Private Tales The Tiger Teaches the Young

A private roleplay only for those invited by the first writer

Sung Chei

The Mist
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Sung Chei, armoured and armed, frightening. He was a foreigner, one from the far east, and for that he was more dangerous than most warriors as they were unsure of how he fought. His armour was of shining but dented and scratched steel plates, small rectangular ones held together by a mail base. This armour skirted his thighs, splitting in front and behind just below the crotch to allow for riding and the deeper stances of his martial art. In his hand was a polearm just taller than he was, it had a spearhead and two crescent shaped blades on either side to allow for cutting and chopping, it was called Ji. At each hip was a straight, double edged sword, jian they were called. His long black hair was bound in a bun above his head, and about his forehead was a red strip of cloth, emblazoned with the white tiger of his father's house.

He stood in front of the door to the Estate of the House Bochanon, upon which he knocked. The knock was loud and clear but hardly forceful or disrespectful. He was ready to report of his success on ridding the area of the horse bandits that resided some ways to the southwest.
 
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The door opened soon after the knock was heard. The house butler, Titus Phane, opened the door and welcomed the easterner into the estate with a bow. He was already aware of the easterners purpose and assumed he returned with a report.
"Welcome back to the estate, sir. I will escort you to the Mistress, if you will follow me."

After closing the door behind their guest Titus led the way to the library. A maid brought some tea and light refreshment.
"The Mistress will join you shortly, please make yourself comfortable."
with that he turned and left the man to himself while he went to inform Myrcella Bochanan of her guest.
 
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Myrcella had been a bit distressed to hear of horse thieves stealing some of their stock while the Estate was in mourning. Had they no pride or respect? Of course she wasn't used to how cruel the outside world really was.

Sung Chei had come to the Estate shortly thereafter. Given that he was so...foreign...she figured he'd do well to scare off the culprits and retrieve what was stolen. Sometimes people had to be taught lessons with fear. Given that her Father was gone, she had to do what she could to show that House Bochanan wasn't just easy pickings.

Myrcella busied herself with painting. Given everything that was going on and how her life was turning upside down, she needed to keep herself occupied with something that she enjoyed. And she was commissioning herself to paint a painting for Titus Phane . He deserved one.
 
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Titus knocked lightly on the door to her art room.
"Mistress Bochanan. The warrior has returned from dealing with the horse thieves. He is awaiting your presence in the library."
 
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While he waited, Sung Chei politely thanked the maid for her assistance and took a sip of the tea offered. It wasn't the same as the green tea of his homeland but good nonetheless. He had set his weapon across his lap as he sat with his feet atop his knees in the lotus position upon a comfy chair that the library offered.
 
Myrcella heard the gentle knock, one that she easily recognized as belonging to Titus Phane . "Wonderful, thank you." She carefully covered the painting up so that he couldn't see it. Afterall, it was a surprise. She removed her apron and set it on the table next to all of her paints and brushes. "Don't bother cleaning these up. I'll be back to continue working on it soon." The good thing about oils was that they didn't dry up fast at all. That was a blessing when it came to correcting errors.

After tucking her hair behind her right ear, Myrcella left the art room and headed over to the library where Sung Chei sat waiting. He was a traveller from a far off land, and one that she knew could frighten the horse thieves well enough.

She bowed her head to him. "Welcome back. I hope that your mission was successful?"
 
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Titus followed Myrcella back to the library and stood by the door with his hands folded behind his back, in silent attention, ready for whatever order his Mistress might give.
 
"It was indeed. The horse bandits shouldn't be a problem any longer. I hope that they didn't cause too much strife with their thefts. The herd they stole is currently in a pen that they had set up, I hope you understand that I can't move so many horses on my own." He says to her with a bow in response. "I didn't get the chance to do so when we first spoke, so I hope it is appropriate for me to offer my condolences for your loss."
 
Myrcella nodded as she listened to Sung Chei explain a little about what had transpired with the horse thieves. She wasn't entirely certain if he had outright killed them or just frightened them. Either way, her opinions on it didn't matter.

