Memoirs of a Master
Chapter 3
Disclaimer: Don't own it. Its property of Dreamworks, and this isn't done for profit. Its not like I'm publishing this…
Just an FYI: I did some research (gasp!) into some names…Ochir is a Mongolian name meaning "thunderbolt" (So nievelion, you weren't too far off when you suggested he be "fast as lightning" ;) and Terbish is one of those odd names that parents used to give their children that means "not that one". I specifically chose that name for Terbish because apparently choosing unusual names for children used to be common in the old days to ward off evil spirits; ergo, this shows how old-fashioned Terbish truly is. I picked "Li" for a name because its apparently very common. I chose "Song" because I liked the sound of it. So there. :P
BTW, if I wasn't clear enough in what breed of cat Song is, she and her mother are "Tonkinese" cats, which have similar markings to a Siamese cat, without the drama-queen attitude. I debated making Song a Himalayan, but I thought Shifu's tail was enough fluffiness for one fic. ;) Here's a link for pictures: www,cfainc,org - breeds - profiles - tonkinese,html Just replace the commas with periods and the hyphens with slashes.
Po and the Five took a break for lunch and returned to the same room with steaming cups of hot milk tea. Viper threw some cinnamon into the pot and everyone sat around the brazier to keep warm. Crane stoked the coals, adding more wood into the nearby fireplace. The room warmed up considerably, and everyone was at ease, wrapped in blankets, and talking about the second scroll.
"Wow!" Po exclaimed. "He got to meet Masters Terbish, Jian Qiang and Miao Li?! That's so awesome! I mean, Terbish took on more than seven score warriors at the same time in one battle and came out with only one scratch! And the Mighty Jian Qiang the Mongol Hunter, wow! And Miao Li, the only female to have defeated an entire army on her own by just using her smarts and wicked fighting techniques!"
"Yes, Po, we know who they are..." Crane said patiently.
Tigress shook her head, "It's incredible…but why did they not teach their children themselves?"
"Maybe they felt Oogway could do something that they couldn't," Crane said.
Viper took up the next scroll, rolling it open bit by bit. She looked up at her audience and smiled, "It sounds like he had a really happy childhood."
"It kinda makes me wonder though," Mantis said. "We knew him as a harsh taskmaster, but now that we know this stuff…I don't think Tai Lung was the only reason he became the way he was the past twenty years."
Crane shook his head. "Yeah, I don't buy that either. Something must've happened."
"You guys know him better than I do," Po said. "But if I had to guess, maybe something went south with one of the other students?"
"Maybe that's it," Mantis said. "Maybe this person Shifu went to see is one of his old friends."
"But he's never mentioned any of them before…"
"Why would he?" Tigress asked. "He only ever confided in Master Oogway…and now, Po."
"Uh-uh, he never told me any of this. I mean, yeah, little things here and there, like a couple details about his mom and dad, what they were like and stuff. But I didn't know about any of this."
"We probably haven't heard of them since they all got new names when they became masters," Monkey reasoned.
"We won't know until we find out," Viper said. She began narrating the next scroll…
The spring I turned seven, Master Oogway decided the time had come to teach us to fight. He had set up the Training Hall with an obstacle course, but we wouldn't train on it for a few more months. Instead, he stepped up our kung fu forms practices, lessening our lessons in meditation and tai chi.
Ochir was glad for that, naturally. He was still remarkably stubborn, and eager to fight, something he never outgrew. Rash? Yes. But it was impressive nonetheless.
Li and I were still a bit nervous about the prospect of learning to fight. Ochir and Song had kung fu masters for parents, and must have known quite a lot already. I knew Ochir did at least. Song was quiet, except when incensed, which, fortunately, was not very often. It took very little to annoy her, and she got frustrated when she couldn't get something right the first couple of times. But rarely did we ever see her angry. She was one of those people that you just knew you shouldn't anger.
Then again, Oogway was one of those people too.
You find it so surprising, that Grand Master Oogway could get angry? You wouldn't have believed it unless you saw it. I had only seen him angry—truly angry—just once in the sixty-five years I knew him. And it frightened me; it still does. Angering someone like Oogway takes something appallingly terrible.
