Oogway's Little Owl - Chapter 26

[Jade Palace]

Crane balanced on one leg, keeping his hat low over his eyes. He jumped from one pole to another without using his eyes, making a mental note to rearrange them later so he couldn’t rely on his memory of where they were.

He felt the slightest breeze on his tail feathers, and kicked his free leg out behind him.

Mantis landed in the palm of his foot, but skittered up his leg before he could close his claws around him. The bug made it to the knee before Crane twisted, turning fast enough to throw Mantis away. The small master opened his wings, catching a breeze to arrest his movement and then zooming back to his opponent, landing on the brim of Crane’s hat and dropping it over his eyes.

Crane clapped his wings over his beak, stunning Mantis, then flicked his beak toward the ground and caught the bug like a hacky sack.

Mantis, feet touching the pole Crane was balanced on, heaved, flipping the large bird off his perch with a surprised squawk.

“What was that?!” Crane demanded, landing on one foot and jerking the other out of Mantis’ grip. 

“The unexpected!” Mantis declared. “Not my fault you weren’t expecting it.”

Crane grumbled, adjusting his hat. “Not bad. What was that buzz, was that your wings?”

“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to get some air control practice down,” Mantis said, stretching. “Between you, then Taylor, and now the bat kid--”

“Fumi.”

“Yeah, her.” Mantis climbed the pole until he was closer to eye-level. “There’s lots of different types of flying, you know, it’s interesting. I was in the archives the other day, and did you know there have been insects at the Jade Palace before me?”

“Really?” Crane said, letting his gaze wander.

“Yeah, the first was this butterfly; I’d have thought those big fragile wings would be a liability, but she turned them into an advantage!”

Crane wandered to the edge of the balance training field, where a small cliff looked down on another courtyard. “Uh-huh.”

“She could harden them somehow, turning them into blades, and--hey, what are you looking at that’s got you smiling?”

“Was I smiling?” Crane asked, feeling his beak with a wing. He couldn’t help it; down below, Tigress was training with the little bat, gently guiding her through the basic forms.

Mantis joined him, standing on the guardrail. “Ah, those two. You know, I gotta say it’s a surprise.”

“What’s that?”

“Just that Tigress is the first of us to take on a student.” Mantis’ antenna twitched. “I thought it’d be either you or Viper.”

“It’s not official yet,” Crane said, though he didn’t really believe his words; he could see the look on Tigress’ face. It was only a matter of time.

“I got a letter asking me to teach someone, too.”

Crane blinked, turning to face the bug. “You, really?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well,” Crane said, and then gave an impressive shrug.

Mantis scoffed. “If you must know--”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Crane said, amused.

“If you must know, it’s that dragonfly kid from Wei Fu. The one that helped me and Taylor out.”

“Oh, okay.” Crane frowned. “Isn’t he, like, six?”

“Something like that.” Mantis tapped a foot. “I’m thinking about it. I told him he’s a little too young to start real training, but in a few months, who knows?”

“Would a few months make a difference?”

“For an insect, it would,” Mantis affirmed. “He’s got potential. He was able to fly too fast for that rat to see AND steal the cocoon without him noticing. At. Six.”

Crane made an impressed noise, nodding. “Not bad.”

“What about you?” Mantis jumped up onto Crane’s beak, making him go cross-eyed to look at him. “Thinking of taking a student any time soon?”

Crane shook him off. “No, I don’t think so.”

“C’mon, you’re the only one here who’s actually been to school, you gotta!”

“That’s not true and even if it was, it's completely irrelevant. Being a student does not inform being a teacher.” Crane huffed and turned back to the balance poles. “Besides, who would I teach? You have the dragonfly, but I haven’t met anyone who--” He paused as a memory kicked a thought into place. “Well, there was the black ewe in Yangmao. The one who me, Monkey and Taylor went to help…”

“See?”

Crane shook his head. “I wouldn’t be the best teacher for her. Maybe Monkey.”

“Pfft, c’mon. You taught Taylor how to fly just fine.”

Crane rolled his eyes and changed the subject. “How do you think she’s doing, anyway? She and Master Oogway have got to be in Japan by now.”

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Mantis said dismissively. “How much trouble can she get into with Oogway with her? It’s not like she goes looking for trouble.”

Crane shot him a disbelieving look. “Did you forget that bandit camp?”

“That was early on, she’s learned better now.”

Crane scoffed. “Yeah, instead she only throws knives when she’s startled and stares off into space, listening to nothing.”

“...”

“...”

“...Well now that you put it like that, I’m a little worried.”

“I am too, darn it.” Crane hummed. “I wonder if we should send a care package?”

--------------------------------------

[Yōsai Village]

Eiko’s tail lashed behind her in agitation as she stood, arms crossed, against a signpost opposite Yōsai Chiyome’s hall, pointing in all four directions out of the village. Today was just the pits, it really was. One moment, she’s digging her Master Fox persona out of the metaphorical closet in preparation of helping train up her cute new junior, the next she’s blindfolded and carted off to a village of shinobi. And it just had to be Chiyome, didn’t it?

