The footsteps stopped right on the opposite side of the door. The door was about to open, revealing myself. Thankfully Yinshen reacted faster than I had and pulled me to the side, up against the wall just in time as the door swung open, nearly hitting me. I watched as a heavily armored gorilla walked through. It stopped, keeping one hand on the door, preventing it from closing and sniffed the air. The creature growled in disgust and continued its path. As it did, Yinshen led me through the door just before it closed, nearly trapping my tail.
"That was too close". I spoke up in a whispering tone. "Please tell me we're almost out of here".
"Almost".
If that gorilla had turned and seen us, then the whole place would be on alert and we'd be captured almost at once.
As we kept walking through, I saw a huge doorway, covered in spikes and metal to the left hand side. It looked as though it was the front entrance to the gates or at least held something important.
"Was that the entrance"? I couldn't help but ask.
"Mhm". Was the only response given.
"Then why'd we pass it? Surely it's our best chance of getting out of here"!
"Not unless you want to be shot by the hundreds of archers above".
I kept silent. I suppose when you look at it that way, there was no way to get around such a dangerous course, no matter how tempting it felt to just smash through and make a run for it. Good thing I wasn't that stupid. Instead, we came across a much smaller door and opened it. Inside, the room was stripped bare of all essentials. The only thing that stood out was that instead of a large, white metal floor, this one consisted of about twenty different brown tiles which were maybe a foot in diameter.
Yinshen pushed me inside and closed the door. I just stood and watched as she got down on all fours and used her claws to poke the metal tiles. I wasn't sure what she was up to but I didn't have a chance to ask as a loud roar filled the silent void.
That's not good.
"They must have found the unconscious guards". Yinshen reported calmly, not even taking a second to look up as she was now tapping her fifth tile. I did not question her theory and decided to check outside, at least try to make myself useful for something.
I opened the door very slightly, just enough so I could get a proper look at the outside. I chose a bad time as I saw seven gorillas, two of them wearing heavy armor like the one from earlier, were coming this way. They seemed determined to find and kill anything that dared cross their path. I quickly but silently shut the door and slithered back to the feline.
"Whatever you're doing, you might want to speed it up otherwise it's going to get very crowded in here".
"Hold on... I think this is- Yes. Stand back".
"I did what was asked of me and kept myself back to the door. Footsteps were approaching quickly. We may have had only thirty seconds max until Fennu's warriors were on top of us.
Yinshen tapped the tile a second time. It made a hollow sound. The panther smiled and, to my surprise, lifted the large metal tile off above her head like it was nothing and shifted it to the side revealing a dark hole underneath. I just stood there with my mouth hung open, surprised at the sudden power and strength.
"What? Never seen a girl do heavy lifting? Come on, we're out of time".
I put the thoughts to the side and jumped into the pitch black hole. Yinshen followed with the tile and jumped into the hole. Instead of falling straight through like I had done, Yinshen did a split so that both her feet were stuck between the sides of the hole. From there she shifted the tile in place as the footsteps outside sounded very close, as though the gorillas were right outside. The tile slid into place without even a single clunk as I listened to the door open. The gorillas talked amongst themselves.
"It's empty"!
"Ragh! I could have sworn I heard talking".
"Foolish whelp! You've led us the wrong way"!
"SILENCE! Both of you! Get moving or you'll be next in line for beheading"!
The voices shut up and I heard frantic running as the gorillas left to search someplace else. I safely gave a moment to sigh in relief and spoke to wherever Yinshen was in the darkness.
"Where now"?
"Forward. Keep moving until you see a light".
I slithered on what I presumed to be wet dirt and made my way through the tunnel. It was so dark I accidentally bumped into a corner. Twice. My snout ached but I kept moving until I saw a small white dot in the distance. I moved quickly as with the distance covered, the source of light grew until I was close enough to see outside. We were on the side of a mountain, only five feet from the ground. I jumped out and smiled.
I turned back to see, to my amusement, Yinshen was a little stuck. Being a snake, it was easy to squeeze through the tightest of gaps. Panthers, not so much. Putting my chuckling to the side, I offer my tail up to the feline which she took with her hand. I pulled as hard as I could.
"Perhaps you should lay off the junk food". I grunted, nearly straining myself as the panther refused to budge.
"Perhaps you should keep quiet before I make you". She spoke in a non threatening tone until at last.
*pop*
Good news was that Yinshen was free of the small pipe. The bad news being that she landed right on top of my back, crushing me into the sand below.
"Ouch". I groaned in pain as Yinshen had a smug look on her face.
"Maybe you should think twice before calling a girl fat".
"Point taken"...
Letting bygones be bygones, Yinshen got off of me and I rose up, lifting my head into the air and trying to get the feeling back into my spine. I looked and noticed dirt and sand marks staining the black ninja gettup Yinshen wore.
"Joking aside, how did you know about that fake tile and the tunnel beneath it"?
"I read the plans and schematics to the gates architecture. Turns out the tunnels were used for escaping should the Galadriel gates ever be overrun".
"I take it that was the first time you've tested it for yourself"?
I got a light slap to the back of my head as payment for the joke and we headed south. As far away from the gates as we could get before nightfall could ascend. We managed to get three hours of running done just as the sun began to set. We were lucky enough to find a nearby cave to rest in. Yinshen instructed for me to scope it out while she prepared some fire wood.
Ten minutes later and Yinshen had returned with two rather large handfuls of dead wood, probably from a dead tree. The cave was dry but small. Enough to keep us safe for the night anyway. Especially since it was housed inside of a mountain.
Scraping two rocks against each other to create sparks proved to be effective as the broken wood caught fire. A few flickers at first which could have easily been blown out by a small breeze, but it grew quickly as the whole thing caught fire, spreading warmth and light through every inch of the once dark and cold cave. At least now we could talk out loud without fear of being hunted down. Yinshen started off on an interesting subject.
"So, a human hmm? How did that come to be"?
I gave a laugh.
"It's a long story". I warned.
"We've got time".
"Okay, here goes".
I told Yinshen everything. Every detail I could remember from almost two months ago. I told her about where I really came from, how I supposedly died, Oogway saving me, everything up to this point. I knew it was foolish to tell her everything seeing how she was once an enemy of the Valley of Peace, but she had risked everything to save me. Everything. Not to mention that she had despised Fennu from day one so now, she had the chance to turn things around. Something that I can help her with, to start a better life. I owe her that much at least for saving mine.
"... And that's everything up to this point". I finished my story to Yinshen on the other side of the roaring fire. "What about you? Where does your story begin"?
"I grew up in Gongmen city. I had nowhere to go, no one to be with. I was a loner"...
It was impressive to hear what Yinshen had been through as she droned on. Like me, she had known what it was like to be torn from the people you love most, including her old master. Her story lasted much longer than mine as hers took place over the span of five years. At least now I could look the panther in the eye and see nothing but the truth. It was safe to say that this night, she had already gained both my respect and trust. Not because of the story, but because she showed me what was within the locket. At least now, I understood why she had done what she'd done.
...
Hey everybody I'm back! Got some good chapters written and can't wait to post them soon. Cheerio!
P.S. This story has now reached 100'000 words :D Just what I need after such a bad holiday ^^