A new fair day begins, and with it my training as a Kung fu warrior.
I wake up early, in a good mood, before the gong to prepare myself for the start of my training. Nothing fancy, I just sit and meditate, thinking about the countless ways Master Shifu, and the other masters, can begin my path towards mastery of martial arts.
I don't want to make a ruckus at such an early hour after all.
After a while, I notice the other masters shuffling in their rooms, making themselves ready for the morning gong, and to begin their day.
After the expected sound, we start what I think will be my morning routine from now on.
We exit our rooms, greet Master Shifu with a good morning, and go to the kitchen for a hearty breakfast, courtesy of Viper.
I offer to help, but she rejects me with kindness.
"You will need all your strength today." she says.
She is right, that I know.
We eat as we make small talk, almost all of them recounting their first days in the palace. It seems having a new student after so long made them nostalgic.
"I remember when I first saw you Crane. You were a nervous wreck, your legs were trembling with fright!" recalls Monkey with a laugh. It seems he is talking from long ago.
"That was a long time ago." Crane squawks in an outburst, seemingly embarrassed. I can't imagine Crane in such a state seeing him now.
"Well… We all kinda were the same in that regard, isn't that right Monkey?" says Viper in a knowing way, lending a helping tail to Crane. It seems they know each other's past, and knew his embarrassing first days the same way Monkey knew Crane's.
Monkey just keeps silent and looks at his bowl of food, obviously opting for a temporary truce. It looks like he blushes for a moment.
"Not Tigress. She was the one who went to get us." observes Mantis. Tigress doesn't comment on the subject.
Looks like Tigress is the first of them here and is the one who recruited them. There is a story there for another time.
"Well, I hope I don't make a fool of myself too much." I joke a little.
"You? Nah, you look a bit too aloof for that. Kinda like Tigress in that regard, now that I think about it." Monkey makes this observation with a look of amusement, hoping to get a reaction out of me I'm sure.
Well, he gets a reaction alright. Just not from me.
"He is nothing like me!" denounces Tigress in a menacing way, clearly outraged at the thought. Monkey responds with a "Sorry! Jeez…"
Looks like she is still mad after what I told her yesterday night.
After we finish our food we make our way into the arena, near the Training Hall.
Master Shifu is there already, playing a calming and beautiful melody with his flute. A serene look adorns his face, but his ears twitch sometimes, clearly scanning for threats.
We stand in front of him and bow.
"Master Shifu." It is said in unison by everyone.
He stops playing and looks at us.
"Before we begin training today, we will make a small evaluation." He points at me with his flute. "Albion. Go to the center of the arena." It seems I will begin my training with a trial by fire.
I make my way to the center of the arena and try to calm my nerves in the meantime. I don't know who will be my opponent, but it doesn't really matter, seeing as whoever it ends up being he or she will have more experience as a fighter.
I have none.
Master Shifu looks pensive for a moment.
"Your first opponent..." First?! "...will be Mantis."
Mantis doesn't delay and appears before me immediately. His speed is no joke, though I wonder how hard he can hit.
After a "Ready… Go!" from Shifu, Mantis disappears from my field of view, and moments later I begin to feel the pain.
Looks like he can hit as hard as he wants, size be damned.
It is blow after blow, and I can't see where they are coming from. Not a moment later I am on the ground, yielding.
I can't even defend myself from such a small opponent.
"I expect better." says Shifu in a stern tone. He is displeased with my performance.
After that, it is the turn of Viper.
It starts in the same way from before, but Viper doesn't immediately start her assault. It seems she is going to give me a chance.
I go forward, sending a fast kick her way but she dodges with ease with a jump.
She then proceeds to use her tail as a whip, targeting my torso and arms.
I manage to block some hits but she is fast.
Eventually she tires of this and leaps towards me, going around my body with her own body acting as a restraining rope.
I can't move, and lose again.
Shifu doesn't comment this time, only indicating that it is Crane's turn.
It is a complex fight, seeing as I can't fly and Crane is constantly moving around the air.
Whenever I lose sight of him for a moment, he dives towards me with extreme speed and hits me with his wings or his feet.
