The sun ray licked the sky with its peach luminance. Standing by the Thousand Stairs with a large pack on my back, I was ready for my epic journey. For whatever reason, I had a strange premonition that something big may happen during this mission, I couldn't guess it good or bad. Coincidentally, Shifu seemed to share the same sentiment. While I was biding my goodbyes to the rest of the Five, I caught the longing look in his long-suffering eyes, as if he never wanted to let me go. Desperately.
"You better go before it gets dark, Tigress. You have a long journey ahead of you." His voice low and raspy, preventing something else that pushing out of his throat. But I knew, my Master was the epitome of self-restraint, he won't let his emotion slip. No, especially in front of his students. Thankfully, Viper read the situation well and gently nudged the rest of the Five to give us the privacy.
I knelt before him and bowed deeply,"Master, thank you for everything. I…" There was a strange feeling of definite separation that distracted my concentration. I had an inkling it would be an awfully long time before I got to see my adopted father again. Lacking a better word to express the indescribable, offhandedly, I embraced him.
Both of us knew this was merely a mission, a petty burglary, nothing serious, nothing dangerous. But the way he girded me full of melancholy, I knew he felt the same. We both silently wept as if this was our final goodbye.
Abruptly, realizing his sudden lapse of composure, Shifu pulled out from the hug and swiftly wiped his wet eyes in a vague motion to disguise his emotional torment. I stepped back, bowing again before saying my final words.
"Baba, pray for me that I may return."
He nodded mutely. A faint smile crept on his lips. Then he said his farewell almost inaudible.
"Be safe… daughter."
His words were heavy with affection and grief. I stepped back, neutralizing the situation by pulling the hood to hide my anguish behind the shadow of my cloak.
Then I went off.
I am not a novice in solitary travel, but venturing to an unknown country that I have never set afoot to, is both exciting and daunting at the same time.
I knew a little thing or two about Mongolia, mainly from what I heard from Oogway as he had sojourned into strange and vast lands that I had never knew existed. He mentioned that Mongolian regarded their women as an object to be relished―dressing them up in fancy outfits and a generous amount of spices are two of their principal delights. But I suppose, like in the world of Kung Fu; women are often treated as underlings, a second class citizen, but there are so few of us that our voice couldn't be heard. In Mongolia apparently much worse―women are treated like possession, the accessories or tangibles to show off the value of men masculinity, power, and authority in front of others. It's no wonder that Shifu was reluctant to let me off this solo mission, knowing how the men here are probably going to treat me like a trophy (if I am lucky) or a mere property. Not that I plan to let them.
Halfway through my journey, I finally reached the northern tip of Shaanxi province. I climbed the small hill over the desolate land that was covered with nothing but lonesome rocks and dust. I cast my sight on the valley below me.
The plain of Datong―the very spot that carved a lot of bitter-sweet memory that was running deep within my heart. How could I possibly forget? On that forsaken land I watched many souls born and die, I witnessed hope created and destroyed, love proclaimed and ended. I testified my dream materialized when Po slid this precious ring upon my finger. He convinced me that the fantasy of our happy ending wasn't just a fictional fairy-tale. However, within days those wonderful hopes were decimated to dust.
I let the memory emerged through my eyes, and rolled down my cheek as I walked away from it.
On the direction to Bayansair, by the border of China in Jin Chang, I met a Golden Eagle.
Our meeting was kind of a weird coincidence. I saw an old lady harassed by a group of pickpockets and decided to come to her rescue. The confrontation only lasted less than five minutes, even to call it a 'fight' was an overstatement. I was just piling those bandits when I briefly saw a brown, creamy blur within my peripheral vision, only to stop when it hit a tree with a loud thud, subsequently collapsing ungracefully onto the dusty ground.
"Are you ok?" I stated to the avian in front of me, not unkindly, but not kindly either. Well, my typical toneless expression. With his body still flat on the dirt and feathers looking wonderfully chaotic, he lifted up his head and groan painfully. But as his beady eyes transfixed upon me and methodically studied my figure, unexpectedly, a single word spew out.
