Chapter 21: Three Months Later...

“Block high!” Xuanwu yelled at Feliks. Her soft, plain wooden staff came down just inches of Felik’s wooden staff that he held up. The wooden staff smashed into his staff as he tried to hold it against her powerful strength.

The island was a typical sunny day for Xuanwu, and Feliks were training under the sun. With little on the island to provide shelter, Xuanwu called on other deities to help create a large makeshift home for both of them. A sandy home was designed large enough for both of them to live in. The center of the house was a dugout pit about six feet deep.

Xuanwu pulled her staff back as Feliks felt the relief of her powerful strength. She had way more strength and was capable of slamming him into the dirt with the staff alone. She was always easy on her power, so that he at least had a fighting chance against her. Slowly in the days leading to the three months, she had been more and more rigorous in her training to allow him to get stronger and stronger.

“Again!” she yelled as she did an overhead swing towards his head. He blocked again, this time with a quicker response time as the wooden staff deflected her swing. She pressed the attack as wood smashed into wood with the staff pushing down on him. His face turned bright red as he tried to use his strength to resist, but this time she used her power to push him down to his knees.

“Give up?!” she yelled at him.

He struggled as he was pushed to his ass. Her towering form was too much for him. “No ... I won’t yield!”

She smiled. “Good. That’s my little Bambuk. Never give up.” She lifted her bow staff off of his as he breathed heavily.

She cringed as she put her hand to her stomach. The shell of her underbelly actually protruded slightly. The egg that was developing in her abdomen was going along just nicely. She felt the pains and aches of the egg as it pushed into her internal body.

“You know...” she commented. “I don’t know if I am going to have any more children once your time has passed. It takes too much to create a child. It’s ... ugh.”

“My turn!” Feliks yelled as he performed a series of strikes on Xuanwu. She perfectly deflected each of the strikes as the wooden staff hit wooden staff. Her determined face and her towering form allowed her to easily deflect his shots. However, before it connected, the fourth strike quickly used a swinging diagonal hit that she tried to move her staff into position to block. He reversed the blow and did an upward diagonal shot. She barely had enough time to deflect it when he spun around and made a stabbing attack with the staff straight into her underbelly. The wooden staff harmlessly bounced off her shell as he hit her directly in the stomach.

“Oh, you got me,” she said embarrassingly. “You are either getting better, or I am slowing down due to our child. I swear I feel like I put on another ten pounds these last few weeks. I look forward to getting this out of me.”

She put her hand to her stomach as she felt a sense of unease. Feliks put his hand to her stomach as he felt her hard shell that was protecting her underbelly. He could feel shifting inside her body as if the egg that was inside her was moving.

“Let us continue, love,” Xuanwu told him as they withdrew their hands and took a firm grasp on their staffs.

“Alright,” he commented as he backed up a bit. He held the staff away using on hand as he took a fighting stance. Like she always did before, she had her staff with both hands in a posture of defiance. She gave an angry look as he was ready to engage her.

The training had always been like this. Xuanwu was training Bambuk to be the perfect soldier to fight against targets much bigger and more powerful than him. He was prepared to be able to go against the odds. She even constructed an older makeshift snaplock rifle that he could use to train and fire at wooden targets.

He charged forward as he swung the staff hard to the right of her side. She held her staff to the side to deflect the incoming blow as the staff struck hers. She then did an under swing of the staff towards his legs as he did a reverse swing of his staff but narrowly dodged the swing of hers. She then stabbed the staff forward into him as he narrowly again dodged her strike.

“Remember,” she explained as they both stopped. “Sometimes, it’s best to let your opponent attack first. He will expose himself more when he attempts to attack you.”

“I understand.”

He backed up and retook the same stance. This time he charged forward, and she swung her staff at his side. He lifted his staff to block her strike when he saw something else smack his other side. It was her long tail that she barely used. It knocked him square to the ground as he landed on the soft beach sand below him. Dirt was knocked everywhere as he looked up at her. She smiled as she had the staff aimed down at his throat.

“Hey! No fair!” he yelled.

“How many times do I have to tell you there are no rules in a true war? You must anticipate every action that your opponent can throw at you.”

“You are right,” he commented as he grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at her face.

The sand did nothing to her but momentarily blocked her vision enough that he rolled to the side and picked up his staff. He then tried to get up as she pulled back and waved her hand to blow away the dirt.

“There you go!” she commented. “Use your terrain to your advantage. If that was a human, he would be recoiling from the dirt that you would have thrown at him. It can save your life.”

He charged forward to swing his staff at her, and this time he struck her staff again. He swung in reverse as he again struck her staff. She did a downward strike at him as he moved the staff quickly enough to block the strike. He then saw the flying tail at him as he backed away, getting nicked by it but not knocking him to the ground. She then did a significant downward swing at his feet as he quickly jumped to avoid getting knocked to the ground. She then did it again as she nudged forward and caught him in the air with her powerful arm. She dropped her staff as she then took him and held him by the arms.

“Now you are doing this just for fun,” he told her.

“Don’t worry, love, you are doing just fine. I just want to enjoy this as much as possible before we end up departing. I love you after all.”

He smiled. “I promise to return to you. I promise...”

She pressed her mouth to his as they kissed each other for a second. She put him to the ground.

“I know,” she commented. “Let’s try to get back to firearms. You have gotten really good at hitting targets at long-range. Now I need you...” She placed her hand to her stomach as she felt unease again.

There was tension in his eyes as he looked at her. “Are you alright?”

She closed her eyes as began to cringe. “I think it is time ... we need to head back to the home. The egg is moving in my body, and I think it heading on its way out.”

“Oh ... then let’s go. Back to the home!” he said with some excitement. He dropped the staff as he ran to the home. The tortoise did the same as she turned to the dirt home at the end of the beach. She struggled to walk to the home. The large entrance of the house allowed both of them to freely enter and leave. He got next to the large dugout pit that she was ready to deposit her egg. She waddled her way to the entrance. She was so massive there was nothing really he could do to help her in this situation to get her there.

The home was essentially a massive dugout cave with outer dirt walls. Inside was lined with various blankets, carpet, and rolled-out linens to sleep on. There was no other furniture that they really needed. The home provided shelter for Feliks against the continuous sun, which was really all required. Xuanwu appreciated all the help that the friends she called upon provided food for her mate and the moral appreciation for creating a child.

“Clear the way!” she exclaimed. “Clear the way to the pit. I don’t want to squish you, love.”