Chapter Seventeen: Introductions, Reunions
Perpetually under scrutiny from watchful Mongolian eyes, the three martial artists witnessed the tall grasslands around them become low-lying green hills; the peaks of which were sharp enough to grace mountaintops, and yet, they were still dwarfed by any foothills the masters had known from their native China. The elevation change was so insignificant that they could still see the desert sands being kicked up from windstorms in the distance behind them. The felines surrounding them were a sight all their own. Due to the chilled breeze that whipped between the rocky terrain, Po and Tigress fiercely envied the fact that these other mammals had significantly thicker fur than themselves; it gave them an exotically rugged complexion, the result of centuries of adaptation to the harsher milieu of the steppe.
While there would be an occasional shove or jab to keep the masters moving, the Mongols hadn't bothered to restrain their "captives," since it was evident that they hadn't possessed the means to do so in the first place. Trying to tie up the panda and the bird would be more of a chore than it was worth, and nothing less than steel chains could hold the tiger - so why bother? The contingent of soldiers, who had recently seen the majority of their number suffer an array of terrible fates, were eager to return to the safety of their capital's walls; as a result, the journey had been progressing quickly.
Along the way, Tigress had grown increasingly observant of the other tiger in the party; she'd never seen another of her own kind before, and he was anything but what she had expected. For one, the male tiger was larger than what her imagination had led her to believe. By the way he acted, he was clearly still young, and yet - she only barely stood above his shoulders, and his frame conveyed that he was capable of hitting with an immense amount of force. Nonetheless, she was confident that she could knock him to the ground in about five seconds. It was the other big cat - the leopard that seemed to be in command - that concerned her. He had something much deadlier than brute force: experience. If this odd, unlikely truce between themselves and the Mongols began to deteriorate in a hurry, she took note to make the cat with the twin blades her first priority in combat.
Zhenjin had since taken notice of the female's lingering eyes - they were unwelcome.
"Do you even know what that symbol means?" he asked, nudging his head toward the lower part of Tigress' garments.
Caught somewhat unprepared, the other tiger still managed to answer quickly. "No. The clothes were a gift from one of your subjects."
"One of my subjects? You speak as if my reputation precedes me."
Tigress shook her head. "It doesn't have to - you are clearly a prince of this realm."
Zhenjin wasn't sure whether to take this as a compliment or an insult, since her tone had surrendered no emotion whatsoever. She was still looking in his direction, head turned to the side; but he did not do the same - preferring to gaze forward somewhat blankly.
"You're not wrong. I am Zhenjin, first issue of the Khan of Khans - I will be the next ruler of Mongolia, the Ilkhanate, and China." the Siberian tiger proudly answered, injecting extra aggression into the last part; Tigress restrained herself from growling.
Like hell you will be.
The young prince grinned in satisfaction, as if he could hear her thoughts.
"I'm Tigress." the smaller striped feline answered, trying to be somewhat polite.
Now the male turned his head too, raising a brow. "Really? That's your name?" he asked, beginning to chuckle.
The hostility blossoming in the female's eyes showed him she was serious; but to her dismay, this only made him laugh harder. And for whatever reason, not seeing him back down made the dauntless cat want to retreat deep within herself. Po, who had been closely following this discourse from the start, came to his friend's defense.
"Hey guy - are you gonna explain the symbol or what?" he interjected. Although she refused to show it, Tigress was grateful for the respite Po provided.
As the panda had hoped, Zhenjin abandoned his teasing laughter when recalling what had started the conversation in the first place. Collecting himself, the tiger studied the interwoven golden lattice that hung between Tigress' legs, swaying with each of her austere strides.
"It is the Ulzii Khee - a symbol of tremendous importance to our people; it represents happiness and unity."
Without warning, the leopard with the twin blades began to speak as well. "The Endless Knot is about being at peace with oneself, the ideal harmony between wisdom and compassion." he added as he walked next to Crane and the other soldiers. "If you truly received that outfit as a gift - and not lied to us like you Chinese often do - then you should be very honored."
Tigress just glared down at the symbol in bewilderment, unsure what to make of these revelations.
Happiness, compassion, harmony - hardly what I'm feeling these days.
Her tail started to hurt again, stubbornly refusing to heal; the tiger winced as she began to walk with a slight limp.
