Soho
Deep in the heart of Flying Pearl Lake, in the Place of the Promise, three arrows cut through the still air.
Thok! Thok! Thok!
The shots were perfectly arranged on the target pole, spaced two handsbreath apart in a rigid vertical line. Soho pointed to each in turn. "Head, Heart, Belly. Well placed, Shai Mei. But in the field, it will not be so easy."
Shai Mei knew her teacher's tone of voice, and knew that practice was over. She bent her bow and slipped its string off the end, coiled it, and tucked it in a fold of her obi.
"It's not enough to know your own strength and that of your enemy. You need to know why it is that you and he have occasion to match strength against one another."
"Because I serve heaven's mandate, while he opposes the rightful order of Creation?"
The young Immaculate smiled and shook his head. "Nothing so profound. More likely because he is desperate to prove his worth to his master by taking your life, while you have no interest in dying today."
Shai Mei stifled a laugh. "You know, if more monks had your attitude, I think more people would be interested in becoming monks!"
"It's all the fault of certain second-rate Sifu long ago who found that if they spoke only in cryptic riddles, that they could fool the unwary into believing that they knew far more than they really did. Then some playwright caught wind of it." He shrugged. "We've been living with that legacy ever since."
Shai Mei assumed an expression of mock gravity. "What next, o wise teacher?"
"Next? Breakfast."
