Chapter 8
When the news was broken, the twins aren't the only ones who were shocked. The rest of the five were just as shocked. Jian just stared at his mother, totally speechless, while Azure tried to give off the same reaction... but there was a gleam in her eye.
It was dawn several days later, when they all gathered outside the Hall of Heroes. The house they had occupied their entire childhood was now vacant, but Oogway was given the key; he had helped her get that house, so in her mind it was rightfully his. Oogway assured her the house would not be going anywhere; if they chose to live there themselves they could. They were asked about it already; once they were able to live on their own, its theirs.
Azure and Jian stood to watch Tigress being handed a sealed parchment. "They're now legally under your watch." Master Oogway said with delight, as Sying reached out to them. They moved into her embrace quickly, and felt her arms around them.
"It won't be forever... can we come visit?"
"Of course, once I have a place of my own." Living with her sister's family will be enough of a squeeze. "But for now, I'll come see you when I can."
Neither of them said anything... "We wish you the best of luck all the same!" Monkey spoke hastily, making sure the silence didn't linger too long. "You looked after us very well."
"We can't thank you enough for welcoming us here at the start Sying." Viper said sweetly.
"If you ever need anything..." Crane began, before Sying raised a paw.
"Nonsense. You all promising to look out for Jian and Azure is more then enough for me," she spoke as she moved to Tigress. Placing a paw on her shoulder, she smiled at her brightly. "I can't thank you enough..."
Tigress nodded into a slight bow, before raising an eyebrow to Azure and Jian, who just grinned sheepishly. "I'll keep them in line."
"There's no denying that." Everyone but Shifu and Jian laughed at Azure's remark.
"They've been warned if they don't behave." Chuckling, Sying finally turned to Shifu and Oogway as Monkey and Crane offered to walk her to the Valley's exit. "I thank you greatly for the past fourteen years."
"Our pleasure." Oogway spoke for both of them, while Shifu remained mute.
What he did do was bow to her respectfully, before he finally said; "Have a safe trip."
Sying nodded slowly, before facing her two children one more time. Shifu's eyes moved to the ground when they went in for another hug. "Keep going," she whispered to them softly.
They didn't speak anymore, and watched her walk away. They stood at the top of the steps and stared until their mother became a blob that moved down the steps. There was a moment where she stopped, turned, and gave them one finally wave goodbye while Crane and Monkey accompanied her, saying they would escort her to the valley's entrance. Tigress, Mantis and Viper glanced at Master Shifu, who watched Jian and Azure steadily, before softly exhaling through the nose, turning, and limping away. Oogway watched him too, shaking his head a little, before following him.
Jian was still staring down the steps when Azure glanced at him to notice his stiffened jaw, and enclosed fists. He finally turned to her touch. "You okay?" He asked her.
"Sure- are you?"
"Sure." Looking back down the steps, she was finally gone from their sight. "We'll be okay without her... right?"
Azure smiled reassuringly, despite the twisted feeling dwelling in her chest. "You will be."
There was no one else with her now.
Sying threaded lightly through the bamboo forest; the sun was just starting to set behind the hills just up ahead, and with some luck, she'll be at up the first hill before night fall. There was an Inn there for her to spend the night, and with the snow that was freshly falling, she would soon be in at the start of the winter cliffs...
That's where Chor Gom was, somewhere within the V's of the mountain's spaces...
There was a feeling of uneasiness dwelling in her chest; surely Tai Lung wouldn't know she was passing by? Sying hadn't gone back since the day he was imprisoned, and never did she send him a letter. At least, not since the one to tell him about Jian and Azure...
Her heart twisted a little at the thought of her children. Her own flesh and blood; she didn't want to leave them, what parent would? They've dealt with many hardships, each one with big smiles, protecting one another; it was them against the world. They were in good hands; Tigress would protect them no matter what... she was doing this for them. Sacrifices have to be made, she thought.
The snow now had imprints trailing behind her, and when the wind started picking up, her pace only quickened, and the hold of the cloak was a lot tighter. The Inn was just in sight now; the storm was about to hit, so she ran the last few feet to get to the door.
