Win No Matter What

CHAPTER 30 - THE PROPHECY AWAKENS

You very nervously step through the wall with Ji Min, not knowing what awaits you on the other side. You wonder whether Ji Min's bravado is real or just for show so as not to worry you.

Within seconds you both find yourselves standing in the open space of a bamboo forest. Your eyes follow the height of the bamboo trees, rising up to the bright blue sky. You scan your surroundings and the bright green trees seem to fill the entire space before you. You wonder how deep this forest actually is. Momentarily forgetting what brought you here, you admire the fresh and bright colours around you. Were you still on the Academy's grounds?

Suddenly something occurs to you and you turn around, hoping your fear won't be realised. Unfortunately, it is; your entrance into the forest has now disappeared. Mild dread starts to seep in and you squeeze Ji Min's hand, asking, "Where do you think we are? Do you think we're still near the Academy?"

Shaking his head, Ji Min replies, "I don't think so, I'm not aware of any bamboo forest being near the Academy. And this place is eerily quiet. I think we should keep walking and see where it leads."

You don't think it's a good idea to go any further because of the uneasy feeling you're getting. However, it will be pointless convincing Ji Min to go back seeing as your way out has vanished. Without drawing attention to that fact, you simply nod your head in agreement.

Still holding hands, you both carry on ahead, hoping nothing jumps out at you. At this point, something else occurs to you. "Ji Min, you didn't by any chance remember to bring your wand, did you?" you ask, trying not to sound worried. He quickly feels into his robes and curses under his breath. Ok, you tell yourself, nothing to panic about. We've only wandered into an unknown place, alone, with no way of going back, both unarmed. I'm sure we'll be fine.

"I'm sorry Rumi. Don't worry, we won't stay here long. We'll just walk around for half an hour and then," he stops suddenly when he looks behind you. "Damn, where's the wall gone?!"

"Yeah," you say slowly, "I didn't want to worry you Ji Min, but now that you are aware of that fact, you should also know that I don't have my wand either. What are we going to do?" And then you add the last worrying thing on your mind, "What if we're in the other realm?"

"It's just occurred to me too that we might be somewhere we don't want to be. I'm really sorry I dragged us in here recklessly. Why don't we try to look for another way out? Maybe there's a lake or something like there is in our world," he suggests. He holds your hand even tighter and stands very close to you. It's obvious that he has become more protective of you in light of the situation now being more precarious than it was five minutes before.

You remain quiet and focus on looking for a way out. Although it's the middle of the day, the skies suddenly seem to darken. You get a sense of foreboding which has never been a good sign in the past. You look at Ji Min, wondering whether you should say something, but he's frowning with a worried expression, and decide against it. A few minutes in, you hear the faint sound of trickling water. Excitedly you grab Ji Min and say, "Ji Min! I can hear something! It sounds like a stream or something." You point in the direction of where the sound is coming from. He listens carefully and says, "Yes, I can hear it too. Ok let's follow the sound, hopefully it will lead us to a way out."

You walk with renewed hope towards the source of the sound. The closer you get to it, the fewer trees there are around you. It takes you around ten minutes to find out what was making the noise. In front of you is a small pool of water which lays at the bottom of a very high waterfall.

"I don't think this pool is our way out," you observe.

"Let's walk around and see if there's anything behind the waterfall. You never know," Ji Min shrugs as he guides you, careful not to slip over the wet rocks. All the while you're afraid that there is something menacing behind the waterfall. As you reach the edge of the wall of water, you both peer behind it and see an entry. It's pitch black, but with no other options available to you at the moment, you both carefully step behind the noisy wall and into the darkness.