She bowed her head as he offered his condolences for the recent passing of her Father. She was growing used to that. It let her know just how many knew him and knew of him. "Thank you. He was a great man." At least in her eyes. Many young ladies idolize their Fathers, however.

She turned to Titus Phane . "Could you get the stablehands to get our herd back, please? They'll need to be looked over too." Not waiting for a response, Myrcella took out a cloth bag from leather pouch that hung from her dress next to her fan and held it out to Sung. "Here's your fee, as promised."
 
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He cautiously took it. He felt guilty for taking money from a grieving woman, even if he was hired. He kissed her hand in respect. "Thank you, madam Bochanon. I hope not to trouble you further. I will return to the village if you have need of me in the next few days, free of charge."

He put the money in his own belt pouch before rising to his feet and bowing. "I will show your stablehands where the horses are penned before anything else. Again, thank you for your hospitality, and I wish you well."
 
Myrcella bowed her head as Sung Chei kissed her hand. She saw that bit of reluctance in his eyes, yet she wasn't certain of what it was for. She hadn't learned how to read strangers properly just yet.

"Before you go, could you share with me how you frightened off the thieves? I'm sure that your techniques alone might of been enough for them to feel outmatched." She was curious. Of course she wasn't sure if he had just outright killed them all either. Sometimes it was better not to ask.
 
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"I'm not one to boast, but I will say that those who were left alive won't come back anytime soon. My techniques may have frightened them off simply because they didn't know how to counter them, surely I wouldn't prevail against someone who was well trained." He says, understating his skills greatly. In reality, as a noble's son he had received some of the best training one could have in his homeland, and it made him deadly against all foes, whether or not he held a weapon.
 
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Titus was a little wary of the easterner. He knew them by reputation at least and just by looking at the man he could tell how capable he was, and that he must be downplaying his abilities.

On Myrcella's word he stood by to escort the easterner to the stables. If he followed Titus would bow to his mistress before taking his leave.
 
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Sung Chei did indeed follow the man to the stables, keeping his plearm at a relaxed and nonthreatening position. He was sizing the butler up as they walked, taking note of his build, stance and how he carried himself. Looking for signs of hostility or suspicion.
 
Myrcella raised a brow slightly as she listened to Sung Chei . It made her wonder just how the man fought. "Perhaps I'll see you in a spar or tournament some day and then I could see these techniques myself."

As he turned to leave, she gave Titus Phane a little nid as well. Maybe he could pick up on some of those techniques as well. Maybe he'd even ask for some training. Either way having the Easterner around could be useful.
 
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Titus led Sung Chei to the door out of the mansion, and then to the stables where the stable hands all looked busy. They came to attention when Titus and the easterner approached and Titus began giving instructions.
"This gentleman has located our stolen horses and he's graciously offered to take us to where they are penned up. Bring him his horse and saddle up yourselves."

As the servants began following his instructions he moved to one of the stalls that held the horse entrusted to him when he came to serve house Bochanan. He proceeded to saddle up the dark mustang. While he worked he looked up at the easterner. The man at least looked well older than Titus was, and he single handedly either beat off or killed an entire band of horse thieves. Such men like this are likened to heroes, the kind of men that can do great feats of combat and be heaped with the rewards. A man like this could enlist in an army and ask to be a commander and nobody would flinch. He could win a land and title and have a clear path into nobility if he wanted.

It was a man like this that Titus admired. He wanted to do just such a thing, to ride into a town as one of the mysterious warriors and become a legend, a hero... So that he can present himself to Myrcella without scrutiny of their peers and ask for her hand legally.
But that plan doesn't seem likely to succeed now, at least not in time, not with her betrothal. But still, this easterner may be the ace that they needed up their sleeve.

He mounted up his horse and rode out of the stable, the rest were mounted soon after.
"Lead the way, sir. We'll see what carnage you've wrought on those thieves."
 
