The Story of Soul, The Stubborn Vagabond

Soul found himself in the Great Hall of the Brotherhood’s fortress, surrounded by disciples of the clan. Some of the meanest-looking thieves in the whole land were there. And yet, they all stood silently, straight and proud,  completely obedient towards their Overlord. The profound silence was only perturbed  by slight murmur and wonders about the reason of this meeting. Why was Soul, The Stubborn Vagabond there? Many great warriors remembered Soul from before. His deeds, although neither great nor extremely out of the ordinary in that world, had fallen into legend at that point. Nobosy could recall the exact reason why Soul was known, for the world had moved on a long time ago, and by all accounts, Soul was not seen in the land for quite some time.  They were all curious  and perplexed by this turn of events - for little did Soul knew, that the eve of battle was drawing ever near. Just as they were standing there, dark forces of the Blood Sorcerers were gathering in Kunlun, and The Black Dragon in Tibet was growing ever impatient.

Of course, as strange as this whole world had become for Vagabond Soul, he knew deep in his heart that fighting is inevitable, and that these Blood Sorcerers that had, without a doubt shown themselves in his dream,  will be the one to bring it. He knew that the strange amensia-like state of mind that he’s had for the past couple of months since waking up is starting to clear up. He doesn’t quite understand what’s really happened, how much time he’s been asleep. All that he knows is that the world had for surely changed in the time that he was gone. Maybe the dimension of time was not as relevant now as it was before. The balance of Yin and Yang was for sure moving in a strange direction, what was once impossible had become very much possible - such as waking up from a prophetic dream with a magical sword bearing the insigna of Qirin, and knowing a secret Wu Tang technique. While sitting there waiting for the Overlord to start speaking, his thoughts went to Legend - his old comrade. Who was Legend exactly? That’s what he couldn’t quite put together. All that he knew is that if Legend is truly alive in this plane of existence, then it is imperious that he finds him. But his Kung Fu was not what it used to be, and that’s the thing that’s frustrating Soul. He knows that everything’s changed and the end was drawing faster and faster every minute, but he needed to stay calculated, and train again. If a lowly Vaganond like himself who was probably at a quarter of his initial strength could master a technique that he was never able to know, let alone train, then for sure there was a way to build up from that. Soul knew that he had to do what Master Lee aka Tianxing of Wu Tang instructed him to do - learn and master the techniques of different clans. He had no way of knowing if that is even possible, but he knew that he had to try. He knew that realistically he would not be able to convince everyone to teach him something. For sure the Sacred Flower would not teach their Kung Fu to a man, let alone a vagabond. Other clans like Shaolin would probably support him, but he doesn’t really feel like they would teach him anything. But he had to do his best and prove to these clans that he’s worth it. He was optimistic, for he had his sword technique, and the Qirin Sword, which would both prove crucial in his journey to reach Kunlun, and enlightenment. He felt a surge of optimism thinking about this. He’s always relied on his weak vagabond Kung Fu, and his own sheer will, but this time he had a secret ace on his sleeves - something he didn’t have before. Before? Where or when was ‘before’? He didn’t know and he felt his mind starting to go all around the wrong places. He forced himself to ground himself in the present. The Overlord addresses the crowd:
“Gentlemen, gather around and listen to my word! Dark times are ahead of us and it is time to put aside our petty brawls and squabbles. The enemy grows stronger by the day and I fear that soon will come the day when these Imperial puppies will realize that they cannot hold the truth away from the general population much longer. Beijing feels more far and far away and as the rich barricade themselves along with their wealth in the golden castles, the common people will soon have to endure something really, really bad” . Murmurs started to fill the Great Hall and an atmosphere of uncertainty was starting to take hold. “Nevertheless…” he said completely restoring order, I believe that times like this also bring out the best in people and that it is important now, more than ever, to work together and seek a common solution. Today we have within our halls a guest of honour - Vagabond Soul - somebody that I have come to think until recently that might have not existed at all. But is the brother of our own brother Judai - and we will treat him as our guest of honour. As you know, your other brothers and sisters are out fighting the good fight in Tibet as we speak. There is no point to beat around the bush - the morale is low, and even though I’m sure we’ve all seemed to notice in the land a tendency of wanting to come together for a common cause, we are but human and as humans we are limited by our own nature - and that is being individualistic. I know what we all like to talk behind each other’s back. We like to brag that we kill Shaolin monks in battle, yet when we meet in Hefei, we break bread together and we discuss with hope and unease the recent war developments. We like to get into the ocassional bar fight with Beggars, but we fight side by side with them against the Black Shadows in Tibet. Truth is, at the end of the day, we are not as different as we might think. And so has fate brought us all, united almost entirely, but not officially.