But the only terrible thing we young students thought were his riddles. I had gotten used to them, and competed with Song in solving them. Yes, I was jealous that a girl knew as much about solving riddles as I did. I admit now that she was much smarter than us three boys combined. My views on women were shaped by my years fighting beside one; to date, I have not met a braver warrior than she.
"Today, we officially begin your training," Oogway announced. We stood in front of the Training Hall, eagerly awaiting whatever would come. Master smiled down at us, beaming with pride. "You have all learned much in the past year, and developed into budding warriors. Now, we begin your training in fighting…"
He pushed open the double-doors and led us in. We stared in awe at the space. In the middle of the packed-earth floor, wooden posts were hammered into the ground, and a forest of swinging clubs in the middle, on the other side of what we learned was the Jade Tortoise. At the far end, we were surprised to find a giant trampoline. The others were confused, but I had faith that my master knew what he was doing.
He led us off to the side and we stood shoulder to shoulder while he rummaged in a closet. Then he pulled it out.
"This," he said, patting the dummy on the head, "Is the Adversary. I've used it for training novices for many years…"
The doll didn't look that intimidating; it was just a sand-filled teetering dummy with a stupid smile painted on what was supposed to be his face.
"Who wants to have a go first?" Oogway offered.
"Oh! Oh!" Ochir raised his hand eagerly. Oogway chuckled and stood aside, "Be my guest…"
Ochir stood in front of the Adversary and delivered a quick punch. The doll flew backwards several yards, hitting the opposite wall.
"Very good," Oogway said encouragingly. "Your father Terbish taught you well. Next time, though," he pressed his hand on the rhino's wrist, lowering it slightly. "Hit lower on the body, at his center of gravity."
"Yes Master," he replied, proud of himself.
"Good. Retrieve the Adversary, would you? Who is next?"
"May I, Master?" Song asked politely. He nodded and she stepped forward when Ochir put the dummy back in place. Song stared at the doll for a moment, then leapt back into a fighting stance we'd learned, jumping forward, lunging down, then jumped up, kicking her leg out sharply. The Adversary flew backwards a couple yards. Song smiled at her effort. So did Oogway.
"I see your mother Miao Li taught you some of her style. Very good. There is much strength behind your kick, but you would get more height if when you turned, you landed flat-footed, then pushed up."
Song thought this over, then performed the same action, utilizing his advice. It worked; she grinned. "Thank you, Master!"
He nodded and looked to Li and I as she retrieved the dummy. "Who's next?"
Li and I shared a look, one that said "you first". As much as I wanted to impress my master, Li still had problems with confidence. The dummy didn't look that hard to defeat, but he still looked scared. Oogway beckoned him forward; I pushed gently on his shoulders.
"Go ahead," I said. "You can do it."
He smiled and slowly stepped forth, looking utterly terrified.
"Go on, Li," Oogway said.
Li froze, but Oogway's hand on his back urged him forward. He stood right in front of the dummy, a bit of performance anxiety sneaking in. I could see it in his face: how could he make an impression when Ochir and Song had already proven their worth as students? Did he have the strength to propel this thing backwards like the others?
Oogway spoke, startling the kit, "Not all of us share the same strengths. Song is a cat, and quite nimble. Ochir is a rhino and quite strong. Play to your own strengths, Li."
The kit thought about it, then had the revelation he was looking for. He crouched down into a defensive stance, studying his opponent. His wood personality shown through; he was observing his opponent. In an instant, with a speed that shocked us all, he struck, hitting the Adversary in three places: first the head, then the base, and finally the middle. The dummy hit the wall so hard it bounced forward two feet.
Oogway's smile was as wide as I had ever seen it. "Excellent! A wonderful job!"
"Way to go, Li!" Song congratulated.
I playfully punched his arm as he got back in line, "I knew you could do it!"
"Small One, you're next."
Darn it.
