Chapter 29 - When The Bough Breaks...

(More boys will be introduced to the story...........I do not own those boys! I wish I did though, they are awesome!)

"Nononononononono!! Go awaaaaaaaaaaay!!" Shifu yelled furiously, his tiny footsteps thudding down the hall.
"There he is! Get him!" Wu Lian shouted, pointing to the red panda scurrying down the hallway.
"Nooooooo! Leave me alone!!"
"Shifiii!" Ming Yang hollered, tightly clutching a bottle of shampoo as she ran. "Come on!"
"Nooooooooo!!" The red panda cub ran as fast as he could, fleeing out into the night.
Leona followed close behind him. "Shifu? Why won't you come out?" She pulled a sponge out of her kimono. "We're trying to find you."
"......Get lost." A voice said from above her.
Leona peered up at the tree blinking. "Shifu?"
Stubornly, the young cub crossed his arms. "I'm not coming down.....so you can tell Master Oogway that!"
His fellow classmates and master walked up to the tree.
"Shifu?" Oogway called. "I know you're up there, you may as well give yourself up......you're out numbered."
The cub glared down at his master. "I don't care! I'm not coming out.........so there." He stuck his tongue out like a brat and turned his back to his master. "Hmmph!"
The old tortoise's left eye twitched slightly. "Ugh.." He turned towards Risu. "Risu, go up there and see if you can get him to come down."
The young squirrel saluted. "Will do master!" With that he ran up the tree with his tiny-but strong paws. "Hey Shifufu! How's a bout ya come down now..eh?"
The red panda narrowed his eyes at the bushy tailed rodent. "Nnnnno!"
Risu threw up his arms. "Fine. I tried being nice!" With that, he grabbed the cub's arm and started to pull. "Come on down!"
"No!"
"Get down!" He pulled harder, the cub was beginning to slip.
"No!!" Shifu swung his tail around and knocked Risu off the branch.
"Aughhh!" Risu rolled down the base of the tree and landed on his master's foot. "................Ouch."
Oogway sighed. "Well, I guess this cub gives me no choice..." He walked slowly up to the tree, positioned his staff and gave it a strong stroke with the hard bamboo. The tree rumbled violently, every single peach from the tree was flung from the branches and plopped on the ground. Shifu fell on the branch and desperately clambered on the bark, trying to stay on. His tiny fingers slipped. "Aughhhhhhh!!!!" Shifu screamed as he fell from the branch and into his master's arms.
Oogway walked back up the small steps towards the bunkhouse with the rest of his students following close behind. He brought the cub into the bathroom and slipped off his tunic. The old tortoise dunked the cub into the soapy water and scrubbed him hard as punishment.
Ming Yang watched blinking curiously. "Here's the shampoo Master Oogway." She handed him the small bottle.
"Thank you Ming Yang." The old tortoise said with a sigh.
Shifu attempted swatting the old master's hand away, squinting his eyes shut against the shampoo. "Not so hard!"
Wu Lian smirked. "You brought it on yourself pipsqueak."
Shifu gave a low growl. "When I get out of this horrible tub I'm gonna-"
"You will do no such thing." Oogway said sternly. "Once your bath is done, you're going to bed."
"Whaaaat?" Shifu whined. "You promised me melon buns!"
The old tortoise narrowed his eyes. "Had I known you would have behaved like that I would not have bought them for you."
Shifu slunked down into the soapy water, obviously ashamed. "........I hate baths!"
Wu Lian rolled her eyes. "Why? They're so fun! Playing with bubbles and bath toys!"
"Yeah!" Ming Yang agreed. She began running. "Canon ball!!"
Oogway's eyes went wide. "No Ming Yang don't!"
SPLASH!
".............." Oogway just stood there, water dripping down into his eyes. "....Ugh.." He squirted out a stream of water back into the tub. "......These kids are going to kill me."
Ming Yang giggled. "Heehehehe! Hi Shifiii!" She splashed him.
The young cub sighed. "H-hi Mingy.................why are you in the tub with me?"
Risu giggled. "Why? It looks fun! BOMBS AWAAAAY!!" With that, he too did a flying leap into the tub. It made a minor splash, drenching the old tortoise's face.
Oogway shook his head slowly. ".................................I desperately need a vacation."
"Taplo! What are you waiting for?" Benjirou called towards his goral friend. "Would you hurry up? I want to show you something!!" He was a young seven year old otter who was brown with beige on his chin, throat, and belly. He had bright blue eyes with beige spots above each eye. He wore an orange vest, dark green trousers and a small coolie hat. "Come on! Why do you always have to be so slow?"
A long irritated whine was heard from behind him. "Benji, I'm going as fast as I can!" A small seven year old goat thudded close behind hid friend. He was a young gray Chinese goral with jade green eyes, white legs and a beige spot on his chest. He wore a small faded blue mandarin jacket with bamboo shoots on it and black trousers. He also had beautiful newly developed white horns. (Which he proudly showed off to pretty much everyone). "Why do you always have to drag me everywhere..?"
