I am new to this whole thing, and wanted to try my hand at writing something. Unfortunately I am bad with Chinese names, so I used American names instead. And I am bad with editing so this is one long paragraph. Sorry.
The Tiger and the Dragon
Dick and Jane welcomed their long time friend, Roger, whom they had not seen for over two years. He returned the salutation in a very respectful manner, being a Taoist disciple. They bade him enter and take a seat in the front living room. He slowly walked in carrying his sword by his side and sat down on the right, putting his sword on the table. The three of them had known each other since childhood, and were from very prominent families, though their lives had taken drastically different paths. Dick and Jane had been married for five years, and he was the head of a very wealthy family business, which he inherited when his father passed away three years earlier. Roger’s story was quite different. His father had also been the head of a wealthy family business, but his parents had died in a mysterious fire seven years back, and he joined the Taoist sect soon afterward. Both their fathers had been good friends with normal disagreements, the biggest of which was between the Shaolin and Taoist sects. Dick’s father favored Shaolin, whom he thought were more disciplined and studious, while Roger’s father favored Taoists, whom he felt were more refined and upstanding. Both men had donated heavily to both sects over the years, and were well respected among them. These preferences had been passed on to their sons, who kept the competition burning in their hearts. After a short time of friendly conversation, footsteps were heard entering as a young woman appeared. They all looked her way, and a gentle smile appeared on Dick and Jane’s faces, though Roger seemed unmoved. The woman was also a dear friend they knew from childhood, though not from a prominent family. From the look on her face you could see she was happy to see them, but at the same time it was uncomfortable for her to be there. She had always felt like the token poor friend of the group, and what made it worse was her unending crush on Roger, which had shown up when they were kids and had gotten stronger ever since. “Mimi,” said Jane, “it is so good to see you. How have you been? Please come in and take a seat.” With those words Jane extended her right hand towards the seat next to Roger. With some trepidation she walked in, her sword by her side, sat down and placed the sword on her lap. When she quickly glanced over at Roger, he seemed to stare blankly forward, like he was ignoring her, though his unemotional countenance was more likely due to his teaching than to spite her. She looked down for a moment in sadness, but quickly raised her head and started conversation. Mimi was the working class of the bunch, and was now employed as a special delivery carrier, for those items that required extra attention to be transported. She had learned some martial arts from various schools, which was necessary in her line of business. You might think the fact that she was a girl was a disadvantage for her, but it actually helped because she tended to play the role of an innocent girl to escape notice in her travels. Mimi asked, “So, what is the big news that you asked us to come? We would have gladly visited anyway, but it is good to have a reason.” She smiled, suspecting what the news was. Dick turned to Jane with a big grin, holding her hand and waiting for her to speak. “I am pregnant,” said Jane, with an overjoyed expression and wide eyes. “Congratulations!” cried Mimi, standing up and walking over to give her a big hug. Roger’s expression seemed to perk up, though he still did not crack a smile, and he said, “Congratulations. Best wishes for your good fortune.” “Come on,” said Dick, “you can show more emotion than that. We have known each other too long to be like strangers.” With that he walked over and put his hand on Roger’s shoulder, like a proud father. The moment was punctuated by two separated conversations going on; the girls chatted away on the one side and the guys talked leisurely on the other. Jane leaned her head to find Dick and said, “I almost forgot. Dick, tell them the rest of the news dear.” “Oh yeah. Wait a moment.” He walked on back to his seat and gestured for Mimi to return to hers, and when that was done began to speak. “We have known each other for a very long time, and both Jane and I could not think of anybody better to ask. We would like you two to be the godparents of our child.” Mimi was overcome with emotion, but dared not to cry lest she should embarrass herself in front of Roger. “Well, what do you think?” said Dick. “I would be honored,” said Mimi, rushing over to give Jane a big hug again. “As would I,” said Roger, “though I will have you know that I intend to teach him the Taoist scripture, and not Shaolin.” Dick chuckled lightly at that remark, but knew that was Roger’s way of making a joke. The girls did not get it, but they did not need to. “Well, this calls for a celebration. Bring out the wine.” With those words several servants came out with wine and cups to toast the happy occasion. “A toast,” said Dick, “to the union of both houses.” This was meant to imply that as godparents, the four were now bound as a family, which was very important in Chinese tradition. The conversation continued into the night, and both Roger and Mimi were invited to stay the night, having already traveled a great distance. That night, the household was quiet, but not so the people. Roger had been given a guest room in the west wing, but had some trouble sleeping so he wandered into the garden in front of the main living quarters. He had his sword with him, not for protection but because