Volume Three: Deng Wa

Chapter LVI

Fire and Ice

The fire's lit!

Good. Grab blankets for Xing and Kai. Bring them in now!

Chen Xing did not know where he was, only walking behind the line with the people in white and black robes, carrying lanterns and scented flowers of yellow and white chrysanthemums. The night blanketed velvet midnight, the silver clouds streaming on ridges of Guilin as the snow fell, falling side by side like feathers. He and his Nana were going to pay tribute to someone's funeral. A funeral to admire someone's recognition. A warrior who fought back against the specter. With his expensive black garment on and white trousers, the Nine's Leader prayed for his parents, whose voices of the wind whispered their son's voice with grief and love. He wanted the Spirit Warriors to keep him walking toward the temple of three walls, the tower's sigil of a tree with antlers.

Many waited in line, and two striped felines were near the temple's iron gate. On sides were the citizens bearing their lanterns, and Xing could see the children weeping beside their parents. His grandmother Ming knew one who she had respected Master Thundering Rhino's father. Mentioning him, Master Flying Rhino, implied his people in Gongmen City, having beginners believe they could achieve better while learning mistakes. And his son followed his father's advice, counseling his students and his dear companions: to believe in yourself instead of discouragement. Ming's grief changed her, she stopped being a child ever since, and now her grandson could.

They entered the large chamber with white candles perching around the flowers with a painting, the square piling respective guests and honorable Kung Fu warriors, most from the Guilin Mountain areas. Xing could see the Furious Five and Dragon Warrior sharing their condolences to the antelope students, Lu Disciples. Close to them, their red panda grandmaster met with the yak monk and the antelope from the Yellow River Village, the land that had the story's myth of a Yellow Dragon rested under the river, one of the Jade Emperor's children who gave his life to the people for starvations. To the tiger's left nearby, the Nine of Prosper Valley and Gongmen City paid their respect to their challenger amidst the group of sorrows, and they waited for their dear brother to see the late warrior one last time.

Chen Xing waited for the buffalo student who knelt on a yin-yang marble. And by the side of the tomb, unveiled decorative flowers, which rippled amber chi with living roots and bloom petals. He was ready to grieve, but his Nana and adoptive mother, Lady Xia, counseled him not to show his grief. Xing knew this feeling of one's soul long gone, those he admired most of the masters; one that struck his heart more was his own family. The buffalo student walked away from the warrior's portrait, and both felines started to see the painting of the deer in dark emerald changshan, a smile that the tiger wanted him to be his friend.

Wang, the Iron Antlers

1187 - 1210

The honorable disciple who foresees the aspect of one character and the endless now rests with his dear mother.

The honorable disciple? The deer faced countless burdens to escape from his abusive father, who forced his son to despise anyone better than him, being admirable. Wang needed help. Chen Xing had determined his former adversary's struggles and never coveted to speak with full of hate. The Spirit of Deng Wa led the Iron Antlers to despise his kind and companions, betraying them and his father much worse than the Supreme Warlord of China turned back against his tortoise brother. Master Wuxi's student was now free from millennium years of trapping in Curse of Men.

Chen Ming put their white chrysanthemums ahead of Wang's picture. Around the hallway, decorated with antlers and tree branches, Dong Mei flattened her head too close to her father's head and never stopped wailing. Grief flooded the tiger's thoughts as Xing wished to aid the poor owl, only to give her hope and best to carry on with peace. With the word hope that came to his thought, he learned the word too hard to understand — and that was no such thing to the tiger anymore.

Xing's grandmother stroked her paw to his head before she led herself into the pool of mournings behind him, allowing the tiger to give his respect to the Iron Antlers. "I have failed you, Wang. . ." Chen Xing mourned, croaking his tongue. "I am sorry. . . Your father wanted me to bring you home. To my palace."

He lowered his head to his feet, but his silver eyes trained on the deer, whose grin had Xing's breaths nearly hesitant, shattering.

"I wish I could have saved you from your father," Xing sniffed. "Instead of him — away from him — we could have buried our bitter history between us. Your dad used you against his will, forcing you to mistreat many who wanted to help you. I am not your enemy, nor the people who witnessed you—"

The tiger, wincing his tears, shut his eyes in dismay. "I wish you would change your life under my supervision. All I wanted for you to seek fortune was to find the happiness you could have," Xing maintained his moaning sighs. "Wang. I want you to know that you fought courageously with my student, ending Deng Wa's reign."

