YUNE: Full

Sweat was trickling down her forehead. Her eyebrows scrunched up as she focuses hard on her object at hand. A metallic purple aura surrounded the ceramic plate as it gently lifted up into the air. This was the work of air bending. It took many decades of studying the art. But now, in this dynasty many centuries later, it was forbidden.
"Ling!"
A voice was then heard rumbling down the hall, the gentle chime of plates stacking and crashing.
"Shi Fu Chin!"
The girl gasped, clumsily curtsying, plate in her hand.
"Master Hun awaits your presence. Do not make a fool of yourself, Ling, remember that. Or you will not have supper as of tonight. Understood?"
Shi Fu Chin sneered at Ling. Her eyes downcast, she nodded meekly. Slaves like herself were not to defy the orders of Law. Shi Fu Chin's eyes flickered. Why a Great One like Master Hun wanted a lowly peasant like Ling was beyond what was left of his curiosity.
"Come on, girl!   Master Hun won't be waiting forever!"
He snapped turning around, but the girl was gone. Sighing to himself, he walked off to scold the kitchen boy for giving her the plate as it was to be used for his tea.

"You may sit down, girl."
Master Hun frowned at the untouched chair of bamboo. This lowly girl couldn't have been the One but Adviser Jin insisted that she was the One, so convincingly as well. Advisor Jin was, in fact, almost always right. Or so, Master Hun believed. Looking nervously at him, Ling was fearful. Her hands were forever fidgeting and her legs were trembling.
"I'd rather not, Master  Hun. You see, this is too much to ask of you."
She replied looking down at her sore poorly feet, the sandals peeled at the toes. Master Hun let out a low rumbly roar of laughter. How he was going to enjoy this little piece of entertainment even if she wasn't to be the One.
"You had called for me. Why? I have not met you before. I do not know of much."
She looked up; searching into his stony glacier blue eyes for an answer but his eyes gave none of the sort. Much truth she speaks, mused Master Hun.
"Because, child, I want to know what you have found about the Orb of Yune."
"The Orb of Yune?"

Ling's heart started to pound frantically as she recalled the old Chinese legend and the truth she knew, compared; it was all lies. She tightened her grip on the starched cloth that gathered around her ankles.  He knew something. Tears began to form beneath her eyes and sweat was appearing from her forehead. The glistering drops reminded her of the plate. Oh, how she wished Shi Fu Chin did not come to her.
"Tell me now, child, I am losing my patience. You are smart enough to know I am not to be tempted with."
His eyes turned red with rage, his knuckles white. It had seemed to him that Advisor Jin was wrong. He was deeply enraged, anger boiling inside him like molten lava. His favourite advisor should not be wrong, after all, imagine if he was always this wrong. Master Hun let out a throttled gasp of grief and horror.
"Bring me Advisor Jin, child and then you can go."
Quickly and smoothly he made a slicing motion right on his throat.

"Advisor Jin is going to die tonight."


And with that she ran, her body washed over with relief. She trembled and bowed, thinking the truth would be safe for now.
"Advisor Jin, may I come in?" Ling asked quietly.
"No, absolutely not! It is beyond my dignity to let you in my living quarters."
Filthy creature. Jin thought, scowling to himself. Oh, how much Advisor Jin loathed Ling.
"Master Hun sent me to look for you."
Advisor Jin gasped in surprise as he quickly straightened his clothes and smoothed down his hair.

"Out of the way, servant girl." Jin waved his hand sharp with authority. Ling would be gone in no time! It was time until someone taught that silly brat of a slave a lesson!  He thought smugly to himself.
"Lead me to him, girl or I will take a fee out of your life expenses."
Walking snootily, he and Ling made their way towards Master Hun's Palace Room. Knocking on the door grandly, Advisor Jin smirked to Ling,
"I shall see you beheaded and sent off to live with the terrible Master Hell down below."
"Who is at the door?" Master Hun asked stiffly.
"Advisor Jin, Your Majestic Greatness." Jin bowed lowly, his elongated hand twisted.
"Allow Advisor Jin in immediately!"  Master Hun roared.

