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More from Eventide-Eye
AU explanation here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/33422626
This story chronologically takes place between "Lonely No Longer" (https://www.furaffinity.net/view/36332813/) and "Before the Cave" (https://www.furaffinity.net/view/33426660/).
To recap, Bao Bao is Mao Mao's adoptive brother instead of his pet. He's also younger than Mao Mao, making him the youngest of all the Mao family's children and giving Mao Mao some older sibling rights. Bao Bao is physically a little bigger than Mao Mao though.
Mao Mao and Bao Bao decide to take a trip down the mountain to a nearby town, figuring they could go together since they're a little older now. But even with how young they still were, trouble always seemed to find them. For Bao Bao, he would've had it bad if it wasn't for Mao Mao showing him what sort of hero he was to his own brother.
Mao Mao and Bao Bao were in trouble.
Sitting in the middle of the family dojo on their knees, both the cat and dog tried to keep their heads down as they watched the older black cat in towering golden armor pacing in front of them. They could see their father’s hands behind his back from under the red cape that fluttered with each movement. After several more seconds of silence, he – Shin Mao – stood and faced the two boys in the middle.
Shin Mao finally spoke. “So,” he began, “you mind telling me what you were thinking?”
Both boys had their ears partially flattened on their heads, their faces having slumped expressions from being made to remember the recent fiasco that they had just gotten out of enduring:
/././././
It was just an average trip down the mountain to town. Having just reached the twilight stages of adolescence, the two brothers thought there was no harm in trying to have at least a little bit of fun while out on their errand.
For one, Mao Mao was grateful that there weren't any angry mobs to chase him and Bao Bao around anymore at least. Even better, it was at that time that the then-kitten realized how much the canine really meant to him. He and his sisters didn't really hang out much, so he thought he'd pass the time by getting to spend more time with his little brother, his family's youngest addition. Considering Mao Mao himself was an elder sibling now, he didn't hesitate to exercise this newfound freedom and control over this part of his home life.
In one of the towns neighboring the mountain where his family lived (not the one with the Flimborg, fortunately), Mao Mao was searching a main street for a weapons shop he had learned about only recently. Well technically, he went down by himself to try and buy juice and other groceries for the fridge, but the weapons shop was also high on his priority list too. He initially was a little hesitant when Bao Bao expressed interest in accompanying him on the trip, but the black cat figured that it wouldn't hurt to show him around the other towns neighboring the family home. Bao Bao, after all, was his best friend, so he thought he should do the honors in giving directions on how to navigate life in the land since the dog was still new and in need of his help.
Mao Mao was heading over to the grocery market first to get the juice, and Bao Bao was about to follow suit. However, that plan went straight out the window when Bao Bao noticed something in the weapons shop’s front window that wasn't there the last time Mao Mao visited. The dog’s eyes were wide open and shining as he was captured by the beauty of a brand new weapon.
“So big,” the Shiba Inu gasped quietly, his voice trembling in awe. His arms hung down like deadweight as he stared slack-jawed at a shiny and uncharacteristically large broadsword. The blade was wide enough to match that of Bao Bao’s waist, with a hilt that was just about half of that. The hilt itself was off a coiled bronze with a gold-like bulb on the end and a curved strip of metal on one side. The edges of it, both the flat back and sharp front, were wavy as the blade was forged in a shape emulating a flame. The weapon was of a silvery metal, but the way it shone in the daylight made it give off a bluish hue. The both flat faces of the blade itself, engravings of roses adorned the metal, appearing as blossoms linked together by leaves and thorny vines that connected like a chain.
It was absolutely beautiful in Bao Bao’s eyes, and whatever he planned to browse for around the shop after his shopping was done went straight out the window – he just had to have it.
“Hey bro! Check this out!” Bao Bao turned to say to his big brother, but unexpectedly found himself talking to thin air. His initial excitement died down a little bit in his chest as he felt the immediate need to check why his brother wasn’t with him rise in his chest, his jovial smile steadily dropping into a concerned frown. “Bro?” his voice came out hesitantly, being caught in his throat before.
Bao Bao felt his heart begin to race inside his chest. Did his big brother just walk away without him? He didn't even plan on going to the weapons shop first – he was supposed to be with Mao Mao while being shown how to do a shopping trip - a grocery run - in the region. Sure it was just like any other shopping errand in the other towns that they had been to already, but things were looking very clueless right now.
Bao Bao, immediately casting aside all his other thoughts, was now running around the streets of the town. He panted and sweated as he looked through every street corner and intersection, every alleyway, even looking his head through the door of every shop and parlor. Every place he checked where he didn't see Mao Mao’s face elevated his panic higher and higher that he was sure he could feel his body going into overdrive. He couldn’t help but continually whisper ‘no’ repeatedly nonstop.
Not hearing his big brother’s voice anywhere made the background noise of other people, vehicles, and assorted machinery too much to handle for him – all of it was enough to make him consider all the worst possible consequences he could face if he went back home without Mao Mao. He could imagine his parents - his adoptive father, mostly - angrily yelling at him for putting his older brother through so much stress and grief because of his irresponsibility. He could imagine Mao Mao himself getting mad and asking what he did to deserve a little brother like him. He could imagine his sisters going out to search for him and bringing him home with constant looks and words of disapproval coming from them. That, plus sharing their thoughts about him in a way that would imply asking Bao Bao how he could make them waste their time on a stray like him.
