[100 prompts - Where?, Earth, Go, Thunder, Family, Choices, Home]
((Holy snow! This is a lot of writing in one night!
This continues and finishes the story from [100 prompts - Parents, Brown] and [100 prompts - Passing, Green, Yellow, Moon], parts 1 and 2 respectively.))
078.Where?
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: Myra, her parents, some soldiers
Word Count: 250
Rating: G
Summary: Myra learns where her parents are.
Author's Notes: Myra is good at taking advantage of situations in her favor.
Now it was only a question of where her parents and the ambassadorial staff were being kept. Myra spent the next couple of days listening at the local bars and market, searching for clues from the chatting soldiers that wandered through town on a constant basis. The Chinese were far from keen on the invasion, and Myra found them very willing to cover for the sudden appearance of Ming, once she’d proven she was there to fight. There were those who were still wary she was a Japanese spy, but when she provided credentials bearing her father’s name from the nearby embassy, they had been willing to work with her. She had forged her own father’s writing to support the guise of Ming Dwan, but found it necessary under the circumstances.
A few days passed with no word, and then her patience finally paid off as she listened to two Japanese officers while she served them tea. Unlike her father, her Japanese was spotty, and she refrained from listing it as a language since she could barely speak it without a Chinese accent, but she could certainly understand it.
They discussed matters concerning Americans near the Russia/Korea border, along the coastal areas. Such a location was not far from where Myra was, and they gave some minor details concerning a prisoner compound.
It would be risky trying to liberate anyone from a prisoner camp, but Myra was determined to help whomever she could, escape. Especially those she had come for.
053.Earth
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: Myra, her parents, and some soldiers
Word Count: 285
Rating: G
Summary: Myra scouts out the prisoner camp.
Author's Notes: Gathering intell…
The moon was waning now, as Myra clung to clumps of wet earth on the side of the hill in the dark. The moon had not risen yet, and she still retained her cover as solders trampled the ground not a couple feet away. They passed around the perimeter of a pathetic tent city, the canvases still waterlogged from the day’s rain. Myra stifled a shiver as she felt her peasant clothes soak through with mud and cold water in the ditch. She would need to make sure she warmed up back at her temporary hut. Catching cold before trying to rescue someone was a poor situation. Your senses dulled, reflexes slowed…
Myra tensed as a soldier started to walk towards the ditch, but he stopped not inches away, staring down the embankment, both directions but passing over Myra as her muddy form held still.
After he left, she peeked over the edge again, towards the tent that had her attention. Peeking out of it, came a man’s pale face, complete with duds which one normally attributes to office attire, instead of camping gear. A soldier grumped an order in his direction, and the head disappeared back in the tent.
Myra gave a tight-lipped smile. She still recognized the face of her father and knew where he was. There was no other camp, and from her observations, her mother was in the tent with him. She’d seen the need to stay, to make certain that the camp hadn’t been segregated.
Now she carefully slithered her way along the filled ditch, letting the lazy current carry her back the way she’d come. At least she would be clean by the time she returned to the hut.
096.Go
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: Myra, her parents
Word Count: 304
Rating: G
Summary: Plans in action.
Author's Notes: The great escape begins.
Ambassador Reldon and his wife sat within their small, dark tent as a light rain fell. The canvas above their heads would be soaked through as it had on previous nights, leaving them shivering in the cold together. There was no telling the forced message had been received by their daughter, or if she was even in any position to have something done about their predicament. They only knew she was involved in service of the same government they represented, and little else.
The sound of muffled footsteps was heard on the other side of the wet canvas, the rain and mud squishing around the light tread that stopped at the open end of the tent. A lean, feminine figure slid into the tent, taking off a small hat that had been protecting her from the rain somewhat. In the darkness, they could not see the woman’s face, but her voice was clear, though it was quiet.
“I am Ming Dwan.” The Ambassador classed her heavily accented English from the central area of China, a place he and his family had spent much of their time. “Your staff and a few others are roused and prepared for my signal. We are leaving tonight. Do you have a change of clothes?” The Ambassador began to speak as he nodded, but the woman cut him off by pressing a hand to his face. “If they are dry, change. Take nothing with you unless it is imperative to national security. Otherwise, your words will be more than enough.” She turned, but remained at the end of the tent, slipping the two flaps of sopping cloth open only enough to permit her view of the scene outside. Off in the distance, She could see lightning approaching, and would wait until it reached the camp, before making her move.
069.Thunder
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: Myra, her parents, their staff, some other escapees
Word Count: 378
Rating: G
Summary: Flight.
Author's Notes: Myra’s luck seems to turn around when she has the home field advantage.
Myra had been successful in extracting most of the people she’d warned of the impending breakout. A couple had been killed by gunfire, but for the most part, everyone was doing a good job of keeping low and keeping quiet.
