CHAPTER EIGHT
"CHARGE!" Raphael commanded, raising his sword. His black horse Whitey, completely understanding Raph's intentions, reared at the very moment the word was shouted. This left a very strong image in the minds of the villagers behind him, and perhaps an even stronger impression in the minds of the enemy before him.
Leading the charge, Raph headed straight into the row of the enemy. He kept an eye on the flag-bearer next to him, who was keeping an eye on someone else and would move the flag as per Usagi's orders. The movement of the flag told Raph where he should attack, or pull back.
Usagi, of course, was back in the village plotting with the village chief. And right now, their current aim was to route the enemy and cut them off. Raph didn't entirely care how it worked, but if he followed Usagi's plan it definitely would-
And after this they could finally get a messenger out, and let the world know that the Foot were attacking the countryside.
"AFTER HIM!" Raph shouted, correctly identifying the Foot soldier in charge. Although he shouted as if commanding someone else to chase the guy, Raph was the first one after him.
Yeah. All they had to do was hold out until a messenger could get through, and then they could get reinforcements from Father.
Once reinforcements came, this nice little village would be saved.
As he swung his sword and knocked someone to the ground, Raph privately told himself they could hang on until then.
Just a little longer.
"Mikey, do you see any clues in this statue?" Donatello said, examining the statue that was in front of the paintings.
It was a statue of a knight with his visor down. One hand was leaning on a sword, while the other was placed defiantly on his hip.
"There's something written over here," Mikey said.
"Let me see," Donnie said, bending down to look at the small dais the knight was standing on.
Near the feet were these words: "Soar to great heights, everyone sing with one voice"
"Well, this is the Great Hall. So, are we supposed to shout something? Or sing?" Mikey asked.
"Mikey, this is part of a song." Donnie said. "You've heard it before, it's two separate lines from one of our national anthems."
"So, our clue is somewhere in a song?" Mikey asked.
"Let's talk to April, she knows this one by heart." Donnie suggested.
"Good idea."
It didn't take long to invite April to join them, they just went to the village and got her there. The castle gate was still crowded with artists, so they took the secret passageway to the guardhouse in order to quickly get to the village.
Once April was secured and the situation explained, she was all too happy to recite the song by heart. Donnie wrote it all down as she sang.
"But I don't get it," April said, "If this before clue was your way to the song, why didn't it just tell you to go to the other hall, just the one behind this one? The wall there has held the song in stone for generations."
"That's right, and the words are definitely larger there!" Donnie said, smacking his head. "Mikey, do you think we bungled this clue?"
"Maybe it has something to do with this knight," April said, looking at the statue. "Maybe he was a hero who saved the countryside from enemy invaders, like those rumors that are popular right now."
"Hmm," Mikey said, "Wait a second guys, wait a second! This statue is before the paintings, right?"
"Right..." Donnie said tentatively.
"So," Mikey said, "What is behind the paintings?"
"Isn't that were one of the secret passageways is?" April asked, "The one with all the peepholes."
"The peepholes in the paintings!" Donnie said.
"So, maybe the clue is about the tunnel!" Mikey shouted.
"Right!" Donnie shouted, "But the clue is also in the song. So, how is the song connected to the peepholes?"
"Do you think," Mikey said, "That we have to sing the song while in the tunnel?"
"Um," April said, "Okay, that's a bit of a jump..."
"Let's try it!" Donnie shouted.
Mikey grabbed the other two by the hand, and several minutes later had April sing inside the tunnel.
"This is nice, but nothing's happening." Donnie said.
"Yeah, I thought so." April said, "So, back to the drawing board-"
"Let's have April sing outside the tunnel, and open all the peepholes so we can listen!" Mikey suggested.
"Better yet, didn't the song say for everyone to sing?" Donnie said, "Let's get all the guards to sing it!"
"Great idea!" Mikey said, starting to run out of the secret passage. "Donnie, you open all the peepholes! I'll get all the soldiers to sing in the hall while you two listen, and we'll see what happens!"
