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"The young are often underestimated"
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Episode 3: Sleepover
Late morning, the time when many are eager to take a break from their daily jobs, and indulge in the one thing many workers look forward to when the sun sets that highest in the blue sky.
Noodles boiled in a pot that sat on a hot stove, ready to be added into a bowl of culinary tastes for the tongue. A wolf boy wearing an apron and hat settled the stove down, and took a spoon to add the noodles and broth into a bowel that shared its space with chopped carrots and cooked onions. The smells of the soup floated upward along with the both's steam, carrying it's delectable smells into the air. The boy put the bowl on a tray that carried other dishes and orders, and proceeded to bring them to the happy customers.
Erdan walked out of the kitchen and into the dinning area, delivering bowls of various soups to people who came for the luxury of a hot, home cooked meal. One by one the bowl were taken off the tray, as Erdan gave the customers their orders, he greeted with a friendly demeanor. He always remembered to bring service with a smile, like his boss instructed him. Erdan returned to the kitchen to help make more soup and side dishes with boss, Mr. Ping, a goose known for being the foster father of the dragon warrior. And for being a stubborn and sometimes profit crazed business man.
As the preteen lupine reentered the cooking area his boss said "Erdan, has table four gotten their orders yet?"
"Yes Mr. Ping, as well as tables six, eight, and ten." Said the wolf boy.
"Good work." Said the goose as he chopped vegetables on a wooden tray. The fathered man realized what time it was and he said "You can have your lunch break now Erdan."
"Thanks you Mr. Ping." Erdan said gratefully. Then the boy took off his apron, and grabbed a bowl of noodles for himself, along with a side of fresh veggies.
Erdan found a table to sit and eat at. Five minutes into chowing down, he noticed a small rabbit boy arrived in the restaurant. A gray furred bunny who was a few years younger then Erdan. The wolf boy waved at his long eared buddy, and the rabbit joined him at the table.
"Hey Fang, how you doing?" Erdan asked.
" G-goo-good." Fang said while trying not to burst out in laughter.
"What's so funny?" Erdan questioned.
"Oh, nothing. I thought that apron was bad, but that's much batter." The rabbit said while pointing to Erdan's head.
The wolf realized he was still wearing the noodle hat Mr. Ping makes him wear. As he took it off he said "Hey, I have to wear it for my job you know."
"I thought your job was being a waiter, not a village fool." Fang muttered before bursting out in laughter.
Feeling annoyed, Erdan replied "If anyone is the village fool it's you, since you always need someone saving every week."
"Hey, I can't help it if I have a craving for thrills." Fang said back.
Erdan just waved his head back and forth, sometimes he wondered why he's best friends with this bunny. After their little moment of jape, the two boys started talking while having lunch. After a while Fang got an idea.
"Say Erdan, are you free tonight?" Fang asked, suspiciously.
Curious, Erdan replied "What are you plotting?" with a raised eyebrow.
"What makes you think I'm up to something?" Fang protested.
"Because the last time you had an idea, the barracks at the Jade Palace almost got blown up!" Erdan strongly said.
"Hey, I had no idea that crate was filled with fireworks!" Fang argued.
"Yeah well, thanks to that we had to scrub the whole floor of the hall of heroes!" Erdan replied.
"Relax, this idea is nothing like that." Fang replied.
Erdan, who had now calmed down a bit asked "Ok, then what is it?"
"You wanna sleepover at my place tonight?" Fang asked suddenly.
Curious, Erdan asked "What's a sleepover?"
Upon hearing that, Fang's jaw dropped. "Wait, you've never had a sleepover?!" the bunny said loudly.
Erdan just shrugged his shoulders and said "What is that?"
Fang put his paw on his face in disappointment. Erdan, his best friend, the wolf boy who could leap from rooftops and fight with bows and arrows, didn't know what a sleepover is!
"It's when you stay at a friend's house and hang out, and have dinner with them, and stay the night with them in their home." Fang explained.
Erdan then replied "Oh yeah, I've done those before."
Fang immediately dropped his head on the table and looked back up and asked "Well what did you call it?"
"Being a guest." Erdan said as he finished his meal.
"Anyway, you wanna do it?" Fang said with a slightly annoyed tone.
After a minute of thinking, Erdan answered "Yeah, sounds fun."
"Good." Fang said releaved though, still a little baffled.
