Failed Story 1

[Ciata]

Events in this story, much like Star Trek, Enterprise, are not official story canon, characters mentioned here are not the same as could be mentioned elsewhere.


Journal entry 358, midfall, night of waning cresent.

"It almost seemed like a joke at the time, something put up by my friends and family to poke a bit of fun at me because of my name. I got that a lot up to a few years ago, before all the tragedy and war. It's odd, though fun a times, to share the name of the leader of your country, the last Diacanos. Not to say I went by it, it's almost blasphemy to go around calling yourself by the name of the leader of your country, so I always went by my middle name, Bin-Ja, or just Bin. But that wasn't the name that got me where I am today, no, Opalance, the family name that is somehow barely the same as our former leader's. When word goes out that they are looking for a leader of a small town, you expect every single old goat who sits on a stool all day, solving the problems of the world, or every hot head, to apply. Apparently all the old couldn't be bothered to make the trip all the way to the opposite side of the country, and you have to actually be a proper citizen of your tiny village to be eligable. Most of the smart or ambitious young males leave and go to the big city to make their fortunes, leaving only the boring few.

Gah, look at me, I'm already rambling like a politian. Fact of the matter is, I showed up, half out of boredom, and the other half simply wanted to see the big city. I wondered why the people interviewing me had such odd and almost distressed looks on their faces when I walked in the room. I'm just a plain, thin, Ciatan. Young male, not a bold speaker or assertive, as they soon found out. I'm not even that good at martial arts, but as they let me know several times, I was the only one who applied. But yes, I got the position, by defualt, much to the suprise of everyone involved. The best part though, was when I got to meet the new emperor, Rowan Stormwake, First Emperor of New Ciata. He seemed a bit like me, kinda thrust into it all of a sudden, half by chance, half by luck, or all providence depending on who you ask. Young, though much better built and good looking and much more of a leader than me.

I had a long, lonely walk home after I was given my armour and weapons and uniforms for me and my lucky 4 friends I could drag into playing soldier for me. Best part though is that I got my own touzy. I always wanted my own big pet lizard to have and ride, but I had to wait until I got home to do so, because my poor thing had to carry all the stuff they gave me. I got so bored I came up with a name and about two dozen nicknames for him...or her, I'm not really sure yet, hard to tell with them. So I gave it a neutral name, Zig, because of the way it walks, kinda wanders a bit on the road back and forth. Anyway I had a very long 3 day trek to think and let sit in the new reality I have been shoved into. I still don't get it, they gave me a huge list of laws and responcibilites I have to uphold in Loran, Kang, my tiny little empty section of the empire. I don't even know where to start on them. Such a blur the last week, such a change from leaving home and coming back. Tomorrow I have to explain it all, but tonight, what's rest of it, I should try to sleep."

[Ciata]

Tomorrow came all too early to tired paws and weary eyes coming from sleeping with one open. The entire populous of the area descended upon him like ants to honey, nearly shaking the thatching off of his meager framed house.

"HAA! WHA?! What in the Way is going on!?" His head spins around trying to remember where he was before realizing that it was no earth quake, more like a noisy typhoon of villagers.
"So much for preparation. I'M AWAKE! Just hold on!" He staggers out of bed, dazed and annoyed at his sudden and rude awakening.
"Where did it gooo...You, OUT!" A young raccoon boy jerks his head back out from under one of the window flaps and starts yelling that he was awake.
"Gaaah...there it is." He finally finds and begins to throw on the new set of loose fitting light blue leather armor with a few dark metal studs, slipping into it and tightening the main straps and forgetting about the smaller ones and grabs his new sword, hurrying over to the door, shoving it into a strap one his left side. Throwing open the front door he is greeted by a virtual wall of intensely curious faces made up of every person he knew in the area, and some he could have sworn died or moved away. They hush for a second at his coming out and then burst out again, some laughing at him and the others posing a hundred different questions at once.
Totally at a loss of how to deal with the mass of some 70-80 creatures blasting him with questions he was saved by a loud rapping on his door post. The whole group begins to hush at this and Bin-Ja turns around to see Hahm, the village elder of sorts, a short, nearly doubled over ram, seemingly from the weight of his horns that make a full two spirals on either side.
"Quiiieet..." He yells as best he can in a scratchy voice that sounds like it is always riding on a bumpy road.
"Speak." He nods to Bin.
"Thank you Hahm. Um...I got the job..." "Obviously." Someone shoots back, starting up laughter that gets a glare from Hahm.
"I'm now the Prefect for Loran and the surrounding area."
"What's a Prefect?" A young voice asks.
"It's like a sheriff."
"What's a sheriff?" More laughter.
"He's part of the army..." "No, he's like a judge." "What does he actually do?" They start up again with questions that are settled down by a few knocks.
"I'm not part of any army, though I'm supposed to have a guard of my own. I'm supposed to be like a political leader of the village reporting to the Governor of the new state, Kang. I can also refer stuff to the nearest Magistrate if it also has to do with him." Bin tries to explain.
"How big is your army?" "Can I be in it?" "Who wants to be in the army?" A bunch of young voices chime in and small paws shoot up.
"No, no, no..." Bin shakes his head, "It's not an army, it's just four people that I can count on to help if something happens."
"What do they get? And what do you get?" A chorus of "Yeah" sounds off.
"There's a uniform, suit of armor, weapons, some authority, and a yearly...bonus I guess. Same goes for me. I could like make a small tax or something if I wanted, but I don't want to."
"Darn well better not!" "You also got that touzy." And more "Yeahs" and some shuffling about. "What do they have to do?" Another faceless voice shouts out.
"Just take turns being the guard on watch certain days with me, be able to defend the village, settle disputes, whatever." Bin's tone is finally getting stronger and fully awake and aware, beginning to get used to being asked all the questions, then came the question.

"What do we have to do now?" "Yeah, what's with the new government." "And this emperor." The crowd gets a bit more anxious.
"Uuuhhh...basically just keep on doing what we've always been doing. We're too small and don't have and resources to be taxed any. The government is very local, especially with the taxes. Only bigger Prefectures of cities pay any taxes to the state or larger city, mainly for protection and stuff. It's not like an emperor, "I'm a god" type emperor. I got to meet him and he seems normal and nice enough to me and there a lot, and I mean a lot, of people under and around him."
There is a blessed moment of silence before, "So...just back to normal then?" "Except four of us!" "You won't be one of them mister." etc.
They begin to disperse before Bin throws out, "Anyone interested in joining the guard, who is full grown, can just ask about it and...try out or something."

"Phew..." Bin plops down on the bench outside his door, just a few closer friends left by now, and begins to undo the straps on the thick, blue leather armor, tearing it off to his normal garnments.
"I'm burning up in this thing, it's warm for this time of year, right?"
A male adult opossum laughs and replies, "It's always hot for any time of the year for you."
"Ha ha, very funny Vivose, go hang from a tree or something." Bin sets down the mass of odd leather in a pile.
"You wouldn't think that a bit of lizard skin would be this heavy, or hot!" He pants.
"Your just not used to wearing it, over time you adjust, don't worry." A male panda throws in his advice.
"Weren't you in an army Galahad?"
"If by army you mean rabble of paranoid, war-crazed, fools, then yeah, he was." Viv answers for him.
"Hey, those paranoid fools probably saved your life and a lot lost theirs." Galahad throws back, his voice beginning to heat up.
"Come on guys, I don't need this, it's my first day on the job." Bin winks.
"Whatever, we'd better let you get hard at work then." With that Viv and the few others who remained mostly silent through all of that leave. Bin catches Galahad though on his way back into the village.
"Hey Galahad, seriously though, I need someone, and your like the only guy here who has any sort of experience in an army. I could really use your help."
Galahad doesn't turn around, "I'll think about Bin, I'm just not sure if I want to go play soldier again, not after what happened last time."
Bin nods, "I understand." And leans back against the side of his small thatched house on the edge of little Loran and breaths again, enjoying the returning quiet.