"Wow…" he said, lost in ability and desire to notice anything but me,"... you are beautiful." He said, completely bewildered like a besotted fool.
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously and expressed my intimidating predatory growl.
The bird in front of me was surprised at first. Maybe most other females would fell into his arms (well… wings) after such flattery, but not me. Thankfully, he quickly discerned my unfriendly gesture which would entail him digging his own grave.
He smiled amiably while exposing his broad, impressive chest. He was a large Golden Eagle with light brown feathered wings, with coordinating dark copper head that ran onto his back. The tip of his plume was white. His obsidian eyes had a tint of red around it. His beak was grayish silver, curled menacingly into a sinister curve.
"So….. Where are you heading to? And you are traveling alone, dear?" He stood up and debonairly dusted his black silk slack which powdered with grime, and then nonchalantly proceed cleaning the dirt in between his yellowish-orange talons.
"If you dare call me 'dear' again, I will cook you like a stir fry one way or another," I gave him a warning hiss and baring my teeth viciously."...besides, that's hardly anything wrong about traveling alone." I retaliated, crossing my arms defiantly to show that I was completely miffed.
"Well…," he still sounded smooth and calm, even smiling gleefully, "...there is hardly a… woman who is traveling alone to this part of the country." I heard him said.
Maybe this creature was born to be annoying? So I thought. Making for the lack of answer, he continued, "You could do with a bodyguard," he offered, chuckling teasingly.
If this was yet another attempt of flattery, it had failed miserably, for I interpreted that as a mocking insult―In my dictionary at least.
"As if I need one… especially one that couldn't keep his eyes from any female that he ended up kissing a tree." I snarled sardonically. For a moment I enjoyed seeing his beady eyes danced in pure incredulity, probably berating his luck of meeting me.
"Only attractive ones," he corrected, "not just any," adding a seductive wink as his line meant to praise my appearance. "Well maybe not a bodyguard, how about a travel companion?" he said with inviting tune. I paid him a twisted look, but that boneheaded creature registered nothing of it.
Heck, perhaps he thought he would die a better death being maimed by beautiful women. I could offer him the execution as a complimentary service―for free.
"But for a start, what's your name gorgeous?" He asked absently.
I mused for a moment, deciding whether or not to lie about my name. But my brain stalled with no creative juice, rather than bearing the prospect of having a ridiculous name for the rest of this journey, so I chose otherwise.
"Tigress," I said shortly.
He riveted his eyes and frowned before laughing, voice dripping with sarcasm, "How original!"
I rolled my eyes at his derisive reply.
"If that's the case, my name is Eagle!" He deadpanned, crossing his wings with absolute mockery. Maybe a short for Eagle Pigle. I mentally slapped my forehead. If one would want a travel companion on their solo mission, this would exactly be their living nightmare.
His smile faltered. "You expect me to believe that, do you?" A sarcastic scowl materialized on his face.
"Of course!" I growled at him through gritted teeth and looked at him disdainfully, isn't that genius to name me after my species and my gender? I mentally berated whoever came up with that morbid idea. Thanks, Shifu.
"Your name is Tigress," he repeated with equally challenging tone,"Do you think I am blind? Of course, I know you are a tigress! Except if you are a male tiger who is into cross-dressing," he ribbed.
"Well, you clearly don't know that was a tree," I pointed out the unfortunate piece of timber that had a mark of his beak imprinted upon its bark.
One point for Tigress, zero for Eagle.
We continued out mindless bicker, and not until I showed him all my belongings bearing my name, inscribed, embroidered, or written on them, then he showing a weak sign of compliance.
"Fine, fine, fine." He submitted unwillingly, "I am Mandal Khairkhandulaan."
"Who?"
"Maaaan daaaal Khaiiiir khan duuuu laaaaan."
"How do you spell that?" It took me two minutes to be able to pronounce his unusual name correctly and even longer to be able to spell that to his satisfaction.
"Nevermind, you can call me Rong Li." He sighed, giving up.
Rong Li said he was hired by a wealthy merchant from India, to secure business ties with a Mongolian tycoon. He was fluent in both Chinese, Hindi and Mongol khel.
