Chapter 4: Mercenaries
A Week and a Half Ago
The old, and liver-spotted Earth King of the Oma Kingdom sat on his throne with boredom, his head rested on the knuckles of his right fist. His left hand's fingers tapped the armrest of the throne in a sequence. He held a glower in his face as always Gao was not only bored but angry. The court of nobles from the city arrived in the palace. They did this only in the wee hours of the morning, they spent a few hours with Gao discussing issues that involved the citizens of the city.
Houshe, Prince Hui's mouthpiece entered the throne room he seemed worried and the old arrogant king could see it on Houshe's face. When he noticed the man's presence he called out to him, "Houshe step forward!"
Houshe flinched and winced then he turned around and dropped to his knees to kowtow to Gao Zu. He questioned the mouthpiece while the translator's head touched the surface of the throne room's floor, "Where's Hui?"
"I haven't seen him...since that argument we had about the Hami," paused the Earth King while he recalled the event that transpired a few days ago.
Houshe rose off his knees when the Earth King signaled him to rise. Then he shrugged, "I thought he'd be out here with you, he hasn't presented himself for tutoring either, Tiazu."
The court rambled on in the background Gao crossed his arms and signaled them to silence their pieholes. The centenarian used his strength to push himself off his throne, he waved his arm forward and signaled Houshe to follow him. The two wanted to investigate Hui's chambers perhaps the crowned prince was just having a depressive episode. The royal guards that watched the door opened the doors when the Earth King arrived along with House.
Gao entered the room and immediately was punched in the face by a foul order, Houshe's face shriveled up in disgust how could Hui live like this? The room was mostly empty but messy at the same time, Gao scanned the room while Houshe rummaged around the jungle of belongings and leftover scraps of food. Gao finds Hui's crown which rested on a pillow alongside it is a note left behind by the prince.
Gao opened the letter to get a bit more reasoning as to why his son isn't in his room or in the palace for that matter. The note appeared to be written in Kingsmen Sign Language instead of actual Kingsmen characters. Hui and Houshe had a secret code of writing that Hui felt comfortable writing secret letters in the form of hand signs. For the sake of peepers not being able to translate what the letter is conveying. Gao sighed and glowered at the mouthpiece, he flipped the letter over for Houshe to see its contents.
Houshe coughed in a moment where he wanted to burst out laughing, Gao slapped the note onto Houshe's chest and muttered, "What does it say?"
"Pardon?" wondered Houshe.
"What does the letter say?" he repeated, the tone of his voice sounded a bit irritated.
"If anyone finds this letter then I hope it's you Houshe since I know Dad can't read this. I'm leaving for the Si Wong province to see Amira. Dad can't stop me, this girl is my destiny and honestly, she's the only one that seems to accept me. Amira understands me, and for Dad's sake, it'll be great to further our alliance with the Hami for political reasons," read Houshe.
With each word, Gao's face turned redder and redder but Houshe resumed because there was a bit left to finish, "Maybe this'll encourage the other tribes to join the Oma Kingdom. I'll see you when I get back from Huang He, I know Dad will be furious but after our confrontation, I needed a break from the palace life. I'll be fine I've been able to hold my own without royal guards watching me like lion vultures."
"His Highness has fled the city and is currently traveling to Huang He as we speak, Your Majesty," summarized Houshe.
Gao angrily kicked Hui's door off its hinges, the door slammed into the wall across the hallway. The two men standing guard outside peek inside to see a hostile Earth King. The old king stormed out of his son's chambers with Houshe behind the tread of his heels. The men cleared their throats and while they were worried they continued to hold an expressionless face for fear Gao would fire them on the spot.
Furious he stomped over to the throne, one of the nobles saw the entire entrance of the king when he returned. He stepped forward and kowtowed before the Oma King he inquired, "Is something bothering you, milord?"
"The crowned prince has run away from home," hissed Gao.
"Perhaps the royal guards shall find him," suggested the nobleman.
Another shouted out, "Report him missing to all governors, the soldiers shall return him home!"
