One Tail at a Time

Strategies -1

35 Thousand Years of Age.....

Im running late, because Mama needed help with the new cloth that has arrived for a wedding.  She is going to make the wedding gown for a young woman in our Tribe that Mama has sponsored to take care of, because she has no parents of her own.  It's a nice thing for Mama to do, so I helped her to set the material up on the long table that she uses for such things.

Only Im late, and Shifu has already made it clear that if I am late, I will miss out on my lessons for a whole month, he is strict like that.  I have only been punished for lateness once, and it wasn't even my fault.  Fu Yu hadn't arrived to collect me from the Grove and I'm not allowed to go on my own because of what happened all those years ago.

It's all different now, because the path from Qing Qiu to the Grove is now under full Qing Qiu protection because of fathers barriers which are super powerful.  After that day, Father sent a missive to all of our neighbours that Qing Qiu would no longer be doing business with any of them and nor would he allow any correspondence between us and them either.  And to ensure that they all realized the seriousness of the situation, Papa raised his enormous barriers around the entire lands of Qing Qiu while also ensuring that the path between us and the Grove was now safe for me to travel.

And because of the barriers, I no longer need Fu Yu to collect me, I can go by myself, so I am now running as fast as I can to meet with Shifu who will already be there waiting.  And not only is he waiting, but he is actually at the entrance ready to come and find me having thought something untoward had happened.  In fact, Im so surprised to see him there with a frown on his face, that my running legs propel me straight into his belly and almost toppling him off his feet.

"That is no way to enter your lessons Xiaobai." he chides me as his hands reach out to steady me.

"I'm sorry Shifu." I say huffing and puffing as my hands raise and my head lowers and it is then that I notice Shanhu standing behind him and also looking grim faced.

"What took you so long?" he asks shaking his head at my hair that has tumbled out of its bun and the way Im doubled over panting having run the entire way.

"I had to help Mama with the wedding dress, and I don't have a cloud, so I have to run the entire way." I reply between big gulps of air.

"Helping your mother is admirable Xiaobai, but it is no excuse for lateness.... one lap to Zutu and Back!" Shifu orders, which instantly has my lip dropping and the urge to haggle take over.

"But Shifu.... " I begin as his brows rise higher.... "I understand that I must be more responsible with my time, but I already ran all the way here.  Can I just run to the hut?" I ask with pleading eyes that I am forcing tears into because I really am tired.

"Seventeen.  Haggle again and I make it two." he says and though he is serious, his eyes have yet to reach that state of impatience, so I  squeeze the tears out of my eyes and begin to whimper which only make those eyes of his narrow.

"But Shifu......"

"Seventeen, just do it...." Shanhu hisses at me from behind his back.

"But....."  I begin again, only to quickly drop my eyes and nod.  His eyes have reached the point of no return, so sullenly I take off for the Grandfather Tree and in fox form, because Shifu didn't say I couldn't.

Zutu is The Grandfather Tree of the Grove and the elder of all of them.   He is the very first tree that Zhe Yan planted and the one he used to size out the Grove after, and it is also marks the halfway point and not only that, it is my tree, the one I always use to rest in and the one that keeps me protected from the hot sun in summer and cold winter chills in the winter, because it is bigger, more lush and its branches knarled in all the right places, because there is just enough room between the knots to fit little me.