Hey y'all here's chapter ten! I do hope you are enjoying this story so far - so many things are going down. I know I've said this a lot but I have so many ideas for this story. And I do apologize for the not so frequent updates I've just been really busy with work and other things but I want to finish the story because I already have a sequel in mind. Anyway it appears this mysterious villian has become even more mysterious given that he has acquired an unnatural enhanced speed that defies the laws of nature. What could this be? Furthermore, what could this strange, glowing red Chi mean? Keep following to find out! We have already seen what's become of the Masters but what of the others? Much is yet to be revealed so stay tuned for the rest!
Meanwhile, between Huangshi and Wuhu, the Master's Monkey and Crane were being dragged down the road in their chains by the dark bodyguards. At this point, Monkey could no longer speak due to his broken jaw that now hung open and their hope for escape seemed to be futile. The assassins could not be beaten in their current state, for bodyguards' Kung Fu seemed to surpass their own. It seemed to be a foreign and more aggressive combat style than they had ever faced before.
As the two master's were walking down the road, Monkey was forming yet another escape plan in his mind. He had two hindrances, however before he could put his plans into place - two of those being his dislocated shoulder, and recently broken jaw. Monkey gave Crane a hard, knowing look while waiting for just the right moment, as they made their way between the rocky ledges that bordered the road.
Crane shook his head, "No, not again Monkey! You're even more injured than before - don't you remember what happened last time!?" the avian whispered cautiously but Monkey simply held up a finger as if to say 'trust me.'
Crane groaned and shook his head before Monkey spotted a certain section of the rocky wall to use to reset his shoulder while the bodyguards stopped to discuss a matter. After making sure he wasn't noticed, Monkey then charged at the wall sideways, and slammed his right shoulder into it, snapping it back into socket.
snap!
The primate audibly groaned in pain, but also in relief. When Crane noticed that the bodyguards didn't see Monkey, he breathed a sigh of relief and gave him a look.
"Why did you do that for - you could have been caught!"
Monkey simply pointed to his shoulder and then focused his attention to his jaw. The primate then proceeded to bend over and using one of the pins of the accupressure cuffs, he began to tear at a section of his pant leg. Crane watched as he then tore off a strip with his finger tips and attempt to loop it around the top of his skull. The avian saw what he was trying to do and assisted using his good wing to loop it around the top of his head and jaw - closing it shut.
After Crane tied a knot at the top of Monkey's head with the fabric, he occasionally took glances at the bodyguards some distance ahead of them. When he saw they were still talking to each other Crane sighed in relief and looked back at Monkey.
"That's done. Now, what exactly is your plan of escape this time? The accupressure cuffs are nearly impossible to break out of." Crane added quietly as they stood there.
Monkey simply held up his cuffs, motioning towards the rocky wall. The Avian shook his head.
"No, they'll hear you! Besides, the pins would puncture your wrist and get tighter the more you struggle." he cautioned but Monkey wasn't listening.
He was about the slam the side of the cuff into the wall when he felt something jerk his chains. It was one of the dark bodyguards and the two master's froze.
"linadhhab." He said in the Arabic tongue. "Time to move, fools - the Master has great plans for all of you." the assassin deadpanned in a sinister voice from behind his silver mask.
"Yeah, we'll see..." Monkey thought to himself in his head as they began to move once more.
As the Master's walked along the dirt path and rock walls, Monkey kept his eyes on the bodyguards ahead of them, while secretly giving Crane a few hard looks. The bird nodded and after Monkey waited for just the right moment, he ran over to the rocky wall and hit the side of it with his cuffs.
clang!
At first they didn't break off his wrists but unfortunately, the black bodyguards not only felt the chain move but heard the clang of the metal against the stone. One of them stopped and turned around and Monkey knew he had been caught. A chill then ran down their spines as terror began to come over them. Just then, one of the bodyguards black eyes then flashed red briefly, before silently motioning for the others to attack the Master's.
The three assassins then drew their black-steel sabers, twirling them in a menacing manner before they ran towards Crane and Monkey to subdue them. Monkey began to panic internally at their predicament but before the deadly warriors could reach them, he began to hit his cuffs against the wall harder than before. At this point, his wrists were now bleeding, but merely seconds before one of the warriors could swing at Monkey, he hit the cuffs against the wall one last time with all of his strength. At last, the cuff fell from his wrists leaving only the chains.
clang!
Now halfway free, Monkey was ready to put his plan into action.
"You actually did it." Crane remarked doing his best to avoid the razor sharp sabers. "But how are we going to stop these guys - they gave us trouble before."
The primate gave Crane a mischievous look that read, "Watch and see" as the dark warrior in front of him thrusted his blade towards Monkey's face. Crane shook his head at him in disbelief but followed his moves.
Monkey shrieked in his head as he just barely ducked under the blade as the assassin twirled and slashed in a swift manner at the them. The three bodyguards wielded their swords with only a single hand while the other rested behind their back, showing their effortless skill of the sword. The fight was beginning to grow more difficult with the aggressive guerrillas and Monkey knew he had to act fast for they couldn't dodge their attacks for much longer in their current state.