A barbarian nobleman wrapped in an expensive and rare cloak stepped forward, "Hire Meng clan mercenaries, there are no men more reliable than those from my clan. They'll bring back the boy alive kicking and screaming."
Gao muttered to himself while all three surrounded his view of the throne room doors, "Hmm..." he thought to himself, "Can I trust Meng clan barbarians to bring him safely to the city and not speak of his name publicly?"
"I will send my best men to find...er..." said the Meng nobleman then he paused a bit and tried to coin a codename for the Crowned Prince.
He snapped his fingers, "...he shall be codenamed the Silent Pawn!"
"The Meng do offer the finest warriors...but they have proven to fail as well," commented Gao as he pondered all the possible options. He strafed his goatee deep in thought, the nobleman continued to coax the Earth King, "Might I add the last Meng mercenary to be killed was by an Avatar over a thousand years ago, Your Majesty."
"Fair enough, send some mercenaries after the boy, you have my approval," finished Gao.
Biapo, Shiwei province, Oma Kingdom - Now
The slapping sounds created by the ostrich horse's feet were heard at a distance, feathers floated down as the mount galloped down a hill. Two individuals were on the back of the beast again Okhin wrapped her arms around Hui. This time willingly, she slobbered on his tunic once again normally he would've been disgusted by it but he's seemed to be getting used to the habits of the barbarian girl.
Just down the hill was a sign that indicated they're entering the town's limits, past the sign was a patch of land surrounded by wooden split rail fences. In the middle where no fences covered the front of the building was the stable main house. To its sides were the fences and various pens that were either empty or held mounts. Long Legs came to a halt, Hui jumped off of him while Okhin slid off of the ostrich horse.
Okhin went off to pay for the ostrich horse while Hui padded off and explored the markets. After Okhin finalized the payment she searched around her radius but there was no sign of Hui in her frontal or peripheral view. At the same time, the three Meng clan barbarians saw as a few travelers waltz into the town's limits. From atop of the hill they observed below at Biapo, a working-class town full of life in the morning as well as in the evening.
"Usun, the tracks head down the hill and toward the town, should we wait for the Silent Pawn to leave?" wondered Tahar curiously.
"No, we need to follow him everywhere he goes so we don't lose him. Now come on," declined Usun, he instead recommended that they follow the tracks into town.
The three men continued down the hill and toward the town meanwhile, Okhin shrugged and headed off toward the market as well. Perhaps she'll run into Hui, her plans in town were to repurchase more supplies for the road. They still had a few hours from Biapo to reach the border with Xu province, and half a day trip from the border to her hometown.
Hui wandered around in a part of the bazaar where businesses like spas, hotels, boarding houses, and bending trainers were located. With his hands in his pockets, he strutted toward an earthbending dojo, the wall was two heads taller than him and made of stone. The entrance into the dojo was shaped like a circle, he stood there as he spectated a duel between two men. One of the men who was bald was stagnant on the ground while the other surfed on a liquified wave of earth around the other man.
The bald man pivoted his torso around but wasn't fast enough to twist the lower half of his body, his opponent tossed two rocks at him. This staggered the hairless duelist, his foe surfed around the man rotated around to face him. For his final move, he lifted a line of small pillars that struck the bald duelist and pushed him up against a wall. Hui watched in amazement at the moves the stranger with long hair made he'd never seen earthbending like this. This had to be another style, with a toothy grin of pure astonishment he entered the dojo and leaned on a wall.
The referee made a signal to the bald fighter but he shook his head he wasn't out of the fight yet. He ripped two pillars out of the line and threw them at the long-haired man who bobbed and weaved around the projectiles almost like an airbender would. Hui's jaw dropped, what an eye-opener. The man stood in a Chuan Xin stance, he squatted down when he extended his left leg further away from him the solid ground underneath loosened into sand. He had one arm positioned behind him and the other was balled in a fist in front. Hui tilted his head he was confused because he had no idea what the earthbender was doing.
