A/N: Hi everyone, I'm not dead. Okay, now we're moving towards the final arc of House of Tamod where things get... dark. You have been warned. I was a bit perplexed before I started writing this as to whether the ending would have the same impact as last time. Sure it was a long time ago, but most of you know 'how it ends'. My doubts have vanished in this regard. I think all shall be clear at he end of this chapter.
I'll probably forget to say this at the end so I'll say it here. Thanks to Mind Jack for letting me use Cin Lin. She was pretty fun to write. This chapter is merely a little send-off to her. Had some fun with her and the Order of the Owl (hope I didn't make them look... I dunno... puny?) It also catches us up with where Wong and Safi have been these past few days.
On a note not related to this fic. There's a new Kung Fu Panda Tv Series. Paws of Destiny or something like that. I remain cautiously optimistic about that but... kinda wish that they had gone for an entirely 2D art style. A bit too reminiscient of LoA...
There were several holding cells in the vicinity of the Palace of Tamod. Like the tournament itself it was used about every fifty years. Currently it had it's largest recorded hold of a total of twenty assassins and one commatose frog thought to be involved in the ruckus at the new inn. Well, the now sunken inn. To say Chifu was proud was the understatement of the dynasty! Everywhere he went he told everyone about his success. Thirty apprehended singlehandedly in the course of one evening! He was just waiting for his promotion!
Presently he was dressed in a set of brand new silken sleeping robes. He had figured that after making history he ought to treat himself to something good! He settled into his brand new bedsheets and lay his head on the brand new pillow He settled in comfortably to the sounds of loud arguing coming from below.
"I'm sick of this! I need something -anything!- that's not prison fuel!" The gorilla tossed a large bowl of gruel out of his cell.
"You mean food." Pointed out the hooved assassin, who was safely two or three cells away. His plea for correct vocabulary went unheard as it was drowned out by loud shouting coming from the cell opposite the ape.
"I just ditched fleas you idiot!" The half eaten bowl of gruel had collided heavily with the dog, who was presently trying to shake himself clean.
"Too bad." Grunted the ape.
"Say you're sorry you mangy monkey!" He growled, somehow looking more like an assassin than ever before.
"Who're you calling a mangy monkey?" Grunted the gorilla, his hands tightening round the bars.
"You you fatass!"
"Who're you calling a fatass?"
The dog was no longer listening. Such was his desperation to remove the barely-edible sludge from his fur. He continued ranting loudly and swearing at the top of his voice until finally the gorilla decided he was the one being insulted. Roaring and beating his chest he momentarily forgot about the bars and barged right through them.
The dog went silent. The ape paused, looking left and looking right. "Right." He said slowly, his mind piecing together the empty cell and the bars in his big monkey hands. It seemed to take forever for him to realize he'd just busted out.
"Excellent work." Came the sarcastic voice of Cin Lin.
"Master!" The gorilla hastily dropped into a bow. So hastily that the door he'd been holding came crashing heavily into the ground. Cin Lin facepalmed and dragged her paw across her face.
"Master! Forgive us for our failure!" The hooved assassin dropped into a bow.
The lynx waved her paw dismissively. "Our client is no longer able to secure the funds we agreed upon. So we are returning to base."
There were cries of relief.
"Where you will be scrubbing the halls on a daily basis."
There were several (hastily muted) groans of protest.
Quickly and methodically the lynx broke through the dilapidated locks. Not even pausing to inquire as to why one of her number was covered head to foot in prison porridge.
"Now let's go." Se spared a contemptuous glance for Duyao. Hopefully the frog would not wake up and speak of her 'failure'. It was bad for business.
The door shut behind her just as the frog's eyes burst open.
Wong was often drunk these days. What else could he be? Fat and slow-minded with a bad accent. He drank often, but normally he was never drunk, or at leas he never got hungover. Now though? Ever since his humiiating Third Task defeat he'd been drinking enough sake to burst even his wide stomach. He had lost, and worse still, he'd lost to the King of Losers. The Basard of Clan Guan. Japan's Greatest Shame. He had a list! And he could have made fun of the wolverine all he wanted after the mach but no. He'd lost fair and square in front of everyone. Did this mean Han Guan was some very powerful, honarable, worthy son of his mother? Of course it didn't! It meant that he, Wong, was the Emperor of Losers! The Bastard of the Bastard of Clan Guan! Japan's Greatest Shame's Greatest Shame!
