Beyond the End: Chapter 5

“No, no no.” Chien Po said very patiently. “You hold it like this Shuen. Like this. Don’t put a death grip on the arrow. And pull back harder on the string. Harder. Making faces like you’re in extreme pain won’t help any. Now pull back more on the string. That’s better. Now the objective is to shoot the arrow through the tomato and on to the circle on the tree. Got it? Try it. Okay. Not bad. Not bad. Just keep in mind that you’re aiming for the tree with the circles on it. And try to get a tomato too. Try again. Well, I suppose you improved if you grazed the tomato a bit. But try to remember that you are aiming for the tree, not the ground. The tree, Shuen, the tree. Try one more time. Ouch. Poor squirrel. Okay, I think you’re aiming a bit too high now. Try it again. Good….you hit the tree. Yes, I agree that’s quite an accomplishment. You can stop jumping and running around in circles and waving your arms now. Shuen, you still have to get a tomato and pin it on a circle. Yes, that’s right. No, wait! It’s okay, calm down. No, don’t stomp on the bow, you’ll break it. Shuen, if you break it, you’ll have to make another one yourself. Okay, let’s try again.”

*****

Shang tried very hard not to laugh while Chi Fu was pacing back and forth in front of him, complaining about the insolence of the new recruits. The toothpick like figure was not only comical in the fact that he was wildly waving his paintbrush with one but that he was also holding a wet cloth to the top of his head with the other at the same time.

“….purposely threw the arrow right in front of my nose! Not only does he have no respect for authority, the arrow he threw nearly cut my nose off! And he deliberately dropped the weights on my head! And your captains were no help at all, they just sent him to practice archery! They are the most incompetent, irresponsible…..”

A soldier opened the flap to the General’s tent and poked his head in. “Forgive me General for interrupting your meeting but I’ve been sent to tell you that there’s something inside the counsel’s tent.”

Grinning broadly, Shang shook his head, “No, that’s quite alright, you weren’t interrupting anything important.”

Chi Fu stopped in midstep. “What? What is inside my tent?”

“Well, sir, it seems to be alive and we occasionally hear snorting noises…” reported the soldier.

“Why isn’t anyone driving the animal out?!? My possessions will be destroyed!!” exclaimed Chi Fu.

“No one wants to drive the animal out because……they’re afraid. We don’t know what’s in there.”

“I wouldn’t worry that much,” recommended Shang. “It’s just a tent. If it’s destroyed it can be rebuilt.”

“Rebuilt?!? I will not have it destroyed! Someone must stop the animal!!” With that, Chi Fu ran out of the tent yelling for help.

Shang shrugged at the soldier and followed the sprinting consul to his tent. It seemed that the soldier’s report was slightly inaccurate. The entire camp seemed to be surrounding the tent and the atmosphere around him did not seem to generate fear, but rather….amusement? As he looked around, he saw the occassional grins and slaps on the back. In addition, he heard laughter and snickering. And as for Chi Fu’s tent, there was in fact something moving in there, making occasional grunts. It was not before long that the bumping and movement within the tent caused it to collapse.

“Noooooooooo!” wailed Chi Fu. Suddenly, the consul stopped his wailing and began an ear piercing shriek when it seemed as if the creature was coming out from under the tent. It poked its horrifying head out to reveal the head of……a panda.

A fresh round of laughter and jeering filled the air.

“Watch out, consul! A squirrel’s headed this way! Better start running now!”

“Oh, help, oh help, somebody! A rabbit’s going to mess up my tent!”

“Augh!! Duck! A bunch of butterflies are coming toward us!”

Chi Fu narrowed his eyes, realizing he had been made the bunt of another joke. “Very funny,” he noted without humor.

Yao and Ling nudged each other and slapped each other on the back while laughing. Ling saw Chien Po return with the “punished” Shuen from the forest. “So, how did it go, Chien Po?” he asked.

“Not very well,” Chien Po noted. “He seems very efficient at hitting trees, not a particular tree but he did hit them. He just seems to have a problem with the tomato and circle concept.”

“So, how did it go, Shuen?” asked Shio.

Shuen groaned, rubbed his right arm, and made a face at Shio.

“Hey wait!” pipped up Chi Fu. “What’s this for?” he exclaimed, pointed at a faint bamboo bit trail leading to his tent. The lightbulb in his head slowly turned on. “Someone must have lured the panda into my tent! Who did this?!?”

“Hey, Shio” whispered Ling. “Hold onto this for me for a sec.”

Shio took a hold of the bamboo shoots. “Okay, what’s this for?”

“Who has bamboo???” demanded the red faced consul. Everyone immediately stepped aside and pointed at the blank faced Shio.

“Ah ha!! So you were the trouble maker!” exclaimed Chi Fu as Shio opened his mouth to defend himself. “Save it. You’re guilty. Now you must be punished. Ge-ne-ral!!”

Shang looked at the confused recruit. “Clean-up duty for tonight,” he decided.

“Only clean-up??” However, Chi Fu could do nothing but protest to departing backs.

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