__

Li-Lein steps aboard the boat. Chieun is deeply asleep, door left half open.
chookwat - Last Saturday at 2:09 AM
Chyou-ka is sat in her bed, injured leg outstretched. She seems to be quiet solemn as Chieun sleeps.

Cheijui follows closely behind Li-Lein, hovering his hands at the ready to assist her with the steps down to the lower deck if need be.
Ashiraya - Last Saturday at 2:11 AM
Li-Lein slowly descends the stair, one step at a time with her staff to help. In the darkness of the ship corridor, Li's clothing and staff together with the faltering lanterns hanging from the roof are the only sources of light. She steps up towards Chyou's room.
Li very gently knocks on the door, softly enough to not wake anyone up who might be sleeping.
chookwat - Last Saturday at 2:15 AM
Cheijui remains near, matching his grandmother's pace as she makes her way.

Chyou-ka's personal contemplation was suddenly halted by a knock at the door. She jolts a bit in surprise, luckily with no harm to her leg. "Hello?"
Ashiraya - Last Saturday at 2:16 AM
'Have you gone to bed yet, dear?' Li speaks just as softly.
chookwat - Last Saturday at 2:18 AM
"No, Gran-gran. I was just.. uh, what brings you here, and Cheijui? What's wrong?"

Cheijui offers a small wave from behind Li-Lein. "Hey, sister."
Ashiraya - Last Saturday at 2:20 AM
'Nothing is wrong, Chyou-ka. In fact, things are very good. I was going to suggest a little storytime before we go sleep, and thought maybe you would like to join us.' She smiles warmly.
chookwat - Last Saturday at 2:25 AM
"Oh.. well. That's fine," Chyou-ka smiles. "Sure. Get comfy. Use the chairs over there." She suggests, pointing to the table covered in her paperwork. Two chairs are tucked under it.
Ashiraya - Last Saturday at 2:26 AM
Li looks at Chieun as she enters. Yep, Tirei is sleeping like a brick. Cracking open the window wouldn't wake her, and speaking lowly definitely won't. She slowly moves over to the chairs and takes one for herself, sitting on it, saving the other for Chei.
'How are you feeling?'(edited)
chookwat - Last Saturday at 2:29 AM
Cheijui shuts the door behind himself as he enters, going to take a chair beside Li-Lein and sit down.

Chyou-ka sits up, wincing slightly.  "A little better. My leg is still no good, though."
Ashiraya - Last Saturday at 2:30 AM
Li nods. 'Your friend seems to have found peace, at least for the night.'
chookwat - Last Saturday at 2:33 AM
"Yeah. She fell asleep a while ago. She won't wake up anytime soon, though."

"I often rest with meditation, nowadays. It makes sleeping in a bed a real treat!" Cheijui throws in, chuckling quietly to himself after.
Ashiraya - Last Saturday at 2:34 AM
Li nods, continuing to smile. Does she ever not? 'I would share with you two my own story, as I am sure you are curious, but it is late and that tale is not a short one.'
'Perhaps you would prefer to share one of your own?'

Cheijui removes the usual clay brown flask from his sling and takes a swig, a broad smile taking his features. He looks over to his sister, expecting her to take the cue.

