A Great Escape
Chapter 4: The first visitors
Shen did not sleep well on his first night in Gongmen. He spent hours lying awake, and when he drifted off at some point during the night, he found himself immediately launched into his most terrifying recurring nightmare…
It always started out in the normal way of a bad dream, if that made any sense: he found himself in a burning and unfamiliar village, beneath a red and smoke-tinged sky. Not yet feeling any fear, he would move forward until he heard screams coming from one large building. Slipping inside without variation, he would always be confronted with a terrible sight – his family (normally Nana, Kurisu, and Xun) were being tormented by a shadowy, red-eyed figure holding a fireball in its long fingers. A split second before the shadow prepared to torture or maybe even kill its innocent captives, Shen would cry out, "No!" and lunge forward…
Only to have the figure turn around, and he'd see that it was himself.
One would think that you could only have a nightmare so many times before it ceased to be so terrifying, but Shen still jolted awake in unbridled terror. And with an added bonus, because he didn't get any of the relief that normally washed over him after awakening from that dream; his beak was chattering like a castanet, and convulsions were rolling through his body. Another panic attack. Perfect. That was exactly what he needed tonight.
Not even trying to go back to sleep, Shen stood up, holding his borrowed blanket around his shoulders like a cloak. Stepping quietly around Xun (that wolf was such a heavy sleeper that a few dozen cannon blasts couldn't wake him up) he forced his shaky legs to carry him outside, where he seated himself on the steps of the dormitory and gazed out at the city behind the palace walls.
His eyes roamed over the familiar skyline, drinking in details that he probably wouldn't have noticed even during the day. He carefully examined the particular jagged shapes of each cluster of buildings, noting the dimly flickering windows where a few residents still had their lights on. Perhaps they were insomniacs, or up working very late, or maybe they were even suffering from a panic attack like him. After all, he couldn't possibly be the only person in the world to have this problem, could he?
Suddenly he heard the sound of soft footsteps behind him. Shen flinched visibly, set on edge even by the barely-a-sound, but then a hoof gently gripped his shoulder and a voice whispered beside his ear, "Shen, relax. It's only me."
Shen exhaled shakily, turning his head towards the old goat as she lowered herself down beside him. "Nana, you startled me…"
"I know." She frowned worriedly, reaching up to smooth his feathers back. "What are you doing out here at this time of night?"
"I had a nightmare, and…" Shen held out his wings, displaying the persistent trembles for her.
"Again?" She heaved a sigh. "I thought you were over this. Is something wrong?"
Shen gazed out at the horizon, trying to figure out how to word what was going through his mind.
"Well…it's…it's this assignment," he blurted out. His eyes swept to the side, at last drawn to the structure that he'd been trying to avoid looking at: the fireworks factory, currently dark and silent, but about to be revitalized all too soon. "I don't know why Storming Ox and Croc are trusting me with so much! They really want me to make cannons? I wouldn't even trust myself with that! And the dreams…the panic attacks…Nana, what if this really means I'm going insane again…?"
Her hoof lifted further, stroking his crest back. "Shhh…"
Shen swallowed hard, shutting his eyes, trying to focus on nothing but the comforting touch. It was a trick he had learned, a sort of subjective mediation used to rein his mind in: focus on only one thing at a time…
"You need to stop thinking of your insanity as some sort of disease, darling. It's not a sickness, not in the traditional sense. You can control it. And you already HAVE controlled it, and it's not coming back."
"But I just feel that…"
"Hush." She took hold of his chin firmly, turning his head so that he made eye contact with her. "I was taking with Lady Biming before we left, and do you know what she said? She said that she's dealt with people having panic attacks before, and fear of going crazy is very common. It even happened to your father once."
