G III: Chapter 19

 

Morning dawned and the three teenagers readied themselves for the trip. Brian talked to Johanna while Dylan made the call for their taxi.

"You ready to go Jo-Jo?" Brian asked.

"More than ready! I've been ready since an hour after you boys told me we were going!" Johanna was excited to be making a trip, especially to China. She had wanted to go there for a while now.

"It's a good thing baby sister, from what I understand - this flight is a long one. So get your butt ready to be sat on for a while." Dylan interjected. he had just hung up with the taxi service and one was on it's way. Pretty soon they bid farewell to James and Daphne and were out the door.

The plane ride was overall boring, but there was one point when the hostess tripped over someones shoe. That seemed to be the highlight of the flight.

 

Johanna, Dylan and Brian arrived in Shang Simla, China safe and sound, then located where they would be staying. Outside of their building they found a board which had many 'errand opportunities' to do for money. They each decided to take one easy job, that way maybe they could earn enough to cover their tickets. Of course, they had already paid for the flight - but it was always better to break even than to come out loosing money. So if they could make any cash here, that was a good thing.

Brian picked up an opportunity to deliver some metals to a local merchant, Dylan found one posting of someone needing a specific stone and Johanna saw a fishing request - which she took.

"First things first, lets get to the Market and pick up some things. Souvenirs, whatever. Just in case we end up not having time to later, or forget." Johanna said.

"Good idea Jo-Jo. I know there is some fruit here that mom would love to have in her garden." Brian said.

The three of them rented bicycles and rode to the marketplace.

 

Dylan went to the local food shop to see about any fruits or vegetables to pick up for Daphne, he found pomegranates to take home. Brian stopped by the bookstore and bought two reading books and also a couple of recipe books to take back. When the boys were done they went to the general store to find Johanna still shopping.

"I am also picking up everything I think we will need here, not just things to take home." Johanna said.

Dylan laughed and said, "Leave it to a woman to shop `till she drops! I am sure we won't need too many things here. What are you getting?"

"Well to take home I got a new Chinese chest. I've already sent that to be shipped home - it would be tough to carry it around, or take it on the plane with us. Also a new incense burner, and just for fun I picked up some Chinese fireworks. Then for here I picked up some dried food, in case we don't want to come back to our building to eat or don't have time. In that aspect I also got some canned showers." She smiled, "I also bought a camera."

The boys listened to her list. "That seems like a lot of stuff." They both said simultaneously.

"Well Johanna, we are going to run off and try and find those metals and gems if you don't mind. I know there are things you want to do as well and following us will probably be boring!" Dylan said.

"Good idea, and very true. I think I'll just ride around for a little while, maybe meet some people." She told them.

 

Johanna did just that. She rode around town for a while, and even walked. One of the locals greeted her, and they talked for about an hour. He told her about some of the sites that they should see, and foods they should try. He suggested to visit the Academy first. She decided to go there next.

Right before Johanna got to the Academy she ran into Brian.

"Hey! I was just talking to this local guy, he suggested we visit the Academy right here. Is that where you were going?" Johanna asked.

"Yeah, actually. I turned in those metals that I collected and talked to the gentleman for a minute. He also said we should come here, so I did - hoping I would run into you or Dylan. I wonder how he is doing, and where he is." Brian said to Johanna.

Dylan had located all of the gems his opportunity called for and went to turn them in. Directly after that he went to the Academy because he wanted to learn Martial Arts, and he knew that would be the best place to start. He wasn't really surprised when he saw Johanna and Brian talking there.

"Hey, we were just talking about you!" Brian said as his brother approached. "How did your gem hunt go?"

"I found two right off, but the other three were pretty hard to locate. I got them all though, and just turned them in." He smiled at his brother, "Got a pretty hefty bonus from all that work too!"

Johanna interrupted the boys, "Well let's quit talking and get in there, see what we can do!"

Everyone laughed and agreed that was a good idea. They still had a little daylight left, and wanted to get practice.



Johanna (left front) - Brian (center) - Dylan (way back)



Once everyone had gained enough skill to at least wear a belt, Johanna snapped a picture of her cousin and brother. She was really happy they had bought a camera, now they could show their family at home what kind of adventures they had. The picture she took right then did not turn out right, Johanna smacked the camera a few times and asked the boys to pose again. This time it was good and she was satisfied, but she couldn't wait to get a better camera.

The teens went back to their temporary home for the night. They were still too excited to sleep right away and stayed up talking about Martial Arts and everything they had learned about it so far. When they finally did get to bed, it didn't take long before they fell asleep.

 

When the sun peeked through the windows the three of them were still asleep. Since they stayed up so late the night before, Johanna, Dylan and Brian slept well into the morning. Johanna was the first to rise, then she cursed herself for sleeping so late. They had wasted valuable sunlight sleeping. She woke the other two up and jumped into the bath.

After each of them were showered, they went down to the kitchen area and grabbed some quick cereal. They were going off to see some sights today.