[Ciata]

*Gasp* "Aaah! What's in that?" Bin grimaces at the soaked bandage that was just applied to his right paw.
"It's two parts turmeric, one part salt and a dash of ginger. Excellent for your sore and swollen body parts." A barn owl spouts off the prescription with an almost too happy tone, half hopping back and forth between Bin seated at his table and labeling a small clay jay of with those very words.
"From the looks of things you'll be needing more if this if you keep on like your going. Bashing your paws into things all the time, heavens forbid I ever do such a thing with my delicate and nimble digits." He stops and looks at his own hand admiringly for a second before setting the jar down on the table next to Bin and starts to tie his bandage tight on his paw and starts up again.
"I can't see why you're going about it like that, the bone structure of felines is ill suited for such forms of combat. Your first set of knuckles are weak compared to other creatures. You especially have very thick pads, well suited for absorbing the weight and shock of impact." He lectures on while examining the form of the knot he meticulously tied.
Bin shrugs, "Well, eh Pasternak, I just went about it like I was told. They don't teach you palm stuff in basic combat."
"Oh please, just call me Doctor...Pasternak, yes, that'll do. Anyways you should talk to someone..." He ponders for a bit with a taloned finger at his chin. "Yeees, old Pa' Tung would be good, yes. He has a good palm from what I can tell...style that is. It would do well for you and your...meager frame, for your species that is, most are stouter, must be the warmer climate making thinner fat reserves and shorter fur...fascinating, but yes, you should go to him. He lives in a little house with a kiln in the back on the south, south, east side of town."
"South, south east? There's only like *counts on his paws* what, 13 buildings in the town itself, counting shacks."
"Well" He poofs his feather out a bit and huffs.
"Not to ruffle your feathers at all, just it would be easier to say the building with the kiln, or just old Pa' "
"Well alright, I'll try to keep things simple for you in the future." He calms down a bit.
"Anyways, what do I owe you for this?" He lifts up the jar with his left paw.
"Oh you can have that one, in honor of your new position and all, just don't expect me to treat you special in the future." He shakes a talon at the snow leopard sitting there.
"Alright, alright, no abusing authority and all that stuff. I'll go drop his off at home and let this swelling go down so I don't look like a fool." He waves his bandaged paw goodbye.
The honorable Doctor Pasternak mumbles something about being too late for that and goes back to his sorting and organizing.

[Ciata]

"Aaaaahh...such beauty." Bin leans back against the side of his on the slight incline overlooking much of the village from a slight angle, the sun setting beyond it in the jutting and bumpy gray and green hills and mountains beyond. He still wore his official unofficial uniform, loose brown pants, a light gray shirt hanging long over his wrists and waist, kept from flapping about by dark leather straps on his wrists and waist and a type of light blue mini-cape with the imperial emblem on a clasp in the front he took off of his armor. Everything the last couple days had gone so well and easily, the village not having any major, or even minor crises, even by their dull standards. With the first and second harvest past for the year in the warmer climate, fall was settling in and the temperatures were finally where he could enjoy them. His mind wandered freely though any objects and possible duties that came to it, finally settling on one, moderately pressing issue he needed to take care of.
He looks at his recently un-bandaged paw and flexed it "Well, I guess I can't really put it off any longer. Not much else to do this time of year." He takes another deep breath and stands up, stretching and tucking his sword into a loop in his belt, letting it dangle freely, before starting the short stroll down to the single building in Loran with a kiln of any sort.

By the time he got there the sun had nearly set and all the jars and pottery had been put away for the day. Because of his skill with shaping wet clay and the delicate designs old Pa' was able to still produce, he had a market for those outside the village to come and buy his wares. Pa' was about to close his doors for the early night when Bin arrived.
"Oh lookie what we've got here, heehee, I hope I didn't break some law I didn't know about or wot not." The stout, graying beaver half waddles over chuckling still wearing his apron covered in gray clay and his wading pants, similarly caked from a day of muddling about in the clay well in the back.
"Oh no, that's not it at all, a certain bird prescribed me to you saying you were a master in more than one area." Bin leans up against the door post.
"Oh? I'm not aware of such, at least I don't think so." He chuckles again.
"Well he said that you used your open palms for some type of martial arts." Bin looking a bit embarrassed.
"Oooooh...that. Well, it's not anything close to a fighting style if that's what you mean. It's just a graceful palm that potters teach their apprentices, teaches flowing movements and a steady, strong hand for shaping clay and scooping it up from the muck." He waves a paw back and forth in a smooth, flowing motion.
"Ah, I see, so there is some truth in the story."
"A tiny bit." he peers through two fingers held closely together and laughs. "Why did you need to know?"
"I'm just looking for someone to teach a palm method of martial arts for defense. Kinda needed for the new job."
"Well, mine won't do you too well" he burst into more laughter "unless we're attacked by a clay monster." He cracks himself up again.
"Well then, I'll let you go about your buisness, good day Pa'."
"Oh you too...Prefect." With a wink and a chuckle.

[Ciata]

*sigh* "Well that stunk. Shouldn't trust a bird for advice on martial arts." He looks at his paws while walking slowly through the town. "I doubt he even knew what he was talking about at all. He probably never trained physically a day of his life." He sighs again and reclines against a massive live oak tree in the middle of the village, one that predated the history surrounding it.

Looking around at the branches after a while he asks the tree, "What wonders and years have you seen? I bet you've seen a dozen empires and nations rise and fall around you and a hundred generations of creatures like me scurrying about my little life." He slumps a bit, depressed at the thought.
"Why am I here?" He asks the night sky beyond the limbs, gazing into the crystal clear sky, free of city lights or pollution. "What am I going to do now? Why did I get this stupid position? What am I going to do with this? What if something happens?"
He slumps down, sliding his back down the tree and sits down, elbows on his knees and puts his head down, speaking to above the stars now.
"Who'll remember me when I'm gone? What if I fail? What if something happens and I can't do anything to stop it? What if I mess up?"
He lifts his eyes to the night skies again. "Heavens and God and glories beyond me, what do I do? Send me something, anything, someone to guide me or train me. Something..."
He sits there in the night, the only lights the two small oil lamps outside the single house in the village that had enough spare room to rent to any traveler who happened along this way.
Suddenly he tenses, something wasn't right, something...then his fur began to stand on end and a faint crackling noise that started to grow louder and louder before he could see what looked like tiny lightening bolts in a circle shape beginning to happen more and more often in front of him in the center of town. He stands up, back pressed against the tree, one hand with claws extracted gripping it, the other gripping the handle of his sword, his eyes wide open in terror.
The bolts were almost constant now and growing to nearly 10 feet wide in every direction in a sphere. It was so bright his left paw left the tree to cover his eyes to keep from being totally blinded by the light that kept growing. It was in vain however because moments afterwards a totally blinding flash of light bursts out with a sudden blast of noise and then he could see nothing and hear only a ringing in his ears, falling to his knees, covering his head. He laid there, waiting to die, or waiting to reach the afterlife but nothing seemed to happen. After a few moments he heard a voice calling to him.
"You! Am I in the village of Loran, and what year is it?"
Bin opens his eyes, blinking, trying to readjust, and looks up from his knees at a Ciatan, seeming to glow, wearing an odd white robe.
"*Gasp* Heavens have mercy on me! Heavens have mercy, holiness have mercy, holy way have mercy on me..."
"Quiet! Answer me, it is vital to the salvation of the world." The strange Ciatan booms in commanding voice.
"Iii...it's, this is Loran, it's...the first year of the reign of Emperor Rowan Stormwake." Bin answers, trembling on his knees, trying not to look at the stranger.
"Good." He steps back, looking at the phase of the moon and position of the stars.
Bin kneels there for a minute or two before he gets the courage to ask, "Heavenly one, what else do you want of me?"
"I am not from heaven, quite the opposite nearly, just please be quiet." He pulls out some sort of device and begins to listen to it, noises and voices coming from it.
Bin looks up at him, the glow gone now from his white cloak, still wondering what he is. He hears a voice coming from the object in his paw he was listening to with total concentration. "...in other news there were two attempts on the life of a former Borderlands top scientist by assassins in Shimandu..." The strange Ciatan gasps "Attempts?" "...the first assassin attempted to slip through the national security checkpoint and refused to turn back and was killed at the door of the research facility by security personnel after incapasitating several guards though unarmed, the second of the assassins, both Ciatan males of unknown age, slipped through the heightened security undetected and killed Dr. Drasheir, and shortly thereafter taking his own life..."
"YEEEEEEESS! HAHAAA!" The Ciatan screams at the top of his lungs and falls to his knees. Oh thank you holiness that it is over! They succeeded. It's over."
"Wait." Bin stands up. "Your part of the group that just killed that person? Your a criminal then too." He hastily draws his sword and points it at him kneeling there. "In accordance with some international law I have to arrest you!"
"Fine then." He stands up then jerks forward and throws his left paw out, striking at the air, drawing Bin's attention away from the foot that flashes out in a crescent kick, easily knocking the sword from his paw. "We just saved you all from an endless age of darkness and terrors you can't even comprehend." He walks towards Bin, backing him against the tree.
"So...you, your going to kill me then too? Do I do something bad too?" Bin stammers out trembling.
"No, that's why I'm here, as far as we know no one ever does anything in Loran. It's in the middle of nowhere and nothing ever happens here so that made it safe to come to."
"Come from where? Where are you from? Heavens? The future?"
"I cannot kill you, it goes against our codes and beliefs, however I also do not wish to die myself." He crosses his arms. "So we have a delima, I cannot kill you, but I do not wish to die as well, and I need to settle down somewhere out of the way and affect as few people as possible. This place is as good as any."
Bin shakes his head in confusion, "But, but I still don't understand what's going on, why are you here?"
"Long history that no longer exists short, Dr. Drasheir was a very evil man who would do very evil things affecting the whole world and throwing it into darkness in ways and forms I'd prefer are forgotten ever existed. Eventually the Shuey Baw Monastery was nearly all that was left after nearly 50 years of war. During that time our greatest minds searched for ways to undo this tragedy which reshaped the world. All the research that I was not able to take part of so that it would no longer exist if we were successful, was eventually focused towards time travel, going back in time to stop him before any of that had ever happened. So we were sent at the same time, the 3 of us, back 55 years in the past. The other two were to try to assassinate him immediately, and if they failed I was to wait and try later. If the Ciatan monks back in the future found themselves having the conversation about if we did it or not they were to send more and more monks back to attempt to kill him, but they were not needed, nor was I."
Bin stands there with his mouth open, totally confused. "Wait...if they sent you back in time...and they made the time machine because of the bad guy...then..."
"We were no longer a part of normal time flow and were outside of the affects, at least that is how they explained it to me. I have little to no knowledge as to how the machine worked. I was trained in combat only."
"Sooo..."
"DON'T MOVE!" A voice shouts out from behind the stranger and Bi peeks around him to see Galahad holding a bow with an arrow on it fully strung some 35 feet away in the near pitch darkness. He could also barely make out several other villagers further behind him.
The stranger makes a face, "Cursed ears, must still be affected from the trip."
"BIN! Are you alright!" The panda calls out again.
The stranger looks at Bin again and asks him, "It's your choice, what will it be? Life or death for me?"
They stare at each other for a few moments before Bin calls back, "It's okay, he's a friend! A master here to teach me...was showing me disarming stuff."
"You sure?!"
Bin looks at the stranger for a few moments and shoots a glance towards the heavens, "Yeah."

