The Marvelous Dragonfly, which sprang from the mind of Kang the Mad, or should I say Lord Lao had always simultaneously bedazzled and frightened me. It was certainly wondrous to behold, an architectural and artistic wonder that made me struggle not to pry away various shiny parts and try hustling some silver for them. Yet removing whatever was in place I might have inadvertently killed everyone who had entrusted their lives into the Dragonfly's rickety hands was something that I'm sure even the Black Whirlwind gave a second thought about. Especially now that the Dragonfly was accelerating which also gave it the nasty tendency to have it drop a few feet and emit some black smoke before returning to its merry way.
While this always makes my heart skip a beat, my arrhythmia is further prolonged as this commotion causes Dawn Star to squeeze my hand, which of course leads me to turn to her and smile at her which parlays into us sharing a brief kiss. Now at this point I would have gladly copped a feel if not for the fact that Wildflower was sitting next to us. Dawn Star, she is quite an individual, I often find myself wondering if like Kang, Dawn Star is some kind of demigod who instead of invention deals with teaching the Open Palm and more relative to myself love and seduction. Now I know that sounds absurd because love deities are always rauchy and seem kind of loose whereas Dawn Star just seems so pure, but even with this in mind she did seduce me, or made me seduce her or, I just don't know, all I know for certain is that sometime between meeting at Gao's Fortress and now that I love her.
The beginning itself was very small, I was distracted by a larger task, having just made it to the fortress ready to give justice to Pinmei, I found myself in a chamber where slaves were held and I was outnumbered, spotting an attractive woman I insinuated something about partnerships and the battle began where to my surprise not one, but two gorgeous women entered the fray and along with myself gave those slaving pirates the beating of their lives. After making mincemeat of the pirates I turned to speak to the two women I had just brought into battle with me. I'm actually still a little surprised myself that at first I was taken with Jen Zi, I could tell she was the leader and as I began talking to her she seemed friendly enough, but something about her seemed kind of strange and I'm not just talking about her fighting style. I'm no medium but it seemed as if her energies were somehow… strong, that it made her driven even and that flirting or any kind of entanglement was something that she did not have time for.
Anyway after our initial conversation I slipped away to determine kill Gao and steal a few things along the way. While I certainly learned more than I wanted to about the Lotus Assassins and found a dust inductor I was ultimately disappointed as the pair I had already met had put Gao to the sword. With that thing, for calling him a man would be too high a compliment was dead, I found myself between vocations, deciding to follow the yearnings of a certain part of my anatomy I decided to throw in my lot with the two beauties that I had met earlier and that was when things has started to change.
When I got back to the main camp I found I was not the only person that had signed up for this little excursion. As Kang prepared the flier I found that our little group had some extra time on our hands and seeing as social situations are usually something that I consider my forte I immediately opened my mouth about our little band and it's exotic nature and while doing so managed to throw an appreciative glance at Dawn Star. Which turned out to be a big mistake as she turned to me and demanded to know exactly what I meant by my little comment. Ironically I have a razor sharp wit getting into situations like this but never to get out of them. Luckily Jen Zi forever put me into her debt when she bailed me out of this. "So we can assume that Sky is hiding the part that doesn't stick his foot into his mouth?" Dawn Star grinned at this and continued to smile as I muttered off some apology.
My good luck at that point astounded me, Dawn Star and I were virtual strangers and she was and is so introverted that if I burned my bridges with her then I never would have had another chance with her. Luckily Jen Zi bailed me out, I think she was able to see what was happening between Dawn Star and I even before either one of us realized it. This theory was reinforced as when we boarded the Dragonfly for the flight to the Imperial City, Jen Zi made sure that I was seated next to Dawn Star in order to "balance the weight" and that she was on the other side of the flier to "keep the Whirlwind in check". So there I was seated next to Dawn Star for the duration of several hours, which is what Kang predicted it would take to make it to the Imperial City.
Now the conundrum presented itself, what to talk about? Remembering my earlier attempts at conversation that lead to near disaster I was careful to choose my words and topics and mind where my eyes wandered. Our mutual dislike for the Gao family was soon exploited as a topic as they were compared to the various flaws and tribulations in farm life, which was where we both originated from. This obviously became our next topic, growing up in a rural farm community and having the shared experiences of a similar childhood as well as the eventual departure of that childhood. This was also where our differences appeared, our divorces from the simple life were quite different. Mine was gradual, some petty theft here, some bribery to a minor official their eventually escalated until one day I angered the wrong person or got caught and began my new career. Dawn Star 's transition of course was much more sudden and jarring, Gao and the Assassins ripped her and Jen Zi form their home and here they were like fish out of water.