Three great performances, and I had to top Li's. Perfect, just perfect. I tried to think of a point of contact on the Adversary, as well as some moves we learned in forms lessons that would be sure to impress my master. However, you know what they say about the best-laid plans…
I struck, and the Adversary teetered back, then forward, hitting me head-on. I fell back onto my rump, biting my tongue in the process. Ochir and Song started laughing behind me. Well, that could have gone better.
Oogway shook his head. "Remember, play to your strengths, Small One."
My strengths. Right. Rhinos were strong, cats were nimble, foxes were sly…what were red pandas? Let's see…we could climb things. But how would climbing something serve me any good? What else…we were small, and could fit into small places? No, that couldn't be it…
I felt their eyes on my back, and I got nervous. I tried again, reaping the same results. As I lay on my back, winded, and staring at the open ceiling, I couldn't figure out what my strengths were.
"Small One," Oogway carefully instructed. "Recall the acorn…"
I wanted to say 'But an acorn can't fight' but I was still winded from landing hard on my back. Find your strength…find your strength…
Small like a firecracker.
That's it!
Smiling, I got back up and gave it another try. I would not fail this time. I waited, anticipating what the Adversary would do if he were a real opponent. Then I struck my foot out at his base, kicking him up into the air; I jumped up and kicked hard. The Adversary bounced back off the wall, moving back towards me five feet!
The others stood in shock—they hadn't expected that. Truth be told, neither had I. The stunned silence was broken when Ochir said, "Whoa. Go Fu."
I grinned, looking over my shoulder. Oogway was smiling proudly.
"Good work." Though it wasn't as exuberant a congratulation as for the others, I hadn't felt better.
I'd remembered the acorn alright. Trees are only as strong as their roots—uproot the tree, it's easier to fall.
We took turns with the Adversary throughout the rest of the day, and quickly found it to be fun, not drudgery like our other training. Master Oogway stood back and allowed us to start our own competition, seeing how hard we could beat up the inanimate object. This was more than just a training exercise, and something I tried doing later when I had students of my own: allow them to compete together, and they eventually work together.
Since helping him finish his punishment a year ago, Ochir had become, if not friendly, at least civil towards me. Song had slowly developed a friendship with me, though nothing nearly as close as what I had with Li. He and I were inseparable, and wherever one of us was, the other would not be far away.
"Lookit, lookit, Fu!" he called, delivering a punch to the dummy. "See! I did it!"
"Nice one!" I grinned.
Ochir stepped forward, tapping Li on the shoulder, "That's good, but you need to try hitting a little higher…remember, I'm taller than you, so I need to hit lower…" he looked over his shoulder at Oogway, "…right, Master?"
Our master smiled and nodded, "An astute observation, young one."
"What's 'astute' mean?"
"It means 'wise' or 'smart'," he explained. "I'm interested to see what else your father taught you…" He was interrupted when a goose trotted into the Training Hall, looked harried and frantic. I knew him well. His name was Zhou; he was the grandfather of Zeng, whom I'll get to later. Zhou always carried himself with as much dignity as he could, but his job was a difficult and oftentimes stressful one. He was the messenger of the Jade Palace (an occupation his son and grandson inherited), and made frequent trips to the village below. The goose was surprisingly patient with us children, and answered all our questions about the outside world, because we had yet to see it. More often than not, the biggest source of stress was keeping up with Master Oogway; no pun intended, but searching for the tortoise proved at times to be a wild goose chase.
"Master Oogway, there you are!"
"Ah, Zhou…what brings you here?"
The goose bowed respectfully, "I'm terribly sorry to interrupt your lesson, but I have urgent news—you have a visitor."
"Indeed?"
"Yes, Master Miao Li requests an audience with you."
Oogway looked concerned, the smile falling from his face. "I see…so it is as I feared…where is she?"
"She is waiting for you in the Sacred Hall of Warriors, sir," Zhou said. "I told her you might be busy…"
Oogway took up his staff and started walking to the door. "Nonsense, I must go. Do me a favor, would you, Zhou?"
"Anything, sir," he nodded.
Oogway smiled over at us, "Make sure my students are fed some lunch…then why don't you take them into the village? They have performed well today, and deserve a reward."
We stopped immediately, our faces glowing with excitement. We were finally going to see the village!