[Ciata]

It took a good amount of convincing and no small amount of bluffing, but Bin had managed to get most of the villagers to calm down from their once in a lifetime near event and go back to their homes for the rest of the night, though he was sure they would be up talking about it and there was nothing he could do about that. He insisted them all that the stranger would be staying at his house for the night at least, though there wouldn't be much sleeping going on there either.

After putting on and making a quick pot of green tea they begin their discussion.
"I take it we have many things to discuss then about my staying here." The stranger, took a seat at Bin's motion to do so at his small table at the only other chair.
"Indeed we do. I'll have to go over one of these..." He fumbles about with a small pile of recently acquired law scrolls. "...this one. Immigration and citizenship laws." He opens it and looks at it for a second before flipping it right-side up.
"Well, first things first, you'll need a name to go by, what is your name?" Still looking at the scroll.
"I am not at liberty to say my given name and was informed to acquire one based on the region I settled in, if any." He answers quickly, as if reciting a well memorized order, which he was in fact.
"Well, it's up to you of course what your to be called. I'll also need to know your age, date and place of birth, reason for relocation, status of citizenship. Basic stuff I guess. They seem pretty lax with these I suppose, as long as you were in the country to begin with. You shouldn't have a problem since your Ciatan and speak the language and fit in fairly well." Bin had become more comfortable around him since he was forced to at least act to in front of the villagers.
"I guess a fitting name would be in order...Bei Yong, it means alternative or backup. Put down that I'm 40, not that I am, but compensate for the aging difference between normal Ciatan and monks."
"So you were a monk." Bin interrupts Yong's sip of tea.
"Yes, I...was, now, going back was never part of the plan. Cephas warned of any attempts to do so, because if anywhere was an important influence, the monastery would be it."
Bin interrupts again, "Wait, Cephas is still alive, 55 years in the future? He's already like a living legend now, but he would be...well over 300 years old."
"In our time line yes, Cephas was alive and the head master, but that could change, though I pray to the holy one that it does not. Back to the matter at hand. The High Citadel was destroyed recently was it not?"
Bin shrugs, "Yeah, you should know that I guess though, shouldn't you?"
He shakes his head. "We were not educated about outside events around the time of our placement or thereafter. Being in a monastery that is not that difficult. My reason is, since it was destroyed there would be no records or proof against me being there."
"Ooohh...I get it. That takes care of most of the questions there. We'll need to go to the nearest Magistrate, who is iiinn...Bareholm, about a day and a half journey from here, to do the paper work. But we've got other stuff to discuss before that. Like where your going to live, what your going to do and stuff like that."
"Tell me then, what restrictions or codes do you have for housing in this age?"
"Not any that I know of...as long as you don't infringe on someone else's property that they are using or something like that. Private property itself is kinda loose, but there are sometimes fights over it." Bin searches through scattered scrolls to check and make sure.
"Well then somewhere near you would be ideal, preferably further away from the town. What laws are there on fights and how would I go about making money?"
"Money? We don't really use anything for money. You own and trade things, property, food, gold or jewels or weapons, but there isn't anything like money, at least not yet. Fights...you have to have a good reason for it, and it has to be publicly agreed upon and signed on one of these..." He grabs one of a stack of similar small scrolls. "Your name and his or hers, then your kinda off the hook about what happens, unless they surrender or are knocked out or something and you kill them anyway. You also can refuse it if you want and take it before a magistrate or governor, but that takes time and expenses."
"I see...and the job?"
Bin leans back and thinks for a moment after finishing off his cup of tea. "Well, not too many things you can do here, too small for a school really, though you could do that for extra food or wares, fighting school of course. Umm...there's always farming, though you'd need to go in with the rest for any large scale farming, works better that way. There's security jobs, but if your not into travel it's not for you. I don't suppose you'd like to be one of the town guards?"
"No. I will not join an army." Yong quickly shot back.
"Okay, okay, no army, just trying to find someone. I need four guards pretty soon or I won't be getting any sleep." After sitting rather uncomfortably facing each other a question pops back into Bin's mind. "What style do you use anyway? Like fighting style."
"I have mastered the 18 Demon Slaying Palm style. It's a very quick style that was taught to me for the purpose of fighting both single skilled, and numerous enemies. Elbows are also often used. There are few kicks actually. We found out the hard way that kicking or jumping makes you a fairly easy target for guns, better to keep enemies close to have a shield."
"Makes sense I guess, though guns are still outlawed here...speaking of which, that device you had will have to go." Bin points to the small pack on Yong's back.
"Of course, I'll have no need for them anymore." He takes out the radio and a couple more small devices and smashes them together in his paws, crumpling the metal and sending a few sparks flying, causing Bin to jerk back. He then hands the hunk of metal to Bin.
"Do what you want with it, are we through?"
Bin takes it and sets it on the table. "Umm...I guess so, for now, we'll take care of the paper work as soon as I can get a few guards together."
"It's done then. Please, I need time to meditate on what has happened and pray for the souls of my comrades and what we have just done." He gets up from the table.
"I'm sure you stopped something terrible from happening, but it's still very hard for me to understand it all." Bin gets up as well.
"That's good, it should be." With that Yong goes to a corner and faces it, sitting in lotus position to meditate and Bin quietly puts away the tea.

[Ciata]

It had taken nearly 5 days to round together 4 recruits to watch over Loran while he made a trip, but he had done so, with no small amount of begging, pleading, arguing and pressuring. But it was done, at least for now. Bin-Ja and Master Yong were now trudging along, Bin in his unofficial official uniform and his straight sword and Master Yong was wearing a new suit of clothes made for him by one of the elder ladies of the village, the old widow Aretha, an elderly and rather pudgy wombat who took it on herself to make him a new set of clothes when word got out that he needed one. She had finished it gray overall, "matching his spots" as she said, and light blue for the edging and buttons, in honor of his new home in the state of Kang. It was a traditional martial artist's uniform with a long shirt reaching down to the knees and loose sleeves and pants held by bindings, as well as the front buttons. He had thanked her profusely for it, and though he made a tough outward appearance later on, you could tell he was truly thankful and honored, having his own, unique set of clothes. Now though they had been trekking for about 3 hours in the direction of Bareholm on a very small, dusty trail through open fields and patches of forest with a few hills mixed in. Bin of course was anxious about leaving his new post so soon after getting back.

