^^ Lady Shizuoka ^^

--- Ten-Ryuu-Qián ---

Wong-Fei-Quan was starting a lesson, and I began copying his moves in the shadows, carefully adjusting his movements to fit my tiny frame.

He noticed, this time. "Ahh, Princess Ten-Ryuu! I'd missed you at the past few practices. I'm happy your health is not endangered." He nodded.

I blinked slowly, processing that statement.

"Ahh, you thought I didn't know about your practices on the Barrier Island? You have a decent amount of skill, but my martial arts do not suit you." He shook his head.

"Then what does suit me?" I sighed.

"You require something more fluid. I have acquired just that, for you." He walked over, and a tall woman dressed in a skin-tight outfit appeared from the shadows next to me, making me flinch, completely surprised.

He smiled. "And how did you find her, Lady Shizuoka?" (=Calm-Hill)

She gazed at me silently, then nodded. "She's enthusiastic, that's good. Well built... I accept this student, Fei-Quan. Child, follow me." She said, walking away.

"Can I ask you to not call me child? I respect that you're my teacher now, but I feel like we should respect each other equally, for a mutually beneficial relationship." I asked politely.

She halted, and turned to me, eying me with interest. "And intelligent? How old are you, little one?"

"I am seven years old. I will turn eight when the 11th Month comes." I said.

She nodded slowly. "Hmm... interesting. Follow me, little one." She said again, walking at a more moderate pace.

"So your name is Lady Shizuoka? I am called Ten-Ryuu-Qián." I smiled at her brightly.

She smiled back softly. "You're very cute, little one, and that will work well for you, but please make not the mistake of believing I will be kind to you. I am your instructor in the ways of War, not your friend."

"I believe a balance is possible. After all, regardless of what cruel things you put me through, it is for my betterment, after all, not your amusement." I smiled again.

She chuckled, stepping into the first clearing, on the back of the turtle. It was walled in by mountains, and filled with too many trees to see clearly.

"This will be our first training arena. Remove any unnecessary garments, and wear these." She held out a set of dark green pants and a hooded tunic, as well as boots and gloves.

I nodded and changed swiftly, despite her eyes on me, knowing that this was a test as well.

"You're very intelligent. With just the information you've gathered so far, you're aware that this was a test. Good. But what for?" She asked.

"Humility? Or how much of a princess I acted like?" I asked dryly.

She smirked. "Yes and no. Humility, yes. And I had to know whether or not you would grow a woman's body. I am kunoichi, child, and as such I will teach you how to use every tool in your arsenal to both survive and avoid conflict." She said simply.

I blinked. "Oh. But I really do want to be able to fight and win... father says I have the muscles for it, and I'll be tall and strong when I'm older..."

"No. You will be tall, yes, but you will have a woman's body, not a warriors, like your mother, and lady Tanjo. Yours will be like mine." She gestured at her full feminine figure.

"Oh..." I frowned.

She laughed loudly. "I will attempt to not be offended, child, by your lack of enthusiasm! Don't worry, though, it's a good thing, I tell you now."

"How? Useless extra weight on your chest and hips, throwing off your balance..." I grumbled.

"Perhaps at first. Then, after your balance catches up, you will find that you have far better balance than before. More weight to throw around." She smirked.

I sighed. "Fine... then can we start training?"

She nodded. "Indeed. You will try to catch me." She darted into the trees.

"Why would I do that? You're going to come back, eventually, as this is the only entrance into the Castle. I should wait here and ambush you." I asked, confused.

She reappeared. "I see. True, that is logical, but I simply wanted to test your physical limits. Perhaps some sort of incentive?" She held up my knife. "Come and get it, child."

"Once more, chasing you would be pointless. You have to come this way eventually." I sat down.

She hummed. "You are perhaps too mature for this game. A different one, then. A race. If you can pass me before I reach the other side of this forest, then I will return to you this very nice knife."

"I respect your use of incentive, but I would point out that if I demand you to return it, you will, so that incentive is useless. However, I would not object to a race simply for the sake of a race." I said simply.

She blinked. "Hmph. You are perhaps too mature... no ignorance. Odd."

"It is one of the curses on my family. I will always see too much, know too much, and feel too little." I shrugged.

She nodded slowly. "I had heard. Hm." She flicked the knife at me, and I guided the leather sheath I'd made over the blade, catching it without gripping the sharp blade.

"Well done." She clapped politely.

I grinned and darted into the forest, dodging trees with the minimal amount of movement to destroy my momentum.

I calmly stepped over a tripwire, then leapt over a pitfall trap, and frowned, halting.

I heard rustling as she halted swiftly in the Tree above me. "This isn't a Race. It's another test. I do not like liars, Lady Shizuoka. Please refrain from attempting to trick me." I said loudly, and then turned and walked back the way I'd come.

"Hmm. You give up rather easily." She said, sitting above me in a tree, looking lazy.

"Do I? I rather think there was no need to try in the first place. If you wish to play games, find a child. If you wish a student in the art of War, speak to me in the morning." I said sharply, and walked into the castle, leaving her with a thoughtful expression on her face.

---

I rolled out of my bed swiftly, and my knife grated along another blade before my eyes were even open fully.

"Good reflexes." Lady Shizuoka murmured, then attempted to kick my legs from under me.

I stepped up her leg lithely, and then rammed my knee into her chin, flipping and landing on my hands, my feet planting themselves in her stomach.

