Chapter Twelve – Finding the Master

When the powerful monolith known as Mt. Jinhua loomed affectionately in the distance, Zhi knew that she was home. The fields she had played in and the streams she had drunk from were embracing her all around and she was barely able to keep herself from running to rest of the way. A mixture of fear and anticipation wet her tongue, though she didn't know which she was more afraid of; whether her village would be ravaged beyond recognition or that her haste would turn her eyes away from her companion long enough for him to disappear. She had been weary of Kage's tumbling mood ever since the fight with Puck but she was still barely able to keep him in mind when her home was so tauntingly close.

Finally, as the playful hills and open rice patties focused in Dajing came into view. It seemed to spill out of an ancient storybook. The scrubby trees and lazy grasses merged with the simple buildings, with paths zagging their way over the countryside like veins under skin. The sound of the river was like a cheering welcome to weary ears. Even the wind was at Zhi's back – pushing closer to home.

The young girl could hardly believe she was home again. A trespassing tear blurred her vision slightly as she looked back to Kage, her words distorted by her happiness and a great smile upon her face. She tried for a moment to think of something profound to say to him, yet emotion often overran reason and she just choked out a giddy sob. She was too happy to be home and nothing else mattered at the moment.

"Hello? Hello! Is anyone here?" she cried as she took a few jogging steps into the village. They hadn't seen anyone in the fields or walking among the buildings and that frightened Zhi, yet she didn't give up hope that everyone she ever remembered would come walking out of a residence – happy to see her home again. Her heart was running as wildly as her mind as she tried to conceive of every reason no one was around. She hadn't even noticed that most of the buildings were either destroyed or damaged and that the ground was still scarred with injuries from the battle with Oberon.

Zhi wouldn't give up hope. She continued to call out in Chinese – her heart ever alive in the wait that followed. It was then she was answered.

Three old women came walking around a building, their hands dirty with work and holding baskets. They were talking about something only working women talk about in the course of an ordinary day, their old faces seemingly void of any concern over the terrible fate of their people.

When Zhi saw them, her eyes lit up and she cried out. Her instincts finally overcame her fears and she ran to them, babbling random things in her native language while the old women looked in shock at her. Soon enough, they recognized the wayward child of Dajing and cried out as well. They welcomed her with open arms.

The ruckus attracted the attention of other in the village and soon a crowd was gathering around the group. So many of the residents of Dajing were shocked to see Zhi alive and well, especially since the group that had taken her was able to defeat the strongest fighters of the village without effort. Many had assumed a terrible fate for such a young girl, yet even now they felt her innocence preserved within her smile. They were all assaulting her with question and stories all while she just cried in joy, hugging one of the older women tightly to try and hide her tear-streaked face.

Soon a powerful voice came cutting through the crowd and Zhi instantly froze. It was a voice that she thought she'd never hear again, yet it spoke her name with such affection that she wouldn't dare presume it to be a dream. The crowd parted slightly and her eyes fell on him. Her heart quickened. Had she been able to stand back and think over the situation, she would have remembered that many people were watching and that she was expected to act a certain way even in these circumstances. Yet nothing was able to stop her from rushing forward and throwing her arms around Xue. It was simply what her heart told her to do.

Xue was very surprised but smiled. His free hand was placed calmly across the back of her head and he listened to her sporadic sobbing. It was so garbled that he couldn't understand her, yet he knew exactly what she was saying. All he did was smile and let her cry a moment.

Quickly after gaining her composure, Zhi stepped back, wiping the tears from her eyes all while trying to get her mind to catch up with her heart. "I can't believe you're okay. The last thing I saw was…" she was saying in heart-stricken Chinese, though being with Kage so much recently forced her to say a few words in Japanese.

Xue scratched his head sheepishly at the thought of his own defeat. Just as she was realizing it, he leaned on the carved wooden cane in his other hand and looked down. Xue left leg was still bandaged and showing a bit of swelling. He had already accepted the fact that he would never be able to walk normal again and that his days of martial art were over, yet he also accepted that he had a new task in the village since the elders had all been killed by Oberon.

