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Description
Chapter One:  Fall of a Mighty Temple

On the outskirts of Dengfeng city, China a golden sun peaks through the clouds illuminating two thin trails of black smoke, stretching towards the sky like arms reaching to the heavens begging for mercy.  The smoke comes from a now burned down and ransacked Shaolin Temple.  The very birthplace of Shaolin Kung Fu lay in ruins, pillaged by looters.

“Where are the boys?”

“They went out into the hills exploring, they should be home soon.”

“I can’t believe that anyone would attack the temple simple because it was rumored that they were hiding a few poor families.”

“I’m just glad our boys were meditating in the Dharma Cave when the attack happened and were able to escape unharmed.”

“Yes that’s true however I’m sure they’re sad to not be able to continue their training in Kung Fu.”

“You forget that every leader of the Sheng family has learned the ways of Kung Fu, just because the temple has been destroyed does not mean that their training is over. “

“That is correct, but the martial abbot himself chose our boys to receive special training directly from him.”

“Yes, it was a great honor to have the thirty seventh direct successor of the Bodhidharma, choose our sons to pass his teaching onto.  However it will be impossible for them to continue their training with him now that he has been killed in the uprising.”

“I wonder if the temple will be rebuilt this time, as it has in the past.”

“The temple is not simply a building of wood and stone, it is built within the very soul of its faithful students.  Even if all of Song Mountain was leveled, the temple will never be destroyed.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“WuJin slow down! I can’t keep up with you.”  HuKai yelled at the back his eldest brother as they ran across the river on their way home.

“That’s because I train harder than you do.” WuJin shouted back as he continued to sprint ahead of his brothers.

“WuJin you always think that speed is the most valuable asset.” HuKai responded as he appeared from an opening just ahead of WuJin.  “Intelligence is of far more value, didn’t your training teach you anything?”

“Ha, you think just because you know one shortcut that you can beat me?” WuJin said as he flew into a small bamboo forest just on the edge of the property to their home.

MaoZhi the youngest brother finally reaches the edge of the bamboo grove and slows down for a
rest.  “Hey guys wait up for me!” Not hearing any response he cautiously approaches, thinking perhaps his brothers are waiting to pounce on him somewhere in the grove.  “Why do you guys always pick on me just cause I’m the youngest?”

“SSHHH! Be quiet!” WuJin whispered from nearby.

“Oh, what is it?” MaoZhi asks, quietly tip toeing forward.

“There are some strange men approaching the house.” WuJin informs him.

“Strange?”

“Yeah I don’t like the look of them, some of them have swords and they look angry.”

“We should go home quickly and warn mother and father!” MaoZhi said with concern growing in his voice.

“And do what?  They have weapons, we have nothing.”

“Nothing? We have all the training the martial abbot gave us!” MaoZhi replied hotly.

“Yeah and look what good that did him, he’s dead now.  He couldn’t even save himself much less everyone else at the temple.” WuJin retorted.  “Have you forgotten so quickly all of our friends that died because of him?  Is that what you want to end up like?”

“The abbot did what was right.  He was sheltering those oppressed by ChrysoCorp, the weak who had no hope.  That’s what our training was all about.  Protecting others and doing what’s right.  Will you throw away the teachings he gave us with his very life?”  MaoZhi said now upset almost to the point of tears.

WuJin sneered, “You’re so weak, look at you.  You’re crying!  How do you expect to save anyone like that?”

A loud cry rang out from the house, and shouting could be heard along with the clash of swords.

“They must be at the house already!”  MaoZhi cried as he dashed towards their home.

“ Wait MaoZhi it’s too dangerous!”  WuJin called after him.

HuKai and ShiXian bolted after their youngest brother.  WuJin turned to the last brother remaining with him, WuShi, and said “Let’s go, they will need our help.”  WuShi nodded silently and they ran towards their house.

WuJin reached the house in time to see a bloody sight that he would never forget.  His father lay dying on the floor and MaoZhi stood in front of him brandishing his father’s sword.

“I will not let you take us!” MaoZhi shouted as he leapt through the air towards one of the men they had seen earlier on the road.  The large man easily blocked the young boys attack and threw him to the floor.

“Now I will kill you just like I did your father!”  And with those words the man slashed MaoZhi across the chest with his sword, killing him in one fatal blow.

“ENOUGH!  Stop this, are you forgetting why we came here you idiot!? We need the boys alive or we won’t get paid.” Snarled one of the thugs in the group.

HuKai was clinging to his mother, her blood soaking into his robes.  “Why mother? Why?” He kept repeating.

“Son.”  She said, her voice shaking as her life drained out of her.

“Yes mother?” HuKai replied fighting back tears.

“Please remember your teachings, you boys are all that is left of the temple. “ Her voice grew softer.  “We will meet you again someday on top of Song Mountain.”

“Let’s go!  We don’t have time for this.”  The thugs roughly grabbed the four remaining boys and hauled them outside.

“Why did you do this?”  ShiXian demanded angrily of his captors.