Zhou looked unsure for a moment, and we secretly feared he'd say no; but if there was one weakness the goose had, it was children. He sighed, but a smile tugged at his beak. "Of course, Master. I have a few errands to run anyway."
"Good, good…" he said absently. "Students, enjoy yourselves, but remember that you represent the Jade Palace…"
"Yes Master!" we chorused, bowing in respect. Oogway smiled at us and made for the door, climbing down the steps and was gone.
Zhou took the opportunity and ushered us to the door after Ochir put the Adversary back in its place. "Come on, then, let's get some lunch in you. The sooner we get you fed, the sooner we can leave…"
We all eagerly made for the door, but something told me to turn around and look back. Song didn't seem as enthusiastic as I expected. In fact, she looked depressed…
"You okay?"
She nodded, "Yeah, I'm okay." She really wasn't. If her mother had come to visit, it wasn't to see her daughter. I found that very strange. If her mother lived so far away, and made such a long and perilous journey…why would she not come to see her daughter first? Something was wrong here.
"Zhou, I need to use the lavatory…" I lied quickly.
"Sure, make it quick."
I held back and took Song's hand. "Come on, let's go find out what's going on…"
"We'll get into trouble…and weren't you going to…"
"Um, I lied."
She gave me a look. "Some honorable warrior…"
I blushed, "You wanna know why your Mom isn't here to see you or what?"
"No, I know why she's here," she snapped. "I just don't want you in my business."
"But why not? We're friends, aren't we?"
"No, you and Li are friends. I'm not going to be here long enough to make friends."
I stared at her. "What're you talking about?"
She sighed. "My mother's here to take me home…"
"WHAT?" I was shocked. What was the point of bringing Song here in the first place if she wasn't going to stay? When I asked her, Song looked back at me, tears in her eyes.
"Father wants me to marry some boy from a family who is higher than ours. I've already waited too long. My future in-laws won't take me unless my feet are bound…"
I had no idea what this was about. I didn't know what foot-binding was, or what it did to women's feet. Song then explained: she told me it crippled them. She told me about the process of it, how a girl's feet—some as young as three—would have the four smaller toes curled under, leaving the big toe unharmed. The girls' feet would be wrapped in bandages and forced to walk until their toes broke, then their feet would be broken, and formed into "golden lilies"…until the foot barely measured 4 inches long, or smaller. Imagine taking your own foot and shrinking it until it was the length of your thumb, and you'll see why I was so appalled.
Once I knew what it was, and what it all entailed, it sickened me. It sounded like the worst of tortures. I wondered why women had to do it—if it was a so-called sign of beauty, why didn't men do it, too?
Song's mother had been spared of that torture by Master Oogway. I held out hope that maybe he would do the same for her…
When I told her my hope, she shook her head, "My father has much influence…"
"So does Master Oogway!" I said. "He wouldn't let that happen to you…"
"Fu, I've been bred since infancy to marry well, and be a good wife…Father was furious when Mother brought be here. He said kung fu was not for women…"
This confused me. "But…he married a kung fu master…"
"I know. But he doesn't want me to follow the same path…"
"But to put you through…that?" I was referring to the foot-binding of course, but the idea of it so sickened me I couldn't bring myself to call it by its name.
"Only upper class families do it," she explained. "It's a sign of status, that they have enough money to take care of their women."
"But it's not taking care of them if it hurts them…" I reasoned.
"I knew you wouldn't get it," she accused. "That's just the way it is!"
"But it's not fair!"
"Life isn't fair!" she snapped. "Mother's here to take me away…"
"You don't know that."
"What else could she be here for?"
I took her hand and yanked her along. "We're going to find out!"
I should have felt guilt for eavesdropping on my master's private meeting, but I was more concerned about losing one of my friends than being punished. If I had to do the Bucket punishment, or run laps again, I didn't care. When we reached the Sacred Hall of Warriors, we pressed our ears to the door; seeing it cracked open, we slipped inside, hiding behind a pillar. Masters Oogway and Miao Li had their backs to us, and they were speaking, Miao Li sounding frantic.