The back arm swung forward and with the help of the arm in front, the earthbender channeled a blast of sand in the bald fighter's face. This caused the duelist to be blinded by the sand, the man was taken by surprise he didn't expect this to be in the arsenal of his opponent. While blinded he rose his hand up and surrendered, the referee brought out and raised a white flag and waved it in his right hand.
"Master Tiaozhan has called for a surrender, Master Jushi wins!" announced the referee.
Jushi smiled with a flick of his wrist he removed the sand that invaded Tiaozhan's eyes. Tiaozhan frowned but he accepted his defeat and instead shook Jushi's hand to show sportsmanship. The master inquired, "How did you learn to move like that? You don't exactly move as an earthbender does."
"It has been in my family for generations, developed by my ancestor Avatar Bhudev. Several benders of the Hami use this style while the Hami-style is mostly popular in Huang He," explained Jushi.
"You have to teach me your war, so I can broaden the style onto others," begged Master Tiaozhan. The master felt a presence nearby and he turned his attention to the figure in his peripheral vision. He the young man who leaned on the wall near the entrance to his dojo. Both he and Jushi near the stranger, as Jushi came closer he recognized the individual while Tiaozhan who was behind Jushi shouted to the teenager, "I apologize, stranger but the dojo is closed for today. You're going to have to come back tomorrow."
Hui pointed at Jushi and smiled before giving a slight wave to the earthbending master. Jushi dropped to his knees and kowtowed before Hui, "Your Highness, what are you doing here in Biapo?"
Tiaozhan tilted his head in confusion, perplexed as to why Jushi kowtowed before the stranger then he repeated the title, "Your Highness?"
Jushi blurted as he raised his voice, "Kowtow before the presence of Crowned Prince Hui."
"Oh..." he whispered to himself in an apologetic tone when he realized it was indeed the prince of the Oma Kingdom. He was terrified because he didn't expect Hui to randomly turn up he apologized, "Please forgive me, Your Highness."
Hui pointed at Jushi and then tapped his forehead and pointed down at the ground in front of him.
"What are you doing here?" Hui questioned Jushi.
Jushi couldn't understand what Hui was saying something that Hui must've forgot so he attempted to guess what was on the prince's tongue. Jushi pointed at himself, "Me?"
Hui pointed to the ground and nodded, "Here?" guessed Jushi. The prince nodded again, Tiaozhan stepped forward and bowed to Hui and then signed in return.
Tiaozhan tapped his left index and middle fingers on the top part of his right arm's wrist, then he separated his palms to indicate a separation of something and saluted Hui as he moved his down to look at the ground. He pointed at Hui then the sky, at himself he raised only his left index and pinky fingers and positioned them on the left side of his head, and spiraled them out. He pointed at Hui and wiped his mouth and then motioned a shush with two fingers.
Tiaozhan pointed at himself again, he separated his hands with at least two fingers left and waved both of them close to himself and away from himself several times while smiling. He raised an index, then raised his left index and his right thumb and tapped both hands together twice.
Tiaozhan finished with a tap to his lips and then pointed at his left ear.
"Apologies, Your Highness I now recall that you are silent. Luckily, I know Kingsmen Sign Language since one of my students is deaf."
Hui returned the bow to Master Tiaozhan, he pointed at himself and then gave a thumbs up while he showed a toothy smile at the earthbending master. Hui pointed at himself again then brought two index fingers close and pointed in a random direction. Hui used both hands to indicate two people talking and then pointed at himself.
"I am thankful I'm able to meet others who can communicate with me."
"What brings you to Biapo, milord," wondered Jushi.
Hui pointed at himself and then at the ground, his palms faced upward and then made a rotating motion. His left spread its fingers out while his right index touched his index's knuckle on his left hand. He pointed at himself again, then raised two hands in front of him and patted down, his right palm faced down while his left hand formed a thumbs up and hovered above the right and slid to the left while he smiled. He gave two thumbs up and tapped both together, then pointed in another direction.
"I'm here on business, I'm assisting a new friend of mine back home to Xu province where she lives," responded Hui.
"Where is your friend now?" Jushi asked.
