Chapter 2
I woke with a start, my heart racing and my fur matted with sweat. The room I was in was strange. The bed was bigger, and the felt lower in altitude. I nearly screamed when a small figure moved from next to me. I looked under the blanket that covered my lower half and saw a small cotton white bunny, trembling and asleep beside me.
"I figured you'd want your girlfriend with you," I heard behind me. The voice was terrifying, a mixture between male and female, "I know I did"
I turned around and saw that tiger from my dream.
"She is more like my little sister. I'm probably a little young for a girlfriend" I said, swinging my legs over the side of the bed, "Where am I?"
"In my old home, where my girlfriend and I use to live before the phantom beasts attacked two years ago. Now I don't live anywhere, I just keep watch over the valley for any sign of their return. I only left my post by the sacred peach tree when I sensed the energy you were giving off. You are very special" he said
"How so?"
"You carry in yourself Xing energy. But not just any Xing, light. If you learn to control it, you could change color dimensions and maybe even time and space could be in your hands. That's how-"
"Fisk" I heard behind me
I turned around to see Lucy cowering in fear behind me, her eyes dead on the tiger in front of us. She slowly moved to where she was right next to me.
"Don't be afraid, Lucy. This is the one who saved us from those monsters a while ago" I said
"I'm not scared *Cough* I still can't breathe" she replied, laying down in my lap and cuddling up close
"She breathed in too much ash. It burned her lungs, and if left untreated, she'll never breath right again" the tiger said
"Is there a doctor around?" I asked, cradling Lucy comfortingly
"Yes" he replied, then walked toward us and placed a hand across her chest. His hand then began to glow blue and orange
Out of the blue, Lucy gasped and began coughing. At first I thought he hurt her, but then her breathing got steady and she got up out of my lap and hugged the tiger.
"Thank you!" she said, then turned around and hugged me. "Little sister, huh?"
"You were supposed to be asleep!" I said, hugging her back
"Now that everyone's feeling better, we can formally introduce ourselves. My name is…or used to be…Sky. I didn't like going by Xing, so I just go by Sky," the tiger said
"I'm Fisk, and this is Lucy, my 'little sister'" I said, elbowing Lucy playfully
She laughed and jumped on my shoulders, crawling all over my like a huge spider and tickling me, causing me to laugh. I occasionally caught a glimpse of Sky grinning at us. After a little while of playing around, Sky cleared his throat.
"This is quite adorable, but right now I need to take you up to the Jade Palace, where I will train you in the ways of a Xing Warrior. Sound good?" he asked
"YEAH! I'll get to meet the furious five, and the Dragon Warrior!" I exclaimed, very excited
I was about to take off running with Lucy clinging to my back like a back pack, when Sky stopped me.
"First, we'll need to get you fitted with your own Xing weapon. Just hold still" he said, then placed a hand on my chest and head
I began to feel an odd tickling sensation on my back, and it migrated to my hands and down through my legs into my feet. Suddenly, the feeling skyrocketed for a split second, and then faded completely. I stood there, wondering what had happened, when I realized I was holding what looked to be a bow made of gold and obsidian. The colors alternating in spirals from bright neon yellow to the emptiest of blacks. I was in awe at its beauty.
"That's your new Xing Warrior Bow. Take care of it. It's useless in the hands of anyone but you, and is made from pure Xing energy, same as my dual spear. It's indestructible and key unlocking your Xing powers" He said
"Thanks. I'll take good care of it," I said as I slung it around my shoulder
"If you walk outside, then to the right you should see a lot of stairs. In a few minutes, start the climb. A test will be waiting for you upon arrival" He said, and before I had time to reply, he sprinted off in the direction he told me
"I think I'll wait here" Lucy said from behind me
I nodded and just stood there for a few minutes, then started my trip up the mountain of stairs. It took a while, but I finally made it to the top, and was met with the sight of Sky, The Furious Five, two wolves, Master Shifu, and The Dragon Warrior all lined up.
"Now we test your skills in combat. Choose your opponent, and prepare to fight" Sky said
I thought for a while. I didn't expect this, so choosing my opponent wasn't an easy task. I ruled out Sky, Master Shifu, and the Dragon Warrior right off the bat. I finally decided to go against the only other cat there.
"Master Tigress" I said
The others let out an exasperated grunt simultaneously.
"Why does tigress always get picked" Monkey said
"Maybe she's just the least scary in these people's eyes. I always knew they feared the bug" Mantis said
"Whatever. Guess I'm just the most popular" Tigress said, getting into position as the others walked to the sidelines
"Watch those ribs, kitty" Sky said from the sidelines, earning laughter from everyone
Tigress and I turned our attention on each other, sizing each other up. I was a couple inches shorter than her, but not too skinny. Relative to our size difference was the difference in our muscle size. Once I was in position, tigress spoke.