Bao Bao had to find Mao Mao now and quickly. It took several minutes, ones that felt like hours to him, but he was finally able to find a motivating clue in the form of a group of larger and bulkier males standing together in a group. From where he stood, he could see the tall fellows appearing to be standing as though in a circle, looking down as though they were looking at something...or someone. Bao Bao’s eyes widened and he shook his head, unwilling to consider who might be surrounded by those guys.
He dashed over to the circled group. “Hey!” he yelled as soon as he was close. He was standing behind the back of one of the guys when all of them turned around to face him, and it was to his favor that the group also parted a bit. Bao Bao didn’t see Mao Mao in the ring, so he thought about turning away to look elsewhere, though not before trying to apologize for the unnecessary interruption. “Sorry,” he gave a little hurried bow before going another direction. But before he could step any further, he felt a large heavy hand slam down on his shoulder.
Bao Bao gasped, slowly turning his head and arching it up to directly face that of one of the tall muscly men who appeared to look less than pleased. “Hey small fry,” the thug in question growled as he loomed over the small dog, “you got some nerve barging on us and then leaving just like that.” As if on cue, the rest of his fellows were walking to Bao Bao and standing in a semicircle around him, having him surrounded.
Bao Bao was instantly feeling nervous. “I-I-I’m sorry,” he tried to say but let out as a stammer, “I was just looking for someone and I thought he was with you! I was calling him, not you! Honest!”
The bigger guy raised an arched eyebrow. “Who?”
Bao Bao was starting to sweat. “M-my brother?”
There was a moment of silence. Then the gang of big guys burst out laughing. “Look at this!” the guy holding Bao Bao in place wheezed to his cohorts. “This shaky puppy’s going around making noise about a brother! What’s next? He's gonna look for his litter?”
“I'm not a puppy!” Bao Bao pouted internally. “I'm a teenager!” He tried to take another step forward to try and leave, at the very least move free from the bigger guy’s vice-like grip on his shoulder. But he didn't even get to move even an inch. The thug’s hand not only had a strong grip on him, but was also pressing him down to the ground with its weight.
The thug noticed Bao Bao shifting under his hand. “And where do you think you're going?” he growled.
Bao Bao took that as permission to stop trying to be discreet if not polite. “Let go of me!” he protested, trying to sound assertive despite his nervousness. “I’m sorry for bothering you, so I'm leaving!”
Another one of the thugs circled around to look at Bao Bao from the front. “But we were just getting to know you,” the guy calmly said with a little smile. “Why don't you come with us?” Hearing that made Bao Bao’s fur stand on end, which even bristled a little bit when the guy added, “We got some nice treats over at our place we think you'll like very much. Like a little doggy do.”
Now Bao Bao was shaking. Without holding back, he tried to sprint his way out from under the hand that held him. Unfortunately, that hand squeezed him, followed by his captor's other hand grabbing him by the arm. “No! No, let me go! Help!” he cried, his voice cracking as he felt ready to break down right then and there. “SOMEBODY HELP! HEL–MMMM!” A big hand slapped over his mouth and gripped it shut so tightly that it squeezed a tear from his eyes. The thug who currently held him lifted him above the ground and got ready to carry him away with the rest of his fellows.
“Hey you!”
The loud sound of another young kid yelling came at the group of thugs from behind, followed shortly by the sensation of something being thrown hitting their backs. The thugs turned around with angry growls to face a small young black cat with an equally angry expression on his face while holding on one arm a sizable paper bag filled with little red radishes.
Bao Bao widened his eyes to their limits as he looked upon that little dog in instant recognition. “Mao Mao!” he cried out, though muffled from behind the thug’s hand still over his mouth.
“Get your hands off him!” Mao Mao yelled again, grabbing another handful of radishes from the paper bag and throwing them at the thugs holding Bao Bao captive. He threw them hard enough that the radishes smashed to pieces against the thugs' bodies, effectively pelting them.
The thugs, while initially annoyed at the cat throwing produce at them, turned to mockery instead. “Another one, huh?” sneered one of them. “You wanna come too?” All that earned him was another radish to the face, further drawing his ire.
“Let my little bro go, you bullies!” Mao Mao refused to answer the question asked of him, opting to just yell at them some more. Bao Bao was quite sure he could hear a low hiss emanating from his big brother’s throat.
The words 'little bro’ were what made the thugs take a moment to blink at the cat who said them. Then, they snickered. “You heard what that kitten said?” they derisively joked among themselves. “He says the puppy is his ‘little bro’! That’s priceless!” The whole time they were mocking Mao Mao, they didn’t once let up their grip on Bao Bao. Their tightening of their hold only made the cream-furred dog react even more fearfully. “Hoard something else, kitty,” another member of the group scoffed before motioning for the rest of his fellows to head off. “Let’s skedaddle.”
But once again, before they could do anything else, another radish flew through the air. This one had the honor of landing smackdab behind the ear of the guy who currently held Bao Bao. The particularly high-speed impact at a sensitive part of his head was enough to painfully startle him, enough to jostle both of his arms and loosen his hold on Bao Bao.
