Ghost City population: 1
Their paths had rarely crossed after their entrance into Khanbaliq, it was as quick as a sandstorm amidst the south. A slim tiger's form faded into the background far from his reach, as the sands buffeted his sights in this lonely city.
"No. The clothes were a gift from one of your subjects."
There'd been no hesitation in her assumptions that emboldened him more than even Ganbataar's brief words to encourage him in his steady yet slow ascent to his place in the world.
As Khan.
Not Jinong, or kid, or any other denominator of his telling young frame, it was clear admittance of his higher stature to come.
Zhenjin felt those crimson eyes focused on his back, it wasn't a new feeling not with the likes of Yuelen and her ever-burning ambition set upon his back from birth.
'But she doesn't strive for higher…' He noted as they disappeared inside their city, grand and simple all the same but awe-inspiring to foreigners.
The two tigers were surrounded by the beautiful lights surrounding the city, the vibrant or mere extravagant personalities of the few that stayed within the throne room, and his father, the Khan the beacon in the middle of it all.
The sun.
And yet his brown eyes could not focus entirely on that light that forced all to kneel and bask in his deafening brilliance. As it burned the world around them for one thing and one thing only.
"My apologies for doubting you, My khan."
The young prince had spoken against the Chinese master's lives he'd brought here but nevertheless, his eyes wandered to the dark spot where the eyes of Tigress and his Father's met in the smog of an uneasy partnership.
'Toward what, only my father knows…' He was not stupid, but he knew his place and with time, he could do the same with his own goals.
For now, he focused on one fading star such as himself in the expanse of Khanbaliq.
A rogue Venus, you could say?
The lights of this brilliant shining city shine down on me in stark contrast, they mix with the lights escaping between each building.
Ghost City population: 2
I trade my time in this world to sink further into the background.
He shook.
Ambition.
The first thing he witnessed in those dark streets was the illumination of everyone else cast off into the distance without a worry, highlighting her shadow.
"Hmmm~ " The tune left his mouth before he could truly think of it. It didn't sound the same, it never did, not compared to his sister's morin khuur, who never played for him, only their father to calm him on nights that felt long and chilly.
Only his shadow was present for such calm festivities.
His eyes followed with a glint of interest, at just how quickly the tiger's shadow moved, it was as fast if not faster than the day they had met.
Tigress.
"Hmmmm~ " Zhenjin couldn't help but stop as he felt in her shadows fiery coordinated steps as they vaulted her into the air and finally, his eyes met the master in her true form.
The song didn't suit her.
'It's like she's flying…' He knew it wasn't the case but the feat alone, the controlled precision of each limb in her body, not a single thing was accidental. It was all practiced and sharpened with years of practice.
And yet it did at the same time, a slow tune that promised nothing more than protected rest.
As soon as Tigress touched the ground, she used the momentum to punch in ways, he'd never seen before at an imaginary opponent as if her paws themselves were weapons before her body twisted into a high-rising kick that raised her up into the air one last time as the dust settled.
The song had ended.
"What do you want?"
Zhenjin didn't hesitate to answer her, knowing the other had enough fun with his sister's games for today. "I came to congratulate the real winner, of course." He took decisive steps closer, as their shadows almost interlocked. "I'd heard tales of Chinese master's almost supernatural acrobatics turned into a martial art but…"
Tigress's shadow turned toward his own taller one, her ear tilting toward him in interest.
"I didn't expect it to look so fluid and graceful…it reminded me of a dance." Zhenjin tore his eyes from her shadow looking into bright amber eyes. Locked solely on his form. "My sister could never truly compare to your style? Is that what they call it?" The young tiger prince leaned on his left leg, placing a paw on his hip to seem conversational.
"First, you all wish to know of our chi, now our styles?" His ears twitched as the sound of gravel crushed underfoot. "Don't tell me your plan is to train your soldiers in our ways?"
"Such a thing never crossed my mind." Zhenjin shook his head as he looked back at her shadow, that was easier. "That and it would take far too long to mold a soldier much less a person up to your level, there simply is never enough time…I only came to learn of my own accord. My Father has nothing to do with our interactions I assure you."
The shadow of her tail did something of a half flicker he noted. "It's called Tiger style, it's far from acrobatics or dancing…as you put it…"
He shrugged. "I'm ashamed to say I had no other way to describe it." Zhenjin stepped past the dark abyss her shadow seemed to loathe, so they could stand on the same plane under the stars. "Can you show me more of it?"
"It's alright," Tigress was already moving, more slowly than before. Her right leg goes in a half circle behind her, with striped arms showing muscle concentration and stretching through each digit, wrist, and joint. "Just keep humming that tune from earlier…"
Her shadow followed behind him into the darkness as she turned to stretch her leg up high, mostly to touch it with her paw pad.
"It was nice."
And so he did.
But even today, the me that fades into the scenery seems like a ghost.
Ghost City population: 1+1 =?
'It's harsh.' I sigh out into my window…
This siheyuan was truly something of a marvel in this land.
Even Tigress in all her steadfast hold on herself and her desires could not help but indulge in those stainless, shiny, almost reflective floors that felt cool to the touch in a similar manner as the Jade Palace's jade floors.