"Master, he's demanding she return…"
"I cannot allow that," he said sternly, in a tone I'd never heard before; it bothered me a great deal.
"You might be able to fight him, but I can't!" she said, sounding desperate. "He knows how I feel about putting Song through that, but he…"
"Are you not a kung fu master?!" he said sharply, turning to her; his tone was hard enough that it made me flinch. He had never raised his voice to anyone before, at least in my presence. Miao Li cowed immediately, looking ashamed. He continued,
"Did I not train you? Did I not save you from a similar fate? Did I not make it impossible for your family to condemn you to a life of servitude and isolation in a single room, with your feet aching and crippled, doing nothing but cooking, cleaning, and embroidery for the rest of your life?"
"She is engaged to be married," she said quietly. "She has been engaged to the son of her father's friend since infancy. I cannot break the engagement."
"You cannot; I can," he said, turning away from her and gazing into the Moon Pool.
"That would ruin us…"
"Li, you have had the same choice you had the day of your wedding—why you insisted on staying when you had every right to leave is beyond my understanding."
"Well like it or not, Oogway, I love my husband, despite his faults!" she snapped back.
"He does not love you the way you love him. If he loved you, he would respect your wishes, and not selfishly ignore you and continue with his agenda. Song never asked for this to happen…"
"And you think I did?! I don't have a choice…"
"No, you always had a choice," he said, frowning. He pointed at the cat. "You had a choice up until you left her in my care. Just as I did when your parents left you on my doorstep, claiming you were a worthless daughter, I have taken full responsibility and full rights over your daughter. You relinquished your right to her the day you left her here."
Song bit her lip to keep from gasping. I looked over at her and grasped her hand; she gripped back, her knuckles white.
Miao Li didn't say anything.
I learned an important lesson that I kept to this day. Any student that came to train at the Palace was effectively adopted. This proved true the day I found Tai Lung; and it was just as true as when the Furious Five, especially Master Tigress, came here. Any student of Master Oogway, and eventually, any student of mine, was legally our child.
That shocked me; did that mean I no longer had any ties to my own family back in the village, so far away? But I saw what Oogway was doing, and what he intended when he made that policy: he was protecting his students from something just like this.
That day, I knew his greatest weakness—and the thing that made him truly angry—was the mistreatment of a child, any child.
"So what will I tell my husband?" Miao Li asked.
"Tell him I refused to let her go. Matter of fact, you can tell him I told him where to go…"
"Master!"
"And if he has any problem with it," he continued, "He is free to fight me for her."
This effectively ended the discussion. Miao Li—and Song's father—had lost. Song's grip on my hand slackened, her face looked pale. I knew that was as good a time as any to leave. We waited until the backs of both adults were turned before making a hasty exit.
When we were far enough away, I turned to Song with a smile. "See? Everything's okay!"
"I don't know…" she said. "If I'm now Oogway's daughter…does that mean I don't see my family ever again?"
I snorted, "If it means not seeing your Dad again, I don't think it's much of a loss."
"That's not true!" she spat, though she appeared to be doubting her own words. "You take that back! My father loves me!"
"He wanted to cripple you!" I snapped. "Face it; you were nothing more than something to trade!"
She backhanded me. Instead of a normal slap, being backhanded was an insult; it made you beneath the assaulter. There were tears flooding her bright blue eyes, which had turned glassy with moisture. "He loves me…" she said, trying to convince not just me, but both of us.
But her mind was filled with doubt now. She drew back and turned away. "I need to talk to my mother…"
I sighed but nodded, "Okay…we'll save some food for you."
"I'm not hungry." With that, she tore off for the Hall of Warriors, leaving me to walk to the bunkhouse for lunch. Zhou scolded me for being so late and asked where Song was. I told him she was visiting with her mother, but should be there soon.
A while later, the sow who took care of us told Zhou to go down into the village without Song: "She's suddenly not feeling well. She'll be fine later, but she's in no shape to make the trip."
