Chapter One
"Hut, Hiah!" Tia shouted, as she threw a flying kick at her master.
"Focus Tia, haven't you ever worked for something?!" Shang yelled. No one knew his real name so they simply called him Shang, because he was the Shang Dragon, the most powerful Shang warrior ever. Shang fighting for girls was called Yin. It was different because it was female. Tia let Shang think that she would master Yin and become one of the warriors, but she planned that after she became master of the Yin she would move on and try to become a Shang fighter. If they didn't let her, she would disguise herself.
"Well duh! You idiot! Do you think I rode into this town on a golden chariot?!" She shouted. Her history was her own, and hers alone. All the town knew was that she had fought her way to the city, alone with only a crossbow, at age eleven. She had defeated the army that attacked her on her own without any help because the town was to dumbstruck to do anything. That was why they let her train as a Yin Warrior.
Shang cringed, he hated that the town hadn't done anything. He himself hadn't been there. So he couldn't have done anything at all.
She giggled, but then gasped and ducked as a triple kick, followed by a double punch, flew over her head; she spun on her hand, twisting so that one of her feet whirled under him.
He tried to jump, but hadn't been expecting it, so he fell to the floor beside her. He sighed. "Trainings over for the day," He muttered, shooting her a dark look.
She groaned, "Why?! Is it because I beat you? You shouldn't let it get to you-"
"It isn't, it's something else," He said, cutting her off.
"What? I'll never master Yin putting only three or four hours in a day, you know.
Oh," She said when she saw his face fall at the mention of not helping her complete Yin, he looked away so that she wouldn't see the hurt in his face, "Do you have to go somewhere?"
"No. I can only let you practice for four hours. Otherwise you would be to hurt the next day to train." He said, finally looking at her.
"Ok. So can we at least hang out or something?" She asked hopefully, Shang was her only real friend, everyone else was afraid of her. She sighed, reliving the memory of when everyone had looked at her as a freak, when everyone had made sure they weren't outside when she was. It had been horrible, 'til Shang had arrived. He had made everyone listen to reason, to meet her and find she was a regular person, he also befriended her, and volunteered to be her teacher.
"Sure, why not. Let's go to the lake," Shang said, feeling like she did. The only reason the town accepted him was because he was the best warrior in the village. What he didn't know was, that deep inside him, where he hadn't dared to reach yet, he felt for her, really felt something that he had never felt for another person. He had started to realize that he loved to be around her, he decided that it was because they had so much in common, that she understood him, but it was because of something else entirely.
"OK," She said cheerfully, she loved the lake, and maybe she could swim, she loved to swim.
He smiled when he saw her smile, being around her changed him; he wasn't the only weird warrior in the village, now she was here. He got up and helped her to her feet, if he finally did organize his feelings, he couldn't be with her until she finished her training, there can be no physical relationships between teacher and student other than combat.
She took his hand and walked with him to the lake, then she turned her head and caught his eye, she nodded her head at the water.
He understood. All too well did he understand. She wanted to swim. He nodded, letting go of her hand; when he let go of her head he flexed his hand behind his back. He pulled his shirt off, his muscles glistening from the workout they had just had. He dove in with his pants still on, afraid of what would happen if he took them off.
She smiled at the crash, he wouldn't deny her the fun of swimming. "Go swim behind a rock 'til I'm in the water," she said pointing at a boulder.
"Oh, should I?" He said, smiling mischievously, he was only teasing her, but part of him wondered if he really would stay. When she glared at him he smirked and swam to the rock. He winked and then ducked behind it.
She rolled her eyes, like that would happen. She made sure he couldn't see her, then pulled off her shirt and shimmied out of her combat breeches. Being in a breast band and loin cloth, she dove into the lake. She sighed as the water folded around her. She saw Shang come out and swam towards him.
"Have I ever told you that you look amazing when you're wet?" He asked, teasing her.
She rolled her eyes, "Only a thousand times. I'm so glad you finally arrived at the village, even if you won't be here forever," She added, sighing. She was referring to the fact that Shang Warriors never remained in the same place for long. She leaned against his well muscled chest, hearing his heart beat. What she didn't know was that this action made his heart race for a moment.
"As am I, as am I, puppet," He whispered, stroking her hair. They remained like that for a few minutes before she flipped backwards, making him mutter, "Show off,"
"So, when you do go, will it be before or after my training is complete?" She asked, hoping the answer would be no. She would love to travel, and to be rid of this town.
"No. That would take much too long. I'll just have to tare you away from this wonderful town," He said with a teasing smile on his face.
"'The village that has smiles that doesn't reach their eyes'? I think I'll be happy to leave this place," She muttered. Her brown hair floated in front of her face, she was about to move it when Shang reached over and pushed it out of her face. He slowly lowered his hand, and then ruined the moment by splashing her face.
"You are evil!" She screamed and dunked him under water.
He came up sputtering water and gasping for air, "The devil!" He screamed. He glared at her and then grinned swimming slowly toward her, "Dun, dun. Dun, dun, dun, dun, donna DON!" He started out whispering and then came up to a scream. He grabbed her and then started to tickle her.