Xue was now the leader of the village. "It isn't important," he said, taking her horrified eyes from his leg and bringing her back to the joyous moment, "You have returned to us. We are rebuilding our village and our backs are strong. Our mysterious enemy fails to return and even if they do, we shall stand against them once more."

Without knowing, Zhi stared at Xue. They had grown up together and shared many things, but she had never realized how strong he was. Even as the ruined village stood around them, she was instilled with confidence by the way he spoke. The rest of the villagers felt it as well. Although Xue may have lost the fight to defend his village, he now stood as the protector of Dajing.

Now that she had returned, he was also now the protector of Zhi. "Tell us of your story. How is it you escaped from our mysterious enemy?" Xue asked and the crowd hushed. They also wanted to know about Oberon and the others and how Zhi was able to make her way back to Dajing.

Zhi had been so swept away by her reunion that she had completely forgotten about Kage. Seeing Xue and the others had turned her back, yet now as she whipped around to where he stood, she wasn't so surprised to see no one standing there. Kage was gone. Her eyes fell slightly and she truly wished to show them who had saved her, yet she was also oddly convinced that while he had wandered away from the eyes of everyone, she would most certainly see him once again.

Looking back to Xue and the others, she smiled and knew it.

Kage had been walking. The roar of the river had beckoned him and the rocky path he strolled upon spoke parables under his boots. The trees and grasses all around attempted to manipulate him, to fool him into believing that he was home – that this was his home. But he knew better. His real home was long since gone and even the place where his heart dwelt was far, far away. At times, he could remember the place he grew up. He remembered the way the rice patties smelled early in the morning dew or how the cicadas and the frogs were alive in symphonic amplitude when the sun dipped below the horizon. Life in the countryside had been freedom, even when his parents had tragically died. Yet he always had something to assure him of the totality of happiness.

Kage tripped over a rock when his mind brushed against the memories of his sister. When he was a Scion, he had often thought about her as a way to keep his hatred alive – keep it fresh. He used her to justify his madness and the things he had done. Yet that was precisely the reason he wouldn't allow himself to think of her anymore. The drenching red stains on his hands were nothing compared to the stains in his mind. His used her memory as an instrument of hate and that, above all other things, was what he regretted most. Now even his pure love for her felt tainted – buried under the intense loathing he felt for himself.

How he would ever get past it, he didn't know. All he knew was the one person who wanted to help him try was so far even the Ryuugan couldn't see her. Fear and weakness were two other burdens that only fueled his self-hatred.

Kage finally came upon the violent siren of the river. A tumbling waterfall was carving a large pool at its base, yet it still came down upon the crumbling boulders of the mountain. The mist of cool water quenched his wandering mind and Kage closed his eyes, letting the sounds and sensations of the grotto pry his mind from the unpleasantness of his past. He could hear no voices here aside from the voice of the river. Zhi and her loved ones were a thousand miles away – safe. Even the facets of Tokyo seemed to melt away in the essence of the grotto. Not a muscle in his body moved for several minutes.

For the first time in a very long time, Kage was able to relax.

Suddenly, there was a very odd sensation piercing the waterfall's trance. Despite the wind and water caressing him, he was suddenly aware of something distinctly human also caressing him. A hand had somehow strayed dangerously close to his crotch and Kage nearly slipped into the pool in his surprise, his voice arching so high that it shattered the water's harmony. "What the hell…!" he was roaring when suddenly he found the violator.

An ancient old man was standing before him. He was short and uninteresting with a long white beard and moustache. He wore his clothing in a very old style and his hands and feet seemed tempered by a long life of use. The old man encompassed the expectations of an old Chinese master, yet somehow struck Kage as more odd than anything. He was grinning widely and seemed pleased with his wayward grope. The Japanese youth was hardly as impressed. "The hell you want, you old goat! I about tore your head off," Kage seethed. The heated retort brought a chittering answer from the old man, though he replied in Chinese and he replied in length.

