Chương 9: "Do You Dream of Revenge Too, Little Tiger?”

Ch 9 "Do You Dream of Revenge Too, Little Tiger?"

The first rays of morning light filtered through the morning mist, casting a golden glow across the small room. Amber's eyes slowly opened, disoriented and confused as she rose to consciousness. She winced as the first sensations to spite her waking were sharp pains and aches pulsating throughout her body, as if she had survived a stampede. The girl stared at the thatched ceiling, tracing the patterns of the material as her mind slowly pieced together the events of the previous night.

With a sudden jolt she sat upright, and immediately fell back down as she coughed up dark red fluid from the exertion.

"Little tiger!" she wheezed, memories flooding back with startling clarity. The ferocious, ugly face of Wild Hog. The little tiger who had come to her rescue potentially lying dead. Old Daisy and Old Coi's weathered faces twisted in fear as flames licked at their home. Her heart hammered against her chest as panic rose within her. Before she could attempt to rise once again, the door to her room slid open. An old woman with kind eyes entered, carrying a tray with steaming rags.

"You're awake," the woman said, her voice gentle.

"Please, don't move too quickly. You could put your life in danger."

"The village—" Amber began, her voice raspy.

"Everything is being tended to," the woman assured her, setting down the tray.

"The village Elder wished to speak to you as soon as you were awake. He'll answer your questions." The woman returned quickly to the room with a tall older man, shortened a bit by his hunch. Amber presumed this was the village Elder.

"Please Thyme, a chair and some tea." The Elder motioned to the woman.

"Ahh yes, thank you." The Elder said as Thyme pulled a chair up for him by the bedside. Amber felt that she had no secrets under his sharp eyes that seemed to have lost no luster with age. The woman helped Amber into a sitting position, placing a warm damp cloth on her forehead.

"Please, tell me, the village…." Amber trailed off.

"Safe, for the most part. Very impressive, considering what could have been, thanks to you and the brave villagers that stepped up." Thyme brought a small table and poured two cups of tea.

"Thank you my dear Thyme."

"So then Old Daisy and Old Coi are…" The girl clutched the sheets in nervous anticipation.

"They've been through hardship, yet they retain their lives." Amber felt some pressure in her chest release. The pillow felt just a bit softer as she settled down.

"Did anybody…. say anything about a tiger cub?" Amber asked, her voice strained.

"A tiger cub?" the Elder repeated, stroking his white beard with a curious look in his eyes.

"If there was ever such a thing here, then it has gone." At least it must be alive… Amber figured, though she held a sadness in her heart. She wondered if they would cross paths again. Nonetheless, she was glad they had taken revenge together. She held a brief moment of curiosity for the feeling of satisfaction that arose within her when she thought of it. It was a new emotion to her.

"Drink," Thyme told her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"It'll help with the pain." She sipped her tea, the warm liquid soothing her throat. Her shoulders relaxed slightly.

"Thyme tells me your condition has been improving rapidly. As expected of a warrior of your caliber."

"If I may ask," the Elder continued, studying her with keen eyes, "what brings a young Qi practitioner like yourself to our remote village? I must say, your skills were most impressive from the recounting."

"I'm walking to Tiger Gate City," Amber decided she had no reason to lie to the kind Elder.

"To enter the Great Clan trials." The Elder's eyebrows rose with interest.

"The Great Clan trials? You aim to join one of the great Clans?" Amber nodded.

"A worthy ambition." The Elder stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"As it happens, another from our village also dares to journey to Tiger Gate City, for a similar purpose."

"Oh?" Amber's curiosity was piqued.

"Yes. Our village apothecarist's disciple, Miss Solrose. She is the hope of our village's prosperity," the Elder explained, thick pride evident in his voice.

"She is Thyme here's disciple." He gestured to the other woman in the room.

"I believe little Lulu has the qualifications." Thyme smiled with care.

"She has mastered a considerable knowledge of plants and medicine, much better than this old woman at her age. She has also awakened her Qi. This old woman lacks talent and has never done such a thing."

"Impressive," Amber repeated weakly, through dry lips. She took another sip of tea, though she had trouble raising the cup without a tremble.

"Surely not as impressive as yourself, but we believe she is qualified to participate in the Great Clans' Alchemy Trials at least." The Elder said, "and the bright future of Misty Hollow Village would be assured." Amber herself was only at rank one, Flowing Qi Realm, but she felt no need to bring that up.

"What exactly is alchemy?" Amber asked, curious at the field that apparently demanded a separate trial for entrance to one of the Great Clans.

"Oh, a wondrous field. Why don't you answer, Thyme?" the Elder deferred to the woman next to him.