“I said let him go!” Mao Mao commanded a little more forcefully. This time, the gang of thugs looked genuinely angry. All of them apart from the one restraining Bao Bao started stomping towards the black cat.
“Alright kitty,” came a low and uncharacteristically calm growl, though Mao Mao didn’t budge despite his gradual shivering, “you wanna get kicked so bad?” One thug pounded a fist into his own open palm while another cracked his neck. “Let’s see you fly!”
With every one of the thugs’ attention on Mao Mao, none of them were aware of how the cat’s earlier radish shot provided an opening for Bao Bao in the form of startling the dog’s captor into loosening his hands that kept him silent. With a hand off his face, Bao Bao seized the opportunity to swing his legs forward and launch them back at his captor’s midsection like a swinging-ship. The kick was strong enough to knock a bit of his captor’s breath from his lungs and give Bao Bao more time to wriggle free. Once he felt he was free enough, the black cat leapt out from over the guy and landed on the ground right next to Mao Mao.
Mao Mao took notice of his brother being finally free and standing side-by-side with him. With a shared exchange of glances between them, the brothers gave each other a nod before facing the enemy.
“Get wrecked, strays!” one of the thugs hollered before charging at them with fists at the ready.
“Take this!” Mao Mao yelled in response, turning a single 180 and heaving the paper bag of the remaining radishes into the air and directly at the thug’s face.
Upon impact, the bag appeared to explode and shred itself into pieces, leaving the radishes to scatter in all directions. The charging thug was knocked backwards by the bundle of radishes blowing in his face while the other thugs stopped to shield their faces from the radishes that flew in the air in their direction. They even wound up stepping and slipping on the number of radishes that already fell and rolled on the ground.
“Radishes,” Bao Bao took a moment to admire the deliciously attractive vegetables before turning his attention back on the immediate situation. At the first moment of seeing another thug get up and try to rush him, the dog zipped to a trio of nearby barrels. He leapt and grabbed a wooden basket of tomatoes from the top of the barrels. Then, he jumped onto the barrels themselves and used them as a springboard to bounce further up in the air and slam the tomato basket upside down on his attacker’s head like a basketball. The messy red squashing was loud and spectacular enough for the others to take a moment's glance.
Mao Mao thought that now was the perfect opportunity to put his beloved Geraldine to work. He unsheathed the golden sword that he held fastened behind his back and held it forward in an audible gleam. The thugs standing in front of him briefly wondered how this random kitten for his hands on a fancy-looking weapon in the first place, but decided to get their answer later – the sword looked nice enough that they wanted to take it for themselves. They circled around Mao Mao and greedily tried to jump him on all sides. Mao Mao expected this cheap tactic, so he brandished his blade and instantly spun around with the speed of a vortex, knocking them away with his own might alone.
Bao Bao had jumped to another pile of nearby produce and got himself a new supply of ammo to toss at the thugs in the form of raw onions. Like Mao Mao, he too threw them hard enough to make them smash on impact, only the thugs reacted more strongly, especially in the face. For extra measure, he even took a bite of one onion he had on hand and threw it at the thugs, then shortly after, took a deep breath and blew at them while they were stunned. The gusty odor’s effects were instantaneous, forcing the thugs to have another mini-meltdown.
Mao Mao continued to have his fun batting the bigger guys away with his sword. He didn't quite yet have all the sword techniques mastered, so most of his strikes were still of crude form. But as far as he knew, if they worked well enough, he’ll use them now and polish them after. His only disgruntlement was that despite his best performance of his rudimentary techniques, they weren't taking the thugs down any faster, and the fight continued to drag on. “There has to be something easier,” he thought to himself with a little bit of frustration. He looked left and right as he ran to try and find some other object in the environment he could use to his advantage.
Unfortunately, it looked like one of the thugs beat him to that idea, as Mao Mao realized too late that he instantly faced down a small crate flying directly at him. The little crate slammed into him at such a force that it was instantly smashed to kindling while knocking out all the air from the black cat’s lungs. Mao Mao fell onto the ground on his back, skidding momentarily and he was too dazed to see that it was one of the thugs who threw the wooden thing at him.
The attack was loud enough to catch the ear of Bao Bao, making him turn his head a little to see his older brother lying on the ground incapacitated. “Bro!” he cried out in concerned shock. Dodging an incoming punch from another thug and weaving below the others to make his way to his brother, Bao Bao used the last available moment to give his strongest kick at the nearest tall pile of crates and barrels, particularly at the base.
The barrels jostled and the crates on top rocked until they leaned forward and fell over. At the same time Bao Bao reached Mao Mao, the thugs chasing him looked up to see the tall pile of wooden containers coming down right on top of them like meteors. They all barely had enough time to scream when all of the crates and barrels came crashing down on their heads, burying them under a pile of broken wood and scattered crops and produce.
Simultaneously, Bao Bao was shielding Mao Mao’s fallen down with his own body, his arms encircling the black cat's body as the dog held him in a hug, his back facing the outside. Once the dust had settled and the cacophony of the fallen objects had ceased, he relaxed his hold over Mao Mao and cracked an eye open to check the scene. From the look of it, all the thugs were completely knocked down and out under the wood Bao Bao had kicked down onto their heads moments before.