"Oogway's blessing. . . Why him?!" Dong Mei sobbed.

Master Owl's daughter bawled in his chest, no one to answer her uneasy query. The tiger had no other way to share her sympathy with her, as he felt her sorrow impactful. Too soon to see a young soul be buried under the grass. Gods, Wang had so much time to live more. Not like this! Xing shed his tears, blocking his sight from anyone staring at him. He felt a giant paw patting his left upper shoulder; the Dragon Warrior was in white garb, joining the tiger's company.

The panda offered him a comforting embrace. "Shh. Everything is going to be okay, buddy."

"I should have saved Wang," Xing cried into Po's shoulder.

"He's no longer suffering, Xing. You must carry on after his death."

The tiger lowered his griefing chuffs as Po patted his back, holding him dearly. "Would you like some herbal tea? Come hang with me and the Five."

"Let me see him. One last time."

The panda allowed his companion to do so. He gave him a soft pat on Xing's back. Once staring at the deer's smile, with the aroma of white chrysanthemums flowers wafting in his muzzle, the tiger reflected bitter memories of him and his former competitor brawling in a bloody match, as one served hard bashes and the other wrestling from the deer's limbs, fastening his arm over Wang's neck. Neither of them asked for killing each other's throats as if Wang's father was the fault to blame, criticizing his son's fighting.

"I am going to give you a promise, my friend," Xing cleared his sniff and throat. "I will carry your memory and legacy while you live in a new home. I swear it for Oogway's sake."

His grandmother beside him brought round yellow chrysanthemums surrounded by a long, soft white bow brought by his peacock brother, who shared condolences. Lord Dongji wore a plain white robe with charcoal black linings on his neck and sleeves, and Lady Huiliang, a swan in ebony silk hanfu with her house sigil of a swan with rivers under the moonlight. Ming presented Lord and Lady of Gongmen's flowers to her grandson, and Xing placed theirs along white and yellow chrysanthemums, bathed with ribbon silks of chi resonating toward Wang's picture.

With one last look toward the painting, Xing could imagine Wang dining with the Nine at the Shui Palace, sharing laughs with his new brothers and sisters. Indeed, he would have moved on from his lousy parent and gotten to see the light of the day with Xing rather than being whipped for a thousand times worse.

"Goodbye, Wang," Xing presented his respective bow. "I hope you found happiness."

Nearly averted from the memorial sighting, small veins rounding tendrils thronged in decay under these flowers, devouring all the white and yellow with steady motions to dry petals. Under the tiger's feet, the marble glistening to an ice coat surface shattered apart, and an ebony hoof dragged Xing's feet, forcing him down to the water. Clawing on the thin ice for his dear life, he called out to the Nine and Masters of Jade Palace, their gazes neglecting him. "YOU DROWNED MY SON!"

Xing glowered his roar in pain. The ice fragmenting under his chest had him clench his claws against the thick barrier; the deer with hollow eyes clenched his bare teeth. "No weakness! And no mercy for my son's murderer!"

The tiger felt severe mauls on his legs, ripping off the flesh, and Le's hooves plunged into his upper back, loudening Xing's agony scream. "HELP ME!" None stepped closer to the ice, watching the tiger with nonchalance and enjoyment. Xing sought his grandmother next to Shifu and Storming Ox, beckoning her disapproving glare at him.

"You promised. . ."

"I AM SORRY, WAAA—!"

Creeping over the feline's upper shoulder, Le bit his neck with full force, dragging Xing into the nippy depths, closing the ice before his screaming foams ascended.

The tiger screamed with awakening, coughing small streams of nippy water out of his water.

"He's breathing! Hold him!" The rabbit, Mika, urged.

Both yaks disrobed the tiger's garment that became specks of the weak pale of glass. Tai found the feline's pair of midnight trousers before his brother removed his other, which no longer comforted Xing. After dressing him warmly, Mel wrapped his patches blanket around Xing's whole body. "Easy, brother. I got you," Mel aided the feline. Loud mumbles barged in, and both Zhong and Lotus armed over Kai, sitting him on the counter close to the fire. Mel's brother Tai walked with these voluminous gray and patched cotton blankets before both wolves swaddled Kai's body.

