The Magistrate set in motion, a plan to get rid of the green tomato beetles. Will it work. Sagwa and Shang agree to start spending more time together as friends, and their conversation is ended when The Cook finally gets to the Dream Flowers first. Now they must head back to the palace. What will happen in this final Chapter of Sagwa's Medicine Run?
The Magistrate's law was working. The villagers had planted onions in all the flower pots, and the Reader and some volunteers planted onions in the palace garden and outside the palace walls. All the Magistrate had to do now was wait and hope his plan and rules paid off. He didn't have to wait very long. The Beetles smelled all the onion plants that were planted across the village and decided to leave and go back to the jungle. However, they were headed right for The Cook, Sagwa, Shang, Sheihu and Fufu, which could be a potential danger to them. But little did they know within half a day they would be greeted with an ugly awakening.
But right now, they had just collected the pollen from the flower, and had been walking back for a half hour. Sagwa and Shang were starting to walk closer together and talking. Fufu and Sheihu were above them(Fufu carrying Sheihu with his feet again), and they begin to notice that ever since they gave Shang the advice, Sagwa didn't talk to them as much.
"Hey Sheihu, have you noticed that ever since we found the flowers that Sagwa just wants to talk to Shang?" said Fufu.
"Yeah!" said Sheihu. "I think our advice worked… worked a little too well."
"They just became friends, they are new to each other" said Fufu. "In time we will all be able to hang out as a group! But until then, let's let them get to know each other."
"Yeah, you're right Fufu!" said Sheihu.
Sagwa and Shang were laughing and carrying on. It almost appeared to be a date. The more Shang thought about it, the more he was sure that he really liked her. He just needed some way to show Sagwa that he cared about her. "Be patient Shang, your chance will come!" thought Shang to himself. At the moment, he was content to being "just a friend".
"Oh!" said Cook as he stopped. "Look everyone, a rare flower mantis!" The Cook walked over to a bush nearby. "I have only seen this type of Mantis once before in my lifetime!"
Sagwa tugged his pant leg, letting him know that they should go.
"You're right, Sagwa how silly of me!" said The Cook. "We better press on!"
Back at the alley, Han Han was waiting for news of The Cook and Sagwa's return. She had also spent the last few days looking for Shang. She saw him like a little brother, though they weren't related, she took to looking out for him almost like she sometimes looked out for Sagwa. Han Han was also awaiting some updates on Dongwa and Sheegwa as well. In the mean time, Lik Lik and Jet Jet were playing a new game with a ball, and Wing Wing kept score. It was kind of a one on one version of "catch the ball", a game that they often played.
"Hey Han Han, do you want to play?" said Lik Lik.
"Yeah, we know that you are just dying to get into this game!" said Wing Wing, referring to her anxiousness on news.
Han Han didn't take kindly to Wing Wing's comments. "Can't you guys say anything without being a pain? Or are you just a bunch of ignorant monkey brains?" said Han Han.
"Whoah! Sorry Han Han, I don't want you to get mad at me!" said Wing Wing.
"I am sorry, guys!" said Han Han. "I am just anxiously waiting for some sort of update from either Sagwa's side or Dongwa and Sheegwa's side."
"Maybe we should leave Han Han alone guys!" said Jet Jet. Lik Lik and Wing Wing agree and they go off to play in a different spot. Just then Mama Miao enters the alley to talk to Han Han.
"Hey Han Han, I am so sorry! We've been so busy with the Magistrate's rules and tending to Dongwa and Sheegwa!" said Mama Miao.
"It's okay, I understand" said Han Han. "How are they doing?"
"They will be okay, that's for sure. They still aren't over their sickness yet" said Mama. "But both of them can now talk to us, but for their healing to finish they need the antidote or it could mean…" Mama teared up just thinking about what might happen.
"Don't worry, if I know Sagwa, she has probably got the last ingredient and on her way back right now!" said Han Han trying to reassure Mama Miao.
As they continued, Sagwa and the others continued to grow more tired from walking, but they had to make good time to get back quicker than it took them to get there. By the time it became the afternoon, they noticed that the sky kinda looked darker.
"Looks like rain!" said the Cook.
Fufu was still in the air, but he had let Sheihu walk now, so he could rest his feet. He flew up higher to see what it was. He then gasped as he saw what looked like a cloud, really was.
"Sagwa, the swarm of beetles is heading our way!" said Fufu as he swooped down to grab Sheihu and go back up. Sheihu didn't like flying so high, but if it meant missing the beetles, he was all for it. Sagwa and Shang were looking for a place to hide. The Cook found a hiding place in a nearby onion patch. The green beetles hated onions. Sagwa and Shang retreated to a bush to hide in there. Sagwa and Shang were not safe though. As the beetles flew through the jungle a few stopped on bushes and trees to rest their wings. Some had landed on the bush that Shang and Sagwa were in. One landed on Sagwa's head. Sagwa stood as still as she could without being bitten. Shang then took a whack at the beetle to attract it's attention. The beetle then attacked and bit Shang on one of his front legs, then flew off.
"Shang are you okay?" said Sagwa.
"Yeah I am for now!" said Shang.
The beetles had finally left and the jungle was calm again. However things were not all well. Once the Cook had reunited with Sagwa, he noticed that the other cat(Shang) didn't look so good.
"Oh no!" said the Cook. "You poor little fella!" The Cook then prepared a quick portion of antidote for Shang to take. Shang took it but the effects of the beetle bite were already getting to him. It wouldn't take near as long for him to heal now, but he would still feel a lot of the side effects that Dongwa and Sheegwa were feeling and would probably be put in bed rest for a couple of days.
