"As the moon sings with your sun within your being, could the mountain be your path and your step walking onwards ? "
Those were the beautiful words he recollected - he, Zhang Meiyi, very last descendant of the legendary general Wei Zhang Junyi, the Beautiful Peacock - as die and suffer living things and beings, oh that very last ray that could have been, their very first light...
Disclaimer : I don't own Koei's characters…
Hello, guys and girls. I am Lord Ma-koto Chaoying. That is my first fanfiction. So far I've read your works, and I really enjoyed it !
Don't hesitate to point out any mistakes or to comment ! Thus, thanks to you, I'll improve at English. (Yes, I'm French. ^_^)
This story isn't really the beginning of a story, rather an extract... That's why I've put a little summary.
Having become a high-ranked general of the kingdom Wei, the Winds Peacock – that was at present his other name – ought to have inherited something of his amazing ancestor, Zhang He of Wei. Like the late Beautiful Peacock, this age-old love of beauty seemed to thrill his being, every time he approached it. And he looked like him so much, with his such feminine, yet determined bearing ! "And light and shade which together, make an enthralling painting, like the path of a human being unfolded within them", as a young warrior - that little Zhang Meiyi - is pursuing his way, step by step, again and again, forever and ever, discovering the treasure of Universe.
But… little by little, weary of the crimes he had on his conscience the young man had become more and more distract and irritable, despite his friends' remarks and his own efforts to remain a good soldier. Thinking he managed to dispel his doubts, he thought that, henceforth, he would be able to lead the life of a soldier Wei.
But everything changes, when during a mission, he meets an unknown warrior in a village, who seems to fight as if with the magic of universe, able to mingle with some fierce enemies that attacked him one day, without harming them. Almost despite himself, and despite the danger, the strict rules of the camp Wei, Zhang Meiyi comes back, every night, to watch the strange warrior, who protects the peasants, and practices alone training in the nature. But one night, a sentry saw him, without his noticing…
Title : "Peacock and Dragon"
Based on : Dynasty Warriors and "Le Paon et le Dragon à l'Aube du Crépuscule" (The Peacock and the Dragon at the dawn of the twilight)
By : Lord Ma-koto Chaoying
___
(…)
He ran. He ran through the woods, so fast that it seemed he was flying off, the winds blew him along, as the sabres sparkled with a myriad lights to the moon. Then he stopped, as if he was transfixed.
What the hell…
Below him, a little shrub. And on the shrub, a worm.
He had knocked the little tree against his foot. Human beings aren't perfect, but not being able to feel so many emotions as nature approaches you… that was too much for Zhang Meiyi ! Too much ! Too much !
He sat on the ground, letting himself go among the twigs, as he looked away from the shrub to contemplate the immense sky, as deep as his endless quest, tearless heart.
Shrub that I hit,
Why don't I feel, as growing in my empty plant
Your life that animates my heart ?
Why, dear object that are next to me,
Can only soar in my numb being
Only a thought of usefulness ?
Confused and furious, as only tears of that anger came to his eyes, he suddenly got up, and his face turned to the sky, singing a song without words.
Rock of heaven, spirits of the world and of the beyond…
I find no signs of you
No marks in me
Which together would have been, and a beautiful shared drawing,
And a so wonderful, so joyful brush !
As if with total madness, he staggered around the little forest, blinking like a blind person. Who was he yet ?
You human beings, you animals, you that I kill…
It's too much for me !
Who am I
Where am I going ?
Courage ! Can't you drive on my heart ?
The worm fell off the shrub. Trapped among the pebbles, it wriggled desperately. Not knowing why he did this, the Winds Peacock came near it, and helped it, so that the animal could crawl again on the grass.
If you meet thousand worms suffering on the ground,
Si tu rencontres mille vers de terre souffrant par terre,
You will bend down thousand times to give it your tenderness.
Tu te baisseras mille fois pour lui donner ta tendresse.
Who taught him that ? Who told him that ?
The young general tried to recollect, as he contemplated the path drawn by the worm. As if… he remembered something, through this so strange, but so human experience.
A experience of light and shadow… a play on all the shades of a painting, whose sense was life and death, with a brush of love as art of war, whose colours were the beauty of light and shadow, harmony of life and chaos.
And that brush was the sabre of his love.
An ancient legend told that, the being who would find the way leading the centre of universe, would always win all battles, never harming any opponent.
Could he become such a warrior ?
If you see an immense and scaring mountain which opposes you,
Si tu vois une immense et effrayante montagne qui s'oppose,
You will be the unshakeable strength of the mountain.
Tu seras la force inébranlable de la montagne.
A wonderful thing waits within you
Une merveilleuse chose t'attend, du fond de toi
That only asks one to be given…
Qui ne demande qu'à être donnée…
Suddenly, he was transfixed. Then he realized, that the way showed by the crawling worm, led to the glade where he had so many times contemplated this so amazing warrior, that jet-black eyed spearman, who looked like a dragon.
And he was here.
He was practicing the art of life, in the art of fight. His spear span around his body, glistening by marvellous sparkles, as wonderful as the radiance of his face.
