"Father."  Coral saw the litter in his hand, and the imposing figure laid out there. Her lips quivered, then firmed up.  "Is Yun....alive?"  Her father nodded.

"Get your mother. His head was hit by an enemy soldier, and needs care. Go get the doctor as well."  She took one last look at her brother's bloody bandages and turned away.  She ran quickly through the forest as she had come to meet them when word flew through the village that they had fought a battle.

"She's a good child, Shun.  Obedient, and didn't start crying like younger children sometimes need to."  Shun nodded slowly, kept his eyes on the terrain, and the surroundings.

"She loves her elder brother, and she's been spoiled by him, but she's been trained to act quickly in spite of how she feels.  It can often be the difference between life and death."  He sighed sadly.  "She'll cry later."  Something he wished he could spare her, but often tears were needed. It might help his eldest son fight to live. The closer they got to their village, the darker his eyes became.  Senno knew the reason why, and she appeared at the edge of the village, her hands folded in front of her.

"Biyu."  He said softly.  Her eyes took in how injured her eldest son was, but how her husband had barely any wounds on his body.  Those dark eyes flashed angrily.

"Speak, husband. Explain how Yun lies on the litter, yet your own body is healthy."  He groaned within himself at her words. She was indeed angry at him for what she was enduring as his mother.  Senno spoke up, but did not earn any reprieve for his friend.

"Yun saved us.  He saved....everyone."  Her hard gaze moved only for a fraction of a second to his face, then back to her husband.

"Senno, I never spoke to you. I asked my husband why his son lies on that litter while he still stands beside him."  Shun's eyes flashed angrily.

"My son isn't dead yet, and may not yet die if we move fast! Prepare warm boiled water, bandages, and whatever herbs you believe may help a head wound!"  He didn't say anything else.  He didn't need to.  She turned away and disappeared so quickly, Senno had to gasp.

"You trained her in martial arts?"  Shun shook his head.

"Her father and brothers did. I don't know if I will keep my life if my son dies this night. Not that it matters whether or not I live if my son does not. Before he dies, I will go to my ancestors so that he does not go alone."  Senno nodded.

"As our Great Fathers and their Fathers taught them, so they taught us. The father must guide his son, or else he remains alone on the path until his father arrives to guide him.  Come.  Let us hurry unless we fulfill this role by delaying our feet."

"I do not know how your son survived that blow to the head, but he is still alive."  The old doctor applied acupuncture only to reduce cranial bleeding, but he wasn't sure if this treatment would be effective, or a waste of effort.  "Continue to change the bandages, and apply the Dong Quai to the wound. Feed a mix of turmeric, garlic, cayenne and ginger in a soup broth to help break down blood clots that may form in the brain.  That's all that can be done.  The rest is up to the heavens, and the will of the gods."  Biyu bowed appropriately, and let her husband guide the doctor to the door.

"Mother? Is brother Yun going to live?"  Coral stood at the edge of the doorway, fearful of seeing her beloved brother in such a position of weakness.

"Coral."  Her voice was firm and steady, which served to focus her daughter.  "If we want him to live, we'll need to prepare the broth for his body, and hope it helps him to heal. Will you help Yun live?"  Coral came into the room and nodded.

"Whatever I should do, I will do. Older brother would do no less for me."  Secretly, Biyu could feel that her daughter's heart was breaking, but she refused to let her lower lip tremble.  Biyu's eyes narrowed into slits.  She couldn't afford to show weakness at a time like this.

"Go mix the broth, Coral. I'll sit with Yun until you come back."  She sat at his bedside, and stared at her first son, but could not stop the lone tear that rolled down her cheek.  She looked at her son, then leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"Fight, Yun. Fight for life. Your sister's heart is tender and hurt by this. Your father will go ahead of you if you do not fight for life. Do not take you and your father away from me.  You must fight to live. Fight like the beast they call you when your back is turned. Do not let the tears form on your sister's lashes."

"You instructed her on what needs to be done?"  Biyu nodded, but her eyes flashed angrily at her husband.

"How?"  He sighed sadly.

"He was mighty on the battlefield. Like a beast among men, mowing down our enemies.  They feared him more then me."  He sat down heavily in his chair.  "I tried to keep their attention, but Yun was just too ferocious!  They knew his strength was a weapon they had to destroy.  So they turned their attention to him, overwhelmed his defenses, and smashed his helm with a mace."  She waited quietly for the story to continue.  That helm was a gift from her father, but it failed to do its job.