"I'm gonna start out easy, but dial it up as I see fit. And lose the bow, we aren't using weapons" She said
I nodded and tossed my bow to the side. When I was ready, Tigress yelled "go" and charged. Her speed was incredible, and I almost lost my focus but managed to regain my composure soon enough to dodge her first attack. I felt good, but that feeling was short lived as she quickly came back and struck me from behind. I took a deep breath and focused. Size her up…find a weakness. I turned around in time to do a matrix move, bending backwards in order to avoid a punch to my face. As I came back up I twisted and elbowed her in the chest. Was it sad that the only thing I could think was squishy? The blow stunned her for half a moment before she swept my feet from underneath me. She went to kick me in mid-air, but I grabbed her leg and pushed myself above her head.
Before she realized what happened, I kicked her in the head from above, causing her to stumble forward. She turned around and looked at me, giving me a look of surprise. She then charged again, but this time we met each other's attacks blow for blow, blocking, dodging and clashing. Eventually she dialed it up, and it was too much for me. She overpowered me and in turn I submitted with honor.
"You did well. I faced the same test, and accidentally broke some of her ribs. She still holds it against me" Sky said, smiling at Tigress as she elbowed him
I picked up my bow and slung it around my back, then took my place in front of everyone. But one person was missing.
"Where'd Mantis go?" Viper asked
We then heard a battle cry come from behind Sky, and he nonchalantly leaned to the side, and Mantis came hurling towards me. I had no time to react as he collided with my chest, sending me flying back and my vision went black as I hit my head on something behind me.
When I woke, it was to the sight of Lucy at my side and one of the wolves standing by a cot I was sleeping on. I groaned at the throbbing pain in my head. The wolf instantly turned her attention on me.
"Hey, you're awake. Mantis knocked you into a wall accidentally while trying to sneak up on Sky" She said
"Maybe he should stay silent. When did Lucy get here?" I asked
"About an hour ago…she wanted to be with you while you slept. You would've had a pretty bad concussion if Sky hadn't healed you. My name is Syrina. The other wolf is my husband, Collin. I brought our daughter here if you'd like to meet her. She wants to see what a Panther looks like" She said
"Yeah, sure. Bring her in whenever" I said, getting out of bed, turning my back and stretching out
I heard Syrina clear her throat and then speak. "This is my daughter, Niki"
I turned around and said hi. She was about the same height as me, and appeared to be the same age. She averted her eyes, seeming shy. Her eyes were blue and she wore cloths the same as her mother. The fur on her tail was trimmed nicely so it wasn't too fluffy. The fur on the top of her head was outgrown similar to mine, giving her a head of hair instead of fur. Hers was longer than mine, but very similar.
"Hi, I like your hair" She said
"Yours too" I replied while slinging my bow across my back, "it was nice to meet you. I'm gonna go explore town, get my barring's and stuff. I'll see you later" I said
I couldn't help but notice a slight hint of sadness on Niki's face as I walked by. As I walked down the hall in the direction of the exit, I heard a bunch of whispering, a gasp, and then the thumping of little feet. When I turned around, I saw Lucy and Niki chasing me down. Lucy jumped up onto my shoulders while Niki slowed to a walk beside me.
"My mom thought you'd need a guide and Lucy wanted to come" Niki said
"Alright then, let's head down to town" I said, then continued walking
"The exit is that way" She said
"I knew that" I said, turning around and walking the other way, earning a giggle from both girls
We walked down the billion stairs into town, and Niki started naming off places.
"There's Mr. Pings Noodle Shop, and the market is over there. Oh, and the ladies of the shade are performing!" she said as grabbed my hand and started dragging me over to go watch, nearly leaving Lucy in mid-air as she laughed
We began watching them do a parasol dance, doing many tricks that were actually quite amazing. I put Lucy on the ground for fear of a parasol hitting her off my shoulders. Just as I put her down, a couple hands grabbed my wrists and began pulling me into the crowd of dancers. I looked up to see that they were trying to include me into their performance.
"Oh no, no no no no no no nooooooooo!" I yelled pointlessly as the picked me up and threw me to the top of a big pyramid
They caught me and held me upside down as the music reached its end as well as the performance. The dancers helped me down and let me go, saying thank you for willingly being a part of the dance. After that, we just explored a bunch of other places and sampled some free food which was delicious. We went back to the palace after it started to get dark. We were all laughing as we walked in to the kitchen. They gave me a place to stay for the night, and I went to bed. I felt contempt and happy as I slowly drifted into a peaceful sleep.