Having chosen to silently observe all the while, Crane was surprised that the Mongol next to him had just mentioned such philosophical terms; like everyone else in China, he'd grown up believing that the Mongols were nothing but barbarians. They were the mindless boogeymen from the northern lands - surely not a people that could understand such complexities as artistic expression. Inspecting the comparatively colossal leopard to his side, he internally guffawed at the notion of a person like this trying to interpret one of his paintings back at the Jade Palace.
By mid-afternoon, the pass through the hills began to widen once more into flat terrain. And there, in the distance, the masters could see it for the first time - Khanbaliq. Resting broadly on the level contour of the steppe, the wide sprawl of the city extended outwards for quite a ways. It was the exact opposite of the last large settlement they had seen, and instead of the high, impregnable stone walls of Xiangyang, there were only low-lying battlements of compacted earth; the inevitable trade-off for sustaining a rapidly expanding settlement in this resource-poor region. Columns of smoke rose up from the city, the sole blemishes upon the boundless cerulean sea above.
As the returning patrol drew nearer to their place of origin, the masters began to make out a two-tiered inner city complex, consisting of a large palace built in the Chinese style with a burnished copper-colored facade, and a slightly elevated stonework citadel. These buildings, obviously the most important in town, flanked each other on opposing sides of a central reservoir lake. Flying high over the walls and structures of the settlement were countless indigo colored banners; they bore the unmistakable white insignia of a sphere resting over a crescent - the mark of the Mongolian royal line, which each of the soldiers around them had stamped upon their thick lamellar armor. Seeing the masters unable to mask their amazement at the sight of the Khan's city gave the soldiers a smug, prideful edge.
The pathway beneath them became a steady dirt road, the likes of which had grown unfamiliar to the masters; they began to pass laborers toiling in mostly-barren farm fields, obviously inadequate to support a settlement this size for an extended period of time. Approaching the nearest main gate of Khanbaliq, the guards on duty moved to impede their entry; but after recognizing the two male felines at the head of the patrol, they bowed and backed away quickly, not wanting any trouble from their superiors.
Almost immediately after entering the settlement, people began to notice the foreigners' presence, often stopping to gawk at them for several moments. It was likely that, just as the masters had never - until very recently - seen a Mongol before, these people had never met actual Chinese citizens either. Tigress hated having all of these eyes on them; as far as she was concerned, this was never a good thing. Conversely, Po was reveling in all the attention, offering numerous inelegant hellos that were not returned. It was soon clear that most of the townspeople's bafflement centered around the panda; they had seen tigers and birds all their lives - but never anything that looked remotely like Po.
The street opened into a large square, with the massive palace they had seen earlier on the other side. The square itself would have been more impressive had there not been countless temporary dwellings and campfires set up every few feet; these were not occupied by townsfolk, but by lightly armored soldiers instead. Almost exclusively snow leopards, their massive numbers indicated that perhaps an entire army was being housed within the city. The spears at their backs and the unwelcome glares from the surrounding brutes as the masters were led to the large structure gave them an unmistakable aura of deja vu.
"Po, now might be a good time to divulge this plan of yours." Crane said to the panda in a harsh whisper.
"Ah, right." Po began to answer. "We can't do anything until we put eyes on the weapon - so just... play it cool until then, ok?"
"Play it cool? I don't think we have a choice..." the bird said, taking in the sight of hundreds of Mongolian warriors around them.
Eventually they reached the far side of the open area, where Zhenjin led the way up some steps to the palace doors. Most of what was left of the patrol had since diffused into the large gathering of troops, and it was now just the Mongol prince and the leopard with the twin blades accompanying the foreigners. Reaching the top of the steps, which weren't even numerous enough for Po to complain about, the five of them were stopped by the most pathetic looking desert jackal that the masters had ever seen. The meager canine paced up to them and addressed the prince directly.
"What's the meaning of this? The Khan's court is not to be interrupted at this time!"
"Stand aside, Tsaagan." Zhenjin muttered, annoyed.
The jackal stiffened his posture. "Might I remind you, Jinong, that my orders come not from you, but from the Khan himself?"