Suddenly Mr. Ping shouted "Erdan, you lunch break is up, and these people aren't paying to sit and starve!"
The two boys got up from their chairs and the wolf said "Gotta get back to work."
"Ok, I'll stop by your mom's store and ask if she's ok with our sleepover." Fang said while jumping on the cement ground.
"Ok, I'll come right after training." Erdan replied while he put his noodle hat back on.
"Alright, and enjoy your food head." The rabbit said before laughing.
Even though Erdan was annoyed by his best friend, he did his best focus on his job. Fang did as he said and stopped by Shu's pottery shop. After some convincing, with Fang trying to make his cutest face to help, Shu agreed that it would be nice for her son. Happy that he convinced one parent, Fang returned home for his bigger challenge, getting permission from his parents.
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Erdan walked down the stairs of the Jade Palace, feeling tired and a little bruised from the drills and sparing Shifu made the kid do. He was realizing that the whole time I the past the old master was going easy on the boy. Erdan remembered the plans he made with Fang and rushed to the bunny's family home, the Hao residents. When he arrived he knocked on the front door, and noticed the patch on their roof from last winter.
Fang's father; Gerald greeted Erdan as he opened the door. "Hello Erdan, good to see you again." Said the rabbit with a nice smile.
Erdan smiled and another rabbit joined them and she said "Oh, hello Erdan."
"Hello Ms. Hao." Erdan greeted while wrapping them both in a friendly hug.
Fang ran over and greeted his friend "Hey bud, the sleepover is on!"
Erdan smiled and was let in with the family of bunnies. After Fang's parents told them to play outside while the parents make dinner. The two boys went out to the side yard and fang asked his lupine friend "You brought your bow and arrows right?"
Erdan pulled them out of his backpack and said "Yeah, why?"
Fang then placed and apple on a tree branch and said "Can you hit that with an arrow?"
Erdan then held his bow and pulled an arrow from his bag, got into position, pulled the string, aimed, and released. In just a second the arrow struck its target and drove right through the apple and on the tree. Fang then placed more apples and Erdan once again hit them with arrows, using his archery skill to destroy the produce.
But then Fang grabbed a drawing and placed it on the tree. It was a crude painting of a pig girl.
"Fang what's that?" Erdan questioned.
"It's… a… target." Fang said with a sly tone.
"Yeah but, why the drawing?" Erdan asked again.
"Umm, well, you see there's this girl who always bothers me, so I was wondering if you would practice giving her a good scare." Fang said quickly.
Erdan then lowered his weapon and said "You want me to point a weapon at an innocent girl, just cause she annoys you."
After a second of silence Fang replied "Yeah pretty much, will you do it."
"No!" Erdan shouted.
"But come on, she bothers me everyday! If she believed my best friend is a wolf then she'll leave me alone. Come on." Fang pleaded.
"No, I'm not going to endanger, let alone scare a young villager. I'm a protector, not a predator."
Fang sighed and said "Fine."
But then a voice yelled "Boys, dinner is ready, come get it while it's hot!"
And Erdan and Fang went inside and sat down and had dinner. It was a little weird for Fang's mother, the site of rabbits breaking bread with a wolf was a weird thing indeed. But she knew that Erdan was a good friend and would never try to do harm to her or her family. Fang's parents were glad that Erdan could be there for their son, and try to be a good example to the rabbit boy. Even though that was better said then done.
While eating Gerald asked "Were you boys shooting arrows at that tree?"
Fang, who had his mouth full, swallowed and answered "Yeah, Erdan was showing me his skills as an archer."
Erdan gulped down a drink of water and said "He put up some apples on the branch and wanted me to shoot them."
Fang's mother then said in an angry tone "Fang I just bought those today!"
The bunny boy then replied with a guilty tone "Yeah, and they made great target practice mom. Worth every coin."
"Well they are going out of your allowance young man." Margret sternly said.
"What? But." Fang protested but was interrupted.
"No buts, we work hard to earn that money, so you should learn to appreciate it, son." Gerald said contributing to his wife's side. Erdan continued eating, deciding to stay out of a family matter.