"I hope everything stays in place while I'm gone, I mean, I just got back from the capital and they don't know the laws or regulations or any of that and what if..."
Master Yong interrupts, "How long did Loran go without a Prefect or local ruler over them there?"
Bin shrugs, "I dunno, almost 200 years I guess since the old government was founded."
"Then they will do fine without one for 5 days, don't worry about it."

This silences Bin only for a minute or two.
"But...I mean, was there anyone better to get for the guards? Should I have gotten someone older to like, lead when I go away?"
Yong sighs. "Tell me about the ones you picked."
"Well..." Bin starts with squinted eyes and a finger counting off. "There's Galahad, the big panda. I went after him first to join. He's got the most experience. He fought for about 3 weeks in the rebellion against the rebells. He was an archer, which you wouldn't think from his size, but he uses a massive longbow that takes a lot of strength to pull, more than I've got. He's older I guess, 30, he'd be the most likely to lead while I'm gone. The fighting kinda scarred him deep down somewhere from the stuff he saw, he wasn't the same when he came back, kinda quiet and sits alone sometimes. I know he wouldn't hesitate to kill to protect the village though."
Bin pauses before going on to the second.

"Miquel iiiiiss..."
"Jumpy?" Yong half jokes.
Bin laughs, "Yeah, that's one way to put it, though for him it's natural being a roo-rat. He's really probably too young for the job, like me I guess. 17 isn't that young really though. He's been playing around with fighting sticks and homemade nunchuks as long as I can remember, always pretending to be a soldier, now I guess he can get paid for pretending to be one too. He's young and impulsive and is likely to run into trouble now that he's got a real uniform."

Bin counts off the third on his fingers. "Then there's Ramses the puku."
"The what?" Yong asks, shaking his head.
"A puku, you've seen him. He's like an antelope but golden fur and like striped horns that go back and up." Bin shapes the horns out with his paws on his head. Yong just keeps shaking his head muttering, "puku..."
"Anyway, he's young, 18, and easy going, honest and open, average height, kinda thin. He uses a staff he carries around like a walking stick, him and Miquel kinda grew up together always knocking about with their sticks, they'd make a good team because they compliment each other well and get along."

"Fae Fae on the other hand doesn't get along with anyone. She's just gonna be a handful."
"Why'd you pick her then?"
Bin shrugs, "She can fight, and intimidate people. I figured that would be useful. Plus if she is officially under me, I don't have to worry about her messing around too much with the rules...Anyway, she's 26, a pine martin, and single...all but Galahad is, he's married to a pretty gal panda, got a cub on the way too, a bit away though. But yeah, no one really expects Fae to get married, she's just...mean most of the time, and she really took a liking to that...um...big sword, you know the..." Bin makes hand motions of a big, wide sword.
"Head chopper is what they are called, historically a favorite of untrained army." Yong informs the stammering young official.
"Eee...yikes, that doesn't sound good, but...fitting somehow."

They walk along in virtual silence for another 4 hours, Bin thinking about the group he had put together and Master Yong enjoying the free and open and clean country side of the region, something he had not been able to do perhaps in his entire life. Eventually they made it to the nearest town to Loran that was also on the way to the nearest large town, Bareholm.

"So, this is Fahuma." Yong reads the sign at the road entering the town.
"Yeah, it's a bit bigger than Loran, got a few more things here, a metal forge, some trade stuffs, and a martial arts school."
"Huh." Is all Bin gets out of Yong as they get into the center part of town and sit down at a square, simple table at the local eating place, which just happened to be placed across from the martial arts school. They order some green tea and Bin gives the waiter rice to cook and asks for fish and light sauce while Yong just takes a sweet and sour vegetable mix added and handed over 3 extra helpings of rice, two for the meat, one for the veggies. Bin just sighs and makes a mental note to sometime get up the courage to ask Master Yong about the eating of meat thing and no longer being a monk and all, but now wasn't the right time.

After they had gotten their food and gotten about halfway through their meal when the doors to the school across the street burst open and a zebra that could only be the master of the school, and from the seal on his rather flashy yellow and black training uniform, the town's prefect as well. He and about a dozen of various students came and sat down at the eating place a couple tables away and began to loudly converse and order food.

They became more and more loud and rowdy after they got their food and began to eat. Yong, who had his back to them could only roll his eyes and try to finish his meal. Bin however had his eye caught and stopped eating when the Prefect stood after a particularly loud burst of commotion and had one of his students hold up a bench with the seat facing him, it being at least 2 inches thick. After a bit of swinging of arms and stretching he jumped down into a low stance and yelled while thrusting his fingers out a high speed, his naturally tough tips of hooves breaking off a couple inches of each side with each strike and in less then 3 seconds he had shredded off the sides and punched through the center, breaking the bench in half in dramatic fashion, getting no small amount of praise from his students and a few watching waiters.

Master Yong just ignores it as much as possible. "Humph, the half empty bucket makes lots of noise splashing about but the full bucket is quiet." Bin's eyes begin to widen as he watches the waiter coming to refill their tea takes a detour after being in earshot of that and goes over and whispers in the other Prefect's ear.
"I think you may have just caused some trouble Master Yong."
"Oh really, for who?" He just sits there as the group of students surround the two at the table and the other master steps in behind Yong.
"Did you say something stranger? You look like some kind of fighter from that outfit you got. Or are you too "full" to speak?" The local master asks in a mocking tone.
"I was just reciting some ancient wisdom." Yong answers without turning around, still sipping tea. Bin is anxiously looking around, his paw near the hilt of his sword.
"Well I do believe there is some ancient wisdom about respecting authority, so turn around when I speak to you, because I'm the authority here!"
Bin stands up, "Okay, that's enough, we were just stopping through on our way to Bareholm. I'm a prefect as well so just drop whatever and let us go."
"You can just sit back down youngster, because I'm in charge here, don't matter who you are elsewhere, this is my town as no one insults me here and gets away with it." He clacks his hooves together and one of his students hands him a scroll which he unrolls and throws down on the table in-front of them. "Sign, now, and we'll see who's "full" and who's just full of it."
"I don't have the time to dirty my paws with you." Yong slowly sets his tea down.
"Sign it!" The Zebra throws a quill down, sticking into the wood with the point next to the paper, dripping with ink.
Yong does.


Moments later they are across the street and inside the school, both masters on top of a round, stone platform, some 30 feet across. The apparent senior student, a loud boar, announces the challenge.
"Master Koen Maas using his Thousand Lightning Strikes challenges Master Bei Yong using his 18 Demon Slaying Palm style in defense of his honor and standing. The match will end with a surrender, if an opponent is unable to fight, or is knocked off of the platform. Ready? FIGHT!"

Maas steps quickly into a high stance with one leg forward, bent slightly and his arms both in-front of him bent at the elbows and also bent down at the wrists, the top of his paws almost level.
Yong watches him get ready. "A southern praying mantis variation, with more strong front and reverse kicks I assume." The thickly built snow leopard drops back into a deep and wide stance, his body down and his legs spread apart. He stretches out his paws wide open and beckons his opponent to come with his left. The zebra master growls and sprints across the small circle at him screaming with one fist held back ready to strike. Just before he would though he jumps up into the air and launches a searing reverse side kick at Yong's head. In a flash of strikes, Yong's palms strike his foot then leg, diverting the kick, and then Maas' whole body with a barrage of blinding strikes, sending him sliding to the edge of the circle platform.
He quickly jumps back up though and goes back to his original stance, his face twitching with pain and his paws trying as hard as possible not to rub his back or leg to ease the pain some.
"Huh, so horses do have strong backs." Yong says with a smirk. "Let's see your palms go against my lightning strikes!" Maas again quickly closes the distance, this time staying on the ground. His hard hooved hands lash out in quick thrusts striking at Yong who holds his ground, still rooted in the same stance he began in, in the same spot, now facing him. Even as Maas' strikes lash out with speed that would credit a style called lightning, Yong's arms and palms divert every strike, almost spinning at the elbow and diverting and blocking every blow.
Tong catches his opponent's left paw, twisting his arm around the elbow, forcing the other master into try to spin and pull back his arm and body to get away, but Tong matches him and finally spins away his arm and lands a palm strike in the center of his chest, knocking his breath out and his body back to the edge again, this time holding his chest and gritting his teeth.
"Give up?" Tong asks.
All he gets is a sneer in response.
"Your fault then. Haaa!" the snow leopard lunges forward and blinding speed and lands a smashing blow, penetrating both of Maas' guards and sending him flying some 20 feet off of the platform and causing a loud gasp and sending students to help their master.
Tong bows and steps off the platform, none of the students daring to speak to him, but all keeping as much distance as possible.

