I can't forget the tune of that invader's spaceship
The battle of Khanbaliq is quickly set aside for another.
The fire crackles in the distance as he stays outside, listening to the footsteps of his mother slowly disappear further into the safe sanctity of their temporary abode.
"Very good. Thank you, Altan." the elder tigress responded, "I feel that I have seen more than enough for today."
It echoes.
And yet the battlefield is still, he can see it all from this balcony, the flesh eaters torn from this plane with a mere raise of one panda's paw. 'And so many innocents…' Something inside his chest twisted at that thought, his digits almost dug into his knuckles as he leaned forward, watching nothing yet everything.
Precious life was taken so viciously in a gale unlike any other. Not even a typhoon could match its brutality.
Those soldiers had fought for his father, for their home and its future. That would in due time lay in his own paws.
"Cheer up, kid. You'll have your chances for glory in due time." Altan added, the veteran warrior having also sensed the prince's unease.
The future was unclear, marred, and burned as these once grassy fields were, covered in the blood of blind loyalty and the unspoken sins of his own father.
Zhenjin breathed out slowly, never tearing his eyes away from the scene, if he couldn't be at the frontlines he may aswell see through it until the end. He had to be prepared for his own battle.
Despite his thoughts, something, someone not of this world, caught his eye.
With scattered pieces of metal, he watched as a group of familiar masters left in a hurry but only one light shined in that desolate land.
"You're always in the center of it all, aren't you?"
Even with the distance between them, past smoke trails, and withstanding weapons of mass destruction, he could see how the tiger master assisted the now unconscious Panda away from the carnage he released.
"Even in the face of death…you somehow keep that bright part of you alive…you don't feel the shame I do…"
The bird, Crane, he remembered, had started a rather sloppy grab to carry the panda as the soft winds of noon lifted his frame higher, whilst Tigress waited for the golden cat to follow them behind. He watched it all and said nothing.
No one asked what he witnessed. He wasn't important enough yet.
So, he said nothing and blended into the shadows as matters of post-war were handled by his father and his most trusted warriors.
He could not forget the last time he saw Tigress, the wind pushing against her blue outfit and fur with the dagger in tow. He dared not hope she looked toward him again.
"I'm starting to feel cold…"
It should have all ended with that last nod between them, heeding the frontlines as if she were an actual general. "No."
Khanbaliq no longer felt the same. Something was missing.
"Zhengui…"
Someone.
"A hero."
Night is starting to feel as if it's melting like a piece of candy when we talk at these late hours
A role.
The creaking movement of wood drowns out the sound of servants pulling along the massive fortress of his father's unending hunger for conquest. He stayed upon the frontal balcony of it, watching with unease as Khanbaliq, torn to ruins, was left behind so soon.
"Isn't my role there?" Zhenjin asked no one, his father too deep in his plans for a country they'd seen in many lights, negative yet a source of eternal inspiration that stained their family's name for generations. "I know my role and yet…"
The young prince stared back at the tiny speck of high walls he looked upon many days and nights, he could visualize them at this very moment, each crack and small piece of foliage that wasn't meant to grow in such conditions.
The lull of the river.
The crackle of fire.
The smell of well-cooked food in the air, wafted up by the winds to wake him.
The wind softly pushed against his fur and clothing, as he breathed in softly, the words of his family slowly beginning to fade as he sat stockstill. "I, too, am told where to go."
"Yuelen thinks she understands, but she refuses to grasp the bigger picture." she corrected. "She cannot accept her role, and is instead consumed by her own selfish jealousy - she always has been. Do not let her - or anyone else - ever intimidate you."
"We all are…" Zhenjin forces himself to stand, unsteady. This feeling is new, maybe it's because he's never truly left home, the place he was born and raised, and being separated from it felt as if he was losing something.
He wondered if his mother felt the same or was indifferent, the way she avoided looking back into the dim lights of the city, gave way to an assumption. But nothing more.
He held onto the railing of the balcony as leaflets and grains of grass and weeds scattered before him and his unnatural temporary home. The sun made the pollen visible, shining as they scattered the last remaining piece of Khanbaliq in his bright brown eye to the steppe.
"Oblivious dolls."
I've started wishing dawn never came
"Are you sure you don't want to come down and stretch a little?"
Zhenjin took a moment to answer his mother as he looked out into what could only be called a small town with a coast hanging in the distance. He could smell the very salt in the ocean ahead. Ultimately he nodded but didn't move. "I will in a moment, but thank you for checking on me."