Wolf Boss massaged the yak's back. "You're alright, big guy. Stay warm. I am going to bring hot soups right away!"

Lotus surrounded her arms over the tiger, whose frozen body shuddered. "I'm right here, Cookie! You're okay!" her warm paws brushed his spine and ribcages. His forehead pressed on her silky gray-blue fur. Xing comforted this heat drenched in his flesh; he needed someone to soothe his anxiety. Dreadful, in silence, he watched sheets of fire flickering with ember dots swirling within the fireplace, unveiling the bovine's face.

Leave me alone!

And the fire's crimson eyes gazing at Xing stopped haunting him.

For the next few hours, while quivering in the living room, Xing remained on his seat, wrapped in two blankets. His student Kai was within, quite the same at the tiger's left side. This cold had happened so fast; the icy creek overestimated them as if Kai used it against this buzzard snow that was no match for his fur, and Xing loved the water, but the ice, he could not stand against the chilly. Trembling, the tiger swayed back and forth, muttering so Kai could not hear him.

How — How could you, Deng Wa? Wh-why?

The door behind the tiger opened, and his Nana entered; Lotus followed Ming before this room wafted thick warm air. They held large mugs of hot water to Xing and Kai and pawed both to them. Without hesitation, as his hands shook in repeatable ways, Xing sipped. Kai took a large gulp, but Lotus nearly counseled him to only a sip; the yak hacked with harsh grunts after almost choking from swallowing a whole. The wolf palmed his back. "Come on, Kai. Let it out."

Xing's paws fluttered even worse. Ming managed to grab the mug. "Sunzi," she clasped her grandson's limbs. "You're going to be okay. I will message your friends about what you and Kai did. The Emperor will hear your story, my child."

Xing was wheezing, his eyes meeting hers. "Recover today; speak tomorrow," advised Ming. She watched him with a slow nod, stroking his head. "Hong is making medicines for you and Kai."

"Nan—"

"Shh," the elder feline embraced his head, blessing him. "Fire heals. Let it sing through the ice. Do not fight it."

Xing hated the fire, the song that rang his parents' screams and charcoal growls from Prince Huoju. His fear had him cornered, and the fire begged to flow in him; nevertheless, that winter bore strong winds as he needed to keep himself warm. Once he submitted not to repulse her grandmother's suggestion, he stared at the embers longer when Ming offered her kisses on his cheek before departing.

The next day merged with quiet breezes behind timber walls, and the fireplace hacked specks of smoldering fireflies swimming through Kai and Xing. The giant, clenching patched cotton blankets with firm, suppressed his coughs. Under his throat twinkled a ruby necklace, whirring Wugu's zen of bamboo and rain. On the tiger's right side, Lotus lay in bed, dozing as she craved to defend her brother and their student from unfortunate nightmares. Their nightmares drowned, that massive volleys of arrows rained with harsh whispers, and the fires scorched rustling trees into silence.

Staring at the fire for a long, Xing could see embers shaping claws like his, flowing over twinkles before massaging his heart. At first, he regarded that Spirit Warriors were comforting giving him, but no faces appeared in his eyes. Nearly beginning to latch his eyes for a slight doze, he felt a solid stroke beside his scarred right eye, mending the wound before massaging his fur with ease. Shoo. Lissss. Vrrr. Fzzer.

Ember charcoals muttered, and Xing sprang his feet forward, awakening. At first, before vanishing out of sight in front of him, he saw a hoof with three keratin fingers withdrawing into the fire, and firefly embers that swam in a room returned to their glide near the pit. The door behind him whined and opened, introducing giant steps in a friendly presence.

"Shh. Relax. You are alright," silver tones grated.

"By the Gods—"

Xing's muscles trembled again, his sensation reacting to his slight headache as he shut his eyes harder, clenching Mel's patched blankets. "Are you alright, my dear Xing?" Master Gidahn held a tray with two mugs of soft gray billowing steams.

Xing croaked, fastening his lips. "I'm still cold."

