Yanagi shot out her fist the way her Papa had shown her with as much strength as she could. She had tried to move as quickly as she could, but Papa had still managed to dodge her. He'd dodged so fast that she hadn't even seen him move! She had put so much into the punch that she had lost her balance and was about to fall right onto her face. She wasn't sure if Papa would catch her again.
Sometimes he stopped her from falling, but sometimes he let her fall. He had said that falling was just as much her teacher as he was. She wasn't sure what he meant by that, but she did her best not to fall now.
This time, he'd caught her by the back of her robes and held her in place before pulling her back to her feet. "You're over-extending. You'll leave yourself open for a counter attack. Keep your punches closer to your body," Papa told her as he looked down at her.
Yanagi could almost feel a heavy weight on her whenever Papa looked down at her like this. He only got like this when he trained her, but he spent so much time training her lately... Papa never really played with her. But she still missed the days he would watch her play with the jungle cats.
"Yanagi, would you like to take a break?" Mama called out to her.
Most times, Mama would watch her training sessions with Papa. Mama would always sit on the side with Grandma Kitty and watch everything she did. Mama never left her feeling the weight like Papa did, but she could still feel the eyes every time she fell or stumbled on a new move that Papa tried to teach her.
Before she could refuse the break, Papa spoke up. "Ten minutes. Evaluate your movements and compare them to what I showed you."
Yanagi bowed lowly before dashing over to where Mama was standing with a bottle of water. Yanagi took the bottle with a quiet thanks and plopped down next to Grandma Kitty. She let the tan lioness lick at her cheek once before scratching behind her furry ear. Mama crouched next to her and smiled softly. "Yanagi, when you want a break, don't be afraid to ask for one. Your Papa would understand," Mama said.
"I'm fine, Mama. I just want to get this move," Yanagi said in frustration.
Mama ruffled her hair before walking over to where Papa was quietly staring away from them. Yanagi watched Mama whisper to him for a few seconds. When Papa didn't reply, she tugged at a lock of his hair in annoyance. Yanagi could hear Papa's growl from across the room and she watched him swat her hand away and move away from Mama. Mama smiled a bit before she and Papa took their fighting stances. Yanagi's eyes widened. She knew that both her parents were martial artists, but she'd never seen her Mama fight before.
One second, they were facing each other absolutely still. The next, they were clashing in the middle. Yanagi's eyes widened as she watched them move. They were so fast and so strong. It was almost like they were dancing. When Papa struck, Mama dodged. Papa was always so fast! How did Mama manage to dodge him?
"Monkey Strike!" Mama shouted and ran at Papa with her fist cocked. She went through the motions, exactly like Papa had done when he'd shown her the move she was to learn today.
"Repulse the Monkey!" Papa shouted and shoved his palm at Mama's chest. She went flying through the air, but did a few flips and landed on her feet. When her parents stood at attention and bowed to each other, Yanagi shot to her feet.
"Papa! I want to try again!" Yanagi shouted and took up her position in front of her father.
"I expected no less," Papa said with a smirk. "Ready yourself, young one. I won't be holding back this time."
Yanagi took up her tiger stance and took a few deep breaths. She watched her Papa smoothly slide into his stance. On her next exhale, she saw him move. He had said that he wouldn't hold back, but she'd definitely just seen him move faster against Mama. Even so, he was still moving almost too fast for Yanagi to track. She kept her eyes on his every move, doing her best to predict his movements.
When she chose to block a strike to the side of her head instead of ducking, she could feel the immediate sting of pain in her forearm. It hurt, but not enough to stop her from retaliating. Papa had said that a warrior must remain focused on their battle and block out pain.
She tried to move more like how she'd seen Mama move- strong but shorter strikes. Going for a roundhouse kick to his mid-section, Yanagi put as much force as she could into the strike. Either Papa was acting, or she'd managed to hit him hard enough to catch him off guard. Either way, he'd left himself open!
"Monkey Strike!" Yanagi shouted and struck with a punch aimed at her Papa's face.
Faster than she had expected, Papa righted himself. "Repulse the Monkey!"
His strike to her stomach sent her flying backwards. For a second, it was like she couldn't breathe. Some panic sent in as she was flying through the air. She tried to flip like she had seen Mama do, but she was moving too fast and she was going to crash into the wall and-
Suddenly, Yanagi felt her back slam into something much softer than the wall. With a dazed look, she blinked up her Papa. He was smirking down at her as he held her in his arms. He placed her down onto the ground before making his hand glow green. When his hand touched her stomach, it felt warm and soothing, like the sun's rays. The pain in her stomach and her arm was gone after a few seconds.
"Yanagi, are you alright?" Mama asked when she came over.
Yanagi sat up slowly and looked down at her arm. She was sure that she would have a bruise, but there was nothing there. Feeling incredibly happy and grateful, Yanagi smiled up at her Papa. "Thank you, Papa!"
"You're welcome. You did well, little one. Your kick had quite a bit of force to it," Papa said.
"Did I hurt you, Papa?" Yanagi asked. She tried to see his side, but Papa stopped her hands from trying to pull back his armor.
"It'll be quite some time before you can genuinely hurt me."
"But she did catch you off guard. I almost thought she was going to break your nose," Mama said and chuckled. Papa gave her a mean look, but rolled his eyes. Papa did that a lot, but he never meant it. Papa was grumpy most of the time and he made fun of Mama a lot, but Mama liked to make fun of him too. Grandma Kitty had said that it was how Mama and Papa showed that they loved each other. Sometimes, Yanagi caught them holding hands or hugging. Papa was always quick to stop when she came in the room, but that hadn't stopped her from seeing.
