I don't own any setting, objects, or characters from the Kung Fu Panda® Franchise
I only own my original characters and original settings.
The day had arrived; it was time for Esau and Jo to undergo their first lesson. Jo, who was as excited as anyone could be, swiftly jogged ahead. Following close behind him was Esau, who was equally excited, despite having an extreme case of food withdrawals. When they reached the Birthplace of Kung Fu, they found Justice sitting on a tree branch, watching the pool's ripples from the leaves. In her hand, she held three bows: her birch-wood and two bamboo ones, each with their own set of arrows and quivers. The wolf and the badger stood there for a while before the she-wolf recognized their presence.
"Well, you're here. Good, now we can begin your first lesson."
She jumped down from the tree and calmly strolled over to where her students stood. She placed the two bamboo bows on the ground in front of her and slung her quiver of wolf-fang tipped arrows over her shoulder.
"What do you know about archery? Jo?"
Jo thought about it for a second. "It is the perfect skill to learn if you plan to attack from a long-range distance."
"And it requires accuracy and speed in order to be effective.," added Esau.
Justice beamed at the answers they gave. "Both of you are correct, and this is your first lesson."
She plucked an arrow from her quiver and strung it across her bow.
"Archery is the most-favored skill of assassins and marksmen. They choose this skill because it is stealthy and silent, not to mention the fact that they don't have to leave their cover to make their mark on a battle."
She glanced over to the other side of the moor, motioning to Jo and Esau to stand up and grab their bows and whichever quiver of arrows they desire. When they did, she pointed out to them a target she had set up fifty yards away.
"The main idea of archery practice is to build accuracy and speed of, not only the arrow, but the mind as well. One has to judge exactly how the arrow will react to the elements, and how to use it to their advantage."
While she was talking, she pulled back the string of her bow, aimed it at the target, and let it fly.
*THWAP*
The arrow embedded itself in the soft outer shell of the target cloth, right on the bull's eye. The badger was amazed at the feat he had just witnessed, but the grey wolf had seen his sister shoot off arrows so many times, he was not too surprised.
"How did you learn to shoot like that?" asked Jo.
"She probably learned it from our father.," answered the starving little brother.
Justice shook her head. "Nope, mother. She taught me when turned three years old."
Esau perked up, forgetting about his growling stomach.
"Mom taught you? How? Why?"
"She thought that I should learn to defend myself, even though I was a girl. She used to be one of the best archers in our village. By the time I was six, I knew how to kill fifteen men from eight miles away at night."
"Wait, I thought you said you were the best archer in the village."
"I am; she was."
She continued by telling them the correct way to hold a bow, how to string the arrow across it, and how to release. After a few mishaps, one almost beheading Justice, they finally got it right. They continued to shoot at the target until lunchtime, which Esau refused to attend. He just could not see the point of looking at people eat when he was in a food crisis.
That night at dinnertime, everything was quiet, too quiet. Po was about to go crazy from boredom. He tried almost a million times to spark a conversation, but he just could not think of anything to talk about. He was relieved when Tigress broke the silence.
"So, why are you really here, Justice?"
"Training, just like all of my other visits…"
"Oh." replied the disappointed and embarrassed master.
"…but I'm not leaving without challenging you to a rematch." continued the silver she-wolf.
The tiger smiled. "You know I'm just gonna beat you again, right?"
Justice scoffed. "In your dreams!"
"Well, I'll make this dream a reality!"
"Dreams can lie, you know."
Tigress looked at her rival skeptically. "How do you know?"
Justice thought back to a dream she once had. "I once dreamt I was eating the biggest, sweetest dumping I'd ever seen, and washed it down with a whole bottle of sake…"
Justice sighed at the delicious feast of her dreams. "… and then I woke up. Turns out that the dumpling I ate was a fist-sized rock."
"And the sake?" asked Master Shifu.
"I'll leave that to your imagination."
"Ugh," said everyone at the table, imagining exactly how gross the 'sake' really was. Justice's little trip down memory lane sparked many amazing dream disappointments, many of which came from the two pandas.
"…And when I woke up, I was sitting in the top of the tallest tree in the valley." Po laughed and sighed. "Oh, I remember it like it was yesterday."
"That's because it was yesterday," said Monkey, quickly bursting his bubble.
With that, the night ended with on a happy note. Well, almost happy.
" I can't believe it. I am starving out here and she's in there stuffing her face. This isn't fair at all," grumbled Esau as he sat outside the door of the dormitory.
"CAN THIS NIGHT GET ANY WORSE?" yelled Esau to the sky above him.
And as if it was just answering his question, it began to pour down raining.
"Oh, great. That's just great! Why don't you just hit me with lightning?"
The sky answered again with a rumble of thunder.
Esau realized then that it was probably a good time to go inside. He pounded on the door asking to be let in. When he heard no one coming, he began to pull on the handle, but the door failed to budge. He walked away from the door, highly P-Oed.
"I can't believe they forgot I was out here and locked the door! That's perfect."
He walked to the bathhouse, plotting his revenge on his sister. He knew the perfect thing to get her back.
"She will rue the day she ever left me out here." snarled Esau as he finished his sentence with a maniacal laugh.
More weapons left to cover in training. Plus, Esau gets his revenge. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha.
Please R&R and no flames.:-K