All standard disclaimers apply.
Chapter 10 part 1-The Truth Revealed
Yin Bei lie on her back in a field of multicolored flowers. Never before had she felt so tranquil. There was not a cloud in the sky, and the air was laced with the fragrance of the flowers.
Bei sighed contently. She had no idea how she'd gotten here, but she didn't care. So long as she could relax a little longer.
Suddenly, the sun was eclipsed by a figure looming over her, holding a bucket. Bei squinted up at the newcomer, warily. "Who are you? What's in the bucket?"
She soon found out exactly what was in the bucket, as the newcomer threw it all over her.
Cold water splashed over Yin Bei. She sputtered awake, hyperventilating in panic. She was in the fairly spacious, albeit plainly decorated bedroom she'd been given in the Temple of Mist.
Missy stood over the hare's bed, cowl pulled over her face. "Wakey wakey. Time for training." The smile in her voice was obvious.
Bei glared at her, trying to get her heartbeat back under control. "Why did you do that?" The soaked hare complained miserably. "That was the first good dream I've had in years!"
Missy nodded, setting the bucket down. "Makes sense. People with the Sight always feel safe here. I know Faceless says he barely slept a day until the Bandit King took him in." She threw another bucket of ice-cold water on Bei.
Bei gasped and coughed. "I'm awake! Why did you throw another bucket on me?"
"I filled up two, and I didn't want to waste good water. Now get up and get dried off. We have the training exercise already set up."
Yin Bei shivered. "I ought to beat you senseless." She threatened through chattering teeth.
Missy laughed. "Kid, you look like a half melted snowball. I'm not scared of you. Besides, that's how Bing woke me up every day for years. So you have no reason to complain."
Yin Bei tilted her head. "Snowball? What are you-?" She looked at her forearm. Sure enough, her fur had begun to change back to white without her even realizing it. She'd always changed color more rapidly than her mother or father, possibly because her summer coat was such a pale shade of brown that much less change was needed.
Missy tossed her a towel. "The ladies' bath hall is downstairs. It's the one with the Yin sign on it. The one with the Yang sign is for the guys. Bathe, then meet the rest of us in the main hall."
After being forcibly soaked in cold water, the hot bath felt like a gift from heaven. Yin Bei emerged feeling refreshed, finding a Shroud already laid out for her. As she put the outfit on, she marveled at how oddly comfortable it was. This one was different in design from the ones she'd seen the others wearing. The ones the others wore had long robes that made them look like priests, but this one was designed to resemble a nondescript hooded cloak that any traveler might wear. Several very subtle differences stood out, though. The cape hung from her right shoulder to her hand, covering any small weapons she may want to conceal. The torso was protected by a band of lightweight metal, painted black to conceal it. The hood hung a little lower than normal, hiding her face without obstructing her vision. Instead of sandals, the Shroud included a pair of knee-high cotton boots, with rubber on the soles to protect her from hazards such as nails in the floor. It was peculiar, she noticed, that it seemed to fit her perfectly.
There was a full-length mirror located in the bathhouse that Yin Bei couldn't help looking in. Even with her rather diminutive height, she did cut a rather impressive figure. Her eyes were actually accentuated by the hood, as the only splash of color among the shadow. Yin Bei had always been a bit embarrassed when someone suddenly walked up and commented that she had beautiful eyes. They were the same blue-green as ocean water. Her mother's eyes had been the same color.
"You wear it pretty well."
Bei jumped, startled at the voice from behind her. She whirled around to see Missy behind her, wearing a similar Shroud, but with the hood down. She also wore an apologetic smile. "That Shroud used to belong to your father when he was your age. I got your measurements from Bing and altered it for you last night. I figured it would make a nice gift after…y'know, getting soaked. Heh heh. Shrouds like that are worn by the Order of the Owl. A little sect of Hoods who are…kind of like our Black Ops agents. Speaking of which, Bing sent you a little gift."
Missy removed the "gift" from her robe and passed it to Yin Bei. It was a black steel gauntlet. On top it had a small protruding knob that had several long, leaf-shaped pieces of metal attached to it.
Curious, Bei put it on. The gauntlet fit perfectly, just like the Shroud. The leaf pieces stretched from just below her wrist to slightly past her elbow.