He walks over to Bin who is still standing there in awe of the final blow. "Are you ready to leave now?"
"Uhhh...yeah, I'm ready, whenever you feel like going, go. I'm not going to try to stop you...he's going to be alright, right?"
Tong nods, "Yes, except his pride. I struck the center of his upper chest, there are no vital points there, he should live."
"Well that's good to hear, let's get out of this town."

[Ciata]

Many miles away from Fahuma the two snow leopards make camp for the night. After stopping and digging a small hole to put the fire in they unpack their small packs of their bed rolls and food and a few various goods on Bin's part. After a bit of boiling water and Bin searching around for some loose berries and edible herbs to eat they had their supper and reclined in the dark of the night, just a few flickers of the small below ground fire lighting up the small camp some 50 feet off the road.
Lying on their side in typical feline fashion Bin goes over the day's events with Master Yong.
"Usually small towns like Fahuma have been friendly and peaceful for as long as I've been alive. I'm not sure if it's the rebellion or the immigration or whatever that set people like that." Bin contemplates and stretches out a bit.
"In the case of the zebra it was likely power that went to his head. Normally I would not incite someone to fight, but many a cocky power crazed creature has caused pain and destruction in my time, caused many people to be killed." Bei Yong just lies there, watching the fire, seemingly mesmerized as some cats tend to get when watching a fire.
"Huh...well I guess that's one draw back with the new government thing." Bin relaxes back a bit.
"Yes, where there is power there is devision and classes and pride. Don't let it get to you, you were given your title by sheer chance and don't forget it." Bei shifts his gaze from the fire to Bin, his eyes reflecting the intensity of the flames he was just watching.
"Oh don't worry, I won't, especially with you around. Sometimes it's nice to have someone there to put people in their place, like that other Prefect, he thought he was something alright." Bin slowly shakes his head and grins a little.
"Oh, he had some skill, more than any others I've seen in this place yet, though I haven't seen many, I'm just coming off intense preparation for something and have an anciently honed style to my advantage, as well as many devices that the monastery had."

They lay in silence for a while before Bin speaks up again. "Speaking of which, when are you going to start teaching me that style?"
Bei gives Bin a 'yeah right' look. "The 18 Demon Slaying Palms is not a beginner style. If you were to use it without a firm mastery of iron paw you would easily kill your opponent."
Bin looks dully confused. "Wait, why would it be more dangerous when I haven't mastered iron paw? Doesn't iron paw make your blows much more powerful?"
"Yes, it makes them more powerful, but once you have gotten to the higher of the 10 levels of it you also gain control of your strikes, being able to control where the force and power of the impact is placed."
"What do you mean, where it's placed, don't you just hit them?"
Bei gives a deep sigh at this simple, un-grasped concept. "A test of mastering iron paw is you being able to strike a stack of bricks and being able to control where they break, passing through some and breaking others. Today when I hit Master Maas I did not let the full force of the blow strike him, only the pushing of my body or muscles."
Bin sits up with a confused look on his face. "What other force is there but muscle?"
Bei just waves it off and turns over to sleep. "You'll learn later."
Bin isn't ready to let him rest just yet though. "But wait. What style will I learn then?"
"You'll learn Shuey Baw long fist first, it's the basic for all styles that come from Shuey Baw Monastery." Bei curls up and pulls the small, square cover over him to go to sleep and Bin decides to just leave it there for the night and he went over to his spread to sleep as well.

[Ciata]

After breaking camp before sunrise, they had managed to make good time and made it to Bareholm. Though it wasn't the most impressive city, even in Ciata, it did put a bit of a childish wonder for both the country boy and the traveler.

"I haven't seen a city like this since I was a child." Master Tong stares about as they walk towards the immigration office.
"What, they don't have big cities where your from." They had made a deal on the way to avoid any words that would allude to that he was not of this time, and they were both trying hard to stick to it.
"Oh, there are cities, but not like this, not so busy and free and open and bright and colorful..."
A pair of young female felines slide infront of the two Ciatan, causing one turned head and a whistle and one pair of eyes turned to heaven and a small chant.
"I could get used to it here." Bin then gets a smart whack on the back of the head, giving good cause for a rub.
"Keep your mind pure and holy, so as not to be distracted by earthly lusts."
That's another thing..." as they continue to make their way through busy, noontime streets, "You've got to learn to drop some of that religious language and motions, not asking you to compromise or anything, but there aren't many monks around here and people might begin to wonder what your doing here and ask questions."
Bei nods. "I understand."
Bin just shrugs and leads the way on to the small, newly built, immigration office.

The building had an awning out in-front and a fair sized line, full of people with Bei Yong's story, just now getting around to registering with the new government.
The line moved slowly after they got into the back of it, and soon the middle, luckily they were there at noon, and many were out to eat instead of coming to do this. In the line it was almost comical to see the patches of felines and predators who sit down in line and to eat, and then the prey type animals who largely stand up all the time. Eventually they made it inside however and got a large form to fill out, which was made easier with the presence of a Prefect. After a good deal of filling out carefully with the ink brushes and the long scroll, Bei Yong was down as a 41 year old single Ciatan male who had just moved down from the far north to find a warmer place to live during the winter and dual occupation was a farmer and a martial arts master.
"Oh, a master...master Yong, you'll have to be tested on your level of skill to see what you are certified to be able to teach and which levels." The female dolphin said with a seemingly permanent smile.

"Hmm..." Yong's face was concrened about the test, but Bin assured him.
"Don't worry about it, it's a short thing really, and you have several styles and can control stuff too right? What's the big deal?"
"Nothing, I'm just concerned, 18 Demon Slaying Palms is an advanced Shuey Baw style, and I've already used it in-front of people. It does not bode well for me to use it and be put down as knowing it."
"Why? You said you were from around the monastery, just say an old monk taught it to you, that wouldn't be a lie would it?" Bin pleads with his paws as well, still deep down wanting to learn the palm style.
"I suppose."
"Don't worry about it then, we'll go eat lunch and come back for it later when they are back."

[Ciata]

After a long lunch break and a short wait for all three to arrive, Master Yong was finally able to enter the testing area behind the immigration office. Being an official, Prefect Opalance Bin-Ja as he gave his title to add a little extra force to it, was able to also watch the test. Entering the medium sized room with a traditionally matted floor and various weapons and training devices and bricks lying about, they are met by the three testing masters sitting behind a table.
The middle one, a smiling male jaguar, stands and greets them with a light, joyous voice.
"Master Yong," He bows and Yong returns it, "it is good to meet you. I am Master Rha-shi, the un-armed combat tester, to my left is Master Tennison, the weapons tester." A middle-aged male jackal politely nods. "And to my right is Master Pahvilon, the skills master." A massive male elephant with bronze tipped tusks slightly nods while remaining reclined at his chair.
Yong bows to both in turn.
"I assume you are not familiar with the testing process, as few have taken it more than once for any reason." The jaguar continues.
"That would be correct."
"Then I shall give a brief explanation before we begin. There are three areas of testing and within them 3 major areas of un-armed combat, 7 major types of weapons, and 6 major skills. Within each there can be specialization of specific styles or weapons and you only have to attempt whatever areas you wish and to whatever extent you wish to gain official certification in. It goes on a scale of 1-20. 1-10 is a learner or student, 11-15 is a master or someone who is able to teach their form, and 16-20 is reserved for true masters of their art, surpassing the normal limits of the body and mind. The certification is to assure that only real masters are teaching their arts in Ciata, as it is held as a most honored profession or life style." He pauses for a moment for any questions then continues.
"You may begin by stretching, if you have not already done so, and may begin with any area you wish and go on to any other, if you wish to do so. We only ask that you do your best and fully implement your skills you have worked so hard to attain so that you may receive the recognition you rightly deserve."
"Thank you." Bei goes to a corner of the room and begins to finish the stretching he had begun after lunch and Master Rha-shi sits down and Bin takes a seat on the floor at the opposite corner or Bei.

After about 15 minutes of stretching, focusing and thought, Bei is ready. He goes to the center of the circle and bows again as the other masters sit back up straight and attentive.
"I shall begin with two advanced forms of styles for the un-armed combat, each focusing on the two striking areas of combat. For arm combat, the 18 Demon Slaying Palms, and for leg combat, and the Cliff Crushing form from Tar-Mon style."
This gets a raised eyebrow from the elephant, a curious look from the jackal, and "All very rare and powerful forms with their roots in Shuey Baw itself. I look forward to the honor of seeing them in person. Please begin." Master Rha-shi beckons with an open paw and Yong takes his place.

