Shen - Like Father, Like Son...?

[05:41] <Shen> Shen was in the courtyard, a small area within the garden of the estate that had a modified training dummy. Shen had built it himself when he was younger with help from his brother. It was somewhat rickety, its limbs often been replaced in time up until now. He stood before it praticing his kata like he always had before.
[05:41] <Shen> Crane chases fish, Tiger chases Crane, Dragon chases Tiger. His palms clumsily struck at the limbs, mostly from memory. His mind was clouded like the mountain around him and it was teh only way to find some peace.
[05:46] <@Deedles> Shen being so deep in his thoughts and the rhythmic moves of his kata didn't catch the faint footfalls moving towards him until they were shortly behind him, accompanied by a strong presence of lightning...
[05:49] <Shen> Shen exhaled deeply as he stopped striking the dummy. He had escalated in speed without realising it and completely misses the presence from behind. He could smell the prickle in the air of such meticulous lightning, knowing it to be his father or brother. He leant against the dummy with his hands, panting quietly. He knew it was his father, Satzu would of said something by now, he thought to himself as he remained quiet.
[05:52] <@Deedles> Sanru was silent, studying his son's back as he mulled over the news he'd just gotten. "... I heard from Ziulong that Water Chi has awoken in you." he finally said, his voice calm as usual, though judging by his tone he was looking for confirmation from it's source.
[05:55] <Shen> "Seems to be the case." Shen answers quietly after a few moments of quiet panting. "I was showing Blossom the lake and she felt it inside me... a drop of water." he admitted as his breathing slowed and he turned to his father. "I went to Ziulong and he agreed." he stated simply, but quietly.
[05:57] <@Deedles> The Rending Thunder remained quiet as he listened to his son speak, the older man's arms folding as he took in every aspect of his expression, and his now blank eyes. His next question probably took Shen by surprise. "Is that's what bothering you?"
[06:02] <Shen> Shen exhaled one last time as his father spoke, he didn't quite know how to react to the question, but he nodded anyway. "Partly, yes." he admitted quietly, retaining a reluctant tone. "but there are a lot of things bothering me." he followed up.
[06:03] <@Deedles> His father hesitated, feeling a bit awkward about it, but he went on to ask "Like what, son?"
[06:05] <Shen> He looked up at his father, he didn't know quite how to respond to that either and made an almost comical double-take at the situation, regardless of his eyes being useless. "Are you really going to do this now?" Shen asked, he was confused enough as it is. "Why do you give a shit all of a sudden?"
[06:08] <@Deedles> Shen couldn't see it, but his father grimaced at that, a frown forming on his face for a moment before his expression softened. He was quiet for quite a while before he finally spoke "Because I've never seen your kata be that off, even when you've practiced with your eyes closed."
[06:14] <Shen> Shen growled low to himself in that moment of frustration, but he knew what his father said was true. "...Everything I've trained for up until now means nothing. I can't even hit a static dummy well enough, how am I supposed to protect her." he started strong but tapered into a quiet grumble. "...I'm a Storm Dragon." he said finally as if to answer a question Sanru hadn't asked.
[06:18] <@Deedles> His eyes narrowed, the older man recognicing a feeling in his own son that caused his chest to ache. He slowly began moving around Shen and the dummy "I understand, son..." he answered, vaguely, as he was caught in an inner conflict.
[06:23] <Shen> "I'm sure you do." Shen responded sarcastically as he followed his fathers movements with his ears. "This blindness is both a curse and a blessing." he stated his thoughts bluntly. "It took my power, my mastery, years from my life and in return it gave me a perspective I was too ignorant for before." he said as he shook his head.
[06:25] <@Deedles> "As do all great changes in our lives." Sanru replied calmly as he came full circle, ending up in front of Shen again. He studied his son's face before he emitted a silent sigh, but it wasn't out of disappointment. "Spar with me." he stated.
