ChickFlick Chapter 13
The other three waited below on the platform while Pan climbed the ladder.
"Y'know, Videl, you were probably right." pointed out Eighteen. "Knowing Cell, he probably WOULD have based this temple on our greatest fears. And probably some other stuff too."
When they had all climbed the ladder they found themselves at the base of a rock-climbing wall, one of those ones with the multi-coloured hand and footholds. Cell (knowing him) had probably pinched it from a gym somewhere. A signpost at the base of this wall read:
"ROOM OF A THOUSAND SPIKES"
Climb up the rock-climbing wall to the top, using the attatchments for grip. Swing your way across the monkey bars. The thousands of spikes below you are as sharp as needles. Land on the platform at the other end.
"This room's a lot smaller than the snake pit." Remarked Pan. "There must be two rooms on this level of the temple." The room was only about half the length of the Snake Pit, although it was the same width.
To their left they saw the spikes. They seemed to gleam maliciously, hungry for blood. Above the spikes, contrasting greatly with the grim sight, were some monkey bars. What with those and the rings from the last room, a playground somewhere had to be very, very empty...
"Ok," said Pan, "I'll go first. This should be easy; just like on the playground at school!"
"Yeah. Except if you fall, you'll get a lot worse than a grazed knee." Said Videl, trying to hide her concern for her daughter.
Pan let her eyes travel up the rock-climbing surface, picking out her route. She stepped forward and started climbing. This would be easy for her; she could climb anything and everything. Soon she had reached the top. She took a deep breath and flung herself towards the first bar. Once she had latched on, it only took another ten seconds so swing the rest of the way across and land on another of the small platforms. [Now, this platform was actually resting on the TOP of the wall, because the wall didn't actually reach the roof. So therefore if Pan wanted to she could have seen into the next room].
Resisting the urge to see what the next room consisted of, she turned her attention to the others. 'One room at a time." She thought. For now, she was focusing on the present. The future would have to take care of itself for a while.
The others were following fairly quickly. The whole exercise should have been easy. If they hadn't known what was beneath them, they would have been fine, but they couldn't seem to focus on the task at hand. Wandering eyes kept straying to the vicious spikes beneath, and limbs slipped clumsily. After Pan went Eighteen, Bulma, then Videl. No one seemed to have any problems with this room. Well, except for the fact that they were dangling above thousands of deadly spikes... who could be worried by that? But anyway. Pan wondered just how many rooms this temple had. What else lay ahead of them? They would probably find out soon enough.
Once they were all safely aboard the platform at the end of the monkey bars, they turned to inspect the next room.
* * * * *
Instead of a signpost, there was just a sign on the wall beside the platform, describing the room below and ahead of them. It was headed:
"THE LOG OF PERIL"
Below the heading, it read:
From the platform, leap across onto the pole and slide down to the bottom. Step onto the swinging log and carefully walk along it, keeping your balance until you reach the lower-most platform. If you fall into the quicksand below you, you will be sucked under within seconds. Climb up onto the first platform and leap up onto the 2nd and 3rd, like stairs. Climb up the rope, using the knots for grip.
Videl had to resist the motherly urge to pull her daughter back as Pan cautiously stuck her head over the edge of the platform to look down. A wave of hot, steaming air hit her full on in the face. The others looked over the side too. Below them was (what looked like) liquid sand... quicksand. Videl shivered. There was a smell in this room; the stench of death was filling her nostrils. She looked around at the others. THEY didn't look too worried. Why was SHE affected like this? She just hated the image... no, the very IDEA of being sucked down into an endless blackness...
She had always been a girl of the open air. Although she had never told anyone, she was actually a little claustrophobic. Videl had never thought it would matter. Until now. She tried to calm her queasy stomach as she and the others tore their eyes away from the bubbling quicksand and focused on the rest of the room. Right in front of the platform was a pole, obviously used to slide down to the bottom of the room. Beyond that, in a straight line, was a long, fairly skinny log. It was suspended, about ten centimetres away from the surface of the quicksand, by 4 chains, 2 attatched to each end. The chains, in turn, were bolted to the walls. All in all, the whole apparatus didn't look very stable.
