Broken Empire

Thirty years ago...

Wu Zhou jabbed the tip of his sword deep into Kang Xu's gut. Kang Xu immediately came to a halt, looking down in disbelief. The ferocity and rage in his eyes vanished as fear filled his irises. The wounded man let out a whimper as he fell to his knees, clutching the blade in his hands. Blood began to gush from the wound, spilling out of his clothes and onto the golden surface beneath him. Kang looked up at his friend with a grieving expression, and Wu looked back with a shaken stare.

"It didn't have to end this way," yelled Wu, trying to make himself heard over the roaring waterfalls and heavy winds. "We were meant to protect our emperor, not kill him! I never wanted to do this to you Kang... but you forced my hand..."

Kang's breathing became steadily agitated and Wu knew his dear friend was taking the last breaths of his life. "You... wouldn't have... understood," Kang's words were shaky and unclear, but he never finished. Blood began gushing from Kang's mouth, flying out onto the Golden Bridge the two had been fighting on. Wu shook his head and pulled the blade from Kang's gut, then drove it through his chest, straight through his heart. For a moment he would see life in Kang's fading eyes, but as the blade pierced the heart Kang instantly died. His limp body toppled over the side of the bridge, plummeting into the bottomless lake below...

Present day...

Master Wu's eyes shot open. His old body ached from tossing and turning all night. He was in his quarters, in Dragon's Peak Temple. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to forget about the dream. It was a horrible part of his life, but it was necessary and the spirits seemed to want the old man to remember it for all time. He pulled the covers from his body and stood up, sliding on his robes and reaching for his walking staff.

Today was an important day. Not only was a fresh batch of new students coming in, but the Five Dragon Generals were returning to discuss important business with Wu, the headmaster of the Dragonguard. A large force of the Dragonguard had also made there way to the temple to report on their findings. The Imperial Empire was at peace and had been at peace for thirty years, and yet Master Wu sensed that these were dark times. A looming threat covered Kin Sun in an invisible shadow, and he could feel the day coming when that shadow would reveal itself and cast the land into darkness forever. He and the Dragonguard had been hard at work trying to uncover whatever they could, but had turned up nothing so far.

He exited the main building of the academy and walked into the courtyard. The courtyard was a stone area in the temple where the students often gathered throughout the day and sometimes sparred; it was filling up with the waking students. Surrounding the courtyard were various buildings in which the students slept in. On the south end of the courtyard, however, was the kitchen, were the temple's cook, Shu Min, lived and fixed food for the students. If one walked a path to the northeast end of the temple they would arrive in the Tranquil Gardens, a place that was quite and perfect for meditation; looking our into the distance one could see a lush river valley that extended from the bottom of the mountain and outwards into the distance. On the west end of the temple was a large square area that extended off the side of the mountain; it was here that Master Wu and his senior teachers taught the newer or less-experienced students; looking southwest from this area one could see the entire Imperial City in all its glory. There was also the scollroom, it was a sort of library with both ancient and new scrolls where students could learn and entertain themselves.

Master Wu caught sight of Zhen Ji, one of his preferred students. She had been at the academy for almost five years now, master the style of the Hidden Lotus. She was a thin, beautiful figure, very graceful in her movements, but she was deadly and quick as well. Zhen's gaze landed on Wu and so he waved over to her. She made her way to his position and bowed in his presence. "Today is going to be a busy day for me Zhen," Wu told the woman.

"I know, Master, I know. I've already woke Shu Min up and he's fixing the breakfast as we speak," Zhen Ji told Wu. "Oh! The Five Dragon Generals arrived just minutes ago, I think they're over in the gardens... I could fetch them-"

"No! I will go to them. You should go get some breakfast; try to clear the students out quickly and get to training, I am sure my generals want a meal as well."

Zhen Ji bowed to her master, "yes Master." She turned and headed off to the kitchens to prepare herself a meal. Master Wu made his way to the northeast end of the temple, towards the Tranquil Gardens. It was located down a small path and through a gate, as it needed to be away from the noise of the temple. He passed through the wooden gates and made his way into the beautiful scene. There were exotic flowers growing in the ground and hanging from pots. In the center was a small pool of water with lily-pads in it.

"Our Master has finally arrived." Xia Min approached Master Wu and bowed before him, as did the other four generals. The Five Dragon Generals were the strongest and wisest of the Dragonguard, personally chosen by Master Wu himself. It was composed of Xia Min, Jen Yun, Huang Li, Gujin Okami, and Zhou Bao Zhong. "Well," Xia Min said, "shall we get started?"