that was standard practice of the Taoist disciple. Mimi had been given a guest room in the east wing, but she too was unable to sleep because of the excitement, and had come out for a walk, with her sword in hand out of habit. She stopped short of actually going into the garden when she saw Roger, and hid behind a large stone statue, peaking out at him with all the thoughts of a lovesick schoolgirl. The night had started out clear, but now there were clouds appearing and it looked like it might rain. Roger was engrossed in his thoughts and did not pay attention to the weather. He was thinking about his parents and how they had died when their home had burnt down. The mysterious part was that people claimed to have seen someone dressed in black leaving the place, but no one was ever caught and the fire was ruled an accident. Luckily, at the time of the fire he had been away to study at the Taoist compound which his father sent him to every year. That was when he decided to stay and become a Taoist disciple. He wondered wow the situation would have been different if his parents had lived and he did not become a Taoist disciple. All of a sudden, he heard a noise coming from the rooftop of the main quarters. Turning his head in that direction he could see the dark silhouette of a mysterious person dressed in black sneaking his way across the top. Without thinking twice, he ran towards the main quarters and leapt up to the rooftop in a single bound. This was an amazing feat thought Mimi, whose own skills did not allow her to do such a stunt, but in actuality it was not that great of an act for a martial artist. Moving great distances required a lesser degree of inner strength but no real fighting skills. In fact, that was usually the first thing that a great martial artist would cultivate. The reason Mimi did not know how to do this was because all of her training had been in sword combat, and she had not cultivated much internal strength, seeing as how she had no desire to become a great martial artist. On the rooftop, the surprised man in black who saw Roger fly up to confront him decided to run instead of fight, leaping off the rooftop to the nearby wall column, and dashing off away from the house at great speed, indicating good internal energy. Roger took off after the stranger with equal speed and was gone in a flash as well. Mimi, who had been observing tried to keep track of the two with her eyes and follow on foot, throughout the house and outside into the nearby forest. Although she could not keep up with them, she could still see where they were headed and just kept running in that direction, hoping to catch up with them. The man in black thought he might have lost his pursuer and paused, but the moment he stopped, Roger flew out from the trees and landed in front, blocking the stranger from going forward. “What were you doing on the roof back there?” he asked angrily, his emotions getting the better of him. But the stranger did not answer, and instead made a motion of his body indicating he was preparing to fight. “If you insist,” said Roger, raising his sword up to his chest and grabbing the handle, the normal first stance of sword combat. The air was getting colder, and the sky darker, though since it was hard to tell what the weather was like since it was night. A sudden rush of dirt being kicked up indicated that the man in black was the first to strike, running quickly to close the distance between them and pushing out with his right palm. Roger countered with the sheath of his sword, not wanting to draw blood. Since he was armed but his opponent was not, he was obligated as a gentleman to refrain from using his weapon if possible. The fight started off slowly, with Roger defending against the stranger, who fought with a myriad of palm strikes combined with complex body movements and jumps. After ten or so stances, Roger realized that he could not win unless he used his sword, so with an initial wide circular slash he unsheathed his sword and managed to drive the attacker back a couple of feet. That move was not meant to injure but to warn someone when you were about to use your sword. Now, Roger moved the sword into attack position in his right hand and put his sheath in the defense position in his left. The fighting was going to get intense from here on out. Roger made a series of quick strikes hoping to catch his opponent off guard and end the duel quickly, but the man in black was quite talented. After ten or so stances it seemed like the battle was a draw as neither man was able to get a clean hit. But the tide of battle was about to change. Just as Roger had drawn his sword to gain the advantage, it seemed the stranger had done the same by attacking more fiercely and using his internal energy. Even though the two may have been evenly matched in skill, the stranger was clearly stronger as his palm strikes became faster and more powerful. Roger knew he would surely lose unless he could injure the man, hoping to slow him down or cause him to reconsider his attacks. But no matter how he tried, the man in black was able to avoid and even block some of the attacks with his palm strikes, not an easy feat considering he had no weapon. Then a noise from out of the brush caught both men’s attention. It was Mimi who had finally caught up with them. She had been following the sound of combat and had her sword drawn in case she was attacked unexpectedly. Seeing the two in aggressive stances she immediately ran forward with her sword to help Roger who, though it may have been embarrassing to be saved by a girl, did not want her help because it was unchivalrous for two-against-one combat. None the less, the stranger saw her as an opponent and immediately moved to dispatch her quickly, lest