"Like walking on a wobbly balance beam." Thought Videl anxiously.
Pan looked across at her mother's pale face. Although Videl had never said anything, Pan had always had an idea of her claustrophobia. Just little things gave it away; things like Gohan always complaining that he was cold in the night because Videl insisted on keeping all the windows open.
'Daddy...' thought Pan. She was missing him. It felt like she had lost a piece of her heart. 'And all the others... everyone...' she sighed. Videl, hearing her, tried to put on a brave face, and she smiled at her daughter.
Bulma, her face set, stepped forward.
"I'll go first." She said, as if daring anyone to oppose her. She desperately wanted to make up for her weakness in the Snake Pit, and she grabbed at this opportunity. She stood at the end of the platform, wrapped her hands around the pole and slid down to the bottom. At the base of the pole was another platform which Bulma stepped onto, and faced the log.
She put one tentative foot on its surface. The whole thing rocked slightly, side to side, backwards and forwards. She gulped, but stepped forward with her other foot, abandoning the semi-safety of the platform. She was now only centimetres away from the steaming, evil-smelling surface. Slowly, shuffling, she inched forward. This was a lot harder than the previous two rooms had been.
Bulma had to fight the urge to close her eyes; that would have been fatal. She didn't look up or around until she reached the end of the log. In front of her, just a bit below shoulder height, a platform extended out from the wall to her right. By her estimation, if she had had X-ray vision, she would be able to see the hole in the lake, the 'battle arena' and the rest of the passageway they had already passed through, directly ahead of her.
Bulma hoisted herself up onto this platform and turned so that she was facing the others. In front of her were two more platforms, not attatched, but leading forwards and upwards, like stairs. She leapt from one to the other until she reached the end of her ascent. In front of this last platform was a knotted rope, dangling down through a hole in the ceiling. 'It must lead up to the next room.' thought Bulma, as she looked at the others.
Eighteen was coming down the pole next. Graceful and well-balanced as always, she stepped carefully onto the log and made it quickly to the other end, clambering up the platforms to join Bulma.
'Well that was fun." She said sarcastically. "Let's never, ever do that again." Bulma whole-heartedly agreed.
Pan tried not to think about what was beneath her as she stepped onto one end of the log. 'Poor Mum.' She thought. She knew this would be hard for her. She balanced her way along and pulled herself onto the platform at the end with relief; it was nice to feel solid ground under her feet again.
With a feeling of foreboding, Pan looked at her mother, who was now standing on the platform at the bottom of the pole. Videl's face was set and determined, but there was no mistaking the look of fear in her eyes. She set one foot on the log. Forward, back, left, right, diagonally it jerked. Videl would have given almost anything to have her flying powers just then. The quicksand would suck her down, down... She forced herself to listen to reasoning. 'Do it for Gohan!' she thought savagely, angry at herself for showing weakness. With that, she placed her other foot upon the log. Slowly, slowly she moved forward. The others held their breath. Then near the middle of the log, her legs began shaking so uncontrollably that one of her feet slipped. Miraculously, both her hands and her other leg stayed on, safe and dry. She tried to yank her unlucky foot upwards; already the suction had started to work against her. It was sinking slowly, slowly, downwards. She stared at it, horribly transfixed, unable to move...
"C'MON MUM!!!" snapped Pan suddenly, panic in her voice. Some life started to flow back into Videl's limbs. She pulled her foot upwards with all her might, until finally, with a loud slurping sound, the quicksand released its hold on her. She just managed not to overbalance the other way. For the rest of her journey (it seemed to last forever), she inched forward on her hands and knees. Her limbs still shaking, she pulled herself up to the top platform where Pan was waiting for her. Videl dropped to her knees in front of her daughter. (Their heads were now almost at the same height). And Pan took her mother into the tightest hug she had ever done, even until after she had stopped shaking.
* * * * *
So, can you peeps please tell me how my descriptions of the rooms of the temple are going? (Can you understand them? I hope so). So, yeah. Tell me in your reviews or s'thing. Thanx.
