I nearly barged through the door and into the still ongoing conversation as Yinshen just finished speaking.
"I never really knew mine that much either".
"We've got trouble"! I interrupted as the two cats turned to me.
"What"? Tigress asked as she pushed herself from her chair.
"There's an airship north of here heading towards the valley of peace. We may have only ten, twenty minutes until we have an attack force on our hands"!
"Seems like Fennu's angry over our escape". Yinshen growled angrily as though she should have been able to see this tactic coming.
Only in minutes, we were able to gather everyone at the front of the Jade Palace. Thankfully it was only the one airship. But no doubt that it was heavily guarded on board.
"So, how do we stop that thing"? Mantis asked, scratching his head. Yinshen gave a second to think about it before turning to Crane.
"How much weight could you carry"?
"Enough to lift both Po and Tigress at once. Why"?
"Because we're going for a ride".
Yinshen stepped in front of all of us. She knew more about this airship than anyone so it seemed that she would be calling the shots. Even Shifu did not argue.
"Okay, listen up. That thing is most likely here to bomb the village. With the amount of explosives they've probably got on board, it'll be enough to level both the village and the Jade Palace. We need to stop it before it reaches either".
"And how do you propose that is done"? Shifu asked, interested in Yinshen's plan if only slightly.
"I'll need bird boy there to carry me and Mike up there. We seem to have the most experience battling these Shadow Clan gorillas and I know how to take down the airship. I'll take one other of you if I can but that's it. The rest of you, you'll be down in the village evacuating the houses and streets that the airship might pass over. If all goes to plan, we'll all get out of this in one piece. Any questions"?
Almost at once, Crane shot his wing up.
"Yes"?
"My name's Crane. Not bird boy".
"That's not a question".
"Guys, do we have to argue about this now"? I interrupted. Everyone fell silent until Monkey chose to raise his hand this time.
"Yes, Monkey"?
"Sure, remember his name"... I heard Crane mutter. Tigress shushed him and let Monkey speak.
"Who's the third member of your team"?
"I'll do it". Viper slither forward eagerly. However...
"Actually, I'd prefer it if you helped out in the village Vipes". I spoke, causing Viper to give me a look a disbelief.
"What"?
"You're a kinder soul than most here. No offence everyone else". I apologized to the group behind. "Which means you'll be able to reason with the more stubborn villagers".
I hated to say what I said, but it was true. Viper knew this and nodded. I turned to Mantis.
"Which means that Mantis will be with us".
Mantis gave a fist pump, eager to kick some gorilla butt.
"Okay, you all know your roles. Let's do this".
Po Tigress Viper and Monkey sped down the stairs as quickly as they could while Crane grabbed Yinshen with both his talons. I had to wrap around Yinshen's waist and Mantis sat on Cranes back.
"Good luck to all of you". Said Shifu with some last words of encouragement.
I nodded and Crane took off with ease, almost as though he wasn't carrying anything at all. We sped towards the ship above. But as we got closer, something small and slender zipped past us by a meter. The bastards were trying to shoot us down.
"I can't get close enough without risking one of us being hit"! Crane spoke as he dodged several more arrows, most missing from lack of accuracy.
"Any ideas"? Mantis asked.
"I got one. Fly boy, take us higher and drop us on top of the balloon". Yinshen commanded. Crane did what he was told and flew higher into the air. The arrows had trouble reaching us as gravity took its effect, pulling them down towards the ground, just outside the village thank goodness.
Without warning, we dropped from twenty feet onto the airship. Bouncing from the hot air filled balloon once before stopping.
"Okay, Crane. We'll need you to draw their attention for a few minutes until we drop down and ambush them. Afterwards, just keep your distance until we give you a signal. Okay"? I asked. Crane nodded.
"Here goes nothing". He spoke before diving below. I could hear strings from the bows going *twang* as they tried to shoot down the avian but with no success. I had to lower Yinshen down carefully as her claws would have punctured the balloon if she had tried on her own, sending the balloon crashing and killing everyone on board. I had to swing her across for her to actually reach the deck of the ship itself. Once she had let go, I heard a thump, followed by yells and the sound of metal weapons scraping against each other. Mantis grabbed onto me and I slithered down and swung myself onto the deck next to Yinshen. There were maybe twelve gorillas, armed to the teeth with bows, Shaolin spades and axes. Two of which were already knocked out thanks to Yinshen's surprise attack.
