Chapter Fifteen: Kökejin
Despite being unable to see more than a few feet in front of himself, Crane caught the curved saber that was thrust at him; wrapping his talons around the handle and flapping with his good wing, he twisted it from his opponent's grip and it fell into his other waiting appendage. Catching it, he immediately slashed horizontally at the partially-obscured corsac fox opposite him, and heard a pained yelp as he fell out of view.
In the midst of the sandstorm that had blown in from the desert they had left behind, the three masters had quickly lost track of each other. To make matters worse, they had been ambushed yet again. Their current enemies seemed to be much more acquainted with the current weather, and were using the low visibility to their advantage. It was hard to tell if they were bandits, rebels, or just the local inhabitants of this hostile land; the only thing that was certain was they wanted the masters dead.
Not too far from Crane was Po, who had just bested a Saiga antelope and another fox by grabbing their heads and smashing them together.
"Yeah! I can do this all day!" the panda exclaimed, raising both fists to the sky in what turned out to be premature celebration. Springing out from the wall of airborne sand around him, an osprey descended on Po and wrapped its talons around his arms. As the panda fought to free himself, the raptor began an aggressive vertical ascent, pulling the bear's weight upward with ease. As he watched the ground disappear into the storm below, Po quickly devised a plan to free himself. Pulling hard with his entangled arms, the osprey's head was jerked downward - just low enough to be within striking distance. The Dragon Warrior kicked upward, planting his shin right under the avian's beak. A moment later, his feathered assailant stopped flapping its wings, and the talons began to loosen their grip.
"Ha! Take that, you stupid- oh wait..."
Po fell out of the bird's hold and plummeted back to the ground; by sheer luck, he happened to land on an unfortunate desert bear that had been dueling with Tigress. The smaller bear let out a pained groan as he was utterly crushed under the force of a panda falling at near-terminal velocity. Tigress just shrugged off the odd development and moved on to her next opponent, or more accurately, her next victim.
"You're welcome..." Po sighed, also not feeling too great; it hadn't been like he'd landed on a pillow, after all.
As he struggled to stand back up, Crane came into view just as Tigress had left. Grasping a stray spear with his foot, the bird was balancing himself on only one leg; he didn't even take notice of Po, as he almost immediately interlocked his weapon with that of a determined steppe badger. The panda soon discovered he had his own problems, too, when the sandstorm spat forth a charging yak that was coming at him on all fours. Doing his best not to panic, Po waited until the last second to duck right as the bovine jumped at him; the devastating strike landed not on the panda, but on the ill-fated bear behind him, who had just begun to get up from being crushed the first time.
Crane had since managed to force both blade-ends of the interlocked spears towards the dirt below, and his face was now unusually close to the badger's. Giving an awkward, uncomfortable chuckle, the avian proceeded to reverse his entire body using the weapon as a pivot, knocking the badger down from behind. The mammal jumped up much quicker than he expected, however, and sliced off a few of Crane's contour feathers with a small blade. Falling backwards, the bird instinctively reacted by kicking the weapon away from the badger's grasp. The deflective expert also came up from the ground quickly, but was relieved to discover he'd received a much-needed assist from the Dragon Warrior. Po had engaged the badger in unarmed combat, where the superior training of the panda quickly prevailed.
Using his well-tempered bear style, Po timed his strikes well and used his opponent's against him. Finishing with a roundhouse kick, the now-senseless badger was knocked back to form a neat pile with the other incapacitated attackers. As if right on cue, the bird and panda heard a distant scream that grew progressively louder, and a steppe wolf came barreling through the air and landed nearby. The storm soon revealed the source of his defeat, as Tigress slowly came into view, the strong winds blowing against her recently acquired dark clothing. A few rays of sunlight penetrated the hostile weather environment as the storm weakened, highlighting the unusual golden symbol on the midnight-blue robes.
As the air became clear once more, Crane was the first to speak up.
"Po, we can't keep going on like this; well-trained as we are, we just can't."
"Hey, is it my fault that everyone we meet wants to kill us?" The panda shook some of the sand out of his fur.
"Crane has a point - we can't expect to just walk into Khanbaliq." Tigress said, finishing off the wolf she had thrown earlier with a punch to the face.
Po was surprised to see that Tigress was now looking to him for a plan - for leadership. This was unexpected, as she had been making all the decisions so far. Even though he outranked her, Po always understood that it was in her nature to lead, as it was what she was raised to do; besides, he was perfectly content to let the tiger take point - he'd long since learned that leadership is hard. But now, she seemed willing to cede him that great responsibility, unprepared as he was in the moment.