"Twist the knob, then push it down." Missy advised with a knowing smile.
Bei turned the knob. To her shock, the leaf pieces rotated, forming a complete circle. When she pushed down, there was a small *clank!* and they all moved down, becoming a shallow bowl shape. She now had a black steel shield that covered her entire arm from shoulder to fingertips.
"We call it a Flicker Gauntlet." Missy explained. "In fist mode, you get a good amount of stopping power that's easy to conceal under your shoulder cloak. In shield mode, you get a big boost to your defensive capabilities, plus an effective blunt weapon. Also, if you're in fist mode you can turn the knob the other way to turn one of the shield pieces into a short curved blade. That one should mainly be used as a last resort. Just push the knob while in blade or shield mode to return to fist mode. Your father used to use one of these babies, although no one really knows what happened to the one he used. Rumor has it he had his made with some special features."
Bei pushed the knob, and the shield separated back into pieces and twisted back into fist mode. She looked down at the gifts Missy had given her, and memories of her father flooded into her mind; The time she'd fallen and sprained her ankle while they were out running when she was four, and he'd carried her all the way home, whispering to her how brave she was for not crying while her mother had bandaged her up. The young hare's eyes grew misty, and she rushed up to hug the white fox.
Missy was physically knocked back by the force of the hug. Yin Bei was a lot stronger than she looked! She awkwardly patted the smaller girl's back. "Uh… Bei, you're kinda breaking my ribs."
Bei released her with a sheepish smile, wiping her tears away. "Sorry. I just…got emotional. Thank you. Thank you so much."
Missy patted her shoulder, staying out of range of another hug. "No problem, kid. We can talk more later on, if you want, but you may want to go find Faceless before he has a meltdown waiting for you."
Bei gasped. "Oh my gosh! You're right! I got distracted! I'll see you later!"
Missy waved as Bei departed, leaving so fast she nearly left a dust cloud behind her. "Damn, she's an eager one…" She muttered to herself.
Yin Bei had expected Bing to be waiting for her alongside Faceless, but when she entered the main hall the rat was nowhere to be found. Instead, Faceless paced around like a caged feral tiger. The antlerless elk had the same look on his face that someone who had just been forced to drink sour milk would have. "It's about time you got here." He said in an annoyed tone. "I've been waiting for nearly an hour."
Yin Bei figured that complaining about her rude awakening would get her nowhere, so she decided against bringing it up. "I'm sorry." She said with a small bow of respect. He was her teacher now, after all. "Missy gave me some gifts, and I had a bit of an emotional reaction."
"Well it took you long enough to do it." He admonished, eyeing the Flicker Gauntlet on her right hand. "Oh, well. At least you're here now. Come on. Follow me."
"Where's Bing?" She asked worriedly. Hadn't he said he would be overseeing her training?
"Busy." Faceless replied. "He and Lang had to go into town. They'll be back later."
Yin Bei followed eagerly as he led her up a staircase that she hadn't noticed the previous day. It was a long spiral that seemed to never end, with so little space that even Bei began to feel cramped. Up ahead, Faceless was forced to shimmy along with his back against the wall, but he did so without complaint. 'That must be a first.' Bei thought to herself.
The space grew ever narrower. Bei began to panic that they were going to become stuck.
Just as Bei was sure that they would be unable to go any farther, the space opened up.
Yin Bei's eyes grew wide as saucers. How could they have possibly hidden this place in the side of a cliff!?
The room that they had entered was a humungous cavern. The ceiling stretched up into darkness. In the room were nine iron doors, each flanked by two torches which provided the only light in the room. On each of the doors was one of three symbols embossed in the metal; the ones on the far left were marked with an eye, a hand, and a slyly smiling mouth. The pattern repeated in the center and on the right.
"Welcome to the Cavern of Trials." Faceless told her. "This is where those amongst us with gifts once came to realize their full potential. Gaze upon the doors and yadda yadda yadda. This is where we used to come to have the full extent of our powers activated. Right now we only have one key for each of them. The rest of them were either stolen by Black Hoods who refuse to work with me as Grandmaster or lost a long time ago."
