Chapter XXIII: Out Of The Frying Pan, Into The Fire

The ladder seemed to go down forever. Kai didn't know how long he was descending, though it was probably shorter than it seemed. In reality, he was only descending for a few seconds when he thought it was a few minutes. He didn't know what made him think that way as he was usually good with time. If his guesses were correct, then the ladder only went down three to four hundred meters, minimum.

The hole the ladder went down was not cramped at all. It was fairly large; big enough to fit even Oaken. Torches were set up in different places around the hole so that it would never be completely dark. But, even with all the light, Kai was still not able to see the end of the hole, much less the end of the ladder.

Any other person might believe that the ladder led to nowhere, but you don't need to be a Bandit or have been a Bandit to know that it led somewhere. Who would go through all of the effort to keep the torches lit at all times in the hole? Also, Kai was able to breath fine, meaning there was a source of oxygen somewhere, and since Kai was far away from the surface, there was a source below him. Also, Kai was certain that there was someone down there. Someone had to have kept the torches going.

Thanks to the torches and closed space, it was hot in the hole. But, not for Kai. His fire powers gave him a natural resistance to things such as heat, and plus he was fire proof. He would never sweat do to heat. Similar to Elsa's powers as she had a natural resistance to cold and would never slip on ice.

As Kai climbed down farther, he was finally able to hear something. From where he was, they were whispers and some forms of chatter. He looked over his shoulder and down to find the end of the hole a few hundred meters ahead of him. He was relieved to know that the ladder finally ended. As he got closer to the end of the hole, he was able to see that the ladder continued to go down past the end of the hole. He then was able to see that the hole led to a much larger open area, like a cave.

Kai knew what was in the cave; a Bandit base. He visited few Bandit bases in his time, but they all were pretty similar. Some that he went to had the same ladder system Kai was using. The sounds and voices were now louder now, much louder. They were so loud because they echoed throughout the cave.

He finally reached the end of the hole, but he wasn't necessarily out of it yet. He was holding onto the ladder, above where the entrance to the cave was. Kai was about one hundred meters off of the ground below him. He figured that he shouldn't go down there blind as he should at least have some idea of how the place looked. Also, he couldn't just study the cave while exposing his body.

He locked his feet onto the ladder, making sure that they were firmly placed so that he would not fall. He then moved his upper body back until it was upside down, with the feet and legs connecting him to the ladder. He grabbed the ladder with his hands so that only his head was sticking out of the hole and into the cave.

Everything he saw was upside down, though none of it confused him. He just imagined everything if it was right side up. Kai knew he needed a quick scan of everything before too much blood rushed to his head. The entire cave was much larger than Kai thought it would be; about two to three times larger than a normal Bandit underground base. In the middle, he saw the large fire which was an important source of light for the entire base. Other torches littered everywhere else, and tents were also scattered everywhere. Kai knew the reason for so many different tents, fortunately.

He saw many people all over the base. They all wore the clothes Kai was unfortunately familiar with; Bandit clothes, as they were in no way elegant and close to rags. Looking around some more, Kai found what he was looking for. In a cage at the end of the large circle around the fire pit was Anna and Rapunzel, trapped. He now knew they stumbled upon the trap.

"What have you guys gotten yourselves into?" Kai whispered to himself. Now, it was his job to save them as it seemed he was the only hope they had. Knowing Bandits, there was always someone watching the entrance to the base, meaning there was someone below him. From the angle he was at, Kai wasn't able to verify a guard, meaning he had to get down to see for himself.

He brought his body back right side up and continued to climb down, now completely out of the hole and he did it quickly so nobody else noticed him. When he was close enough to the ground, he dropped down finally making contact with the ground. He looked over to see if there was a guard, and sure enough there was. The Bandit guard saw Kai before Kai saw him.

"Hold." The Bandit said to Kai. "Where are you coming back from?" He wore goggles with circular lenses, and a piece of cloth that covered his mouth and nose, probably wrapped around his neck.

