Chapter 11: Reuniting Master and Disciple

  I bobbed helplessly up and down the lake, feeling a little like a piece of driftwood abandoned by the tides. After what felt like an eternity of sputtering and kicking my stubby legs, I finally managed to swim toward the shore. Each stroke was a battle, but the thought of home drove me forward. When at last my claws touched solid ground, I dragged myself out of the water, collapsed onto the soft earth, and shook my soaked feathers with as much vigor as my tiny body could muster.

  I wished I could dry myself faster, to regain some dignity at least, but there was no time for such frivolous concerns. Because there, standing atop a rock not far from me, radiating a presence that froze me in awe, was a figure I knew too well… even if he was healthier, younger, and carried a vibrancy I hadn’t seen before.

  It was him.

  It was Master Song Shu.

  The sun caught his fur, making it glisten like polished silver, and the great sword he hefted casually over one shoulder gleamed with quiet menace. His tail stood high and proud, a banner of his strength and spirit. I could scarcely breathe as I stared at him, my heart hammering with disbelief and desperate hope.

  Master Song Shu raised his voice, the wind catching it as if the world itself leaned in to listen. His words came out like a chant, carrying a melody that stirred something deep within my soul.

  "Through broken mountains and shattered skies,

  I seek a heart that will not die.

  With blade and breath, with sky and sea,

  Walk the path of Dao with me."

  The world seemed to still at his declaration. Even the ripples on the lake quieted, as if holding their breath. Song Shu’s eyes, sharp and warm all at once, landed directly on me.

  "I," he declared, his voice carrying across the clearing, "am seeking a disciple. Someone who can tread the lonely road of cultivation with me, who dares to face heaven and earth without fear. Tell me, little one. Would you—"

  He didn’t even get to finish.

  I scrambled onto my feet… or rather, I dropped onto my knees with a clumsy thud, wings flared out like a ridiculous fan… and shouted with every bit of my dodo lungs could muster.

  "Master! This disciple seeks your teachings!"

  The words exploded out of me, raw and desperate, so loud it startled a flock of birds from a nearby tree. I didn’t care how pathetic or small I looked. I didn’t care that tears were welling up in my beady eyes. All I knew was that fate, heaven, or some twisted karma had spun the wheel once more and given me this chance.

  A chance to call him Master again. A chance to walk the path at his side once more.

  I lowered my head to the ground, trembling not from fear, but from overwhelming joy. I swore in that moment, in that breathless, reckless heartbeat, that no matter what, no matter how difficult, I would seize this life with all the stubbornness of my soul.

  Because this time, I would protect what mattered to me.

  This time, I would be worthy of the name disciple.

  Master Song Shu stared at me with an expression that I couldn't quite read at first. Then, slowly, his bushy brows knitted together and his nose twitched ever so slightly. Was that… doubt? Was my would-be Master actually doubting me? After everything, after all the emotions, here he was, giving me a look like I had crawled out from under a rock and somehow offended his senses.

  "What manner of bird are you?" he asked, his voice filled with both confusion and curiosity. "You cannot be a chicken. Too big. A turkey, perhaps? Or an ostrich?"

  I straightened my posture as much as my stubby legs allowed, puffed up my wet chest, and shouted as proudly as I could manage, "I am a Dodo, Master!"

  Master Song Shu tilted his head, his ears twitching thoughtfully. "Du, that’s your name?" he asked, giving me an intense once-over, as if trying to decipher the mysteries of my existence from my plump body alone.

  For a moment, my mind froze. That wasn’t my name. I was sure of it! In my past life… or past iteration… Master had given me a proper name, one filled with warmth and meaning. Yet no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t recall it. The memory hovered just out of reach, like mist in the early dawn. I felt a sudden pang of glumness, a hollow ache that made my chest tight.

  But I shoved those feelings aside. It didn’t matter right now. I psyched myself up, flapped my stubby wings once, and shouted with as much enthusiasm as I could, "Yes, Master! Du it is! What must I do to become your disciple?"

  Master Song Shu grinned, an expression both mischievous and ancient, as if he were about to unleash some secret trial forged in the fires of the Dao itself. He pointed a clawed finger at me and declared, "Before you can call me 'Master Song,' you must first partake in the sacred ceremony!"

  I blinked rapidly, my heart pounding in confusion. "W-what ceremony?" I asked, panic rising in my voice. There was nothing like this in my past iteration! I wanted to cry. Why was everything different? Why was fate throwing me curveballs after curveballs?

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  Master Song Shu ignored my inner turmoil entirely and leaned forward, his whiskers twitching as he set down his great sword beside him with a thud that made the rock tremble slightly. He grinned even wider, revealing a glint of amusement in his ancient eyes.

  "Make me laugh," he said simply. "Tell me a joke. If I laugh, then… and only then…— will I let you call me Master Song!"

  I stood there frozen, a wet, shivering lump of feathers and nerves. Tell a joke? Was he serious? My mind raced at lightning speed, flipping through half-remembered memories from Earth, snatches of bad puns, terrible riddles, and awkward jokes I once heard on the internet.

  This wasn’t fair! I wanted to train in cultivation, not in stand-up comedy! I stared at him, gulped nervously, and realized with a sinking feeling that my entire future hung on whether or not I could make a squirrel laugh.

  I drew a deep breath, fluffed up my feathers for courage, and racked my brain desperately. I had survived being chased by murderous brats, survived waterfalls, and somehow lived through the endless cruelty of fate itself. Surely... surely I could survive telling a joke.

  Surely?

  Alright. Think, Du, think! I told myself desperately. I only had one shot at this. Failure wasn’t just embarrassing… it was spiritual suicide!

