Um, okay, first of all-Sorry for taking SO LONG to update, but you know, homework. (HISS!)
Anyways, I won't bore you with details, cept to say this will be one LOOOONNNNGGG chapter. Enjoy:)
Ling turns to go.
Ling: Come on, we'd better hurry if we wanna get there before nightfall.
Lee turns to follow him, but she stops suddenly.
Lee:(Urgently) Ling, where's your sword!
He looks down to see the sword and scabbard both missing.
Ling: Oh no! It must've gotten washed away when we fell in!
He kneels at the riverbank, and searches frantically for any sign of his sword.
Lee: (Sarcastic) Well this is just great! Now we're lost in Lao Shing territory with no protection! This day just keeps on getting bett…
Lee looks down the bank, and gasps.
She rushes forward and pulls Ling behind a tree by his arm.
Ling: Lee! What are you…
Lee shushes him, then peers around a tree.
Two Lao Shing guards are kneeling by the riverbank, a few metres from where Lee and Ling are.
One of the guards pulls something out of the river.
Guard: Hey, look what I found!
Ling peers around the tree.
Ling: Hey! That's my swo…
Lee puts her hand over his mouth and pulls him behind the tree.
Guard 2: You hear something?
Guard: Yea, the sound of the coins rakin' in when I sell this beauty!
The two guards walk off.
Lee uncovers Ling's mouth.
Lee: You idiot! We coulda' been caught!
Ling: Sorry, didn't mean to.
Lee: Not important right now. That sword's our only means of protection- we need to get it back.
Ling: How?
Lee: We'll have to think of something.
She looks at Ling, then turns away again.
Lee: Correction. I'll have to think of something.
Shuai, Yao, and Chien Po are sitting around, watching the fire, as it begins to die down.
Yao:(To Shuai) C'mon sweetie, we'd better go get some more firewood.
Shuai: Okay.
They stand and exit.
Chien Po looks behind him, and walks into the forest.
E Liu is sitting on the cliff's edge, watching the sunrise.
She hears Chien Po enter, and looks back.
E Liu: Anything?
He shakes his head.
E Liu:(Sigh) Where could they be? It's nearly nightfall!
Chien Po: Perhaps they got lost again.
E Liu: Yeesh, I hope not. We'll be here all week if they did.
Chien Po: Well, Ling has a pretty good sense of direction- I'm sure they'll be here in no time.
E Liu: I hope you're right.
Nighttime.
Ling:(Offscreen) Ouch!
Lee:(Offscreen, whispering) Quiet you idiot!
Ling:(Offscreen, whispering) But there's a stick poking into my back!
We pan into a bush, just outside the Lao Shing's camp, where Lee and Ling are hiding.
Lee:(Whispering) Quit complainin'!
She smacks him.
Lee:(Whispering) And stay focused. We gotta get that sword.
Ling:(Whispering) But the stick…!
Lee smacks him again.
Ling: Ow!
Lee:(Whispering) I'll see to it personally that you'll be in even more pain if you get us caught!
Guard:(Offscreen) Hey Snake, check out what me and Zou found by the river.
Lee and Ling look over.
We pan to Snake motioning for the sword.
The other guard passes it over, cautiously.
Back in bushes.
Lee:(Whispering) That's Snake. Their leader.
Back to Snake.
He pulls the sword out of the scabbard.
The blade glints in the firelight.
Men: Oooh…
Guard: That should fetch a pretty long string of coins, eh boss?
Snake resheathes the sword, and tosses it in his tent.
Snake: Garbage.
Ling bursts out of the bushes.
Ling: Garbage! Why you….
Lee smacks her forehead.
Snake: A spy. Get him!
Ling: Oops.
The men charge at him.
Ling runs, but Lee remains hidden in the bushes.
Snake stands alone for a moment, then walks into his tent.
Lee crawls out of the bushes, and sneaks toward Snake's tent.
Snake bursts out, and grabs her by the wrist.
Snake:(Menacingly)Well hello there!
Snake raises his sword above her head.
He looks into Lee's eyes, and lowers it.
He pulls her along, and throws her into another tent.
Yan, in the tent, snaps awake.
He looks at Lee, then to Snake.
Snake: Make sure she doesn't get away.
Snake exits.
Lee looks at Yan, and their eyes lock.
Lee smiles.
Yan frowns and turns away.
Lee: Hmph. Some brother you turned out to be.
