Hunters Moon - IC

[arcanus]

Moon twisted, blocked and responded hard open strikes shot at her attacker, who in return pressed harder for a second round.
The white crane womans first blow struck her right shoulder nerve pain running throughout Moons arm, the second jabbed two fingers into her upper abdomen, Moon snarled her left hand sweeping right and heavily dismissing the next attack.

White crane woman did not slow her face stoic, she delivered two further strikes, one again jabbing her lower stomach whilst the next an open palm that struck her chest sending her back into a defensive stance.

Chuang Moon moved herself into an open stance left palm outstretched, curiously the pain of the strikes although jarring was minimal her natural healing already dismissing the injuries, she noted that the White Crane Woman had not used her powers to deliver more telling injuries, she had painful memories of past training.

The White Crane Woman smiled and bowed, "Well done Chuang, your years of training have granted you the Geom-Eun Bickwi Badi of the Og Mom or the Black Jade Body"
Moon frowned, the woman gave a small smile 'There are those within the Beast Courts who say that you have been given too much, that this undertaking is beyond you, there are others who disagree, now that you have started the road of the Og Mom you are more prepared"
"Your assistants from the Jade Court are in trouble and you have pressing business to attend to, I will assist the others" she bowed and stepped into a sliver of white light, vanishing.

Moon turned to see Hyun blink as if in a daze, confusion written across his face, she noted her stomach muscles felt incredibly hard, tracing her muscles they felt as hard as stone.

[Keeper]

Even in the darkness Moon recognised the effects of the Delerium upon Hyun.
She glanced about, but as far as she could see there was noone in the alley besides them.
Grabbing Hyun's arm she pulled him close.
"Hyun, it is Moon. Stay close, but we must go quickly," she whispered.
A sudden pang of nerves hit home when she heard a clamour not too far in the distance, but whatever was happening it was not directed at her.
Then she felt guilt, as that could have been Master Tails. No, she forced herself away. It might not be them and White Crane was heading that way. Tails and the others would be in safe hands.
She moved down the tight alleyways behind the main streets at a cautious pace, listening out for any signs of pursuit.

A door suddenly flew open just ahead of the two and Moon stopped dead, shrinking back to the wall and dragging a bewildered Hyun with her.
Voices, mirthful and calm echoed out from inside, two men chatting about their day in Mandarin.
"They brought Zin Cho in today," one of them was saying, his tone becoming more solemn.
"Ah, poor Cho. How is he?" asked the other.
"Looking much better. The bruises are fading. And his limp has improved," the first said as he stepped out of the bright doorway. He carried a crate with what looked like food scraps in it and emptied them into a bin not more than a few feet away from Moon. He turned back to the door and stepped back inside having failed to notice the couple.
"Leave it open," the second said. "It's too damned hot in here."
The sounds of pots and pans from within and the sizzle of something frying accompanied by the fragrant smell of Chinese cuisine wafted out into the alley reminding Moon of how hungry she felt.
She glanced back at Hyun who seemed to have recovered his senses somewhat.
He was now holding her arm and was not letting go.
"Are you ready to go?," she whispered.
He nodded.
She pulled him onwards but he froze as soon as Moon became illuminated by the light from the kitchen doorway.
"What?" Moon hissed quietly.
Hyun stood a little aghast as he realised Moon's hands and face were stained red with blood.
"You are covered in blood," he stated.
"Yes, it is not mine though."
Hyun didn't move. The young girl scared him. If this wasn't her blood then whose was it?
The girl saw the fear in him and relaxed her stance.
"Please Hyun, we must not delay. I am here to protect you and your family. This is the way I must do that, sometimes. But you have nothing to fear from me."
Hyun stared into her large brown eyes. There was no threat there.
He nodded and Moon moved on, noticing that Hyun had still not let go of her arm, despite his sudden concern.
They came to the end of the alley and the main street was still busy, people milling about or walking to and fro. Most were at an eatery or a saloon. Just up the street a wagon was making a late night delivery.
Moon looked both ways. There were Asians and Westerners alike here on the borders between Chinatown and the other districts.
Pulling the hood of her cloak up and wrapping the cape about her she indicated for Hyun to go ahead..
"You lead," she instructed and stepped in just a pace or two behind and beside him, the honourable and dutiful woman showing deference to her elder brother for all appearances.

