Chapter 2 – Jungle Masters
“I have a special assignment for the three of you. You may starve or never come back alive, but it is necessary for warriors, like yourselves, to train yourselves in the harshest of conditions. You’ll have to endure burning, tropical heat, lack of water, and a lack of comida supply. If you manage to pass, you will indeed be deemed as true high-level masters…”
“That was our order from Shifu, you guys. Now, let’s pick up the pace!” yelled tigresa to guindaste and Monkey, who were severely lagging behind in step. “Oh… Why do we have to do this?” uttered Crane, “I don’t know how anyone can survive out here.” “Stop being a baby!” tigresa scowled. “I think I’m going to like it here!” exclaimed. “And we only wonder why.” tigresa replied, sarcastically. The three Kung Fu masters entered the jungle, with little water and no comida with them.
They entered a part of the jungle where ancient ruins dating back thousands of area stood firm, with moss and vines surrounding almost all of the stone structures. tigresa then stepped onto what seemed to be a small platform. “You see.” she beamed, “Here lay the ruins of an ancient civilization, whose people actually made a living in this jungle, and managed to built all this despite all these conditions.” guindaste was still not convinced. “Yeah. And how long did these guys survive here?! Probably about a year.” Monkey sided with Tigress. “I don’t think they could build this in a year.” “Then, once they finished building their structures, they definitely would have left this place, and gone back to where they came from.” guindaste contiuned. Tigress’ face grew angrier. “Crane, I can tell this civilization lasted for centuries. These villagers became one with the jungle, with all its resources and climate. And that’s what we have to do as well. Understand?!” “Yes Tigress.” muttered Crane. “Then, let’s begin our training. We’ll do it right here.” tigresa declared proudly.
With Monkey’s help, tigresa set up three wooden targets throughout the ruins. The two had chopped down several of the older trees, and carved out a target círculo towards the topo, início of the trunk. “Crane, for use to become masters at a highest possible level, we’ll have to use one of the most common techniques of Kung Fu. The Element of Stealth. This time, the targets themselves will be using stealth. You must defend yourself from them por using your instincts. But… You’ll have to do it blind.” She explained. She showed him a blindfold that she had brought with her on the journey. Crane, with a puzzled look on his face, asked, “Why do I have to wear that?” “You have to do it this way because we need to use our ears to sense our targets’ presence, not our eyes. Master Shifu has done this many times, and we must learn it ourselves.” she answered him, “And you’re up first. Good luck.” tigresa and Monkey watched from behind a bush, as guindaste began his training.
Crane stood in the middle of the ruins as the three targets approached him one at a time, courtesy of a rope being pulled por tigresa and Monkey. guindaste stood silent and at the ready until the first target approached him from his right. guindaste breathed deeply and sensed the forthcoming target as his ears twitched. With a quick swipe of his right wing, the first target immediately went down. Within a minute, the two remaining targets were downed swiftly and without hesitation. After the final target got knocked down, tigresa and Monkey came out from the bushes and applauded. “Well done, Crane! You did it!” exclaimed Monkey. tigresa continued, “How do you feel now?” “Thanks you guys.” guindaste said, in relief, “And, actually, I feel rather empowered, if you know what I mean.” tigresa laughed, and took the blindfold off of Crane’s eyes. “Now… It’s my turn.”
Tigress completed the task in no time all, and the same went for Monkey as well. After the testing was completed, tigresa and guindaste agreed to a practice battle as they would mover around the ruins, with Monkey as a witness. “This seems like a different, but better, spot for us to train together isn’t it Crane?!” she asked. “Indeed.” he replied. The two Kung Fu warriors started out with some punches and kicks, and then guindaste flew in the available space, as tigresa moved quickly along the ledges of the stone structures. Each time the two managed to cruz paths, a little spar would occur, and, as time passed, guindaste began to mover quicker and quicker. So much, in fact, that he actually managed to be in line with Tigress, step-by-step. tigresa was impressed. “You’re definitely improving yourself.” she said while smiling. “I know. And you were right about this place. When you focus on what you, yourself, are doing, then the jungle doesn’t become a distraction to you.” “Right. However…” tigresa then lunged into the air, kicking him with a rápido, swift right-footed kick to the mid-chest, “You still can’t let your opponent distract you.” she said, as guindaste fell onto the ground. After she landed herself, she went over to Crane, and let out her paw. guindaste lifted his left wing, and tigresa pulled him back up. “I think that should do it for the day. It’s nearly sundown.” she declared to him and Monkey exhaustingly.
That evening, the three gathered around a fogo that tigresa started, using the test targets as firewood. “That was some intense training we had today.” remarked Monkey, “So, what’s our plan for tomorrow?” tigresa smiled. “I hear there’s another landmark not that far from here. It’ll take us about an hora or two walking to get there from here.” “What is this landmark?” asked Crane. “I don’t know. It’s probably another structure built por the ancient civilization. I only wonder what fascinations this civilization had, and how could they have survived for so long in these hard conditions.” she replied. “Yes. I kind of wonder the same thing.” Monkey continued, yawning. “I think it’s time we rest for the night.” stated Tigress. She put the fogo out, the three said “Good Night,” and the three went to sleep.
The seguinte day, they set out to the seguinte landmark. As they ventured, guindaste asked, “Do you think anyone else in this jungle right now? I mean I hope that we don’t run into an enemy, and have mais to worry about.” “I doubt we will.” answered Tigress, “However, we can only assume that there might be, and we’ll just have to handle it in the proper manner when the time comes…”
To Be Continued…
