Hey guys, I'm just curious, when you read this fic and put the characters' voices in your head, who do you use as Lin's Mai Li's and Geng Wu's? I'm just wondering...

Opening Song: Simple and Clean by Utada Hikaru

CHAPTER 35
BREAKOUT

A little over half a year later...

Lin's plan was already set. Any minute now, guards would come in to feed him dinner, just enough to keep him alive. He knew the procedure; a large group would enter and lower him to the ground where his wrists and ankles were bound with more chains. Then, they would guard the entrance as one of them fed him by placing food on a spear. He hoped his plan would work. If what he heard yesterday was true, it had to work.

He would've done this plan a long time ago, but things now and then were a lot different. Being the weak and powerless prisoner, not many guards came to feed him. As the years went by, the number of guards that came in to feed him went to five. Before, he'd have around 30 which would've upset his plans.

As the door creaked open, he smirked a bit and hoped everything would go well. He looked up and saw only five guards enter the room. The same routine was performed. In a matter of minutes, he was on the ground with chains around his feet and ankles. Four of the guards blocked the door while one of them put a moldy piece of bread on a spear and offered it to Lin. No one ever approached him as he ate.

He took a bite out of the bread. After chewing for a while, he suddenly spat it out surprising the guards. "This bread's too moldy!" he complained at the guards.

"Look, it's either you die of hunger, or get your head cut off by the master." the guard put another piece of bread on the spear. "I'd go with the latter if I were you."

Everything was going well so far. Lin sniffed the bread before taking a bite. He spat it out almost immediately. "Don't you know what happen's to me when I eat moldy bread?" he asked. He hoped that they would fall for his bluff.

"I don't care; just eat!" the guard said poking his face with the moldy-bread-tipped spear. Lin sighed and took the whole thing in his mouth.

He swallowed it instantly and froze up. He fell on his back, and began twitching and making gagging noises. Alarmed, the guards got up and surrounded him; none of them wanted to touch him. "What's going on?" one of them asked.

"I'm dying; what else does it look like!" Lin choked out as he continued to pretend to gag and twitch. The guards looked at each other. As much as Geng Wu hated Lin, he wanted him to die by his own hand. If he died on their watch, their master would waste no time in cutting them in half.

The guards began to argue with one another. "We gotta do that...that Heimlich...thingy."

"I'm not touching him; what if he throw up or something?"

"It's either this, or the master's wrath."

"Alright, I'll do it. Just hold him still."

To Lin's delight, they laid their swords aside. Two of them got Lin on his feet and stepped aside as another approached him from behind and put his arms around his stomach. One of them stood in front of him. All the players were in place; time for the show to begin.

Even though his wrists were chained, he could still raise his arms. He did just that and brought them down on the head of guard in front of him, hitting him with the shackles and knocking him out. As the other guards looked stunned by what was going one, Lin hit the guard behind him with his elbow. The latter let got of him leaving Lin the chance to swing his shackles and hit his head, knocking him out.

The other three guards came to their senses and picked up their weapons. One of them charged and slashed; Lin raised his arms making the sword cut through the chains, freeing his paws. He thanked the guard by giving him a good upper cut that left him groaning in pain. He grabbed his sword and broke the chains on his ankles.

The other two guards lunged. Lin used the sword to block them as they slashed at the same time. He countered by kicking one in the stomach. The other guard watched him crumple, giving Lin the opportunity to strike his head with the butt of his sword, knocking him out. With all the guards unconscious, Lin panted for a while before dropping the sword and dropping on all fours. Very heroic.

He hadn't done that much physical work in years, so he was very tired. He gave himself one minute to rest before getting to work. His minute was eventually up, and he got to his feet. He slowly walked towards the door and placed a paw on it. He didn't know how many guards were on the other side. He didn't have the strength nor the time to fight them all. He had to use his energy solely by getting the hell out of wherever he was. Bracing himself, he threw the door open and ran for his life.

He saw stairs before him and ran up. He heard cries of surprise, but he ignored them. He raced up the stairs and burst through another door at the top. He emerged from a small shack in the middle of a forest. As he considered his next move, he heard footsteps from behind him. He quickly bolted into the forest before the guards would arrive.

Twigs and branches hit hit as he ran, but he didn't care. He eventually reached a dirt path and ran along it. He could hear the guards catch up with him and put on an extra burst of speed. He didn't have time to look over his shoulder and check on them, but he was sure that he would be able to dodge anything they-

An arrow went over his should shocking him so much that he stopped. He turned and saw a group of Geng Wu's warriors running towards him. There wer two archers among them, and one of them fired an arrow. To Lin, the arrow seemed to travel faster than usual. He tried catching it, but it slipped right through his paw. He stared at his outstretched paw in disbelief for several seconds before turning around and resuming his run.

His legs began to ache greatly, but he didn't slow down one bit. Eventually, he looked over his shoulder and saw that they weren't there anymore. He must've out ran them, but he didn't want to take any chances. He continued running for twenty more minutes before spotting a large rock by the side of the road. He dove behind it before anyone could notice.

He was breathing so rapidly, he was afraid he'd start hyperventilating. His legs burned with all the running he did. Lin clutched his head and tried to figured out what had happened. He should've easily caught that arrow even after years of lack of physical labor. Now that he thought about it, the attacks of the guards he took out seemed a little faster than he thought they would. His eyes widened as he came to a conclusion.

His precious, razor-sharp reflexes were gone.

He tried to think about it. Had the explosion from all those years ago messed up his brain or something? It could be since he never really had the chance to test his reflexes until this moment. If they were really gone, his fighting style would change a lot.

He shook his head; that stuff wasn't important at the moment. He had to start moving even though he was still in pain. Ignoring said pain, he got to his feet and staggered forward away from the path. Every step he took hurt his legs, but he didn't have much time to rest. He had to keep going no mater what.

After a few minutes, he looked down and realized that he was knee-deep in a river. He wasted no time in plunging his head into the water and start taking large gulps to quench his thirst. The only reason he stopped drinking was that he had to come up to breathe. Having his fill, he staggered to the other side of the river and collapsed.

He looked pathetic, covered in wet rags, cuts and bruises; no one would recognize him as the nemesis of Geng Wu. He was in absolutely no condition to do anything strenuous for a while, but he just didn't have time.

He got his paws under his chest and tried pushing himself up. His arms wobbled before finally giving away making his chin smack against the ground. He panted for a while before trying again. This time, he managed to stand on his two feet, but as soon as he took a few steps, his legs felt weak and he collapsed once more.

Was this the end for him? Was he just going to lie there and wait for death to take him? Would he just die while Geng Wu was still free to concoct his next plan?

No...he wouldn't allow it.

He placed a paw on his chest feeling the one thing Geng Wu left alone, his LinkStar. He took it out and gazed into it, thinking of her, of how she was in danger right now. Her image in his head gave him the strength to rise once more and continue onward. He took the LinkStar of his neck and wrapped it around his right paw.

He slowly rose to his feet and continued on. Whenever he felt like collapsing once more, he just looked at his LinkStar, and it gave him enough strength to continue, to put one foot in front of the other, to hurry to his home before it was too late...