Master Doku

After Prince Raiden left, two of his maids and two of his bodyguards stayed behind to over see his move into the left wing of the Brooks Manor. Instead of seeing the interlopers out, Jewels announced to her Uncle and Pop pop that since it has been too long since she visited Wilder Orphanage, she would be heading there today to help them and visit the children.

Heading towards her carriage, she noticed one of Raiden's bodyguard standing beside the carriage.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Jewels asked.

"Lady Jewels, this servant's name is Roku. This servant's orders from Prince Raiden is to be your shield and sword."

"My shield and sword?" Jewels repeated. Her mood turned sour. She did not need a babysitter. Especially a babysitter who's allegiance is to Prince Raiden. "Let us enter the carriage and make our way to the Orphanage. We can talk once we are inside."

Nodding, Roku opened the door to the carriage and helped her get in. Roku stepped inside as well and sat opposite of her.

"So, tell me the truth Roku, not only were you sent to be my shield and sword as you so eloquently said, but you are also here to spy for your master."

"What Lady Jewels said is correct." Roku bowed to her.

"And what if I purposefully cause trouble for you to become my shield and sword? Wouldn't that be fun?!"

Roku smiled, "Lady Jewels can cause as much trouble as she wants, for this servant likes to have fun."

Shaking her head, "With a master like Prince Raiden, it's no wonder you are the way you are."

"This servant thanks Lady Jewels for her complement."

"Besides," Jewels sighed. "Even if I try not to seek trouble, trouble always seem to find me."

"This servant will remember these words and be more vigilant."

"I received word from Fudo early this morning about your visit." Jewels said while carefully studying Roku.

Roku's easy going demeanor stilled and froze for a heart beat before he relaxed and caught Jewels eyes. Roku did not realize how piercing her blue violet eyes are. It captivated Roku and he turned his gaze away from her.

"Now that I look at you closer, I can see the similarity between the two of you. Fudo says you look more like your father and Fudo takes after your mother."

"That is correct," Roku acknowledged, staring at the embroidery on the seat in front of him as if it was the most interesting thing he ever saw.

"Prince Raiden knows everything?" Jewels asked to confirm her suspicion.

Roku nods twice.

Seeing that Roku confirm it, Jewels nods once and turns her gaze to outside of the window. Of course Prince Raiden readily accepted her terms. Just the knowledge that she is the disciple of Doku anyone would accept any terms she set out. His move into the manor is to keep an eye on what he considers his "property". The intimacy they shared last night did not mean anything, Jewels told herself. She was his "property" to do what he wants. Besides he already has someone he likes.

Talking to her Uncle this morning about her situation, she tried to come up with ideas to see if she could get out of the fact that Raiden chose her as his golden gift. Uncle Jude told her with a heavy sigh that there was no way out of it. The announcement was made in front of witnesses and Harvey is her legal guardian. His decision to give her away was well within his rights. Not liking the fact that Jewels had no rights of her own in this world, it infuriated her. Her Uncle convinced her to make the most out the situation and talk it over with her master. Maybe there is something her Master could do to help her.

Roku knew something was wrong when Jewels did not speak for the rest of the ride. Her attention was faced towards the carriage window, looking at the scenery. He noticed her delicate eyebrows scrunched together as if she was thinking too hard. Her jaws would clench once a while to show her displeasure. Her hands, that were perfectly placed in her lap would squeeze and unleash itself showing her frustrations. Her posture, although was straight, was too ridged.

When they reached the orphanage, the children ran out to the carriage before Jewels can get out. An older boy opened the carriage door before the carriage stopped. The smiling faces on the children froze as they saw Roku's big, harden body first.

"Lady Brooks?" The boy asked.

"Step aside little one, so Lady Jewels can step down." Roku said as he moved to step down from the carriage.

The children all backed away from Roku and as he turned to help Jewels off the carriage. Instead of taking his hand, she jumped down towards the children and excitedly gave them kisses and hugs. The children's sudden change in personality did not go unnoticed by Roku. To not scare the children, Jewels introduced Roku to them and instead of introducing him as her bodyguard, she introduced him as their new toy. At first they did not believe her, but she told them he was like a teddy bear, squishy on the inside, but only looked fierce on the outside. She led them all back to the orphanage and greeted the other volunteers and the head mistress who ran the place. Once she was done, she played with the children before she got around helping the others with chores. It took awhile for the children to warm up to Roku, but when Jewels finally finished her chores and wanted to find Roku to tell him they were leaving, she found him in the play yard lifting three children on each side of his arms and two children plastered on each side of his legs telling him that it was their turn to be pulled up on the ride. The children were laughing and giggling at Roku's prowess.

"Roku," Jewels said as she came up to the group. "Its time to leave."

Seeing that the two were leaving the children whined, however she convinced them that the next time she visits, Roku would come too. She promised to bring them sweets if they were a good children and listened to the adults well. When the children were pacified, Roku and Jewels left and headed towards Master Doku's house.

