PROBLEMS
"We had decided not to tell anyone!" Kang said angrily "Now, you, you know!" Zhuang said with concern "It could ruin us!" In front of them, in the middle of the square, with everyone's eyes on them, Hong and Yong tried to courage each other. In their lives they had combined all colors, but this was the worst thing they had ever done! "We didn't do it on purpose!" He tried in vain to defend Hong. "Silence!" Kang thundered against him. "Dear grandson, I am sure it was not intentional. But now that girl could tell her father and if Derek began to harbor suspicion we would all be in danger! "Wei said strangely serene. The twins lowered their shattered heads and Kang could not help but sigh irritated. For many years he had tried to calm their lively spirits, but he did not believe he would succeed in such an abrupt way! "The past cannot be changed!" Chao said wisely, the youngest of Tai's brothers "Now we just need to find a way to stem the damage this revelation will bring!" He explained as he was still undecided on how to do it. "You two are punished for a week! Reveal some other details of the plan and I swear I will keep you segregated at home for a month! "Kang said sternly.
Hong and Yong nodded in fear before heading off, soon after, to the warm arms of their mother Lu-Chu who would give them the affection and comfort they suddenly needed. They had disappointed their father and Shen for a moment saw himself in those two young men. When he could not conclude an agreement with some rich gentleman he could swear that he had the same expression and had felt the same emotions that probably now stirred the soul of the twins. He recovered quickly, continuing to repeat himself to stop looking back and looking towards the future. Finally he spoke, "You're making a wind out of a hurricane!" He said with absolute certainty, though he was at least as worried as they, if not more. But a good leader never shows himself insecure! By attracting general attention with that simple sentence, he decided to continue "That girl is not like her father. I still do not trust her completely, but I am sure that it is essential for our escape plan! Hunting it and isolating it will not benefit anyone. Indeed, if we could convince her to help us, her collaboration will be precious and the satisfaction would be great: her daughter who rebels against the great collector! Derek would become the laughingstock of his people! "Shen said with a grin on his face as he looked forward to the moment. It was wise to rely on the feeling of revenge that lived in the hearts of many. In this way it would not have been difficult to convince them. But on the other hand he really believed that she was different, otherwise he would have let him die in the fire of the fair the year before. Perhaps, a relationship of mutual trust could have been born, with time ...
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Meanwhile Mei and She were busy showing what they had learned to the girl with the intention of distracting her from the meeting in which the others were busy. "Why do you want to learn to fight?" Xu asked as he stood with his back against a tree, his arms folded to stare at the young human. "In life, the more you know and the less you need!" Said Rose "But since you seem to be very busy with this Kung Fu I would like to try to find a meeting ground by training with you!" He explained at the end. "Why do you care so much about creating a bond of friendship with us?" Jie asked, unable to comprehend the fact that the human did not give up even in the face of the hostility shown by many, apart from the peacocks! "Really I do not know! Maybe it's because I'm very lonely. You know, being Derek's daughter treat me like I'm the princess on the pea! This is why my peers mock me and avoid ... I was hoping that with you it could be different! "Rose confessed thinking that sincerity could give her some more hope. "Who is the" princess on the pea? "Kuen asked, confused. The girl tried, tried with all her strength to remain serious, but it was all useless! He burst out laughing and only when he saw the faces of the felines offended he decided to explain the big misunderstanding "I'm not laughing at you!" He said wiping his tears "It's just a way of saying to explain the fact of being treated differently from other boys. I have privileges that I never wanted and they are jealous! "He finished explaining Rose.
