Own nothing but the OCs, and I also regret nothing.
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Memoirs of a Master
Chapter 10
"He's his father," Tigress said suddenly over lunch.
"Whose father?" Viper asked.
"Zigsa, he has to be Tai Lung's father."
"There's no proof of that," Crane reasoned.
"There's no proof that he isn't." Tigress crossed her arms stubbornly. "There are too many coincidences. I can't shake the feeling they are related. And what is this garbage about Zigsa being like me? I'm not the one with questionable morals…"
"No," Mantis said, "But then again, you're also not the only person in kung fu history who's ever craved their master's support."
Po looked across the table at Tigress. He'd only been at the Jade Palace for a few short months, and he was no closer to the feline than he had been the day he'd first arrived. He hearkened back to what Monkey had said about her, how this behavior was normal. The panda wondered what exactly had happened to her, to make her so closed-off from everyone else. Surely Tigress was smart enough to know she couldn't go through life alone, that she needed to depend on other people sometimes. That was the point of being a part of a team, in Po's mind.
Then again, no one ever said the leader of that team ever needed to be equal. Generals were never equal with the enlisted, and students were never their master's equals.
But they all had to start somewhere.
Master Shifu had started there, and had he not said in his own memoirs that he was never Oogway's equal? Po recalled that while the tortoise sage had always referred to the red panda as "my friend" or "old friend", Shifu always called Oogway "Master", with a capital M. To see him referring to the tortoise as just "Oogway" throughout the text seemed uncharacteristic. Perhaps Shifu changed after his Master's passing? Perhaps he had finally seen them as equals after—what was it? Sixty-five years? It was a long time to know someone.
Po was surprised by many things. While not at all surprised to know his master was stubborn since birth, the panda was surprised to find that he had quite the independent and adventurous streak. He had even defied his master's orders—and Po had never known Oogway to give orders. Suggestions, yes, and hints, most certainly…but orders, never. Or, well, almost never.
When first meeting Shifu, Po knew the old master was not pleased with his new student. Po may have known all there was to know about kung fu without being a practitioner, but he wasn't in any shape to call himself a fighter. But Oogway had started off slow and deliberate, while Shifu got right down to business immediately. Granted, that was probably because he was trying to get rid of him the quickest way possible. Po could sympathize; spending years training students in the ancient art, only to have some big fat oaf steal the title from someone who had devoted their entire lives to such an achievement…it would have been as if Po's father had suddenly decided to turn over the restaurant to the lucky one millionth customer.
In that respect, he could understand where both Shifu and Tigress were coming from.
But for all that he had learned, the one thing he could not—and probably would never—get over was the fact that for all his self-assuredness, and for all the outward implications of confidence, Shifu had always—always—second-guessed himself. He doubted his abilities, and lacked faith on numerous occasions. He was most certainly the "least-Zen Zen master".
But that was still heartening to the Dragon Warrior. It meant that he and Shifu really were more alike than he ever expected. Po had spent his entire life wanting to be something, but never believed in himself. And now he knew, so did Shifu.
An hour before dawn, all of us gave up the fight for sleep. Ochir, Li, Ren and I sat around a small camp fire, slowly nibbling at a bland breakfast. My stomach was churning so much from nerves, I doubt any of it would stay down. Li had put his bowl down and was strapping knives and throwing stars to his belt, and counting the arrows in his quiver distractedly. Ochir started wrapping his knuckles, clenching and unclenching his fists. Ren seemed the calmest of the four of us, but his breaths were too deep, too slow to have been natural; when Li gripped the wolf's hand, I realized he was shaking.
Such is the way of those poor souls at the dawn of their first battle. We were young, stupid, poor, poor foolish bastards, all of us. What had we known about battle, about war, except from what our master had told us? What did we know of valor and honor? Everything we had believed up to that moment would be torn down at the first clash of steel against steel, at the arrow's first flight, at the first crack of thunder rolling across the plain.
That was the day of no dawn.
The skies opened up on us just as the dark night began to turn into grey morning. The soldiers of the Three Armies stood along the line, we students standing together near Ren's father. The wolf grimly looked down over the valley, the plain verdant and green, a beautiful sight in any other circumstance, with wildflowers blooming and bowing gently into the wind. Rain began pattering against the ground, like a mother's soft kisses to assuage her child's fears, but then the wind kicked up, blowing rain and leaves into our faces, soaking us through.
As suddenly as the storm had swept across the mountains and descended on us, a bolt of lightning lit up the sky, the bolt branching out, light rolling under the thick black clouds, crackling in the air.
And over the ridge we saw them. A thin line of them, but there they were.
There weren't as many as I thought there'd be.
Then the lightning struck again.
And there were the rest.
We all gasped.
Qiang wasn't kidding. There were easily over fifty thousand of them. Only half of their forces…and more were visible over the ridge.
And at the center of the line was a tall and imposing white figure. Though we had never seen him, we knew who he was instantly.
Dressed in little more than rags, and—we were horrified to see—the furs of his slain enemies, the white of his fur was natural, something he'd had his whole life. It had earned him the name "White Devil". But to us, the white wolf standing at the front and middle of the line, grasping White Lightning, his feared legendary blade, he was simply known as Khan.