"Yes, Master," muttered the robed doorman rushing towards the door.
Grunting and sweating elegantly with effort, the doorman pulled the grand doors. Master Hun's gaze narrowed, his veins throbbing visibly. Noting Master Hun with a nod of acknowledgment, a nearby messenger came up to whisper.
Blushing a deep crimson, the doorman easily pushed the doors out for Advisor Jin who was superiorly smirking at Ling. Turning a sharp glance of disgust at the humbly red-faced doorman, Advisor Jin's face melted into a sickly sweet face as he gazed upon the Great One.
"Advisor Jin, you sc…scoundrel. Come closer! You and I are going to my Discussion room. You, child, you can go," Master Hun demanded, facing questioning eyes upon the two of them. With a quick twist of his body, he marched angrily towards a big door with a solid gold plague fingered amongst his nimble grasp. Tapping it gently against his palm, his eyes darted across to Jin's sweaty form. Horrified gasps spread around the gigantic room, glowering colours of black and green flashed on the gold plated ceiling. Fangs appeared where Master Hun's petite little teeth were, a forked tongue protruded out of his thin lips and he obtained a rumbling voice. A servant of his stopped abruptly and fell to the ground, dead as ice. Screams echoed the room loudly, confirming Master Hun's suspicions. He had finally returned to his old form, of which none knew about.

Master Hun was a dragon.

Ling huddled closer to the faint fire, rubbing her hands together for warmth. It was cold outside and even colder in her slave quarters.

She had wrapped what little meat she had in cloth that she torn off her shirt. She touched it gently and winced. The red juice was cold, and dripped down the burns and cuts that decorated her arms. Hui and Tian growled hungrily, their noses sniffing. Ling shook her head miserably. Even the guardians, were hungry. Ling crawled slowly towards them and unwrapped the clothed meat. It would be worth sacrificing her hunger for the dogs. They took the meat from her hand gently and acknowledged her deed with their eyes. Food was hard to find, when you were a mere servant, a peasant like Ling. They would last at least another day, she knew.  

"Ling." She turned around sharply; her mass of black hair whipped the air furiously.  
"Ow. What's wrong Ling? You could have…"
Guan's mouth spurted blood and his eyes rolled white. He looked forlornly at the shadow that stood behind him.
"No!" Ling cried, her hands outstretched. Guan collapsed, his body jaunted forwards. The knife piercing Tian and Hua as he fell. She heard a smirk surpass the silent air. No.
"Too late, Ling. You could have saved your friend. You chose not to. You knew what was going to happen, child."

Ling cursed quietly at the sound of a familiar voice. She knew who it was before she looked up.
"Advisor Jin." She bit her lip angrily.
He mercilessly killed Guan. Innocent Guan. Jin didn't want him. He had wanted her.
"Former Advisor, child, I am advisor no longer," Jin said carefully, his pointed nails dug into his palm, red slashes of blood formed.
"It's because of me, isn't it? It's because of me that you must kill everyone I love. Everyone," she shouted, her hands clutched around Tian's limp neck, her body trembling as she wept. He narrowed his eyes smugly. His stretched skin blotched horrendously as he smiled widely, madly.

"Not everyone, Ling. Not everyone."
No. Ling felt her body heave with sorrow.
"Yes, Ling," he continued, whipping his knife neatly, cleansing it of Guan's blood.

"Yune is next."

