Chapter 11

Underground Guest

I'm pretty sure we had only been in the cave for almost three hours, but it felt like the longest, most painful eternity in my life. I had looked around the cave and tried to find any kind of way out, but there was nothing. I had Genji inspect the hole I had spied in the roof and he told me that it was surrounded by rock, with no way to make it big enough to fit through. He was able to poke his head out of it though and this allowed more air and light into the dim chasm.

Both of the younger peafowl were starving and I gave them the small loaf of bread I had stuffed in my robe and they had eaten it in sixty seconds flat. I wished I had more to give them, but I did not. I wasn't really the picture of hope either. My ruined left shoulder caked in blood and my robe stained with the stuff; the broken state of my heart and spirit; and the shouting and pounding on the stone wall of the cave earlier I'm sure had an incredible amount of positive affect on them. Note my sarcasm.

We had drunk fitfully out of the spring and I was able to make myself look a touch more presentable. "There we go." I winced as I tied my wing back up, now cleaned and in the healing process. I really wished I had some thread to stitch it closed like the wound in my side, but, again, I did not.

"We're so sorry about this whole thing Prince Shen," Bo-Chen spoke for the first time. "This is our fault for traveling alone."

"Think nothing of it." I waved a wing as if being trapped in this hellish hole underground was the most natural thing in the universe. "Things like this add spice to life." Then I smiled and sat down in front of them. "And you remember what I told you about calling me Prince Shen?"

They chuckled and returned the smile. "Sure do Shen." Genji teased. I tousled his crest and he laughed. I wondered that, if I ever had a son, if he would be like Genji. Smart, high-strung, thoughtful, ready to do what was needed for the ones he loved. I wondered if my precious lotus was still alive. My heart ached for the turmoil she was probably going through, if she was still alive.

I longed to be wrapped in Lien's wings, to be cooing sweet nothings in her ear about how amazing she was, to kiss her soft beak and feel that warmth in my aching heart again. I could almost feel her head resting on my chest, like last night, as I started to drift off. I was nearly totally asleep when a cheery voice echoed through the chamber.

"Well, what do we have here?" It said. I jumped up, dazed and looked around. On the opposite side of the cave, where I had thoroughly searched earlier, mind you, was an open door in the stone. In the door was a wolfish figure, but far more feminine, and well, white. She was a white wolf, and she was enormous. Lang was at least two heads shorter than her! She was smiling, and her canines gleamed in the moonlight filtering through the hole.

"Who are you?" I snapped drawing my blades.

"Whoa!" She raised her paws, pads up, to me and her smile got bigger. "I don't want to hurt you! I heard the collapse and came to investigate." Her eyes were icy blue and glittered with anticipation. Slowly she inched over to the closed off tunnel and walked down it.

"What do we do Shen?" Bo-Chen asked.

"Wait for now." I whispered back. "She seems alright."

"Alright? Just alright?" The she-wolf questioned with a gleaming smile.

"Well," Genji spoke up, "We sorta almost died in the cave in. Can you blame us for being a bit shell-shocked?" The white wolf chuckled and stepped closer to sniff at us with her wet, black nose. Dogs; what can you do about their strange ways? "My sister and I haven't even seen the open air for almost a week now. Not to mention Shen's wounded, and we're all starving."

At the mention of my name she stiffened and the snowy fur on her neck rose. "Shen? As in Lord Shen?" She growled. I felt a touch of fear wiggle its way into my stomach.

"Lord Shen has perished…" Bo-Chen started; Lien must have sent her a letter about everything that had happened.

"No," I stopped her gently and faced the she-wolf, "I am Prince Shen, formerly Lord Shen. I've renounced the title of Lord in a hope that I can right the wrongs I've committed over the years." I stood tense, ready to try and fight should I have to. But she was just so…BIG! I knew we wouldn't last long should she go feral.

Her eyes seemed to bore through my soul for a moment longer, but then they softened and she started to laugh. My eyes were wide and I looked around to see what was so funny. She was almost rolling on the floor with bouts of laughter. "You should see your faces!" She sputtered. "You all look terrified!"

"What?" I was incredibly confused.

"Never seen a she-wolf before?" She was still laughing.

"No…"Bo-Chen stood as best she could and walked over by me. I placed my good wing around her shoulders to make sure she didn't fall. "But you may be the biggest wolf we've ever seen." Her voice was so weak, it made me furious.

"Biggest wolf you've ever seen huh?" The pure white wolf stood and shook herself. "Who woulda thunk that Sariah the runt, would be the biggest wolf anyone's ever seen?" She said half to herself.

"You were a runt?" Genji gasped and stepped up on my left side. She turned her gaze, which was now warm and friendly, to the young peacock.

"Was and am. If I were to go back to my pack, which isn't going to happen ever, I would be one of the smallest wolves there. Besides the pups of course." She was smiling again and I was starting to think she was a tad crazy.

"Well, now that we've got the pleasantries out of the way, we're trying to escape and get back to my future queen and Gongmen City." I cut off the rest of her story and walked towards the door she had come through.

"Ooooo! Future queen huh? Would she happen to be a little pink peahen with eyes like mine and killer Kung Fu?" She was desperate for conversation, I could tell, but at the mention of Lien I whirled around.

"Where have you seen her? Is she trapped in another tunnel? Did she get crushed?" That possibility broke my heart to say, "Did you…eat her?" At this I sort of winced, but it was a possibility.

"Eat her? Do I look like a psychopath to you?" She stood and glared at me maliciously. "Peafowl are a highly respected race. Why would I eat one of you?"

"I don't know! I'm just trying to think of all of the possibilities!" I shouted at her, flustered. "But you didn't answer the question."

She shrugged and sat down again. "I've seen her flying around. And yesterday afternoon I saw her get tackled by a little crane, who turned out to be one of the Furious Five, then you showed up. Which only means that she is Master Lien-Hua; master of the Seven Scrolls of Stealth, and Savior of Gongmen city. And apparently the future queen of Gongmen."

"How do you know all of this?" I asked as I settled next to her.

"When you live as a hermit in these tunnels, you try and find everything you can to know about the world so you don't go totally crazy." She chuckled and smiled. "I'm Sariah by the way."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sariah. I'm Shen, as you know," I held out my good wing for her to shake, "And this is Genji-Feng and Bo-Chen." Both mirrored my movements and Sariah beamed at the pleasantries.

"We're Lien's little brother and sister." Bo-Chen said, instantly warming up to the snowy she-wolf. "We're twins."

"Nifty! Peacock twins are a rarity! It's a great joy to get to meet you." Then, out of nowhere, a feral growl sounded and we all jumped up, spooked, and looked around. All except Genji.

"That was my stomach." He said sheepishly. "Did I mention that I'm starving over here?"

"Oh of course! Come with me. I'll take you to my camp and get you filled up." Sariah leapt up and took off running down the tunnel.

"Wait for us!" We called and took off after her. I paused for a moment and looked back up at the sky hole.

"I will get out of here Lien. And when I do, I'm coming home as fast as I possibly can." Then I turned and followed my three companions.

See? I told you I couldn't kill Shen! That would totally defeat my purpose! XD