The Samurai of Redwall

Part: 18

Jungle-Lag

Five more days were eaten up by travel time. Collin divided all of this among talking to Cuiasodo (he was a good conversationalist, although nine times out of ten, Collin had no idea what he was talking about), learning simple survival and warrior tricks with Matthias ("You're supposed to stand like that when fighting? Who knew!"), having to put up with constantly hearing advice from Orson (you could only hear the "true secret to hotroot soup" so many times before you wanted to actually jump from the zeppelin!) and, of course, training with Blane (the plus here: he got to train alongside Kylie). And then there were other leisure activities; darts, which Orson excelled at, cards which Kylie beat Collin at every time and Twenty Questions, which, to both Collin's surprise and Kylie's, Blane was very, very good at. So, good, in fact, that he had guessed one of Collin's choices within three turns…and the person wasn't even from his dimension.

"How the fuzz do you know who John Travolta is!?" an exasperated Collin asked

"I've been around, you could say. Really liked his work, especially Die Hard."

Both of the Earth-humans gave him a look.

"Um…Travolta wasn't in Die Hard." Collin finally replied.

"Really? Could have fooled me. Must have been a parallel dimension. Does he have red hair?"

Collin was, to say the least, disheartened at all of his losses. Every time they played any sort of game, he lost. Blane had him on sheer knowledge, Orson was best with accuracy, Matthias's specialty was strategy (Kylie got them all playing an improvised version of Dungeons and Dragons. The end result? Matthias the Gnome Lord mopped the floor with both Princess Kylie of the Elf Kingdom and Collin the Horrible), Cuiasodo had him beat on defense and Kylie one-upped Collin on intuition and social skills, as seen back at the trial in Cuiasodo's tribe.

But, he still prided himself with the thing that he was best at: combat! Sure, Cuiasodo was a skilled defender. Sure, Matthias was a seasoned war veteran. Sure, Orson could sling a stone, Kylie could parry a blow, Blane could see a hit coming, but could any of them dodge a blow as artfully as he? Could any of them swing a sword half as good as he could, mimicking samurai blow for blow? Did any of them have supernatural, ninja-like powers, and a kick-arse bandana to go along with it? Nope, and as far as he was concerned, his gift outranked theirs by several points at least.

They all had launched into another round of twenty questions (Collin was shocked that Matthias had never played the game until this trip) when their air ship made landfall without warning. Collin, Orson and Kylie wound up on the floor, as if they had just finished a game of Twister.

"Oh…so that's why my ears popped!" Collin jibed, his lips running against the carpet.

No one laughed. Minus points for Collin! Then again, everyone was all too engrossed in gazing out the window to see where they were right now, because Blane certainly wasn't telling. As he did before, once they arrived, all he said was, "We're here."

Here was green. Here was lush jungle. Here was noisy, with the chatter of bugs and a few things that sounded bigger. And Here was warm! Thankful that they did not need their coats this time, the band exited the zeppelin…with one lagging behind. Well, not all of them were as thankful; Cuiasodo began to pant under the invisible pressure of the heat and humidity.

"Tough break, Cui." the boy said as he patted the wolf's back. Collin had taken to shortening Cuiasodo's name to Cui after mispronouncing it numerous times.

After calling him Casado, it was just time to call it quits!

His friend was not amused. He was still getting used to his new, one-syllable name.

"I will be fine. Those of my pack would be nowhere without our stoic determination"

And I'd be nowhere without these shorts! He thought, but did not say out loud.

A moment of admiring the slight breeze on his bare shins and Collin the Warrior began down the ramp again, keeping a slow pace so as to allow Cuiasodo to tail behind.

They trampled into the greenery, making a racket as they stamped on the long green grass and beat the emerald vegetation aside. The group's percussion mingled with the chorus of the jungle chatter until Blane produced a solution in the way of his sword. Blane took out his weapon and set upon the plants like a farmer to crops. Hacking and slashing like a man with a machete, the others were reluctant to follow and risk being caught up in his weed killing wake.

Kylie was at the forefront, although obviously trying to avoid a stray swipe or two from the haphazardly moving master. Matthias and Orson were after, both thinking that it would not be a very nice thing to lose their heads and die here, despite the beautiful backdrop. Collin brought up the rear, but only because of Cuiasodo. The sword blows? They didn't scare him! He knew he'd be able to move out of the way fast enough should Blane get too careless.