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He gratefully thanked the man who began saddling a horse for him and moved to assist. Once it was saddled he mounted the horse and told the group to follow him. He lead them out across the fields and hills that covered the estate and the lands around it, after a ride lasting an hour and a half roughly, they came across an abandoned camp, of course there were some bodies, nine to be specific, but it seemed as though several men had fled rather than fought the armoured foreigner. And there on the southwest side of the camp was a large pen surrounded by a fence of punched thornbushes and held in place by two rows of pickets on either side, the fence was roughly three feet across and four feet tall to prevent the horses from jumping it.

"Here they are," he says dismounting. "The gate is along this side, follow me."

And so he lead the group of stablehands to the gate of the pen so that they might collect the stolen horses.
 
Three of the stablehands dismounted and followed Sung. Titus dismounted but remained with the remaining four stablehands who also dismounted. He was in his element here, and something wasn't as it should be. His eyes scanned the tree line of the deserted campsite, looking for anything out of place because his instincts told him something was.

As a woodsman and tracker he could put together a bit of what happened here, there was a fight for sure, he picked out the easterners unique track among the others. But a few of the nine bodies that should have been armed had been stripped, no weapons lay beside them or in their sheaths, specifically, quivers of arrows were emptied.

Titus examined the trees around them, to a normal eye all one would see is trees, but even without his skill in the woods, his eyes were not normal. He counted at least ten arrows nocked and drawn on them hidden up in the trees. If he were alone Titus may have been fine, but he had four fellow servants to look after who had never had an arrow fired in their general direction before, much less done combat with another person before.

Titus cursed himself for this oversight and not bringing protection from the house guard. These servants were wary, but not aware that anything was truly wrong. Titus instructed the rest of the servants to go help with the horses as well, if the ambush was sprung, the safest place Titus could think of was near the valuable horses, and the dangerous easterner. Titus took up the rear as they went in the direction that Sung took.

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The servants that went with Sung to find the entrance began tying the stolen horses together with long lengths of rope to make herding them easier on the way back through the woods.
 
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As Titus passed Sung whispered to him. "So you saw them too did you? You're sharper than I first thought. But I suggest that you go in with the others while I handle this."

With those words Sung turned, and finished speaking by saying, "keep a horse between you and them at all times, they don't want to damage their prizes."

And then he began to approach the archers, keeping his polearm vertical against his forearm with the tip down, not something one would see often. And began to advance on the hidden archers.
 
Titus followed his instructions and covertly spread the word to the other servants. They continued to work as normal, but were now at least somewhat aware of the danger. They proceeded to tie all the horses together, but all the while Titus kept a sharp look-out. He didn't doubt that the easterner could handle a mere group of ambushing bandits alone, but he would loath to miss how he did it.

Titus moved around the horses, counting them and making sure all were accounted for in reference to their reported losses. All the horses were accounted for, with a few unknown horses in the mix, probably stolen from other fields. In the process Titus also made sure all the servants were still accounted for. He continued to make these checks consistently to assure that there wasn't anything funny going wrong behind the easterners back.
 
As Sung Chei approached the bandits, they saw him coming and let their arrows fly. He was a brief blur of movement to knock aside any arrows to come his way. After he did this he began to run to the enemy archers, who hurriedly tried to knock more arrows as he began to run at the group of hidden archers. They couldn't release their arrows in time.

He got there, his first strike removed a man's head, followed by a pommel to the second man's stomach, then another slack across the gut to the third. Three down, seven to go. He charged for the remaining men, using not only his polearm, but his hands and feet as well. Not all of them were killed, some only knocked unconscious from solid foot-to-face contact. And all they gave Sung Chei in return was a couple new nicks in his armour.
 
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Titus wanted to watch, but he couldn't... A two pronged attack was being performed, the initial ambushers who didn't know what they signed up for, and the bandits who snuck around to kill the servants and steal the horses away while the easterner was busy.

The bandits showed up amid the horses with the servants suddenly, having hidden themselves in the shadows and bushes. Their plan was to take the servants down silently and make their escape with the plunder, but their mistake is when they targeted Titus first.