Right now, the petty squabbling between clans is what is driving a wedge between everyone and only helps our enemy grow in power. But at last, today we meet here as brothers and sisters, united in a common goal. Therefore, I’d like to welcome amongst us, a few other distinguished guests!” . As he finished his speech, the doors of the Great Hall opened and a mass of people flocked the halls. All the disciples stood aside, creating a long corridor from the door to the throne where the Overlord stood alongside his most trusted advisors, Judai, and our Soul - who was growing ever anxious by the moment. All the eyes in the Hall were now looking at the suite of guests - representatives of the other main five clans: in the first row, there was Master Tianxing of the Wu Tang, side by side with the Infernal Master, Emperor of the Heavenly Demons. Next came some other distinguished people: The old Sifu of Shaolin, with the Drunken Moon of the Beggars and right behind them, the Matron of the Sacred Flower. All of them followed by an additional suite of an assortments of members from all the five clans, mixed together.

It was at that point that Soul realized that it was not a simple meet - but rather a war council.

That’s when Soul saw a few senior members of the Brotherhood bringing a great round marble table and placing it directly at the feet of the stairs leading to the Overlord’s throne. One by one, the disciples brought chairs - Five chairs, for the representatives of the other clans, all scattered around the table. Soul was starting to become nervous. His mind was racing with anxiety and thoughts. He wondered, not daring to realistically vision himself as this much relevant, but he wondered if he would be also brought a chair. And then finally, he saw the disciples bringing three more chairs. The clan leaders all took their seats. Soon, The Overlord took his seat in the middle one of the three chairs that were brought later. Afterwards, Judai sat on his right and he motioned to Soul to take a seat on the one remaining chair. Nervously, he took a seat and waited silently and kind of embarrassed, not fully comprehending what’s going on.

“My good ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Tai Shan!” , the Overlord said with a jolly voice. Let us break bread and share salt!” . Without thought, the disciples that had previously brought chairs came and served everyone plates and cups. Soon, they placed a big bread in the middle of the table, and a wooden bowl full of salt. They filled all their cups with water. The Overlord drank the first sip and then took the bread and salt, symbolically offering it to everybody at the table - a sign of welcome, which meant that they were, at that moment, officially under the Brotherhood’s protection. They all then spread a bit of salt on their pieces of bread, ate then drank the water.

Finally, Tianxing, a ruling authority and stern man, decided to take the first word:

“On behalf of everyone here, I thank the Overlord for his hospitality. It is, historically, the first time that the six clans stood like this. The enemy draws near and it’s important to act quick. We don’t know for sure what momentum our enemy has - for what we know, it could be months or even years until the Black Dragon starts their full invasion” .

Grandmaster of Heavenly Demon: “Indeed. My forces and that of Bamboo Master of the League are holding the frontier against a full invasion from Northern Tibet. As the architects completed the repair on the bridge to Black Monks Palace, we have finally re-established a route through which our forces can push into Northern Tibet.

Drunken Moon: Yet, it is not wise to launch a full invasion of Northern Tibet for we have been cut from our communication from there for quite some time so we don’t really know the situation for sure.” .

The Matron: “Bullshit. We should be taking the fight to them. Every day our casualties grow.”  .

The Sifu of Shaolin was about to take the word, when one of his more overzealous disciples yelled: “Maybe if Sacred Flower disciples would stop antagonising and attacking the Shaolin you wouldn’t be in this place!” . A great murmur materialised that soon grew into an all out noise and disciples from all clans were starting to become quite antagonistic.

“MY GOOD PEOPLE FROM ALL OF THE CLANS!”, the Overlord yelled, restoring peace, We are not here to make our differences even worse, we’re here to discuss an alliance. Master Tianxing will take the word now.

Tianxing: ”As it has been said before, our forces grow weaker by the day as we allow our differences to get the best of us. As to what concerns the Wu Tang, there is no point to hide the truth and admit that, as for the rest of your disciples, people are divided. As Master of my clan I have to make decisions and it is often that not all of them are met with positive hearts. Nevertheless, I’d like to extend my gratitude to the Overlord for the hospitality and make an act of good will towards repairing one of the older mistakes that I have done as leader of my people. He pulled out a scroll, bound in a golden thread. Then he finally looked his former disciple Judai in the eye - the latter having fixated Tianxing with a neutral but firm look ever since he came in.

Tianxing: ”I have made some decisions that were best for our people, but in the process we ended up hurting and alienating one of the very people that we swore to protect. Therefore, I’d wish to extend my personal apology to your Senior, Judai. This here is an official pardon from Wu-Tang. While I cannot guarantee for places that are in the direct control of the Imperial Army, I promise Judai that while he will, understandably not return to our school, he will never be harassed in any way and he will always be treated as a guest benefiting from our clan’s protection, should he ever decide to visit Wu Dang Shan”.

Murmurs of awe soon filled the hall. Judai was surprised for he would never expect something like this. He didn’t know how to feel but he had learned to control his emotions. Without a word, he got up, took the pardon and bowed to Tianxing before going back to his place.

