Opening Theme: Makka na Chikai by Yoshiki Fukuyama
CHAPTER 8
A LYNX'S TALE
Thanks to the medicine Tigress gave him, Lin's burn was better by afternoon the next day. He thanked her for it since he never got a chance to the previous night. Tigress said that is was nothing and that she was just helping out a friend.
A friend, that was what Lin was to her. But friend despite being friends, she'd want to stay ahead of him and reach her dreams of being the Dragon Warrior. He was her friend and yet her rival in some way.
For years, she never even considered trying to make friends with someone else. The villagers were always slightly intimidated by her strength. Lin...was the first one to ever try to befriend her. He succeeded despite a few problems between the two.
Lin was her friend, nothing more nothing less. And, as all friends would do, she'd keep an eye on him for his sake.
It started off like a normal morning several days after the Kaboom Brothers attacked. Shifu was already at the barracks when the morning gong sounded.
"Good morning master!" Tigress said racing out of her room. To her and Shifu's surprise, Lin didn't show up in front of his room to greet his master.
"I'll wake him up master." Tigress said, but when she opened the door- "He's gone."
Her master turned to her. "What?"
Tigress took a few steps back. "Lin isn't here master." Shifu ran over and peered into Lin room. True enough, it was empty.
They wondered where he went. He couldn't have left the palace; his cloak was still there. Maybe he woke up early to do some training before breakfast, but that wasn't Lin's style. As they stood there wondering where he could've gone, Oogway happened to walk in.
"What seems to be the problem?" Oogway asked.
"Master, Lin seems to have vanished." Shifu said.
"Did you see him when you walked here?" Tigress asked concerned.
Oogway did some thinking before answering. "Hmm, no, but I think I know where he is."
A few minutes later...
"Well that answers it." Oogway said with an amused smile.
The three of them were looking into the town records' room. Scrolls that used to occupy the shelves were scattered across the room; it looked like a small storm occurred inside. But the most surprising sigh of all was Lin sleeping on a desk in the middle of the room.
Tigress and Shifu didn't understand. "Lin has been asking for access to this room. He has been going here since his first night here." Oogway explained.
"So that explains why he's always so sleepy in the morning." Tigress thought. What the heck was he doing in here? Taking care not to step on any of the scrolls, Tigress walked over to him.
"Lin...Lin, wake up." she said nudging his shoulder.
Lin groaned and slowly opened his eyes. He then looked right into hers. "T...Tigress..."
With a jolt, he remembered where he was. He looked around which only confirmed his suspicion. He hastily stood up and turned to Shifu. "I'm sorry if I didn't do to bed on time Master Shifu." he said quickly and nervously. "I was er...busy with personal matters. I swear it won't happen again."
The term "personal matters" caught Tigress's interest. "Lin what were you-"
"I'm quite hungry actually. Maybe we should have breakfast early so training can also start early." he said trying to change the topic.
"Lin, what were you-"
But Lin had already left the room quickly and avoided answering. "What is this about master?" Shifu asked.
"Something seems to be troubling Lin. His troubles have led him here to this room." Oogway replied. "As to what he is searching for in here, I haven't the faintest idea."
Tigress didn't know what was going one, but she knew one thing. Lin was hiding something or rather, looking for something. But what could it be? What could make someone so calm act so nervously? What was happening to her friend?
"Lin..." Tigress whispered nervously.
Lin finished his breakfast quickly and started training. Tigress saw him going through the gauntlet and approached him.
"Sorry Tigress but not now. As you can see, I have to focus." he told her when she opened her mouth to ask what was wrong. She knew it was just an excuse to get out of explaining his actions. Besides, with his reflexes, focusing shouldn't really be too hard for him. Tigress tried to pass it off and went to breakfast.
Lin was very quiet the whole day. Every time Tigress approached him, he'd run to the nearest form of training available and get to work saying that he shouldn't be bothered. Being snubbed by him irritated Tigress, but there was concern under that irritation. She wanted to know what was wrong with him, so she consulted Master Oogway about it.
"Hmm, I will try something tonight. Perhaps then he will talk." he said.
Tigress agreed and waited. Soon, it was dinner time, and Lin was as silent as ever. As he ate, Tigress kept an eye on him. Then Oogway decided to try his plan.
"So Lin, how do you think you're fairing in your training?" he asked.
"Oh..." Lin thought about it. "I think I'm making good progress master."
"Indeed, you are far more skillful than you were when you first arrived." Oogway decided to ask it. "Skillful enough to defeat Geng Wu perhaps?"