Something wet dripped onto her shoulder. It was brown. Eiko looked up to see one of the turtle villagers balanced upside down on one hand on the top of the signpost, having just finished painting over whatever words might have been written there. Her ears folded back, irritated.

He tipped his hat. “Sorry, miss. Don’t mean to bother you.” He pushed off his perch and flipped onto the ground, brush landing in the bucket sitting nearby.

Eiko grimaced. Her fingers glowed as she brushed at the paint spot; it blew away like so much dust, leaving her outfit spotless once more. “You think I can’t figure out where we are?” Eiko always knew where the Temple was relative to her, not that these cutthroats needed to know that.

The turtle shrugged, apathetic. “Either way. Doesn’t do to get careless.”

Eiko squinted at him. “...I think I recognize you. Didn't you try to kill me once?”

“Ha, yeah.” He smiled fondly at the memory. “If it makes you feel any better, I got back from that failure to find out the guy who hired us had been planning on betraying us anyway.” He reached into his shirt and pulled out a fang on a chain. “He won’t make that mistake again, no ma’am.”

It didn’t, but whatever.

“Harsh,” Tailei said, appearing next to Eiko.

Eiko rolled her eyes. “You’ll have to do better than that to get me to jump, owlet. What’s up? I thought you were listening to the old people.”

“I was. I kind of still am, but I’m trying to ignore it.” The owl shuddered. “At first I thought they were flirting, but then I heard the saxophones and I knew they were.”

Eiko tilted her head, remembered something about the owl perceiving chi as music, then wondered what a saxophone was before dismissing the thought. “I’m surprised you can hear anything. I’d have thought Chiyome would soundproof her house, the crazy old softshell,” she added, glancing at the painter.

He narrowed his eyes. “She did,” he confirmed. “What else can you hear?”

Tailei turned her neck slightly. “...dripping… echoey drums… I’m not sure why, but something is making me think ‘caves.’ Do you have a bunch of underground tunnels?” she asked. “That feels like a very ninja thing to have.”

The painter’s eye twitched. He abruptly turned and walked away without another word.

Eiko snickered. “Well done. You really showed him, junior.”

Tailei frowned. “I did?” She looked around, apparently noticing the unfriendly stares all around them for the first time. Then something shifted in her expression and she just looked… disappointed. “Oh. I see. This place is more like home, isn’t it?”

“Excuse me?”

The owl sighed. “I’m not from the Valley of Peace, you know? My hometown is a dangerous place. I think I’ve gotten a bit too used to being around friendly people.”

“Ah,” Eiko nodded. “Well, consider this a chance to shake the rust off the old instincts.” 

“Hm.” Tailei’s face remained carefully blank for a long moment before being overtaken by a look of determination. “We’ll see.” Her head swiveled to a trio of barrels by the road. “Hey, kids.”

The small group of children who had been eavesdropping on them peeked from behind the barrels. A turtle, a cat, a rabbit, and (to Eiko’s moderate surprise) a mole gave them suspicious looks while the oldest, a sparrowhawk, smirked and folded his wings behind his head.

“Guess it’s no surprise you found us out, Masters,” he said with a level of contemptuousness no ten-year-old should be capable of. “But someone’s gotta keep an eye on you, see?”

Tailei and Eiko exchanged a look. No words were exchanged, but just then Eiko could swear she heard a few notes drifting by on the breeze, and she knew that fox and owl were on the same wavelength.

“It’s very brave of you to spy on us, little hawk,” Eiko said, hand on hip.

“I almost didn’t hear you there,” Tailei added. “So you must be very skilled already.”

“Really?” The hawklet preened, then faltered. “I mean, of course I am. Of course we are. Right, guys?”

The other kids nodded, not brave enough like their leader to talk in front of strangers.

Eiko giggled. “Yes, I can see that soon enough you’ll be feared throughout the land.”

“From the sea, from the air, from the earth itself,” Tailei said, pointing to each child in turn. “From atop the highest roofs to the thickest grass, no one will be able to hide.”

“No one hides better than us!” the turtle kid declared,the sound of their voice revealing them to be a girl. “We’re the best at it!” She demonstrated her hiding prowess by pulling her head into her shell.

“Hmm, I don’t kno~ow,” Eiko said liltingly, rubbing her chin. “Behind a barrel? That’s not very sneaky. You need a better hiding spot than that.”

The hawk kid glared. “Says you!”

A chuckle from behind made Eiko’s ears twitch, but she didn’t bother turning to see where it came from.

“Don’t listen to her,” Tailei said, waving a wing in front of the fox. “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Of course a ninja knows the best places to hide. Even a ninja-in-training.”

“Shinobi-in-training, if you please.” Tsume stepped from behind Eiko with a fond smile for the children. “You know, there’s one way to show these outsiders your skills.” She grinned at the two of them. “Hide-and-seek.”

Eiko folded her arms. “Ha. Let’s not be unfair. Teasing them is one thing, but I don’t want to actually show these kids up too badly.”

