The Tao of Yin and Yang
<h1 id="title">Elliquiy Role Playing Forums</h1>
		<h2 id="linktree">Play-By-Post: Bondage, D/s, S&amp;M =&gt; Bondage: Human Solos =&gt; Topic started by: HairyHeretic on 07-09-2008, 02:04:27</h2>
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				Title: <strong>The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>HairyHeretic</strong> on <strong>07-09-2008, 02:04:27</strong>
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				"That it should come to this." thought Chai Jin, lifting his tea cup, and sipping from it. He pursed his lips in thought, then finally nodded to the small man sitting across the table from him.<br><br>"Thank you." the other replied, making a bow. "Everything you need to know is here." He took a scroll from inside his sleeve and slid it across the table, bowed again, and left.<br><br>Chai Jin, merely nodded, putting the scroll into his own sleeve. As he watched, an old storyteller rose and began to speak, his rich voice filling the tea house.<br><br>"Huang Di, the mythical Yellow Emperor and first of the great sovereigns of old, was recognized in his lifetime as an extraordinary warrior. In those times, when monsters and demons still walked the earth, he and his army confronted the barbarian hordes to protect the Empire. Among the many inventions which he granted to men were weapons : the sword, the spear, the bow, and the halberd were the tools used to defend and expand the Empire."<br><br>"During the reign of the Three Emperors and the Xia Dynasty, it was the nobles that shouldered the burden of protecting the people from the many dangers they faced."<br><br>"All through the time of the great dynasties, the nobles were able to concentrate on their military and religious duties, and on perfecting their fighting skills. In those mythical times, worthy men were taught by the immortals, and master swordsmen roamed throughout the Empire seeking the essence of the perfect warrior that remains to this day the ultimate goal of many wu xia. Tournaments provided an opportunity for the finest warriors to win glory by their great fighting skills. Fearsome techniques were developed in secret and passed down from master to disciple, legendary weapons were forged by the gods for those who showed themselves to be worthy, and the exploits of great swordsmen rang up to the heavens and down to present times."<br><br>"It was a blessed time. The most valiant da xia received high honors, including noble ranks and military appointments. The noble families swelled with pride to have such celebrated swordsmen at their service. The blacksmith was king among craftsmen. And everywhere fighting skill was passed on by teachers, shared in combats, and celebrated in tournaments."<br><br>"That was a time when honor and loyalty still meant something. An oath was a precious thing, which when broken brought the wrath of Heaven and terrible misfortune on the betrayer. It was a time when gods sat in judgment on men… "<br><br>"Quiet, you old fool." A second voice snapped from the doors of the tea house. All eyes were drawn to it, then quickly away, lest the Red Plumes decide that such a look was a challenge, and deal with the person accordingly. "You've been told about repeating that rubbish before." snapped the officer, advancing on the old man, and shoving him hard, sending him bouncing off one of the pillars of the tea house. <br><br>"Since you can't seem to keep your tongue from flapping, maybe we should cut it out, hmm?" He snapped his fingers, and a pair of the guardsmen ran forwards, siezing the old man. The officer advanced, drawing a dagger from his belt. "Now, you old goat ..." he began, his voice abruptly cutting off as a porcelain teacup took him square in the nose. Two more sailed across the room, striking both of the soldiers holding the old man. They dropped to the ground, and the old man quickly scurried away as the the room began to empty of guests and fill with soldiers.<br><br>"WHO DARES?" screamed the Red Plume officer, blood pouring from his nose, and giving his voice a decided unauthoritarian pitch. "Who threw that?" By now most of the tea house patrons had fled or were hiding under their tables. Across the room, only a single one still sat at his table, apparently unperturbed. "Was it you?" he snarled, advancing on the man who was calmly sipping a cup of tea. "I'm talking to you. Did you throw those cups?"<br><br>Chai Jin looked up at him, then back down at his cup. "You have the manners of a pig." replied, then calmly took another sip of tea. "Please cease disturbing the serenity of this place, or I shall be forced to teach you manners."<br><br>The Officer went purple with rage, mouth working incoherently for a moment. "Seize him." He ordered, sweeping his arm to point at Chai Jin. Four soldiers sprang forwards, two of them going down in a heap as Chai Jin kicked the table into them as he tossed his tea cup into the air. Twisting, he seized his guan dao and spun it out in front of him, a quick one-two with the flat of the blades striking the other two soldiers in the head and sending them to the ground as well.<br><br>He caught the tea cup, the liquid inside unspilled and took another sip as a second group of soldiers rushed forwards, past the officer. He flicked the now empty cup at them, catching one in the temple. He dropped and rolled forwards, sweeping the haft of his halberd through the legs of the onrushing soldiers, sending them crashing into each other. As he rose, he reversed his grip and the wooden end smacked against the heads of the soldiers that sought still to rise. <br><br>Straightening up he advanced purposefully on the officer, parrying the man's thrust with his hand, and trapping the sword arm in a lock. "Consider this your first lesson." he said quietly. "You will treat these people with respect, or I will hear of it, and I will return, and you will not enjoy your second lesson." He slammed the haft of the guan dao down on the officers foot, elicting a scream of pain as the man collapsed to the ground. <br><br>Chai Jin gave his head a small shake as he walked towards the tea house door. <em>'Truely the world has become a poorer place indeed since the old Emperor was killed and that snake that walks took his place.'</em> he thought. <em>'And to think, the Emperor once named him his finest servant.'</em><br><br>He grimaced and walked into the night. He had a job to do now.
