Riro's loss of hope and separation.
Kara was threshing grain at the palace when she heard a tap on the door. She heard the voice of Woo and opened the door.
"My queen, how are you doing?" Woo said as she stepped in.
"It's been a while I remember, that I am still a queen." Kara said as she sat down.
"Oh! Don't be hard on yourself!"
"I know you miss King Fara so much but the whole of Wong Su do too, even my husband. He can't stop telling me of their childhood adventures and how the King saved him on many occasions."
"It's just that this palace seems lonely most times and I don't even know what I am leaving for again." Kara started weeping.
Woo consoled her as she laid her head on Woo's shoulder.
"My husband is gone and my son is on a journey and I don't even know whether he is alive;"
"I know how you feel, some nights I wish I had stopped Bomra from embarking on that journey but who knows what would had become of her if she remained in Wong Su,"
"She probably would have been in the battle and so also your son – Riro,"
"We just have to pray that the god's protect them." Kara wiped her tears and pressed Woo's hand warmly.
"I hope they make the journey because the fate of Wong Su depends on them."
"Me too," Woo retorted as she joined Kara in threshing grains.
"You know if Riro was here, he would have asked me to stop threshing that it was the duty of the maids."
"Then, maid Woo at your service!" both women burst out laughing.
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The moon is radiant in the sky, underneath it is Riro, Egret and Bomra lying on the floor gazing it; Koala sings sonorously to the tones from Donnie's Banjo. The tone was soft and pierced the night with warmth.
"The barbarians already know we are here, so how do we get past their camps?" Riro said as he placed his hand on his head.
"We sign our death warrant and use it as a pass, I guess!" Egret retorted.
"Come on Chan! It hasn't come to that!" protested Bomra.
"I say we get some barbarians cloth and sneak past as Barbarians." Lee said as the banjo music stopped.
"That's right, we finally become barbarians!" Donnie cheered; with the others laughing as well.
"I just pray that the god's be with us tomorrow." Riro said as he adjusted towards Egret.
"Don't worry, we would be fine." Bomra responded.
"Guys get some sleep, tomorrow we continue." This time Koala joined the others on the floor while Donnie continued playing the banjo as its tone fades with the night.
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At dawn, Riro and the furious five was still sleeping. Instantly Riro woke up and looked frantically around the vicinity. He tapped Egret, whose growl woke the others up.
"See! Look at that!" Riro pointed at the vegetation in front of them.
"I suspect movement."
Both he and the furious five pulled out their weapon. At that moment barbarians emerged from the bushes around them.
Riro and the furious five placed their backs together circularly facing the surrounding barbarians. The head of the barbarians scout came forth;
"No need for bloodshed; we only need the head of Riro Shu Chin. Hand him over to us and we would let you live."
"Oh, come on! Don't make this any difficult like that of King Fara!"
At that instant Riro was furious and attacked the barbarians along with the furious five. The combat continued with the barbarians closing in on the furious five and Riro. After a long duel the furious five managed to create an opening in the barbarian's defense.
"Riro go!" Bomra said.
"I can't leave you guys behind!"
Bomra was shot with an arrow and herself along with Egret and Koala were captured while Donnie and Lee fought along with Riro;
"This is your only chance! Run and save yourself!" Lee wong beckoned on Riro. As Riro fled he saw the barbarians overcoming Donnie and Lee.
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Fo was at Wong Su cantonment, there he met a handful of soldiers. He beckoned on a private;
"Send for me, Elite men in Wong Su!"
"Ok. General Fo."
He saluted and left Fo.
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At the entrance of Wong Su barracks were crowd of men. Fo along with some generals came to meet them.
"Greetings; Elite men of Wong Su, I know the last battle took the best of us – King Fara and our sons and daughters,"
"But today I have called you out to remind you of the brotherhood of Wong Su that is the duty of every male to join the army of Wong Su in battle times." His words were met with murmuring.
"Needless to say – we are already in such times. So I admonish men, boys and young girls to report to duty!" a hand was shot from the crowds.
"Ok!" Fo said as he beckoned on the citizen to speak.
"General Fo, Greetings! Wong Su is our home land no doubt. We also know the brotherhood of Wong Su. But do we need to go to war, when we already know the outcome?"
"Is it only battles you know you would win you embark on?" Fo asked.