Kage suddenly felt very stupid. Because Zhi was able to speak in Japanese, he had forgotten that he was right in the middle of China and that the population had probably never even heard Japanese before. Furiously screaming at an old man in a foreign language struck him as idiotic, yet in spite of the fact he was able to take some of his frustrations out in a manner befitting the brawler. "Yeah, find the tallest oak in the forest and sit on it to you too, gramps," he sneered, turning away to put some distance away from the old man even as he continued his chat. If there was one thing Kage didn't want at the moment, it was to have some ancient Chinese raisin talking his ear off in a language he didn't care to understand.

The Japanese youth took a few more steps up the path when he felt another queer sensation. This time the old man had planted both hands firmly on Kage's buttocks and even squeezed a little. Such an act brought about a furious reaction in the brawler and Kage suddenly had the old man by the front of his shirt, lifting clearly from the ground and almost turning pink with rage. He just couldn't believe imagine why someone would have such a death wish. "You shitty little…" Kage was growling, but soon he caught glimpse of something very quieting. The old man was blind. His ancient eyes were glazed over in fine white silk and there was only an afterthought of a pupil visible. His groping and handling suddenly became very logical – the old man couldn't see where his hands were going. The air suddenly became heavy as the reality of misfortune settled over them both.

Kage still held the man. Despite noticing his handicap, the brawler was still very inspired to do some damage to the creep. For someone as jaded as himself, age and injury had very little leverage when it came to terms of honor. He still felt embarrassed. However, he also felt persuaded to simply let it be. "Kuh, figures. I know you can't understand me, ass wipe, but today's your lucky day," said Kage, who began to put the man down.

"You have no idea how right you are, Yamamori Kage," replied the old man in antiquated Japanese – as if he were suddenly of Kage's own lineage.

Kage stuttered in his release. He was even forced to try and look away for another source of the voice, yet he couldn't pull his attention away from the smiling old man. His Ryuugan eyes stuck tightly to him and his hand instinctively gripped tighter around the shirt. This was suddenly something far more serious than a simple stray hand and language barrier.

Kage felt genuinely threatened by the old man. "Who the hell are you?" he snarled. The old man smiled widely to his captor, seemingly unconcerned that he was at the mercy of such a vicious fighter.

With the roaring of the waterfall framing them, the two stood at odds for a few moments; one knowing and one asking. Kage was oblivious to many things, yet his mind was solely focused on learning why this man knew who he was. The old man was silent in his dominance. He simply enjoyed the way the youth reacted to it all.

Then came the answer to the question, but not from either of the two in the standoff. "Grandfather!" called a voice which led Zhi on a leash. She had been looking for both of them, yet was very surprised to find them together. What was even more surprising was that Kage was holding her grandfather in a violent moment, something that put her at odds within herself. So conflicted was her heart that he simply stopped and spoke their named, torn at which one to look at longer, "Grandfather? Kage-san?"

Kage whipped his eyes back onto the old man and they narrowed. The Ryuugan were set upon the only man prophesized to know their secrets and his reflection smiled back at him in friendly perfection, as if two long-time friends united. Kage's hand stayed tightly within the folds of the man's shirt, yet he didn't know if it was because he had finally found the man he was looking for or because the man he had been looking for was blind. It was so ridiculous that Kage almost laughed. Yet he dared not look away for whatever power or demons were locked away inside the Ryuugan, the fragile man he held with such contempt was possibly the only person who could assist him with it.

Stemming from the recent terror concerning Titania and Oberon, Kage's main reason to hold him so tight was not out of contempt, but out of fear that if he were to let the old man go, he would possibly lose the only way to control this power he was given. That fear was something that the Ryuugan couldn't hide even bandaged behind a torn piece of cloth. Despite his fearsome demeanor and brutish manners, Kage was a frightened child behind powerful eyes – something that he cursed as part of his fate. All he wanted was the ability to control his powers.

He wanted it so he could never hurt her again.

The old man simply smiled at Kage. It was time. Both his granddaughter and the brawler were finally set in place. All was his to see through. He had known about this moment almost all his life and that his duty was quickly coming to an end. He knew sorrow lingered for his granddaughter, a girl of brilliant innocence and heart. But he also knew that she would soon find her place and never be alone again. So many things were about to begin and it thrilled the old man into laughter.

It all started with his name, "My name is Liu Kuan Yin. I have been waiting for you for a very, very long time."