| Fan Fiction |
by Melanie
Meanwhile, the Koo brothers, Fei and Keung, cross paths with Madame Lam, who gives chase, intent on retrieving the antidote to cure her second son, Yik Wah. Cornered by Madame Lam in an old cave in Green Python Valley, Fei happens upon the legendary Sword of Sun, which has remained dormant for centuries, waiting for the reincarnation of the Guardian to remove it from its resting place. As if pre-determined by destiny, Fei pulls the sword easily from the stone wedge…
Characters appearing in this chapter:
Louis Koo Tin Lok---Koo Yat Fei
Idy Chan Yuk Lin---Chan Yin Yuk
Benny Chan Ho Man---Koo Yat Keung
Gigi Lai Chi---Lam Chi Chi
Kevin Cheng Ka Wing---Cheng Sai Chung
Guest appearances in this chapter:
Lau Dan---Old Man
Lee Heung Kum---Old Woman
GREEN PYTHON VALLEY
CAVE
With the quivering Sword of Sun in his hands, its blade emitting an almost blinding yellow-red glow, Fei threatens his opponents.
"Stay away, everyone!" He warns.
Without any change in her expression, Yin Yuk makes a move to approach Fei, unwilling to back off from the young man who poisoned her second son, Yik Wah.
As Yin Yuk advances forward, Fei shouts, "I mean it! If you dare to come one more step toward me, I’ll swing this sword at you!" He emphasizes his threat by whipping the blade in a wide arc. A blast of energy cuts across the path of the sword, causing the walls of the cave to shudder as a thin crack swiftly snakes its way across the ground.
Noting the sword’s almost uncontrollable power, Yin Yuk hesitates, reevaluating her odds of overtaking Fei. "The Sword of Sun…" She murmurs to herself with disbelief. "The legend of the sword’s existence is true, then…"
Meanwhile, the elderly couple remains glued to the entrance of the inner chamber of the cave, oblivious to Fei’s words. Speechless, they could only stare in awe at the Sword of Sun, mesmerized by its brilliance and greatness.
"I’ve heard stories of the Sword of Sun’s power in the hands of its rightful owner, but never, in my wildest dreams, did I picture such magnificence." The old man mutters under his breath, almost afraid to breathe too loudly for fear of disturbing the sanctity of the moment.
"So you think we’ve finally found the reincarnation of the Guardian? Are you sure?" The old woman asks her husband, who continues to gawk at the blade, which continues to vibrate almost violently in Fei’s hands.
"Of course, I’m sure, Old Woman!" The old man admonishes his wife. "If he isn’t the Guardian, then he would not have been able to remove that sword from the stone wedge! According to legend, the mythical Sword of Sun is destined to have only one master and shall only reveal its power in the hands of its rightful owner. When the Guardian met his demise hundreds of years ago, his sword ‘died’ with him, its energy and life locked away until its master walks the earth again." Glancing at his wife, he concludes triumphantly as he points at Fei. "So you see, Old Woman. If that young man isn’t the reincarnation of the Guardian, then how did he remove the Sword of Sun from its resting place and why would the sword be glowing so fiercely right now?"
Shaking her head doubtfully, the old woman wrinkles her forehead. "I don’t know, Old Man…" She looks hard at Fei, who stands with his feet apart, glaring at Yin Yuk belligerently, as if daring her to attack him. "The sword…" She gestures at the Sword of Sun. As she speaks, the sword’s blade starts to lose its fire, its brilliance flickering brightly one moment and then dimming into darkness the next. "Something is wrong with the sword."
Scrutinizing the Sword of Sun closely, the old man frowns. "You have a point, Old Woman." Scratching his beard in confusion, he shakes his head, puzzled. "If the legend is true, then the true reincarnation of the Guardian should have complete control over the Sword of Sun. The sword should not be alternately glowing and dimming, as if something is preventing it from exhibiting its full potential."
"It’s almost as if…" The old woman begins.
"…something is missing!" The old man finishes his wife’s thought.
"Then that young man is not the reincarnation of the Guardian." The elderly wife concludes.
"But he has to be the Guardian!" The old man argues. "He would not have been able to remove the sword from the stone wedge if he isn’t!"
"I say he’s not!" The old woman retorts.
