The Wu sisters... a group of clouded leopards who call themselves after their last name. Although commonly beleived to be sisters, all three are orphans, so it is quite possible, although admittedly unlikely, that they are not blood relatives. Nevertheless, the bond between them is strong enough to benefit any sibling relationship. These criminals rely on strong teamwork to defeat their rivals and victims, accomplishing some of the most heinous acts in history...
-an excerpt from 'Criminals and villains: an exhaustive intrusion', an archive created in the Zan dynasty.
The Wu sisters are known by many names, none of them good. The most praise they ever get is fearful admiration from fellow criminals.
But it is ironic, that these most notorious of criminals, are also the most mysterious. Their origins are unknown, their beginnings shrouded. Some say they are devil-spawn, dropped from Hades itself, to bring pain and suffering to the world.
But Hades does not need to do that, the world does a good enough job of ruining itself, by itself. The true beginnings of these most extraordinary of criminals are nothing so spectacular, nor even unique. They shared the beginnings of a sorrowful mass of children in ancient China.
Street-children. Urchins. Not remembering even who their names were, except that the caretaker of the orphanage that they called home, referred to them as a group, and he called the group 'Wu'.
There were three of them, dirty, scruffy kittens, having nothing in the world except their names. But they kept their names close to their hearts. They were sisters in mind, even though their caretaker said otherwise. He said that they had all been delivered in the dead of night, on separate days, and that there was no evidence to suggest any relation. But they knew, in their hearts, that it didn't matter. They were sisters anyway.
Wing was the assumed second-eldest, but she wasn't a thinker. However, once she put her mind to something, nothing, and I mean nothing, was going to stop her from accomplishing her goals.
Wan was the youngest impetuous and resourceful. She would often act without thinking, which could be both a detriment and a benefit. She was by far the loudest of the group, often talking and chatting energetically.
And that brings us to the last and eldest of the sisters: Su. She was smart. She was the coldest of the group, cold and calculating, never entering a fight that she could not win. She was the brains, and that suited her sisters fine, especially since she was at least a year older than they.
One could always expect to find them together, they were inseparable. The caretaker had banded them together, and together they had stayed. Drawn together by their similar looks and positions, they had quickly bonded with each other. Their bond was first started, however, not of love, nor of friendship, but of survival.
For not all was well in the Dou'Gian orphanage. It was a regime, where it was the strong who ruled. And three, threadbare clothed, female kittens, were not strong. But, together, they were protected from those who would molest them, take advantage of their weakness and feminity.
Still, they were not invulnerable, even together. This thought was coursing painfully through Wan's mind, as she rushed through the halls and rooms of the orphanage.
THUMP! Wan was flung back to the floor, as she ran headfirst into someone else. She leaped to her feet again quickly, already apologizing, but found to her relief that she had only bumped into Wing.
"Oof!" the older cat exclaimed, whirling around, "Why don't you- oh, Wan... What's wrong?"
"It's Su!" Wan hissed frantically, "I can't find her anywhere! She just vanished, poof, intothin air... I'm worried!"
Wing pursed her lips thoughtfully, taking her younger 'sister' by the hand, and tried to comfort her.
"Wan, I'm sure she's fine. If she was hurt, we would have heard her wail by now..."
This only seemed to make Wan even more worried, and small tears appeared in her eyes. "But what if she's too far away?" she questioned miserably, "What if she... What of someone kidnapped her!? What if-"
"Who'd wanta kidnap HER?" Wing interrupted, still trying to reassure, "I'm sure that she's fine, you just have missed her somewhere..."
A loud wail interrupted the kitten, screeching over their heads. Both kittens winced, and Wan started to jump around unconntrollably.
"That was Su!" she exclaimed, "Wing, that was Su screaming!"
Wing's eyes no longer looked comforting, the expression replaced with a face just as concerned as Wan's.
"Well, don't just stand there!" she hissed wildly, "Let's go FIND her! Come on!"
The two kittens raced out of the room, and down the hall, heading in the direction of the wail. Young leopards can wail extremely loud, but Su, who hardly ever said ANYTHING, had never wailed before. The fact that she was wailing now, suggested that she had gotten herself into some deep trouble.
They stormed through the doors, finally reaching the room (more of a closet, actually) where the wails were coming from. Wan threw open the door, and gasped. This was just what she feared...
Su was hanging from from a rack on the wall, a mixture of wails and hisses coming from her mouth, swinging her newly-developed claws at the lion cub that stood in front of her. The lion cub only laughed cruelly, bouncing back a little, and striking little Su across the mouth, silencing her wails.
