Chapter 3: your training begins
I started hearing my name being called through my mind, like an echo in a hallway. My eyes began to open slowly and the image of an unfamiliar room came into view.
"Hey Ben. Ben! Come on get up man" I heard a familiar voice. It sounded like...Mantis's.
I brought my hands to my face and grunted slightly. Im still here? God, it wasn't a dream. There really is talking animals! Either that, or I've gone insane.
I sat up and stretched my arms. I yawned and got up and turned to see Monkey and Mantis by the door. Mantis was once again on Monkeys shoulder. I rubbed my eyes and approached them.
"Shifu wasn't too pleased when you didn't get up for the morning gong" Monkey said.
"Sorry, I was really tired" I replied in an apologetic tone.
"Come on let's go get breakfast. Hopefully Viper has finished making it" Mantis said as Monkey turned to leave and I followed behind.
When we stepped outside I shielded my eyes from the morning sun. Defiantly a more preferable weather than last nights. It was much easier to see and my god, what a sight. We were so high up and the sight was just...beautiful. High mountains with the buildings standing proud with the sun shining down on the mountain causing a warm feeling to grow inside me. Despite the sun out shining, there was still a bitter cold out. Eventually reach another building which was probably the kitchen. A sweet aroma filled the air as we entered the building. When reach a set of doors a looked into to see what was inside. The kitchen had a table with chairs set around it and the tiger and Crane seemed to be sitting down eating two different types of food. The tiger seemed to be eating what looked like small, cubed pieces of tofu or something like that with a pair of chopsticks. Crane on the other hand was eating something out of a bowl with a spoon. From the aroma I few minutes ago I would assume it was porridge, which I love. To the right, I saw Viper by a stove. She was stirring something in a pot, probably the porridge.
Viper turned and noticed us and smiled "Hey guys. Grab a bowl and I'll pour some porridge in" she said reaching for a ladle. I noticed four bowls on counter next to the stove. Mantis jumped off Monkeys shoulder and onto the counter. He picked up a bowl and Viper poured in some porridge.
"Maybe you won't try to poison me this time" Mantis joked, which in response, Viper shot him daggers and hissed. He then headed to the table at an incredible speed. Most likely to try and avoid getting his ass kicked. Monkey then grabbed a bowl and Viper pour him some porridge. He inhaled through his nose taking the smell from his bowl and smiled.
"Oh that smells incredible. Thanks Viper" he said before heading to the table. And finally I grabbed a bowl and Viper poured porridge in it. I could already feel the bottom of the bowl heating up as the smell entered my nostrils.
"Thank you Viper" I said as I joined the rest at the table. Shortly afterwards Viper filled a bowl for herself and sat beside Crane. As we started eating, Mantis, immediately after one spoonful, sighed.
"Nothing like the food on the Winter feast" he said, with sadness in his voice. I then saw Monkey roll his eyes while Viper seemed rather annoyed.
"Same thing ever year" she mumbled.
"I can't help it! Every year it comes around with food so tasty, you could just cry. I swear I can hear it taunting me right now" he said.
"It's been two weeks since the feast, just move on and wait till next year" Crane said.
"What's the 'winter feast'?" I asked confused.
Mantis, Crane and Viper turned towards with bewildered Expressions. I was kinda regretting asking that question.
"Wait, you've never heard of the Winter feast? The Holiday where every master from every province, gather for a big feast?" Mantis asked, almost surprised that I've never heard of this feast. I merely just shook my head.
"Wow, you're really not from here are you? You must have lived really far away of you've never heard of the Winter feast" Crane said, as he continued to eat his porridge.
"So how far away are you from home?" Viper asked
"I'm..not sure. Where I'm I exactly?" I asked.
"Well right now you're in the Jade Palace which is in the Valley of Peace" she said. I raised a brow in confusion. "South of Chongqing?" I still had confusion plastered on my face. "Um...China?" my eyes widened. C-C-China! Oh my God! I'm in fricking China! How the hell did I get here?! Mother of God, first there's taking animals, now I'm not even in my own country. I feel...strange.
