The mountains were beginning to turn into dark silhouettes as the sun disappeared more and more. The Donha and Tori were starting to get nervous as they lost sight of the airship and Finn was examining the surrounding mountains.
"According to the Tai Chi detector the card should be in that cave," Lyn Song said, pointing to a medium sized, dark cave ahead of them.
The group was still a ways off so they didn't see the Dragonoids in the cave's entrance.
"Looks like they've found the Tai Chi," Garnia said, "we should probably hide, it won't be long until we have them in our grasp."
Luka smirked, "very well."
When the Tigeroids finally made it onto the mountain ledge where the cave was it was completely dark, with the exception of the millions of stars out.
"Donha and Finn, you two will come in with me to find the Tai Chi," Lyn said, "Tori, you're to stay here and keep watch."
Tori gulped, "uh, um, Lyn I don't think-"
Lyn's eyes flashed, "I hope you aren't questioning my authority, Tori. Are you still afraid of the dark?"
Tori's bottom lip quivered when Donha stepped in, "don't talk to him like that! We're not leaving anyone out in the dark on their own!"
Lyn glared, "my orders are my orders, you'll do as I say."
Donha shook his head, "no, I'm not leaving Tori here alone."
Lyn was silent for a moment, "very well, but you'll regret this later. Finn, you'll come with me."
As Lyn entered the cave Finn looked back at Donha and Tori, they nodded and then he followed Lyn.
Back at the airship Sena was pacing back and forth.
"It's pitch dark out now," she said, "even if they do find the Tai Chi they're sure to get lost coming back."
Rai bit his lower lip, "I have a really bad feeling about this, should we try to go after them?"
Sena shook her head, "I want to, but we can't leave the ship vulnerable."
"I can't stand this, something doesn't feel right," Rai muttered.
Sena nodded in agreement and looked on to the black mountains and the starry sky.
Meanwhile, Lyn and Finn were making their way through the cave. It was dark and musty, the minerals glistened on the walls, and occasionally bats could be heard deeper in the darkness. The only thing lighting the way was Finn's activator and Lyn's Tai Chi detector. Besides the dripping water it was completely silent.
Suddenly Finn stopped, "we need to go back, I sense something."
"Don't be ridiculous," Lyn replied, "there's nothing here, I would've thought Tori would be the only one afraid of the dark."
Before Finn could reply a blast knocked both of them off their feet. Rocks tumbled on them and the ground shook.
Lyn quickly got up and looked around, but it was pitch black. Another blast sounded, but Finn was able to get up and light the cave with his lightning. With the sparks he was able to see Garnia and Luka.
Donha and Tori were still waiting outside of the cave.
"I don't like this," Tori said, "we shouldn't have come here, even if it meant a bad note to the Elders, it's not worth taking this risk."
Donha nodded, "and seeing how Lyn is, she'll probably give a bad report anyways."
"I just hope they come out soon, I can't stand having all of us separated like this," Tori replied, "but thanks for staying out here with me, Donha."
Smiling, Donha said, "no problem, Tigeroids stick together no matter what."
Tori smiled and was about to reply when they heard the blast come from the cave.
"Oh no! Finn!" Tori cried, running towards the cave.
Finn was thrown against a wall with a thud as Luka's water card hit him, he had no idea where Lyn was.
"You Tigeroids were foolish to come here," Garnia gloated, "you're no match!"
Finn got to his feet and looked for Lyn and found her hiding behind a rock mound. He dodged another blast from Garnia and dove behind the mound with her.
Lyn had her head in her hands and was breathing hard.
"Are you injured?" Finn asked as he sent ice shards in Garnia's direction.
"No, I just…need to catch my breath," Lyn replied.
"We need to work together if we're going to make it out of this," Finn said, as braced as Garnia sent another explosion.
Donha and Tori were running as fast as they could through the cave, luckily there were no forks in the tunnels. However, they were stopped when they came to a rock slide that blocked off the area where Lyn and Finn were.
"No! This must've happened because of the explosions," Donha said, "it'll take at least ten people to get this cleared quick enough to save Finn and Lyn."
Tori started trying to move the rocks, but some of the rocks were too big to move by himself.
"You need to use your Tai Chi."
A voice startled Donha and Tori, they turned around to see the masked Tigeroid.
"You! Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Donha asked.