Bao Bao breathed out a sigh of relief just as Mao Mao came to, though it wasn’t to last as both brothers were facing a crowd that had gathered as a result of all the loud commotion from the fight. That, and noticing the vegetables and other debris that had scattered everywhere, leaving a widespread mess in the street. The reception was no Flimborg-incident, but it did lead to significant disgruntlement with the locals.
/././././
“And that's what happened,” Bao Bao explained in all of his earnestness.
He was hoping his father wouldn’t be too displeased or harsh with him, according to how his sisters would sometimes describe him. His brother, Mao Mao, had also known Shin Mao as someone who would dole out strong discipline if he had the push to. But if there was one thing Bao Bao and his siblings agreed on, it was that their father was a recognizably carefree cat who put much energy and positive vibrance into his work as a hero, not to mention how he channeled that same fun personality into training his children and spending time with them overall.
Bao Bao liked that image of his father, as it was the cat he first got to know ever since he became adopted and got to have love, a home, and a comfortable life with. It was actually nice of him to come to the town to fetch Bao Bao and Mao Mao in person, though neither brother was feeling relaxed as the trip home was in silence. Once they got home, it was straight to the dojo where the private talk was to be held, and here they were now.
Shin Mao paced once without looking at either brother, his arms behind his back. He then turned to look straight at Bao Bao. “So you went looking for your brother, but then some guys tried to steal you away, your brother tried to rescue you, and both of you fought them off,” he recapped, “then when Mew Mew got knocked down, you finished off all the goons and protected him.” He knelt down and leaned closer to Bao Bao to look at him directly in the eyes, making Bao Bao a little bit tense. “All of that’s true?”
Bao Bao gulped. "Yes?"
Mao Mao watched as his father carefully questioned his younger brother about the truth. Didn't his father realize that his own older son was right here too? Couldn't he have questioned him as well, even more so since he was in charge of Bao Bao to begin with? While part of him felt relieved that he wasn't the one being confronted by his father at that moment, Mao Mao mostly felt it unfair that his father didn't notice him once this whole time. It wasn't helping that Shin Mao kept setting up his own words to make it sound like he somehow had entrusted Bao Bao with both brothers' safety.
Shin Mao stood back up. “Bao Bao,” he said firmly but with a recognizable carefree air, “I’d say that it wasn’t smart of you to take those guys head on like that, but you still came out on top, so good job.”
Bao Bao’s ears perked up. “Really?” came a giddy squeak from him.
The dog was too distracted by the praise his father just gave him at that moment to realize what he really said. Mao Mao, on the other hand, picked up on that first. “But I saved him,” the black cat thought in disbelief and protest. “Didn't he hear what happened?” He turned his head to Bao Bao who kept his eyes on Shin Mao. “Didn't Bao Bao tell him what really happened?” He was sure that his little brother wasn't the kind of person to leave anything out of an explanation, or worse, tell something completely different from the truth. But right now, it was as though Bao Bao was letting their father think whatever he wanted.
Shin Mao gave Bao Bao another surprise when he stretched one of his huge golden-armored arms to scoop up the young dog in one hand. Bao Bao could never quite get bored of that. It is, after all, the older cat’s most prominent display of affection out of all the kinds he’s ever shown the smaller and younger dog - Bao Bao recalled many times since he was adopted as a small child how Shin Mao would carry him around in one arm anywhere he went.
“Well, how about this?” Shin Mao spoke to Bao Bao in the lighthearted tone all of his children recognized him best for. “Next time you go down the mountain to any of the neighbor towns, you stick with me. I’ll show you how trips to the people are done the Mao way.” He waited until Bao Bao’s face morphed into an expression of pure wondrous delight that he winked and gave a relaxed half-smile that represented his charm as a hero father to hero children. He then turned to leave the dojo for the house. “Let’s do another checkup on your bruises.”
Shin Mao walked with slow methodical grace in his steps as he left the dojo, with Bao Bao still being held in one hand. While he moved, he didn’t notice Mao Mao getting up to rapidly power-walk after him, shifting left and right a couple times to avoid getting a faceful of his father’s red cape as it fluttered in the air behind him. Mao Mao looked up at his father’s shoulder to see Bao Bao peering over to look down at his brother from above, both of his paws resting on the back shoulder plate.
It was nostalgically familiar to when Mao Mao met Bao Bao for the first time, when the dog-then-puppy first came into the household to become part of his family, when his father was speaking words of comfort and affection as he expressed his utmost devotion to making his new son feel as welcome as a son should be…
Mao Mao was simultaneously surprised and concerned when he saw Bao Bao looking at him with sad eyes. In fact, both brothers only got to maintain eye contact for about a second before Bao Bao lowered his eyes and turned his head in some other direction. The sight of that made Mao Mao stop in his tracks, leaving him alone in the dojo as his father and brother continued into the family home without him. Without meaning to, he hesitantly raised a hand and held it outstretched ahead of himself as if to reach over in Bao Bao’s direction, but then let it drop to his side soon after.
Mao Mao decided to head back to his room, intending on waiting there for Bao Bao to show up later. He just knew his little brother would eventually come back to make it up to him. That’s what he would do, because…
“You’re my friend.”
