. He trained Hami when he was your age. He's a good egg, that one."

"That's a relief," Valeria replied. "I was a little nervous about meeting a new instructor."

"Hami isn't the one you should be worried about. You should be worried about my brother."

Valeria's breath caught in her throat. She had completely forgotten about that. "I train with him after Hami, right?"

"That's right," Jada said, a smile across her face. "So don't burn yourself out with Hami tomorrow. Save your energy for the next day. You're gonna need it."