Author's Note: I just wanted to express my appreciation to all those who have taken the time to read and review my work. All of your input has been very valuable and has helped me grow as a writer. I hope you will continue to read and enjoy my fic. Remember that I am always more than happy to hear what you think! Thanks!
Chapter 5Even from a distance, the trail of smoke above Moon's Point was still visible. Han Sing watched the crumbled remains of his hometown drift farther and farther away onboard the Marvelous Dragonfly. All his memories growing up in the small village went literally up in smoke. He had known a lot of good people in his upbringing and he knew he would never see them again. He hadn't even bothered going back into town, deciding that he'd rather spare himself the horror of watching everything dear to him crumble up close.
Wild Flower seemed to be taking it the hardest. She was sitting on the floor, crying softly over the loss her only home. Dawn Star wrapped her arm around Wild Flower, doing her best to comfort her. There was nothing but silence among the group, only the sound of the engine running could be heard. Sing took one last look at Moon's Point before withdrawing and he sat himself against the wall, filled with sorrow. His mind was focused on Master Tong. He, as well as everyone else on the vehicle, was completely baffled over the disappearance of Tong's body. Not to mention the appearance of this Grey Jackal.
He got up and walked over to the cockpit and told Kang the Mad to set his course for the Great Southern Forest near Tien's Landing. Then he took out the two artifacts that his master gave him before their departure. Someone was supposed to help them when they arrived.
"Master Tong…the village…it's all gone…" Wild Flower bellowed between each sob.
"No, Wild Flower," Sing said. "Somehow I don't think Master Tong is dead. He said he used to be a god. I doubt he could die so easily."
"Then why did he disappear? Why didn't he come with us?" Wild Flower cried.
"I…I don't know, Wild Flower," Sing was at a loss for words. "None of this makes any sense. But I know that Master Tong is out there somewhere."
"I'm sorry, Wild Flower," Sky knelt down beside her. "I could live to be as old as the Empire itself and I could never forget the faces of all those people that died by the hands of the Lotus Assassins."
"There was no stopping it," Hou sighed as he poured tea into cups and passed it around. "The Assassins overwhelmed us. We knew we wouldn't be able to stand up to them all until Kang came swooping down and picked them off. But it was too late; the fire had already been set. The dying was everywhere, one by one the Assassins killed all the villagers and burned down their homes."
"Not to mention that with the Water Dragon's essence gone, there is no one to shepherd the souls of those who died. Thus, the Great Wheel cannot turn. I'm afraid their souls will end up lost wandering in the mortal world," Sun Kin interjected.
"The Great Wheel?" Sing said.
"Yeah," Sky interrupted. "Imagine your life as a wheel. As it turns, you move from birth to death then back to life again. A new life in the Great Wheel is always different and you will have no memory of your previous life, but your spirit will remain the same. Our new life is determined by how we lived our previous life. In striving to achieve harmony, we are a step closer to becoming one with the universe. If one lived a life of evil, a person could be reborn as a demon. But with the Great Wheel unattended, rebirth is not possible."
"Interesting, how do you know all this, Sky?" Sing asked.
Sky gave a sly smirk. "When you live a life as a rogue, you travel quite a bit. It's impossible not to learn a thing or two on your journeys."
"Well then it sounds like you've traveled quite a bit," Sing asked, taking a sip of tea. "But what kind of a ruler would so cruelly slaughter their own innocent people?"
"The kind that my own cousin has become," Dawn Star said with resentment. "Her lust for power was influenced by Kun. She threw her morals and ideals aside for the power that he promised. I never liked her much, but I didn't expect that her ambitions would cloud her judgment."
"I understand it is hard to accept," Sun Kin empathized. "Even I can barely believe that this was the same Lian that once rebelled against her own father's tyranny. Now perhaps she has surpassed him in that aspect. I cannot say that I am proud of her for that."
"Why? Are you jealous that it is she who has the throne and not you?" Sky blurted out.