Benjirou rolled his eyes. "Welllllll....you're my best friend!"
Taplo blew a raspberry. "Mehh..." The young goral caught up to his friend quickly and skidded to a stop behind the otter. "Benji what are we.....!! ..........Eep." Taplo's eyes became as wide as saucers. "Wh-wha-wha-whaaat?!!" He stood there staring down at a thundering waterfall. Sharp rocks glinted at the bottom of the dangerous rapids. The goral's face became as white as a ghost. ".....What are we doing here by..." He swallowed hard, feeling sick. "S...such deep water!!"
Benjrou patted his goat friend on the back. "Aww....relax. You're looking quite pale Taplo."
Taplo had to grip the otter's shoulder to keep from falling. "Ooohh...." He gave a groan. "It's so deep! What are we doing here?!"
Benjirou chuckled. "See those apples over the falls?"
The goral nodded stiffly. "Y...yes....what about them?"
The otter laughed. "What do you think? We're going to pick them-duh!"
Taplo groaned. "Ughh......."
Benjirou grinned. "Why are you freaking out? You love heights!"
The goat sighed. "Yes.....but you know I hate deep water! We're over the falls Benji we could die!"
The otter snickered. "Keep a positive attitude and we won't!" He slapped the young goral on the back. "Your go!"
Horrorified, Taplo turned to his friend. ".........I..I have to go first?!"
Benjirou laughed. "That's the spirit! Take off Taplo!"
The goat was frozen to the spot.
The otter looked thoughtful, then his face brightened. "I know! You can ram into the tree to get the easy ones, okay?"
Taplo's face lit up. "Ouuu! I wouldn't mind that!" He backed up. Then with high speed-rammed hard into the sturdy bark. The apples were flung from the branches, they scattered around the goat. He grinned. "I did it!" He patted his horns lovingly. "Heehee!"
The otter grinned. "Well done Taplo! .......Now let's get the ones higher up!" With that, he hurried up a long branch.
Taplo squinted his eyes shut, crossed his fingers and whispered a silent prayer as he followed Benjirou up the tree.
"Students, be back at the palace by eleven, alright?" Oogway asked as he handed the children their picnic basket.
Ming Yang beamed. "Don't worry Master Oogway! We promise to be back soon."
The old tortoise smiled at them, then he turned to Shifu. "Shifu I put something in the basket for you."
Shifu blinked curiously, then he peeked in the basket. "Hwaaaa!! MELON BUNS!!"
Oogway chuckled. "Behave yourselves kids, alright?"
Risu did a high flip over the railing of the stairs. "Yo mah friends! I just finished making some lemonade!" He slid down Oogway's shell and hopped onto Shifu's shoulder, where he usually sat. "So when are we going?"
Wu Lian chuckled. "Right now!"
Oogway looked thoughtful. "Where are you all going? Not very far I hope."
Shifu smiled. "Nope! Just the outskirts of the valley."
The old tortoise gave a relieved sigh. "Alright, do not go near the falls, the rocks at the bottom will split you up the middle if you hit them!"
The young cub smiled at his master. "We promise!"
Oogway gave the young cub an affectionate ruffle on the head. "Somehow...with you Shifu it's hard to believe you'll keep it."
Everyone laughed at the flushed expression on the cub's face.
"Hahahahahaha! Isn't this fun?!" Benjirou asked with a laugh.
Taplo hugged the branch tightly. "Qu.....quite."
Crack.
Benjirou's head shot up. "What was that?!"
Crack.
Taplo began freaking out. "Aieee!! We're going to diiie!!"
Benjirou struggled to remain calm. "N-no we're not!"
"I don't want to die!"
Crack. The bough began breaking, the crack ripped up the whole branch.
The children glanced down at the foaming rapids in terror. "Oh boy.."
Crack.
Benjirou bit his lip to keep it from trembling. "Augh...m-move back slowly on the branch!"
Slowly, Taplo inched backwards.
Crack.
"Oh no!"
The bough began swaying up and down, a crack ripping up the (so called sturdy tree).
Benjirou swallowed hard. "Oh...th-those rocks look sharp!"
Crack.
Taplo shook his head slowly. "It's no use........we're trapped!"
"Ahhh....this is the life!" Shifu said as he sipped his lemonade.
Ming Yang nodded in agreement, and slipped her sunglasses over her face. "The wind blows through my sundress......it feels nice!"
Risu nodded. "Very relaxing..." Risu agreed, popping a dumpling in his mouth. "Delish!"
"Heeeelllppp!!"
"...?" The children's heads shot up in surprise. "What was that?"
Shifu scratched his head. "I think someone's in trouble!"
Risu did a flip and landed on the cub's shoulder. "Right...let's go!"
With that the children hurried towards the edge of the forest.
"There!" Shifu shouted as he pointed to the falls. "There's two little folks attatched to the tree!" He squinted his eyes at the branch and drew back in surprise. "B-Benji?! Taplo?!"
Benjirou opened his eyes. "Shifu!!"
The cub hurried over towards the tree. "BENJI!! TAPLO!!"
Taplo waved towards the cub. "Shifu!"
Wu Lian blinked. "Do you all know eachother?"
Ming Yang nodded. "Yeah, we do! But what on earth are they doing here?!"
"Never mind that!" Benjirou wailed. "Get us down!"
The cub began inching up towards the bark.
Crack.
Shifu was growing frantic, the branch was splitting down the middle quickly. In a few moments Benjirou and Taplo would fall!!