Chyou-ka ponders for no short while, trying to think of a short enough story that could be told. "I have one. It's not really anything major or serious in my life, but it was a nice time."
Ashiraya - Last Saturday at 1:32 PM
Li nods expectantly. 'Please, do share it with us.'
chookwat - Last Saturday at 1:35 PM
Chyou-ka nods, taking a moment to find the words. "This was back when I was... nineteen. A little while before the mists lifted. I was out trying to track any Virmen that might be trying to make burrows and cause more havoc. Anyway, I find this clue- a carrot. A big one, but just one. It had huge bites taken out of it, and it was just laying there."
Cheijui perks up a bit, taking another sip of his brew as he listens in.
Ashiraya - Last Saturday at 1:36 PM
Li nods approvingly. Virmen do love carrots.
chookwat - Last Saturday at 1:38 PM
"I figure the Virmen is going to be a challenge. All of the bites were the same size, so it was just one, big angry one. It had dropped the carrot, and the mark in the grass told me the angle that it fell was Southwards, so he must have gone North. So I keep going North, and I find another carrot. Not as eaten, but the same bitemarks. There were also the remnants of a cabbage. Just a few shreds of leaf left."
Ashiraya - Last Saturday at 1:39 PM
'Virmen leaving carrots unfinished? How curious.'
chookwat - Last Saturday at 1:43 PM
"That's what I was thinking. It must have had a vendetta against the farmers it stole from. Not even doing them the good courtesy of at least finishing the veggies off. Anyway. I keep following this trail of half-eaten crops, until I reach a ditch by the river. The sun wasn't shining in so good here, so I had to watch where I moved. Then, I saw it. This dark figure grunting and gurgling. The biggest Virmen I ever saw, at least. It didn't notice me, so I got one of my arrows, which was really just a pointy stick, and fired with the element of surprise."
Ashiraya - Last Saturday at 1:44 PM
Li listens intently.
chookwat - Last Saturday at 1:45 PM
"The thing let out a cry! A bit too.. weird for my liking. Long story short, I'd shot my Uncle Tang in the backside. He got hungover after a night of drinking and went on a snacking spree in the morning. He'd gone to the river to splash his face."
"Hah! Hang on, nineteen. Was this in the Summer?"
Ashiraya - Last Saturday at 1:46 PM
Li opens her eyes slightly wider. 'Oh my.'(edited)
chookwat - Last Saturday at 1:46 PM
"It was. How do you know?"
"I think I was the one he was drinking with! It was a good night, but I don't remember much. There was a lot of juggling carrots."
"Anyway.. yeah. It turns out getting shot is a rapid cure for a hangover."
Chyou-ka nods.
Ashiraya - Last Saturday at 1:49 PM
'I hope he turned out okay.'
Li turns to Chei. 'Do you have a story for us, Cheijui?'
chookwat - Last Saturday at 1:52 PM
"He was fine." Chyou-ka nods again, looking to her brother.
"I'm sure I have one, somewhere in my head. Let me think. Hm! Hmm.."
"There is a story I have from Tian! I was with a few other Ox students. We'd had the idea to practice our footing by having grappling fights on top of a log we'd made slippy with oil! If we could keep steady on top of that while fighting, we'd be unstoppable on the floor!"
"We started running into problems right away. First of all, we had to climb onto the log. That meant we got covered in oil. Have you ever seen two oily Pandaren wrestle? Have you ever seen two oily -anything- wrestle? It just doesn't work! Every time we tried to grab each other we just slid apart. Then there was Wim-Lo.. poor guy. He fell and landed legs apart on the log. Guy got his chestnuts knocked up into his lungs. His voice is still five pitches higher than it should be."
Cheijui chuckles a little at the memory, though he visibly cringes at that part.
Ashiraya - Last Saturday at 1:59 PM
Li flicks one eyebrow upward. 'Oh my. Seems like you two have been up to no shortage of troublemaking.'
chookwat - Last Saturday at 2:01 PM
"It's amazing what you can get away with when you say it's in the name of training, Grandma'."
Chyou-ka laughs a bit.
Ashiraya - Last Saturday at 2:02 PM
'Did you manage to slip out of that predicament?'
chookwat - Last Saturday at 2:05 PM
"Sadly not. After the nutcracker incident we decided that it wasn't really going to work." Cheijui chuckles awkwardly, scratching his beard. "We just used it for pranks, later."
Ashiraya - Last Saturday at 2:06 PM
'How are you both feeling?' Li looks between the two. 'Tired?'
chookwat - Last Saturday at 2:07 PM
Chyou-ka nods. "I'm feeling it, now."

Cheijui shrugs. "I can probably keep going for another few hours. I can go and train some."
Ashiraya - Last Saturday at 2:07 PM
'We'll continue tomorrow.' Li nods. 'You both should get your beauty sleep.'
'Thank you for sharing these moments of insight into your history.'
chookwat - Last Saturday at 2:11 PM
"Thank you for visiting, Gran-Gran." Chyou-ka says with a smile, laying back and trying to get herself comfortable.