A series of rasps against the door stirred the occupant inside. The door opened slowly, as if to prepare for the gust of wind to send the door flying. Sying's hood feel from her head, and lapped around her shoulder.
"..." The rhino was right in front of her, blinking down at her in confusion.
"... Li?" Her voice whispered.
"Sying." He replied, before noticing the winds picking up. "Come in!" He watched her stumble past him, and shut the door tightly.
"I thought this was the Inn-"
"Closed a long time ago. Only me living here." Sying looked around; the house only had one level and every room was in reach; the kitchen and dining area in one corner, his bed crammed in the other, and the bathroom just by the door. It was simple; but lacked in feminine upkeeping. Looking around silently, Sying turned back around once she heard the wind howling outside a little softer when the door was closed. Li was still back the door, and waiting for her to lock eyes with him, before he smiled at her gently. "How... how are you?" Li guided her to the table, and made her a cup of tea. There they talked as the dinner bubbled on the stove. Time wasted away, and after a hearty bowl of broth, she got to ask him;
"What's been happening with you?"
Li smiled at her again, placing his spoon into the empty bowl. "Since we last spoke, I've left Chor Gom." He saw Sying's face fall a little. "Last time I saw him..." his eyebrows raised a little. "He was no different."
"How did he take the news of the children?" That was the biggest thing laying on her mind; he never attempted to escape, at least nothing was said to her about him.
"He was... shocked, to say the least." Li scratched the back of his neck uneasily. "He didn't talk much; I gave him the scroll about the children. I told him myself you had them..." He sucked air through his teeth.
"What are you doing now that you've left?"
Li's smiled became more firm at her question. " You said it yourself; I wasn't going to last in there, and I didn't."
"What are you doing now?"
...
"I'm trying to find my happiness."
3 Months later...
Life without their mom became bearable a lot quicker then Jian had expect.
The first few days were rough; he didn't have much of an appetite for a day or two; he slept a lot, or wasted the day away just lazing under the peach tree. Azure was similar, but made the attempt to eat and train to take her mind off of everything. By the end of the week, living in the Palace was close enough to normal: Mom just wasn't around, and Tigress was in her place. Not that they started calling her 'mom' instead, she was still 'Master Tigress', regardless. They trained every single day, separate from the official Master's for most of their classes.
Shifu didn't change all that much; he didn't sit with them for dinner since the Furious Five was formed. He and Oogway would eat together elsewhere, and that was the only time no one ever disturbed them. Not that Oogway would mind, but Shifu made it clear that anything that was spoken between them was private, and no one was to interrupt.
Such meetings became more frequent when Master Thundering Rhino suddenly came to the Valley out of the blue; he never encountered Azure and Jian before, but was good to hide any anxiety upon first meeting them. They bowed to him on arrival respectively, with Tigress and Shifu watching close by.
"It's nice to finally meet you." Azure said with a smile. Jian just remained in his bow until she was done talking, only then he straightened up, watching her with a questioning gaze. Shifu raised his eyebrows uncertainly, before Master Rhino cracked a smile at her; he was good at hiding any uneasiness or discomfort it seemed.
"Must we go ahead with our scheduled meeting?" Shifu asked, trying to move things along. "It must be urgent if no letters were sent beforehand."
"Of course... but I'd like Azure and Tigress to join us." Tigress, Shifu and Azure glanced at one another, eyes narrowed a little. Jian found this strange too, but watched them follow Shifu and Rhino into the Hall of Heroes. He went to find Crane and Monkey.
"What would Rhino want to do with Azure?" Tigress was an official Master now; she was bound to be lassoed into all those boring meetings he would have to look forward to.
"Not sure man," Monkey itched his head, his mouth twisting a little to emphasize his confusion.
However, they all caught wind of the situation later that night.