Drawing his brows close together, the old man whirls toward his wife, his rotund belly jiggling indignantly. "Well, I say he is! We have guarded the Sword of Sun for over seventy years. In all those years, there have been countless young men who have attempted, without success, to remove the sword from its resting place. Finally, after so many years, this youngster comes along and succeeds where many have failed. If he’s not the Guardian, then who is?"
"Well, he’s only half a Guardian, then!" The elderly woman spats back at her husband.
"What nonsense is this? What in the world is ‘half a Guardian?’" The old man demands loudly.
In reply, she slaps her hands onto her hips and huffs out. "He’s half a Guardian because the Sword of Sun only glows half of the time in his hands!"
"Ludicrous! Absolutely ludicrous! What in the world does ‘half a Guardian’ mean? He’s either the Guardian, or he’s not!" The old man hollers, so engrossed in his altercation with his wife that he forgets that three other people are in the cave.
"Hey!" Fei screams with bad temper, trying to project his voice above those of the elderly couple. "What are you two squabbling about over there?" Waving his sword belligerently at the old man and his wife, he commands. "You two, get over here and stand next to Madame Lam." He gestures at Yin Yuk, who observes Fei with calm eyes, appearing totally unaffected by his ranting.
As Fei backs away from Yin Yuk and the elderly couple and inches his way toward the opening of the cave, Keung rushes to his side.
"Elder Brother, let’s get out of here." Keung mutters, his eyes also trained cautiously on Yin Yuk.
"Hey, young man!" The old man calls out. "Aren’t you curious at all about the sword in your hand?"
Narrowing his eyes at the elderly man, Fei smiles coldly. "I could care less about this sword’s origin. I just know that the elegant Madame Lam here seems to be afraid of it. Ha ha!"
As he chuckles smugly, he continues to slowly make his exit. Darting his eyes toward Keung, he whispers, "As soon as we leave this cave, we should split up so that we have a greater chance of escape if they should decide to give chase."
With those words, Fei somersaults out of the cave, with Keung following close behind.
"You think you can escape so easily?" Yin Yuk says calmly, her voice soft, but edged with ice. "You think you can just leave like that without giving me the antidote for my second son?"
A flash of white fabric shoots out from her sleeve, cutting with deadly precision through the air. The sash wraps tightly around Fei’s neck, nearly strangling him, and drags him back into the cave.
Coming to his elder brother’s aid, Keung sends a flying dagger toward the sash, intending to slice the strip of fabric. However, before the dagger is able to come within striking distance, Yin Yuk releases another white sash, intercepting the dagger.
As the dagger clatters to the ground, Keung lunges toward Fei, trying to disentangle his elder brother from the noose around his neck. Blocking Keung’s attempt to help Fei, Yin Yuk whips to the side and delivers a swift kick to Keung’s midsection, sending him catapulting across the cave. Unwilling to give up easily, Keung leaps back onto his feet and flies toward Yin Yuk once again. Meeting her in a clash of palms midair, he winces as his arms shudder from the contact with his opponent’s more powerful palm energy. After a mere few seconds, Keung breaks off the encounter, forced back by Yin Yuk’s superior skills. Landing unsteadily on his feet, he grunts and breathes heavily, his vision blurry.
Barely allowing Keung a chance to recover, Yin Yuk mercilessly advances forward again. Another long length of fabric whips by and wraps itself around Keung’s upper torso, holding him captive.
Meanwhile, Fei gasps for breath as he is unwillingly dragged left and right along with Yin Yuk as she battles with Keung. With his face turning a bright shade of red as he struggles to pull air into his lungs, Fei lifts the Sword of Sun with a shaky hand and attempts to cut the long strip of fabric looped around his neck. However, before he is able do this, Yin Yuk suddenly flies into the air, dragging Keung and Fei out the cave behind her with her long sashes.
At the far side of the cave, the elderly couple watches the battle among Yin Yuk, Fei, and Keung closely. Several times, the old man tries to intercept the fight, but his wife would pull him back each time.
"Let go of me, Old Woman!" The old man yells, shrugging off his wife's hand. "The Guardian is going to get himself killed if we don't come to his aid!"
