Oops, meant to put a warning on Benkei's chapter that I was probably going to miss yesterday's door as I had two concerts and a rehearsal to do! Never mind, here's yesterday's chapter.

By this point you've probably noticed my own biases coming out a bit – my favourite characters are sneaking into more stories than they really should. Ryuga is the worst at this (mostly because most of these stories are explicitly based after the Nemesis Crisis and as my headcanon puts the Nemesis Crisis on the Winter Solstice, they're all near the anniversary and so what happened to him is front and centre in people's minds), but Bao, Zeo, Toby, Tsubasa and Yuu are doing a good job of turning up unexpectedly and wanting starring roles! And I love them, so I rarely say no.


Da Shan

It was one of the chores and the pleasures of being the Leader of the Beylin Temple that Da Shan was responsible for greeting everyone who came through the gate, no matter when or how they arrived.

Normally, this was fairly uncommon – a small group of elite youngsters would arrive once a year as the newest recruits, and every now and then a particularly determined challenger would drop by. Other than that… well, the Temple was on top of a remote mountain in the middle of China that only a certain select group even knew how to find. They didn't get many visitors.

And then Gingka Hagane had shown up on the scene and now there were visitors every other week, it seemed.

Not that this was a bad thing! Da Shan loved it, actually. Challengers from around the world gave the Temple new ideas and techniques to practice against, and of course it was good to see all of the bladers that had become their friends more often.

But none of that had really prepared Da Shan for welcoming everyone to the Temple for what was supposedly a celebration of two years since the destruction of Nemesis, but that at least half of the visitors had taken as a Christmas party.

Of course, the old Gan Gan Galaxy team were the first to arrive, with Yuki, Kenta and Tithi in tow. Da Shan had greeted them happily, welcoming them to his home once more. Tithi had been awestruck by the height of the mountain peaks, and ignored Da Shan's greeting in favour of just staring at everything. Eventually, Tsubasa had rolled his eyes and actually tugged the younger blader through the gate.

A few hours later, Kyouya Tategami had prowled up to the entrance with Team Wild Fang, and just behind him was the young – old? It wasn't quite clear – Guardian of Mist Mountain, Dynamis. Da Shan had greeted them with honour, respecting Demure's traditions and Dynamis' wisdom as much as his own.

The third group were the Americans and their friends – Masamune, Zeo, Toby, Chris and King - who were the first to aim for Christmas rather than reunion. Most of them answered Da Shan's greeting politely, and he was particularly impressed with the quiet team-work that was obvious between Zeo and Toby. They would be a formidable tag-team, and he was more than tempted to see what they were capable of against China's best.

And talking of tag-teams…

No-one had quite known how to react when the guard at the front gate had interrupted the on-going welcomings and greetings to report that two members of the Beylin Fist were outside the door, requesting entry. Da Shan had immediately dropped what he was doing and followed the young man to the outer gate, Chao Xin and Chi-Yun trailing warily behind him.

Wearing battered, dirty travelling cloaks, Bao and Aguma had stood outside the Temple, looking very apprehensive.

"I invited them," Gingka had said, coming up behind Chi-Yun. "They were as much a part of the destruction of Nemesis as anyone."

Da Shan had inclined his head, hiding his true thoughts. He knew what Gingka had done, and respected him enormously, but… inviting the ancient foes of Beylin Temple right into the heart of their strength?

Then again, Gingka often knew what he was doing, far more than one might originally assume. So Da Shan had extended a greeting to the two bladers, though one that was far colder than any he had given to the others. Once he had allowed them through the gates, the Beylin Fist bladers had melted into the crowds, and Da Shan only caught glimpses of them for the rest of the afternoon, mostly in the company of Dynamis and Chris.

.

As the sun went down and the Temple courtyard lit up with bonfires and lanterns in preparation for the feast at dinner time, Da Shan took the chance to go and stand on the outer walls and watch over his home. It was busy and happy and full of visitors, but that was all for the good. One of the main tenets of Beylin Temple was hospitality, after all.