"Um," April began, but then decided to give up trying to be the voice of reason.
Let them have their fun, when it doesn't work they can just try another way.
It took a little while to assemble soldiers and arrange them impressively in front of the paintings. They were all professionals of course, and stood in perfect lines with their legs spread apart and with arms behind their back. As soon as the signal was given by Mikey, they burst into song with all the professionalism that only a trained soldier can give.
Back in the tunnel, Donnie and April listened carefully as the song echoed through the tunnel.
Due to the acoustics, one word kept echoing before all the other words in the song-to the point where it was distracting.
"Heights!"
"That's our clue!" Donnie whispered with certainty.
"Wha-I mean, it could be a clue?" April commented.
"So," said Donnie, pulling out a new sheet of paper, "Do you think it means the attic, or the roof?"
Mikey burst into the tunnel behind them, having run over as soon as he gave the song signal to the soldiers.
It took him about a millisecond to hear the word.
"Oh, it's Heights!" Mikey said without missing a beat, even while panting for breath from having run the whole way there. "Do you think it means the attic, or the roof?"
Back in the royal throne room, the messenger was once again coming to see the King. He entered the room running.
"Your Highness," the royal messenger said, racing to the throne.
"If this is about my sons again, I heard the song." The King sighed.
But knowing what they were doing, and even why they were doing it, still didn't quite explain what they were doing.
These children-would he ever truly understand them?
"I regret to inform you Highness that this is of a more serious nature," the messenger said all in one breath.
Then, as the messenger explained, the King's hand tightened on his throne armrest.
This news was deeply distressing.
"I'm serious," Karai said, "It's one thing if the Foot knows who I am, but if any outsiders know things could get messy."
"I promise I won't tell." Leo said.
"Not to put a fine point on it, but this is my life we're talking about. Even the Shredder-"
"I said I promise," Leo interrupted. He doesn't usually interrupt. "Karai, why would I even tell anyone? You're helping me see the country. And who would I tell, anyway?"
"Right, I forgot you're unusual." Karai said, visibly calming down. "Okay, you've promised."
"So, how many days will it take us to get to the stone?" Leo asked.
Karai opened her mouth to answer, but just at that point something pounced. The two of them found themselves on their backs on the forest ground, and four figures stood over them, each of them pointing a sharp lance-
"Karai? So sorry, thought you were someone else." One of the figures said, and the lances retreated as someone helped her up.
Leo stood up to find that they were surrounded by Foot soldiers. They were different from the ones they had just left. Most notably, every one of these Foot soldiers wore a blue armtag.
"Walked right into that," Karai muttered. "You guys also on the way to the stone?"
"Yup!" One of the Foot said.
"We were in our wagon and thought we heard some noises in the woods." Another Foot soldier said, "The road's over there."
"Hey, you should totally travel with us!" Said a third.
"No thanks," Karai said, "I'm perfectly happy walking. Friend here's got my bags."
"Karai, we insist you travel with us." Someone said.
"After all, you're the grand prize!" Another one said.
"Wish people would stop calling me that." Karai muttered.
"Come on," one of the Foot argued, grabbing Leo by the arm. "Look, I've got your servant so you have to join us."
"We'll take you there in style." Another Foot soldier said, "It isn't as far by wagon, anyway."
"Fine." Karai groaned, "We'll take the wagon."
"Great!" Said a Foot soldier, already dragging Leo over to a road near the woods. "Hey, can you entertain us?" He asked Leo.
"I can, but I'm better at tasks and chores." Leo responded automatically, "I can make lunch today."
"Awesome!" Said the Foot holding Leo, "Karai, we're borrowing your servant."
"He's not my-whatever, do what you want." Karai responded, giving up.
All of them got into the covered wagon that had paused by the side of a nearby road. Almost before the horse started off Leo started preparing food from whatever was in the wagon, while the Foot started entertaining Karai. It was only when Karai got too annoyed at the "entertainment" that she put her foot down and made Leo sit next to her. Whether it was to curb their enthusiasm or make him share her pain, only Karai could tell.