The male tiger sighed loudly and, right as Tsaagan was about to blabber on again, shoved the small canine roughly to the side and approached the doors. The masters followed the Mongol heir inside the building, and so did the jackal, albeit reluctantly. At either side of the main entryway were towering condors, who each did a double-take when seeing the same foreigners they'd dropped over the Gobi Desert more than a week before. Immediately after the first doors were yet another set, and here the tiger seemed to hesitate for just an instant, but then determinedly shoved them open nonetheless; creating a loud creak and revealing a bizarre scene to the Chinese foreigners.
The room within was dark, due to an insufficient number of lanterns and sconces within, and the ceiling was low - unlike the Chinese palaces they had seen before. An uncomfortable amount of smoke hung in the warm air, accompanied by the low, guttural sounds of an unfamiliar instrument that would come in long, fluttering notes. The masters' eyes adjusted slowly, and they initially could not make out the occupants of the room - only loose shapes and silhouettes clustered about. Looking downward, Crane's superior avian vision was the first to come into focus.
A decorated throne room extended before them, comprised of smooth stone walls and supports of stained redwood. The floor was occupied by well-to-do and important looking individuals who were lazily reclining on floor pillows; the opium pipes they smoked revealed the source of the thick vapors polluting the room. Having stood still for too long, Gan gave Po a shove from behind, and everyone started walking forward.
"Not a word, you three. We'll do the talking." the prince said with a half-glance behind in the masters' direction.
At the room's far wall, there was a raised platform with a large wooden throne; the newcomers could only assume that the person sitting in it now must be the Khan. Even from afar, they could see he had an impressive physique, but a ray of shade obscured his face - his luminescent eyes the only discernible trace of his visage. To the left and right of the throne were various other dignitaries and officials clamoring for his attention; but his eyes were not on them - fixed instead on the Chinese from the first moment they'd entered the room.
By the time the masters were halfway into the darkened area, most of the occupants had acknowledged their presence, and the musicians had stopped playing; the subtle mutterings of the Mongolian nobles were the only sounds remaining. As Crane passed by a leopardess on the floor, she began to giggle lightly, grabbing his attention.
"Hello again, pretty bird." she said, blowing a perfect ring of noxious smoke around Crane's beak.
When the vapor reached his nares, his lungs soundly rejected it, resulting in a loud, honking sneeze. The same leopardess who'd inflicted the wound to his wing laughed wildly at this, under the potent influence of the burning opium. Shaking his head and knowing now wasn't the time or place to settle his score with her, Crane continued walking along with the others. Nearing the throne at last, Tigress noticed that there were soldiers moving in the recesses of the dark chamber to their right, mirroring their steps closely as they approached the Khan. Looking to the left side, she found the same to be true there as well. The bodyguards were likely eagerly awaiting the kill order from their lord. Taking one last glance in their direction, she caught a glimpse of their tails - striped, just like hers.
The masters knew when to stop pacing forward when Zhenjin and Gan abruptly halted, kneeling before the throne. Unsure of whether to mimic these actions or not, the foreigners just stood there awkwardly. The bodyguards that had been watching them so closely up to this point filed in from either side of the throne and flanked the raised area where the Khan sat. Now standing in more light than before, they were revealed to be wearing heavy steel armor and bronze masks sculpted in the form of tiger faces.
Seeing the Chinese refusing to kneel, Tsaagan stood before them and began to speak in a loud authoritative tone.
"Outlanders, you stand before Khasar, Khan of Khans - Lord of Mongolia, Persia, Rus, Samarkand, Anatolia, and Crimea; honorary ruler of the Golden Horde, the Ilkhanate, and Chagatai. Show him the proper respect, or face his wrath."
Crane and Po lowered themselves without further hesitation; Tigress didn't budge. The golden eyes perched in the shaded throne tilted to the side, amused at her defiance; but after another moment, and a concerned look from Po, she too knelt before the ruler. Zhenjin was the first to stand and speak.
"Father, we discovered these foreigners in the lands to the northwest. They requested to be brought to you at once."
"And you did as they asked?" a husky voice questioned almost mockingly from the throne. "Why?"
Gan rose and stepped forth to be at the prince's side. "If I may speak on your son's behalf, my lord, it was not that simple. There were some... complications."
"What kind of complications?" Khasar growled, even more annoyed than before. Tigress thought she could see a familiar shade of ashen-grey fur from where she knelt.
