Shen

The water pulled us through a giant pipe, spitting us out like dirt into a river. The current was so strong that it continued to drag us out even when we reached open air. I desperately tried to keep my head above the unkind waves, averting my gaze to the world around me.

Somehow we missed it, but the river flowed right at the bottom of the gorge. The spikes we had seen from the pass were colossal monuments of death up close. They poked out of the ground as if Death had placed them there himself.

"Young Master!" I heard Bhen's voice from somewhere. I spun in the water, seeing the twins on the bank, drenched and dripping.

They ran along the bank as I sloshed past, holding out hands. I grabbed Chu's since she was the nearest, and for a moment I halted in the water, disrupting the current. It was like the water was trying to force me back in, but luckily the twins both succeeded in dragging me out.

I flopped onto the bank like a wet sock, feeling the rocky soil clinging to my face. Large gulps of air blessed my lungs and for a few moments I just wanted to lie there forever. We had made it.

"It's not everyday we get to help the mighty Shen," Chu said, sounding pleased with herself. She was probably so happy she didn't have to use that honorific anymore. "You okay there, Fish Boy?"

Bhen nudged his sister hard in the ribs. "Watch it."

"What are you, his wife?" Chu rolled her eyes. "It was just a question."

"I don't do well with water," I sighed, pushing myself up tiredly. My garb clung to my skin and weighed me down heavily, feeling extremely uncomfortable. All I wanted to do was get out of it.

"We can't stay here," I said, just remembering our situation. "We have to disappear, they know we went down the well so they're going to be looking for us."

"Where do we even go?" Chu had a disgusted expression on her face as she glanced around the area. "We're at the bottom of a giant hole in the Earth."

"We can trek for a while and then settle somewhere for the night," Bhen prompted. I nodded. As long as we got away from this area. We were still too close to the palace.

"Or we can climb straight out of this place while it's still dark," Chu suggested. "We managed to get out of a maze filled with loonies. I think we can climb the wall beyond this gorge."

I shook my head. "You have a point, but it would be plain stupid to try all that while we are exhausted. We'd just make ourselves vulnerable to be captured again. Bhen's plan sounds like the safest option right now."

We all sighed collectively and began trudging tiredly down the bank. My shoes squished against the ground, leaving wet footprints behind.

***

We ended up tucking underneath a giant slab of rock that overlapped another one, forming a makeshift tent. I lit my hands with flames to provide us all with minimal warmth.

Bhen and I sat shirtless. Chu had taken our black jackets to dry them out and I was dumbly trying to dry out our pants without burning them to shreds. So far so good. I snuck a look at Bhen and he looked completely miserable.

Well, miserable would be an understatement to express what we felt right now.

It all still felt so unreal, so impossible. I didn't want to think it to be true. That's why I pushed it to the furthest corner of my mind before I hurt my own feelings once again.

The crackling of the gracious flames on my hands were the only sounds that filled the air. Chu returned with our jackets, in nothing but her bralette and trousers. I failed to keep the redness from spreading all over my face. I instantly cast my gaze down to the floor, inspecting my shoes.

I suddenly remembered my pictures. Crap. They must have gotten spoiled in the river. I pulled them out to inspect them and just as I had suspected, they were curled up and hardly decent anymore. My father's face looked faded and bleak, but his smile was still there.

I wanted to punch a wall and scream.

"Did your pictures get ruined?" Bhen asked, his voice soft. I nodded wordlessly. Chu was on the floor, leaned against the rock with a look of deep thought on her face.

"Now we truly have nothing left," Bhen laughed, the weight of misery heavy in his chuckles.

"Just another day's work as a Renge," Chu said with mock-pride. "Losing everything and getting absolutely nothing out of it."

"I'm sorry," I found myself saying. I didn't know why I was apologizing. I suppose even though I was no longer a Young Master, I felt responsible.

Chu let out a sour laugh. "How ironic that Master saved us all from horrible situations as kids. If it weren't for him we'd be dead. And if it weren't for him, we wouldn't be in the middle of a hole in the earth, sitting under a giant rock, soaking wet and fucking lost."

Chu's words absorbed us into a lonely, sad silence. I didn't even know what to say.

"What are we going to do?" Bhen muttered. "We have literally nowhere to go. It's not safe anywhere."

"We need to disappear, that's what we need to do," Chu said straight. "I am not getting involved in a damning fight that will get me killed for no reason, when I am gaining nothing out of it. Not again."

I thought about it. And I didn't agree.

"We need to find Kai," I said. Chu glared at me in irritation. "You don't have to join me, but I'm going to finish this. I'm not going to let him get away for all he's done. He betrayed us, left us to die at the hands of the Rangers and he's the reason everything has gone wrong so far. I'm not going to let that lunatic live, I don't care if I have to hunt him down alone."

"I'm coming with you," Bhen nodded determinedly.

"Are the both of you stupid?" Chu exclaimed. "Why would you want to do that? Do you realize this is our only chance to get away from this? We're already wanted by the Nephatian government and Rangers, and now you want problems with Kai and his gang? Are you forgetting the Renge exists?"

"You know we can't go back there, Chu," Bhen chimed in.

"Exactly! We can't go back, so why are we taking up their problems? They've done nothing but betray us!"

