Chapter 39: Six Trials, Six Companions
The group of six stood outside of a huge red temple. Shino looked down at the map, then up at the temple. "This is it…"
"The Fire Temple…" Airi finished in a whisper.
"…L-Let's go inside," Hinata said.They all nodded, walked up the stairs, then went in.
Kiba looked at the six doors inside the lobby. "Oooh-kay then, where do we go from here?" Akamaru barked.
"Are we supposed to just pick a door?" Hinata asked.
"I don't think so…" Aurion said.
"Then what do we do?" Airas asked.
Airi walked over to a rock. "Hey, there's writing on this rock. It says…'For those seeking the Red Beast, six perilous trials must be completed at once to proceed to the Chamber of Embers.' That's what it says…"
"Well, I don't know what the hell the Red Beast is," Aurion said.
"But we have to do these trails at once," Shino said. "That means we have to split up." Each one stood before a door. "Okay guys, let's keep in touch by our radios. If anything should happen, just use them."
"Here goes," Kiba said.
"Good luck everyone," Hinata cheered. "I know we can do this!" They each opened their door and went through. Hinata looked around. "It's so hot in here…" She walked down the hall. "This isn't so bad…besides the heat of course!" A small tremor shook her. "Hmm?" She turned around to see that the floor behind her was crumbling. "AH!" She started to run, but the floor under her was collapsing as well. Way down the hall was rope. "What?" She kept running until she came close to it. "What's this--" She suddenly came to a stop when she almost ran off the edge of the hall. "Ulp!" She looked down and saw a pit of lava. "Oh…" The floor rumbled again and it gave way under her. "AHH!" She leaped from her spot and grabbed onto the rope. "That was close!" She climbed up…
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"Man, this place is endless!" Kiba shouted.
"I think so to!" Akamaru barked.
"Why do you care? You're not the one doing the walking!" He sighed. With a slight rumble, a rock from the ceiling came crashing down. "Whoa!" He jumped out of the way.
"Yikes! That was close!" Akamaru said. Another one came crashing down. "Kiba!"
He moved again. "Uh-oh, we're in trouble!" He ran down the hall and dodged the falling rocks. "Where does this end! If we can't get out, we might…! No!" He stopped as soon as he came to a rock stuck in the ground. "What! I was just…here?" He moved when another rock almost hit him.
"What is this!"
"I don't know, but we better find a way out or we'll be crushed!" A small breeze tickled his hand. "Hmm?" He put his head against the wall. "That's it! We'll go through here!" He focused his chakra to his hand, then punched the wall. It broke and he squeezed through the hole. Rocks covered the opening behind him. "Phew, that was crazy."
"Look Kiba, a ladder!"
"Hmm?" He walked over to the ladder…
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Airas tripped over something and fell. "AH!" She flailed her arms as bats nicked at her. "AH! Get away!" She used a fire spell to kill the annoying pests. "I can't see a thing in here!" She used her staff to light up the place. The statues lined against the hallways suddenly lit up. "Huh?" They walls began to close in on her. "What's going on!" She ran, trying to find an exit. She tripped over something again and her light on her staff went out. The walls suddenly shifted back. "Huh? These statues…do they react to light?" She put the light back on and the statues lit up again. The walls began to move again. "I guess they do! She put out the light and walked in the dark. "This isn't too bad…" Her right foot didn't hit solid ground and she fell. "AH!" She grabbed onto the edge of the floor. "Oh man! There are pits here!" She pulled herself up. "Okay, if I use light, I'll be crushed to death. If I don't use light, I'll fall into a hole and die a horrible, painful death." She rubbed her head. "Agh! It's a lose-lose situation! What do I do?" She suddenly stopped her ranting and raving when an idea hit her. "Wait, that's it! I'll use my light every so often, then turn it off when the floor's clear!" She turned her light back on and the walls started to move closer to her again. "Now's my chance." She started to run, but when she came to another pit, she put the light out and jumped over it. "This'll work!" She kept doing the same patter, and eventually came to a dead end. "Great! Now what! There's nowhere to go from here!" She leaned against the wall. "I'm doomed…" The floor beneath her gave way. "AAAHHH!"
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Aurion hit the floor as another pendulum came swinging over him. "Get up!" He got up and kept running.
"RAAAHH!"
He looked back to see that the dragon was still chasing him. "Shit! This thing won't give up!" He stopped short before he ran into another pendulum. "C'mon, c'mon!" When it moved out of his way, he ran past it. He jumped over a gap in the floor, but the dragon caught up with him. "Oh fu-" He jumped out of the way when he was almost hit by its tail. "Oh shiz!" He grabbed onto the edge of the floor before he fell off. "Ack…" He climbed back up, but the dragon was gone. "Hmm?" He turned around when a huge wave of fire was right behind him. "AH!" He started to sprint, dodging the pendulums. "I can't stop!" There was a door ahead of him. "A door!" He busted through the door, then shut it. "Ah, that was too close for comfort…" The ceiling above him started to come down fast on him. "Dammit!" He dove to the floor and held his sword up to keep the floor from crushing him. "AAHHH!" He was holding his sword by the blade, cutting his hands. "I…I am not…gonna die here! Seismic Wave!"
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Shino climbed up a wall with a smile on his face. "Heh, they thought they could get rid of me!" When he reached the top, he sent his bugs forth and took out numerous stone creatures. "Ha, cake." He looked up as a fiery cannon ball was headed for him. "Crap!" He moved. "Now what!" More cannon balls kept coming and he kept dodging them. When he made his way to the top of the area, he took out the creatures with the cannonballs. "These things get on my nerves!" He opened a door and went through it. "Geez…" He stopped when the ground shook. "Hmm?" He turned back to see a huge boulder come straight for him. "Great…" He sprinted down the path until a wall came into his sight. "What!" A small space caught his eyes and he jumped in it. The boulder hit the wall, opening up a hole. "I wonder where this goes…?" He went through it…
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Airi dodged another ax. "Ahhhh!" She held onto a stone tablet as she kept running. "I knew I shouldn't have gone into the room with those decorative knights!" She looked back to see nine of the ten knights. "What? They fall apart when they swing their axes or swords?" She hit something metal and fell back. "Ow…" She looked up and gasped. A knight was bringing its sword down on her. "AH!" She rolled out of the way, then got up and scrambled away. "Why won't they stop chasing me!" She looked down at the stone tablet that she had just taken. "Oh, maybe it's this thing! Then what if I just…" She threw it down to the ground and it broke, along with the knights. "Yes!" Iron bars came down from the doorway in front of her. "What!" She looked back and saw hundreds of knights coming her way. "Oh no, oh no, oh no!" There was a square relief next to the door. "Crap! I think the stone tablet goes here! But I just broke it!" She picked up the pieces and started to put them in the relief. The pieces fell out she had to pick them up again. "They're coming closer!" The clanking of armor became louder. "C'mon, stay!" She picked up the pieces again with her bloody fingers. She had cut them on the sharp pieces of stone. "Ow! Wait! Blood is sticky right?" She rubbed her fingers on all of the pieces getting them covered in blood. "This is it!" She put the pieces in the relief and went through the door before the knights had gotten her…