Li and Ochir asked me what had happened; I suddenly felt too sick to my stomach to answer. "Later," I said, though I knew I couldn't bring myself to tell them anyway. That was something Song had to do; it was none of my business to tell her story. Besides, I couldn't betray Song's trust like that. So, with my heart feeling like it had fallen to the ground, we set out for the village.
"We'll bring something back for her," Ochir said.
"Something nice," Li nodded. "What would she like, though? Something to eat?"
"She might have an upset stomach," I said, knowing it was an outright lie.
We walked in silence until we made it to the bottom of the steps and had our first real look at the Valley of Peace.
It was Market Day, apparently, and stalls were open, selling myriad wares, foods, spices and herbs. Vendors hawked their merchandise, the sights and smells overpowering our senses. Zhou had given us five yuan each for our enjoyment, but told us to use them wisely as "You won't be getting a real allowance for another couple years."
But, we were young, so restraint was not our forte. Li, however, was the voice of reason for us: "Remember, we need to get something for Song…"
"We don't even know what she likes," Ochir said.
"Kinda pathetic, since we've trained with her for so long," Li said with a deadpan expression.
"Fine, smarty pants, but I don't hear you coming up with any ideas…"
I groaned, "Let's just walk around, maybe we'll find something…"
"What're you boys looking for?" Zhou asked.
The three of us looked at each other; they silently appointed me their spokesperson. "Zhou, what do girls like?"
He smiled—or more like smirked, "Getting something to cheer her up, eh? Yes, I know where you were. I bet it wasn't a happy reunion."
"That's our guess," Ochir admitted. "So what do girls like?"
"Well…" the goose thought for a moment. "The easiest answers are flowers, sweets, jewelry…"
None of those would work. Song had allergies to flowers, she didn't eat sweets very often, and she didn't like jewelry since it got in the way of her training. "Anything else?"
"Well, every girl is different. Song's not like most girls, so you need to think about what makes her happy."
"She likes kicking things," I said.
"And beating up Fu when he says something stupid," Ochir offered. I scowled at him.
"Well, that's a start, I suppose…" the goose looked uncertain.
"She likes going to the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom," Li said, then he trailed off. His eyes were trained at one booth; he pointed. "Hey, lookit that!"
"Lookit what?"
"That!" he trotted over to the booth, pointing out his idea to us. We looked up, and smiled. It was a wall scroll of a beautiful landscape, the painting's most prominent feature a peach tree, half in bloom, half bearing bright peaches, large and full. The artist had such skill, we could practically smell the peach blossoms, and taste the peach juice on our tongues. It was perfect!
The vendor, a pig, smiled at us, then greeted Zhou, "Hey, long time no see! How're you?"
"Fine, fine, just running a few errands and getting these boys a change of scenery…"
The pig nodded, "Ah, Master Oogway's students, eh? Strange, I thought there were four…"
"There are," Zhou explained, "but she's not feeling well…"
I interrupted Zhou, asking quickly, "How much is that scroll with the peach tree?"
The pig looked over his shoulder. "This one?"
"Yessir."
"Twenty yuan."
Our faces fell. We only had fifteen between us. We couldn't afford it.
But Zhou hated to see children disappointed just as much as Oogway did. "Twenty? Too much. Besides, the edges are frayed. Ten."
"No way—this was painted by a true master, I'm not going below eighteen."
"Twelve."
"Seventeen."
"Thirteen."
"Absolutely not: sixteen's as low as I'll go."
Li piped up, "This is for our friend, mister. We care about her very much."
"Yeah," Ochir said, fists digging into his hips. "Thirteen, our final offer."
"No way," I said stubbornly, "Twelve. Look at the red seal above the artist's signature—you call that art? It's all sloppy! You can barely see what the seal says! Some 'master' if he can't even sign his name!"
I had no clue what I was talking about, of course. I was an uncultivated, uncultured farmer's son of seven years of age. But I'd seen enough paintings in the Hall of Warriors to know a good painting from a great painting.
The pig thought this over, but he must have seen the determined looks on our faces.
"Okay, twelve."
"Done," Zhou said, accepting our money to pay him. He handed back a single yuan to each of us. The pig sighed, rolling up the scroll and packing it in a blue silk bag. He handed it to Zhou, who gave it to Li. The kit held onto it like a sacred object, a proud smile on his face.