"NOOOO!!" She screamed, gasping for breathe. "I-I-I think, I think I know, oh
forget it!" She gasped, faintly trying to push his hands away.
He stopped tickling her and his face became serious, "You know what? What is it Tia!" He said, he was worried that she knew something that could affect the village.
She composed herself, "I think I know why I keep beating you in training," She said, smiling and adding, "Or maybe I'm just too good for you. Maybe you've finally met your match. Ha. That would be hilarious."
"Yeah that would be hilarious. My first student ever actually masters me, yeah right, anyway, what? What's my problem," He asked.
"Well…I think your mind may have become cluttered," She said, hoping that he would understand what she said. He didn't.
"Cluttered?" He asked, completely lost. His mind hadn't been cluttered in fifteen years.
"Cluttered," She clarified, "I think, that you have some things on your mind that are…Out of place?" She finished, not knowing how to finish the sentence.
"Oh. Maybe I do. We'll work on that tomorrow instead of the moves," He told her. He too was not sure. But what he knew for sure was the fact that he wasn't going to fight her when he had been losing so many times, it was time to teach her who was the student and who was the teacher.
"Ok. Kicking your butt was exciting at first but now, it's old," She said, teasing him, she really was excited, they hadn't worked on clearing your mind yet, it would be something new.
"Oh really? Hmmm…" He retorted, pausing and tapping his chin with his finger. He grinned mischievously and then jumped on her, pulling her under the water.
Fright came into her eyes when he pushed her under, she screamed, water pushing into her mouth. Worry filled his eyes when he saw that she really hadn't been ready, not caught her breathe, and wasn't laughing. He dragged her out and put her on the shore. He put his head against her almost bare chest and heard a faint heart beat. She was still alive, but barely breathing! He pumped her stomach, a little sea water came out of her mouth but still she remained unmoving. He closed his eyes and put his mouth over hers, he slowly breathed into her. It felt like he was giving his life to her, and in truth, he would if it called for it. He pulled away and looked at her, his sea-green eyes worried. She choked and then spewed the water out, she sat up and gasped for breathe.
"Thank-god," He cried pulling her close to him. He wouldn't let her go for several minutes, making sure she was alive, stroking her hair, and crying. She shivered and didn't want to move. "You're evil," She whispered. Tears streamed down her face.
"I know, puppet. You can kill me in a few minutes, just let me know that you're alive," He whispered. He finally held her out at arms length and then chuckled. "Either get back in the water, kill me, or change, but uh…I don't think the village would like it if they found me holding you like this," He blushed.
She glanced down and quickly grabbed a towel, "AACCKK!" She shouted, when she had pulled on her shirt, she whirled on him, "Now, for revenge," She said, smiling evilly.
He groaned, "Now what?"
"This," She said. She knelt down and then jumped; she jumped really high, so high that she was in the clouds. She spun on her side in the air three times before coming down and slamming her fist into the ground right beside his head.
"Well, now. That was a pretty good Leaping Kick. But uh…Could you not land right beside my face?" He asked, shaking only a little bit.
"Why? I love to scare you," She told him before swinging her foot under him and pushing him up and then flipping and kicked, sending him sprawling back into the lake. Executing a perfect Axel. "See, I'm just good, maybe your mind isn't cluttered,"
"Yeah, and maybe pigs will fly," He said from where he stood, shivering, in the lake.
"Hmm, what is that? Oh, I think a pig is flying!" She teased, splashing him with water.
"Ok, revenge, over. My turn," He said with short words. He dove under and swam toward the edge. She couldn't see him in the dark water, she bent over the lake to see any movement, but she didn't. Then all of a sudden a hand darted out of the water and pulled her in with him.
"SHANG!" She screamed as she went under. She pumped her arms and kicked her legs, fighting to get to the surface. When she felt like her lungs were about to burst she let go, quit fighting, gave up.
Shang saw her give up and shook his head, not again! Would she ever learn to keep fighting? He swam towards her, firm arms circling around her, he kicked and pumped up to the surface, they broke the surface together, him breathing easily, her gasping for air. "You ok? Tia?! Are you ok?"
She coughed and spit, "I'm ok. No more revenge, it results horribly," Her white baggy shirt was soaked and stuck to her, at least now if anyone saw them they couldn't say that they were breaking the rules.
"I know, I know. Are you sure you're ok? It isn't like you to give up without all the fight being sucked out of you," He said.
"Ummm…The first time I took revenge, I got sucked under water twice. I don't think I want to be sucked under again! Humph, I think we should go somewhere else now," She told him.
"No, I'm referring to back in the water, after you yelled my name? You quit," He told her, she had misunderstood.
"Oh, that. I hadn't gotten enough breathe to last to my air ran out faster than yours did. It wasn't my fault, I didn't give up 'til I had to," She explained to him. "So do you want to go somewhere else?"
"Sure, how 'bout…We go to…the meadow?" He asked. He looked up at the sky, perfect timing.
"Sure," She managed to say before he grabbed her hand and dragged her all the way through the town to the meadow. Everyone stared as the master, shirtless, dragged a wet, sopping, wearing only a shirt, student through the town, "Do you think we should have gotten our clothes first?" She gasped when they got there.