He was slightly surprised to spot Chao Xin coming up the steps to the walls – normally the other blader was happiest in the centre of the party.

"What's wrong, Chao Xin?"

"There's someone who wants to talk to you." Chao Xin's voice was a little bit strange, almost as if he was uncertain about something. Da Shan just nodded and stood up, only to understand Chao Xin's reticence a moment later when Bao of the Beylin Fist stepped on to the walls.

"You can go," Da Shan said aloud to Chao Xin, knowing that the other blader wouldn't go too far. "Bao. What is it that you wanted with me?"

The Beylin Fist warrior seemed to be pretending that he wasn't uncomfortable where he was. "I came to formally accept your greeting. I am aware that I didn't do it in the proper manner at the gate."

What an odd thing to say. "I thought that you'd accepted it when you stepped through the gate. Actually, I must admit, I was surprised that you came at all."

Bao leaned on the parapet, not meeting Da Shan's eyes. "We were surprised to get the invitation."

"That was Gingka's idea, apparently. He seemed to think that everyone needed to be here. But there are those within the Temple who are very unhappy that you were invited at all."

Bao finally looked at him, a little sideways. "There weren't exactly very many people in my tribe who wanted us to accept it."

"Does that surprise you? Your tribe has been training to defeat and humiliate mine for two thousand years, whilst we kept watch to make sure you could never cause that damage again. To suddenly get an invitation to the seat of our power…"

Bao looked away again. "Things are different now. Beylin Fist is known almost as well as Beylin Temple around the world. Our style is respected and our history acknowledged. It's all I ever wanted for us."

"You're still the schism group," Da Shan said darkly. "History or not, the Temple is the true source of blading in China."

For a moment, it looked like Bao was about to argue, but then he just shook his head. "We come from the same source, streams from the same spring. My group, we know we don't need to fight you to prove that we're just as good. We're different, yes, but everyone is. We don't fight the same way Gingka does, or Kyouya, or the American bladers, or the Europeans. But the Elders of the tribe aren't convinced. I'm doing my best to keep it under control, but… some of them want war."

Da Shan frowned. This was not the conversation he had been expecting to have with one of the leaders of Beylin Fist, on the two-year-anniversary of the destruction of Nemesis, standing on top of a wall in the middle of the Beylin Temple. "Why are you telling me this?"

"It's Christmas. Isn't it supposed to be about peace on earth?" Bao looked out across the valley. "I want my family safe. Running into a war we don't have to fight isn't the way to keep them that way."

It was almost like looking into some kind of warped mirror. "All I want to do is keep my family safe too," Da Shan said quietly. "We just do it differently to you. We fight to protect. We hold on to the past, and stand as shields against the Darkness."

"And we fight to move forwards, pushing into the Dark so that we find the other side."

Da Shan nodded. It was making sense to him now. "That's why the Star Fragment came to you, not to us. The Star didn't need people who would use its power to keep things as they were. It needed people who were willing to see change."

Bao didn't answer. Just then, a clear ringing sound filled the air all around them, and both bladers looked up.

"That's the –" Da Shan began.

"The dinner bell?" Bao asked, and for the first time he seemed to be smiling. "It sounds just like our bell at the Fortress."

Streams from the same spring indeed. Da Shan looked at Bao, really looked, and this time he finally felt as if he saw past the Beylin Fist exterior to the blader within. Like Da Shan, he led a group of fierce warriors who were trained from birth to be the best at what they did. Like Da Shan, he was not the oldest, nor the tallest, but he had authority that was undeniable.

Like Da Shan, he was a leader.

"Bao," Da Shan said, despite the instinct to shelter his tribe behind the Temple shields forever, "Would you do us the honour of battling us in the New Year? Not to prove who is the strongest, but simply to battle, as equals."

"Equals, huh?" Bao mused, but he was holding Da Shan's gaze steadily. "I can't promise anything, not whilst the Elders are being the way they are, but… just for me, I'd like the chance to fight you."

Da Shan smiled. With the bells ringing out over the courtyard, calling all together to celebrate, perhaps it was time to take another step into a shared future.