"Alchemy is the transformation of natural things, to distill essence and transform into pills and elixirs with mystical properties." Thyme smiled.

"This old woman would have loved to learn if she could. But Lulu is the right age and has the right knowledge I believe, to be given the chance at acceptance." Amber was silent in thought. She could remember her mother speaking a bit about medicine that seemed like magic.

"This matter brings us back to Old Coi and the villagers." The Elder said, breaking her internal process.

"Old Coi broke his arm, and their home was badly damaged in the fire. Not only can he not help with reconstruction, but he is left unable to work for the foreseeable future." Stolen novel; please report. Amber winced at his dry words.

"There is also the matter of the other injuries, deaths, and homes."

"…deaths?" Amber looked down at her tea, guilt welling up in her heart. Memories of fire and and blood rose to her mind. The Elder observed her actions and spoke, "Be calm, little girl. Trouble is a part of life, something we at Misty Hollow Village have always persevered through. Bandits were not born because of you. Even more sure is that this is not the first time our little community has dealt with such a scourge. No one blames you." Amber did not look up.

"However," The Elder continued, "There is the matter of cost."

"It's all my fault. I'm ready to do anything I can." The girl whispered with a hint of frustration. She did not have all the time in the world before the Clan trials began, and she was already behind schedule with the last week of fights and injuries. She would not sideline her revenge, but she would not betray those who were there for her. She felt the feeling in her heart grow solid and resolute.

"Our priority is of course to help our people," The Elder began to speak again.

"But this leaves little money to pay for our hope, Miss Solrose, to have safe passage to Tiger Gate City. Although she has a bit of cultivation, she is not a fighter like yourself," he said, sipping from his cup.

"Another delicious brew, thank you Thyme." He said, as Thyme smiled back at the praise.

"We had arranged for Miss Solrose to travel with the seasonal merchant caravan, but it seems those funds are needed here currently. The price for a safe caravan passage to a major city is not cheap, you must understand."

"I-" Amber's throat choked. She wanted to volunteer to escort the young prospective alchemist, but she had proven that she could barely take care of herself on the road. She couldn't bear the responsibility if something happened to their village's hope under her supervision. Hadn't people already died because of her?

"There was a decent bit of metal and a bit of coin on…. our deceased visitors, which helps somewhat. But there is still a certain difficulty." He placed his cup down as Thyme poured him another wordlessly.

"Are you willing to hear my proposal?" The Elder had a sharp look in his eyes as Amber lifted her head to meet his gaze.

"I have no intention of forcing anything upon you, of course."

"Please," she said.

"We will offer you as a caravan guard. They would pay a good sum for someone of your talents, and that should cover Miss Solrose's trip as well as the costs and compensation incurred in the village." He blew on his hot tea.

"Of course, since your destinations match, I think it would be beneficial for you as well. It's not easy to travel alone, after all."

"Is that really all you want from me?" she asked in surprise. The deal seemed a bit too beneficial for her.

"What about all the… deaths?"

"Hmm. It's indeed tragic. Lives are a precious thing, and they can't be replaced. However, if an alchemist were to be raised from our little village and accepted into one of the great clans, the entire village would surely prosper."

"Are alchemists really that valuable?" she asked curiously.

"They are indeed even several times more valuable than that," he laughed. She looks down at her hands softly a moment before squeezing them.

"Then I accept." Amber clasped her fist in front of her and offered a small bow as best as she could from her position. Her body winced in reaction but she remained in position. She was hungry to make things right. Traveling with a caravan sounded much safer than traveling on her own anyway.

"Hmm. Decisive. Very good." The Elder approved as he sipped his tea.

"When does the caravan leave?"

"Five days, at the Village Entrance," the Elder replied.

"I've heard of your remarkable recovery speed, I hope you will be ready given that you've slept for 3 days already."

"3 days?" The news hit Amber like a lightning bolt. She had never slept that long in her life!

"You needed adequate sleep to speed your recovery. Of course, Thyme here has taken grand care of you." The Elder and Thyme looked at each other as they smiled together.

"Thank you for the care," She offered another pained bow from her bed.

"I want to see Old Daisy and Old Coi before I leave. I want to make sure they are doing okay, with my own eyes."

"Of course," the Elder agreed readily.

"They will be overjoyed to hear your condition is stable... Well, Old Daisy will be, for sure." He laughed over his tea. During her recovery, Amber had been invited to stay as a guest at the Misty Hollow Elder's manor, and Thyme had been there to take exquisite care of her. The next few days went quickly as Amber spent most of her time in meditation, using her Burning Sun breathing technique to restore her energy and push Qi towards areas that needed healing.

