The Dimension Keepers (A Sonic Boom Fanfic)

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

The capital of the Dragon Kingdom was large and grand and shining and bustling with life. Kay was sure that if she were walking through the main streets, she'd be in awe of all the colorful people and places she saw around her. Li Yuen may have had to physically drag her along with them just so she didn't get lost.

But Kay wasn't walking through the main streets. She was padding quietly along the back alleys and shadowed corners of the city center, trailing along behind the rest of the troupe, staying out of sight as much as possible. They were in full ninja mode now, and Kay could only hope that her time with the Turtles – brief as it had been – would help her not mess everything up now.

Espio stopped suddenly, holding up his arm, and everyone behind him mirrored his action. They all froze, silent as death, and beyond the few heads in front of her Kay could see that a young girl was walking up the adjacent alley, a basket in her arms full of clothes. She stopped short when she saw Espio, her eyes widening, and for a moment Kay wondered if she would alert others to their presence. Instead she glanced over her shoulder, nodded, and bowed her head. Espio nodded back to her, motioning for the others to hurry forward while the coast was clear. Kay was the last to pass the girl, and she saw that she had a large scar that ran from her right temple to the corner of her mouth. She stifled a gasp as she hurried away, a million thoughts running through her head as to what had happened and who could have done that to her.

The next time Espio stopped the troupe it was at the back door of what appeared to be a small shop. He knocked a specific pattern on the door and then waited a few moments. When the door opened, it was only a crack, and Espio and the figure on the other side exchanged a few hushed words. The door opened further, and an aging bat stuck his head out to peer at the troupe of seven following along behind the prince. After a moment, he nodded, then opened the door further and hurried them all inside.

When Kay stepped in, trying to be as small and out of the way as possible, the bat gasped and turned to Espio, exclaiming something – albeit quietly – in their native language. Espio replied in an apologetic tone. Kay suspected it had something to do with her being a girl when their new host was probably only expecting men. In her defense, the decision had been last-minute.

After a few moments of conversation, Espio turned to his men and said something to them, then switched to Kay's language and translated for her. "When I was last here a couple of weeks ago, Ren Daichi offered his home as a refuge for me, and now he is offering it for all of us. While we are here we must be as silent as possible, and when returning from an outing we must be certain no one is following us or suspects us. Ren has put his life in danger by remaining loyal to the crown. The least we can do is do everything in our power to keep him safe in return."

Kay nodded her understanding, glancing at the older man, who had already busied himself with something else as if none of them were there.

"In addition," Espio continued, stepping closer to Kay, "because my decision to bring you along was unplanned, I did not have time to warn Ren about you. He has consented to let you stay here, but he has no place set aside for a woman."

"That's all right," Kay replied. "I'll manage." This isn't the first time I've lived with all boys, she added to herself, thinking first of the Turtles and then of her time on Angel Island after Amy was captured. It all seemed to have been a lifetime ago, rather than just a couple of years.

Espio nodded. "We'll stay here during the day and seek to complete our missions at night. We're going to be nocturnal for a few days, so I suggest we all rest up. Tonight, we infiltrate the palace."

~

Several hours later, after they'd all had a chance to really rest and prepare themselves for their first mission, Espio led his troupe back out of Ren's house and into the now practically deserted streets of the Dragon Kingdom's capital city. Even in the darkness Kay could make out the outline of the palace a few miles away, lit up as it was with flaming torches.

They had all discussed the plan before departure, so as to lessen the need to communicate with each other out in the open where they were much more likely to be caught. Upon arrival at the palace, Espio, Kay, and half of the men would attempt to sneak in through the front entrance, while the others would go around to the back. Once they split up, they stayed split up until they all regrouped back at Ren's house, to avoid the extra risk of discovery and capture. Once inside, each team would do what they could to find anything that could potentially be useful in learning more about these mysterious Dimension Keepers – what they wanted, why they were here, how they had won the Yagyu and Storm clans' loyalty so easily.

If at any point the smaller teams were separated from one another because they had to run, they were not to wait up for each other. Any separation meant you were on your own, and if you made it back out you were to meet at Ren's house once you were sure you weren't being followed.

After what felt like an eternity of sneaking around and staying as quiet as possible, the troupe reached the point in their journey where they would split up and officially begin their mission. Li Yuen was leading three others to the back entrance, while Espio, Kay, and the last two men would breach the front. Espio and his top guard exchanged words, and then bowed to each other. Li Yuen motioned for his group to rally, and they vanished into the darkness. Espio turned back to his own group, and they continued onward as well.

This trip was much shorter; in almost no time at all, the group of four could see the drawbridge to the palace. It was open, but there were several guards posted along the bridge, and the tree line ended almost one hundred yards away from it. There was no way to sneak up to the main entrance. Kay glanced around along either side to see if there was another way in, but she couldn't find one.

Espio brushed her arm gently to get her attention, indicating for her to signal the others to follow him. She did just that, and slowly, quietly, they moved to the left of the drawbridge, staying within the treeline to keep out of sight of the guards.

It wasn't until they were almost halfway between the front and back of the palace that Espio stopped, then knelt to the ground and started brushing dirt away. Kay was confused at first, but when she saw a silver ring begin to appear from beneath the ground, she understood what it must be and knelt down to help him. After the second ring appeared, Espio pulled on both, and the doors opened up without a sound, dirt falling all around them as well as into the darkness below.

"This passage was meant to remain known only to the royal family, in case it was ever needed to escape the palace undetected. How ironic it is that we'll be using it to get inside." Espio lowered himself into the darkness, murmuring something in his native language, and a moment later a bright flame appeared below. Kay shielded her eyes as Espio held up the torch, then reached for the hand he offered to help her down. The two men followed closely behind her, each grabbing a door and pulling it shut behind them so they were engulfed in total darkness save for the flame of the torch. It was cool down here. Kay shivered. Espio took her hand and pulled her forward as he fearlessly continued on to their destination. As they walked, he muttered, "We'll have to create a new secret passage after this is all over."