The Last Honor

22. Out of the sky

The red of dawn hung beautifully over Gongmen City. The old goat had been awake for a long time and was already busy in the kitchen. But not because she was a morning person. She worried that something might have happened. There was still no message from Mendong City either, and she had doubts as to whether everything was okay. The only thing that reassured her was that the dragon warrior had come with them. She was sure that Po would take good care of both of them, but even a dragon warrior had weak points.
Sighing, she sipped her tea. Why did she have such a terrible feeling in her stomach?
Her brooding was interrupted when Sheng entered the kitchen with his little brother Zedong. Followed closely by Fantao, who rubbed his face tiredly.
"Well, you don't look too cheerful," the soothsayer said with a smile. "Is Xia still upstairs?"
"She's still combing her feathers," Shen replied, who didn't have a thing for girls' stuff.
The goat smiled and shook her head. Sheng went to the table with his brothers. The goat counted.
"Where's Jian?"
"In bed," Zedong answered.
"So? Then I'll have a look at him again."
"Where are the others?" Zedong wanted to know.
"The five?" The goat stroked her beard. "They have been awake for a long time. They always get up with the sun."
Fantao twisted his beak. "Do all Kung Fu warriors have to do it like that? I could forbear from doing that."
The goat smiled slightly. "Your father said the same sometimes when he was a very little boy."
Fantao twisted his beak. "But then he has not changed much if he has been sleeping longer in the morning than we have."
The goat's corner of her mouth sank again. "Well, I'll get your little brother down."
With that, she disappeared from the kitchen.

The goat went up a few floors, where the guest room for the boys was. Jian was actually still in the blankets, clutching his musical instrument tightly.
"But boy," the goat reprimanded him. "You can't take that to bed with you."
"Otherwise, they'll take it away from me," Jian grumbled.
The goat smiled. "You are stubborn like your father. Whenever he set his mind on something, he always clung to it."
The peacock cub turned on his back, moaning. "When is mom coming back?"
"Very soon."
She stroked the boy's head. "But now come on, the others are already on their feet."
Reluctantly, the boy left his musical instrument unnoticed for a moment and the goat brought him a robe. He would certainly have put the shirt on the wrong way if she hadn't pointed it out to him.
"Oh boy," the soothsayer giggled and straightened his cloth. "Did you secretly play music again at night?"
"It's just fun when the moon is in the sky," Jian explained. "I don't have to see any colors to be happy."
He winced when the goat plucked his head feathers. "You don't have to look at the moon to do that," she said. "Your mother struggled with it at first, too. But she learned to deal with it. Even without music."
The little peacock looked down. "It would be nice if she had been here."
The goat patted his shoulder. "Well, come on, I'm sure, the others are waiting for you."
At that moment, the door opened and Xia poked her head inside.
"Has Jiang overslept again?" she asked disapprovingly.
The goat waved her hand. "No, he just forgot the time." She pushed the boy to the door, but the boy wriggled out of her grips and got his musical instrument out of bed.
The goat rolled her eyes. "Like his father."

