"Idolize...

Everybody has their idol. A person they look up to, a thing or maybe even an animal. Listening, following our idol's dream is what makes us who we are now...

I used to be meek and shy. But now I seem to become more like a bad person. I sin more often and think of disgusting thoughts for my age. I usually call it maturity. It's strange but in my opinion, as my line that I always remember after waking up:

Live and prove to them that your life is yours, not theirs..."

***

Grandfather Owen was sitting peacefully on his rocking chair on the porch, wearing his small old glasses, reading a book. He slightly licked his finger and turned a page. His eyes moving left to right, minding his own business.

Creak

The door beside him gently opened and a little girl appeared from behind.

It was his granddaughter, Shiela. A twelve-year-old lass, her hair tied in a ponytail. Owen stared at her, noticing her hands grasping on a piece of CD container. She glared at him, revealing her green grass eyes, giving her best smile...

"Grandpa! Look what I found in the basement!"

She yelled, excited...

He dropped his book on his lap and replied:

"What is it, sweety?"

"Our teacher assigned us to write a 1200 word-count essay about the movie "The Last Ninja War". I rarely found results on the internet but I accidentally found this on the ground..."

She laid the CD container on the nearby stool. The cover says "The Last Ninja War". The picture cover was mostly faded, so is dust filling in its corners. It really was an old film, no wonder why the internet's intel wasn't enough. But why do they have one CD of the movie?

Great Grandpa Owen sighed and smiled innocently. Ahhh, this film was my childhood! He pondered. Looking at the old CD container, his smile widened even more...

A flash of memories slowly drowned his head. It is clear, by just looking at the cover reminds him of the days. In his deep-rooted brain still knows how the story starts, how it flows, and how it ends. He chuckled...

"Shiela," He said

"Yes, grandpa?"

"Grab your pen and paper. Let me tell you one great story..."

***

The little girl did what she's told. She sat on the floor, the pen and paper on the stool, her hand on a writing position. She looked from her paper towards her great grandfather and slightly nodded. Owen also smiled back and opened his wrinkled mouth...

"In the year when ninjas were soldiers, there was war. Of course, it's pretty normal for them as the place was filled with anger and guilt. But the hard part is they had these superpowers to fight enemies..."

"Superpowers?"

He nodded. Shiela swiftly scribbled some words on her paper, maybe twelve or ten. Until she paused...

"What happens on the ninjas without powers?"

"T-That..."

Owen hesitated, trying to remember what exactly happened. He snapped his fingers:

"Aha! They fight with a kunai and a star shuriken"

"Kunai? Star shuriken?"

This reaction was predictable. She was new to these kinds of topics. Well, if you are asking the same:

A kunai is a small type of knife used by ninjas. The blade was diamond in shape as a little hoop attached to the end of its short metal spur. Sometimes a little white cloth is wrapped around the handle to avoid infections or hand pain. You can throw or easily use them for hand-to-hand combat.

As well as the shuriken, it is commonly used even nowadays, but they are pretty rare to find and dangerous to handle. A star-shaped metal blade made for long-range battles. A shuriken is very hard to throw as an unbalanced strength can bend the star blade's direction. Ninjas are trained every day, every month, every year to master this technique.

Grandpa Owen also explained this to his granddaughter for her essay.

"How about the superpowers? Are they real?"

She asked, sparkles in her eyes. Owen stared at her, knowing she also wanted to know...

"Not technically, powers. They are tools used for ninjas. For example, there's a tool intended to breathe fire."

No, "The Last Ninja War" was fiction. Yes, the characters were able to use superpowers and such humane tools. But in real life, things like these never existed. Or so, we never know...

Grandpa Owen spoke as if he already knows. Of course, he was a fan of this movie, really. He followed every series and never missed a fighting scene. He went overboard by studying ninjas, too. But that's his life, nobody cared...

***

After listening to her grandpa's stories, she hurriedly ran upstairs to retype her essay. Of course, a kind, innocent girl like her said thank you...

'Speaking of...'

Owen pondered, standing up from his seat.

The rocking chair swayed as he got on his feet. He ambled inside the house and towards a little drawer by the window. He opened it, gently. He knows how special the things inside were...

But, what were those things?

Creeak

The little drawer opened and revealed a black box inside. It was almost as big as a shoebox. Owen smiled ear-to-ear, recalling what's inside...

He pushed open the box and inside was....

a kunai

A weapon used by ninjas:

Any ninja weapons were adapted from farming tools, not unlike those used by Shaolin monks in China. Since kunai were cheaply produced farming tools of a useful size and weight and could be easily sharpened, they were readily available to be converted into simple weapons. As a weapon, the kunai is larger and heavier than a shuriken and the grip could also be used in hand-to-hand combat more readily than a shuriken.

- According to Wikipedia

Why does he have one in his palms? These weapons were gone years ago or are rare to find. Why? You asked...

"Thank you for your sacrifice, my friend, we couldn't have won without you..."

He shuddered...

***

Hey!

The prompt said:

"Write about a character who's obsessed with an era they never lived through"

Well...

The story isn't about Owen being a ninja and joined the war, but it's about me who's become a ninja freak!

Yes, I love Japanese history, so what? You can't judge me!

A real-life series inspired me, it made me idolize them, looking upon their actions and yes, they've changed me. The way a sit-down, the way I run, the way I speak, the way I think, they've changed. Even my previous thriller stories were inspired by that one series...

A story about a lone boy, a prankster, without parents, without money, suddenly became the world's hero and the strongest ninja's ever been. Yes, it may have 700+ episodes but it's pretty wonderful, every chapter, every novel, every character. I'm in love. I grew up with that series, so I grew up changing...

And I love it that way!