Hui held onto his right earlobe and pointed behind himself, he tapped his left on top of his right, then he tapped the sides of his hands twice, while his lips smacked twice and formed an O shape. His two fists tapped twice, then his left index tapped once on his right index and middle fingers that were raised and spread out. Then both index tips tapped to finish. He pointed behind again, he separated both hands a bit and then pushed them forward.
"She's restocking on supplies here before we head out back on the road," said Hui.
"He says, he's here restocking supplies but will depart shortly to Xu with his new friend," mentioned Tiaozhan.
"Xu province? Why? That place is filled with barbarians, they'd probably eat you," remarked Jushi.
Hui pointed at himself and then rose his left pinky and index and overturned the hand downward.
"I'm traveling with a barbarian right now," Hui mentioned.
"He says, he's with one right now," translated Tiaozhan.
"With what?" asked Jushi, the translation seemed vague and needed it to be clarified. Master Tiaozhan cleared his throat and repeated, "A barbarian."
"They might not eat you but there are cannibal clans out there," Jushi commented.
Hui frowned slightly and pointed at Jushi and then down, he pointed at Jushi again and then at himself. Closing his eyes and frowning he put the back of his left hand to his left cheek.
"What are you doing here? You ignored my question earlier," he repeated.
"The prince is asking, what are you doing here? And mentioned you ignored his question earlier," said Tiaozhan.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm traveling the Oma Kingdom as always..." he paused then resumed, "...seeking bounties, but I stopped here for a break. Then I met Tiaozhan."
"How's the King?" he questioned Hui.
Hui formed a triangle near his crotch area while his face grew into disgust, his left's fingers curbed backward as he raised his hand and closed his fingers except for his index. He pointed in away from himself, then he raised two fingers on his left and waved them left to right three times. With both hands, he motioned and shaped a heart.
"That grouch? Same as always," he told Jushi.
Hui pointed away from himself then curbed his left index and rose his thumb out, he then lifted his hand wrapped those fingers around his nose, and frowned. Pointing at himself then waved his hand down he formed a point with both hands and separated them and rose his pinkies.
"He's the reason why I left the palace in the first place," frowned Hui, he crossed his arms and looked away while he pouted angrily.
"He says, the King is the reason he left the palace," mentioned Tiaozhan.
"How'd you get away? Aren't you concerned that there might be royal guards or soldiers looking to capture you and take you back to the city?" wondered Jushi.
Hui pointed at himself and rose his fists up, he rose two pinkies and slightly moved them away from himself before he tapped both tips of his indexes together. He motioned two legs behind another two legs walking and then pointed at himself. His face beamed in excitement and he pointed out a finger and moved the finger up and down.
"I can handle my own against them, by orders they follow my command," answered Hui.
"He says, he's not afraid of them. They'll follow his command," translated Tiaozhan.
"Or he can order them to disobey your orders, and perhaps maybe he hires mercenaries instead. Like bounty hunters," commented Jushi as he gave an option that Hui hadn't thought about yet.
Hui gasped and then pointed at Jushi upset and then at himself, his left thumb tapped his lips twice.
"What? Are you planning on turning me into my father?" Hui worried.
"He's worried if you're threatening to turn him in," said Tiaozhan.
Jushi shook his head, "Well no...but there are others who may come for you."
Okhin wandered around when in the distance she noticed Hui speaking to two strangers near a circle entrance to a location. She minced over to the group, she approached from behind and tapped his right shoulder. Hui jumped startled and pivoted to face the barbarian, a broke a sweat nervously and tittered.
Hui lightly waved at Okhin to greet her Jushi then asked him, "Who's this?"
Hui smiled nervously then pointed at Okhin and then he placed his curved index inside his left ear, tapped his left pinky to his right thumb while other hands were closed, and finished with his left hand extending out and patting down.
"This is Okhin," Hui introduced Okhin to Jushi and Tiaozhan.
"Who are you two?" she inquired a bit concerned.
"I am Master Tiaozhan, I just met the prince today but it seems these two have history," Tiaozhan bowed to Okhin as he introduced himself.
