One Tail at a Time

Beneath the Silence

Her parents arrival is as flamboyant and hair raising as I remember it to be, though my students are feeling and hearing the famous fox whistle for the first time.  It is a sound unlike any other, not even the wind pushing through the gaps in the window has the ability to produce the kind of hair raising effect that their whistle does.  It is felt deep in the core of every single one of us well before they appear at the entrance to the temple where we have all gathered.

Not even I am unaffected by it either, because at its height, the sound literally chills the bones and sets the hair on end, it is that powerful.  In war, their whistle when released enmasse and at its most powerful, can disorientate and even deafen an opponent, and there has even been suggestions that it can stop a heart from beating though I have not yet been witness to that, though it is certainly strong enough to make me feel exceptionally uncomfortable.

But as uncomfortable as I am, my little Xiaobai is far from it and for a second we all feel her fathers energy surge through the temple while her own energy replies by throbbing against it and not only that, but her energy has joined the whistle and making it even harder to bare.  I am barely standing when it reaches a crescendo and for my students, this is a valuable lesson in energy control and ancient power at its most primitive.  Because it is primitive, it is raw power that each of her family were born with, so for them. the discomfort has many of them wobbling at the knees.

It is short lived though, because the moment her fathers energy locks onto her, then the power of their whistle is sharply pulled in before dying away altogether and before I know it, she is squealing down the aisle towards her father who leads the rest in.  Her tears and sobbing is most heartbreaking to hear, but she is quickly wrapped up in her familys where they unite after more than three months of separation.  It  is heartening to see the love in their eyes and the joy on the faces at the sight of her. 

Only the biggest squeal is saved for Bai Zhen whom she obviously loves deeply because the sobbing that follows is most hearty which instantly has the rest of us moving back to allow them all as much privacy as is possible until eventually they are all pulling away from her to meet her Kunlun Brothers who she wants to introduce her brother to while also giving her a chance to say her goodbyes which is a long and drawn out process, because she is so torn.  She wants her family, she wants to go home, but she doesn't want to leave us behind and to be honest, I am digging very deep to remain calm when all I want to do, is bundle her up and throw them all back off my mountain.

But of course I don't, instead I catch her fathers eye for a quick talk while the rest of her family is busy fussing over my students who are all enamoured by Bai Zhen and The Empress, who thanks them all most generously for their care and support of her daughter, which she is purposely repeating in order to stamp her claim on the girl as her mother which I am sure they understand but are far too polite to say anything, though I do catch her eye which she quickly lowers to avoid me.

Her father on the other hand has no qualms in holding my gaze as he thanks me for not only taking good care of his daughter though that is where the pleasantries end.  I know he has no issue with Xiaobai joining the ranks of Kunlun Mountain, that is not a problem as I knew it wouldn't be, but what he is highly irritated by, is the way I had gone about it.  He is taking issue with the way I bullied his wife into signing that contract which he is demanding to see.

I want to scoff in his face, but of course I don't, instead we agree to a private meeting in a weeks time where I will present him with the contract, though it really doesn't matter what he thinks about it, it is signed and legal and there isn't anything either of them can do to stop me from not only tutoring her in the Grove, but also taking her when her fifth tail appears.