I feel when Dawn Star confided in me about what she experienced in Two Rivers that we crossed a threshold. That was fairly intimate information and as someone who had also experienced loss in their life it gave us something else that we could relate about. Now I am not saying that we were looking to indulge in self-pity, but even thought we were both aware that we were not the only people in the Empire that ever had a tragedy in their lives it still helps to know that their other people out there going through the same things.
How to deal with such loss is what also led us into a lively debate over philosophy. Dawn Star espoused a hard-lined Open Palm stance whereas I was more eclectic taking whatever suited me at the moment. It was during this conversation that teasing was introduced into our interactions. Near the end of our debate I claimed that having a firm philosophy would make one just like Sagacious Zu, miserable, antagonistic and no closer to the truth then when they had begun. Dawn Star countered that failure to have a firm stance was due to one's refusal to mature and begin an adult life and that as long as this continued I would be a victim of a prolonged adolescence. As soon as Dawn Star finished saying this she looked away and dropped her head as if she regretted what she said. "Sky I did not mean to say that you were immature, it's just that I…" Dawn Star began stuttering as she searched for the right words. Sensing a natural break in the conversation I began ad-libbing "Oh don't be coy with me women! You know that I am really only a year or two younger than you I just look older and have made up this whole story so I can follow you around on an epic adventure and come of age during it! So thanks for enlightening me!" I ended with mock exasperation.
Dawn Star's immediate chuckle made my heart lift as she responded in kind with an artificial, condescending voice "Well don't blame me for your faults; I am not your mother after all. I…" she was immediately cut off by Kang who announced that were beginning our decent towards the Imperial City. Dawn Star and I exchanged looks of surprise, how could have all those hours passed so quickly, it felt as if a mere hour had gone by rather than the many hours Kang had predicted. "It's about time!" the Whirlwind barked glaring at us "I was almost out of wine and how else was I going to put up with all the endless chatter of these two!" Seated next to the lummox Jen Zi giggled and eyed the two of us with an expression somewhere between happiness and smugness, apparently her well-laid plan had come to fruition.
Kang set us down and that was when things got real serious. Shortly after landing we encountered her Royal Highness, who amongst our party went by the name Silk Fox and privately amongst me and Dawn Star she was known as The Bitch. Her public persona wasn't so bad but her private one was something we both hated. I fondly remember suggesting that perhaps the Emperor had taken a demon as a consort for The Bitch certainly provided ample evidence to suggest some demonic ancestry that would support this conclusion. There was her serpent's tongue which never failed to etch like acid, her inability to never let things go or concede when she was wrong. Let's not forget her vaguely veiled contempt if not outright disdain for every member of the party especially "the whiny farm girl" and "that lowly, dirty thief". Ironically it was Jen Zi alone who actually befriended the princess. How that happened was something I do not even think Kang could explain yet you could see the two talking in the distinctive manner of friends, leaving me to wonder if this was the first one The Bitch had made in her entire life.
However the old adage that every cloud has a silver lining was in this instance the truth. For it was The Bitch that drove Dawn Star and myself closer together. We had another point of agreement, something we could relate about and this was something that we obviously kept secret from the others because as much as we hated to admit it without royal assistance the completion of our goals was impossible. So to cope with such a nasty personality we behaved in perfect passive-aggressive fashion, we talked behind our victim's back; we made fun of The Bitch whenever the others were out of earshot often leaving the others to wonder what was so funny and why we were always whispering to each other.
Our secretive behavior did have some positive effects, after two weeks in the Imperial City Dawn Star and I had grown close, I was as close to her as I was to anyone prior to my quest three years ago. Our group was nearing our goal, Jen Zi had just defeated Iron Soldier that very morning and had earned access to the Lotus Assassin's Fortress where she could uncover the evidence that The Bitch wanted. This left Dawn Star simultaneously frightened and excited. She was so close to meeting her master, someone that I too wanted to meet just from hearing the descriptions form him, yet that meant Jen Zi had to walk in the shadow of the Lotus Assassins. This was something we both feared, I knew what those monsters could to people and the thought of Jen Zi being killed or turned into some soulless killer had our minds in a stranglehold. Yet she was the only one that could handle it. First thing in the morning Jen Zi and The Bitch were leaving for the Fortress to look for the evidence so tonight we were celebrating her arena victory as the calm before the storm. It was that night when I first realized that Dawn Star was much more than just a friend to me.
