Another update. Finally. :)
Auma sighed skeptically as she went down the steps with the Abbot. "Father Abbot, I have absolutely no idea at all of what you are doing. It is rather dangerous, don't you think, having a group of strangers just coming into our abbey like that – I mean, they are a species absolutely unknown to us… How the Dibbuns will react to them, I don't know, but I'm sure they won't be very happy about it. Oh, and I hope they aren't dangerous or anything…"
Abbot Mordalfus seemed perfectly at ease. He even laughed a little after hearing the badger mother's tirade and replied, "I don't see why you are worrying so much about this. After all, you forget that I was the one who invited them. I think I have better judgment than to open our gates to enemies, you know. The Dibbuns would enjoy their visit, more likely than not, and as for finding them a threat, well, I think they would find us more of a threat instead. Oh, look, Mother Mellus is already at the gate."
~*~
Miss Ng raised a trembling hand tentatively and knocked once on the gate. There was no reply.
Turning back to be faced with twenty-eight pairs of anticipating eyes, bespectacled or otherwise, she turned back again, mustered all of her courage and knocked twice again, much harder this time. There was no reply.
Knocking with all her strength one minute later, the door still did not budge and the math teacher's knuckles were very sore already.
Still her poundings met with no results, good or bad, and Miss Ng was starting to wish that she were back at the school where she would have blissfully been marking math worksheets in the staffroom.
Oh, the irony.
Finally, Mei Keen stomped up to the gate. She was hot and sweaty, and as far as she was concerned, she was going to get into that abbey. She gave the unmoving wooden gate a hard kick and shouted, "oi, open up the damned door lah!"
And then she swaggered proudly backwards a little, returning to the rest of the class, who were now regarding her with awe.
And the gate swung open.
Immediately, a large black shadow fell over the entire group, and even though Inez did not look up at the sky, she was pretty sure that it was going to start raining pretty soon now.
Miss Ng could only gulp again in fear. She was, after all, standing only about twenty centimeters from the opened gate now.