Jushi also bowed to her, "Master Jushi, earthbending master to Avatar Rong Yan, I'm sure you've heard of me."
She declined, "No I thought the Avatar was still that old guy from Ba Sing Se, what's his name again? Ku Tei?" she guessed Rong Yan's predecessor's name.
Offended Jushi looked her up and down while his right eye twitched in dislike and identified her as a barbarian, "I'm assuming you've been living under a rock, the new Avatar is a Fire Nationalist. He's the reason the civil war is once again in a ceasefire."
"I don't expect you to be up-to-date about your world news, you look like a barbarian. They're more interested in the taste of a rock than to bother listening to what the town crier has to say," commented Jushi.
She repeated the same motions with her eyes and returned the favor then sassed him, "...and you look like a pompous piyan Kingsmen. The Gaxunese calls the Alxan black."
He gritted through his teeth in annoyance, "I'm Hami."
"Ahh, an Imperial Groveller," she retorted, Jushi remained silent and gave an antagonizing glare.
He couldn't believe that Hui didn't say something to the barbarian for calling Jushi by a racial slur. She rose her hand to his face and ignored him. She turned to Hui, "Come on, we should get going and cross the border before sundown."
She walked away from the men and Hui followed he glimpsed back and waved to both men. Tiaozhan lightly chuckled, when Jushi glowered at him he gasped and then covered his mouth and muttered apologies. Meanwhile, the three barbarians arrived in town as Hui and Okhin mounted Long Legs and left town.
Usun turned his attention to Khulan, "Take to the urban section of the town, ask about the Silent Pawn's description perhaps someone's seen him around."
"Tahar take the rural side of town may be the farmers know something, I'll stay here in the commercial center I know the merchants may know something," he ordered the barbarian on his right.
The three split-up, Khulan went to the left while Tahar to the right. Usun continued his mission in the middle part of town. While the two others were on their tasks Usun neared the stables, the stable master was present as he assisted customers. He questioned the stable master, "Can you assist me in locating an individual?"
The stable master gave him a hard no, "I cannot I have a merchant-customer confidentiality."
Usun rolled his eyes and from inside his collar, he whipped out a rolled up parchment. After he released a few fingers it unrolled to reveal a wanted poster of a young man. The stable master was an old man he needed to squint his eyes to read the words.
"Wanted – The Silent Pawn
The fugitive has fled the Omashu palace,
on the trail to Huang He, Hami territory, Si Wong province.
Fugitive is a master earthbender,
causes earthquakes during tantrums.
Cannot utter a single word,
bounty hunters must bring the Silent Pawn alive and uninjured.
By order and decree of the sixty-sixth Earth King Zu Gao."
"By order and decree of the Crown, you will release any information you have at once!" he commanded the stable master. This frightened the old man, he jumped startled and began to stutter his response, "Pl-please n-no I.." he stammered.
"I didn't mean to prevent the Crown from finding their fugitive," pleaded the stable master.
"Now how many people here have stopped by mounted on an ostrich horse?" he questioned the stable master.
"Well normally, the military only uses the ostrich horses around here. But today I've seen only two carrying civilians," answered the man.
"Describe them," Usun requested.
"The first was a fat man honestly I felt bad for the poor thing, the second ostrich horse that came in had two individuals on its saddle. Teenagers...a young man and a young woman. The young man seemed to be wealthy while the young woman was more of a...uh..." he described them until he got to the girl he noticed the mercenary was a bounty hunter and didn't want to offend him by calling the girl primitive.
"A what?" bugged Usun.
The stable master loosened his collar a bit because he continued with his description, "...a barbarian. She was wearing furs, perhaps she's a hunter," he finished.
"The wealthy young man, what did he look like?" Usun asked.
"Do you remember his face? Does he look like the individual on the poster?" he added.
"Sorry I didn't catch a glimpse of his face, but the girl paid for the stable while the young man disappeared into the markets," the stable master replied.
"What's the girl look like?" Usun pressed more questions he needed details.
