The Last Hope

11. Dangerous Japan

Shen craned his neck. A coast appeared on the horizon. Impatiently, he kept an eye on the piece of land in the distance until finally the captain hurried to him.
"My lord, we will reach the coast of Japan in 5 minutes."
Shen hardly showed any emotion, but inside he was totally agitated. "And this area is uninhabited?" he asked again with a slight disinterest in his voice.
The antelope nodded. "As you wished. But then we can't go that close to the shore because of the rocks in the water."
Shen waved his wing dismissively. "It's enough if you stop a few meters in front of it. I can handle the rest on my own."
The white peacock waited a while longer until the ship swam close enough to the shore, which consisted only of pure vegetation and large round stones.
Shen tied his lance sword to his back, which he had previously wrapped in a cloth. The people didn't have to see right away that he was armed. And a small holdall that he slung on his shoulder. Then he stood on the railing and searched the coast for a suitable landing place. But before he could jump off, the captain held him back. "But if you want to go back to China, then you have to come into the port of Koyosho. That's where we will drop anchor."
Shen nodded. "I know about that." Then he flapped his wings vigorously and pushed himself off the ship. Because the deck wasn't very high, he had to use a lot of strength to keep from falling into the water. Peacocks could not fly very well, at best they could glide when jumping from a great height. Eventually, Shen reached the rocky shore on dry feet. Once there, he shook his feathers briefly and looked around. Big rocks were lying around everywhere, and behind that was a large wooded area. Shen let out a deep sigh. It might have been nicer to enter a port, but the white peacock didn't want to take any chances. If Yamato was so upset with him, maybe other Japanese residents also knew a white peacock. And the last thing he needed was a riot. He just wanted to get undisturbed to the village further inland. He pulled out a card. According to the plan, he would have to go a bit into the forest until he came across a path. He put the map away again and went straight through the bushes.

Po, who was still clinging to the ship, covered his mouth helplessly. The swaying journey over the whole hours didn't do his stomach any good. Besides, he couldn't even distract himself with anything. Everywhere just water, water, sea, water, coast... His eyes widened when he saw a white figure was disappearing between the trees.
"Hey, hey, hey, wait!"
Quickly, the panda pushed off the ship that was sailing further along the coast and paddled towards land in the barrel. After a good marathon swim, panting, he reached the safe land. He boldly grabbed a rock and pulled himself out of the water. After a minute of breathing pause, the black and white bear squeezed out of the barrel and threw his arms in the air with joy. "Land!"
The panda was so relieved that he kissed the stones. But in the next moment, something pinched his face. "Ouch!"
Po jumped up in shock and rubbed his sore nose. A small crab had pinched his snout. Outraged by this "kiss," the shellfish crawled away between the stones while Po was still dealing with his kissing accident.
"Japan hurts badly," he lamented. But then he remembered why he was here at all and looked around searchingly. Where was Shen?

The forest seemed peaceful and innocent, but Shen was not affected by the tranquility of nature. Again and again, the peacock violently slapped a fern aside or pushed away a disturbing branch. Now and then he paused when he thought he saw a white figure in the sunbeam that shone through the canopy of leaves. Finally, he couldn't stand it any longer. He stopped and took a deep breath. Then he looked around carefully. He'd managed to endure the tension on the ship, but now he was restless and nervous. Lost in thought, he let his eyes wander and wondered whether he was crossing the spot in Japan that his brother had walked on at some point.
Japan was not entirely unknown to Shen. He had read a lot about it when he was at school, or when business people from Japan came to Gongmen City and reported on their country.
Nevertheless, his father's concerns had never particularly interested him.
Shen's wings spasmed. He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to feel something. Some people claimed that siblings had something in common emotionally. They would even be able to sense each other's presence. After a while, he opened his eyes again in disappointment. He didn't feel anything. Eventually, Shen forced himself to keep walking until he came upon the anticipated forest path. He looked around again to see if anyone was on the way. Seeing no one, he continued on his way.