Next chapter, here it is. I can't believe I'm just a chapter or two from being back to where I was. I spent a good week of doing nothing but waking up, eating, writing, and going to sleep, producing many long and detailed chapters only to hit one wrong button and find it all gone. Oh well, it's nearly over and soon I'll be writing all new chapters! So as always, read, and please do leave a review.
Chapter 10
About an hour later, three cheetahs walked into the tent and untied our legs, and at knife point we were forced to walk out of the tent and were led through the camp. To my astonishment, the camp was huge. It seemed we were led to the center, where barriers had been set up to shape one huge square. We were forced inside, and each put in a section of what I guessed was their arena. They never untied our hands, which only did well to worry me even more. Viper was the only one with any kind of free movement, but it was obvious that if she attempted escape, none of us would fare well.
Warriors were standing all around the barriers, each holding some kind of weapon, and at the side of the arena opposite to us, Wan-Lu sat in his own seeming bamboo throne, elevated higher than anyone else. Around him, many people stood, animals of all kinds, all screaming and cheering for their "entertainment" soon to come.
"Silence!" He yelled, and in an instant, the entire crowd fell silent, "My brothers, my sisters, we have a very special treat for you today!"
A few more seconds of cheers ensued as he stood from his chair, walking to the very edge of his platform.
"It seems that the master of the Jade Palace has sent his lackies here to find us, and find us they did. Are you ready to see them wish they didn't?" More cheers, "Are you ready to see them suffer, and beg for mercy?" The cheers grew louder, "Are you ready, to be entertained?!" My ears were deafened by the roar from the crowd, "And you, Jade Palace warriors, are you ready to die?"
I grew scared at that moment, and as soon as he asked the question, three leopards broke through the crowd and entered the arena with us. Without any word that the fight had begun, they attacked. Tigress and Viper both were ready, but I was too used to fighting in sparring matches. I was kicked in the stomach and knocked backwards onto the ground, painfully. Changing my mindset, I stood and took the best stance I could manage without my arms, but it looked more like I was doing squats, to my own dismay.
This didn't go unnoticed by my opponent as he began to chuckle and laugh at me. After a moment of this, he took his own stance and charged me, but this time I was ready. He tried to do a flying side kick at me, but I fell backwards and thrusted both of my legs upwards just in time to make contacts with his back. Using his own momentum, I threw him behind me before rolling to my feet and returning to my stance.
When I looked, I found that he was still on the ground, and didn't appear to be moving at all. Before I knew what happened, someone rushed up behind me with a knife and forced me out of the arena, back through the camp, and back into the tent. I was thrown to the ground and my legs were re-tied. I noticed that both Tigress and Viper were already here and tied up again, leading me to deduce that they won their bouts long before I did. Once I was tied up, the cheetah left the tent and left us to ourselves again.
"Star, are you alright?" Viper asked
"I'm fine, they just ruffled my fur," I said, trying to keep us upbeat and cheery
"Did you see the guys at all?" Tigress asked
"No…I didn't even think to look," I replied, "Did either of you notice what I did, when he was speaking to the crowd?"
"He seemed crazy, but other than that, no," Tigress replied
"No, when he addressed them. He called them brothers and sisters," I explained
"So, what does that mean?" Viper asked
"A cult," Tigress blurted
"Exactly! There's something more than a group of crim-" I was silenced by the sound of someone entering the tent
When I looked, I saw that a fairly large built jaguar had entered, and was eyeing all of us hungrily. I didn't like the way he looked at us, nor the fact that he set his sights on Tigress. With a smug grin across his face, he approached her where she lay, tied up on the ground. When he was close enough, he leaned down and brought his hand up to her face, using it to stroke her cheek. In response, she growled at him, an action which would scare off anyone in their right mind. This guy was undeterred.
"Awe, don't be like that. You know, you can't keep up your victories in the arena for long. Why don't you enjoy the time you have left with a real jungle animal, like me?" He offered, having an attitude which sickened me
In response, Tigress spat in his face, literally. He reeled back and whipped the liquid from his face, looking quite pissed off. Tigress now had her own smug grin painted across her face.
"I'd sooner die," She said
In anger, he stormed back over to her and grappled her throat. With one arm, he lifted her off the ground, squeezing her wind pipe shut. Viper and I pleaded with him to release her, but we were unheard as Tigress thrashed around, trying to break free so she could breath.
"Nobody rejects me, and you don't understand, soon enough you won't have a choice," He growled, pulling her face close to his as he did
Without warning, he forced his lips onto hers, and for a good few seconds she was forced to kiss him. After those few seconds passed, he broke from her and tossed her to the ground. She was coughing and gasping for breath as she lay there, unable to do anything more.
"When I get free, I'll kill you myself!" I yelled
He simply snickered and approached me where I sat, still immobilized.
"Stay away from her!" Viper yelled, but was ignored
He simply leaned down close to me, to where I could see my reflection in his eyes.
"Such young and innocent beauty," He said and grabbed onto my cheek, "If only you weren't so scarred,"
In response to his hand on my face, I quickly bit his thumb, hard. He instantly jumped back, shaking his hand around as if it would dull the pain. After looking at his hand, he sneered at me and backhanded my face, knocking me down from my sitting position. He barely missed my eye, but it still hurt quite a bit. Without any further words, he stormed out of the tent.