[Keeper]

Subtly guiding Hyun using delicate and discreet touches on his arm, Moon steered him through the rain soaked streets.
The thunder had abated to a rolling cascade once every thirty seconds or so and the rain had finally stopped.
Thankfully there were few people about on this foul night and Moon breathed a sigh of relief when they finally passed beneath the ornate gate arch that indicated the entryway to Chinatown.
Glancing both ways, extending her senses she smelt the undertones of violet and musk, an unusual scent that was popular in soap used in the Chinese bathing houses. Letting her nose guide her she saw the figure of a man lurking in the shelter of a veranda of a building just off to the left of the gate.
He was slightly portly, his hair slicked back and tied tight. His long coat had its collar pulled high to keep the wind and damp at bay.
There was no earthly reason for a man to be skulking there in a night like this unless he had been instructed to. This was a lookout for someone.
She tugged at Hyun's sleeve motioning for him to stop. The lookout hadn't yet spotted them in the darkness.
She manoeuvred him around the gate and behind the building to sneak passed without his notice.
Hyun proved to be less agile than his younger companion and knocked a small wooden box from on top of an old water barrel.
Hyun froze with a look of dread upon his face.
Moon just shot him a disdainful glare and turned to check around the front where the lookout stood.
He was right there at the corner, mere inches from her. She gasped aloud and turned back but the man grabbed her arm. There was enough of her around the corner for her to motion to Hyun to stop and be quiet, then she was yanked back and shoved up against the wall.
"Well, who do we have here? I don't recognise you, my little pretty," he drooled.
"I'm no one," Moon said not looking up at him, afraid.
He liked that. "Oh come now, you can't be no one. Not someone with a face like that. And I can't have just caught no one sneaking around in the dark, now, can I? So, who are you?"
Demurely Moon brought her wide frightened eyes to look into his. "My name is Hua Jin," she replied.
"There you go! So what is Hua Jin doing sneaking around in the dark? Are you a little thief?"
"No!" Moon hastily replied. "I am going to see a boy," she once more lowered her gaze as though embarrassed by revealing this to him.
"A boy? And who is this lucky young man? Wait, is this a white boy?"
Moon nodded head hanging in shame.
"Oh no, that's not very good, Hua Jin! What's wrong with a good healthy Chinese boy?"
He still had hold of her arm and squeezed it tight.
It was a strong grip, Moon noted.
She let her head hang in shame. "He said he liked me. He said he wanted me to come to his house up on the hill. He said he wanted to show me to his friends."
The man laughed derisively. "Ahh, that old one. Do you owe him money? Did you do something?"
"I broke a family heirloom."
"You silly girl! He does not like you," the man chuckled. "Oh he likes the look of you, and he probably intends to make you pay off the debt by fucking you, and maybe even whoring you to his friends. You do realise that yes?"
Moon shook her head. "He would not. He said he like me. Said I was beautiful and that he wanted to be with me."
"Oh he wants to be with you all right!" He stepped away from Moon releasing grip. She made to walk away but he pulled a gun from under his coat and said, "I don't think so! You just stay right there."
Moon froze. Guns were something she hadn't had to face very often, but she knew that they hurt, a lot.
He went the doorway of the building and picked something up and fiddled with it.
An orange glow illuminated the doorway and him and he turned to hold the lantern up.
He whistled. "Well, your white boy was right, you are a beautiful!”
Moon cringed inside, knowing that this conversation was going exactly where she thought it was going to go. Why were these low level thugs always the same, she wondered? It was as though there was some sort of mould that they came out of.
She sighed inwardly, willing to play along a little more until her opportunity came to end it. The only reason she hadn’t already was that she didn’t know who this lookout worked for and she hadn’t wanted to cause more grief within town. But the goon had shown his colours, ne matter which of the gangs employed him.
“You will bring shame upon your family if this comes out,” the man said.
Moon nodded, head hanging in shame.
He touched her chin and made her look him in the eye. “Why don’t you show me what you have for your white boy and maybe I will keep quiet about your indiscretion?”
Moon pulled her head away, “No! Please!”
“Show me!” he barked.
Slowly, the frightened little girl, reached down and began to lift her skirts.
The man’s eyes were glued to the hem as it rose. The gun was to the at his side now.
the hem rose higher, thighs seeming to glow in the lantern light.
Then Moon struck, her foot lashing out at lightning speed.
It hit him between the legs and he folded.
Before he could react beyond doubling up she shot forward one hand steering the gun wide the other jabbing hard and fast, two blows to the solar plexis that left him gasping further for breath. A third jab, tigers paw punch to the throat left him unable to draw breath and he fell to his knees.
He struggled to suck in air and collapsed.
Moon pulled the gun from his hand and tucked it in her belt. She could see the man’s eyes watching her.
She knelt and whispered in his ear.
“You will not mention seeing me to anyone. If you do I will make sure that everyone knows that you got beaten by a girl. The triads will have little use for a man who cannot even stand up to a young girl.”
The barest of nods and he finally passed out.
“Hyun!” she called her companion to her.
Hyun stared down at the inert body.
“Is he?”
“No, he will live, but he will struggle to eat and speak for a while.”
She was about to move away but spied an ornate band about the man's wrist. It was a sigil of his loyalty to whichever group he had pledged himself. It was a great dishonour to lose one's sigil. It was worse still to have it removed by a girl not even out of her teens.
She slipped it from his wrist and put it in her pocket.
Without further ado Moon put the lanturn out and moved on, Hyun scurrying along behind her.
They travelled unmolested through the streets of San Francisco out towards the dark countryside, Moon frowning as the roads became dirt which had been turned to sludge by the rain.
Once clear of the city the Khan allowed Hyun to take the lead as the made their way towards his parents house boat.