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				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CassandraNova</strong> on <strong>09-09-2008, 18:07:48</strong>
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				The market village was like so many frontier habitations that pushed the realm of empire ever outward, into the untamed heart of the world.&nbsp; Like other places on the border, it had the wild to it, from the towering trees of the verdant forests, to the howl of wolves that echoed down from the snow-covered peaks of the mountains, and to the dark.&nbsp; Especially the dark.&nbsp; In the Imperial City, the lamp-lighters burned away the night, cloaking the paved city roads with a light as great as that of the day, as if by banishing shadows from the city streets they could similarly make truth the lie that the Emperor ruled with the Mandate of Heaven.<br><br>Here, in the provinces, the night was a time of darkness, and the dirty paths winding between the frontier houses as dark even beneath the full moon as a bamboo forest.&nbsp; Though the walls and gates, the Red Plumes and the Iron Monks were meant to keep the people inside the settlement safe, few walked the night willingly.&nbsp; Bai Rou not only braved the night, but walked as if all the shadows of Mara were nothing but a cloak to wrap about her shoulders.&nbsp; Her slippered feet were silent, though they glided across fallen leaves and wooden walkways that would creak beneath a cat's paws.&nbsp; She wore gray the no-color of rain, or sun-bleached earth, and when she was still the night did truly seem to embrace her, and eyes did not fall readily upon her.&nbsp; It was by stillness that she eluded the patrols of the Red Plumes, whose armor and hard-shod boots trampling the earth made of the quiet country night a boisterous din.&nbsp; But her calm face, young for all the air of command it bore, never hinted that she might have hidden from these men, never turned away.&nbsp; It was as if she had simply chosen to remain still as they past; never that she had been forced.<br><br>Upon passing a seller of paper, Bai Rou turned and entered the narrow alleyway between two buildings&nbsp; There was a side recession that made a hidden place near the rear of the building, where it backed into the tea house.&nbsp; Bai Rou heard sounds of commotion within the tea house, an outraged man howling "WHO DARES?" but she paid it no mind.&nbsp; A covered red lantern had been left in the secret place.&nbsp; If it had been a green lantern, the message would have been different, but the lantern was red.&nbsp; She knelt down near the stacked logs that made up the paper-seller's shop, and long, cunning fingers felt along the foundation of the building before she found a tiny nook where a roll of paper had been left, no bigger than the tiniest joint of her smallest finger.<br><br>Bai Rou crouched down by the lantern light, her dark eyes scanning the characters on the rice paper as she rolled it out on the small table.&nbsp; The Devil Foxes had been like a family to her, these past years, and she would never cease to repay them for their shelter, their training, their generosity.&nbsp; She would obey this instruction, as she had all the ones previous, though she understood her tasks not, and liked them even less.&nbsp; But this time, she thought it might be a different matter altogether.&nbsp; Seldom was she permitted to strike against the Emperor's favorite nobles, and the lord of this province was one of the great friends of the Yellow Court.<br><br>Smiling as she consigned the paper to the lantern's flame, Bai Rou stood, turning her hands into her sleeves.&nbsp; Her fingertips caressed the soft ivory and jade handles of the deer horn knives strapped to her forearms.&nbsp; Perhaps the crescent blades would spill noble blood this evening, Heaven willing.&nbsp; Thievery was her mission, at the house of Gao Shi, but if chance favor her with a lordling not asleep in the country night...<br><br>Bai Rou set her path towards the twisting mountain road that would lead her way to the house set on the ridge overlooking the town.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>HairyHeretic</strong> on <strong>12-09-2008, 02:09:26</strong>
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				Chai Jin made his way through the forest, listening to the nightbirds plaintive melodies. In his mind, his conversation with the other man replayed itself. <br><br><em>"You alone can we trust to try and retrieve this treasure." the man said, starting to glance furtively around, til Chai Jin drew his attention back with a small gesture. The man nodded, composing himself. "The south road, follow it for two li. When you see the lightning split tree, take the path west. The path will lead you to an old temple. It is abandoned now ... the monks, it is said, did not pay proper respect the Emperors guards, so they were forced out."<br><br>Chai Jins nostrils had flared at this, his eyes narrowed slightly, but he had made no comment. Whether the other man saw this or not, he gave no sign. "Past the temple is a river. You will hear the white water from the wall of the temple. Follow the river upstream, til you reach the falls. There is a cave behind the falls, halfway up. That cave leads to a tunnel, and the tunnel to the cellars beneath the house."<br><br>He leaned in, lowering his voice. "It is said, the tunnel is haunted by the spirits of those that were foully murdered there. The old Lords family. If you can appease the spirits, they will tell you how to enter the house. The man who lives there now, toad that he is, does not know the power of what he has. If it were to fall into the wrong hands, it would be terrible indeed."</em><br><br>Chai Jin broke off his train of thought as the waterfall loomed up out of the night ahead of him. The moon chose that moment to unveil, casting streams of silver light across the foaming pool. He smiled, taking in the beauty of the image, then moved to the cliff and began to climb. The wet rock was slippery under his hands, and a lesser man would have fallen into the pool below. Chai Jin endured the spray of water that soaked into his clothing, face set stoically as he climbed. His grasping hand encountered only air, and he pulled himself into the cave. <br><br>A few steps in and he was free of the spray. He shrugged off the satchel he carried, and pulled off his sodden robe. He squeezed out the worst of the water and put it back on. It was still chill, but the heat from his body would warm it. His hands wove an intricate dance in front of his face, and he lifted his guan dao, breathing his chi into it. The blade lit up with a soft light, and he advanced into the darkness of the tunnel beyond, slipping the satchel over his shoulder once more.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CassandraNova</strong> on <strong>30-10-2008, 23:35:01</strong>
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				From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw some glimmer of light that hadn't been there the moment before, but when she turned, it was gone.&nbsp; Bai Rou spent many quiet, still moments on the bluff overlooking the waterfall, letting her eyes trail up and down the dark night waters, but she saw nothing again from the falls.&nbsp; Perhaps the moon shone through a gap in the clouds, she mused, though the veil of heaven was thick despite its earlier fraying.<br><br>No matter, she told herself as she stood from her hidden perch beside the boulder.&nbsp; She knew the lay of the land well enough to realize that the falls, the cold waters running down from melting mountain snow, marked the three-quarter mark from the place where she had planned to make her climb, and she spent only a moment by the peaceful sight at the base of the hill.&nbsp; She sipped water, and looked at her hands in the night's near complete darkness.&nbsp; Did she feel the faintest bit of a tremor of anticipation for the work that would be done?&nbsp; No, her hands were steady and still, two white and vivid doves in the black that she tucked back into her wide sleeves, caressing the bone handles of her crescent blades.&nbsp; <br><br>After a careful, counted walk of two hundred steps, the thief came to a stop, running her hand across the seemingly smooth surface of the rock.&nbsp; The crevices that her fingers dipped into were no thicker than the legs of a grasshopper, but with an ease that defied comprehension, she found purchase in the rock, and raised herself a hand's span above the ground, toes bracing herself against the most minute of outcroppings. <br><br>Looking up at the overhanging balcony of the nobleman's estate, Bai Rao began to climb, agonizingly slowly across the cliff that soon suspended her above the rocks of the cliff bottom.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>HairyHeretic</strong> on <strong>02-11-2008, 15:35:50</strong>