The primate waited for just the right moment and soon it came. As one of the dark warriors swung their saber towards Monkey, an iron ore imbedded in the rocky wall next to them, took the sword out of his paw, magnetizing it to the stone. When he went to retrieve it, Monkey then quickly took his chance. The primate grabbed the long chain that their jailers once held them by and yanked it back towards himself and in doing so the end of the chain struck one of Monkey's opponents in the back of the head. The soulless warrior audibly groaned as he fell towards the ground - down but not out just yet. Crane immediately caught onto his plan after seeing the results and immediately pulled back the chain with his good wing.
"Fight all you want, but you will come with us walking or crippled!" The leader said through his silver mask as he tried to stand to his feet while the others banded next to him.
"We'll see about that - Ka-kaw!" Crane exclaimed.
With a hard flick of his wrist, he whipped his chain towards the leader and wrapped it around his throat, before proceeding to jerk the chain back, choking and driving him into the ground, out of the fight. The next guerrilla went to swing his saber at Monkey but using his chain, he intercepted the weapon and yanked it away, effectively disarming him. He quickly whipped the chain across the assassins head and knocked him to the ground.
Blood began to run out from the slits in his silver mask, indicating a concussion, but he wasn't done yet as he tried to stand up once more. Monkey then quickly lashed the chain out once more, and in doing so, it wrapped around the assassins leg and yanked him backwards, causing him to fall on a rock behind him. As the fallen assassin hit the rock, he landed on his head, killing him instantly.
"Good work, Monkey but uh... little help would be nice, if it's not too much!" he exclaimed frantically, trying to fight off the black robed warrior in his weakened state.
The avian managed to kick him back a ways, so now only one last warrior remained and he stood across from Crane with both sabers in paw, ready to strike. Monkey and Crane looked at each other for a moment before they nodded and soon the last warrior finally fell. When he was defeated, Monkey wrapped the chain around his neck and jerked him up to his knees to question him but now blood was beginning to come from the slits in his mask due to a concussion.
"There's no hope for you. Now tell us - who are you people and where are the others!?" Crane questioned the assassin on Monkey's behalf, for he still could not speak.
He just glared at them with black, soulless eyes from behind the silver mask. "On the contrary, Sadiq, there is no hope for you! As for them, I will not talk." he answered coldly his very voice giving them the creeps.
"Oh, we can be quite persuasive..."
Before Crane could react or interrogate him further, the assassin drew a spare dagger from behind his back and spun it around in his paw so it was facing himself. They wanted to stop him in order to receive valuable information but soon he spoke.
"La takhafu , li'ana almawt yati lana jmyeana." He stated ominously in a foreign tongue before driving the blade into his chest and slumping over dead.
The two master's seemed discouraged that they couldn't extract the information out of the assassin like they had planned, but they were relieved that they were free at last. Crane, wanting to get some answers, walked over to the deceased warrior, and removed the silver mask and wrapping from his face, revealing an all-black leopard with no spots. He went over to the others and did the same, revealing one white leopard with black spots and a light grey leopard with silver ones.
The avian looked at them in awe, trying to collect his thoughts as the two masters were trying piece this together. The Arabian Leopards looked unfamiliar to them but certainly raised an alarm inside their heads.
"I... don't understand. What is going on- are we going to be raided by the Mongols?" Crane inquired quietly and Monkey shrugged sharing the same look of gloom on his face.
"Let's go to the nearest village and see if Po or Tigress will follow our trail I left behind." Crane stated plucking out one of his feathers once more. "If they're even still alive that is..."
Monkey silently nodded, agreeing with him, for he couldn't argue since he could no longer speak due to his jaw. The two Masters then set out on their way to find a village, leaving the corpses and chains of their jailers as they walked across the abandoned road. Soon, they came over a rocky hill as the sun was setting and the two saw beneath it, a medium-sized village that was densely populated.
Monkey and Crane then smiled at one another before they began to enter it. The Masters had no idea what was ahead of them, having barely escaped an aggressive and elite sect of warriors; now their only hope was to find the others. Only in finding the others, the Five be strong again, but for now they remained... broken.
Aaand it's finally done!! A short chapter but hope you guys enjoyed this; I apologize for making y'all wait so long. I have just been busy with work and sleep while trying to work on the story in the mean time. Don't unfollow yet to those of you who have kept following - I have all my ideas in mind for this story thanks to my step mum. I will try to correct any grammar mistakes I find to improve readability.
Anyway, the Five, being separated, has made them weaker naturally, but will they overcome these obstacles? Keep reading to see! These elites were not easy to defeat and if it wasn't for Monkey's wits, who knows what would have become of our heroes. Thank you all for reading and reviewing - it excites me everytime I see your feedback because it helps me improve and it creates a warm, fuzzy feeling in my heart :)
Until next time,
- Tipo-fan-4-life