"Hey Ben, you okay? Surely Vipers cooking isn't that bad" Mantis said, Viper then proceeded to smack him in the back of the head.
"I'm..fine, just surprised I travelled to far" I replied
"You looked like you were gonna vomit or something. You sure it wasn't-" Mantis was about to finish his sentence until he saw Vipers tail hovering over his head "Uh..never mind"
"Yeah, don't worry I'm good" I said, trying my best not to look too suspicious.
"Well if you say so. Anyway we should head to the training hall now. And you should come to Ben. Master Shifu would like to speak with you" Crane said, as he got up to leave. The rest followed and I came behind last. So we started heading towards the training hall and was deep in my thoughts while the rest conversed.
"I wasn't sure what was going on anymore. This clearly wasn't a dream. But how is all this real? Talking animals? Bloody hell. And to make things more insane I'm halfway across the world! Like my life couldn't get anymore messed up. The only up side to all this was it was keeping me distracted from-"
I shook my head trying not to think about..everything that's happened before. As long as I just don't think about it, everything will be fine. We eventually reached the training hall and the sound a music filled the air. When we entered the courtyard, we saw Shifu sitting with his legs crossed under the tree playing a flute. His playing ceased as his eyes laid upon us.
"Proceed inside and begin your training. I would like to speak to our guest" he said.
While the rest went inside, I was left alone with Shifu and for some reason I felt rather nervous.
"You failed to get up when I had asked" he said, rising up from his sitting position and placed his hands behind his back.
I lowered my head slightly "Sorry about that" I apologized
He then began to role the back and forth with fingers "Do you know why I had asked you to get up with the others?" he asked
I thought for a short moment before shaking my head "Sorry, no" I replied.
"I was testing to see if you could do it and I can see that you failed" he said, rather harshly.
"You were testing me? Why?" I asked.
"Last night Crane had informed me of how you were able to deal with one of the bandits. He said that you handled yourself pretty well. And seeing how you just arrived in the valley, I had wondered if we could make your staying here more permanent" he replied.
"You mean staying here and becoming a fighter?" I asked
"Precisely. I could train you as I've trained the others. You could become warrior trained in the ways of Kung fu, who can be depended by the defenseless. But traveling down this road will not be easy, it requires a high level of disciple, patience, focus and determination" he said. I have to admit the idea of becoming a Kung fu warrior sounded pretty awesome and place to stay didn't sound to bad ether, but the requirements...did I have all those things? Maybe I do and just haven't found out. Then again, waking up late seems to prove otherwise, but still it guess it wouldn't hurt to try. I just hope I don't mess up. Don't think I can endure more-
I shook my head once more reminding myself to try not to think about..everything.
"Well...I suppose there's no harm in trying" I finally replied.
"A smart decision. Very few are given the chance to train at the Jade palace. Now come with me" he said, turning and began walking into the training hall. I followed as we both stepped inside to see the rest training. Like before, the tiger was at the spinning logs, Mantis was at dummies and Monkey was swinging on the rings. But with the addition of Crane on the green bowl shaped like a turtle and Viper on..wow. Well now I know what the metal pipes were. Viper was avoiding flames that were rising up from the pipes and seemed to be doing a pretty good job.
"I would like to see how to fare in battle firsthand" Shifu said as he approached the guys and snapped his fingers. When he did, they all rushed to him and stood in a straight line in front of him "Proceed outside" he said as he turned and left the hall. The others followed as I did as well. When we got outside they others all formed in a straight line.
"Ben, stand here" Shifu said, pointing beside him in front of the others. I did so and Shifu then walked and stood beside his students.
"Monkey" he said as he snapped his fingers. When he did, Monkey leaped forward and took position in front of me.
"Ready yourselves" Shifu said. Monkey then took up a fighting stance. I then took up a stance as well
"Begin" Shifu said.
Immediately after Shifu said that, Monkey leaped forward and stretched out his right leg, striking my face with his foot. I stumbled back and held my nose in pain. But I quickly held out my arm as Monkey swung his and blocked it.
'Huh, maybe I do I have a chance'
Monkey then grabbed my arm and twisted it, when he did, it caused be to bend forward. Monkey then struck my face once again with his foot.
