Today is Sunday. There's no need to wake up early to train, but my body decides otherwise.
I make my way into the kitchen hoping to get something from yesterday's dinner, given that Viper is probably still sleeping.
There I find Tigress, sipping on some tea. It smells wonderful.
"Good morning," I say to her while going to the counter, where last night's leftovers are.
She nods back in response.
I sit down and start my early breakfast. Without conversation, breakfast is quite an awkward affair.
"Planning on training today too?" I ask Tigress, hoping to get something from her.
"Not today. I need to rest my body too. I'm going to practice meditation and tai chi." She informs calmly after a moment, taking a sip of tea afterward.
She says she is not going to train, but that also sounds like training to me. Just not physical.
Since she doesn't continue the conversation, I decide to just give up and keep to my breakfast.
Not a fraction of a moment later after my resigned thoughts, Viper and Crane enter the kitchen while talking among themselves, sending a brief good morning our way while grabbing a bowl of the same leftovers.
It seems it is a rest day for Viper too.
"Hey guys, anything interesting?" I ask out of curiosity, and to kill the awkward mood from before.
"Nothing much, actually. I was talking with Crane about what to do today." Answers Viper in a nonchalant way.
"I'm going into the valley today to grab some writing supplies, for myself and for your lessons." Crane comments after gulping down part of his food.
That's right. I asked them to teach me how to read and write Chinese.
"Albion, if you don't have anything else to do, how about starting your lessons on reading?" Viper suggests.
I am planning on going down later to visit Luna's shop, but I still have plenty of time.
"Sounds good to me."
"Fantastic! Then let's finish breakfast and go to my room. I have some scrolls there that should be easy for a beginner." Viper is quite excited to teach, so we both finish our breakfast quickly.
As we are washing our plates and chopsticks, a shambling form enters through the doorway. More like two shambling forms actually, one on the shoulder of the other.
"Ughh..." Monkey and Mantis utter that pitiful sound at the same time.
It seems their evening at the tavern went for a bit too long.
"Again you two? Idiots. Master Shifu has told you countless times to behave yourselves." Tigress scolds them harshly, while Viper hides a small grin.
"Mercy." They both implore, and Tigress finally acquiesces after lecturing them some more.
Viper makes them a home remedy for their hangover.
"This tastes terrible." Mantis says while making a funny face. Well, it's said that good medicine tastes bitter.
"You should be grateful! That will cure you in minutes." Crane says, hiding amusement in his eyes.
After a while, their complexion seems to improve a bit. That medicine is very effective.
Leaving those two to nurse their hangover, and Crane to his business in the valley, Viper and I go into her room.
It isn't as sparse as mine, with some decorative elements, paintings, and trinkets. I can see a small painting on her drawer, next to her bed. A few ribbons, probably for her ribbon dancing, are hung from the wall, among other things.
"Okay, let's see… I should have a few easy scrolls over here."
After rummaging for a while, she produces a few scrolls.
I unravel one of them. A veritable mountain of unreadable text presents itself to me.
This is easy?!
"Okay, let's start from the beginning." Viper says with a patient, kind tone.
After studying for a while, we decide to stop here for today. It is almost afternoon and my brain is almost overloaded.
"You did well Albion. We can continue another day." Viper looks tired too. I should probably get her something later as thanks.
"Thank you for doing this Viper. I learned a lot and had fun." The scrolls she has me read are mostly about fantastic tales, making learning quite entertaining.
After saying goodbye to Viper, I decide to take a walk around the palace to clear my head a bit.
There is a lot of information currently swimming in my head.
I decide it's time to go shopping for some new clothing. With what little money I get from Master Shifu I may not be able to buy something too good.
Then again, I only need some training clothes, and maybe I can reach some kind of deal with Luna.
Those are my thoughts while descending the stairs, soon reaching the bottom.
Now that I think about it, this is my first time down here alone.
While going to Luna's shop, some of the citizens of the valley bow to me, recognizing my status as a student of the Jade Palace and their protector. Others just talk behind my back.
Finally, the small corner shop from last time presents itself to me. I see a sign with a drawing of some cloth and a pair of scissors that I didn't notice last time.
I enter the building, the small bell making a ringing sound, announcing my presence into the shop. I patiently wait for Luna to show up.
Not much later I see her coming to the counter.
"Welcome! Oh it's you Albion. Back so soon?" Luna smiles when she greets me.
"Well, I decided it was time for a visit to my old friend." I joke a little, making her laugh.
"So, what do you need this time? Don't tell me you already have torn all the spares I gave you."