The Great Khan.
Master Qiang turned to us, barking out the order, "Stand your ground! Do not strike until they strike!"
I gulped, feeling bile rising in my throat. I was absolutely terrified now, and didn't think I could do this. I couldn't, how could I? All those Huns, most of them probably emerging from the womb with gnashing teeth and striking claws, and then there was me. I didn't stand a chance. I tried reminding myself that I had doubted my chances against the gorilla five years before, but that was different. There were rules in that arena. This was war. There were no rules.
A scout raised his voice and I was shocked out of my reverie by the archers around us drawing arrows and aiming for the sky.
"HOLD!" Qiang ordered. "Lower your weapons!"
I looked up and saw something circling the sky. With another flash of lightning, the figure in the sky dived, swooping down to Qiang.
The archers tightened their grips as the Mongol falcon came closer.
"I SAID LOWER YOUR DAMNED WEAPONS!" Qiang snarled.
The whole line jumped back in shock at his outburst. Li put his hand on my shoulder, looking as pale as the moon. The Mongol falcon narrowed his keen eyes at the ranks then turned to Master Qiang.
"Master Jian Qiang, I presume?"
We gasped.
The falcon was female.
The Huns let their women fight as well? Clearly, if their women were as fierce as this one looked…we were screwed.
Qiang looked as surprised as we all did. "Ah, yes, I am. You are?"
"I am Borte, of the Eastern Golden Eagle clan. Your reputation precedes you." Her voice was strong and firm, for truly, she was someone used to giving orders.
"What of my reputation?" he asked coolly, his hand straying to his sword.
"That you are a level-headed, peace-loving man, who tires of war, and cares more for diplomacy than violence."
He stayed his hand. "Too bad that too much diplomacy induces violence."
"Only when dealing with idiots," she quipped. "Idiots, in my experience, are all that makes up a government."
He couldn't help but smirk a little, his hand resting on the sword's hilt. "You're here to parlay then?"
"Don't insult me, wolf," she snapped, the mood broken. "I am here to give you one last chance: get out of our way, let us through. We mean no harm…"
"No harm! You're invading China!" he scoffed.
"Invade?" she asked, sounding mystified. "Where do you hear such talk? Do you believe everything you are told?"
"I believe what I see."
"Seeing isn't always believing, Master Jian," she answered coolly. "I have tried explaining myself to your Master Red Claw, and I will give you the same warning I gave him: if you do not abandon this foolish war now, you will not live to see the end of this day. The Emperor of China has deceived the Peoples of the Steppes for the last time."
"I know nothing of any deceit," he replied. "That is a matter between your leader and the Son of Heaven. I am here to protect my home. I am a soldier of China, and it is my filial duty to protect the fatherland."
"Motherland," she corrected.
"Fatherland," he restated. The falcon narrowed her eyes at him then spread her wings. She cast her golden eyes over to the four of us, and she looked surprised a moment. For a split moment, I swore something, perhaps it was only my imagination, but something…connected. Like the electricity in the air had somehow swept through our bodies.
She looked at Ochir, studying him a moment, then finally blinked and turned back to Master Qiang. "You will not leave?"
"I will never surrender."
"I am not asking you to surrender. I am asking you to stand aside."
"That is also not going to happen."
"Then you had better begin digging your own graves now," she warned. "We will not have the time to do it for you."
"You don't intimidate me," he said.
"Is that what you think this is about?" she asked. "Truly, I used to believe Mongol men had the thickest skulls. No matter, if that is what you truly wish, then we would be happy to smash in all these pretty heads—mayhap common sense will be able to sink in afterwards."
"Tell Khan we are ready for him."
She turned away, spreading her wings wide. It was a silent signal that she saw us as so little a threat, she was unafraid to turn her back to us. She flapped her wings once, readying herself for flight.
"Qiang, you don't know what you're ready for," she said, casting one last look over her shoulder. "In another time…perhaps…" she shook her head, stopping that thought. "We will not give you mercy."
"I don't expect it."
With that, she launched herself off the branch and soared through the valley, flying right back to the side of the Great Khan. Qiang watched her go, then turned to us. He looked like he was about to ask us something, then thought better of it and turned away.
Ochir's heavy hand landed on my shoulder and yanked me back to the back of the line. Ren and Li had been dragged back with him. "Hey! Ochir, what the hell?!"
He stopped long enough to make sure no one was listening in before hissing, "I don't like this. Something smells rotten here."
"Seriously. You'd think with a big-ass wall between us, the Huns wouldn't even bother," Li suggested.
"Exactly," our friend nodded. "That falcon, something she said…there's more to this battle than what Red Claw's letting on."
"What about Master Qiang?" I asked.
Ochir paused, looking at Ren, then whispered, "If he knows anything, it's probably not everything." He took hold of us and pulled us along again, this time going the long way around the column.
"What're you doing?!" Li hissed.
"Stalling. We're going to get to the bottom of this."
"Red Claw won't give us that opportunity," Ren warned. "He'll attack."