Everyone was shocked at Sky. Some had already begun to suspect Sky's lack of trust in Kin, but they never imagined that he would express it so openly.
"Sky, what's the matter with you?" Wild Flower replaced her tear-stained face with a scowl.
"Look, we are talking about the man who used to be Death's Hand. Even if he is free who knows what kind of dark influence he may have? I'm not comfortable that he's traveling with us." Sky narrowed his eyes at Kin.
"Please, I assure you, I mean no harm to any of you. I just merely wish to redeem myself for my past sins," Kin said.
"Sky, you and I were bounded by the same power, too," Hou pointed out. "We turned out fine."
"No, I could sense something was different about him in that armor. Something evil that separated him from us," Sky countered. "Besides, he comes from a family that has been corrupted by the pursuit of power. Who's to say he wasn't planning on taking the Water Dragon's power himself if he had the chance during the fall of Dirge? He's probably using our help to get rid of Lian so he can assume the throne."
Dawn Star's face hardened, she jumped up and faced Sky. "Oh, and what about me? Are you saying that I am like my father and my uncle before him?"
"No…but," Sky's expression loosened. "Dawn Star, you're different…"
"Don't give me that, Sky!" Dawn Star snapped. "Uncle Kin has shown me he has good intentions. Remember that he saved our lives at Dirge, including yours. You should be thanking him, not treating him as a suspect."
"Well, that may be so, but I'm not going to let my guard down."
Sing appeared right between them. "Alright, that's enough! I won't have us arguing amongst ourselves. Look Sky, I understand your concerns, but I agree with Dawn Star, Kin has put himself at personal risk to save us and I trust him. Things are already bad enough so we need to stand together if we are going to get through all of this, alright?"
Sky turned his gaze to Sun Kin, who returned a pleading stare. He looked back at Sing and Dawn Star, eager to hear his response. Something was definitely in his mind, but he decided not to share it yet.
"Fine," Sky conceded, not wanting to press the subject any further. He turned and sat himself away from the rest and swallowed down the tea that Hou prepared. Kin felt a bit uncomfortable after that argument, but he figured it was best to let Sky calm down. More than ever, he wanted to prove to them that he was worthy of their trust.
There was another moment of silence among them. Dawn Star went and sat down on her own spot. Sing was still standing, still thinking about Master Tong. Then, without warning…
"Um…everyone!" Sing raised his voice for all to hear. Everyone gave his full attention, even Kang who was navigating the Dragonfly. "I have a request to make. I know this make sound a bit silly, but from this moment I am abandoning the name of Han Sing. My master gave me the title of "Silent Star" as a child and I wish to honor him by retaining that title. So would you all refer to me as such from now on?"
Everyone nodded in unison. No one could question his request for the sake of Master Tong. Satisfied, Silent Star bowed and sat next to Dawn Star. He was greeted with a smile and a look of curiosity from her.
"Could I have a word with you in private?" Dawn Star asked shyly.
"Uh…sure," Silent Star replied. He had wanted to talk to Dawn Star for a long time. The two got up and went into the cargo room in the back and closed the door. There was a bench nearby and they both sat down.
"I just wanted to say thank you for sticking up for Uncle Kin and me out there." Dawn Star said.
"Don't mention it, I was just try help. Besides, I know that your uncle is a good man." Silent Star replied.
"I know. By the way, I wanted to ask you about your title your master gave you. That is an interesting title," Dawn Star said. "Why were you given that title?"
Silent Star grinned. "Oh, my master gave me that name because on the day he and Wild Flower found me as a baby, there was a falling star that landed on the earth that seemed to make no impact or sound. My master thinks it was an omen, but I have no idea of what it means. But what about you, Dawn Star? I've been meaning to ask you for a while. You have an unusual name too."