Lightning flashed and everyone dropped to the ground, holding still for a second before continuing. Thunder drowned out the sound of gunfire and bullets that whizzed past them, sending up large splatters of water even in the downpour. It was a race of the kind Myra had never tried before, moving with such a large, slow group of unorganized people while a military machine rolled behind them, sniffing out their tracks like a pack of hounds.
Another lightning flash and everyone fell to the ground again except Myra. She pressed tight against a rock, noting the pass to a nearby craggy hill that she had chosen. It provided cover, and just beyond it, a group of horses to carry those that followed her. They would all have to double up, including herself, but it would give them speed when stealth was no longer an option for flight.
She pressed everyone on, telling them to follow the path and then double up on horses. The small ponies could have handled a third in a couple cases, but Myra had also accounted for inevitable losses in the flight. She was the last one through the small passage as the crackle of thunder and gunfire rang in her ears. The rocks chipped around her, but she kept pressing onward. The soldiers were closing in quickly, and she only hoped that the horses would be mounted before she arrived.
Using the muddy ground to slide quickly down a side of the hill, Myra grunted as she hit the ground and looked up. A couple people were still trying to get on the beasts, and she soon found one with a younger man on it that didn’t have a second rider yet.
“Hurry! They will be arriving shortly!” She chanced shouting between peals of thunder, and it had its effect as the last stragglers finally got on, and Myra led the way. They all whipped their horses to breakneck speeds as they nearly flew across the watery plains towards the mountains, and freedom.
024.Family
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: Myra, her parents, their staff
Word Count: 354
Rating: G
Summary: The fruits of work well done.
Author's Notes: Myra gets her family home.
Many of the escaped decided to remain in the mountains, in order to organize a resistance and return to the camp to save others. Meanwhile, Myra, her parents and what remained of their staff traveled the long, but safe route back to Hong Kong over treacherous mountain paths, across rivers and through jungles. The entire route, Myra remained as Ming, not once betraying her identity to any. It was a trying period, where she wanted to do little more than hold her mother and father, and shake hands with those who had watched her grow up.
At last they reached the edge of the mountains and below them loomed the city of Hong Kong. Ming stopped and looked down at the city with a look that appeared almost longingly, before turning around and starting to head back down the mountain pass.
“Ming Dwan!” The Ambassador called out.
“I promise to bring you to Hong Kong safely. There are no Japanese here. You will meet your daughter at the Panda Luck Tea House. She awaits your return.” Ming Dwan consented to the Ambassador’s insistence at a handshake, and a hug from his wife. The remainder of the escapees offered her a bow and then she left, whipping the horse along the mountain path, heading for an unknown destination.
Myra had to ride the poor horse as hard as the night she’d freed her parents in order to make it to the city with time to change and remove the stubborn dye from her skin. She was a few minutes late, and turned the corner on the street to the tea house as the last of the staff entered. Walking briskly, Myra followed them to a private table, and waited for everyone to sit, before walking around the rice paper divider. Her mother and father nearly jumped on her and she hugged them tightly.
“I’m so glad you’re okay!” She didn’t want to let them go, and they remained there for a while.
“Myra, my girl. Thank you. Thank you, thank you.” Her father nearly squeezed the breath out of her as he hugged her tightly.
086.Choices
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: Myra, her parents
Word Count: 123
Rating: G
Summary: Sorrowful partings, due to choices in life.
Author's Notes: Myra leaves China to continue her fight back on American soil, and in the Nexus.
Even after their ordeal, Myra’s parents were determined to stay in China. They would relocate to Hong Kong, and be ready to represent the US upon foreign soil should they be called to do so.
There had been teary goodbyes, as Myra insisted that she had to return to America. She did not say that she had left the Bureau weeks before, nor did she mention Ming unless her parents specifically asked about the ‘severe, but talented’ woman.
Now as the ship pulled away from the dock, Myra could see her mother crying, and her father providing a strong shoulder as he waved to his daughter. Myra waved, and shouted in her best Chinese, free of the thick Ming accent.
“I’ll write soon!”
090.Home
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: Myra Reldon
Word Count: 127
Rating: G
Summary: Myra relaxes after her whirlwind exploit.
Author's Notes: Post adventure, chill-out.
Myra settled into her New York apartment, having taken an extra day in San Francisco to find herself a new apartment. It would be a bit of a stretch with her current monetary situation, but she had located a cheap place, where rent was minimal, and added its location to her PINpoint as well.
She shifted on her couch, sighing and thinking about how she would need to send in a call to Burbank notifying The Chief that she was home. For the time though, she would take a rest, and send the easier of the messages. Pulling out the PINpoint, she typed in a quick message and then leaned back on her couch, dozing to the sounds of her radio that played softly in the room.
