"I thought Lang was on watch." Denko said, as he approached Han Guan.
The wolverine sighed. "He was meant to be. But then I brought him some rubbish soup and he got ill. He's probably still squatting in the latrine." He then shrugged. "Still I started this mess, I should do my bit." He tried to puff out his chest, but as he stood, his foot landed in the bowl of soup and a moment later he was hopping around on one leg, removing the soup from his fur.
"Maybe you should take a break. Reidak's cooking if you're hungry." Just as the raven planned Han Guan thanked him and left like an overexcited puppy.
Then he drew the scroll he had won from Chibiki and the fox, and felt stupid for not consulting it earlier. His eyes darted to what he needed almost immediately, a cross over where the vault had to be and another cross just under the dungeons. That was definetly what he was looking for. He tucked the scroll away and put his plan into action.
Saras shot to his feet as if he had been struck by lightning. His nose was twitching madly as he sniffed his surroundings and began darting from one room corner to another.
"Okay genius, get him talking." Izumi said.
"Right. Fox, tell us your name." The hornet began.
"Saras Kanbujian Kanbu Shifty." He replied instantly, snatching up a teapot, throwing the lid open to discover it was empty. "Tea. Tea. Tea!" And a moment later he was darting towards the kitchen.
"Slow-mindedness, check." Izumi muttered.
"Why are you in Japan?"
"To take Xei. Xei in vault. I need Xei. And tea. Tea. Tea!" He poured far too much water into the pot, before slamming the lid on with enough force to break bones.
"Was addiction to tea a side-effect?"
Sutoaraiki ignored the bobtail. "What is Xei?"
"Jit Kun Crystal." The fox was now sending water splaahing everywhere as he strirred in the tea leaves.
"Where is Xei?" The hornet persisted, ducking under the water.
"Vault. Silver Fang vault. I think."
"And so you want to break in?"
"Yes yes yes." The fox said, dumping an unhealthy amount of honey into the remaining water.
"Who are you with?"
"Su, Wing and Wan Wu. Wu sisters. Assassins." Then he left the teapot on the fire and watched the steam rising eagerly.
"What do you know about the Silver Fang?"
"Guarded by lightning raven, Wan's boyfriend and two buddies. Only four guards."
Izumi and Sutoaraiki shared a grin. "I think we've heard enough."
"So can I kill him now?" Izumi asked.
"You can do that later. This info goes straight to Chibiki-sama."
"Fine." But for good measure she brought the wok down on his head with a loud clang.
Jin sidestepped the kusarigama as it sliced an entire table in half. Wan then sent one half of the sugar table at the bear, who then divided it further into two pieces that flew to either side of him. He didn't react quickly enough to Wan's downward claw slash and Jin's crossbow uppercut that caught him on the top and underside of his muzzle. The two lovers then lashed out in a pair of kicks to the cheat that made him slip over a puddle of cherry sauce.
"We hit him in the same spot."
"We weren't even aiming for the same spot."
Then they spoke in unison. "It must be destiny!"
"D'AAAAAAAAAAAAAW!" Chorused the crowd, who's heads were poking out from behind the counter.
Hei Zei gritted his teeth. "Do you ever get used to them?"
"No." Su responded flatly.
Wing threw a ferocious punch at the gorilla's chest. It would have hurt him a lot, had Lang's fist not gotten in the way while in the middle of his own swing.
"Why are you punching me?!" Lang howled as he waved his hurt fist in the air.
"Why is your fist in the way of my punch?!" Wing shot back as she mirrored his motion.
Buruto then sent them both flying across two sides of the restaurant with a double backhand.
"It's just a flesh wound." Su assured as she unwrapped the bandages around his chest.
"Excellent." Hei Zei hissed sarcastically.
"I could kill you right now." Su threatened.
"Go ahead then. You've tried a lot already."
Tempting though it was to finally put an end to her arch nemesis, Su ignored him. "Does anyone have any bandages?"
From over the counter came a volley of them.
"Let's hit him in the same place again!" Jin suggested, blocking a katana swing with the sides of his crossbow.
"Okay, sure. Where should we hit him?" Wan asked as she skipped over a low swing of the kusarigama.
"Nose?"
"Nah, he'll expect that."
"You know I understand Chinese, right!?" Chibiki yelled at them.
"Let's say something rude to him together!"
"Okay. Let's say 'No' to his face, really really loudly!"
The two assassins looked Chibiki right in the face with identical, evil grins. "NO!"
With a roar of rage Chibiki charged at them, swinging his weapons in a wide circle in front of him.
"How about, between the legs?" Wan said.
"Great idea!" Jin agreed.
Both ducked a weapon and kicked the bear between the legs. Chibiki let out a low moan.
"Nose?"
"Sure!" And then their fists were sending him reeling backwards as their attack connected with his nose.
Lang grabbed a chair and charged at Buruto. The gorilla's side was unprotected. He could take him out!
Wing grabbed a table and charged at Buruto. The gorilla's side was unprotected. She could take him out!
Buruto stepped backwards and let Wing's table connect with Lang's head, while Lang's stool crashed into Wing's chest.
"Why the fuck are you hitting me!? Wing yelled.
