The sun was peaking over the dark mountains of Beijing. Ratigan rubbed his eyes as he was steering the ship to the best of his ability. The ship started to make a sharp gurgling sound from the bottom, startling him awake. He turned and saw the balloon holding them up was starting to deflate and lose air. His eyes widened as he ran down to the bunks "Good news everyone-"
"We've landed?" Richard shot up excited "Oh at last-"
"Well we are landing." He said as everyone began to wake up "Bad news is we are crash landing." He ran out and Mavis gasped "Crash landing. Did he say crash?" Alex held her hand assumingly "I'm sure he knows what he's doing.." he ran out of the bunk area and joined his uncle "What's going on?"
Ratigan tried to steer "The balloon is deflating, I'm trying to find a place to land."
Alex pointed to a grassy area in the middle of a crowded forest "There! Between those two trees!"
The ship's wheel broke off and both men looked at each other. Alex chuckled "Or wherever you can.."
"HOLD ON!" Ratigan shouted as the ship plummeted into the dark forest, The smoke cleared as Basil jumped from the rubble first "My word Ratigan, you think you'd be able to steer this thing after all your experience with an aircraft." He coughed.
Ratigan pushed his way past the broken wood, helping Rosalie out of the destruction "Bayne had a less than reliable design.. I would have trusted Alex with a more suitable invention than that buffoon."
"Aw.." Alex grinned "Thanks Uncle James."
Basil quirked an eyebrow and moved his hands around the deflated balloon "Hmm." He muttered to himself "Dawson what do you see here?"
Dawson quirked an eyebrow "What do you make of it?"
"Isn't it painfully obvious? We've been attacked!" he pulled a small dart "The airship has been punctured causing it to fall in this exact area."
Rosalie dusted herself off "What is in this exact area.. Exactly?"
They all watched Basil walk around the area and notice the trees and even take his magnifying glass to examine the moss, he dropped his glass and muttered "Oh no."
Suddenly they were all picked up in the air by a giant cage bursting from the ground. The walls of the cage lifted and trapped them inside, not being able to burst out. The bamboo poles were stiff, Ratigan grabbed them "We can't break through them!" Richard pushed him out of the way and attempted to move them "Great job boy."
"Me? If I had any help from you we would have been dead."
Richard scoffed "At least I didn't fall asleep at the helm!"
"That was for five minutes and we were still heading north!"
Rosalie separated them "Stop fighting! SHhh!" her ears perked up, "Did you hear that?" they suddenly heard rustling in the bushes right as a tribe of mice covered in wooden masks ran through and started to lift the cage. They muttered some random language to each other and smacked Richards hands which were still on the cage "Hey! Ow!" Lorenzo hushed them as they were being carried past the dark trees giving shade from the rising sun.
Lorenzo started to pace the floor of the cage "This is how it ends.. I'm too young to die. I'm too handsome too but I don't want to brag."
"Shut up Lorenzo." Fidget said.
He kept going "I'll never explore the world, never find true love, well I almost did with Rosalie but-"
The whole group shouted "SHUT UP LORENZO!"
Lorenzo plopped on the ground "Sorry."
The cage stopped at a large temple, hundreds of mice in tiny huts watched as the tribe brought their offering to the chief, a large light brown rat, he wore a long tribal skirt and face painted for the occasion. He held a long brown staff in his hand as he waved his hand up to silence the tribe. The chief walked up to the cage and scowled at the motley crew. He huffed "Shuí shì zhèxiē xiǎo shǔ?" pointing at his servants.
One of the mice stood up "Tāmen shàn duì wǒmen de bùluò biānjiè xiàn. Wǒmen jiěgùle xiàlái dāng.."
"Basil, what are they saying?" Rosalie asked.
Ratigan interrupted "We were trespassing on their boundary lines and were shot down." He continued to listen "And we are savages."
The chief glared at Ratigan "Shāle tāmen."
Ratigan had wide eyes and spoke up "Liánmǐn wěidà…. Lǐngxiù" he rubbed his head "I hope I said something right.."
"I didn't even know you spoke Chinese…" Rosalie whispered.
The chief pointed his staff to him "Nǐ shuō wǒmen de yǔyán?"
"How do we know your language?" he thought for a second "Wǒ péiyǎng duō yǔzhǒng.." he said. He then turned to the group "I told him I know other languages.."
The chief smiled smugly "Parlez-vous français?"
He crossed his arms "Oui monsieur."
"Buenos dias.." he quirked an eyebrow.
Ratigan smiled "Guten tag!"
"Hello." The chief waved his hand.
"Hello." Ratigan said in return
The chief laughed "We finally meet a group who understands our language.." he clapped his hands "Release these mice, they are no longer our prisoners.. but our guests." The mice released the cage, letting them out. The chief laid out his hand "I am Chief Mallen…" he snapped his fingers as they watched the crowd depart and make way for a young peach colored mouse, she had a long dark braid and bright brown eyes that brought out her fur. The chief wrapped his hand around her shoulders and smiled 'This is my daughter, Princess Meyla."
Lorenzo stood wide eyed and muttered to himself "Hello beautiful lady.." he slicked back his hair as Ratigan pushed him back "Easy tiger." He whispered "That is the princess of the tribe.. she's promised to one of the strongest men in the village.." he looked around at the strong boys "Good luck Lorenzo." He chuckled watching Lorenzo compare muscle size with the other boys winning for her attention. Meyla looked at the young man and chuckled as Lorenzo awkwardly waved at her.
"I am Professor Padraic James Ratigan." He shook his hand firmly and wrapped an arm around Rosalie "And this is my wife Rosalie."
The chief smiled "Tonight because you share the same culture and share peace we shall celebrate tonight under the rising stars!" He waved to his subjects "Tonight we will feast!" the group cheered as an older mouse with grey hair approached the group.
Meyla smiled "My lady Tilla will be happy to help you prepare."
Tilla, the white mouse smiled "We will get you out of these drab clothes into something more comfortable." She winked and grabbed Rosalie's arm "We'll start with you first."
The group started to settle down and rest, not having any idea how tonight's celebration would help them escape the wrath of Damion and his crew.
REVIEW AND FOLLOW!
