| Part 12 Part 11 - Part 13 "Kechara!" Allison had found them and hurriedly beckoned to her. "What do we do?" "I thinkit was something like this." She stuck her pointer and middle fingers out into a V and pressed two parts of the Tek kanji at the same time. They gave under pressure and a small section of the wall behind a few pipes pulled back to reveal a tight passageway. "Go." Kechara shoved her accomplice into the passage and followed closely behind her. Kechara shut the door behind her, and the two girls waited for the Tekkenshu to open the door and discover them. Loud shouts and muffled briefings were heard but no one came down after them. Kechara heard someone yell, "They just disappeared!" in exasperation and smiled. No one was going to come after them; the guards must not have been told about the door or the passage. The floor was hard, solid earth, different from the all-metal rest of the park. Kechara tapped Allison on the shoulder and nodded for her to keep moving down the tunnel. The ground stifled any loud sounds their steps might have made and they avoided speaking until they were sure they had moved far away enough from the action so they would not be heard. "Where are we going?" Allison whispered. "Kuni said that this tunnel goes underground for a ways then slants up and emerges into that huge temple on the hill on the far corner of the island." Kechara could see Allison's face pale slightly, even in the dappled light of the passage. "Okay," the Canadian said, sunding calm. She glanced down the pass before them. "This thing is like a black hole ahead. We need light. So don't think anything of this." Kechara heard her mutter something, then was startled when four small spurts of blue flame appeared on Allison's fingers. "That works," Kechara said, nodding, then let Allison lead down the tunnel. The temple wasn't the closest structure to the industrial park and the girls walked quite a distance before stopping to rest. "What time do you think it is?" Allison asked. She had put out the flames for a few minutes to conserve energy; indeed, the light had begun to fade right before their rest stop, signifying how tired she was. Kechara shook her head. "I don't know. It seems like we've been walking for an eternity." She sighed. A silence came over them. Kechara felt like laying down on the grund and falling asleep. "Kechara." Allison's voice woke her sharply. "Listen." Kechara strained her ears for any faint sounds and heard a deep rumble coming from ahead. "We're almost there." Ra could sense the impatience in her voice. "Ready?" She heard the crack of the blue flames as an answer and continued to follow Allison through the semi-darkness. After another seeming eternity of walking, the ground under their feet vibrated slightly from the rumbling of the ancient dragon heads and their fiery tongues echoing through the vast stone halls of the temple. The ground fairly shook from the sound waves as Allison grabbed Kechara's hand and helped her out of the dark passage. The girls stood awestruck at the sheer awesomeness of the huge hall they emerged into. The extremely vaulted ceilings were supported by thick stone walls; everywhere they looked, ancient writings and pictures were enscribed in the stone. Kechara couldn't take her eyes off of a nearby stone dragon head. It was so detailed and when it spurted its flames, it seemed like it was almost actually exhaling a pent-up sigh. The bright fire licked the air and Kechara watched, captivated. She heard Allison gasp suddenly, but when she turned to face her, a fist met her face and blackness followed. ------------------- Pain... A dull throbbing in Kechara's head brought her back into reality. She slowly opened her dark eyes, but only found everything to be too blurry to make out any specific shapes. A sudden blast of heat blew past her face but her throat was too tight to let any sound of fright out. Kechara blinked rapidly and found herself propped up against a wall opposite a stone head. She started to move to the side, then found that she had been bound, hands and feet. A feeling of pure panic had rapidly begun to invade her mind but a few desparate attempts to calm herself eventually pushed the feeling to the back of her head, where she could (though not completely) ignore it. She glanced around the hall and saw Allison leaned up next to the nearest dragon head, still out. The Canadian had a small stream of blood coming from her mouth and only when she saw her take a few ragged breaths was Kechara assured she was still alive. Kechara leaned her head back against the wall and sighed, closing her eyes. The wole right side of her face felt black and blue and the ropes around her wirsts were so tight the fibers sliced her skin if she made even the tiniest movement. She had half a mind to hop to a dragon and try to burn off her ropes, but wasn't really in the mood to feel anymore pain. She heard a choking cough next to the flaming rock head beside her and saw Allison come to shaking life. The dark girl's eyes were filled with pain and terror as she looked frantically around the hall. "Kechara!" she screamed. "Allison!" Kechara said in as soothing a voice as she could manage. "What the hell is going on?" Allison shrieked, then screamed as the dragon between them sighed with flame. Kechara was afraid now; if someone as placid as her friend was screaming her head off, something was extremely bad. She bit her lip to hold back tears and felt the warm tingle of blood on her tongue. "Well, we're tied up in the temple," she said, trying to project calmness to her friend. She heard Allison give a slight snort. "Wonder when you figured that out..." Kechara smiled, then glanced around again. "You know, the sword should be around here somewhere. Kuni said something about pacifying a dragon." "What?" Allison sent her a sharp look. "What's that supposed to mean?" The dragon between them again shot forth it's breath, and Kehara waited before replying, "Well, I think we found the dragons and I'm pretty sure about where in general the sword is. But we may have a few minor difficulties." She glanced down at her bounds. "What kind of light can you shine on this?" Allison's eyes flashed. "A few blue flames, coming up-" "Don't even try it." A strong, guttural voice sounded from the far end of the hall. Both girls turned their heads toward the sound, but no matter how much they strained, neither could see the source. "Don't hurt yourselves trying to struggle out either," it said again. "I don't intend to hurt either of you, but I'm more than willing if it is necessary." The echo of soft footsteps approached them. "What the hell is your problem, mister?" Kechara called. "Let us go, we weren't going to wreck the temple or anything." The person ignored her remark. "So where is it? Tell me." The sword! Kechara clenched her jaw and fists. So this man (the voice was clearly to deep to be female) wanted the sword and knew the girls had come after it. "About what?" Kechara snapped, trying to convincingly play dumb. A slight chuckle was covered up by 3 dragons breathing at once. "I can wait, I suppose. But I've also sent a message to Jin Kazama about you being up here. There's a good chance he will be coming up to see us. He was extremely concerned when your name was mentioned, Kechara." There was a tinge of humor attached to that statement, which sparked a red hot anger within Kechara. "Why is that funny?" she demanded. "Oh, I don't know," came the reply. "You children are so entertaining. I, however, had no time for those silly little illusions." A small note of strain crept into the voice as those words were spoken. "My childhood was short and hard. I was more man than boy by age 12. And yet the CEO of the largest organization in the world acts like a child when his beloved is in danger." Kechara bit her lip and wondered whether the man really knew that he had just defined her name. The voice felt silent and the three listened to the rumbling until Kechara sneezed. "Bless you," the man's voice said quietly. "Thanks," Kechara mumbled. The footsteps again began to advance twoard the girls. "Now, please, tell me where the Manji sword is." He stepped into the dull like before kechara. She had never been in any of the previous Tournaments, yet she instantly recognized this man. She had seen portraits of him scattered throughout the Zaibatsu main building, and, now, seeing him in real life, she realized he looked exactly the same. Dark, forbidding eyes were set in a square, attractive face. His hair was swept back into a single sharp spike, and not a single grey hair showed, which made Kechara wonder if he was really as old and she thought he was. His well-known purple business suit looked as crisp and clean as the day it was bought. "You!" Kechara gasped. Kazuya narrowed his eyes and grinned. |