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				From the darkness ahead, Chai Jin could hear a muttered snarling. Though he could not make out the words yet, the tone was very clear. His eyes took on a steely glint, and he strode forwards.<br><br>Ahead of him, the tunnel opened into a large cave, stalactites and stalagmites giving it the momentary appearance of a horribly disfigured maw. An apt image, for against one wall was crouched a demon ogre, and the floor was strewn with shattered bones. The demon ogre seemed focused on something beyond, and Chai Jin could make out a small hole in the cave wall, set low against the floor. The ogre was alternately stretching its arm into the hole, roaring in frustration and pounding a large club against the hole in an effort to widen it. It would be simplicity itself to sneak around while the beast was so diverted.<br><br>Chai Jin shrugged off his satchel and stepped out into the cave, taking a defensive stance. "DEMON!" he shouted, causing the ogres head to whip around. He leveled his guan dao at it and spoke again, voice flat. "You do not belong here demon. I will send you to the Hell of Wailing and Suffering, where rats will gnaw off your most private parts!"<br><br>The Ogre roared, charging across the cave, club swinging in an arc that would have torn Jins head from his shoulders, had it connected. The wu xia simply slid his foot forwards, leaning back and down, and the club swept past his face. Coming upright as the ogre lumbered past, he spun into the air, a backhanded slap catching the ogres face as it passed.<br><br>Jin landed behind the ogre, waiting til it had turned to face him before taunting it further. "Pathetic. Did the other monsters throw you out because you were such an embarrassment to them? Drop to your knees, and I will grant you the mercy of a quick death."<br><br>Either the insult of his words or the slap had the desired effect, as the ogre roared again in frustration and came in again, club leading in a wide swing that sent shattered pieces of rock flying in all directions. The ogre paused, looking amidst the rubble for its target, then lurched as something hit it painfully on the top of the head. It's head swung round to see the wu xia standing on top of the outstretched club, apparently quite at ease.<br><br>The guan dao shimmered in the air as it swept past the ogres face, and the wu xia somersaulted backwards as the ogre drew the club back. The creature charged forwards again, stumbling over the shattered rock, and falling to its knees. Its beady eyes fixed on the black blood that stained the tip of the blade, and around it the cave seemed to slowly spin.<br><br>Chai Jin watched as its head slowly toppled from its shoulders, and it collapsed to the floor. He shook the last drops of blood from the blade, reverently cleaning it with a piece of cloth, before recovering his satchel. As he turned back to the cave he found he was no longer alone. Standing near the hole that the ogre had been so engrossed in was a stunningly beautiful young woman. She gave a hesitant smile and bowed politely to him.<br><br>"Thank you stranger, you have saved me." she said.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CassandraNova</strong> on <strong>04-11-2008, 15:07:12</strong>
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				Once upon a time, her training in scaling cliffs whose sides had been worn by wind and rain to a surface as smooth as glass had been the stuff of her nightmares.&nbsp; Crimson Petals, who had directed the training of legions of burglars and thieves, had seen to it that, by the end of two long years of training, Bai Rao could have managed the task of climbing a craggy cliff blindfolded and lame in one hand.&nbsp; Even now, Bai half expected her old instructor to emerge from a bush and began "seasoning" her with blunt-headed arrows, and she added a burst of speed to her ascent.<br><br>It was many long minutes before the overhanging floor of the balcony loomed large enough over her head to cast her in the hidden shadows of the manor, and her bloodied fingertips reached out to find a handhold on the supporting post that had been affixed to the granite wall she had just climbed.&nbsp; She looked down for the first time, seeing the jagged rocks on the sandy ground at her feet that strained towards her like spears, and let out a single laugh, soft as a falling leaf.<br><br>The thief closed her eyes as her breath passed over the cuts and scraped in her hands, and her exhalation was misty with a faint pearly glow as she drew upon her <em>yin</em> and sealed the damage in her fingertips.&nbsp; After a moment, only the dried blood remained, even the pain had bled away into the stuff of distant memory.&nbsp; And then not even the blood remained, flaking away and disintegrating into nothing.<br><br>This time she merely had to work her way through overhand grips to the edge of the balcony, and swing herself around to the wooden planks of the intricately carved facing.&nbsp; After cliff-climbing, the gaps between the planks were as easy to pull herself along with as broad iron rings in a training school, and she was almost halfway to the top when she heard a footstep upon the balcony, coming her way.&nbsp; <br><br>Bai Rao froze in midmotion, one hand reaching above her for the next handhold, as she looked up, and saw the shadow of a man lean over the balcony.&nbsp; She could not tell if he was looking down at her, if some noise had betrayed her, or it was simply the will of the <em>yoni</em> to place him in her path at this time.&nbsp; It did not matter.&nbsp; She lowered her raised hand to form a double grip on the platform in front of her eyes, and once more let the <em>yin</em> flow through her.&nbsp; She pulled down, the muscles in her arms pulling her body upwards like a rising cannon shot, and she rose into the air.<br><br>Bai Rao saw the broad rimmed dome hat of a hired guard turn upwards as she rose overhead, surprise forming a bearded mouth into a wide "O", and the beginnings of a surprised yell issue forth.&nbsp; The thief reached out, placing her hands upon his shoulders, and made his body the anchor point upon which she moved.&nbsp; She turned her vertical rise into the energy she needed to curl over the man's head, turning into a tight ball as she climbed up and over, her feet finding purchase between his shoulder blades.<br><br>After that, it was simply a matter of pushing out with her legs, the release of energy doing two things.&nbsp; First of all, it sent her horizontally towards the manor house.&nbsp; Secondly, it sent the man away from the house with the same force.<br><br>Over the railing.<br><br>The surprised yelp turned, too late, into a horrified shriek far away from hearing ears as he fell towards the waiting spears, and Bai Rao rolled to her feet, knives in hands, eyes scanning from left to right even as she entered the house, searching for other guards.&nbsp; She noted the details of a bedroom; floor mat rolled into a tight cylinder against one wall, paneled screens slid closed, a quiet lamp burning in once corner.&nbsp; Her feet glided across the bamboo floor, and she smelled faint dust.&nbsp; The room was quiet once she settled quietly behind a cherry cabinet, not even the wind blew in the night.&nbsp; The room had the look of an unused chamber; the bed was unused, the cabinet stood open and empty, and the tabletop was devoid of anything of ornamentation or utility save the lamp.<br><br>Bai Rao frowned, even as she stood up.&nbsp; Why would a guard be posted upon the balcony of an empty room?&nbsp; The thief emerged from her hiding place and walked once more onto the balcony, crouching down low like a hound on the trail.&nbsp; Her fingers ran cross the ground in the near dark, until they chanced upon something small and hard, greasy and papery.<br><br>She lifted the small packet, bringing it to her nose to lightly scent what she had found, and nodded as she recognized the scent, the feel, of pulped poppy seeds.&nbsp; Even if the Red Plume Emperor had done nothing else right and proper under Heaven, he had come down very harshly over the trade of opium, and a guard in a merchant's house would have good cause to hide his habits.&nbsp; Lazily, Bai Rao let the packet fall along the same path its owner had taken as, curiosity satisfied, she crept back once more into the house, dancing soundlessly upon bamboo floors as she sought out the hidden storeroom.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>HairyHeretic</strong> on <strong>07-11-2008, 00:55:07</strong>
