Well, I'm back. I'll be honest, in the last chapter, my writing flare was down big time. This story means a lot to me, and it kinda bums me out that since I've gotten internet back and posted a bunch, nobody has continued reading. I guess they all gave up the wait, and gave up the story, but I'll still finish the story, no matter what. Well, read and review for those who are, and for those who aren't, I'm truly sorry for the wait.
Chapter 9
We spent only a few days in preparation. There was some debate on letting me go, but eventually it was ruled that I would do just fine. I was very excited that morning, feeling like I could walk on water. I quickly got washed and dressed early in the morning, and was in the kitchen by the time Mom had finished making dumplings for breakfast. I ate fast before grabbing my mask and meeting her at the front door.
"Are you nervous?" She asked
"A little," I replied, earning a half-smile
"Now, remember that no matter what, you come home safely, alright?" She said, and I could hear her voice faltering as she pulled me into a hug
"I will, Mom. I'm ready for this," I stated, hugging her back before we broke apart
"I am so proud of you," She said
"I know," I replied
Without further words, we hugged again and I was off. I was instructed to wait at the base of the stairs for the others to arrive, so that's where I stood. I wasn't there for a few minutes before they began filing down. None of them ever stopped; they simply kept running straight for the Bamboo Forest. Once I realized this, I dawned my mask and dropped to and all fours sprint hot on their trail. I slowed myself a little once I caught up, but I still had to keep in that position to keep up. Needless to say my ego was boosted as random villagers cheered us on, even though they had no idea what battle we were headed for.
We reached the forest in about fifteen minutes, but we didn't stop at the forest line. There was a trail leading into the forest which we followed for another while. It wasn't long before Tigress slowed us down. Not much longer after that she stopped us completely. When we stopped, we grouped together and were briefed on the strategy.
"Alright, so here is what we are going to do: Mantis, Viper, you two blend in so you will be scouting ahead. You are to come back and tell us what you find every five minutes. Po and I will stay on the ground and be the origin point. We keep an eye out around us and make sure we can regroup if it is needed. Monkey, Crane, and Star will be our eyes from above. Crane, you fly over the canopy and make sure there are no dangers from above. Monkey, you and star will be in the trees. You call out anything you see or hear. Any questions?" Tigress asked. Silence.
"Alright, let's move," commanded Po
With that, everyone rushed to their positions. I followed monkey into the trees, jumping quietly from tree to tree. I watched as Viper and Mantis disappeared in the distance, hidden in the colors of the forest. Monkey and I stayed relatively close to Po and Tigress, wanting to make sure we could call out any threats as they slowly and cautiously made their way forward. It was fairly easy to tell time as Mantis and/or Viper would return to report that they had seen nothing out of the ordinary.
After a while, it grew somewhat boring, but every time I showed it, Monkey would remind me to stay alert. Little did I know that things were due to get much more interesting. We were still moving through the forest when it came time for Viper and Mantis to report, but they never showed. Tigress instructed us to stop and wait for them to come back, but after a few minutes it became clear that something wasn't right.
"Monkey, ask Crane if he's seen anything," Po whispered
"Alright," Monkey whispered in reply, "Crane, we haven't heard back from Mantis or Viper, have you seen anything?"
We waited for a reply, but none came. I was growing exceedingly worried, but held my composure for the sake of the mission.
"Tigress, Po, I can't find Crane," Monkey called down
Silence. I looked down to find that they too were gone, with no sign of them ever being there in the first place.
"Star, stay here. I'm going to see if I can find them," He said before jumping from the tree to the ground
My heart pounded as I watched him search the ground, and I made sure to watch his surroundings for any threat.
"Star, there are other footprints here, not just Po and Tigress," He stated, running his hands along the ground
It was then that I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked, and saw two figures silently approaching Monkey, each draped in the same tan full body uniform. The uniform had a symbol on the right shoulder which looked like some kind of head, completely black. I didn't take the time to think about it.
"Monkey, ten o'clock!" I called out, warning him of the approaching danger just before it reached him
He quickly turned, just in time to catch a fist and use it to swing one of his opponents into the other. He let out a sigh as he looked at the two unconscious persons who lay piled on each other on the ground.