Kai was perplexed as to why he didn't attack him on sight. Then, he realized that it was because of his clothes. Kai's current attire was a modified form of the Bandit's usual clothes, meaning he could blend in easily. This job was going to be easier than he thought.

"Scouting." Kai answered

"What did you find?" The Bandit asked.

"Nothing that would give us a negative impact." Kai answered.

The Bandit tilted his head to Kai, confused to as what that meant.

"Nothing important." Kai cleared.

But, the Bandit still was giving Kai a tilted head. Kai was apparently incorrect in knowing why the Bandit tilted his head. Then, the Bandit took another step closer to Kai, and Kai took a step back.

"Only one person I know has red eyes like those." The Bandit said.

Uh oh, Kai thought. He looked over the man's shoulder to see if anyone was behind him, and no one was directly behind him to see the two. Tents were set up not far from them, but no one was near the tent. Kai had a feeling he wouldn't see anyone until he walked about a hundred meters.

Kai went into action quickly. He ran behind the man, swiftly, and wrapped his arm around the man's neck. He then pulled his arm closer to his chest with the man's neck in the middle, choking the man. The Bandit couldn't make any sounds while Kai was choking him out, and the best he could do was try to grab Kai's face in vain. Kai hadn't done this act in a long time, but he never forgot how to. Only after a few seconds did the motions of his arms die down and he was knocked out completely.

Kai gently dropped his body on the ground, and then he dragged it next to the ladder, sitting him upright. He made it look like the Bandit was sleeping on the job. Also, Kai needed a new disguise. Kai took the goggles off of the Bandit and put it on himself. That way, no one would recognize his eyes. He then untied the cloth from the Bandit's neck, tied it around his own neck, and pulled it up so that it covered his mouth and nose, just to be sure no one would recognize him.

He realized the sword he carried on his waist wasn't a weapon most of the Bandits would carry, but he couldn't just leave it. It did belong to Elsa and Anna's father after all.

Kai casually walked away from the body and the ladder and towards the tents. About a hundred meters in front of the ladder was the end of the slide. Slides like these were a type of trap Kai usually saw when he was with the Bandits. A few weeks of hard work would usually go in making the traps, but very rarely did they actually catch some unsuspecting people. Unfortunately, these unsuspecting people were Anna and Rapunzel.

He entered the area with tents set up and casually walked by as if nothing was wrong. Nobody gave a glance towards Kai as he fitted in that well with them. He looked around to see the many activities being done such as sparring, cooking, and smithing. The Bandits either crafted their own weapons or stole them. Usually, Bandits had unskilled smiths, meaning the weapons that came out of the makeshift forges were horrible and dull. Those were the kind of weapons Kai was seeing all over; grayish blades that weren't straight at all.

Kai looked over at an open area where some men were sparring with each other using sticks. Kai remembered sparring very well. He never really enjoyed it as he usually won. No one ever gave him a challenge, yet, somehow he willed himself through the boredom every day. Kai remembered the time he sparred against weapons using only his fist, and he wasn't allowed to use his powers. Kai still took the victory for that.

Kai was walking down a made path with no tents in the way. It led from the ladder area straight to the center of the cave; to the hearth where Anna and Rapunzel were. He had to give them some credit as they made it this far, though they were far from the place they wanted to go. Kai knew that once he got the girls out of their prison, their little journey was over. He had no intention to let them continue their quest, and this is exactly why Elsa wouldn't let Anna go in the first place.

Kai entered the large circle, indicating that he was in the middle of the large cave. The tents surrounded the area, making it look like a circle in an arial view. He looked over at the side of the circle to find Anna and Rapunzel's cage guarded by two men. The girls didn't necessarily look eager to get out. They looked more tired than anything, thanks to their futile attempts to escape no doubt.

Kai scanned the circle and found a small amount of people scattered around the area, not too many of them were close to the cage though. Kai approached the metal cage where Anna and Rapunzel were confined, and as he got closer, he was able to hear a conversation the girls were having, and their guards were ignoring them.