"Fair skin, light brown eyes, braided light brown hair, and a fresh scar on her chin, she was pretty tall and fit. She followed right behind the young man after buying their mount a bag of feed and pen," the stable master further described the young woman who he believed might have been traveling with Hui.
"Are they still here?" Usun wondered.
The old man shook his head, "No, they left as soon as you came!"
"Hunzhang! I missed them by the hair follicle," he muttered to himself. In the background as travelers entered the town or left on their mounts. Up against a wall leaned Jushi he made sure he hid in plain sight he saw the entire conversation between the stable master and the barbarian mercenary. While he couldn't hear their conversation from his distance he was able to read their body language. It seemed the mercenary intimidated the stable master from afar.
He felt it was within his selflessness to act and protect Hui and the girl, he knew that the mercenaries meant trouble. And if they were the first there were likely more coming. Two others came from other parts of the town, Jushi observed from his spot as the two joined up with their leader and soon left the town. Meanwhile, Hui and Okhin continued on their path toward the border, Hui saw a stream nearby that ran alongside them. He pulled the reins of the ostrich horse and decided to stop.
He walked the ostrich horse to the stream and sat down by a rock while he waited for the beast to drink. Okhin searched the area and found an apple tree, she smiled and plucked two from a branch. One for herself and the other for Hui who could use a snack for the road. She sat down nearby and tossed one to Hui as they began to it the fruit. After the ostrich horse finished a good drink it padded over to its owner. Hui tied the feed bag around the ostrich horse's beak so the mount could have a full belly for the rest of the trip.
Several minutes into Long Legs' meal, the three barbarian mercenaries caught up to Hui and Okhin. They stood on a mound where they watched them from above, Usun noticed the young woman's weapon sat beside her. Typical, for a barbarian to always have their weapons nearby he knew she'd be a skilled fighter but he wasn't sure what clan she was from. It could be detrimental to his clan if he killed someone from an allied clan, in fact even if the Crown ordered it Usun would be exiled and forced to live outside of Meng clan territory or be executed by the allied clan. The barbarian clans still follow the old ways even if they're a bit more civilized now.
Usun faced Khulan and gave him some simple signs for him to understand, he raised his palm, then pointed at his eyes and mouth. Khulan nodded he understood that Usun wanted him to watch and wait and use the scallion bombs he made earlier after they broke camp. Usun lifted his left index finger and then clutched at his heart, he rubbed his right lower jaw once up and down. This meant there were one female and one male down below.
Khulan pulled down his arm meaning he understood the plan, he skulked down the mound and nearby the two unsuspected victims. He cringed when he heard the snap of a twig that he accidentally stepped on. Tahar facepalmed from the top of the mound when he heard it too.
Okhin heard a twig snap and quickly grabbed her battleax but as she took a gander Khulan's scallion juice bomb broke on her breastplate and the juice jumped into her eyes. She fell back and screamed as her weapon fell out of her hands. This alerted Long Legs and Hui, the silent earthbender kipped up onto his feet and another scallion bomb flew in his direction. Except Hui was quick on his reflexes and shot a wall of earth upward. The bomb burst on the wall, the ostrich horse darted toward the downed barbarian.
"I can't SEE! Help!" yelled out Okhin.
Hui plucked Okhin's weapon off the ground and strapped it to Long Legs' saddle, he ran over to a downed and blinded Okhin and picked her up and placed her on the beast. Hui smacked the ostrich horse's rear which signaled it to speed off down the path they were heading through. He ripped the wall out of the ground and shoved it at Khulan.
But then Tahar came from the left side of the mound, Hui gasped then flung a head-sized rock at Tahar. Usun jumped down from the mound and slammed his fist onto the ground that caused a minor shockwave that shook the ground. All three of them eyed the Silent Pawn and slowly inched closer with a shuffle of their feet. Hui noticed he was outnumbered, the shockwave that passed through unphased him in a strong stance.