This story chronologically takes place between "Lonely No Longer" (https://www.furaffinity.net/view/36332813/) and "Before the Cave" (https://www.furaffinity.net/view/33426660/).
To recap, Bao Bao is Mao Mao's adoptive brother instead of his pet. He's also younger than Mao Mao, making him the youngest of all the Mao family's children and giving Mao Mao some older sibling rights. Bao Bao is physically a little bigger than Mao Mao though.
Mao Mao and Bao Bao decide to take a trip down the mountain to a nearby town, figuring they could go together since they're a little older now. But even with how young they still were, trouble always seemed to find them. For Bao Bao, he would've had it bad if it wasn't for Mao Mao showing him what sort of hero he was to his own brother.
Mao Mao and Bao Bao were in trouble.
Sitting in the middle of the family dojo on their knees, both the cat and dog tried to keep their heads down as they watched the older black cat in towering golden armor pacing in front of them. They could see their father’s hands behind his back from under the red cape that fluttered with each movement. After several more seconds of silence, he – Shin Mao – stood and faced the two boys in the middle.
Shin Mao finally spoke. “So,” he began, “you mind telling me what you were thinking?”
Both boys had their ears partially flattened on their heads, their faces having slumped expressions from being made to remember the recent fiasco that they had just gotten out of enduring:
/././././
It was just an average trip down the mountain to town. Having just reached the twilight stages of adolescence, the two brothers thought there was no harm in trying to have at least a little bit of fun while out on their errand.
For one, Mao Mao was grateful that there weren't any angry mobs to chase him and Bao Bao around anymore at least. Even better, it was at that time that the then-kitten realized how much the canine really meant to him. He and his sisters didn't really hang out much, so he thought he'd pass the time by getting to spend more time with his little brother, his family's youngest addition. Considering Mao Mao himself was an elder sibling now, he didn't hesitate to exercise this newfound freedom and control over this part of his home life.
In one of the towns neighboring the mountain where his family lived (not the one with the Flimborg, fortunately), Mao Mao was searching a main street for a weapons shop he had learned about only recently. Well technically, he went down by himself to try and buy juice and other groceries for the fridge, but the weapons shop was also high on his priority list too. He initially was a little hesitant when Bao Bao expressed interest in accompanying him on the trip, but the black cat figured that it wouldn't hurt to show him around the other towns neighboring the family home. Bao Bao, after all, was his best friend, so he thought he should do the honors in giving directions on how to navigate life in the land since the dog was still new and in need of his help.
Mao Mao was heading over to the grocery market first to get the juice, and Bao Bao was about to follow suit. However, that plan went straight out the window when Bao Bao noticed something in the weapons shop’s front window that wasn't there the last time Mao Mao visited. The dog’s eyes were wide open and shining as he was captured by the beauty of a brand new weapon.
“So big,” the Shiba Inu gasped quietly, his voice trembling in awe. His arms hung down like deadweight as he stared slack-jawed at a shiny and uncharacteristically large broadsword. The blade was wide enough to match that of Bao Bao’s waist, with a hilt that was just about half of that. The hilt itself was off a coiled bronze with a gold-like bulb on the end and a curved strip of metal on one side. The edges of it, both the flat back and sharp front, were wavy as the blade was forged in a shape emulating a flame. The weapon was of a silvery metal, but the way it shone in the daylight made it give off a bluish hue. The both flat faces of the blade itself, engravings of roses adorned the metal, appearing as blossoms linked together by leaves and thorny vines that connected like a chain.
It was absolutely beautiful in Bao Bao’s eyes, and whatever he planned to browse for around the shop after his shopping was done went straight out the window – he just had to have it.
“Hey bro! Check this out!” Bao Bao turned to say to his big brother, but unexpectedly found himself talking to thin air. His initial excitement died down a little bit in his chest as he felt the immediate need to check why his brother wasn’t with him rise in his chest, his jovial smile steadily dropping into a concerned frown. “Bro?” his voice came out hesitantly, being caught in his throat before.
Bao Bao felt his heart begin to race inside his chest. Did his big brother just walk away without him? He didn't even plan on going to the weapons shop first – he was supposed to be with Mao Mao while being shown how to do a shopping trip - a grocery run - in the region. Sure it was just like any other shopping errand in the other towns that they had been to already, but things were looking very clueless right now.
Bao Bao, immediately casting aside all his other thoughts, was now running around the streets of the town. He panted and sweated as he looked through every street corner and intersection, every alleyway, even looking his head through the door of every shop and parlor. Every place he checked where he didn't see Mao Mao’s face elevated his panic higher and higher that he was sure he could feel his body going into overdrive. He couldn’t help but continually whisper ‘no’ repeatedly nonstop.
Not hearing his big brother’s voice anywhere made the background noise of other people, vehicles, and assorted machinery too much to handle for him – all of it was enough to make him consider all the worst possible consequences he could face if he went back home without Mao Mao. He could imagine his parents - his adoptive father, mostly - angrily yelling at him for putting his older brother through so much stress and grief because of his irresponsibility. He could imagine Mao Mao himself getting mad and asking what he did to deserve a little brother like him. He could imagine his sisters going out to search for him and bringing him home with constant looks and words of disapproval coming from them. That, plus sharing their thoughts about him in a way that would imply asking Bao Bao how he could make them waste their time on a stray like him.