"So, you spend most of your life in India?" I inquired. Then, it explained the red marking on his head―A bindi, a dot that carried some sacred meaning for people in India. (Which initially I thought was a wound after his forehead intimately went into a tree… thankfully it wasn't as dramatic as I feared, thanks to his thick skull).
"Yes, but I am Chinese."
"Where were you born?"
"China."
"Which part?"
"The whole body of course. Do you think I born like a puzzle? A part in Mongolia, the other in China and India?" His answer made my jaw went slack. I am sure my eyes twitched too… which when I pondered about it, it's creepy to think I am beginning to act like Shifu.
"No… I mean which part of China!" I nearly shouted. If that eagle had any real talent, that must be to irritate people to their grave.
"Oh… Chang'an."
"Are you always this thick?" I felt my patience dwindled.
He smiled and sneered poetically," Teach not your lip such scorn my lady, for it was made for kissing, dear, not for such contempt."
It's dawned on me that I've met a dimwitted pervert who treat himself like a joke. A mortal embodiment of the worse combination among Po, Monkey, and Mantis…. which I thought won't ever be possible. Wait… may be those poetic lines could be a tiny bit of Crane in him.
He knew I was not going to take him at his word, as a proof, he let me rummage and leaf through some of his past reportage, to see some finely spaced paragraph breaks, subtly elegant strokes of character, completed with meticulous, vividly colored illustration. At least I can see one positive side of him. Correlating my findings ―Rong Li was a clever, talented artist and eloquence linguist. His writing was at least covered five Chinese dialects, three Mongolian, and two Indians. How could a bright, pedantic person acted like an obtuse, blockheaded, and perverted nuts? This was a wonder of the universe for me to marvel upon.
"You wrote and drew all of this?"
"Yes, of course." He replied rather dejectedly, may be thinking I marked his work as mediocre scribble.
"So you are kind of…" I trailed off trying to find a suitable word,"Over-glorified messenger?"
He scoffed at my remark."Is that how you make friends?" It was hardly a question, more like a point of ridicule.
"Well, my friendship only for selected few." I refuted cleverly. He snorted but smiled nonetheless.
"You see, in business world, people won't just pass messages to each other. There is depth to their relationships, such as trust and friendship, plays an important part to make such ties succeeded. That's why a successful businessman had to always actively expanding his contacts, make new acquaintances, and widening his network," he explicated methodically, looking at me from time to time to see a sign of approval.
Instead, I chuckled mockingly at his explanation."Sound more like a business propaganda to me."
After further interrogation, I was surprised that we actually headed down toward the same direction, in fact, the same person―Lord Ganzorig. But I remained quite secretive about who I really am, where I came from, and why did Lord Ganzorig summon me. I only tersely explained to Rong Li of me being a kung fu master, and my service was needed to fend the Lord from some desultory burglary.
I weighed my options, in front of us laid most isolated terrain of snow-capped mountain ridges and the untamed thicket of woodlands that I have to travel around, because climbing it was by far, treacherous and too dangerous to do alone. I panned my sight on the rise and fall of the rolling hills and depth of valley on the land behind me. China's landscape looked astoundingly gentle in comparison. Then, I looked at Rong Li. He had two most important thing I don't, firstly―language ability; he could read and write in Mongol kehl, which going to make communication a lot easier. Secondly ―he owned a pair of wings, which means I could cut through the mountain without having to travel around it.
Retrospecting on the pros and cons, I came to a conclusion to do my first lag alone and meet him at the foot of the mountains…. Just to give a few more days to mentally prepared myself to be called 'dear' for the rest of my journey.
Alas, the divine power seemed to be against my well-devised plan.
I marched resolutely into the depth of the forest. The trees that dominated the land became less, in turn of the unfriendly, jagged, and gray body of rocky mountains. Soon, I was faced with an enormous, gaping crevasse with no bridge in between. I checked my map where the word 'bridge' neatly presented itself, in contrast with the reality, I saw a single strand of rope that was rotten and unwind with age, marking its position… in which calling it ' bridge' would be either an insult or far too generous.