Dewei joined them screaming "You will be late for training if you don't move!" Rose looked at the serval with curiosity. It had never been less than ten meters away from most of the animals that were not peacocks, even though they respected it, or perhaps feared it ... it was, in fact, starting to become familiar with them so it repeated itself inwardly "No fool Rose! Control yourself!". "Can I train with you?" He asked, twisting his fingers excitedly. "Yes, Master is waiting for you!" Dewei replied, signaling her to follow him. Once the serval and the human had left Xu decided to fully express his thoughts "They are crazy to let her learn to fight!". She, who fully agreed with what the panther had just said, felt compelled to add "It will end badly, very badly!" A leopard who had witnessed this exchange in silence made faceplam and decided he didn't want to listen to such depressing speeches anymore. "After this manifestation of confidence and positive vision of life ... we want to go too !?" It was not a question, more an affirmation given that Mei, once finished speaking, immediately began to run towards the clearing where training sessions were held.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
After a week the situation seemed to have calmed down. Except for a certain girl. "And this is the strongest football I can give!" Said Rose, resting her weight on her right leg while the other one was stretched upwards to kick frontally in full extension. It could have been considered strong enough, were it not for the fact that after just three seconds it lost its balance, finding itself belly up on the ground. "Question!" Sam said raising his hand as if asking for permission but not waiting for him. "Why don't you sign up for an after-school activity instead of being coached by an elderly and stinking echidna?" He asked, quite confused. "First of all ... don't insult my Master!" Said Rose with a threatening air after she got up quickly. "It is not your Master!" "Second ..." the girl continued ignoring the comment "... I have no desire to remain in that hell of the extra hours compared to the compulsory school hours!" "Then you have to start doing absences if you want to stick to the plan because the obligatory hours are less than those you make during a school year!" Apparently the same was not true for Sam who continued to bore her with his damned right reasoning . "And then ... you have to admit that if it wasn't for me, you would have already started taking private lessons!" The boy said sitting on a chair and resting his feet on the living room table. "What are you saying? I'm fine even without you! Attending a public institution was my choice, totally independent of you! "Said Rose proudly" If, if, like no! "Sam said, barely holding back laughter. His dear friend was a terrible liar!
"What do you say if we go to the movies tomorrow?" The boy asked enthusiastically. "That? Yes, I like the idea! What are we going to see? "Asked Rose curiously. "Avengers Endgame! A new movie has come out! "Sam replied expecting a positive reaction from his friend" Absolutely not! "Hope in vain! "Why? You love it! I waited a whole month just to see him with you! "Sam complained, fully disappointed by his reaction. "I haven't seen Infinity War yet! How can you expect me to go and see ... what is it? "He asked confused and amused to see his friend's stunned face. "You ... you haven't seen it yet ?!" He screamed at the top of his lungs Sam "There was a flood of time ago! ... how can it be! ... you are losing shots, you know ? "The boy asked incredulously. "Just for nothing! I'm just creating the foundation for a solid friendship! "Rose replied in tone" Those damn animals again! But when are you going to start spending more on this side of the wall! "Sam yelled exasperatedly. "If you knew them you wouldn't say these things!" The girl protested. "Know them? No thanks! Have you documented yourself? "The boy visibly shook while taking the phone in his hand. Once unlocked he started to list all the possible dangers in which the friend would find herself every time she entered the reserve "The claws of a bear are not retractable and are used for ... digging, climbing , tear and grab the prey! Even if instead of claws, it would perhaps be appropriate to speak of real "blades": they are enormous and can reach a length of even 14-15 centimeters! " Rose tried to fight back, but he went on "The wolf is a very territorial animal and when they attack they aim at the carotid artery ... the tiger ... you want me to illustrate the lethal weapons of this feline? "Sam asked excitedly.
Rose, who couldn't take the friend's paranoia anymore, snatched the phone from his hand and checked what he was reading. There were many pages of google open, each with news on a particular animal. "Before today you never gave me such a speech! Why now is it? "He asked troubled. She wasn't stupid, she knew the dangers, but she had never paid much attention to us. Only now, with this illuminating synthesis, he had begun to feel the fear flow through his veins. "Why? We have been in the valley of death! It was supposed to be a nice excursion, I was excited to see free animals in the wild, think a little! "He started to tell Sam" What went wrong? "Asked Rose concerned. "A female coyote attacked a couple of tourists! It ended with five stitches in the leg of the man who tried to protect his wife! "Sam continued to tell. "Reason?" The friend continued to question him. "They were too close to a den and ..." "See! Animals do not attack if they are not provoked! Then they are different! They are anthropomorphic! So I don't think they'll ever hurt me! "Rose interrupted him. "You don't understand the point!" He yelled "Explain it to me, then! Enlighten me! "She said, annoyed. "If a coyote has done so badly to a person ... what could an animal in the reserve do to you?" happen? There is not only one tiger or one wolf! There are so many! "His friend continued to explain. "There are guards!" She tried to calm him, as well as calm herself! "We also had" a guard "! But it didn't help much! He hunted the coyote, but the damage had already been done! "Sam said alarmed.