Zhou looked proud too as we continued on our way, "I'm really proud of you boys."
"Thanks, Zhou," we piped.
"We're coming up on some food vendors. Go get yourselves some treats; you deserve it."
We ended up eating dinner in a noodle shop owned by a kindly goose—I found out many years later he was the grandfather of the future Dragon Warrior, but he sadly wouldn't live to see that day—and didn't arrive home to the Jade Palace until much later. We'd enjoyed ourselves immensely, though we were quite tired. But we still had something very important to do.
Li held on to the scroll in its blue silk bag, while Ochir carried some candied plums—Song's favorite—that we had bought with the last yuan we'd been given. Zhou left us in the care of the sow, Mrs. Chen, who ushered us into the bunkhouse. "You'll all need baths tomorrow, but it's too late now," she said.
After we'd changed into our nightclothes, we sneaked over to Song's room and opened the door. She was still awake, and we could tell she'd been crying. I sighed, "Is your Mom still here?"
She shook her head, "She left without saying good-bye."
We looked at her sympathetically, but she wasn't interested in pity. She wiped her eyes and sniffed. "Did you guys have fun?"
"We woulda had more fun if you were there," Ochir said.
Li held out the silk bag to her. "We brought you something, to make you feel better."
"Candied plums too," the rhino said, handing her the bag. She stared at us in amazement.
"You guys didn't have to…"
"We wanted to," I said. "Aren't you gonna open your gift?"
She looked at the silk bag in her hand and took the scroll out. Untying the ribbon that held it closed, she unrolled it on the floor…and froze in amazement. To my alarm, her eyes filled with tears again, and she sat back so tears wouldn't stain and ruin the painting.
We three boys panicked, "What's wrong?"
She shook her head, "Nothing…" she looked up, and she was smiling. "Thanks, you guys…you're the best."
We hugged her while she cried again. Mrs. Chen came in a moment later, smiled at us and wordlessly hung the painting on the wall, so that Song would wake up and see it every morning. We shared the candied plums, and Mrs. Chen let us stay up a little later than usual.
Song leaned her head on my shoulder. "Fu?"
"Yeah?" I asked, my mouth full of sweet plum.
"Thanks for being such a good friend."
I smiled, wrapping an arm around her. "Any time."
Over the next few days, Song opened up to me a little more. Her father—much like my family—was a very traditional man, an imperial scholar of the fourth rank, who was progressive enough to teach his only daughter to read and write, but old-fashioned enough to teach her what he thought a woman should be. He'd been disappointed when he married Miao Li, only because she was "an ugly, big-footed girl". I thought he was crazy; Miao Li was beautiful. So what if she didn't have those so-called "golden lilies"? The fact she didn't allow herself to be made into a cripple made me like her more.
Song told me the lessons she had to learn: embroidery, sewing, poetry, playing instruments…all these things she was terrible at. She was much better at punching her older brothers when they made fun of her. Every time she did, her father sternly reminded her of the Three Obediences: "When a girl, obey your father; when a wife, obey your husband; when a widow, obey your son."
Obey, obey, obey…while obeying Master Oogway made sense to me, was that all a girl was expected to do? Song told me about the Four Virtues, which I knew already, and had believed perfectly acceptable for a woman: "Be chaste and yielding, calm and upright in attitude; be quiet and agreeable in words; be restrained and exquisite in movement; be perfect in handiwork and embroidery".
And Confucius was supposed to be wise.
Like I said, I had much to learn about women. The day that Song's parents (namely her father) effectively disowned her, I learned more about women than I think any man ever had. Or at least a boy my age.
One day I asked Master Oogway about what I'd learned. Most of all, I asked him why women were supposedly the "weaker sex"; I thought this was a load of nonsense, since Song easily had the hardest punch I'd ever felt.
He was meditating, but sighed and turned to look at me, "I thought that was you eavesdropping with her."
"I'm sorry, Master…" I said, my ears pressed against my skull.
"I understand. You were worried for her, and with good reason."
