Unspoken: Crane's Past

Chapter 1

Victory, or Loss?

By: Skyyler

"Alright students, you may now go back to your quarters." The buffalo yelled at the mighty rhino students that were already sweating to the beat of their own battles in training. "You need the proper amount of sleep in order to wake up nice and early tomorrow." He smiled, as each and every one of his students began to trudge away from their training grounds. They were exhausted, but they knew that if they showed it, they would be kicked out of the Faim Lee Dah Kung Fu Academy for sure.

The buffalo's head quickly twitched to his left, as he eyed the building in front of him. "Crane! I need you to clean up this mess!" He yelled.

Out of no where, a long-beaked bird swept in from the dark skies, and landed right in front of him. "Consider it done, sir!" He chuckled in a happy manner. The buffalo just stomped away, without giving a remark.

The sun was already set, and the stars were just beginning to appear out of the dim-lit sky. And of course, the massive, neon blue full moon was already high in the sky, as well. This was the time of the day when every single one of the students went back to their quarters, to get to sleep. Crane could swear this place was like boot camp, and for that he liked. He had the ability to do the great things that they could do, and then some. He was just a little too shy to even step up to his dreams of training with them. He heard that the new students tryouts were already coming up. He wanted so desperately to get into it, but...

"Crane! Get sweeping!"

Quickly scattering away from his drowning thoughts and dreams, Crane immediately got to work. Not only did he have to sweep, but even do the laundry, hang it all up, and afterwards, do it all over again, by picking up all the left-over sweaty tank tops and shorts laying around that the careless student rhinos threw all over the place.

After the laundry, he had to clean up the training grounds. He was so used to this, it was nearly a piece of cake putting everything back in order.

Smiling, the bird flew behind the displaced staffs, and swung them back to another wall, in which they were first set, every day. He also swept the floorboards with a simple swipe of the wings. The dust quickly flew off the deck he was located on. Once done with that task, he finished up by blowing out all the candles that were lit, with as well, another swipe by the wings. Landing gracefully, he-

"Crane...!" A struck voice came. He opened his eyes, to see his friend, Mei Ling, staring at him in wonder. "You're amazing!" She smiled. Her bright yellow eyes shined at him, as her alive, innocent face gave him a look of awe.

He blinked, and quickly looked over what he did. "Wh... me?" He looked back at her.

"You should try out for the school!" She kept her sweet smile on him.

Crane giggled at her. "No, that's..." He began to stutter his words. "Craziness... t-talking." He's never actually talked to Mei Ling this personal before. He was so nervous around her, but he didn't know why. He then thought it over, raising his shoulders. I'm not as strong as those guys! What is she thinking? He smiled once again. "No, no no no..." He reassured.

A sense of inspiration filled Mei's eyes, as she sighed inward. "Well, you'll never know, unless you try." She spoke with soft words, walking off with a swing in her step.

Crane began to think. Well... if I can set that good of an impression on Mei Ling, the best student fighter in the academy, then what will my fighting look like in the actual try-outs? He looked down, as he finished up his sweeping. Okay, I guess I'll give it a try... He thought over what he just said. Smiled. No, I'm going to get into that academy, no matter what anyone may think!

And there, his training began.

Crane finally finished his last set of push-ups, when Mei Ling stepped out. "Crane, are you ready for the try-outs tomorrow?"

The bird quickly got up at her response. He looked at her, and hummed. "I'm pretty sure I am." He smiled back at her.

Mei Ling, nodded. "Good! I hope to see you there!" She slowly walked back out, into her room, which was situated right next to his.

Oh no Crane, are you really ready for the try-outs? Crane clenched his beak shut in determination. Yes, I.... I am. I mean, how hard can they be?

BAM! BIFF! Pow!

Grunts of pain rattled out from the arena from the try-outs, as Crane slowly made his way over to it. His legs were shaking, as he could see rhinos and buffaloes running into the arena, to get the red flag that they were supposed to get, in order to get into the academy, and being flung back out. They had no strategy at all... they were just running in there, and getting pounded by the unseen obstacles that soon took them out, one by one! Crane was quickly losing his cool, as he slowly backed away from the arena.

The buffalo master grunted. "Pathetic. Not one of you can do this?" He looked around to each and every one of the injured and bruised 'warrior's. He shook his head at them, and began to turn away.

"Wait." A feminine voice came. It was Mei Ling. "There... is one..." She directed her paw over to a bird in the distance.

It was Crane, who was standing there, embarrassed that he even came. "Uh, hi, everybody..." He chuckled in a nervous manner.

An awkward silence filled the air.

"Crane?" The buffalo asked.

Laughter filled the training grounds, as it grew louder and louder. Crane could hear rants about him being too small, and not knowing anything about Kung Fu and such... "W-With those skinny legs??" He laughed even louder, as he couldn't keep his eyes open from the tears that were flowing out.

