The Adventure of Shurui and Yuki

Chapter Eight

With an amazing captain steering the airship, nothing but smooth travels it was.
The cotton balls in the azure sky proved to be bigger than the airship. Everyone
else preoccupied themselves differently. Nyozom questioned Ziora on her life as a
princess. Him not being royalty, she heightened his curiously. Not to mention how
in love there were with each other. Spending time together meant everything in
the world to them. Chintaman repetitively threw a ball on the walls of the airship,
catching it with his hands as he laid on his back. Yuki resumed his slumber in the
bed located in the back left room of the ship. With his ice powers he dropped the
temperature in order to sleep better and faster. And so he was. Shurui was
playing with fire, both literally and metaphorically. Using his ability he manifested
two flame clones and trained with them. Battling himself he found to be quite
entertaining. But as they say, you are your worst enemy, so it was not an easy
battle to win.
“SHURUI!!!! I'm trying to sleep here!” Yuki rose from his bed to the opposite room
where his brother by heart was.
“Well sleep…”
“Your fighting is annoying”
“Well don’t sleep”
“You know I can get cranky without it”
“You’re always cranky”
“Just!....just keep it down! And stop playing with fire. Pun not intended. That’s
dangerous, especially in a aircraft filled with gas” He shut the door and with that
said was sleeping once again.
“Especially in a aircraft filled with gaaaass...” He recited his words mockingly.
“What does he think I am? A child?”
Shurui continued to play with fire. His clones created spears of fire which was
thrown at him. As he dodged, he did not take into consideration the wires
protected by pipes behind him. Fire set it ablaze quietly, as he continued his
sparing match.
“Is that all you got?! Or should I say ‘I got?’? Wait if that’s all they got…then that
means that’s all I got in actuality……that’s bullish”
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!*
“Zioraaaaaaaaaa? What’s happening?!”
“Something wrong with the engine!! Chintaman go check it out for me will you?!”
“Sure!”
With the trembling and knowingly descending airship, Chintaman made his was to
the back. The more he approached the engine the more heat in the atmosphere
he felt.
“WHAT THE HELL! WHERE DID FIRE COME FROM!?”
“Chintman what’s going-….FIRE?!” Nyozom joined him.
“Fire?” Ziora made a baffled expression.
“What’s going on?!”
“Yuki did you use fire on the airship?!” Nyozom asked.
“No I-….” He saw as Shurui ran into the engine room.
“YOU RIDICULOUS, ASININE, IDIOTIC, FOOLISH, MORONIC, BUFFON!!!”
“All those words mean the same thing…”
“I DON’T CARE! WHAT DID YOU DO?!”
“I was just training and I guess I didn’t pay attention to the flame spears they
threw at me!”
“GUYS! HOLD ON! WE'RE GOING DOWWWWWWWWWWNNNN!”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHH!!!!!!”
With the adrenaline rushing inside, they crashed loudly unto the ground, creating
a big but not deep hole in their path. As they all tried to walk out the burning
airship, they all felt like they could vomit the lunch they had only hours ago.
“I should definitely use the nickname Stupid instead of Shu…”
“You never call me that though…”
“That’s because I didn’t wanna hurt your feelings with the truth!”
“Ok ok, you've scolded me enough”
“Wait guys….”
“What's up Chinny boy?”
“If the engine is filled with gas and it’s on fire them won’t it-“ “EXPLODE!”
They said together.
*BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!*
“Show shield…” Just when the explosion occurred, Icy released his ability. A
colossal snowflake protected them and the area behind them.
“Is everyone alright?! Oh that was a big one. Not bigger than my explosions
though!” Luckily for nature, Warm separated himself from Yuki's body and
contained the explosion. Absorbing the shock and most of the fire.
“Warm next time, warn me when you’re going to separate yourself from Yuki's
body”
“But I didn’t have time to tell youuuu..” He whined to Icy.
“Why….why are there…..two Yukis?
“Oh, hey Stupid!”
“Please don’t call me that”
“Icy why is Warm out of Yuki's body? Can you two literally extract yourself from
him?”
“Correct wise oh Chinny boy!”
“Come on let’s go” said Icy.
“Bye bye guys!” Warm's arms and legs transitioned into orange, as his body was
being sucked into Yuki's. His amber eyes were revealed.