"Did you forget where you were raised so quickly?" I couldn't help but be ashamed. "Are you really ready to turn your back on the Renge?"

Chu's green eyes were sharp with anger. "They were quick to turn their backs on us."

"We don't know that yet. Kai could be lying--"

"Oh give me a break, Shen!" Chu yelled, throwing her arms up. "I have been holding my tongue for years, but you're not my Young Master anymore, so spare me your stupidity. You know for a fact Master betrayed us, stop denying it and just get over your little heartbreak already. It's a done deal. We were nothing but pawns in his game."

"I can't just believe that!" I shouted, shooting up from where I sat. Frustration weighed heavy on my chest. "Master cares about us. He protected us for years, he wouldn't do this to us on purpose, something must have gone--"

"Shen!" Bhen interrupted me, a glum look on his face. "You know Master only does what he intends to do. He doesn't make mistakes. Kai would have never betrayed us if something wasn't seriously wrong. He's crazy, but far from stupid."

So I just had to accept the only other man I knew as a father intended to throw us to the wolves?

I shut my eyes in anger. "This can't be true."

"It is true," Chu said, defeatedly. "So why huh? Why? Why do we still have to be in the middle of all this messed up politics? People will go to war over this, and where does that leave us? Where do we fit in, huh? All our parents are dead and that stupid temple was all we had. How do we leave everything behind?"

Chu's voice cracked, and she held her hand infront of her eyes. She was holding back sobs.

"How are we supposed to walk away from all we've come to know?" All the hurt she'd been hiding behind her cruel words spilled out. "And do you know what hurts more? Master knew. He knew the Nephatians teamed up with the Rangers to destroy the Sueyin temple and he still turned to them. Why would he hurt us like that? After everything we've done for him..."

I looked to Bhen, whose eyes were wet with tears as well. This was all so messed up. And at that moment, I thought of Mudan.

My soul hurt at the thought of her going through this exact same thing in silence.

Long ago, at the Penyin temple, we had all spurned her for abandoning the Renge code. People called her all sorts of things.

Coward. Weak. Traitor. Deserter.

And here we were, in the exact same position of having no choice but to desert the cause we were once willing to die for.

It was the worst, and hardest thing we had to do. But at least we had each other. She had nobody, and she was constantly reminded of that.

The fact that I could only be there at the end when it was already too late killed me. And now she was dead.

I would never get to make up for what I'd put her through. The Iron Dragon must have not thought me worthy of it. And it was right.

Before I knew it, there were tears in my eyes too. I flicked them away quickly, realizing we couldn't go on this way.

"I know this seems bad, and it's only bound to get worse--"

Chu snorted. "Very encouraging--"

"--but we can fix this."

"How?" Bhen frowned. "How can there possibly be a good outcome to this?"

"We have been made a fool of, twice," I emphasized, and it was awful to admit out loud. "For the first half of this story, we've all been clowns. And I'm sure Kai got his good laugh. But we can still walk away with our honour intact. We can tie up the loose ends and sink this bullshit forever. We need to kill Kai. He betrayed us while being part of the Clan, we can't let him get away with this, you don't know how far he's going to go with this, but I do.

"Kai is a loose end, and we've been taught to always tie up loose ends."

Chu crossed her arms over her chest, cocking her head to the side. "If we're going by your logic, that means we have to kill Old Master too, right? He is technically a loose end."

Chu's question had completely thrown me off. That hadn't even crossed my mind. The thought of it alone seemed so...wrong.

"I'm with you, Shen. But if we're going to do this, we're going to do this right. Everyone who doesn't fit in this equation has to die."

I nodded begrudgingly. I knew she was right.

Bhen sighed tiredly. "Guys you know, if anything, we are the loose ends here. If the Rangers don't kill us, the Ajisai and Renge will."

"Then let them come," I muttered quietly. "We have nothing to feel bad over. We were loyal till the end. Till we found out we were being betrayed."

"But what about everyone else back at the temple, huh?" Bhen frowned deeply. "They're still our family. They have nothing to do with Master's conniving. Do we just kill them like they mean nothing? Like they never meant anything at all?"

A dull ache settled in my chest. Bhen was right. They were as brainwashed as we were just a couple of nights ago. They didn't deserve this.

"Sacrifices will have to be made," I said solemnly.

"Who knew this abandoning thing would be so hard," A humorless laugh came from Chu. "I almost want to cheers to the traitor. She made it look easy."

My fists clenched involuntarily. I let go of them immediately. Bhen stared at me weirdly, Chu soon after matched his gaze.

His voice gathered in my head again. I felt a sudden pain in my skull, doubling over as the familiar pain I felt whenever I missed her too much clouded my brain.

Bring her back to me, Shen. Remember I am your father.

Destroy her, Shen. Remember she abandoned you. She never cared about you.

Hurt her in any way you can. Remember, you would be nothing without me.

If you don't bring her back, I will return you to the life of the poor. You ungrateful bastard.

I am your Master, Shen. I am all you have. No one else deserves your devotion. Only me.

Only me.

"She's dead, okay! Stop it! Shut up!" I cried out, pressing my ears shut. "She's dead! Just leave me alone!"

"Shen?" Bhen and Chu asked, standing up worriedly. I was trying to kill his voice.

"Do you still love her?" Chu asked suddenly, tipping everything off the deep end.