the two combine their talents. Though Mimi was not as good as Roger in martial arts, she could actually hold her own in sword combat, having been trained in it primarily. And, unlike Roger, she had no problem being sneaky and deadly in her strikes. So, although she was less of a threat than Roger, the man in black found he could not defeat her after four or five moves, making him question whether he should continue fighting. Roger, who had hesitated to join the melee as a gentleman, was worried about Mimi. He never said anything, but he really cared a great deal for her and would have wanted tem to get together had he not taken his Taoist oaths. Seeing her almost lose her sword and take a palm strike, he could not hold back any longer and jumped in to save her. With both sword fighters lunging and swinging, and sometimes coming from opposite directions, top and bottom or front and back, the man in black dared not let his guard down for one second, and began to grow desperate with each move. After twenty more moves it seemed that the loser would be whoever made the first mistake. Unfortunately, that was Mimi. She had been caught up in the euphoria of fighting alongside her unrequited love, and seeing the opportunity, she stole a glance from him during combat. That was all it took as the stranger wrested her left hand which held her sheath and used it to sheath Roger’s sword in one swift move. He also grabbed her right hand which held her sword and pulled forward until she was caught in between him and Roger, thus preventing Roger from striking with his free hand. In that instance it would seem that the man in black had won because if Roger withdrew his sword it would strike Mimi, yet if he let go then they would both surely lose in combat. But then he thought of something and yelled for Mimi to let go of her sword, which she did almost instantly. Without thought Roger let go of his right hand, which held his sheathed sword, and his left hand, which held his own sheath, and turned his body to use his left hand to catch Mimi’s sword, which was falling down on the other side. Before the stranger could react, Roger jammed the sword straight down on his foot, severing the little toe. The pain was too much as the stranger let out a muffled cry behind his black mask, but anger was stronger than pain and he flung Mimi aside by the wrist with great force and struck Roger with what appeared to be a powerful palm strike right on the chest, causing Roger to move back several feet and kneel down on one knee in great discomfort. But the feeling did not seem to last long and soon Roger looked up at the man in black, who had grabbed the handle of the sword stuck in his foot. Mimi, seeing that Roger was unharmed, yelled that she had his sword in her sheath which she had not let go of. She threw it to him and he caught it, yet when he tried to stand up a great wave of pain came over him. He began to sweat profusely and felt cold inside. Mimi ran to him when she saw he did not move, which gave the stranger time to act. He quickly pulled the sword out of his foot, and contemplated what to do. He was in pain, but he could continue fighting and possibly win, killing both of them. But he was not sure whether Roger was truly injured or just faking to get an advantage. Besides, the pain was too much of a distraction to ignore, so he dropped the sword, turned around, and leapt away, his internal energy propelling him forward great distances at a time. Mimi turned briefly to see the stranger leave, but quickly paid attention back to Roger. She grabbed him with both arms and tried to steady him as he was apparently losing consciousness and falling down. As she cradled him in her arms and attended to his illness, trying to get him to respond to her words, she felt water coming down around her. It was starting to rain. She valiantly dragged him a short ways to a nearby cave and laid him down, trying to make him comfortable. He seemed to be running a fever, but his body was ice cold. What had happened, which she was unaware of, was that the palm strike had transferred a great deal of internal energy into his body, disrupting his own internal energy. It would dissipate eventually, if his body could survive the coldness. She knew she had to get him out of his wet clothes, but was too embarrassed. All she could do for the moment was make a fire, which she did. The cave began to warm up, but she still felt cold inside, and knew that he was even worse off. After a while of worrying, Roger opened his eyes, which she thought was a good sign. She smiled at him but noticed something odd. His eyes were glossy, staring off into the distance, and he was mumbling words that were unintelligible. He was actually getting worst, which scared her even more. She had no choice but to make a life or death decision. She quickly undressed him, careful not to touch things inappropriately, but did not have anything dry to cover him with. He began to shiver involuntarily, and reached out feebly to grab anything to warm himself. She was terrified, not only of his weakened state but the romantic possibilities that entailed. But she loved him too much to let him die, so she threw herself on top in an attempt to warm him. In his delirious mindset he began to caress her in a rather mature way. As is often the case of a man and woman in an extreme situation, the physical attraction got the better of them. Daylight broke and the rain had stopped. Roger slowly opened his eyes and began to focus on his surroundings. He did not know where he was or how he got there, and the last thing he could remember was fighting the mysterious man in black. Could it all have been a dream? As he wondered, he felt something heavy on top of him stirring. He looked down and saw