AN: I promised you a long chapter, and here it is!
Chapter Eight: What Morimotsuhitsu Wished
"Get on with it, Master Shifu," Guiren growled, drumming his fingers on one of the enormous, scarred pillars that held up the roof of the Hall of Heroes. Ruiling nodded her agreement, even as she kept her nose firmly pointed skyward. "Little Tao can have her own reading if she can't be bothered to show up on time for ours."
Shifu's blue eyes narrowed. He really, really hoped one of the five would return QUICKLY with Lady Tao-hua. He wasn't certain how much longer he could put up with these two alone. And he really... really... REALLY wasn't anxious to find out exactly when his breaking point would be.
The sound of running feet and flapping wings drew his attention, as the subjects of his wishful thinking burst back into the hall.
To his disappointment, each of the warriors gave him a brisk negative headshake in response to his inquiring look. Damn and double damn. And now Po was apparently missing as... well?
Speak of the devil, who but Po should chose that moment to wander into the Hall of Heroes, turned around backwards and rambling away a mile a minute to... Lady Tao-hua? If Shifu had not been thoroughly trained by a rather mischeivious old turtle to be prepared at all times for the unexpected, he'd have fallen into the floor at the shock.
Tao appeared, at first, to be disinterested in listening to the running narrative that Po was giving her of his life in his father's noodle shop. Shifu noticed though, that every so often she'd glance up in reaction to something that he'd said. Clearly, she was following his tale closely. Well, would wonders ever cease?
Tao strode past Shifu, ignoring his confused and put-out expression to place the urn containing her father's ashes on a short pedestal next to the one that held the recently repaired Urn of Whispering Warriors, and to light and mount the single stick of incense that she'd found. A quick bow, and she was backing away. She caught Shifu's eye as she straightened. "Get on with it, Shifu. Let the carrion beasts have their thrill."
Shifu bristled slightly. He'd been hoping that the reading would go much smoother than this, but clearly the gods had it out for him on this day. He spared a quick glare at Po, who'd merely paused his ongoing narrative about learning to roll pasta.
The panda quickly let out the preparatory breath that he'd drawn and grinned nervously at his master. Satisfied that he could begin, Shifu held up the single, thinly barred scroll that he had found.
"This letter, addressed to our late Master Oogway, discusses Lord Morimotsuhitsu's wishes for each of you." Guiren smirked. Ruiling preened. Tao-hua stared blankly at Shifu, looking utterly tired of all of them. "In other words, we will divide our late Lord's possessions here, in accordance to his last known intentions.
Each of you has been provided for thusly, using what he knew about your wishes and.. personalities. In addition to a specific inheritance named, I- in Master Oogway's stead- will present you with a gift of my choosing from the Jade Palace.. which yes, Lady Ruiling, is among the articles named. As is the army stationed at Chorh-Gom Prison."
If the grin on Guiren's face became any wider, Shifu thought, his head was going to split in two. The red panda unrolled the scroll, skipping past the jovial opening paragraphs from "Lord Morry", to the name 'Ruiling'.
"My oldest child, my daughter Ruiling," he intoned, trying to keep his voice neutral. "Well known to me is her love of the exorbant, well documented is her taste in accordance to the value of gold."
"I hear of my dear Ruiling's exploits in art and affluent circles often, and it warms my heart to know that she believes treasures should be preserved. At least it would if she had the slightest clue what made an antique and what made a trinket. From the last conservative estimation I overheard about her spending, I imagine she shall soon be quite hard up for currency."
Lady Ruilings face was flushed red in embarrassment, and she briskly fanned herself in an attempt to disguise her discomfort. Her brother snorted with laughter. "Wanna bet that Pop heard about you making the marriage circuit a career, too... or TRYING TO?!" Ruiling glared icily at Guiren, and leaned over to stomp on his foot.
Ignoring the disruption, Shifu continued. "To my eldest daughter then, I leave the thing she would value most. Currency." Ruiling's face brightened. "An allottment shall be made from my treasury, whatever is left of it, to ensure that my charming oldest girl shall be kept.." Shifu pretended to cough abruptly. He'd known this statement was coming, but he still couldn't quite get it out with a straight face.