Dawn Star was the polar opposite of Whirlwind in terms of alcohol consumption so at the tavern that evening though we had been their through dinner for a good hour she had only just started her second bowl of wine. I had gotten pretty adept at reading her body language and had notice that she had seemed tense all day then during dinner had relaxed and only now had just tensed up again. There was no point in asking what was bothering her, the same things was eating me. Jen Zi was our friend and she was lowering herself into a brood of vipers that could very well eat her alive. For that hour at dinner she was able to forget and become the person so valued by the rest of the group but the fear was back now and it was not growing away. In an attempt to comfort her I put my hand on her shoulder and said simply "She is going to make it."
Dawn Star turned to me revealing a solitary tear that streaked across her cheek. She said nothing at first, she just gave me an odd look before turning her head to Jen Zi and then back to me as I felt her hand fumbling for mine and immediately grabbed it, twining my fingers with hers. She lowered her head and spoke barely above a whisper "I have a bad feeling Sky, a feeling that in all my years of having my "gift" and of all that I have seen since leaving Two Rivers that this feelings is by far the most dire. I sense that something terrible will happen to Jen Zi. It is no secret that there is something very wrong with the world and with Jen Zi gone their will be nothing to correct the problem. Despite her skill if Jen Zi does fall, the Empire, the Open Palm, everything that is worthwhile about life will die with her. I pray that this is just a feeling, that I'm just being moody but something deep inside tells me that whatever is wrong with the world grow and consume not just the Jade Empire, but the heavens and the earth, that all there is to be lost will be lost.
Hearing Dawn Star speak so seriously of this brought me down to the depths with alongside her, she was not given to wild speculation, she seemingly had no equal when it came to good judgment and I knew full well that her gift was not cheap trickery but a legitimate ability and for her to speak as if the world would fall under a cloak of eternal darkness would leave anyone, much less herself rattled. I was not yet in love with Dawn Star, yet our relationship which had moved to the grey area of being more than friendship and less than romance meant vaults of treasure to me and I felt a sudden urge to protect her. Couple this with my past experience with women what happened nest was a reflex, I squeezed her hand I told her that "I will always be therefore you" and not being satisfied with a mere cliché I embellished it "the heavens and the earth may pass away but I will not leave your side." This proved too much for Dawn Star and she proceeded to kiss me.
Now we were in public so were not gnawing each other's faces and groping but for those brief moments it felt as if an arc of electricity passed between Dawn Star's lips as they parted my own and for the briefest of moments I could feel the tip of her tongue briefly rubbing against my own. Before I could logically think about what was happening she had withdrawn form me and stared at me, an unreadable expression on her face. She soon retreated to her bowl of wine and after several gulps she had regained her composure. Turning to me with an expression that was a curious mix of embarrassment and excitement she told me in a simultaneously sheepish and determined voice that she was going to hold me to what I had just said.
I'm sure the others at the table were curious as to what was going on between the two of us and frankly neither me nor Dawn Star cared, for this moment was something intensely personal and was only between the two of us. With that said however I swore I could see Jen Zi grinning out of the corner of my eye. In retrospect I think this quite possibly could have been the first moment where I realized that I loved Dawn Star. I was forced to acknowledge my feelings for her, they were strong and decidedly non platonic but on the other hand I am not positive this is what I would call love either. Part of me speculated that because Dawn Star had never really been with anyone before she was simply latching on to the first guy that she found and I was just indulging in something I had not had time for since starting my quest three years ago. All I knew is that this might be love, what I did know was that I had something here and whether it was melodramatic or not I was going to keep my word to Dawn Star.
As I said before Dawn Star was the polar opposite of the Whirlwind, she had one more bowl of wine that night and by the end of that third bowl she was tipsy. Keeping with her gracious nature though she did nothing to embarrass herself, she was not blubbering, carousing, or engaging in any other visible foolishness. She was just very giggly and talkative. I suppose this was an improvement from where she was before we kissed. I had the same amount of wine, and while I felt warmer I had built up a bit more of a tolerance and entertained myself by chatting with the slightly drunk Dawn Star and marveling at how well Chai Ka was keeping the Whirlwind in check from the body of Wildflower. I was not left to these amusements for very long as Jen Zi announced our departure to prepare for upcoming ordeal.
