Here's chapter 4! I'm sure that most of you guessed that Mei Ling survived, due to the layout of the story, but I couldn't resist the temptation. As you can see, this is going to be quite the long, elaborate flashback. It'll all be worth it in the coming chapters, don't you worry. Anyways, here ya go!
*Present time*
Mei Ling sighed in remembrance. She was still traveling down the long winding path to the village. Her feet were dully throbbing, but she was well accustomed to the pain. With any luck, she would end up there by morning. The rogue patted the part of her robe that was concealing the scar caused from Wolf Boss's dagger. The fur over the wound never grew back and a thin line could still be visible from the poorly constructed stitches around it. The vixen recollected her thoughts. Man, being lonely sure did give you a lot of free time... Where was she again? Right.
That night the teenage fox should have died, had Wolf Boss's "poison" not entered into her circulatory system. The sleep agent had actually slowed her heart, causing her to not bleed out and die after she was maimed. Fortunately, she was also aided with the ministrations of a black panther who found her several minutes after the battle. To think, the wolf that supposedly "killed" her was also the one that actually played a major part of her survival. Ohh, the irony...
*Flashback, a few months after the battle with Wolf Boss; outskirts of Gongmen City*
It was midmorning in China. People were going about their usual business, importing and exporting goods and whatnot. Ships full of cargo were exiting Gongmen City's myriad ports and the local guards were once again on the lookout for a particular thieving fox. Apparently, her mysterious inactivity regarding any from of breaking the law and her sudden lack of even being seen at all by anyone caused paranoia to travel throughout the city. This was the one time where everything was as normal as could things could possibly be, and the civilians were on high alert for her, instead of enjoying their day. Huh. Go Figure.
Most of everyone started to lean towards the belief that Mei Ling, the troublesome teenage fox, had officially gone straight. Oh, perish the thought! That wasn't the case at all. In fact, the vixen wished nothing more than to have the feeling of multiple yuan rolling in between her fingers after lifting them from a careless merchant, but she was currently too injured to be able to go about her usual life. The fox was a few miles outside the city walls, casually leaning against a door frame that separated her from the rest of the city and her present recuperation.
Mei Ling stared wordlessly into the dense bamboo forest that obscured her view from Gongmen City. The door frame creaked against her weight due to its age and dilapidated structure, but it still managed to support her weight. The fox was in a small hut that was isolated from society, but she was still very much alive and well. The vulpine had a grim look on her face as she delved into the deepest parts of her mind. Perhaps she did this so that she couldn't go insane from the extensive duration of her self-imposed exile from the city.
The hut wasn't anything impressive, but that wasn't its purpose in the first place. It served as Mei Ling's first experience of a safe house. When the heat around her reputation had gotten so bad, she had to retreat to a place that was obscured from the guards and wait until her phase of notoriety had cooled down. This was her current hideout from the local authorities. Her little slice of "peace-and-quiet". Still, this was her first time she ever had to fully go incognito from everyone and everything.
To put it simply, the vixen was not enjoying this one bit. Her teenage impatience was getting the better of her.
Mei Ling closed her eyes and opened them, wishing that she could be somewhere else. Actually, anywhere else that wasn't a prison was perfectly fine for her right now. The fox glared at the outside world, hoping anything would give her an excuse to bolt from this wretched, boring place and never return. Of course, nothing happened. However, the vulpine did accomplish looking very much like an enraged Wolf Boss for a full two minutes without any disturbance.
Mei Ling sighed heavily when she felt a familiar black glove place itself reassuringly on her shoulder. It belonged to the male black panther that had saved her. The panther (somewhere in his thirties, she assumed), wore an extremely dark blue vest with white trimming that was snugly fitted on himself with a matching pair of traveling pants held up with a more prominent blue sash. He was quite muscular, but Mei Ling didn't believe in his strength until the first night when she had tried to escape his hut, only to be roughly tied up and brought back to the home (with quite a bit of kicking and screaming, if I might add). That's why she didn't dare to leave the hut, unless she wishes to be manhandled again.
It was for her own good at the time as she was still heavily wounded from the dagger, but her stubbornness forced herself to try to flee from the stranger that was truly trying to nurse her back to health. It was difficult, but the fox eventually grew to trust the panther.
The glove lifted itself from her shoulder and a voice with a light, sympathetic tone stated,
"Breakfast is ready..."
The fox stayed at the edge of the door for a little longer. The urge to escape crossed her mind once again, but the vixen thought better of it. She would only have the same results as before. Only with the possible exception that there would be a gag placed in her mouth this time as the previous attempt had caused quite a ruckus, nearly waking the entire city with the fox's indignant yells as she was being carried back. At least she was in good company, and her feline "companion" seemed to have no intention of selling her out to the guards once she was fully recovered. For now. The panther was reliable, but was still quite the shady character, in her opinion.