"Not quite. But see, the Hanfu is very good for normal outing, but in training is a bit constraining. Do you happen to have some clothing that would serve me better while training?" I explain my clothing needs to her.
She looks at me for a moment, more specifically at my clothes, and answers back.
"I think I have what you need actually. Come with me to the back." I follow her inside. "Last time you came, you left your old clothes here. They had a curious design, so I tried to make a replica of it."
She then shows a few of her attempts. They are pretty … bad.
"It's harder than it looks, okay?" She grumbles a bit while saying that, clearly discerning my thoughts from my expression. "But I think my last attempt is actually pretty good. And what you are actually looking for."
She presents to me a set of clothes.
A T-shirt with long sleeves with black and deep blue hues. The material feels soft to the touch, but it doesn't look like it would tear easily.
Along with it, a pair of comfortable-looking cream-colored trousers, similar to those Tigress wears.
I try the set at Luna's insistence.
The T-shirt adjusts to my body nicely, giving me a nice improvement in my range of movement. The only thing I can note is that perhaps it adjusts too well, given that it clearly defines all my muscles from my arms and abdomen.
The trousers are extremely comfortable, and they feel durable.
"Hmm… It felt a little weird at first, but now it's like I'm wearing a second skin. Very nice." I speak of the T-shirt.
"Well, I tried to replicate how your last garment looked. I remember it hugged your body a lot. Besides, it looks good on you!" Classic merchant move, trying to sell me the product.
It works, damn it!
"I also made something for you! Here, try them on." She says while handing me over a pair of traditional-looking Chinese shoes. "They should fit but tell me if they don't feel right."
After trying them, I feel a distinct satisfaction at having some nice wear for my feet. The sandals are quite fine, but the shoes just feel right.
"It's fantastic Luna. You truly are a master of your craft." I use my own complimenting skills, hoping to get a nice discount later.
After thinking for a moment, I ask for one more item.
"Would you happen to have a hair tie? My hair is getting quite annoying." I request of Luna something to bind my hair. I don't want to cut it, just in case it's important to me and I can't remember.
The true reason is that I like how it looks, despite how annoying it is.
After laughing at my request, she gives me a small black thread to tie my hair. She helps me a bit since I don't know how to tie it very well.
I look at myself in the mirror of Luna's shop.
My hair no longer falls over my shoulders, now tied back into a long ponytail, a few strands of hair out of place. It gives me a more serious air, rather than the relaxed one I had before.
I'm wearing my new training clothes, adjusting myself to the tightness of the T-shirt. The cream-colored trousers are nicely tied at my waist with a black cloth.
My new shoes are a shining black color with white soles.
I feel confident in my new look, with Luna cheering me in the background.
After going over the price, it turns out I was worried for nothing. The Jade Palace pays for all the students' necessities.
Why nobody told me that, I don't know.
After I finish going over the details to take the spare outfits at a later date, I invite Luna to talk over some tea as thanks for helping me.
"Hmm… Sounds good, I need to take a break. You know this place called Mighty Feline?" After accepting my offer gratefully, she suggests a place I discovered yesterday.
We make small talk as we make our way to the tavern.
"So that's how you meet Viper? It all sounds so dramatic." she says with wide eyes. "Not to make fun of you of course. It's a bit like the start of the stories bards like to tell in taverns." Believe me, I know what you mean.
"How about you? She said you were friends from long ago." I return the question.
"That's actually quite a long story. I'll tell you inside." We are already there.
We make our order to Minghoof, green tea and some snacks, and sit down at a free table. It is quite empty at this time of the day.
After our order is brought to the table by an accommodating sheep, Luna begins her story of her meeting with Viper.
"I was returning from my travels abroad to the valley, going along the path in the bamboo forest when I was assaulted by some bandits." She begins her tale with a stoic look, her voice firm.
"They wanted to take the goods and money I worked so hard for! So I fought back with all my might." Her voice gets heated as she recounts the details, but deflates as she continues. "In hindsight, it was stupid. I almost lost my life over some stupid fabrics and some shiny coins."
"As I was about to be killed by the club of some bandit, Viper suddenly appeared! She took those bandits down in an instant, like it was nothing." She expresses with an admiring tone. "Long story short, we became friends after that." Luna ends the tale abruptly, though I imagine there isn't much more to tell.
"Amazing! Viper is truly heroic." I tell her my take on her story. "I'm sorry you had to go through that though."
"It's okay. It's nothing unusual." Her nonchalant tone tells me this is true "You gotta be careful with bandits and brigands around China." I have to train to make sure I'm ready for the day I have to face them.
