The light of the morning gave way to the landscape all around. The large white tiger stood up looked towards the village. He knew that the time had come to discuss the threads of fate with a certain young woman. She would be here soon, all he had to do was wait just a little longer. Just a few more hours and quite possibly everything would change for better or for worse.

The first thing Mei had woken up to was not pleasant at all. The bright light from the window shone directly in her face and her back ached from laying on the wooden floor. 'Perhaps some sort of cushion would have been a better idea.' She thought to herself. Now that she was up the next step was to get a move on her personal mission. She went about to getting her companion Yong Soo out of bed.

The second thing Mei had found out after waking up was even more unpleasant. The heat of a high fever radiated from Yong Soo's skin. He was not awake yet, but he looked like he was in pain.

Mei quickly unwrapped the bandages on his leg. Some sort of fluid had stained them and as the last winding came loose she made the gruesome discovery that almost made her gag at the sight of it. How could losing one little vial of medicine cause something like that to happen?

Mei frantically tore out of the room searching desperately for the innkeeper. Instead she came across one of his helpers.

"Please my friend is really ill I need to know where a doctor is! Now!" She pleaded.

The girl looked startled by the severity of Mei's tone, but she explained there was in fact a doctor on the other side of the village.

Mei quickly thanked her and flung open the door of the inn and ran down the streets. She cursed as she ran, the village was much larger than she initially thought. She was out of breath and her legs were trembling from exhaustion when she at last reached the building she was looking for.

She weakly knocked on the door. It took a lot longer than she would have liked till someone answered it.

"Yes? May I help you?" An elderly looking man said.

"It's my friend he has a terrible fever from a wound he had."

"I see, give me a moment and then you may take me to him."

He moved way too slowly and it threw Mei on edge. Every slow step he took could be costing Yong Soo's life.

From personal experience she knew that fevers could be deadly. After all that was how she had lost her older brother. She may have not known Yong Soo all that well, but he was helping her and that made him a friend to her.

"So how far away is it to this friend of your?" The old man asked.

"We have been travelling so we are currently staying at the inn." She explained.

"Ah, that's quite a ways, but how about you go on ahead and tend to him the best you can. I'm sorry but it will take me some time."

"Fine!"

She bursted into a run once again. When she got back she found the girl from earlier tending to Yong Soo. Mei was surprised to see her there, but it was understandable.

"How is he?" Mei asked with concern. The girl shook her head indicating he was still in a critical condition.

"How did he get that on his leg?" The girl interrogated.

"He fell." Mei lied.

"Must have been a bad fall then." The girl remarked. Something about her tone told Mei that she was not quite believing her false explanation.

"You look tired. Maybe you should sit down." The girl suggested.

Mei slumped into a chair and soon found she had dozed off briefly.

She woke up quickly to discover that the doctor had made it there after all. The innkeeper had also come to see what the commotion was all about. She heard him muttering something about getting new sheets.

Mei did not want to stay much longer considering she could see the ugly gash now. She left the room for the time being.

But as soon as she had made a good distance, she thought she heard the old man and the innkeeper talking.

"So is he?" The innkeeper asked.

"No doubt about it he's definitely from Korea." The old man confirmed.

"Look I found something!" The girl exclaimed.

"Ssh, we don't want that other boy back here right now." The innkeeper scolded. "Anyway what is it?"

"I found armor amongst their belongings."

"Hm, yes that is the attire for the Southern Korean soldiers. Go contact the village authorities this is a matter of urgency."

Mei hid herself and soon after she saw the girl leave.

'What am I going to do?!' Mei thought. She could make a run for it. But she dared not imagine what they would do to Yong Soo if she left him. However, desperation was beginning to get to her. There was no possible way she could bring him with her anyway. Not in his condition. He would only slow her down. It made her feel terrible but in the end she fled from the inn and headed towards the village edge. Fear of being captured had overtaken her, she was no longer thinking straight. She knew what would happen if they found out the other 'boy' was actually a woman in men's clothing. China was not so kind to women who stepped out of their roles as she had heard from talk about the empire's customs.

Mei could see the treeline, her legs were tiring but a new sound gave her a burst of energy. Behind her the village authorities had apparently been notified and a small group was in hot pursuit of her.

"Stop!"

She heard them shout behind her. As she was about to enter the cluster of trees she turned around to see them nearly upon her. They were going to get her and most surely she would die once they found out her true identity along with Yong Soo. What had she been thinking? There had been no way that she was going to accomplish anything by leaving her home to search for a man who for all she knew may or not be alive. She had endangered Yong Soo's life by traveling with him despite his severe wounds. It was all her fault they were going to die. All her fault.

