AvA: Resurrection

Ch. 20 - Close Calls

"Uni!"

Someone was shaking him.

"Uni!"

The voice sounded so familiar.

"Uni!!"

The voice cracked. Uni opened his eyes slightly. Everything was blurred at first. Then, it all came into focus.

Before him, a sad smile on his face, was Multi.

"Uni?" he croaked dispiritedly.

"Multi?"

Multi's expression relaxed as he threw his arms around Uni. "I thought you were dead!"

"Well, I'm not dead yet, I suppose."

"You ready to get outta here?" Multi asked as he let go.

"Wha- really?"

"Of course! What, you're just gonna stay here and not spend any more time with us?"

"Well... I'd love to."

"Then come on!" Multi pulled Uni in the direction of the exit.

"Did you come alone?" Uni asked.

"No, I came with Victim, Silver, and Cobalt."

"The new guardian guy."

"Yup. I told him to cast the sacrifice into the Void; hopefully he's done it."

"Sacrifice?"

"A cow."

"Holy-"

Multi burst out laughing, and Uni joined him.

"Cows aren't that sanitary, I'm afraid," Multi teased.

Uni doubled over with laughter.

They'd reached the exit. Multi was relieved to see that Cobalt had done his job.

He and Uni climbed out of the Void... to find only Cobalt.

"Uh... Cobalt?" Multi began, "Where are the others?"

Cobalt shifted his feet uneasily. "Um... please believe me, but the Dark Lord just bursted in and abducted them."

"What?!" Multi exclaimed. Cobalt stepped back nervously.

"And how are you not abducted?" Multi asked Cobalt.

"I hid. I told them to follow me, but they didn't do so until it was too late."

"Right. If that's the case... you two stay here, I'll see if they're still here."

"Good luck," Uni said.

Multi winked, then left the room.

Five minutes passed, and Multi still hadn't returned.

Suddenly, Cobalt heard footsteps- footsteps that did not sound like Multi's.

"Uni!" he hissed, "Can you get us above the door?"

Uni looked at him, confused.

"Someone's coming, and it isn't Multi," Cobalt explained, "Quick! We don't have much time!"

Uni decided to trust him. Grabbing him around the waist, he launched them into the air as the door creaked open.

There stood Dark. He walked into the room, looking around.

Uni set them down as quietly as he could next to the door, and Cobalt gestured franticly for him to follow. They ran on tiptoe over to an inlet in the wall.

"This is where I used to take naps," Cobalt explained, "There's a hidden tunnel and lever inside. Do you think you could find the lever and pull it?"

"Are you supposedly playing games with me?"

"Hey! I'm willing to sacrifice myself to Dark just to get you outta here safely, and you're here telling me that I'm playing games with you?!" Cobalt looked extremely offended.

"Okay, okay, sorry." Uni shot him an apologetic look, then clambered head-first into the inlet. A click indicated his success. His feet disappeared into the inlet, and Cobalt scrambled after him. Crawling to the end of the inlet, he turned left into the tunnel and kicked the lever back into place. As the tunnel sealed itself up, he heard footsteps echoing through the room they'd just escaped.

After what seemed like ages, they tumbled out of the tunnel... into a pool of water.

Uni looked around. The water was so clear, he could see Cobalt, the earth surrounding them, and fish- at least a dozen of them- swimming about, weaving through the dense weeds populating the pool floor.

"Where are we?" Uni asked Cobalt as they broke the pool surface.

"A bamboo forest," Cobalt answered.

Uni looked around again. Bamboo as tall as the sky covered the ground as far as the eye can see. In the distance, Uni could see pandas romping around, playing with each other.

"Okay," he said slowly, "so how do we get back to the base?"

"In the time that I've been here, I've found out that you can't leave by climbing up the mountains, or by mining a tunnel."

"Then what should we do?"

"There's one way," Cobalt said, "Through an abandoned mineshaft not far from here."