Chapter 9: Training

Kai rubbed his head. It was still sore from the hard hit on the head.

The young mountain lion looked over at his best friend. She had been depressed for days ever since her encounter with the goat.

She didn't talk, she didn't train, and she barely even ate. She just sat in the corner of the room Fengbao and Sue worked and lived in.

Kai looked down at the plate of wonton soup his mother had brought him. It didn't look appealing. It doesn't smell very good either, he thought to himself.

"Just try it," Sue said, sitting down next to her son. "Maybe Silvermist will want to try some."

"Mom, we want to make her feel better, not to make her feel even worse," he said. Sue gave him a look and Kai just stared down at the bowl of soup and then looked over by the other food that was left out in the open for days.

Kai reluctantly ate some of the dumplings and sipped some of the broth. He cringed. "Do you like it?" Sue asked, not seeing his expression. She was focused on eating her salad.

"Yuck!" he winced. He spit out what he had began to eat.

"Kai!" Sue said sternly. She didn't approve of him spitting food out in a public place.

"Sorry Mom, but it tastes awful," Kai said, pushing the wooden bowl away from him. Sue took a taste of the soup and nearly spit it out as well.

"You're right," Sue said after reluctantly swallowing the disgusting food.

Kai tried to keep himself from laughing at his mother's expression, but his happy moment disappeared once he thought of Silvermist. He looked back over at the food and saw the dumplings just sitting there. Fresh looking and its delicious aroma wafting over in his direction.

His mouth watered and his stomach growled. He looked back over at the guards who watched over the place and smirked. He tip-toed over to the dumplings and noticed the sign that had prevented him from eating the only good tasting food in this place.

The sign said: This food is to be kept away from Kai; a Mountain Lion and Silvermist; a wolf.

These people are no fun, he thought. He looked at the female goat who was unhappy serving out the old and rotten food to people. She was looking over at someone else who was complaining about the taste of the sticky rice.

He quickly snuck some dumplings into the pant's pockets and scurried off before someone could notice. He snickered as he ran down the hall with the food in his pockets.

He swung open the door and ran into the room, slamming the heavy door behind him. He saw his best friend in the same spot she always was in now.

He walked over to her proudly, feeling quite happy with himself for swiping the dumplings. "Hey Misty," he said with a smile.

Silvermist made no response. She just kept staring down as she sat in the corner. Her arms held her knees together and her head rested on the knees. Her ears were back and flat down. The she-wolf's silver eyes always seemed to be glassy; almost ready to cry.

Kai, still determined to cheer her up, tried again. "Guess what I've got, Misty. It's pretty good."

Silvermist just sighed and continued to stare at the dirty ground she on. Kai crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently. "Well if you aren't going to talk to me, I might as well eat these dumplings all by myself."

Silvermist quickly glanced over by the mountain lion cub. "Dumplings?" she asked in a quiet voice.

Kai grinned. It was starting to work. He reached into his pocket and held out the dumpling. Silvermist sniffed it and heard her stomach growl.

Kai withdrew his paw quickly as Silvermist quickly snatched the dumpling with her teeth. She swallowed the food quickly and smiled slightly. "I haven't had that in awhile."

Kai sat down next to the wolf pup. "I've got some more," he said, holding them out to the silver wolf.

She shook her head no. "I'm alright."

Kai leaned back and sighed. "How can I cheer you up, Misty?"

"I don't need cheering up. I'm perfectly fine," Silvermist stated flatly.

Kai just looked at her and commented, "No, you're not. You're sad." The young mountain lion stood up, his back straight and his head held high, "You shouldn't pay any attention to that mean old goat. He's just old and grumpy."

Silvermist looked away. "He's probably right though," she said in a soft tone.

Kai crossed his arms and said firmly, "No he isn't!"

Silvermist's teary silver eyes then narrowed at her friend and she barked, "How do you know?!"

Kai took a short step back at his friend's sudden outburst of anger. "No one is that cruel. And if your parents are like mine, they would never give up looking for you."

Silvermist looked away once again. "I supposed you're right," she said after a long period of silence.