"I'll get out of here. You all be safe, now!" Cheijui chimes in, standing from his seat and closing his brew flask, making to leave the cabin.
Ashiraya - Last Saturday at 2:11 PM
Li leaves the room as well, gently closing the door behind her. 'Good night to you, children.'
chookwat - Last Saturday at 2:15 PM
Chyou-ka eventually manages to shut her eyes and get to sleep.
__

Li-Lein once more enters the ship and finds a chair at the end of the corridor. She sits down with her book and calmly reads, silent, her equipment's glow fading to a more subtle illumination.
chookwat - Last Sunday at 1:10 AM
Chyou-ka lays on the bed of her own, currently single occupant cabin, hands rested over her front on top of one another. She passed the time by staring blankly at the ever slowly increasing stack of papers atop the cabin's table.
Ashiraya - Last Sunday at 1:13 AM
Li seems to finally reach some conclusion, for she takes her feather pen and adds a single word to the most recent page. Nodding contently to herself, she closes the book and returns it to the staff, where it hovers in place as if in between two magnets, before heading towards Chyou's room. She gently knocks on the door.
chookwat - Last Sunday at 1:15 AM
Chyou-ka's head rolls on angle to look over at the door after hearing the knock. She makes a slow shift to sit more upright on her bed. "Come in." She says, keeping an eye on it to see who the company might be.(edited)
Ashiraya - Last Sunday at 1:16 AM
Li slowly opens the door and enters, moving to her chair from last night. 'Hello again, child. How was your day?'
chookwat - Last Sunday at 1:19 AM
Chyou-ka offers a brief smile to Li-Lein as she enters, falling back to a neutral expression afterwards. "I went to Suramar with Tirei to watch a demonstration and my leg got better. It was just another day, besides that."
Ashiraya - Last Sunday at 1:21 AM
'I am glad to hear it did. How is your work? Does it stress you?'
chookwat - Last Sunday at 1:23 AM
"Stress is just part of my daily life, Gran-gran," She says in a feigned tone of humour. "Nothing to worry about..."
Ashiraya - Last Sunday at 1:24 AM
'Tell me more. Keeping yourself stressed is not healthy.'
chookwat - Last Sunday at 1:26 AM
Chyou-ka's lips pull to the side in a grimace of her thinking visualized, before she speaks again. "How did you do it, Gran-Gran? How did you get with my Gran'papaw?"
Ashiraya - Last Sunday at 1:26 AM
'Oh, dear. That is quite the story.'
'I should probably start from the beginning. It's only right that you know who your grandmother is.' She nods sagely.
chookwat - Last Sunday at 1:27 AM
"Please."
Ashiraya - Last Sunday at 1:30 AM
'I come from a place I have heard you have visited, but that relatively few of our people have. There's verdant green lowlands with a mild climate to the far north of Pandaria, beyond the Kun-Lai mountains. It is quite isolated, though travellers do occasionally pass through.'
'The Zuochin province, it is called.'
chookwat - Last Sunday at 1:31 AM
"I know it. I have a little place there where I keep some things."
Ashiraya - Last Sunday at 1:33 AM
'My family were not warriors or heroes. None of us were. We were just villagers. Fishermen, crafters, farmers. My family had lived in our village for as long as we could remember, and expected that was not going to change.'
'But I was young and rebellious.' She smiles with a gleam in her eye. 'I was not content.'
'One day, when I was sixteen years old, a travelling priest came to our village. He was old but worked for his stay selflessly. He did everything from repairing damaged roofs, tended to the crops, aid the injured, and even helped tend to the children and elderly. No task was beyond him. In the evenings, he spoke of a sacred Light that bid him act selflessly, spreading its message through kindness and compassion. Many did not fully trust such unfamiliar teachings, for priests of the Light were always rare and seldomly seen, but I listened, and I was inspired.'
'He stayed for a few months, but then he declared that his road led him onwards, and it was time for him to continue. I begged him to stay, but he would not be swayed. When he said so, I instead asked him to take me with him. It took some convincing, but once he saw it was what I really wanted, he relented.'
'Leaving a note for my parents, I left home, and turned to the road under my new master.'
chookwat - Last Sunday at 1:39 AM
Chyou-ka remains attentive.
Ashiraya - Last Sunday at 1:41 AM
'For fifteen years we travelled Pandaria. We saw many things both terrible and wonderful, many adventures and dangers. My farmer's upbringing had taught me much about plants and crops, and in our travels I collected seeds of the ones I found rarest and most interesting. And all throughout he taught me of the Light and its philosophy. He always made sure to remind me that his teachings were not the end of it; for the Light is beyond anyone's ability to fully understand. But, he said, it was possible to come close, and in doing so attain true enlightment.'
'But as with all good things, eventually those days came to an end. When I was... Thirty-one or thirty-two, I believe, he said he had reached the road's end. As we entered the monastery of Tian, he declared to me that he was too old for more adventures, and that it was time for me to go on without him.'