[Keeper]

Despite the darkness, Moon led Hyun through the open countryside for an hour before she felt she could safely stop.
There was a small woodland not too far away and Moon led him there and set about gathering for a fire.
Hyun sat on an old stump and watched the young woman.
She was a bit of an enigma, this slight girl, young to look at, reminding him of his parents' neighbours daughter. Yet there was a confidence that exuded from her that was beyond her years that somehow made him feel safe.
And that was another unsettling conundrum; why was it that a teenage girl was the one here that made him feel safe? Surely it should be the other way around?
Juxtaposed to that was this hidden danger that he sensed from her, like she was somehow predatory. He'd seen her earlier this evening soaked in blood, someone else's blood, by her own admission.
What was he supposed to think about that?
Hyun was suddenly aware that the girl was looking at him.
"What?"
"The fire isn't going to build itself," the girl commented sarcastically.
"Oh, yes, sorry. I'll gather more wood," Hyun said.
Moon watched him stand and wander into the darkness to forage around the small cluster of trees.
She could hear water, a small brook or similar, not too far away.
Getting the fire started she waited for Hyun to return with lots and told him to wait by the fire while she went to get cleaned up.

[arcanus]

Hyun chided himself, he had always thought himself a brave man, one who push coming to shove would stand up and fight, not cower and hide.
There was no denying it the events of the last few days and nights had shaken him, and the strange fearsomeness of this girl made him deepl nervous, and for the life of him he couldn't think why.

As he returned and assembled his bundle of kindling into a fire he watched her go down to the creek and clean up, he frowned as as she walked back he noticed she carried a pair of fresh flounders, one in each hand, how had she caught them, he hadn't even seem her go in the water.
He looked in astonishment as she asked him if he was hungry he nodded a yes.

Having gutted and cooked the fish, Hyun released how hungry he was as he greedily scooped the white flesh into his mouth with his fingers.
How far is your parents home she asked, he cleared his thoat taking a gulp of water, again his retiscence about sharing their location flared in his mind but he dimissed it.
"They live on the Isais Creek north of that Fishing Town", he pointed to the settlement not far to their north east, "Its quite a trek if we want to avoid the town, perhaps we should go by boat, I have one tied up just south of it?"

[Keeper]

Moon considered that for a moment.
Did she want to avoid the town? She thought it prudent tactics to keep Hyun's movements out of public knowledge, however going by boat would inevitably mean sailing through our at least near the outgoing fishing fleet where they would undoubtedly stand out more than if they just wandered through town.
"Is it normal for you to be out on the water early in the morning?" she asked.
"It is not unusual, I often use our boat to fish or to carry goods and supplies for the boatyard." Hyun replied.
"Very well." Moon stated definitively. "We shall leave a first light. Now I suggest we get some sleep."
With that Moon lay back and rolled onto her side.
Hyun looked at her across the dimming firelight. Her mode of dress was very unusual,
Normally Asian women wore clothing that was practical, covering them from head to toe but allowing for freedom of movement.
Moon's clothing was Chinese in style but her exposed arms and legs were very… provocative.
She seemed more courtesan than working girl, and yet she was not the least bit bothered about blood, or sleeping on the bare floor outdoors.
Contradictory, he decided was a good description.
"Go to sleep, Hyun. I don't know what you are procrastinating about, but I can hear you thinking!" Moon said quietly hiding a smile.
In truth she had not heard him move so knew he was still sitting there opposite her.
"What?" Hyun gasped. "Can you?"
He shuffled back from the burning logs and fidgeted to make himself comfortable. And laid there concentrating hard on not thinking about anything in particular, staring up at the featureless night sky and the faint glow reflecting on the trees.
It was not until Moon gave a cute little giggle and said "No I can't!" that he realised he had been holding his breath.