"You let me worry about Red Claw," Ochir said, holding up the Twin Hammers of Master Ox. "Fu, you and Li are the swiftest on foot, and you can hide pretty easily. Get back to the Huns' lines, or at least try to find that falcon lady. The sooner we know the truth, the better."
"You don't think Red Claw's telling the truth?" Ren asked.
"He's got it out for Huns everywhere," Ochir said. "Besides, did you see that bird?"
We pondered over the meaning behind his words, then it struck us. I should have realized it from the thinness of her frame, the dullness of her plumage, and the heavy breathing…
I looked at Li, who stared back in muted shock. Ren voiced our thoughts: "They're starving. The Huns are starving."
"She looked like she hadn't eaten in days," Li said.
"Impossible," I said. "They've been marching right through the food stores of the empire! How could they be starving?!"
Ren stared out into space for a moment, the cursed loudly. "Shit! How could I be so stupid! Ochir, go find Red Claw, we need to stop this battle! Fu, Li, get across the valley to parlay with Khan. Don't stop for anyone, get to Khan, and Khan alone!"
"Won't he kill us?" Li asked.
Ren grabbed his wrist and wrapped a white cloth around his arm. "Not if you wear these. Khan might be merciless, but he knows how we Chinese fight battles." He looked into Li's eyes, and I don't think I could convey in mere words on paper the emotions behind that wolf's gaze as he looked upon the man he loved. Nor can I express the myriad emotions that were underlying when he told Li, "Be careful."
He wrapped a white cloth around my wrist and shook my hand resolutely. "Get in, and get out. I can't guarantee your safety…"
"We'll do our best. I still don't know what you want us to do…" I said.
"Stall. We need to get to the bottom of this. Tell Khan who you are. The rest will fall into place. Now go, you don't have much time."
"Ren," Li grasped his hand.
"Li, you need to get going…" he was cut off when Li pressed his lips against the wolf's. Ren's eyes widened a moment, but he instantly wrapped his arms around the smaller canine and returned the kiss. Li pulled away quickly, offered a small smile then turned to run down into the valley.
"Keep him safe," Ren begged me.
"I promise."
And I meant it.
Getting through the ranks wasn't easy. Ochir had made it over to Red Claw, alerting Master Qiang and drawing attention away from us. Ren had run to his father and dragged him away, to where, I couldn't guess. But it was clear from our vantage point that Red Claw was not pleased Ochir was questioning his authority. Even while the massive rhino was bearing down on the equally imposing tiger, Li and I managed to sneak past the perimeter of the army, slipping past soldiers too busy watching and waiting for the tiger to give Ochir what he had coming. As far as a distraction goes, I don't think we could have afforded better. I thought we were in the clear until we made it past one of Red Claw's guards. The ox spotted us, and raised the alarm: "DESERTERS!"
I cursed, and Li cursed as well, only louder. With that, our sneaking around developed into a full run. We dashed past the last ranks, literally kicking and screaming to freedom. We expected our side to not want us to desert, or to do this suicide mission, but we expected the other side to want to do us harm. I heard a hearty yell and the clang of steel against steel, and a chanced look over my shoulder saw Ochir and Red Claw locked in battle. He was buying us more time.
A monk's spade slammed into the soil in front of me, stopping me short. A rhino I didn't recognize stood over me, roaring out a battle cry. I kicked out, snapping the pole weapon in half, and using the other end of it to knock him out. As easy as it would have been to draw the Sword of Heroes, I couldn't kill a comrade; it wasn't like he was trying to kill me after all.
Li grabbed my wrist and yanked me along. "Come on, MOVE IT!"
"Li, they're not going to ki—"
Then we heard the chilling words roared over the melee, Red Claw ordering, "KILL THE DESERTERS!"
"Oh shit," I cursed.
"KEEP MOVING!" Li yelled. Suddenly, trying to prevent this battle didn't seem like such an inviting situation. I knew I would be putting my own life on the line, but I expected to face danger from Huns. Instead, Li and I were racing across the battle field, trampling grass and flowers in a desperate attempt to find sanctuary with the enemy.
A shout, and I turned to look back—big mistake. I tripped and fell, and to my horror, the already dark sky was completely blotted out by the bitter black of arrows…all descending right towards me.
All I remember was a whoosh of air, like a heavy exhale, and suddenly I felt very light. So this is what death is like, I thought. But I looked to the arrow-clad grass below, and the talons gripping my arms suddenly registered.
"Peace, warrior," Borte ordered. "Grab your friend." She dove straight to the ground, gliding along the grasses towards Li, who was still running. We grabbed hold of each other, and Borte ascended with a mighty push from her wingspan. We were amazed at her strength as she lifted the both of us effortlessly, sailing higher and higher in the air, defying nature's wrathful lightning strikes. At another time, I would have marveled at the beauty of the valley floor, yet untainted by blood, and the white and black juxtaposition of the clouds and lightning strikes, but I was still too concerned with living.
Suddenly she dived, straight down over the ramshackle ranks of the Huns. Then without warning, she dropped us.