Should he get to careless? He's already gone for broke in the careless department!

While Collin wondered how the phrase "go for broke" entered into his mind, it dawned on him that he wanted very much to know his objective in this place. Blane had to have known about the wolves, and maybe even about the dispute in Cuiasodo's tribe. At least, he had known about the Soulite staff that Cuiasodo now wielded, since it was in accordance with the prophecy that he kept spouting on about. There had to be a reason that they were here, and Collin was not going to head in blind.

The boy pardoned himself from Cuiasodo and slid his way to the front of the line of beasts/people that now looked like a bizarre Boy Scout troop more than anything else. He had proven himself, hadn't he? Evtee had been given the beating of his life, all thanks to Warrior Collin. And who could forget about those intruders at the abbey (minus the one that eluded him)? Still, Collin had not gotten his reward, although he frequently pictured a cheering crowd of fans.

"No-no, thanks, it was nothing! Honestly, taking out a few bozos is easy, really! I mean, who can't run up the side of a vertical wall these days? Come on, stop cheering…alright you can keep on, keepin' on!"

Cheering spectators, millions knowing his name. A group right in the front wore T-shirts with his name and face on them…

On second thought, maybe I should pick a fantasy that's not uber creepy

Pitching away thoughts of embarrassing T-shirts and possible stalkers, Collin prepared himself. He deserved this, he really did. He was the Chosen One and he should know what was going on! Nearing the side of Blane the slice-and-dice-oo-matic, Collin readied his fine probing skills to pierce the armor of Blane.

He had to go about this subtly. Getting to the point too quick would result in being shot down, but if he stalled for to long, he would become exposed. Collin had to pick and prod, chisel away at the stone before finding the diamond he was looking for. Step by step. Lull Blane into a false sense of security and BAM! Ask him the question! Collin took a deep breath. Ok, ready. On the count of three, chisel! One…two…

"So…why'd we come here?" he blurted.

Smooth move, double-oo-zero!

Blane didn't even give the courtesy of looking sideways at Collin and frowning, like he had the other five times his student had tried to extract information.

"The prophecy declares that we arrive here seeking the next wielder of a Soulite weapon. All that I know is that we are supposed to be here, and I am meant to know no more. Part of the journey is that we must forge our own way without knowing why, young one."

Young one. At first, the phrase had brought about a nerdy feeling of giddy as Collin reminisced back to every Bruce Lee or other martial arts film it was used in. The phrase, however, was running thin; Collin counted fifty three uses so far.

Ok, so that was how Blane was going to play it, fine. He would just have to insist. After all, Blane himself had taught him to be persistent!

"Really?" he stroked his chin, pretending to be in deep thought, "So, you don't know why we're here, huh? And yet, your leading all of us down a path to someplace in this jungle?"

"That is correct." He returned, matter-of-fact.

"So, you're just walking into the jungle, looking like you have a clear idea on where we should go when you have no clue as to where we are really heading?"

"Again, you are correct."

Collin slouched over, patience exhausted. "Fine, don't tell me!"

He made his way to the back of the line and stayed next to Cuiasodo just as there was a change.

The audio scenery suddenly shifted. Rustlings of plants and shouts from local wildlife were overcome by sharp sliding and shuffling noises and the clanking of-

Chains?

That had to be what the rattling was: chains.

But from where? How? Is there some kind of biker gang out here in the middle of nowhere?

Collin was contemplating warthogs ridding upon Harley's when the head of the group finally cleared the grass. Blane saw something and Collin guessed by his pose that he wanted to get closer. He didn't need to guess, for a moment later his sensei ran out into the clearing and knelt down near the far edge. Kylie slowly crept out from cover but took off just as Blane had at the sight of whatever was on the left side of the clearing. Collin found himself closer to the opening as Matthias and Orson, both pretty assured that they should pick up the pace and dash to the other side as their predecessors had, sprinted full tilt for the two humans. Collin's turn…

He leaned out and craned his neck beyond the greenery to see what everyone was staring at. The boy blinked, rubbed his eyes in a cartoon-y fashion, blinked again. Yep, there definitely was reason to stare.