Hopelessness made her stop her retreat and she slumped to her knees in defeat.

'All my fault. All my fault.' She repeated over and over in her mind.

The guards caught up and had slowed to a walk and were about to seize her. Then out of the trees came a white flash. A guard yelled out as he fell to the ground. The sound of armour and flesh being shredded came from behind Mei.

She turned around to see none other than a very large white tiger. She could only stare in amazement as it cut down two other guards while the others ran away in terror.

Would being killed by a tiger be more merciful than what awaited her back in the village?

The tiger turned towards her and she hung her head ready for it to attack, but it did not. Instead it spoke.

"Lin Mei, I've wanted to speak with you." A strong voice echoed through her head.
What was going on?

"Come with me." The voice sounded again while the tiger walked towards the shadows of the branches. Noticing that Mei was not obeying him he attempted to reassure her.

"Do not be afraid. If I had any intentions about harming you I would have done it already."

Hesitantly Mei followed him. Once the tiger found a good spot he lay his large bulk down gracefully and turned his head in her direction. His bright blue eyes burned into her. A moment of silence passed between them before the tiger spoke.

"I've been waiting for you for some time now. You see Lin Mei you have proven yourself to me."

Mei remembered the tiger that had attacked her the other day. But there was no way that this one could be the same one it was much larger.

"You mean that attack was-" She started.

"A test? Yes it was. You are no ordinary woman. You have been chosen to lead this entire war into a new direction. For better or for worse."

"What? But I can't-"

"You will!" The tiger said harshly, "There is no choice for you, none at all. It is what you must do. There is no one else."

"Why me then?"

"There is no clear explanation why it has to be you. Only that it must be you. The Gods do not take sides in man's wars but that has now changed. In fact this entire war was caused by one of us. He appeared before the Emperor of this nation fed promises of power to him. Why he did such a thing is a mystery."

Mei patiently listened to what the tiger had to say. However she was still in shock from the fact that it was talking to her.

There was also another issue. Exactly how was she going to carry out its demands? She decided then that she would try to do so on one condition.

"Fine I'll do what you ask, but I have a favor I must ask of you first."

"Oh, and that would be?"

"Can you please save my friend, Im Yong Soo. Please I beg you!"

The tiger thought for a minute and bowed his head.
"I will do this favor for you, but know this. When I complete the task you have given me then you are thus bound to me. There shall be no more refusals on your behalf. Is that understood?"

"Yes."

And with that the tiger bounded away with a powerful leap. It was not long till it returned with the unconscious form of Yong Soo.

"Now please turn away." The tiger ordered.

Mei obeyed. When she was told she could turn around again she saw Yong Soo upon the ground. He appeared peaceful and relieved. His leg was completely healed there was no mark from the terrible wound that had cut through his skin.

A few moments passed before he began to stir. The first thing he saw was a large tiger staring at him and a bit too close. He scooted away in fear. Surprisingly to him the tiger made no move to attack him, but instead continued to watch.

"It's okay you're alright now." Mei reassured.

He could not understand why she was being so calm around a large tiger, but he came to terms that maybe it was because the tiger was harmless. He would remain wary of it for the moment.

"Tell me, what's going on?" Yong Soo asked.

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure myself." Mei replied.

"Can you explain Mr. Tig-" Mei started but stopped when she noticed that the tiger was gone. She looked around for him. There was no tiger in sight. Still she believed that she understood what she had to do, however she needed to complete the quest that had started this journey. That was to find and rescue Kiku. She was unsure of where she would go. Maybe the soldiers captured him because they needed him. Where would they take him if he was so important? Then it occurred to her that he was taken to the heart of China itself, the capital city where the emperor lived.

They faced one problem, their horse was still in the village. There was no chance that they were going to get it back any time soon.

"We will stay here for the rest of the day, and when night falls we will save the horse." Mei said as she lay out her plan. Yong Soo agreed to it. The two of them began to wait.

For them it felt like an eternity for the sun to go down. Both of them felt tense, anxious about the village authorities discovering their whereabouts. Luck was on there side however and the sun set without any problems arising. Yong Soo also spent his time walking again after being handicapped for a few days. He could not help but feel joy about being cured. The surrealism of the situation before had him thinking about his luck. Deep inside he knew that if he had stayed in his previous condition all he would have been able to do was remain an useless burden for Mei. Now that he was fit he could do what he had set out to do was rescue his friend.

This took much longer than it needed to get finished. For that I am sorry.