That got her some affronted gasps, including one from Tailei. “Eiko!”

“My my, how rude the Guardian is,” Tsume purred. Her grin gained teeth, and she pulled a carton of eggs from somewhere. “Children, see if you can land a hit on her with this without her noticing you.”

“Okay!”

“Now wait a minute--”

“If you manage to land five hits total, I’ll tell you all a story from my homeland,” Tailei said cheerfully, the traitor.

The kids looked accepting of that and each took two eggs.

Eiko’s playful tone fell away. “Okay, hold on.”

“Ready 1-2-scatter!” Tsume threw a smoke pellet to the ground, and Eiko wasted no time in sweeping the cloud away with her tail. 

But it was already too late. Tsume was gone. The kids were gone. Tailei and even the other villagers watching her were gone, with the sole exception of the painter from before, laughing at her from his porch.

“Best get looking, Guardian!” he said.

Eiko took a breath and smoothed down her fur. “Sure, fine, I’ll play their game. How many hiding places could this one-horse town have, when the horse came with me?”

Her tail twitched, and Eiko twisted to let an egg fly past her face and splatter against the signpost behind her.

The painter looked at her like she was stupid.

“Right, forgot where I was for a second.” She took a deeper breath this time, and shouted. “C’mere, you little whelps!”

----------------------------------------------

[Hidden Village]

Tsuyoi happily led his new friends to the center of the village, taking the time to point out new and interesting buildings as they passed them.

“There, that yellow store is home to our best blacksmith! Mai’s father works there too. He isn’t the blacksmith, he just mans the counter, but! He gives me discounts! I haven’t used it yet, I prefer to use my fists, but I have been considering some knuckle spikes recently. Oh, right there! The one that hasn’t been painted yet, it’s going to be a training hall when it’s done. Joji is setting up an obstacle course inside; it’s one of the only buildings made from bricks, because the first obstacle course burned its building down!”

“(What is he talking about?)” one of the crocodiles said in his foreign tongue, which Tsuyoi would not judge him for despite his ingrained response; he was better than that!

“(Something about the training hall burning down,)” the adorable squirrel responded. Tsuyoi was struggling to remember if she had given him her name, as he had been focused on other things during their initial meeting. “(I assume there’s a flamethrower in there.)”

“(Why wouldn’t they just build it outside?)”

“And over here,” Tsuyoi continued, pointing out a tall white complex, “These are one of our apartment buildings! This one is mostly empty, so it’s likely where you will be staying.”

“We haven’t agreed to stay yet, Tsuyoi,” the squirrel pointed out.

“I can’t imagine you will refuse,” he said simply. “This place is wonderful! And here’s one of my favorites,” he added, stopping in front of his favorite restaurant. (He might have taken a slightly more circuitous route than necessary just so they’d pass by it.) “Old Man Matsu makes the best curry in the country, yes he does. Speaking of--”

“Ah, Tsuyoi, my friend!” Matsu himself swept outside, the white-furred monkey beaming at him. “I thought I heard your shouting. Here, I wanted you to try this.” He handed Tsuyoi a sealed container. It was warm in his hands. “It’s my new recipe! I thought my best customer deserved a preview before I add it to the menu.”

The turtle smiled widely. “Fantastic!” He held it up. “Why is the container metal?”

“It ate through my wooden ones,” Matsu said. “Incidentally, if you could see about getting some more metal to the village? I’m going to need more of those made before I can serve them.”

The squirrel--Michi! He remembered now, good, that could have gotten awkward--Michi stared at the curry box, aghast. “You’re going to eat that?” The metal bowl seemed to be getting warmer in his grasp.

Tsuyoi grinned. “Of course! But later,” he said with some regret. “Apologies, Matsu. I have to take them to Gramps. But I will return the bowl!”

“I know you will,” Matsu said. “Take care now.”

The old monkey walked back inside, and they moved on.

“...” Michi looked back over her shoulder. “Matsu’s place seems different from the rest of this village.”

“You noticed! Well done,” Tsuyoi laughed. “Yes, his is one of the few places that was already here when we started building.”

“No kidding.” Michi tapped on a wall as they passed another shop, and a few flecks of paint fell off. “But why is the rest--”

“Here we are!” the turtle declared. They came to a stop in front of the Master’s hall. A team of teenagers were painstakingly applying a fresh coat of red paint, and Tsuyoi couldn’t help but give a quick bow to the banner hanging over the door, depicting the Master’s tail coiling around itself. “Follow me!”

“(Shouldn’t we need to make an appointment?)” one of the crocodiles said, and Michi repeated.

“Normally, yes! But Gramps and I have an understanding.” Without further ado, Tsuyoi pushed the door open and led them inside. Then, he winced when he opened it too hard and one of the hinges came out of the frame. “Oops. I’ll fix that in a second.”