Li and I recovered with enough time to land on our feet, or at least as gracefully as we could from a twenty-foot fall. When the dust at our feet cleared, we saw a pair of booted feet standing firm like the roots of a mighty oak. Together, he and I looked up the figure, clad in the skins of his slain enemies, bears, wolves, and various other creatures. Even the mane of a lion he wore as a hood, and at his collar—I paled to see—the tails of a red pandas and a foxes. He was savage, but it was his face that surprised us.
The Great Khan was rather short for a wolf, but what he lacked in height, he made up for in bulky, thick muscles, and green eyes as sharp as the crack of a whip, or shattered obsidian. The white wolf had thin facial hair on his weather-beaten face, and it made him look older than he actually was. He was actually no older than Master Jian Qiang.
One of his soldiers said something to him in their language, and whatever it was, it sounded accusatory, demanding…dangerous. The wolf held up his hand for silence. Then he began circling us. Li and I shared a look, but tried not to show fear. We were in the proverbial lion's den, and heaven only knew if we'd escape alive.
Borte landed on the wolf's shoulder, said something to him in Mongolian, then he grabbed me by the front of my robe, bringing me face to face with him. I was amazed at the look in his eyes. He didn't look stupid, like I expected a barbarian to be. He looked…almost intelligent.
"China must not be treating their men well, to have two of their own desert them," he said mockingly, his accent thick. "How the mighty are falling…"
"We didn't desert," I growled. "We're trying to stop this battle from happening."
His eyes flicked over across the field at the in-fighting on the other side, "A battle between the Huns and the Han, you are successful. Too bad you could not stop your own petty squabble." He dropped me unceremoniously, but I recovered, landing on my feet and drawing the Sword of Heroes. The Huns that had formed a circle around us drew back with sharp breaths. Even Borte looked shocked. Khan's jaw had dropped.
"The Sword of Heroes…" he breathed. He did something I didn't expect: he knelt, touching his head to the ground in reverence; all around us, the Huns in the circle's perimeter all bowed as well. When he rose, our eyes locked, his searching, mine trying to show I was not going to back down. I never understood how eyes could be the "Windows to the Soul", because I had never been able to discern any secret message by looking into someone's eyes. Perhaps that was a talent (or skill?) that required years of practice, or being good at reading people, an instinct perhaps that was relegated to those most in touch with nature…like Khan…and like Oogway.
"You…" he looked at me, "You are not from around here."
"Yes I am," I said, though I was surprised by how calmly I said it. "My natal village is at risk. I am here to protect my family, and my home."
"You do not live there the whole time?" he asked. It must have seemed like the simplest thing in the world to him. If someone had a foundation, why bother moving? A nomad's simplistic thinking, apparently. If you bother to lay a firm foundation, moving away after putting all that work into making your home was akin to throwing away a perfectly good pail of water after walking for miles to find it.
"My friend and I…we're disciples of kung fu."
"Who is your master?" he asked, interrupting, his savage eyes still trained on the blade.
"Master Oogway."
I was not expecting that collective gasp. Neither was Li, who looked at me in surprise. I shrugged. I had no idea what was going on.
Khan's light green eyes were wide, mouth agape. "Students of Grandmaster Oogway himself…"
"Wait," Li stopped him. "You know Oogway?"
"Of course I know Oogway!" Khan barked at him. "Only one living under a rock the past nine hundred years has not heard of Oogway. The Great Tortoise, the One Who Watches Us, the Protector of the North…his is the first name on the tongues of each Mongol child, invoking a great protector..."
"What did Oogway ever do for you?" I asked.
"He has taught us mercy," Borte said. "He has taught us grace."
"Bullshit," Li snapped. "Where is there mercy in…this?" he demanded, indicating the war. "You've killed innocent civilians and for what? Land? Territory?! How is that mercy?!"
Li gulped when Khan drew his sword, leveling it at the fox's throat. "I could have killed you for insulting me, but like I said, your master has always taught mercy. Now, answer me this: why should I bother to listen to you, aside from being students of the Great Tortoise? I have sent my most trusted right hand to parlay, to convince you Chinese to let us pass through."
"We're not letting that happen," I snapped. "You put my family in danger…"
"And what do you think that is?!" he snapped, pointing to the back of the column.
Simultaneously, I think both Li and I felt our stomachs fill with lead, then nausea crept in, and lightheadedness from the shock.
The Huns—the fighters—were actually fewer than the forces our side had. There were at most thirty thousand able-bodied men, and even that was stretching it, if the near-emaciated condition of their bodies was any indication. The rest of that hundred thousand…were women and children.
"You…your families travel with you?"
"Nomads," Khan reminded us with an arched eyebrow.
"Yeah, I know that, but," I said quickly, "You take them with you on campaign?"
This time, it was his turn to look surprised, and very confused, "Campaign?"
"Yeah, dude," Li said, pointing to his guards. "Armed to the teeth, hundred thousand strong, climbing over the Great Wall to invade…"
"Who said we were invading?" Borte asked, looking insulted.
"Uh…well," I said, sheathing the Sword of Heroes, "Generally, when one army enters the territory of another state with a massive force of arms, that's usually called an invasion."
