Volume Three: Deng Wa
Chapter XXXVIII
Two Soldiers
November 29, 1210
Oh, my.
Inside the Master's chamber, Chen Ming broadened her silver eyes and finished examining Bingwen's scroll, Master Wuxi's biography of his students. At first, Ming remembered only three sorcerers around her young days: Bovine the builder, tigress healer, and goat storyteller. She truly wished to know who the other two students were, finding the leopardess who radiated her paws entering one's consciousness, the realm of merry and suffering memories. And the Asian badger who mastered his weapons what he could swallow unfriendly eyes in his gold vortex with his dagger-ax, dissipating them into the Spirit Realm.
The follow-up listening to her grandson, who uncovered the mystery name Deng Wa filled her knowledge, knowing the myth of his dagger that hungered corruption and omnipotence. And Ming now discovered his eyes radiating into a green filled with no pity and trickery, full of hate. Chen Ming's ideas flooded with several questions, and one of hers weighed in as she brushed her wrinkled jaw in concern, glancing at emerald candles.
The White Dragon was there in the battle with pandas and Wuxi's students, and they defeated the Curse of Men; they cast demons away and tried to break Deng Wa free from himself, but his body was never found. What corrupted him into an evil sorcerer — the spirit warrior?
Enough notions to seek answers after giving a sorrowful look ahead at Oogway's painting, she wrapped the scroll and dug in the shell, fastening the knot. Her thought surged. I found who did Kai turning against you, Master. Someone did break your brother's spirit in half. I wish I could hear you more.
Standing up from her mat, Ming gesticulated her strong paw to a swift, the soft wind gushing candles to the utmost shadow; only one remained as she bore before she departed toward the path outside. The eighth day introduced a gentle breeze's cold stream near the Shui Palace, branches from trees becoming too harsh by strong glides. The night was cloaked with a haunting midnight blue, and calm winds whispered above roof tiles, stroking her dress. There, laying her silver eyes at the Meeting Room, was her grandson himself sitting by the round table with a green candle.
Hmm. What stays my Sunzi up this time?
Ming entered the Barrack's Meeting Room after closing the door, silencing rumble creaks. A crimson scroll with a gold dragon sigil laid open on the wooden table as Chen Ming asked her grandson.
"Is that who I think the message is?"
Chen Xing left no words scrutinizing the letter with a red buffalo symbol on the top right-hand corner. Most of the flowing comments from one's giant voice of fruit soothed his ears, stroking his heart.
Two months before General Kai's arrival at Shui Palace, the tiger needed his solitude during his recovery. Only opportunities to hear his brothers and two sisters of the Nine, their Master offered a few guests paying their visits to the Dragon Warrior's next chosen one. Xing knew what visitors craved to meet their hero, who almost died fighting against the Mad Prince, proving that many souls gave all their blessings to offer the tiger heal well. Xing rested on his mat, his cylinder pillow supporting his head as emerald and yellow candles surrounded his chamber. You sense the incense of peach and blossom blending, wood whizzes strolling close behind the shoji structure, later exposing two silhouettes of his kind and a giant with large side horns. His first thought was his bovine brother's father, Master Storming Ox, visiting Shui Palace to see his son's companion. The tiger's right eye was only covered with cloth wraps, almost closing half of his head, and his headache was slightly intense during his trouble sleeping.
The tiger's shoji door opened during his eye shut; Xing wished to end his visitor hours, but his grandmother promised his final guest would be here tonight. A guest, whose large hand was palming on the feline's chest, knelt beside Xing. Begging to open his eye with last twitchings, the Nine's Leader had finally discovered the invading aroma of earth and mud from the guest, precisely the closest who was with his peacock brother and his Dragon Warrior colleague in the Holy Flame Tower. This guest had yellow eyes, rising from the sun, almost dawn under his irises, a round neck, and a silver beard. He showed his might in voluminous gold robes with a ruby dragon chest.
Chen Xing's final guest was the water buffalo himself. The Gentle Dragon.