Tsuyoi’s new friends made impressed sounds as they took in the mission office. Three tables were busily dealing with paperwork, that most dreaded of enemies. The blue desk was directing village missions, related to maintenance and building the still-developing community and the directing thereof. The yellow desk was accepting returning ninja’s reports on what had happened during their missions, which led directly to the red desk, where a short line of outside customers who had been clued in were applying to have their requests accepted. 

Tsuyoi explained all this at length, taking a scroll off the red desk as he passed. “Aha, this is an escort mission! Yasashiku is requesting protection as he travels to the capital.” Tsuyoi looked around before a tiny cough alerted him. He looked down at the small, well-dressed mouse on the table next to where the scroll had been sitting. “A thousand apologies, I didn’t see you there.”

“I’m used to it,” the mouse said, despondent.

“Never fear, Mister Yasashiku! I will ensure a competent team is assigned to you!” Tsuyoi promised. Returning his attention to his guests. “But first, come! The Master is assuredly expecting us by now.”

A masked figure, slightly taller than Fung, stalked out of the hallway in the back of the room. He patted Tsuyoi's shoulder as he passed.

“Hey, shellhead. The boss is expecting you,” he said as he passed.

“You see! He knows everything!”

Tsuyoi led them to the end of the hall, ignoring the other doors. At the very end, at the top of a set of stairs, he turned to his friends with a grin, then knocked on the door.

It opened before he could touch it. The crocs made appropriately impressed noises.

They filed inside. The office was impressive, decorated with full bookcases, shelves of strange and unknown artifacts, tapestries depicting history, and in a point of prominence there was a framed poem. Tsuyoi had read it so many times that his eyes glossed over it.

A fine desk dominated the center of the space, and huge windows looked out over the village below; just outside was the very center of the village, even including the old well that stood here before the Master arrived. A high-backed chair was facing away from them.

As the crocodiles’ leader entered, he brightened. “(Wow, glass windows? You guys must be doing great with money.)”

“(We are doing well in many fields, outsider.)” The chair swiveled around, and the Master rested his arms on the desk. “(The money is nice, though, yes.)”

Tsuyoi shook his head, amused. “You really like that trick, Gramps.”

The Master’s expression soured, ears folding back. The elderly fox mock-glared at him. “I wish you wouldn’t call me that when you’re even older than I am, Tsuyoi.”

Tsuyoi snorted, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ve brought some potential recruits, sir!”

“We don’t know that yet,” Michi said quickly.

Master’s eyebrow raised as he looked the five of them over. “...Hm. Very well. Thank you Tsuyoi.”

The turtle bowed, much lower than he had at the banner earlier. “Unless you need something, I will take my lunch now!” He held up the container from where he had stashed it; the metal was starting to turn a dull orange now. “I need to eat it before it combusts, I think!” The rest of the room looked at him in concern as he opened the container and a wave of heat filled the office.

“Yes, please, you’re dismissed,” the Master said hurriedly. “And, er, check on the good doctor, will you?”

Tsuyoi flashed a thumbs up and a grin. “Don’t worry, new friends!” he said. “I hope you will love our village as much as I do!”

----------------------

Tsuyoi left after that, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the heat went with him.

“Is he going to be alright?” Fung asked, staring after him.

“Probably,” the old fox said, rubbing the space between his eyes. “Tsuyoi is one of my best ninja, but he’s also…”

“Special?” Gah-ri suggested.

“Eccentric,” Zhu offered.

“Different?” Fung guessed.

“Eh, he’s a freak,” the fox said harshly. “I mean that in the best possible way of course.” He coughed and put on a grandfatherly smile. “But forgive me, I’m being rude. I am Himura Shibata, master of this place. And you are?”

“...Michi,” the squirrel said, folding her arms. “No family name.”

“Unusual,” Shibata said leadingly. Michi didn’t respond.

“Well, I’m Fung. These are Zhu, Jiang and Gah-ri,” Fung said, pointing them each out. “We’re mercenaries.”

“It’s Gah-ri,” the slender croc said. “And I have to say, I’m glad we can talk with each other.” His eyes widened. “I mean, that is, I’m grateful that you’re keeping to our language, for this.”

“Shut up Gary,” Fung muttered.

Shibata chuckled. “Yes, I imagine it’s not been pleasant, not being able to talk with anyone. My people are a friendly bunch but, I’m sorry to say, not all of them are well-educated. I can help with that.”

Michi’s fur bristled, to her own apparent confusion, as Shibata raised one finger. Fung and co.’s eyes widened as a green light appeared in the air over the finger. Shibata tapped empty space three times, making four lights in total, and then pointed at the crocs. The little lights flew towards them, hitting each of the reptiles between the eyes.

“What was that?” Zhu asked, sounding dazed.

“Testing, testing. Can you understand this?” Shibata asked.

There was a weird echo to his voice, but… “Yeah, I understand. What just--”

“He’s speaking Japanese,” Michi said, sounding shocked. “Did he just--” She turned to the fox. “Did you just put a language in their heads?”

“Something like that,” Shibata said with a soft grin. “Not a bad party trick, eh?”

“Wow, I don’t even think Oogway could do something like that,” Jiang whispered.