"Nice call Star," He said, before looking up at me
I was confused when he looked at me, however, because his look was not of gratitude or pride, but of terror. His eyes showed nothing but fear, and I couldn't understand why he was looking at me that way, until I realized he wasn't looking at me. His gaze fell to whatever was behind me, which in turn filled me with fear. I turned around and saw that the trees behind me were filled with more people dressed in the same uniform, countless enemies all staring down at me.
"Monkey!" I called out in fear, hoping for assistance in getting out of this predicament
Silence. It was clear to me that Monkey was gone, and I was left alone. A moment later, each and every one of the uniformed assailants charged. I quickly turned tail and fled, hopping from tree to tree as fast as I could to escape these people, but it was clear I wasn't faster than all of them. As I prepared to make another leap, I felt a hand wrap around my ankle, causing me to yelp. I looked down to find that one of them had caught up and grabbed me, so in reaction I brought my other foot down on his face, causing him to fall and me to be free, but it was too late.
By the time I had broken free, the others had gained too much ground. I knew if I didn't drop to the ground, I would be history, so I did. I let go of the trees and fell to the ground before continuing my run, but I overestimated my speed. Before long I was forced to stop and fight. The first few opponents were easy, but when I was swarmed, I found myself helpless. It wasn't two seconds later when I was hit in the head, hard, and fell completely unconscious.
When I woke, my head was throbbing in pain. I ignored this however, upon hearing the third and fourth most comforting voices I could: Viper and Tigress.
"She's awake," Tigress said
"Star?! Star, are you alright?" Viper asked urgently
"I'm fine," I replied and tried to rub my eyes but found I couldn't bring my hands from behind my back
I looked to find that my hands were tied behind my back, and my legs were tied together at the ankle. I nearly screamed when I realized what I was wearing: nothing better than a few rags. I noticed that both me and Tigress were wearing a single strip of cloth wrapped around our chests and a similar rag wrapped around our upper thighs and hips. These clothes had the obvious purpose of covering just enough to be decent but still being very revealing.
"Where are we?" I asked
"We don't know," Viper replied
I looked around and found that we were all in a tent, which held nothing but us and sacks of flour. The tent had one entrance, which also seemed to serve as the only exit. It was closed, so I couldn't see out of it. Seeing that it was easily within reach, I struggled against the ropes, but found them to be extremely strong.
"I wouldn't bother with those. I designed those ropes to be as strong as steel," I heard a familiar hogs voice from outside the tent, just before he entered
"Dou Dai," Tigress stated
"The one and only!" He shouted, giving a bow, "I'm so glad you wondered into this-"
"PIG! YOU'RE SUPPOSE TO BE IN THE ARMORY!" A huge voice bellowed from outside
A moment later, a wolf walked in the tent and glared at him. Dou Dai seemed to shrink down in fear before running from the tent.
"I apologize. His skill in the workshop is useful to us, but his incompetence can be irritating," The wolf said in a deep voice
"Who are you?!" Tigress asked in her menacing voice
"Oh, how rude of me. I am the commander of this camp, Wan-Lu," He replied
"What do you want with us?" Viper asked, calmly but powerfully
"With you? Nothing. I want you to do something for me" He said
We all looked at him questioningly, wondering what he wanted us to do and wondering why he would think we would do anything for him in the first place. He then began chuckling to himself.
"I want you to die!" He exclaimed, and continued his maniacal laughter for a few more seconds, "You see, as prisoners of our camp, your only purpose is to entertain our soldiers. Starting this afternoon, you will be required to fight for your life once a day. We will put you all in a fight against one or more opponents, and unless you win, you will be killed"
His words worried me. I knew against one or two enemies, I'd be fine, but how many could I really fight at once? I could tell the situation was bad, all the way around. No way, could we do it forever.
"Prepare yourselves, for this battle will be your last," He finished, before exiting the tent
I was now more than worried; I was scared.
"Tigress, what do we do?" I asked
She was silent for at least fifteen seconds before answering.
"We fight, and fight hard"
Dun dun duuuuuuuun! I'm finally getting close to being back where I was before I accidentally deleted all those chapters I wrote. Yay! Holy moly, I lost a lot! Well, for those who read, please review! See you next time!