- The Buddha
Shi Zhen Li could only watch as Sergeant Valerian was pushed back into the swamy river from whence he came. It was difficult to tell what Tumtu the elephant was thinking as he craned his trunk and shoved the Aschen soldier into the muddy water. The mammoth seemed frightened. Was it trying to help Anton get back into the river? Did he think that Anton was a fish? Or maybe a crocodile? Was he toying with him? Or maybe his fight or flight instincts were triggered by the peculiar synthetic device in Anton's hand. Whatever the reason for it, the small brained megacow was being defensive.
The next four seconds took seemingly forever to Shi Zhen Li as a million thoughts and scenerios ran through his mind. He was subconsciously doing math and science in his head, calculating every possible reality, the direction of the sun, the wind flow, the water current. Li was standing slightly higher up than Sergeant Valerian, about 18 to 19 feet away on the stone platform, resting his body weight against the 1.37 meter long 2 inch thick makeshift wooden walking stick. He watched Valerian spin around in the water as he reached for his rifle. Li watched quietly, thinking that the rifle must have been a case for something. But he had never seen a gun before, and having no concept of the danger and trouble Tumtu may have caused, Li smiled again and was about to laugh when suddenly there was a loud crackle and a bright hot flash, almost resembling a thunderbolt in close proximity.
Li quickly diverted his eyes, turning his head away and shielding his face with his forearm. He could feel the heat of the blast against his arm hairs as Valerian put a hole in Tumtu's forehead. The elephant was fast, but not fast enough to dodge whatever this was as the marine's shot hit with near perfect precision between the eyes, the mammoth's brains instantly splattering out of the back of his skull upon impact. Tumtu stopped dead, stumbled two steps to the right and fell over without moving another inch. His 26,000 pound body would crash against an overhanging tree, crushing it with his enormous weight. As the tree fell over under pressure, it hit the ground with a loud thud which shook the forest. As a result, one of the long broken lower roots of the tree was now sticking straight up above the ground over the swamp.
Shi Zhen Li watched in horror and shock as his long time animal companion was killed in an instant. His mouth open and his jaw hung in stillness, Li could hear the cracking and splitting of wood as the broken tree root started to collapse under it's own weight. Suddenly, like cause and effect, the long thick heavy root fell over, with Sergeant Valerian in its shadow. Once again, the poor lost panicky soldier would find himself having to react quickly as the large branch-like tree root started to collapse on top of him, it's long spindly fingers forming a trap or net which threatened to drowned the Aschen soldier in the mud. Li closed his mouth and swallowed, watching quietly as he lowered the arm he was diverting his eyes with.
His face suddenly went void of all expression. He had led his elephant to it's death. If he had never brought Tumtu along, none of this would be happening, Li thought. And who or what was this character before him under the shade of a root system? Li suddenly felt a great sadness and fear come upon him as he tightened his grip on the center of his walking stick. But as he started to breathe more slowly and quietly, allowing all of his emotions to come and go, Shi Zhen Li quickly freed his mind and started focussing only on the immediate still changeable situation.
The tree root was falling, and would crush Sergeant Valerian in less than two seconds. Li had never even seen death before until now, and already he had seen enough. Still standing about 18 feet away, Li considered the possibility of jumping across the river. He looked down at the running space around him, something which the battle-ready marine likely didn't have in the muddy water, which would slow anyone down even if they tried to roll out of the way. The wet earthy root system weighed around 800 pounds as the thick base snapped and started to collapse straight down on top of Anton's head with enough force that if it struck him right, it could immobilize him instantly.
Shi Zhen Li took a deep breath. Tying his shoulder sash around his waist, Li took a few steps back, and suddenly dashed forward, jamming the end of his walking stick between two stones and using it to pole vault over the river, hanging on to the other end of the stick with one hand as he threw his whole entire body into a cartwheel flip over the top of the walking stick, and using it to push off the ground even higher as he lunged across the swampy river and into the air, doing a single long distance cartwheel flip across the whole river. As his body rotated completely upside down and then upright again, Li bent one of his knees, bringing his leg in underneath himself as if sitting on it while extending his other leg in a sort of very high aerial side kick, throwing his entire mass and momentum into the base of the falling root system, channeling his breath and allowing all of his muscles to work in unison.
"Tsaeeiii!!!" shouted Li as he breathed out, tightening his leg muscles before impact. As his bare foot flew over his own head and hit the tree root, the variables and physics of its momentum would change, so that the root system would fall at a slightly different angle, collapsing off to the side just shy of Sergeant Valerian's position, far enough away that the tangly wooden net would miss him, if only by a few feet. Li kicked off of the tree as he pushed it with his foot, landing on his feet in the waist deep water, still holding his walking stick behind him quietly while looking at Sgt. Valerian blankly. Then, silently, Li would slowly raise his open free hand in front of his chest in a half praying hands gesture, bowing his head quietly while looking into the Aschen's eyes.