"The flesh eaters have returned; they've arisen as a result of the famine, no doubt."
The Khan and his adviser began to discuss the apparent food shortage in terminology that made little sense to the masters, and as they did so, Crane's eyes began to once again wander about the room once more. His gaze drifted to and fro, until abruptly stopping when spying a pair of large, dark brown ears.
Mei Ling seized up at once - she knew he'd seen her.
No no no... not here, not now, not like this...
The golden cat turned her head to the side, and backed further into the darkness. No matter what, she would refuse to meet his glare; she couldn't give him any certainly of her identity. Her canine fangs dug into her lower lip in a nervous panic as infinite moments continued to pass. Crane knew he was staring, but he really didn't care; some fragment of his very soul - a childlike hopefulness - was compelling him to peer into the darkness at this familiar figure. But his focus was forced back towards the throne as Gan had since stepped aside.
Khasar rose from his throne and took a half-stride forward, bringing his full body into the torchlight. The three masters almost jumped up to fight when their eyes were met with the near spitting-image of Tai Lung. But this impulse faded away, as they saw he was not the disgraced warrior back from the dead; his fur was thicker, his build smaller, and his voice - while similar - was not the same as the infamous son of Shifu. His whiskers were spread freely on each side of his maw, whereas Tai Lung's had been tamped downward. The ruler was dressed in a black and brown tunic that bore the same golden Ulzii Khee mark as Tigress' outfit.
But despite these differences, the way the ruler spoke and carried himself - even the two small fangs that rose up from his lower jaw - were eerily reminiscent of a terror the masters had seen defeated years before.
"As I understand," Khasar started, addressing the masters directly for the first time, "the arrangement you made with my son ensured your protection - so long as you were taken to see me. Well, here I am."
As soon as he finished, the masked guards around the masters drew their longsabers and edged in on them, cutting off any possible route of escape. Tigress and Crane immediately were at each other's backs against the bodyguards, but Po surprised just about everyone by jumping forward to the Khan.
"Easy there, buddy! We don't want any trouble - just here to retrieve something." the panda started, attempting to bargain with the ruler, who hadn't even flinched. "This is Masters Crane and Tigress, and I'm Po, the Dragon Warrior."
Warrior? He's a panda! What's a panda going to do in battle - sit on the enemy?
"How interesting..." Khasar said halfheartedly as he reached for the grip of his saber, preparing to decapitate this foolish panda in a single strike.
But before he could do so, he caught a glimpse of the jade eyes before him, and was ensnared by them. The guards were waiting for their Khan to make the first move, but it did not come. Khasar had seen those eyes before - they haunted his dreams.
The visions - the prophecy...
In a frenzy of movement, his eyes darted about the room - from Po's monochrome fur, to the unwilted black and white lotus on a table in the far corner, and then to the Argali sheep huddled amongst the other court officials. Gazing at Subutai, the leopard's jaw parted open just a little, in utter disbelief of his own sudden revelation. The shaman gave a subtle - but definitive - nod, and Khasar's attention returned to Po. His paw released the saber grip as he determined what to say next.
"Welcome to Khanbaliq, outlanders."
The guards and the court officials alike looked at each other in confusion. The Khan then addressed the room as a whole. "The Chinese shall be my guests of honor. From henceforth they are under my protection - no harm comes to them without my approval."
Although in complete bewilderment at this about-face by the ruler, the masters were relieved to see the entire room kneel at the Khan's decree. Immediately following this, the court started to erupt with smaller discussions and gossip, and Khasar turned to the jackal beside him.
"Tsaagan - see to the needs of our new guests; this doesn't change our plans to feast tomorrow."
The jackal took a disapproving glance at the masters, but nodded in submissive understanding to his lord all the same. Khasar began to retreat back to his throne, and the three Chinese foreigners were escorted towards the exit by the guards. Tigress was consumed by a concerned skepticism of the recent developments, while Po was just excited to be not dead and attending a feast in the near future. Crane, however, could think of nothing but the figure he had seen for the briefest of moments.
"What are you not telling me, father?" Zhenjin demanded.
Only the Khan's family, Ganbataar, and Subutai remained in the now-deserted throne room. Unbeknownst to them, a golden cat still lingered in the shadows, overhearing their combative discourse.
