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As the faint sphere of light slowly rises from the crushed Soul Eater into mid-air, the Protector flies towards it, her majestic figure circling tentatively around as if to protect it, or to stay guard lest it would escape.
Among people on the ground, Katy is the first one to notice: "Hey, your dragon found a ball! Do dragons play catch?"
Xialing frowns. She quickly approaches to take a closer look. Her eyes meet with the big calm pupils and somehow, she knows immediately what it means.
With her weapon she builds herself a thin rope bridge to ascend the neck of the Protector before the creature makes another round. "Ge (brother)!" She shouts while grabbing the mane of the Protector, ready to ride.
Shangchi joins her by building a stepping stone bridge of rings. He is surprised how he has mastered the rings so fast -- to be fair, he did have a good instructor showing him all the aggressive attacks. He has yet to learn more about the flow of energy and using the rings in non-lethal ways. The training with auntie Yingnan has been very useful.
"What's wrong?" He asks as he sits behind her on the Protector.
"Not sure. But it could be..." Xialing points at the light ball but hesitates. Shangchi's eyes widen a bit: "The thing didn't get to finish its last meal?"
"You strangled its belly apart, remember?" Xialing's lips curve into a very weak smile.
"What do we do with it--him...? Well, let's not get our hopes high..." Shangchi is the cautious one, as Xialing is already commanding the dragon to fly full speed to the cliff, where their father's body lies.
The Protector obeys and lowers her head as if in acceptance. She would rather avoid more trouble and get back to her underwater nap, but it should be their call. They certainly have earned it. She keeps the lost soul in sight, gently pushing it forward with mist of water from her nose.
The light ball glows brighter as they get closer, and with a long exhale, the Protector makes one last push. More droplets of water join the mist and condenses to a drizzle, falling over the motionless body, The light ball glows one more time before it dissolves into the very regional rainfall that showers on Wenwu's motionless body.
"What the -- " Coughing, a drenched Wenwu opens his eyes only to get water into them. He slowly raises his hands to wipe his face, noticing the stiffness in his arms as if they are no longer his.
"Ba (dad)?" Xialing asks tentatively. She jumps down from the Protector and kneels next to him. Shangchi gives the Protector a friendly pat, "Thanks!", before joining her.
For a moment Wenwu's face is very blank. He sits up and looks from Xialing to Shangchi. "My children." He genuinely smiles. "Good to see you both!"
He appears lost again the next moment, trying to figure out where he is and why there is so much water and -- OH -- the monster?
Wenwu raises an eyebrow and looks quizzically at his kids.
"We killed it, dad." Xialing answers. "And it puked you up." Laughs Shangchi. Together with his sister, he helps him stand up.
"I expect no less from you." Wenwu's lips form a thin smile, which quickly disappears as he looks back at the gigantic cave, now empty. "I really, really wished that she were here." He sighs."I was wrong."
His stare into the dark abyss is so long and intense that Xialing starts to get nervous. "But we are here." She grabs his left hand. "Together." Shangchi chimes in, grabbing his right hand.
Wenwu finally smiles again. "That is really good, children." He gazes at each of them for a while, then moves his look further to their back: " What are the villagers doing?"
" Celebrating and grieving." Xialing summarizes.
"I'm the only survivor?" Wenwu frowns. "Maybe we were too late." Shangchi lowers his eyes and starts to feel this less as a glorious success.
"Well, " his father lifts his chin: " Let's join them."
The Protector has already gone. Shangchi gives them a ride with rings. He carefully throws them in an angle almost parallel to the water surface to maximize the number of skips they can make, and when one reaches its limit he starts the stone-skipping with the next. Not all moves are perfect but they eventually manage to cross the lake.
Wenwu watches attentively his son's moves with the rings, without making a comment.
"Sorry it was bumpy." Shangchi feels a bit awkward. Part of him wants to return the rings to his father, whereas the rest warns and fights against that idea. Having to face a power-possessed Wenwu once is more than enough in his lifetime.