He could hear his mother shift but ultimately moved away from the balcony below and soon he saw her walk into his sights before the waters ahead.
The wind rattled her jewelry. "You don't have to thank me, but…you've always been like that…" Nadya cast her eyes downward and then to the same view he was gazing upon. "I should appreciate it more as a mother in these times. These small moments between us before it all comes to a close."
Such is the way of a play.
Zhenjin watched as Nadya exited the stage to the left, leaving the natural scene empty, only the background noises of servants and locals alike keeping the area filled with life.
He was about to leave the view entirely and take his mother's advice to move around, he already knew they were on a strict schedule and stops such as this would be scarce.
His paw barely left the wooden railing of the balcony as the wind whipped with unrest, scattering and pushing against the grass, short and tall alike into the air as another came onto the stage.
A pair of amber glowed in the shadows, the color almost fading within the light as it followed a line away from the town and closer to the sea.
Zhenjin stilled as he watched that light beam and disappear.
A presence.
The prince stepped away slowly before dashing through the abode, past his father's ramblings to Tsagaan near his table as a piece clattered on his way down the steps as he clamored to put his shoes on.
Familiar yet alien.
He didn't register going out the door. All that he was aware of was the ground beneath his feet, shifting and changing, the sounds of people chatting and moving about around him seemed far, far away.
"Why?" He asked himself again.
His pace slowed and he started to wonder why was this what pulled him away, what caused the fog in his mind to clear when they caused him nothing but questions before.
"Why?"
He was still walking that way, to the deep blue that reminded him of their outfit, the only difference was, that the sea was clear.
"So, he's just abandoning us all after taking our leaders?" A shaky voice spoke up as he kept on walking by. "What's the point in that!? Why couldn't he just let us be in his conquest?"
"That's not how dictatorship works kid…" A gruff voice announced slowly. "One taste of control consumes men. And they drag everyone down with them…Countries included."
'He reminds me of Gan.' Zhenjin thought.
The young prince doesn't feel as lonely as he should in this new town, merely treats it as he does any place he follows his father to. As something to observe for he was not meant to be heard yet.
His eyes caught the sight of children happily playing with weapons their fathers and mothers prepared for a war they knew nothing about. The middle-aged and old alike prepare food and materials for the commanding Khan.
The duo talking were two dholes basking in the shade of a building. The older one, was actually leaning on the stone structure with his head leaned back, eyes closed while the younger merely looked on the busy commotion with confusion and fear.
They disappear out of his sight as soon as a new building fills his view with one last question from the younger dhole as if echoing him for an answer he did not have.
"Why?"
Zhenjin merely looked forward trying to remember his mother's words and yet they rang hollow.
'The world is intimidating me…'
"Jinong?"
He turned his head harshly, a glare was already plastered upon his face. He'd always been fully prepared to push away those beneath him. The mere action of baring his fangs was too tempting but he held himself back.
To don his mask.
"What!?" He said curtly, the sound of the ocean or maybe it was the river feeling far too close to his senses. He had to leave soon. "Don't you have orders to follow!?" He pushed.
They may get away…
The guard stood before him, they were similar in height, two tigers far from their origin, with only a hint of metal on the other's armor giving way to a centimeter of difference. The other tiger gripped the strap of his bag, and it reminded him too much of them and that day.
The start of dawn when the stars disappeared.
Red eyes darted around the area and he followed his gaze halfway to see an old woman cooking across the way as smoke filled the chimney all the way into the sky. "I saw you walking alone after running into your mother and she asked for me to look out for you, sir." He bowed his head in apology, never letting go of the strap of his bag.
Zhenjin stared at that sack, it was a simple brown bag that most of the guards carried around. "Is that bag filled with food and water?"
The guard stopped himself from tilting his head halfway but his puzzled expression stayed put. "Yes?"
"Give it to me," Zhenjin demanded as he put his paw forward.
You could disappear along with the dawn
The guard had been instructed to stay at a distance while he took a stroll further past the edge of the village. At this point, he could tell now he was closer to a river than an ocean.
It was still far, far away.
The sounds of the town became distant, and slowly he started to feel comfortable alone in this forested area, The shade of the trees as spotted and few as they may be were a sight to behold and the tall plains shifted in a manner he could only describe as a painting.
"Hmm?"
The sound of water greeted him.
This part of the plain had grown damp, water lining the roots of the fields.
