Shai woke up earlier than usual - the sky was still dark, its deep blue canvas painted with white stars that were beginning to fade away.
She looked around her new room. It was about three sizes bigger than her usual one. It seemed too big.
Shai had an uneasy, sickly sinking feeling well up inside her - the same feeling she felt when she knew her brother had broken out of prison. She sighed and shook her head.
She grabbed a painting canvas, her paints and the brushes; she sat it near the large, open window. She brought a chair over, and just before she sat down, a light knock sounded on her door.
She cautiously made her way to it and slowly opened it to find the Soothsayer standing there.
"May I enter," she asked. Shai nodded, then shut the door behind the Soothsayer.
"Is there something wrong," Shai questioned.
The Soothsayer turned to her, "I could ask you the same thing."
She sat on the floor and placed a small brown sac on the floor.
"Do you have a bowl in here," she asked.
Shai nodded, confused at her question, then grabbed a blue and white bowl from the small table near the window.
"Thank you," Soothsayer said as Shai handed the bowl to her.
She grabbed one of Shai's cloths and ripped off a corner, placing it in the bowl. As Shai knelt down, Soothsayer reached out and pulled a few hairs from her head and put those in the bowl, too.
"What on Earth are you doing," Shai asked, ignoring the dull pain.
Soothsayer looked up at her as she grabbed a handful of powder from the sac.
"I am going to tell you your fortune, young Shai," she said simply.
She threw the powder into the bowl - a snapping sound followed by a big plume of smoke rising from the bowl that lit up the darkness. The figure of a yellow-pink leopard formed in the smoke.
"A Master of Spirits," Soothsayer began, "One who sees the light in things others cannot." Two other figures - a white peacock and a green bull - appeared next to the first which had changed colour to purple. "Will change the souls of evil," she continued as the figures joined together, then disappeared.
--
As she painted, Shai couldn't stop thinking about what the Soothsayer showed her.
When she looked up to the horizon, the sky was turning brilliant shades of pink, orange and blue. The dark purple and silver of her silk shirt sparkled in the early morning rays.
She heard a knock on the door, causing her ear to twitch at the sudden banging.
"Master Shai Lung?"
It was Zen.
"You may enter," Shai responded, not looking up from doing her final touches on the painting.
The door creaked open, and Zen walked over to her. She looked over Shai's broad shoulder at the painting, her eyes going wide in awe like how Shai's did when she had entered the Palace.
"That is incredible," Zen exclaimed.
Shai chuckled as she finished the last detailed branch of a Peach-tree. The painting was of the Sacred Peach-tree, when the sun would hit that perfect spot beyond the mountains as it rose every morning.
"It looks a lot better in real life," Shai said, turning to face Zen who smiled.
"You definitely have an amazing talent, Master Shai Lung."
Now Shai smiled.
The memory of when her and Tai would paint together as children played in her mind - how she missed those days.
Shai cleared her throat and moved toward the end of the bed in the middle of the huge room.
"So," she began, changing the subject, "What brings you here this morning, Zen?"
A look of rememberance crossed the pig's face.
"Oh! Master Rhino wanted me to come and see if you were awake, and to bring you down for training," she replied quickly.
Shai nodded and gestured toward the door, "Lead the way."
--
"Good morning, Master Shai Lung," Master Rhino's booming voice bounced off the walls of the Palace.
Shai hurried down the last of the red stairs toward her hosts.
She bowed, "Good morning, Masters of Gonmen."
They returned the gesture, then all four straightened.
"Thank you, Zen," Master Croc nodded, "That will be all for now."
Zen bowed, smiling at Shai as she scurried off.
"So, shall we begin our training," Master Ox asked, eager to get started.
Shai chuckled inwardly as Rhino gave a curt nod.
"If it is okay with you, Shai Lung, you will go first in sparring with Croc or Ox," he stated as they walked out the front doors of the Palace.
In front of them was a large stone pad, which Shai guessed was their Training Arena.
"Of course," she replied.
"I will spar with her first," Ox announced, causing the others to give him a raised eyebrow.
He chuckled nervously, "If that is okay with you, Master Shai Lung."
She laughed at his antics. "That's fine by me," she answered, making Ox's eyes shine with excitement, "And, please, call me Shai."
"You may choose a weapon from the rack, if you wish," Croc said, motioning to the wall behind them.
Shai smirked and shook her head, "No weapon needed."
Ox and Croc let out a laugh of skepticism as Rhino chuckled.
"Are you sure," Ox asked as he got in a battle stance on his side, "I will not be going easy on you."
Shai went to her side, "I would have it no other way."
She stood there, hands behind her back and eyes closed.
"I'm ready when you are," she announced.
The other Masters exchanged looks of confusion. Ox regained his training composure; Shai felt the air grow tense. She took a deep breath.
Rhino hit the butt of his warhammer on the stone, "Begin!"
Ox ran toward Shai, his axe raised - her ear twitched. Just when his axe was a few inches from her face, she caught the blade between her hands. Her red-yellow eyes snapped open and seemed to dig deep into Ox's soul.
She smirked and quirked an eyebrow, then kicked him in the gut while simultaneously letting go of the blade. He flew backwards, but landed on his feet.
"Not bad," he smiled, spinning the axe in his grasp, "But you should've taken my weapon from me: Mistake no.1."
He advanced toward her again, but Shai dropped to the ground and took his legs out from underneath him. She quickly stood, then slipped the axe out of Ox's hand as he continued falling.
He face-planted into the stone, but he hastily recovered, standing to face her once again. Shai swung the axe in a circle beside her, and he charged at her again. She leapt up, spinning herself as she did.
When she was above his head, she grabbed one of his horns and swung back around. Her feet strongly planted themselves in the middle of his back, and he fell to the ground.
With one hand grasping his horn, and the other holding his own axe to his throat, Shai smirked down at him.
"Lesson number one: Don't underestimate your opponent by his or her size," she said as she stepped of him and held out a hand for him to take.
Master Ox hesitated, then took her hand. Shai easily pulled him up, then handed the axe back.
Master Croc glanced between the two and Master Rhino who was smiling proudly.
"Now I know I have truly made the right decision in calling you here," Rhino stated.
Shai looked over at him.
"Yes. You are an exceptional warrior. You have great skill," Master Ox agreed, smiling down at her.
Shai shrugged.
"And just think," she began, turning back to Ox and playfully punching him in the arm, "I was going easy on you."
Ox's smile broadened. Croc was about to say something when the gates burst open.