The fire crackled, emanating a slightly uncomfortable heat and casting light throughout the small clearing they had made camp in. The party's early stop the previous day had allowed them enough time to wash off their sweat and some of the grime in the murky river water nearby, and after Anna had dried the remaining moisture off of herself, she had eaten her share of the rations along with her father and Short Round. Now, they played cards, remaining a comfortable distance from the fire.

Willie was late to the fireside, having taken extra time to bathe. The early stop had mostly been for her sake, so even as the sun set and the sky turned to night above, they had decided not to bother her. Just as visibility was becoming low enough outside the camp to have cause for concern, the bushes rustled and Willie came into the light, body still slicked with a layer of water and a stained sheet the guides had given her wrapped around her body.

Anna had been fortunate enough to have come packed with multiple changes of clothes in her bags, and had something dry (though not necessarily clean) to immediately change into after coming out of the water. Willie had no such luxury, and instead had to wait for the dress coat, pants, and shirt that she had been loaned to dry.

Looking up from her hand of cards, she greeted Willie, "Hey. How was it?"

Willie sighed, taking her panties from a branch and walking over to the fireside, "Thanks for giving me some time alone," she said wearily, sitting down on a rock next to Anna and holding out her undergarments to the fire, presumably to accelerate the drying.

"I call," Indiana muttered, taking a coin and adding it to the pot.

Both the sets of eyes still in the game turned towards Anna, who looked down at her cards with a frown. She had a two pair, which she was feeling pretty confident in. Yet, as she looked back up to the other players, she caught Short Round's gaze as he subtly shook his head at her.

She supposed that was her signal to fold. Short Round has gotten lucky several times that game, and Anna was feeling reluctant to lose any more of her money.

Indiana, though, seemingly caught Short Round's expression, immediately saying to Anna, "Call him. He's bluffing."

"I only want your father's money, Anna, you should fold," Short Round retorted.

Anna looked between the two again. Short Round continued to shake his head, while Indiana nodded. With a frown, Anna cautiously and hesitantly pushed forward a coin to match everyone's bets.

"What you got?" Short Round asked, looking towards Indy.

Indiana revealed his hand, "Two sixes."

Anna, being the next one focused on, revealed hers and hesitantly said, "Two pair? Kings and eights?"

"Three aces!" Short Round cackled, revealing his hand, "I win! You should have fold when I tell you to Anna, one more round and I have all your money!"

Pouting, Anna watched as Short Round took the pot. Giggling to himself the entire way, Indiana rolled his eyes, collected the cards, and began to reshuffle the deck, "It's poker, anything can happen," Indiana growled as his hands worked the cards.

There was a shuffle from next to her as Willie, seemingly satisfied with the dryness of her undergarments, stood to walk over to where the rest of her clothes had been drying on a sun-heated rock. As she stumbled over, walking on the detritus of the jungle floor with her bare feet, she asked, "So, where'd you find your, uh, little bodyguard?"

"I didn't find him, I caught him," Indiana responded, "His parents died when the Japanese bombed Shanghai. I caught him trying to pick my pocket."

Short Round simply nodded at that as Willie reached the treeline, picking up her clothes and beginning to find branches to hang them on properly, "And what about your daughter?" she asked distractedly, "You said you found her in Panama back in the village?"

Indiana looked over and met Anna's gaze as he finished shuffling, "I found her when I was between my first and second year of classes. She was crying alone in this ruin in the middle of the jungle. I thought she was some sort of rare bird and took her to sell to a zoo. I changed my mind when we figured out she was just as intelligent as any other girl."

"Then we fought a court case and everything to make America change its mind as well," Anna added, reaching down to pick up the cards that were dealt to her.

There was a sudden scream from Willie, along with the screech of some sort of bat. Anna looked up from her cards to see the famous american female vocalist drop a large fruit bat and run away from her clothes in a panic, disappearing behind some brush at the corner of the camp.

Sparing not more than a single glance towards Willie as he dealt his own cards, Indiana rolled his eyes, "The problem with her is the noise."

Anna looked back down to her cards with a shrug. Before she could really comprehend a strategy for the round, there was a sudden accusation from Short Round, who jabbed a finger towards her father and said, "Hey! You cheat Doctor Jones! You cheat!"

Willie screamed again as something hissed in the distance, causing her to run the opposite way across the fire. Indiana, more preoccupied with the accusation, looked down at his cards and say, "That was an accident, it stuck together."

"No! No accident! I very little! You cheat very big!" Short Round fired back.

Anna frowned and lowered her hand as Willie continued to run around the clearing, filling the air with piercing screeches as Indiana and Short Round descended into arguing in fast-paced Chinese with each other. The argument suddenly silenced, however, as Indiana grabbed Short Round's arm and reached into his sleeve. Short's face went from outrage to instant sheepishness as Indiana extracted an ace from his sleeve.

"What's this, then?" Indiana taunted.

Anna, seeing the stowed card, knitted her brow. She recognized this method of cheating from her very first game with Short Round, "Hey!" she shouted.

Despite this accusation, Short Round descended back into arguing in Chinese with Indiana. Willie ran one last time in front of them, tripping over a branch and falling onto her hands and knees as she glanced rapidly around, wide-eyed.

"You make me poor! Playing with you is no fun! No fun!" Short Round finished his tirade in English, wiggling his finger at Indiana.

Indiana threw down his cards, "Oh fine, I quit."

"Oh fine!" Short Round mocked, picking up his winnings and shuffling over away from the two Joneses to count them.

Anna, throwing her cards down as well, gave a dirty glance towards her father and hissed, "Why do you keep letting the little twerp get away with that?"