The Matron of Sacred Flower spoke next: ”We’d like to know exactly what makes this family so important that the Overlord so throughly insists upon obtaining a prisoner release from us”. The Overlord: ”As we discussed on our previously agreed-upon terms, Soul and Judai were part of the Feng Clan, one of the Noble Families that went extinct during the war. As war draws near, it’s essential for us to have one way of getting support from one of the Advanced Clans.”.

Suddenly, Soul remembered everything at once, about his clan downfall at the hands of his distant uncle, Diyu Xue, the evil spawn whom he had managed to defeat after wreaking so much havoc that culminated in his long slumber.

For the first time, the Sifu spoke:

“While the events that transpired some way back are challenging, and so much has happened in the meantime, the fact remains that  this vagabond named Soul avenged the murder of his family. While Judai is a member of the Brotherhood, he cannot be officially the leader of his own family or clan, nonetheless, this vagabond named Soul is, by all means, the leader of the Feng Family. When the Overlord told us that Soul re-emerged after so much time and he is in Tai Shan, due to the recent developments, I think we all agree that it’s crucial that we have somebody to represent us in Beijing .

Soul was growing more curious and anxious by the moment. Everything was a lot to take in and he still didn’t fully understand his or Judai’s role in all of this. He didn’t know if he should speak, but he decided to sit silently and listen.

Finally, the Matron smiled and she spoke again, seemingly having an upper hand: ”I see now, for I finally understand the importance of our prisoner in the great scheme of things. According to the rules of our land, a noble family or clan cannot be considered as such if there are less than three members, with any degree of relation, bound by blood. Therefore, I shall officially release my prisoner on one condition”.

Soul was starting to grow more impatient. What prisoner are they talking about? Could it be…? But it couldn’t. Soul knew that he hasn’t been seen in a long time. Could it be?

The Matron: “You will have my full support and the release of your man if Shaolin agrees to honour the previously-mentioned request”. Now all eyes were fixed on the Sifu who spoke on an official tone, not before doing a deep bow in front of the Matron, to the great surprise and somewhat amusement of the people present.

”The Shaolin Clan officially recognises as of today the legitimacy of the Sacred Flower clan and wishes to repair one wrong by issuing a formal apology to the presumed-deceased Mistress of Chaos. Shaolin is above all a place of understanding and a safe subterfuge for all those wronged by life. Therefore, on behalf of the Shaolin of Shi Shan we admit and apologise that it was wrong to not offer safe passage to the Mistress many years ago in her fleet from peril. Along with this, we declare our support for this alliance”.

The Matron then motioned to two of her senior member to go outside and fetch the prisoner, one of which Soul recognised as Setsuna, a friend of Legend, if he well remembered. After a few minutes, they came back carrying a prisoner in ragged beggar clothes and a big bushy beard. But Soul recognised him as his eyes were the same as his and Judai’s. That’s when Soul spoke for the first time in what seemed like a million years. He got up from his chair and yelled: ”Little Brother! Amanojaku!” .

Amanojaku, apart from the obvious passing of time and his rough condition, seemed unbothered. ”Hey there, brothers!”.

The Brotherhood disciples immediately brought him a chair next to Soul, which he promptly sat on relaxed.

Drunken Moon: ”We are good now, the Beggars shall join your cause.”

The Grandmaster of Heavenly Demon spoke: ”If my vote is all that is left, then so be it. You have Heavenly Demon’s utmost support for this alliance. I, as General of the Infernal Army, declare Soul, The Stubborn Vagabond, the head of the newly restored and re-established Feng Family.”

The Overlord then spoke, seemingly sealing the deal: ”Very well, then it is settled. We will put our faith in this vagrant. If Wu Tang’s trust of their secret sword technique proves to be succesful, we shall carry on as previously decided and agreed upon: all six clans are therefore allied for the inevitable fight with the Blood Sorcerers Coalition and the Black Dragon. Furthermore, if the operation proves to be successful,  the Brotherhood of Thieves will grant Soul the use of their secret meditation and Lightfoot techniques. Shaolin will grant Soul their Steps technique, and the Beggars will grant him their unique Yin Yang heal.

Furthermore, in the spirit of good will, we have the support of Sacred Flower with a prisoner release instead of the donation of a technique, and finally Shaolin’a secret ranged attack.”

To say that Soul was overwhelmed would be an understatement. Not two days ago he was back to being a nobody and now it seemed that he is once again, yet for the first time in his life, the head of his own family, and he has the trust and support of the secret techniques of the clans. This was all so much to take in. He finally decided to stand up, then do a deep bow to everybody and speak, his voice shaking.

“T..ttt…thank-you…everyone for your support”.

The Overlord: ”Tonight we will let him rest for surely it is a lot to take in. Tonight we drink as friends and starting from tomorrow we will start preparing for battle, be it in a day, month, year or who the hell knows, a century from now on. All that remains is that we all train and do our best, while Soul prepares to capture and subdue the Monkey King Jin of Tibet”. .

Soul: Sure… Battle with what??!!”.