Eventually he uses a flying kick straight in my chest, sending me flying and losing the fight.
Damn, not a single win or draw so far.
I don't know why but trying to follow their movement is extremely hard. I can follow Crane better than Viper or Mantis, but all I manage is to block some hits. I can't land a single punch or kick.
Shifu looks quite disappointed with me.
After that it is Monkey's turn.
My fight with Monkey is actually quite better. I can block most of his hits, and I even manage to hit him back quite a bit. It feels like my body knows what to do without me even thinking about it.
Confusing.
Although I fare better in the fight, I am still defeated in the end.
Finally, the last fight with Tigress. I am quite beat up and tired. She, on the other hand, seems to be smoldering with intensity. Is she still angry at what I said yesterday?
She will release her frustration on my poor body, violently. This is going to hurt.
As I stand face to face with Tigress in the arena, Shifu tells me what he thinks so far.
"This has been a sad display! You must try harder! And assume a good fighting stance at once!" I made him mad, and something in his tone makes me snap.
My legs correct their position, my back is ramrod straight and my arms put themselves in a way to protect my vitals and be ready to unleash punishment.
Master Shifu must have noticed the change because he stops lecturing me, choosing to observe the fight instead. He gives the order to start at last.
Tigress approaches me at startling speed, paws at the ready, intending to end this match in a single blow. She is going to demonstrate why, in her words, I don't belong here.
Anger and frustration already at the maximum, my body reacts before my mind can process what is happening.
I take her extended arm and throw her over my shoulder, with an ease that tells me I have done this a thousand times.
Tigress would normally not be deterred in the least by this, but expecting my ineptitude from before I have managed to surprise her.
She still lands on her feet, but is slow to react. I sweep my leg towards her legs, making her lose her footing, and before she can finish her fall I do a rotatory kick that sends her flying.
Still astonished by my own feat, I stand paralyzed instead of capitalizing on the opportunity.
Tigress starts to stand back up. There is a look of intense anger on her face.
"You…"
With that, she leaps at me with renewed vigor. She will not be taken by surprise again.
I reel back from her fury, trying to defend from the plenitude of blows raining on me.
I can't comprehend it. Moments ago I was being defeated by the others without a chance and now I'm defending myself from Tigress' fierce assault, even if I'm barely managing.
"Enough!"
She extends both her arms at the same time, paws forward breaking my blocking stance, and palms my solar plexus with enough force to send me back a few meters.
I fall to the ground, out of breath and in extreme pain.
Everyone is still in shock from watching my fight with Tigress, but seeing me fall makes them snap back to reality.
"Albion! Tigress you can't use those kind of techniques with someone who just started learning Kung fu!" Viper says while looking over my injuries.
"He clearly has some training." Tigress shoots back, with a hint of shame. Most likely at losing control over her anger.
"Enough!" Master Shifu orders, having opted to stay silent until now. He has a thoughtful look on his face. "Albion do you need medical attention?"
It feels like something, or multiple somethings, has broken inside of me, but I can't just give up at the first sign of difficulty. I already knew this is going to be hard when I gave Grandmaster Oogway my answer.
I cemented that idea further in meditation this morning.
Just fight through the pain. Show them your spirit.
"I'm… fine." I mostly succeed at my self-imposed order.
Shifu and the rest look at me for a moment, probably thinking that I'm clearly not fine.
"Hmm... Very well. Let's take five minutes of rest and then we shall start training as normal. Albion you gave it your all, which is what I require of my students. From now on, I expect that same dedication to your training." Master Shifu imparts some sort of congratulation, if that, to me and goes inside the hall.
Tigress, Mantis and Monkey immediately follow, but Crane and Viper stay by me.
"Are you really okay?" Crane asks without delay, once the others are inside. Viper is asking the same question with the expression on her face.
I am still catching my breath. Five fights in a row, the last one with such ferocity, left me in quite a state.
It is hopeless.
"I knew it would be bad… but I didn't expect to do so badly. I thought I would have managed at least a draw somewhere." I tell him, avoiding his real question. I don't want them to think even worse of me.