Shen's breath hitched. "My father…"
"Yes. When you were seven, that night that you and Xun tried to run away from home, he was so frightened that he said he was afraid he might lose his sanity. He had the same symptoms as you, the shaking and the heart palpitations…this is more common than you think it is…"
Shen didn't know what to say. Even his own father had dealt with this in his lifetime, no thanks to him. He made a mental note to visit his parents' graves sometime before leaving the city; like most parents, they would probably be irritated if he was in town and neglected to come and see them. He almost smiled at the thought.
"I'm still not sure I like this, though…" His eyes slowly crept back towards the fireworks factory. "Going in there again…"
The soothsayer stood up with the aid of her cane, getting that familiar seer-knows-best expression on her face. "That factory is as much your ancestral home as the Tower of the Sacred Flame. That's where your grandparents invented fireworks. That's where your parents planned out the most elaborate displays that China had ever seen."
"That's where I tried to take over China and made cannons."
"Yes, and now you're going to make cannons again – to protect the city. They won't know it, but every time an invasion is stopped, they'll have you to thank. You'll be on much better standing with the Masters Council, and your parents will be very proud of you." She squeezed his shoulder slightly. "Though I'm certain they already are."
Shen smiled faintly. "Well, thank you for the pep talk, Nana, but I think we should go inside. It's nearly dawn."
"Promise me that you'll stop worrying about this, Shen. Everything is going to turn out just fine. You'll see…"
…
Everyone was roused early the next morning, much to Xun's chagrin. Shen hadn't gone back to sleep after his conversation with the soothsayer, so he didn't really mind. They grabbed a quick breakfast in the kitchen before everyone parted for their respective daily activities: the servants went off to help the builders working on the Tower of the Sacred Flame, the soothsayer headed into the city for a presumable day of shopping and catching up with her old friends, and Masters Storming Ox and Croc led Shen and Xun around Gongmen to the proposed areas where the new defenses would be placed. They shared their ideas, and Shen contributed his own suggestions.
"If you ever needed to block off these canals, it would be a simple matter to just put some chains across them – only when it was necessary, of course…"
"If you really want cannons, I'd advise one at each entrance. They all need a guard post, of course. Long range weapons would be required…I would need to design some sort of apparatus for maneuvering them more quickly…"
"How do your guards communicate now? By messenger? That wouldn't work in times of crisis. You know, I could devise a simple system for communicating by flares across the city…"
The work kept him busy, and he actually enjoyed it. He was beginning to see that his creative ideas didn't just have to be used for darkness and destruction. By afternoon, he was hardly even noticing the bystanders giving him perplexed looks and he flew over canals and scaled high walls, calling down to Storming Ox and Croc and occasionally becoming engaged in brief tussles with Xun.
They group was walking back from the harbor, considering a break for lunch, when a palace messenger dashed up to them.
"Masters!" the antelope panted as his hooves clattered to a stop. "We have visitors at the dormitory."
"Visitors?" repeated Croc. He and Storming Ox exchanged a puzzled glance.
"Yes, one Lady Xuilan and her bodyguard, Ming…"
"Who's Lady Xuilan?" asked Xun.
"The name isn't familiar," said Storming Ox, and frowned. "I suppose that now we'll have to go back and see these visitors. We'll resume our work once we finish with them."
The trip from the harbor to the dormitory was a rather long walk. Shen offered to fly ahead to make sure that this Lady Xuilan didn't leave before they arrived, but he was invariably dismissed. When they finally reached their destination, he was mildly surprised to see that the two unfamiliar figures were still there, waiting for them.
It was easy to tell who the supposed nobility was and who the bodyguard was. Lady Xuilan was a small bird of some sort, bearing a strong resemblance to some sort of falcon or hawk. Her white feathers were accented by black, comma-shaped markings around her crimson eyes. Her elaborate finery left her shoulders bare, and they could see that there were black markings there as well. She was draped in fine fabrics and various bits of jewelry, so she must have been wealthy, and yet none of them had ever heard of her before.
Ming, on the other hand, was a small furry creature who was only as tall as Xuilan, though her brilliantly patterned pelt was much more striking than the lady bird's monotone feathers. She wore a gold-piped black uniform and carried a bow and quiver of arrows on her back. Her eyes kept flitting side to side in a wary, almost nervous way.