"..Kept in the finest beginner entreprenural accomodations to be had in the capitol. Something small, with wheels should do. I trust that in time she shall learn to use her ability to bargain in a manner more befitting her station in life.. or that she will adjust her station accordingly."
Guiren burst out laughing as his sister's jaw dropped. Shifu pressed onwards. It was time to banish that grin from that obnoxious bear's face. "To my only son, Guiren, who I named for the qualities best befitting a nobleman. In many cities, I have heard of Guiren, son of Morimotsuhitu. The people fear him, as well they might if half the stories I hear are true."
"I fear that I have failed him the most, in my absense. He has not learned half of what makes a successful leader, and the only trait he shows any expertiese in is crushing the wills of those who oppose him. To teach him the true merit and honor of the battlefield, I leave him my farthest holdings, to do with as he will. I trust that in time, the snow shall cool his temper and the stone will teach him patience."
The kung fu master smiled a little then, as he looked up at the dumbfounded bear. "For a weapon is useless unless it has been tempered, and a target is without value until patience reveals the proper time AND the proper way to strike it. Guiren charged forward, snarling. Shifu dodged deftly to the side, letting the hotheaded bear fall into the reflecting pool.
"That," he observed dryly, "was not the right time." The fox and the bear exchanged feverish and damp glances, respectively. "But what about..!?" Shifu held up a hand for quiet. "I was just getting to that."
Tao-hua had not reacted the entire time Shifu had been reading. He wondered if that meant she was aware of what had been prepared by her father. Regardless, he picked up the scroll again. "To my youngest, Tao-hua, who is like my faithful shadow. My youngest child has much to learn. She has much to forget. I fear that I may have done her harm in allowing her to accompany me all these years, but I feared more to send her away."
"At first it was for her sake, but finally it was for mine. My youngest daughter, who has asked for nothing but my health and safety, who has cared for naught but the simplest things, I give exactly that. My smallest palace, my safest stronghold, my most elite guardians, and my best troops, to keep or dismiss as she will."
"My good friend Oogway, if you could but guide her in the days ahead, I am confident that she shall understand why the Jade Palace was always my favorite in my lands. As I told you that summer's day when you 'surrendered' by my so-called invasion of one, my heart is always there. The rest should be returned to our Emporer, with my great thanks for his many kindnesses."
Ruiling and Guiren cried out in protest. Shifu re-rolled the scroll, ignoring thier complaints, and the voice in the back of his head warning that the seeming less of the available evils might not be so minor after all. If Tao was anything like she'd been as a child, she'd still be an unholy terror. Speaking of Tao, she had still not responded to the news of her inheritance. Finally Ruiling could stand it no more and stormed over to her sister. "You planned this!" the fox accused. "That's why you insisted on going with father! You intended to leave us out in the cold all along!"
Tao stared up in a sort of bored curiosity at her sister. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about, Ruiling." The older woman gave a cry of rage, and attempted to slap the tanuki, who flattened her ears and made to draw a decorative fan in defense. Before the blow could land, Mantis leapt forward, using his incredible strength to deflect the strike. "Whoa whoa whoa! Let's all just cool off here!" He gave a guilty twitch at the sight of Guiren, soaked through his fur and VERY unamused, looming behind his sister.
"Lady Tao-hua.." Shifu prodded cautiously, you seem non-plussed by the proceedings." Tao startled. "I'm sorry... did you say something, Shifu? I think I've been lost in thought for the past few minutes." The red panda's brow furrowed slightly. "Then... you did not hear that you are to take possession of the Jade Palace and the lands within the Valley of Peace?"
Tao grimaced. "What am I supposed to do with all that?!" Shifu pinched the bridge of his nose and murmured a quick prayer for some of the patience of his own as Mantis tried to quickly brief her on what she'd missed while she'd been daydreaming.
Lady Ruiling suddenly spoke up. "Wait, didn't father say you were also to bestow some sort of gifts upon each of us, Master Shifu?" You could practically taste the bitter honey that the ex-socialite poured into the syllables of his name. Shifu discerned that the patience he'd asked for was on backorder and that he was at the very bottom of the waiting list for a new shipment.