"You are my son. What kind of a father would I be to keep secrets from you?"
Yuelen smiled intensely at this.
"Then tell me why you allowed those filthy Tang ren to live!" the young tiger fired back.
The ruler let out an irritated groan from his reclined position in his throne. "It's quite simple, actually. These foreigners are obviously important individuals within China - the very country I plan to invade. Whether for intelligence or bargaining power, they will prove useful in time."
"That... does make sense..." Zhenjin said, apparently accepting his father's lies. "My apologies for doubting you, my Khan."
Gan and Subutai, who knew the Khan better than his own son ever would, were aware that there was far more at play than what Khasar had stated - but they did not dare speak up in disagreement at a time like this. Yuelen, still somewhat dazed from the opium, just watched the whole spectacle with amusement. Nadya was unsure of the discourse, and sat in contemplative silence, making a mental note to have a chat with her husband later on.
Having seen quite enough, Mei Ling moved stealthily from her hiding place to the exit. Reaching the open night air unscathed, she began to take in deep breaths, trying to come to grips with all that happened in the last hour. Crane - the bird she'd naively fallen in love with all those years ago at Lee Da - had come back into her life... right as she was about to accept that he was gone forever. The shock of it was crushing her. Likewise, she reached up with her paws, smashing her ears flat against the top of her head in frustration.
"I like the outfit - feathers are a nice touch." came a voice above and behind her. In her overwhelmed state, she hadn't noticed the avian who'd been perched above the doorway the entire time. As she turned around slowly, paws still on her head, the bird dropped down without the use of his wings, and seemed to stumble slightly in pain as a result.
"Xian... I-" the cat began, but realized she had no idea what to say.
Crane came closer, so that they could see each other clearly, even in the moon-less dark of night. The bird hadn't aged too badly since Mei Ling had last seen him, but he looked beaten up and run down, with muddied feathers and a makeshift bandage over his wing.
"I'd always hoped to see you again, Mei, but... but I hadn't imagined it would be like this." The bird tilted his neck slightly, and she could see that one of his eyes did not seem to open all the way. "Have you sided with these Mongols?"
As badly as she wanted to - and she almost did - the golden cat couldn't deny this outright. After seeing her failure to do so, Crane looked down and shook his head weakly.
"N-nothing makes... any sense..." he trailed off, legs beginning to wobble as they refused to support his body any longer.
In another instant, Crane collapsed towards the ground; two brown-furred arms embraced his form as he slipped into unconsciousness.
Author's Notes:
- Surprise - I'm alive! In all seriousness, though, I did not intend for this gap between updates to be even longer than the previous one; but in retrospect, it does not surprise me - I've been crazy busy as of late, and that reality unfortunately is reflected in my update schedule
- Want to hear some irony? If you recall from last update, I started a poll to determine if a TiPo or non-TiPo sentiment was in the majority, since I couldn't decide myself; and the result is (drum-roll, please)... a tie! A damn tie! How is this possible?! I suppose you guys, like me, can't decide on TiPo or no TiPo either... guess I'll just have to figure it out as I go along (may just leave it open-ended)
- In regards to the depictions of local geography and the city of Khanbaliq itself, I ended up doing a stupid amount of research to ensure a semi-accurate description for the time period, including details like the positioning of the palace and the reservoir lake within the city walls; in retrospect, I don't really know why I bother to do all this, since it's not like I'm writing historical fiction or anything XD
- So with this chapter, I have at last completely brought the two sides of the story into direct contact with each other... only took me more than 50K words to do it, lol
- I did finally give the Khan's jackal servant a name in this update - all credit goes to The Grey Coincidence for coming up with the name Tsaagan
- The Khan's actual name is revealed here as well, and I chose to wait until now so it feels just a little bit like the readers are meeting him for the first time just like the masters are; his name can mean "archer" or, somewhat ironically, "a fearsome dog" - either way, I thought it was a cool name
- I'd love to promise that the next update won't take near as long as this one, but unfortunately I can't make any promises of anything, only that I will never give up on this story until it's done (as a reader, I've seen far too many authors abandon their projects)
- And as always, my deepest thanks to you, the people who take the time to read this story - you're the best!