(Shibata’s ears twitched.)

“So, what did you do that made Tsuyoi recommend you?” Shibata asked. “He isn’t as easy to impress as you might have thought based on his attitude.”

A column of fire appeared in the window behind him, startling everyone but Shibata himself.

“I believe that was him opening his lunch,” the fox said idly. “Matsu might need to be stopped…”

“W-Well, we put up a pretty good fight when we met, I thought,” Fung said. He caught himself holding his halberd in front of him defensively and forced himself to stop. “It was a misunderstanding, but we fought to a draw.”

Michi groaned quietly.

“Hm. Somehow I doubt that,” Shibata said, standing up and giving them a better look at him.

Fung took a moment to really look at him. Grey fur with a few flecks of red still mixed in. Tiny eyeglasses perched on his nose. The fox wore a white robe with a red… would you call that a cape? Fung was going to call it a cape. It split in half halfway down his back and then split again into eight points, four on either side of his tail, which dragged along the ground behind him.

His musings were silenced when Shibata walked around the desk and suddenly grabbed him by the snout, pulling his face down to look him in the eyes.

Shibata turned him this way and that, with surprising strength. The fox hummed to himself. “You know, you might have potential after all. I know you’re Chinese, but where did you say you were from exactly?”

Zhu frowned. “I don’t think we d--”

“We’re from the Valley of Peace,” Fung said. He blinked. “More or less, I mean. I wasn’t born there but I’ve lived on the outskirts for a while and I hang around the main town a lot these days. Living with my aunt and cousin, really--”

Shibata adjusted his grip to clamp Fung’s snout shut. “Yes, thank you. Valley of Peace… sounds like a nice place.” He let go and moved on to Gah-ri, who looked nervous. “Tell me, boys… What do you think of ninja?”

“They’re cool, I guess,” Fung said, to the agreement of his crew. “The folks here are nice enough,” he added with a smile, thinking of the way they ooh-ed at his moves.

“They are, aren’t they?” Shibata murmured. “Well, that’s not the norm. Most ninja are deadly killers, cruel and merciless. They will kill whoever you pay them to, and their prices are so high that only the rich and wealthy can afford them. The warlords and the nobility buy their services to play war games with each other, and the peasantry cower because they can’t afford those services, and if they don’t like what their landlords are doing, they have no way to rise up without fear of a ninja coming after them too.”

Fung blinked, thrown by the unexpected speech. “Huh. That… sucks.”

Shibata threw his head back and laughed. “HA! ‘Sucks,’ he says. My boy Fung, you have a gift for understatement. Yes, it’s unfair. People like you and me have no way to escape our fates. Or we didn’t, until I found the secrets and founded this village. Our prices are much more affordable…” The fox paused and turned away from them. “Not to mention our special bag of tricks,” he said, snapping his fingers with a flash of green.

“Yeah, that! Was that chi?” Zhu asked, excited.

“Chi. Ki. These days, I’m partial to calling it ‘chakra.’ It has lots of different names.”

Fung and Zhu looked at each other and shrugged. Magic was magic no matter what you called it, far as they were concerned.

Shibata sat back down and looked Fung in the eye.. “...My boy, I think you’ve had it rough. I can tell. You’ve been abandoned, haven’t you?”

Fung felt a headache forming, but as soon as he thought about it it was fading. “Yeah… how’d you know?”

“I have a way with people,” Shibata said. “I’ve been where you are, believe me. Not being strong enough, fast enough. Not being enough, in general. It sucks, doesn’t it?”

“Tell me about it…”

“Well, I pulled myself out of that,” the fox said, spreading his arms to indicate everything around him. “And I decided to put down more ladders instead of pulling mine up behind me.”

“What are you talking about?” Michi asked, sounding as lost as Fung felt.

Shibata glanced at her, then dismissed her to focus on Fung. “How would you like to join our family?”

Michi’s tail lashed. “I don’t think--”

“How do I start?” Fung asked, grinning.

It was a no-brainer, really. He hadn’t been here an hour and he’d already seen kids breathing fire and making a thousand knives appear from thin air. How could he think of saying no?”

Shibata smirked. He held out one hand. “Come here.”

Fung took his hand to shake, and gasped as green light flowed from the fox to him. The world seemed to dim for a moment, and he felt a flash behind his eyes.

…And then it was over.

“...How do you feel?” Gah-ri asked. “Did that do anything?”

Fung frowned. He vaguely remembered… Tailei acting weird. He heard she unlocked her chi and started acting strange for a while, though he didn’t remember where he heard that. Wasn’t he supposed to gain, like, a new sense or something? “Did it work?”

“One way to find out,” Shibata said, grinning with a mouth full of fangs. “This is why my windows don’t, in fact, have glass in them.”

“Wha--”

Shibata stood and flipped Fung out of the office through the windows, throwing him out of the third-floor office.

Fung screamed as he flipped end over end towards the cobbles below. Then, his body seemed to move on its own, twisting with no input on his part until he landed on the ground, on his feet, light as a feather.