"I thought he was dead."  He said it so softly, she almost missed it.  "I only continued to fight because they would go for the village had I stopped."  He closed his eyes.  Biyu stared at her husband.

"You thought you left him alone on the path."

"Yes, and though it ached to know he was there alone, I had to fight!  But, to my surprise, he was not dead!"  Her husband's voice shook a bit, and she could see his hands clench.  His emotions were strong, and at the edge of his control.  "Shen begged him to help.  To wake up.  He said his sister would be harmed."  Biyu nodded.

"She would not have been harmed. She would have met him on the path, like his mother."  Shun nodded.

"But Yun did not want to be there with his whole family.  He got up, took an iron pole, and slaughtered the enemy like he was a god of war.  Not one escaped when he set his eyes on them.  They called him an Ogre."  Biyu sat in a chair opposite her husband.

"So he was alive after the blow.  And the enemy soldiers?"

"Scattered, and at less than half strength."  He waved his hand as though they were of no consequence.  "Their leaders are dead, their camp destroyed and burned, their supplies taken by us, and not one of their soldiers had enough strength or courage to face Yun.  We may have some small skirmishes with the remnants, but if they were smart, they would try to go to a town, and go into hiding.  An angry Ogre is a fearsome opponent."  Her eyes still reflected her anger, but there was less tension in the air now.

"You must train him harder when he wakes up and heals.  Strength is not a good foundation." He closed his eyes, and felt her gaze upon him once again.

"I will train him."  His hands shook again. He gripped the arms of the chair, and his eyes narrowed.  "That beast I saw....his eyes were red, Biyu.  Red!  Like a demon!"  She was a little shocked by the description, but stayed silent, and outwardly calm.  "Those eyes were filled with rage and hatred!  It was like my son didn't exist anymore!  Like Yun wasn't behind those eyes!  An animal or a beast, like they call him behind his back, woke up in place of Yun!"  He turned to look at her.  "Should I go meet Yun on the path?  Is this someone else inside my son's body?"  She looked at him silently for a few minutes, and he waited patiently.

"I do not know.  I will see who he is when he wakes up.  If it is Yun, I will know."

Coral gently washed her brother's face, letting tears slowly run down her slightly plump cheeks.  Those deep dark eyes of hers looked so full of liquid, a strong man would be heartless if he wasn't moved by her tears.

She used a small piece of hollow bamboo, dipped it into the bowl of broth, sealed the end with her finger, and let it flow into his mouth slowly.  The body would unconsciously swallow the liquid, so she had to be careful and not put in too much at once.  It was a slow laborious task, but she didn't complain at all.  She felt some comfort each time he swallowed.

"You can not die, Yun.  Your sister needs you."

"S-sister?"  Coral looked quickly into his eyes.  The same gentle look she's always known was there, shining within.

"Yun!"  She leaned closer eagerly.  He frowned slightly, then grimaced in pain.

"S-sister not cry.  Am alive."  He frowned again.  "Tired.  Words....hard."  He closed his eyes again, and fell once again into a deep sleep.

"He woke up."  She turned towards the familiar voice.  This was another face that she knew well, but now looked so unfamiliar.  Shen had never before known the depths of sorrow he would feel when his older brother was near death.  Yun was like a giant, a legend of strength, and few men in the village would ever choose to deliberately provoke a member of their family.  Though he knew that strength was a poor characteristic to judge a person by, it was often the one chosen as people could see it easily with their eyes.

"Yes, brother.  He woke up."  She heard the soft sigh of her elder brother, Shen.

"You should have seen him, sister.  He fell, but when he heard that someone would hurt you, he rose up and killed as many as he could find!"  He smiled sadly.  "He loves you greatly.  It will break his heart when you get married."  She looked down at Yun, and though she smiled a little at the thought of her brother's affection for her, she now hoped he would still be alive when that day came.

"Then that is good. My heart is already broken, seeing him like this."  She continued to do her duty, and fed him the broth.  "He will make sure that this never happens again.  I won't forgive him if it does."  Shen smiled, although it was a shadowed one.

If Yun didn't heal and died in the next few days, then his sister would know what a real broken heart felt like.  He hoped she never saw the dawn of that day.  When he turned away, he noticed the shadow of his mother, and how she left the doorway silently.

"Sister isn't the only one with a broken heart."