"There's no time for questions, but if you want to save your fellow Tigeroids then listen to me," the masked figure said, "Donha you need to use your Seok card to create a boulder large enough to clear out the rock pile. Tori, in order for the rocks to move easier you need to use your Hwal card to make the floor of the cave slick."
"But I don't know if-"
Tori and Donha began to protest, but the figure put up her hand, "it's the only way, there's no time."
Tori took a deep breath and brought out his Hwal card and slid it through his activator, "Tai Chi Hwal, make this floor slick!"
The rocks shifted a little and Donha slid his Seok card, "Tai Chi Seok!"
Donha closed his eyes in concentration as he molded his stone into a large boulder and sent it flying into the pile of rocks. The rocks cleared away like bowling pins under the boulder.
"Great job, Donha!" Tori exclaimed, "let's go!"
Donha turned to thank the masked Tigeroid, but didn't see anything.
"Thank you," he whispered as he followed Tori deeper into the cave.
Finn evaded another water attack by Luka, but he was starting to get worn down and it was getting more difficult to be quick. Lyn had proven no help, she was so confident before that she left her cards and activator back at the ship, Finn was able to hit the Dragonoids with a few shots, but not enough.
Lyn ran up to try to do hand to hand combat with Luka, but he was able to flick her into the wall like she was nothing more than a bug.
Eventually the Dragonoids had the two of them cornered, Luka's sword illuminated the cave. He and Garnia's smiles glowed blue from the sword's light.
"Tigeroids are always weak," Luka said, "this cave will be the perfect tomb for you two."
Luka raised his sword and was about to bring it down when a boulder came crashing into him and smashed him against the wall.
"What the-!" Garnia exclaimed and sent explosions in the direction the boulder came from, but then he slipped and fell to the ground.
Finn stood up and froze Garnia with his ice card and lit the cave with lightning as Donha and Tori ran in.
"Are you two okay?" Tori exclaimed as he rushed in to give Finn a big hug, Finn was so relieved he didn't look half as uncomfortable as he usually does with hugs.
"Yeah, you came in at the right time," Finn said.
Lyn slowly got up, eyes wide as she examined the frozen Garnia and looked over where Luka laid, unconscious.
"We'd better leave," Donha said, "it won't be long before those two wake up with a vengeance."
Finn went and picked up the Tai Chi detector for light and the three were about to leave when they saw Lyn was still looking around wide eyed.
"Lyn, come on, we need to go," Tori said, impatiently.
"I just-I had no idea…we were almost killed," Lyn sputtered.
Donha kind of felt sorry for Lyn, "it's kind of different from the inside of a classroom."
Finn turned and noticed something on the cave floor.
"The Tai Chi card," he said and picked it up.
The card glowed a little at the touch of a Tigeroid.
"It's Tai Chi An, the light card," Donha said.
"A light card? That's a relief, light 'r up Finn, I'm tired of this dark cave!" Tori exclaimed, happily.
Finn slid the card and light that came from it was stronger than any flashlight.
"That should make it easier to get back to the ship," Donha said.
The ice that contained Garnia began to shift a little bit.
"Let's go!" Tori exclaimed.
The group ran through the cave as fast as they could, the light of the new Tai Chi guiding them. They finally made it to the entrance. It was near the middle of the night, but luckily there was a full moon out and from the ledge they were able to see the small lights of the Tigeroid airship.
It was a relief to be able to run in a field and not in a cave. As they made their way to the ship they were being watched, but this time by friendlier eyes.
"Good work, Tigeroids," the masked figure said to herself and turned and walked deeper into the mountains.
Sena and Rai were overjoyed when they saw their group make it back onto the ship, but they were infuriated when they learned of all that had happened in the cave.
"We never should've allowed you to take part of our group with you, Lyn Song!" Sena yelled, as Hak quickly made the ship take off and towards their appropriate direction.
"I don't care if you found a new Tai Chi card or not, you nearly got yourself and my friends killed!" Sena continued, "that make-shift mission your created was a disaster and we were the ones who had to save you!"
Sena seethed as she collapsed into her rightful command chair.
"I'm sorry," Lyn said.
The group looked at her, surprised at an apology and not a threat to turn them in to the Elders.
"I thought that I was full of experience and knowledge that I became prideful and irresponsible," Lyn said, "and the cost of that were nearly your friends' lives. I've never battled Dragonoids like those two before, and I didn't even get to try because I was so confident that I left my cards and activator here. I was stupid to be so prideful and I wouldn't blame you if you told the Elders about this."