He begins with a meditative position, standing straight and raising open paws to his forehead breathing in and then lowering them down with his hands in a prayer position. After doing this three times he quickly spreads his right leg out into a wide horse stance and feet-paws in perfect 45 degree angles, knees bent also at 45 degrees. In the same motion of dropping into the stance his paws go from his stomach out to shoulder level at blinding speed, spending small waves of dust away from either side of him, and then he began. The entire form consisted of more than 300 movements, but it lasted scarcely over a minute and a half. Even a trained eye could barely grasp each of the 18 palms, or strikes that were used in a variety of ways from low, stable stances that seldom shifted and rarely changed. The whole style was meant to be a blaze of rapid strikes, intercepting, stopping, and returning blows. For each imagined blow that was thrown at him, he returned around 5-10 blows in halting the ghost limb, moving up it, striking at vital points with fingers or base of the palm, and then to the body. The entire style had a circular flow to it, the palms and elbows and arms often spinning as one of the favorite techniques used was to catch a punch thrown and cork-screw down the arm and pushing it away to strike at the vital points on the side of the chest. The techniques were impressive, but the speed was awe-inspiring. Often during the short, compressed time it was done you could hear the paws whistling in the air and see the dust around him being blown away and his shirt and pants whip about in the movements.
As quickly as it had begun, it finished and he returned to his standing, meditative stance, taking one deep breath and you could not tell from his breathing that he had done anything.

Master Pahvilon sat there with his huge arms still crossed but his mouth hanging wide open, Master Tennison the jackal had bug-eyes and Master Rha-shi, always the spokesman, "That was amazing. I've scarcely ever seen such speed. The 18 Demon Slaying Palms is worthy of it's status as a revered style. What training did you endure to reach such a level of speed?" The other masters somewhat relax back to normal.
"Intense weight training, resistance training in sand and water, the iron paw training did help some in that. My former master was extremely intense in his methods and I am fresh off of such training, so I am at a peak physical."
Rha-shi still looks a bit stammered, "Who was your master then?"
Yong starts and then thinks better, "He lived in seclusion in the far north and avoided public displays and is no longer living."
"A terrible loss to have one so advanced as to pass on such skilled techniques and training pass away, though his legacy lives on well. Now I am even more curious to see your other style, please, when you are ready."

After bowing again and taking another three breaths, this time with the full attention of everyone in the room, Master Yong readies again. This form was radically different from the last one. Immediately he began with a back flip and a leap in the air, coming down with a stomping kick that was the signature beginning to this style that is popular among Ciatan. The difference though is the height of his jumps and the few steps needed to gain speed in running jumps. About 85% of the form was kicks, 10% blocks and 5% punches. It was a very mobile, high stance style. The kicks in form were mixed with flying kicks, ax-kicks, and powerful kicking combo's. It was not free-form however, like any form, and Master Rha-shi knew the form himself and was watching intently. Bei's form was virtually flawless, his height unmatched, and the intensity ferocious, and it was not hard to imagine him actually leaping and crushing cliffs and boulders with his kicks. After about 2 minutes the form was over and he landed back in the center of the circle with one last aerial display of a triple kick and rested again, taking this time three breaths to calm his body from the leaping and movement.

This time the other masters did not react as shocked or awed, but still impressed. Rha-shi expressing that standing up. "Again you impress. I am ashamed to say that my own Tar-Mon is not an equal to yours, you do the form justice to its name." He bows.
"I do of course have a natural advantage at this which was improved by living around cliffs with my master." Yong returns the bow.
"I wonder if there are any cliffs left there now or if it is as flat as around here, haahaha!" They all snicker at this comment from the light hearted jaguar.
"However I give your palm style a 17 of 20 and your leg style a 15 of 20. I would have ranked your kicks higher if I had not seen your palms style and realized how far one can advance, never the less, you are a true master of arm combat and a master of the highest class in your leg strikes. I congratulate you." He unrolls the official scroll of mastery in un-armed combat and signs down his name, Master Bei Yong's, and "True master of arm combat of the 17th rank, specializing in the 18 Demon Slaying Palms style and Master of leg combat of the 15th rank specializing in the Tar-Mon style", on opposite sides of the paper and stamps it with the official seal of the new government and of the region of Kang.
"Again, honor to you." He rolls up and ties the scroll and hands it to Master Yong who steps forward to receive it.

Master Yong Goes and carefully places the scroll on top of his pack beside Bin who has been watching the entire event with wide eyes like a baby calf and new admiration for Master Yong, and stares at the scroll which he thought he could not hope to achieve and receive.

Yong returns to the center of the circle and Master Tennison now stands and bows. "I am Master Tennison, the tester of armed combat. I'm too also anxious to see what ya've got in the ways of weapons. Which do ya' use?"
Yong returns the bow before speaking, as it is impolite to do it when the other person is speaking. "I use the monk's staff primarily."
Tennison points a teasing finger and winks at Bei. "But I bet you'd be able tah handle yerself with most any weapon, right, right?"
"I have also received training in the spear, broad sword, and straight sword as well as flexible weapons, but I do not specialize in them."
"Tah, what a shame. I was really hoping tah see some rare weapon like yer un-armed styles. No well, I'm sure yer plenty rare in yer skills of the staff. Choose any one ya like from the wall." He waves over to the right wall which is covered in a variety of weapons, including several staffs of various lengths.
Bei inspects two or three before finding one he liked and was pleased with it's flexibility and weight and length.
Returning to the center, "I will perform the Divine Wind form."
"Ah, the typhoon style eh? Just keep a good grip on er." He laughs and sits back down to watch.

Master Yong balances the staff on his fingers which are in a triangle shape, cradling the staff as he raises it up and lowers it, breathing three times before beginning.
Becoming intensely alert he tosses the staff flat up in the air barely a foot above his head but spins back into a back stance and catches it, spinning it behind him with one paw, the other in a knife hand in front of him. The style again did justice to it's name, the white staff flexing and bending as it pivoted while in two paws, or across his waist or even neck and he spun himself and the staff around, sending it to speed which moved beyond the average ability to comprehend with the eye and mind, becoming an invisible flash when moving at top speed. The style, created for fending off a horde of enemies, consists of mostly spinning, mass attacks, aiming for the head and legs for strikes and waist level for guards.
As he was near the end and had just begun a part which was historically meant for deflecting arrows by spinning the staff around at high speed in-front of him, Master Tennison surprised Bei and Bin by pulling out a small cross bow from under the table and without hesitation, firing it at Master Yong spinning the staff. The padded arrow ricocheted off the staff near his waist and bounced away at his right side across the mat.
Master Yong, not knowing if it was a real arrow or not, stopped his form and went into a defensive stance. Bin got up and grabbed his sword, the other two masters only shook their heads and Tennison just laughed and said, "Well what do you know...your just the second person to actually deflect it, I'm impressed. You pass."
"What?" Yong asks in a slightly heated voice, stealing a glance at the arrow, beginning to loosen up, seeing that it was blunted.
"Yer actually able ta do that there part of the form right, which makes ya a master in mah book on that alone. 14 seems right."

Yong stands, confused, Bin relaxes, Master Tennison began to fill out the master's scroll, and Master Rha-shi explains. "It's a test, he does that every time someone does a form with that in it to see if it's just for show or it is actually useful in combat. Besides him, only one person has passed the test until you."
Tennison finishes with a dot on his last name. "There. I hereby proclaim you ta be a master of the 14th degree in staff armed combat. A true master would 'ave knocked it back down mah throat er caught it." He nods jokingly serious.
Master Yong hesitantly takes the scroll from him and puts it beside the other one and goes to put the staff back in its place.
Tennison calls out, "Oh, ya kin keep that one there, you earned it." He winks again and Yong bows and places it beside his pack as well before returning.