Tigress saw Lin's face give an involuntary twitch. So the root of his problems was with Geng Wu; she decided to get him to expand on that. "Lin, you never told us what you know about Geng Wu. Please, enlighten us." she asked him.
Shifu, Oogway and Tigress were looking at him. Lin gulped; there was no getting out of this. He took a deep breath. "Well, I guess it would help if he were to attack the valley." Lin cleared his throat and began.
"Gen Wu, is by far the most bloodthirsty warlord in China's history. His goal in life is to water China's soil with its citizens blood. I heard he spent a few years in Japan, and when he came back, he was an incredibly fierce swordsman. His invasions started many years ago, and over hundreds of villages and thousands of lives were lost because of him."
"Why does he do it?" Shifu asked.
"No one really knows." Lin began. "Some say he had a troubled past. Others say that he's doing it for revenge...But me...I think he's just a monster who kills and destroys just because he finds it enjoyable. He's a damn monster, and he needs to be stopped."
For the first time since meeting him, Tigress saw anger in his eyes. This was further supported by his tight grip on his cup. He didn't want to go on; it was just to painful.
"I'm full." he said standing up and leaving. Tigress watched him with worried eyes. She finished her own dinner and tried going to sleep, but she kept thinking of Lin. She got up and tried finding him.
Surprisingly, he found him in the Training Hall. Lin had set up a wooden dummy and was punching it over and over. He heard Tigress approach him but didn't pay attention to her. She went straight to the point.
"Geng Wu...That's what happened to you." It wasn't a question; she knew by the way he reacted when he spoke about the warlord. The frequency and strength of Lin's punches increased.
"I lost everyone I ever cared for to Geng Wu..." Lin punched the dummy harder and faster. "My father Tenshu...My mother Ami...My brother Jin...My sister Lan...and...and...MISHA!"
He punctuated his last word with a punch that shattered the dummy to smithereens which was something he never did before. He stood there breathing deeply and clenching his fists; once again, Tigress saw anger in his eyes, but it was mixed with something else: pain.
Lin left the hall quickly. Tigress tried following him but lost sight of him. She eventually found him sitting under the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom. He also seemed to be holding something small in his paws. Tigress went on over to him.
She sat down next to him without speaking. Lin closed his paws around the object which was attached to a string around his neck. But Lin looked into her eyes knowing that she was someone he could trust. He opened his palm revealing a small silver star with two spherical jewels, a ruby and a sapphire, attached to two strings around his neck.
"Misha...she was my best friend...She was a tiger too...so you sometimes make me remember her..." Lin told Tigress. He looked forward. "We were so close ever since the day we first met several years ago...she's been my best friend ever since..."
He sounded close to tears which brought more concern to Tigress. She placed a paw on his shoulder. "Let it out Lin."
He closed his eyes tightly before speaking. "We were just cubs when Geng Wu attacked our village...There were so many deaths...I was so scared...Me and my parents were among the incredibly lucky ones who escaped alive...but I wanted to go back...I wanted to find Misha and take her with us...My mother said it was too dangerous...but I left anyway to find her..."
"When I did find her...Her...I...I saw her parents killed right before her eyes...The ones who killed them turned to her...I tried to tell her to run...But she didn't...instead...it was like she snapped...she went berserk and attacked the ones who killed her parents...I tried calling her again...But then a bandit hit her head, and she collapsed..."
"I nearly passed out...my mother ran back to me and tried pulling me to safety...but I didn't want to leave her...I kept screaming her name...I couldn't just leave her...but I did...me and my family were able to escape unharmed..."
"We went back...to scavenge what we could find...I found the bodies of Misha's parents...but Misha...she wasn't there...Geng Wu always leaves the bodies behind...that meant she was alive...I told my father and mother that I wanted to search for her but they said that it was too dangerous...and then I cried harder than I ever did before...All I wanted was to find my best friend...I mean...was that so wrong? Is it a crime to want that?"
He closed his eyes tightly; two tears leaked out. "We went to a new village and tried to go back to our old lives...Years passed...Every day, I regretted not saving her...I think that was the biggest mistake of my life...I tried to move one...I tried to get over it...but for the second time...Geng Wu attacked my village."
"We weren't so lucky that time...We were in our house and started to evacuate...I let my parents ans sibling go first but before I could join them...our house collapsed on top of me...I blacked out and when I woke up...the attack was already over...My mother...father...brother...and sister...were lying before me with slashed necks...And to make things worse...I was the only survivor that time..."
"I broke down again...I had no one left...no one but Misha...I was positive she was still alive...She was all I had left...And I was all she had left..."