Indiana's face softened, and he gave a chuckle and a shrug, "He finds it fun, and in the end it's all my money. He can take a little extra winnings home with him as a bonus on top of his salary."

Anna narrowed her eyes, "You know, how come I don't get any salary or bonuses for playing games with you?"

"You get your allowance?" Indiana shrugged innocently.

Before Anna could retort, Willie scrambled back towards them and the fire, "This place is surrounded from all sides!" she screeched, "There's living things absolutely everywhere!"

"That's why they call it the jungle, sweetheart," Indiana responded.

Something roared in the distance, causing the guides, resting at the edge of the clearing, to look up from their own hushed conversations. The noise, however, caused the most panic to Willie, who stared in its direction with a face of horror, "What was that!?"

Anna, sighing and letting her jealousy simmer down for the moment, soothed Willie, "They won't come near the fire, Willie. We aren't worth attacking to them."

Willie glanced over her shoulder at them, "How do you know they won't? What if they're just really hungry or something!?"

"Do you see us all afraid and jumping at every noise?" Indiana offered, reclining against the rock he was sitting next to.

Willie set her brow, "I don't think either of you are great barometers to gauge the danger of the situation! That kid found being chased through the streets by armed gunmen fun, and you decided to jump out of an airplane in a rubber raft!"

Indiana chuckled as she scooted over to take a place by the fire. Changing the subject, he asked, "So, Willie. Willie, is that short for something?"

Willie adjusted the sheet as it hung around her body, before sitting down on one of the bedrolls prepared by the fire. Looking over to Indy, she looked him up and down before responding, "Willie is my professional name, Indiana."

Short Round looked up from his winnings, retorting, "Hey! You call him Doctah Jones, doll!"

"My professional name," Indiana responded, reaching down and picking up one of the coins from his pot and flicking it over to Short.

Anna also decided to shift over onto one of the bedrolls, directly across the fire from Willie, asking, "So Willie's, like, a pseudonym or something?"

Willie, with a sigh, admitted, "It's short for Wilhelmina. That's my full name."

Anna blinked, "...Huh."

"It's kinda long and clunky, so I shortened it to Willie when I started work," Willie said, "Don't use my full name unless you're talking to a police officer or something, okay?"

"Whatever makes you happy, Willie," Indiana chuckled, taking the re-stacked deck of cards and placing them back in his satchel.

Willie sighed, taking the bowl of rations saved for her, before grimacing once again. The quality of the food had not gotten any better throughout their trip, and definitely wasn't any better than the meal they had gotten in Mayapore. Hesitantly, she scooped up a bite with her fingers, chewing and swallowing before saying to Anna, "You're lucky to get a nice, simple name, Anna. Anna Jones. Rolls right off the tongue."

"Henry is a simple name too. Didn't stop Dad from taking a pseudonym," Anna said, giving her father a sly grin.

Indiana gave her a bemused look, before raising his hand and pointing at her, "Don't be so sure. One day maybe you'll have to write books under a pseudonym."

"I don't think so," Anna said.

After gagging on her first bite of meal, Willie looked over to Indiana and asked, "Why are you dragging us off to this deserted palace? Fortune and glory?"

Indiana reached into his pocket, retrieving the small piece of cloth that had been given to him back in the village, "Well- this is a piece of an old manuscript. The pictograph represents Sankara, who's a priest."

Willie and Anna leaned in, Short Round coming around to sit on one of the bedrolls to watch as well.

"That blue person is Shiva, the Hindu god. The sanskrit on the margins here says that Sankara climbed a mountain to meet 'em," he explained, running a finger gently across the painted depictions.

"What's he giving to the priest?" Willie asked.

"Five stones. Magic rocks, with instructions to go use them to combat evil," Indiana said, gently folding and re-pocketing the manuscript.

"Magic rocks?" Willie grimaced, "My grandfather was a magician. He spent his entire life with pigeons up his sleeve, made a lot of kids happy, and died a very poor man."

Indiana gave a nod as he surrendered the point, "Well, fortunately, for us they don't need to be magical. They're said to have diamonds in the center of them."

Willie's eyebrows shot up at that, "Diamonds? How big?"

Indiana shrugged as he shuffled over onto the last remaining bedroll, "Don't really know. Even if it's false, there's a good chance the artefacts are historically significant enough to get a good amount of money from a museum for them."

Short Round looked over to Willie and wiggled his eyebrows, "Be nice, maybe we cut you in?"

Willie, who had had a far away look in her eyes ever since the mention of diamonds, snapped back to reality and gave Short Round a dirty look, "Ugh. As long as your quest gets me to some place with a shower, a real bed, and a telephone, I'll be happy."

Indiana reclined onto his roll, sighing as he yawned, "Well, get some sleep then. We'll move at first light. Hopefully, we'll be there by noon!"

After a rude awakening at first light the next day, Anna sleepily allowed herself to be lifted back up onto the back of the elephant. More of the pain in her wings had been replaced by stiffness after three days of rest. Her father had recommended she keep trying to move them, so that they didn't "heal wrong". The idea, no matter how improbable, of her wings somehow healing back into an unusable state was enough to prompt her to listen to the advice, and she fought past the stiffness and the quieter pangs of injury to keep her wings moving.

Eventually, the untamed undergrowth of the asian rainforest gave way to signs of human civilization. Fields were cut into clearings in the forest, full with rich yellow and green crops. Anna spied a few farmers in their fields, some of them even giving her and her companions glances as they convoyed past. They rounded a turnin the road, and through the hills to the distant north, they laid eyes on it.