"Well, see... about that..."
Crane was now also giving Po the same look.
"We could make a plan, but we have to actually get there first, right?" the panda said, making it painfully obvious he had no idea how they were going to complete the mission.
"So be it." the tiger-style master deadpanned, pausing before once more heading in the direction of the Mongol capital.
Mei Ling watched as an anomaly danced on the distant horizon. From the high ramparts of the Khanbaliq citadel, she watched as the daylight reflected unusually on what appeared to be a tan cloud. Although, it didn't appear to be a cloud, as it had erratically moved left and right over time, but always stayed close to the ground.
Having spent all night futilely attempting the unusual task given to her by the Khan, the cat had long since given up. She'd passed the time watching the sun on its gradual daytime journey across the sky from her improvised perch on one of the fortress' parapets, all the while lost in thought; it hadn't yet occurred to her that she'd been up for almost a whole day. Now that the sun was getting close to setting, she had shifted her attention to this odd little speck on the horizon; someone had just joined her on the narrow terrace, but she didn't bother turning to face them, for she knew exactly who it was.
"It's a sandstorm - they blow in from the desert from time to time... not very fun to fight in."
"Hello, father."
Gan nearly winced from the animus in her tone. "I see you received my message."
"I'm here, aren't I?" the golden cat answered, as her father gave a conceding exhale.
"I came to tell you that I'll be leaving Khanbaliq for a few days; Zhenjin has asked me to join him on a scouting mission - his sister's probably gotten under his fur again."
Mei Ling got up, so that both cats now stood precariously close to the edge of the terrace. From a distance, such a feat would seem death-defying, but their feline balance made this display rather effortless.
"What ever happened to 'we're not on speaking terms'..." she prodded.
Damn, she definitely has her mother's hearing. I should have known...
"Heh, I wasn't aware you heard all that... apologies about Yuelen, she doesn't trust easily."
The mention of the snow leopardess' name bothered the golden cat deeply; it had sounded like the way a parent would speak of his daughter.
How fondly that cat spoke of him - almost as if he's learned to be a father somewhere along the way. Figures.
The subtle flicking of the female cat's large ears betrayed her inner frustrations.
"What is it?"
"When the Khan releases me from his service, I won't stay here."
The leopard began to look down and scratch at the fur of his inner forearm, as if there was something interesting to look at there. "This is your home, is it not?"
"This hasn't been my home for twenty years - there's nothing for me here." She paused, waiting patiently for Gan to look her in the eyes. "I know you don't love me, father. You never have."
"Kökejin-"
"Do not call me by that name. That naive little girl died with her mother."
The snow leopard stepped back a little, deeply hurt by her words. He waited a long time before speaking, just looking at his golden cat daughter.
"I... I wasn't much older than you when I killed my father. It's what Mongolia can do to people... I tried to spare you from this life, to keep you from becoming me."
Mei Ling turned away in disgust. "Don't force me to stomach your lies. What you did was never about 'protecting' me. I realized long ago that you and the Khan just wanted me to become another one of your weapons."
"Then why did you come - why have you stayed?" Gan muttered, even more wounded than before.
"Because fortunately for you, there was nothing left for me in China, either."
The leopard lowered his head in surrender, and the golden cat leapt from the edge; gracefully diving toward the lower city below, she landed undaunted on a rooftop after several flips.
The first breath of morning air that Crane took in after waking up was near-freezing. As his neck started to emerge from under his wing, he found his entire body to be stiff and sore; now he wished he'd just stayed asleep. He jabbed his wings out from his sides a few times to try and warm up, but this only succeeded in making him colder. There was a hint of light on the horizon, but morning was still a ways off. Po was obviously still deep in sleep, as his snoring was shaking the ground all around the avian, causing the joints of his thin legs to stiffen. As he took in his bearings, he also picked out Tigress, who was perched atop a nearby rock.
The feline wasn't in any meditative or Tai Chi position, but in a relaxed reclined posture instead. She was holding a single paw out in front of her face, slowly watching as the rising sun crept its way into the minuscule gaps between her digits and claws. Something about seeing her in this unusually mellow capacity emboldened the bird to speak to her.
"It's not like you to not be meditating at this hour…"
"It's not like you to have the courage to speak to me alone – guess we're both out of practice." The feline sheathed her claws and began to get up from where she was sitting, expecting that to be the extent of their 'talk.'
