Chapter 2 – Numbing Pain

(Thanks for the reviews... I did make a mistake in my first chapter, I hadn't read the Lioness series for a while, and I got my years for joining Shang mixed up... Liam is 4 here... and the other boys are a year or two older. I got a review commenting, on the age of Liam... I decided that he couldn't be afraid of magic for his whole life, that something had to have happened, so it did... when he was "4" (correction there :P) This is a telling of his past, it will go up to when he is 8 years old. And then I'll do it in chunks... that is why I said for 5 years... if anyone has any ideas on how I could fix this confusion, I'd love to hear them!! Lastly to comment on one of my reviews – I don't like when things come to people easily... so the fact that Liam was requested to be in Shang... wasn't my style... and because it's Fan Fiction... I figured I could change things a little... I will explain why he was shunned for not having magic, but not until he is 8 --- wow, that was long... here we go Chapter 2)

The morning bell sang, three hours until dawn. Liam just stares out his window, he didn't sleep one wink last night. Instead he decided what it was he was going to do. It is said that four year old don't have much comprehension, but Liam had memorized the face of the Town Advisor, and knew that when his time at Shang was over, that he would find him, and that he would prove that even without magic he could be great.

The Lion had told him that at the bell he was to get changed and report o breakfast, and so Liam opened his trunk, and removed a pair of breaches, and a white shirt. Reporting to breakfast he took a seat with four younger boys, and ate his meal in silence.

A bell rang again, and the boys all rose and returned their trays, and walked as a mass outside to the practice courts.

"New Trainees, step forward." Came a strong order of from one of the warriors in front. "I am the Shang Cheetah, follow me."

Liam, and three other boys followed, eyes fearful and prepared. The Shang Cheetah led them along a wood path, stopped beside a brook and looked at the boys. For the first time Liam met the eye of another one of the Shang masters. The Shang Cheetah was thin, muscular, with golden hair, and a flat nose. He looked at the young boys, not one older than four, and began by telling them the daily plan.

For their first year, they would train with him. Every day they would eat with the older trainees and then report here to the brook for training. After a year, the could train with the others. They began today. The Shang Cheetah then told the boys to remove their shoes, and shirts, and wade into the brook. The boys did as they were told, and were confronted with a numbing cold.

"You will do this three times a week, every week, all year, for twenty minutes. In the winter you will be given a chance to warm up by a fire we will build after, but for the next 4 months, you will do everything numb." At this point the boys were all shaking from the cold. "Do you know why we do this?" The Shang Cheetah asked.

"N-N-N-No, sir"

"It is because you must drill your bodies. You will learn to fight in normal conditions, but you need also know how to fight in the cold, as you do in the warm, and in the wet, and in the rocky, and slippery. You will learn to fight on any terrain, so that your opponent will never have an advantage over you." To this the boys just nodded they were so cold they didn't have the strength to talk. "You may return to your rooms now, and after the lunch bell, come to this place again, and we will begin to learn the basics of fighting."

With that the boys scrambled up the banks of the brook, and threw on their clothes. Shaking they stumbled numb up the hill and once they regained feeling, ran to their rooms.

Liam stumbled numbly into his room and walked directly into the wooden beam. He fell down, and started to sob. His bones ached to the core, and he could feel nothing, except the searing pain where his body had made contact with the beam. The lunch bell rang, and a dry and dressed Liam grudging made his way to the creak.

Please review - I'd love your feed back... sorry for some changes and if it's confusing... next chapter will come, so long as I get some reviews... Updates will be quite fast as I need something to take my mind off things, and this is just so tempting!!