Chapter 4
The Tale of Eight
Inside the Lion Temple (The Throne Room)
May 19th, 2015; 3:00 P.M.
"We Elders have heard much about you. There is an old tale, about seven strangers who came to Chima long ago, along with the Lion Clothed in Green. These strangers helped the early Tribes and the Phoenix Tribe fight off the Hunters long ago. Now, the Hunters have come back, and if it is not the first eight, then perhaps they were your ancestors. We need your help, all of you. The Lion and Wolf who wield the Sacred Blades must lead you. In the meantime, all of you must head up to the Fire Temple, where the Phoenix reside." "I thought this was over though." One of the Elders nods. "We assumed it to be true, but Lord Fangar thought otherwise. All of us were ambushed, every last Tribe was affected in some way. Now, we are stuck here." All of us are gathered around the Throne Room in various locations. I myself am staring at the blue-tinged pool in front of me. A red-haired Lion is sitting next to me. "Fascinating, isn't it?" The Lion nods towards the pool. "This is the Sacred Chi Pool, where we Lions collect the Chi Droplets and give them out to the Tribes. My name is Laval, by the way. I'm the Lion Prince. You seem to be very interested in Chi. Maybe my father will let you try some." Laval stands and begins to walk over to his father, who is having an animated discussion with the Elders. Once Laval reaches him, Lagravis turns to his son and they begin talking to each other. Laval gestures to me, then at the shimmering blue pool before me at one point. I then see the Lion King nod. Then he speaks to me from across the pool. "I was wondering how you would react to Chi. Yes, I think that now is the time. Go ahead."
I walk down the steps until I am knee-deep in the pool. I then reach out and take a shimmering blue ball that is floating on the water. I lift it from the water and gaze at it: it seems to be filled with some type of magic, the way air is swirling around in the ball itself like this. It seems harmless…what's the harm of doing this? Still standing in the pool, I look over at Laval and the Lion King. They both nod at me, then Lagravis speaks to me again: "You may have noticed that you are wearing a chest plate. In the middle of the chest plate is a place where Chi can be stored. Place the orb in that spot." I then look down, and find the hole Lagravis was talking about.
Taking the shimmering orb in my right paw, I lower it to the hole in the chest plate, and, judging that I'll have to make sure the orb doesn't fall out if I move, I turn my paw to face the hole, then I move the orb to the empty section of the chest plate.
The Chi Orb fits perfectly in the empty slot and, still standing in the Chi Pool, wait for something to happen. It doesn't take long.
I feel….unstoppable…powerful…too powerful….I think….yes, the Chi is working, I think… Suddenly, I'm filled with so much power that I curl my paws into fists, raise them towards the ceiling, feeling power just flow from my being.
I hid behind one of the many pillars that surround the Chi Pool. Now, I'm feeling a bit ashamed of myself. Now that I see that we can use Chi, I want to try some myself. "Owwww-oooolllll!" "What is that?" Ben is beside me and together, Lion and Eagle, we watch our friend use Chi for the first time. "Wow." "…What?" "It must be amazing to feel that much energy in you…" Ben turns to me, "They'll let each of us use one orb, won't they?" I look on as the Chi-infused Wolf leaps out of the Pool, unsheathes her sword, and runs at Laval, who also unsheathes his sword. They collide with the sound of steel striking steel. I start forwards, concerned but then the rest of my friends are there, holding me back. "Don't." It's Zelda. "You'll only make things worse."
I feel nothing but power. And the need to use it. "You fight pretty well for a Wolf! Whoa!" I swing my blade at Laval, making him duck. "A wolf? You should see me back home!" A sudden pang of homesickness hits me and I stop, my sword half-raised. Then the power I felt leaves me and I slowly lower my sword so the blade points to the tile floor. I never knew that I could miss Earth so much. Or miss home either. But I have to stay strong. I have to find a way to get back, no matter what it takes. Summoning some hidden willpower, I sheathe my sword once more, than step away from Laval and my friends and leave the Throne Room.
The Battlements
6-12-15
Turns out I've been here for about an entire month. Time does fly fast. I guess everyone sensed that I need to be alone for a while, because no one has come out here, not even to check on me. I'm not sure how to respond to this. Maybe I kind of overreacted…did I? I'm still pondering this when I see something coming towards the bridge at an alarming rate. "What…" Whatever it is, the thing's smoking and I can hear a whining noise from up here. Are they going to crash? A few seconds later, I hear a muffled boom come from inside. Looks like they did. Guess I'll have to go down there…
"You've GOT to help us! The Hunters have captured our parents AGAIN! What are we supposed to do?!" "If they have captured your parents again, we will try to find them, Cragger, but for now, stay here." A panicking young crocodile is making frantic motions while moving around the wreck of the vehicle I saw a few minutes ago. Coming up to him, I notice who can only be his sister staring at me. After staring back at her long enough to make her uncomfortable, she moves away, out of sight. Who was that? Lagravis is consoling who I guess is Cragger. He seems to be important, whoever he is. The croc spots me and runs over to me. "You! You can fight and stuff, right?" Without waiting for me to even open my mouth, he continues, "Then you can help me rescue my parents!" I step away from him. "Rescue? Sorry, but I have no idea who your parents are, why they need rescuing, or what they even look like. You expect me to go after your parents?" Cragger looks downhearted and I make no effort to take back what I've said. Instead, I turn to Lagravis, unsheathing my sword as I do so. The blade gleams as if it senses that I'm mad about something. "I'm not someone who does everything for you-I'm leaving-and no one is going to stop me. No one." Not saying another word, I spin around and run out of the Throne Room. What am I thinking? I think that I finally lost it. And I very well may have.
"Come back here!" My voice seems to have no effect on the fleeing figure. Why did you have to get upset like that? All he did was ask you to help find his parents… "She'll get over it, right?" Still gazing at the entranceway, I sigh and glance over at Link. "She's…different. In a way. She takes some things the wrong way, if you know what I mean." The Lion standing beside me nods synthetically. "I know exactly what you mean, Ben. I've had problems with her as well. But we can help Cragger find his parents. Let Lauren do her own things. We need to be here." Forcing myself to turn my thoughts away from the sword-wielding wolf, I follow Link up to the Throne, where Laval and Cragger are having a very animated discussion about how they are going to rescue Cragger's parents. Only when the two of us reach them does Cragger realize something. "Uh…Laval…where's Crooler?"