I woke up in my bed in one of the buildings, although I was tired I quickly got up knowing that I should start my morning routine quickly since I heard from other students that the imperial generals were here today. if I wanted to get my training done I needed to get up and hurry. I quickly changed and got ready soon walking outside to the courtyard inhaling the morning air. I went over to the west side of the school to the square area to start practicing my techniques, although I wasn't as strong as most of the students here I still have pride in the fact that thanks to my constant training in my shaxon preying mantis style that I could counter and stop them in their tracks. I started practicing my movements starting off slow and easy before moving to my harder techniques. I would always practice everyday either by coming to train and spar with the others or by meditation, I usually preferred meditation then to the brute force of sparring but knowing the tranquil gardens were off limits I decided to work on my counter attacks in the west area

Rin gazed up at the morning sky as he sat upon a sturdy branch of a rather large tree that had grown within the temple grounds over several years. His back rested upon the thick trunk and his right leg dangled to the side, whilst his left remained half-bent part-way out on the branch. The sky happened to be gloriously blue due to the lack of clouds and brilliant sunshine that had already begun to grace the Dragon's Peak mountain with its' warmth. Rin thought that he might fall into it at any moment. Which was when a blurred, dark object flashed past his vision. He attempted to track it, but the thing was moving at an incredible rate of speed. He knew what it was instantly; His pet raven, Karasu. Undoubtedly, the bird had spotted some form of prey along the ground and was currently speeding towards it to capture it within his vicious claws, only to rip it apart with his powerful beak moments later. This was a daily occurrence for Rin; Wake up and then accompany his pet as it fed upon the various reptiles and amphibians that inhabited the lands of the temple. As Karasu ate, so did Rin. He brought along with him a few slices of cured cold meat and some mildly salted cashew nuts. It was a meager breakfast compared to most others' but he never ate much in one sitting. He much preferred to graze throughout the day.

When he'd finished eating, Rin washed it all down with cold, fresh water. Being at the top of a mountain, he had almost exclusive access to the greatest source of mineral rich water. Every night he'd take a stroll towards the rushing currents and fill his gourd which he'd leave on a window sill to capture the night's chill. By the time he rose, the water was ice cool and extremely refreshing. A loud Squawk from Karasu brought him back from his daydreaming. The raven was done eating and ready to return to his nest. Master Wu had, at first, prohibited Rin from keeping the raven inside the temple grounds, he argued that it would distract the other students from their practice or meditation. But Rin had insisted that he could control it and, proving Master Wu wrong, Karasu responded to each and every one of Rin's commands. The bird even built his nest further up the mountain so that the students weren't tempted by it at all. Rin whistled a goodbye tone to the bird and without pause Karasu flew off back to his nest.

Jumping down from the branch, Rin landed on both feet in a crouched position and paused. He swore he heard the rustle of grass. Scanning side to side with his eyes but not moving his body an inch, Rin waited for the attack to come. The whistle of metal gave away his assailant's position. In a flash of movement, Rin reached for one of his wakizashi blades. He grasped it quickly and ripped it from its sheathe, just in time to block the incoming katana blade from his left flank. Not pausing for thought, he shifted his weight to his left foot and spun towards his attacker, opening the palm of his right hand and slamming it into their side. A grunt of lost air and slight pain was followed by the stumbling back of the katana wielding opponent. Seeing the person's face, Rin stood up straight and sheathed his blade. "Better. But your attack gave you away, Jinzo." It was his friend, Jinzo Iori, an aspiring Samurai Assassin trying another of his sneak attacks to test Rin's reactions. This one would be the first of many throughout the day.

"Did ya have to hit me so hard, Rin?" He replied, still reeling from his failed attempt. The boy was roughly Rin's age, about a year or two younger. He looked up to Rin as if he was an older brother, he too had been born an only child. The two met on the day they'd entered the temple about a year ago. Jinzo had been mesmerized by Rin using two wakizashi blades instead of a katana/wakizashi combination.

"How else will you learn? This way you won't be in any rush to try that method again." Rin explained. Though, at first he'd have preferred to have been left alone to train, he soon came to enjoy Jinzo's friendship. Plus the constant attacks kept him on his toes.

"Yeah but what did ya think? I nearly tagged you that time." Jinzo said, a smile spreading across his face.

"You need to focus on your footing more, you lost your composure as soon as I landed and I heard your rustle some grass. And then, like I said, your attack was rushed. It was the swing that gave you away. A simple thrust would have worked better, probably would've tagged me too." Jinzo soaked it all in, he was like a sponge. Rin never tried to tell him too much, but just enough so that he'd be better for the next time. It meant that he would have to improve for the next time too.

"That's great and all, but I don't really wanna hit ya, Rin." Jinzo shrugged.

"Well then you should stop trying. The only way you'll do it is if you really want it." Jinzo didn't reply to that, he just furrowed his brow a little as he contemplated actually hurting his friend. Rin then walked over to him and ruffled his hair. "Come on, there's supposed to be something happening in the Tranquil Gardens, I heard some of the other students talking about it last night. Let's see if we can't take a peek." Rin smiled coyly as Jinzo face suddenly brightened, revealing a toothy grin.

"I know the perfect place!" He said before dashing off ahead.