Bao Bao had to find Mao Mao now and quickly. It took several minutes, ones that felt like hours to him, but he was finally able to find a motivating clue in the form of a group of larger and bulkier males standing together in a group. From where he stood, he could see the tall fellows appearing to be standing as though in a circle, looking down as though they were looking at something...or someone. Bao Bao’s eyes widened and he shook his head, unwilling to consider who might be surrounded by those guys.
He dashed over to the circled group. “Hey!” he yelled as soon as he was close. He was standing behind the back of one of the guys when all of them turned around to face him, and it was to his favor that the group also parted a bit. Bao Bao didn’t see Mao Mao in the ring, so he thought about turning away to look elsewhere, though not before trying to apologize for the unnecessary interruption. “Sorry,” he gave a little hurried bow before going another direction. But before he could step any further, he felt a large heavy hand slam down on his shoulder.
Bao Bao gasped, slowly turning his head and arching it up to directly face that of one of the tall muscly men who appeared to look less than pleased. “Hey small fry,” the thug in question growled as he loomed over the small dog, “you got some nerve barging on us and then leaving just like that.” As if on cue, the rest of his fellows were walking to Bao Bao and standing in a semicircle around him, having him surrounded.
Bao Bao was instantly feeling nervous. “I-I-I’m sorry,” he tried to say but let out as a stammer, “I was just looking for someone and I thought he was with you! I was calling him, not you! Honest!”
The bigger guy raised an arched eyebrow. “Who?”
Bao Bao was starting to sweat. “M-my brother?”
There was a moment of silence. Then the gang of big guys burst out laughing. “Look at this!” the guy holding Bao Bao in place wheezed to his cohorts. “This shaky puppy’s going around making noise about a brother! What’s next? He's gonna look for his litter?”
“I'm not a puppy!” Bao Bao pouted internally. “I'm a teenager!” He tried to take another step forward to try and leave, at the very least move free from the bigger guy’s vice-like grip on his shoulder. But he didn't even get to move even an inch. The thug’s hand not only had a strong grip on him, but was also pressing him down to the ground with its weight.
The thug noticed Bao Bao shifting under his hand. “And where do you think you're going?” he growled.
Bao Bao took that as permission to stop trying to be discreet if not polite. “Let go of me!” he protested, trying to sound assertive despite his nervousness. “I’m sorry for bothering you, so I'm leaving!”
Another one of the thugs circled around to look at Bao Bao from the front. “But we were just getting to know you,” the guy calmly said with a little smile. “Why don't you come with us?” Hearing that made Bao Bao’s fur stand on end, which even bristled a little bit when the guy added, “We got some nice treats over at our place we think you'll like very much. Like a little doggy do.”
Now Bao Bao was shaking. Without holding back, he tried to sprint his way out from under the hand that held him. Unfortunately, that hand squeezed him, followed by his captor's other hand grabbing him by the arm. “No! No, let me go! Help!” he cried, his voice cracking as he felt ready to break down right then and there. “SOMEBODY HELP! HEL–MMMM!” A big hand slapped over his mouth and gripped it shut so tightly that it squeezed a tear from his eyes. The thug who currently held him lifted him above the ground and got ready to carry him away with the rest of his fellows.
“Hey you!”
The loud sound of another young kid yelling came at the group of thugs from behind, followed shortly by the sensation of something being thrown hitting their backs. The thugs turned around with angry growls to face a small young black cat with an equally angry expression on his face while holding on one arm a sizable paper bag filled with little red radishes.
Bao Bao widened his eyes to their limits as he looked upon that little dog in instant recognition. “Mao Mao!” he cried out, though muffled from behind the thug’s hand still over his mouth.
“Get your hands off him!” Mao Mao yelled again, grabbing another handful of radishes from the paper bag and throwing them at the thugs holding Bao Bao captive. He threw them hard enough that the radishes smashed to pieces against the thugs' bodies, effectively pelting them.
The thugs, while initially annoyed at the cat throwing produce at them, turned to mockery instead. “Another one, huh?” sneered one of them. “You wanna come too?” All that earned him was another radish to the face, further drawing his ire.
“Let my little bro go, you bullies!” Mao Mao refused to answer the question asked of him, opting to just yell at them some more. Bao Bao was quite sure he could hear a low hiss emanating from his big brother’s throat.
The words 'little bro’ were what made the thugs take a moment to blink at the cat who said them. Then, they snickered. “You heard what that kitten said?” they derisively joked among themselves. “He says the puppy is his ‘little bro’! That’s priceless!” The whole time they were mocking Mao Mao, they didn’t once let up their grip on Bao Bao. Their tightening of their hold only made the cream-furred dog react even more fearfully. “Hoard something else, kitty,” another member of the group scoffed before motioning for the rest of his fellows to head off. “Let’s skedaddle.”
But once again, before they could do anything else, another radish flew through the air. This one had the honor of landing smackdab behind the ear of the guy who currently held Bao Bao. The particularly high-speed impact at a sensitive part of his head was enough to painfully startle him, enough to jostle both of his arms and loosen his hold on Bao Bao.