"Wait, Old Man!" The old woman keeps her hand firmly on her husband's shoulder. "Don't be so rash! We don't know these people and therefore do not even know who is good and who is bad." She narrows her eyes speculatively at Fei, who grasps the Sword of Sun with a death grip, trying to swing it ineffectively at Yin Yuk, who, in turn, dodges his blows expertly. "Besides, we don't even know if that young man is the Guardian." Pointing at the Sword of Sun, the old woman reasons, "Look at the Sword of Sun, Old Man. According to legend, if he is indeed the reincarnation of the Guardian, then the Sword of Sun should attain insurmountable power in his possession. But so far, the sword’s magnificent power seems unstable. Look at the sword right now! It is nothing but a dim piece of metal in the young man's hands. There is something peculiar going on."
Sighing in agreement, the old man mutters, "Well, at least, we should follow them outside and make sure nobody is hurt. I don't want anyone dying before we can straighten out who is the Guardian. After all, we have waited so many years to finally find someone who can remove the Sword of Sun from the stone wedge that I do not want him to drop dead so soon!"
With that declaration, the old man rushes toward the entrance of the cave, with his wife following close on his heels. Outside the cave, the elderly couple find Yin Yuk dragging Fei and Keung behind her with her long sashes. As both men gasp and sputter, she suddenly releases the long ribbons of fabric. Free from the constricting lengths of cloth, the brothers tumble on top of each other in a disorganized heap.
Quickly disentangling himself from Keung, Fei grabs the Sword of Sun and charges at Yin Yuk.
Seeing Fei’s approach, Yin Yuk flings her arm out and a ribbon of white flashes forward, heading straight toward his neck. However, just at that moment, a white blur leaps down in front of the brothers and intercepts Yin Yuk's attack. Deflecting the sash with an intense burst of palm energy, the stranger then pivots sharply toward Fei.
Whirling around to face her new opponent, Yin Yuk demands calmly, her serene expression belying the fury boiling inside her. "Who are you? Why do you interfere with my business?"
The stranger in white stares back at Yin Yuk, his face completely covered by a white cloth obscuring the lower part of his face and a white turban wrapped around his forehead. His eyes, the only part of his countenance exposed, gaze back at Yin Yuk, their dark depths unfathomable.
Ignoring Yin Yuk’s question, the stranger pivots toward Fei, who is still clutching the Sword of Sun tightly in both hands. Without wasting time, the man in white races toward Fei with lightening speed and swoops him up. With superb lightness kung fu, he drags Fei with him and disappears into the dark night.
The old man, wishing to keep Fei and the Sword of Sun in his sight, somersaults up into the air and manages to follow the stranger and Fei for only a few paces before a bright explosion erupts before his eyes. Choking and blinking furiously from the miniature bomb's blinding flashes, he is forced to land and give up his chase.
As the old man lands onto the ground, his wife rushes toward him. "Old Man! Are you hurt?"
"No, no, I'm fine." With his eyes still stinging, he stares off in the direction that the stranger has disappeared. "That sneaky lowlife took off with the Guardian and our Sword of Sun!"
"We need to go after him and get the sword back!" The old woman exclaims. She turns as if about to fly after the stranger, but her husband detains her.
"Old Woman, it is no use. That man is highly skilled in lightness kung fu and would have traveled at least a few thousand miles by now. Besides, it would be difficult to track an experienced martial arts expert in the dark night."
"But we can’t just let that man run off with the Sword of Sun!" The old woman protests.
While the elderly couple continues to bicker in the background, Yin Yuk squints into the darkness. Without wasting precious time, she grabs onto Keung's arm and leaps up into the air, trailing after the stranger with Keung in tow.
MEANWHILE...
GREEN PYTHON VALLEY
FOREST
Chi Chi trudges through the thick brambles, huffing and puffing indignantly. "Hmph! Where is Big Brother Sai Chung? I go off for just a few minutes looking for Mother, and when I turn around, he has disappeared!" Picking up a thin, fallen tree branch, she whacks it at a tree trunk with bad temper.
Still sulking, she stomps left and right, surveying the surrounding forest, hoping to catch sight of Sai Chung. "First, I can't find Mother." She stops her tirade to blow a strand of hair out of her eyes. "THEN, I have to roam about the forest in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night looking for HIM!" She jabs her tree branch at another tree trunk, emphasizing her frustration and imagines the trunk as Sai Chung's body, "Poke, poke, poke! Ha! Take that, Big Brother Sai Chung! Poke! Poke! Poke! Hmph!"
In the distance, a wolf howls, its cry reverberating hollowly through the silent night. The animal cry halts Chi Chi in her tracks. Glancing around nervously, she drops the small tree branch and crouches down on the forest ground, searching frantically for a larger, more sturdy branch to protect herself with.