"That oughta teach ya to- AUUGHG!"
The lion cub' spiteful speech was interrupted by Wan, leaping on her back withough so much as saying a word. Her little claws were already tearing into the skin on the cub's back. The lion cub twisted, and pulled Wan off her back with a snarl, and proceeded to pummel the lynx into the ground, literally.
Wing watched the spectacle for a second in shock, but then a scream of pain from her younger sister snapped her back to reality. She snared, andleaped forward to help Wan, digging her claws in the cub's back, and biting viciously.
The lion cub batted them both back with her paws, but the two combined were too much for her. She turned tail and ran.
"I'll get you, Su!" she shouted over her shoulder, "I'll get you, and your sisters won't save you THEN!"
"Save it, Rui lin!" Su shouted after her, "That is never going to happen..."
The rest of Su's speech Rui never heard, as she was far away by then. Still, she could hear the tones of her voice behind her, burning her heart with anger. Those kittens! She would find a way to make them pay, make them ALL pay... And dearly, too...
"Are you alright, Su?" Wan asked breathlessly, clutching her knees, while simeltaneously trying to get Su off the wall.
"Here," Wing interrupted, "Let me do this..." she, with some effort, pulled Su from the wall, and placed her on the floor.
Su looked up, with a mixture of half-embarrassment, half-graditude... But mostly deep, icy anger. They could all tell that she was plotting already, and they all shuddered. When Su went out for revenge, you had good reason to be afraid. She did not repay in kind...
A bell rang, calling the children of the Duo'gian orphanage to the table, for the pile of unpalatable mush that was called lunch. Su was forced from her musings to go and eat, there were no saved lunches if you were late. She and the other children raced to their tables, trying to vie for the best seating.
The food was passed around, some mush made of rice and water. As the caretaker passed Su, she whispered to her.
"Su, we will talk. After lunch."
The tone it was spoken in did not bode well for the kitten.
They each ate their mush slowly, although none of them liked the taste, they couldn't help but want more after it was done. But there would not be any more.
The Duo'gian orphanage was not a purposefully cruel place, where the caretakers would starve their children. No, it was just penniless, hanging on from day to day by the sweat of their brows and the skin of their teeth. Once the children had eaten, they simply could not afford to feed them again.
The table was quiet, there was a 'no-talking at the table' rule in place. However, you could almost feel the hot glares coming from Rui lin, and the equally icy glare coming from Su. This did not go unnoticed by the caretaker, who shot a warning glare in their direction. Su took heed to the warning, and lost her icy eyes. Rui lin, however, either did not notice, or ignored the glare, and was awarded a small but humiliating smack across the head.
Su smirked triumphantly, and proceeded to rapidly eat her mush.
"But mith, I didn't do nothing!" Su exclaimed adamantly, "Rui lin's just a liar-"
"Hush, you!" the caretaker stood in front of the kitten, hooves on her hips, "Now, I know that Rui lin makes things up sometimes-"
"All the time..." Su mumbled.
"SOME of the time," the caretaker continued, "And if she said that you and your sisters were bullying her, I'd have to say that she may have been bending th truth. But" - she leaned down closer to the kitten - "her putting on the rack wasn't entirely unprovoked, was it?"
Su said nothing, only pursing her lips. Her legs swang to and fro on the stool she sat on, too short to reach the floor.
"Was it?" the goat in front of her asked again, sterner this time.
Su hesitated a moment, then shook her head slowly.
The caretaker sighed heavily, straightening up. "I thought as much..." for the first time, her tiredness showed in her voice. Years and years of slaving after hundreds of children had worn on her body, and now their squabbling was beginning to wear down her mind.
"Look, Su..." she said, shaking her head, "This may seem unfair to you, but we really can't afford to have squabbles between you children. Division is a disease, if you don't catch it, it will spread like wildfire. Do you understand?"
She looked up at the kitten. Su didn't seem to be listening. Thoughts were running through her mind...
Like wildfire... wildfire... fire...
"Su?" the caretaker asked softly, and waited for the kitten to look up, "Although this may not seem fair, you will have to be punished for provoking..."
That seemed to sink in, as Su's face instantly dropped.
"What?" the kitten whined, "Why? That's not fair!"
"We can't afford to have agruing in our orphanage..." the caretaker explained wearily, "Anyway, all you have to do is some dishes..."