The sun had been up for little more than an hour when Jen Zi departed
for the Necropolis. The Bitch was going with her into the fortress to
find the evidence she wanted, while The Black Whirlwind, myself and
Dawn Star, despite her headache were escorting them their as both
protection and moral support. Dawn Star's headache was not helped
by all the ghosts and the general pervasiveness of evil in that area,
but we were able to fight through the ghosts as we navigated the
tombs which all looked alike. Thankfully Gravedigger Shen, for all
his faults was a good impromptu map-maker and the chicken-scratch he
had made on some strips of bamboo brought us to the unfinished tomb
fairly expediently. The incomplete tomb of the Emperor loomed in the
distance as we approached. We came close to the entrance, close
enough to make out the textures in the pagoda door when Jen Zi who
was slightly ahead of the rest of us stopped suddenly and
turned, the Assassin's seal clenched tightly in her fist. She
looked at all of us and her gaze focused on Dawn Star whom she
summoned to her side and then walked a few feet away from the rest of
the group where they spoke in private. This conversation was out of
ear shot of the rest of us but its intimate nature was obvious, both
women could be seen to be in the verge of tears, tears that
eventually one as when it was over both women had at least one
running down their face. Jen Zi then beckoned to The Bitch who
quickly joined her ahead of the group.
Before they turned and walked into the belly of
the beast, Jen Zi's voice rang out to us "To all of you I give my
thanks. I will not see any of you again until we are ready to redeem
the Emperor. Until I return, take care of yourselves and each other."
With that she and The Bitch turned and passed through the pagoda
door. We had done all that we could, praying and waiting were now our
only options as we turned to trek back to the city Dawn Star grasped
my hand and pulled me to the side. "She wanted you to know that
last sentence applied specifically to you and me. Now let's get out
of here." Before I could respond to tell Dawn Star that she did not
have to worry that I would be their she had already turned to lead
the party back.
Ironically I cannot remember much about the trip back, it all just blurred together, traveling through paths of identical graves, fighting ghosts, walking, fighting, more walking and fighting until finally we saw Shen's hut and knew we were almost back to the city. That left us in the Imperial City with nothing to but wait, Dawn Star claimed early on that sitting around and waiting was probably the worst thing to do in a situation like this was sit around and wait while our imaginations ran away from us. She was going to see the city and she was not going alone. Chai Ka piped up that Wild Flower needed to be distracted because of whatever celestial things were weighing heavily upon her. Not having anything better to do and being forced to admit that worrying would accomplish nothing I joined them.
For the time I was in the city I was able to forget the situation we were in, I was just able to enjoy the experience that was the city and the company of those who traveled with me. It was not long before I realized that this is what my life would have been had I not lost Pinmei or her mother, that I would have put away the vocation of being a thief and take up the vocation of being a family man. The realization of this served to only pour salt in the wound of what I had lost and was unable to restore which began to renew by bitterness towards the ones I had already revenged until my gaze came upon Wildflower and Dawn Star whose interactions were indistinguishable from any other mother and daughter in the Imperial City. At the sight of this I came to the sudden realization that I could restore what was lost with Dawn Star no less, this was the first time that I realized that I had no intention of leaving her at the end of our little adventure because I was in love with her. Granted I knew we were progressing beyond friendship awhile back but the precise moment when those feelings changed into love is something that will always mystify me which I suppose is the whole point. Anyway now that I was in love I had to tell her how I felt, but that would have to wait until Dawn Star could dedicate her full self to thinking which would not happen until after we rescued Master Li.
In the end we waited three days where in the middle of dinner of our third day of waiting Jen Zi and a visually rattled Silk Fox return. Seeing her so disturbed was perhaps the first time I thought about here as someone other than The Bitch. I had never seen Dawn Star as excited as she charged Jen Zi and nearly strangled her with an embrace, who returned the gesture. In any event the reunion was short lived as within five minutes the party was aboard the marvelous Dragonfly heading towards the Imperial Palace.
I had always wanted to visit the place and a pity that we were in too much a hurry to snatch anything but the importance of our quest was paramount. Frankly I was shocked by how lightly guarded the corridors were, seeing as this was the palace, I expected an army but really, I could understand the reason why their were so few troops, what foreign invasion force would actually be able to ascend all the way up to the Imperial Palace without being cut to pieces by the Imperial flyers? Besides what we encountered when we got to the throne room more than made up for our relative ease getting there. The divine Emperor so kindly incapacitated all of us with sorcery and by the time we came to Jen Zi was finishing him off. I did not expect what happened next, but I barely had time to react as we ran for our lives, besides I was preoccupied enough getting Dawn Star to move when she was in such a state of shock, though once she got going instinct took over form their.