The thick ceiling of leaves block out the moonlight, only letting a few weak beams peak through the spaces between the leafy canopy. The wolf howls again, its cry this time sounding closer and more menacing. Frightened, Chi Chi abandons her search for a thick tree branch and takes off at a run, tearing haphazardly through the woods. Lost now, she veers left and right, her breath caught in her throat.
"Big Brother Sai Chung, where are you?" She mutters desperately under her breath. "Don't leave me alone with the wild animals!"
A small forest critter suddenly darts across Chi Chi's path, scaring the wits out of her. "Ahhhh!" She screams and trips over a fallen log.
Landing onto a pile of dried leaves, she scrambles up and starts randomly running around the forest again. "Help! Help! Big Brother Sai Chung!"
Deeper and deeper into the woodland she runs, afraid of stopping, and yet having no sense of direction. Finally, after what seems like an eternity, she stops and doubles over with cramps and exhaustion.
Huffing heavily, she squints anxiously into the darkness, trying to see if any wolves have trailed after her. When she sees nothing but pitch black, she gingerly lowers herself onto a large log covered with dried leaves. Above, the clouds shift lazily and cover the moon, blanketing the forest in complete darkness.
Seated on the large log, she leans back against a tree trunk. Wringing her hands, she gulps several times and continues to survey her surroundings nervously. After of few minutes of vigilance, Chi Chi's heartbeat begins to slow, and she starts to feel rather silly for overreacting to a distant wolf cry.
"Silly me, silly me," she admonishes herself. Taking in a deep breath to steady herself, she wriggles her bottom on the large log. "Hmm, this log here is quite comfortable and soft," she babbles to herself, trying to keep her mind off her fear. "I guess the thick layer of leaves makes it warm and soft. I should be thankful I found such a good resting spot. I'll just sit right here and wait until the clouds part so I can see better and find my way out of the forest."
Settling back more comfortably, she starts counting one through ten, trying to keep her mind occupied. Wriggling her rear end on the log again, she then starts humming to herself. However, despite counting and humming, she cannot keep her mind off the wild animals roaming about in the dark. Finally, sighing with exasperation, she leaps up and starts glancing around anxiously again. Pacing back and forth, she passes by the log she was sitting on and kicks at it absently. Restlessly, she returns to her pacing and then doubles back once more to kick at the log again.
This time, the log shifts and groans softly. Freezing, Chi Chi frowns and narrows her eyes at the log. Staring at it suspiciously for a few seconds, she shakes her head. "Now you're starting to think inanimate logs talk and move!" She berates herself. "When did you become such a coward?"
To prove her bravery, she deliberately kicks the log a third time, this time forcefully. About to deliver a fourth kick, she nearly stumbles back when the 'log' rolls over and groans.
"Ahhh!" Chi Chi screams. "A demon! It's a log demon!" Freaking, she starts scrambling away from the moving ‘log’ when a familiar voice stops her.
"Little Brother? Little Brother, is that you?" A weak voice calls out somewhere near the vicinity of the ‘log.’
"Huh? Huh?" Chi Chi asks the ‘log’ frantically. "Oh my goodness!" She murmurs to herself fretfully. "That log sounds exactly like Big Brother Sai Chung! He must have died and transformed into a log demon!"
Straightening herself up and trying to build up her courage, she approaches the talking ‘log’ cautiously. "Big Brother Sai Chung?" She whispers, using her toe to nudge at the ‘log.’ "Is that you? How come you are a log?"
Suddenly, a hand reaches out and grabs her ankle. Screeching, Chi Chi falls backward and lands onto her bottom. "Ahhh! Don't take me to the underworld with you, Big Brother Sai Chung! I wasn't too mean to you when you were alive, was I?" She stutters. "I mean, sure, I sometimes scold at you. But I usually have a lot to say, and when someone has a lot to say, she sometimes says things she doesn't mean, right?"
Upon hearing her screams and nonsensical babbling, the ‘log’ pops up into a sitting position, dislodging all the dried leaves covering it, revealing Sai Chung underneath.
"Eeeee!" Chi Chi squeals in alarm. Covering her hands over her eyes, she continues to squawk, "Eeee! Eeee! Eeee!"
When she hears no response and senses no movement from Sai Chung, Chi Chi slowly spreads apart her fingers, peaking through the spaces. Noticing Sai Chung collapsed again on the ground, but very much alive and breathing heavily, she breathes out a huge sigh of relief.
