TIAN MONASTERY

NIGHT OF THE SEVENTH DAY

JANSHO GHOSTPAW

The Wu Kao Rogue's sleep was interrupted by the crackling of a particularly loud boom of thunder in the skies overhead. While rain had helped to soothe him to sleep, the thunder proved too much for the light-sleeping Jansho to take. He looked about the room of his temporary lodgings in Tian, finding a small bookcase with several scrolls tucked away within it. However, there was no light, and if Jansho did not sleep, he would not be ready for the long day of travel tomorrow. He sighed and laid back on the cot, which made a scritching-scratch noise as he did so, the materials absorbing his weight. Jansho closed his eyes tightly...only for a massive flash of white lightning to illuminate the entirety of Tian as vividly as the day would. His eyes failed to keep it out, and he blinked repeatedly.

The rain continued its relentless hammering against the ground. Jansho Ghostpaw felt more uncertain than ever of what he should do. I'm glad you found what you needed here, Ruun. I hope you find peace on the path you have chosen to walk. Those were the last words he had said to his son. It had been almost a year since they'd last spoken. The ache in his heart had never truly ebbed for his son...or for his wife. It had been even longer since he had seen her. Qagaora Ghostpaw, wife of a Shado-Pan...that didn't hold the same ring as being of the Shado-Pan.

She wasn't as fortunate as I was. Qagaora Ling, before they had met, had been the only child of two farmers on the outskirts of Halfhill. To leave them would have been to doom her family's future...and she couldn't do that. Jansho, by contrast, was the youngest child of three siblings, with an older brother and sister. His brother died before reaching the age of twenty, leaving only his older sister Suraija Ghostpaw and Jansho to succeed his parents. Even after his brother passed from life at the age of eighteen, Jansho was resolute in what he must do.

Even if it kills me, I have to try to become one of the Shado-Pan. I'll always wonder what I might have been if I don't. The words he used to convince his parents to allow him to take the Trial of the Red Blossoms came to mind as he revisited the memories. But he had survived the trial, with all the harrowing obstacles of the freezing lake...the coiling serpent that would crush you to death if it got a hold of you. And yet...the trial seemed so insignificant compared to the mountain range of experiences that Jansho Ghostpaw had gone through. But it destroyed many young lives. Only when Qagaora took Jansho as her husband (she had been the one to push, not he), and when Jansho become a father...only then had his eyes truly opened to how delicate his own balance was. The deaths of his friends had done the same thing. And then...he had fallen from grace. Forgive me, Ruun, but I was selfish. I didn't want to lose you to something like a trial that I no longer believed in. I couldn't torment myself by wondering what you might have become had that trial claimed your life as it has so many others.

He prayed to all four Celestials, starting with the Black Ox in the Far West and ending with Chi-Ji, the Red Crane. Wherever he is, whatever he has done...Ruun Ghostpaw...please let him live, Great Ones. Let me see his face as I should have in years long since spent. And let me embrace him as a father should embrace his son... He finally fell asleep, his dreams fitful. As the rain slackened off and eventually ended, a distant crane was called to the sky as it rose into the mists of the fog that settled over Tian Monastery.

TARAN ZHU

The calling crane awoke Taran Zhu partially. He'd been conditioned from a young age to recognize that sound, the sound of Chi-Ji's favored ones...but never before had he heard one so late in the night. A new day approaches. He thought to himself. Good. I will be ready for it.

Thoughts of the past filled his mind. Of Nazgrim, sneering at him about how smug Taran was considering what the Alliance had done to his people...of Rell, cursing about how evil the Horde was and how they must be stopped, also because of what they had done to his people. They wage war without understanding. And their lack of empathy may well damage the entire world by the time all is said and all is done. He sighed and sat upright. The Jade Serpent told me many things in her temple, yet my mind has lost most of them. Taran Zhu, unmasked, without his helmet, alone in the quarters he had been provided within Tian Monastery...felt more vulnerable than ever. I cannot do these things alone. That much I know. Yet if there is one person who has told me how much rides on me, it has been Jansho...had our positions been reversed in Paw'don and I been the one injured...what would he have done in my stead?

Jansho was capable, yes...but Taran hastily cut the question short as his father's harsh voice came to mind. Do not doubt what was. What has happened has happened, and wondering about what might have been is foolish. Even in near-sleep, Taran Zhu grimaced. His father's voice had always been harshest when speaking to him.