Escaping from his pleasant reflection, Chen Xing smiled again after reading the Gentle Dragon's letter. "His message is very kind, Nana. The Emperor has been wishing me the best with all of his blessings. His guards have been watching me ever since my recovery."
His grandmother pulsed her sigh of relief. "Such spirit," Ming grinned, sitting beside Xing. "Huangdi is so soft the way he sees all the people as his children. I suppose the Gentle Dragon has eyes and ears than I have."
"Oh, no, Nana. You have your strong miracle than his."
Of course.
Chen Ming cleared her tender throat. "So, what do you know of Huangdi's word, my dear?"
"While the Emperor has eyes on many boundaries in all of China, focusing the North of the Great Wall near Mongolia," Xing commented, "my concerns may seal from myself unsealing the bear's illusions."
His grandmother's smile faded, perceiving his sidetrack activity of paintings — his visions of puzzles that occurred when his mind reacted to seeing illusions that he could not understand. "How will you seal your drawings, Sunzi?" Ming worried. "You explained to yourself that you will follow those paths which lead to happenings you should discover."
"The Nine need their Leader, Nana," Xing eyed her. "I should put my paintings aside, and many never go further. Lotus needs me for my student."
"During your training with your sister and Kai earlier, Lotus received a scroll from Master Bear, Sunzi."
Chen Xing's eyes breathed in with a cold. "A letter?"
"Regarding your issues," she continued. "Generals informed from one of their spies that Huoju's Commander collaborates with Mongols and their Khan."
As mentioned the troubling matter from Mongolia, Chen Xing slowly flattened his back against the chair's back post. "Collaboration. . ." the tiger repeated with dread, shaking his head. "That doesn't sound good."
"I had an old companion who ventured to Mongolia many years ago. As a tourist who hid his alias, he told me about this champion who clenched a tissue clot during his birth. Mongols claimed that the infant has a symbol of victory, to praise their leader who shall rule his country. For generations, we the Chinese fight against tyranny."
For a moment, the Nine's Leader filled his breaths in his muzzle, reflecting predictions. "If General Bear's letter seems true from terrible news," he took his silver eyes at Ming, "there's only one way the enemy wants."
"As long as you live here, the Valley of Peace with your colleagues, and Tanhuang with Gidahn and his children, you will be safe."
"For how long, Nana? My safety is slowly draining," he stated, lifting his brows. "I cannot just stay here, contemplating news from Huangdi's Generals. And Wang —"
After naming his former competitor, Xing shook his head in dismay. "Deng Wa is using Wang to use jombies, slaughtering people."
"The boy needs help, Xing. The question that you fear for a week is risky. How will you free Wang from Deng Wa?"
"That's what I'm worried about, Nana," Xing spoke true with his voice humming.
For a moment, giving his eyes shut as the crackling woods and hissing fires intensified, Xing sought Argali dying in front of him, who spat one word the tiger was afraid to be one. Ceasing to concentrate on possible predictions, the Nine's Leader crossed his limbs on the table. "If Huangdi and his Generals need me, I would not want Mind of Metal to burn ashes toward the Mongols, which is a violent way of defending China from the black bear. Instead of being a violent warrior, I never like to be one to give warnings to these threats as necessary."
Ming gave out her soft drone in wariness. "Violence is never a good thing, Sunzi. It is a disease if you mistreat it."
Xing's thoughts surged with consternation.
I fear my path will lead me to waste — someone like her adopted son, who was the fault to blame for hurting his villagers. Someone like my brother's father, a madman who took away pandas, became a dictator—someone like our grandmaster's dear friend who killed people in the war.
"Xing."
Xing opened his trembling eyes and rested on her, who palmed his strong paw. "All Shaolin Disciples are coming close in two days. As your brother remains under his rule in Gongmen City, Master Ox will be joining, as well as Master Eagle. Tomorrow, we are sending an invitation to Masters of Jade Palace."
The tiger's brows stretched upward. "You found something alarming from Bingwen's scroll," Chen Xing predicted.
"I'm afraid the Dragon Warrior's people must know what I saw in this agonizing tale. Your student Kai must witness."
