Chapter 1: Lu Fang
The wind seemed to stand still. Lu Fang sat in her chair of imported wood and looked out over the white palace walls. Hundreds of feet from her palace of silver lay an open sea. One so large it was once thought to be the end of the world. She knew better, however. Beyond the Shining Sea was a land of riches and culture. China.
She allowed herself a small sip of tea, warm to the touch and perfect for the chilly night. Once finished she wiped her ruby red lips. They were dry, but that was a quick fix, though one she felt too lazy to accommodate at the moment. She was alone, anyways. She had no need to smear that stuff over her face when there was no company, so she leaned back and ran her paws down the length of her silk garments, nearly kicking with joy.
She had ordered it months ago, and the tailors had just delivered it earlier that morning. Pinks and blues speckled the yellow gown. A large purple stripe ran from the bottom, following her spine, then wrapping around her neck. The tailor had suggested a hint of orange, woven throughout the piece. Lu Fang was half tempted to have that tailor thrown into the sea. She hated orange.
"Madame Fang!" Her loyal servant, Liang, called out as he reached the top of the stairs. The little rabbit took a moment to catch his breath. Lu Fang's residence sat at the top of the palace. Twenty flights of stairs with a hundred steps each. Two thousand in total. It was a hefty climb. "Madame Fang." He called out once again as his breathing began to steady. "The guards have something you might like."
Lu Fang's eyes lit up. "For me?" She blushed. "You really shouldn't have, Li. My birthday isn't for another month."
"Please," The rabbit huffed. "The guards found it…" Huff. Huff. "…on their last mission. It's waiting for you at the front gates."
Lu Fang's smile faded fast. "Bring whatever it is up!" Her tonal shift was all too sudden. "Can't you see I'm resting? It's been a long and busy day. I deserve a bit of a break. You know how hard I work, Liang."
The rabbit went cold. "Right. Of course, Madame Fang." Liang accidentally let more snark out of his tone than he had intended. Something he knew was too late to take back and could easily cause his head to wind up on a silver platter.
"Drop the attitude, Li. You know how I feel about that." Lu Fang waved a single finger.
"Right. Of course, Madame Fang. I apologize. I meant no disrespect. I will return shortly."
"See that you do."
The rabbit took one good gasp of air, then turned and hopped his way back down the two thousand steps. Lu Fang spent a minute listening to the rabbit's feet as he pounced down each one.
She sat alone once again, thinking about her surprise. A new dress? A golden statue of her? The anticipation was too much.
For the next half hour she thought, looking out over the sea and smelling the lotus flower that sat on the small table beside her. Eventually, Liang returned.
Surrounding him was a pair of strong, burly oxen. She had heard them long before they had reached the top. Each step they took rocked the entire palace, and she knew there was enough strength in their tails alone to snap Liang like a twig. He reached the top, gasping even harder for air. The two oxen stood still, stoic as could be. Han and Qin were like nothing she has ever had the pleasure of working with, but they were not the surprise. It was what they carried.
Her red lips peeled into a sour smile as the oxen thrust the chained prisoner before her. The orange and black striped creature collapsed to his knees. Lu Fang almost broke into a fit of laughter, but she knew how important first impressions were. His face was bruised and torn. Blood leaked from a sizeable gash under the tiger's right nostril. His ear was practically missing. All of that, yet the tiger managed to lift his head and let out a soft growl. She couldn't help herself. She had to chuckle. He was missing a fang.
Lu Fang removed herself from the comfy chair and stood over the tiger. Her sour smile quickly shifted into that of a caring mother.
"Heavens!" She gasped, kneeling to his level. "You look terrible. Would you care for some tea? I hear it's good for the body and soul."
The tiger growled again. "No."
"Your soul might be good, but your body is bruised and battered. Please, I insist." She held out a paw.
"You're horrible." He spat on the floor, inches away from Lu Fang's feet. Blood. She wanted to lash out, but almost on a dime, managed to regain control of her emotions. How rude, she thought. Despite the deep desire lurking in her heart and soul, she had a job to do.
"Horrible?" Her voice was almost mockingly soft. "In our line of work, casualties are bound to happen. Li, honey? Would you mind unchaining this poor tiger."