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Fudo greeted them when they arrived at Doku's residence. Roku waited until they were inside the house before Roku bear hugged Fudo and squeezed him tightly. Seeing this, Jewels turns around and makes her way towards Master Doku's study. She braced herself outside his door before entering. She knew she was going to hear an earful from him because it has been almost two and a half weeks since she last stopped by. After knocking on the door, Jewels waits until she got permission to enter. Her Master made her wait for 10 minutes before Jewels heard him say, "Come in."

Entering, Jewels sees that her Master is looking out the window. His hands behind his back as if he has been contemplating all of life's questions in the last 10 minutes.

"Master, your disciple has been neglectful and has not visited Master and Senior Disciple in a long time, please forgive this young disciple of my mistake." Jewels said as she stopped beside him.

When he did not answer her, she tried again. "Master must be very mad at this disciple to hold onto a grudge against this fledgling. Please do not be mad at me, I have been dealing with family matters and could not visit Master. Please forgive me."

Master Doku looks at his disciple and grunts, "The reason why you have to deal with so much is because you have not visited me! If you have, you would not be in the predicament that you are in! I would have guided you better in the choices you made!"

"You're right Master, if I have visited you, you would have guided me to make better decisions. "

"Now that we are at the crossroads, there is nothing for us to do but choose which path to cross." Doku said as he finally looks at her. "I hear your Prince Raiden has moved in with you?"

Jewel nods once to confirm.

"Now you are his golden gift, you now have to go where he sends you. Whether it be by his side or to a cold palace, your life will be dictated by him."

Jewel nods again. But secretly, she didn't agree. Just because she was chosen has his golden gift did not mean that she could not still do what she wants to do. Even if it meant that she would have to sneak out and on the way kill some of his babysitters, she would do it. She has agreed to become his golden gift because she wanted a better life for her small family. Right now life at the Brooks Manor is not that bad, however Jewels started to suspect that Harvey was the reason why Uncle Jude got poisoned. She did not have any hard evidence yet, however she has noticed how Harvey speaks to Uncle Jude. He  was utterly disrespectful and full of jealousy and hate. His resentment toward Uncle Jude could be seen as well. What happened between them to make Harvey feel this way towards Uncle Jude, Jewels did not know yet, but she wanted to find out.

When Jewels stayed quiet, Doku finally forgave her. She must be feeling horrible herself, he thought. Before she was a happy and giving child that Doku thought she could be a the first of all his disciples who would be a true healer instead of a poison expert. However after her engagement ended, he saw her change into someone completely different. He could still recognize the giving child that she is, however she was only giving towards people she cherishes. She had a vindictive side to her that made him elated because she reminded him of himself when he was young. Before the broken engagement her alias was just Kimiko, meaning child without equal. After the broken engagement, she came asked to add the name Aku, meaning evil, to her alias. Together she will be known as Aku Kimiko, evil child without equal. When Doku heard her full name, even he, her own Master, his own name meaning Poison itself, even he felt scared and hesitant for a moment. When her full name was granted, Doku felt that his young disciple would be his last disciple and will be able to retire into the woods and live out the rest of his older years in peace. His successor Fudo, is already a great disciple, although young, his mentality is of an old man. His maturity came with wisdom that a young man such as himself should not possess. If he could describe his disciples, Fudo, would represent Doku's maturity and wisdom. Aku Kimiko, would be Doku's cunning and viciousness. And Nobu, his first disciple, Nobu, meaning to prolong and delay, he took after Doku's stubborn nature, eccentricity, and temper. Although Aku Kimiko and Nobu have not met yet, they have heard of each other through Fudo. The three of them could recognize each other by the necklace Doku gave them. The circle pendant comprised of three snakes eating the other snake's tail that hung on a black meteorite chain. Three snakes, representing three disciples that took after Doku's characteristics.

As Doku's disciple, the only way Doku would give his disciple an alias would be granted after a completed mission. For Jewels, her first mission was to cure a group of women who showed up at the Goddess temple. Their sickness was something none of the doctors could diagnose. And no matter what cure they suggested, they were not able to succeed. After hearing this, with the intentions to name Jemma "Kimiko", he sent her to the temple to cure their illness. After three days, Jemma was able to cure them and her mission was a success. However that was three years ago. After Jemma's engagement fell through, she asked Doku to start calling her Jewels. Soon after, there was a mission to kill a slave trade overlord that would be passing through their city. Not sure if he wanted to take the job and with Fudo away on another job, Doku was going to deny it when Jewels stepped up and asked to accept it. Although surprised at first, he reluctantly gave her the mission. Her plan was to attack when he left the city.  When they came to a dense forest, known as Thieves Hideout, that would be the perfect place to assassinate the Overlord. When she came back later that night, Doku was relieved that she was not harmed and not a drop of blood could be seen on her. That was when she asked him if she could add the word Aku in front of Kimiko to make the name evil child without equal. At first he did not understand why, but he could not deny his precious disciple, who once saved his life, so he readily agreed. It was not until later on the second day of the successful mission when he collected payment did he find out how she assassinated him.