"You're hitting me!" Lang shot back, before Buruto slammed their heads together and sent them sprawling across to opposite sides of the restaurant.
"It's too tight!" Hei Zei seethed as Su tightened the bandage around his chest.
"Quit complaining." Su barked, tying the bandage into a (very tight) knot.
Chibiki got up and swung, ignoring both the pain on his nose and the throbbing between his legs.
Jin and Wan ducked under the violent swing, and together punched the bear on the muzzle.
Wing is clearly trying to kill me. Lang thought. I'll have to take her out first. So he grabbed a sun-brella.
Lang is clearly trying to kill me. Wing thought. I'll have to take him out first. So she snatched up a vase.
Lang charged at Wing. Wing charged at Lang. They swung wildly.
Buruto never saw the attacks coming until the vase and the sun-brella connected with the sides of his head.
He tried to hit me. Wing snarled.
She tried to hit me. Lang growled.
Buruto stumbled to his feet, only for the umbrella to land on his knee and the vase to crash open against his skull. The gorilla fell to the floor, dazed.
Chibiki stumbled to his feet, but was soon floored once again by the unbeatable romantics.
"Let's throw him into the cherry fountain!" Wan said.
"Good idea." Jin exclaimed.
As Chibiki rose the two gave him a hard shove, right into the cherry fountain.
"We did it Wan!"
"Together!"
The two hugged while the whole restaurant went "D'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!"
Except Hei Zei, Wing, Lang and Su, they all gagged.
The raccoon climbed roughly to his feet, propping himself against a stool, he fixed Su with a deep glare. "This changes nothing!" He growled, ignoring the pain on his chest.
Jim's face darkened. "Zei, I'm warning you. Don't go somewhere where you can't come back out from."
The raccoon opened his mouth to reply, when the door burst open and in burst a very happy-looking Izumi and Sutoaraiki. They looked a lot less happy a second later, when they both had time to take everything in.
The smell of spices sizzling over a low fire made Han Guan's mouth water as he made for the kitchen. Evidently the giant tofu had not been a large enough breakfast. He walked into the kitchens, and nearly bumped into a closet. It was pitch black, save for the small glow at the end of the room.
"Er Reidak-sama? It's pretty dark in here. You could use a torch or two." He extended his paws in front of him, waving them forwards in an attempt to not bump into anything.
It was going well until he slipped on a stray chopstick. Then with a loud yell Han tumbled back, hit a pile of trays and sent them crashing everywhere. He got to his feet, only to trip on a tray and crash facefirst, into something else.
Reidak watched as Han Guan single-handedly wrecked the entire kitchen, before lighting a torch and walking over to the dazed wolverine, lighting up the room as he went.
"Are you okay?" The tiger asked.
In response the wolverine gave a sharp tug and withdrew an entire chopstick from his nose. "What on earth were you doing? Trying to burn the place down?"
"Han, what do I need light for?" Reidak asked, deadpan.
"To se-you aren't the only person who uses the kitchen!" Han snapped defensively, as he climbed to his feet and tried to pull his backside out of a wok.
"I'm the only one that cooks." The tiger replied calmly. Then he heard a soft click. One that only his empowered senses would have sensed. A strong kick freed Han's posterior, and then he handed the wolverine the torch.
"Thanks Reidak-sama. Hey, can I try the soup?"
"Go ahead." Reidak called back as he crossed through the mess of cuttlery and plates. The door was shut and after a single movement Reidak's worst suspicions were confirmed.
"We're locked in."
Footnote: Happy New Year! Just under six hours left here. Two cliffhangers in one chapter (muahahahaha) as we approach the climax of this fic. Let the action continue.
I am really glad I did this remake especially. The Feral Islands was improved by a little as there wasn't much to fix anyways. This though... Where do I begin? I'm not going to even mention word count (okay I am, there's twice as many here as there are there)...
One major improvement is my writing. Yeah I still have typos, but on the whole it has improved vastly, there's also the way I can keep your attention without a lot of major fight scenes. I mean there was the Waterfall fight for the plans, but on the whole most of this is character interaction, and in that aspect I have improved greatly as well.. Another improvement are the characters. I've already discussed Han Guan and Saras, so here's a bit about the others.
Denko is a new character who adds a bit of mystery to the story and adds to the 'who to root for' conundurum. On the one hand his intentions are good, but not good for Han Guan and the Silver Fang. This story serves as an introduction to him and he adds to the very mystical Japan in a good way. On another note why is Japan so mystical XD?
Reidak in the previous version was a Deux Ex Machina, almost invincible kung fu guy who spoke like zero lines I remember. If any. He's a bit more fleshed out now and a fuller person. He also serves as a foil to Han Guan's sheer dumbness. The cooking gag was from Master Fearless Shadow.
Now I think the best 'Character' improvement is undoubtedly the Zei Brotherhood and the Wu Sisters new dynamic. Win really is the best thing this story could have hoped for. The whole dynamic between the Brotherhood and the Sisters is so much more than a repeating revenge cycle now. And it's just plain hilarious, I'm sure you'll agree XD
That's all for now-but more is coming! Update soon.