Though her haunting voice let Xing hold his breath in his lungs in worry, the tiger rested his long look at the jade candle, contemplating his student's blunt words. Not recent days of hearing any complaints from Kai, however, but the day that he resided until the last time he put his foot against Xing. Neither he nor his student could speak to each other after their training sessions, including meal times.
Chen Ming patted his back. "The night is passing. Rest well, Sunzi."
"Good night, Nana."
Xing blessed his grandmother's forehead before he blew the emerald candle.
November 30, 1210
A ninth day washed with sapphire sky appearing with nippy air from the rustling leaves among ridge mountains. Wolf Boss was in a gray cotton garment and black trousers outside the Fighting Square, strolling near the side path with his daughter Lotus, who chirped with grace to her striped feline partner. No other signs of episodes from Xing interfered. He adapted to following a solution to prevent himself from being frightful by one that stalked in his dreams and phantom appearances. The Nine heard distant news across China that Jade Warriors had retreated from Wukong City. Despite a few casualties, collateral damage put half of the town in destruction, as several masters of seven temples and a rhinoceros army outnumbered Wang and Stone Warriors. Success was indeed when friendlies captured only twenty-one jombies, alive and recovered, but four had taken the easy way out as severe torment from Jade Warriors occurred.
Kai had finished scrutinizing the scroll article mentioning the catastrophe. Dressed in basil tops and patched trousers, he sought his feline teacher's perfect combos of Chi Sao, whose volley of two fists launching counter blocks against an action crocodile dummy. Wolf Boss's daughter beside him inspected three students of the Nine who performed their advanced forms of Kung Fu, all of which shared tips from Masters of Jade Palace colleagues. Kai and Wolf Boss were together at the half arena reviewed Chen Xing dodging the crocodile's tale-spinning.
Xing launched his jumping front kicks, thrusting the dummy off balance.
Wolf Boss filled his exhilarating chuckles. "That boy knows how to engage singlehandedly," he clapped his fist.
"A stellar performance," Kai described.
Wolf Boss lifted his eye in wonderment, drumming his coarse throat. "I believe that's the first time you impress the kid, Kai," he crooned with good taste. "Did my daughter teach you some respect?"
"Not only her."
Lotus beckoned her paws to thumbs up, winking her eye at her father and the Mightiest Warrior. "That's my girl," the lupine simpered, drifting his eye at Lotus's partner.
Chen Xing propelled his circle punches at the reptile model, which the crocodile staggered with fast recoils, leading the tiger to swift his leg and bowl it to the ground. Finishing the enemy by landing a final blow with his fist, Xing remained hesitant, glimpsing at his shaking paw before he stopped trembling by his paw clenching. The next model was a round boar dummy wielding two handles of spike balls. Kai studied the tiger, who kept eying at his paw, showing brief distraction before Xing snapped out, focusing on the second model.
Little Kitten keeps looking at his paws again.
"That's strange. For a few days, Xing has not been able to stop staring at his own hands," Wolf Boss rolled his head with slight interest. "As we are fellow soldiers and experienced the young fighting in battles, have you ever witnessed a few who hid their fears, Kai?"
"It's complicated," the yak's hoof pinned under his jaw.
"Complicated?"
The Mightiest Warrior buzzed his throat. "One often sees his hands that followed the path into dismay," Kai forewarned and regarded his striped feline teacher. "Many experienced fighters shared their story on who was their first kill."
The one-eyed wolf crossed his limbs with novelty. "Who was your first kill?"
Kai pressured his soft snout, shutting his eyes as he envisioned mimics of his fallen opponents. One wolf's face turned to a hundred beings and different heads beyond who faced the Mightiest Warrior. "I have forgotten who I murdered first. More than a thousand plunged in my head," the yak grunted with his smirk, turning to his wolf colleague. The side of his mane drooped from his right shoulder. "Who was your first, Commander?"
"As Lord Shen's father's guardian who was on duty to protect Gongmen City, I fought a weasel bandit," Wolf Boss remembered, smirking. "One of the minor combatants I encountered stormed his way to the Sacred Flame Tower. He almost attempted his assassination on my peafowl family. I was nineteen, prior before Shen and I departed to exile."