[06:33] <Shen> "You would get more out of the dummy at this point." Shen stated as he approached his father. "But if smashing my face into the dirt helps you to get over the feeling of your broken son any better, then go ahead."
[06:39] <@Deedles> "You're not broken." For the first time in their conversation Sanru's voice was stern. "Don't tell yourself or anyone else that ever again."
[06:45] <Shen> "Is it that embarrassing?" Shen quipped sourly as he fell into a stance and exhaled. "As long as I cannot protect the ones I love, I am incomplete... Even if I could..." he trailed off as he thought of Blossom, but he shook his head.
[06:48] <@Deedles> Sanru shook his head as he mirrored Shen's stance "It's not that it's embarrassing, it's that it's not true." he answered plainly "I may not of been a great father, but I do know that you've never given up... Are you going to give up now?" his eyes narrowed "If you truly wish to protect those you love you won't simply curl up and admit defeat."
[06:55] <Shen> Shen stood before his father in stance and in silence, before he spoke. "You're right, you're a decade too late to start acting like my father. You're also right that I don't plan on giving up." he said as he closed a fist and moved it forward, retracting his open palm. "I do plan on fixing myself, but the Shen before is still at the bottom of that lake."
[06:59] <@Deedles> Sanru nodded, breaking his stance only long enough to unsling his halberd and stick it into the ground, as he wasn't planning on using it. "I may not have the right to call myself your father, but I still am. Family is important, but as leader of our clan I have many to look after, that is a lot of ties... and having any such ties severed is painful." he told his son as he calmly returned to the stance.
[07:02] <Shen> "You still had time for Satzu." he returned quietly, his voice no longer angry, but frustrated. "I'm not a complete idiot, I know that being clan head is a lot of responsibility, but as you are still my father, I am still your son."
[07:05] <@Deedles> The Rending Thunder sighed, his stance faultering as he uncurled his closed fist and looked down at his hands. "Because..." for the first time Shen could probably ever recall his father stuttered. He raised a hand to his face, muttering something under his breath.
[07:08] <Shen> It was enough to stir Shen from his frustration, even if it was his father, he was still family and he felt like he was not himself for it. His hands slowly fell as he too fell out of stance. "Just tell me what I did wrong." he said, quietly and sincerely, desperation haunting his words.
[07:15] <@Deedles> "It's what I did wrong..." his father confessed, his hand falling back to his side as he lifted his head and gazed on his son. "Everytime I look at you... all I can see is your mother."
[07:21] <Shen> "I don't understand." Shen spoke quietly as he looked for his father with his senses. "You never spoke of her." he shook his head. "I can't even remember her, yet you punish me for something she did?" he asked, confusion shaking him once again.
[07:23] <@Deedles> Sanru turned away from him slightly "I never meant to, but looking at you... makes my heart ache." Shen couldn't see his expression, but he could hear the pain that he controlled slip into his voice for a moment. He breathed in deeply. "... I think you know the feeling I speak of."
[07:27] <Shen> Shen laid a hand upon his heart, squeezing slightly as he listened. "What happened to her?" he asked quietly as he thought of Blossom.
[07:31] <@Deedles> "She married the rich nobleman she was bethroved to." His father replied, his own voice quiet.
[07:35] <Shen> "But... that doesn't make any sense. I thought she was a Storm Dragon." Shen fumbled his thoughts as he stepped towards his father. "She belonged here, not with a nobleman somewhere else."
[07:37] <@Deedles> "Satzu's mother was a Storm Dragon, my bethroved... Your mother was not." Sanru confessed, his eyes closing behind his black mask. He wondered if he should be telling his son this, but with everything that had happened, and that was happening... He sighed deeply.
[07:50] <Shen> Shen stumbled to his knee in the dirt before his father as his heart broke then and there. "My mother..." he worded breathlessly. "I'm a bastard..." he spoke louder and his voice cracked mid-word. "All this time... Why didn't you tell me before?" he pleaded angrily, sadly. His eyes streamed but he didn't cry. "Why wait until now?"