"Ah, you're finally here," said Xuilan impatiently, as if she was a teacher waiting for a late pupil and not a guest waiting for the masters of the city. "It's about time."
Storming Ox seemed rather put out by her rudeness, but he forced himself to remain calm as he answered, "Greetings, madam. What is your business here?"
"I'm here to demand compensation," Xuilan sniffed.
"Compensation?" exclaimed Croc. "For what? We don't even know who you are…"
"I am the daughter of Lady Mai Ying," she answered stiffly.
Storming Ox and Croc both stiffened, a result that she seemed to have anticipated.
"That's right," she continued, coming forward in such a way that she seemed to glide. "You didn't know that she had a family, did you? Perhaps you should have considered that before you cast her out."
"It wasn't us that made that decision," Croc pointed out uncomfortably. "We had no say in it."
"Oh? Well, you do have a say in the matter now. All I want is compensation."
Storming Ox seemed to be stifling an eye roll. "You don't need to sound so dramatic. What is it that you want? Money?"
"I want my mother's former position and my family's house."
"Well, both of those are currently occupied."
"I don't care. They belong to me, and I expect you to return them to me."
"Just a moment," Shen spoke up, stepping forward. "Exactly who do you think you are, Lady Xuilan? You can't just barge in here and demand that the leaders of the city give you compensation for an event that's ancient history. Where would they be if they did that for everyone?"
Storming Ox and Croc looked at the peacock in surprise. They hadn't expected Shen to speak up for them, especially since he was essentially renouncing the same behavior that he himself had exhibited only a few years earlier. That was part of the reason why Shen had broken his silence, however; this woman reminded him far too much of his old self.
Xuilan's eyes narrowed as they trained upon him. She seemed to know who he was, despite the fact that he'd never heard of her or of this Lady Mai Ying. He was relatively infamous, of course, so he wasn't surprised. "So you're the prince who caused my family so much trouble," she growled softly.
"Perhaps I am," Shen responded plainly. "But I don't know anything about your family, so it's hard for me to say."
"Stop interfering in my affairs," she snapped. "You've already interfered enough, whether you know it or not."
Shen happened to glance over his shoulder. Xun was clearly giving him a look that said, Back off, this is none of your business. He knew that his friend was probably right, but prepared to press on anyway. Fortunately, Storming Ox and Croc intervened just then.
"Well, if you thought that we'd just give you what you wanted immediately, then sadly you're mistaken," declared Croc.
"If you really want to sort this out with us, then you need to find someplace to stay and come back tomorrow, because we're very busy," added Storming Ox. "We won't be able to see you before then."
Xuilan opened her beak as if to protest, then snapped it shut. "Very well. I didn't expect that I'd get very far with you two." She gestured to her bodyguard. "Come on, Ming, we're leaving."
Shen's gaze shifted to Ming, and he realized with a pang of sock that she had been holding an arrow level with his chest the entire time. Not only that, but unlike Xuilan, she hadn't spoken a word. Her expression didn't shift in the slightest as she lowered her weapon.
He instinctively stepped backwards, coming to a stop besides Xun. Shen mouthed the word "creepy" to his friend.
The two mysterious ladies brushed past them on their way out, and Xuilan shot off one last venomous glare at Shen before the gates were slammed shut behind her.
Shen exhaled, realizing how brief and confusing that encounter had been. "What's going on?" he asked aloud, to no one in particular.
"What's going on is that things are about to get much too complicated," grumbled Storming Ox.
A/N - I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to mention this in the story, so I'll say it here: Xuilan is a black-shouldered kite and Ming is a spotted linsang. Both are species indigenous to China.
Happy Halloween, everyone! Your treat is the longest chapter yet, which is also the first to feature OCs. Now, trick or treat - WHY AREN'T YOU REVIEWING?