Rose sighed. His father would not have been happy with his choice, but then, when was he ever satisfied with her? Never! She was born a female, she had a bond with her "collection", she was not aiming to take her place once he passed away ... the list was still long and the girl thought that adding another thing did not he would have changed that much! "All right! Follow me so you will finally change your mind! "He said putting on his shoes. "Where are we going?" Asked Sam confused. "In the reserve!" Rose pointed out. "Thing? No! I'll wait for you here! "Said the boy who was suddenly bleached. "All right! Say hello to my father then! "The girl said, heading towards her goal. The boy became even more white when he heard in the distance, the voice of his friend's father getting closer and closer to the room where they were. Sam mentally insulted her in all the languages she knew, namely English, French and Spanish, before following it. Nothing was worse than being alone in a room with Derek. He would have preferred everything, even going to the reserve, just to avoid such a torment! Especially because, being his daughter's best friend, whenever he could, his father questioned the poor boy about Rose's life in an attempt to find something to reproach her, since she expected nothing less than perfection on the part of her heir !
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In the early afternoon the animals usually rested, so once they entered the reserve, Rose headed straight for the twins' house. He would ask them to bring them to the felines classified by Sam as "dangerous". The boy in question walked boldly but the friend saw the fear well, if not terror, in his eyes. Who would have ever said it could have come out so traumatized by the hike in a natural park in America? Fortunately, at the sight of the first house, Sam calmed down considerably. Once knocked to open came Lu-Chu. Another stroke of luck as Rose hoped that, with his gentle manner, he could further calm his friend. "Hi dear. How are you? "The peacock asked with a big smile on her face. "Well madam! Are Hong and Yong at home? I have the afternoon off and I'd like to spend it with them if it's okay with her! "Rose said politely. With the animals he followed the etiquette lessons to perfection, given him by his father years ago, much more than when he was with his fellows! "Sure! But you brought a friend! "Lu-Chu said happily and not at all frightened by the presence of a stranger" P-like! I'm Sam! "Replied the boy who was as stiff as a broomstick. "My pleasure! Wait in the living room while I go and call my children! "The peacock said, beckoning the two to come in and sit down. Rose sat down on a big couch with a sudden lack of grace as Sam tucked his knee ligaments into a fatigue that suddenly seemed inelastic. "Let's talk to these birds and then go home, okay?" The boy asked anxiously. "Because you act like a rabbit! You had already seen them long ago, remember? "Rose asked, who had to make a considerable effort not to laugh at his friend's scared blue. "Yes, but through a glass window, with bars! Not a few inches away! "Sam grunted.
"Okay ... hi guys how are you?" Rose asked as soon as he saw the twins coming. His smile faded when they both stopped at the sight of Sam, denying her the embrace / greeting they were used to having. "Who is he?" He asked guarded Yong "Did you find the boyfriend?" Hong asked even more brazenly. Rose became even more red than the red shirt she was wearing! "Not at all! He is my best childhood friend! I decided to let you know it! "The girl explained almost screaming. "He brought fresh meat for the panther!" Hong said with a grin on his face. But poor Sam didn't know any of the young peacock's facial expressions, so he felt faint when he heard that statement! "See if you can stop it!" Screamed Rose "The situation is already delicate, see not to combine disasters as your usual!" to look bad at the twins. The fight of looks ended when Lu-Chu entered the salon, attracted by his unusually high tone of voice. "Guys, are you okay?" He asked worriedly. The quarrels between them were extremely rare, those series, at least! "To perfection!" The three of them answered in chorus, simultaneously turning to the peahen. "And where did Sam end up?" Lu-Chu asked, looking for the boy with his eyes. That question was like a frozen shower for Rose! He turned and saw that his friend was no longer at his side and the front door was next to him and not closed! How the hell did they not hear it? Indeed, how did he get out of it without making the slightest noise? "We have to find him!" The girl said, startled, standing up.
"Why? He'll walk around and then come back! "He tried to defuse Yong. "You don't understand!" Rose began to explain that she was getting more and more nervous every second that passed "He doesn't know this place! You might get lost! " "Not only this!" A voice turned everyone to the stairs that led to the second floor of the house. Kang was at their base "Your friend, none of us knows him!" Others could mistake him for a poacher since he doesn't wear the uniform of the guards! ".
Rose sensed her muscles paralyzed in terror, her heart quickened in a few seconds and began to sweat cold: what had she done ?!
Nothing ever goes as planned!
This scene hit surprised me too! It was a sudden idea of my crazy head to make it happen!
I hope readers find it interesting!
I also want to thank Phasianidae for the review! I am glad that someone is interested in what I write, encourages me to continue the story!
Laura-98M