Tattoo Scrolls: Warrior

The Warrior Scroll is the second of the five Tattoo Scrolls, written by Grandmaster Zhang the Burdened during the events of the War of Shadows. In it, teachings of conflict resolution and imposing one's will are distilled that are available only to the initiated disciple.

Like the other Scrolls, the Warrior Scroll has several properties that mean only great training and preparation allow one to safely read it directly. This Scroll is, in particular, written entirely in the poses of thousands of drawn warriors, spelling out the Scroll's mighty teachings. Only by mastering their every illustrated stance can a student hope to learn the Scroll's true lessons. The ill-prepared are often known to obsess over these drawn warriors, having many nightmares of them until they are all defeated in mental combat.

Provided below is a mere transcription of the Scroll, which is understood to not possibly convey the nature of the Scroll in its entirety.

Transcription
The student, with Fortune but not Peace, approaches the Master.

The Master stands before a tall tower of cards. He turns to the student, and smiles.

"Today, I shall teach you the honor of War."

The student, having never fought, is confused.

"But war is conflict, Master. It is instability and pain. How can one find honor in unnecessary bloodshed?"

The Master gestures towards the tower he has built.

"Observe this creation. Do you believe it is stable?"

The student's answer is without hesitation.

"No. At but the slightest breeze, it is doomed to fall."

"Indeed." The Master muses to himself.

"By sundown, you must make this tower stable. Then you shall have your answer."

The student, unsure yet determined, nods deeply.

With careful hands and exhausting focus, the student faces his Task.

Hours pass. The sun rises, and sets.

The student is diligent, yet unenlightened.

The Master returns.

"Have you finished your trial?"

Startled, the student knocks the tower over by mistake.

Believing he has failed, he solemly bows and awaits his exile.

He hears only Applause.

"Do you now See, my disciple?"

The student does not.

"Knock over the tower, then."

The student is confused.

"The tower is already knocked over. How may I achieve your task?"

The Master beams, and the student realizes his Lesson.

"True stability can only be found in absolute Collapse. For from this state, no more disorder can be gained."

The Master walks to the sturdy remains.

"War is not a lack of balance; rather, it is the restoration of it. For to wage war is to expose a state of conflict."

"It is thus the Warrior's way to bring balance where there is none. For he is the master of War - the art of ending conflict, and felling towers of cards."

And the student learned the Honor of War.

---

The student races through the rain to his Master. He is frightened, and in danger.

He has angered a mighty warrior, and has been challenged to a duel. He thinks himself too weak to win. The student is sure of his own death.

The Master does not give his usual smile.

He draws his blade, and lunges for the student. The student parries, surviving only by instinct. He does not strike back.

The Master looks disappointed.

"I will strike you again the same way in one hour. If you do not pass my defense, I will take your life."

The Master leaves.

The student, paranoid of the next encounter, thinks long and hard about his Master's style. His techniques. His teachings. His movements.

He recounts the footwork of his Master's strike.

He walks out into the rain.

He is ready.

The Master does not lie. In one hour, the student can hear the splashes of his footsteps.

The Master swings again as before. But the wet mud ruins his footwork.

The student sees his chance. His sword finds the opened chink in his Master's defense.

He has earned his Survival.

The rain stops. The Master smiles to his student.

"He who knows his enemy and himself need not fear losing even a hundred battles. Thus, the Warrior's greatest weapon is not his blade, but his mind."

The student, on hearing this, is enlightened.

And by learning the Might of Prediction, his thoughtless foe lay defeated the following day.

---

The student did not approach the Master this time; instead, the Master finds him.

The student holds a young rabbit. The pet rabbit he has cherished for much of his childhood.

The student is crying.

"My dear friend was attacked by a fox," the student explains. "I fended it off, but..."

Blood runs down the panting creature's white fur.

"If only I had come sooner, I could have protected him. Instead, I was too late. I'm truly a failure of a warrior, Master; I failed to end the conflict as it should have best been done."

The Master hands the student his blade.

"Then end it as best you can now."

The student knows what must be done.

He slides the blade into the rabbit's heart.

Tears are lost in blood.

The rabbit is not moving.

"My student, you are no god. One may only bring about exactly what they want from this world if they know every inch of it every moment. But for those of us with nothing but eyes, we may only save what we can see."

The Master turns away.

"It is unfair to call a warrior less noble if there was no chance to wage a noble war."

The student, on hearing this, is enlightened in a baptism of his own tears.

And the student learns the Burden of the Sheath.

---

The blind-but-seeing Master hands the student his sword.

"You have completed your training. You may now face the mightiest of foes, and write your Wisdom in their spilt blood."

The student unsheathes his shining blade. In his reflection, he sees his new Weapons: Honor, Prediction, Burden.

And so the student learns the Way of the Warrior.

These lessons were received by Master Shu Ming, Flying Eagle over the House of a Thousand Whispers.