Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Steelhead Adventures: Journey To Fusang Part Twenty Two

Here and Here

Near The Bank Of The Yalu River

The soldier was hidden but a few yards from where the blond stranger was running towards the bridge. He lifted his weapon and aimed. As his finger touched the trigger, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to find a werewolf behind him. He smiled and said something in his native tongue. He turned to aim, again and froze as the werewolf replied in Moldavian.

He quickly spun around, only to find the back of the Fuzzwolf's hand slap him. The soldier flew a few feet and hit a nearby tree. Fuzz looked down and raised an eyebrow.

"What is that you're carrying?" he asked

Dogg was running up to him, dragging a blue ribbon in her mouth. Fuzz took the ribbon and looked at it. On it, Dogg had placed his sheriff's badge and the knight's head stick pin.

"Figured it was important for you to have," Dogg replied "seeing as how we're now in over our heads."

"You could have stayed on the boat."

"I'll take my chances with you." she glanced through the grass over at the river "Seems Hotspur's been found. I've got a funny feeling that he's not going to want to turn around and head back home."

"If he did, then that isn't Hotspur, and our mission wouldn't be complete. The situation is more dangerous than we feared."

"That great evil you were talking about?"

Fuzz nodded as he placed the ribbon around his neck, "Thank you for bringing my badge."

Dogg looked up at Fuzz, "We're not going back to the boat, then?"

"We'll meet up with them in Fusang. For now, there are other matters that need attending to."

As the two headed off, Fuzz looked at Dogg

"By the way....how DID you get the badge and stickpin on the ribbon on your own?"

"Wasn't easy, trust me. But, I'm a super intelligent cat. I prevailed"

Inside Purdie's TARDIS

Purdie flipped a few switches. The screen on the wall of the console room only showed static. Koen shook his head.

"BAH!" Purdie said

"Scanner's still on the fritz?" Koen asked

Purdie pulled the lever on the console and the doors swung open. The two looked to see what was outside. Purdie gave a sigh of relief as they looked at the forest outside.

"Good," Purdie said "we're not in the castle. Still, we should be careful."

Koen began sniffing the air as they stepped out of the TARDIS and into the forest. The air was thick with smoke, no doubt from the war machines that the Fusang army was using.

"We could probably stick close to the trees and use this smoke to help hide." Koen suggested, "On the other hand, they could use the same method, too."

Purdie nodded, "Yes, quite right. Perhaps once we head far enough south, we may be safe."

Before Koen could say anything, a shot rang out. Koen spun around to see the Time Lord drop to his knees clutching his chest. He ran towards Purdie and noticed the wound. He looked up to see four Fusang soldiers emerging from the shadows of the trees nearby. Koen frowned. In a puff of smoke, he disappeared. Only to reappear over the soldiers. Driven by rage, Koen's paws tore into the throat of the first soldier. The other soldiers tried to grab Koen, but learned that the last of the Bloodtail tribe, when angered, was a force to be reckoned with. The second solder, his throat was slashed. The third, deep cut into the chest, ruptured heart. The fourth, was done quickly as Koen twisted the soldiers head, breaking his neck.

Koen looked up to find Purdie was gone, blood trail leading to the TARDIS. Then the familiar sound of the TARDIS engines started.

"NO" Koen shouted, "PURDIE!"

Koen ran, but was too late, as the TARDIS dematerialized and vanished. Without the TARDIS being present, the words of the soldiers heading his way were not translated, but Koen knew that he had better not be seen. With tears in his eyes, Koen disappeared in a puff of smoke, to search for a safe place to hide.

Inside Purdie's TARDIS

Purdie slumped over console. He could feel one of his hearts racing as the other one began to slow down.

"It's ok, Koen" Purdie said, smiling "Time Lords have a way of cheating death...."

Purdie looked around, then realized he was alone.

"Oh no...." Purdie whispered

He tried to reset the TARDIS' coordinates and return to retrieve Koen, but he fell to the ground. He now realized the reason he had seen the shadowy figure before leaving Steelhead. He was close to the end of his first life. Suddenly, Purdie's hearts stopped beating, and all was quiet, except for the hum of the TARDIS engines.

It was then, that Purdie's hands began to glow....

Near The Yalu River

"You know, you could have told Lunar and Tensai that you had planned on doing this." Dogg said as the two walked through the forest, "Of course, they'd have figured it out on their own. But they hate it when you keep secrets from them."

The werewolf looked down at the super intelligent cat, "I told Katt what I was doing."

"You did? What did she say?"

"To be careful. Oh, and I have to pick her up a souvenir." Fuzz replied, "Of course, if she wasn't busy, she'd probably have insisted on coming along. She hates it when the rest of us have all the fun."

Suddenly, Fuzz bent down and grabbed Dogg, holding her close. He looked around, sniffing the air. He then looked as five werewolves came out of the darkness, fangs bared, claws ready for the attack.

"This is where you die." one of the werewolves snarled

The Fuzzwolf merely snerked.

To Be Continued

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