"How did we get ourselves in this situation, Rapunzel?" Anna asked.

"Well, we chased those two dudes here, and-"

"I mean how did we get outselves to leave the safety of the castle, and abandon those we love the most?" Anna elaborated.

"Well, when you put it that way, it makes me feel worse about leaving." Rapunzel said. "I don't know, Anna. Perhaps we felt like it was our duty?"

"Why do we feel that way when everyone else thinks differently?" Anna asked. Anna was feeling quite down about all of this. This was not at all what she hoped to happen. She thought she would run, galantly, into wherever Cade and Lilith were keeping those people and save the day. Unfortunately, that was a dream that probably wasn't going to happen. Their best chance was their current plan, and even that was probable to go wrong.

"I can't read their minds, Anna. Honestly, I don't know." Rapunzel said.

"Why, out of all people, must we be the ones to leave everything behind?" Anna asked.

"Because we're the only ones that doubt the capabilities of those guards." Rapunzel answered. "And apparently, we were right to doubt them."

"We shouldn't be so negative." Anna said.

"That's kind of hard considering the situation we're in." Rapunzel said.

They saw a third man, Kai, stand in front of their two guards, but they paid no attention to him, not knowing or caring why he was there.

"Be honest with me, Rapunzel. Do you think we'll ever see them again?" Anna asked.

"Them?" Rapunzel asked.

"Our friends and family." Anna cleared.

Right when she said that, Kai knocked the heads of both guards hardly together. Both of them were knocked out upon impact, and they fell to the ground with their heads leaning against each other. The girls were startled by this attack, and looked over at the disguised Kai, perplexed as to why a Bandit would hurt other Bandits.

Kai pulled his little cloth mouth mask down, and pulled his goggles up. He then took his goggles off of his head and dropped it on the ground.

"Not stuck in here, you're not." Kai answered Anna.

"Kai?!" Anna said. She was confused to why he was here, though she didn't care. It was nice to see a friendly face. "What're you doing here?" Anna asked. Kai just stood there, arms crossed, with an angry look on his face.

"I'm in trouble, aren't I?" Anna said, sadly.

Kai nodded. "Big." He added. "But, we shouldn't get into that right now."

"So, what're you doing here?" Anna asked again.

"I could ask you the same thing." Kai said.

"Never mind why we're here." Rapunzel said. "Do you have an escape plan?"

"No." Kai answered.

"Great..." Rapunzel said.

"Have a little faith." Kai said.

"What? Are we going to make it up as we go along?" Anna said.

Kai smiled, answering Anna's question. She was obviously unamused by Kai's plan of improvising, and Kai noticed that. "Fine. Do you see that ladder?" Kai pointed towards the long ladder he went down earlier. The girls looked over and nodded. "That's out ticket out of here." Kai said.

"We won't be able to get there without being spotted." Rapunzel said.

"We'll fight our way out if we must." Kai said.

"First things first," Anna said "get us out of here."

Kai studied the cage and found that the only way to open it was to put a key in the lock that prevented the cage door to open.

"Looks like we need a key to open it." Anna said as if it wasn't obvious.

Kai noticed that his dagger would be able to fit through the keyhole. He pushed the bodies in front of him out of the way and to the side. He unsheathed his dagger and put the blade in his hand. He then heated the metal blade until it glowed yellow, and smoke came off of it. He then put the tip into the keyhole.

"I don't think that's gonna-" Rapunzel was interrupted when Kai jabbed his hot dagger into the keyhole, and since the blade was so hot, it was able to manipulate the weak metal inside of the keyhole. Kai then turned the dagger while it was lodged inside of the hole, and they heard a clicking sound. Kai then removed his dagger, whose blade was cooling down, and grabbed one of the metal bars. Kai then pulled the bar, and the door of the cage opened.

"I stand corrected." Rapunzel said.

Kai moved out of the way so that the girls could get out of their small prison. Kai offered his hand to the girls, but neither of them took it, refusing Kai's help. When the girls were both free of the cage, there was a clapping sound behind Kai. Kai turned around to find Lance standing about twenty five meters away from them, clapping sarcastically.