Gidahn knelt beside the tiger, patting his shoulder. Xing kept his posture from quivering his rest. "You are going to be okay. You and Kai are staying warm until you feel better. Lotus is still in here, keeping her feet warm," the old yak handed his cup to Xing. The steam crawling from cups wafted in his muzzle, and the smell of peppermint and garlic had Xing's head quiver. The yak handed the cup near his paw. "Hong made her tea medicine. Have a sip."

The tiger took his quick sip, which dripped a few drops under his jaw. Gods, the hot stream, he guzzled, lessened his shakes, giving him long sighs. "Thank you, Gidahn."

"This will keep you and Kai cozy longer."

The yak placed a tray next to the counter beside the firepit. Xing watched his student, who rasped his low snores. "My sons and I could not find Wang anywhere. Mika and all villagers searched for him from the ice river and farther out of the village, but he was nowhere to be found," Gidahn knelt next to Xing, bridging his hoof on his shoulder. "Do you know where you saw him?"

The tiger had last moments remembering Wang collapsing under the ice before he took his plunge, rescuing Kai. A current bristling with intense rime was difficult for them both to see the dark below, but the ice above was only light. Xing hammered his fist against the surface, but last spotted the deer trying to fight against the current with his fast strokes.

"Xing?" Gidahn reminded him.

"He drowned."

"Under the ice?"

The tiger shook his jaw, nodding. "I tried. I tried to get to him," Xing clenched his eyes from casting tears, trembling his head. "The current was too strong. I couldn't save Wang."

"I see you would not have enough time to swim to him. Without luck, you would have drowned with him," Gidahn rumbled his sigh of pity. "I am sorry."

The tiger coughed and moaned. "What of — What of the jade warriors?"

"My sons and I treat them well, my child. All of Master Eagle's physician soldiers came after the tragedy, aiding most victims in critical condition," he stood and went to Kai, checking his pulse. He stroked rough mane with blends of ice. "Sadly, neither of the prisoners survived."

The tiger winced from his minor headache. "How many dead?"

"All of them. Every criminal in China who resided in their prison is gone. Generals and Master Eagle confirmed their reports."

So Wang's father is dead. Along with prisoners.

"Mika and your grandmother sent their parchments to the Masters of Jade Palace, the Emperor of China, and your brother," Gidahn said. "We expect to receive the Dragon Warrior's letter from before afternoon, sometime a week, where Huangdi and Lord Dongji are."

For a moment, he took time sipping Gidahn's tea while sensing his throat waving with hot gulps. No other time to leave his mug while the blizzard snow began wafting with fine streaks. His student stirred his jerking head. "Wugu. . . Help me," Kai hardly shut his eyes, grunting his weak breath.

Familiar sensations of drift and loneliness transpired, impacting one's eyes glaring shut against melody dawn lights. Warm gold water floated on him, flowing his mane through small ripples and the other. Streams throbbed with muffling wave hisses, and the ebb handed the wounded onto the bronze bank. Unlatching his ocean eyes, Kai rose halfway, dusting off sticky sands. He was unsure how he got here, but recognizing this peaceful scenery, Kai hated living here. The yak knew this Realm was the isolation from life since his banishment, which built insanity for a craving to rip the warriors' chi. Those were no more from the eyes of hate.

The Mightiest Warrior kept his bitter tongue, strolling toward the uneven overlook that tall grasses bristled when he touched with his hooves. Onward stirred with colorful foliage, misty ridges billowing through stream clouds. Kai could catch his eyes on ancient monastery temples floating beyond the isolation of these floating rocks above peaks. Bamboo flutes singing near the creek's rocks blew one's air, the panda in a kasaya performing rhythms with his fingers fiddling in the flute holes. I know your face. . . Kai consumed his first victim's chi when he captured one panda monk before destroying the panda village.

"Hello, my old friend," one's fruity voice chuckled from Kai's back.

The yak glanced slowly over his bulky shoulder. Standing before the former warlord was his dear brother, whose lime shawl fluttered. "Oogway?"

"You have saved China from the evil badger, brother. After many centuries, I have always thought of you, been mourned by your grief and betrayal that ruptured inside me."

Kai's breaths became shattered. "That badger. . . he made me betray you. . . and he. . ."