chookwat - Last Sunday at 1:44 AM
Chyou-ka frowns a bit.
Ashiraya - Last Sunday at 1:45 AM
'I wept and begged him to come with me, for what else did I know? But I realised, in my heart, that he was right. He told me that while his journey was over, mine had only just begun. He told me that while we had gone through many journeys together here,' Li gestures to their surroundings, 'my greatest journey still awaited - in here.' She taps her chest, where her heart is.(edited)
'And so I said my final goodbyes to my old master, and returned to the road.'
'It was truly a coming of age, in a sense. Not like the one when I approached my twenties, but one where I truly came to understand that I had no one to rely on and keep me company but myself. Myself - and the Light.' She nods again.
'I spent some time travelling more and trying to understand my master's words and teachings, when I one day met a brewmaster on the road.'
'He was close to my age, a happy and energetic man, with an eye for the unusual and a spirit few others have. We talked much as we shared the road, and we soon fell in love. His name was Gaizho, and he was your grandfather.'
'He expressed his wish to marry, and I could not see myself refusing him. He built a house for us in a village just south of the Kun-lai peaks, in the shadow of the mountains, and we settled down at last.'
chookwat - Last Sunday at 1:52 AM
"Lucky you, Gran-Gran."
Ashiraya - Last Sunday at 1:52 AM
Li smiles. 'Luck? Maybe so. Maybe it was fate, or the Light, who wished us to meet that day. You're still younger than I was when I met him.'
chookwat - Last Sunday at 1:56 AM
"What should I do? What do you think I should do?" Chyou-ka's frown flashes, fought swiftly back to neutral. "Times are changing for the worse. I don't want to go into that afraid. Without company to tell me it will be alright."
Ashiraya - Last Sunday at 2:00 AM
'No one can tell you what is right for you.' Li smiles sagely. 'A happy marriage is something I was truly blessed to be gifted with, and something to seek, but it must not be rushed at the price of uncertainty.' Li takes her book and moves to an early chapter. 'Loneliness and doubt walk close together, and grief often follows in their footsteps. What does your heart want, my dear Chyou-ka? Is it love? Is it company? Is it faith, reassurance, or comfort?'
'Empty your heart of fear.' She nods again. 'Though it grips the heart, it comes not from in here, but from up here.' She taps over her heart, then her head. 'Listen to what your heart has to say.'
chookwat - Last Sunday at 2:03 AM
"I want to move past what I was forced to be. I want to love because they would never have let me.  I don't want to be scared of going to sleep every night."
Ashiraya - Last Sunday at 2:04 AM
'There is nothing left to fear. Your past brought you conflict, but now it is but echoes, and echoes cannot hurt you. You are a beautiful, complete person, child, and you can love as much or as little as you choose.'
'Do you feel pressured to be a certain way to prove to the world that you are different?'
'Different from what the darkness would have made you into?'
chookwat - Last Sunday at 2:07 AM
"I don't want to be what they made me. I'm scared that they won. That it won't ever leave me."
Ashiraya - Last Sunday at 2:09 AM
Li looks almost sad for a moment, before returning to her eternal smile. 'Look at yourself, dear child. Look around you. You have friends and family who love you for what you are. For what you have done for them. For who you are.'
'They have not won, you have. They would have you turn to a path of darkness, but you remain true to your friends. Doubt harries your steps, but you keep walking. Fear harries your sleep, but you find ways to attain peace regardless.'
'Accept who you are and all you have been through as the past. There is nothing there you can change. But what you can change is the future, and that is by which you can truly show who you are.'
'Do not disregard your sins, instead understand them. You say the darkness made you murder in its name, so find closure by fully ending that chapter. Honour the victims, so that they are not forgotten. Tell to their kin the truth, both of what happened and who you are now, and they will hear the honesty in your words.'
'We all do things that are not good, big and small, for we are all flawed. Take comfort in that fact. You have taken lives, but you have also saved lives, have you not?'
Ashiraya - Last Sunday at 2:17 AM
'And you are yet young. Fate willing, you may also add more lives to the world - and if I may say so, I do hope you will.' She smiles sincerely.
'I shall share with you the rest of my story tomorrow. Sleep now in peace, child, and know that you have deserved it.'
Li speaks a few soft words in ancient Pandaren, causing Chyou to see a warm, peaceful light in her mind's eye when sleep finds her, much akin to the soothing spell she placed upon Trang-Thuy Le months earlier. Though the light does not remove the nightmares, it is not hidden by them either, and remains a tranquil refuge even in their grip.
Ashiraya - Last Sunday at 2:21 AM
Li remains in her chair until Chyou falls asleep, then soon leaves the room to find rest herself.