"Good job." Lance said. "You got the birds out of the cage. I assume now you'll want a medal."

"Lance..." Kai said. Kai remembered Lance very well. Lance had a higher authority than most of the Bandits, but not as high as Kai's was. The two usually butt heads during Kai's time as a Bandit. They didn't like each other at all. "I want answers." Kai continued.

"I suppose you expect me to provide them to you." Lance said.

Kai unsheathed his sword, and held his dagger in a backhand style. "You will if you know what's good for you."

"Ah, Kai. Always so quick to the threats." Lance said. "I have told a great deal of information to the girls, already."

Kai turned his head towards Anna. "What did he tell you?" Kai asked.

"I wouldn't worry about that right now." Lance said. Some Bandits started to walk in behind him; they were gathering. Kai looked to his sides to find more Bandits around them. "Also, I highly doubt you'll even get to learn that information." Lance said.

"And why is that?" Kai asked. More Bandits started to appear, and some of them spread out. They fanned around Kai and the girls who were at the edge of the circle, and the men were making a half circle around them, though they were keeping their distance.

"Because you're not leaving here alive." Lance answered.

"You sure about that?" Kai asked.

"I'm almost certain." Lance answered.

"Almost?" Kai asked, sensing some uneasiness within Lance.

"You're unpredictable." Lance continued.

"You know me so well." Kai said.

Now, there were so many Bandits surrounding Kai, Anna, and Rapunzel. It looked as though most of the Bandits who resided in the cave were present. At least thirty people surrounded them, all of them looked ready to strike when given the word. Anna and Rapunzel were able to see Scarves and Hats within the crowd, faces they were not happy to see at all.

"Let's stop all of this fuss." Lance said. "Why don't we all just sit down and have a nice cup of tea together."

"That sounds nice and peaceful." Rapunzel said, rather doing that than have a fight.

"Always looking for the cowardly way out, huh, Lance." Kai said.

"Oh come on!" Rapunzel said. Anna was thinking similarly to Rapunzel. She had a feeling that Kai's arrogance would be his downfall, but knowing him, he was rightfully arrogant. He could get out of many bad situations, and this one looked no different.

"You are failing to see who has the upper hand here, Kai." Lance said. "If I'm not mistaken, my entire crew is here with me."

"Really? This is it?" Kai asked. "You should've brought more."

"Your confidence will be your downfall." Lance said. "I'd rather not rush to violence. Cade wants the pleasure of killing you himself, but if my men must carry out that deed, then so be it."

"You know Cade?" Kai asked. "Where is he?!" Kai had a vendetta against Cade. He made it his mission to take that madman down himself.

"I don't want to reveal all of my secrets just yet." Lance said. "Put down your weapons. This is your last warning."

"I don't think so." Kai said.

"You're going to get us killed." Anna whispered to Kai.

"You underestimate me." Kai whispered back.

Lance turned around, and the crowd behind him made an opening for him to walk through. "Kill him by any means necessary. Subdue the girls." With that, Lance walked off, and the Bandits filled the opening they created. Now, more than thirty armed men surrounded Kai, Anna, and Rapunzel, on the verge of attacking.

When one Bandit took a step closer, Kai said "This is going to be fun." Kai pulled up his new mouth mask using his thumb and index finger on his right hand, where he was holding his sword.

"Why do you need the mask, now?" Rapunzel asked.

"Because it looks cool." Kai answered.

The first Bandit ran ahead towards Kai, alone. He had a large, blunt weapon raised above his head, ready to bring pain upon Kai. Now, he was a mere few feet away from Kai. He swung his weapon down upon Kai, but Kai, who had his dagger in his left hand, swiped the weapon in the air, making it go towards the ground. The man's weapon slammed the ground thanks to Kai, and his body leaned down with it, leaving it exposed. Kai kicked the man hard in the face with his left foot, knocking out a few teeth and leaving him unconscious on the ground.