"I know," Oogway held his hand on Kai's shoulder. "My student's revelation led me to consider how our friendship broke, the inside of your heart filled with dread and obsession of greed, claiming chi from souls."

Indeed, the yak fought those he could steal to enhance his strengths and power for the sake of his ideal: to rule with a vengeance after the Great War's end and to prove he could obtain admiration with dignity. And these were Deng Wa's deceitful promises to the warlord.

The yak took his time observing the Realm as the sea ebbed on the beach, beating another. "I am not dead yet, am I?"

The tortoise grinned, chuckling as he swirled his glide ahead of Kai. "Likely, you are living with me."

"Oogway. Am I dead?" Kai broadened his eyes, full of solemnity.

"Unless you stay."

Never.

Kai crossed his bulky limbs in annoyance. Always serene as the tortoise stretched his mouth, enjoying his company for old times, Oogway floated next to his brother. "Come now. Walk with me."

And the yak did. Kai masked his revulsion feeling that he could not stop reflecting on his and Oogway's mistakes when they succeeded in battles, giving enemies to surrender and losses during their leadership. Yet, it was too good for them to be supreme in particular, but they faced enemies, thousands among the countless.

Former warlords drifting onward to the gold waves and grass hills led through the courtyard, thronged with vines curling with jasmines and roses. They could see temples floating above, Guilin mountains stretching beyond as the waves surged nearby. "Once you rest, you can stay beside me and enjoy meditation together. Hmm?"

"No."

"Have a long walk toward the endless. Reunite with fellow monks," he gestured, leading the yak's eyes to observe pandas in various directions. Most bears meandered, other monks grouped upon forming Tai Chi forms beside yellow trees, and those perching on a short peak sat meditating together.

"I do not want to be in this horrendous Realm, Oogway," Kai grunted with his blunt puff. "I have been here too long, wasted my life."

"I understand. You thought many blame you for stealing chi," the tortoise regarded. "Deng Wa put you in severe states."

"What of the deer? Wang?" he glanced elsewhere, which had his mane swim above his head and shoulders. "Is he in this Realm?"

"Who knows? I have not seen him yet."

Not that Wang was among heroes with honorable masters, but Kai regarded that most gray moralities lived farther before the damnation, curses that immoralities settled with never-ending suffering. He could not be. Kai caught his eyes on the deer, who glided with swarms of rainbow butterflies, laughing. His antlers arched to the front with majestic crowns. A soldier living prosperous was Lu, Wang's ancestor.

"There was nothing I could do to save Wang," the yak buzzed his throat regretfully, reflecting his last sight of the deer floating away toward the abyss. "He was farther away from me."

"Look to the light. Ignore the darkness," Oogway said, reaching his hand near the rose. Mounting over his fingertip, the gold butterfly vibrated its wings vividly. "Wang lived a dreadful life under his father's care and was later taken by a spirit who ruined you and others. I am certain the child finds happiness in the end."

Kai's necklace chirped with deep red and pink light pulses.

"Auh. Even your beloved senses your grief," the tortoise smiled, approaching his brother. "I miss your company with Kai, Wugu."

"You are the one who sent your message to Little Kitten's grandmother," Kai revealed.

The tortoise clicked his lips. "Yes."

"Why?"

Oogway embarked to drift his glide toward uneven meadows near the lake. "Even though you wished not to continue your life ahead of you, I found you a new path of a second chance. The boy relates to one of your own," he explained, turning to Kai. "Chen Xing has a specialty bearing courage, more forgiving, and relentless. Does he remind you of someone like him?"

Seeing the tiger's face was hard to neglect. Compared to one the other, Kai could see one that served in the war in his emerald billowing cloak as a soldier, and the other, young and robust, who encouraged brothers and sisters as a master. Two faces nearly matched, but the scar was. Dad? His son called.

"I loved your son, Kai," Oogway said. His silver tone ebbed with sympathy and grief. "Dakai was in our hearts and our army's strength. He became worthy, not as close as the next Sun Tzu."

"I failed my boy," the yak said, ceasing his eyes from shedding. "I should have listened and accepted my resignation with you."

"My dear brother. You wished to live well, the same as I made my longest journey to peace. My life was over from it, and my legacy continues forward. If you desire to create your way of redemption, the path you take lets you live a happy life. And the boy living with his grandmother without parents shall start there."