"I was already wet anyway." Wenwu simply shrugs.
Their arrival causes quite some unrest in the village crowd. "It's him!" "He let out the monsters!" "He needs to pay!" Some are shouting.
Shangchi shivers and remembers similar words he heard, right before he lost his mother, and shortly after, also his father, to the hate and the circle of vengeance.
He just barely reconnects with his family and he is not going to lose them again.
Shangchi senses Xialing's tension and realizes that she is ready to do the same -- defending their father against a whole angry village.
However, before either of them can do anything, Wenwu steps forward, his arms open and posture unassuming. "You are right." He agrees. " I am responsible for what happened today."
Unprepared to get his direct guilty confession, the villagers lost the need to argue.
" What happened today is tragic, but also heroic. " Wenwu continues: " Many have sacrificed their lives to make sure we take out that monster once and forever. "
His voice is low and coarse but nonetheless powerful, his eyes clouded with sadness but firm with conviction, making sure his audience are with him the whole time. " For generations, everyone here lives in fear and on guard to prepare for the eventual escape of the monster -- yes it was sealed but you never know for how long. And you will train your children to do the same, as they will train their children for many more generations to come. " He looks around the crowd. Some of them nod in agreement, while others look back at him suspiciously.
" But no more! The fear stops today, because I let the monster out so that we have the chance to fight it here and now together! And we did it! Because of me, my children, each one of you, and everyone who gave their lives, no children of Ta Lo will fear the locked-up monster any more!" His voice gets louder and louder, and his gaze at each member of the audience becomes more intense and passionate. As he proudly holds up his fists at his last announcement, some villagers start to cheer and applaud.
"This is ... not really why he was planning the attack, right?" In the crowd, Katy whispers to Razorfist, who happens to stand next to her. The latter looks uncertain but also somewhat reassured. He is always ready to follow Wenwu's plan. A plan with a heroic ending is way better than one without a purpose and more like a madman's dream talk.
Behind Wenwu, Xialing and Shangchi quickly exchange a look, which is both relieved and disbelieving.
" For those who lost loved ones, please accept my sincere condolences. Go home and spend time with your family, the ones waiting for you. " Wenwu concludes his speech, and makes a deep bow. Not all villagers are won over by his charisma, but the unity towards his punishment is gone. Slowly, they start to move away.
" You sure know how to manipulate a crowd." Yingnan is one that has not moved away. but instead moves forward. She looks at Wenwu eye-to-eye. Her eyes are intense and accusing, whereas his are gentle. "Long time no see. " Says Wenwu with a quiet smile.
" You are not wrong about killing the monster for good, and spending time with family now. I give you that. " Yingnan turns her eyes to Shangchi and Xialing.
Wenwu, almost making a possessive statement, extends his arms to hold one of his child in each arm.
" I'll take my own advice now. " He smiles and nods to Yingnan and squeezes his children's shoulders: " Kids, let's go home."
Neither Shangchi nor Xialing objects, even though they would like to spend more time here. It's obvious that Yingnan is not charmed by Wenwu enough to allow him to stay.
They say their goodbye to Yingnan and ask her to send regards to others. " One more thing. " Wenwu pauses as they are about to make their departure.
Shangchi swallows and straightens up, ready to make the argument about himself keeping the rings. He is not sure he can win this verbal fight -- given how eloquent and persuasive Wenwu can be, but he needs to. That's his way of protecting his father from himself.
Their father seems to have forgotten about the rings. He leads the way towards the room with the shrines. They solemnly kneel down in a row before the shrine of Yingli.
" Hey, me again. I came earlier today to ask for your blessings. " Wenwu starts casually, as if he is on a phone call with someone alive, rather than long gone.
" Thank you, dear, for saving me today." Wenwu smiles at the shrine of Yingli. " I wish you were here to see what the kids did. You'd be proud." Yingli smiles back from her picture at her husband and children.
The Protector, sensing and soothed by the momentary harmony flowing in the air and water, could finally close her eyes and return to her sleep.