Mei Ling looked at the crowd, who were all doing the exact same thing that the buffalowas doing. She felt so much pity and sorrow for the bird, as she walked over to him.

"That's the... first time that's ever been mentioned..." He half chuckled, along with the laughing, pointing rhinos all around him. He wanted so badly to hide his shame, but with what? By going back to his every day life?

"Crane," The buffalo sighed without a doubt, Crane couldn't take on the course. "Since you're here, why don't you get started cleaning." He tossed Crane a broom, giving him the order to clean up the rest of the place through his eyes, while the laughing continued in the background.

Mei Ling walked to Crane, and slowly looked up into his eyes. "I'm... so, sorry." She looked away in her own shame. She began to think it was her own fault that she invited him to come.

"Ah, don't... worry about it." Crane shook off his embarrassment, and stayed in his safe, emotionless box. "It's... It's totally fine-"

"Crane! Get goin!" The buffalo yelled back. "There are teeth everywhere!"

The bird softly sighed, and looked away from his ashamed friend, as he walked away to go broom. "It's fine, really..." He continued to talk to himself, as he swept what seemed like thousands of teeth that were on the ground. Once stepping over some yellow line, he-

Twack!

A block of wood came and nearly hit Crane. Gasping, he blocked it with his broom. He blinked, and looked up.

"Crane, stop!" A voice yelled out of no where. Apparently, the others were aware of what Crane was facing. He was facing what the others had failed. He frantically looked around, as adrenaline rushed through his veins. "Now, step out, slowly..." His master spoke in a calm voice.

Crane looked to where the red flag was located. "All you need to do, is get that red flag." Crane softly gasped. This is your chance, Crane. You can show them what you've got, Crane... come on, just go! Either go, or forever wish you had! Crane looked over the course. The obstacles... they were like hanging laundry! If you don't get the right speed, you might drop them on the floor, but if you have everything perfect, you may just get them perfectly on the rack...

Hope filled Crane's eyes, as he slowly looked back, to the only animal that inspired him to come, and that was Mei Ling. She smiled, and nodded at him to go. "You can do it, Crane..." She softly whispered under her breath.

He took his first step. Another log came swinging in from nowhere. He blocked it, and dodged another. He gasped. He knew he could do this, all he needed, was hope-

Crane dodged yet another one, and flew straight through the course, all the while blocking and dodging sticks and logs along the way. He smiled, as he quickly dodged another, and another, and another log! I can do this... I can do this! He kept whispering to himself, as he kept his wings out, and his body tense. Through his body, he could feel a sense of lightness and complexity that he couldn't even explain. It was so great! And all he, and anyone else needed to get through this course, was reassurance...

He blocked yet another one and another, and when that moment finally came, he took it, and landed perfectly, in front of the red flag. All he needed, was confidence. He grabbed the flag, smiling all the while, and walked back out, to the cheers of the crowd. They had finally accepted him!

"Crane, that was incredible!" Mei Ling came up to hug him tightly.

"It was... nothing, really-"

"Oh, don't fool yourself. You passed the course. You are now a student of the Faim Lee Dah Kung Fu Academy." The buffalo said with a grunt. "Not only will you be sweeping, but you will also be training." He squinted. "Pack your bags. Be ready by sunrise." He began to walk away.

Crane looked at Mei Ling. Her impressively proud smile slowly faded, as she thought. "Wait... what does he mean, 'pack your bags'? Does... does that mean you're moving to a different part of the academy?"

The bird thought about it, as well. He swallowed. "I... I think so..."

Mei seemed a bit struck. She slowly looked away. "Will you... come visit, anytime?"

Crane's breathing was slow, as his wings slowly flapped at the side of his body. "I'll try, the best that I can." His eyes came back to meet hers. He softly sighed. "I-"

"Crane! Get sweeping!" The buffalo yelled from his quarters.

Crane just nodded at the buffaloes direction. "Well, I better start cleaning back up..." He took his battered broom, and began to sweep, once again. It seemed nothing changed, but, got a little bit harder. And what made it even more heart-breaking, he would probably have to move away from his one and only friend, Mei Ling... into a 'better' room for the 'better' students such as the males. Or so everyone thought...

"I'll... see you tonight, Crane..." Mei Ling slowly walked away, still dumb-struck that Crane had to leave her so fast.

And there, as the rhino's and soon-to-be students departed back to their quarters, that same bird was left there to clean up their mess. The dim of the night was just at dawn, as, once again, the stars cleared a shining path into space above. The moon shed it's blue light upon the gray-scaled scenery around. It was peaceful, but still, disturbing. Crane couldn't get over the thought, that he had to leave the only animal whom he only trusted, his training buddy, his one and only true friend; Mei Ling...