"Dishes?!" Su seemed even more disgusted by this, "Like, with water? You know I hate that!"
"That's why you are going to be doing them, dear," the goat replied, "The're only dishes. Don't worry... Rui lin will be punished as well."
"I bet she doesn't have to do dishes..." Su whispered to herself.
"So," Wan asked, her legs swinging off the counter, "Why did Rui lin stick you on the wall?"
"I don't know!" Su answered vehemently, dashing another plate into dirty-looking water, "She's just a stupid bully..."
"Why'd you have to do the dishes, then?" Wan asked again, handing Su a rag, "That doesn't seem fair to me."
"It doesn't seem fair to ME, either," Su replied, taking the rag and scrubbing the plate angrily, "I think that Miss what's-her-name likes Rui lin better. But I'll get back at her, I WILL! And Rui lin too- aah!"
The plate slipped from the kitten's grasp, and flung across the room, heading towards the floor- then came back up again, as Wing caught it, with a grin on her face.
"Where you would you be without me, 'older' sister?" she asked good-naturedly, handing Su the plate back, "Here, hand me a rag. I'll help you with the dishes."
"Thanks!" Wu sighed gratefully, handing her younger 'sister' a rag, and the two cats quickly do the dishes together. Wan just watched, until Wing ordered her over.
Even with all three kittens doing dishes, it was still late by the time the pile of dirty plates, bowls, and spoons, were completely gone. The sky outside was darkening fast, and that suited the three exhausted kittens just fine.
Bed. That word does not normally seem so sweet! Wing and Wan flopped into bed quickly, not bothering to change, (they had no pajamas anyway) they fell asleep almost instantly.
Su, however, got into her small bed slowly, lying awake. How could she sleep? Her mind was burning with thoughts of revenge. Her brain attacked the problem like a warrior attacks her opponent, trying to find the most hurtful revenge possible.
Su did not think like most people, her mind, several said, was broken. But is was broken good. She set on something, and slid quietly out of bed, her padded feet making no noise on the dirty floors.
It was so easy to slide from her room, into the hall. Grabbing a torch off the wall for light, she made her way down the hall, towards the room where the older girls, Rui lin included, slept...
It was barely thirty minutes later when Su returned to her room, and shook her two sisters awake.
"Wake up!" she hissed frantically, "Come on, wake up!"
"Wha- what's going on?" Wan asked sleepily, blinking rapidly.
"Follow me," Su answered simply, leading her sisters by the hand, out of the orphanage.
"Su!" Wing whispered, "You know we aren't allowed out the orphanage!"
"I seriously doubt they'd mind," Su answered, a sinister grin on her face, "They have... More important things to worry about, right now."
"What do you..." Wing began, then drew silent. There was something different about Su, something wrong with her eyes. And she smelled like smoke...
"Su!?" she asked, a little harshly, "What have you done?"
Su looked up, a little surprised at her sister's tone. "The same thing you would have done, Wing," she replied, putting her paws behind her back, "I removed a threat. It's the way of the world."
Wing's eyes widened, hearing these words come out of a mouth far too young for them. What had happened to Su? And what had she done?
Suddenly, Wing's thoughts were interrupted by a flash of white and orange light, accompanied by heat. The orphanage's roof was suddenly bathed in flame.
The three kittens watched the spectacle with wide eyes. Two of them had horror and fright in their eyes, but Su... Oh Su! In her asymmetrically-colored orbs, there was no emotion whatsoever. On fact, if there was any spark at all, it was one of delight.
A scream came from the building, and a small smile even made it's way across the young leopard's face.
Wan started forward, but a small paw on her's stopped her. She looked around, and saw Su, holding on.
"Come on, let's go!" she hissed, her eyes glowing in the night, "We don't have anything there anyway!"
The two kittens paused for a short second, then turned and ran with Su from the orphanage. She was right, they had nothing worth saving there anyway.
All the same, the two older cats were horrified at what their older sister had done. How could she have been so cruel?
Little did they know, that in the span of only a few years, they would be just as cruel as she was.
The three leopards ran, the burning orphanage setting a harsh light in the background behind them.
Author's note: This is the first chapter of what I believe to be one of the only stories actually about the Wu sisters. Please stay posted, but updates for this story will be few and far between.
This story, to keep the K+ rating, had to have some parts removed. I was going to describe exactly what Su did to Rui lin. To those who wonder, I'll just say this: Oil+lion cub+fire...you do the math.
Next up, the young Wu sisters begin to cope with life on the streets.
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