Azure stared down at the table, avoiding eye contact with anyone present in the room, all of which were watching her every move. Dinner came, and they even watched her take a spoonful of soup. Only then, when she placed the spoon into her mouth, she felt the intensity of their gazes (Jian's the most), she finally caved in. "I believe you have a question?" Her voice was soaked in dread.
"Eh..." Monkey, Mantis and Crane managed to say, while Viper tilted her head a little. Tigress just watched on in silence, sipping her tea slowly.
"You're going to Gongmen city?" Crane was the first to speak, but he voiced everyone's thoughts.
Azure inhaled slowly. "Yes."
"Why?" Jian spoke next, his voice sounded stiff, like something was trying to stop him from talking anymore. Azure looked at him via side glance; his eyes bore into hers, slightly pained with the narrow slant that was carved by the frown on his face. His brows knitted together delicately, while his brain was trying to put the pieces together.
Exhale. Azure straightened her back, and set her spoon on the table. "The past couple weeks, Master Oogway has asked me to record my dreams." This was new to everyone but Tigress and Jian. "Each one seemingly had a purpose to be seen... and I had somehow predicted several events in the past coming weeks." They were only small it seemed; a robbery here, a raid there... but then one or two events in the personal lives of one character caught them by surprise. "Recently, I told Oogway that one of my dreams was of one of the Master's expecting a baby..." The news of Master Bear's wife expecting was announced a few days earlier. "That caught Master Rhino's attention."
"What does he want from you?" Jian's paws turned to tight fists.
"He has asked me, on order of the Master's council, to go to Gongmen City, and become a Soothsayer's apprentice." Everyone seemed a little taken aback; Jian the most shocked. "They've sent a letter to Mom, and she's agreed." Tigress had no choice but to agree too. "I've taken up on the offer... I leave tomorrow morning."
Jian retired to bed quite early; however, he lay in the cot, staring up at the ceiling until his heard doors close, the puffs the Master's made when their candles blew out, the shuffling... silence.
Five doors closed over, an he could pinpoint the exact ones, which meant-
His door slid open slowly, and Azure poked her head through. "Come to the kitchen," she whispered softly.
Jian followed voicelessly, and didn't speak until they sat at the table. The kitchen was vacant of anyone else. "Why are you leaving?" Azure heard her brother ask quietly.
He heard her sigh heavily. "I'm better off anywhere but here," she said finally. "I don't belong here."
A scoff escaped his throat. "Neither do I; that's why we said we would stick together..."
"We always will protect one another Jian... you just need to understand me."
Jian leaned back further into his chair, folding his arms. "I understand you completely; this is your ticket out of here. This is where we're most alike; you can't stand having a shadow as dark as... his, hovering over you everywhere you go. The fear in the eyes of the villagers, having Shifu watch your every move, and anyone else who don't see that we're trying not to be like him. This is just the easy way out."
Azure just shook her head. "No-"
"Yes. Yes it is." Jian glared at the table. "We were meant to stick it out together; as soon as our twentieth birthday came, we were going to be out of here. You just couldn't wait, and had to leave me behind."
"That's not it at all." Jian's head rose to the tone of his sister's voice; it was low, and vibrated into a growl. "I have a calling; this is my purpose. Yes... he plays a part in it too; so does Shifu. I'm making a new name for me. I will not be known at the daughter of the notorious Tai Lung. I'm making the attempt to change my path. You can sit here and hate me all you want; I'm needed in Gongmen city."
Jian glanced at the table again; his ears flat across his ears. "What about my purpose?" Azure's heart twisted a little, and she felt bad for the words she said. "What am I supposed to do?"
Azure watched him closely for a few minutes before answering him. "You belong here; you're purpose isn't clear yet, but it will show." Azure stood up slowly. "It won't be for some time... but for now, you will prove to the people you are not who they think you will be."
They moved back towards their rooms, and when they stopped outside Jian's door, he asked one more question; "Will Shifu finally see that too?"
Azure smiled, and hugged her brother tightly. "In time. I promise you."
Phew! Finally got around to this chapter! Hope you like it! Let me know what you think!
Chapter 9 in the works!