His presence caused ripples in the surrounding area as he moved forward, a low sound of a bird in the distance far away from the town.
Zhenjin questioned if he should go back but something told him to go forward and to never look back as his mother did.
He too held onto that poor old bag strap during his earnest travels. But the question of 'What if they aren't here?', 'What if I just imagined it?' and most of all 'What if it was one of Yuelen's guards?'
The young prince stopped completely at that, brown eyes falling to the ripples slowly dying out beneath his still foot, the straw and fabric of his shoes wilted in the soft breeze as everything stilled.
"Would I be labeled as a traitor too?"
Would I lose my role aswell?
He gripped that piece of fabric holding that bag up tighter as he looked upon never changing waters beneath him.
And then the water rippled.
Zhenjin didn't move his legs, merely allowed his head to look up where the ripples had come from, as they continued to wave over one another, again and again.
The water changed with only mere droplets coming from their owner.
Drip.
Amber orbs slowly gained shape as they neared them in the tall weeds that surrounded them, it was that same color that had faded so quickly yet with such intensity in mere moments.
"Zhengui?" He called, hating himself for sounding hesitant but he had to be sure.
He took one step into the unknown waters ahead of him, feeling unsteady and unsure, hoping for something familiar yet alien in his life again.
His ears flickered at each and every droplet of water that sounded out in this small place.
"Prince Zhenjin?"
A familiar and soft voice spoke up as they stepped into the split between light and shadows, revealing shades of orange and black similar to his own.
But shorter.
His grip on that bag strap loosened as he looked away from the southern Chinese tiger. "Didn't I tell you to just call me Zhenjin?"
"Sorry," Tigress piped up awkwardly as if they were old friends merely meeting outside. She continued to create ripples surrounding him. "I didn't expect to see you up close, I was patrolling our resting place for the day…."
She paused which caused him to look up, despite the fact he had no clue what to say.
The breeze flew by as he found out that neither did she.
So, he pulled an apple from the bag and threw it her way, it was a soft underhand throw, and to no one's surprise, she caught it with ease. "You look just as terrible as the day I met you." He commented with a small smile.
Tigress looked at that apple for a singular second before throwing it back toward him in a similar manner, despite being caught off guard, he caught it within an inch of his sanity!
He created his own ripples that slowly took over their small space.
"Heh." He juggled the apple in his paws before stepping closer, no longer hesitating, and as soon as he was close enough he could see the sway of her tail singling him to throw it back for a moment of respite. "You're on the run from my sister and my father's most trusted general and you still have time for games?"
Tigress caught the apple and quickly took a bite out of it, she was no doubt hungry, probably starving from what he could tell. "I can make time for them sometimes, you start learning the little things in life have quite the impact when you hang around with Po long enough."
She no longer paused in her eating.
And he didn't mind. "Let me guess, that magic water came from him?"
Tigress nodded as she gazed up at him for a moment, covering her mouth. Zhenjin swore she was going to speak but she decided food was more important.
"I'm starting to wish I brought myself something but…" He pulled the bag off of his person, its comforting weight making him feel less grounded at this moment. "This will have to do for now. I…couldn't get much. How is that Dragon Warrior of yours? The last time I saw him he was unconscious as you left." He added quickly as the tiger master did seem done for real this time.
She wiped the side of her mouth off as she looked toward the south, ears picking up on sounds he didn't care for. "He's still recovering, but I'll tell him you wished him well."
Zhenjin frowned at that. "Don't put words in my mouth."
Tigress chuffed, and he was glad she'd started to do it even if she was still wagging her tail. "You don't have to say it, I can tell by how you look. You were right about Crane, you know?"
They both looked upon that apple core she held.
"I wanted to thank you for that." She continued on and he hesitated to hold out that bag within his grasp but he knew this was also a moment that couldn't last. "I was blinded, and couldn't see what was right in front of me…I believe…" Her amber eyes shifted to the water, and everything was still around them. "I believe the same is happening to your father." Tigress touched a spot around her tunic, and he couldn't help but assume the dagger was there.
'I could take it right now.' The thought slithered by him and yet another followed. 'Do I want it after witnessing its unnatural power?'
Do I want to inherit what it leaves behind in its wake if anything at all?
"You don't have to thank me for stating the obvious. I'm well aware and so is my mother…" He resigned, his paws shaking around the bag slightly. "She sees this as some sort of opportunity."
"And what do you see?"