The crocodile burst into loud, noisy tears. It made no difference anyways. At this time of night noone would hear him. And even if they did, did it matter? He was nothing here. Less than dirt.
Back to the sob story. He'd stayed off the drink long enough to be sober for the wolverine's match. Perhaps, he'd hoped, he could desictare the muselid's corpse when the spider was done with him. But no. The spider could have won, but didn't! Insead Han-fucking-Guan was proceeding directly to the finals and he was being left in the dirt.
"I know what it feels like you know. To be less than dirt." Wong could not make out who was talking. Probably the barman threatening to throw him out.
"I also know what it's like to hate someone so much you'd do anything to ruin them. I just have better reasons to be a hater." An old frog that was semi-familiar swam in Wong's vision, there seemed to be at least fifty of her.
"I used to hate this you know. I wanted to do good. Bring justice." The frog gave a soulless chuckle. "Justice is just another word for revenge."
Wong wanted to bat away the annoying voice but for some reason was unable to move.
"So why not embrace who you are Wong? Your hatred doesn't make you a monster. It's what you do as a result of it that defines you."
Too many difficult words. "Fuck off!" Wong went for another swig of his bottle, but found his paw in a vicelike grip.
"That won't bring you peace." She held up a smaller bottle. The contents burned bright red and illuminated her grinning face. "This might."
Safi and her friends stayed in silent vigil, her paws encased in the hooves, wings and claws of her three best friends. Well, only friends. They were commoners but unlike the riff-raff polluting her home hey weren't interested in money. They were her friends because they agreed on everything and liked the same things. Because she could count on them for love and support.
Safi sighed. "If it asn't for dad's tournament we'd be serving customers now."
"Well at least we're alive." Said the pig. "The Imperial Army says that a bunch of assassins were after Safi!"
"They must have been hired by some jealous inns!" Shrieked the goose, as if this was the most obvious soluion.
Safi shook her head. She loved them all, but sometimes they were so naive! "It was the shapeshifter, the stinky Japanese guy and that jackal that used to stalk me. At least they're stuck in the palace until tommorow. And after tommorow we only have to deal with whoever the winner is."
"They're no that bad you know." Started the croc, awkwardly, as if what she was about to say was indecent. "I find the rabbits cute." She admitted.
The goose shook her head. "They're identical twins. You ought to stay away from those. Remember Mong and Pong?"
They all nodded in rememberance of Mong and Pong.
"Forget the rabbits. You're better off with a real man. Anyways we'll soon be free of those assholes. And when we are we pretend this never happened. We open our inn, bigger and beter than before. And this time, with insurance!"
The girls all cheered this statement. Safi yawned widely. "I should sleep soon anyways. See you girls later."
They bade her goodnight before quickly resuming the talks of Lili and her boyfriend troubles.
Safi strolled briskly up the staircase. She could see flickering candlelight coming from the windows ahead. Hopefully the dumb servants remembered to fill her hot water bottle.
Then suddenly a figure stepped out of the darkness and towered over her. He was so wide that she could not proceed further without getting her feet wet on the dew-ey grass. And that was never going to happen. "Out of my way!"
His eyes darted towards her. They burned bright red. Safi flinched, but recovered her courage. Some of it anyways.
"Please step aside."
His eyes continued to stare at her, as if trying to peer into her soul.
"My daddy owns that palace!" She snapped angrily, pointing up at the peculiar building that so resembled a large, white, naked, porcupine.
"Your father is a monster." Said a vaguely familiar voice. The short frog judge stepped out of the shadows and into the light of Wong's glare. Her grin made her somehow... less natural. "And so am I."
"I don't know what you want from me." Said Safi backing away. "But I have power! Friends in high places. I can destroy you if I wanted to."
"Gloating. Just like your father. Well... wrong choice. Next time try running."
The last thing Safi remembered was a scaled fist coming towards her beautiful face.
Wugu shivered violently. For some reason he was very cold. Which was odd as normally he was never cold. Ba had hanged his water, wrapped his glass container in a blanket and wrapped him in webbing for good measure too. The webbing was in truth, the only way he could sleep. It was one of the few, rare materials that blocked ou his ability to hear through water, thus allowing him to rest without having to hear about random, useless pieces of gossip. It drowned outthe useless information. He'd have laughed at that if he wasn't so cold. Ba had gone for a walk... if only he had stayed, Wugu could have asked for another blanket.