So easy for you to say, Father Jet, Taran retorted, indulging the memories that he had never been able to truly suppress. If you were supposed to guide me, you were a poor pathfinder at best. After your older sons, the ones you always favored...after they passed from this life, your disfavor towards me was all you had left. Your love followed them to the grave. You followed them to the grave out of sheer stubbornness. And you shoved those who remained alive away from you. You don't think I didn't notice the way you looked at those you were supposed to command? You thought they were unworthy of it after Yao and Jianjun died, because they weren't able to save your beloved sons.

He could not remember his father saying once that he had loved Taran. The Lord of the Shado-Pan at last quieted the petty thoughts of days long since spent, the unvoiced complaints he had held towards his ever-distant...and now-deceased...father. Now, he had to be concerned with the present. The Horde has moved, Taran realized, and with great alacrity. I saw a troll at the banquet, and a strange sort of bull creature...not a Yaungol, though. So strange to have them so close to one another, but what do I know? The Zandalari despise the Yaungol just as much as they hate us. But the troll...was not Zandalari. She was something else.

The Alliance must be hunting for their missing prince. I do not know what their prince's goal was, but he headed here with a purpose and may have plunged himself into grave danger. Had he sought me out...I wonder what I might have said, having encountered his less-than-honorable comrades in the North. He sighed quietly. These outsiders are so contradictory. The Horde took Pandaren children as prisoners in Paw'don, while the Alliance forced younger Pandaren men and women to build their airstrip near Honeydew...which is not even a day's travel from here. Rell insists his people are peaceful, while Nazgrim insists his people are honorable. Which is right? Perhaps neither; both the Alliance in the North and the Horde in the South were desperate. They wanted the ability to wage war; the villages refused them. Their commanders grew angry... Their anger, their doubts, their hatred bloomed like an evil flower and they were destroyed because of it. Taran Zhu rubbed at his eyes. They fell into darkness...and there was no escape from it. Yet I know how to thwart the Sha...and my knowledge has only proven so useful.

A thought struck his mind suddenly, one from his conference with the leaders of the Shado-Pan disciplines. Snowdrift's report, relayed from Rensai Oakhide and Gao-ran the Tempered...the mantid were swarming early. But there was something wrong with this in Taran's mind. Why are the mantid moving at all in this poor season? This is a bad time for them; it's too cold and wet across the continent for their swarms to begin. Regardless, they have launched a full-scale invasion, and at least a decade early in terms of their invasive cycle. They strike in full force every century, like a titanic flood...yet they are here now, swarming in numbers that we are not ready for. The Yaungol are panicking because they were the first victims of the mantid push. So they flee from Townlong and crush towards the Serpent's Spine and the relative protection of Kun-Lai...towards my people.

Taran Zhu knew he would have a discussion with Snowdrift and the others upon his return about Shado-Pan deployments across the continent. He hoped that Nurong had found their patrol alive and well...but terrible experience had already tempered Taran's expectations. He would not be surprised if two had died and the survivor been so traumatized that they had left the order in shame.

I shall find out when the new day comes. Taran Zhu's mind at last fell into slumber as well, and he lay back in his bed, closing his eyes tightly. The pitter-patter of the rain quieted his mind.

MORNING OF THE EIGHTH DAY

The sunbeams of the new day stretched across Taran Zhu's face and burned into his eyelids. The Lord of the Shado-Pan groaned as he woke up, rising to a sitting position and rubbing at his eyes. Shaking his head and the last of his weariness from the night before, Taran swung his legs out and stood up; the heavy Shado-Pan Lord stretched his arms and legs after doing so. A ragged yawn escaped his lips, and Taran saw he had placed his helmet on a nightstand. His scarf lay on top of his travel pack, folded up along with the top half of his uniform. Taran pulled the uniform over his bare torso, feeling the muscles in his back stretch as he pulled the dark blue uniform over his body. His thick stomach gurgled with hunger, and Taran sighed. He was not immune to the urges of his body, especially not after the night before. He unfurled his scarf and began wrapping it about his neck. The red fabric felt as though it belonged there.

The scarf in position, Taran regarded his appearance in the small mirror of his quarters. He groaned as he saw just how crazy the hair on top of his head was. It had grown quickly since his departure from Kun-Lai, and was now a dark, rigid, spiky mess. He shook his head, lifting the helmet into position moments later. It settled into place perfectly. I will get that cut when I return to Kun-Lai, he decided.