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				Chai Jin returned the bow with one of his one. "Had I known the beast was threatening anyone, I would have acted faster." he said, glancing at small tunnel in the rock. "However, I feel compelled to point out that you .. as you appear now .. could not have fitted within that tunnel." He did not move, there was now a sense of coiled motion that seemed to emanate from him. "Who .. or what .. might you be, lady?"<br><br>"I am Qiuyie*." the woman replied, eyes widening slightly at the question. "And no more or less than what you see before you."<br><br>Jin smiled at the answer. "A truthfull answer." he said, "But one that does not tell me what I wish to know." He cocked his head slightly to the side, looking at her, and she returned his gaze through demurely lowered lashes. "I sense no evil from you, lady." He paused, then nodded half to himself and smiled again. "I must say, you look very healthy for one who has seen over a century."<br><br>Quiyie gave another small bow. "Your insight does you credit." she replied. "I had thought that you would only see me for who I am."<br><br>"Ah, but I have." replied Jin. "And while few remember the signs of a huli jing, I have dedicated myself to fighting against the monsters that prey on the land now, and have learned much in that time."<br><br>Quiyie nodded. "A noble cause. How did you know the ogre had made it's lair here."<br><br>Jin smiled. "I did not. I had another reason for being here this evening, and it is only fortunate I was able to help you as I did."<br><br>Quiyie gave another nod. "Ah, I see. How then might I repay you for your most fortunate actions?"<br><br>"No repayment is necessary." replied Jin. He paused, thinking. <em>It is said the fox spirits walk between the lands of the living and the dead. If the spirits of the old Lord's family still dwell within these tunnels, perhaps she may know of them.</em><br><br>"Do you know of any spirits within these tunnels?" he asked. "I was told that they were haunted."<br><br>"There were spirits here." replied Quiyie. "But they are here no longer. Only their echos remain."<br><br>Jin exhaled a short breath, disappointment on his face. "Then it seems I must press on regardless." he replied. "I wish you fortune, lady."<br><br>Quiyie glanced at the direction Jin faced, then turned back to him. "You seek to enter the house above us, don't you?" she asked. "In return for saving me, permit me to help with this small task."<br><br>"I would be honoured by your assistance." replied Jin. <br><br>Quiyie gave a small bow, and moved towards the wu xia, the long sleeves of her dress curling through the air as she came. As she reached him, she spun full circle, the sleeve brushing across the knights eyes. When it passed he found himself no longer in the cave, but in a rough hewn stone room.<br><br>"You are in the cellars now." came a voice from nearby. He looked down and saw a three tailed white fox near his feet. "I wish you well in your quest. And perhaps we will meet again." With that, it disappeared, leaving Jin alone in the gloom.<br><br>- - - -<br>*Lit - Autumn Moon
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CassandraNova</strong> on <strong>12-11-2008, 16:12:12</strong>
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				Closer to her destination, the more Bai Rao felt the excitement of anticipation threaten to steal her professional detachment.&nbsp; The more she wanted to rush heedlessly across the nightengale floor, seize the treasure, and make a grand escape, with any luck claiming the lives of many Red Plume guards in the process.&nbsp; But she fought against such urges, and the last dozen steps to the vault were carried out with as much precision and silence as the first dozen.<br><br>Her feet made a study of each bamboo plank well before she put more than a breath of weight upon them; her weight spread across the floor, finding where the joints were solidly cemented together, and where they were engineered to creak and groan.&nbsp; As carefully as if she were treading upon thin ice, the thief crept across the singing floor, until she stood before the only doorway in the corridor not made of a sliding screen, but was a portal of solid wood with a metal lock. <br><br>The slender thief knelt before the lock, which had been carved with the resplendent face of an unbearded lion.&nbsp; Her fingertips brushed the deceptively plain handle, found the sharpness of the tooth that would have punctured the skin of the unwary, and came away with a thin coating of black oil.&nbsp; She held her hand to her mouth, breathed, and nodded.&nbsp; Black Lotus Oil; paralyzing, but rarely fatal.&nbsp; Anyone unfortunate enough to be snared by this trap would await questioning by the Master of the house before meeting their end.<br><br>From her sleeve, she withdrew one of her crescent moon daggers, and placed it beneath the lion's jaws.&nbsp; She lifted, so carefully, she lifted, until she heard the raising bolt and nudged the door forward just enough to keep it from closing once more.<br><br>Bai Rao let out her breath, rising to her feet, and once more breathed out a measured bit of <em>yang</em> giving her curved blade the glow of a small candle before she opened the Honored Prefect's vault.&nbsp; The Scrolls of the Uncut Tree were here; she could feel them calling to her, and all she need do now was seize them, and the mission would be half done...
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>HairyHeretic</strong> on <strong>13-11-2008, 23:36:24</strong>
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				Chai Jin crept through the household, listening intently with every step he took. A handfull of guards and servants were still up, but as they carried lanterns with them, they were easily avoided.<br><br>He drifted along silently in the wake of one guard, matching the man's every footfall and breath, so the guard had no clue that someone padded along only a few yards behind him. He watched as the guard entered the very chamber he sought, then drop his hand to the hilt of his sword. Chai Jin took a long step up behind the guard, looking over his shoulder at the opened chamber across the room, and the faintest glow of light emanating from within.<br><br>As the guard opened his mouth to cry out, Chai Jin struck, driving a phoenix eye knuckle strike into one of man's vital points. The guard collapsed, like a puppet with the strings cut, and Chai Jin muttered a silent curse, grabbing the guards collar in one hand, lowering him to the ground as his foot shot out to catch the lantern. He froze, balanced on one foot, the other outstretched, listening for any sound that he had been heard.<br><br>The only sound was the loud beating of his own heart, which began to quieten again. Carefully he lowered guard and lantern both to the ground, before moving into the room, and propping the now unconscious guard against the door. He blew the lantern out with a silent puff of breath, and looked across the room. There was still no sign that anyone had heard him. <br><br>He stood up, and began to move across the room, freezing as the first of the Nightingale floorboards began to sing. An expression of anger flashed across his face as he realised that whoever could be in the next chamber could surely have heard even that quiet sound. His hands flashed in front of him as he focused his chi into the Tao of the light step, and lept across the room, soaring through the open doorway and into the chamber beyond, guan dao raised.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CassandraNova</strong> on <strong>30-11-2008, 01:12:56</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The measured, almost bored tread of a guard upon the floorboards alerted her to the presence of a visitor so far in advance it might have been signaled with canonfire across a distant mountain peak.&nbsp; The thief retreated with three of the four locks on the scroll box defeated back to the doorway and let her <em>yang</em> guide her into the Spider Step.&nbsp; Her legs spread wide, feet bent at an impossible angle as they gripped the wooden doorframe, and there she sat and perched, ready to drop down upon the unwary soul that chanced upon her.<br><br>But then she head the sound of a blow, a large body falling, but failing to land.&nbsp; Instead, the body was lowered, and silence reigned.&nbsp; Bai Rao frowned, turning her knives over in her hands as she waited, listening, waiting...<br><br>And then the singing floor, and the glow of <em>chi</em> upon the curved head of a guan dao entered the room, in the hands of a warrior.&nbsp; He charged into the room like a rampant lion, and Bai Rao dropped with the silence of an owl's swoop behind him.&nbsp; With unwilling irony at making the hunted from the hunter, she mirrored his step as he made his way across the treasure chamber, and the thief saw his gaze settle on the scroll box, her tools in evidence in the lock. <br><br>He did not have the look of a Red Plume, but he had seen more than she could allow, and so she raised her knives to plunge between his shoulder blades...