Zhenjin looked away from Tigress and into the field of grass, the wide tents, bridges, and long turf stretched out to lead to her home. "I see a beautiful country left in tatters by the one's meant to rule it. But what I see doesn't matter, if I can't do anything about it." He so cleanly spoke words he would never say to his mother, in fear of sounding naive or worse, weak.
But someone so distant from his reality could more easily accept his words.
Zhenjin outstretched his arm with the bag dangling from his grasp.
He had to end it himself again.
"You can." Tigress immediately reaffirmed with a nod before looking back toward the coast, maybe even past it. "The fact that you see beauty here is a first step." She breathed in and out slowly. "When I came here, I didn't appreciate this land at first…but even as we're on the run. We've met kind people that remind me of home."
The sound of moving water followed her steps as she took hold of the bag strap he had yet to let go of. "And that gives me hope. As it should you. They don't need someone to rule them. And one day, they will see that."
Zhenjin shook his head, still struggling to let go of that bag but ultimately tore himself away from it moving the water around harshly, the waterlets almost showcasing his emotions beneath as a web shimmered in the afternoon glow. "One day, that's all anyone says is one day. Because you don't know when that day will be! How can you feel hope when I'm riding toward your country's conquest!?"
He turned to leave, regretting chasing after familiarity as a whole. He should just accept his mother's words of what reality was; to be conquered or to be the conqueror, it was the only thing that made sense!
"It's exactly why I don't know when those days will come, that I feel hope!"
Zhenjin found himself slumping his shoulders and turning his head with a bewildered expression at the ragged tiger now with a sack full of food and some water, her deel was stained from head to toe with dirt; whatever else they ran into and her fur was unkempt.
Yet she still stood, ready to walk even further. "I don't know what day I'll get home and see my friends and family but the mere thought of seeing them again gives me hope. And seeing you again, hearing what you think, gives me hope. Because…"
Master Tigress slung that bag around her slim body, making sure everything inside was intact before looking up at him with a neutral yet bright expression. "I can't control what anyone does in the future but the present gives me something to look forward to."
He knew she had to leave.
"I don't have much to look forward to besides a war…and you might…not make it." The young prince spoke quietly, hoping she wouldn't hear him.
Of course, she would reply even as she walked back slowly away from him. "I will. Just believe."
Her light blue tunic flowed with the breeze and grass as she ran ahead, splashes of water carelessly flying around her legs and the shoes of a land not of her own.
The wind carried her whispers.
"I'll try…" He repeated the words he'd said to his mother and most likely countless others because it's all he could think of doing, It's all he had done.
The young southern Chinese tiger pirouetted around, causing a small wave of her own as she threw something into the sky toward him.
"Let's drink this together when we meet again!"
The object beamed as soon as the light hit its side, causing him to squint as he focused on catching it. The young prince stepped unsurely around, teetering back and forth while having to cup the cool canteen with his paws before it could drop into the wrinkling pool beneath.
He looked up to see only his movement of rippling water remained, as the water Tigress had run upon became still, and yet…
Zhenjin blinked.
The water was still following her steps into the unknown darkness, droplets harshly scattering into smaller ones as they crashed into the waterbed ahead as the sound of water slowly died down.
"It should be fading…" Zhenjin whispered as he held onto that canteen and all its magical water. His ears flickered to hear what should have followed behind her. "I want to believe…"
He could no longer see the ocean ahead, even though he knew she was running toward it. Toward her friends. Away from the might of his sister.
Nothing but the water followed her footsteps.
"I'll try." He repeated, holding onto his own small slice of hope.
It was the last time he saw her.
and so would the sweetness of the night we inhabit
Authors note:
First off, lemme thank my boy Ying aka TheGreatYing for helping me betaread/and edit this bad boy all the way through along with my homie, Zoe. And of course, Drags aka TheDragonChronicle for writing "Winds of Change" which you should peep after this, it's getting hot! Anyways, moving on I only have one fun fact for ya today and that is the final scene here is inspired by "Jin Roh" an animated (anime) film that you should definitely watch, You can probably spot which scene I took that imagery from but otherwise. Let's get to the lines for next time!
I'm not spoiling y'all again this late so don't expect that again!
Next time! In "Until Next Time, Wandering Hero!" Chapter 2: Test, test! Can you see me!?;
"I've come to inform you that your sister, Yuelen, has arrived back from her mission."
'Stay away, please. I don't want to die alone-'
Until next time, dear reader! Let's meet at Xiangyang!