WAY OF THE FLYING CRANE
by Ulquiorra9000
Chapter 1
"Lady Sangye! Narbul! How wonderful to see you both again!"
Candlelight flooded from the large combat school's open front doors late one evening, deep in the Sage-Eye Stronghold. Set on a mountainside deep in the Jeskai clan's territory, the Sage-Eye Stronghold was safe from nearly any intruder, but Lady Sangye was no intruder, but rather, a welcome sight to the elderly Khan, Orzat.
Sangye, a renowned monk-warrior in her mid-thirties, smiled easily and bowed her head. She smoothed her red and orange robes. "My Khan. I, too, am honored by your presence."
The old man chuckled. "Now now, there's no need for that. Do come in! It has been too long."
With his white hair in a topknot, long beard, and expensive blue and red robes, Orzat certainly looked the part of Khan. In his earlier days, he had mastered many martial styles, and now ruled comfortably from this stronghold's main school. He gestured and led both Sangye and Narbul into the school's hallway, and toward the dining hall. "You're just in time for dinner," Orzat said. "Join us."
"Thank you, my Khan," Sangye said, and Narbul echoed her. She had a regal appearance, with haughty features and her long black hair bound in a ponytail with an enchanted red ribbon. In fact, that ribbon was her weapon during combat.
Narbul, for his part, had a smooth bald head and a strong jaw. He was a bir short and wore a sleeveless blue tunic and brown pants. And as Sangye's attendant, he followed her everywhere, awed by her presence. He looked very much at home as he walked down the school's halls with his mistress.
Neither of them gave any indication of the sinister thoughts in their heads.
"Lady Sangye," beamed Halla, Khan Orzat's wife. She and several other members of her family sat at the dining hall's long table, the room well-lit with racks of candles and natural moonlight from the windows. "It's been much too long."
"The Khan said much the same," Sangye said warmly as she took a seat, with Narbul seated on her left. Her stomach rumbled. "It's been a long trip back here."
"Do tell?" said Orzat curiously, once he took his own seat. A servant started loading fried rice and fish onto everyone's plates. "I hear that you've really outdone yourself this time, Lady Sangye. Not many return from the Temur tundra in one piece."
"Not that my trip was flawless," Sangye said with false modestly, taking a few fruits from a large bowl. "There was a rather close scrape with a mother bear and her cubs. That'll teach me to watch whose berry bush I pick!"
Everyone shared a laugh over that. "Oh, Lady Sangye, you have the most amusing tales!" Halla chuckled. She started on her rice. "How I envy the young..."
Sangye merely smiled, but in her mind, retched at how tedious Orzat and his family were. Indeed, Orzat's son and his two young daughters were among the crowd tonight, too, but Sangye had no time for them. Instead, she absent-mindedly started on her dinner, carefully watching Khan Orzat. She'd have to make her special request carefully...
"So, I do hope that Lady Narset's training goes well?" Narbul said on cue, with even more false politeness than Sangye could muster.
"Very," Orzat said proudly. "She has fully mastered the Annals of the Sage Eye, and is now meditating on every word. She's in a forest close to Temur territory, near one of her favorite rural temples. I last saw her as a wise woman... and I will see her again as a proper Khan."
"This is a very exciting time," Sangye said, annoyed at what kind of conversations she had to put up with. "Khan Orzat, you were a great man. No, really!" she added, at Orzat's abashed smile. "I'm confident that after your tutelage to your student, Narset will be an exemplary Khan. The other clans will finally recognize us as supreme."
Orzat nodded. "I think the best of times are ahead of us, Lady Sangye. I'm old, and let's be honest, more than a few will be happy to see me leave office. But that means I can spend more time with my family." There was a fond twinkle in his eye and he surveyed his family, and they smiled back.
Sangye actually started to roll her eyes until she caught herself. Easy, she reminded herself. Almost there. "You've certainly earned it, my Khan." She decided to move things in another direction. "Perhaps, before your time is done, there is one more favor you could do for me? There's one matter I've always had in mind..."
"What is it?" Orzat asked.
"Well..." Sangye pretended to hesitate innocently. "I've seen and done many things on my path to enlightenment, and in service to our clan... but I've been denied one thing."
Orzat couldn't contain himself. "Anything!" he said.
Sangye smiled again. "The tomb of Chodak the Mad. I've always wanted to visit it. Not just visit, I mean, but actually go inside, see the remains for myself. He was a cruel man, I know... but a major part of our history."
A tense silence fell over the room, and a few people gave Sangye nervous looks. Sangye ignored them and just watched Orzat carefully. She could see the old man's anxiety at this request, and she didn't blame him. Ten years ago, the master mage known as Chodak had tried to overthrow him in a bout of madness and ambition, until he was defeated and his body cursed into a skeletal state. The remains now lay in a tomb in the lower region of the Sage-Eye Stronghold, a place forbidden to most.
Orzat licked his lips nervously. "For study, of course? For a complete understanding of this clan's history, no matter his grisly it may be?"
"Of course. I take an unflinching view on our world. It is what makes me wise. Surely you would understand?"
Slowly, Orzat nodded. "Very... very well. I suppose there is no harm in it... yes..."
"I don't mean to make you uncomfortable," Sangye sad hastily.
"No such thing," Orzat said shakily. "Tomorrow morning, you may enter. The guards posted there will ensure that you're not disturbed."
Sangye beamed. "Thank you, my Khan. Now, let's finish this wonderful dinner together. I've got a long day ahead of me." She glanced at Narbul, who nodded slightly.
Perfect, she thought.