The sun was already hanging higher over the roofs. Sheng, Zedong, and Fantao were the first who finished breakfast. Then they went to the palace square where the Furious Five were doing a few exercises with the two great masters. Only when the three peacocks appeared, they stopped. Sheng didn't show anything and bowed respectfully.
"It's an honor for us to refine the art of Kung Fu with you," he said nobly.
His two little brothers giggled at the greeting.
The masters, on the other hand, did not hold it against him. Not even when Zedong dared to step into the position. "Hey, do you want to do some kung fu stuff with us?"
That question was addressed to the Five, and Monkey immediately agreed to do so.
"Well then, show what you can."
Little peacock and monkey bowed before Zedong immediately attacked Monkey. But all his attacks could not harm the defensive actions of the hairy master.
Master Ox and Master Croc withdrew from the fray. When they were out of earshot, the ox couldn't help but say anything.
"Sometimes I wonder if it is even a good thing that we allow them to practice."
Master Croc looked up at him in surprise. "What?"
"You heard me."
"What gives you that idea?"
"Shen had also been trained hard. Until he went to the bad." His gaze fell on Sheng and Zedong, who always trained the most diligently. "Who guarantees that we won't make the same mistake again?"
"But you agreed."
"Because she said it."
The ox nodded at the old goat who was just coming across the square with Jian in her hoof, closely followed by Xia.
"But Sheng isn't one of those people and he's grown up already," the crocodile said. "He is careful and conscientious. He would never do anything like his father did at his age."
The ox snorted. "It's bad enough that he's still alone with his daughter."
Master Croc swallowed. "Do you really think that her father's malice could rub off on her? I cannot imagine that. She's a too good girl."
"Wasn't he a good boy first, too?" Master Ox growled gloomily. "He was born sick, and his brain is just as sick."
The crocodile shook his head disapprovingly. As much as he resented Shen for his past actions, it was difficult for him to speak ill of him in the face of his children. Master Ox, on the other hand, did not seem to have any inhibitions.
His gaze wandered back to the practice area, where it was Fantao's turn. However, his opponent was not Monkey, but Tigress.
Tigress and peacock looked at each other. Tigress raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"Why do you look so horrified?"
Fantao hastily shook his head. "I like your stripes."
There was a giggle in the background. Tigress tried to ignore the laughter of her friends and stroked her arms with a forced smile. "Thanks."
Fantao raised the corners of his beak. "I could also paint a picture of you ..."
He raised his brush, but in the next moment it was taken off by his older sister Xia.
"You shouldn't paint," she chided him. "But practice."
Pouting, the peacock twisted his beak and had to watch Xia hide his favorite object in her coat.
Reluctantly, Fantao swallowed his anger and got into position. Then the start came and both animals attacked each other. Fantao dodged more Tigress 'blows than he attacked. Instead, he jumped around her until he failed to notice a quick blow and fell to the ground. He slid over the tiles, rolled over briefly and finally lay there.
"Oh!" The boy was shocked to find that a colorful tail feather had fallen out.
Tigress hurried to him quickly and picked up the lost feather. "Oh, I'm sorry."
She held it out to him. But Fantao waved it off. "You can keep it. Maybe you can give it Po." Another giggle rose from behind her back. The tigress clutched the feather with a firm grip, but she controlled herself in time. She mumbled a quick thank you, put the feather in her shirt and walked past her friends with brisk steps and kept in the background. The four friends looked at her in amazement. They wondered why she didn't show upset. Or was it because of the children?
Fantao, on the other hand, had enough of training for now and passed it on to Jian. The boy stepped onto the square with great uncertainty. The five wanted to make it easier for him and sent Mantis into the ring.
Although the green insect looked so harmless, the peacock cub knew how skilled this little master was and fearfully clutched his instrument.
"Come on, you don't need that for training," Xia said and took the pipa out of his wings.
"Hey!" Jian tried to reach for it again, but his older sister wouldn't budge and pushed her brother forward again.
Viper meanwhile had joined Tigress and looked at her carefully. "You are so quiet today. What's up?"
Tigress crossed her arms. "It's nothing."
The snake hissed. "Oh, come on. I know you. Is it because of Po?"
Tigress avoided her gaze and Viper thought it was best to be silent after all. Was there really any reason to worry about her best friend?
Their brooding was interrupted when Jian was pushed too hard by Mantis once and fell to his knee. Zedong shook his head disapprovingly.
"How could you miss his attack?" he chided his brother. "He was right in front of you."
Jian had to admit that he was totally unable to concentrate, but that didn't help him against his bruised knee. The soothsayer quickly rushed to him and helped him up.
The boy wasn't crying, but you could see that it hurt him.
"It doesn't matter," she reassured him. "We can fix that again."
With the boy, she went to the stairs. Mantis trembled with his antennas, then he turned to face his friends.
"What? I didn't even hit him hard."
"Then go up against me," Zedong challenged him.
Viper and Monkey exchanged surprised looks.
"He's got a lot of fighting spirit," the snake said.
The goat, not far from them, only listened with half an ear.
"Like his father," she muttered, cleaning Jian's knees in the meantime.
"I can also apply an ointment to you if you want," she finally offered.
The boy looked up at her. "Couldn't you be our nanny?"
The goat looked at him in embarrassment. "Uh, well, I..."
Monkey refrained from laughing and was wondering whether Shen would even like it.