For a moment of brevity. I cursed my fate to be born as a tiger and not as a bird… otherwise, this kind of disagreement with nature would be a mere flap of wings away. But again, I wished to bear some panda-tiger hybrid cub someday… in which if I were a bird, my lack of artistic talent had failed to depict the mechanic of such activity to produce an offspring (maybe I need to consult Mantis or Crane about this when I get home). So… in that respect, I counted my blessing.
I shook my head from the land of absurd fantasy (I blame the lack of shade from the horrid heat of Mongolian summer) and got my concentration back to scrupulously studied through the annotated maps, looking for a possible alternative. While I was absorbed drawing correlation between the squidgy line surrounding various landmarks and the rock formations around me, I heard the sound of a sudden movement of the air.
"Master Tigress, I believe?" I caught an unfamiliar voice beckoning. I turned around to find a glimpse of a vulture. A large one, with a wingspan twice longer than Crane.
Considering that I was in the middle of nowhere, with the closest civilization was a good one day walk away, it was clear to me that this vulture definitely had been following me.
"Who are you and what do you want?" I eyed him suspiciously.
"I am sent by someone who wishes to speak to you in secrecy." He declared. I studied him, trying to decipher any fibs in his confession. He was dressed in a modest green robe like a messenger, one of his eyes covered with a patch, and he carried a small blade as a weapon. Frankly, he didn't look that harmful to a Kung Fu Master like me, but after what had happened with Lien and Tiger, any small negligence could incite a greater loss.
Evaluating the best tactical decision to avoid luring unwanted danger, I stated my condition. "Sorry, but you have to show me some credibility. Who is the person sending you?" I told him."At least you should be able to tell me who she or he is."
He shook his bald head expectantly signing his unwillingness to comply."I couldn't do that I'm afraid. This matter has to be dealt with in absolute secrecy." He said again with finality. I just scowled at him and began to walk on opposite direction to show my objection to compromise.
"Well," I heard him from a distance,"If you refused to submit willingly, I am afraid we have to resort another way."
I didn't understand his vague answer, but a dire situation dawned upon me. Before I had time to react, something robust and powerful gripped the back of my qipao. Within split second, I was flailing dozens of feet away from the ground dangerously.
"Put me down, you coward!"
Darn, I have to die a virgin, I berated my luck. My mind wandered to my panda, wishing him would forgive me for leaving him… if he was not already dead yet.
I pondered who had instigated him doing vile things to me, and perhaps to Tiger and Lien too. What did he or she want? What do I have that no other creature didn't? I don't feel like I hold any valuable top secret worth telling, nor I own some special superpower like Po as a Dragon Warrior. But all my rumination would have to wait because I need to extricate myself from meeting my demise.
By the end of the narration, everyone overwhelmingly tense. Even Monkey who read the spool had been caught in grim anticipation. But worse, Po had bit his lip until it bled. Thankfully, by the look of the number of scrolls left to read inside his pack, inciting that Tigress had survived the ambush―whatever she did, he would find out on the next scroll.
"So, what next?" Mantis suppressed his desire to increase the volume of his voice because he was close to yelling.
"Shush," Monkey rudely reprimanded the insect. He swept his gaze over his shoulder. Accidentally, he saw the group of vultures who had been transporting them to Darkhan, huddling reasonable distance. From their body language, Po could read a distinct apprehension on the topic. Po gently gestured Monkey and Mantis to follow him.
Three of them approached the vultures. Some of them cowered in fear and some avoided to meet the Masters' gaze completely. Po could feel something was off-kilter. This bunch of avian knew something they didn't.
"Uhm guys, mind if we asked you something?" Po asked politely. However, despite his outward show of friendliness, the tension in the air was undeniable. None of the vultures dared to resume eye contacts.
"Dragon Warrior, my apology for eavesdropping, but we don't want to have anything to do with this." One of the largest bird spoke up. His sight fixated on the imaginary point on the ground.
"Wo...wo...wo! Hold down your horses." Po raised his paws,"You know the vulture that kidnapped Tigress?" He purposely softened the edge of his voice to sound less accusing.