"Ready"? I asked both my teammates as the gorillas slowly made their way towards us.
"Let's do this". Mantis smirked, getting into his own pose.
We countered the gorilla horde with our own charge. Almost four gorillas each. Sounded easy but most likely wouldn't. As I charged towards the nearest gorilla, holding an axe in each of it's hands, and dodged one axe as it swung downwards into the wooden planks of the ship. I made my move and jumped, spinning and slamming my tail over it's thick head with enough force to send it crashing into the ground, though it wasn't enough to knock it out but rather just made it angrier. I jumped over it's shoulder and wrapped myself around it's neck, headbutting it, knocking it out before it could plant it's other axe in my face. Hard to believe that it could still stand after being slammed head first into the deck, but a headbutt from a smaller animal was enough to take it down.
The second and third gorillas attacked at the same time. I jabbed the closest one in it's leg, causing it to fall over, the one behind tripped over and I twisted round, whacking it with a tail spin. I hadn't counted on the gorilla being sent back several feet backwards and tumbling off of the boarding platform. Thankfully, Crane was still patrolling the ship so with luck, he should have caught him and handed him over to any guards in the area. The second gorilla rose and attacked with it's shaolin spade, swinging it side to side. Quickly, as he swung to the left, I grabbed the handle of the weapon just below the blade and slammed it into the ground, trapping it between the wooden planks. At once, I sent a powerful tail jab right into it's stomach, causing it to fall to it's knees. The gorilla coughed up what I could only guess was it's breakfast. A little gross. Still, it didn't stop the monstrous creature as it rose and slammed it's large fists down into the ground, forcing me to sidestep and whack it in the face, sending it tumbling back. It rose again. I charged forwards, moving out of my spot just it time to hear something impale it. I looked back to see a large arrow sticking out of the woodwork. I saw the culprit, loading another bolt in. Before it could fire, Mantis crawled onto him and used his pressure points to cause the gorilla to slump onto the floor, unable to move any part of it's body apart from its eye.
Given the oppertunity, I finished the previous gorilla with a leg sweep and bringing my tail down on it. Hopefully the damned thing should stay down this time. Yinshen stole the last gorilla from me, making me frown but at least it was over. Well, the fun bit of the misson anyway.
"Okay, where are the bombs"? I asked Yinshen.
"Below deck. Mantis, see if you can pick the lock to the door underneath. We'll stay here and signal fly boy to land".
Mantis did as instructed and hopped down the stairway lying at the back of the ship. Yinshen walked to the side near the boarded platform and raised a fist into the air. Then, I heard a grunt on the other side of the ship. I turned.
One of the gorillas was still concious, sitting up with blood on it's face. And he had a crossbow aimed right at Yinshen! There wasn't enough time to reach the gorilla as the arrow had already been loaded. I did the only thing I could think of.
"YINSHEN, LOOK OUT"!
I charged toward Yinshen and pushed her out of the way just as the arrow discharged. Yinshen hit the deck and quickly took out the archer the second she got back up with a powerful whack to the head. I was surprised the gorillas head didn't crack open like an egg with the amount of force she used.
"That was too close". I commented. Yinshen turned and was about to respond until she looked at me with horror.
"What"? I asked, unnerved by her look. I saw that her eyes were looking at my stomach. I looked down.
The arrow was sticking out the right side of my stomach.
The second I saw it, pain coursed through my body. Words failed me, I couldn't even yell out for help. Blood ran down my side as I felt my body fall backwards. I had forgotten that I had been standing at the very edge of the boarding platform and I fell off the ship.
My body spun round in the free fall. It was hard to make out anything. I just closed my eyes. I fainted, unsure of my fate, but waited for death's cold embrace all the same.
...
And that's the last day. Sorry guys, seems you'll have to wait a couple of extra days to find out what happens next time. Cheerio!