Kai paced back and forth. He munched on a dumpling from time to time. "I was thinking," he began, looking around the gloomy and dark room. "We should begin our training."

"Our training? Our training for what?" Silvermist asked curiously.

"To face that giant volcano monster and that nasty, grumpy, old goat," Kai told her. He walked over to her and grabbed her paw. He pulled her up and started to lead her towards their hideout.

Silvermist tugged back though. "I don't really feel like training," Silvermist said starting to feel depressed again.

"Listen, Misty. You're not going to feel better moping around here wondering if you're parents are still looking for you. If you want to see for yourself, we need to leave here. And to leave here, we need to get past that goat and his guard monster," Kai told her firmly.

Silvermist looked at her friend. She was silent for a few minutes, but then nodded and said in response, "You're right."

Kai grinned happily and said, "That's the spirit!" He turned to continue leading her towards their hideout, but stopped. "But first, we need to have some choices."

She cocked her head slightly. "Choices?"

"Yes," he said bringing her to the hideout. He walked her into the room and stood back. "I'll be right back."

And with that, he left, closing the door behind him. Silvermist looked around the lonely room that was in need of improving. She thought of painting some pictures of bones on the walls along with the crescent and blue moons she had in mind.

As she daydreamed about the room, Kai snuck into the guards' meeting room. He saw a few guards that gathered over by the far corner of the room.

He spotted a rack full of different weapons used for combat. He smirked. He crept over by the plants and under the table. He tried to keep quiet and not to make a sound. He swiftly and slyly ran out from the table and over to the potted bamboo plants by the rack of weapons.

He reached out for the nunchucks, but then heard them erupt in laughter. He quickly withdrew his paw and waited for another chance. He grasped the nunchucks and stuck them into his pocket. He reached for another weapon. He took weapon after weapon until one of the guards turned around and sniffed the air.

"I smell dumplings," the guard said, wandering off from the topic they had been discussing.

Kai panicked. He carefully placed the large weapons off to the side and reached into his other pocket. He had one more dumpling left. He quickly grabbed the last remaining item, a bo staff. He tried to sneak off quietly, but the noise of the combat weapons clashing together didn't help.

"Look! That crook stole our weapons!" cried out the guard who first smelled the dumplings.

Kai dashed off across the room and quickly opened the door. The guards were quick to catch up, but Kai was still a few inches away from their grasp. He ran as fast as he could. As he ran, he wondered where he should lead them and trick them.

He couldn't lead them to their hideout. I can't put Silvermist in danger, he thought to himself. He got an idea.

He ran into the cafeteria and threw the weapons off to the side. He grabbed a handful of fruit. He tossed them at one of the guards, but threw the last one at a stranger. He ducked down and the stranger who was now covered in the fruit, saw the guard holding food.

The stranger took the food on his tray and threw the food at the guard. "Food fight!" one person cried out. Soon, food was launched everywhere and at everyone.

Kai quickly ran back towards where he threw the items and scurried back to the hideout.

Silvermist's attention looked back at the door as Kai came rushing in and slammed the door shut. He let the items drop on the ground and he panted.

"I guess this is what you meant by choices," said Silvermist.

Kai continued to pant. He shook his head yes. Silvermist looked at the different items. She carefully looked at the different and unique items before her.

She carefully held each one and examined them. She rubbed her paw against the wooden handle of an axe, she tapped her silver claws on the giant metal hammer, and tried to figure out how the nunchucks worked.

Kai took the nunchucks and tried to demonstrate. "They say that this weapon takes lots of practice," said Kai. He began to demonstrate, and started off well, but then as he flipped it over his head, it hit him on the head.

Kai rubbed his head. He muttered, "Great. Now I have two bumps."

Silvermist tried not to giggle and asked, "Are you alright, Kai?"

"Yeah, just fine. Pick out a weapon of your choice. Then I'll try and show you how it works."

Silvermist eyed everything in front of her. She took the time to examine each one. "I think I like this one the best," she said, holding a bo staff in her paws.

Kai smiled. "That is called a bo staff. It's a good choice," he said to her. She smiled, feeling proud that she had chosen something good.