"General Fo, we don't see the need to fight an army of Za Ming's invincible caliber." Another answered.
"We are even lucky that Za Ming is even merciful not to have annihilated us all." A random voice echoed.
With that the crowd was rowdy and Fo stood staring at the crowd despondently.
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Riro is at a river bank washing his face, he was in tears, at a point, he baled water into his hand and immediately smashed it back into the river. He dropped down and started wriggling his feet in frustration. After the tantrum, he sat up. He thought about the death of his father, the pain it would have caused General Fo and the people of Wong Su, especially his mother – how lonely she would be at the palace. Also the thought of the furious five being captured by the barbarians and their possible death; with that tears rolled down his cheek as he stared at an arm bracelet, Bomra made for him. Instantly the thought of ending the mission came to him.
"Yes! It's best I end my life here, because alone I can't do anything, Za Ming and the Barbarian forces is impossible to defeat and the fairy tale Shifu Wu, if he truly cares should have taken the scroll to Wong Su rather than the death trap of going through the barbarians camp." He also thought about the faith his father had on him, the words of his mother and the people of Wong Su;
"But how am I going to go through the barbarians camps?" he soliloquizes.
He then lean backwards on the river bank and was lost in deep thoughts.
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The barbarians scouts was returning to the camp with spoils; in front was the furious five tied one to the other and other fugitives from Wong Su.
At the center of the camp, they were led to Tang Wai amidst celebration and merriment.
"Greetings, Commander Tang!" the leader of the scout said. Tang was engrossed with the sight of Bomra. He walked round her for a while and smacked her butts to the approval of the barbarians.
Egret was fuming with disgust and a scout struck his bowels.
"So beautiful, where is lover boy that severed my hand or is he not man enough to save you?" the barbarians jeered with excitement.
"He is coming to chop your head off this time!" Bomra spit on his face.
"Oh! I am scared!" Tang Wai fumbled as the other barbarians roared with laughter.
"Commander Tang, should we kill the furious five?"
"No my friend, we would use his friends as bait to get him and when he comes we would have our desire."
"Then, taxes from the capital would be slashed down!" Tang Wai shouted with his hand lifted up. This sent the barbarians into ecstasy.
"Tough and beautiful – I like that combo. I would like to know what is between those thick thighs of yours."
"Try me and that would be your last!" Bomra fumed.
"But on a second thought, Emperor Za loves beauty. So, send her to the capital as a special gift from me – Tang Wai to the great Emperor Za."
Tang Wai walked back into his hut while the scouts took the captives away with the trailing entourage of musicians and energetic dancers.
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After the death of King Fara, Wong Su fell into deep distress with most citizens fleeing to Ching dynasty – as slaves or palace labourers. This led to food scarcity in the land with nomads and farmers as bulk of the escapees. With severe hunger in the land, the people were vulnerable to attacks by mobs from Ching dynasty who invaded their borders at will and without a strong military architecture; the people lived in constant fear.
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At the heart of the barbarians camp was a fortress guarded by scouts, with a perimeter fence made of thick timber several feet's high above the ground. Inside the fortress was a watchtower with a guard and other patrolling barbarians guarding the perimeter; at the center of the fortress was Egret, Koala, Donnie and Lee tied to a wooden stake. Behind them was a hut which was made of thatches painted red with closed windows.
At exactly deep moon, the guard on the watch tower was shot with an arrow, a patrolling officer was dragged into darkness and another emerged.
Riro emerged as the new officer, ran to the others as they continued their patrol round the perimeter. At shift time, two barbarians were left to man the captives while the others went into the hut to sleep. As Riro saw that the others had long gone, he pulled his knife and killed the other barbarian who was on duty with him. He ran to untie his friends;
"You came!" exclaimed Koala.
"Shh!" Riro looked around frantically.
"Where is Bomra?"
"She has been taken to the capital to be one of the mistresses of Emperor Za." Egret said as Riro untied him.
Next Riro untied Lee, then Koala and on getting to Donnie;
"Where is the camp of Tang Wai? He must pay for this!" the others were silent.
As Riro turned around he saw Tang Wai behind him and other barbarians emerging from the hut, with more scaling the perimeter of the fortress.
"Oh – ho! Look who we have here! Lover boy comes to play the hero!" Tang Wai struck Riro on the face and he beckoned on the scouts to tie Riro and the others up.