"Powers?" Yin Bei echoed with a curious tilt of her head.
Faceless nodded. "Certain people are born with special abilities. These abilities are…well, I can't tell you that just yet. Soon, though."
"What are the powers?" Bei asked.
"Eyes like you and me have powers involving our senses. Mouths have powers that involve the mind, and Hands have powers involving their bodies. I can't tell you more at the moment. It would take too long."
He produced said key from a pocket in the lining of his cape, and unlocked the eye door on the far left, which swung open with a loud creak. "Go on in." He ordered. "I'll be out here."
"I thought that you were going to train me." Yin Bei said with no small amount of confusion.
"I will. But you have to complete the Trials before I'm allowed to. Just go inside and complete the tasks that await you within."
"What are the trials?" Bei asked as she looked down the dark hallway with trepidation.
Faceless shrugged. "They're different for each person. The Owl will guide you along. Now go. The sooner you get this done, the sooner we can get down to business."
Swallowing nervously, Yin Bei stepped into the shadowy corridor. 'What have I gotten myself into?'
Yin Bei walked blindly through the dark. Eventually, as if by magic, two torches lit up, revealing the surrounding area.
Yin Bei yelped and skidded to a stop, gawking at the gaping pit she had nearly fallen into. It stretched down so far that Bei could not see the bottom. From far down below, she could hear the sound of water.
Bei looked around. There didn't seem to be any handholds on the walls, but there was an odd stone fountain with a small statue of an owl. Yin Bei recalled what Faceless had said; "The Owl will guide you along."
Bei examined the fountain. There didn't seem to be any hidden switches or buttons. Just a small pool of water at the owl's feet.
Yin Bei tried a different tack. She did what Bing had told her to do earlier, when they had been at the entrance to the Temple. She closed her eyes. 'Pull your gaze back. Let yourself see what really is.' She commanded herself.
When she opened her eyes, something had changed. A glowing blue word was written on the wall above the fountain; drink.
Curious, Bei took her hood off to free her ears. With one of them she scooped up some water and brought it to her lips.
The water tasted odd, and seemed to crackle with energy as she swallowed.
Yin Bei's face went numb, and white light filled her vision. "Thine potential hath now been awakened." Spoke a deep, seemingly male voice. "Thou canst now see the unseen. Thine Sight shall show the way forward."
Bei shook her head vigorously, clearing away the numb feeling and returning her vision to normal. "What was THAT?" She exclaimed.
She shook her head again, in sheer bewilderment.
Once Bei had recovered from her shock, she returned her attention to the pit. The voice had said that her Sight would show the way forward. Maybe it had been upgraded somehow.
Bei once again activated the Sight. This time, her jaw dropped. There was an obvious rope bridge across the pit. Like the symbol for drink, it was also glowing blue.
"The Sight enables thou to use all of thine senses; To see sounds, hear shapes, and feel the fabric of the world around thee."
Yin Bei cautiously put her foot out to test the bridge. It felt solid enough, so she rushed across it, wanting to spend as little time on it as possible. Bei turned as she crossed, deactivating the Sight. The bridge had vanished.
Yin Bei turned around, deciding better than to try and figure out how that had happened.
The next room was very familiar to Yin Bei. It was rather small and humble, completely made of logs and rather sparsely decorated.
It was also filled to the brim with armed bandits.
Yin Bei's heart raced. This was the night that her parents had died! How was this possible?
Bei activated the Sight. She could now easily see her mother's body on the floor through the crowd of bandits, as well as her father being held in the hippo's hand, and her own younger self in the grasp of E Jile. She could see all of the leaders in the crowd.
"This can't be…" Bei whispered in awe.
"Here thine will shall be tested." Spoke the same deep voice from before. "Keep the past as it was, or sacrifice thine own self to change it? The choice belongs to thee."
Bei only had a moment to ponder what this meant, as at that moment the memory reached the point where her father threw the hippo, and her younger self dashed out the door.
The room broke out into chaos as the bandits tried desperately to subdue Swift Hare, and Bei found herself jostled and pushed to the edge of the crowd near the front door. A boar slammed into the wall next to her like he'd been shot from a catapult.
Bei saw the Priestess and the bat with the odd gadgets running after her. She remembered losing them when she went into the woods.