It could only be Pankot Palace, Anna thought, as she spied it. Made out of a light brown - perhaps beige - material and resting on top of a mountain, the castle was almost elevated to the heavens amongst the nearby hilly landscape. Even from this distance, Anna could recognize the splendor. Tall spires, walls and plazas, gardens, and paved roads surrounded the castle, winding from the countryside and up towards the jewel of the jungle's crown.

"That's it, Pankot Palace," Indiana shouted to the group, turning around with a cheeky grin towards Willie Scott, "Up to your expectations, doll?"

"It looks gorgeous!" Willie breathed, ignoring Indiana's comment.

Short Round looked between the palace and Indiana, "It remind me of White House!"

"White House is smaller, much smaller," Indiana chuckled, "...And more boring, I think."

"Will we live somewhere like that when we come home with Sankara?" Short Round asked.

Indiana shrugged, keeping his eyes on the palace as he turned his head back towards the road, "Maybe. Probably not though, I doubt the scientific community will prize some shiny rocks as much as the people who stole them from Mayapore."

Anna frowned, leaning forward towards Indiana as Short Round stared at the palace, "Dad? I really think we should return those stones..."

Indiana sighed heavily, "Anna. We've had this conversation..."

"Yeah, well-" Anna started, only to be cut off.

"There are five of them, Anna. Five stones, remember?" Indiana dismissed with a wave of his hand, "Maybe we return one of them. They don't need all of them," he admitted, before doubling down again, "And! And even if there's only one at Pankot, it won't help them to give it back!"

"But it's something that's part of their culture, Dad!" Anna argued, brows knitting in frustration, "And their religion! It's just not right to just be- stealing that from them!"

"They won't know," Indiana murmured.

Anna ground her teeth, leaping at the moral high ground with vigor, "That's no excuse, Dad! And you know it!"

Indiana placed his hands on the sides of the elephant, steadying himself as he shifted himself over far enough to turn around and look Anna in the eyes, "That's enough, Anna Jones! Remember the rules? I won't hear any more of it, okay? You're not even meant to be here, you're meant to be safe in Europe with Marcus! We've lost the Peacock's Eye, and fortune's giving us another chance! You need to listen to me, or we're coming home empty-handed!"

Anna spluttered, feeling like she had been slapped across her face. Her stomach sank as crawling sensations went across her skin, "But..." but what? No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't quite grasp for a retort.

Indiana's eyes momentarily lost contact with Anna's, and his expression changed to a moment of realization as he glanced between Willie and Short Round. Anna followed his gaze, the turn of her head making her realize that her eyes were watering, and shame crossed her face. Willie had winced, staring onwards at the two as if she couldn't look away, while Short Round's shoulders had drooped and his eyes looked up towards Indiana with an indecipherable look. Swallowing, he turned around away from them back to the front. Silence overtook them as the plodding of the elephants punctuated the beating of Anna's heart. Fortunately, the guides didn't understand a thing, and only gave a few odd looks towards Indiana and Anna.

After a moment, Indiana sighed, "...Sorry. Anna, you've been really brave so far. But you need to let me make the decisions, for both of our sakes, okay?"

Anna's lip curled bitterly as she turned her face away from her father. Retorts bubbled up, burning her scalp with their pressure. She wanted to shout at him that he still hadn't proved her wrong, that she was still right... but at the very same time, the anger that made her want to shout made her want to sit and let her father stew. It wouldn't solve anything... but she didn't care.

The mood thoroughly ruined, there was no more conversation to be had as the group plodded through the forest. Not even the usual rattle of complaints from Willie was spoken through the gloom as the woman settled for breathing through her mouth rather than her nose and messing with her hair. Anna's heart panged for Short Round, who looked particularly broken up... maybe even more than Anna herself.

The jungled closed back around them as a river slowly meandered off to the right. Bats flew overhead again, the beating of their wings distracting Anna from her commiseration. From the mutter of, "Damn giant bats..." from behind her, Anna figured that Willie had noticed them too.

Something struck her as odd, though. It was nearly midday. Bats were generally asleep at this time, not out and about hunting. What could have disturbed them...?

Suddenly, one of the guides, having patrolled ahead of the elephants as they went through the thicket, stopped. The elephant riders stopped the beasts as he did, looking curiously ahead as the lead guide began to whisper something to himself. His voice rose from a whisper and became louder and louder, shouting something hysterically in Hindi as he stumbled backwards.

"Main neeche jaoonga," Indiana murmured to the guide of their elephant.

Nodding, the guide signalled to the elephant to raise one of its feet, allowing Indiana to climb down the leg to the ground safely. Anna frowned, considering hopping off the elephant as well. Eventually, she decided the bother of being helped to climb back up was worth sating her curiosity, and she jumped down to the ground. Her knees and shoulders twanged with pain as she hit the ground from the height, but she walked forward behind her father nonetheless.

Indiana, not minding his daughter's hoofbeat behind him, patted the panicking guide on the shoulder as he walked past him. He reached for his holster only to touch the empty flap at his side, his lips twitching with annoyance as he withdrew his hand and continued his walk forward.

Vines and bush grew ahead, but both Anna and she assumed her father could see something manmade on the other side. The stench of rot stung at Anna's nose, and she took a moment to wipe the water in her eyes as Indiana reached forward, sweeping and pulling the plant life aside. The object was revealed; a towering stone statue with a cruel, carved face. Fangs seemed to protrude from a mouth belonging to a face that Anna could only vaguely recognize as female. Human skulls covered the demon-esque visage, jaws agape in endless screams. A bowl sat in front of the statue, smeared inside with something putrid. Around its neck, a twine held up a necklace.