He grabbed his chest, feeling his heart pumping. “I’m… alive?”

“HA! I knew you’d accept!” Tsuyoi shouted from his seat nearby. He waved a half-melted spoon in greeting. “Hello again!”

Fung let out a mildly hysterical laugh. “What the heck, even.”

“Like I said, I help people out.” Shibata appeared behind him, having jumped out behind Fung and landing just as easily. “In this case, a head start. True strength, you have to work for,” he warned, “but I can give you an easier time getting there.”

“...Did you have to throw me out the window?”

Tsuyoi laughed again.

Shibata just shook his head. “No, but it was funny. Now,” he said, raising his voice to look back up at his office window where the other crocs and Michi were watching. “Any more takers?”

--------------------------------

[Yōsai Hall]

“...and then, the fool walked out into the light and dared us to face him in honorable combat,” Chiyome said, cackling.

“Oh my,” Oogway said, covering his mouth to hide a smile. “And did you meet his challenge?”

“Well, I didn’t.” Chiyome waved a claw lazily. “I was training up a student, after all, so I left it to him. I’ll admit, I was a little disappointed when he decided to fight instead of hitting him while we were still hidden.” She took a sip of her tea and smirked. “You can imagine how proud I was when he hit the idiot wolf with a paralytic first. After all, he wanted a fair fight, so we needed a handicap to level the playing field.”

“Hmph.” Oogway hmphed. “I suppose I can respect fighting smarter.”

“It’s not my fault he didn’t have a shell like a good and sensible creature,” Chiyome snarked. “My student lost that fight anyway, but he survived and learned a valuable lesson.”

“Which is?”

Chiyome set her teacup aside. “Never, under any circumstances, play by your opponents’ rules.” She sighed. “I would have preferred if the lesson he learned was ‘kill them while you have the chance,’ but you know. Kids these days. Weak stomachs.”

Oogway chortled, slapping his knee. “Weak stomachs, you say? Are you sure you don’t mean, ‘strong-willed?’”

“Don’t you mean ‘stubborn as a bull?’” She grimaced. “I respect having standards and sticking to them, and I respect a code of honor. But letting it get in the way of a job is inexcusable.” She folded her hands into her sleeves, schooling her expression. “And speaking of hardheaded fools with delusions of heroism, I think it’s about time we traded favors.”

Oogway’s own expression flattened. “My, and we were having such a delighted conversation, too. Are the insults really necessary?”

“Ha. No, you aren’t delusional,” Chiyome allowed. “It’s a different fool I’m talking about.” She stood, scowling at the way her knees creaked, and strode over to a shelf that held a selection of scrolls. “It’s rather fortuitous that Eiko decided to summon you when she did; if she hadn’t I might have had to send for you myself.”

Oogway stood and followed after her, leaning on his cane. As he approached, Chiyome pulled a scroll out and unraveled it; a bundle of needles tumbled out onto the floor, and she swore.

“Wrong one. Where did I put it…” She picked out a different one. “Ah, here it is.” She handed it to him, and he opened it to see a painted image of a young, well-built turtle in shinobi grays. “One of my shinobi has gone rogue on me,” she said gravely.

Oogway tilted his head as he inspected the image. The way his garments sat across his shoulders looked like… “Not a softshell turtle?”

“No,” Chiyome said. “And he takes full advantage of it. He’s trained in the way of the warrior, and he’s very good at it. Before he left, he was the strongest in the clan.”

Oogway frowned, puzzled. The image was just slightly stylized, but holding it up next to Chiyome, he realized. “He looks like you.”

The corner of her mouth ticked up. “So I’ve been told.”

“A close relative?”

“Hm.” Chiyome took the scroll back and replaced it. “The Yōsai clan have burned a lot of bridges in recent years, or else I wouldn’t have called you. Our traditional allies are keeping their distance, and we can hardly hire a samurai with the warlords constantly preparing for war; we can’t afford to buy one off their lord, and no one else has a chance at bringing him home.”

Oogway’s eyes widened in concern. “What about you? I recall you giving me quite the workout when we met last, you should be able to find him.”

Chiyome grinned. “I gave you several workouts, yes. But no, I can’t fight him. For a number of reasons, not least of which is that I’m old.” She glowered at him. “I know that might not seem like a big deal to you, oh ageless master, but I can’t run across the rooftops like I used to. Tsume’s a few years off from being able to take him in a fight, and Eiko would never want to help me.”

“You have a history,” Oogway observed.

She pulled another scroll down to open and showed off a painting of a much younger Chiyome and a mostly-identical Eiko in pitched combat. “We know each other.” She put it back. “I’m over it, but I don’t think she is.”

Oogway absorbed that. “...Small world.”

“Mm.” She turned back to the table, where a fresh pot had been left for them. “Long story short, I need you to bring the boy back here. He’ll fight anyone who tries.”

“Why did he leave?”

“Didn’t I say? He’s not content being a knife in the shadow. He wants to be a hero.” She said the word like it offended her. “That would be bad enough, but I could get over it if he didn’t decide to do so by joining those… those upstarts.”