"So I vowed to do two things...to defeat Geng Wu and stop him from taking any more lives...and to find Misha...I searched countless villages for her...but I couldn't find her...And just last night..."
His grip on the star tightened. "I just finished searching here...And she isn't here Tigress!" He spoke in a panicky voice. "I know I'm searching an entire country for just one girl but..." His body started to shake. "Both of us are so lonely Tigress...I don't like this feeling one bit...I...I...!"
And then he started crying. Tigress couldn't bear to see him like this and, without thinking, she pulled him into a hug. Lin cried for a few more seconds. Then his tear soaked face stared into Tigress's.
"Tigress..."
"Don't be foolish Lin; you're not alone." she told him. "Misha may be, but you aren't. How can you still think you're alone? You have me right? So don't you think for a second that you're alo-"
As she spoke, she unconsciously pulled his face towards hers. She stopped just as his face was a few inches away from hers. She quickly pushed him back and resumed.
"And you have Master Shifu and Oogway. Both of them are far wiser than I am; they're advice would probably help you more than mine." she quickly added.
Lin stared at her for a few seconds. He wiped away his tears and suddenly started laughing. "What's so funny?" Tigress asked.
"You. You could just tell me that you're concerned. I think it's rather amusing when you try to hide it." Lin stopped laughing and just smiled at her. "Thank you for hearing me out Tigress. I hope my complaints of my past didn't bore you or anything."
"It was nothing really. You sounded like those emotions of yours were pent-up for years." she replied.
Lin just smiled back and asked her something. "So what's your story Tigress? Unless of course, if it's too personal then you don't have to-"
"N-no. It's fine. I have no problem with it." Tigress reassured. "I came from the Bao Gu Orphanage. I literally had no friends there; I was always so angry and violent that the other kids and even the adults were too afraid to go near me."
"One day, Master Shifu visited the orphanage. He found me and taught me how to control my temper. But even after doing so, the others were still afraid of me. So he adopted me; we've been together ever since."
"So he's also your father." Lin said. He thought about something for a while. "Did you ever get to meet your old family?"
"No...I don't even know who my real parents are." Tigress said. "In fact, Tigress was the name they gave me at the orphanage. They said they found me lying in the rain on the front door. I have no memory of my past, my parents, not even my real name."
Tigress looked away from him. "I don't even know who I am." she said sadly.
Lin silently surveyed her for a few seconds before raising his eye brows. "I know who you are."
Surprised, she turned to him. "You're Tigress aren't you? That's all that matters, or at least, that's all I care about. True, you don't have memories of the past to treasure, but you've got the present right? You're parents, those people at the orphanage, they're your past. Master Shifu, Master Oogway, me, we're your present. You should think positively; don't dwell in the past, and instead cherish the present."
"But what about you Lin?" Tigress asked. "Aren't you still dwelling in the past? Can't you let Misha go?"
"No. Never." Lin replied while standing up. He gripped the silver star tightly and then showed it to her. "See this? It's called a LinkStar. I'm from a family of silversmiths, and it's our tradition that when we come of age, we would make a star like this one."
He held the LinkStar and separated them so that each half had a jewel on it. "In our family, we believe that giving half of your star to someone creates a bond between the you and whomever you gave it too. It symbolizes the fact that no matter how distant, your hearts will always be connected, and you will find each other if you just look hard enough."
Lin cradled his star pieces in his paws. "I plan to give this to Misha when I find her. I said 'when I find her' meaning that I haven't given up on her. Even without this star, our hearts are connected. I will find her even if it kills me!"
Both of them stared at each other in silence. The only sound that was heard was he evening breeze passing through the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom.
"Lin," Tigress began. "I'm sorry for suggesting that you give up on Misha." She stood up and walked to his side. "If it's any consolation, I'm here for you if you need me. All you need to do is ask."
Lin looked at her and then smiled. "Tigress, when you become the Dragon Warrior, promise me you won't let it change you. I honestly like you for who you are now."
Somehow, Tigress managed to give him a small smile. "I guess I can keep that promise. I promise that I'll remain the strong, heroic girl you know Lin."
Lin smiled as he put his LinkStar back together before tucking it under his shirt. "I'm glad we had this conversation Tigress. Now I think you should go to bed." Lin said as he sat down. "I think I'll remain here for a while."
"Mind if I join you?" Tigress asked; Lin raised an eyebrow. Tigress looked upwards and said: "It's a pleasant evening."
"It sure is." Lin said as Tigress sat next to him. For what seemed like a long time, Tigress and Lin sat under the peach tree, enjoying what was indeed a pleasant evening with each other.
