Chun Li's Apprentice: 4

They had been running for about 30 minutes, with only a few seconds of rest here and there. Finally, neither Lily nor Cody could run anymore and they wound up collapsing in the middle of the woods.
Cody slouched up against a tree and Lily did the same with a rock. The two were so out of breath they took a full 10 minutes to fully catch their breathing. Silence fell over them again and it stayed that way for another 10 minutes. But then, all of a sudden, Cody got up from his seat on the ground and began walking off. Lily was confused and shouted after him.
"Hey! Wait!" Where are you going?"
Cody stopped and looked back.
"What? I'm out of prison." Then he continued walking.
Lily got up and followed him.
"Well, where are you going?" She asked again.
He shrugged.
"I dunno. Roam around, find someone to brawl with."
Lily was even more perplexed.
"You don't have anywhere to go? Or anywhere that you want to go?"
"Not really. I just like to fight."
"Wait, so you just broke out of prison to fight people? Not even just to be out?" Lily kept questioning.
"Well yea to be out too. But also to fight more than just thugs and criminals." Cody shrugged again, still looking melancholy and indifferent.
"What is it to you anyway? You're out of prison too. Don't you have somewhere you want to go?" Cody was slightly annoyed.
"Well, I can't go anywhere. They have to know by now that I'm missing and everyone I know knows I was in jail. So I've got no where to go. But I do have an idea. Now that I'm out I can try to track down the guys who framed me and find out what they were up to. Then maybe I can prove to my master that I didn't kill that guy." Lily said.
"Ok. Great. Go prove your innocence. It was nice knowing you." Cody said monotonously.
However, Lily was stalling. She, for some reason, did not want to leave Cody's side. He was the only person she could really depend on at the moment, considering she just broke out of prison with him. And Lily couldn't really go see Chun Li. She would just take her back to jail. And Lily's father was out of the question. He would just do the same. So who else could Lily really trust?
"Well, um, I figured you could help me." Lily had an idea to keep Cody around.
"Yea, how?" Cody said even more annoyed.
"You like to fight, right?"
"Yea."
"Well whoever these guys are, from 'Shadow loo', are really tough and I can't beat them all by myself. Plus there is a good chance I will encounter other people just as strong  and just as violent along the way. I'm not asking you to save me, but just if I can't beat someone I could possibly tag you in or something and you can finish the fight. Please, I need to find out who these people are and prove that I'm not a killer."
Cody grunted and kept walking.
"No, wait!"
Lily grabbed Cody's arm to stop him. And when he did he pulled his arm away quickly.
"Look if you like to fight that much I'll let you take all the fights. Please just help me and if and when things work out, I'll talk to my master about getting you off the hook for what you did." Lily added the last part even though Cody looked enticed at the mention of taking all and every fight Lily encountered.
So he sighed, feeling he couldn't resist to much anymore. Plus he felt bad for Lily some. He believed she was innocent and thought of how much it must suck to be put in jail for something you didn't do and no one important believed you. And when he saw Lily's expression of distress he felt even worse. She was a pretty girl and he didn't like seeing pretty girls upset.
So Cody sighed and nodded, crossing his arms.
"Ok. I'll tag along. But only for the fights. I'm not responsible for you."
Lily nodded smiling with relief.
"That's fine. I do not and will not expect you to come back for me. But same goes for you." She said.
But Lily thought to herself that if she could help it she would go back for Cody. The crush she had on him wouldn't let her abandon him and she knew that. And she couldn't help but blush at the thought of being in Cody's company for a while.
"Understood. Well I guess since you want to prove your innocence 'n all, you tell us where to go." He said.
"Um...ok. I guess we should get out of this jungle and get you out of those shackles and that striped prison suit, which will let everyone know you are an escaped inmate." Lily suggested.
Cody shook his head.
"No way. The suit and chains stay on." He cracked his knuckles and stretched. "I'm used to them by now."
Lily felt it was a safety hazard as they did not want to go back to jail. But she did not want to argue. So she shrugged it off and continued.
"Oh...ok...well then I suppose we she should just find a town and go from there."
Cody shrugged, arms still crossed and Lily nodded.
"Ok then. This way I guess."
And then they both began walking.
But unbeknownst to them they had been being watched.
In the trees, a creature was watching Cody and Lily talk and when they began walking off, it followed them in the thicket of leaves and branches.