"This is no army!"
"Again," Li said, pointing at two very intimidating lions. "Armed to the teeth."
"We have no need to explain ourselves to you," Borte said sharply.
"Well clearly what we have here is a failure to communicate," Li retorted, "Because everyone in China thinks you're here to take over!"
"Lies!" Khan scoffed. "I sent scouts to your capital, asking your Emperor for permission to enter his country."
"And you thought it'd be that easy, that he'd just give you that permission?" I asked skeptically.
"Like it or not, boy, we Mongols know something of diplomacy. We were told that we could move south and winter here."
Now I was confused.
"Wait," I stopped, holding up a hand. "Wait…you mean to tell me this is a vacation?"
"Oh, yes," he said sarcastically, "My idea of a vacation is bringing my entire clan to southern China, hundreds of miles from home, because of a famine."
"Famine?" my friend and I chorused.
Khan looked at the two of us like we had to be simpletons. "Yes, as much as it pains me, I had to ask for help from my enemy, or my people would have starved. It doesn't get any simpler than that! He took mercy on us, sent word with one of his own scouts that we could move south, gather food, then return once the famine was over."
"So you're…not trying to invade and/or kill us?" Li asked.
"That was never the intention!" the wolf snorted.
"But there have been battles!" I cried. "People died!"
"It's not our fault you Chinese don't have a reliable inter-province system of communication for the benefit of free information."
"Huh?"
Borte placed her wing on Khan's shoulder, "Temujin, I don't think these boys are acting…they must not truly know. It could explain why we have been met with resistance this whole time."
"We had a pass from the Emperor," Khan snapped. "That should be good enough for them!"
"They trust the word of their Emperor over our own," she reminded him.
"Is it not the same thing?!" he demanded.
"Actually, its not," Li said honestly. "We grew up hearing stories of your savagery…"
"And the treachery of your Emperor rivals the numbers I have killed."
"You take that back!" Li snarled.
"Temujin!"
"WHAT?" he snapped, whirling on Borte. The falcon pointed her wing across the battlefield.
"The children!"
"What?!"
Li and I stared incredulously across the way and saw the unmistakable uniforms of the Imperial army as they surrounded the Mongol camp. When had they mobilized, and how, without our knowing, without seeing? Li looked across the valley and saw the charge. Imperial soldiers before us, and soldiers behind us, and to this day, I am uncertain how they did it. What was certain, and Li put it oh so eloquently, "Shit, we're surrounded."
"How?" Khan asked, bewildered.
"Simple, really."
In an instant, before we could react, rough hands grabbed us and threw us to the ground. Swords flashed and slaughtered Khan's strongest men instantly, but Li, Khan, Borte and myself were left alone, shoved facedown into the dirt. I struggled to look up and saw Red Claw, a smug smile on his face. The tiger grabbed the Mongol leader and held him by the lapel, a good two feet off the ground.
"It figures, you barbarians are too stupid to see anything other than at face value. Deceit is not one of your strengths…imagine, if there's one thing I can say about you, Khan…you're too honest," he laughed derisively, "and too trusting, as well. Your scouts never made it to the Forbidden City."
The white wolf's eyes widened, perplexed until the savage tiger explained, "We intercepted them. Oh, but don't worry, they are well."
"Liar!" Borte screamed, flapping her wings wildly and snapping her beak at her captors, both of whom struggled to hold her down. "What did you do with them?" she shrieked.
"When I say they are well, of course, I meant they are better off than where they were…"
It didn't register right away, but he had tortured them, and now they were dead. I raised my voice, "Intercepting correspondence to the Emperor is high treason!"
I cried out when he kicked dirt in my face, but I was lucky that was all he did. "What the Emperor doesn't know won't hurt him," he replied. "Besides, hearing that the bad growing season from last year also affected our 'friends' to the north," he smiled maliciously at Khan, "gave me all I needed to wipe out this little pest, once and for all."
I couldn't see Khan's expression from where I was, but I wager he felt as sick as I did.
Red Claw had purposefully invited the Huns into Chinese territory, erroneously alerted the army of an 'invasion', put millions of innocent people in danger, lied to the Emperor, and now deceived the very people he had served with. He had intentionally brought the Huns into China, with every intention of wiping them out. His goal was complete and utter genocide.
Behind the tiger, I saw Master Jian Qiang being held fast between two rhinos; Ochir was nowhere to be found. My heart sunk. What had Red Claw done to him?
"Red Claw, you lying bastard!" Qiang snarled. "This has gone too far! You never said anything about women and children!"
"When we entered this partnership twenty-five years ago, you swore yourself to me, Jian," the tiger said, releasing Khan into the hands of two imperial guards. Turning to Qiang, the tiger reminded, "You swore undying loyalty."
"That was when you had sanity and good sense. This goes against everything we were ever taught!" Qiang bit back. "This is murder!"
Red Claw got into his face and hissed, "No. This is war."
"War still has rules, Red," he shot back, "This is wrong, and you know it!"