Then she saw three wolves break off from the fight and lope on all fours after them.
Bei gasped. She'd never seen them chasing her! With their keen noses, those wolves would be more than capable of tracking her younger self through the woods!
Out of the corner of her eye, Bei saw Yang Chao shoving his way through the crowd. Swift Hare was busy with the bandits. He'd never see Yang Chao coming.
Bei covered her mouth to stifle another gasp as she realized just what the voice had meant; she could either save her father and let her younger self be caught by the wolves, or she could go save herself and let her father die.
"Thou hast ten seconds before thine father perishes, or before the wolves reach the forest. Thou must choose."
Bei bit her fist, eyes darting rapidly between her father and the door. This was the chance she'd been waiting for. Ever since this terrible night she'd wished more than anything that she had been strong enough to do something other than run. Now she had the opportunity. She could fight Yang Chao. She could give her father the chance to escape. But at the same time, she would be dooming herself. Not only would her younger self be torn apart by the wolves, but Yang Chao would likely kill her.
"If Bing couldn't stop me," Yang Chao's voice echoed in her mind. "-what on Earth made you think you could?" Indeed, even the great Master Swift Hare had been unable to defeat Yang Chao. Even if she managed to slow him down, there would be nothing stopping him from killing Swift Hare afterwards.
Painfully wrenching her gaze away from her father, Yin Bei made her choice. She sprinted out the front door.
The moment she crossed the threshold, she found herself instantly out in the woods instead of out on the front porch.
The three wolves circled around her. These were not ordinary bandits. They had a strange, blank expression on their faces. Each wore clothes made out of what looked like the pelts of various other animals. They were identical in every way, save for their weapons of choice. One wielded a heavy morning star, another wielded a long bo staff, and the third wielded long twin daggers.
Yin Bei held her ground, gritting her teeth. She had just been forced to once again abandon her father, and all of the grief, shame, anger, and despair from that night had returned tenfold, just like when she'd fought E Jile. Now, she had three convenient targets to vent on. She twisted the knob on the Flicker Gauntlet, putting it into shield mode.
As the wolves charged her, Bei somehow knew how they were going to attack. She kicked Daggers in the knee, then plowed the shield into his face. She whirled and smashed Staff in the back of the head with the rim of the shield, then pivoted and roundhouse kicked Morningstar into next week.
Daggers stabbed at her, but Bei parried with her shield and drove her elbow into his groin. As he doubled over, she Flicked into fist mode and delivered a punishing uppercut to his jaw, knocking him unconscious.
Staff still had that odd, blank look on his face. He didn't look afraid despite the fact that his friends had just gone down. He approached her slowly, cautiously, holding his staff in a defensive position.
Bei used the Sight to analyze his stance, and immediately saw a way past it. She Flicked into shield mode and chopped his staff with the edge, snapping it in half. Then she swung her left foot around and heel kicked him in the face.
Yin Bei smiled triumphantly at her fallen foes. She hawked up and spat on Daggers. "Chumps." She said with a chuckle.
She looked around the snowy forest. The fight hadn't taken long. If she was quick enough in figuring out where she was, she might be able to get back and save her father.
Finally deciding on a direction, she started to break into a run.
Sadly, as she ran, the world around her changed.
"No!" Bei screamed.
The woods around her house had vanished. She now stood on a high plateau. The sky was a dark, bruised shade of purple. No stars were visible, nor was the moon. Dust filled the air.
Yin Bei collapsed to her knees, openly sobbing. She'd failed again! What on Earth was going on here?
"Do not cry, dearest."
Bei looked up in surprise. That was the voice that had been guiding her.
It belonged to a large gray owl. He looked fairly ordinary, save for the fact that he was twenty feet tall with a forty foot wingspan, and had glowing yellow eyes. He landed on the ground with almost no sound.
"Are you the Owl?" Bei asked. It may have been a stupid question, but she was too shell-shocked to say anything else.
"That is what Thine mortal brethren call me. Mine true name in unpronounceable in thine mortal tongue."
Bei took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "Did…did you stop me from saving my father?"
The Owl shook his head. "That was merely an illusion. A test. Had you attempted to pursue change in the past, you would have failed. As it was, you passed fantastically."