Anna felt a similar feeling overtake her as the one she felt when touching the shrine. Knives of ice scraped at her bones, and whispers echoed from the undergrowth around her. Her ears flattened as she stepped back, eyes quivering as she stared at the adornments on the necklace.

"Oh my god... are those human fingers!?" Willie screamed from behind Anna.

Bile smashed against the back of Anna's throat as she heaved, the little remnants she had of breakfast pushing past her choking throat as she vomited. The smell, malaise of the statue's aura... she heaved again.

"Doctah Jones, Anna, what you look at?" Short Round's voice came from behind Anna as she turned around, shielding her eyes from the gory visage.

"Don't come up here," Indiana warned.

Bats flocked across the sky as Anna's stomach finally stopped clamping down on itself. Their screeches filled the air as the guides started to panic, shouting in Hindi as they rushed back towards the elephants. Fortunately... or perhaps unfortunately, Willie and Short Round had seen it fit to dismount their elephants as well, as the guides took the reigns and began to run in the opposite direction of the statues, back up the trail. The small comfort was that they at least had the mind to kick the group's bags off of the elephants before they stampeded away.

"Ohhh Indyyyy! They're taking our rides!" Willie screamed, waving her hands in the air as their guides fled back through the forest, eventually stopping to cough and beat at the air as the dust kicked up by the elephants got into her face.

Indiana's shoes stepped down near Anna's hunched-over form as he gave a passive, concerned look towards her. Facing Willie and Short Round, he announced, "We'll be walking from here."

It was a hard three hour's walk down the road, especially once the road turned uphill. The forests died out as they came into the highlands, giving way to shrubs spread out across open plains. More farms cultivated the hills and valleys, growing rich and full. Animals grazed in pastures, and Anna peered as she saw even a few pigs and cows.

"Hey Dad..." Anna asked, looking up to see her father's head turned towards the same pastures she was examining, "...Aren't Hindus like, not meant to interact with pigs?"

"And they're also not to eat cows. Look at how heavy the cattle are. They're raising them for meat," Indiana nodded towards the fattened cows, brow knitting as he looked back forward towards the road.

"This place kinda reminds me of home, ow-" Willie hissed as she staggered behind them, face contorted in pain as she dealt with the gravel road with nothing but Indiana's dress shoes, "Mmf- just fewer chickens!"

Short Round rubbed his belly as an audible growl reached Anna's ears, "You think they have beef up in palace? Maybe hamburger, Doctah Jones?"

Indiana's face twitched as he stared up towards the looming palace, "Maybe they will. If they do, I'm afraid it'll be more troubling than filling..."

The day was ending. Blue skies gave way to bright, shining orange as the sun approached the horizon. Not a single cloud polluted the sky, the golden hue only being complimented with the occasional swarm of bats flocking between the patches of untamed jungle in the distance. The golden fields of grain, the green fields of rice, and the orchards and pastures almost seemed to bow towards the mountain they climbed as the sun cast its shadows across them.

The palace was now close enough to truly appreciate. Another twenty minute's walk or so, and they'd be directly in the massive structure's shadow. Anna could now see that the entire complex, towering several stories high and perched up near the escarpment's highest altitudes, was surrounded by a wall near its base. A river seemed to run from the top of the palace complex, watering an array of gardens perched upon scenic plazas and balconies as it flowed down towards the walls and out a large, gated drain. The road ahead of them, paved with cobblestone at last after miles of gravel and dirt, lead into a wide outer boulevard that seemed to wrap around the palace's walls in both directions. Bushes carrying thorns and flowers rustled gently in the constant breeze that swept in from the west, the occasional tree breaking up the monotony in the green wreathing of the road. Directly ahead of them was what appeared to be the main entrance: a gaping gate in the midst of the wall, accentuated with delicate arches and carvings, with its portcullis raised.

She could see the dark faces of several men lining the walls, clearly guards. They seemed to be armed, just not with rifles. Bows were silhouetted against their backs, and several of them watched down upon them with dark eyes. They wore white and red garb, with opulent headdresses and silky gowns. Clearly, made more for show than for combat.

Two of the finely dressed guards stood by the main gate, each wielding long spears with a small red sash attached just beneath the head. One held out a hand, speaking in clear but accented English, "Halt! Are you expected?"

Indiana took the initiative as the rest of the group stopped, stepping forward and putting his hands together in greeting, "Hello, sir. I'm an archaeologist from America. I was on a trip from Shanghai to Delhi, when our plane crashed. A local village directed us here, saying that you could help."

The guard's stern face remained stable as he turned and shouted something in Hindi behind him. After a short conversation with someone just out of sight, the guard turned back around and spoke again in English, "Please remain here. I have sent a message for my masters," the guard's eyes scanned the members of Indiana's group, and much to Anna's unsurprise, settled firmly on her. A finger pointed in her direction, "What is this large bird you have brought?"

Indiana chuckled dryly, "This is my daughter, Anna."

"Hi," Anna offered with a roll of her eyes.

The guard's venere of professionalism nearly broke as he blinked rapidly in Anna's direction. Eventually, the guard looked to his companion, who simply glanced back at him. With a shrug, he reaffirmed his grip on his spear as he continued his stand at attention.

Whoever the masters of the palace were, they sure kept stranded strangers waiting. The sun continued to crawl down as the group eventually decided without discussion to sit down in a vague circle in front of the gates on the, thankfully smooth, cobblestones. At the very least, the view was pleasant enough to distract them.