"Seriously, why are puppet shows so popular nowadays?" Karai said.
"Come on Karai," said one of the Foot, "This skit is all the rage nowadays!"
"Look, this is the most authentic version." One of the Foot soldiers said, "The princes entertain a village and replace all the Palace water with wine. The castle gate changes color to express their love for the people. What's not to like?"
"I think it's great." Leo spoke up.
"See? He likes it." The Foot soldier said.
"Whatever, but can we please do something else?" Karai said, "It feels like we've been traveling for ages!"
"Karai, it's only been fifteen minutes." Leo remarked.
"UGH!" She shouted.
"Fine fine," A different Foot soldier said, "How about some news then? Let's see, have you heard about the Rogue Foot faction?"
"Rogue Foot?" Karai asked.
"Yup." A third Foot explained, "It's just a rumor, but there is said to be a large faction of Foot soldiers that want to bypass the Succession Ceremony."
"It's one of the reasons we didn't want you traveling alone," said the second Foot. "You know, since you're so crucial to the ceremony."
"Don't remind me," Karai muttered.
"Anyway," the third Foot continued, "The gossip is that they're planning to take over the country, starting with the countryside. This country's countryside. The idea is that while the Succession Ceremony is for our home country, the rogue faction will be in control of this country."
Wait...what?
Leo and Karai exchanged worried glances.
"I still don't believe it's a thing." The first Foot soldier said, "If it's real they would have started already, and we would have heard if a war started."
"Well, there's also that weird rumor about a hero that's stopping an invasion in the countryside."
"Nah, that can't be real."
"I heard there were two of them."
"Um," Karai interrupted, "Can you tell me how far we are from the stone?"
"Let me check," said one of the Foot, and he disappeared towards the front of the wagon to speak with the driver.
"A couple hours." They heard a very loud, deep, and gruff voice say from the front.
A few seconds later, the Foot soldier returned.
"He says it's a few hours away," repeated the Foot.
"Alright, there's only so much I can stand." Karai responded, then pointed to Leo. "You. You're in charge of all entertainment from now on. Keep these guys entertained and out of my hair, I'm taking a nap."
When Leo gently shook Karai awake, she was kind of annoyed. It was pretty obvious they had arrived since the wagon stopped and they were now alone, but still-
"You could have let me sleep," she muttered, turning over.
"We did." Leo said, "But um, Karai, I kind of have a problem that you should know about."
His voice sounded serious, so Karai turned back over to look at him.
"Spill." She glared.
"Well, I was helping the Foot unload and someone-not one of the Foot from the wagon, someone else-told me to clean the Succession Stone's Tablet."
Karai jumped up, fully awake.
"What!" She shouted, wide awake. "And did you?"
"It's...kind of like a reflex." Leo said.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, when people tell me to do something..."
"So, you touched it." Karai said.
Leo nodded.
"You touched it!" Karai shouted, "You stupid Friend, I can't believe you!"
"I'm sorry," Leo mumbled.
"Do you know what you've done?!"
Leo hung his head in shame.
"We've got to take this back," Karai said, "We've got to take it back before it's too late!"
"It's too late." Leo muttered.
"How? How is it too late?" Karai said. "You didn't...wait, how could you?!"
"I don't know how it happened!" Leo said, so frazzled that he started rambling. "A lot of them started laughing when I touched the tablet, and someone said that your servant would naturally be stupid, then he called you a name and he was on the ground and I think I'm the one who pushed him and honestly? It was an accident. Now I'm stuck."
Karai groaned. "Let me slap you, just this once." She said, grabbing Leo by the shoulders.
"Alright." Leo hung his head.
"No you idiot, that's how you got into this mess!" Karai said, slapping him anyway. "Stop agreeing to do random stuff! Now what are we going to do? Your life is in danger!"
"I know..."
"What do you mean you know? You better know!" Karai ranted, "Do you even realize how strong your opponents are? Why the heck did you enter the Succession Ceremony, you absolute idiot!"