"Why, though? Why put me through that?"
"Because, dearest, there is more to thine destiny than you know."
"What do you mean?"
"Dearest, that would take a very long time to explain fully. What do you believe I am?"
Bei hesitated. "Um…are you a god?"
The Owl seemed to smile. "Of a kind. I am of a race that you mortals consider gods. But there is a war amongst us."
"A war? Why?"
"Because as much as we hate to deny it, we are not perfect. Those who wholly refuse to admit it believe that we should rule the mortal world. They call themselves the Great Ones. Those of us who still see the truth, that we are not true gods, and that we have no place in the mortal world, stand in their path. We label ourselves the Lonesome Ones, to signify that we refuse to associate with them."
"But...isn't that what gods are supposed to do? Rule the world?"
The Owl shook his head sternly. "No. And if you wish to see the reason why, look down on the land below."
Bei obeyed. She had to squint to see through the dust, but when she saw through it, she gasped in horror.
Down below were millions of mutilated corpses. They were stacked in piles, with no trace of dignity. It was impossible to tell what species they were because they were so disfigured. It looked like they had all been crushed to death, then burned.
"This world once thrived, until the Great Ones came through. The mortals here tried to fight, but were destroyed. We were forced to flee. Now the Great Ones have their sights set on another world. That is thine world, Yin Bei. The Seekers are searching for a way to bring the Great Ones out of the Immortal Plane and into your mortal one. If they succeed, it will be the end of all life as you know it. We cannot save you, as the ancient laws prevent us from attacking our brethren. Luckily, they have very little power in any of the Mortal Planes until they are let in, and no way ever works twice. We work through mortals as best as we can, granting the Lonesome Gifts to those who are worthy. But we can only do so much while still following the ancient laws. The Great Ones have no such limits. They work through Contracts; old magic that can transcend the barriers between worlds. These Contracts are vile, forbidden magic, but they give the Seekers far more power than we are able to give."
"So the Black Hoods are like your version of the Seekers?"
"In a way, yes. But still different. The Seekers are servants. They have been promised power in exchange for their loyalty. We see The Black Hoods as our fellow soldiers. Our equals."
"Did my father know about all of this?" Yin Bei asked, her voice shaky.
"He did."
Yin Bei gulped, wiping her eyes. "What do you want me to do?" She said in a small, unsure voice.
"Thou art destined to protect this world. Your brother is the opposite. His fate is darker. You must stop him. Somehow, he plans on opening a gate into your world. We don't know why or how. Even to our eyes, Yang Chao is an enigma. He uses such a powerful Contract that we cannot even see his or his compatriots' current location. If we could, they would be dead already."
Yin Bei's resolve hardened. "If it gets me to Yang Chao, I'll do anything."
"Excellent, dearest! Now, wake up!"
Bei gasped awake. She looked around wildly. She was in a small stone cell, with an iron door and no furniture. There was no tunnel, as there had been when she entered. Had it all been a dream?
Yin Bei climbed to her feet and immediately fell back down, her head spinning. The door opened, and Faceless stepped in to help her. "Looks like you passed, otherwise you would have just disappeared."
Bei leaned against him, allowing the dizziness to fade. "Was that…all real?"
Faceless nodded. "We are in the middle of a war among beings that are more than mortal. It's been going on for a few hundred years. Personally, I don't see it ending any time soon. Come on. Everyone is a complete wreck after their first time through. I'll take you to your room, so you can rest."
"How long was I in there?" Bei asked tiredly. It had only felt like an hour or so.
"About twelve hours. I was starting to get tired of waiting.
Yin Bei shook her head, too tired to even be surprised.
Surprise! I'm not dead!
Just to be clear, this isn't a reference or bash against any type of religion. It's just a story that's meant to entertain.
Anyway, sorry this took so long to get out. This was a very difficult chapter to write. I wanted to prevent as much confusion with the introduction of this backstory as I could. Hopefully I succeeded.
I wonder if any of you caught the little bit of foreshadowing I hid in this chapter?
Anyway, follow, favorite, and review to feed my hungry ego. Next chapter will center on Rooster.
Until we meet again,
Mind Jack, out!