  Swallowing my fear, I raised a wing dramatically and declared, "Master, may I tell you a joke about… birds?"

  He gave a slight nod, his expression stoic, but the twitch in his cheek betrayed his anticipation.

  I coughed again, buying time. "Ahem! Why… why did the chicken… uh, no, the dodo… why did the dodo cross the battlefield?"

  Master Song Shu tapped his great sword lightly against the rock, as if telling me to hurry up.

  I gulped. "To get to the other sigh!"

  Silence.

  The breeze whistled over the lake. Somewhere a distant frog croaked in pity.

  Master Song Shu stared at me as if trying to decide if he should bury me here and now out of secondhand shame.

  It seemed the joke idn’t translate that well…

  Panicking, I blurted out another, faster. "No, wait! I got a better one! What do you call a bird that’s too dumb to fly but too stubborn to fall?"

  The silence dragged on long enough that I felt my feathers begin to wilt.

  I took a shaky breath and finished with a squeaky voice, "A future… Daoist Grandmaster!"

  I cracked a wide, awkward dodo grin, wings raised in a dramatic ta-da!

  For a moment, nothing happened. Then, Master Song Shu’s mouth twitched. Once. Twice. He threw back his head and started to laugh in a great, booming, belly-shaking laughter that echoed through the trees and made the water ripple in the lake.

  I blinked, stunned.

  He laughed so hard he had to lean on his sword to keep from falling over. Between great guffaws, he gasped, "Truly… truly… Heaven has blessed me this day! To find such a foolhardy, thick-headed… yet spirited disciple!"

  I puffed up proudly, wobbling forward a few steps. "So... does that mean—?"

  Song Shu wiped a tear from his eye, still chuckling. "Yes, Du! From this moment onward, you may call me Master Song!"

  My heart swelled with joy, my eyes stung a little, and before I knew it, I leapt forward and headbutted his leg affectionately.

  "Thank you, Master!" I cried at the top of my lungs.

  He smiled warmly, reaching down to pat my head with a rough but gentle hand. "Come, little one. Your path begins now. It will not be easy, and the heavens themselves may one day move against you… but if you have the heart to make a weary old squirrel laugh, then you have the heart to walk the Dao."

  Somewhere deep inside me, something that had been broken… something that had been lost in death, fire, and sorrow… clicked back into place.

  I wasn't just alive.

  I was home.

  "I like the confidence in you, disciple," Master Song said, a mischievous glint sparking in his youthful squirrel eyes. "So, how about we start right away?"

  I froze. "Huh? Master, uh, shouldn't there be, like... an oath ceremony or a spiritual agreement first?" Of course, there wasn’t anything like that in the last iteration, but…

  Master Song twirled his massive sword around like it weighed nothing, grinning ear to ear. "No need for that! Physical education comes first! This is what’s going to happen: I will chase you," he paused dramatically, "and I will hit you lightly with the back of my sword. Your goal, my disciple, is to get hurt as little as possible!"

  I blinked up at him in horror.

  "I... I don't remember signing up for this," I squeaked out.

  However, I did remember something like this in my past life.

  "Nonsense!" he said, slamming his sword onto his shoulder with a thunk. "You already pledged yourself with that terrible joke of yours. Now, RUN!"

  I let out a very undignified squawk and sprinted away as fast as my stumpy legs could carry me.

  "Faster, Du! I’ve seen snails that can outrun you!" Master Song roared after me, sounding far too delighted with himself.

  "I’m trying, Master!" I wheezed back. "My legs are too short!"

  "Excuses! Heaven does not listen to the complaints of the weak!"

  A whoosh cut through the air… I narrowly dodged as the flat of his sword swept toward me like a giant wooden spoon aiming to smack a particularly annoying fly.

  I ran harder, zigzagging through the trees. Branches whipped past my face. My feet pounded against the forest floor. "Master, mercy! I’m a bird, not a hare!"

  "Birds can fly, fool! Why aren't you flying?" he barked, easily bounding over a bush I had to awkwardly scramble around.

  "I don't have wings for that!" I yelled over my shoulder, flapping my useless little arms in demonstration.

  He laughed heartily. "Then you have wings of spirit, disciple! Let them carry you!"

  Another swing barely missed me, brushing my tail feathers. I screeched and jumped forward like a cat dropped into a bath.

  We crashed through the forest, weaving through the trees, my heart hammering so hard I thought it might explode. Somehow, we reached the foot of the Sacred Hill, the ancient place where our story once ended and now began anew.

  "To the Hill, Du! If you reach the Sacred Tree, you survive today’s lesson!" Master Song shouted gleefully.

  "You call this a lesson?!" I cried, dodging another half-hearted whack.

  "Of course! A cultivator must always be ready to run for their life! It's a basic principle of survival!"

  "Then you're the best teacher of running in all the realms, Master!" I yelped, slipping and sliding over mossy stones.

  He burst into laughter. "Good! You’re learning flattery! That will also save your life one day!"

  Step by step, I scrambled up the slope, the Sacred Hill looming overhead. The ancient trees towered around us, whispering secrets in the wind. Somewhere beyond, the Sacred Tree awaited, cradled by the heavens themselves.

  Even as fear pumped through my veins, even as the looming shadow of Master Song’s sword swung after me, I found myself grinning. Wide, stupid, and full of life.

  I was alive.

  I was learning.

  And I was home!

  "Faster, Du! The heavens won't wait for a lazy bird!" Master roared with delight behind me.

  "I’m running, Master! I’m running!" I shrieked… and for the first time in what felt like lifetimes, I laughed. “No, Master! Don’t spank me, Master!”