Chapter 23
As I looked deeper into the forest there was a flash of white that seemed to be in the shape of a crane. The crane seemed to be six-seven ft, their feathers were a beautiful snow white with black feathers on the crown of its head also with the three feathers on its wings. The cranes cautiously come over, their long legs grazed across that grass. Each step seemed hesitant, scared almost. Ari sniffled the air as Cho walked back up with a bucket of what looked like small minnows,
"Here," Cho said as he held out the bucket. I looked at him a little confused. Cho grabbed a good sized minnow and handed it to me. The crane let out a chirp and tilted its head as it stared at the fish in my hand. I held out the fish wondering if the crane would take it,
"It's okay you can have it," I gently confirmed. The crane snatched the fish out of my hand and ran back to the bamboo forest,
"Well that's a start," Cho sighed
"What do you mean," I questioned
"She's always been skittish. Scared of anyone else except for me,"
"Aren't cranes normally skittish though?" I asked as I gave some of the smaller cranes the minnows that were felt in the bucket,
"Come help me set up the meditation spot for when your friends get back with the supplies" Cho said as he strolled over to his work station. I followed him wondering what he had planned,
"You can set the bucket here," Cho said as he pointed at the end of the small table. He was working at the alchemy set that was scattered around the dark oak wood table. Ari softly whined as I plopped the bucket down then rejoined Cho at the alchemy set. He was crushing a few flowers until it was a paste. I handed him a jar that he was looking at,
"Oh thank you," Cho smiled as he took the jar and poured the flower paste inside
"Hey Cho? About my question last night," I quietly brought it up. Cho hummed in response wanting me to continue,
"What is a Lore walker exactly?" I asked not wanting to sound like an idiot,
"A lore walker is a pandaren that studies pandaren history. Some travel and collect old pieces of armor, scrolls, trinkets and many more things that could belong to our ancestors. Others stay in old libraries in temples and decipher what the ancient scrolls mean,"
"So like a historian" I said as I drew a comparison between a librarian or a professor that educated others on history, old tales, myths, relics that they could get their hands on, and took pride in teaching or telling the stories of old to whoever would listen,
"Is that what Alliance calls them?" Cho asked
"Yes, I think you would like Pandaren liberian back where I'm from. She has the large scrolls that she was able to bring from the wandering isles. The paper that was used for the scrolls are thick too. She has one displayed behind her desk, the scroll is about as tall as this table and it almost looks like a painting with how detailed the depiction is,"
"What is the depiction of?"
"It was a serpent but it had four legs, had whiskers like koi fish, horns that swapped back, and had this large mane that wrapped around its neck and down its back" I said trying to remember the large scroll that was hung behind the librarian's desk. How the aged paper was well preserved and how the brush strokes of the creature. However the ink was faded in some spots. But you could still see how its body was weaved through clouds like a sea snake moving through water. The creature's mane seemed to flow across the parchments. When my mother would bring me with her into the library to check out a couple books or to do her book club, she would either put me in the short story section or she would sit me at the librarian's desk. I briefly remember how she would be so happy when I would ask about the tapestries, paintings, or want to hear the stories and history on the wandering isles. How she started to give Ari treats every time I would stop by after dropping off my mothers quilts at her friend's small shop in Stormwind,
"That sound like a Cloud Serpent" Cho said as he rubbed his chin in deep thought
"A Cloud . .. . . What?" I wondered what he was talking about. Cho told me to stay put and walked up to his hut to grab something. I sighed quietly when Ari walked up then laid next to my feet with a soft whine,
