One Tail at a Time

Shadow Sleuths

It has been one bumpy ride this week and the first hurdle was getting that Goddess off this mountain.  Seriously!  That woman has no pride!  She literally dug her fingers into mattress, and I mean literally.  She left holes in the mattress to prevent her people from removing her while throwing the biggest tantrum in the world.  Sheesh, not even I have managed to throw that big a tantrum only Shifus generosity and patience has all but died, so he ordered she be removed on the mattress itself and I think its kind of a silly thought, but I don't think he wants it anymore since she has been on it, but out the door she went kicking and screaming and throwing a ton of insults at me in particular seeing as Shifus arm was around me the entire time.

I know what a whore is now, so her words definitely had me blushing the closer Shifu pulled me towards him, but I have learned to let words go, so I didn't take them heart only he also leaned down to lightly kiss my cheek and whisper soft words of encouragement in my ear which only increased her manic hate for me.  Shifu is kind of mean like that, because he knew exactly what that would do to her, but I guess, he was just trying to give her the message that she should not come back here again.  In fact, she has said most emphatically that Deity Mountain and Kunlun Mountain were no longer friends, which in political terms is strong wording.

And the moment she was gone, then I immediately went into my special training, which he says could save my life seeing as I am going to be the number one target for this war, though I know he would rather I be sent home to Qing Qiu rather than fight alongside my brothers only I argued most passionately against it.   After all, I am a Disciple of Kunlun Mountain, we do not run away from anything, so he really couldn't do that without forcing me to break my oath which as I said before, he takes most seriously.

Instead, I am led directly to the training field where my fox form will be strengthened.

"Being small is where your advantage lies because you can move much faster." he says as he carefully looks me over from the tip of tails to my snout.  "The disadvantage is  you have no weapons to rely other than yourself, so I want you to use everything you think you have and attack me." he says just like that.

Training is training, so I do not even think about it.  Immediately I am in the air, my claws are extended and my sharp fox teeth are bared when I land on his chest with every intention of ripping open his throat, only a mere flick of his finger has me tumbling backwards to the training ground with a thud which instantly has me crying.  It hurt that much!

But I do get up and rush at him again only to fly backwards again and again.  I think Shifu just likes hurting me, because so far he is teaching me nothing no matter what angle I attack him at or how quickly I leap, and it isn't until I curl up into a ball in tears that he finally lowers himself to gently force me back onto my feet.

"Xiaobai, you have seven tails, yet you did not use a single one of them and those are your natural weapons, not your claws or your teeth. which an enemy would expect you to use.  Your tails are far more powerful and agile, only you didn't even consider them." he says softly while wiping at my eyes that are now red from all the crying.

So far, my fox form has only ever been trained to gather cultivation when hurt which is far easier to do on this mountain seeing as it is saturated in higher energy, and being in fox form does make it that much easier because Im a lot more condensed I suppose, only this is my first real training lesson in fox form, so no sooner are the tears gone and I am on my feet, then Shifu lowers himself to sit me on his lap.

"Your tails are individual weapons, each one can work independently with a little training and lots of practice." he says as I stare back at those fluffy appendages with new eyes.  "They are kind of like shadow sleuths in that one knows they are there, but one would not really pay much attention to them, because.... well a tail is just a tail which naturally flares about the body without direction.  This is how most tails work, only no one would really pay it any attention because who reallly notices a tail when you sharp fox teeth and claws to create a distraction right?" he asks smiling at me.   "You also have the added benefit of your magical Fox lineage, so today we will begin to open that magic up." he says as he gently strokes each of my tails which is making me purr most shamelessly.