The young tiger lounged near a low table that looked far too expensive for any of them to use, nonetheless, Po was using it without much guilt. She listened with fading interest as he cut fruits and hummed a tune she'd heard from Mr. Ping quite a few times over the years.
'It's the opposite of the tune the prince sang…' Her tail swayed lazily against the floors, the movement causing her to move on her side out of discomfort from her injury. She let her thoughts wander. 'We're in the middle of dangerous territory not only for ourselves but our country…Or rather our status within it.'
And Po was taking things far too casually as if they went to a neighboring city within China and not at its literal borders.
"Hey Ti,"
There was a sound she couldn't readily identify as she watched Crane leave, the instrument left to silently wait for its musician to return.
"Yeah?" She absentmindedly replied to her friend.
"Have some water, okay? " And the small clink of a canteen caught her attention, lazily rolling around to regard the panda who simply smiled down at her before going back to cutting some oranges. "I can't even remember when I last saw you drink anything."
She squinted at the canteen. "What did you do to it?"
"Nothing!" Po shooed her with one paw. "Go on. It'll make you feel so much better you'll start smiling."
"Doubt that," Tigress grunted as the sound of water filled her ears when she plucked the canteen up and took a sip of it from her half-up position on the floor. "Mhm!" She wanted to cover her mouth but her free paw was on the ground supporting her so she was left to lean her head down to the side as a smile hit her face. "It's sweet…"
Po's chuckle was hard to miss. "Ehe! My magic trick worked!"
"No, you lied!" She pointed the canteen straight his way but soon brought it back for another swig. It tasted good.
"Well, not all lies are bad." Po shrugged and her ear twitched at another sound, one she'd heard earlier. "Plus, it got you to smile so I'd count that as a victory for the magic man of the hour!"
"You put candy in it." She stated simply whilst pointing with her eyes more than anything else to his side, the bag was in wide view and Po's attempts to hide it were pretty pointless at this point.
Po sighed. "She figured me out that quick," He sat the orange slice down. "Think I'm losing my touch…but hey, that doesn't change the fact it's magical."
"Why's that?"
She swiveled the canteen, its contents making quite a unique sound within the can.
Po leaned on the table, cheek in his paw as he viewed the exterior before them once again with a soft humm of contentment. "Because I still believe it's special, it still has the power to make people smile."
Knock. Knock.
"I'll get it." She flipped the top of the canteen closed and picked herself off that floor, she was starting to get stiff anyways. "You," Tigress pointed at the panda. "Still have to think of a plan for us, oh great magic man of the hour."
"Yes, Yes,"
Tigress was already walking by him, doubting his half-baked agreement to the winds, she'd have to think of something, anything in the meantime. That's how it's always been.
Knock.
"Hold on." She was already opening the door, at that point, expecting a soldier to demand something of them or summon Po since the rest of them weren't exactly needed.
"Ah, there you are. Good Afternoon."
"Prince Zhenjin…" Her eyes widened for a singular moment as the tiger stood at the entrance. There was a brief moment of silence as bells on the side of the building tolled as she thought, why yet another child of a royal wanted her attention? "How can I help you?"
It was all she could do, be polite so as to not make matters worse.
He never wavered from his gaze solely upon her as if he'd been waiting for this exact moment. "I was hoping to invite you on a patrol, merely around the city's perimeters," He patted lightly at his simple light blue robes that reminded her of a hanfu but they had small differences here and there upon closer inspection, especially the jewelry
adorned around his neck. "A prince needs a guard on their outings after all."
She lifted her gaze at the Prince. "Hiring me for an afternoon stroll? Don't you have soldiers for this sort of thing?"
"I'm not hiring you," His bright brown eyes looked upturned at her even though they should be looking down at her form. "I'm giving you a choice, just as the day we met."
'A choice.' She slowly blinked as she heard Po move to the outer garden, most likely to meditate and think of something that may cause more trouble than good. "It's moreso an illusion of choice."
Nevertheless, she closed the door and walked with him, thinking of how Crane so easily followed someone else without telling them.
'Me…'
Ghost City population: 2
Let's love the useless parts of this city together.
The clouds above were thin as she looked upon the battlements surrounding the area, noting the guards patrolling each side of the square space. 'The dagger could be anywhere…maybe Po had a point…' She thought with a soft sigh, there was a brief thought that skimmed over her mind like a skipping stone, that this was her most difficult mission but in reality only more was to come.
"Let's stop here for a moment before we head off."
Amber eyes looked up to see Zhenjin was already pulling his paw back to his side from signaling her to follow him to a small encampment where soldiers, tigers, and snow leopards alike gathered around a little pot of warm and sweet-smelling liquid.
They all welcomed their young prince warmly as to be expected, only slight glances of curiosity hidden behind sips of their cups were sent her way.
Zhenjin snapped his digits. "Two cups of tea, I can't have my new guard leave without trying this."
Tigress took a step further toward the pot, noticing a tiger on the older side was stirring it with a ladle. Before leaning to Zhenjin's side and whispering. "Guard? I don't remember consenting to this name change."