It was just before dawn, the sun not quite up over the horizon but the birds and beast all sensed it's impending arrival and sang out loud to greet it.
Moon stretched and gave a little groan as she felt the subtle aches in her body from a night on the ground.
Still, she was thankful that she had remained in homid form. If Hyun had awoken to the tiger sleeping opposite him then that would take some explaining that she was not ready to do yet.
She broke camp around a gently snoring Hyun and as the first sliver of the sun broke over the mountains far to the east on the other side of the great bay, she gently kicked his leg.
"Huh?" Hyun grunted.
"Come on, daybreak means we must be off."

With a few ache inspired groans of his own Hyun scrambled to his feet, surprised to see the campfire already just a dirt patch in the ground and the rocks that surrounded it already gone.
Without speaking Moon led him off toward the land to the south of the fishing town.

[arcanus]

Herons Head, South of Tippers Point.
They cautiously made their way through the wooden scrubland until they arrived at a pebble beach, tied to a row of stakes were several row boats, hulls up to keep the elements out.

They had managed a few hours sleep, their trek from Chinatown had been a winding one covering many miles as they had looped down below the built up areas of the Cities East Port to avoid its streets, taking the dirt tracks that lay between the small towns that made up the south of the city.
The speed with which was it spreading soon these towns would be neighbourhoods but for now there were gaps between them that could be travelled, this route had then brought them east through areas of woodland that sat across the Islais Channel, the inlet where Hyun's parents lived, they could have cut directly east but that would have taken them through the built up cannerys, warehouses and shanties, too may prying eyes.

Moon shook her thoughts aside the sun was cresting the land across the bay on teh opposite shore, the blue waters reflecting a bright orange silhouetting the myriad of tall ships, steamers and fishing boats anchored across its waters.
She grabbed the other end of the boat Hyan had untied and helped him carry it down to the sea, a simple but sturdy design resembling a wide bottomed canoe, silently they pushed off, he amusing her by insisting that he row whilst she operated the tiller.

They quietly rowed out into the deeper channels their destination to round the fishing village at Tippers Point then swing into the Islais Channel which allowed them to approach the elder Yun-Soos home from the water.

***
Moon spluttered, snorting sea water from her nostrils she looked around though the thick white peasoup fog, one minute they had been peacefully rowing past the fishing village and the next a wall of fog had raced past them and a huge wave had smashed into the boat.

She snarled the tips of her teeth becoming shape and drawing blood from her lips, the water was now choppy and she couldn't see more than a few feet, but she could hear shouts and screams from what she assumed was the shore.

Her worry beads almost burned as mother tiger roared in Moon's head, summoning every ounce of strength to keep her contained, she howled for blood.

She was draped over one of the oars the boat and Hyun nowhere to be seen in this damned fog.

[Keeper]

“Aargh!” Moon screamed to the heavens, smashing her bunched fist into the water with a loud slap.
Again the beads around her neck flared hot against the Khan’s building anger and frustration.
“Hyun!” she called out, not too loudly as to bring attention from the shore, but loud enough that if he was floating like her, nearby then he would hear her.
As she had suspected, nothing came back to her in response.
Once more she snarled and punched at the waves.
With a resigned sigh, Moon began to swim to shore, following the sounds and direction of the waves to guide her to land.
It surprised her how long and how much effort it took to push through the turgid waters. With the thick fog obscuring her vision, restricting it to a handful of feet, she hadn’t realised how close she had got to shore until she scraped her knee on sand.
She stopped swimming and put her feet down and waded through the breakers towards the beach.
There was a beach outside the boathouse where Hyun worked, she recalled. Perhaps this was the same one? She couldn’t remember right now if this was even the same village and the cursed fog was so annoying.
She stopped once more, relaxed and took a deep breath to calm her chi. She just needed to concentrate and listen and search into herself for a way to combat the fog. It was obviously not naturally occurring; therefore some power must have called it forth and may yet still be powering it now.
She just had to steady herself and work it out.
“If there is a cat, a toad-man or a dragon around, I could surely do with some help right now,” she whispered to the wind.

[arcanus]

The mists over the waters swirled, Moon spun her teeth bared as a pale oriental woman in a pearlescent blue gown suddenly stood beside her, she turned and looked upon Moon with silver eyes.

She bowed deeply “I am sorry for my delay Lady Moon, we were attending to matters of the Jade Court” she looked about and sniffed “The black breath of the Yin World!”

“What would you bid?”

[Keeper]

Moon stared wide-eyed at the girl, then rushed forward and wrapped her in a big hug.
"Thank Gaia!" she said.
Letting go she looked relieved. "I've really messed up. I've lost Hyun to whatever this is," she waved an arm at the pea-soup fog.
"I just need to know what this is and how I can fight it or track Hyun through it. I don't know what to do!"