A Tear Frozen in Time

A Rush of Memories

Heading back towards her troups, Bai Qian portrayed the Queen that she was known for.  She may have been a small woman, but her imposing presence certainly set her apart from her men.  Her head was high, her shoulders back and her face guarded, the way they were used to seeing her.  She may have been half their size in stature, but she certainly made up for it in strength, because as yet, not one of her soldiers was able to match her in hand to hand combat which she held daily by choosing a random face and ordering them to fight.

Among her people, she was a warrior and a powerful force to be reckoned with and though very beautiful, her appearance came second to her fighting skills, because under her, every single one of her men were learning every manner of battle strategies and even tactical formations which she designed herself.

Of course much of her knowledge was gained under her old Shifu who had taught her well.  And though she had left Kunlun Mountain with a head full of war procedures and master strategy formations, much of what she taught her army belonged soley to Qing Qiu which not only incorporated some of what Mo Yuan had taught her, but also the vast knowledge she held of their own magical spells and fighting techniques that she shared only with those who earned it.

As yet, the rest of the world had only heard of her army, and though spies were always a concern, her people had learned how to protect themselves from outside interference.  Under their Queen, their army was making a name for itself and this was never more evident than in the barriers that suddenly and without warning sprung up around their lands.  They were impregnable and so powerful that no guards were necessary because not even Mo Yuan himself would be able to break through them.

And it was Mo Yuan who was on her mind as she slowly made her way back to the new recruits, young girls and boys who were being taught how to ride a horse, many of whom had never laid eyes on one let alone ridden one, but as she watched the young girls fearlessly hoist themselves up onto their bare backs where they were being taught to ride without a saddle, her mind went back briefly to the first time she had ever ridden one for herself.

In that valley of flowers that she had loved visiting as a child, she would lose herself briefly to being a girl just like these ones.  They were all very lively and feminine, but fearless and in time would become warriors like herself.  But that valley was where her love for Kunlun Mountain began along with a forbidden love for its Master.

For centuries she learned under her brother in that valley and in all that time, she never saw any animals other than the birds, though there were a multidue of sprites, butterflies, dragonflies and all manner of bugs that made their way through that valley.  Only one day, she had just finished dancing as she loved to do, when a beautiful horse as black as the night and similar to the one she owned came into view.

It had been attracted to her laughter and for a time it had merely watched her frolick among the colourful petals until she eventually fell into a giggling heap where it then made its way towards her.  Its soft whinny reached her first and intially she had been frightened by the sound that was not a normal part of that valley but the moment she raised her head to look into the soft brown eyes of a horse that instantly had her on her feet, the horse gently nudged her arm playfully.

The initial concern as to where it came from and to whom it belonged soon gave way to her curiosity as her hand tentatively reached out to stroke its beautiful black silken covering.  Her father had loved horses in his time and had often filled her head with stories of the horses he had owned and looking at this one, she knew he would have loved it too.  Sleek and powerful looking, she fell in love with it instantly as it lowered itself to its knees to rest beside her.

And so for a time, she talked to it,  sang songs and continued to dance around it and for weeks on end, it continued to visit with her, until eventually she plucked up the courage to mount it.  The horse remained stationary while she struggled to get herself onto its back but once on, it slowly took her for a ride through the flowers.  Her infectious laughter could be heard echoing through the valleys as the two became friends and she taught herself how to ride it until eventually the two were galloping through that vast spray of colours which only added to her immense joy that she found in that valley.