'Okay, maybe not'
It seemed no matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to land a hit. Eventually Monkey threw jabs into my chest, then proceeded to roundhouse kick me in the head. I fell to the ground in pain. I sat up, rubbing one hand on my head.
Shifu shook his head slightly and let out a hush groan "I somehow believe that luck was on your side when you were dealing with the bandit. I had expected a better effort" he said, with a harsh tone. I sighed and lowered my head slightly "I want you to try again. Crane" he said, snapping his fingers. Crane then took position in front of me, as I got up and took up a defensive position "Begin!" Shifu announced, Crane flew into the air as I watched as he circled me, he then swooped down and tried to strike me with his right wing but luckily I manage to block it, only to be struck by his left one he flapped his wings and used both of his talons to strike my chest. I stumbled back coughing, but quickly raised my arm to block his wing, and I finally punched back. I manage to land a hit to Cranes beak, which he merely shook it off before attacking me once again. Luck was clearly not on my side, when Crane gained the upper han— oh who I'm kidding he had the bloody thing since the start. With one final swoop with his wing, Crane effectively upper cutter me knocking me to the ground. I was once again, in agony.
"You fared no better in this match, but there does seem to be signs of improvement. Even if it jut slightly" Shifu said, almost not sounding like an ass "Viper" he said snapping his fingers.
'Oh shit, not again' I thought, horrified.
So for he next hour, one by one they all began to use me as a boxing bag. Seriously, I could barely had a chance block, let alone even throw a punch. And could you blame me? These guys are fricking Kung fu masters for Gods sake! Well our...session came to an end. While the others didn't even break a sweat, I however felt rather weakened from, oh you know, an hour of getting the shit kicked out of me. The rest had returned into the Training hall except for Viper and Crane, who Shifu had asked to stay in the courtyard with me. After a few minutes he retuned with a scroll in one hand and have it to Crane.
"Crane, I would like you to fetch items on this list. Viper, I would like you to accompany Ben to the clothing store. Try and find clothing to...replace his current ones" he said, looking me over as I did as well.
My clothes were starting to wear out and that was even before the fact that My ass got planted into the ground Over six hundred times for the past hour. Maybe it was time to get some new clothes.
"Yes, Master" Viper and Crane said in unison. They turned to leave and I followed behind. We eventually reached the top of the steps near the building a first saw when I came up here. When we reached the bottom of the steps, we reached what looked like an arena of some sort. Something else I couldn't quite make out in the snow. There was two buildings which stood opposite one another, with stands that faced the centre. When we started to head down the second set of steps, Crane decided to brake the silence.
"Hey Ben, you didn't do too bad today" he said.
"Yeah right. I was awful" I replied.
"I wouldn't say that. Even if you didn't land to many hits, you still manage to keep fighting, despite having to fight all of us in a row" Viper said, weighing into the conversation
I sighed "I don't know, I felt like maybe I could have done better" I said, lowering my head.
"Up against Kung fu masters? Come on, don't be so hard yourself" Crane said.
"Why did Master Shifu have us spar anyway?" Viper asked.
"Well, when you guys went inside the hall to train, Shifu made me offer to come and join you guys, seeing how I was able to handle myself back in that store" I explained,
"And?" Crane asked.
"Well...I said yeah. I really don't have anywhere to go and I don't know anyone here besides you guys and the idea of becoming a Kung fu fighter doesn't sound to bad either" I replied.
"Well It'll be nice to have you stick around" Viper said, smiling.
"Yeah, you see like a pretty cool guy" Crane added, also smiling.
I kinda felt strange after hearing that. Probably cause well..I've never really had anyone who wanted me to stick around with them. Maybe this place isn't as bad as I think
"Thanks, Crane" I said, managing to crack a smile.
We finally reached the bottom and we took in what we saw. The streets echoed with the sounds of men, women and child alike going about their daily business. Stalls were set up and different types of animals were behind listing off to bypasses what they had for sale. This place just seemed so alive.
"Well, come on. Let's go then" Viper said, slithering in town as Crane and I followed
'Let's see what this place has to offer' I thought.