"Nah, we can get them after," He said, moving around and taking her by the shoulders to position her perfectly.
"After what?" She asked, with a quizzical look on her face.
"After that," He told her, pointing past her face at the sunset.
"Oh my, it-it's beautiful," She whispered gasping, she covered her mouth with her hand, she couldn't believe she had missed this every night.
'It's not the only thing,' He thought to himself, then, 'What the? She's right, my mind is cluttered, I can't control what I think!' "You're right, it is beautiful," He told her, hugging her from the back.
She heard him biting back tears inside himself. She loved the feeling of him hugging her, but she remembered something, something she wished she could forget, Shang used to have a wife, a wife and a daughter. "Are you thinking about her? Did you used to watch the sunset with her?" She asked him; sometimes it was better to talk about it.
"Yeah, she didn't look anything like you though," He said, trying to tease her, trying to make light of the situation.
She felt a tear drop touch her brown hair, and in turn a tear fell and hit the ground, her tear. "What did she look like?" She dared to ask. It scared her to ask but she had to, she knew that she would be thinking about it all night, every night, if she never found out.
"She had short, cropped, blonde hair, blue eyes; she was really skinny and was so happy all the time. She worked so hard, the rooms we staid in were always clean. And when we had that child, she fought hard, but her internal battle was worse than the physical battle. It killed her, and then, without anything…" His voice broke, she knew the rest, he told her it now and then.
"I know. So is it bad that I'm not like her?" She asked. Simply wanting to know if he hated being around her.
"No not at all. I don't know if I could stand teaching you if you were like her," He told her. 'Maybe I should start the clearing of the mind now,' he added silently. "Ok, so I was thinking, this meadow is perfect to start on clearing your mind," He told her, wanting her to go along and change the subject.
"OK, how?" She said, silently glad that he wanted to change the subject.
"Simple sit down Indian-style, close your eyes, and breathe in for a count of ten and out for a count of ten, organize your thoughts. We will do this every day, organizing new things and clearing your mind by thinking of nothing, nothing at all, understood?" He finished. When she nodded they both sat down and he placed his hands on his knees, she looked like a female mirror of him. Soon he was deep within his own thoughts,
He was running, running, trying to catch someone, someone he couldn't see. Why couldn't he see them? He knew it was female, but who? He needed to find out but how? Then he knew, Tia. He was trying to catch Tia, but in his mind he could be with her and love her, now he knew why he couldn't concentrate when he was training, so much had gone on his mind and he hadn't stopped to try and clear his mind or else this would be easier and he would have all those shelves that stored his memories. He concentrated hard and created a new shelf, Private Thoughts. He put Tia and all of his thoughts of her in there, now things could go smother. He organized other things, thoughts of his old wife, training, etc.
Tia watched as he went in, she was usually focused and all but maybe it wouldn't hurt to try and organize herself, should she have real things organized too? What about her room? Ack! I need to focus! Eek, I guess I do need to organize things, I stray from it so easily! She calmed down and breathed in and out, soon she was in a black room, her own mind. She had never been here before so…so calm.
She looked around, so weird. So many feelings and things around her. She created her own shelves and stored things. She turned to the last thing behind her, it didn't fit in any of the other categories…what was it? Not even bothering to look into it, she threw it in a miscellaneous shelf and came back into the real world.
"Wow. That was cool!" She exclaimed, turning to her master.
"I know…You were right, I was distracted. I'm ok now, though. And you?" He asked her, she didn't know what had happened in his mind, and she never would.
"Everything's done…Though, there were a few things I didn't look at…I put them on a miscellaneous shelf and moved on…There was too much in it to deal with tonight." She said, than just noticed it was turning dark.
"Speaking of night. I think we need to get our stuff and head home." He said, smiling as he thought of the wonderful rule that said she had to live with him. Wait, why'd I think that? I need more self control.
"Okay." She said, getting up and helping him up. "Let's go."
He put his arm around her neck and walked through the town. This time while they walked through the town, people were whispering to one another. He glared at them and they instantly shut up. Though no matter how hard he glared, nothing could stop the stares. Finally they reached the lake. He pulled on his shirt and then sat down and watched as she pulled on her breeches and then her boots.
"What?" She asked, turning around to catch him staring at her.
"Oh, uhhh…Nothing, nothing. Just forget it." He said, got up and took her hand as they walked home.
"What's for dinner?" Shang called from the den.
"Hmm…I think I'll make Wild Boar?" She teased, leaning her head out of the 'kitchen'.
"Tia…" He growled, glaring at her to no end.
She smirked, "Fine, fine. How 'bout," She started, clucking her tongue against the roof of her mouth as she thought. "Hmm…Pasta?" She decided finally.
"Sure, long as it's healthy." He called out. He hated anything that had to do with eating animals he had raised.
"Fine." She said, the continued to cook dinner, sighing she shook her head, why did she feel the sudden urge to go back into her mind and find out what that pile had in it? She then promised she would look if she couldn't sleep that night.
She finished cooking dinner and carried it to the table they had set up. "Dinner!" She called.