"No!"
Ling looked around, panic arousing. "Ling?" She nodded, relief filling her eyes. Yune. She was alive still.
"So Master Hun has not found you yet?" Yune paused in the shadows, her claw hesitantly dragged on the ground.
She cocked her head slightly, marveling the idea.
"Why are you so worried, my child? You needn't be so."
Ling dropped her gaze abruptly, her heat beating wildly. She hated that about her. Her little habits and quirks that told someone else almost everything about her.
"Hmm?" Yune questioned further, her brow knitted in confusion.
She pushed Ling softly, almost playfully but stopped, mid push. Her eyes seemed to turn black with rage, her sharpened claws extending out of her padded paws, her breath foggy. She snarled, eyes narrowed like silts as she crouched down, like a lion awaiting its prey.
A jab tore at Lings back, leaving contrasts of red, white and purple, the blood seeping through the thin cloth that kept at Ling's back. She shrieked in surprise, collapsing back on her hand, pain soared across it and she yelped with tears. It was full of agony that she couldn't forget. She didn't have to see to know who it was. Only one dragon had been known for centuries, in all of the empire, that has been seen, but now it seems, there was another that hid beneath their noses.
"M-Master Hun!" She said humbly, biting her lip.
Her fist clenched angrily, drawing blood from the wound in her back. Had he found out about Yune? She thought miserably. Is that the end of my dire existence?  
"You know Yune." Master Hun recollected slowly.
The words grouped up in his head reproachfully like the pieces of a jigsaw.
"You do, child, and I intend to find out what it is you do know." He narrowed his eyes with as much rage as he could muster before staring her down.

The thunders fell and crashed, the mere sound made her wince and jump with fright.

"Will she be right?"
A hand wrinkled like leather was propped up on her shoulder. She looked at it wearily, shoving it off slowly. The woman, in her late forties looked up, an annoyed expression clouded her face. "Of course. I am most skilled at this trade. Why do you need her anyway? Is she not a mere slave? Why is she so important that you pay so much yen for?"
Master Hun's hand slapped the polished oak, rattling what little possessions it held.
"You will not question anything I do or say, understand? Or do I also have to pay for you to shut up?"  
She spat then, muttering angrily to herself as she mixed the last of the herbs and cursing him quietly.
"The Trusted One of our country, a dragon! The very thing that made us live in fear and follow yer lot! A whole lot of rubbish, the lot of yer…"
Master Hun shook with surprise.
He hadn't thought that Revealing would bring so many yins to the country. Not to worry. They would still fear me as I am. He reassured himself hastily.  
"How much longer will this take? I have…"
His voice trailed off in the gusty wind that surrounded them in clouds of mist.
"Hmm?" she cackled wickedly, her skin stretched hideously across her face, revealing her two remaining teeth, mustard yellow and rotten.
Ling woke with a start, her body jolted with pain.
"Ling." His voice rang in her head, sharp but abrupt.

Yune?! Ling started grabbing at Master Hun, shrieking with panic. Sweat began forming on her forehead, her shrieks becoming more hopeless.
"Yune?" she uttered, unable to breathe.  
"Yes. Yes, my child. She is…" His eyes flickered wickedly, "no more."
"You're lying!" Ling shouted, flinging her thin blanket over her shoulder.
"Am I?" Master Hun paused as if to contemplate what had happened.
"Y-you have to be! You cannot be telling the truth!" She shook a wavering finger at him and stalked off, her brain fuzzy with emotion.
Master Hun scowled with distaste. The girl was more trouble than he thought.

"Well, if I am wrong, Ling, then pray tell me what this is." He popped his hand in the red silk bag and pulled out something that flashed gold and jade. Ling felt sick, her stomach dropping with every breath. No. she gripped her palms, her torn uneven nails cutting into her flesh, drops of purple falling on the sound ground. Master Hun struggled to keep his emotions still. This was better than he could have imagined. He nodded wistfully and gripped hard. The humid air caused him to sweat, the droplets greasy but clear.

"Yes, Ling…believe!" he hissed, waving the lump across her face.
She wanted to vomit, the little meat she ate threatening to unearth. No. She didn't know what to do, what to believe. Her life was sallow and grey without the exuberating glow of Yune. "No." she whispered, clutching her rags. He raised an eyebrow. "NO. NO. NO!!!" she shouted, her voice quivering slightly. She walked forward with each word, her eyes becoming fiery embers in the darkness of the still night.  Purple flames flickered and danced around her, hissing and cursing Hun's existence. He gasped, widened his eyes and dropped the woven sack.