As much as she had missed China, she had to admit, this was home.
This continues and finishes the story from [100 prompts - Parents, Brown] and [100 prompts - Passing, Green, Yellow, Moon], parts 1 and 2 respectively.))
078.Where?
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: Myra, her parents, some soldiers
Word Count: 250
Rating: G
Summary: Myra learns where her parents are.
Author's Notes: Myra is good at taking advantage of situations in her favor.
Now it was only a question of where her parents and the ambassadorial staff were being kept. Myra spent the next couple of days listening at the local bars and market, searching for clues from the chatting soldiers that wandered through town on a constant basis. The Chinese were far from keen on the invasion, and Myra found them very willing to cover for the sudden appearance of Ming, once she’d proven she was there to fight. There were those who were still wary she was a Japanese spy, but when she provided credentials bearing her father’s name from the nearby embassy, they had been willing to work with her. She had forged her own father’s writing to support the guise of Ming Dwan, but found it necessary under the circumstances.
A few days passed with no word, and then her patience finally paid off as she listened to two Japanese officers while she served them tea. Unlike her father, her Japanese was spotty, and she refrained from listing it as a language since she could barely speak it without a Chinese accent, but she could certainly understand it.
They discussed matters concerning Americans near the Russia/Korea border, along the coastal areas. Such a location was not far from where Myra was, and they gave some minor details concerning a prisoner compound.
It would be risky trying to liberate anyone from a prisoner camp, but Myra was determined to help whomever she could, escape. Especially those she had come for.
053.Earth
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: Myra, her parents, and some soldiers
Word Count: 285
Rating: G
Summary: Myra scouts out the prisoner camp.
Author's Notes: Gathering intell…
The moon was waning now, as Myra clung to clumps of wet earth on the side of the hill in the dark. The moon had not risen yet, and she still retained her cover as solders trampled the ground not a couple feet away. They passed around the perimeter of a pathetic tent city, the canvases still waterlogged from the day’s rain. Myra stifled a shiver as she felt her peasant clothes soak through with mud and cold water in the ditch. She would need to make sure she warmed up back at her temporary hut. Catching cold before trying to rescue someone was a poor situation. Your senses dulled, reflexes slowed…
Myra tensed as a soldier started to walk towards the ditch, but he stopped not inches away, staring down the embankment, both directions but passing over Myra as her muddy form held still.
After he left, she peeked over the edge again, towards the tent that had her attention. Peeking out of it, came a man’s pale face, complete with duds which one normally attributes to office attire, instead of camping gear. A soldier grumped an order in his direction, and the head disappeared back in the tent.
Myra gave a tight-lipped smile. She still recognized the face of her father and knew where he was. There was no other camp, and from her observations, her mother was in the tent with him. She’d seen the need to stay, to make certain that the camp hadn’t been segregated.
Now she carefully slithered her way along the filled ditch, letting the lazy current carry her back the way she’d come. At least she would be clean by the time she returned to the hut.
096.Go
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: Myra, her parents
Word Count: 304
Rating: G
Summary: Plans in action.
Author's Notes: The great escape begins.
Ambassador Reldon and his wife sat within their small, dark tent as a light rain fell. The canvas above their heads would be soaked through as it had on previous nights, leaving them shivering in the cold together. There was no telling the forced message had been received by their daughter, or if she was even in any position to have something done about their predicament. They only knew she was involved in service of the same government they represented, and little else.
The sound of muffled footsteps was heard on the other side of the wet canvas, the rain and mud squishing around the light tread that stopped at the open end of the tent. A lean, feminine figure slid into the tent, taking off a small hat that had been protecting her from the rain somewhat. In the darkness, they could not see the woman’s face, but her voice was clear, though it was quiet.
“I am Ming Dwan.” The Ambassador classed her heavily accented English from the central area of China, a place he and his family had spent much of their time. “Your staff and a few others are roused and prepared for my signal. We are leaving tonight. Do you have a change of clothes?” The Ambassador began to speak as he nodded, but the woman cut him off by pressing a hand to his face. “If they are dry, change. Take nothing with you unless it is imperative to national security. Otherwise, your words will be more than enough.” She turned, but remained at the end of the tent, slipping the two flaps of sopping cloth open only enough to permit her view of the scene outside. Off in the distance, She could see lightning approaching, and would wait until it reached the camp, before making her move.
069.Thunder
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: Myra, her parents, their staff, some other escapees
Word Count: 378
Rating: G
Summary: Flight.
Author's Notes: Myra’s luck seems to turn around when she has the home field advantage.
Myra had been successful in extracting most of the people she’d warned of the impending breakout. A couple had been killed by gunfire, but for the most part, everyone was doing a good job of keeping low and keeping quiet.