“How many more things can you do with your power?!”
“Lots Stupid, so don’t ever challenge me”
“Oh trust me if I did that, you'd be groveling on the ground….and don’t call me
Stupid!”
“Anyway guy we need a plan now. Since the airship spiraled out of control we
don’t know exactly where we are”
“Ziora is right we need a map. Oh! Shurui let’s see the map you have!”
“Shurui?” Yuki called his name again. No answer. Far to his right, he spotted him
chasing what seems to be a bunny. Yuki ran after him, telling him to come back
and stop chasing a bunny. With his defiance he replied saying he wanted to keep
it as a pet. His love for bunnies were endless.
“AAAAAHHHHHH!!” It seemed as though a trap was set in the forest, for they fell
in a hole. But not just any hole. Amethyst coloured fire lit up the hole and in front
of them, the light stretched to what seemed endlessly.
“What is that?” Shurui questioned with amazement in his voice.
“It seems to be a labyrinth”
“A labyrinth?”
“Yeah you know like a maze”
“I know what a labyrinth is, what I want to know is what is it doing down here?”
Back with Ziora, Nyozom and Chintaman, they searched in the opposite direction
for their friends. Only to turn around when they heard a scream.
“It came from that way” Ziora pointed to the right.
“Do you guys hear that?”
“What Nyozom?” Now Chintaman's ears were open.
“It sounds like…..kelp?”
“Kelp?”
“Listen again….”
…..hel……………hel……………..
“Help? Help! Their that way!”
Running to the sounds of ‘help’ it got clearer and louder until they saw a hole in
the ground. When asked about the hole, Shurui and Yuki said they fell in and they
can’t get out. It was apparently sucking the vital energy out of them. Within 10
minutes of conversation, Yuki saw three grey hairs in Shurui's head.
“Shurui have you always had those three grey hairs in your head?”
“No. And why does your voice sound like it’s gotten deeper?”
“I don’t know…it's deeper?”
“Oh no. I know what this is…” Chintaman spoke up.
“What is happening to us? Is the hole doing this?”
“This is no hole….”
Ziora asked “Chintaman what are you talking about?”
“You guys remember the flowers that hallucinated us?”
“Yes…”
“That was the safely mechanism implemented by the people of Hikari Village. This
‘hole’ as you call it, is the safely mechanism of Paradaisu Village. Much more
dangerous. You said your voice is deeper and you’re seeing grey hairs? You are
aging. And fast too. This is a labyrinth and you two are at the beginning of it. You
must get to the end before you age out and die. Many people have gotten
themselves trapped in here and since they didn’t know the right way from the
wrong, they took too long and aged until their last dying breath. So hurry up, you
don’t have much time left”
“How will we find our way our of a labyrinth?” Shurui's voice sounded just as deep
as well.
“I can guide you” Ziora offered her assistance.
“How?”
“That labyrinth is in the ground which means nature is there as well. I will be able
to sense where you are through the roots of the trees with my ability called
Sensory”
“Ok”
“Now begin before you die old men”
“I am not old” They recited. Seeming to be in there 30s, Yuki switched with Icy in
order to frost over the ceiling above, giving Ziora a feeling of where they were.
Time waits of no man, but time in the labyrinth wasted no time. They were aging
fast.
“Look how old you are. It’s funny!” Shurui spoke with visible wrinkled hands and a
cracked voice.
“You look older than me with your wrinkles so shut up!” Yuki's voice was cracked
and old sounding as well.
“What does butt up mean!?”
“I said shut up! Even your hearing it going!”
“Well at least I don’t have a hunch back!”
“You are so old that even your wrinkles have wrinkles!”
“Ehhhhhh!!”
“You are so old that when your heart tries to pump blood it pumps dust!”
“Well you are so old your crouched knees looks like you’re sitting on a chair!”
“You are so old your legs look like spaghetti!!”
“GUYS FOCUS!”
“He started it!”
Ziora felt the ice upon the roots underground, knowing exactly where they were.
But the sense of ice was fading. Which meant icy was slowly disappearing. Death
never stared at someone so intensely.
“Yuki I can barely feel the ice. You’re aging really fast. I will grow some flowers on
the walls of the labyrinth before I lose you two. Follow the flowers”
“Did you hear a lady's voice in the atmosphere?!” Yuki exclaimed.
