One Tail at a Time

No Pain, No Gain - 3

"Fu Yu. Do you think those boys will be there?" I ask my little Sprite as my new travel dresses are laid out on my bed while he helps me to match my hair pieces to the lovely pastel colours that Shifu bought me.

"If they are, they had better be wearing belly shields." his eyes suddenly flare angrily at the memory of those boys and what they had said to me.

"I don't want them there Fu Yu, but Die Feng said that one of them entered the competition last year so its more than likely they will be there again." I reply quietly and not without a little fear.

Not so much for what they might say to me this time, but because I am not the same naive little girl. I have grown so much since then, and in more ways than one. I guess because Shifu has allowed me the freedom to speak my mind, to ask questions and to debate everything if I feel he is wrong while also allowing me to express my emotions even if it means losing my temper and lashing out. So the fear is more for how I might react this time, my temper can at times be explosive so I can definitely see myself lashing out if they are stupid enough to repeat themselves, which I think they might do. After all, they were all publicly humiliated by my Shifu, they are not going to take that lying down.

"I wouldn't worry too much about them Qian Qian. Or have you forgotten you have sixteen brothers, a War God for a Shifu and me? The greatest and strongest Sprite in all the world?" he asks flexing his little biceps which barely make a dent in his sleeve which makes me giggle even though I am still worried.

"But I can't keep relying on them to protect me Fu Yu." I tell him, because as yet, I have been fairly sheltered from the outside world, so much so, that if there is any gossip about me, which I'm sure there is, I never hear about it.

"Look. Its useless worrying about something that hasn't even happened yet. Let's just get your dresses sorted, your father is going to be here soon." he reminds me, which has my eyes once again sparkling and those boys instantly forgotten.

In fact, I had allowed my fear of those boys to addle my ghost brain, that I completely forgot Papa is visiting me today and he is bringing Zhen Zhen and Mama with him which is super exciting. And they are coming because its my birthday today which I also forgot about.

Birthdays on Kunlun Mountain are not really celebrated, though we usually get well wishes and are exempt from chores for the day, only today I am 46,000 years old, and though it is not considered a big birthday, it is special enough for my Papa and Mama to come and to even bring Zhen Zhen, so quickly matching up my dresses which I will wear to the far east where the competition is going to be held, I then quickly rush Fu Yu into his chamber to dress himself while I just as quickly jump into the bath that he prepared earlier for me.

And it is while I am bathing, that I think on this competition and Shifus excitement especially. He's like a little boy who is about to sneakily steal a candy cane from his best friend and it's actually quite funny to watch. If anything, Shifu is the only one who is excited for the unveiling of my fleet of ships, or should I say his ships to the point of pacing about the temple impatiently staring at the calendar which he is so methodically ticking off the days. The rudder might be my idea and what gave him the idea of creating the fleet, but I know for a fact, that even though my name will be used to enter the ships, he will absolutely take full credit.

And I know this, because he sent a special invitation to my father to attend what is supposedly going to be my grandest moment of my Discipleship. And of course my Papa accepted it, after all, I am going up against some of the worlds greatest minds, so I am kind of apprehensive about how he will react when he sees the fleet of ships that I had a big hand in creating. I know he is going to be super mad that Shifu is taking what was meant to be his own glory which I know he is still working on, but as yet, Papa has no idea what my creation is, and nor am I allowed to tell him, because like a said, Shifu is being such a child. He wants the suspense to build before watching Papas face crumble in disappointment at having lost out and all because Papa beat him fair and square in a competition that Shifu was cheating in anyway!