After dinner was done, the two boys went to Fang's room to play games like Mahjong. The two boys were having a great time, although Fang was annoyed that Erdan won more matches. Later, it became time for bed and Erdan changed into some pants, leaving his chest bare as it was his preferred way of sleeping, and after wishing each other goodnight, they all retired to their beds. But while they were sleeping, Fang had a dream where he did so many wrong things that his parents left him. After waking up, Erdan talked with him about it. The wolf could tell his friend was upset, so he did the best thing he could think of. He bunked with Fang and the two boys slept in bed. Fang wasn't one to admit that sometimes he felt afraid at night, so it was surprisingly nice when he had a friend stay with him. Erdan fur was nice to the touch, like a large soft pillow.
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Gerald woke up in the middle of the night and was suddenly craving a cup of water. He went over to the kitchen, but as he came in he was shocked to see two bison, with bags to steal what they wanted. Immediately the rabbit hurried back to his wife and woke her up.
"Margret, Margret wake up!" Gerald quietly said.
But as she came too, a large bison came in and grabbed Mr. Hao.
Meanwhile, in the boy's room, Erdan and Fang woke up from hearing a struggle. Erdan opened the door but saw a bison walk down the hall, while holding Fang's parents by their ears. Fang peaked through and saw his mom and dad in trouble.
"We have to do something." Fang whispered.
"Yeah, let me think." Erdan said while making a plan fast. "Okay go to my house and get my mom, she can come help us."
"And leave my mom and dad, no way!" Fang protested.
"It's no time to argue Fang!" Erdan replied
"We don't have time to argue dude!" The rabbit said back.
But a voice behind them said "Your right, you don't have time." Suddenly a bison came in and overpowered Erdan and Fang. He brought the boys to the other prisoners.
The robber asked "What do we do with them?"
The other bandit answered "They know we're here, and they've seen out faces, they gotta go."
"What?" screamed the parents.
"Don't worry, I'll make it quick." The head robber said as he pulled out a dagger.
"Which do we kill first, the parents or the kids?" One of the bandits asked.
"Hmm… kid's first." The head bison said.
"No!" screamed Margret.
"Over my dead body!" yelled Gerald
But as the head bandit approached the struggling kids, he noticed that one of them was a wolf. Curious he asked "Now why on earth would a wolf like you, live with rabbits in their den?"
Erdan looked at him and said "Because their family to me."
The knife man then sported a creepy grin and replied "Then you will die with them, as a family."
But little did they know that Fang escaped his ropes, waiting for his moment to strike. Then he ran and grabbed the goons tail, and bit it as hard as he could. The leader screamed in pain while Erdan elbowed the other bison in the crotch, sending shooting pain between the man's private region. He let go of his grip of Erdan and Fang's parents and immediately the wolf cub grabbed the rabbit family and tried to get out. However the exit was blocked and they were cornered. Erdan stood in front of the family, ready to protect them, even with his own life if needed. But as the bison were aproching, Fang jumped onto the counter and threw knives and pots at the bison, which gave Erdan the time to strike, disarm, and pin down the goons. While they were down, Fang took a pan and knocked them on the head as hard as he could, knocking both bisons out cold.
Erdan grabbed some robe ment for the prisoners and tired the bisons arms and legs. After wards Erdan ran to the jade Palace, and in just an hour Po and the other masters arrived to take the goons to prison. Fang's parents thanked their heroes, and well as the masters for helping.
Margret looked at Erdan and thankfully said "Erdan, thank you so much. For saving our family."
Gerald did the same but Fang said "Hey, I did half of the fighting you know?"
"I know Fang, and thank you so. You were very brave." Margret said.
Fang was happy to hear praise from his parents, only for them to lecture him about how foolish he was while his mother held him by the ear. Erdan chuckled a bit, though he was just relieved that they were safe and alive. He asked if fang's parents would go easy on him this one time. And, surprisingly they agreed and gave their son a break. The rabbit boy was fearless when defending his family after all. After wards the morning sun rose up and they parents treated their boys to a special breakfast in their honor, for saving their loved ones.
While they were eating, Fang asked "So Erdan, you wanna sleepover again next week?"
Erdan, who paused for a minute, replied "Well, alright. But next time can we do it at my place."
And then they all started laughing at Erdan's reply, and the parents were thankful that their son, and his best friend saved their lives. And Fang's father said to his wife "Maybe our son will turn out pretty well after all… maybe… hopefully."
And Margret replied "Well, with Erdan's help, maybe he will."
And the two hugged each other and the four animals ate and laughed the whole morning.