"What I wouldn't give to live in a place like this..." Willie cooed as she absent-mindedly chewed on the edge of a broken fingernail, looking up wide-eyed at the towering palace.

"Marry the Maharaja and maybe you'll get that chance," Indiana chuckled, "I've heard men in these parts are quite partial to white women to add to their harems," he said, grinning mischievously.

Willie's smile fell as she looked at him, almost offended, "Ew! Cut that out!"

"I'm just saying what I know," Indiana defended with a pair of raised hands.

Anna peered at one of the nearby flower bushes, leaning forward and sniffing one of the flowers. The bushes obviously weren't planted for their scent, but the small amount of floral scent the flower did have was enough to please her nose, "Whoever's in control here, they're real rich, that's for sure. If the inside is a fraction as pretty as the outside, then it could probably compete with the palaces of the rulers of entire countries... let alone a province."

Short Round rubbed the back of his neck, "Anna, when you wings better, you take me flying here okay?"

Before Anna could think of a response, a male voice turned the heads of her and her friends towards the gate, "I must say, you all look rather lost!" a man, dressed in a grey suit and tie, shouted from the gate of the palace, "But then again, I cannot imagine where the three of you would look at home!"

The man walked down the few steps from the main gate towards where they were sitting. His English accent and European-style garb would've lead Anna to peg him as an Englishman, if it weren't for the complexion of his skin, which looked more like a fairer shade of a darker skintone. A pair of glasses sat on his nose, and polished dress shoes clicked across the cobblestones towards them. A golden watch was wrapped around his right wrist, and he smelled of a fine cologne.

Indiana Jones grunted as he stood up, Anna, Willie, and Short Round following his example, "Well, hopefully we're not lost anymore," he said, putting on a smile, as he stretched out a hand towards the well-dressed man.

The man took his hand with a polite nod, "My name is Chatter Lal. I am the Prime Minister to his highness the Maharaja. Who are your... companions?" his eyes quickly glanced between Willie and Short Round, but settled firmly on Anna as he said the final word in his sentence.

"Hi, my name's Anna," Anna rolled her eyes, knowing it was going to be one of those days where she was going to have to justify her ability to talk to every stranger she met, sticking out a hoof up towards the prime minister.

Chattar Lal blinked, reaching out and taking her hoof and shaking it, before withdrawing and dusting his hands off, "I took classes on the animal kingdom in Oxford. Can't say I've ever heard of something that can mimic human speech that well..."

Indiana's smile became more forced as he reached down to his belt and adjusted it, "She's my daughter, sir. She can talk, think, and feel just like you or I."

Chattar Lal grimaced nervously as he looked back down towards Anna, "Sorry about that, miss..."

Anna mustered up the energy to grunt and say, "It's not the first nor the last time I've been called an animal or petted like a dog by a stranger."

Indiana Jones relaxed slightly when the prime minister apologized, and eventually reached out and patted Short Round on the shoulder, "This is Short Round, my assistant," he then jerked a thumb towards Willie, "This is Miss Willie Scott," then he placed his hands back on his hips, "And I'm Indiana Jones."

At the name, Chattar Lal seemed to blink with recognition, "Doctor Jones? The preeminent archaeologist?"

Willie huffed as she leaned forward around Indiana, "Hard to believe, isn't it?"

Chatter Lal snapped his fingers as he looked towards Indiana, "Of course! I've read about you in university!" he turned his attention then towards Willie, reaching out his hand to shake hers, "Enchanted to meet you too, madame."

Willie took the polite greeting in stride, face brightening up with a genuine smile as she shook his hand, "Thank you very much, Mr. Lal!"

He withdrew his hand before turning and waving for them to follow, "Of course, you are welcome in Pankot Palace. You've come at quite an opportune time as well," he said as he scaled the steps, the group following behind him as they entered the palace compound, "There is a regiment of the British Army staying here on inspection. They travel back to Delhi in a week's time, I'm sure they can escort you then... unless you need to leave urgently, of course."

Indiana grinned as his eyes fixated on the Prime Minister, "Nah, I'd be more than delighted to stay a few days and... examine such an important example of the local architecture and customs."

"Ah, of course, your doctoral mind encourages that no doubt!" Chattar snapped his fingers again as the guards stepped aside for them, "I have no doubt that we can grant you a very detailed tour of the palace during your stay here! Oh- and," he turned waggled a finger towards them as they came into a lower courtyard, "I shall have you set up with some suites and baths. I do not make any untoward presumptions in thinking that your daughter will require a room?"

Anna opened her mouth, but Indiana cut her off as he quickly clarified, "Of course."

"Right, silly of me to even ask then!" Chattar Lal adjusted his tie as he looked away again.

Beyond the gates, they seemed to enter a tiered system of courtyards. Low, slouched buildings hugged the walls around the perimeter of the palace, no doubt being a place for servant's quarters and the like. The main part of the palace was above them, up a few more storey's worth of ramped roads. Between them and the entrance to the palace proper, though, was a system of three courtyards. The river Anna had spotted earlier ran through this place, and the water gubbled in a series of waterfalls cascading down every tier.

The lowest tier was the largest, being cut into the mountain slightly. It was wide, open, and grassy. Several equidistant rounded areas of soil were wreathed by rich, vibrant flower bushes, with trees growing in the middle of the circles of soil to tie them together. Fruits hung from their branches, several having fallen to the ground beneath them and contributing to a pulp of dead leaves and plant refuse that was stylishly restricted to only be behind these flower bushes. Around the path leading to the ascent to the next courtyard benches of stone with delicate carvings on them, wide and luxurious enough to lie down or recline on without a lack of space, were evenly spaced out. A few paths branched out, allowing one to explore the rest of the courtyard without straying onto the grass. Anna spotted a series of buildings that stood out from the servant's quarters along the walls. The familiar scent of equine animals wafted down the wind from it, and she could only assume they were stables. They were lead without incident past them and up a flight of grand stairs to the second tier.