Liang looked up at her with wide eyes. His tiny paws wrapped around the metal chains as he held up the key. "Are you sure?" He squeaked. "According to the reports, he killed six of our own."
"Need I repeat myself?" She responded. She hated wasting breath. "Han? Qin? Would you mind giving us some space? I'll shout if I need anything."
The oxen dared not question her order. They shuffled across the room and began their trek down the stairs to the floor below.
Liang felt a knot in his throat. With shaking paws, he slid the key into the tiger's neck and wrist shackles. The chains dropped to the ground with a rattling thud. Liang coiled back, but to his surprise, the tiger remained in place as if the chains were still in place. The only movement the tiger did was tilt his head up. Their eyes met. The little rabbit immediately went stiff. His stomach twisted with fear.
"Hi." He whimpered with a weak wave of his paw.
"You can leave us now, Li. Thanks, honey." Lu Fang said.
Liang did not hesitate and took his leave quickly. With a hurried bow to Madame Fang, he pounced across the room and joined Qin and Han on the floor below.
Lu Fang waited until the echo of Liang's footsteps were no longer heard before she pulled herself close to the tiger. His breath was faint and raspy, and the warm air coming from his lungs was sour. It smelled of blood.
She looked the tiger up and down. She was always impressed with the raw power of tigers, though the sight of one was such a rarity now. His claws tore holes in the wooden floor. Her face turned red at the sight. Her blood boiled, but she managed a deep breath. Too much stress would bring out the creases in her face and would ruin what beauty she had.
"Stop it, darling." She hissed with a powerful smirk, almost playfully. "You aren't as tough as you seem to think. Trust me, I'm not shaking. Where did we find you?"
"Fujian. It's just a small village. A village of trade. Why couldn't you let us live in peace?" The tiger found his voice. He had vigor. Life. Energy and passion. Hatred.
Lu Fang snarled. "You and your kind are a blight on all of China. It's because of you and the rest of the tigers that China has been torn apart by warn, century after century. You tigers have been hiding for decades, yet your warmongering ways are still felt by all. How many tigers were in Fujian?"
"Just me." He said. "Your minions tore that place to the ground."
"Fascinating." Lu Fang smiled quizzically. "They did well, then."
"Well?!" The tiger roared. "You killed innocents! Women. Children. The elderly. Everyone!"
"A small price to pay for peace."
"Peace? You hunt us down like housecats, destroy villages and murder the innocent. If there isn't peace, it's because of you. Where is the sense? Why start a war?"
"A war, but one with an end goal in mind. One I know will forever bring peace to China."
"Why bring me here? Why not just kill me like you did that woman on the corner? Or that old goat in the kitchen?"
Lu Fang winced. She hated strings of questions. "I need you to help me end this war." She nearly pressed herself to his ear. Her voice was a low rumble. "I need you to tell me where the rest of the tigers are hiding. Help me, and I'll make it quick." There was a moment of silence as she studied the tiger. His eyes were as defiant as ever, and she knew there was no thought of revealing the location. She began to doubt he knew. She pulled back and whipped around. "I've been kind to you, haven't I? I kept you alive. Unshackled you. Offered you tea. I can even grant you your freedom, if that's what it will take. All you have to do is tell me where they are. It's rather quite simple."
Another long, awkward silence followed. Lu Fang slid in front of the fireplace. Her silhouette came to life in front of the yellow blaze. Shows of red, oranges, and yellows floated across the room and her shadow danced along the walls.
The tiger's eyes darted around the room, avoiding eye contact at all cost. Lu Fang laughed. When he was chained, he was tough. Stoic. Strong and determined, despite the poor shape. Now, he looked like a child. A stubborn child with a bit of heart, but a child nonetheless. Foolish. Very foolish. That fact frustrated her.
"You hate me, don't you?"
The tiger looked up. "What?" They finally made eye contact.
"I hate having to repeat myself." Lu Fang said.
The tiger pulled his eyes away once again and stared at the ground. He responded in a low growl. "Yes."
"Why?" She said with a powerful smirk. Things were coming together. She hoped he would understand.
"The things you've done. You destroyed a village. Slaughtered innocent civilians. You want to see me and my kind erased from the records."
"There we go." Lu Fang said, satisfied at the response. "My point."
"What point?"