The yak regarded Xing mentioning his late parents from Lotus and their adoptive mother. "He has his peahen mother."

"Mothers," added Oogway with a plural word, which let Kai stop among the hill next to the blossom tree, where rose foliage swirled their glides under branches. "Chen Ming and Lady Xia seek their pursuit to show Xing what love means. His wolf sister has one who commits to regaining love for his daughter and later proves to accept the tiger. Another can."

I cannot be Little Kitten's dad. Kai gave his dubious glance away from him.

"With your thought of Xing reminding him of Dakai, you could make an acquaintance with the boy and counsel him with guidance. Dakai lost his way and fell before you. Chen Xing must not."

Kai puffed his blunt snout, presenting his neutral glare at his brother. "I am not ready to spend my next journey on this eternity. I would rather be with someone far less bothersome than one that might continue our broken friendship," he said. "With our decrees made us Supreme Warlords regret ourselves for manslaughter."

Oogway lowered his drone. Too gentle as they admitted their faults. "My old friend. Neglecting the past was never easy. I indeed thought of our brothers smirking endlessly. So did the father's son."

"Dakai would have lived rather than me. I swore to protect you and was supposed to die protecting you and my boy," Kai darted his hoof.

"After the battle. To that end, he wanted us to come home. Dakai was much like you, filled his pride and honor."

The father's son.

Oogway held Kai's hoof and had him follow toward the plum blossom, rooted from branches as the whole tree labeled "Qing Temple Bloodline," the family tree of tigers. "Look here, my dear brother," the tortoise gestured toward the main branch toward the latest peach fruit. "This root can guide you to another way to grow another peach, spreading descendants, and the last descendant could be one's ancestor, reincarnated."

Kai could see over a hundred feline faces of gold hues and black stripes smiling. And a few rotten fruits unveiled from different roots were dark gray with heads, shadowed by the loss of continuance. Half of the tree was in ebony webs, and what led from the main trunk to the last bloodline — Dakai was in dark silver hues, the death of rotten peach. And before Chen Wing finally stretched her lineage toward her final descendant, Little Kitten, with a scar, throbbed his silver hues.

"This cannot be. . ." the yak clenched his fists. "How could I be fatherhood after I lost my child?!"

Kai looked away, incredulous to believe that their hues were matched. He contemplated Dakai in a deep green swathe, who thrived in a cottage with his bovine mother, Wugu, on the chair. The yak sought the infant's paw on her round belly and felt another coming home. The boy's brother, Zhankai. Their firstborn son. The two brothers were raised well under their mother's care, along with their snow leopard uncle Zhanshi, and Kai rarely had his attention on these souls after giving breaks from battles with allied warlords. My children. . .

The yak's necklace delivered its steady throbs, chanting murmurs. Wugu's voice caressed his heart. Go to Xing, my love. He needs you.

He could hear his feline teacher long before the incident occurred.

Every time I look at Lotus hugging her dad, I wish I had one to embrace my own. . .

"Little Kitten is so much more than that. He is not a soldier, but I fear he may become a warrior or a killer. Either his path can lead to the same mistake, and I have seen his eyes in him. the same eyes of my son," Kai caressed his wife's necklace and turned to his dear brother. "I wish there were more time to lead his change. If it's not too late."

"Good. Chen Xing needs his company. What you shall have in your fatherhood are his attention and direction," Oogway simpered, palming his brother's flowing mane. "Promise me you will foster Chen Ming's grandson, Kai. Treat him as if he is like your own."

"I will. . . For Dakai."

Regarding his brother, for the sake of his change, Oogway could see Kai wander down the hill, wading in the gold lake when cherry blossoms swirled above them. Under the ripples, surging yellow rays before shifting below the yak's limbs, Kai extended his arms and tumbled into the light. The water hissing surges in his ears receded, and the rest of his consciousness returned, sensing wood snaps from the fireplace.

A timber door opened with slow and rich creaks, giving Kai's peep toward the entry as one in patched covers around a whole began to depart this room. He was able to call one's presence but left when he heard fading steps leading away.