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>HairyHeretic</strong> on <strong>30-11-2008, 23:48:51</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The feel of the energies behind him alerted Chai Jin, and he threw himself forwards, tucking his shoulder into a rolling breakfall that brought him back to one knee facing the way he had come, guan dao weaving a figure eight pattern in the air to stall any pursuit.<br><br>His eyes flicked the figure that had materialised from the shadows, and he slowly drew his weapon back to a defensive position. He spoke, voice kept low to avoid risking any further disturbance of the household. "I do not know who you are thief, nor do I care much. I have a task to do tonight, and do not wish you to complicate it. Leave now, if you wish, or wait til I am gone before stealing treasures from this leech. I wish only a single piece."<br><br>As he spoke he rose slowly to his feet, blade still ready to defend himself.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CassandraNova</strong> on <strong>09-12-2008, 17:38:13</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Of all the things that she had been expecting from her raid on the treasure trove of the corrupt one, that two should make the attempt on the same night had not, for the briefest moment of time, occured to her.&nbsp; And now, faced with a <em>wuxia</em> at least as skilled as herself, Bai Rao's quick thinking had already put forward half a dozen explanations for Chai Jin's presence.&nbsp; Her eyes shot to the treasure box a particularly unfortunate explanation occured to her, but one that was all too likely given the black humor of Heaven this night.<br><br>"You are here for the Scroll of the Uncut Tree," she said in a tone of voice that neither asked a question nor declared a statement.&nbsp; She straightened slowly from the crouched position her failed strike had landed her in, and though her knives were close to hand, she did not settle herself in the opening stance of any other the knife forms she knew.&nbsp; "I am as well.&nbsp; This is a difference that no amount of negotiation can settle, <em>yin-xu</em>.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>HairyHeretic</strong> on <strong>16-12-2008, 02:28:29</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Chai Jin gave a faint smile. "I think negotiation is preferable, unless we wish to rouse the entire house with a more vigorous debate." he replied. "And I, for one, have no intention of allowing the louse that lives here to retain possession of such a treasure."<br><br>He regarded the woman in front of him evenly. "I have no particular wish to harm you, but I gave my word that I would recover this. I mean to see it safely in more deserving hands, those who will use its teachings to benefit people. If the Red Plumes were to learn the teachings within, do you think they would use them so well?" He gave a shake of his head. "And what of you? Will you sell the teachings to whoever can put the most coin in your hand, <em>thief</em>?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CassandraNova</strong> on <strong>17-12-2008, 15:32:22</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Bai Rao narrowed her eyes to a daggerlike glare in the face of Chai Jin's insinuations before forcing herself to calm.&nbsp; For all she knew, this warrior wanted her to lose her focus in an untamed show of rage and umbrage, the better to cut her down with.&nbsp; "The wind may blow at the mountain, but the mountain is under no obligation to bow," she quoted to him.<br><br>Reversing her grip on her left-handed Lujiao, she spoke in a clipped, measured pace.&nbsp; "For you see, I am under a similar burden to retrieve the scroll for my Master, and this makes the honorable resolution of this situation in a manner favorable to both of us impossible."&nbsp; She moved her left hand back towards her ear, but slowly, as if pulling her body through a thick miasma.<br><br>"There is a technique in the scrolls in the vaults of the Devil Foxes," she informed him, "called 'Water Seeps Slowly,' her left hand released the knife, and if hovered in midair beside her head, just beginning to tumble.&nbsp; "It has the effect of clouding the mind and bending the perception of time.&nbsp; I have just used it on you.&nbsp; In fact, by the time you realize that my thrown knife does not seem to be moving at all..."<br><br>It seemed to Chai Jin that the room in front of him rippled like the surface of a pond into which a stone had been thrown, and Bai Rao exploded into motion with a multi-imaged blur.&nbsp; The knife she had thrown tumbled towards him with the same exponential increase in speed, while he seemed trapped in slowness.&nbsp; He raised the head of his guan dao just in time to deflect the knife, earning a cut upon his shoulder in stead of a pierced heart.&nbsp; But in that moment of warped time, Bai Rao had seized the strongbox, contents and all, and was halfway down the hallway.&nbsp; In her haste, she abandoned stealth, and Chai Jin heard the nightingales sing.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>HairyHeretic</strong> on <strong>19-12-2008, 23:28:04</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Chai Jin wore a scowl as he sprinted after the thief ... not for her actions, for what else could one expect from a thief, but for his own misjudgement of the situation. Already the house was rising, voices calling in alarm and query, doors opening, and the heavy tramp of guards pounding closer. His quarry was ahead of him, her movements flickering motion ... the Tao of the Second Breath perhaps. Under normal circumstances she would likely outsprint him, but the box she had taken was heavier than it had appeared, and it was slowing her down, and he would match his endurance against hers under any circumstances. <br><br>He sprinted into a hall, seeing her disappear behind a pillar, an ornate tapestry billowing slightly as she ducked behind it. His scowl changed to a grin as he moved towards it, before the sound of oncoming boots drew his attention to the archway at the far side of the room. <em>Good ears, thief.</em> he thought, grudgingly, as a patrol of household guards came charging into the room.<br><br>Chai Jin focused his chi and spun, his guan dao dipping under a particularly large and ugly statue of the current Emperor (may his black soul be tormented forever in the Hell of the Piercing Steel), flicking it into the air. As he spun, the steel clad butt of his weapon smashed into the statue, shattering it into dozens of fist sized pieces. Faster he spun, his movement a blur, and the guan dao struck the falling lumps of stone, sending them flying into the guards.<br><br>As Chai Jin dropped into a crouch, drained by the effort, the guardsmen lay ahead of him, groaning in pain. His eyes flicked towards the tapestry as it settled back into place, and he picked himself up and sprinted on, determined to cut the thief's lead before she could escape the house.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CassandraNova</strong> on <strong>21-12-2008, 16:24:21</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The first guard in her path discovered that just because she labored under the heavy burden of that which she was stealing did not make her less deadly.&nbsp; While he still had his dao half in and half out of its scabbard, she raised the box over her head as she continued to run, and struck him across the temple as she turned her hip to slide past him.&nbsp; There was a heavy, hollow thud, and he collapsed.&nbsp; Bai Rao briefly considered laying his body across the path of the wuxia behind her, but she could hear him, charging along at her tail like a bull.<br><br>Behind the tapestry was the earthen corridor she had been told to expect.&nbsp; In the distance, little more than a candle's brightness burned, and she knew it was the One-Edged Door she had been told to expect.