"Star, are you-" Viper began
"I'm fine, check on Tigress," I commanded, sitting back up and shaking the daze out of my head
"I'm fine, he didn't hurt me," Tigress stated, but when I looked, she was laying on the ground, facing the tent wall with her back to us
"Tigress, are you sure?" I asked
"I said I'm alright!" She yelled back, silencing us both
Viper and I shared a knowing and worried glance, but no more words were spoken until night time came. As the sun began to fall, we were each given a small ration of bread and water, just enough to keep us alive but not enough to be worth anything in our stomachs. When that person left, we got down to business.
"As much as I hate to admit it, that guy was right," Tigress said, confusing us
"What do you mean?" Viper asked
"We can't keep doing this. With minimal food and water, we won't have the strength the keep fighting. Tomorrow, when they send us into the arena, try and memorize the layout of the camp and see if you can spot any of the guys," She ordered
With that said, we worked out a plan. When we found the guys, Viper was to break free and cut our ropes. Together, we would fight and free the guys, before leaving the camp and returning home. I liked that part of the plan, and couldn't wait to commence. After finishing the briefing on the plan, we all settled down for the night and slept. For the next few days, we saw no signs of the guys, and with every passing day, our battles became harder. Soon enough, we each started having to face an opponent all our own, instead of facing a set of three of the same species, making the amount of struggle different for each of us. One day, things changed.
We were placed in the arena, same as always, but this time, our opponents were already there. And the opponents I saw worried me. In Tigress' section, not one, but two gorillas were waiting. In Viper's, three Ox were standing, smiling evilly as we walked by. And in my section, smack dab in the middle, a group of five leopards were waiting to make me suffer. I looked to Tigress for guidance, but she was too busy staring at the battle ahead of her, same as Viper.
"Are you ready to see these great warriors fight their last battle?" Wan-Lu asked, receiving a roar of cheers from the crowd
Once again without any word for the fight to begin, all of our opponents charged. I managed to jump of the first two, but a third attack struck me in the chest and knocked me backwards. I had no time to gather myself before I was kicked in the back, and sent stumbling forward, right towards another enemy. This one almost tornado-kicked me, but I tucked and rolled under the kick and managed to spin around and sweep his legs. He fell to the ground, but I was quickly under another onslaught of attacks.
I knew I was in trouble, and I couldn't help but get angrier and angrier with every hit I took. All this training, all my work to make sure I wasn't worthless, and now I can't stand without being knocked back down! All that work, for what?! To be toyed with by a few second rate warriors? I couldn't help but be completely pissed. Eventually, one of them got behind me and held me by my upper arms, so no matter what I did I couldn't move. As he held me, the other three (I'd knocked one out already) all began whaling on me from the front.
While this happened, the world seemed to slow down around me. As I received a blow to the stomach, I looked to my left to see that Tigress was being used as something of a ball, being hit back and forth between the two gorillas as they laughed. I was force to look away as I was hit in the face, which forced me to look in the other direction, directly at Vipers section. What I saw was that she had taken down one of the ox's, but the other two were seemingly having a tug-of-war with her body.
No! They're killing them. I can't allow this to happen! Shifu wouldn't, none of the guys would…my father wouldn't. I won't let this happen! I felt my heart rate speed up, and I channeled my strength the same way I had when hopping the gate at the palace. In an instant, I felt my energy surge, just as another fist was hurling towards my stomach. First, I spun around, swinging the leopard who had ahold of me around, throwing him off of me and into the other three. Only one of them was able to stand back up, much to my pleasure, as I ran up to him and leapt into the air.
As I reached him, I wrapped my legs around his neck and flipped backwards, using my weight to flip him through the air and, using my own leg strength, I threw him across the arena and directly into the ox pulling on Vipers tail. Feeling the freedom, she jumped into action and took down the other ox. While she did this, I rushed into Tigress' section. I quickly jumped up and kicked one of them in the face, stunning him and making him stumble backwards. With nobody to catch her, Tigress fell to the ground, unconscious, and the two gorillas turned their attention on me.
No sooner than they did was Viper at my side, and together we attacked. Viper immediately tangle herself around one of them, and the other was left for me. He tried to slam his fist down on me, but I sidestepped and used his arm as a walkway up to his head.
As I ran up his arm, he seemed to realize he was in trouble, and with a scream I did a spin kick, which made devastating contact with the side of his face. All I saw was his head turn the other direction farther than it should have been able and there was an audible snap before he fell to the ground, lifeless.
"Impossible!" I heard Wan-Lu scream, as an uproar from the crowd voiced its displeasure
I looked to find that Viper had taken care of the other gorilla, but Tigress was still unconscious. As usual, we were forced back to our tent and tied back up, all of us in severe pain. Try as we might, we couldn't get Tigress to wake up. She was breathing, which relieved us, but we still couldn't deny facts.
"Viper, what do we do?" I asked, hoping she had some kind of a plan
She only looked at me, her eyes full of sadness, her hope drained, and then her eyes fell to the ground.
Wow…I forgot the emotion I felt when writing this part before. I'm pretty much gonna get right back to work, so after I post this one it should only be another night. I'll see you all again in a few hours!