It had taken many hours for Trip to wear down and extract the information she needed from the reluctant Brother Mender, who initially feared that he would only be facilitating her suicidal mission. Eventually he relented, and resolved to provide her with monastery resources to help her survive and, perhaps, even prevail.

Finally, she stood before a narrow trail that Brother Mender had told her would lead her directly to Black Wind Cave.

Behind her was a series of narrow stairs that led back to a heavily-secured door in the monastery wall.

On her, she had various weapons and supplies that she had obtained from Brother Mender, in addition to those she already owned. She was going up against members of the Crimson Army. She was loaded. She was ready. No quarter asked, no quarter given.

Beside her, Wukong pleaded with her yet again, as he had been doing for the past while.

“Mistress, you’re going up against a demon! You NEED me with you!”

Trip stared at him with frost in her eyes and liquid nitrogen in her tone. “I’ll handle it. Stay here. You’ve done enough.”

Without another word, she turned her head away from him and started down the trail at a brisk walk.

Wukong could only watch her, his entire body drooping, tail limp, as she moved further and further away from him. The further she went, the more he seemed to wilt.

Soon, she followed a turn in the trail and disappeared out of sight. Losing sight of his Mistress, Wukong seemed to also lose even enough strength to keep standing. Dropping down into a crouch, both hands grasping the hair on his head, he rocked back and forth, muttering to himself in an increasingly agitated manner.

“How could this happen! What if Mistress gets into trouble? I need to go help her!”. He rose up into a half-crouch, then froze.

“But… I swore obedience! Mistress told me to stay! If I willingly disobey, then I’m a bad monkey!” He crouched back down, hands pulling frustratedly on his hair.

As his muttering grew louder, so did the strength in his hands. Instead of only pulling on it, he was tearing the hair off his head and the fur off his chest and torso in great handfuls. His tail lashed all about in agitation.

Without him noticing it, the hair and fur he tore off floated together and formed a single pillar-like cloud of golden particles. Gradually, the golden cloud assumed the size and shape of a human woman.

A golden hand came to rest on the top of Wukong’s head. Feeling the gentle warmth emanating from the hand, Wukong turned his head to see a radiant being, giving off a glow that soothed not only the eyes, but also the spirit. In fact, Wukong was soothed so much, his muttering stopped as his mouth dropped open.

The woman was tall, with long hair tied back in a practical ponytail. Large almond-shaped eyes beneath two thick arching scimitar eyebrows. A snub nose above generous bow-shaped lips. She wore a sleeveless robe, showing tattoos of the Gear and Spring on her well-defined shoulders.

The woman smiled at Wukong, revealing crow’s feet and laugh lines.

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“Lady Tang?” rumbled Wukong. He blinked a few times, then opened his eyes wider.

“Lady Tang! It’s you!”. He scrambled forward on all fours to kneel before her.

“I did everything you asked me to! I served Mistress as best as I could, but she doesn’t want me with her. How can I help when she won’t let me?”. Wukong held his hands out pleadingly.

“Wukong”. Although she was still smiling, her voice had a hint of iron in it. “Tell me, what were my exact words? Do you remember?”

“Yes Lady Tang!” Wukong scrambled to his feet, coming to a ramrod-straight posture of military attention. “I was to wait under the Mountain of Five Elements until one day, a descendant of Tang would come to release me. My mission would then be to protect and serve them.”

“Good. I’m glad you remember. Now, do you know what you should do?”

“Er… follow orders and stay here, like Mistress ordered?”

“No Wukong. Protect first, THEN serve. Do what you must to protect her. Blind obedience will serve neither her nor yourself.”

“But… if I disobey Mistress, she won’t trust me anymore!”

“What makes you think she trusts you now? Trust is a two-way bridge, built stone by stone. Have you done anything to prove that you trust her?”

“Of course I trust Mistress!”

“I see. So of course you’ve told her important things about yourself. Things that might help or hinder her mission. Things that she needs to know.”

“Those things… I can handle it! She DOESN’T need to know!”

“Just think about it. I leave it to you. Let’s go back to what you need to do now, when your Mistress is heading into danger. Which do you think she would appreciate more, sitting here being of no help at all, or following her anyway, so you can be there to support her if she gets into trouble? Which would be worse, a scolding from her for disobeying orders, or her getting into a really bad situation?”

Wukong frowned, turning his forehead and chin into prunes, thinking very hard. After a few minutes of silence, he stood up straight, gave a fist palm salute, and said “Thank you Lady Tang. I know what to do now.”

“Then go.” She smiled, then broke apart into a cloud of ash that sped back to Wukong, reforming his hair and fur, now completely black.

Wukong started jogging down the path, quarterstaff at the ready.

***

Trip strode up the path that had been getting steeper for the past while. Although the valley was wide, large trees and thick undergrowth hemmed the path on both sides. Even though the morning sun shone high and bright, the dense plant-life cast dark shadows, making the path seem even narrower.

Finally, after walking up the steepest portion of the trail, she saw the cave entrance with the words “Black Wind Cave” above it. According to Brother Mender, the Black Wind Demon would be inside.

Without pause, she entered the cave, and encountered a massive black iron door, set in a wall of stone. Using the handle of her knife, she started banging the door without stopping, until it was yanked open violently, and a nasal voice said “WHAT!?”

Not seeing anybody at first, Trip looked down, and stared at one of the ugliest hybrids she had ever seen.

It was as tall as her waist, and had a head that looked like a cross between a rat, a bat, and a warthog. Thin patches of fur sprouted here and there on an otherwise hairless body, covered in wrinkled greyish skin that had pink spots of various shades and sizes all over.

“WHO’RE YOU?”

“I’m Trip, from the monastery. I want to talk to the Black Wind Demon.”

“WHAT FOR?”

“It’s about the new weapon he… received from the Abbot. I can show him how to use it properly.”

“‘KAY! WAIT HERE!”. The imp with no inside voice slammed the door in Trip’s face.

As she waited, Trip got busy preparing a few things for the Black Wind Demon’s arrival.

-- Chapter 17, End --