"She's not really leaving, is she?"
"No, when I said I would not allow it, I meant it. Her father would have to come and drag her away himself, and I know he would not do such a thing…"
"Because you'd kick his butt?"
"No," he chuckled, "Because you three boys would."
I smiled cheekily. He was right, we would. Then I frowned, "So did they abandon her here?"
"Song's mother did not 'abandon' her so much as leave her in my care. Song will return to her family eventually. What her father does not understand is that there are many ways for a daughter to bring honor to her family…ways that don't involve suffering for 'beauty'."
"Why do girls do that? Why do they let people hurt them like that…"
"Because for many, they have no choice in the matter," he explained. "In a perfect world, women would be autonomous—that means they would be their own master. They would own property, run their own businesses, live in homes by themselves, have rightful ownership of their children, and have all the freedoms men enjoy. But sadly, Small One, this is not a perfect world."
"Why do men think girls are weak?"
"That I cannot tell you—I do not pretend to understand why society is the way it is; I cannot tell you why men believe the things they do. What I can tell you is that while women may not have the natural upper body strength that men do…they make up for it in other ways."
"Like what, Master?"
"Well, they're smarter, for one," he chuckled. "Think of it: what do you think I've been emphasizing for you?"
I thought for a moment, "To…to use my brain?"
"Exactly. You may be small—and others may perceive you as 'weak'—but the strongest warrior in any battle is the one who uses his—or her—brain, not brawn."
I didn't think that was fair to Ochir though; he was plenty smart, even if he did have a lot of brawn for one so young. In later years he would develop a more philosophical approach to life, become calmer, more contemplative…but that was not to happen for many years.
"What'll happen to Song now?" I asked.
"She will continue to train here, if that is her heart's desire."
"She doesn't want her feet bound."
"Who would? You'll break enough bones during training, but I can think of no worse undeserved punishment than what thousands of women go through each day…"
I nodded, "My mother's feet weren't bound."
"She is one of the lucky ones. And your father loves her very much."
"Aren't mothers and fathers supposed to love each other?"
"In a perfect world, we would all marry for love—most marriages are arranged, and the couple generally do not meet until their wedding day."
"That's dumb."
"Yes, yes it is."
"I think you should rule China," I said, not realizing this was treasonous against the emperor. It was a good thing Oogway an accepting person, and didn't rebuke me. He just chuckled,
"Oh Small One, you couldn't pay me to take that job! I would rather live my life as a peasant than a prince. I would rather be free, surrounded by Earth's bounteous beauty, than stuck behind many walls, sitting in a dark room counting gold all day. At night, I close my eyes and sleep soundly; a prince lays awake, fearful of the thief in the night, or for someone else to do him harm."
He was right—he was always right. For the first time I appreciated being a poor farmer's son. Oddly, it meant I had many more freedoms than a rich child. I never thought I'd feel sorry for them, but lo and behold, I did.
"So…Song's staying?"
"She is staying. Did she enjoy your gift?"
I nodded. "She really likes it."
"Good, that makes my heart glad."
I smiled. "Mine too, Master." I paused. "Am I in trouble for eavesdropping?"
"Not this time."
It sounded ominous, so I decided to remain silent. I bowed in respect, wondering if he would dismiss me. He patted the ground next to him, a silent request to join him. Wordlessly, I sat down in lotus position and closed my eyes, but all I saw was Song…
"Wow, crushing much?" Po wondered.
Tigress shook her head, "He was just worried about her."
"I don't blame him," Monkey said. "To think how close she came to losing her freedom like that…"
"At least now we know why he took us on so quickly, right Tigress?" Viper said, rolling the scroll up.
Tigress remained silent, a contemplative look on her face and a faraway look in her eyes.
"Tigress?"
"Huh? Oh, yes, right, perfect sense," she mumbled distractedly.
"Are you alright?" Po asked.
"Fine," she answered quickly. "Fine…just fine." Her eyes flicked over to the other scrolls, silently hoping he hadn't written about the circumstances surrounding her arrival in the Jade Palace. None of her friends knew the truth, and she was hoping to keep it that way…
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