She was silent for a long moment, glowering at the wall. Oogway took the opportunity to fill his cup. He took advantage of the pause to fill his cup; it was a breach of etiquette if he remembered right, but he also didn’t expect Chiyome to care much.

After draining her second cup, Chiyome shrugged. “At any rate. That’s what I want from you. What is it you want, and what does it have to do with the fledgling?”

The old tortoise brightened. “My most recent student, Tailei. She’s displayed a genuine talent for stealth I’ve not seen before, not since you yourself. Shifu and I have begun her training, but I felt that the best way for her to grow is to learn from a master of the shinobi arts.”

Chiyome stared flatly at him. “I’m not taking students anymore.”

“I didn’t think I was either,” Oogway said cheerily. “Let her speak for herself, and you’ll see… she…?...” Oogway turned to introduce Taylor, only to find her gone. “Where did she go?”

Chiyome cackled. “Heh, maybe age is catching up with you after all, Oogway. She left half an hour ago. I don’t think she could handle our conversation.”

Oogway blinked… then shook himself. “Just more evidence that you would be better suited to guiding her stealth training. My hope was that you could take over her physical training while we’re here, while Master Fox and I began instructing her in chi in earnest.”

Chiyome opened her mouth, when a rabbit dropped from the rafters wearing the Yōsai uniform. He whispered into Chiyome’s ear before vanishing.

She groaned and stood again. “Well, she seems to be causing a stir in the village, so let’s go see what I’m working with.”

Oogway looked up to where the rabbit had gone. Then he smiled. “Ah, I bet I know what she’s doing…”

---------------------------------

[Hidden Village]

“I’m inclined to believe,
If we weren’t so down,
We’d up and leave,
We’d up and fly if we had wings for flying…
Can’t you see the tears we’re crying?
Can’t there be some happiness for me?
…Not in Nottingham.”

Figuring out a story that a bunch of nin--shinobi kids would be interested in had been a head scratcher. Her first thought was to think about what a Brockton Bay kid would like; children were innocent no matter where you went, but in the Bay they didn’t stay like that for long. So she needed something a little rougher. A little darker. A little more… Nineties.

But she couldn’t think of any right away. Taylor hadn’t really watched TV when she was little, just VHS or DVDs. But Brave Little Toaster needed too much context and Watership Down was a little too dark on top of needing more time for her to rework into, like, a tribal story maybe? Whatever, later.

Ultimately she settled on Robin Hood. Thief and assassin were both rogues, right? And messing with rich idiots was something they’d be paid to do in the future.

…Alright, it wasn’t the sturdiest reasoning but the kids were enjoying it. She even got to play her flute to set the ambience! Shame she couldn’t sing while playing. At least the kids were enjoying it.

That said, she could tell that this slower part was starting to lose them, so she decided to hurry the jailbreak along. She even made some alterations to the story to appeal to them more; in the original Robin and Little John just snuck into the prison while the guard was asleep, but in this version she had him disguise himself as a much less infamous criminal and get caught on purpose, acting so bumbling that the Sheriff didn’t bother searching him. This allowed him to keep the lockpicks hidden in his belt, which he then used to break out and rescue the peasants. It was just as well she did that, since she didn’t have any idea how to perform the physical comedy of the escape all by her lonesome.

Taylor was pleased by her audience’s reaction; as she was coming to expect, she’d attracted a small crowd, and most of the adults looked satisfied by Robin Hood’s infiltration. There were even a few smirks on display. 

Shortly after wrapping up the scene, she noticed Oogway and the lady turtle watching. The story was mostly over with, so she hurried through to the end where Robin and Marian got married and sent the children off to play.

“Hello, Master,” Taylor said as the crowd dispersed. “How was your…” She winced, “conversation?”

The old lady cackled. Oogway didn’t even have the decency to look embarrassed, the jerk. “Most delightful, my student. And productive, too. You’ll be learning the way of the shinobi soon.”

Taylor looked at her in interest.

“Hold on, I haven’t agreed to anything just yet,” Chiyome grumped, stepping forward. Taylor blinked as she reached out; she realized what was coming a second later and sighed in resignation as the turtle grabbed her beak and turned her head this way and that for inspection.

Eiko, seated against a wall behind her, muttered something.

“Is this necessary?” Taylor asked, muffled.

“Hush.” Chiyone pulled her wing open. “Hm.” She eyed the flute Taylor was still holding. “Any secret weapons in that thing?”

“No?” 

“What’s the point of all these metal bits then?”

“They’re for--”

Chiyome cut her off, not interested in the answer. “Your silent down is good and well-cared for, but the muscles leave something to be desired.” She leaned down and flicked a claws against Taylor’s knees. “Better definition down here. Claws, nice and sharp. What was that story about?”

Taylor started, surprised by the question. “What?”

“That story. We walked in halfway through. Who is Robin Hood?”