She barely flinched, and nodded slowly, checking her lip-stick carefully, ignoring me. I growled and leapt, kicking her fully across the face.

She caught my leg effortlessly, and then smiled. "Well, I know how to motivate you now..." She threw me away from herself lazily.

I landed on my bedpost, balancing shakily, and then leapt straight back at her, twisting out of the way of her hands in midair, and crashing my knee into her sternum.

She took a step back, and then hummed. "Interesting... but you are still a child, little one. You cannot hope to defeat me in a test of raw strength or speed." She said simply, and threw me again.

I caught the chandelier, and threw one of the burning candles at her, sprinting out as she caught it carefully.

I laid a pile of nails to the left of the doorframe, and then darted away, stealing her plan from yesterday, that of planting traps, and waiting for one to fool her.

Father saw me sprinting down the hall in my nightgown, and raised an eyebrow, but I simply waved and ran past, into the kitchen, where I stole a few spit-posts and some breakfast, then ran out again, eating swiftly.

I reached the clearing, and then followed my route from yesterday, leaving a trail in the leaves and grass, then took her high road with a little struggling to reach the branches she'd stood on, which would hold my weight.

I settled a spit-spike into the tree in the place of a strong tree-limb, above one of the pit-falls, and covered it with leaves, then continued on, alternating randomly between leaving pitfalls and not doing so.

Then I sat at the end of the forest, hidden in the tallest branches of a tree, with three different dead-end trails heading away from me.

"You're rather proficient at laying traps. I'm impressed. I nearly fell into one of the pit-falls." She said calmly, sitting next to me before I could blink.

I turned to her, and then looked back over my path of traps. I hadn't noticed, but one of the rods had bent a little downwards. "Well then." I frowned.

"Now, that was amusing, but we have work to do." She threw me over her shoulder, and then darted into the other trees, carrying me like a sack of potatoes.

She deposited me on my butt in the clearing, then tossed me my new Sparring clothes. "Dress." She nodded.

I sighed and quickly dressed in what she'd given me.

"Good. Now follow me." She darted into the forest.

I followed, pumping my legs swiftly, my longer feet proving an asset, as always, as I could force more momentum out of them, the longer bones having better uses as Levers than her shorter ones.

She seemed surprised by me keeping up with her, and then smiled, adding more speed effortlessly.

I growled and used my thighs and stomach to their full capacity, knowing I'd be sore later, but it was worth it to catch this woman.

She suddenly stopped, on a sandy beach, and I halted next to her on a dime, though my feet skidded a bit.

She smiled. "Well done. You're as fast as most untrained adults."

I sighed. "Thinly veiled insults do nothing but bore me and make me tired of your presence."

She blinked. "Hmph... you speak your mind... good, in a woman, not good in a warrior. What if you are given an order you do not like?"

"I am Princess of all Asia. I can argue with who I choose, and only my Family could rebuke me." I said dryly.

She paused. "And when you are not known as the Princess?"

"When will that be? I don't plan on going into hiding, and I'm perfectly capable of overthrowing a petty coup, if such a thing ever happens." I shrugged.

"Yes... I forget, that I am not training a Spy, but an Empress and General... fine, then a different question. What about in peace talks?"

"If something happens in a peace talk that requires my sarcasm or rudeness, the peace talks have failed already." I said logically.

She rubbed her forehead slowly. "So Princesses are different from normal girls... Fei-Fei, you owe me far more than a drink after this..." She growled to herself.

I snorted. "You call Fei-Quan Fei-Fei?"

"He's my husband, I'll call him as I wish." She frowned.

I blinked, shocked. "He's married?!? To you?!?"

She laughed. "Ah, yes. I remember, he doesn't talk about himself or his family much. His clan is angry at him for marrying a Japanese Martial Artist. They think I'm after his Clan Art. Though, in all fairness, that is why I originally met him, but not why I stayed." She said simply.

"And how long have you been together?" I asked.

"Mm... twelve years? We met while I was visiting my elder-sister, Lady Kumo." She nodded.

"Wait, you're my grandma's sister?" I asked.

"No, no, not like 'Family', we trained in the same Dojo, her about twenty years before me." She shook her head.

"Oh... okay. That's very interesting, I have to say." I nodded.

"Mm. Now, training! You kept up with me, and that's good, and your endurance is well-developed. How do you train, normally?"

"I sail to my island every day, and do forms." I pointed over the edge at my island.

She blinked. "Ah... interesting... do you row?"

"No. I sail. The tiller is kinda stiff, usually... but I guess I don't actually have a Canoe anymore, because of the hurricane a few days ago." I shrugged.

She nodded. "I see... and your forms? Show me."

I nodded and closed my eyes, stepping back from the edge, and beginning my forms. First my hands, and then my legs, and then my wooden sword, which I substituted with a stick from nearby.

She nodded slowly, after I was done with my cooling-down exercises. "Interesting. I see a little of Fei-Quan's Art, but most of that was your own interpretations... what were you studying?"

"Studying?" I asked, confused.

She paused. "What were you thinking of, when you designed those moves?"

"Ah... I was just thinking of the most powerful and flexible attacks and defenses... I'm small, so I rely on gravity and momentum to give my strikes weight and my defense strength." I said logically.

She smiled slowly. "Ooh... I knew I liked you. Well then, let's test out a new theory. See how the sand sticks to your feet? See if you can-"