A battle to the death was taking place among two ancient adversaries just on the opposite end of the clearing. All other sounds of the jungle had been completely eclipsed by the dueling of the two combatants. One; long, horrible and reptilian. The other; spry, lean and quick. The match between the two was obvious and yet Collin had not expected to witness anything like this on his trip.

A cobra, longer than three school buses (probably closer to three-and-a-half) and half as big around, slithered left and right, trying to get at its opponent, who happened to be a mongoose wielding a chain, dressed in simple shorts and wearing-

"Sunglasses?"

That's what they looked like. Just like black Ray-Bands, goggle like even. The sleek black frames fused perfectly with the bulbous reflective lenses to obscure the eyes of the mongoose.

The cobra lunged for his furry foe but to no avail; the mongoose leaned out of the way with utmost grace. Back and out, just the right distance away from the deadly fangs of the beast. The creature's momentary picturesque pose reminded Collin of something out of The Matrix.

The scaly coils of the monster shifted around as he prepared to go in for a counter attack. Collin, along with Kylie and the others, nearly screamed as the serpent's mouth shot out at the warrior; he was looking the complete opposite way and didn't see it coming. But the mongoose did react.

The last millisecond caused the chain wielding fighter to vanish and become a tan blur. It re-appeared in mid air, as if it had jumped, and, flipping, made it's descent to safer ground away from the crushing coils and poison teeth of the cobra.

The evasion? Perfect! The landing? Not so much so…

The tan blur would have made a successful descent were it not for the snake's lashing tail. The muscular length cracked against the mongoose's foot, causing him to flip several more revolutions than planned and land, back to ground, facing up at his eminent doom.

Blane went for his sword, knowing that as a warrior it was his job to go in for the assist. But apparently, someone else had the same thought going through their head.

"Collin!" he shouted at his foolish apprentice. The boy was headed straight for the cobra, running at full tilt as he had back at the abbey. The Soulite sword was out already, gleaming in the sun.

Collin felt the blade's power wash over him, stream into him like a cool breeze. Everything sharpened, became clearer. Anything that was non-substantial, anything that didn't pertain to him attacking the snake was wiped from his mind. He blinked but for a second, letting everything slow down.

It was happening again, just like when Orson had flung the pebble at him. The universe was moving in slow motion. An action that Collin had only seen as a fantastical movie effect was coming to life right before his two eyes. The boy shouted at the cobra to attract its attention.

Unfortunately, Collin had forgotten that snakes sense vibration rather than speech. The snake turned to face the charging warrior quicker than he had guessed.

That's alright, though, I'm still moving too fast, ergo the neat-oo slow motion effect.

He skidded to a halt, blade raised in defensive position. Collin was dangerously close to the cobra but was confident that he could evade anything that came his way. That's the thing about confidence; if it becomes to strong, it blinds you.

The serpent launched itself at Collin, hood spread blocking out all of the sun. The gigantic leviathan eclipsed even the blue sky above and the green around. It obscured everything, moving upon the boy fast.

Collin leaned back, mimicking the mongoose. Using flexibility that he didn't know he had, he began to do a perfect limbo pose when he noticed something peculiar.

Why am I not moving fast?

True, everything had slowed down, but he was still moving sluggishly. The cobra, unfortunately, was not. Midway through his suicidal lean, the maw of the beast was upon him.

It was too late for him to block. Collin had thrown everything into his evasion. He felt the snake's flesh brush against his shirt a millisecond before his pecks began to sting as the venomous snake did its deadly work. Two fangs, burning like twin hot-irons, raked his chest. He could actually feel the poison seep into the scraped open skin, burning worse than the fangs had.

The universe returned to normal. Everything resumed its usual speed and the rest of the snake sped over the wounded and now unbalanced Collin. The sword fell from his hands. The ground came up from behind and mashed the air out of his body. All the while, his limbs became numb and the area where he had been bitten felt-

Dead…

Dead. Just like he was. Just like the rest of him would be. Collin slipped into oblivion, cursing the snake, the mongoose, Blane, the World, his luck and his rashness. The boy fell into the dark, remembering that he was just thirteen years old, too young to go this way. He fell, not expecting to wake up…