“I said let him go!” Mao Mao commanded a little more forcefully. This time, the gang of thugs looked genuinely angry. All of them apart from the one restraining Bao Bao started stomping towards the black cat.
“Alright kitty,” came a low and uncharacteristically calm growl, though Mao Mao didn’t budge despite his gradual shivering, “you wanna get kicked so bad?” One thug pounded a fist into his own open palm while another cracked his neck. “Let’s see you fly!”
With every one of the thugs’ attention on Mao Mao, none of them were aware of how the cat’s earlier radish shot provided an opening for Bao Bao in the form of startling the dog’s captor into loosening his hands that kept him silent. With a hand off his face, Bao Bao seized the opportunity to swing his legs forward and launch them back at his captor’s midsection like a swinging-ship. The kick was strong enough to knock a bit of his captor’s breath from his lungs and give Bao Bao more time to wriggle free. Once he felt he was free enough, the black cat leapt out from over the guy and landed on the ground right next to Mao Mao.
Mao Mao took notice of his brother being finally free and standing side-by-side with him. With a shared exchange of glances between them, the brothers gave each other a nod before facing the enemy.
“Get wrecked, strays!” one of the thugs hollered before charging at them with fists at the ready.
“Take this!” Mao Mao yelled in response, turning a single 180 and heaving the paper bag of the remaining radishes into the air and directly at the thug’s face.
Upon impact, the bag appeared to explode and shred itself into pieces, leaving the radishes to scatter in all directions. The charging thug was knocked backwards by the bundle of radishes blowing in his face while the other thugs stopped to shield their faces from the radishes that flew in the air in their direction. They even wound up stepping and slipping on the number of radishes that already fell and rolled on the ground.
“Radishes,” Bao Bao took a moment to admire the deliciously attractive vegetables before turning his attention back on the immediate situation. At the first moment of seeing another thug get up and try to rush him, the dog zipped to a trio of nearby barrels. He leapt and grabbed a wooden basket of tomatoes from the top of the barrels. Then, he jumped onto the barrels themselves and used them as a springboard to bounce further up in the air and slam the tomato basket upside down on his attacker’s head like a basketball. The messy red squashing was loud and spectacular enough for the others to take a moment's glance.
Mao Mao thought that now was the perfect opportunity to put his beloved Geraldine to work. He unsheathed the golden sword that he held fastened behind his back and held it forward in an audible gleam. The thugs standing in front of him briefly wondered how this random kitten for his hands on a fancy-looking weapon in the first place, but decided to get their answer later – the sword looked nice enough that they wanted to take it for themselves. They circled around Mao Mao and greedily tried to jump him on all sides. Mao Mao expected this cheap tactic, so he brandished his blade and instantly spun around with the speed of a vortex, knocking them away with his own might alone.
Bao Bao had jumped to another pile of nearby produce and got himself a new supply of ammo to toss at the thugs in the form of raw onions. Like Mao Mao, he too threw them hard enough to make them smash on impact, only the thugs reacted more strongly, especially in the face. For extra measure, he even took a bite of one onion he had on hand and threw it at the thugs, then shortly after, took a deep breath and blew at them while they were stunned. The gusty odor’s effects were instantaneous, forcing the thugs to have another mini-meltdown.
Mao Mao continued to have his fun batting the bigger guys away with his sword. He didn't quite yet have all the sword techniques mastered, so most of his strikes were still of crude form. But as far as he knew, if they worked well enough, he’ll use them now and polish them after. His only disgruntlement was that despite his best performance of his rudimentary techniques, they weren't taking the thugs down any faster, and the fight continued to drag on. “There has to be something easier,” he thought to himself with a little bit of frustration. He looked left and right as he ran to try and find some other object in the environment he could use to his advantage.
Unfortunately, it looked like one of the thugs beat him to that idea, as Mao Mao realized too late that he instantly faced down a small crate flying directly at him. The little crate slammed into him at such a force that it was instantly smashed to kindling while knocking out all the air from the black cat’s lungs. Mao Mao fell onto the ground on his back, skidding momentarily and he was too dazed to see that it was one of the thugs who threw the wooden thing at him.
The attack was loud enough to catch the ear of Bao Bao, making him turn his head a little to see his older brother lying on the ground incapacitated. “Bro!” he cried out in concerned shock. Dodging an incoming punch from another thug and weaving below the others to make his way to his brother, Bao Bao used the last available moment to give his strongest kick at the nearest tall pile of crates and barrels, particularly at the base.
The barrels jostled and the crates on top rocked until they leaned forward and fell over. At the same time Bao Bao reached Mao Mao, the thugs chasing him looked up to see the tall pile of wooden containers coming down right on top of them like meteors. They all barely had enough time to scream when all of the crates and barrels came crashing down on their heads, burying them under a pile of broken wood and scattered crops and produce.
Simultaneously, Bao Bao was shielding Mao Mao’s fallen down with his own body, his arms encircling the black cat's body as the dog held him in a hug, his back facing the outside. Once the dust had settled and the cacophony of the fallen objects had ceased, he relaxed his hold over Mao Mao and cracked an eye open to check the scene. From the look of it, all the thugs were completely knocked down and out under the wood Bao Bao had kicked down onto their heads moments before.