Thronged with his scratchy throat when he cleared his breath, Xing hobbled toward the front patio, peeking at citizens across the broad road who gathered damages from their properties, aiding wounded warriors (Deng Wa's victims) with the owl soldier and Master Eagle's aces. Snow fell and swirled as Mika and her bovines brothers Tai and Mel escorted two gorillas and three wolves near their neighbor's house to the right. Wolf Boss was holding the lupine's arm over his neck, onward to one block away from Gidahn's house, and Hong, Fanshe, and Bao were gathering woods toward a few homes, ones that collapsed and ripped to bits by stone warriors.

Xing meandered next to the living room; onward was chanted by a cream tone near the corridor. Locking the cover's front opening on the tiger's chest, Xing craned his neck to the structure before glancing at the patio. Master Gidahn leaned ahead of the wood railing with Ming, watching the golden tree that floated bright embers from the sun.

"I missed them both," his Nana crooned. "Every time I look into my Sunzi's eyes, I want to see how my son would be so proud watching over him. Oogway's blessing — he's much like his father."

"Has Xing ever wished to know of his mother?" Gidahn asked, eying on his shoulder to her. "The one who submitted her life to his for his legacy?"

"Memories fade from his eyes, Gidahn. . . too young to see his mother gone. She was a spirited soul," she said, looking at the soft claws she caressed. "The lady from the sea gave a thousand blessings to my people. My son Shui married her so she, including her son, could become like us. Xing's uncle was the only one who opposed their marriage."

"Let's go back. You said your ancestor Chen Wing submitted her dragon and vowed to each of her children and the future of her legacy. To prevent any crouching tiger from reincarnating the white dragon," Gidahn mentioned. "What was the purpose of her conception?"

"An old evil who searches for the chosen one will plan to eradicate predictions," Chen Ming said. "He who sleeps in the crypt did vow to someone who had failed to win the Great War to silence the next rebellion avenging their losses, even the next Mightiest Warrior searching for the old enemy's reign."

"The Prince of Darkness?" his brown eyes brightened.

"His mysterious master," Ming mentioned. Staring at the golden tree, she let out one tear and the other. "I fear that one day my grandson will spread his fortune and glory across China with his mother's gift, and if the darkness destroys him, we will all be lost!"

"Nothing will kill your grandson, Ming," Gidahn held his hooves on her claws, kneeling ahead of Ming in tenderness. "The Dragon Warrior believes in his worthy successor to bring the balance of eternity. Based on his prediction, Xing and the Mightiest Warriors are the guardians of Earth, Water, Fire, Wood, and Metal of China. All bond as the Realm's Defenders."

She wept, caressing Gidahn's iron hooves as he continued. "One day, when we live on with Masters in the Spirit Realm, Xing must be strong enough with his friends to face the cataclysm your student sought. If Lao's vision could happen, leading their destiny, the Nine will have luck with the Dragon Warrior and Furious Five, always finding a way to defeat the impossible."

Gidahn palmed near Ming's head. "Look at me, Ming," she looked up at the yak. "You are not a terrible parent. You made your vow for your mother's oath that you will protect Xing from anyone taking him away. He is your grandchild. And always the father's son with his mother's gift in his heart."

So much to survey his grandmother weeping on Gidahn's shoulder, Xing went to Mel's fireplace room and continued grasping the edges of throwing blankets. Not long after gazing at the dancing silk flames, which reminisced his parents' screams that had haunted him for years, he shook off ill thoughts, knowing one scorching hoof from his opponent mauled his face near his right eye. He thought of hearing a stutter once before sealing his eyes; he detected fire snapping sticks, leaving embers beneath wood blocks.

Exhausting to be awakened further, Xing picked up his ears. At this time, a rasping voice was from Kai. The mighty had only craned his whole head in exact lowering space from the ceiling, which his horns could hit the structure. Xing rose and removed his colorful blankets, moving closer to his student.

"Kai?"

Upon haste with low drones, Kai caught the tiger's wrist and hugged him with his blanket, holding him dearly. "Thank you. Thank you," the giant expressed his gratitude to the feline, who returned his embrace.

The tiger croaked his chuffs, pressing his head on Kai's rough mane.

Author's Note:

— Feel free to review! I am ready for critics and feedback.

— Book One is almost done since this story leads to the resolution after the falling action. Chapter 61 is the official ending.