__

Chyou-ka and Cheijui are both in the cabin, door half-open. Cheijui occupies one of the chairs by the table at the far end of the room, while Chyou-ka occupies her bed as normal. She is wearing one of the dresses, a purple one.
They are indulging in idle chatter, but nothing really of interest to an outside listener.
Ashiraya - Yesterday at 11:41 PM
Li knocks on the door softly.
chookwat - Yesterday at 11:42 PM
"Come on in," calls Cheijui, raising a hand in greet. "Great to see you again, Grandma!"

Chyou-ka turns her head to the door, also raising a hand. She says nothing.
Ashiraya - Yesterday at 11:43 PM
Li enters, remaining standing, and gives a little wave to the two. 'Hello, children. How are you tonight?'
chookwat - Yesterday at 11:45 PM
"Not doing too bad, Grandma. Not bad at all!"

"I'm fine, Gran-Gran. Tirei bought me a bunch of dresses as an apology, so that was nice."

"Real nice. It's all she's talked about since I got here. She's had me in and out of this cabin like six times while she's tried them on."
Ashiraya - Yesterday at 11:47 PM
'That is a lovely dress you have there. A generous gift.'
chookwat - Yesterday at 11:47 PM
Chyou-ka nods.
Ashiraya - Yesterday at 11:48 PM
Li heads to her chair.
'How have you been, then, Cheijui?'
chookwat - Yesterday at 11:51 PM
Cheijui reaches over and pulls the chair out, turning it so Li-Lein can sit easier. "Not bad, Grandma. I've updated my brew recipes on paper so I can figure out if the ratio of anything is off at a glance. It's working pretty great! Spotted some problems I can fix in the next batch."
Ashiraya - Yesterday at 11:53 PM
Li sits down. 'Chei, I have told your sister about the Light. Is it something you are familiar with?'
chookwat - Yesterday at 11:55 PM
Chyou-ka sits up, suddenly becoming more attentive at the mention of the Light.

"I know it, Grandma. Not what I follow, but it's fixed me a few times when I wasn't able to tend to my own wounds! Pretty great stuff. Feels tingly."
Ashiraya - Yesterday at 11:56 PM
'Is it something you would like to hear more of? I am not here to be a missionary -' Li smiles as at Chyou as she sits up. '-but it is something I am always happy to talk about if others are interested.'
chookwat - Yesterday at 11:58 PM
"I hate to sound rude, but I'll pass. I like to see things in action, and seeing more of the Light on my travels is going to tell more than words ever could." Cheijui smiles, if looking mildly apologetic towards Li-Lein.
Ashiraya - Yesterday at 11:58 PM
'That is fully understandable. Everyone finds their own path.' Li smiles genuinely.
May 23, 2018
Ashiraya - Today at 12:00 AM
'Then perhaps it is a good time for us to share more stories. I am always interested to hear more from you two, and I still have much left of my own.'
chookwat - Today at 12:01 AM
"I'm glad you understand, Grandma. An understanding Grandma, aren't we lucky?" Cheijui looks over to Chook.