Mimi, semi-dressed and lying on his body with her arms around him. A look of horror flashed in his face as he unthinkingly flung her off and scrambled to his feet. Realizing he was only semi-dressed himself, he tried to cover his torso with his arms and began to pace around the small cave, his face in a panic, mumbling things and looking furiously for his clothes. Mimi had gotten a very rude awakening by being tossed aside like that, and it took her a second to realize what had happened. She blushed profusely and scrambled on the floor to grab any piece of her clothing to cover herself decently. Roger found the rest of his clothing, which was still a little wet from the rain, so he understood why he had been undressed. But he could not bring himself to understand how the two of them wound up in that position. He was absolutely disgusted at himself, thinking that perhaps he had taken advantage of her. What could he do but to give her an opportunity to take revenge? He looked for his sword, but could not find it in the cave. The fact was that when Mimi had dragged him here, she had left their weapons behind, which was good because that would have made the situation worst. They both started to hear voices coming from the woods, and getting closer. There was no time to discuss this matter at length so they got dressed as quickly as they could. The voices were coming from a search party that Dick was leading to try and find them. Apparently, he had heard from some of the servants about the incident at the house that night, but had to wait until the rain stopped to go looking. Upon seeing the two in a fully clothed yet oddly disheveled state, Dick asked, “Are you two alright? Jane and I were worried when we found out. Did you catch the intruder?” His words brought Roger back to thinking about the fight. Had they won? Certainly because the man in black was nowhere to be seen he had escaped. But who was he? Mimi got up and walked back towards the direction of the house, her head looking down most of the time. Looking at this strange display Dick asked, “What is wrong with her?” Roger stated bluntly, “Do not ask questions when you do not know what happened,” and walked off in the same direction, avoiding eye contact with Dick and the other searchers. A while later at the house, Jane was comforting Mimi, who seemed distraught and emotional, when Dick and Roger came in. Dick immediately went over to his wife and asked, “What is the matter with Mimi,” to which Jane replied, “You may want to ask Roger about it.” Dick was a little confused by the response, so he turned to Roger, who quickly looked away in shame. A quick look back at Mimi and he asked, “Did something go on between you two last night?” This caused Mimi to burst into tears, and Jane scolded, “Don’t say things without thinking first. This problem is between Mimi and Roger, and they are the ones that need to work this out.” Roger then jumped in and said, “I made a terrible mistake last night that has ruined both mine and Mimi’s honor. I do not know the full details but I know that I must take responsibility for it. Therefore I ask for all your forgiveness and will return to the Taoist compound for punishment.” Mimi turned to him, her face in tears, and said, “No, you cannot.” She was afraid he might be harmed if he returned to face punishment, and did not want anything bad to happen to him because of her. Seeing the tension, Dick suggested, “Why do you not give up being a Taoist disciple, then whatever happened between you two would be between a man and a woman. There is no harm in that.” But Roger replied angrily, “That is not possible. My duty is clear. Even an unenlightened Shaolin supporter like you must recognize this.” To which Dick replied, “I may support Shaolin but I did not choose to be one. There is a difference between making cloth and being a tailor. Both are important to what you wear, but only one is responsible for making you look bad.” Jane quickly interjected, seeing as how the argument was getting out of hand. “What do you plan on doing right now, Roger? Mimi is just worried about you, as we all are.” Roger heaved a great sigh and said, “The first thing I must do is to pay my debt to those I have wronged. Then I will repent according to the Taoist philosophy. Hopefully, I can remain a Taoist. Otherwise I will die a Taoist.” Those words shook Mimi to her core. She was beside herself when Jane leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Mimi quickly stood up and faced Roger, proclaiming, “You have wronged me, therefore you must pay your debt to me. Do you agree?” Roger quickly replied, “Of course. I will do anything you request as long as it does not violate my Taoist beliefs. I will even give up my life if you wish.” Mimi asked, “I know you cannot lie about what happened, but seeing as you do not remember the details, can you not tell people about it if they do not ask? You would do me great dishonor by spreading gossip about these events, even to your Taoist master and brothers. Can you not do that for me?” Jane quickly added, “Would it not be chivalrous to keep from marring a good woman’s name? You do not need to let the rest of the world know of her shame, especially if she would rather forget it.” “Yes,” said Mimi, her heart breaking at those words. Roger thought for a moment, trying to reconcile the request with his own Taoist beliefs. Eventually he turned around and said, “I believe I can do that. But I must still return to the Taoist compound and repent in my own way. Therefore, I will take my leave now.” He gestured to pay his respects and started to leave. Mimi could only watch as he left. Soon she would have to leave as well and try to forget what had happened, or at least come to terms with her lost love.