He left the quarters he had been given in Tian. Hefting the travel pack over his back, Taran Zhu took in the sights of the empty grounds of the Monastery. A great gong suddenly rang out, and at once, every single door in Tian seemed to open as the students snapped to attention...those that could, at least. Taran knew from the previous night's revelries that many would be trying to sleep off the massive quantities of ale they had drunk the night before. It had...been an enjoyable night, in retrospect.

We are always honored to have the Shado-Pan visit our monastery! Spirit-sage Gaoquan had told Taran proudly and offered him a seat of honor. Taran had refused, instead taking the lesser place and serving others who desired more.

Hui Chang and several of her friends she had made among the Horde were there. Taran remembered that the lone troll who had been present had been a member of the Darkspear Tribe, not the Zandalari. That does not make her an ally necessarily, but it does not make her an enemy. She must choose the ground she stands upon.

Taran had felt there was a split among the Horde. The orcs that had come with Hui Chang to Tian were not of the Kor'kron. Hui explained the concept of those the night before; Kor'kron were Warchief Hellscream's favored elite orcs, and were viewed of as having the same authority as the Warchief himself. In fact, the two orcs that Taran and Jansho had encountered at Nazgrim's side in Honeydew Village were Kor'kron elites... Hui didn't seem too thrilled about that concept, from the tone she had taken, but the orcs at her table had insisted that to join the Kor'kron was an incredible honor for their people. The Horde represented those from different groups, and their favor with the Warchief rested on a continuum; the Kor'kron were his favored subjects while others such as the Tauren were bitterly divided by Garrosh. He killed one of their most respected leaders, Taran remembered. It would be hard for forgiveness to set in after that.

The female troll that was, along with many others of the Horde, a student of Tian, nodded with utmost respect as Taran Zhu passed her. It was a gesture that the Lord of the Shado-Pan appreciated, and he acknowledged her gesture with a bow of his own. My mind must be more flexible. That is what the Jade Serpent said, and I can never doubt the wisdom within her words. "It be a good mornin', Lord Zhu," The troll said quietly. When Taran directed a questioning glance at her, she smiled. "Hui Chang told me of ya. Ya won her respect."

Taran nodded. "She has a great deal to learn, but she has a good head on her shoulders. And from what I remember of our talk last night...you do as well, for that matter." He bowed once more. "Be sure that you respect this land. It will respect you in return." The troll nodded and returned his bow, and then walked off to wherever she was needed.

He found Jansho at a table, sitting with Instructor Xann and a huge Pandaren student of Xann's that had to stand stood almost seven feet tall. Jansho Ghostpaw at once saw Taran and stood to his feet, bowing with reverence. "Lord Zhu." He greeted.

"Jansho Ghostpaw." Taran nodded.

Jansho invited Taran to sit beside him, which he did. "Xiao was telling me a story about my son's time here." He turned to the student, a smile on his face. "And he did what, afterwards?"

"He told me to get him some clothes and some noodles." Xiao, the huge student, smiled. "I don't blame him."

"What happened, Xiao?" Taran asked, bemused.

Xiao explained quickly. "Lord Zhu, as a practical joke, Lin Tenderpaw snuck a magic bamboo shoot into one of Ruun Ghostpaw's late night snacks."

Taran's eyes widened. "And he ate it?"

Xiao nodded with a helpless smile. "The whole thing... I went to get a snack myself, and I found his clothes on the ground and a little panda cub in the kitchen." At that, Xann burst out guffawing. "It took me a little while to figure out what had happened. I took the little guy to my quarters and wrapped him in a blanket, though..."

Jansho covered his head, a smile from ear to ear of his dark features. "So when the effects of the magic bamboo wore off..."

"Ruun grew to full-size in seconds." Xiao nodded, smiling as well. "I don't think he'd ever been so embarrassed." He laughed as he continued, "I mean, one moment I have a panda cub in my arms. The next thing I know, I'm on the ground, and there's this fully-grown Pandaren with no clothes on standing over me! I couldn't stop laughing...and Ruun just had the most offended look on his face!" He stopped laughing after a while. "He got over it pretty quickly, though."

Xann nodded. "I don't think Lin expected Ruun to use a blackout kick on her the next time their eyes met."

Taran's eyes widened. "They did resolve things, did they not?"

"They did." Xiao said quietly. "It took about two weeks for him to forgive her, and a day for him to forgive me." His smile became more wistful. "Ruun was a good friend. He and Kang Bramblestaff were close. Heck, Lin was close with him...right up until the magic bamboo prank."