Chyou-ka sits up, nodding with a smile. She observes Li-Lein with fascination. "Tell us a story, Gran-Gran."
Ashiraya - Today at 12:04 AM
'Then, if you will allow me, I will finish my own story before I go into my many little side adventures.' She smiles warmly.
chookwat - Today at 12:05 AM
Both nod. Cheijui turns in his chair and unhooks the clay brown brew flask to sip from while listening.
Ashiraya - Today at 12:05 AM
'Now, where was I? Oh yes... I had just settled down.'
'With Gaizho. He continued selling his brews, and me dividing my time between tending to the herbs and continuing my studies. It was a time of paradise, in truth. We wanted for nothing.'
'We lived in the same place for over fifty years.'
chookwat - Today at 12:08 AM
"I guess I had to have got my want to be a brewmaster from somewhere!"
Ashiraya - Today at 12:08 AM
'Twelve children we had, including your mother Shih, and each one travelled elsewhere when they came of age. Who was I to tell them to stay, given my own youth?'
chookwat - Today at 12:09 AM
"That does explain why she wanted us to be monks instead of staying on the farm."
Ashiraya - Today at 12:10 AM
'Something of a family tradition, is it not?'
chookwat - Today at 12:10 AM
"At this point!"
Ashiraya - Today at 12:12 AM
'Regrettable, though to this day I am not sure why, Gaizho passed away at only eighty-five years old. I failed to identify what sickness could have befallen him, or if his heart had given out, but he passed away peacefully, and so, while I grieved for him, I did not fear; he was at rest.'
chookwat - Today at 12:12 AM
"I bet he was as friendly as you, Gran-Gran."
Ashiraya - Today at 12:14 AM
'He was the loveliest man you can imagine. Humble but not to the point of self-deprecation, decisive but kind.' For a moment, Li's gaze wanders off and vanishes into memory.
chookwat - Today at 12:15 AM
Chyou-ka fumbles with her bracelets while Li-Lein drifts into her thoughts. Cheijui just remains sat, patient.
Ashiraya - Today at 12:16 AM
Li refocuses after allowing herself a moment of nostalgia. 'When he left me, I was alone. I was not certain of what to do at first, but soon it became clear to me.'
'With Gaizho gone, I imagined I would soon follow. I wanted to spend the end of my days withdrawing from the world, trying to understand what I thus far had not - the Light.'
chookwat - Today at 12:18 AM
Chyou-ka grows ever more attentive.
Ashiraya - Today at 12:23 AM
'I sold our house and hired the help of a friend and some grummles to build for me a heritage, far up in the mountains, away from everything. There I made my home, living off what I could grow in a nearby cave and in the snowy ground, and spent my days contemplating, meditating, reading my books, making writings of my own, and trying to understand.'
'For another thirty years I was alone up on that mountain. The occasional traveler, lost, found themselves on my doorstep. I treated them hospitably, as is only right, but such visitors were very rare.'
'I found many insights in this time, but the nature of the Light eluded me always.'
chookwat - Today at 12:26 AM
Cheijui takes another sip of his brew. His smile grows wide.

Chyou-ka is all but on the edge of her bed, leaning forward to listen.
Ashiraya - Today at 12:27 AM
'I know so much about the Light now, but knowing individual things about it is still not full understanding.'
chookwat - Today at 12:28 AM
"And you're still looking, right?"
Ashiraya - Today at 12:30 AM
She nods. 'Even when the Legion came crashing down, I saw thunder and fire of green in the distance. I prayed for the success of the world's defenders, for I knew well enough what the Legion was from our old legends, but I did not leave.'
'But one beautiful morning when I was meditating up on the highest peak, I finally came to understand. We people, we are all flawed in our own little ways. We are good people in our hearts and the Light loves us regardless, but we are all in some way flawed. But the Light is not. The Light is unmarred, unfaltering, perfect. We are flawed, and so we cannot ever fully understand the truly flawless.'
'But we do not have to. What matters is that we try, for in so doing, we walk a path of righteousness, and make the world a better place.'
chookwat - Today at 12:33 AM
Chyou-ka blinks. She thinks on it, and her expression lifts slightly, as though she herself comes to terms with this understanding.
Ashiraya - Today at 12:34 AM
'With this realisation, I waited for a sign from the Light - that my time on this earth is over, or that it is time I return once more. For to my surprise, I had not passed away. Whether it is fate or the Light who has extended my life, I lived on.'
'And that very day, the sign came. An outsider visited me, atop the very peak.'
'And what an outsider. An undead, and a warlock no less. I sensed much darkness within this visitor, in more than one way.'
chookwat - Today at 12:36 AM
"How did that go down?"
Ashiraya - Today at 12:37 AM
'She said she was here on the behalf of a nation of people like herself, itself part of a great alliance called the 'Horde'. I listened as she spoke of this Horde. She said that she was assembling a group of heroes to take the fight to the Legion upon the Broken Isles.'
'My heart warned me of the darkness, not only within this undead's body, but also within her soul. But her words were true. I agreed to come. I returned to the hermitage and packed all my things.'
chookwat - Today at 12:38 AM
"That was good of you."
Chyou-ka smiles.
Ashiraya - Today at 12:39 AM
'To walk the path of the Light is to understand when it is time to act. The Huojin way.'
'This was such a time.'
'Together with some other very strange individuals, we arrived on the isle, and did good work. But my feelings were true. The group soon fell apart as the others brought up disputes with the leader. Each one walked off, in their own direction.'
'There was still work to do. I joined the great Conclave of Azeroth's priests, and shared my knowledge, also listening to theirs.'
'Together we fought across the Broken Isles, the great Tomb, and even to the surface of Argus itself.'
'Until the end was reached, and Azeroth was safe once more. I travelled back to my hermitage, but after a little experience on the way, I decided I would not return there. Instead I travelled the world to find my family. You.'
Li nods.
'This is who I am.'
chookwat - Today at 12:45 AM
"Wow. What a story! I hope I can have one even half as impressive in my lifetime!"