&nbsp; There were more secrets to this house than tails on a fox, and she did not doubt that the wuxia behind her knew at least one more secret path.&nbsp; Not that it would matter.&nbsp; Once she was through the door, she could lay an ambush to kill or hamstring him, and then retrieve the scroll. <br><br>She did not notice the treeroots.&nbsp; No, not quite true.&nbsp; Bai Rao noticed them, but thought nothing of them, since the tunnel was unfinished earth; they were to be expected.&nbsp; But the mass of them, the volume was not apparent until she came within sight of the Door, which was simply an iron doorframe free standing in an open space at the end of the tunnel.&nbsp; The light was from a pair of braziers that burned blue, and the floor was a carpet of rope-like branches.&nbsp; Prior to landing amidst the thick of them, she had touched many to no effect, but now the lightest brush of her slippered foot against the living trap the black taoist had laid began to stir the nest.&nbsp; <br><br>Bai Rao found a ropey hand upon her foot, and she freed herself, but in so doing touched her shoulder against the roots along the wall, and they began to envelop her.<br><br>Behind her she heard a mighty breaking sound, and she knew that the wuxia was just moments away.&nbsp; She began to cut at the roots with her remaining knife, but the thicket in front of her grew faster than she could cut.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>HairyHeretic</strong> on <strong>24-12-2008, 21:04:17</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Chai Jin had started down the other exit from the room before he realised that he could no longer hear echoes of the thief's footsteps ahead of him. He frowned, grimaced and spun around, running back the way he'd come. A flick of his weapon revealed the tunnel hidden behind the tapestry, the panel having caught the edge of the cloth as it closed, revealing its hidden presence.<br><br>It took him a few endless seconds to find the catch, and he could hear the heavy footfalls and raised voices of other guards coming closer. The panel opened with a click, a piece of ornamental carving twisting under his hand. He pushed through, ensuring that the tapestry was far enough away not to catch again as he closed the panel once more.<br><br>He closed his eyes for a moment, to let them adjust to the darkness, and to see if his hearing could pick up anything. There were faint sounds further along, but he couldn't tell what they were. They didn't sound like fighting at least. He opened his eyes again and ran on, as fast as was safe, and perhaps slightly faster.<br><br>Beneath his foot something <em>clicked</em> and he threw himself aside. Bamboo spears slashed in from all directions, filling a 10 foot length of the tunnel. One had torn through the meat of his left leg, a deep wound on the thigh that started to bleed ferociously. A second had gouged across his ribs, and a third into his left upper arm. Neither of these were more than flesh wounds though.<br><br>Growling a curse he rose to his feet again, wincing in pain. He gingerly tested his weight and bit back yet another curse. His leg would just about support him, but he would not be running far or fast on it. He vented his frustration on the bamboo spears, splintering them into shards with a powerful series of blows. Gritting his teeth he pushed on, determined to find the thief's trail.<br><br>As he came around the corner, seeing the light of the open air ahead of him, and a figure struggling. He slowed his pace, studying the trap, and its victim. As he watched, more and more of the grasping roots encircled her lithe frame. Once her knife hand and throat were encircled, she was dead, or good as. <em>Depends if they want whoever is caught alive or dead.</em> he thought. <em>And if their Taoist can call a spirit back, then they have no need for a live prisoner.</em><br><br>His guan dao lashed out, severing the roots that were crawling over the box, and drawing it back to him.&nbsp; He gathered it up, considering how best to get past the trap. With the Tao of the Light Step, and his blade he could cut his way through the roots. His eyes flicked to the thief, who by now had stopped moving, her knife hand pinned, and the other trying, half successfully, to keep a root from strangling her. Her struggles seemed to be weakening, and Chai Jin cursed himself for a fool as his blade lashed out, small slices of root flying in all directions.<br><br>With a yank he freed her from the grasping roots, though she half collapsed against him. From the tunnel behind him came raised voices, and the flickering of torches. <em>No time.</em> he thought, hefting the woman's thankfully light weight onto his shoulder. He suppressed a cry of pain as her weight caused his wound to rub, and seized the box by one handle.<br><br>Drawing on the last reserves of his chi he took a quick step and jumped. His blade tore through the roots trailing from the roof like a whirlwind, leaving their grasping ends to slash the air behind him as he passed. He hurtled over and past the rest of the trap and out through the doorway into the night.<br><br>Unfortunately the doorway was not, as he had hoped, on the ground, and was instead some small distance up a cliff. His eyes darted below, to the foam flecked waters, and his last thought before plunging into the icy river was <em>At least it isn't solid ground there.</em>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CassandraNova</strong> on <strong>24-01-2009, 00:58:03</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				After that first wave of panic, Bai Rao had fought as well as she was able to only one knife and her mobility denied to her against the endless verdant waves of shifting roots and vines.&nbsp; But it was a struggle that she was doomed to lose, and before long a single thread had 'circled her throat, and began to squeeze the life from her.<br><br>Thoughts of what would happen after she lost consciousness became appropriately vital matters for consideration as the corners of her vision bled to violet purple, to black, as she her struggles lost their pitch and vigor.&nbsp; She gave herself odds of about half that she would live past this final, deadly trap.&nbsp; It would all depend on the nature of the man that lived in the house above these caverns.&nbsp; If he was like her, and if rumors were true that he could force the spirits of the Yang Hells to his service, then she was going to die.&nbsp; It is what she would have done, she decided with an icy clarity.&nbsp; And the death that she had avoided so long ago would be repaid, with the murder of her father unavenged.&nbsp; A tear broke the corner of her eye as she slumped in the enveloping vines.<br><br>Her last conscious thoughts lingered first on the box on the cavern floor, the reason for her undoing, but then her eyes weakly lifted to the wuxia that had followed her.&nbsp; Bai Rao noticed that he was wounded, with the same sense of distant unimportance that she attached to the fact that he had claimed the prize, or that he seemed ready to leave via the One-Edged Door.<br><br><em>This must be a Buddha-mind</em> Bai Rao thought.&nbsp; <em>I am aware of the world around me, but my consciousness transcends it.&nbsp; There is emptiness at the center of all things, within me, my mind sees the perfection of the snow-covered lands...</em> and then nothing.<br><br>Her next moment of awareness came when <em>cold</em>, icy, fluid <em>cold</em> that penetrated her like a spear thrust, like the shaft of a Dragon Arrow, forced her from the depths of unconsciousness.&nbsp; It was pain and numbness at the same time, and Bai Rao lashed out with her <em>chi</em>, unaware of her surroundings.&nbsp; A black sphere of <em>yang</em> erupted from her body, pushing her into the air, out of the punishing ocean.