"It's going to be okay Ari just a little longer then we can go for a small walk okay," I gently comforted Ari knowing he was getting a little restless from being stuck in one spot for so long. He knew that we would be on our 3 mile walk by now. It was part of my morning routine at this point, I would give myself enough time to do my hair and get dressed then take Ari out for a walk, and whatever my parents needed if that was getting wood or this for the house. The sweet thing about Ari was that he never left my side either if I was sick or just going to the bathroom. A sigh left my lips as I stretched, feeling a little stiff from sleeping on the rock hard ground. I was really starting to miss the comfort of my bed, how the soft quilts draped over my body and how my bed held my tired limbs. The way my family's house gently creaked under my fathers steps, my mothers soft singing voice that would always fill my ears. I knew that I was starting to get home sick. I noticed the Cho was walking back with a scroll and a small worn out journal,
"I believe this will answer your questions Ava," Cho smiled as he laid out the scroll and the journal for me to look at. The scroll depicted a very similar creature that was on the large scroll that the old librarian had. The animal was long like a snake with legs, had pair of whiskers, horns the swooped back, but instead of a mane is had large ridges the seemed to go from the base of its neck down to its tail, and it also had hair from its eyebrows down around its mouth to its chin,
"Wow, its beautiful, its so detailed" I marveled on how the sketching almost looked like it was done by a professional
"Why thank you I like to thing my friend did a very well on this depiction of a the wild Cloud Serpent that he saw on his petrol" Cho smiled as he recalled the memory
"Who's your friend?" I asked wanting to know who on Azeroth drew this
"He is one of the stronger monks of the Shado-Pan. The Shado-Pan are the protectors of Pandaria," Cho answered with a smile accidentally dodging my question
"Protectors of Pandaria?" I questioned
"Yes, they are trained under some of the oldest training traditions in pandaria and the white tiger oversees their training himself. They may be few in number but they are a force to be reckoned with," Cho explained
"You still haven't told me who your friend is Lore walker,"
"Oh my apologies, his name is Taran Zun. He has quite the temper for a pandaren but when he is a good man under all his armor and tough exterior. He is also a very talented artist and started picking up wood carving when his patrols are slow," Cho said as he picked up the journal.
"What is the journal for?" I asked as he flipped through the warn pages
"I thought you would like to listen to something I found on one of my travels when I first became a lore walker," Cho said with a soft smile as he looked at that pages
"What did you find on your travels?" I questioned
"A poem I found in an old section of the Jade temple. I thought you would like to hear it," Cho disclosed as he finally stopped on a page that was near the end of the journal.
"Sure," I said as I leaned against the table. Cho cleared his throat and started,
"Upon the breath of drifting clouds,
Where storm and starlight weave their shrouds,
A serpent coils in skies untamed,
A jewel of winds, a soul unchained.
Its body, long—a river high,
A ribbon drawn against the sky.
Scales like mist in dawn's embrace,
Shifting hues, never traced.
Eyes of amber, gold, or jade,
Burning bright where tempests fade.
Its whiskers trail the rolling breeze,
Sighing soft through ancient trees.
A thousand colors light its crest,
Like autumn leaves upon its chest.
Its claws are sharp, yet never tread,
For sky alone must feel its step.
Thunder follows where it soars,
Yet none may catch the way it roars.
Like summer rain or lantern's glow,
It slips through hands that grasp below.
Seek not to own the fleeting sky,
For winds will never still for you.
Yet walk with honor, patience, grace,
And it may choose to fly with you."
Cho finished then closed the journal, "Never heard anything like it before,"
"The poet who wrote it definitely had an artistic take on the Cloud serpents, They come in many colors like gold that can shine like a well polished gold coin, a beautiful crimson red, blues that look like the ocean, green that reminds me of the jungles, and some of the rarer ones are scales like pearls, a deep pink, and midnight black," Cho said as he gathered a few candles and incense sticks. The colors that caught my attention were the last three.
"Black?" I questioned knowing that not very many animals were purely black
"Yes black is very rare. Some legions say they were born in the heart of a storm and would explain why they are so aggressive and even if a pandaren was able to tame one, my dear friend says it's like trying to get a stubborn oxen to do something it doesn't want to all of the time," Cho chuckled as he recalled the exchange as he walked up to the small hill to the red structure with a large hanging drum.