Mei Ling pried herself from the doorframe and reluctantly went further inside the hut. The interior was simple, but it had everything that a normal household in Gongmen would have. She looked at the cooking pot in the center of the hut, and the enticing scent of potatoes that were boiling over the fire wafted into her nostrils. Her mouth watered slightly.
The panther placed two small chairs near the "campfire" and beckoned the vulpine over. She accepted his offer happily. At least she wasn't completely separated from society. She still had the panther... acquaintance. "Friend" felt like it was a too-strong word for their current circumstances. Mei Ling went over to the feline and waited for him to dish out the servings. When she got hers, she gave a minuscule smile and said warmly,
"Thanks... Huanying."
"Not a problem."
They ate in comfortable silence. The crackling of the fire and the clanking of metal spoons on the wooden bowls was the only audible noise. Both remained like that until the teenage vulpine asked,
"So... What's on the agenda for this morning?"
"We're going to continue practicing the art of stealth and evasion. That is if it won't put too much strain on your wound."
"Don't soil your pants buddy... I've got this."
"Alright then. We'll start whenever you are ready."
This was how Mei Ling spent most of her days remaining invisible from Gongmen. She had entered a peculiar form of a "mentorship program", with Huanying being her tutor and doctor due to her injuries from the fight. At first, she refused to cooperate. She thought that since she had made it this far as a thief, her skills were decent enough, but one quick game to see who could steal the most from each other proved her very wrong. The panther had a smug smirk as he won the competition by a longshot, leaving an open-mouthed and Mei Ling, and a wrinkled sense of self-esteem..
The rebellious vixen also tried to best him in a match of Kung Fu, thinking she was very well an adept at it, but was quickly fighting back tears as the feline had pinned her arms back behind her painfully within the first seven seconds of the sparring session. Heck, this Huanying guy could have put Wolf Boss's skills to shame had he only arrived a little sooner than he did. That was when Mei Ling finally agreed to learn from him. If the panther knew some good things, then the vulpine would have been a fool to pass up an opportunity to perfect her...skills.
So far the fox was learning various arts related to thievery and burglary, such as pickpocketing, lockpicking, climbing, free-running, and of course Kung Fu.
Huanying had also taught her a couple basic techniques involving seduction (even though it was extremely awkward for the both of them, and the pair swore to never speak of that lesson afterward), and bribing/bartering, if the situation ever came to that. Over the few months of condensed learning and training, the vulpine was noticeably better at doing her signature "endeavors". She was grateful the panther taught her all this, but a new question soon arose from her mind. It was one that needed to be answered, but the fox was fearful of what she might hear in response.
"...How do you know all of this?"
The vixen had never seen the panther in the city before, and judging from his skills, she thought that she would have at least heard of the name "Huanying" before. Surprisingly enough, she never did. Perhaps he was from somewhere else? Another country maybe? Who taught him? A master? Or was he a self-learner? So many details were hidden from the vulpine about the panther that she wanted to know, and it seemed that the feline-in-question was perfectly content to leave things at that, much to her annoyance. Still, Mei Ling was a stubborn fox and took pride in her persistence.
She'd find out one way or another. For now though, it was off to stealth training for her.
The vixen set her finished bowl down and followed the black feline out of the door and into the bamboo trees. They walked on for a while with a brisk pace, until they were in the presumably densest part of the forest. Huanying glanced around, nodding to himself in satisfaction before speaking.
"Ah. Here we are. Now as I said before. Stealing is great and all, but discretion plays a major part in larceny, no matter the form it takes. If one is not careful, then he or she is probably like you right now," the panther flicked Mei Ling lightly on the nose with one of his digits, causing her to pout adorably (though she didn't realize) and cross her arms before resuming.
"...constantly on the run from guards that are well aware of your presence within the city. You're lucky that I'm going to teach you the skills you need so that you can keep the occasional mandatory need of having to go to safe houses like mine at a minimum. If you were more subtle in your lifts, perhaps you would not be seen as 'The Bruise of Gongmen City', like you are right now.
At this Mei Ling's eyes widened in shock and the panther, who was gauging her reaction, chuckled lightly.
"You know, I may be disconnected from the outside world, but that goes to show just how much of a name you have made for yourself if even I have heard of it. By the way, I learned that some people, most of them bandits, also refer to you as 'The Scary, Sadistic Lady of the Dynasty'. Is there an actual backstory behind your- erm... 'unique' title?".