&nbsp; As she rose in a graceful arc, Bai Rao had time to consider her surroundings in the fading light of the guan dao's blade before she returned to the water's frigid arms.&nbsp; She straightened her body so that she landed in a smooth dive at the warrior's side, her fingertips outstretched and looping around the metal ring along one face of the box as it began to sink.&nbsp; Tightening into a ball, she re-oriented herself so that the next kick of her legs pushed her to the surface again, and she began to swim towards shore.&nbsp; Her hands were already blue from being submerged in the frozen, inky waters, and Bai Rao knew that with her dwindling supplies of <em>chi</em>, she had perhaps five minutes before her latest escape from death turned into her last.<br><br>But the <em>wuxia</em> was neither following nor fighting, not swimming for shore or floundering.&nbsp; He seemed to be bobbing along, the weight of his lightly armored torso only refusing to submerge because of the battering waves.&nbsp; By the sinking guan dao, Bai Rao saw the warrior's face, saw the eyes that had closed into unconsciousness, saw the trickle of blood from the temple due to impact with the water, the box that she carried, or even a result of her chi blast in response to the frozen water.<br><br><em>Good,</em> she thought.&nbsp; <em>Then he shall die and I'll not need to worry about him following.</em>&nbsp; <br><br>She turned towards the shore, and managed a stroke or two before stopping.&nbsp; Her teeth were chattering in her mouth, and she could not feel her fingers, so why was she hesitating?<br><br><em>He saved me.&nbsp; He didn't have to.&nbsp; He could have escaped, could have left me to die.&nbsp; But he saved me, and it might cost him his life.</em>&nbsp; <br><br>Bai Rao's muscles burned and she could not remember ever having been warm in her life, and she made her decision without further debate.&nbsp; Though she did punch the surface of the water at frustration with herself, once she settled on the course of action, she wasted no further time.<br><br>With a pang of regret, of failure, she let go the priceless box and swam back to the wuxia, slipping an arm around his shoulder.&nbsp; With a sideways turn to her body, she kicked and stroked for all of her might towards land, dragging his heavy body behind her.&nbsp; After a time that seemed like forever, her feet found sand beneath them, and she made the last hundred feet to dry land before collapsing atop the warrior, her strength spent.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>HairyHeretic</strong> on <strong>25-01-2009, 21:17:42</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				<em>Am I dead?</em><br><br>Awareness began to slowly return, carrying with it sensations .. aches and pains, cold and weight and warmth.<br><br><em>No, not dead. I hurt too much to be dead.</em><br><br>Chai Jin opened his eyes, blinking at the harshness of the flickering light above him. He began to try to rise, but became aware of the weight that pinned him to the ground. His free arm rose to brush the hair from his eyes, hair he realised that was not all his. He shook his head, eliciting a small groan of pain.<br><br>With an effort he rolled the weight from him, turning his head to see the face of the thief. His brow furrowed as he tried to recall what had happened. <em>The drop into the river. We fell. We hit the water. Pain. Then nothing.</em> He managed to move himself into a sitting position, wincing at the pain that flared in various parts of his body, and shivered. <em>Need a fire.</em> His sodden clothes clung to him. <em>Need to get rid of these, get warm.</em><br><br>His eyes fell on the thief lying beside him, and he glanced at the river again. <em>She must have brought me out.</em> He looked around, but there was no sign of either the box, or his guan dao. Shame flared in him, momentarily eclipsing the pain, before he shivered again, more violently. <em>Need warmth first.</em> he thought.<br><br>He picked up the unconscious woman, staggering slightly as his wounded leg threatened to buckle beneath him and headed for the edge of the forest that lined the riverbank.<br><br>- - - -<br><br>A half hour later, he had set up camp, having gone as far as he could. With his dagger he carved heartwood from a dead log, and eventually coaxed a small fire into being, hidden in a small hollow amidst the brush and roots of a fallen tree. His clothing lay strewn nearby, as did that of the thief. Her colour seemed better, somewhat, though ugly bruises marred her flesh, from where the roots had entangled her.<br><br>Chai Jin could feel what little strength remaining pouring out of him as the exertions took their toll. He lay down behind the thief, curling in against her body to share warmth. His dagger he kept in his hand. It wasn't much of a weapon, but until he could recover his guan dao, and the box, it was better than nothing.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CassandraNova</strong> on <strong>25-01-2009, 22:31:30</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Beneath the gray clothes of nondescript cut, Bai Rao wore very little, but Chai Jin had hypothermia more than either of their modesty on his mind in the fledgling warmth of the fire.&nbsp; He did notice that her skin was very pale, almost bone-white, and that about her neck was a kind of pouch, tied in place with a thin strip of leather.<br><br>High on each forearm was a dark leather sheathe, held in place and all but invisible when worn beneath her sleeve, that had doubtless held her daggers until both had been lost in their assorted struggles in the manse.&nbsp; She had a third sheathe, however, strapped to her right thigh, and Chai Jin saw that that sheathe was not empty; a hide-wrapped knife hilt emerged from the hidden device.<br><br>Chai Jin noticed one other thing before falling again unconscious.&nbsp; There was something fundamentally <em>right</em> about the way that she nestled in the crook of his arm.<br><br>----------<br><br>Bai Rao woke without opening her eyes, assessing the situation.&nbsp; She smelled smoke and burning woodrot, felt the heat of still warm embers warming her front, and realized more or less at the same time that she was naked, and that a man was lying against her, her body nestled into the crook of his torso, his arm around her waist.&nbsp; Bai Rao opened her eyes into slivers, and shifted slightly so that her head lolled first one way, and then the next.&nbsp; It was painstakingly slow work to look around her before opening her eyes fully, so that she still appeared to sleep, but she did so until she was satisfied that there was no one to either notice or care that she was now awake.<br><br>Opening her eyes fully, Bai Rao froze as she saw the knife in the hand attached to the arm draped across her body.&nbsp; Gingerly, she lowered her featherlight fingertips to his wrist and pushed it away before slithering out of his embrace.&nbsp; Standing slowly, the thief looked around the clearing, noting the two sets of clothes draped across nearby tree branches.<br><br>The narrative of events was not difficult to imagine, but what to do next required careful thought.&nbsp; Her mission had failed, and even more shameful to the young Devil Fox was the knowledge that it had only failed because of her failure.&nbsp; If she had just turned her back on the wuxia, she would even now be on her way back to the hideout with the scrolls in hand.&nbsp; Now her return would herald her failure, and the sick sensation, the bilious taste in the back of her throat as she contemplated facing her masters to report her weakness in the course of her duty...<br><br>But with a ruthless pragmatism, Bai Rao cut off her imagination and refocused her attention on the immediate situation.&nbsp; She was still leagues away from the Foxes hideout, and there were other matters of more urgent attention.