Of course, Ba hated him now. And Duyao probably did too. He had not seen his Mistress since he'd betrayed her. And although the spider tried to act as if there was nothing between them Wugu could tell, that beneath all his mind manners rage was simmering.
There were times, lots of times these days, where he wondered whether or no he'd made the right choice. He'd traded an innocent stranger (albeit a rude and insensitive one at that)'s life, for his own, Ba's and Duyao's. His family... his only family. He wanted nothing more than to just go back home, and act as if the invitation had never come. But that was impossible now that Duyao was behind bars.
He shivered again. He just needed rest.
He was beginning to fall into sleep's embrace, when suddenly he heard the creaking of a door. "Ba?" He called, though he knew it could not be Ba. Ba never made the doors creak. And Duyao was locked up, so it could not be her either. Perhaps it was the wind.
"We all make choices Wugu." He froze, paralyed by fear. His heart hammering. His breath caught in his gills.
"I chose to kill Badr. You know how much that meant to me. You know... better than anyone maybe."
He could not move! It was as if the water around him had turned to ice.
"Did you love me? Ever? Can a pathetic little thing like you even love?"
Yes! Alway! Of course! He wanted to say, but he was too scared to do anything. He wished now more than ever, that Ba had not gone for his walk.
"Scared?" He managed to flinch. Never had he heard his Mistress jeer before. Not even when she was about to kill.
The webbing, the blanket, the casket of water and Wugu were all hurled a the wall. The glass cracked into a thousand pieces around the terified fish. A fist punched through and grabbed him by the middle. He shut his eyes, ready for the end to come. He dangled in her grip, his gills burning in the air, his fins shaking. His eyes screwed so tightly shut not even his tears could leak out. He was going to die here, cold and alone at the hands of the closest thing he had to a mother. And he was not going to stop her. How could he? He loved her.
"Look at me!" The frog yelled, and Wugu was forced to look. His brigh green eyes were wide and filled with terror and tears. For half a second it seemed she would come to her senses. She stared into those eyes. The eyes of a child she had loved and raised. They brought with tem memories. Of laughter, of peace and serenity. Of Wugu's sweet, sweet childish innocence. Duyao would have stopped and dropped him into the nearest of body of water and begged forgiveness.
But Duyao would have never come this far to begin with. And she was no longer Duyao. She was a monster.
"Traitor! Monster! Hater! Killer! The frog! The rabbit! The pig! The dog! The fox! Badr Ajam! Badr Tamod!"
With every cry of rage she brought the fish heavily into the wall. He was dead by 'killer' but Duyao did not stop and she had no intention of stopping. Not until his bones were broken to dust. She hurled his limp form upon the ground, and brought her foot down on Wugu's dead chest with vicious fury. There was a sickening crunch and then... silence.
Breathing deeply the frog stepped backwards. She giggled. He deserved this. Wugu deserved this. She would do the same to Badr tommorow.
The fish looked like he was sleeping. This made her laugh more. Wugu never slept outside. He was always in his fishbowl. He would get cold.
Now the laughter came thick and hysterical. She kicked his corpse into a corner and left, laughing all the way.
Wugu lay motionless. Cold and alone.
Up above the palace, stormclouds were gathering.
Footnote: Pretty dark. And sad. I liked writing Wugu a lot (not his death. This was kind of hard to write.)
Wugu was always created to be killed off. Sounds sad. But he represents Duyao's moral compass. With him broken so to speak there is nothing stopping Duyao from going full-villain. She's past the point of redemption now. You know sometimes I can't decide wheher I like Badr and Duyao. It seems that in one chapter I make them semi-likeable... only for them to go evil in the next chapter. Both of them.
One of the reasons I ended up ressurecting Han and technically Li for Journey To Japan was because in the past a 'shock death' seemed really cool. Now I think that a major character death is only needed to advance the story. I don't like writing surprise deaths (don't really mind reading them. Gut punches can be fun) because then I feel like I miss out. This one for example I think, is my finest 'death' scene. Heartbreaking. And altough it is technically a 'shock' death, it serves a purpose. Several purposes really.
And it gets worse. For now I'll just let this... sink in.
R.I.P. Wugu