Jewels waited until the huge caravan of slave traders stopped and made camp in the forest. She then snuck into the camp and poisoned all the ale barrels. Once the slave traders and guards drank the ale they would die once they fell asleep. One by one, without anyone knowing, they all perished. The guards that were ordered to guard the camp was taken out mysteriously. There was evidence of them being poisoned then killed with a slit through the neck. However, the Overlord that was the mark did not drink ale that night. Instead he was in his tent wide awake looking over maps and writing correspondence to his associates.  Seeing this, Jewels approached the tent quietly and flicked a poison dart at him. Because her cultivation level was so low, the Overlord did not feel as if whoever approached his tent could do him any harm so he was not prepared for her attack. Just because he was unprepared for the attack, did not mean that his fighting and cultivation skills did not react to protect him by instinct. Jewels aimed to hit his chest with the dart, however as he raised his hand to block the dart, it instead penetrated into the palm of his hand. As long as the poison entered the body system, her poisoned dart would have a fast reaction and the body would immediately start to lose all function. Once she saw that her dart hit the target, she freed the slaves and brought them in front of the Overlord's tent. The captured slaves tore the Overlord apart piece by piece. Every slave trader where torn apart even though they already were dead. Every guard had their head chopped off and the slaves created a big pile of guard heads. It was a gruesome scene. When word reached the cities about what happened, the story was that the slaves freed themselves and killed their captors and guard.  The story freed Doku and his disciples of any suspicion and blame.

"Prince Raiden will definitely bring you to Redbane once the 4 Kingdom talks are over. Fudo and I will prepare for the journey as well." Doku said as he waved his hand over the tea pot infusing it with heat energy from his hand. He then poured two cups of tea and handed Jewels one cup as he drank the other.

"Prepare for the journey as well?" Jewels asked.

"Of course, your training has not finished yet. How can your Master not educate and train you until you are no longer a fledgling. Besides, it is time to move. Now that Prince Raiden knows who I am and where I live, he will come knocking on my door and I do not want to see him. Fudo and I will leave after the Madewell tournament. By the time you arrive to Redbane, we will have everything prepared. Maybe by then you'll be able to meet Nobu."

"Your disciple understands." Jewels said. "Master, I have some questions that I would like your guidance for."

Doku nods as Jewels proceeds to tell him of the stuffy chest she would have when she was around her Uncle and Pop pop. She described the suffocating feeling and worried about her health. She asks Doku for a health assessment, for she feared that her body had a weak heart and lungs. When she finished Doku stared at Jewels for a long time before he laughed. He laughed so hard and so loud that both Fudo and Roku ran into the study to see what was wrong and when they saw Doku laughing so hard, holding his stomach and seeing tears come down his face, did they stop worrying about him and Jewels.

When Doku was able to calm down a little and he stared at Jewels and shook his head. "Your heart and lungs are fine, little disciple, your body looks to be in good health. It looks to be in better shape than when we first met."

"Then what's wrong with me?" She questioned.

"Nothing is wrong with you." Doku said. "Next time that stuffy suffocating feeling comes back, reassess the situation and think on why you felt that way. People feel that way all the time, it's nothing you should be worried about."

Not really believing his words, Jewels just agrees with him so she can ask him about her cultivation.

"Master, I have another question. For the past four months, I told you that I was able to clear my dantians and the energy flow. My veins are strong and flowing freely. Every day I train my body physically and every night I train it physically and mentally. I meditate and cultivate. I can feel a huge amount of energy stored in my dantians, why is it that I have not been able to break through?"

Looking at Jewels, Doku holds out his hand and Jewels places her hand into his, wrist side up so he can feel her pulse. Two fingers pressed down on her wrist as he closes his eyes to diagnose her. After a while, Doku's eyes open and looks at Jewels in awe and horror.

"I can feel the huge amount of energy stored in your dantians!" Doku said in a scared voice. "How long did you say you have been meditating and cultivating?"

"Four months."

"And you will only meditate and cultivate at night?"

"Every night. But sometimes when I'm in the carriage and there's nothing to do I will meditate and cultivate as well."

"How long, every night?"

"Sometimes, a couple of hours. Most of the time, the whole night."

Doku looks at Jewels in awe. He never heard of anyone cultivating for the whole night before. The most any genius could cultivate would be 4 hours max. Cultivating energy is taxing on the body, it wares the body down, however the amount of energy stored in Jewels body was astounding.

"With the heavy amount of energy stored in your dantians, the possibility of you breaking through two levels will not be a surprise. However right now because of all the years of your clogged dantians, it has caused damage to them. All it can do right now is store energy. I have a prescription that can help heal the damaged dantians and ensure your breakthrough. The only catch to this prescription is that you would have to gather all the ingredients yourself and make the prescription yourself. Failure to gather the herbs and make the prescription will be your own doing."

"Yes, Master, I understand." Jewels said excitedly. She was ready to do anything for her breakthrough.

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I'm aiming to get another chapter done and published tonight.  Thanks for reading! -ptd