&nbsp; She smelled blood.<br><br>Kneeling down at Chai Jin's side, Bai Rao saw the still fresh wounds on the wuxia's body, and began from there.&nbsp; With her own knife, she cut long strips from the hem of her clothes, making a handful of bandages.&nbsp; In the morning, the gash on his shoulder would need stitches, but the rest she could attend to now.&nbsp; 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>HairyHeretic</strong> on <strong>27-01-2009, 01:10:08</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Chai Jin came awake, the pain flaring in his body sending a surge of adrenalin through his battered frame. His hand dropped to seize whoever was touching him, his dagger coming up as his eyes opened .. and his blade halted its strike as he found himself looking at the thief. He blinked, then relaxed, loosening his grip on her wrist, and letting his dagger fall to his side, exhaling a long breath.<br><br>"Thank you." he said quietly, after a few moments of silence. "It seems that I owe you my life. The river." He gave a small shrug and then spoke again. "Have you seen any sign of pursuit? I know there were guards coming into the tunnel behind us. Perhaps they think we're lost to the river. I climbed out across rock, so there shouldn't have been easy tracks for them to follow."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CassandraNova</strong> on <strong>27-01-2009, 02:43:02</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"I count differently," she told him.&nbsp; Her knife was against his ribs even as he was turning his wrist over to strike.&nbsp; When he lowered his weapon, she did the same, and returned to her task of bandaging him.&nbsp; "You took me out of the tunnel and made the fire.&nbsp; I pulled you from the water.&nbsp; Even if that act balanced, you still saved my life."<br><br>Tying his bandage into a single, elegant knot, Bai Rao crossed her hands in her lap.&nbsp; "Your shoulder needs to be stitched, but I cannot in this light.&nbsp; We must remain here until morning, at least.&nbsp; But we were not pursued."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>HairyHeretic</strong> on <strong>30-01-2009, 01:19:07</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"A small mercy to be thankfull for then." he replied, looking beyond the camp and out into the darkness. He gingerly moved, testing his body to see how far he could push it without flares of pain. His grimace revealed it to be nowhere near as far as he would like. He lay back down where he had been, shifting slightly to make himself comfortable.<br><br>"I am Chai Jin." he said after a few moments of silence. "I sought the scroll to prevent it's secrets falling into the hands of one unworthy of them. The lackeys of the usurper on the throne." His mouth twisted slightly as he spoke, clear indication of his feelings for the Red Plumes and their like. "If it is lost to the river, then I shall mourn the loss of the teachings, but perhaps it will be better that way. At least they cannot claim them either."<br><br>He shivered slightly as an errants breeze gusted through the camp. After a moment he held out his hand to Bai Rao. "The night will not grow any warmer. He should converse our strength for the morning."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CassandraNova</strong> on <strong>31-01-2009, 14:00:50</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				When Chai Jin turned back to her, he found that the thief had turned away from him in a half-hearted nod towards the modesty of the situation.&nbsp; She sat in such a way that he could only see her back and part of her profile.&nbsp; Her skin all but shone in the moonlight.<br><br>Bai Rao kept herself from shivering from the same breeze that made their small fire gutter and flicker.&nbsp; It was in no danger of going out, sheltered as it was from the worst of the wind, but their passing the remains of the night in comfort was clearly a luxury that they would not possess.&nbsp; <br><br>Her eyes focused on his outstretched hand.&nbsp; Once, it was a crime for a man to touch her.<br><br>She lay down beside him, her body once again pressing itself very close to his, to share warmth.&nbsp; "I am Bai Rao," she told him.&nbsp; There was a long moment of silence, and then, "I was sent to steal the scroll by my <em>sifu</em>.&nbsp; He had reason to believe that we could have used its teachings in our battle against the Betrayer Emperor."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>HairyHeretic</strong> on <strong>01-02-2009, 21:45:08</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"That usurper does not deserve the title of Emperor." replied Chai Jin, his voice cold. "And I'm surprised your sifu, whoever he is, has decided to move against him now. He has spent years securing control of the army, the government, and everything else. Had the people risen up when he stole the throne, he might have been brought down. Now ... " He gave a shrug, his body moving against hers. <br><br>"Now the Red Plumes think themselves above the law, rather than its guardians. Bandits plague the forests, half or more of them farmers driven from their lands by taxes they cannot afford to pay, and who would not sell their daughters into slavery to raise the money. Creatures from the nine hells roam the wild places of the Empire, and each month they draw closer to the towns. I have seen entire villages left empty by such things."<br><br>With his body next to hers she could feel his muscles tightening as he gripped the dagger he still held. "At the least, I hope I can regain my guan dao from the river, then I shall find more beasts to send back to judgement." 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CassandraNova</strong> on <strong>10-02-2009, 19:11:11</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The stir of some beast in the underbrush around their campsite prevented Bai Rao from making immediate reply.&nbsp; Chai Jin felt her tense like a cat arching back, preparing to strike before, at more or less the same time, they both realized that it was some small rodent or bird, rusling the leaves.&nbsp; Bai Rao thought that her somewhat compromised position; nude and with but a single knife for her defense, contributed to her paranoid reaction to so small a sound as a scurrying rodent.<br><br>"I am but a wretched well of ignorance," she said, and there was no indication that the humility in her voice was anything but sincere.&nbsp; "And have no wish to speculate on either the decision for or timing of my sifu's actions with regards to the Pretender.&nbsp; But others might suggest that those who were not present when the Jade Throne fell would wish to refrain from blaming others from matters they themselves are ignorant of."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Tao of Yin and Yang</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>HairyHeretic</strong> on <strong>12-02-2009, 02:06:25</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Chai Jin tensed in return at her words. <em>Does she mock me?</em> he thought to himself. <em>Does she know I was there on that night?</em> He forced himself to relax, knowing that she would have felt the tension transmitted through his body, and spoke quietly.<br><br>"Believe me, I am more than familiar with what happened on that night, to my eternal shame. At the time I was too young to know better, too new to realise what was going on before it was too late. Now I spend my days trying to atone for that mistake, and will continue to do so until I die." He fell silent for a few moments. <br><br>"I did not intend any disrespect towards your sifu. You are right, in that I do not know how he has doubtless suffered under the usurper. I offer apology for my ill thought words."
			</dd>
		</dl>
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