The next four seconds took seemingly forever to Shi Zhen Li as a million thoughts and scenerios ran through his mind. He was subconsciously doing math and science in his head, calculating every possible reality, the direction of the sun, the wind flow, the water current. Li was standing slightly higher up than Sergeant Valerian, about 18 to 19 feet away on the stone platform, resting his body weight against the 1.37 meter long 2 inch thick makeshift wooden walking stick. He watched Valerian spin around in the water as he reached for his rifle. Li watched quietly, thinking that the rifle must have been a case for something. But he had never seen a gun before, and having no concept of the danger and trouble Tumtu may have caused, Li smiled again and was about to laugh when suddenly there was a loud crackle and a bright hot flash, almost resembling a thunderbolt in close proximity.
Li quickly diverted his eyes, turning his head away and shielding his face with his forearm. He could feel the heat of the blast against his arm hairs as Valerian put a hole in Tumtu's forehead. The elephant was fast, but not fast enough to dodge whatever this was as the marine's shot hit with near perfect precision between the eyes, the mammoth's brains instantly splattering out of the back of his skull upon impact. Tumtu stopped dead, stumbled two steps to the right and fell over without moving another inch. His 26,000 pound body would crash against an overhanging tree, crushing it with his enormous weight. As the tree fell over under pressure, it hit the ground with a loud thud which shook the forest. As a result, one of the long broken lower roots of the tree was now sticking straight up above the ground over the swamp.
Shi Zhen Li watched in horror and shock as his long time animal companion was killed in an instant. His mouth open and his jaw hung in stillness, Li could hear the cracking and splitting of wood as the broken tree root started to collapse under it's own weight. Suddenly, like cause and effect, the long thick heavy root fell over, with Sergeant Valerian in its shadow. Once again, the poor lost panicky soldier would find himself having to react quickly as the large branch-like tree root started to collapse on top of him, it's long spindly fingers forming a trap or net which threatened to drowned the Aschen soldier in the mud. Li closed his mouth and swallowed, watching quietly as he lowered the arm he was diverting his eyes with.
His face suddenly went void of all expression. He had led his elephant to it's death. If he had never brought Tumtu along, none of this would be happening, Li thought. And who or what was this character before him under the shade of a root system? Li suddenly felt a great sadness and fear come upon him as he tightened his grip on the center of his walking stick. But as he started to breathe more slowly and quietly, allowing all of his emotions to come and go, Shi Zhen Li quickly freed his mind and started focussing only on the immediate still changeable situation.
The tree root was falling, and would crush Sergeant Valerian in less than two seconds. Li had never even seen death before until now, and already he had seen enough. Still standing about 18 feet away, Li considered the possibility of jumping across the river. He looked down at the running space around him, something which the battle-ready marine likely didn't have in the muddy water, which would slow anyone down even if they tried to roll out of the way. The wet earthy root system weighed around 800 pounds as the thick base snapped and started to collapse straight down on top of Anton's head with enough force that if it struck him right, it could immobilize him instantly.
Shi Zhen Li took a deep breath. Tying his shoulder sash around his waist, Li took a few steps back, and suddenly dashed forward, jamming the end of his walking stick between two stones and using it to pole vault over the river, hanging on to the other end of the stick with one hand as he threw his whole entire body into a cartwheel flip over the top of the walking stick, and using it to push off the ground even higher as he lunged across the swampy river and into the air, doing a single long distance cartwheel flip across the whole river. As his body rotated completely upside down and then upright again, Li bent one of his knees, bringing his leg in underneath himself as if sitting on it while extending his other leg in a sort of very high aerial side kick, throwing his entire mass and momentum into the base of the falling root system, channeling his breath and allowing all of his muscles to work in unison.
"Tsaeeiii!!!" shouted Li as he breathed out, tightening his leg muscles before impact. As his bare foot flew over his own head and hit the tree root, the variables and physics of its momentum would change, so that the root system would fall at a slightly different angle, collapsing off to the side just shy of Sergeant Valerian's position, far enough away that the tangly wooden net would miss him, if only by a few feet. Li kicked off of the tree as he pushed it with his foot, landing on his feet in the waist deep water, still holding his walking stick behind him quietly while looking at Sgt. Valerian blankly. Then, silently, Li would slowly raise his open free hand in front of his chest in a half praying hands gesture, bowing his head quietly while looking into the Aschen's eyes.