“Oh you don’t know who we are?  Heh, we’re the ones burned down the temple.  We were hired by ChrysoCorp to bring in snot nosed brats like you.  But now because we had to kill one of you, we’re only getting paid for four of you.  But that’s okay, we made a killing from all the kids at the temple we brought in.”

“You mean you’re kidnapping all of us to go work in the mines on Mars for ChrysoCorp?!”  HuKia exploded.  “We’ll never leave our home!  We’ll make you pay for what you did to our family and the temple!”  HuKai screamed as he wrestled himself free from the grip of one of the thugs and launched himself at one of the men knocking him down.

“Well we can’t have any more of you dying that’s for sure.”  Said the one that appeared to be in charge of the gang.  He pulled out a gun and aimed it at HuKai.  “This will only hurt a little I promise.”  The man said with a evil grin.  The gun popped and a small dart lodged itself in HuKais’ neck.  “Now the rest of you calm down or I’ll shoot all of you with tranquilizers.”  He motioned for the boys to pick up the now unconscious HuKai and carry him.  “Let’s go.”

After marching for what seemed like hours the brothers were led to a small building that had a cargo truck waiting in front of it.  Three men were standing at the back of the truck, apparently awaiting their arrival.

“What took you guys so long?  You were supposed to be here an hour ago.”

“Yeah well we ran into a little more resistance than usual with these ones.”

“Hey I thought you said there would be five, but I only see four.  Are you trying to cheat us out of our money?”

“We had to kill one of them.”

“Hmm, I guess they did give you a lot of trouble then.  You usually do such a good job, and I know how much you hate losing your precious money.  We’ll make sure to keep an extra close eye on these kids.”

“Well I don’t care if you kill ‘em right now as long as we get paid.”

“Relax, you know ChrysoCorp has no problem paying its hard working employees.  Well, all except the miners that is.”

“Heh, yeah these little bastards have no idea what kinda surprise they’re in for once they get to Mars.  Serves them right for making so much trouble for me today.”

“Alright shut up and load them into the truck, we’ve got three more stops to make before getting to
the spaceport and we’re already behind schedule.”

The back hatch of the truck lifted revealing almost a hundred other boys all roughly the same age, with the same empty look of despair in their eyes. The brothers were crammed into the back of the crowded truck.  There was no room for sitting so they had to stand crowded so close to each other that they could hardly breathe.  The smell of urine and feces was so overwhelming that a few of them vomited.  The hatched clanged shut behind them plunging them into darkness, and the truck lurched forward.  The training at the temple had not prepared them for this.

Description
Chapter One:  Fall of a Mighty Temple

On the outskirts of Dengfeng city, China a golden sun peaks through the clouds illuminating two thin trails of black smoke, stretching towards the sky like arms reaching to the heavens begging for mercy.  The smoke comes from a now burned down and ransacked Shaolin Temple.  The very birthplace of Shaolin Kung Fu lay in ruins, pillaged by looters.

“Where are the boys?”

“They went out into the hills exploring, they should be home soon.”

“I can’t believe that anyone would attack the temple simple because it was rumored that they were hiding a few poor families.”

“I’m just glad our boys were meditating in the Dharma Cave when the attack happened and were able to escape unharmed.”

“Yes that’s true however I’m sure they’re sad to not be able to continue their training in Kung Fu.”

“You forget that every leader of the Sheng family has learned the ways of Kung Fu, just because the temple has been destroyed does not mean that their training is over. “

“That is correct, but the martial abbot himself chose our boys to receive special training directly from him.”

“Yes, it was a great honor to have the thirty seventh direct successor of the Bodhidharma, choose our sons to pass his teaching onto.  However it will be impossible for them to continue their training with him now that he has been killed in the uprising.”

“I wonder if the temple will be rebuilt this time, as it has in the past.”

“The temple is not simply a building of wood and stone, it is built within the very soul of its faithful students.  Even if all of Song Mountain was leveled, the temple will never be destroyed.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“WuJin slow down! I can’t keep up with you.”  HuKai yelled at the back his eldest brother as they ran across the river on their way home.

“That’s because I train harder than you do.” WuJin shouted back as he continued to sprint ahead of his brothers.

“WuJin you always think that speed is the most valuable asset.” HuKai responded as he appeared from an opening just ahead of WuJin.  “Intelligence is of far more value, didn’t your training teach you anything?”

“Ha, you think just because you know one shortcut that you can beat me?” WuJin said as he flew into a small bamboo forest just on the edge of the property to their home.

MaoZhi the youngest brother finally reaches the edge of the bamboo grove and slows down for a
rest.  “Hey guys wait up for me!” Not hearing any response he cautiously approaches, thinking perhaps his brothers are waiting to pounce on him somewhere in the grove.  “Why do you guys always pick on me just cause I’m the youngest?”

“SSHHH! Be quiet!” WuJin whispered from nearby.

“Oh, what is it?” MaoZhi asks, quietly tip toeing forward.

“There are some strange men approaching the house.” WuJin informs him.

“Strange?”