Rai's mouth was agape at this and the rest of the group shifted around.
"Apology accepted," Finn said and turned to Sena, "I'll keep watch tonight."
As Finn left Sena said, "I forgive you, too. How about you guys? Donha? Rai? Tori? Hak?"
The boys gave a small smile and nodded, Hak did so as well.
"You're in luck, Lyn," Sena said, smiling, "we won't throw you off the ship because we see that you've learned a lesson maybe more valuable than the ones you'll learn at your new school."
Lyn smiled, "thank you."
"So what are we going to tell the Elders about the new Tai Chi card?" Rai asked, "they're going to know we went off course."
"I will explain what happened and take responsibility for going off course," Lyn said.
"You don't think you'll get expelled, do you?" Sena asked, frowning.
Lyn shrugged, "I'd deserve it if I did get expelled from this new school. What I did was too risky and wasn't your team's fault."
The team travelled as swiftly as they could for the next couple of days. But even with Hak flying so fast they were still behind on their schedule. They were late by half a day, which was enough to get Elder Pyron upset.
"What is your location, Lyn Song?" Pyron asked as his face appeared on the communication screen in the command room, "you were supposed to be at the new school this morning."
"It's my fault, Elder Pyron," Lyn began, "I-"
"Actually," Sena cut in, "it wasn't just Lyn, we found a Tai Chi on the scanners and went to go find it."
"You what?" Pyron exclaimed, "your direct orders were to go straight to the school, nothing more. I would've expected you all to follow orders better, especially you, Lyn."
Lyn bowed, "forgive me, Elder Pyron, but you always tell me how important it is to find all the Tai Chi. We were just wanting to contribute more to the Tigeroid race by trying to help correct the balance of the Tai Chi powers. We were just trying to help our cause."
By then the whole group of Chasers was in the command room and nodded in agreement to Lyn.
Elder Pyron frowned, but it slowly turned into a small smile, "I admire your dedication to the Tigeroids' cause and am glad you all were successful in finding the Tai Chi. Just be careful in the decisions you make and know when it's time to search and when it isn't time to search."
"Yes, Elder Pyron," the group responded, internally taking a sigh of relief.
"I will inform the school that you are on your way, just don't take anymore detours," Pyron said, "and Chasers, after you've dropped off Lyn bring that new Tai Chi card to the main base as soon as you can."
"Yes, Elder Pyron," Sena said, when the image of Elder Pyron disappeared from the screen the group nearly collapsed.
"That was so close," Sena sighed.
"Thank you so much," Lyn said, "I don't know how I can ever repay you guys for doing that."
"What are friends for?" Donha smiled, "although, Sena, you didn't mention the part about the Dragonoids."
"Huhm? Oh, oh yeah, well I guess I must've forgot," Sena smiled, as she examined the map to the new school.
The Chasers were able to finally make it to Lyn's new base without any other interruptions.
"Thank goodness you're here, Lyn Song," the lead commander at the base said as the group made their way down the airship's hatch, "we were wondering if you had changed your mind."
"I would never," Lyn said, bowing respectfully.
"We must get you settled in immediately," the commander replied, "you have much to learn."
"I really do," Lyn said, turning to the Chasers, "you will always have my gratitude, Tai Chi Chasers. I hope I can become more like you as I go to classes here."
Tori ran over and gave Lyn a hug, "we'll miss you, Lyn. We're glad you're not a butt-head anymore."
Everyone except for Lyn and Tori turned beet red, but Lyn smiled and laughed, "me, too, Tori."
As the Chasers were about to enter the hatch of their ship Lyn called out, "if you Chasers ever need anything, I'll always be ready to help."
Rai smiled, "we might have to take you up on that offer some day!"
The team nodded in agreement as the hatch closed and headed for the command room.
"Okay, so we know that Luka and Garnia are still out there somewhere and probably aren't happy you guys beat them up," Sena said, "so we need to be extra careful. Rai, Donha, Finn will keep watch and-"
"WHAT?!" Rai exclaimed, "when will we ever get a break?"
"No one said being a Chaser was going to be easy, Rai!" Sena replied, annoyed.
"All I'm asking for is a nap!"
THE END
~ I'm probably not going to have a whole lot of time anymore for posting stuff quite as often since I'm in college now. But I will do my best, I never forget my Fanfiction account. ~