The Little Dragon.
Sometimes, how could human beings reach the heights of real beauty, when they sincerely love what they were doing, from the bottom of their heart ! And the jet-black eyed warrior wasn't only loving fight : he was loving the world. Moved, Zhang Meiyi contemplated him, tears filling his eyes.
I even don't know your name.
We may die, we may kill, we may part forever : and I even don't know your name.
Zhang Meiyi stared at that so mysterious warrior, who seemed to be dancing with the whole universe, as the movements of the kata mingled with the most humble blade of grass, as immense as the sparkling azure firmament.
I don't know your name.
The wind blows with love living in fight, that united and his movements of fight, and his living being with universe, even through the most violent battle, even in front of the fiercest opponent.
I just know your soul.
For a moment, the warrior's movements seemed to stop. He seemed to remain still, as if he was thinking, thinking about how to go on.
War or peace,
Paix ou guerre,
The samurai looks for his way
Le samouraï cherche son chemin
And tastes the life of universe, rediscovering his energies.
Et goûte la vie de l'univers, retrouvant ses forces.
While the impossible test, is born the solution and the flower of his courage, each time.
Tandis que de l'impossible épreuve, naît la solution et son courage renaissant chaque fois.
He, Zhang Meiyi, who was called the Winds Peacock, also remained silent. In harmony with nature and the strange warrior who brought back a dragon in its quest, he was prying in his heart.
Let this movement live… let your spear live, your body ! Thus they fly off to a limitless paradise !
The attention drifting with the world,
L'attention voguant avec le monde,
Intention coming from the depths of the sun getting up
Intention venant des profondeurs du soleil levant
And of our heart.
Et de notre cœur.
Humble warrior in all position
Guerrier humble en toute situation
Walking an eternal way as his heart.
Marchant un chemin éternel comme son cœur.
Then the warrior fled off.
Was that the kata of a fight, or a prayer for the world ? Or both ?
The Winds Peacock couldn't have answered, and that didn't matter. Nothing mattered, but contemplating this strange jet-black eyed warrior.
The divine flower…
It's the golden flower that transforms his soul into a vase of love, his body into an inferno of life. And as he lets the movements of fight take shape by themselves, loving, he draws the life.
No, the Little Dragon wasn't afraid anymore, he didn't feel guilty anymore, nor confused. His eyes shines with joy and faith for life, and his movements of fight had reach their limitless height !
And his wonderful eyes met the Winds Peacock's.
The Bird of battles quivered.
I watch you,
And a wind blows in my heart.
A wind, through my tiredness…
That mingles with my breath,
I'm listening to it.
It is the ancient Love that expresses itself in everything
That even welcomes the highest mountain Aite, opponent enemy !
With a joy, with tears
An amazing love
That lives to
The most violent fight.
Starting to cry, Zhang Meiyi intended to turn back, to leave. He had to leave ! How could he contemplate a warrior, when that warrior was an enemy, and he a killer ? As the world suffered, as he was betraying his clan, as he was doing nothing but worsening things by contemplating an enemy ?
Then, the Little Dragon said that words.
_ Don't leave…
And yet, he had to…
I am a warrior
And there is only my joy.
I see life,
And its light carries me away as beyond skies,
Where the divine flower covers the planet.
The divine flower…
He had to leave. What would say his master, his clan if they noticed he came late, because… because there was no because, as there was just an enemy ?
Without showing his face, only his back, he wanted to flee. But he couldn't make the least move. What was holding him ?
He realized that he was nearly crying. How long hadn't he cried that sort of tears ? How long ?
To renew one's bonds with universe
Renouer ses liens avec l'univers
Is not the heart haunted
N'est pas le cœur hanté,
By the spectre of the strain.
Par le fantôme de la contrainte.
That is just that the path and the quest require efforts to find again the long-standing present,
C'est juste que le chemin et la quête demandent effort pour retrouver le cadeau de toujours,
There in the depths of the heart of the world, our heart…
Là au fond du cœur du monde, du nôtre…
Where the joy enlightens so much the being, that he can just cry tears of joy.
Où la joie irradie tant l'être, qu'il ne pourra plus jamais que pleurer de joie.
Zhang Meiyi shivered.
How long, how long, those limitless tears in him. That sorrow, a so long time ago, that it seemed that never and everlasting were the same word.
Effort will become again pleasure,
Effort redeviendra plaisir,
With something that goes beyond skies…
Avec quelque chose qui va au delà des cieux…
No, no, escape, escape ! That can't exist ! That…
He stopped, by now still, as his head bowed.
That can't be.
Then, the so gentle voice, yet of a little dragon, spoke again.
_ Will you come back ?
He had turned back like a coward, knowing that he couldn't come back, violent as his heartbeats were. He would like not to be a Wei.
_ I…
That was his last words, before he escaped.
There in the depths of the heart of the world, our heart…
Là au fond du cœur du monde, du nôtre…
I shall give my life.
Je donnerais ma vie.
He would like not to be his enemy.
…
Lord Ma-koto Chaoying