Impossible. She couldn't be- but I thought…his thoughts trailed off into the evening air. She grinned mockingly and tilted her head.
'Well?' She smirked, reaching into his mind like a snake.

No.


Master Hun shuddered vigorously, his face ashen with terror. No. Memories of his childhood flashed in his eyes, monsters that taunted and shelled him away from society that had scarred him forever. His eyes held a haunted look and he started to hyperventilate.
"No." he croaked as his last inch of breath was stolen away.

The little boy cried away his dirty tears until his chubby face was ruddy and pink. "Mama!" his tiny voice was not to be heard among the fires of ruin. A grunt rumbled across the wrecks and flung the little boy in the air. "He's the one! I told you so!" "Are you sure? We only get this one chance! How can we believe that?" "Just trust me! Besides, we have no more time to squander about it! You spent all of it fighting! Now, if you would, grab him!" The little boy widened his eyes in fear. He scrambled to his feet, quickly, if not clumsily and sprang away, like a doe from the hunter. "Come with us, child." He halted, shivering with fright. "What is it? What do you want from me? I possess nothing, my parents are no longer." He gazed over the dead bodies that surrounded him, in a place he'd once called home. It stopped abruptly, and glanced at him. He blinked, feeling the blip of sadness and grief pass the dragon's eyes. "No one told you, did they?" It cleared it's throat. "You…" it searched in his eyes for explanations, for a reason. It then shut its emerald eyes and said,

"You're a dragon, boy. And you're being hunted."

"Master Hun?" He opened his eyes, though he did not remember closing them. He groaned, sobs gutted out from his being. Ling had no longer the streams of qi flowing out of her.
"Yune…she is…" she choked.

"It wasn't me, child," he murmured softly, in her ear.

Grateful thoughts floated in her head.
"If it wasn't you then-" she began.

He smiled ruefully, their eyes meeting. His eyes were brimmed in red and wrinkles came forth as if he had aged dramatically in those last few moments.

She nodded, choking on her thoughts.

Of Yune.
She willed herself to live, if only just for a few seconds, for Yune. She wanted to live the life that Yune had given her, to experience the joy that Yune had shown her.

She needed to.

"What is it, girl?" His expression softened as he glanced at her grubby hands.

"I want you to have it."

She held it to him; the jade orb that she clasped within the thin cloth that glowed softly. No, Ling. NEVER! She moaned in pain, attempting to rid of the burning sensation in her hands. Shock and despair took hold of her face as she collapsed, her feet bent at awkward angles. Yune? She mumbled weakly. Of course not, stupid girl. It is not him, child. He is not the foretold one. I know that you trust him. I know you are but a foolish weak girl as well as you do. This is not the path you must take. LISTEN TO ME!"NO!" she screamed, fat tears trickling down her face. "I want to help him. I understand him. YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" She screamed, distraught.  
She looked at Hun sadly and whispered, "I think I understand a kindred spirit if I see one. I think I might be able to trust someone. Especially if they haven't killed my friends."

"I know he did it, Master."

She fumbled at her belt, and grabbed a stone knife, the sharpest of its kind. "What are you doing, girl? Stop it! Stop it immediately!" She pushed a finger to his lips and proceeded to cut a silver of her skin. A drop of green fell out, hissing as it came in contact with the ground.

"I know."


……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………


Quiet surrounded the village, smoke rising above the skies. Villagers chattered, dishes clattered, and the air was clear once again.

Slowly, the villagers turned their heads upwards, their worn faces breaking out in grins, as they waved crookedly.

Above the city of ashes and bones, silvers of green and blue raced across, bellowing laughter rumbling the soft grounds at the mountains.

"It's that time of the year again," a voice could be heard.

Villagers nodded towards the woman, who sat on the ground, a moss pit surrounding her. Few teeth remained after the years, her eyes knowledgeable – like the surface of the stars. Her black hair woven with white strands as she picked the ground in front of her, her fingernails cracked.

In the small hole she made, she spooned the herb.

Dirt fell.

Covering the hole, and the little roots.

"There is always a reason for hope," said she.

"Always a reason for love."