That man didn't faze any of the other Bandits at all. Most of them thought he was foolish to run up to Kai alone, since they all knew Kai's skill. They still had a job to do, meaning they wouldn't stop attacking.

Then, three men ran towards Kai. One ran from in front of Kai, one from the left, and one from the right.

"Duck." Kai told the girls who were right behind him. They immediately did as they were told and dropped to the ground. When the men were close enough, Kai spun around with his left leg sticking out. But, he started spinning before they reached him, but they were running too fast to stop. Kai timed it perfectly. He first kicked the man running towards him from the left, but his leg also made the man run into the man coming from the middle, and the two then toppled over the man incoming from the right. Since they were still conscious, Anna, who was on the right side behind Kai, kicked the heads of all three men until she thought they were knocked out.

Rapunzel took out her frying pan, and Anna picked up a club that one of the men had. Kai saw that the girls were now armed, and they had no fear to be harmed or killed since the Bandits' orders forbade that. Kai ran ahead towards the group of Bandits ahead, and they were prepared to attack him. But, when Kai was close enough, he jumped in the air, using his fists, while still holding weapons, to create a stream of fire below him, propelling him higher. He then landed behind the confused group of Bandits, but before they could turn around, blasted fire from his fists diagonally to the left and right, knocking down two people, each.

Kai then quickly slashed his sword on the back of the man directly in front of him who had still not turn around. The man screamed in pain, blood coming out of the diagonal cut on his back. Kai didn't cut him deep enough to kill him. When Kai fought, the way he used his blades were meant to kill, but he always was refined about it, careful not to make a fatal injury on a person.

Now, the small row of people in front of Kai had fully turned around. About five people were now paying attention to him. Unfortunately for Kai, they all had bladed weapons. One man jabbed his sword at Kai's gut, but he easily side stepped it, and punched his left hand towards the man, and a fireball shot out of it, pushing the man back and knocking him out.

Past the remaining four men, Kai saw the rest of the little battlefield. Men were scattered all over the area, waiting for their turn to get either Kai or one of the girls. Kai hoped the girls would be able to hold their own for a bit, seeing as how he was preocupied at the moment. Kai also seriously hoped that none of these guys had a pistol.

One man swung his sword down towards where Kai's neck met his shoulder, but Kai easily deflected the attack, parrying the man, making him vulnerable to an attack, but before Kai could finish the man off, arms wrapped around Kai's shoulder, wrapping up from Kai's armpits. Someone had a hold on Kai, and this man was physically stronger than him, making it harder for Kai to get out. Kai wasn't necessarily the strongest man alive, though he was pretty strong. He mostly relied on his skill in combat rather than brute force.

A man was holding Kai still while another man readied his sword to kill Kai while he was vulnerable. When the attacking Bandit jabbed his sword towards Kai, Kai fell back, making the man holding him fall to the ground and Kai landed above him. Kai was able to see the blade over their bodies. He quickly swiped his sword up in the air, as hard as he could, and the sword that it hit flew out of the man's hand.

Kai shot back up and kicked the man above him down on the ground. Kai stood on the man's chest, and kicked the man's face as hard as he could. He could've sworn he heard something crack. Kai then turned back to the other man on the ground who was slowly getting up. Kai took his sword and slashed the man's torso, leaving a large, red diagonal line on it.

Kai looked over to see how the girls were doing before he continued the fight.

Anna made a small personal circle around her, not letting anyone in it. Men were running towards her, without a weapon as they didn't want to accidentally harm her or Rapunzel. They were all much bigger in size than Anna was, and all were obviously physically capable of subduing her easily. But, Anna was able to hold her own.

Although the club she had was slightly heavy, she was easily able to control it. One man ran towards her with his arms reached out, and with one swing, Anna was able to knock some of his teeth out and knock him on the ground. Next, two men were running towards her, but with one swing, Anna knocked both of them out. Anna refused to let anyone come close to her, making sure they kept their distance.