"I was named for a red glow opposite the morning sun on the night when Dirge fell to my uncle, Emperor Sun Hai." Dawn Star explained. "That red glow was Dirge burning. I was born at that time in the Imperial Palace, the only place in the Empire where the red glow could be seen. I think because of that omen, I was given a strange ability to sense and communicate with dead spirits."
"You can talk to the dead?"
Dawn Star nodded. "Yes, I remember I was shunned by many people in Two Rivers because of my powers. People grew afraid and wary of me because they thought I was conjuring up the dead."
"That must be hard on you, Dawn Star," Silent Star said softly. "I know what that's like. People in Moon's Point always teased me saying I was mute because of my title, so I decided to take on my family name, whom my master told me was "Han."
"Thank you, it is nice to know that someone knows what I went through," Dawn Star smiled graciously.
"You're welcome. But if you were born into royalty, how did you end up in Two Rivers?" Silent Star asked tentatively.
Dawn Star frowned. "My father, Sun Li betrayed his brother the Emperor at Dirge. As a response, he ordered that my mother and I be killed. I had just been born when the Lotus Assassins killed my mother and was about to kill me too, but one of them had a change of heart and killed his comrades. He escaped with me and brought me to my father, who went into hiding in Two Rivers and assumed the identity of a simple martial arts master. He raised me at the school, never knowing that I was his daughter. All my life, I longed to know who my parents were. I was appalled when I found out what kind of person my father really was. Growing up, he was the only one who accepted me despite my strange powers. Actually two, my father and him."
"Him?" Silent Star echoed.
"Kun the Immortal Phoenix," Dawn Star said. "We grew up together and became best friends in Two Rivers. Whenever I was down, he was always there for me. We were inseparable. He always had a special place in my heart."
"Did you…love him?" Silent Star asked.
Dawn Star shrugged. "I…I thought I did. He always encouraged me to strive to be the best I can. His confidence made me feel like I can take on the world. Even when Two Rivers was destroyed, he was always there to talk and to reassure me that everything would be okay. But then, he changed. When my father betrayed and killed him, Kun wandered the Spirit Realm. When the Water Dragon restored him, he was different. He was cold and distant. It seemed like the only thing he had in mind was getting revenge on my father. I think death had changed him for the worst. When he defeated my father…well you know what happened next."
"That must be heartbreaking for you, Dawn Star. I can't fathom how you must have felt to see the goodness of someone you care about disappear."
Dawn Star forced a smile. "I appreciate your concern. But, being bounded all those years has changed me too. It has strengthened my resolve and I've grown to be stronger because of it."
"That's good to hear. So if you were born in the royal family, that should make you a princess, right?"
"Yes, by tradition I would be. But given the circumstances after my birth, I was forced out of the palace. My cousin, Sun Lian grew up as a princess while I had to away from heavy attention, never knowing my true heritage until later in life."
"Well, for what it's worth, I think you would have been a wonderful princess," Silent Star said awkwardly.
Dawn Star flushed pink. "That's a sweet thing to say. But I'm sorry; I've been talking your ear off about my past. Thank you for listening."
"It's alright. I enjoy talking to you. It looks like we have things in common. We were both named 'Star' and we share the loss of our hometowns."
"Yes we do. I'm…glad we met, Silent Star," Dawn Star said, smiling.
"Me too." Silent Star smiled back. "Um...Dawn Star, do you have, you know...an actual name?"
Dawn Star began to shake her head, but then a thought popped in her mind. She remembered what Sun Kin told her about her mother. She thought about Silent Star's request about his name. Then, she began to think about the same thing.
"Yes, it's Wei," Dawn Star said, smiling at the fact that Silent Star doesn't know the whole deal. "Sun Wei."
"Wow, that's a beautiful name," Silent Star marveled. "What would you rather have me call you?"
"You know, I think I am starting to like my real name." Dawn Star said.
"Alright then, Sun Wei it is." Silent Star acknowledged.