*o*o*o*o*
When the warm Tarkir sun rose over the misty mountains that surrounded the Sage-Eye Stronghold, Sangye was already up and striding toward a waiting carriage parked just outside the main combat school, courtesy of Khan Orzat. Narbul stayed close to his mistress' side, wearing a sleeveless blue tunic and brown pants, his usual attire.
"Remember, Lady Sangye, you may visit the tomb for only a short time," the driver told her as soon as the carriage set off down the hold's busy main road. "The Khan is very gracious to let you inside. Please do not tax his generosity."
Sangye couldn't help a silent snarl. Don't you lecture me, peasant! She had little patience for commoners who followed the Way of the Artisan, rather than the Way of the Wandering Warrior like her and Narbul. Mystics were all right, but artisans? She had no time for such rabble.
Still, the tranquil morning cooled Sangye's hot temper and she appreciated the hold's beauty after being away for so long. The misty mountains surrounded a large lake, where cargo and passenger boats sailed through a narrow pass to settle at dockyards on the lake's coast. Thousands of simple peasants and artisans wearing conical straw hats filled the streets, along with ox-drawn carts loaded with trade goods. Sangye could smell all kinds of hot food cooking at street vendors, and artisans were already hard at work at their forges, jewlery stores, and textile shops.
Narbul was appropriately silent on the trip downtown. For now, his only duty was to keep Lady Sangye company and attend to her everyday needs. Later, much later, he'd put his considerable other skills to use. The thought brought a smile to Sangye's face.
"This is it," the carriage driver said warily as he reined in his horses. This street was nearly deserted, dominated instead by a blocky stone building with intricate carvings. A pair of heavy wood doors kept its interior safe, protected by several enchanted locks. Two guards stood by the doors, just in case someone tried to tamper with the tomb.
Sangye climbed down from the carriage and strode confidently to the front doors while the guards powered down the locks' enchantments at a signal from the driver. Narbul, for his part, stayed with the guards while Sangye walked into the tomb's cold, dark interior. "One hour," a guard told Sangye's retreating back. "Then we will come and collect you."
Sangye only waved a dismissive hand.
Once the doors shut behind her, Sangye saw several torches flare to life on the walls. What she saw didn't surprise her: a stark-white male skeleton lying on a slab of marble, perfectly straight and rigid. On a nearby pedestal sat a scroll, no doubt chronicling the life of Chodak the Mad.
This is it. He's so close, Sangye thought with longing, slowly walking toward the skeleton with awe, reaching out a hand as though to touch it. She didn't care about the physical remains; a certain power lingered in the air like a miasma, and it made Sangye's skin tingle and prickle. She could almost hear Chodak whispering to her, telling her all about the secrets of his ambition, how he nearly came to rule this increasingly decadent and lazy clan...
Sangye's eyes rolled up in her head and she felt herself collapse onto the cold stone floor.
Then Sangye blinked at the sudden sunlight. She shakily stood on a grassy field, and she realized that this place was Dirgur Stronghold, located on an island on a massive lake in Jeskai territory. Everything in the distance looked hazy, as though this were a dream. Maybe it was?
More specifically, this was the front lawn for the Dirgur Stronghold's main combat school, which taught -
"The Way of the Flying Crane," a smooth male voice said. "My old school."
Sangye whirled around, her heart racing. There stood Chodak as he was in life: tall and proud, and rather well-muscled, too. His black hair being in a topknot, and his short beard, both reminded Sangye of Khan Orzat, but Chodak was nothing like that foppish man. He wore bright red and white warrior robes, with a short sword at his leather belt and stud earrings on his lobes.
"Chodak," Sangye breathed. "I didn't expect -"
"Sit with me, my lady," Chodak smiled, and he sat cross-legged on the grass, patting the ground next to him as an invitation. Sangye joined him.
For a few seconds, Sangye could only stare. "Forgive my lack of manners. Good day, my lord. Do I find you well?" She didn't know what made her say it, but it felt right. She was in the presence of a master warrior, a true Jeskai clansman!
"Very well, now that you're here with me," Chodak chuckled politely. "I died well before my time, Lady Sangye, with my mission incomplete. I aimed to bring a new vision to the Jeskai Way, but the people would not have it! That doddering old fool, that Orzat, he had his men strike down in a surprise attack."
"I remember,my lord," Sangye said, leaning a little closer. "What a stir it caused! I was barely an adult then, but..."
"But now, you're ready to listen to my sincere request," Chodak said. He fixed his deep eyes on her, and Sangye couldn't tear hers away. "Some called me a mad monster, but they were afraid of a true leader shaking them from complacency! To save our great clan from the others, you and I must find a way to bring my power back. Together, we can do much."
"How? Please, tell me everything."
"Have you traveled down the Salt Road before?"
Sangye nodded. The Salt Road, which connected Dirgur Stronghold to the Abzan clan's deserts, was quite familiar. "I've used it to visit the Abzan clan's capital."
"Yes, the great city Arashin," Chodak said. "It holds many secrets and treasures, and in my time, its army waged many wars against the nearby Sultai lands. Is this still true now?"
"It is, my lord."
"And your attendant, he still serves you?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Good. I have a plan, Sangye, and should you carry it out, we will be heroes."
Giddy, unable to help a smile, Sangya leaned closer and let Chodak whisper in her ear. His words felt so right, his logic so sound. How could Khan Orzat let his bones just lie in the dark?
The Jeskai clan was about to change for the better. Sangye knew it, and she muttered the plan to herself as the vision faded and she found herself on the tomb's floor. She got to her feet just as the doors opened again, admitting glaring morning sunlight.
"The hour's up," a guard said, walking in. "Come along now, Lady Sangye."
Sangye found that she didn't mind the guards' brusque behavior so much anymore. With her lord Chodak on her side, she would rule over this puny guard and many others like him soon enough.