"I can imagine." Jansho murmured, chuckling under his breath. "Someone did that to me after I...returned to the Shado-Pan."

Taran smiled at the idea of Jansho being reduced from an adult to a cub in an instant. "Did you ever find the culprit?"

"It was Shado-Master Zhiyao." Jansho shook his head. "He wanted to teach me a lesson in humility. That...was a lesson I learned all too well that day."

Taran Zhu couldn't help but laugh. "I apologize, Jansho, but...like father, like son?"

"Perhaps, Lord Zhu." Jansho looked down at his food and began to tear into it.

A younger male student brought a bowl with several bamboo sprigs layered across a steaming bed of rice at the bottom. Taran Zhu eyed the bamboo suspiciously, and now it was Instructor Xann's turn to laugh. "See, we've gotten the idea in your head that our people are endless practical jokers!"

"Why wouldn't we be?" Taran smiled as he removed the bamboo and began to eat.

The food was good, but Taran was content with a single bowl of it. "Jansho, were you able to find any more information about Ruun?"

Jansho shook his head, his mouth still full of food. Xann spoke up. "Ruun was one of my favored students. He spoke about visiting the Temple of the Red Crane after leaving Tian, and then determining what to do from there." Xann shrugged helplessly. "I wish I knew more. I hope that Chi-Ji will guide the young man in his travels."

Taran, Xiao, and Jansho were unanimous in their agreement with Xann's statement...

THE ROAD TO KUN-LAI

The departure from Tian had to be bittersweet for Jansho, Taran Zhu reflected. Jansho had learned how respected his son was by his teachers here, and about how well-loved he was in the local area. I am glad to know that his son found a measure of peace here, even if they only saw one another at Tian three times in the six years that Ruun learned here.

"I hope Tian will provide the Horde with lessons that will prevent them from invoking further Sha in the future, Lord Zhu." Jansho spoke aloud as Lord Zhu and he rode along the path to the south, back to Kun-Lai Summit. "Celestials willing, they will not cause any further difficulties to the people of the Jade Forest..."

Taran agreed, "Tian emphasizes service to the community and discipline, and the Horde did not appreciate either when we first met." And with mantid, mogu, and yaungol on the move, the Sha will take advantage of the chaos produced by all three.

"At least the Hozen won't have to worry about the Horde wiping them out in revenge for their activities near Honeydew." Jansho murmured. Taran gave him a quick, questioning glance as the riding tigers jumped over a root from a tree that had spread into the road.

"What do you mean?" Taran asked Jansho, concern in his voice.

"Hui told me the Forest Hozen signed an agreement of sorts with the Horde." Jansho explained.

Taran felt a snarl come to his lips, unbidden though it was. Of course. Nazgrim was not content with his weakened position, and seeing as the Pandaren he'd encountered in Honeydew Village were not willing to join his cause, he was looking for allies wherever he could find them. Eventually, Nazgrim would find Pandaren who had not witnessed the destruction the Horde had unleashed on their people, but until then, he needed troops. And the Hozen were little more than bodies for his front line...until reinforcements arrived from elsewhere. Taran knew at once that Nazgrim was looking for the Alliance, and the Forest Hozen would give him the intelligence necessary necessary to find them. The general would not rest until he had found his enemy...and crushed them.

"That is a wise tactical move on the part of General Nazgrim." Taran observed coldly. "And it is terrible news at the same time... The Hozen know a great deal about the Jade Forest. They will put Nazgrim on a path that will lead to further violence..."

"What of Hui and her friends?" Jansho asked. "You don't think they can persuade Nazgrim to stop, do you, Lord Zhu?"

Taran shook his head. "Nazgrim's bloodlust will not be sated by those under his command being insubordinate to him." Yes, that was definitely what I felt from Nazgrim when the subject of the Alliance came up. Bloodlust. Nazgrim is plunging headlong into disaster, and nothing short of challenging that one in a duel to the death will stop him at this point.

Do not seek to convince them by yourself, Taran Zhu. Yu'lon's words from earlier came to mind.

Taran's mind was conflicted as they rode onwards. His duty and his reason, as well as the words of the Jade Serpent, warred with one another, vying for supremacy.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: My apologies, but I had to overcome a MAJOR writer's block to crank out this section and I hope you enjoy it. Let me know if you see any errors or mistakes, and I will get on correcting them at once.

The last three sections are all from Taran Zhu's point of view.