Master Pahvilon finally gets his chance to speak and stand and gives a small bow, him standing at over 10 feet tall and his weight being put down as simply "great". "Now, let's see your power and skills. There are Iron Body, Iron Palm, Leaping Arts, Reflex and Dodging Arts, Mounted Skills and Internal Power Skills. Which do you think your skilled in?"
"I wish to be tested in Iron Body and Iron Palm master Pahvilon." Bei bows.
"How good do you think you are in them, going too much could get you hurt you know."
"I was trained to the 6th level in Iron Body and the 7th level in Iron Palm..."
"Good choice." Tennisen interrupts and lips out pointing to Pahvilon "He's a 9 palm, no kids. Grumpy." pointing downward too, referring the the fact that those who advance to 8th stages and beyond are almost always not able to have children.
Pahvilon follows Yong's eyes to Tennisen who quickly goes to reclining on the table on his elbow, acting bored, and sneers.
Going back to Yong, "Alright, I'll set up the bricks."
Master Pahvilon steps from behind the table and stacks two stacks of 7 bricks with no spaces between them, both a foot or so off the floor, being well over two solid feet of brick.
"Alright, go ahead." Pahvilon urges.
Bei steps up to one stack and goes into a horse stance and begins his breathing, this time going through 7 sets, focusing, each time placing his right paw on top of the stack and raising it back up, the 8th time giving out a snow leopard's version of a roar and letting his paw glide down quickly on top of the bricks, breaking them with a slap of force, just the crumbling of bricks as they all break in the center and fall to the mat as Bei steps back.
"Good, let me see your paw...flew it, alright, now break the bottom 4 of this stack."
Bin leans forward even more than he was before, waiting to see if what Bei had told him the day before was true.
Bei goes through the same motions and once again strikes the bricks with a fluid, silent impact, but this time the top three do indeed remain intact and fall down as the ones below them shatter.
"Very good Master Yong, now are you prepared for the Iron Body test?"
"Yes, I am."
"Where do you wish to be struck?"
"The chest."
"Alright, remove your shirt then."
Bei removes his cloak and new shirt, laying them aside, baring his broad chest and shoulders and white underfur.
"The first stage toughens the body, the second protects from bruises, the third protects the organs, the fourth protects the bones, the fifth repels scratches, the sixth cuts, the seventh deflects stabs, the eighth protects from stabs, ninth from projectiles, and the tenth is to reach invincibility. Are you ready to be cut with the broad sword?"
"I am ready to take the strike, not the wound."
Pahvilon grins for once, "Good response." He gets a broad sword, an asian style one of course, and shows it to everyone and then goes to a cutting stand and takes a measured slice, cutting the rolled mat in half with a stroke at a 45 degree angle. He goes over to Bei, "Ready?"
Bei breaths in his fashion and nods.
Bin can barely watch, but has to as the huge elephant raises back the sword and slices again with expert precision...and nothing. A bit of long fur falls to the ground and no blood, nothing stains his white fur.
"Very good master Yong, you are indeed a master." Pahvilon bows and Yong returns it.
He replaces the sword and Bei puts back on his shirt as all the masters stand as Pahvilon finishes his scroll of mastery of the 14th and 12th degrees
Handing it to him he says, "We congratulate you, True Master Bei Yong of Loran."

[Ciata]

Walking away from Bareholm on the same, narrowing, dusty trail they came there in, Bin is still rambling about the events that had just taken place.
"Wow...true master. That's incredible, just awesome...I can't believe how fast you were, I couldn't keep up with it all, I guess I don't have to worry anymore about someone jumping us on the road, not that I did before, but I mean, true master..."
Bei interrupts, "Bin..."
"Yeah."
"Shut up."
"Okay...I was just...I dunno, amazed that's all, don't know what to say about it, about you. We don't really have any real, serious martial artists in Loran." Bin's ears go flat and he lowers his eyes.
"And you should be glad of that, that you have been able to survive as long as you have without need for violence or war. Tell me Bin, what is it that you seek?"

Bin nits his brow in thought and partial confusion. "I dunno, I guess I just want to get stronger and better able to lead the village."
"Strength fades, I've seen some of the strongest living beings die or deteriorate. And where would you lead them if you had the strength to do so?"
Bin thinks for a while, never having put much thought of that before.
"Well, I guess to a peaceful, happier life."
Bei keeps walking with his eyes always on the road ahead. "What brings peace, and what is happiness?"
"Well, I guess safety brings peace, and...happiness is where your doing something you enjoy."
Bei glances over to Bin for a moment to stare him in the eye. "Safety implies that there is danger or something to protect against, and you can do things that you can enjoy that do not bring real happiness, just momentary satisfaction."

Bin looks more and more depressed as his every thought is crushed and doesn't bother responding this time, but he doesn't have to.
"Bin, you must discover what it means to be safe, even in this world where mighty cities can be leveled in an instant and an invisible bullet take any life from afar. You have to find out what it means to be truly happy, no matter what happens, have a happiness and joy that nothing can take away. Search for this truth, and then you can attempt to share it with others."

His mind blown in two ways on the same day, Bin treks on beside Bei Yong in silence until the night falls and they are forced to stop off of the road. They share a few bites of a roasted fish they had gotten on their way out and had wrapped and forgo the fire for the night and rely on their night vision and thick fur to make it through the night.

Bin however did not sleep much that night and sat up, his back to a rock, on the excuse of guard duty, thinking, soul searching, and praying for some kind of restored thought, or some path and truth to follow.
Sometime in the middle of the night the fur on the back of Yong's neck stood up and he first laid still for a few second, listening and smelling, but could sense nothing physically that did not belong. Opening his eyes he looks around for Bin, who was still sitting with his back to the rock, but with clouded over eyes that were wide open, but not seeing anything in front of him...then they began to glow.

[Ciata]

Nothing. Everything. In a flash it all passed before passive eyes. Then, a silent sight. Invisible hands stretched out, not able to be seen by physical eyes, but they were there and could be seen none the less. Two paths, each with a lifetime of images and feelings and thoughts lying down them, all visible in a myriad of feelings that all meshed together to form a single image that went through and permeated his soul. They lay before him, frozen and moving in an instant of time that had an eternity revolving around it. The choice lay before him, but it was not truly a choice, for the decision had already been made.
To go right, the path that radiated warmth and a comfortable existence. There was no wandering, there were no tribulations, everything was small, and focused, and easy to grasp and control. It was an easy path, with a warm place to sleep and good company to spend your days with. If it had a color it was green, the green warmth of a spring meadow that was basking in the sunlight, you could feel the simple warmth all over your body, even through your shoes as you run about or relaxed on the free and open fields, simply enjoying being alive.
Then, there was the other path. To turn your existence left, not looking, but feeling what lay down that path, it was cold. Cold and bright, but it was a frigid sun, with harsh winds and barren hills and mountains. There was little warmth down this path, and there were few friends and feelings of simple enjoyment of life. There was a puzzle of feelings, some impossible to describe, only to be felt. It was steep, tiring even the mind to look at it. It was cold, freezing down to your soul through betrayal and loneliness. It was lonely, the sheer solitude, broken only by a faint glimmer of knowledge that had not yet been grasped. It was impossible to reach whatever goal was in front, whatever summit was being climbed to. Yet, the beauty of the valley not yet seen that lay on the other side, the glory and triumph that lay before somehow pulled you on. There were no simple shortcuts here, no warm places of simplicity...and yet, there were caves, shelters, small, desperate fires of those who were attempting the same path, or had before, that offered enough hope and enough motivation to continue on to the impossible summit. There were so many odd and alien feelings circling about in the cold, feelings that permeated and soaked into your very soul and altered everything about you.
It was deeper, it was higher, it was harder, and yet, it was the only way. The way that was made to be taken by those whose gazes were able to tear their eyes from the ground, looking for some bit of earthly treasure, and could see the blinding light that drew you towards it with one hand covering your eyes from the brilliance, and another groping for some guide or path to show the way.
Yes, there were two paths, but only one could be chosen by those able to grasp it. Only one for him, and he chose the higher path.

[Ciata]

There was no way of knowing how much time had passed, if any, but when Bin opened his eyes he was still reclining on the rock and the sun was rising in the distance, it piercing through the clouds indicating about nine in the morning, playing shades of blue and gray over the mountains always in the distance.
Looking down from the sky, still in a bit of a daze, he jumps, or jerks back rather, as Master Yong sat kneeling about a yard from his feet.
"What are you doing?" Bin asks, puzzled, but mainly frightened, as just the day before he had felt like the roles should have been switched.
Bei raises his head to look at him from his kneeling position. "Your eyes...they shone of the seer's light, the heavenly light that is reflected when one stares into heaven to speak with the almighty."
"What?! What are you talking about? I just had a dream...of sorts...I think..." Bin sits there, still confused as to what happened.
"The eyes of the seer are like a prism, reflecting the light from the heavens in a dancing display of colors and light. It happens when one is spoken to and chosen for a specific purpose to follow the way."
"Wait." Bin stands up and begs Bei to do so as well. "The way? What way? I had a dream about paths and these two paths that were in front of me."
"Yes," Bei stands up, looking with a very different attitude upon him than he had ever before, almost one of reverent respect, which was creeping Bin out. "The path, the way, only a few are called to this path, and it is for a specific purpose...most give their lives for the reason they were chosen."
Bin shakes a finger, thinking, trying to put the pieces together. "Okay, a messenger person who dies and has those weird eyes sometimes...so it's like with the last Diacanos, Opalance Calaminion?"
"No! Shen Shuey is different, he is a guide and immortal agent that intercedes in events, you are a seer."
"A seer of what? All I know is that I chose a hard path, I don't know anything to tell people. What are you talking about?" Bin is distressed, almost angry with all of this.
"It is revealed in time. You must be careful though, evil forces have often attempted, and sometimes succeeded in stopping a messenger before he has received or delivered his message."
"Wait, people are going to try to kill me? What for?! Can't I just say something like, hey you, be nice, and be done with it?" Bin sits down on the rock he was leaning against, flustered and distressed even more.

