Chapter 6: Chorh Gom Prison
Zeng gasped, out of breath as he flew through the snowy peaks of Mongolia.
Sometimes he wondered why he had not quit working at the Jade Palace when Master Shifu sent him on long journeys like this.
Feeling like he was on the urge of passing out, Zeng finally spotted the giant steel gates to his destination, Chorh Gom Prison.
The prison itself was embedded into a large cave on the side of the mountain, two silver dragon statues sat on each side of the gates, their palms pressed together like they were praying.
Two tall and broad rhinoceros guards stood alert at the entrance, wearing heavy armor and carrying long sharp spears.
Fluttering down, Zeng flopped to the ground and slid up to the gates.
As soon as he saw the weapons pointed at his face, he held up his wings frantically.
"Wait! Wait, wait! He cried. "I bring a message. From Master Shifu!"
The name caused the guards to draw back a little. Pulling Zeng up, the two guards opened the old creaking gates and led the messenger goose into the prison.
The inside of the prison itself seemed even colder than the outside world despite the various bowls containing fire.
Zeng was soon led to the warden of the prison itself, Commander Vachir. Vachir was a large and burly rhino, who didn't look like the type to have a soft side. He, like the other guard, was dressed with heavy armor and had a golden prosthetic horn on his snout.
And needless to say, once he read Shifu's message, he was not at all pleased.
"WHAT?!" Vachir yelled in outrage. "'Double the guard'?! 'Extra precautions'?!" He shut the scroll shut, glaring down at Zeng with utter contempt. "'Your prison may not be adequate'?!"
Zeng gulped, momentarily glancing back at the two guards behind him who bradished their weapons, gritting their teeth and glaring daggers down at him.
"You doubt my prison's security?" Vachir asked, eyes narrowing menacingly at the messenger goose.
Zeng quickly shook his head at his words. "Absolutely not!" He quickly replied. "Shifu does. I'm just a messenger." He whimpered.
"I'll give you a message for your Master Shifu," Vachir hissed, glaring down at him before pushing him towards the stone bridge that led to the lower parts of the prison. "Escape from Chorh Gom Prison is impossible!"
Zeng glanced over the side of the bridge and he couldn't help but gape at how deep the caverns went, dissolving into darkness down below.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Vachir chuckled, giving Zeng a rough pat on the back that knocked a feather loose as it sailed down into the pits below.
"Yes, v-very impressive." Zeng stuttered. "It's very impressive."
Commander Vachir continued on the little 'tour'. "One way in, one way out." He boasted, gesturing to the entire premises buried inside the mountain. "One thousand guards, and one prisoner."
Zeng still gulped nervously. "Yes, except that prisoner is Tai Lung." He mumbled.
Passing over another stone bridge, the two reached an old creaky wooden elevator, the lever and winch under the care of two guards.
"Take us down." Vachir calmly ordered as he and Zeng got on, snatching a torch.
With a small hitch, the elevator was lowered deeper and deeper into the dark black abyss that seemed to never end. The contraption eventually hit the bottom with a loud thud that echoed throughout the caves.
Getting off, the giant steel doors that shielded what was beyond slowly began to open, and Zeng found himself trembling uncontrollably. Once the doors were opened, a small wooden draw-bridge lowered, connecting them to a lone island of rough stone in the midst of the pit.
At the center of the island was a tall muscular snow leopard bent down on his knees, his wrists bound with chains which were tied to large rocks that weighed down his arms. A tortoise shell-like armor with an unusual key pattern and several acupuncture needles piercing it was latched onto his back, rendering him immobile.
The snow leopard barely moved, his head bent down and obscured by the shadows. He barely seemed to register any signs of life at all as it didn't seem like he was even breathing either.
"Oh, my…" Zeng breathed. Just being close to perhaps the most fearsome Kung Fu master China has ever seen made him want to run away screaming with his tail feathers tucked between his legs.
"Behold… Tai Lung." Vachir muttered slowly. The uncomfortable silence with which Tail Lung greeted them greatly unnerved Zeng, as if it was a corpse instead of a person tied up in those chains.
"I'll, um… I'm just gonna wait right here." Zeng stuttered, taking a few steps back.
Vachir sneered in an almost sinister way. "There's nothing to worry about. It's perfectly safe." He then roughly shoved the messenger goose forward, forcing him to get up close and personal with the snow leopard.
"Crossbows! At the ready!" Vachir ordered, to which said weapons were set up by the guards to fire if need be.
Vachir walked up to the immobilized snow leopard with an arrogant smirk. "Hey, tough guy! Did you hear?" He spoke with a taunting edge to his voice. "Oogway's finally gonna give someone the Dragon Scroll and it's not gonna be you."
Zeng nearly had a heart-attack. "What are you doing?!" He almost shrieked. "Don't get him mad!"
"What's he gonna do about it?" Vachir asked, chuckling arrogantly as he walked behind Tai Lung where his tail was exposed. "I've got him completely immobilized." To prove his point, he then stomped on the snow leopard's tail with a sickening crunch that made Zeng gasp, terrified that the leopard would now break free and kill them all.
But strangely, Tai Lung remained still. No groan or yelp, not even a flinch. Instead, he still kept his head down, quiet and unmoving, which was somehow even more frightening.
"Aw, did I step on the witty kitty's tail? Aw." Vachir mocked in a babying voice.
"I'm good! I've seen enough!" Zeng exclaimed in a fake happy voice. "I'll tell Shifu there's nothing to worry about."
"No, there isn't." Vachir concurred as they made their way back up to the elevator.
"Can we please go now?" Zeng whimpered.
What nobody noticed, though, was the small feather from earlier floating down and landing softly in front of the prisoner.
And as the feather lay there, Tai Lung's head jerked up, his nightmarish amber eyes shooting open as he gazed down at the feather. With a light twitch of his tail, Tai Lung was able to grip the feather and pull it back behind him.
"Oogway's finally gonna give someone the Dragon Scroll and it's not going to be you."
Eyes narrowing hatefully, Tai Lung let out a barely audible snarl as his numb fingers twitched.
Soon, he would be free. Soon, he would deal with Shifu and that old hag Oogway personally. And he would destroy any warrior who dared to take his rightful place.
Soon, the true Dragon Warrior would return.
In exchange for the long chapter before, we have a short one this time. Yay!
