Chapter 2: Birth

In a small village, known as the Sun clan, a couple was desperate to have a child. The man's name was Chan Mao and the woman's name was Chi Mao. They have been married for 1 year and so far, no children. The man was a farmer while the wife was a tailor. Chi's father was Pai Mei, one of the great lotus priests in the area and has a special reputation among the clan. One day Chi had arrived home after closing her shop for the night. Once inside, she started to make dinner for her husband. As soon as she was done Chan came in. He went to his wife and hugged her. "How are you?" he asked.

Chi replied, "Got hounded by the women again. They tease me on how we haven't had children yet. Have we done something wrong."

Chan gently made her look at him. "We have done nothing of the sort. We will have a child soon. It's just too soon for us."

Chi sighs and hugged him. "Why did you choose me? Is it because of my father's threat or something more?" she asked him.

Chan said, "I choose you cause of your kindness, your strong spirit, and how you defend the innocent. No one can compare to something special like you. As for your father, yeah he scares me but he wouldn't have trusted me to marry you if he saw some that made me worthy of you."

Chi smiled and kissed him. "You're so good to me. What have I done to deserve you?" Chan chuckled and kissed her.

That night, the 2 were making love in their bedroom and in the night, sky a shooting star went by. At the temple where Pai Mei, Chi's father, was meditating, when he felt something. He felt a strange but pure energy around him. He opened his eyes and saw a yellow dragon flying around in the room, Pai Mei stood up as the dragon flew around him and whispered something in his ear. Then the dragon went away. Pai Mei walked outside his temple and said, "It is time."

The next day, Chi wasn't feeling so well so she had to stay home from work. Just then Pai Mei came to visit. "Hello father. How are you?"

He replied, "I'm fine but you look sick as a dog. What's wrong?" He went to her and felt her forehead.

Chi said, "I don't know. This morning, I didn't feel so good and I threw up. I can't even eat."

Pai Mei said, "I know what's wrong. You're pregnant."

Chi shook her head in denial. "How can that be? Chan and I made love last night and we've been trying for nearly a year to have children. What makes this time any different?"

Pai Mei said, "Because the Yellow Dragon came to me last night." Chi shut up to listen. "Last night when I was meditating, when I saw the Yellow Dragon in my temple. I stood up and he told me, the child you are having will one day change the fate of the world for the better. When the child is born 9 months from now, she will be the vessel of the 4 constellations deities of north, south, east, and west."

Chi asked, "My child will be a girl?"

Pai Mei smiled. "A very special girl and I hope she has your smile." He kissed her forehead.

9 months later, Chi was in labor. The nursemaids were in the house while the men were outside. Chi was trying as hard as she can to push and after 10 hours, the baby was born. Chi was laying back in exhaustion as the nurses were cleaning the baby. Then Chan and Pai Mei came in. Chan asked, "Is it a girl?"

Pai Mei took hold of the child and looked at her back, there was a birthmark that looked like a tattoo with the 4 animals in their respective place. "Yes, you have a girl."

Chi smiled. "Welcome to the world Shan." She sat up as she was handed the baby.

Chan was already crying. "She's beautiful." He kissed his wife and then kissed the baby's head.

But the happiness didn't last long. When Shan was 3 years old, people in her village were getting very sick. But this sickness wasn't like anything anyone has seen before. It was called the Fossil Disease. It is a crippling disease that affects the body and an individual with the disease will be physically paralyzed and die. The individual's skin will horrifyingly start to react and harden, and will stick out. The appearance of the infected area looks as if it is fossilized, hence the name. The infected area will then spread throughout the body and the patient will soon die moments later. The effects are very painful. Somehow the only ones that weren't affected were Pai Mei and Shan. Pai Mei was walking through the village and he saw some of the people were wrapping their 'wounds' and were on crutches. Others were pulling wagons carrying the dead bodies. It was an ugly sight to see. He arrived at the door and saw that the only ones were there was Chi and Shan. Chan was one of the first that passed away. Pai Mei kneeled before his daughter who was lying on her bed. "Where did this nightmare come from?" asked Chi.

Pai Mei said, "I wish I knew. I looked through all the medical books we have and there's nothing on record about this sickness. Where's Shan?"

Chi replied, "She's in her room playing. I don't have the heart to put her outside and see all this sadness." She grabbed her father's hand. "Please take care of her. I can't last much longer. Soon I'll be with my husband. Please take care of her."

Pai Mei had no objection. "You have my word as a father. I'll take great care of her." Chi then smiled but then she started to seize up and then she died. Pai Mei got up and walked outside and saw there was no life in the village. Whoever was left when he entered the house just suddenly dropped dead. He soon got to work by digging a big ditch, gathered all the bodies, and lit fire on the corpuses. Once the fire died down and there was nothing but ashes, he walked back inside the house and walked in his granddaughter's room. On the in the middle of the carpet was Shan. She was just playing with her dolls and toys and had no idea what just happened. Pai Mei walked in and played with her until Shan finally went to sleep. Then he picked her up in her arm, carried few of the uninfected things she has, so she wouldn't get sick, and left the village. "I'll take great care of you Shan for one day you will face your destiny and what you will face will change your life forever." Pei Mei went to his old temple way from the village and set up a small bedroom for Shan. He placed her on the bed and tucked her in.

The next morning, Shan woke she noticed she was in a different room. She got up and walked outside to see that she was at her grandfather's temple. She looked for him and found him in the backyard making stone-heads for her fallen family. When Pai Mei was done, Shan walked up to him, stood next him, and held his hand. "Grandpa, where mom and dad?" For a 3-year-old, she was very smart.

Pai Mei said, "They're not with us anymore. So, it's just the both of us now." Then he turned to her. "And it's also time for your training."

"Training?" Shan asked.

Pai Mei nodded. "Yep. You are Chinese and in order to survive you are required to know how to fight…and to one day face your destiny."

Shan asked, "What is my destiny?"

Pai Mei said, "You know soon when you get older. So tomorrow we got to get you in shape."