Crane watched as her gaze shifted to something behind them.
She's looking at Po's wound, has to be. Guess now's as good a time as any.
"There's something I wanted to know, if you don't mind."
Tigress just stood still, her lack of a response seeming to give him permission to continue.
"I assume you told Po the truth about the wound?"
Tigress seized up in the middle of taking a breath, and her lip furrowed over in a way unlike anything Crane had seen on her features before; it caused her whiskers to point at a depressive downward angle as her eyes shifted away from the avian master, and off to the darkened horizon opposite the rising sun.
"How did you know about that?" she asked weakly. "I thought… I thought-"
"Come on, Tigress. After all the years we've trained together, do you really think I wouldn't recognize those claw marks anywhere?"
"Then why did you lie about it to Po?" she spat out, stumbling over her words.
"I wanted you to tell him when you were ready. And like I said," the bird asserted, "I assumed you told him the other day after the fight."
The last icy breeze of night came over the steppe – a final assault before surrendering to the coming warmth of daylight; it unsettled their collective feathers and fur. The feline's eyes had still not returned to Crane's.
"Yes, I… I did tell him."
Crane nodded a little at this admission. "How did he take it?"
"You know Po... he forgave me instantly, like nothing ever happened. I can't say I would have done the same had our places been switched." She took a deep, slow breath. "I just don't understand how he does it... after everything that's happened to him, how he continues to be that way..."
The defensive master gave a prolonged exhale as he paused to look down at the talons of his feet. "You know, I think in times like this, it's important to remember the reason Po is the Dragon Warrior - it never had much to do with Kung Fu. We all learned that, in time."
Tigress sighed. "You're not wrong... but I understood such things far too late."
Crane tilted his head to the side with determined inquisitiveness. "And does that… bother you? Does it bother you that rage could cloud your judgement?" His aggressive questioning had once more caught her entirely by surprise, but the avian wasn't letting up. "Does it bother you that Po has the title - not because his Kung Fu is superior - but because he is at peace with himself?"
I never knew Crane could cut this deep... I used to know the answers to these questions; now, I don't know anything for sure.
The avian could see the feline's chest starting to rise and fall at a faster rate than before, and her ears flattened to her head solemnly. A moment earlier, he'd been ready to receive an angry punch from the tiger for his prying, but instead she just stood there, at a complete loss for words. He'd seen this side of Tigress only once before, and that was back when she'd thought Po was dead because of her own failure; and it was then that Crane recognized this spectacle for what it was... it was an emotion. It was guilt. For the briefest passing moment, the bird swore that he could see the beginnings of tears start to well up in a pair of bottomless yellow and amber eyes.
The rustling sound of Po awakening behind the two prompted the tiger to jolt her head to the side and preserve her dignity. Recovering quickly, she looked as normal as possible before the panda was fully awake.
"Morning guys, what's up?" he asked in oblivious eagerness.
"Nothing." the bird and feline answered in perfect sync.
Author's Notes:
- I ended up mentioning quite a few different species of animals that were involved in this opening sandstorm fight; and you didn't read that wrong, the Gobi bear was smaller than Po (fun fact: they're actually the rarest bears on Earth, and live in this unique desert-steppe environment)
- Tigress ceding the leadership role to Po is a big deal, but I'm not trying to claim she's never done this before; she followed Po's lead in training the panda village in KFP3 (but let's be honest, he had a lot of help in that situation)
- I believe Po definitely has it in him to be a leader, but just like with learning to be a teacher, he's reluctant to stray from what is easy to go to that "next level"
- Ultimately, the whole situation is more reflective of the fact that Tigress no longer thinks she's able or fit to lead
- It seems female cats with paternal issues is becoming a growing trend now... What is it, like, three of them now? lol
- Mei Ling's birth name comes from the name of an actual Mongolian princess that lived around this time period; this is another instance where I just thought the name was cool - and there's no need to read too much into the meaning
- Based on this conversation between Mei Ling/Kökejin and her father, you probably have a better picture of what her backstory looks like, although I'm still holding out on giving details until Crane comes into the picture ;)
- And speaking of Crane... he's much more observant/astute than most expect - he's been aware of what's going on with Tigress from the start; like Tigress says, he knows how to cut deep, and get right to what is really eating at her
- I took Tigress' "Does it bother you" line from the KFP2 boat scene and turned it on its head here; it just felt appropriate :)
- Thanks again to my readers and reviewers - the support is awesome! Hope everyone's 2019 is off to a good start!