Bei walks over and puts a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry Bin-Ja, you are not alone, even now there are others with the same job as you, chosen to deliver a message to alter or help the lives of many, or sometimes just a few, and there will be those placed in your way to help you...like I can only believe I was..."
"So you were sent to help me?" Bin looks up hopefully.
"Perhaps, the almighty is known to work in strange ways and through curious circumstances."
"I still don't know what your talking about or what all this means."
"It's alright, you don't have to yet, it will come in time and don't try to rush it and get some false idea in your head, be patient. There is a purpose and a time for everything and every event placed in your path."
"But what do I do?"
"Well, you can meditate and wait to be spoken to, you can read some of the scriptures passed down that hopefully some in the village have, and you can do your job, and go about your life. After all, God does have strange ways of putting things into your life."
"I guess so...give me something to do, I guess."
"Well, in order to do anything we must follow with path back to your village."
"Yeah." Bin looks at the rising sun. "We've already wasted enough time."
"No, not wasted young one, not wasted at all..." Bei mutters as they grab their things together and get ready to get back on the road.

[Ciata]

Bin spent many an hour on the long trip home thinking about his dream and what it meant, his head sagging and his steps heavy, walking like someone had added a fifty pound weight to his backpack.

*sigh, What does all this mean, I know it's what I'm meant to do..." He paused in thought, "but what do I do now that I know what to do?*

He gives off another sigh that catches the attention of Bei Yong, who's attitude had changed dramatically after the night of the vision, going from a seemingly deeply angry and im-personal loner, to almost like a concerned father figure or caring uncle, looking at him and talking to him differently, like the dream had brought about some sudden change in him as well, or rather a change in how he valued Bin.

All of that was mainly lost on Bin though, who was acting very depressed and worried, just fiddling with a string hanging off of his pack, trying to avoid too much conversation about the confusing event that night before.
"Do you need some water? There is a stream over beyond those trees." Bei points out a line of trees bordering an invisible stream about thirty feet off of the slowly sloping road.
"No, I'm not thirsty." Bin replies, still with his head down, weighted by another seeming set of responsibilities laid upon him at random.
"Well do you want to take a rest? I don't think you actually slept any last night, you must be tired after the last few days." Bei tries again, a pleading hope in his voice.
"No...I just want to get back to Loran." Bin trudges along.
"Oh...we might try that beaver for some scrolls or scriptures, he seemed rather cheerful and devout."
"Why? What's so important about those scrolls? If I need to be told something why doesn't it just tell me again like last time?"
Bei seemed almost taken aback by that, something uncommon for him. "Because...the scrolls are the collections of those like you before you, the mass summery of the teachings and lives of the prophets and holy ones and kings. Their whole life purpose was to hear and put down and act out those words so that others, like you, after them could read them and also hear the message. The scriptures are what makes up what we know of following the way, everything we adhere to."

Bin tries not to roll his eyes at another hearing of how important the scrolls and scriptures were and how perfect they were. "So if I do really good or die will there be one written about me?"
"Humph, if your extremely lucky and the words you receive are suitable for the instruction and inspiration of many." Bei gruffly says back, his tone changing at the distaste for the scriptures he sensed. "Many have lived great, faithful lives and gave their lives on the road only to never have one record it, only those holy scribes in the paradise of the holy." He touches his right paw to his forehead and stretches a paw toward the sky in a sort of salute as they keep walking.

Bin does roll his eyes at that and readjusts the pack on his back. "I don't see what's so great about all those scriptures or how they can be said to be so perfect and holy. They were put down by chattan like us, what's the big deal with it? Shouldn't our own path be more important than the path's of others?"
Bei starts to get into the first real theological discussion he had been a part of in a while since before the time he had left the monastery and before he had undergone the serious training and only looked back to the road from Bin to make sure he didn't step on anything too large.
"Though we each walk our own path, and live our own lives, as the holy one sees fit to guide us, we are still climbing the same mountain toward the same goal. To go in a different direction than those who were the champions of our faith and the instruments of our lord, would be like going the wrong way and not climbing up and instead going around in circles or getting turned around are walking into a cliff that we cannot surpass and climb." He looks at Bin so as to catch his eye and keep contact. "All the scriptures are good for correcting our path and teaching us how to walk our way, though our own way is just that, our own."

Bin just looks away and sighs again, kicking a rock a few times as he walks, before it rolls off the road. "Why can't it just lay out the way your supposed to do everything so that we can do it and not have to worry about any more instruction or "inspirations"?"
"Because, no two lives are the same, just as no two creatures are the same. We all live differently and deal with different things in different ways and have different strengths and weaknesses. Also it leaves open considerable opportunities to live out your way as you see fit and decide upon issues that you might feel one way or another about."
"Whatever...I just hope whatever needs to happen, happens."
Bei just gives him a "poor guy, you'll understand like me in time" look and keeps on hiking, them nearly back at Fahuma and it already starting to get dark, it being late fall. They would have nearly been back to Loran by then, if not for the late start.

Bei asks, as Bin's opinion has suddenly become very important, "What do you wish to do about Fahuma and that Prefect there? Do you want to keep on going or stop before we get there to avoid trouble?"
Bin thinks for a few moments. "I guess we should go into town and try to work out last time. It being one of the nearest towns, I can't afford to have some type of grudge, rivalry thing going on, that's the last thing I need right now."
Bei nods in approval. "Good, we are told to make peace with both your brother and your enemy as well, so as to avoid Divine and earthly judgment."
"Well, that much is true, I don't want to have some despite dragged before some magistrate or whatever between us, or worse, a challenge."
"Well, we had better get to it then." Bei turns his face toward the approaching town with a few scattered lights in the fading sunlight starting to pop up and his face goes emotionless and serious again.

[Ciata]

The pair make their way into town with no small amount of caution, Bei in particular not lending much lee-way to the honor of the town's inhabitance. Checking windows, examining every passer by in the new night, they found nothing out of the ordinary as the made their way first to the local training hall.

"Huh...guess he's closed for the night." Bin stares into black windows and examines the lock on the large oak front door.
"Not surprised, he's probably off drunk somewhere." Master Yong keeps his back to the building and keeps his eyes on the street and virtually empty diner across it.
"So where should we stay the night? I'm not sure what is and isn't an appropriate place to stay in a town like this." Bei stands there with his arms crossed.
"Well you can usually tell what type of place a building is by the lamp out front. Normal houses that are hospitable or expecting company or something have a normal lamp out front, with a small banner attached to it for a special occasion. One with a yellow and green tint to it is somewhere to eat, like across the street there. A place to sleep is usually a bunch of bright, happy colors to attract business, and red ones...well, you don't see many of those." He points out each type as they spot them.
He finally spots one lamp in front of a good sized, two story building, that boasted no less than six colors, all bright and cheerful.
"This would be the place..." they get closer and are able to make out "The Inn of Glad Tidings" on a large plaque mounted on above the front door.
Bei still is only paying half attention, his eyes still darting nervously about, as if he sensed something was wrong that Bin was blissfully unaware of. Bin opens the door for him and it takes him a moment to realize what he was doing and why and he cautiously steps in, giving a few quick glances about.
"Good evening! Made it just in time to escape the perils of the night!" The inn keeper, a happy and half awake tabby cat greets them as soon as they enter with a toothy grin, straightening up behind his desk. "I take it you are here to spend the night?"
"Yes sir, just a plain room for a short night's rest. What are your rates?" Bin asks, setting down his pack to get at whatever trade items he might ask for.
"Well a room for the night is just 4 bowls of rice for the two of you." He recites.
"Do you also take dried meat? I'm running low on rice and wheat, on my way back."
"Yes, yes, we accept meat as well, felines and all in the ownership." He flashes another toothy grin. "Let's see what you've got."
Bin lays out a half dozen strips of dried meat and they begin to haggle.
Master Yong however is still standing near the door, tense, listening and smelling. "Something...isn't...right..."