The other three waited below on the platform while Pan climbed the ladder.
"Y'know, Videl, you were probably right." pointed out Eighteen. "Knowing Cell, he probably WOULD have based this temple on our greatest fears. And probably some other stuff too."
When they had all climbed the ladder they found themselves at the base of a rock-climbing wall, one of those ones with the multi-coloured hand and footholds. Cell (knowing him) had probably pinched it from a gym somewhere. A signpost at the base of this wall read:
"ROOM OF A THOUSAND SPIKES"
Climb up the rock-climbing wall to the top, using the attatchments for grip. Swing your way across the monkey bars. The thousands of spikes below you are as sharp as needles. Land on the platform at the other end.
"This room's a lot smaller than the snake pit." Remarked Pan. "There must be two rooms on this level of the temple." The room was only about half the length of the Snake Pit, although it was the same width.
To their left they saw the spikes. They seemed to gleam maliciously, hungry for blood. Above the spikes, contrasting greatly with the grim sight, were some monkey bars. What with those and the rings from the last room, a playground somewhere had to be very, very empty...
"Ok," said Pan, "I'll go first. This should be easy; just like on the playground at school!"
"Yeah. Except if you fall, you'll get a lot worse than a grazed knee." Said Videl, trying to hide her concern for her daughter.
Pan let her eyes travel up the rock-climbing surface, picking out her route. She stepped forward and started climbing. This would be easy for her; she could climb anything and everything. Soon she had reached the top. She took a deep breath and flung herself towards the first bar. Once she had latched on, it only took another ten seconds so swing the rest of the way across and land on another of the small platforms. [Now, this platform was actually resting on the TOP of the wall, because the wall didn't actually reach the roof. So therefore if Pan wanted to she could have seen into the next room].
Resisting the urge to see what the next room consisted of, she turned her attention to the others. 'One room at a time." She thought. For now, she was focusing on the present. The future would have to take care of itself for a while.
The others were following fairly quickly. The whole exercise should have been easy. If they hadn't known what was beneath them, they would have been fine, but they couldn't seem to focus on the task at hand. Wandering eyes kept straying to the vicious spikes beneath, and limbs slipped clumsily. After Pan went Eighteen, Bulma, then Videl. No one seemed to have any problems with this room. Well, except for the fact that they were dangling above thousands of deadly spikes... who could be worried by that? But anyway. Pan wondered just how many rooms this temple had. What else lay ahead of them? They would probably find out soon enough.
Once they were all safely aboard the platform at the end of the monkey bars, they turned to inspect the next room.
* * * * *
Instead of a signpost, there was just a sign on the wall beside the platform, describing the room below and ahead of them. It was headed:
"THE LOG OF PERIL"
Below the heading, it read:
From the platform, leap across onto the pole and slide down to the bottom. Step onto the swinging log and carefully walk along it, keeping your balance until you reach the lower-most platform. If you fall into the quicksand below you, you will be sucked under within seconds. Climb up onto the first platform and leap up onto the 2nd and 3rd, like stairs. Climb up the rope, using the knots for grip.
Videl had to resist the motherly urge to pull her daughter back as Pan cautiously stuck her head over the edge of the platform to look down. A wave of hot, steaming air hit her full on in the face. The others looked over the side too. Below them was (what looked like) liquid sand... quicksand. Videl shivered. There was a smell in this room; the stench of death was filling her nostrils. She looked around at the others. THEY didn't look too worried. Why was SHE affected like this? She just hated the image... no, the very IDEA of being sucked down into an endless blackness...
She had always been a girl of the open air. Although she had never told anyone, she was actually a little claustrophobic. Videl had never thought it would matter. Until now. She tried to calm her queasy stomach as she and the others tore their eyes away from the bubbling quicksand and focused on the rest of the room. Right in front of the platform was a pole, obviously used to slide down to the bottom of the room. Beyond that, in a straight line, was a long, fairly skinny log. It was suspended, about ten centimetres away from the surface of the quicksand, by 4 chains, 2 attatched to each end. The chains, in turn, were bolted to the walls. All in all, the whole apparatus didn't look very stable.