Although she had been torn from the outside by wild men, and on the inside by Saint Tiger Qi, she was not crippled for life as she had feared. In fact, her body seemed more resilient and she felt that her Qi stayed inside her body much easier and in larger volumes. The girl was surprised that upon internal Qi inspection, she discovered she had a tiny dot of sparkling Saint Tiger Qi inside of her body. It was different from the Tiger Saint Qi that she absorbed from the droplets of blood, however.

This felt like hers. It felt alive inside of her. There was another drastic change that she had noticed as well. She still hadn't formed her energy nexus, the requirement for reaching the first star of the second stage— the Nexus Realm. Yet, the second drop of Tiger Saint blood had strengthened her idea of what the changes brought about by the first drop made her suspect. Her entire body felt like it was a reservoir, albeit not nearly as compact or dense as she was told an energy nexus was supposed to feel.

Her Qi felt as if it crashed from place to place rather than being in a carefully controlled flow. Using her 8 major energy channels to transfer energy around seemed to be more fluid, but it lacked the finer precision of using her minor energy channels, which no longer felt the same due to her current condition. Her Qi control was never her best quality, but now she suffered even more with precision. At least she felt like she was bursting with Qi! None of it fit her understanding of Realms at all though.

Amber wondered what it meant for her cultivation, and how she compared to somebody in the Nexus Realm. Thumbing through the paper book her mother had given her, even the section that recently revealed itself said nothing about it. As she revisited the section on the Predator technique, she reflected on the fight and the way she instinctively linked her well-practiced Blazing Tiger footwork in the desperate struggle for survival.

Even when she had run herself ragged and almost ran out of Qi, comprehending a bit of the technique had made her movements more fluid than at any other time during the fight. Her remaining time at Misty Hollow continued much like this. Cultivating, reflecting, and conducting analysis on her battles, her strengths, and her weaknesses. The fire inside of her to gain power was stronger than ever after recent events. Thyme came in several times to change her bandages and apply new medicine.

Old Daisy stopped by, and they cried with happiness as they saw each other. Amber told her of the plan to pay for Old Coi's care and rebuild their house as well as the other burned homes. When Amber asked if she could see Old Coi to apologize, he apparently didn't want to come see her. Old Daisy also tried to lightly mention that to avoid trouble, she should stay away from the funerals being held for the victims of what was being called the "Wild Hog Massacre."

When Amber insisted that she go, Old Daisy insisted that it was for the victim's sake she stayed away. Amber cried at one point during the visit, apologizing and insisting she should have made different decisions, and that she simply should have been stronger. The older woman hugged her, comforting her and telling her that it wasn't her fault. Nobody, not even her mother while she was alive, had told that to her before.

The day before she was to depart she was brought a set of new clothes, hand stitched by Old Daisy. The woman also brought her some food for the road. Amber Fang had another good cry, her emotions running freely after being bottled up for so long. No one had ever made her clothes before besides herself and her mother. Old Daisy told her to visit again when she had the chance. It had only been a short time since leaving Green Wood Village, but it felt like a lifetime.

She was delighted at the fabrics: dark hemp bottoms and top, with a lighter green outer layer. A dark forest green sash for her middle section that matched her cloak. Portions of black cloth were wrapped around her ankles to make the pants suitable for martial arts. She even had enough left over to use as hand wraps. Though they were simple, they were much nicer than the bloody and torn clothes she had arrived in. She even had black cloth shoes! She felt rich. Amber Fang tightened her black sash on her new clothes.

She absolutely loved them. At the same time, it was bittersweet moving on without her old clothes, which were made excruciatingly by her mother's hand. It almost felt like leaving her behind at her gravestone all over again. It was a terrible feeling. The girl felt sorely alone. As she had been becoming increasingly wont to do lately, she briefly wondered where the little tiger cub was. He had appeared out of nowhere at the most critical moment, but she couldn't help but feel he was still nearby.

Like a little guardian angel. After all, he had to have been hanging around if he had shown up this time, right? She occasionally whispered out for him when no one was around, to no avail. Maybe he just had to trust her fully? The girl knew it may have been wishful thinking on her part, but the fantasy brought her great comfort. They had both lost their mothers, became orphans, and been driven away from their home. They had even cultivated the same Saint Tiger blood together.

"Do you dream of revenge too, little tiger?" she whispered to herself. They may have killed Wild Hog, but whoever had killed his mother, assuming that she had really been killed, must be at least a hundred times as strong as Wild Hog to kill a fully grown and spiritually awakened tiger! So there was another culprit somewhere. How could the little tiger not want him dead? Amber felt that they were the same in that kind of regard.

She wished that he was well wherever he was, and hoped that fate would bring them together once again. Finally, it was time to leave Misty Hollow Village.