For a moment, they both stared into each other's eyes. It was as if they were lost in a dream. That moment seemed to take an eternity. Their faces slowly moved closer...then stopped. Sun Wei broke the gaze and looked away as Silent Star broke his too. They faced away from each other, feeling a bit awkward.
"Thank you for this talk. I hope we can discuss this more in the future," Wei said, still not facing the other "Star."
Before Silent Star could respond, the cargo door flew open and Sky popped in.
"Hey, if you two are done playing Seven Minutes in Heaven, we have a problem outside," Sky said with frustration.
The two 'Stars' quickly glanced at each other, red-faced. Then rushing of the cargo room. They rejoined the rest of the group.
"What's going on?" Silent Star demanded.
Wild Flower came up and grabbed Silent Star's arm. "We're nearing Tien's Landing, but there are Imperial capital ships in the area and they've spotted us! There's no doubt that they're going to attack us!"
Silent Star looked out the side window and saw four massive capital ships off in the distance, each being propelled by four afterburners, sails firmly in the air. On the side of the ships was an insignia of a red hand with a black lotus in palm.
"It's the Lotus Assassins!" Silent Star exclaimed. "But what are they doing here in Tien's Landing?"
"We can discuss that later, for now we have to evade them," Sun Kin said.
Silent Star ran up to the cockpit to meet Kang. "Kang! You've designed those flyers, right? So you know how to deal with them, right?"
"Erm, yes, I did!" Kang said. "I made sure no flyer would have the kind of maneuverability the Marvelous Dragonfly has. Those capital ships cannot hit us. But the Mosquito flyers may be a problem."
"Look! They're releasing the Mosquito flyers!" Wei yelled.
True to her word, they could see five miniature flyers that were half the size of the Marvelous Dragonfly swarmed out of the hangars of each of the four capital ships. They flew in squads of five in a "V" formation. In time, the Mosquito flyers caught up to the Dragonfly and began firing their cannons. Kang swerved the Dragonfly in a zigzag motion, just barely avoiding the shots being rained on it.
"They're coming in too fast! There's too many of them!" Wild Flower shrieked.
On the cockpit, Kang was pulling a series of switches while avoiding the attacks of the enemy flyers. "Fire at my Dragonfly, will they. I've got some tricks of my own."
The floor inside the Dragonfly flipped open and two chairs came up with a cannon in front of each. The two turrets moved and secured themselves on the starboard and port side of the Dragonfly. The cannons protruded out the window of each side. Everyone looked at them in surprise. Kang looked back at them.
"I need two of you to man those turrets and try to shoot them down."
Silent Star jumped on the starboard side while Sky had the port side. Kang made a dive just low enough to be right above the trees. The idea was to keep enemy flyers from attacking from under them. Sky and Silent Star began targeting flyers and firing back as they made passes around the Dragonfly. They were not used to the controls, but they managed to get the hang of them quickly enough. Two Mosquito flyers swooped down from above and hit their mark as their cannon fire struck the Dragonfly in the rear. The impact shook the Dragonfly and knocked everyone inside off balance. Small embers burned in the back, leaving behind a trail of smoke above the afterburner.
"We're hit!" Wei yelled in panic.
"The damage is not bad. We're not out of this yet!" Kang reassured.
Sky and Silent Star regained their posture and continued to fire upon the other flyers. A cluster of three flyers came from the port side, giving Sky a large area of target. He pointed his cannon in the general direction and fired two shots. Both hit the two front flyers and the third one from behind ran into the flaming debris; all three exploded and fell to the earth.
"Foxes-eye!" Sky yelled in glee.
The enemy flyers began to spread out more as a result, now they were literally coming from all directions, making them harder to hit. Silent Star focused on just one, ignoring the rest. Once he got a feel for the targeted flyer's flight pattern, he made his move and blew the flyer into a fiery explosion. Another passing by starboard side slowed down, possibly distracted from the previous explosion, giving Silent Star enough time to land his next shot onto the unfortunate flyer, engulfing it into flames. But their celebration was short lived when the two shooters ran out of dragon powder.