Two soldiers stayed observant at Chen Xing, who sprang his feet in the air and launched double kicks toward the boar model's side belly and ribcage. The Nine's Leader pressured his defensive pose once Wolf Boss explained his first slaying tale.
"A high-ranked guard I once knew watched me in the corner of the Barrack's bedrooms, sitting beside me while I locked my wrists over my knees. He was the first who watched me flattening my head against my legs," Wolf Boss said. "He knew what I was going through because, as a justifiable character, he spoke of his experience on killing, which the guard controlled his mind from looking back on what he had done. He offered me a new rank for preventing the weasel's assassination."
"I hear weasels are so energetic and radical," Kai mentioned.
"Oh, those guys are maniacs. My twin soldiers, Lee and Lin, were victims and experienced how weasels were not only ludicrous but crazy. At that small size, Kai, they crept on Lee and Lin's spines and munched their sides."
Weasels. Kai huffed his muzzle.
Chen Xing offered Biyu to deliver a water flask before the Nine's Messenger dismissed. The boar dummy stopped its action sequences as the tiger harshened his breaths, panting for cool air in his lungs.
"I should talk to him later tonight. See what Xing was up to after Wukong."
"So should I," Kai nodded, popping his leading wrist while motioning. "I owe Little Kitten something worth a good taste than harsh words. An apology is one thing the boy expects from his student."
Wolf Boss finished meditating in his room, reflecting on one of his own who raised him with his peacock brother in his early times. A picture of an elder goat in her colorful robes with grown horns downward and her wooden cane rested on the shoji paper wall next to the sliding door. I missed you, Mali. After delivering his blessing on his paw, resting it toward the Soothsayer's heart, Wolf Boss departed his room toward the Barrack's Corridor as all seven chambers inside lid candles, having him wander toward the passage before the Meeting Room. For he had not regarded once, the one-eyed wolf sought Kai stayed against the structure on the side next to the wooden door, crossing his feet with introspection.
You find the tiger in a light charcoal garment and black trousers sitting on the chair and the table piled with old scroll texts and the new. Wolf Boss studied Xing, whose stare locked on his bare palm, entering the Meeting Room. "You have been staring at your paws for a while, Xing."
The Nine's Leader hastily cleared his throat, grabbing the ink brush. "I was reflecting how my hands started from being soft to iron, Zhong."
"Those paws punching Ironwood Trees are in good progression, but that's not what I am following," Zhong said, sitting beside Xing. "In my experience, the first time looking at my hands in combat, the splatter of blood was from the leopard; I plunged the soldier's sword against his heart. The remorse left me obsessed with fighting battles until I feel that shame no more."
Regarding the wolf's experience, Xing kept his look at his paw, the crack of Argali's chest intensifying with a dying gasp. "Of course. Someone was dead while you have been looking at your paws," he heard Wolf Boss, whose ruby eye sharpened toward him. "I have seen my people's faces — young warriors, Xing. And I knew what they went through with struggles. Your eyes reminded me of one of my twin recruits. What happened, son?"
The Nine's Leader drew his silent breath in his muzzle, closing his eyes. "It was an accident."
"How?" the wolf asked plainly, offering the boy elucidate.
"A Fire Clan member did his cause. An argali bandit," Xing said, shaking his head to guilt. "He could not stop fighting with his knife while I was evacuating Wukong with a group of Jade Palace students from Jade Warriors. Disarming his weapon was my way of doing it, but he kept slashing to get close to me while he could not control himself."
Wolf Boss watched the tiger letting out his long sigh. "He plunged his knife against his own heart, almost had me making a disarming attempt. My palms pounced on where his grip was the way I did wrong, and the fight did not go well," Chen Xing elucidated, the voice of his fragmenting into letdown and straightforward. "The Nine have the code against the killing, Zhong, and I had shattered the conduct for murdering the bandit. The only way to be pardoned is to pray in front of Chen Wing's tree. Whether I did something wrong, my ancestor will know."