"Wrong? How can you possibly think it wrong?" he asked, ironically morally outraged. "When a Hun killed your wife in a raid fifteen years ago, you swore vengeance. You wanted every Mongol dead. Well, now's your chance, Jian."
"I was grieving," the wolf said. "I wasn't thinking straight, and I regret how I felt. As heartbroken as I was, and still am, that doesn't make this right!"
"Think of your son, Qiang," the tiger said, almost tenderly. "Think of Ren… He grew up without a mother. Would you want him to have to face what you have? You would do anything to protect him, wouldn't you?"
"Ren is a man now," Li spat at him. "He doesn't need to be protected!" His outburst earned him a swift punch to the stomach from one of the guards. Red Claw just ignored him, but Master Qiang appeared to be in deep thought.
"This is all on you, Jian. It is so easy, so simple…I can give you a sword, and you kill the Great Khan yourself, right here, in front of his men, in front of his entire nation…imagine it, that with one strike, the mighty Mongols fall."
Qiang was shaking his head, staring at the ground and mouthing "no" over and over again. He looked like he couldn't believe this was happening.
"It's now or never, Jian."
He finally looked up, the dark rage burning in his eyes. "Never."
Red Claw shook his head, clucking his tongue. "A shame…oh, and Jian? Surely you know…this isn't personal." Suddenly, he tore the wolf from the rhinos' grasps and threw him like a rag doll, the wolf landing with a hard thud against the ground a few yards away.
"Master Qiang!" Li shouted in alarm. "Red Claw, you son of a bitch! I hope the devil drags you down himself!"
"Aren't you a little low on the hierarchy to be mouthing off?" he snarled, unsheathing his claws.
I felt one of the hands of my captors slip, and I took my chance. I struck up, grabbing the hapless creature by the nostrils and flipped him over my shoulder. I stood quickly, drawing out the Sword again and brandishing it at Red Claw. Li took the opportunity while his own captors were distracted and freed himself as well, lashing out and pinning them to the ground with his throwing stars. He drew an arrow and aimed at the tiger, and the two of us stood our ground.
Red Claw just laughed.
"You're even more foolish than I thought! It seems Oogway's been slipping these past few years…"
"That's Master Oogway," I snapped. "And Master Qiang was right—you are an embarrassment to kung fu! There is no honor in murder!"
"Murder? My boy, don't you realize what these creatures have done?" He purposefully called them "creatures". Not People. They were lower than worms to him. And now, apparently, so were we. He continued, dishing out a twisted repertoire and stilted, disgusting rhetoric, making me sicker by the moment.
"I have never given them mercy, as they never gave me any. These hands," he held up his hands, still brilliantly crimson red after years of bloodshed, "Have seen more death than you can ever imagine. Khan has killed more innocents than I have killed Huns in my entire career protecting our borders. I have seen that monster cut down comrades, good men, good, law-abiding Chinese men, and ruined families…and now I am old. It is understandable, isn't it, that I do not wish future generations to lose sons, fathers, and husbands to these…animals?"
Li and I looked at each other. Finally my vulpine friend said to him, "You're one sick kitty, you know that?"
"This is murder," I stated. "They're innocents! Women and children!"
"Children who will grow to be killers and women who spawn yet more of them," the tiger snarled, slowly prowling closer to us. "Look at them, pitiful creatures…you look at them, and you pity them, but have they ever pitied us? Have they ever given us mercy? Have they ever stopped trying to take our land, our homes, our lives? Trust me, young man, once you think it over, you will know what is right, and you will do the right thing."
The right thing.
As much as I hate to admit it, he had a point. Zigsa had a point. Anyone who had ever fought Huns would have instantly agreed and allowed Red Claw to continue this massacre with a clear conscience. China and Mongolia had been enemies for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, and more lives had been lost fighting and running from Huns than from any epidemic or famine. More lives had been lost to this near-constant war, more families ruined, and hearts broken to this conflict than anything else China had ever faced. On the surface, eliminating the cause of the problem seemed to make the most sense.
The right thing.
I looked back at Li, who was staring at me. I knew he wanted me to say something, to do something. The arm pulling the arrow against the twine was shaking slightly. I had no idea what to do.
"Fu," Red Claw ordered. "You will do the right thing."
An order. He had ordered me to do the right thing. He had given me an order, and Master Qiang had told me to defy any order the tiger gave me. Instead, I obeyed.
I jumped up and slashed the Sword of Heroes across his face. He jumped back, spitting and yowling just like a common cat, then stared at me in shock through blood-soaked eyes. "W-what are you doing?!"
I answered him truthfully: "The right thing."
Chaos broke out in that next instant, when Li fired off his arrow towards the outer edges of the camp, through a torch, and into a cart filled with cannons. The resulting explosion was all the distraction Khan needed to mobilize his men and order a retreat. I didn't know the word "retreat" was even a part of their language, but apparently they believed as we Chinese believed, that discretion was the better part of valor.
The Huns that had not been slaughtered by Red Claw's men ran right back to their families, attacking the creatures that dared harm their wives and children. In a few cases, the mothers of small children (and in one notable case, a grandmother) took up arms and beat away their assailants single-handedly.