He could fight them but knew if there was a chance they could succeed in capturing him he'd be abandoning Okhin. Instead, he gave himself enough time by sending two lines of pillars at both Khulan and Tahar. He saw that both men hadn't used earthbending to counter his attacks he felt it necessary to render the non-benders useless in this fight. He then rose a wall and turned tail and ran, he leaped into the air and crashed down which gave him the momentum to begin a wave.
The pillars emerged out of the ground between Usun, the left pillars cut Khulan's leg, he winced in pain. Tahar barely missed the right pillars that could've injured him while Usun ran and headbutted the wall smashing it to bits. He was going to follow behind the prince who escaped their grasp but glanced back to see Tahar bandaging Khulan's leg.
"He didn't stay and fight, wherever you find the ostrich horse and the girl, you'll find him! Don't let him escape!" barked Usun.
Once Tahar was finished patching up Khulan they continued down the same road Hui left on, they followed the unnatural landslide. Minutes later, Hui found Okhin and Long Legs, Hui slowed down the wave and slid toward the blinded Okhin and the ostrich horse. Okhin's eyes were still burning so he uncorked the water gourd tied to the saddle and poured it on her eyes.
"Get it out! Get it out! It burns!" she shouted.
Hui placed his finger to his lips to get her to shut up, he didn't want to attract the barbarians to them. She stopped and winced in pain, her vision was a bit blurred but as the stinging subsided she was able to see again. He grabbed the map and searched for their potential location, the stream continued further near the border but makes a natural east turn before the border.
He pointed at the stream and then noticed a path carved on the side of a mountain off in the distance. Hui sighed and drooped his shoulders he hated the last mountain path. They mounted Long Legs and headed for the mountainside path that led to the border. Hui felt like he lost the barbarians but then he gasped frightened when he saw that all three of them blocked their path.
Okhin grew angry after what one of the men did to her she clenched her weapon tight and gritted her teeth. She was hostile and vexed she slid off the ostrich horse while Hui hopped off, the men split up to surround the two teenagers. Both of them give each other a slight nod, Okhin charged at Tahar and Hui pivoted his lower body to the side and swung both arms up. A mound lifted and gave Okhin the proper boost for airtime. She used this to her advantage, she brought her battleax down onto Tahar who quickly pulled out a saber and instantly parried the otherwise fatal blow.
He pushed her back with the strength of his sword arm and did a full left rotation as he swung as hard as he could. Okhin ducked under the swing that could've lopped her head off, Hui threw chunks off the mountain at both Khulan and Usun.
Khulan ducked, twisted, and hopped over the chunks of earth that went in his direction. He pulled an arrow out and ran back a bit to try and gain distance from the prince. While Usun distracted him long enough for the archer to pin him to the wall. He notched an arrow on his bow and held his focus to aim, Usun magnetized rocks onto his hands until they were covered in earth. He took position and punched small pieces off each hand two by two to injure the prince.
At the same time, Okhin tried to overpower Tahar with her ax they've spent the last three minutes fighting for control over the other. Both weapons clashed with one another Okhin breaking a sweat she failed to overpower him. Tahar's strength bore down on Okhin she was struggling and she hoped Hui had taken notice.
Hui took a single shot in the right shoulder but he saw Okhin struggling so he ignored the pain and ran along the mountainside and kicked a head-sized rock at Tahar. Once the rock struck its target, the barbarian mercenary put out like a torch by Hui. The muscular man fell over, both of them weren't sure if he was dead or not. Okhin swung her battleax at Usun who focused on Hui, she slightly nicked Usun's armor. It tore through the animal skin but only scratched the plate underneath, Khulan released the arrow that stopped the ax blade from exposing the armor further.
Usun gasped and clenched his teeth he threw himself at the ground and rolled over to Tahar's body and grasped at the final scallion bomb on Tahar's belt. He threw it at Hui and Khulan by accident in a panic which caused both of them to be blinded by the scallion juice. Khulan dropped his bow while he and Hui stumbled, Khulan slipped off the edge in the midst of falling he attempted to grab hold of something. He yanked on Hui's collar and took Hui down with him as well.