The Nine's Leader cast his silver eyes on Wolf Boss, who crossed his forearms on the round table, drumming his hum. "On duty with my brother Shen, we charged our onslaught toward outcasts and trespassers. Most were bandits who craved to steal metal, any sort of hard materials by crafting into weapons," the wolf told him. "Those rivals we encountered before were vicious beings, those who dare their killings instead of second choices. Depending on what those rivals do, Xing —" his ruby eye fixed at him, "— some refused to surrender, only to die by fighting."
Tai Lung told me last week — how a few bandits like Argali were like that madness. He was right.
Chen Xing settled his left palm beside the rewritten scrolls. "I do not know that my grandmaster's words were ironic by saying 'There are no accidents.'"
"Accident or not," Wolf Boss drew his head close, "you held your right to defend yourself. The choice was either you or him, and that bandit refused to surrender. Would you like to hear my advice?"
The tiger nodded, and the one-eyed wolf shared his suggestion. "Do not be discouraged to yourself. Like me, you are alive and well with every flesh and bone. Including our eyes, of course — wait, I don't have one."
The tiger tittered, and both he and his sister's father burst out their boisterous chuckles. Wolf Boss suppressed his joyous sigh. "That's how I've been a relentless warrior with a big heart; your scar is even far twice over, more badass than mine."
"Mantis used to say that about my wound, so you aren't the only one. Thanks, Zhong."
The wolf patted the tiger's shoulder, smirking. "We shall speak again, son. Remember my advice."
I will.
Presenting his half grin, Xing returned to editing the warlord's first edition book once Lotus's father reached the Meeting Room's door. "You are ready, General," said Wolf Boss.
Chen Xing filled his nippy breath. How long has Kai been standing there? I thought he was in his room with Lotus.
Giant steps lingered once the tiger continued noting the scroll. The sense of flare in Xing's blood softened. "Little Kitten," Kai addressed.
"General," he introduced back, keeping his eyes on his writing.
"Such a bravery thing you had done," the yak sat on the opposite side, his mane drooping on his front shoulders. "Was that the first time you murdered the bandit?"
He stood there too long.
The tiger flushed his aggressive thoughts away. "That might be my first kill, but that is not my way of attempting," he said, placing a complete draft next to the other scrolls. He grabbed a plain piece of parchment before ducking the ink brush on the plate. "So, what brings you here, General?"
Discovering the tiger's voice blended blunt and bitter, Kai set his muscular limbs on the table. "I have come to chat with my instructor, Kitten," the yak grinned, eying at the stash of rolls. "What has the boy been doing, writing that scroll?"
Noting the new plain piece of text, Chen Xing copied old quotes from the first edition to a new one. "Something every warlord should love reading the book. It's Sun Tzu's The Art of War."
"A military strategist," Kai clutched his harsh tone to stupefaction. "Where did you get this?"
"At the Library in Wukong," Xing answered. "The palace held old-fashioned texts that were undeniably difficult to write copies. Stone pads are still used by writing with a small hammer before the next dynasty introduced painting and scrolls."
Kai viewed the tiger's paw pointing to Sun Tzu's faded volume. "This book is the first edition, and I can duplicate the rest of Sun Tzu's writings, rewriting to make his words much simpler," Xing browsed for the completed draft and presented the quote to his student. "This quote reflects an ideal to strive in military perception."
"If you know the enemy and yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles," Kai worded.
"I find this distinctive sentence the best part of the war principles," favored the tiger.
"Really?" Kai broadened his left eye. "I find the other that proves a more promising scenario. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."
"You remember his words well," the tiger was not surprised, glancing at Kai. "Did that come to your mind?"
"All warlords know Sun Tzu's art," the Mightiest Warrior expressed. He gazed at the stack of written scrolls. "Is that book for me?"
"A rewriting edition will be your last present, but that comes to you later."
Kai browsed plenty of rewritten texts the tiger left painting strokes, which the yak's eyes perused Sun Tzu's words. Not as he could remember any first editions but mentioned throughout his service years with his fellow mates, reading the warlord's revision was indeed straightforward, delivering Kai great tastes from his head beckoning.