Lightning flashed and everyone dropped to the ground, holding still for a second before continuing. Thunder drowned out the sound of gunfire and bullets that whizzed past them, sending up large splatters of water even in the downpour. It was a race of the kind Myra had never tried before, moving with such a large, slow group of unorganized people while a military machine rolled behind them, sniffing out their tracks like a pack of hounds.
Another lightning flash and everyone fell to the ground again except Myra. She pressed tight against a rock, noting the pass to a nearby craggy hill that she had chosen. It provided cover, and just beyond it, a group of horses to carry those that followed her. They would all have to double up, including herself, but it would give them speed when stealth was no longer an option for flight.
She pressed everyone on, telling them to follow the path and then double up on horses. The small ponies could have handled a third in a couple cases, but Myra had also accounted for inevitable losses in the flight. She was the last one through the small passage as the crackle of thunder and gunfire rang in her ears. The rocks chipped around her, but she kept pressing onward. The soldiers were closing in quickly, and she only hoped that the horses would be mounted before she arrived.
Using the muddy ground to slide quickly down a side of the hill, Myra grunted as she hit the ground and looked up. A couple people were still trying to get on the beasts, and she soon found one with a younger man on it that didn’t have a second rider yet.
“Hurry! They will be arriving shortly!” She chanced shouting between peals of thunder, and it had its effect as the last stragglers finally got on, and Myra led the way. They all whipped their horses to breakneck speeds as they nearly flew across the watery plains towards the mountains, and freedom.
024.Family
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: Myra, her parents, their staff
Word Count: 354
Rating: G
Summary: The fruits of work well done.
Author's Notes: Myra gets her family home.
Many of the escaped decided to remain in the mountains, in order to organize a resistance and return to the camp to save others. Meanwhile, Myra, her parents and what remained of their staff traveled the long, but safe route back to Hong Kong over treacherous mountain paths, across rivers and through jungles. The entire route, Myra remained as Ming, not once betraying her identity to any. It was a trying period, where she wanted to do little more than hold her mother and father, and shake hands with those who had watched her grow up.
At last they reached the edge of the mountains and below them loomed the city of Hong Kong. Ming stopped and looked down at the city with a look that appeared almost longingly, before turning around and starting to head back down the mountain pass.
“Ming Dwan!” The Ambassador called out.
“I promise to bring you to Hong Kong safely. There are no Japanese here. You will meet your daughter at the Panda Luck Tea House. She awaits your return.” Ming Dwan consented to the Ambassador’s insistence at a handshake, and a hug from his wife. The remainder of the escapees offered her a bow and then she left, whipping the horse along the mountain path, heading for an unknown destination.
Myra had to ride the poor horse as hard as the night she’d freed her parents in order to make it to the city with time to change and remove the stubborn dye from her skin. She was a few minutes late, and turned the corner on the street to the tea house as the last of the staff entered. Walking briskly, Myra followed them to a private table, and waited for everyone to sit, before walking around the rice paper divider. Her mother and father nearly jumped on her and she hugged them tightly.
“I’m so glad you’re okay!” She didn’t want to let them go, and they remained there for a while.
“Myra, my girl. Thank you. Thank you, thank you.” Her father nearly squeezed the breath out of her as he hugged her tightly.
086.Choices
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: Myra, her parents
Word Count: 123
Rating: G
Summary: Sorrowful partings, due to choices in life.
Author's Notes: Myra leaves China to continue her fight back on American soil, and in the Nexus.
Even after their ordeal, Myra’s parents were determined to stay in China. They would relocate to Hong Kong, and be ready to represent the US upon foreign soil should they be called to do so.
There had been teary goodbyes, as Myra insisted that she had to return to America. She did not say that she had left the Bureau weeks before, nor did she mention Ming unless her parents specifically asked about the ‘severe, but talented’ woman.
Now as the ship pulled away from the dock, Myra could see her mother crying, and her father providing a strong shoulder as he waved to his daughter. Myra waved, and shouted in her best Chinese, free of the thick Ming accent.
“I’ll write soon!”
090.Home
Fandom: The Shadow
Characters: Myra Reldon
Word Count: 127
Rating: G
Summary: Myra relaxes after her whirlwind exploit.
Author's Notes: Post adventure, chill-out.
Myra settled into her New York apartment, having taken an extra day in San Francisco to find herself a new apartment. It would be a bit of a stretch with her current monetary situation, but she had located a cheap place, where rent was minimal, and added its location to her PINpoint as well.
She shifted on her couch, sighing and thinking about how she would need to send in a call to Burbank notifying The Chief that she was home. For the time though, she would take a rest, and send the easier of the messages. Pulling out the PINpoint, she typed in a quick message and then leaned back on her couch, dozing to the sounds of her radio that played softly in the room.
As much as she had missed China, she had to admit, this was home.