"Hmmph, whatever... And I'd rather not tell you... creep."
"Huh wha-?!"
Huanying had fallen face first into the ground when he heard that. He then brought his gloved paw down his face to wipe off the dirt in exasperation. It had been a while since someone directly insulted him like that. He had to admit, this lady has got some spunk. When he got back up, his tail was fluffed out in denial and indignance. His angry emerald green eyes met Mei Ling's while he lifted his paw to point at her accusingly like a schoolgirl. Honestly, it was quite the comical sight. The vixen put a paw over her muzzle, trying hard not to laugh while the offended feline scolded her for such disrespect towards him.
"And I-... Hey! Are you even listening? Mei Ling!"
"Sorry. I couldn't resist. If it makes you feel better, I don't think you're too much of a creep. Though I do feel as if you were ogling me whenever you would redress the bandages around my stomach wound. Anyways, shall we continue where we left off?"
At this, Huanying sighed resignedly. "Teenagers. So full of themselves..." he mumbled to himself.
"Alright. Now where was I? Oh yeah. Today, we'll be doing something a little different. To practice stealth, we're going to play Hide-And-Seek. Obviously, I'm going to be the seeker, and if I find you, I'm going to live up to my supposedly "creepy" status and do things to you that you would have never thought were even possible... Now are you ready?"
"WAIT A SECOND! WHAT?!"
Mei Ling had gotten into a newly-polished defense stance. Her eyes were as wide as the moon itself and her legs and arms were trembling from the delayed interpretation of what the black panther had said. Huanying stared at her for a full five seconds before his straight-face broke and he burst out laughing. The vixen was not amused whatsoever. The feline wiped the tears from his eyes before he officially recomposed himself.
"Sorry. I couldn't resist." teased the black panther with a haughty expression on his face. He actually seemed quite proud that he just reversed the fox's own statement back against her.
"Oh. So that's how it's going to be..." thought the vulpine with a blank expression on her face. "Can we just begin now?"
"Okay. Since it's around noon, you won't have much shadow to conceal yourself, so it would be best to be creative in your spots when hiding from me. The range you can hide is limited to a diameter of half a mile from where we are now. I'll close my eyes and wait five full minutes before starting the search. Plenty of time to do whatever you need to do. Any questions?"
"Nope."
"Alright. Then begin. 1...2...3...4...5..."
With that, Mei Ling ran off, but not before sticking out her tongue at the feline, whom she was positive he was peeking out of one of his eyelids much to his dismay and guilt. He quickly closed them, trying to take her assigned task seriously. Time passed as if it were in slow motion as the panther kept counting. Why did keeping track of time always seem so long? Huanying managed to wait five full minutes nevertheless. The sun was blazing brightly with no mercy as the panther sniffed at the area with his heightened sense of smell, trying to piece together where the elusive fox had disappeared.
Eventually, Huanying was able to get a solid trail southeast of where he was currently. He went that way whilst taking in every detail, from the cracks in the semi-dry soil beneath him to the amount of loose rocks and pebbles scattered throughout the bamboo forest. He always kept his eyes roaming and nostrils flared in case he would pick up another clue as to the vixen's whereabouts. He eventually came across a distinctly familiar tuft of fur that was caught in the crevice of a large boulder.
The black panther carefully reached for it and gave it a through sniff. He smiled inwardly while maintaining his passive composure. He had her now. And she was relatively close, judging from the strength of her most recent scent. Huanying paused right where he was, and scanned his surroundings with a critical eye. Nothing but bamboo trees could be seen as far as the eye could see. A gentle breeze ruffled his fur, but all was relatively quiet, much to the feline's disappointment.
"Darn," thought Huanying, "Mei Ling is actually trying this time. Either that or I should start paying attention to my own lessons that I teach her."
Just then, he heard a rustling sound come from behind him. He swiftly turned around, but only the rippling of the disturbed bamboo shoots acknowledged his presence.
"Okaaay... That is not suspicious at all..." said the panther out loud in the hopes that the vulpine would carelessly provide a snide response to his remark. Nothing happened. A breeze traveled through his proximity again, and that's when Huanying felt something tackle him from behind. He stood there unmoving as he absorbed the impact of his would-be assailant like he was a brick wall. With his build, the feline pretty much was one, so the supposed attack wasn't too distracting.
The panther's assaulter could be heard falling back with a loud, "Oomph!".
Huanying did a one-eighty degree turn once more, the satisfaction on his face plainly visible as he crossed his arms and stared at the fox laying on her back that was currently blinking the stars out of her eyes. Once she recovered, she sat up and returned the feline's amused gaze with a glare of her own.