The bandit came up behind Titus and grabbed him, quickly jerking his head back by his hair to silently slide a dagger across his throat, but Titus was not helpless. In that brief second to recognize that he was under attack his reflexes had already kicked in and he moved to defend himself. As his head was jerked back he continued the motion, striking the man squarely in the nose with the back of his head, causing a loud outcry of pain. He caught the knife hand and pulled it forward, drawing the arm over his shoulder and stepping back while bowing and pulling the arm to send the attacker flying over his back and to the ground, with a quick twist Titus took the dagger and a moment to assess the situation. The shout had alerted the rest of the servants who were given time to look around and notice that they were under attack. Being unarmed and untrained they simply had to do the best they could to stay alive from that point on.

But Titus dealing with his attacker drew the attention of two others who decided they would take on the young butler. Now armed with a dagger and a stunned bandit at his feet and two coming at him swords drawn, Titus began to work.

The first, a larger man less suited for stealthy work, swung in aggressively abandoning stealth for a fierce war cry as he swung his sword. Titus easily back stepped the swing and then stepped inside of the follow-up backhanded swing. He caught the arm and took its momentum, guiding the swing around his own body till the bandit found himself running and off balance, to be abruptly stopped as Titus clotheslined him, dropping him winded to the ground. But Titus had no time to rest, the second man was coming in favoring a deep thrust to his abdomen, Titus sidestepped this as well, catching the wrist as it went by and pulling him abruptly to the side with the leading hand, pulling him into the next strike, which was the pommel of his dagger against the bandits temple.

Three bandits now lay stunned or unconscious at his feet in less than a minute. After that more bandits took notice, so now was a good time to lay low. And he literally did so, ducking down and crawling dangerously around the hooves of the horses. From there he snuck around, tracking down his fellow servants and one by one rescuing them from a sword in the gut and getting them out of the horse pen to hide in the woods... But the process was slow, and he had to work fast, the servants had good survival instincts, but that wouldn't last long against a killer with a sword.
 
One of the things that the ambushers hadn't counted on was the butler's skill, and secondly, how fast Sung Chei worked. He slew the archers ferociously and swiftly, not leaving any of them alive. He was looking over the fallen bandits to ensure that they were dead when he heard the shout from inside the herd.

Turning around and seeing the danger that the servants were in he rushed in, and using his powerful eastern legs, began to hop from one horse's back to another, approaching the attackers. The first to meet their fate saw an armoured man falling onto him, the tip of his polearm piercing his throat. Sung Chei let go of the weapon, it long reach would be useless in such a crowded place. He instead opted to draw his twin jian swords, which were rather short and rather thin swords despite their strength. By the time he got there he had witnessed the butler handle several of the bandits on his own, and rescue the servants. So Sung decided to give them a better shot to get to safety, and wasn't in any way hiding what he was up to. He killed the bandits efficiently but not as quickly as before, letting their screams draw in more of their brothers, only to be faced by a n unrelenting whirlwind of steel. Some bandits fled, the rest died. And the servants, or at least those that survived, were safe.

Sung approached the butler once all was done, his armour and weapons covered in blood, "you did very well out there good sir. Might I inquire about how a man with such martial skill became a butler?"
 
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As soon as Sung Chei arrived the fight was as good as over, unfortunately two servants didn't survive the attack. The easterner approached him and asked him how he learned to fight.
There were two answers to that question.
"My father taught me to fight before I entered service to the Bochanan family, and since then I've been apprenticed to become a knight."
Titus left out the reasons why, Mr Sung didn't need to know at this point. But he did share a little bit.

"Suffice to say I want to be able to do what I can to protect my mistress and her household."
With that he turned and began helping the servants secure the horses, and also preparing the bodies of the two servants to be brought back to the manor. Another duty was securing the three bandits that Titus had subdued, capturing them to be dealt with officially.
The servants tied the horses together and began leading them out of the pen and through the forest. Everyone was alert for more trouble, though Titus suspected that was the last they would see of those bandits.