Lover with Wings

Chapter 16: There's Nothing Going On

Hi everyone :) sorry that this took so long, had a lot of school work that needed to be done. Hope this can make up for the long wait.... Enjoy.

Shen couldn't sleep. Try as he might, he couldn't. He sat up to find christine sleeping near the door, she looked cold too her arms were folded across her chesy with her knees  pointed up and every now and then she would shiver. Shen found her travel cloak nearby and covered her with it.  A small smile formed on christine's face as he did so and she sighed contently, nestling back down.

Shen smiled and turned, lian was asleep in the corner curled ontop of a pillow. Taking one of his silk blankets he threw it over the cub. He walked over to his desk, taking a drink and sipping it. Maybe now he could get some sleep.

When morning came with sun and a cool breeze Shen woke to find christine and lian gone and his carriage not moving. He stepped out to find most of his wolves sleeping, but a good number of them were in a crowd a small ways away from the carts. They looked like they were…dancing? Curious he walked over to see what was going on. As he got closer, he heard christine.

"Ok, ready?" Like this," she said as she showed Wugu, Wolf Boss, and a few other wolves some steps. They copied her as best they could. "Yeah, you got it!" She began dancing along with them."Now, add these and that's the whole dance."

    Shen peered through the crowd of wolves and saw christine dancing with seven wolves. Some of the wolves watching were clapping to help them keep rhythm, while watching he spotted the little leopard cub, she was clapping and jumping."whats going on here? what is she doing?" shen asked. lian giggled. " mommy and me were just messing around singing and dancing when a bunch of wolfs gathered to watch mommy dance". wide eyed he returned his attention on the white cat in the middle of the circle.

 Hop, clap, hop, clap, spin, hop, clap, raise their arms and repeat. That's how the dance went.They cycled through about four times before lian jumped in and her and her mother had their own little dance. this went on for a good coulple minuts until christine went off on her own.

Spin, clap, spin, clap, bend backward, sway her hips then pose.

She repeated about two times before she realized and stopped. She looked a little embarrassed until they started clapping and complementing her.  The feline was becoming more comfortable, until she saw Shen. The smile on her face fell and she stood up strait. The wolves parted around him as he approached her with lian at his side before she went over and stood by her mother."Quite the interesting moves," he said as he eyes her. "Thank you," She replied. Her head was down with her arms behind her back and eyes looking up at him. "If you can dance as well as you fight, you could have some moves as well.".  Shen smiled lifting his head a little. "I don't have just fighting and dance moves."

christine didn't say anything. Her eyes flashed a little wider as she looked down at the ground. 

    "I could show you if you--"

    "You know...I saw some...herbs...over there," christine said cutting him off and motioning toward a tree. "I'm gonna...go...over there. lian, Wugu care to join me." Wugu nodded. "Of course."

    Before Shen could protest, christine grabbed lian's hand and hurried away towards the tree. Wugu following a second after. lian looked back at the peacock and shrugged her shoulders. Shen growled and frustratedly returned to his carriage.Christine, Wugu, and Lian were walking towards the tree, neither one of them said anything. Lian looked up at her mother who was staring ahead. "why did you do that mommy?" the cub asked curiously. "what do you mean?" Christine questioned.

"lord shen was about to ask you something and you just took off"

christine's fur heated up, her paws a little sweaty. " its nothing blossom "she dismissed. Lian made a face." you're a terrible liar "

"Lian Lu!"christine fumed. wugu snickered slightly which earned him a glare from the mother. "what?! it's true. and I see the way he looks at you" lian exclaimed" I maybe young but I'm not stupid!". christine then excused herself from wugu and pulled her daughter to the side out of earshot. "lian listen, I don't know what you think you know but there is nothing going on with me and lord shen. yes i feel comfortable around him but that doesn't mean anything, understand?" The mother scolded.lian nodded looking down at the ground. " good now not another word about this" christine then placed a small kiss on her forhead.

A few hours went by when they decided to return. She, her daughter and Wugu had armfuls of herbs they found including a few wild-grown veggies. They were surprised to see wolves bustling about putting carts on boats that were in a near by river. They were still out of view when the box Shen guarded so closely rolled by.  "Wugu, what's in there?" asked lian. Wugu's ears drooped. "That's Lord Shen's weapon," he replied solemnly. "He's going to get the Master's Council out of Gongmen City."

christine didn't like the way Wugu talked about the weapon. Must be a very bad thing'  she thought. She sighed. "I suppose we should head over. Shen's going to start wondering where we are."

"Careful, CAREFUL!" Shen barked as the large box housing his weapon was moved onto a boat. "I don't want that damaged." Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed christine, lian and Wugu return but he didn't say anything until they were a few feet behind him. "Nice to see you returned before I had to send out a search party for you."  christine, lian and Wugu stopped and looked at each other, then looked back at Shen. He  turned around and looked at the older cat. "I was beginning to worry."  christine's heart skipped a beat as a small smile appeared on his face while looking at her. lian looked up at her mother as if to say 'see i told you'. christine didn't feel as uncomfortable as before but still a little uneasy about him, especially with what he plans to do with his weapon.  "So, what's going on here?" she asked changing the subject. "We're getting ready to go down river," Shen replied still looking at her. Now she was feeling awkward under his gaze. She hadn't been looked at like this since... well a long time ago  so she wasn't used to Shen doing the looking."Can we help with anything?" she asked, walking past him in an attempt to exit his gaze.

    "I think you've done enough," Shen replied referring to the herbs and veggies she, her daughter and Wugu had collected. "But, if you really want to do something, you can put those with the food.". Christine nodded and quickly headed over to the cart that housed the food provisions, Wugu and lian following close behind.  Shen smiled and chuckled as he watched them leave then turned his attention to some wolves moving his things.

"Hey! WATCH WHAT YOU'RE DOING WITH MY THINGS!"

Christine couldn't help but giggle at how red Shen's face got. "His face looks like a tomato," she whispered to Wugu.Wugu smiled. "Would you believe I've seen it redder?"

"really!?" lian also whispered. Wugu nodded. "It's true! I thought his head would explode!". They all laughed the rest of the way to the cart before they gave the herbs to the wolf that was there, telling him what they were and what they did so they could group them with the right herbs. Same went for the veggies. When everything was packed away on the boats, everyone began boarding. christine and her daughter were about to join Wugu when Shen stopped them. "Your boat, is over there," he said motioning toward the first boat. Christine stood there for a moment before looking over to Shen. He had a devious smile on. "Come," he said holding out his hand. "You will be my guests.". She hesitated before lowering her head a little and taking lian's hand. They walked forward, Shen close behind. Wugu watched nervously as they left, he really didn't want her or Lian to get hurt and knew how much Shen Scared the poor woman.