"Did you really think that doing that would actually work? Come on, I thought you knew better than that at this point. Though it's nice to know that the naivete of youth never ceases to amaze me."
"Hey! It would have worked if you weren't such a lanky, ungracefully buff, boulder-of-a-panther!"
"You only say that 'cause you're jealous of my attractiveness."
"Am NOT!"
"Denial. It's a common reaction when someone is too embarrassed to admit something."
"NEVER!"
"Then why are you still responding back to my statements? Hmm?"
"Becaus-"
Mei Ling instantly shut her mouth. Great. She played herself. Huanying, having noticed her predicament, forced down his chuckles and proceeded to evaluate her on the results of their little game.
"Since this was supposed to be Hide-And-Seek and not Hide-And-Tackle, I'd say you don't really need any advice from me with your current aptitude at this. You can obviously stay undetected, so I assume that your repertoire as an infamous thief is probably a self-imposed title. I don't understand why you don't use your uncanny abilities as often as I had hoped you would."
"Sorry. I just usually prefer to have the satisfaction of knowing that my victims knew they were robbed by ME, and not just some token fox."
"Very well then. At least you can manage yourself in the categories of stealth. Come on. Let's head back to the safe house."
"Sure thing Huanying! Sooooo. Since I've got the whole 'being-sneaky-is-key' thing down, what else are we gonna do..."
*Present time*
The rogue walked on and on, the various landforms gradually becoming more familiar to her as she neared the village while still using the river as her guide. It was well around 2 a.m, and that meant the fox still had plenty of miles left to travel before finally reaching there. Her stomach grumbled violently, reminding her of the motivation behind this seemingly innocent visit to the agricultural settlement.
A well-stocked Imperial convoy had passed the vixen earlier, but she was skittish to rob it. For one, the goats hauling the carriages all wore the official "Emperor's Seal" across their uniforms, meaning that whoever tangled with them would have the whole of China out for his/her neck. Now she had regretted not taking the risk. It would have been a simple job: Seduce one of the rhino bodyguards into giving her access to the carriages, and grab as much as she could before the dazed guardian fully realized what he had just done. She'd have to thank Huanying for introducing her to the art of "persuasion" if she ever saw him again.
Oh, how much she missed that panther. He was the only...friend... that ever stuck beside her, as he was far too old to be able to be dragged away from her paws by paranoid parents. She wondered what the black feline was doing now. Was he in jail? About to be? Is he already dead? Or just simply living in yet another safe house, totally enclosed within his barriers from the world of society. He was definitely quite the confusing figure, but the rogue knew his morals were pure and just. Far better than the corrupt minds of the superintendents and rulers of most regions within all of China.
The desire for food was making her nostalgic.
At least, that was the thought that crossed her mind as the vulpine questioned why all these buried memories were now resurfacing in her head. Perhaps she had better pick up the pace before she starts to become delirious from lack of food. Gods. Her stomach had a consciousness of its own when it wasn't receiving enough attention.
Mei Ling walked on at a slightly quicker pace, trying to ignore her body's needs, to little avail. It was just as bad, whether the vixen chose to acknowledge it or not. Oh well. At least she was getting closer to her destination, one way or another...
Author's Note: Gonna keep the chapters coming. I have a general idea where this story is going to head, so don't stress out about a possible Mei LingXHuanying. It's not gonna happen (Besides, she's 15 and he's around his 30s). He is just an extremely important filler-character for what is to come, and I felt that a more interactive introduction into his part in the story would be better than just summing up his personality. I had actually planned a list of his traits and thought about typing them down, but as you can see, I had better ideas :D If you want to see my rough-draft of his character traits, here they are:
(Huanying.)
(Species: Black Panther)
(Eyes: Emerald Green in color, (Even more green than Po Ping's, hehe.) with slight scar over one eyelid. How it got there? Unknown...)
(Clothing: Dark blue (almost black, but not quite) vest with white (or beige, due to how dirty that color can get so fast) trimming. Matching pair of traveling pants held up with a more prominent colored blue sash. Normal leg wraps. Wrist wraps accompanied with a pair of gloves. Not enough to attract attention, but enough to say that you mean business.)
(Fighting Style: Similar to Mei Ling's but far more deadly due to years of self-improvement: Style is rogue-like, unfair, and completely improvised "Kung Fu".)
(Personality: Is like two sides of a coin. Has a childish, playful, mischievous side while on the other hand, also can be serious, cunning, and dedicated. Definitely makes for someone that could well be "the cool teacher" in class.)
So that's what I had on him. I'm overstaying my A.N by a longshot, so see ya next chapter!