Hibaties and the Emperor
ICHK-Hong Lok Yuen, Thomas Conning, Fiction: Group 2
D
eep in China when emperors still existed, Emperor Wang as ruling and commanding
over China.
One day, the Emperor Wang heard about these magnificent creatures that lived
in the Gobi Desert, in the north of China and Southern Mongolia. Emperor Wang was
amazed and said to himself, “I must have one of these wondrous creatures in my kingdom to show
my people how powerful I am to be able to capture one!”
Not thinking about the dangers that could befall himself and his people, Emperor Wang
decided to that he would go after one of these creatures. He headed out with a party of his best
men to capture and return proudly with some Habities.
When he reached the high ridges of the mountains bordering the great Gobi, he set camp for
the night. He was totally unaware that there were Snow Leopards lurking in those parts of the
mountains. While all the men were snoring in their sleep, the Snow Leopards lured by the smell
of their food, decided to attack the camp. The Emperor was able to escape with some of his men.
Sadly, some were savaged and lost.
After the attack, the Emperor and his men were too afraid to sleep in the mountains. So,
they moved on. After two days and two nights, Emperor Wang and his men found and captured
some wild horses on the mountain slopes and used them to travel on from the mountains. When
they reached lower ground, the Emperor was able to have some rest. But he was not foolish this
time, and just in case, he set a guard to watch over the camp. The guard fell into a doze. This was
the chance for desert bears and gray wolves to creep down from the mountains and attack. The
unwatchful guard and one other soldier were lost this time.
Emperor Wang and a few men survived but were near death. They found some water from a
small oasis and some wild plants to survive on for a bit longer. Hopefully, they could last out until
the end of their mission. During the night, one of the soldiers who was too afraid to continue,
crept away like a coward in the middle of the night, taking all the remaining food with him.
The Emperor and the remaining men had no choice but to continue. Finally, their hopes were
rewarded. They came to the valley of the Habities. To his delight, Emperor Wang saw that they
really did exist. They managed to grab and rope up two Habities and set off for home. During
the night, a huge sandstorm whipped up and swept right through their camp. All they could do
was wait until it all blew over. Sadly, after the sandstorm had died down, they discovered that a
Habitie, too, had died. It appeared that when there is a sandstorm, Habities huddle up together for
mutual protection, and one had taken the force of the sand and died. The Emperor was very angry
and frustrated because now, he only had one prize specimen left to take home.
Once, the Enperor and his men arrived back at the mountains, he and his men were on alert
again, afraid of the fierce creatures they had met before. Now, they had the Habitie to keep safe,
too. At night time, they did not dare set up camp, but could only keep moving quietly, slowly and
alertly so the wild animals would not be alarmed and attack as before. Unluckily, being mostly
nocturnal, the wild creatures were out hunting.
Suddenly, the Emperor and his men heard a scream in the night. Running to the spot where
the scream came from, they found the back-stabbing soldier who had run away. He had been taken