Sometimes, Yanagi wondered if other kids had a Papa like hers. Papa trained with her every day and he was a bit mean sometimes when she did something wrong. But then he would always heal her bad injuries afterwards and praise her when she did things right. Yanagi rubbed her arm again. "Papa, would you teach me to do what you did?"
"Later. It's lunch time now. When you're finished, we'll meditate and I'll show you Repulse the Monkey."
Yanagi shook her head and grabbed his hand. "No. The green thing with your hand. Can you show me how you make it warm?"
Papa's eyes went wide for a second as he stared at her. Even Mama was staring at her now. "Yanagi, you said it feels... warm?" Mama asked.
"Yeah. It feels like sunshine. Papa always feels like sunshine," Yanagi explained. Mama frowned at her, but didn't say anything. Had she said something wrong?
When she felt Papa put his hand on her head, Yanagi looked up at him. He was smiling down at her. "All in due time, little one. All in due time."
~:~
Yanagi shut off the lights in her bathroom and ran back into her room. Mama was pulling back the covers on her bed with a smile. With a giggle, Yanagi ducked and slid onto her bed and let Mama pull the covers over her. Papa was standing at the foot of her bed with his arms folded over his chest. "Papa, can you tell me a story?"
"You want your Papa to tell you a story tonight?" Mama said with a smirk. She looked at Papa from over her shoulder but Papa rolled his eyes at her. "Your Papa knows lots of stories. He's certainly lived long enough to have heard them all."
Yanagi smiled at her Papa and got comfortable.
Papa groaned lowly before walking over to stand next to her. Mama sat on the bed and looked up at Papa. "A very long time ago, three warriors fought for good against the forces of evil. These Xiaolin warriors fought many battles together and did their best to stop an ancient, Heylin witch from conquering the world. During their final battle, the strongest of the three was a Grand Master and he managed to seal the witch away inside a puzzle box. Once the witch was sealed, the side of good had triumphed and the three warriors settled down to build a temple where others could learn martial arts just in case any other Heylin forces came about.
"Sometime later, one of the three warriors was found by a Heylin demon. The demon lied to the warrior and convinced him into giving away his soul in exchange for power and immortality. The warrior was far cleverer than the demon, however. Once he had claimed the power and immortality he wanted, he tricked the demon and sealed it away for 1500 years in another world," Papa said with a smirk.
"Good," Yanagi said with a frown. Papa chuckled and pat her head. "But what happened to the warrior after that, Papa?"
"He became them most powerful Heylin warrior in the world and the Prince of Darkness. It was his destiny, after all," Papa said. Mama rolled her eyes but didn't say anything.
"But you're stronger. Right, Papa?"
Papa smirked and said, "Naturally. The only person who could beat me now is me."
Yanagi settled into her sheets again, satisfied with his answer. "And what about the other Xiaolin warriors?"
"The strongest Grand Master died of an illness not long after the Heylin warrior sealed away the demon. The other Xiaolin warrior spent the next 1500 years still fighting for good and challenged the Heylin warrior many times. Even today, their paths still cross from time to time, but it rarely doesn't end in a battle."
"Don't forget the part where the Heylin warrior meets a beautiful, neutral warrior and falls in love with her," Mama said with a smirk.
"After he bested her in battle and kept her in his home as his prisoner," Papa said. Mama gave Papa a mean look and shoved at his arm.
Yanagi frowned. She didn't know how her parents met, but from how they sounded... "Papa... Does the Heylin warrior have a daughter?"
Papa looked down at her for a while before smirking. "What do you think?"
"That makes his daughter the Princess of Darkness," Yanagi replied with a smile.
"Princess, huh? The Prince would have to become a King then," Papa said. Yanagi let her Mama tuck her in a bit better before she stood next to Papa. "Get some rest, little one. You have much to learn tomorrow."
"More training?" Mama asked with a small frown.
"Tomorrow we work more on academics. A warrior must be well rounded- strong in both battles of the body and mind," Papa said.
"Uh huh. Goodnight, Yanagi," Mama said and kissed her head. Yanagi watched her parents turn off the light and leave the room before she closed her eyes with a sigh.
She was a Princess of Darkness- a Heylin Princess. What was a Heylin Princess supposed to do? What did it mean to be a Heylin Princess? What did it mean to be Heylin? Papa had said the Xiaolin fought for good. Did that make the Heylin bad? Or was it just darkness?
Yanagi opened her eyes and looked around her dark bedroom. There was only a little bit of moonlight coming in through the window, but Yanagi didn't mind the darkness at all. She liked night time and the darkness it brought. Darkness wasn't bad. Darkness and shadows felt like a blanket over everything. She could always feel her tiger instincts best in the dark.
Was she bad? Mama always said that she was a good girl, but if she was Heylin... Papa said that she was walking the warrior's path and that she would one day stand at his side above her enemies. But, she didn't have any enemies. She only had her Papa, Mama, Grandma Kitty and the other jungle cats. If the Xiaolin warriors fight the Heylin warriors, then they had to be her enemies. Papa was a Xiaolin warrior once upon a time. Did that mean you could be both? Papa tricked that Heylin demon in his story. Did that mean other Heylin warriors were her enemy?
Yanagi rolled over with a frown. One of the jungle cats in her room looked at her curiously before yawning and going back to sleep. Papa was the smartest person she knew. If he said someone was their enemy, then he had to be right. She looked down at her hands and made fists. She could still remember how Papa's green magic had looked. "If anyone tries to seal away my Papa, Mama or Grandma, I'll stop them," she promised the darkness.