Taylor pulled her wing away, taking a step back to reclaim her personal space. “Old, old folk hero back home. One of the tricksy types. Robs from the rich to give to the poor.”

Chiyome huffed.

“There’s more to it than that, but I don’t know the full history, the story’s been rewritten so many times--”

“Hush.” Chiyome grumbled to herself. “Robs the rich to give to the poor. How heroic,” she said, spitting the last word out like an unexpectedly sour raisin. “You need to be careful what kind of lessons you teach our kids, owlet.”

Eiko scoffed. “Oh, pipe down, Yome,” she said, standing up.

“Don’t call me that, Koko.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being a hero,” Eiko said, ignoring the nickname. “Helping other people is a good thing.”

“You’ve got to look out for number one,” Chiyome snapped. “You don’t get paid for saving lives! Everyone expects you to be all humble and waive all rewards, but the instant you start asking for some cash for helping out--”

“Ha!” Eiko tossed her head about haughtily. “Says you. I’ll have you know, my donation box fills up every week.”

“Well we can’t all be daughters of Inari, you airheaded--”

Oogway cleared his throat, loudly.

Eiko and Chiyome glared at each other. Chiyome broke the stare first, looking at Taylor directly. “I’m going to close my eyes and count to ten. When I open them, you will be hidden. Go.”

Taylor was already moving by the time she finished talking.

She picked a small alcove on top of the turtle mistress’ own home, on a second floor balcony. Taking advantage of her light weight, she clung parallel to the ground on a beam hidden under the awning that hung over the deck.

It wasn’t the best place she could hide. She already could see some hanging linens that her scarf and yellow shirt might have blended in with, but it was too late to change now as Chiyome opened her eyes.

“...Good reaction speed,” she heard the turtle say as she slowly turned around. “Barely heard you move; be mindful of how your talons scrape on the cobbles. And I know you can hear me, I’ve worked with owls before.” 

Taylor wondered if anyone was going to give her away, by looking in the direction she went.

Chiyome’s gaze scanned the village. Taylor tensed as her eyes crossed over her, then relaxed as they moved on without apparently seeing her. Then the turtle walked out of Taylor’s view.

“Oi, get down from there.”

Taylor squawked in surprise, nearly falling on Chiyome who was suddenly beneath her.

“Tch. Bad reaction.”

“How did you get up here so quickly?” Taylor demanded, shaken.

Chiyome stared at her without expression. “...You’ll find out, I’m sure.”

Taylor paused. “So you’ll train me?” she asked, brightening.

She turned and walked back inside. “Goodness, no.”

“What?” Taylor followed her in and back out onto the street. “But I thought--”

“I told Oogway I wouldn’t take anymore students, and unlike him I meant it,” Chiyome said forcefully. “But I’m not the only shinobi here.”

Taylor considered that. “...What about Tsume? I got the impression she was pretty high up.”

“She’ll be involved,” the old lady confirmed. “But first we have to tone your muscles and test your flexibility.”

“Is that all?” That was almost a relief, actually. Now that she thought about it, the recent lack of exercise was kind of making her antsy.

Chiyome laughed.

Eiko shook her head in dismay as they rejoined them. “Master, you’re not really going to allow this, are you? They’re criminals!”

Oogway shook his head. “No one’s hands are truly clean, Fox. Not mine and not yours. It is not ours to judge.”

She growled in frustration. “Tailei, c’mon. Are you really okay learning from murderers?”

Chiyome scowled. “We are not murderers. We get paid. And not all of our missions are killing people, Koko, we do protection too. We largely deal in information, really.”

“Uh-huh, sure.”

Taylor hesitated. “I’m not necessarily happy to work with assassins. But Master Oogway hasn’t steered me wrong before.”

Eiko could only respond with an exasperated groan.

“Tsume.” The cat appeared at Chiyome’s word, Genji by her side. The turtle gave the rabbit a hard look before dismissing his presence. “Is Okibo back from his mission?”

“Yes, Mistress. He has a report ready for you.”

“Excellent.”

With that, Chiyome brought two claws to her mouth and let out a sharp whistle.

The ground shook slightly, and Taylor turned. And then looked up. A bear was stood beside her now, arms folded over a patch of gold fur amidst a sea of black. He glanced down at her and bared his teeth, showing off that one of his teeth was replaced with bronze.

“Okibo, good. This is Tailei of the Jade Palace,” Chiyome introduced. “I’ve been convinced to train her. That’ll be your job for now.”

The bear looked down at her, unimpressed. “...I suppose I was asking for a more difficult mission.”

Taylor met his look with one of her own. There’s no way this guy is a bigger drill sergeant than Shifu.

Okibo smirked, then turned back to Chiyome, face serious. “My report.”

“Go on then,” Chiyome said, sounding bored. “What are the upstarts doing now?”

Okibo shook his head. “New recruits, but that’s not important,” he said. “A swarm of bugs has been spotted heading towards Kamiki.”

The village was quiet, but now the silence was deafening.

…

…

…until Eiko smacked herself in the forehead. “I knew all this shinobi nonsense was making me forget something!”