"You ready to go? Where do you want to see first?" Brian asked Johanna.

"Everywhere! Whatever is closest, we can go there first I guess." She replied, full of excitement.





All day they visited the main attractions of Shang Simla. Johanna took as many pictures as she could, of everything she could, but most of them ended up too blurry.

The last thing they visited was a Hot Springs, in the woods. There were also a few ponds there - full of fish. Naturally this captured Johanna's attention.

"Guys, I think I'll stay here for a while and catch a few fish. If you don't mind." She said.

"Of course not sis, do what you want. It is your birthday present after all." Dylan smiled at Johanna, "But don't be mad when we don't stay. Brian and I want to go practice honing our body and minds!" The boys laughed as they walked off toward the Academy.

 

Johanna did as she said, and stayed to fish. It wasn't long before she caught her first Koi. She was so happy about it. She continued to fish there for hours, but she promised herself she wouldn't be up as late this night.

 

The boys were true to their word as well. When they got to the Academy though, they decided to practice on each other, rather than the dummy.

Since Dylan was very disciplined, he learned this skill quickly. He advanced slightly faster than his brother but didn't gloat. He was quicker at throwing the hits, or kicks, but Brian had a great defensive skill. Dylan hardly got a hit in that wasn't blocked by his brother. At one point this frustrated Dylan so much that he let his guard down for just a moment. Brian took advantage of that moment and kicked his brother. A winning move. Of course their contact was in check, and no one hurt each other badly.

The two boys were thoroughly enjoying themselves and could continue doing so for hours more, but they knew it was getting late.

"Johanna will kill us if we are up too late again." Brian said to Dylan as they left the Academy.

Dylan laughed. "Yeah that's true. I think we should go ahead back to the lodge."



Johanna - Brian - Dylan

  When the boys got there and looked into the room they had decided to stay in, they saw that Johanna was already in bed - fast asleep.

"Fishing must have worn her out." Dylan joked.

Brian chuckled and got into bed himself. Dylan followed suit.

Johanna woke earlier than the boys the next morning. When she looked saw them still in bed she contemplated waking them but decided against it.

'I am sure they took a lot out of themselves last night.' She thought to herself. Johanna had cereal for breakfast again and then decided to go out on her own, since Brian and Dylan still weren't up.

She rode to Town Square and took pictures of random things. Johanna also found some nice places to just sit an meditate - or fish. Some of the morning was spent casting her lines into beautiful water. She went back to the market when she had caught a couple more fish, only to find Brian there looking for her.

"Heya girly, where have you been?" Brian asked.

"Fishing." She replied

"Oh I shoulda known I guess. Dylan is off at the Academy again, he said he was sore this morning and he wanted to work it out." Brian told Johanna. "C'mon, I want to check out the Halls of the Lost Army. While we wait for him. Our plane leaves in just a few hours you know."

Johanna frowned. "Yeah I know. It doesn't seem like we got much accomplished. We didn't get to see everything! I also hear there are places to explore here, you know underground tombs and things! We didn't get to do any of that." She pouted as she followed Brian into the Hall.

 

Brian and Johanna looked around and admired the statues and artwork. They were just standing there talking about it when Dylan joined them.

"Hey guys the airport just called, we have an hour." He told them.

Johanna and Brian nodded. Then Johanna asked how the Martial Arts training was for Dylan. "I see you have a new belt already!"

"Yeah, I'm picking up on this quick, and I love to do it." Dylan said.

The three of them talked about the Hall of the Lost Army for a little bit and then left to catch their plane. Johanna was more sad to go then the other two, but none of them really wanted to fly home.

The flight was long and boring and the three of them slept most of the way.

 

When they got back home they saw Daphne in the garden. The three teens piled out of the car and waved.

Daphne looked up when the car pulled up, unsure of who it was at first. She smiled when her kids got out. She was glad to see them.

"Hey! I missed you three. How was the trip. Did you have a lot of fun? Bring back anything for us?" Daphne was excited to have them back.

Johanna, Dylan and Brian all laughed. When Daphne came up to them they began to tell their story, about everything they saw and what they learned. Brian told her about the Pomegranates that he brought back, and the recipes for her. 

Daphne was happy to hear that they had such a great time. Johanna seemed to want to go back already.

"Well maybe you can go without the other two one day, then you'll get more done that you want to do." Daphne told her niece. "I'm sure that will be fun. I'm glad you bought a camera and I can't wait to see the pictures."

"I did get some good ones, but for the most part they turned out fuzzy and I can't see them. I'll just need to get a new camera soon." Johanna said.

"I'm starved, that was a long flight, let's go eat something." Brian said.

Daphne and Johanna laughed and Dylan nodded vigorously, "Me too man, let's go!" He said.

Since it was morning in Twinbrook when Brian, Johanna and Dylan got home, it was still breakfast time. They sat down to some pancakes and told Daphne more about their trip.