“What!!”
“I said……I forgot what I said!!!”
“You said you forgot what you said?!!”
“Oh so you heard that, but not what I said earlier??!!”
“Nyozom how is it coming along!”
“I can sense the electricity of the Village. Keep following me”
Suddenly, Ziora felt the earth rumble beneath her feet. It’s shaking messing with
her balance.
“Chintaman….what's this shaking about!”
“I don’t know, I never heard of it shaking!”
“We're almost to the village guys!” Nyozom's words pooped an idea into
Chintaman's mind.
“I think I have a good idea why the labyrinth is shaking!”
Ziora heard rocks falling in the labyrinth. She needed to know if her friends were
ok.
“Icy! Let me feel your icy even for a second!!...” After five minutes of no response,
she got desperate.
“ICY!! HUH?” she felt for a second the cold in her blood. Which meant they were
still alive…but barely.
“Chintaman explain!”
“Since no one ever cleared the labyrinth, the Paradaisu people probably put in a
second mechanism. To let the labyrinth collapse unto the victim if they got too
close to the end!”
“These people are smart…huh…ICY!! I HOPE YOU CAN HEAR ME!! No…I can’t feel
Icy anymore…WARM! ARE YOU DOWN THERE?!...” She felt a bit of heat in her.
“YOU TWO HAVE TO KEEP MOVING! DON’T STOP OR YOU'LL DIE DOWN
THERE!!...YUKI….SHURUI!”
“Ahhhhhhhh…”
“I heard them…they are trying…..WE HAVE TO HURRY! THEY DON’T HAVE
MUCH TIME LEFT!! NYOZOM HOW MUCH LONGER DO WE HAVE TO
GO?!”
“NOT TOO FAR! ALMOST THERE!”
In the labyrinth, Yuki and Shurui looked so wizened. Their bold patches, the
wobbly feet, and the wrinkled skin.
“And at last I see the light…”
“Yuki……this….is no time……for singing tangled…”
“For the….first time….in forever…”
“No frozen either….”
“Why do you have to….ruin my fun?”
“Your meaning of fun….is equivalent to that…..of an old man…”
“You are….an old….man too you know…”
“I'm not old…..I'm young…”
“Who lied to you…..”
“I can’t die now…I didn’t even get a bento box from a girl..”
“As Chintaman said, you need a girl for that to happen. And last time I checked
that was in your imagination…”
“Yuki shut up….”
“ha..ha…ha..ha…even at old age I still got it”
“Yuki…….I love you bro…”
“Love you too……..Stupid….”
“You just ruined a heartwarming moment…”
“Huh?....” They both laughed silently to themselves, now their eyes were closing
as they stood there.
“YUKI! DON’T YOU DARE DIE!” A boulder fell next to them waking them up.
“COME ON WE'RE ALMOST THERE!!” Yuki and Shurui continued to walk
ever so slowly. The back of them was already sealed away by boulder after
boulder. Following the blooming flowers, they saw a pink flame glowing. The end
was upon them…if they made it out on time. With just a few more feet to walk,
another piece of the earth collapsed blocking half the exist.
“We need to get to the other half before it’s blocked too…”
“Let's have race…”
“Challenge accepted…”
“Aaaaaahhhhhhhhh….” Their war cries sounded lazy, and there was no difference
in running, for they seemed zombie-like. With just three stairs to climb, they
made it out to see the sky once again.
“You guys made it!”
“UGGGHHHH!” Ziora's hug was too tight for their fragile bones. Within a few
minutes, the skin and hair regained their strength and colour.
“I feel young again!” Shurui shouted.
“I feel like a wizard! I’m young again! Even as an old man you can’t get a girl”
“Have you ever had a girl?!”
“Don’t need one. I can have one but you can’t get one…”
“Yuki I will kill you one day…”
“The favour shall be returned!”
“NYOZOM WHERE ARE YOU?!”
“HERE!” Chinataman, Ziora, Shurui and Yuki walked to his direction. And what
they saw, was a clear environment, inhabiting nothing. Chintaman stretched out
his hand to the huge vacant area and said to his team.
“Guys…welcome to Paradaisu Village…” The rest of the team cocked their heads
and said questionably.
“…….Huh….?”