"What are you talking about!? With each fight you did better and better! In the last fight with Tigress you even managed to surprise her and hit her. And you fought off the rest of us, masters of Kung fu." Viper tries to console me. It is kind of working.
"What Viper says is true Albion. You impressed me, and the others as well to a similar degree, I'm sure." Crane finishes with a sincere tone.
"Next time I will do even better." Finally convinced, I promise them this with a look of determination.
That's right. I will fail and fall, but each time I will rise better than I was before. I must never give up.
The others had years of time and training before me. I have to catch up.
"Let's go, the time for a break is over. And Viper, Crane, thank you, truly. You helped me more than you know." With comrades, maybe even friends, like this I know I can become who I want to be.
A fellow master of Kung fu.
A protector of the Valley of Peace.
A friend to the people who saved me and gave me a path to follow.
With my determination renewed, and stronger than it was before, and the smiles of Viper and Crane, we start to make our way inside the Training Hall.
"Still... You really fought well. You sure you don't have any training?" Crane asks me, curiosity dripping from his voice.
"Well, I don't know. In the middle of the fight with Tigress I felt like my body knew what to do." I answer Crane's question with my impression. This is a mystery for me as much as it is for him.
Already inside, Tigress is stretching with some sort of tai chi, blowing off the tension from the battle earlier. Monkey and Mantis are chatting loudly, sharing their opinion on my battle prowess, disturbing the slow tai chi of Tigress indicated by the twitching of her ears.
Despite the thrashing she gave me earlier, it is pretty funny to see. Maybe now that she has blown off some frustration on my battered form she will relax her wariness of me.
When Master Shifu sees us he snaps his fingers. That makes the Furious Five race to his side, standing at attention. I do the same a moment later.
"With the evaluation of our new student completed, we shall proceed as usual. Albion take turns training with everyone."
Each of them goes to a part of the Training hall.
First I observe what they are doing, starting with Viper.
She goes to a square with some holes in the ground. Suddenly, and without apparent warning, flame shoots out of the holes in the ground!
Viper skillfully evades each and every flame. That looks a bit too advanced for me right now.
Next is Mantis, who is surrounded by rotating dummies. It seems he is crossing from one side to the other constantly. Every time he hits a dummy, it responds back in the form of a wooden arm to his face, or well his entire body in his case.
He is striking and evading each blow with mind-blowing speed and force.
Then there is Monkey, swinging himself across from one hanging rope to another, never touching the ground, while making all sorts of difficult-looking Kung fu techniques.
Crane is flying all over the room, landing on the rim of the big jade shell without tipping it over a single time, defending himself against all sorts of thrown projectiles.
Finally, Tigress is on some rotating, serpentine-looking wood logs, all the while striking against hanging dummy opponents. One side of the dummies is riddled with vicious-looking metal spikes.
It is, all in all, very scary training. No wonder they are so strong. And insane.
"Well, decided yet where to start?" asks Master Shifu with a knowing look. "No? In that case, I recommend you go with Mantis. Looking at your performance earlier, you obviously need some training with blocking and hitting back." He uses a tone of suggestion, but it is a clear order to me.
After a painful training session, I am making my way to the baths. It is already near the end of the day, judging by the slowly darkening sky.
The bathing area is truly a blessing. It is an outside bath, a natural hot spring of some sort, with an area for each student separated by tall wooden screens.
It is quite cold since we are in the middle of winter, Viper told me earlier, making me want to enter the hot water quickly.
After a quick rinse, I enter the water, steam rising from it. While soaking in the water, I start to search my body. My skin is beginning to form bruises where I was hit hard, mainly along the chest area, courtesy of Tigress.
I inspect the scars I didn't see the other day.
It is easy to see how Luna Fang reached the misunderstanding that I was some sort of warrior.
I am covered in small, and a few bigger ones, scars. All across my body. I can't see by myself the big one on my back that Viper commented on.
With that, and the fact that my body seems to remember how to put up a fight, it seems I may have a turbulent past.
It makes me wonder. Was I some sort of warrior? Or maybe a thug? Simply a mistreated victim?
The possibilities are endless.