"He… his name was Bolormaa, he used to be our colleague." He admitted.
Po dragged a long heavy breath, trying to wisely make use of each word to elicit every drop of useful information from the avian."So, who had sent him?"
"We can't tell you, Dragon Warrior, as you see… if Lo―" Suddenly, the wing of his comrade silence him.
"No, we definitely couldn't tell you. Please."He pleaded,"Don't persecute us, we are just servants." Monkey, Mantis, and Po exchanged looks. The vulture's confession sounded genuinely honest. But Po wasn't going to concede just yet.
"Look...," He deposited himself next to the group,"I just wanted to find a friend of ours. She went missing on this mission to Lord Ganzorig's house. But even before that, she told us that she'd been watched." Now, the vultures bounced a sympathetic and knowing look among themselves.
"I..I actually heard a rumor," a vulture, who seemed to be the oldest, opened his beak,"About Demon Claws kidnapping her." Po's eyes widened, while Mantis and Monkey were positively aghast.
"Ugh, are you sure about this?" Po questioned him with skepticism."I heard they are a group of stripes feline that specifically plundered possessions. If they are into kidnapping as well, this is new information."
The vulture shrugged,"I told you, this is just a gossip." A few of his friend nodded in agreement."We stopped seeing her after Demon Claws and the Zhangs pulled a big ambush in Ganzorig residence."
Po remained thoughtful for a moment before he came up with the next question."Any fox that lived in Ganzorig's house?"
Suddenly the atmosphere turned gravely silent. Po could almost taste the fear with the tip of his tongue.
"Let's not go there, shall we," the bird chuckled nervously. Mantis narrowed his eyes, while Monkey leaned towards Po.
"I had a deep suspicion of this Ganzorig guy, what do you say Dude?" Monkey whispered he was so close to Po's ear he almost kissing him.
"Well, Shifu said he and his father are a nobleman, we can't just blame the guy without any proof," Mantis disagreed."Besides, why would he want to have Tigress? He had never even seen her. He had left for Darkhan before Shifu adopted Tigress. And why he even bothered to send assassins to kill her husband? All this allegation sounded too far fetch to me."
"But having an alibi doesn't mean he is guiltless, remember he is an affluent man. There is almost nothing money can't do." Monkey stated his opposition.
Po pinched the bridge of his nose,"When we are there, we need to try to find this fox. I think she knew something we don't." With that, three of them ended their discussion and turned back to the vultures.
"Can we meet this colleague of yours… who his name again, Bo..bol…"
"Bolormaa," Monkey aided with a sinister chortle. It seemed like the only definite thing Po could only remember was food's name.
"Yes, this Bolormaa guy. Can we see him once we are in Darkhan? We just wanted to ask a couple of things." Mantis butted in after flicking his sight over his shoulder to seek Po's and Monkey's approval, which he received immediately.
"No, you can't." The vulture answered morosely.
"Why?"
"Because he is dead."
"What?"
Note: In this story, I depicted Tigress had the typical Chinese misconception in labeling Mongolian as 'barbaric' nation. I remembered, growing up watching various Chinese movie and soap that depicted the Mongolian as ruthless, savage invader. In fact, Mongolian was a very cultured nation. They hailed a very different ideology from the Han Chinese but didn't make them an uncivilized bunch of people. Unlike in China, Mongolian valued their women highly. Women are entitled to inheritance as much as men. They even have quite a few women warriors. The discrimination between gender in Mongolia is a lot more subtle than it is in patrilineal China.
Another interesting thing I notice was the habit of hunting using Golden Eagle. Hence I put Rong Li as one of the characters. Sadly, the Kazakhs of the Altai mountain range in western Mongolia are the only people that hunt with golden eagles, and today there are around 400 practicing falconers. The Eagles are not bred in captivity but taken from nests at a young age. Female eaglets are chosen since they grow to a larger size - a large adult might be as heavy as seven kilos, with a wingspan of over 230cm. After years of service, on a spring morning, a hunter releases his mature eagle a final time, leaving a butchered sheep on the mountain as a farewell present. Isn't that amazing?