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꒾ CHAPTER 12 ꒾
SHANG WAS WALKING THROUGH THE VILLAGE, hands in the pockets of the red dragon-scaled suit that his aunt had gave him. He was stressed. His father had not shown up yet with the Ten Rings, but it was only a matter of time before they did. Wenwu was taunting the group, making them sit on edge-and everyone knew it.
Women, men, and children of all sizes were training on the grounds. Shang smiled as he spotted his sister training with other adults her age with a rope dart. The siblings made eye contact as Xialing subtly smirked at him. Shang then made his way over the the archery grounds, scoffing in amusement when he saw Katy attempting to shoot a bull's-eye. His friend gave him a goofy look once she saw him watching her.
Shang climbed up the steps to the different cabins that they were staying in slowly. He was about to retire in his, but something or someone, caught his eye. It was Ju. Her head was tilted upwards as she looked out onto the fields of everyone training silently.
Ju saw Shang out of the corner of her eye. She beckoned him over with her head. As he sat down next to her, the room was enveloped in a comfortable silence.
"Have you ever wondered what it would have been like if we were normal?"
Shang turned around to see Ju already looking at him. He wondered where that question came from.
"What do you mean?" He questioned.
Ju sighed, "I mean, if we had lived in San Francisco all of our lives. No magic, no fighting-only normal lives."
"We would have still met Katy, and maybe she could've joined the Debate team," Shang suggested. Ju cracked a smile before he continued, "I would've joined Drama Club.. and you would be in fencing and gardening class."
"Really?" Ju scoffed, "I would be in gardening?"
"Yeah! You would have this shit partner and you had to grow a flower tomorrow and.." he waved his arms around, "You would whip up a plant just like that!"
Shang grinned as he saw that he made Ju smile. He found it adorable how she was giggling at the ground. Soon enough, her smile slowly dropped, making his do the same.
"What's wrong?" Ju looked at the hand that Shang had placed on hers.
"I never told you why I left here."
Shang looked at her, "Ju, you know you don't have to-"
"No it's okay" Ju cut him off. "There..there was this war, against these dark spirits. They could kill you with a slash of their claws and their hauntings at the same time. If you were killed by them, it was brutal. You had to know how to fight them and what you were doing."
Shang looked like he was interested, so she kept talking.
"When I was fighting in the war, a spirit was trying to kill my family, and they did," Ju paused, "But not without getting to me first. I had to watch as the spirits tore them apart, one by one, and I couldn't even do anything."
"What do you mean 'but not without getting to me first'?" Shang asked softly.
Ju hesitantly stood up from the small bed, making Shang do the same. She turned her back toward him.
"Open the zipper of my suit," Ju told him.
Shang's hands hovered over the top of the black suit, unsure if she would be comfortable.
"It's okay"
Slowly, Shang unzipped the suit, making Ju's back exposed. He sucked in a breath of air as he saw the large claw marks covering her back. It almost didn't look real. Ju felt chills has Shang ran his hands lightly across her skin, making sparks erupt in her stomach. Ju moved her hair out of the way so he could see better.
Shang pursed is lips as he zipped the suit again, almost missing the touch of her skin. Ju, surprised by the fact that they were so close to one another, tripped as she turned around. She clutched onto the front of his suit, stabling herself. Shang began to slowly dip his head, hair falling onto his forehead.
Ju could feel his hot breath on her lips as they both leaned in. Her heart was rattling against her rib cage, feeling as if it would fall out. Shang's strong arms snaked around her waist lightly.
Just as their lips were about to touch, the sound of screeching tires echoed from outside. Both of them flung apart as Ju ran toward the windows. Shang stood next to her, attempting to see what she saw. Then there it was.
Dozens of black vehicles were parking on the lands of the village, and Ju could see Wenwu shutting his car door in anger.
"We have to go," Ju muttered to herself.
Shang watched as she sped out of the room with a longing look in his eyes as he sighed. If only he had not wasted his time. If only he had went for it.
If only...
author's note -
me trying to run from yall since i obviously don't know how to update:
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well aNYWAYS- thank you guys so much for supporting me, i know that this was a short chapter so just bear with me please! let me know what you think of this book and comment any suggestions you have :)