Anna jabbed her club at the face of an approaching Bandit, and it looked as if his nose went into his body. He fell back, putting his hands over his face in pain. Anna wasn't used to all of this violence, but she felt so alive. She felt invincible; like no one could harm her.

She then found many men coming at her from different directions, and no way Anna could take them all out with one swing. Then, something popped in her head. She started spinning her body around in circles as fast as she could. When she was able to, she raised her club up in front of her, with it sticking out, spinning as well. The Bandits running towards her were going to quick to stop. They all flew back thanks to the spinning club.

When Anna stopped spinning, she needed a minute to refocus herself and get out of her dizziness. She saw that she just took out so many men by herself, and for that, she was proud. If only Elsa could see her now.

Then, someone grabbed Anna's arms from behind, making her immobile. She struggled to try to escape from the man's grip, but he was simply too strong. In front of her stood another man with a rope in his hands, intending to tie Anna up. She wasn't ready to go down just yet. Luckily for her, the man was leg's reach away from her. She swung her right leg up, and her foot kicked the man's crotch. He grabbed his crotch and slunk down in agony, tears coming out of his eyes.

Anna then swung her head back, making the back of her head hit the man behind her in the face. He instantly let go of Anna and grabbed his face in pain. Anna then took her club and swung it up, from the ground, towards the crotch of the man. He gave a woman like scream, and slunk down like his Bandit friend. He wasn't having kids anytime soon.

Anna continued her fight as more men continued to run at her like never ending rain. She didn't know how many men were left, but judging by how many she saw, there was still a lot. Anna looked over at Rapunzel to see how she was doing.

Rapunzel was a master at the art of the frying pan. She knew how to use the frying pan as if she was one with it. Rapunzel swung her frying pan at the head of a man who was close to her, and he instantly fell to the ground, unconscious. She then heard and felt a presence behind her. She spun around with her frying pan sticking out and it hit the head of another man who was approaching her.

She wasn't used to fights as large as this one, but the way she fought showed otherwise. Rapunzel saw a man running towards her from the distance. He was about a fair ten feet away from Rapunzel, and she quickly turned her neck back to see another man running towards her from behind. She had options on how to take them both out, but she had to choose fast because if they catch her, that would be game over.

She threw her frying pan like a frisbee towards the man she was facing. It flew towards the man's neck, and before he could react to it, it met his throat. After it hit the man's throat, it then flew back towards Rapunzel like a boomerang. The man it hit fell down to the ground, choking.

Rapunzel knew the other man must be closer to her by now. She quickly turned around and swung her frying pan. Her intuition was correct. Her frying pan hit the man's rib cage, and he grabbed it out of pain. Then, Rapunzel jabbed the frying pan at the man's jaw, making some of his teeth fly out and him fall to the ground. She then stepped over him and swung the pan down on his face, knocking him out right after.

She then looked over at Anna who was being a monster at defeating people.

"How many have you taken down so far?!" Rapunzel asked Anna, at the same time swinging her frying pan at an approaching man.

"Are we counting?" Anna asked. She then ducked as a Bandit jumped at her in an attempt to tackle her, but he missed. She then hit his head with a club.

"We should. It would make a fun game." Rapunzel said, kicking a Bandit in the crotch and then smacking him with her pan.

"Now is really not the time to play games!" Anna said, kicking her foot in the and hitting an incoming Bandit.

"These guys aren't that tough, huh." Rapunzel said.

"Not at all!" Anna said. She then knocked out another Bandit, and looked over at Kai to see how he was doing. Kai was taking out men in front of him left and right.

Anna's eyes widened when she saw a Bandit approaching Kai from behind with a dagger raised in the air.

"Kai!" Anna yelled as the Bandit brought his dagger down.

Author's Note: This is currently the longest chapter I have ever written and it still had to be cut short. So, I hope you guys liked it. Another cliffhanger ending for you guys. Also, the chapter title was inspired from the chapter title in The Hobbit, and it means getting out of a bad situation into a worse one. Ciao.