"Like walking on a wobbly balance beam." Thought Videl anxiously.
Pan looked across at her mother's pale face. Although Videl had never said anything, Pan had always had an idea of her claustrophobia. Just little things gave it away; things like Gohan always complaining that he was cold in the night because Videl insisted on keeping all the windows open.
'Daddy...' thought Pan. She was missing him. It felt like she had lost a piece of her heart. 'And all the others... everyone...' she sighed. Videl, hearing her, tried to put on a brave face, and she smiled at her daughter.
Bulma, her face set, stepped forward.
"I'll go first." She said, as if daring anyone to oppose her. She desperately wanted to make up for her weakness in the Snake Pit, and she grabbed at this opportunity. She stood at the end of the platform, wrapped her hands around the pole and slid down to the bottom. At the base of the pole was another platform which Bulma stepped onto, and faced the log.
She put one tentative foot on its surface. The whole thing rocked slightly, side to side, backwards and forwards. She gulped, but stepped forward with her other foot, abandoning the semi-safety of the platform. She was now only centimetres away from the steaming, evil-smelling surface. Slowly, shuffling, she inched forward. This was a lot harder than the previous two rooms had been.
Bulma had to fight the urge to close her eyes; that would have been fatal. She didn't look up or around until she reached the end of the log. In front of her, just a bit below shoulder height, a platform extended out from the wall to her right. By her estimation, if she had had X-ray vision, she would be able to see the hole in the lake, the 'battle arena' and the rest of the passageway they had already passed through, directly ahead of her.
Bulma hoisted herself up onto this platform and turned so that she was facing the others. In front of her were two more platforms, not attatched, but leading forwards and upwards, like stairs. She leapt from one to the other until she reached the end of her ascent. In front of this last platform was a knotted rope, dangling down through a hole in the ceiling. 'It must lead up to the next room.' thought Bulma, as she looked at the others.
Eighteen was coming down the pole next. Graceful and well-balanced as always, she stepped carefully onto the log and made it quickly to the other end, clambering up the platforms to join Bulma.
'Well that was fun." She said sarcastically. "Let's never, ever do that again." Bulma whole-heartedly agreed.
Pan tried not to think about what was beneath her as she stepped onto one end of the log. 'Poor Mum.' She thought. She knew this would be hard for her. She balanced her way along and pulled herself onto the platform at the end with relief; it was nice to feel solid ground under her feet again.
With a feeling of foreboding, Pan looked at her mother, who was now standing on the platform at the bottom of the pole. Videl's face was set and determined, but there was no mistaking the look of fear in her eyes. She set one foot on the log. Forward, back, left, right, diagonally it jerked. Videl would have given almost anything to have her flying powers just then. The quicksand would suck her down, down... She forced herself to listen to reasoning. 'Do it for Gohan!' she thought savagely, angry at herself for showing weakness. With that, she placed her other foot upon the log. Slowly, slowly she moved forward. The others held their breath. Then near the middle of the log, her legs began shaking so uncontrollably that one of her feet slipped. Miraculously, both her hands and her other leg stayed on, safe and dry. She tried to yank her unlucky foot upwards; already the suction had started to work against her. It was sinking slowly, slowly, downwards. She stared at it, horribly transfixed, unable to move...
"C'MON MUM!!!" snapped Pan suddenly, panic in her voice. Some life started to flow back into Videl's limbs. She pulled her foot upwards with all her might, until finally, with a loud slurping sound, the quicksand released its hold on her. She just managed not to overbalance the other way. For the rest of her journey (it seemed to last forever), she inched forward on her hands and knees. Her limbs still shaking, she pulled herself up to the top platform where Pan was waiting for her. Videl dropped to her knees in front of her daughter. (Their heads were now almost at the same height). And Pan took her mother into the tightest hug she had ever done, even until after she had stopped shaking.
* * * * *
So, can you peeps please tell me how my descriptions of the rooms of the temple are going? (Can you understand them? I hope so). So, yeah. Tell me in your reviews or s'thing. Thanx.