"With Monkey King under your control, he will serve you well. The first service is for him to give you his Turtle Ball." Shunzang the Wise said, and Monkey King laughed nervously. "Funny thing... I don't have it. I loaned it to somebody. Odd little guy - showed up right after you left. He was looking for you. He wanted to fight you - I told him if he took the Turtle Ball, you'd seek him out. He gets rid of you, I take the Ball back, all is well!"
We all glared at him, and Monkey King groaned. "Oh no - you're going to make me fight him, aren't you? Oh alright, I'll take you to him. He's in a vortex not far from here."
"Someone's hunting you, Matt? Could it be the Armada? We'd better go deal with this!" Emma said. We returned to the Santo Oro with Monkey King in tow to set sail for the Vortex of Disruption.
We stood on the main deck, watching the men of the starboard watch work under the supervision of an officer, and Nikolai was saying to Monkey King, "Don't worry. Once we get the Turtle Ball, you can have a reward, like - I dunno, a big pile of bananas!"
"Oh, so I'm a monkey. That must mean I love bananas." Monkey King said sarcastically as he made an exaggerated show of scratching his armpits, and Nikolai asked, "So you don't like bananas?"
"Of course I love bananas! Don't be ridiculous. I just don't like hearing you say it." Monkey King grumbled, and I said, "Well, you're going to have to wait until we get to Skull Island if you want them. Bananas are bad luck aboard a ship, you know."
Anyway, we reached the Vortex of Disruption, where we tied ourselves down with rope as we passed through the walls of the vortex. A Monquistan galleon stood in the eye of the storm, and Emma looked at the deck through her spyglass. "Great, another treacherous Monkey."
Monkey King looked offended, but he didn't have time to start an argument before I cut in. "Can you make out a name on the bow, Emma?"
"She's called the El Pretension Dos." Emma answered as she put away her spyglass, and I drew my sword as I said, "So the Brass Monkey's managed to catch up with us. Fire as she bears! For the mainmast, lads!"
As the guns let out a screeching bellow, the cracks of rifles could be heard above from the fighting tops, picking off the motley crew of the El Pretension Dos, consisting of Dogs, Unicorns, Frogs, and of course, Monkeys.
As we fought, it was painfully obvious that the enemy crew wasn't very well trained, as we managed to let loose four broadsides of eight six-pounders before they could even fire once, and within the hour, the men began pulling her towards us with grappling hooks.
We boarded the El Pretension Dos and quickly overpowered the enemy crew topside, led by Count Brastillo de Brass, who was amusingly knocked out by a combination of Emma's shooting, Monkey King's shadow clones, and the fiddle of the boatswain's mate. Within a half hour, the ship was ours.
"Inconceivable! Does your treachery know no bounds?" Count Brastillo de Brass demanded of Monkey King. "Cheaters! Take your silly bauble! Know this... I will have my vengeance!"
"Oh, please!" Emma said, and with one good thump to the back of the head, the Brass Monkey was renamed to the Beat-Up Monkey. "We've got the Turtle Ball, Matt. Let's get back to Shunzang."
"Well done - I am glad to see Monkey King's trick failed. And now, in penance, Monkey King will go with you to recover the other Turtle Balls." Shunzang the Wise said as we stood in the Temple of Eternal Serenity. "You must go to the four Temples of the Winds. Start at the Temple of the North Wind, reached through the Ashen Roads."
An hour later, we set sail north to the Ashen Roads, where an ash-colored fog covered the land, and after splitting up, we stumbled around for a few minutes, until we all somehow ended up back at the docks.
"I didn't see any way to get through. You guys?" Emma said, and Nikolai shook his head as he added, "According to my scan spell, this isn't an ordinary fog, and unless you guys like going in circles, I suggest we don't try to go through it again."
"There used to be some monks who tended this place. Let's ask one of them. Monks always know things!" Monkey King said. With a clear objective in mind, we searched the clearer areas until we found an old Goat monk, hobbling with his staff.
"If you come seeking knowledge, you are too late. The Amber Horde has laid waste to this land, and destroyed the temple." The old Goat rasped. "If you wish to sift through the rubble, follow me to speak to the leader of my order, Brother Xian Bhi. He is with the town's survivors."
We followed the old Goat at his own pace until we reached a campsite, where Goats, Pigs, and Sheep were sitting outside their tents. I noticed that one little Pig's clothes were going ragged, so they must've been here for awhile with no cloth to make new clothes.
I paused for a moment to take off my blue jacket, folding it up to give to the little Pig, who smiled happily as he hurried back to his family. I turned to catch up with the others, who were speaking with a Goose. "What brings you to the Ashen Roads? Thanks to the Amber Horde, all that is left are broken dreams and shattered stones."