A fundamental thing that is always forgotten about war: both sides are more alike than they know, and yet try to kill each other over what will one day be seen as a stupid, asinine reason. To see the Huns protecting their families reminded me of what I had sacrificed to save my own. To see Mongol mothers comforting and protecting their children was to remind me of how my own mother would protect and care for me. Underneath it all, all peoples are inherently the same. Strip away culture, borders, laws and customs, and all people are the same.
Meanwhile, I was fighting for my life, and Red Claw wasn't making it easy. Those claws were the only weapon he needed, though he had his teeth as well. The honorable thing would have been to drop my weapon and fight him bare-handed.
But Oogway didn't train me to be a fool.
I covered for Li as the fox rushed to his old master's side, trying to prop up Qiang and get him out of harm's way. Khan rushed to the other wolf's side, ushering Li along, "You go! He is in good hands!"
A part of me doubted that, but as far as Red Claw was concerned, Li, Qiang and I were no better than Huns now, and we were better off being on Khan's side anyway. Li reentered the fray, letting out volley upon volley of arrows, intentionally hitting non-lethal areas of the opponents' bodies. The twin long knives of Master Dog served him well in close-quarter combat, though the bow still came in handy; he had learned quite a few things from his sparring with Ren.
As for myself, I was desperately trying to remember all the rules and techniques of swordplay to protect myself. Red Claw was unlike anyone I had ever faced. He no longer acted like a sentient being. He was a beast, unrestrained and giving Hell as if the flames were licking at his heels. Those claws looked sharper than the Sword of Heroes!
I reminded myself of the story behind the weapon I wielded, hoping it would give me strength. Once there were four brothers; three were warriors, one a blacksmith, whom his brothers ridiculed until they were defeated in battle. He had forged their weapons into the collective piece I had in hand, and with it, he defeated the bandits his brothers had lost against. If a simple blacksmith could defeat those thought undefeatable, then it stood to reason, so could I.
Then again, the tale never mentioned what species those bandits were. They also didn't mention whether or not those brothers were red pandas fighting against a giant Manchurian tiger. I had a feeling those four brothers had it easier than I did.
Red Claw swung his massive paw, catching me in the side, and I finally gave in to temptation, and stabbed straight into his stomach. He let out an agonized roar, falling back a few paces, holding his middle. I landed a short distance away, primed and ready to move in case he attacked. He merely pulled his hand away from the wound, seeing his paw stained with his own blood, then leaned against a boulder, shock on his features.
That was the first time I had ever drawn blood.
And it would never be the last time.
I felt my own blood seeping into my clothes and fur. I remember feeling a little dizzy and a lot of pain; it took all my strength to keep standing. Now I knew why Red Claw had such a high kill count. Had I not moved slightly to the left when I had, I would have received the full brunt of his attack, and been completely cut in two.
When we locked eyes, his bloodshot eyes narrowed even further and the growl in his throat erupted into a roar, and he bolted right towards me.
I didn't have any time to brace myself.
Then I saw Ochir.
Or, more rather, Red Claw missed Ochir until the rhino seemingly flew right into the path of the oncoming feline and delivered such a blow from his hammers that the cracking of bones in the tiger's face could be heard a mile away. Ochir had literally flown over my head and slammed into the tiger, letting out his own battle cry.
More bones crunched when Red Claw's body slammed into a huge boulder, leaving a spiders-web-like crater impressed in the rock.
I gaped, then gasped, "Where the hell did you come from?"
Ochir turned and gave me a cheeky grin, "Fireworks can come in handy in the most unexpected way, just so you know. Just needed to calculate how much I needed based on my weight…"
"No lightning this time?" I smirked.
He winked, "Nah, savin' that for later. Where's Li?"
And speak of the devil, within the next second, our fox friend landed in a crouch between us, twisted around and fired off one more arrow, and only turned to us after he had heard an agonized cry. He looked at Ochir and asked nonchalantly, "'Sup?"
"You hangin' in there, fox?" Ochir asked.
"I'm hangin'. What happened over there?"
"A coup. The General had to retreat because his men had turned against him."
"These soldiers do realize they tried to kill the brother of the Emperor, right?" I asked.
"They don't know he's still alive," Ochir said. "They think Ren did the deed to say that he'd 'been killed in the line of duty'. I sent him with Ren to warn Song and Zigsa; they took a few loyal soldiers with them. We need to get going, now."
"Why? What's going on?" I asked.
Ochir looked a little pale, "Red Claw figured out that we knew something was up…he sent some of the Imperial Guard to Mount Tai Lung."
His meaning was clear. Red Claw was going to make dead certain that no one would live to testify against him. If that meant slaughtering innocent farmers to make it look like Mongols had done it, then he would do it.
And Song and Zigsa had no clue. Red Claw knew exactly where they were, and it was likely Ren and the General would get there too late.
Red Claw suddenly surprised us, coming at us with one last burst of furious strength, claws raised to Ochir's jugular. He barely had any time to react, punching out with an open hand and hitting the tiger in the throat. The tiger stumbled back, gasping for air…and ran right into Master Qiang's waiting sword.