The second tier of the opulent palace greenery was an orchard. The plaza was level with the top of the outer walls, and thus the brilliant glow of the setting sun and the cool breeze reached through. The leaves of what had to be around fifty different fruit trees, each of a different type, rustled in the wind. Most of their branches, those that were in season Anna supposed, were laden heavily with the most delectable kinds of fruits, each one gloved in bright oranges, greens, reds, purples, and pinks. Palace staff, Indian men and women, worked in between the trees at a steady pace, so focused in fact that they didn't seem to spare a single glance towards their visitors.

The dominant feature of this part of the palace was the river, cut into a canal that ran naturally through the orchard, that originated from somewhere in the rock that the palace was built on top of. It ran past, flowing rapidly, but its bottom only being a few feet below the surface. The beams of the sun ricocheted off the rapidly shifting surface, sending sparkles of light up towards the eyes. Several bridges crossed the river, one of them the group took to cross over and continue following the footpath further towards the next set of stairs.

Walking by what seemed to be an apple tree, Short Round ran ahead of the group slightly and set his sights on one of the low-hanging fruits of the tree's branches: a bright green apple. Jumping for it, the young boy managed to grasp it on his third attempt, plucking from the branch and causing the tree to recoil from the branch snapping back. A mouth-watering and ear-tingling crunch met Anna's ears as Short Round bit into the fruit, juices spraying out the sides of lips and down his hands as he smiled and chewed.

"Don't spoil your appetite too soon," Chattar Lal said, glancing towards Short Round as he turned up the path leading towards the next yard, "There is a state dinner tonight for the British commander, his officers, and several other dignitaries from across the province! I will ask His Highness to allow some seats for you and your friends, as I have no doubt he will be interested to speak with you all!"

Anna's head swam as she tried to take in everything going on around her. The fact that this place was meant to be a palace had prepared her to see a cynosure, a place of opulence and beauty. However, the complex surrounding her was so grand, so almighty, and so beautiful that it defied simple description. Everywhere she looked there was a pattern of color, a magnificent design, a lush and healthy plant. It was so much that she could probably waste away entire days just wandering around a single section, appreciating every fine detail.

Yet, at the same time, something simply felt off. So easy would it be for the overwhelming splendour to quiet away any worries and doubts. However, something ate at Anna from the inside. That familiar icy gnawing of her bones, while distant and soft, still lingered in the back of her mind. Cold jaws nibbled at her knees and shook her spine as she met the dull, tired eyes of the servants picking the fruits. It was unsettling, just unsettling enough to give her enough clarity to ask the bigger questions.

This palace was fit to house a king, not a prince, so why was it only the capital of a small principality? The village had described that the palace was only recently revived, and sure enough Anna could still see the signs of disrepair and aging, many being patched over or actively worked on by currently deserted scaffolding and stoneworks. How had a palace abandoned so long ago sprung back to life with such wealth and prosperity to support the opulence here? These were the questions sitting firmly on Anna's mind as she dipped her head slightly, giving a wary look over her shoulder as they passed on from the orchard grounds.

The final ascent was made, and the final tier of the palace was reached. Here, the landscape was truly laid out to see. The fields, rainforest, swarms of bats, and the highlands in all direction stretched out towards the horizon, where the dim silhouettes of the Himalayas could starkly be seen in the light of the sunset.

The courtyard itself was not particularly focused on plant life, although two long columns of flower bushes lined the central path through the huge, paved yard. Instead, the place was kept clear, with only a central fountain gubbling with water. Anna could imagine huge, outdoor parties and events happening on the broad stones of the courtyard, and passively wondered how good the view of the stars might be.

Dead ahead, the palace central was located. A looming tower was the focal point of the complex, its surface detailed beautifully with blossoming flower bushes hanging around every window and terrace. The top of the tower was a multicolored mosaic, the blue, red, and yellow tiles at the top slightly faded and cracked, telling of their age. At the very top, Anna could see a row of windows looking out at the landscape around them, and she imagined how cool it might be to fly up and alight at the very top of the tower when she got use of her wings back.

The palace complex surrounding the tower was a series of buildings, up to four storeys high but never lower than two. The rooftops were made out of red, weathered shingles. Construction work partially covered some of the roofing, where shingles were being removed and replaced with fresh, brighter shades of the same material.

Chattar Lal was met by some servants at the front doors of the complex, where he talked to them in seemingly-fluent Hindi. He turned around, flashing his affable smile, "These will take you to your rooms to clean up. You can discuss anything business-related with me and Captain Blumburtt at the dinner in two hours, if you think you can make it after your hard trip."

Indiana Jones opened his mouth, but was cut off as Willie stepped out in front of him, "Oh, I'd be absolutely honored, Mr. Lal."

Chattar Lal snapped his fingers as he seemed to remember something, "Oh, and do you all have appropriate changes of clothes? No offense intended, but I can see especially you, Miss Scott, might be in need of a change."

"Oh, no offense at all," Willie's smile widened with delight, "These rags aren't even my clothes."

"Rags?" Indiana muttered, giving Willie an insulted look.

"Then I will have someone sent to measure you, and give you something from our wardrobe. We have European style dresses, so don't worry a bit," Chattar Lal winked, before turning towards the servants and signalling to them. With that, he walked up the stairs and out of sight.