Bao Bao breathed out a sigh of relief just as Mao Mao came to, though it wasn’t to last as both brothers were facing a crowd that had gathered as a result of all the loud commotion from the fight. That, and noticing the vegetables and other debris that had scattered everywhere, leaving a widespread mess in the street. The reception was no Flimborg-incident, but it did lead to significant disgruntlement with the locals.
/././././
“And that's what happened,” Bao Bao explained in all of his earnestness.
He was hoping his father wouldn’t be too displeased or harsh with him, according to how his sisters would sometimes describe him. His brother, Mao Mao, had also known Shin Mao as someone who would dole out strong discipline if he had the push to. But if there was one thing Bao Bao and his siblings agreed on, it was that their father was a recognizably carefree cat who put much energy and positive vibrance into his work as a hero, not to mention how he channeled that same fun personality into training his children and spending time with them overall.
Bao Bao liked that image of his father, as it was the cat he first got to know ever since he became adopted and got to have love, a home, and a comfortable life with. It was actually nice of him to come to the town to fetch Bao Bao and Mao Mao in person, though neither brother was feeling relaxed as the trip home was in silence. Once they got home, it was straight to the dojo where the private talk was to be held, and here they were now.
Shin Mao paced once without looking at either brother, his arms behind his back. He then turned to look straight at Bao Bao. “So you went looking for your brother, but then some guys tried to steal you away, your brother tried to rescue you, and both of you fought them off,” he recapped, “then when Mew Mew got knocked down, you finished off all the goons and protected him.” He knelt down and leaned closer to Bao Bao to look at him directly in the eyes, making Bao Bao a little bit tense. “All of that’s true?”
Bao Bao gulped. "Yes?"
Mao Mao watched as his father carefully questioned his younger brother about the truth. Didn't his father realize that his own older son was right here too? Couldn't he have questioned him as well, even more so since he was in charge of Bao Bao to begin with? While part of him felt relieved that he wasn't the one being confronted by his father at that moment, Mao Mao mostly felt it unfair that his father didn't notice him once this whole time. It wasn't helping that Shin Mao kept setting up his own words to make it sound like he somehow had entrusted Bao Bao with both brothers' safety.
Shin Mao stood back up. “Bao Bao,” he said firmly but with a recognizable carefree air, “I’d say that it wasn’t smart of you to take those guys head on like that, but you still came out on top, so good job.”
Bao Bao’s ears perked up. “Really?” came a giddy squeak from him.
The dog was too distracted by the praise his father just gave him at that moment to realize what he really said. Mao Mao, on the other hand, picked up on that first. “But I saved him,” the black cat thought in disbelief and protest. “Didn't he hear what happened?” He turned his head to Bao Bao who kept his eyes on Shin Mao. “Didn't Bao Bao tell him what really happened?” He was sure that his little brother wasn't the kind of person to leave anything out of an explanation, or worse, tell something completely different from the truth. But right now, it was as though Bao Bao was letting their father think whatever he wanted.
Shin Mao gave Bao Bao another surprise when he stretched one of his huge golden-armored arms to scoop up the young dog in one hand. Bao Bao could never quite get bored of that. It is, after all, the older cat’s most prominent display of affection out of all the kinds he’s ever shown the smaller and younger dog - Bao Bao recalled many times since he was adopted as a small child how Shin Mao would carry him around in one arm anywhere he went.
“Well, how about this?” Shin Mao spoke to Bao Bao in the lighthearted tone all of his children recognized him best for. “Next time you go down the mountain to any of the neighbor towns, you stick with me. I’ll show you how trips to the people are done the Mao way.” He waited until Bao Bao’s face morphed into an expression of pure wondrous delight that he winked and gave a relaxed half-smile that represented his charm as a hero father to hero children. He then turned to leave the dojo for the house. “Let’s do another checkup on your bruises.”
Shin Mao walked with slow methodical grace in his steps as he left the dojo, with Bao Bao still being held in one hand. While he moved, he didn’t notice Mao Mao getting up to rapidly power-walk after him, shifting left and right a couple times to avoid getting a faceful of his father’s red cape as it fluttered in the air behind him. Mao Mao looked up at his father’s shoulder to see Bao Bao peering over to look down at his brother from above, both of his paws resting on the back shoulder plate.
It was nostalgically familiar to when Mao Mao met Bao Bao for the first time, when the dog-then-puppy first came into the household to become part of his family, when his father was speaking words of comfort and affection as he expressed his utmost devotion to making his new son feel as welcome as a son should be…
Mao Mao was simultaneously surprised and concerned when he saw Bao Bao looking at him with sad eyes. In fact, both brothers only got to maintain eye contact for about a second before Bao Bao lowered his eyes and turned his head in some other direction. The sight of that made Mao Mao stop in his tracks, leaving him alone in the dojo as his father and brother continued into the family home without him. Without meaning to, he hesitantly raised a hand and held it outstretched ahead of himself as if to reach over in Bao Bao’s direction, but then let it drop to his side soon after.
Mao Mao decided to head back to his room, intending on waiting there for Bao Bao to show up later. He just knew his little brother would eventually come back to make it up to him. That’s what he would do, because…
“You’re my friend.”
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