It was so quick, we were all stunned, utterly speechless. Qiang, to his credit, despite being badly beaten, had to have the last word. He spun the tiger around to look him in the eye. The wolf simply smiled warmly, patting the tiger's cheek like an old friend. "Oh, by the way, Red? This is nothing personal."
With that, he turned the tiger back around and yanked his sword out of the cat's back, dumping his body unceremoniously to the blood-soaked ground. The wolf held his side and ordered, "You three, get going, now. I can handle it from here. Go!"
We needed nothing further.
I had known of a shortcut the farmers used to take to get to some additional rice fields, on the other side of the mountains. It took us through a narrow ravine, with barely enough room for Ochir to run freely. When I had been younger, my father had taken my brothers and I through it, to show us the lands we would eventually cultivate after his passing.
The rice paddies lay bare this year, the result of the previous year's bad harvest.
It made our journey easier. Almost. We were constantly at risk of being buried alive by landslides or falling rocks. But as far as reaching the village and the mountain, it would place us ahead of the regiment sent to eradicate the entire village, wiping it off the map.
The trip from my village the night before the battle had taken four hours. With the pass, we made it in less than two. We rushed past my family's home, then looked back. The black smoke from the slash and burn campaign of the advancing army was just barely behind us. And Mount Tai Lung towered above and before us.
"Okay, so where the hell is this fortress that Zig was talking about?" Ochir asked.
I hadn't thought of that; the snow leopard knew where it was, but we had no clue. I slapped a hand to my forehead, "Damn it!"
"Guys, it's a fortress. It's not like it'll hard to miss!" Li pointed out.
"Li, most people don't make it halfway up this mountain!" I said. "Which is exactly where Zigsa said it was!"
"He wouldn't let the villagers get hurt," Ochir reasoned. "And my guess is that that clan he was talking about wouldn't make their home that easy to find…"
Perfect. So we had come all that way, only to find there was absolutely nothing we could do to get to our friends and the villagers in time to prevent a massacre. We threw ideas back and forth, each one more desperate than the last, until our options were exhausted. Mount Tai Lung was huge; it could take days, maybe weeks, to find anything up there. Not having an idea where anything was didn't help matters either. I had never been up there, no one from my village had. If Zigsa could be believed, the snow leopard clan that had lived there would have kept anyone at bay. And he was blind for heaven's sake! Who knew where he had actually taken them!
I had begun to give up hope when I saw a splash of blue on a low-lying tree branch a few yards up the mountain.
Trotting up, I examined it closer. It was a strip of blue fabric, from the hem of Song's trousers. I looked around, and gradually I saw a pattern: further along, perhaps a hundred meters or so, I saw another strip of blue tied to a bush. Further along, one was tied to another tree branch. She must have marked the trail in case they got lost.
More importantly, she had left us a trail.
Ochir tore the fabric from the first tree branch. "What are you doing?!" I demanded. "How will we find our way back?"
"I'm not giving those guys back there a chance to find us so quickly." He sighed as I shot him a glare. "Look, just let me take the ones that can be seen from the foothills. As long as the village is in sight, we should be able to figure out our way."
"Sounds fair," Li said. "For good measure, tear down the trees—it'll block their path, slow them down. Fu, you lead the way, we'll fall back and trip the army up as best we can."
"But you're right behind me, right?"
"Relax, warrior," Ochir assured me, "Just stay in sight, and we'll follow. I for one am gonna make damn sure all five of us make it back to the Valley of Peace alive."
And so it was, as Crane rolled the scroll back up and set it aside in a neat pile. There had been so much emotion in that scroll, it conflicted with everything he and the others ever believed in.
"I can't believe Red Claw would sink so low…" Tigress said quietly, as if burdening herself with the guilt for her own species' savagery. "Fighting Mongol warriors is one thing…but killing women and children?"
"He believed it was a means to an end," Crane reasoned. "If all the Huns were gone, they would never bother China again."
"They still bother us," Mantis huffed. "But…as much of a pain as they are…"
"Genocide is never the answer," Monkey said.
Viper sighed, "At least Jian Qiang was nothing like that. And I'm so proud of Master for having the courage to do the right thing."
"I'm sure Oogway was too," Po said, smiling. "Sure, he probably wasn't happy Shifu ran away, but I bet he was proud that he stood up for the greater good."
"Still…I hope he got to his family in time," Viper said.
Po looked out the window at the darkening sky and got up to make dinner. He picked up the next scroll on his way to the kitchen. With a mischievous smile, he said, "Only one way to find out!"
Okie dokie folks, if you don't get an update either this Friday or next Friday (Dec 12)...please assume that 1) I am still alive, and 2) the holidays and/or work are taking out a huge chunk of my free time. I seem to be experiencing a bit of SWB (Seasonal Writer's Block) which should right itself after the craziness of the holidays. For the time being, please be kind, as I feel this chapter is not one of my best, but at least this story arch is almost over. Though damn it, now I need to keep coming up with villians for our heroes to face...
Anywho, please read and review. It always brightens my day (and this Christmas, I can use all the cheer I can get).