After finishing our tea and chatting some more we part ways, she going back to her shop and me going to the plaza to think about what to do now.
I sit down on an out-of-the-way bench as I look at the clouds. It is quite a cold winter day thanks to the hidden sun.
"Stop! You criminal!" As I am starting to relax, a shout of alarm from a deep voice takes me back to reality.
I see a bunch of crocodiles running away from some guards, something in the hands of the one with a helmet.
"Help! They have taken my son!" A hysterical bunny is screaming for help to anyone who will listen.
Without thinking more about it, I get up from the bench and make haste to follow the reptiles before they get away.
This damn lizard is fast!
They have lost the guards a while ago but I have managed to keep on their tail for now. We have been running for a while now, starting to enter a nearby bamboo forest.
The crocodiles look back from time to time, picking up the pace every time they see me running after them.
Until there is no more road to escape, a thick wall of bamboo trees blocking the way of the bandits.
"Darn it!" The leader screams, throwing his helmet to the ground in frustration. "Why did the new student have to be there just as we finally got the kidnapping going!"
It seems I'm a known figure.
"You won't get the kid back without a fight!" The leader says, 'subtly' ordering his lackeys to take arms against me. The small bunny in the hands of the croc leader is shaking.
"Get 'im! He is only one guy. We can beat him!"
They start to take their weapons into their hands.
I'll admit at this point I'm feeling nervous.
They charge me, axes and swords at the ready, and screaming murder at me.
I take a moment to calm and collect myself. I have trained, even if briefly, for this.
I dodge to the left as the first croc reaches me, evading the blade by mere centimeters, and punch him hard in the right side of his face, hurting my hand in the process.
The croc goes down, without even trying to get up after that hit.
The others stop dead in their tracks at seeing their fellow bandit taken down, taking a more cautious approach.
"Come on you dolts! If we get rid of him we can get rich after the father of this guy pays the rescue!" The leader hurries his lackeys with his words, clearly afraid of all the noise the fight is making.
The guards may be near after all.
They start to take wild swings at me, which I evade by a small margin each time, without giving me a chance to hit back.
Finally, I see a weak point.
I kick one croc in the chin and give another a rotating kick to the side of the head, sending them both unconscious.
I sweep the legs of another one, and finish him with a kick to the head without giving him a chance to recover.
I stop to take a breath when something hits me in the back of the head, giving me a terrible headache and making me go down.
As I fall to the ground, I see the croc leader with a club in his hand.
"Think they'll pay more for a student of the Jade Palace or the kid of some guy?" He asks with a sinister grin to his lackeys.
Some of them, the ones I didn't totally disable from combat, start to get up with vengeful looks in their eyes.
"Take me and let the bunny go. The palace can pay far more than some random person." Since it is clear I cannot defeat them, I try to at least save the kid.
"In that case, we'll kidnap both of you!" He says with a laugh, making his witless lackeys start laughing at his brilliance too.
Damn it. If the others were here…
As I am thinking that, Tigress' fist collides violently with the leader's head, making him go flying against a bamboo tree, breaking it.
The lackeys fall silent instantly with fear.
"Not while I'm here." Tigress says with a fearsome look, the other members of the Furious Five striking a ready stance behind her.
With their leader taken out, and out of their minds with fear, the bandits start running away without looking back.
The five opt to stay and help me and the kid, who was bound to a tree with some rope by the croc leader, instead of following the escaping bandits.
We got the leader anyway, who is currently unconscious on the ground.
"Albion! Are you okay?" Viper asks me as she approaches fast, as Monkey and Crane go to liberate the kid. "You are bleeding!"
Huh?
I touch my hair where I was hit, and look at my fingertips. They are painted red.
It seems that hit truly made a number on me.
"Hey, you are a redhead now." Mantis tries to convey a joking tone to reassure me, but a small note of panic can be heard in his voice.
"I don't feel too bad. Just a bit dizzy." I say, struggling to get up but failing
My legs won't move as I command them.
"Don't move. We have to treat your wounds." Tigress stops me from keeping trying to get up, putting a firm paw on my shoulder.
She moves my hair out of the way, and after a moment she takes some bandages from a pouch in her pants.
"It's not too serious. We just have to stop the bleeding." She explains as she pours some water from a canteen offered by Viper to clean my wound. "Honestly, what were you thinking going on your own? You barely have trained for a week."
She scolds me quite a bit while treating my wound.
"Do you want to die? As you are now, you could never have defeated them." I keep silent.
"Tigress, we can do that later. I'm sure Master Shifu will tell him off." Viper says, trying to mollify the furious Tigress.