Yan: You wouldn't exactly win 'sister-of-the-year' you know.
Lee: At least I didn't desert my family!
Yan: I didn't!
Lee: What, him?
She gestures outside.
Lee: He's no father!
Yan: Silence woman!
Lee: You know he's no father! Who taught you how to walk and talk?
Yan's looks softens.
Yan: Mother.
Lee: And what did he teach you? How to kill? How to lie, cheat, and steal to get what you want?
Yan: Just shut up Zi Mei!
Lee: It's LEE, remember? Or have you forgotten, 'Fan she'?
Yan: Don't call me that anymore!
Lee: Then don't call me Zi Mei!
Yan: What do you have against your name?
Lee: It's not my name anymore. My name is Meng An Lee. And yours is Meng Fan She!
Yan: I told you to…
Lee: Why would you rather be Huang Yan than Fan She?
Yan: Because…
Lee: Why? Because HE gave you that name?
Yan slaps her.
Lee: Why you little…!
Ling, off in the forest, screams in pain.
Lee: Ling!
She goes to run, but Yan grabs her arm, and holds her down.
Lee: Yan! Lemme go!
She struggles to get out of his grasp.
Yan looks into her eyes.
Yan: Do you love him?
Lee: What! No, I…
Yan pulls her down, and stares into her eyes, then smiles.
Yan: You can't lie to me, sis.
Lee smiles, blushing.
Lee: This mean you're gonna let me go?
Ling is struggling to get up, an arrow stuck in his left shoulder.
Guard: Yea! Finish him off Gou!
Another guard steps on Ling's back, pinning him to the ground, and raises his sword in the air.
Gou: Say Goodnight, Weakling!
He's suddenly hit in the head with a rock, and is knocked unconscious.
Lee: Goodnight, Weakling!
The remaining 4 men advance towards her.
Ling: Lee, don't! They're too strong!
Lee: For you, maybe!
She rushes forward, jumping off one of the men onto a tree.
She bounces off that tree, and onto another one, grabbing a vine as she goes.
Lee pulls one end of the vine down, and swings around the men in a circle, tying them up.
She then climbs back up the vine, and grabs the other end.
She pulls this end over a thick branch, and using the branch, she pulls the men up, off the ground, then ties a knot in the vine.
Lee:(To Ling) See? I can handle these clowns!
She slides down the vine to the men.
Lee: Don't mean to leave you hanging, boys, but we gotta go.
She giggles as she jumps to the ground.
Ling groans as he sits up.
Lee walks over to him.
Lee: You okay?
He lifts his head, weakly, and sees a shadow behind Lee.
Ling: Watch out!
He pushes her, and himself, out of the way, to just miss being hit by Snake's blade.
Snake: I knew it was a mistake to let that little softy guard you.
He swipes at them again, but they move backwards.
Snake: I should've killed you all those years ago, when I had the chance!
He raises his sword. Its blade glints in the moonlight.
Ling grabs the arrow in his shoulder, yanks it out, and plunges it into Snake's sword arm.
Snake screams in agony and drops the sword.
Lee catches it, and then she and Ling run.
Snake:(Yelling after them) I'll get you for this!
About halfway down the path, Ling falls to his knees, and clutches his shoulder, in pain.
Lee runs back to him, unties her hair, and uses her scarf as a bandage.
Lee: Come on!
She helps him up, and the two of them continue to run.
The guard that Lee knocked out before comes running up behind them.
He pulls an arrow back, and fires at Lee.
The arrow flies towards Lee, and nicks her ankle.
She loses her balance, and rolls off a cliff, and down towards the river!
Ling: Lee!
He reaches for her, but is pulled down too.
The guard walks toward the cliff, and looks at the two falling, and chuckles evilly.
Guard: Weakling, indeed.
A waterfall leads into a small lake.
The water on the surface is still.
Suddenly, Lee bursts out of the water, gasping for breath.
She looks around, panting for a moment, then drops back down in the water.
She emerges moments later, holding Ling up.
They stumble towards the rocky shore.
Lee falls to her knees, and eventually onto her stomach.
Lee falls on his butt, and lies on his back.
They both lay there panting for a moment.
Ling: Well, at least it can't get any worse.
(Thunder crash)
Rain starts to pour down.
Lee leans up on her elbows, and looks back at Ling.
Lee: You HAD to say it, didn't you!
Please Review. My hands are aching. :)