"Oh no!" Ming Yang gasped. "We need to do something! They're going to diiiiiiiie!"
Wu Lian reached out and placed a hand on the young bunny's head. "Relax Ming Yang, Shifu will get to them in time!"
The young cub stretched his hand out, slowly inching up the branch. "Taplo! Grab on!"
Fearfully, not raising his eyes from the rapids underneath him, the goral reached up and grabbed Shifu's hand.
The branch began to crack louder, and snapped off. The horrorified children gave bloodcurdling screams as they plumbeted into the rapids below. Their screams were silenced as a strong pair of hands seized them by the scruff of the neck, moments before they hit the foaming water below. The children were lifted over the falls and deposited safely beside Ming Yang and Wu Lian.
Shifu kept his eyes on the ground.
"Shifu."
The cub cringed at the coldness in his master's voice. "....." He kept his eyes on the ground, staring at invisible stones.
"Shifu, look at me."
The young cub rose his eyes to his master's angry ones. "Y.........yes?"
"I told you to stay away from the falls."
"B-but Benji and Taplo needed help!"
Oogway sighed. "Then you should have come back to get me, not take matters into your own hands!"
Wu Lian stepped forward. "Umm master...in his defense, there was no time to come and get you!"
The old tortoise was silent for a moment. "............Alright then." He glanced over at Shifu and smiled slightly. "Then I will not punish you."
Shifu sighed. "..............I'm sorry."
Oogway ruffled the cub's head. "What's more, what were you two young ones doing on that tree...over the falls?"
Benjirou dropped his head. ".........Sorry sir.." He murmured.
The old tortoise crossed his arms. "The two of you should know better then that, you could have been killed if you had fallen into those sharp rocks."
Taplo glanced around and picked up an apple. "Want an apple...........sir?" He asked lamely.
Oogway shook his head. "That's quite alright." He turned towards his students. "I need to get some grocceries in the valley....I'll meet you all at the palace later."
The children nodded.
Shifu turned towards his otter and goat friends. "Hey!"
They exchanged a typical one handed hug. They didn't wrap their arms around eachother like girls would.......they were to "cool" for that.
Ming Yang however tackled them to the ground and hugged them. "BENJI!!! TAPLO!!" She nuzzled them affectionately.
Benjirou, like any normal boy having more of a liking to his boy friends then girl friends feebly patted her on the back for as long as she clung to him. Taplo returned the hug as physically much as possible. The two boys had known the bubbly young bunny for half as long as Shifu, but they didn't play together very much.
Risu's face lit up. "Finally! More boys to play with!"
The three girls glared at him.
"N-not that I mind having lots of girls!" He stuttered. "You know I love you girls!"
The girls looked ready to attack, but Benjirou came to the squirrel's rescue. "Hey! .....Errr...I'm Benjirou call me Benji nice to meet you.." He spoke very quickly and everyone could tell he had wanted to get the introduction over with as quick as possible. (It was clear he wasn't very fond of girls). "This is my friend Taplo!" He pushed the goral forward.
Taplo smiled and blushed slightly. "Heehee........nice to meet you.."
Leona blushed and giggled. (A definite first). "Nice to meet you Taplo, I'm Leona!"
Wu Lian stepped foward. "I'm Wu Lian."
Risu stepped forward. "I'm Risu."
Ming Yang stepped forward. "And I'm..........! Oops! I forgot hehehe!" She blushed and took a step back.
Shifu smiled. "Do you want to join our picnic? I still have some-...!! Hey!!" He reached into his pocket and desperately searched for something. The cub's head shot up, he glared at Taplo's small hand that had a drool covered tidbit of his melon bun held out to him. The goral's cheeks buldged with Shifu's delicious dessert.
"Oo want f-ome?"

(XD! HAHAHAHA! I loved writting the ending of the chapter, and the beginning. I noticed the bathing scene in the chapter "Surprise! Surprise!" was very popular so I decided to do another. It appears Leona has a slight crush on Taplo. Oh and by the way Taplo and Benjirou do not belong to me. I had asked my friend EscriberZeichnenRever (wow that's a mouth full!) if she wanted her OC's in my story and she said yes.)

Benjirou- son of two speeches (Japanese)
Taplo-sweet and good like honey (centeral Asian)

Preview of the next chapter.

"Shifu?" Oogway called under the bed. "Come on out..."
"No!" Shifu sobbed. "I'm not coming out, go away!! I won't let you do it...you...you meanie!!"
Oogway's face creased with sympathy. "Shifu, if you don't take it....you'll get very ill."
"I don't care!" The cub sobbed. "Leave me alone!!" He was growing hysterical, and Oogway had not even injected it yet.
Ming Yang and Wu Lian exchanged looks, everyone was shocked. So this was most obviously the cub's greates fear, it reduced him to a sobbing, shaking little ball of fluff. Of course everyone has phobias! .....But no one expected this would be Shifu's...

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