Jade Empire and all its characters and situations belong to BioWare. I'm just playing around with them for a while.
A/N : Takes place about three years before the game begins.
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Master Li stood blinking in the bright spring dawn. He shared the habit of rising early and getting in a few hours of practice with many of his students, so the emptiness of the courtyard and the practice ring puzzled him. Soon, however, he heard shouts from the town square. A life of discipline let him control his annoyance long enough to don his master's robes. Suitably attired, he set out to see what idiocy his students had caused this time.
A crowd of townspeople stood around a knot of his students. Shouting came from within that knot, and Li sighed. He should have given them a sterner lecture last time. When the craftsmen and shopkeepers saw him coming, they fell over each other getting out of his way. His students were not so perceptive. All their attention was on the pair shouting in their midst, worried expressions on their faces.
"...and if you try flirting one more time with girls smart enough to have none of you, I'll show you once and for all why you'll always be second best in this school!" Falling Tree Shuftei's face was bright red, and her normally pleasant alto had climbed steadily until it was nearly a screech. At her side, Dawn Star nervously whispered to her and tried to pull her away.
Gao the Lesser snorted and folded his arms across his chest. "If you go on sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong, I may just have to teach you that you're not the only one with promise in Two Rivers. If Master Li didn't spoil you so, I'd be past your level today."
Li cleared his throat, and took a perverse pleasure in seeing every last one of his students jump at least an inch. Shuftei spun around to face him, her face going an even deeper red. "M-M-Master! I'm sorry we disturbed you, but Gao... He's made three girls cry today, and was harassing a fourth when she tried to leave. He's only getting worse, Master and if we don't do something..."
"Slander!" roared Gao, in spite of the fact that it was almost certainly true. The few friends he'd managed to keep were shifting nervously behind him. "I've had enough of this moronic little strumpet insulting me and my honor. Perhaps she should have to back up her insults like the rest of us."
Even if Shuftei was lying, Li had no intention of leaving her and Gao alone in a ring. "Leave us," he commanded the remaining onlookers. They went promptly, and soon only he, Gao, and Shuftei were left in the square. Dawn Star squeezed her friend's arm and whispered one last time in her ear. Shuftei visibly calmed, and whispered something back which made them both laugh. Li considered them for a moment. Dawn Star might wind up being a complication, but for now she tied Shuftei to the school. Besides, if what he'd heard of happenings in the Empire were accurate, her talents would be useful.
He regarded his two students silently. Gao grumbled, looking anywhere but his nemesis and teacher, while Shuftei looked at her feet and said nothing. Li sighed. Imagine me, the Glorious Strategist, The Conquerer of Heaven, dealing with two misbehaving children. Shaking off such thoughts, he asked Shuftei "Why did you feel Gao was misbehaving?'
Gao opened his mouth to object, but Shuftei was speaking before he could get out so much as a squeak. "You know, Master, how he forces himself on girls with no interest in him. When I saw him and Lian in the square, she was crying and he was standing over her, yelling. I could tell what he was doing."
"And if you'd gotten here a moment earlier, you'd have known that she had something of mine!" Gao's voice was even angrier when he finally got a word in. "A trinket, but a gift from my father, and one precious to me. I would not suffer a commoner to touch a gift from Gao the Greater, and resolved to deal with it myself. Nothing would be wrong if your beloved pupil had not interrupted."
Shuftei was about to speak, but Li held up his hand for silence. Pointing to one of the children gawking at the spectacle, he instructed the boy to find Lian and bring her to the square. When she arrived, Li asked her kindly "We seem to have a situation on our hands, young lady. Can you tell us if you have, on your person, a trinket stolen from Gao the Lesser?"
She started to shake her head, but Li thought there was something false about the gesture. Frowning, he narrowed his eyes and let them sweep across her. Sweating, she said "Master Li, how can you say such things? I have never stolen in my life."
"Perhaps. But men and women can make strange choices when faced with temptation. If they see a new and fascinating piece of art, for example, some can get so carried away with love of its beauty that they loose their head and..."
He did not need to speak any further. The combination of his words and his look finally broke Lian, and she sobbed that she was sorry and begged the good master to convince his student to have mercy on her, although she was unworthy. Shuftei looked stunned, while Gao crossed his arms and grinned. Finally, he put a hand on her shoulder. She ceased crying and tensed, as if ready for a beating.
"There is no need for punishment, child." He looked at Gao significantly, and spoke before the boy could do more than open his mouth. "This is clearly the first time you have stolen anything, and as Gao said, it did not have any great value, except to his heart. Therefore, he should judge you, but remember that mercy is the quality which distinguishes a great warrior from a common thug."
Gao winced as the comment about thugs hit home. Stiffly, he turned to leave. "Keep it. I don't want anything you put your filthy hands on anyway."
Lian watched him leave, shock clear on her face. Turning to Li, she stammered out an incoherent stream of thanks, bowing repeatedly and backing away as fast as she could. Once she was a good ways away, she turned and ran. Shuftei was still looking at her feet. Li came over to her and said "Your instincts are good, my student, but you must learn to balance your feelings with reason and patience."
"I am sorry, Master." She kept her eyes on the ground. "I've brought disgrace to you and our school."
"Not at all. Gao handled himself badly, and you had good reasons for the assumptions you made. Nevertheless, you must learn to hear all sides of a conflict, and to intervene based on what you know, not what you feel." At least for now. "For a week, you will meditate after your chores for two hours on your actions and what you could have done better. At the end of the month, come to me and we will discuss why your actions were unwise. Now return to the school. You are missing your morning exercises."
Making a grateful bow, Shuftei turned and jogged up the path, her face set and her stride sure. She was a resilient young woman, determined to improve herself and do right. There was no doubt in his mind that she would do what was needed, and stand up to anything his beloved brother could throw at her. He smiled calmly. Yes. She would do wonderfully.