A True Teammate

Message received loud and clear: no chess pieces, only real ninja. I dropped to the floor and crawled beneath the coffee table to check the low shadows. Behind a pair of slippers, buried under a carpet fringe, I spotted a red shoulder guard and a spiked spiky cowl. I grabbed the edge and hauled Kai free from the dust. His joints were stiff, but his grip still held tight to a curved katana. I brushed him off, set him upright on a flat coaster, and gave him a firm fist bump. Our real sparring partner is secured.