"Can you show me how to work it?" she asked holding it out to him.

"Okay," Kai said. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot. He tried to think. His head was throbbing slightly. "Now try pushing the bo staff forward, while holding it straight."

Silvermist shoved her arms forward while wielding the bo staff vertically. Kai shook his head no. "That's not straight."

"Yes it is," she said to him.

"No, this is straight," Kai said, trying to adjust her pose. But she wouldn't budge.

"I'm holding it straight," she argued.

"No, you're not. This is how you hold it straight," Kai said, managing to slightly move her paw.

Silvermist tried to fight back, but struggled. She finally gave in and the bo staff accidently hit Kai on the head. "Ow!"

"Sorry," Sivlermist said.

She saw that she was now holding the bo staff horizontally. "Why didn't you just tell me to hold it this way?"

"I did tell you!" he argued.

"No you didn't," she argued. She held it vertically. "You told me to hold it straight."

"Yeah, straight across," he told her.

"You never said straight across," she continued to argue.

"Yes I did!" Kai argued back.

"No you didn't," Silvermist growled.

They bickered for awhile and then stopped once they heard a guard outside their door. "Hey, I think I hear someone in here," he said.

"What do we do?" asked Silvermist in a panicky voice.

"Just relax," he told her.

The guard swung open the door and saw the two. "Hey, you're the lion cub that stole our weapons."

Kai hissed and grabbed the nunchucks. He tossed them at the guard who easily grabbed them and whirled them around skillfully. The rhino guard ran at Kai, but then quickly turned to Silvermist.

"Look out," Kai warned her.

Silvermist felt nervous and pressured. Just like she did when the guards were pulling her tail. She felt her heart race and fear take over. The words of the goat flowed back into her mind.

As the nunchuck was thrown her way, Kai ran in front of her and took the hit. He fell to the ground and Silvermist shivered. "Kai!"

She looked at the rhino angrily. He chuckled and raised his arm to hit her aside. Without thinking, she blocked the nunchuck with the staff and the nunchucks swung around the bo staff.

She threw the nunchucks back at him and he took a step back. She slammed one end of the staff to the ground and jumped up. Still holding onto the staff, she then gave a high kick with her left foot. She landed and gave the guard a round house kick.

He took a step back with every hit he received. His moment of bewilderment faded and he started to fight back. As she went to slam the bo staff on his head, he grabed it and swung the staff around. She felt anger surge through her as she remembered her friend getting hurt. She kept a firm grip on the bo staff.

The guard started swinging it back and forth over his head. Her silver eyes narrowed and her fur bristled. She slammed her right foot on the ground and somehow managed to toss the rhino guard forward. The rhino tumbled forward, but quickly got back on his feet again. She gave a hard jab with the end of the bo staff which made him fall on his back.

She stood on the guard's stomach, her right foot pressed on his neck and she pointed one end of the bo staff at the guard.

"Whoa," was all Kai could say.

"Leave and don't come back. You will not tell anyone about what you've just seen," Silvermist said in a low growl.

The guard nodded, surprised and shocked that he was taken down by a small pup. Silvermist hopped off of his stomach and he ran off.

"That was awesome," Kai said with a wide smile.

"Thanks," Silvermist said shyly. She blinked. What had just happened? She had lost control again. Just like when the guards kept pulling her tail and taunting her.

Kai began to try and immitate her fighting moves. She just watched, still in surprise about how she could do all of this. Kai rubbed his left side, where the guard had hit him. "That was a good fight and you know a lot of good moves. But I still think we should train," Kai told her.

"Yes," she agreed. She didn't know all of those moves by heart, only when she was angry. And she couldn't be angry all the time.

Kai thought for a moment and then said, "I think my dad can teach us. He wouldn't mind, I think."

"Then it's settled. If your dad agrees, he'll be our teacher from then on," Silvermist said with a smile.

Kai nodded and the two started to pick up the other weapons. Kai wondered what his main weapon would be. As he placed the weapon against the wall, he thought to himself, Well it certainly isn't going to be the nunchucks. I've received enough injuries from those.