"Big Brother Sai Chung!" Chi Chi practically hollers into his face, her expression of intense relief apparent on her face. Launching herself into his arms, she pulls him up to a sitting position and jiggles him up and down, giggling. "Oh, you're alive! I’ve found you! Now I don't have to be alone in this scary forest! You know, you're pretty good at playing dead. What are you doing lying beneath all those leaves, anyway?" She jabbers on and on.
However, Sai Chung remains silent, his breathing labored. Chi Chi, on the other hand, continues to be oblivious of his distress, as she exuberantly pats him repeatedly on his back.
Finally, she notices a sticky wetness seeping from Sai Chung's abdomen and creating a damp spot on the front of her gown. Letting go of Sai Chung, she glances down at his torso and gasps. Surprise quickly evolves into horror as she examines the gaping wound on his abdomen.
Quickly and clumsily covering the wound with her hands in an attempt to staunch the blood flow, she asks, "Big Brother Sai Chung! What happened to you? Who did this to you?"
"Little Brother, Little Brother..." Sai Chung raises his bloodied hand and cups her face in his palm. "Is it really you? You're not dead? You're alive?"
"Of course, I'm not dead!" Chi Chi responds impatiently, fear making her tone sharp. "You're the one who's going to die soon if we don't stop the bleeding!"
"There...there was someone pretending to be you. You were hanging from a tree branch. I thought you were dead!" Sai Chung sputters. "I...I...I ran over and lifted your body from the branch and then you stabbed me. Stabbed me..." His voice weakens and his eyes slowly drift close as darkness envelops him.
"Big Brother Sai Chung! Big Brother Sai Chung!" Chi Chi calls out, shaking him gently, trying to rouse him.
Receiving no response, she quickly rips his outer gown into long strips and ties the long pieces together. Wrapping the long lengths of cloth around Sai Chung's torso to temporarily lessen the blood flow, she then stumbles to her feet. Hooking her hands under Sai Chung's arms, she heaves and huffs and puffs, trying to move him. Slowly and steadily, she drags his heavy weight along the forest ground.
Seconds become minutes, and minutes merge into hours. As the night air turns from chilly to bitterly cold, Chi Chi continues to forge ahead. Not before long, exhaustion begins to seep into her bones, clouding her senses, blurring her mind. Looking drowsily ahead, she sees the faint outline of a cave at long last. Determined to get Sai Chung to some sort of shelter for the night, she grits her teeth and heaves again.
The clouds finally part to once again reveal the bright moon, its pale rays peaking through the holes in the thick leafy ceiling, falling onto the forest ground in swirls of soft, dreamy light.
Overhead, a raven circles the heavens twice before landing onto a low branch. The large bird’s glossy, ink-black feathers glisten in the moonlight, its bright eyes glowing, as the bird silently watches the outlines of the two humans gradually fade into the night…
MEANWHILE…
GREEN PYTHON VALLEY
IN ANOTHER PART OF THE FOREST
Dragging Fei along, the white-clothed stranger lands onto a clearing in the forest and drops Fei unceremoniously onto the damp earth.
Grunting, Fei struggles to his feet using the Sword of Sun as leverage and whirls toward the stranger. Pale rays of moonlight slash across the stranger’s face, accentuating his sharp eyes. The rest of him remains fully covered, making it difficult for Fei to identify the man in white.
Uncertain if this person is friend or foe, Fei asks warily, "Why have you rescued me?"
Silence meets his question. Dark eyes survey Fei and finally settle on the Sword of Sun clutched in his hand. Without a word, the man in white suddenly lunges toward Fei with amazing swiftness.
Barely left with any time to react, Fei raises his palms toward the stranger. As he senses his opponent’s palms contact his, Fei experiences an electrical shock rip through his body as the stranger’s superior internal energy knocks him backward. Catapulting across the forest clearing, he feels a sharp sting at the back of his head as his skull forcefully contacts a large tree trunk. As his vision begins to fade, the last thing Fei remembers is a white shadow chuckling, chuckling maliciously, as it flies off with the Sword of Sun.
**********
If you enjoy this story, please also read my other story, Legendary Book of Sun-Moon Swordplay - The Prequel. Thank you.
http://www.winglin.net/fanfic/legendprequel/
4/3/07