"Very well." He glanced around the Hall of Heroes, searching for inspiration. "You, Lady Ruiling, will receive the invaluable Invisible Trident of Destiny." He pointed half-dramatically/half in frustration at the empty-appearing display. Ruiling rushed over to the shrine, only to stop short at the vacant-seeming rack. "What sort of mockery is this?" she cried, whirling back to face Shifu.
The loud clatter that sounded a moment later as her outflung hand knocked the trident from its perch startled everyone except the small kung fu grandmaster. Tao-hua grinned wickedly. "I wonder who would buy an invisible stick from a travelling caravan?" she wondered aloud. Mantis looked nervous and abandoned his perch on Lady Tao-hua's shoulder.
"Oh bother," Shifu muttered absently. "best start looking for it. I suspect it will be difficult to find." Lady Ruiling hyperventillated for a moment at the humiliation before collecting herself. She drew up her long, stylish skirts and huffed in exasperation. "I've never been so insulted in all my life!" she cried, pointing her finger at Shifu and her own bemused sister in turn.
With that, she pointed her nose firmly back into the air and stormed out the doors to the great hall. "Have my things sent to me. I'm going HOME!" The last glimpse any of them had of her, the vixen was screaming orders at her panicked workers and a few palace geese.
Shifu smiled inwardly. The Trident was not truly invisible. Not to someone who knew how to see it. But that required a trained eye and a little intuition. As her father had noted, Ruiling had neither when it came to antiques. One down.
Guiren glared down at him. Oh, this wasn't going to be easy. Or wait.. would it? His eyes flicked around the room, pausing briefly on Tao, who was grinning that evil grin he recalled QUITE well from his early days of training.
It was the sort of look that almost always meant that Oogway had been encouraging her to throw things at Shifu's large ears while he attempted to balance on the training posts. "Give him the Urn of Whispering Warriors. I seem to recall that it's cursed." Guiren growled at his little sister. "You DID want an army, brother.." she reminded him.
It was a very tempting thought, but Zeng had only recently completed the task of repairing the urn after Po had accidentally broken it, and Shifu had a feeling that the Tenshu army's remaining wandering souls would be cursing HIM if he let the thing be taken from its resting place. He pointed to a suit of heavy armor across the hall. "You Lord Guiren, will receive Master Flying Rhino's battle armor. May it serve you as well as it did him."
He could tell Guiren wasn't quite buying it, but that he wasn't able to figure out what the joke or catch was. Shifu didn't much care, though. The damned suit of armor was a huge pain to keep polished, anyway. Perhaps feeling the heavy burden of a real warrior, albeit a headstrong and reckless one as Master Flying Rhino had been, would do the disgruntled bear some good.
"Fine," Guiren rumbled, "You may have it ready to send with my things when I'm prepared to leave." With that, the large sun bear stalked angrily out of the large double doors. Two down.
This last one, Shifu had to admit, was giving him some trouble. Finally, he crossed the floor himself and retrieved the larger part of Master Oogway's staff. Feeling more than a little sick at heart for parting with this momento of his later master, Shifu slowly made his way back over to Tao-hua. When he looked up to address her, he realized that she was studying him intently.
"Shifu. You're limping. What happened to you?"
Shifu's ears twitched back uncomfortably. He had no wish to discuss his failure with Tai Lung with her, even if it no longer tormented him so fiercely. "Just an old injury, from an old mistake," he shrugged, holding the staff out to the tanuki. She placed a hand on top of his, and pushed the staff gently back towards him. "Keep it," she advised. "You need a walking stick more than I do, old man."
Shifu gaped openly at Tao-hua as she brushed past him to approach the reflecting pool. That smart alecky little.. He ground his teeth an annoyance and hoped she'd fall in the pool like her brother had. To his intense annoyance, she didn't. To his greater annoyance, his students were stifling snickers. "What are you all still standing around here for!?" he demanded, shooing them out the door. "Get to your training or I'll have you all doing relays up the thousand steps!"