"I haven't done anything to you, yet you hate me. You don't know me. You only hate me for things my people have done. Things I may not have asked them to do. If we traded spots, you would want to see me floating lifelessly out to sea. I bet you'd even see to it personally." She knelt beside the tiger and looked him square in the eye. "Just like I don't know you, but I know what you and your kind have done to me. You hurt me, long ago. The road runs both ways, my friend, and old wounds cut deep."
The tiger's eyes lit like a thousand torches. His stare sent shivers down her spine. "You're a monster."
"Don't talk to me about monsters."
"If you ever find the tigers, your war will be long and bloody. Do you really think the emperor will allow it?"
She laughed. "You and your kind are hidden to the world. To the Emperor, you are less than a speck of dust on his throne of diamonds!" Lu Fang made her point by wiping the dust from the floor. "You are nothing to him. The same day I eradicate your kind, the emperor will wake up when the sun rises and fall asleep as the sun sets, just as he's done countless times before. And guess what? That night will be some of the best sleep he's had in a long, long time."
"I'm not afraid to die."
"You should be." Lu Fang hissed. "I won't make it pretty."
"And I won't talk."
"Very well." Lu Fang leaned in close once again. The smell of mint made his whiskers curl. "I want to watch the life drain from your eyes. I want to feel the last beat of your heart."
The tiger shut his eyes. With a force that came from nowhere, he threw his head into hers. She pulled back and growled as the tiger leapt wearily to his feet.
He lunged with a speed Lu Fang had not seen in a long time. Despite the injuries sustained to his aching body, he threw punches just as fierce as any other fighter she had seen. The sky cracked with each strike, but it didn't matter. Lu Fang stood and took it. All of it. Her soft, round body absorbed everything the tiger could give.
Lu Fang laughed and responded with a hit of her own. Hers were twice as fast as the weary tiger, and three times as hard. Every punch the tiger threw seemed to come back to bite him.
The tiger pulled back, taking only a moment. It was all he had. Without a second thought, he charged once again. Outside, lightning flashed. When the sky cleared, Lu Fang was gone.
He stood a second in awe, eyes darting left and right for the tyrant. He was unable to turn around before she could strike again. The tiger didn't even have time to blink. Her giant paws wrapped around his throat and rolled him onto the ground. There was a loud snap. Lu Fang felt the tiger's lower body go limp, and she was able to mount.
The tiger tried desperately to pry her paws from his neck, but he knew all hope was lost when Lu Fang began to squeeze. Her grip was like that of an anaconda. The tiger gasped and begged for air, but he found none. He dug his claws into her fur, drawing a stream of blood. It only made her squeeze tighter.
"I hope you rot in the afterlife…" His voice was frail. "…panda." The tiger's arms began to thrash about wildly. Lu Fang knew if his spine had not been snapped, his legs would be doing the same. She smiled as she watched his eyes slowly roll back into his skull.
There was another snap, and the rest of the tiger went limp. To Lu Fang's utter joy, she had felt his heart stop. She stood up and straightened her robes. Wrinkles were a bad look, she thought.
"Qin! Han!" She hollered. In a quick second, both oxen stood atop the stairs. She looked down at the body. "Throw him into the sea." She watched as the guards began to drag the corpse down the stairs. "Pathetic." She grumbled.
Lu Fang stood a second longer to bask in her victory. Once the adrenaline wore off, she made her way back to her chair and collapsed. Her tea was no longer warm, but she drank it nonetheless. For one reason or another, it tasted so much sweeter. She looked out over the sea with eyes of glass. Emotionless. The thrill of battle was over. Now, it was back to business. She lifted the lotus flower to her nose. It was wilting and half dead. Black splotches littered the once elegant flower.
"Are you okay, Madame Fang?" Liang whispered beside her. She was nearly shocked. She had not heard him creep up.
"Soon, honey, I will finally be able to relax. Truly relax. Then I can spend the rest of my days with the knowledge that my deeds, however gruesome, benefit all. Go rally the soldiers."
A/N: Howdy, guys. Thanks for reading. This is going to be my first multichapter/long-fic. I have a good chunk of it planned or already written. Let me know what you think. I'm still new to this fanfiction thing, so any advice is much appreciated. Formatting. Story issues. All that funs stuff. I'm also very grateful for the pleasant responses and warm welcomes I got on my first fic. Thank you.