“Yeah I don’t like the look of them, some of them have swords and they look angry.”

“We should go home quickly and warn mother and father!” MaoZhi said with concern growing in his voice.

“And do what?  They have weapons, we have nothing.”

“Nothing? We have all the training the martial abbot gave us!” MaoZhi replied hotly.

“Yeah and look what good that did him, he’s dead now.  He couldn’t even save himself much less everyone else at the temple.” WuJin retorted.  “Have you forgotten so quickly all of our friends that died because of him?  Is that what you want to end up like?”

“The abbot did what was right.  He was sheltering those oppressed by ChrysoCorp, the weak who had no hope.  That’s what our training was all about.  Protecting others and doing what’s right.  Will you throw away the teachings he gave us with his very life?”  MaoZhi said now upset almost to the point of tears.

WuJin sneered, “You’re so weak, look at you.  You’re crying!  How do you expect to save anyone like that?”

A loud cry rang out from the house, and shouting could be heard along with the clash of swords.

“They must be at the house already!”  MaoZhi cried as he dashed towards their home.

“ Wait MaoZhi it’s too dangerous!”  WuJin called after him.

HuKai and ShiXian bolted after their youngest brother.  WuJin turned to the last brother remaining with him, WuShi, and said “Let’s go, they will need our help.”  WuShi nodded silently and they ran towards their house.

WuJin reached the house in time to see a bloody sight that he would never forget.  His father lay dying on the floor and MaoZhi stood in front of him brandishing his father’s sword.

“I will not let you take us!” MaoZhi shouted as he leapt through the air towards one of the men they had seen earlier on the road.  The large man easily blocked the young boys attack and threw him to the floor.

“Now I will kill you just like I did your father!”  And with those words the man slashed MaoZhi across the chest with his sword, killing him in one fatal blow.

“ENOUGH!  Stop this, are you forgetting why we came here you idiot!? We need the boys alive or we won’t get paid.” Snarled one of the thugs in the group.

HuKai was clinging to his mother, her blood soaking into his robes.  “Why mother? Why?” He kept repeating.

“Son.”  She said, her voice shaking as her life drained out of her.

“Yes mother?” HuKai replied fighting back tears.

“Please remember your teachings, you boys are all that is left of the temple. “ Her voice grew softer.  “We will meet you again someday on top of Song Mountain.”

“Let’s go!  We don’t have time for this.”  The thugs roughly grabbed the four remaining boys and hauled them outside.

“Why did you do this?”  ShiXian demanded angrily of his captors.

“Oh you don’t know who we are?  Heh, we’re the ones burned down the temple.  We were hired by ChrysoCorp to bring in snot nosed brats like you.  But now because we had to kill one of you, we’re only getting paid for four of you.  But that’s okay, we made a killing from all the kids at the temple we brought in.”

“You mean you’re kidnapping all of us to go work in the mines on Mars for ChrysoCorp?!”  HuKia exploded.  “We’ll never leave our home!  We’ll make you pay for what you did to our family and the temple!”  HuKai screamed as he wrestled himself free from the grip of one of the thugs and launched himself at one of the men knocking him down.

“Well we can’t have any more of you dying that’s for sure.”  Said the one that appeared to be in charge of the gang.  He pulled out a gun and aimed it at HuKai.  “This will only hurt a little I promise.”  The man said with a evil grin.  The gun popped and a small dart lodged itself in HuKais’ neck.  “Now the rest of you calm down or I’ll shoot all of you with tranquilizers.”  He motioned for the boys to pick up the now unconscious HuKai and carry him.  “Let’s go.”

After marching for what seemed like hours the brothers were led to a small building that had a cargo truck waiting in front of it.  Three men were standing at the back of the truck, apparently awaiting their arrival.

“What took you guys so long?  You were supposed to be here an hour ago.”

“Yeah well we ran into a little more resistance than usual with these ones.”

“Hey I thought you said there would be five, but I only see four.  Are you trying to cheat us out of our money?”

“We had to kill one of them.”

“Hmm, I guess they did give you a lot of trouble then.  You usually do such a good job, and I know how much you hate losing your precious money.  We’ll make sure to keep an extra close eye on these kids.”

“Well I don’t care if you kill ‘em right now as long as we get paid.”

“Relax, you know ChrysoCorp has no problem paying its hard working employees.  Well, all except the miners that is.”

“Heh, yeah these little bastards have no idea what kinda surprise they’re in for once they get to Mars.  Serves them right for making so much trouble for me today.”

“Alright shut up and load them into the truck, we’ve got three more stops to make before getting to
the spaceport and we’re already behind schedule.”

The back hatch of the truck lifted revealing almost a hundred other boys all roughly the same age, with the same empty look of despair in their eyes. The brothers were crammed into the back of the crowded truck.  There was no room for sitting so they had to stand crowded so close to each other that they could hardly breathe.  The smell of urine and feces was so overwhelming that a few of them vomited.  The hatched clanged shut behind them plunging them into darkness, and the truck lurched forward.  The training at the temple had not prepared them for this.