A similar, dead look perforated Anna's skull as the four servants made to assist them made eye contact with her, before one of them gestured towards Indiana's bags, currently being held by Short Round, "Your bags, if you please sir," they said in accented English.

Indiana hummed pleasantly as he looked towards Short Round, who stowed his half-eaten apple in his mouth as he shrugged of the straps of the bags and handed them over. The servant looked to Anna's backpack next, and she shook her head, "I'm good carrying mine."

"As you wish," the servant said, before turning and walking up to the main entrance.

Indiana chuckled, "Will be good to have a nice bath after the past week."

Indeed, looking down at herself Anna realized that she was very worse for wear on the hygiene department, matching the states of everyone else in her group. Mud from the jungle trek acquired since the river bath the previous day clung to her hide and soaked through her shirt and pants. Various small tears in the fabric from thorns and branches were visible and scraped, raw skin peeked through on various locations behind the tears and on her face. Her mane was stringy, dry, and also matted with dirt. Her teeth felt gross after a week without a proper clean-up at a bathroom, and her hooves were filthy and in need of proper maintenance. While her own nose tuned out her own body odor, she could no doubt guess that all the sweating she'd done from the humidity and tropical heat had made her quite rank. The mosquitoes and random bugs in the forest had also shown her no mercy, and her hide itched with stings and bites, begging to be soothed by soaps and warm water.

Indiana, on his part, was beginning to grow scraggly. He hadn't taken the time to shave during the past hectic week of searching for Nurhachi and then escaping Shanghai by the skin of their teeth. His hair was also growing a bit long after a month without maintenance, but overall he was by far the best off out of all of them. Short Round was the best after him, the young boy having never looked one hundred percent in shape, most likely due to his upbringing. He was just as muddied and malodorous as the rest though.

Willie Scott by far was the worst off, with a previously extremely delicate hairstyle completely let down to roll onto her shoulders and drape over her face. Her long, painted nails were cracked and torn, and the polish itself was staring to chip and peel off. The remains of Indiana's dress coat sat around her, their oversized nature compared to her smaller frame making them hang and catch on everything. Not only that, but the color white clashed very starkly with mud brown. Any remains of makeup had been destroyed by her dunk in the river, replaced by dried sweat and the redness of sunburn.

Willie pushed past Indiana and up the stairs with a mixture of eagerness and frustration as she grouched, "You think you need a bath, bushman!? You look like the type of guy from the movies who could be stranded on a desert island for twenty years and still come out looking like you had a full workover the day before!"

"Was that a compliment or an insult?" Indiana asked, glancing between Anna and Short Round. Anna, for her part, just shrugged.

They were lead through the palace halls. Anna noticed some scaffolding and temporary wooden beams holding up construction work on the ceilings and walls, confirming her observation that the building's age was still being remediated. Rich, painted murals on walls and mosaics along the floors and walls depicted scenes of history and wonder. Most of them were religious in nature, ones which Anna couldn't decipher without her father's level of education. However, a few of the more modern and obviously freshly-installed ones were decipherable to her.

There was a scene they passed, still being worked on judging by a nearby set of scaffolding and abandoned tools. Dark men in red coats holding guns were facing a single man in a similar coat with white skin. One of the dark-skinned uniformed men was holding his gun out, with a small cartridge in his other hand. There seemed there was more to the mosaic, only that the space above the soldiers was blank and still being added to.

The only other depiction Anna recognized was one of Pankot Palace itself, and was actually fully complete. Anna recognized the Union Jack flying over the palace as soldiers in red uniforms stood on the walls and fired down towards other men without uniforms, who held torches and guns.

Finally, they turned down a hallway that ended in a dead end with a window. Four heavy double doors lined the sides of the hallways, which the servants opened as they spread out before them. A fresh scent wafted from inside, smelling of mint and incense. The sun shone through windows, and warmed real, four-poster beds within, laden with satin sheets and light bedspreads.

"Your suites, sirs and madams," the most senior servant said in that same somber, even tone, "Feel free to select your rooms for yourselves."

"Ladies pick first," Indiana chuckled, gesturing forward towards Willie and Anna.

Anna sidled over, nodding her head towards the door on the left the closest to the exit back into the main halls. Willie Scott strode over to the one across from Anna and ran fingers through her hair, "What lovely service!" she noted as she reached down to her feet to pull off the ragged dress shoes she'd been hiking in.

"I go across from you, Doctah Jones," Short Round said.

Indiana, without a word, simply nodded thankfully towards the servants before walking into the room adjacent to Anna's. Short Round walked into the room across, his pace picking up as he walked inside and jumped onto the bed.

Taking her own cue, Anna turned and walked into her own room. The servant standing by her door leaned in after her, "Madame," he intoned, "If you should need anything, pull the rope by your door. A servant will be there shortly. Are you in need of anything we are able to provide?"

Anna nodded, unlimbering her backpack to dig around for her dirty changes, "I don't have any clean clothes to wear to that dinner."

Taking out a bundle of putrid, sweat-soaked, and stained clothes, she held them out towards the servant. He took it without complaint, placing it under an arm and asking, "We will make sure it is done before dinner. Is there anything else?"

Anna shook her head, uttering a wary, "No, thank you," to them as she watched the servant nod stiffly and pull the doors closed for her.