"My sister satisfies her way of discipline guidance, putting your mockery out of sight," Chen Xing elaborated, having Kai focused on him after the yak stacked Sun Tzu's revision texts aside. "As you know, Lotus is an exceptional soul who senses your physical and mental. Since Master Ming and I brought her home from Bao Gu Orphanage, she was not as ordinary as how many people see wolves as savages. In a rare conception, most are wicked, and a few are good.
"To my grandmother's experience of mentality, taming Lotus did break her chains. Chains were in her blood that followed before her father and the rest of their descendants did. Their descendants were called Tenzu's Army of Whispering Warriors. Unlike what happened to the army of wolves, many fell into the darkness. Alive, but never been the same. The path of intimacy liberates the hurt by breaking latches from them being monsters."
The boy and his "Nana" know histories too well. Kai broke his grin, his hooves clasping under his jaw.
Xing remembered the Nine's Commander, who shared his biography tale with him and his daughter. "Shen's parents tamed Zhong by the beginning and followed on their own."
"Puppies I met were far resilience, hard to kill, and I admired them," Kai said, scratching his mane behind his neck. "How do you describe the girl to you, Little Kitten?"
"She is my soulmate, Kai, more than anything as my sister," Xing described.
Oogway was my soulmate, my closest. Kai thought.
"You had probably witnessed her barge into my room while I had a terrible dream two weeks ago," the tiger added, tapping his paintbrush and placing it on the bowl. "While the fire burns brightly, the rain silences the terror. In the same story, as she did rest with you while I was traveling to Gongmen City, a volley of arrows formed into dust. Our dreams may encounter bad ones, but those are not a coincidence."
Indeed.
Kai laid his back against the giant chair with understanding. "I know you have not conversed with me for a week since you returned. During my progression, Little Kitten, there are many ways for me to keep moving forward. I can see what is happening to me."
"What is your experience?" Xing asked before organizing his edited pages.
"I am gradually changing," Kai answered, "starting to anticipate that I should have known better than the brain."
The yak leaned forward, crossing his forearms on the round table. You see his head and silky dark brown mane cast by an emerald candle. "Look. I quite understand the meaning of a friendship that has meant to me how I lost it before. If you had been in battles, some of your own, especially the closest, may not return. That only happened to every soldier I knew who died protecting the General. The fact is—"
Kai's eyes lowered to his hooves. "I never wanted protection but wished to do the same for those who served with me."
"I can only imagine two battles I experienced. Not compared to yours," Chen Xing said.
The yak stretched his left eye. "What are the two battles you fought?"
"Hajin Province and Gongmen City," the tiger answered, crossing his fingers together on the table. "The first was when a battalion of boars and bovines catapulted the town with a rain of fires, and young warriors prevented the next war, introducing ourselves as Fellowship of the Nine. The second was—"
"Huoju," Kai hummed.
"Stopping his reign and his army," Xing nodded. "That madman caused so much chaos, with his whole Fire Clan army showing no remorse in killing all soldiers and masters, wishing to sit on the Sapphire Throne. And I am the one who defeated him."
The whole country of China praised him. The yak reflected on the tiger defeating the Prince of Darkness in a sphere of silver current and webs of shadows.
"Master Ming and I spoke yesterday and heard the news," Kai followed Xing's voice. "From the General of Emperor Huangdi's Resistance, he received a word from one of his soldiers in Mongolia. The black bear collaborated with the Khan and most of his tribes."
The yak widened his ocean eyes at Xing. "You meant Emperor Khan?"
"No. That Emperor, the father of my worthy opponent, is long gone," he corrected, easing Kai's alert posture. "I meant the other Khan, a leader from his country Mongolia. That one, the black bear met, is a Mongol warlord, who every kind of his followers named Genghis Khan. Legends told that he clenched the clot on his birth, supposedly reflecting the symbol of triumph."
Kai forced his snout with calm and interest. "Warlords have their meaning to seek success. Like I did, along with my brothers."
I can imagine their endeavors toward success in every battle.