"Oh no! We're out of powder! Kang do you have extra powder?" Sky called out.
"Uh…well, no," Kang said sheepishly. "I didn't expect we would come up against so many flyers."
"Oh great! Now what are we going to do?" Sky let himself fall on the seat's back.
The Dragonfly suddenly shook hard again. The shock threw everyone off balance again. This time, the ceiling caved in and smoke was filling up the Dragonfly. Everyone was coughing hard and they struggled to open the other window to let the smoke out. The Dragonfly was beginning to become more unstable and shaky. It didn't look like it could take much more damage.
"No! One more hit and we may be done for!" Hou screamed.
"Hey! The flyers are pulling out! I think they are returning to refill their cannons! We can't afford another wave of attacks, we'll be shot down for sure!" Wild Flower exclaimed.
The Mosquito flyers pulled back and flew towards the capital ships. The hangars on the four cruisers opened up to reveal ship personnel ready to refill the small flyers' arsenal. Kang gritted his teeth, thinking hard on what they could do. Then, it hit him…
"Oh, I hoped we didn't come to this," Kang muttered, then he reached under his seat and pulled out a small black cube the size of a melon. The cube was chalky and more resembled a chunk of coal more than anything. He turned around to the group.
"Sing…er I mean Silent Star! Take this and load it into the cannon and fire it into one of the capital ships!" Kang reached his hand with the black cube. Silent Star took it in his hands carefully.
"Okay! But what is it?"
"Don't ask questions, just do it!" Kang said.
Without further question, Silent Star opened up the loading compartment of the cannon and slid the cube inside. He shut the compartment and aimed the cannon at the closest cruiser off in the horizon. He steadied his aim and squeezed the lever. The black cube launched out of the Dragonfly and towards the fleet. They group watched anxiously as they watched the new line of enemy flyers almost ready for their next attack. The cube punctured the side of the targeted capital ship and disappeared inside. Nothing happened. They all watched in horror as the new swarm of enemy flyers began to fly out.
"Kang! Nothing happened, we're done for now for sure!" Wild Flower yelled.
In the cockpit, Kang had a smile on his face. In one hand, he had a small box with a switch in it. "I'm going to miss that extra Inscrutable Power Source…but the results will be worth it."
With that, Kang flipped the switch. From the Dragonfly's windows, the group saw a massive explosion from the ship with the Inscrutable Power Source that quickly engulfed the other three cruisers and the nearby flyers in a matter of seconds. The blast seemed to cover every inch of the sky and blinded everyone like a bright sun. The enemy ships were no more as well as the several hundred acres of forest from under it. Everyone watched in shock, but eventually turned to cheer as they had beaten their pursuers. Clapping and laughter filled the Dragonfly. Though sustaining considerable damage and was running quick unstable, the Dragonfly was holding up. Everyone was expressing their praise to Kang.
"Kang, my man! You're a genius!" Sky patted the inventor on the back.
"You are truly worthy of the name 'Mad!' Wild Flower rolled her eyes.
"I'm glad to be on your side!" Silent Star joked.
"That was the biggest crater yet!"Wei beamed.
"They'll think twice now that they know who they're up against!" Kin pointed at Kang.
"That was SCARY!" Hou screamed.
Silent Star jumped into the cockpit right beside Kang. "Alright, Kang! Onward to the Great Southern Forest!"
"Alright then, hold on, this may be quite a rough landing!" Kang steadied the Dragonfly as best he could.
"Next time, I'll try two Inscrutable Power Sources!" Kang grinned as he pulled the thrusters to their next destination.
Well, well, that was quite a ride, huh? Lots of explosions (I love Kang to death)! Anways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. One thing though, if you guys think the name changes for Han Sing to Silent Star and Dawn Star to Sun Wei is a dumb idea, or is just too confusing, let me know and I can change it back to their original names. I just thought it would be a cool idea to have. Let me know what you guys think!