[07:53] <@Deedles> "Because no matter who your mother is you are my son, and a Storm Dragon." Sanru replied as calmly as he could muster himself to, his own eyes stinging as he slowly turned back to Shen and approached him. "But that Water Chi... it is her chi. Maybe knowing this... will help you learn to handle it." his voice grew more and more quiet as he spoke before he finally went silent.
[08:04] <Shen> "Her face." he said quietly thinking back to the figure in the river, "I think I saw her when I was with Ziulong, finding my chi..." Shen was whispering at this point as he suddenly began to realise. "Her face, Blossom, they were the same. But I didn't recognise her..." he stammered as he rubbed his eyes with one hand, falling into silence. "...Does Satzu know?" Shen finally asked after the pause, his mind sobering.
[08:13] <@Deedles> "He suspects, but I never spoke to either of you about this." Sanru told him honestly, there was a long pause before he asked, his voice hesitant "...What did she look like? The woman you saw?"
[08:22] <Shen> "She was beautiful." he answered as if coming out of a daze. "She was smiling too." It was about as much as he could remember before he saw Blossoms face. He got to his feet slowly with a fatigued sigh and a nod. "Satzu spoke of you when we arrived, Blossom felt sadness in the house and he told me his thoughts... Now I understand."
[08:24] <@Deedles> Sanru's eyes close, recalling old memories as he nodded, more to himself than Shen. "I... I still have no right to call myself a father, but, if you knowing this helps you learn about your new chi ... then you need to know."
[08:31] <Shen> "You are still my father." he mimiced as he turned his head towards him. "Thank you for telling me." he spoke, closing his eyes. "Even if I am only half a Storm Dragon by blood, you tie me here, to home. I'll be damned if I have that taken from me too." he spoke plainly as he exhaled deeply, reopening his eyes. Somehow, from somewhere his eyes sparked with a determination that needed no vision.
[08:37] <@Deedles> Rending Thunder's expression remained a mystery behind his mask as he gazed down at his son "You are a Storm Dragon by blood, it doesn't matter if that is by half or full." he agreed calmly
[08:41] <Shen> Shen nodded, but still his mind lay with the revelation of his true mother. Something the young man was not ready to let go of yet. "Do you know what happened to her after she married?" Shen asked him suddenly.
[08:44] <@Deedles> "Yeah..." Sanru paused before he went on "She had children with the man she married, upheld her family's honour as I had done with mine...." he seemed sad as he spoke.
[08:48] <Shen> He nodded again, the words striking a chord in his soul true, he understood how his father felt. "I see." he said simply. "It would do her harm to go looking for her." Shen worded quietly.
[08:52] <@Deedles> "Maybe..." He replied quietly, something in his tone hinted that it was probably something he'd told himself many times, but he continued. "But... I'm starting to doubt it would... Either way, I will be preparing a team and head down to Jinlong two weeks from now."
[08:55] <Shen> He had Shens attention. "Who are you taking?" he asked him pryingly.
[09:00] <@Deedles> "It's not sent in stone yet, but I planned on bringing Huan Lau, Xiang Lau, Kyoshi Lee, Zhuli Cheng and Minglin Chan." The Rending Thunder answered him honestly.
[09:04] <Shen> Part of that suprisingly brought a subdued smile to the young mans face. "Huan Lau's neice is in Jinlong, Shiina." he noted as he thought back to their stupid discussions. "Though I suppose you already know that."
[09:06] <@Deedles> "I do recall him mentioning that, yeah." Sanru confessed with a nod as he folded his arms. He exhaled deeply as he lifted his gaze towards the sky.
[09:08] <Shen> "It would do her good to see family, even if only for a short while." Shen suggested quietly as he turned around and started walking back to the house.
[09:11] <@Deedles> His father made a noise in reply, letting Shen walk away uninhibited.