The Dragon Awakens

Chapter Twelve

Lanie woke up before dawn. She got dressed, being careful not to disturb Mushu who slept like the dead anyway. She stole out of the tent and begin jogging down the hill and through the camp. Shang's light was still on but when she glanced through the window he was passed out over his desk.

Lanie took a quick detour to the armory and grabbed only a bow. She picked up her pace as the sun began to rise higher and she sprinted up the hill to the pole. Underneath it sitting on a table was the box holding the two weights. She put the bow around her torso and opened the box and took out the weights by the leather straps, tying one to each hand. She stood underneath the pole, took a deep breath, and wrapped the two weights together on the other side of the pole so it countered her weight. Slowly, Lanie began to pull herself up.

The morning horn sounded and she saw soldiers begin to emerge from their tents. She gritted her teeth and climbed faster. Good, let them see me, she thought. Finally, she reached the top and hoisted herself up, balancing the pole between her legs, gripping it with her thighs. She yanked the arrow out and knocked it in the bow. She turned her attention to the camp where more people were starting to congregate. One of them saw her, by his size Lanie figured it was Po, and they all turned towards the hills.

Lanie took a deep breath, measured quickly for wind, and fired. The bow arced through the air, soaring towards the camp, and landed right in front of Shang's door at the exact moment he opened it. Honestly, she couldn't have planned it better if she tried.

His head snapped towards her as the men began to cheer and Lanie actually laughed as they all began running up the hill. Lanie stayed where she was, living in the attention for the moment as everyone crowded underneath her, including Shang and Clark who was still in his pajamas.

"Ping! How did you do it?" Yao shouted up to her and Lanie held up the weights.

"Strength and discipline," she answered, staring right at Shang as she said it. Everyone laughed as she shimmed down the pole and landed lightly on her feet. Po slapped her on the back and Lanie sneaked at glance at Shang who was staring at her with his arms crossed but a smirk on his face.

"Right well, now that Fa has cracked the code that means I expect twice the effort from all of you," Shang called and everyone groaned but no one was really that upset about it. They all glanced at Lanie with sly smiles on their faces. This was a big win for all of them, as a team.

Jogging back down the hill a voice exploded in Lanie's ear. "So you do like him?" he accused her teasingly and Lanie coughed.

"No. I told you I don't. That's not how this worked," she replied softly, glancing around her. Shang was heading up the back of the pack and when she glanced back his eyes were concentrated on her back. He looked away quickly, back towards Clark who was carefully making his way down in his slippers

"Alright, I'll drop it. Now bring out those Dragon Army skills and blow them all away. Show them who's boss," Mushu told her and Lanie smirked as they reached base camp and her morning group approached the close-hand combat tent.

"Oh with pleasure."

Lanie stepped into the tent and much to her surprise Shang was standing on the mat instead of their usual instructor, ironically named Matt. Matt, a very tall and buff black man was standing off to the side with a clipboard in his hand and a I-know-something-you-don't smirk on his face.

"Alright everyone, today instead of fighting each other, you're going to be facing Captain Shang on the mat. Yao, you're up first today," Matt called from the corner and Yao huffed but stepped onto the mat in front of Shang who only stared at him with his arms hanging at his sides. When Matt chimed the bell t begin, Yao was flat on his back in 10 seconds with only a yelp in-between. 

And the same thing happened with every other man who stepped on the mat to face Shang, timid and nervous to not only face their commander but hit him. The longest anyone lasted against Shang was thirty seconds and that was only because the first punch went to his stomach and he managed to get out of the way of the roundhouse kick because he tripped before getting pinned down on his chest.

"Alright P, you're last," Matt called from the corner. Lanie had no idea why he chose to call her P but as soon as he saw her name on the list the first day that's what he chose. She was P.

"Okay," Lanie rolled her shoulders and cracked her knuckles, facing Shang with more confidence than all the men in the room combined.

"Why are you smirking?" he asked her, smiling himself.

"Because I know which one of us is going to end up on the ground," she moved her stance and the bell rang, "and it's not going to be you." Shang lunged forward but Lanie dodged out of the way quickly, spinning to bring her heel down in the middle of his back. Shang stumbled but didn't fall. He grabbed her ankle and tried to pull her but Lanie only kicked him with her other foot and flipped backward. Keeping up her nightly stretching routine was really paying off.
   Shang rubbed his jaw but smiled and lunged at her again, which Lanie dodged again.

"That move really isn't working for you," she commented as she danced around him.

"And what should I try instead?" he snapped, trying to grab her again. She spun around him, grabbed his outstretched arm, and twisted it. She kicked him in the knees, twisted his other arm back, and put the rest of her weight on his thighs so he couldn't twist back around and grab her. She had won.

Everyone stared at her as she knelled there, panting over a disgruntled looking Shang.

"Uh, 45 seconds," Matt said from the corner, scribbling it down on his clipboard. Lanie stood up and brushed off her uniform. Shang rolled over and looked up at her standing there, stretching her arm across her chest.

"Fa," Shang said as he stood. Everyone else was filing out of the tent to move to their next station when Lanie stopped by the door. Mushu had told her to use her skills, but was that too far? Logically she should have thought this through more. There was no way she could have improved that much over just a day from yesterday when she'd pretended to get her ass kicked. And doing a flip? She was such an idiot she should have-
     "Come to my tent tonight for dinner. I have some things I'd like to discuss with you," Shang instructed and Lanie swallowed and nodded.

"Yes sir," she slipped out of the tent and hurried over to the gun range on the outskirts of the camp, her heart pounding. She was either in massive trouble, or she was about to get a promotion she didn't want.