The reign of God-Emperor Sun Li had begun but we were too busy running for our lives, Kang flew as far away as he could landing somewhere in the Great Southern Forrest where we waited. Dawn Star had not wept, or more precisely she had not made the noises usually associated with crying, though her tears had soaked through my vest as I held her to me. In my mind I cursed her master, how was I going to tell her how I felt now? All I could do now was showing her how I felt by not leaving her side. I was filled with determination, swearing to myself that I would not leave her until this determination was overcome by grief as I realized that the last hope for the Empire was dead and the tyranny that was behind the Lotus Assassins had only just begun. Sinking besides my love I joined her in helplessness, embracing what little light our very dark world had left.
How long we sat their wallowing in self-pity I do not know, Hou claimed that it six days and that the morning of the seventh was when it happened. The Bitch had managed to start an argument about what our next move should be and I somehow got dragged into it, before anyone could retaliate into their next point, Dawn Star who had been listless this whole time spoke with her old voice once more "Something's happened; we have to get to Dirge". I did not hesitate nor did the others, where else were we to go?
Dawn Star's sixth sense is something that despite my love for her that I will never understand, but I had complete faith in here that even though I did not know what we would find at Dirge I knew it would be something worth the journey. This sense was widened as we saw in the distance the Imperial Army in what appeared to be its entirety following us at a slower pace. An even greater mystery than that is how in all of creation was it that Jen Zi walked to greet us at Dirge. While we soon found out that the Water Dragon had restored her we were still left with the problem of how we were going to survive the new Emperor's assault with the whole of the Imperial Army. Jen Zi claimed to have a plan and as someone who is skilled in persuasion I must admit that cheating death would be a good indication that she knew how to get us out of this situation, besides we had no alternative so we might as well trust her with tomorrow's battle.
But that was tomorrow, more pressing matters had to be addressed tonight, like how I felt about Dawn Star. When Jen Zi fell and the Empire was lost Dawn Star had fell in to a pit that before I had only been in briefly, after Pinmei's mother died giving her life I was overwhelmed, I knew nothing about raising children, I did not know how I could live without her I just knew I was their with my back to the wall with a baby daughter to raise with limited resources, no allies and seemingly no hope. Being in this pit was a hell that should have only been occupied by the most vile mean and women in the world. Now I eventually came out of this pit, Pinmei was a bright star in a dark sky and I was able to follow her out. I knew Dawn Star had been in that same place and I had never left her side because of how I felt and could only hope that I was the star that guided her out of the pit.
As we dispersed to tents for the night I approached Dawn Star who beat me to what I was going to say "Sky, we need to talk". Agreeing with her wholeheartedly I followed her out of earshot of the other tents where I began a semi-rehearsed speech about what I was going to say "Dawn Star, we have not known each other long, but even in this short time we have grown so fond of each other that," I began to stutter as I temporarily searched for words. When my pause came Dawn Star began to laugh and my heart sank, she was blowing me off! Yet before my heart could go to low I realized that her smile was much too warm to be one of rejection, "Sky I know what you are trying to say, I wasn't sure of it in the Imperial City, but when Jen Zi left us and you stayed by my side the whole time I knew you felt the same way about me that I felt about you. I love you and you don't even have to say it for I have just said it for both of us." At that very moment my heart swam, no longer being able to stand the distance between us I approached her and drank form the sugary sweetness of her lips before we proceeded to a nearby tent to get to know each other better.
Battle found us early that next morning and in all honesty if I died that day at least I would have died happy, I also personally saw to it that Dawn Snow and know by midday Kang has again assembled us in his flyer to begin our second assault on the palace. Needless to say after finding the love of my life and surviving by the skin of our teeth, it would be a real shame to die now either by Kang's error or in the final confrontation. With Dawn Star's hand firmly twined with mine I find myself musing on how the most important things in life are always the hardest to give history to or describe with any real clarity. Like falling head over heels in love with another person, I don't know how, when or why it happened, I just know it did and after awhile the other stuff just seems like semantics which gives way to baser things like love… and Dawn Star.