Okhin watched the scene in horror and screamed she ran at dived near the edge as she reached out her arm to grab Hui. But it was too late Hui and Khulan were falling off the path to their deaths, Khulan finally let go of Hui and accepted his fate. Her face turned red and her eyes swelled with tears she began to sob. She had lost her journey partner, however, Hui didn't give up, he magnetized two gauntlets of earth, and then latched onto the side of the mountain. His feet engulfed by the mountain as well that he began to slide down the side.
Hui controlled the speed and then came to a halt he panted as his heartbeat out of his chest. He peered down to see Khulan dead on the floor. It wasn't a pretty sight, tears crawled out of his eyes and he gritted his teeth and pulled himself up. Meanwhile, Usun grinned wickedly he took this opportunity and grabbed Okhin's ax. The young girl was distracted and he could finish her off, after this he would fabricate a story for the old king.
He snuck behind the weeping teenager, her hands covered her eyes, and when Usun had Okhin's battleax laying against his upper back. He was about to bring it down on her but suddenly he sunk into the ground knees-high.
"Huh?" he said aloud in confusion as he sank, he could easily get out of the ground. But the ground around him was a small patch of sand now. The more he attempted to break free the faster he sank, he stopped squirming while his head darted in different directions. He looked for the one who sank his body into quicksand.
"Wh-who are you?!" he questioned the stranger.
He was smacked unconscious with the pommel of a dadao, the patch of sand solidified into solid ground. Jushi looked at the edge of the ground and saw a set of fingers he ran over and grabbed Hui's hand and pivoted his feet so that the sand nearby rooted him to the ground. Okhin wiped her tears away and saw Hui laying down nearby while he tried to catch his breath. He was exhausted after making the climb and living to see another day.
She crawled over to him and held him in her arms while he caught his breath, just as he's done for her all this time. Tahar groaned and rubbed his head, he awoke with a throbbing headache he yelled, "...By..ack!...by order of the sixty-sixth Earth King Gao of Zu y-you are hereby...ack...ordered to r-return home!"
He shook his head at both Tahar and Usun then he motioned with his left forward like he wanted to speak. He pressed his thumb against his lips and then rested the back of his left hand under his chin.
"Tell my father he'll have to wait," said Hui.
"The Prince orders you to tell his father he'll return when he takes me home," translated Okhin.
"The Silent Pawn doesn't have a choice in the matter, the King's order overrides his own.." opinionated Usun.
Still, dizzy Tahar rested on the ground as his back was being supported by the mountain's side. He looked up and covered his eyes from the sunlight then he asked, "Wh-where's Khulan?"
"Khulan's dead, I threw a scallion bomb at the Silent Pawn and it hit Khulan too. He staggered and fell off the edge," revealed Usun.
Tahar lowered his head in disappointment when he heard the news Jushi released the defeated Usun from the trap and headed off back toward Biapo. Okhin waited for all the men to disappear from earshot before she spoke to Hui.
"I-I thought I was going to lose you..." confessed Okhin, she looked away she was afraid to look into his eyes.
Hui pointed at himself, he motioned rubbing his head, he pushed away air and pointed at himself then he pointed at her. His hands twisted an invisible damp rag as he gave a slight smile then pointed downward. He pointed upward several times before finishing by pointing at himself.
"Er...I'm confused right now. One minute you push me away and now you're squeezing the life out of me." contended Hui.
Hui rested his right hand on her cheek and turned her head to face his, she embraced him harder, "I don't know what I would've done without you, at first I was okay with getting rid of you. But now I've grown attached to you," she admitted.
Hui smiled and then pointed at himself, he pointed at his head then at her, he tightened his left fist near his belly and shriveled up his face in disapproval. He tapped his lips and then his right ear.
"I always knew you couldn't resist the silence," Hui bragged.
He swung his arm forward and then pointed at both of them, his indexes tapped together.
"Come on, we have to take you home," he finished.
He let go of her but she wanted to enjoy a few more seconds of the hug before she let him go. He grabbed her ax and mounted Long Legs. He reached out to her and she took his hand and hopped on the ostrich horse.