"You are amazing, Gran-Gran.  I can't believe we're related."
Ashiraya - Today at 12:46 AM
'Your lives have just begun. By your age I was not even married yet.' She smiles.
'You will have plenty of time to find what you would like your destiny to be.'
chookwat - Today at 12:47 AM
"Thank you for the story, Gran-Gran."
Cheijui corks his flask and puts it back on his sling. "Thanks, Grandma. It was great to listen to!"
Ashiraya - Today at 12:48 AM
'I am sure bed calls for you soon, but first, if your eyes will let you, I'd like to hear stories from you as well.'
chookwat - Today at 12:49 AM
"I might have a quick one. Let's see..."
"When I was training to be an adept of Niuzao's path, we were briefly given a new teacher. I was fifteen at the time. This guy was the strictest you'd ever meet, but he had the size and strength to back it up. Nobody wanted to mess with him."
"He'd wake us up two hours before everyone else and put us through an intense exercise circuit before we were allowed to eat. He was never mad, or aggressive. His voice was always just blank. If anything, that monotone made him scarier."(edited)
"One day, he woke us up and told us to grab our things. We prepared for another training circuit that never came. He had us all placed on a cart, and we made a long trip to Kun-Lai."
"He steered us off to a trail, to a rural mountain pass. It was steep, gravely, and it went up in a big zig-zag. He told us to wait for an hour, then follow him up. So we waited. No longer or less than an hour later, we moved. The rocks of the path stuck through our sandals and the climb ached our legs. Then we reached our teacher. He blocked the way to the top of the pass. 'Pass me.' He said. 'Show me what you know.'"(edited)
chookwat - Today at 1:01 AM
"The first student rushed him, and was easily overpowered and thrown down the pass. The second tried to be more careful, and was too thrown aside, tumbling painfully down the hill. Then I went. I tried, I lost, I fell down. In pain, we made our way up to try again. We were beaten even easier by the teacher."
Ashiraya - Today at 1:04 AM
Li furrows her brow subtly.
chookwat - Today at 1:06 AM
"The third time, the others were thrown down on their efforts and let out cries as they hit the lower path. Knowing I couldn't win, I approached and spoke. 'Sir, my bones ache and I can take no more. Please may I pass?' He looked at me and smiled. He said that this was our test. That not every problem needs to be resolved with violence, even if it appears at first that we need our training. We spend decades becoming masters, but manners only take seconds to give. He let me pass, to the top. There was a small shrine, fresh incense burning. Not to mention a great view of the Jade Forest from high!"
"I took the time to meditate and soothe my aches."
Ashiraya - Today at 1:07 AM
Li breaks into a smile again.
chookwat - Today at 1:08 AM
"It was a valuable lesson for me."
Ashiraya - Today at 1:10 AM
'And a true one, though I would not use violence against students to teach it.'
chookwat - Today at 1:11 AM
"It worked. And he waited for us to punch first before he threw us down. I accept the consequences."
"That's my story, anyway. Will that satisfy?"
Chyou-ka, ever the polite Pandaren, had fallen asleep half way through Cheijui's story.
Ashiraya - Today at 1:13 AM
Li nods.
'I look forward to next time, as always.'
'Good night, grandchildren.'
chookwat - Today at 1:15 AM
"Goodnight, Grandma."
Ashiraya - Today at 1:15 AM
Li leaves the room.
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