"Thank you Shang for saving me from that beetle. But why did you do it?" said Sagwa.
"Better me than you. I couldn't let you get hurt!" said Shang, as he started to get dizzy. "I just care…" Shang quit talking. He was already passed out from the antidote. Cook had everything in a bag so it would be easier for the Cook to carry Shang with his arm the rest of the way.
"What a brave cat!" said the Cook.
Fufu and Sheihu then made their way back to Sagwa, as Fufu slowly brought Sheihu down. Sheihu was obviously sick from being up so high and decided to ride on Sagwa's back for a while.
"Feeling okay back there, Sheihu?" said Sagwa.
"Like a million *hiccup* dumplings!" said Sheihu.
After a few more miles, the Cook lead them on another trail, which he believed was a faster route back to the palace.
"I do believe you all will be happy to see what I remembered on the way up here!" said the Cook.
After about half an hour more, they had made it to a river. A man with a small river raft had been waiting for someone to take down river for quite some time.
"My good man, how much do you charge for a ride down the river?" said the Cook.
"Two coins!" said the man. "Normally I'd say four, but I haven't had a customer in almost a year!"
"It is greatly appreciated, sir!" said the Cook.
The man, Sagwa, Cook holding Shang, Fufu and Sheihu all board the raft and take a fast but somewhat smooth ride back.
The Cook waited until he saw a sign of a building. It was night fall when he saw lanterns on a nearby hill. "Okay, sir can we stop here?" said the Cook.
The man didn't answer but instead acted upon Cook's request and took his boulder anchor and threw it on the shore, stopping the raft. After they all unboard, the Cook thanked the man with the raft.
"Thank you so much" said the Cook.
The man waved back and then took up his boulder and went further down the river, looking for a new spot to wait for customers.
"Well Sagwa, we are almost there. We will stop here for the night and when the morning comes, we will be just a few miles shy of home" said the Cook. They spent the night by a tree. The Cook just got out his bedding and slept on that. Sagwa slept by Shang, who was still knocked out as a side effect of the medicine.
"Hey Sagwa, what are you doing?" said Fufu.
"He's cold!" said Sagwa. "Are there any big leaves lying around anywhere?"
"Let me check!" said Fufu. Fufu flew from tree to tree, and finally found one with big leaves. "One big leaf for my friend!" said Fufu.
Sagwa placed the leaf over Shang to act as a cover. Sheihu and Fufu were already asleep before Sagwa finally fell asleep. She thought about what had happened earlier with the beetle. "He must really like me" said Sagwa.
When the sun came up, the Cook woke up and gathered everything. He picked Shang up and started walking, and then he remembered that he forgot Sagwa.
"Sagwa, come on!" said the Cook, waking up Sagwa and her two friends.
"Already?" said Sheihu as he got up and started walking. Fufu and Sagwa also got up and began to walk as well.
After a couple of hours, they had finally reached the edge of town.
"We're here!" said Sagwa.
"Finally!" said Sheihu. "I love a good adventure, but this is one I am glad to be back from."
When they finally reached the palace, the Cook quickly began to prepare the antidote. After a few minutes it was finished and he was finally able to give it to Dongwa and Sheegwa.
Dongwa was so relieved to get that antidote in his system. Sheegwa had finally woken up to take hers as well. They knew that in a matter of days, they would be back to normal.
Sagwa was so happy to see that Dongwa and Sheegwa would soon be well. The Cook even prepared a special place for Shang to rest by the book shelf until he recovered from his bite.
The Magistrate heard that Shang saved Sagwa from a beetle and made him an honorary guest of the palace, meaning he could come into the palace anytime he wanted. He then commanded the Cook to go through the village and treat anyone the beetles had bitten, which thankfully was a very small number. After Sagwa saw that everyone had been taken care of she went outside to spend the rest of the day with Han Han. Fufu and Sheihu were too tired to play any games at the moment.
ONE WEEK LATER
Dongwa was finally able to go back outside and practice Tai Chi and Sheegwa had felt better as well. Sheegwa was happy to be able to chase butterflies again. Dongwa's Tai Chi was interrupted by Shang, who had recovered a few days before.
"Hey Dongwa, can I ask you something?" said Shang.
"Sure, I don't mind" said Dongwa.
"I kind of like Sagwa, and I think that she kind of likes me too. But we have agreed to stay friends. What do you think?" said Shang.
"Well… I think that you should just stay that way for a while. It's better that way!" said Dongwa. "Trust me! I've been there. Don't try to grow up too fast!"
Shang knew that Dongwa was right. Shang was happy being friends with Sagwa for now.
"Hey Shang!" said Sagwa from on top of the alley wall. "Are you coming, Fufu and Sheihu are waiting!"
"I'm coming!" said Shang. "Hey Dongwa, do you think you could give me some Tai Chi lessons sometime?"
"Meet me here tomorrow morning!" said Dongwa.
"Thanks Dongwa!" said Shang as he took off to meet the others.
Sheegwa chasing the butterflies was actually an awesome sight to Dongwa this time, but only for about a few minutes.
"Gotta love Sheegwa!" said Dongwa.
So what do you think? Did you like the way it ended? I hope I didn't rush it too much. I didn't want to seem like I was rushing it. But anyway, I am happy everything turned out good for Sagwa, Shang and more importantly Dongwa and Sheegwa.