Nevertheless, I must focus on the present. On what I am now.
After some deep reflection on my person, I exit the water, dry myself and put back my black Hanfu, then get out of the bathing area. I am the last one it seems, given that everyone else is already nearing the barracks.
I make haste before Monkey and Mantis eat all the food Viper will surely make soon.
After a satisfying meal, a bowl of hot soup with noodles and a plate filled with dumplings, I make my way to my room, seeking to end the day early, given that tomorrow must follow, and I am still very sore from training. I must give my body time to heal and rest.
When I am near my room, I see Tigress, in what is starting to become a habit, waiting in front of the door to my room.
I am truly displeased to see that there isn't a day she wouldn't pass the opportunity to hurl hurtful words at me.
Just as I am starting to tell her to save it for another day, something in her expression stops me.
It is the first time I see her face without animosity of some kind. There still is a tad of irritation or chagrin, but not hostility.
"Albion, can we speak for a moment?" Today is for firsts. She says my name for the first time too.
Each time she has spoken, she says 'Human' or 'You'. I suppose I will be open to change and see what's up.
"More scathing words for me to mull over while trying to sleep?" That truly is my best attempt.
Her look of irritation multiplies tenfold, before softening a tad.
"Look, just about our fight earlier. I may have been a little too… hard on you. The others have told me that I exceeded myself." She says this with difficulty, like pulling a tooth out of a tiger.
"I didn't intend to hurt you like that. I guess I just wanted to say… Sorry." My surprise must be clear as day on my face, because she is looking everywhere but me.
After clearing my thoughts and mulling over her words for a moment, I answer back.
"I understand that I'm still a stranger here. I appeared out of nowhere and suddenly it was decided that I would study here. I understand your mistrust and wariness of me. With that in mind, I forgive you." Now it is her turn to be surprised.
"What? Just like that?" She starts to say. It seems she is the type to not be satisfied until due compensation is given.
"On one condition." I continue. "Let's start from the beginning. I want you to give me a chance to prove myself worthy of your trust." I offer my hand while saying this.
She eyes me critically for a moment. I am asking her to be vulnerable to possible betrayal and hurt later. She hesitates for a moment.
"I will do my best to keep an open mind. You better keep your promise from earlier." She says while shaking my offered hand. Her paw is quite soft when it is not striking me with the strength of a thousand suns.
"To not harm her or the Jade Palace huh?" I recall to myself. It is a promise worth keeping.
"Then let me add to that promise." I tell her, my eyes shining with strength. "I promise to train hard, enough to be able to stand by your side as a fellow Kung fu master." My tone is one of bravado, including a thump to my chest as a gesture to show my determination.
It is a bad idea, given that I still have an enormous hurting bruise on it.
My expression must be pretty funny because Tigress gives a fraction of a grin.
"Wait a moment here, I think I have something for your problem." She says while going back into her room.
Moments later, she returns with a jar of some sort. Probably filled with medicine going by her words.
"This stings a bit but it's very good for those kinds of injuries. You just gotta rub it in the area with a cloth." She gives me the jar. I open it and a stringent smell makes its way into my nose. Dreadful.
I manage a "Thanks."
"As for that promise, you will have to train day and night without rest for that. Are you sure you are ready for that?" She asks looking into my eyes.
"I will do it. I have decided this is my way of life now. I won't give up, no matter how hard it gets." My steely gray eyes must contain the true answer she is seeking, because there is some sort of satisfaction in her stoic face.
With that, we give each other our good nights and return to our rooms.
I disrobe myself and apply that strange cream. It is itchy and feels weird, but I don't think Tigress is the type to lie about these things, or in general really.
With some thoughts in my mind, I enter my bedding.
Today is a full day.
I know now that I can at least hold my own somewhat, my body seemingly knowing what to do when in a fight.
I renew my determination to keep to this path, and start the training for it.
I'm not friends with Tigress, not even close, but I have a chance now to be. No matter how she presents herself to me, I know she is a good person.
She is the one who saved my life after all, and gave me the cream for my injuries.
And I'm starting to think, under all that hard exterior she shows to the world.
There is something worth all the trouble.