The door clicking shut behind her, Anna surveyed her environment. The room was appropriately large for the amount of luxury the palace had presented so far. It had to be a good twenty square meters or so, the bathroom and balcony included. Most of the floor was tiled, with rich, heavy rugs to provide softness to the floor and variety to the cream-colored stone and tiling. The furniture matched in luxury. Deep, comfortable pillows topped the delicately carved frames of sofas and couches in a small sitting area off to the side, with a patterned rug and a coffee table to compliment it. A rare example of modern technology, the first of its kind since the plane crash, sat on a table near the bathroom door. A large radio set was set up and plugged into a wall. Anna passively wondered what kinds of radio signals she'd receive all the way out here, and turned the knob on the radio's interface out of curiosity. Scanning through several frequencies, she eventually found some soft, staticy music playing on some sort of radio station, and left it on as she continued walking.

A magnificent four-poster bed took the center stage of the room. It was layered with light, thin sheets perfect for the humid environment. Beyond it, a wide open balcony, brimming with flowers and greenery, looked out over the highlands and the setting sun. Above, a ceiling fan whirred slowly, although it felt mostly unnecessary, as the wind from the window outside was more than enough to cool the room.

Anna sighed, her senses soothed slightly by her gorgeous lodgings. Finally taking off her backpack and rolling her shoulders after a long day's hike of it weighing her down, she tossed the bag onto the bed as she walked over to the bathroom, beginning to unbutton her shirt.

The bathroom was luxurious, and its size took around a quarter of the room's expansive floorplan. A sink and bath took up most of the space, and to Anna's pleasant surprise a turn of the taps revealed operational plumbing. Opening cabinets under the sink, she saw various jars of what appeared to be perfumes and other products, bars of soap, shampoos, and a few freshly folded towels. The idea of a bath made the sweat and muck stuck to her body feel especially uncomfortable, and she acquiesced to the feeling as she ran the faucet and began to undo the laces on her boots. She took off her boots and cringed at the dishevelled nature of her hooves and legs.

She wished she could just fly and hover near the sink to wash off her hooves, but she had promised herself to not stress her wings until they stopped hurting, just in case she'd broken something. So, she simply waited by the tub until it was full, tested the temperature, and then stripped the rest of the way down. Taking off her belt, she realized her revolver was still attached to it, with her whip on the other side. Checking the chamber, she found out that she'd remembered to reload it at some point, and all six of its chambers were filled.

The images of the pilot dying at her hooves flashed in her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut as she hurriedly hung the belt up on a nearby wall hook. Taking a few bars of soap, she placed it by the bath before making for her bag. Taking out her custom hygiene kit, she carried it in her mouth back to the bath as she finally climbed in.

Sighing, she enjoyed the comfortably warm water as she soaked, staring at the ceiling. Grime and muck floated to the surface of the bathwater, slowly dissolving off of the strands of her fur and mane. After a few minutes, she submerged below the water and shook her mane around before emerging. She soaped down, the uncomfortable feeling of her feathers being disrupted by the water and soap tickling her once again. Taking her specialized brush from her hygiene container, she made a point of stroking down most of her hide, pulling off the dead final remnants of her winter coat, loose strands of hair, and other debris caught in her coat and depositing them into the quickly murkifying water.

It was about half an hour later when Anna finally decided to finish her bath. Pulling the plug, she flopped out of the bath and towelled down. She soaked through both of her provided towels, her fur retaining more water weight than a human would. As she dried off, the sound of the bath's drain choking behind her made her ear twitch. Back at home, Indiana had installed extra wide piping after her fur had continually clogged the normal human-sized plumbing. It would seem even the luxurious bath was unable to keep up with the amount of detritus she had deposited.

Anna eyed the servant-calling bell outside by the door, before sighing and deciding she wasn't brave enough to seem like a nuisance. If she couldn't unclog it herself after dinner tonight, she'd work up the courage in the morning. Taking her preening brush, she adjusted her feathers back into place and removed dead feathers, the task made slightly more difficult by the twitching of her wing every time the comb tugged too hard and triggered her sore muscles. Then, after brushing her teeth and combing her hair, she moved to exit the bathroom.

Slinging on one of the less-wet towels just to cover up, she walked to the center of her bedroom. The belt, with her whip and gun still attached, was tossed lazily onto her bed. She was tempted to simply roll into bed, her eyes heavy and muscles sore from the walk, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to wake back up for the dinner.

"Shorty!? Where's my razor?" echoed from the hallway, eliciting a snort from Anna as she walked towards the balcony door, deciding to enjoy the view.

The softening rays of the now deep-orange sun peeked through the gaps of the railing, the lip of which was about the height of Anna's muzzle, causing her to crane her neck in order to see the view over it. Fortunately, there was a nearby sun chair to sit on that gave her enough elevation to relax and enjoy the view. Her fur felt plush and soft, and she smelt good after the bath. Sighing, she sat down on her haunches and relaxed, looking over the valleys below. Short Round was right, once she was airborne again, this was going to be a good place to fly and sightsee.

A swarm of bats orbited the spire overhead. Despite finally feeling comfortable again, icy teeth still subtly gnawed at her bones.

Author's Note

I initially planned to have a cut scene from Temple of Doom here, where Willie would get attacked by a snake while bathing. In the end it got cut since the chapter was already over the standard length and it also just wasn't that funny.

I also turned the opulence of Pankot Palace up to 11. This is mostly because, guess what, we'll be spending more time here than we do in the movie! One of the biggest pacing problems with Temple of Doom in my opinion is that after Mayapore and arriving in Pankot, there's no time to properly ramp up tension. The movie just dives straight into the action, traps, heart-extractions, etc.

With the luxury of infinite screentime on my side, I plan to give the mysteries of Pankot the time they deserve...