Xing readied his view on his student who started. "Who is this 'Genghis?' I do not think I ever hear of names from Mongols, who I fought most of them before in the Great War," Kai worded, craning his head near the candle. "Tell me, where did you hear these words from, Little Kitten?"
"From General Bear," Xing answered. "For what I know so far, Genghis Khan is building an army. I fear that if they appear in all of China—"
"How many?" Kai's alarming eyes fastened.
"Countless, General," Xing replied. "Countless, as far as General Bear concerns."
"What do you concern?" Kai queried.
"Only Mingling. As long as she endures there, China remains safe. The Emperor of China has been the buffalo of his word. If Mingling reaches the Great Wall, Emperor Huangdi will use the White Dragon and me."
"Every defeated warlord seeks a rematch," the yak stated. "You do know what she craves."
"She wants my head," Xing said, straightening his back. "Wang builds a lot of crises while the black bear remains the main issue in Mongolia. There can only be handled one at a time. Deng Wa first, and then her."
As the nippy air softened the current behind Xing, the tiger yawned, covering his mouth. "Nighttime, Little Kitten?" Kai skimmed his wrists.
Xing sat up. "Yeah. It's time to go to bed," he placed his chair in as Kai did the same.
The tiger and the yak strolled in the corridor, leading themselves toward their chambers as each room dissipated the candle into darkness. Xing's room was only breathing the orange light inside. "We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, inviting several guests while you must linger inside the garden," Chen Xing elucidated near his shoji door. "Unfortunately, there are words I want to clarify about this tragic incident that caused you. This scroll from Bingwen, I found, is something you need to see soon. Good night, Kai."
Kai's ruby necklace rumbled its cherry light to soft drones, reminding him of what he almost forgot. "Kitten," Kai tapped the shoji twice.
The tiger opened his door at met his student's eyes.
"Since Little Puppy brought me here, I had poor tastes in delivering my lack of sentiment to you, regretting that I had gone too personal. My harsh words filled doubts in most of my fighters. My insults put grains of salt in every warrior's mouth, loathing at one I cared for had betrayed me," Kai clasped his hooves. "Before you judge the General, I ask you forgiveness. Forgive me for using my bitter behavior against the Nine and Jade Palace students, for my actions putting you and your mates at risk, nearly killing Little Birdie, and — for crushing you inside."
"This sense of sympathy is planting one from the soil. I chose this 'third choice' to learn the ways of harmony and restore what I lost," Kai said, his hoof planting on his heart. "The hardest part is my purpose of the change; you and Little Puppy are helping me there, something I should have followed the path long ago.
"Changes grew everywhere, and I was the one who never wanted to accept the loss and change my fortune, wanting to stick my reputation as the great warlord. That was no more," he spread his hoof fingers, shaking his head. "You and the girl have seen my demeanor, always expecting me to be kind. That kindness was perished in the war. Instead, your encouragement signifies something to me, Little Kitten, the esteem filling one's spirit that will maintain confidence in your student."
"You have courage," Xing bobbed.
The yak cast his head down near him, showing his half-grin. "And that courage of mine will flow," Kai opened his palm. "Can you forgive me?"
Their hands shook together; the yak's hoof was dominant and firm than the tiger's. "The Nine's Leader forgives you, General," Xing accepted.
Next to two warriors, intensified titter suppression, revealing gold-ring eyes nearby. "Lotus?" Kai and Xing gaped.
"I'm happy!" Lotus clenched her limbs around Kai first and then Xing, brushing her cheeks on the tiger's head. The Nine's Dancer darted her finger at their student. "And you. You are going to sleep with me and my brother in my Cookie's room, Kai. I will howl the whole Barrack all night long if you say no."
Chen Xing suppressed his guffaws as Kai broke his confusing glance. "Is she for real?"
"Lotus is not bluffing, and the Nine know she does," Xing said. "Besides, she is our dreamcatcher while sleeping with her."
Kai puffed his breath from the side of his lips, tapping his upper legs before he entered the tiger's room. "Okay then."
"Dang it, Lotus. You win this round," Xing chuckled.
Again, Lotus tittered once Xing closed his door, his candle silencing into midnight hues before Kai's ruby amulet radiated once more.