"No! If he doesn't hear this he will do it again. And next time we might not make it in time."
"It doesn't matter if you scold me, I would do it again in a heartbeat." I say finally, making Tigress stop. "If a kid is in danger, I don't care about my safety. I would do it again, even if it's only to gain some time until you get here." I declare without hesitation, making everyone fall silent.
The kid takes that moment of everyone's silence to approach me and Tigress.
"Mister… Thank you." He says while bowing his head, a grateful tone deep in his voice.
Tigress says nothing more and finishes bandaging my head.
After returning the kidnapped child to his grateful parents and getting the bandit leader and the few lackeys I managed to knock out to the guardhouse, we are making our way back to the Jade Palace.
The sky is starting to turn dark, the day almost over. I feel the cold of winter chilling my bones.
I am slowing the others quite a bit since I still have an intense headache.
"Do you need help going up the stairs, friend?" Monkey asks worried about me.
"No thanks, I appreciated it. I just need to rest a moment and I'll be fine."
"Why don't you ask Tigress to carry you? Wouldn't be the first time." Mantis jokes, earning a growl from Tigress.
"Actually, why don't you guys go ahead of me. I'm just slowing you down." I tell them, out of consideration. I have troubled them enough for today.
They all stop walking, even Tigress, and look back at me.
"You are now a fellow student of Kung fu at the Jade Palace. We won't leave you behind." Tigress says in a serious tone, her eyes conveying what a thousand words couldn't say.
That leaves me speechless for a moment. They consider me a part of their group.
Who would want to leave a friend behind?
"Thanks, then can you help me Monkey?"
"Of course Albion! By the way, did you get new clothes?" Monkey asks as he lends me his shoulder to lean on.
"Yeah, I visited Luna's shop to get some new training clothes."
"I knew those were from Luna! They look very good on you." Viper compliments me with a smile.
"Thanks. She actually told me how you two met."
Making small talk like that we go up the stairs.
Once we finally are at the open gates of the palace, we find Master Shifu waiting for us.
"Master we have returned. We succeeded at returning the child and capturing the leader of the bandits." Tigress makes her report.
"Good job, all of you." Shifu looks at me. "Albion, you were reckless. I expect you to train harder from now on to compensate for your failure." Harsh, but I expected worse.
I think he is letting me off easy since I at least managed to stop the bandits from making their escape.
"Go rest and prepare for tomorrow." With that dismissal, he goes inside.
We take a moment and then go back to the barracks.
Monkey accompanies me to my room, where I immediately sit down in my bed to rest.
After that he goes to the kitchen to eat dinner with all the others.
I am not feeling too hungry so I decide to skip today's dinner.
After everyone finishes I hear them go back to their rooms to rest and prepare for tomorrow's training.
Before sleep can claim me I see Tigress' shadow in the paper door of my room. I wonder what she could want at this hour.
"Albion, may I come in?" She asks before entering.
After giving her permission she enters the room and stands at the doorway.
"Please come in." I get up from bed and sit down on the bare floor, indicating that she should do the same. "Did you want to talk about something?"
After sitting down in front of me, she takes a moment to focus, her eyes scanning my face intently.
"You took a big risk today. As master Shifu said, you acted recklessly." Tigress begins to say. "Still, I think you are right. There was no time for hesitation."
That is surprising. Tigress agreeing with me.
"I thought you didn't approve of me going after the bandits?"
"I don't approve of you, or anyone for that matter, killing yourself by trying to fight against a group of armed bandits without training." Tigress scolds me harshly again. "But it's true that if they got away with kidnapping that kid, it may have been far worse."
She is right, I realize. I did the best I could with the situation at hand.
It didn't all go perfectly, but I managed to stall the bandits enough time for them to come.
"Then what should I do next time?" She sighs when she hears 'next time', but doesn't refute me.
"Next time you will be prepared. From now on, you will train with me." She tells me, pure steel in her voice.
I haven't trained with Tigress yet. She is the more advanced and strongest of the group.
"Thank you, Tigress." I bow my bandaged head, thanking her for the opportunity.
"We will begin tomorrow. Rest and heal your injuries." She begins to stand up as she says that, making her way to the door.
"Goodnight, Tigress." After she wishes me a good night back, she leaves for her room.
After entering bed once again, I go over today's events one by one, recalling what I could have done better or worse.
All my mistakes and failings go slowly through my eyes.
All my precise strikes and skillful dodges.
The smiles of the parents as they thank me.
I will improve. I will learn from today.
Next time I won't have to be saved.