He waved a paw inbetween them. "I'm saving you more embarrassment than you can imagine, you'll thank me later."
She doubted that but didn't speak on it anymore after remembering how he laughed at her the first time she had introduced herself. 'This isn't the first time you've walked around in shame with that name…' She sourly thought to herself, memories from old attempting to claw back at the forefront of her mind. Her eyes looked up to the men who had all but forgotten she existed and spoke among themselves, chatting away, and laughing. 'Do they think of similar when they hear that title-'
A warm cup was all but shoved in her paws before that flower of anxiety could bloom into something insidious.
Zhenjin was already taking small sips of his own drink as she held that round cup. "Here."
She blew on it once, before tilting her head his way again. "What is it?"
The tea incident was still fresh in her mind...
"Salt milk tea, it's something I prefer to have in the morning but I knew for a fact you had never tried this before." Another sip and the Prince was praising the old tiger for his culinary work before speaking up to her again. "Over in China, they prefer a more bitter blend, I believe?"
"Depends." Tigress shrugged, much like Shifu she wasn't someone who liked tea, she'd had it a few times but it wasn't a part of her daily meals. Although Mr. Ping had gotten her used to milk tea with time.
She tilted that delicate, yet warm white cup back and tasted something unique. "Oh…" She made a small sound of surprise at the taste, it reminded her of milk tea but with clear differences, and the warmth really hit her weary body more than any herbal tea meant to heal.
'I think this is what Oogway meant about tea tasting like home…'
"I don't think I'll ever get over that…" Zhenjin chuckled for a singular moment and she could see the other soldiers weren't holding back their own laughter.
"What?"
The prince merely pointed his cup of tea toward her tail, a soft wag here and there. "The way you wag your tail. I've never seen another tiger do that-"
Tigress asked for seconds on the salt milk tea and the old tiger was already scooping a cup full for her. "For real?"
Zhenjin paused, brown eyes widening and face cringing at the question before relenting with a strained sound before repeating. "For real…I mean you could just chuff."
Tigress tilted her head, cup all but forgotten for two seconds. "Chuff?"
There was a pause and Zhenjin looked between herself and the soldiers to their side, who just shrugged and enjoyed the entertainment they provided this afternoon. "You…aren't serious about not knowing about chuffing like…" He was physically struggling to find the words to convey this confused emotion he was feeling. "For real?"
Tigress nodded. "For real."
"Ahh…How to explain this…" The young prince leaned on his right leg, swirling his cup of milk tea around, it was edging closer and closer to his face. "The most simple way to describe it is a sound of happiness." He purposely looked away at that last word, taking a swig of his drink.
Brown and amber eyes met as he handed the empty cup back to the soldier, his fur stood on edge. "Seriously, stop staring at me-"
Her usual blank stare was melting away into something akin to that smile from earlier, but she was also holding her chest and placing her second cup of milk tea down to the side as a wheezing sound escaped her mouth.
And he knew exactly what it was!
He sharply glared at soldiers at his side and the old tiger merely tapped the upper corner of his mouth as a few other tigers were holding onto dear life at not making similar sounds the foreign tiger was.
Zhenjin wiped his mouth off, listening to her attempts to stifle that chuffing sound inbetween her laughter. He was sorely tempted to yell at her, the same he would his sister but-
"You have the humor of a toddler." The young prince deadpanned hoping that would redirect some attention to her but she was just far too gone in her mirth, he swore she might kneel down in laughter and his troops were no better.
He scoffed as he pushed his guard away toward their real destination: The steppe.
"Wait, my milk tea!"
The silhouettes of our shadows are as hollow as sugarless candy
Author's notes:
Yahoo! I'm finally posting a whole story on here for you all to enjoy besides that one shot I did for the collab, "Scroll of infinite stories". Yeah, it's me "MijumaruFan" but I decided to change my username to something more simple. I'll add that in my summary actually after this. Outside that, I should note, Drags (The Dragon Chronicle) is super aware I wrote this and gave me the AOK to do it! I wanted to write something original for my FFN debut and this was the perfect segway to such a thing-imo at least. This'll be 4 chapters so we're in for quite the ride here. Also, if I make any mistakes please be patient with me and tell me cause I've never used this site outside reading. And it's...something...
Now, for those new to me, this is the part where I give you some fun facts and other cool stuff so STICK AROUND~:
- Salt Milk tea is actually a famous Mongolian beverage, look it up, you will not be disappointed I promise!
- This story overall as a whole was inspired by Ghost City Tokyo by Ayase (The cover)
- I had a lot of fun writing a Tigress other than my own tbh and considering I love Drag's oc's to bits, it was an even bigger treat to take a swing at writing Zhenjin! I hope you like him so far.
- The siheyuan is from WoC itself so I should technically tag this as spoilers for the fic as a whole... But besides that, it's a really unique building!
Well, that's all for now! This is just the first chapter after all! So, I'll be seeing you next Monday with chapter 2- "Sugarless", now here's the fun part!
You get a sneak peek at it!
'Whose caught your eye…I wonder…?'
"It's a time unlike any other, you know?"
"Are you happy?"
Until next time!