Marpa Tulku

[golden_master]

Only Khan could orchestrate such a complete disappearance of his forces. Crime in the city returned to normal, the presence of Mongol warriors and naljorpas faded into the shadows of Chinatown, and all seemed quiet. There had been no more probing or plotting from Khan, so it seemed.

Comments

[evillurks]

To the older Shadow, Khan's silence is deeply ominous. In his mind and in his files he's gone over his own encounters with Khan, including the final battle, and it does not leave him feeling optimistic. The physical portion of the fight was not easy, and every day he spends running back and forth between worlds he feels less capable of undertaking such a fight again. His mind is under considerable strain with the constant shielding of Myra and Ming, often across dimensions. In addition he must keep his own mental presence subtle to prevent Khan from finding him. His powers are on a much grander scale than they were at this time in his own world, but that also makes his own psychic signature difficult to keep under wraps.
Events are not unfolding quite as he remembers them, and the little differences are worrying. He was not completely without aid, when this conflict came in his past, however.

The mental voice that reaches out to him is not wholly unexpected. It's been a very long time since anyone called him by that name, however

[sable_cloak]

Marpa Tulku.

The younger man almost cringed at the development. From their own encounters, he knew that his mind would likely read different from that of the Old Tiger, and that caused a moment of hesitation. If Khan didn't learn the game, the tulku would.

What made matters worse, is he knew that Marpa had likely made himself known through a telepathic connection. If they switched places, while Marpa wouldn't invade his mind as Khan would, he couldn't be certain he wouldn't betray the situation to the tulku. His help was sorely needed as well.

There was a hissed breath as he punched a reluctant message back. Too much was happening that felt like he was losing control of the situation. He couldn't deny the tulku, the man would make his own efforts if he wasn't included, but that was a dangerous proposition.

Still...

We'll need him.

[golden_master]

The guarded reply caused Marpa to withdraw slightly. Had the greatest fears of the priests been realized? The Shadow had only been to protective of himself to his teachers when being tested. He had come to them an open book, there should be no reason for him to hide.

Like Khan, Marpa also had the ability to project his mind to a location and see what was there. The presence, however protected, made it difficult, but he felt darkness, close walls.

A simply inquisitive sensation filled the area, it was the equivalent of a polite knock that could be ignored, or welcomed.

[evillurks]

Do I go to him or not?

His impatience just may carry over the text. The subtle, inquisitive presence is loud and clear to his senses. Hunched in the alley over a dimly glowing screen, he feels a surge of restlessness. The priests of his world are gone, dead or hidden away from the world in an effort to preserve what invasion and continued political pressure seeks to obliterate. In his own world he has grown used to the sense of isolation, resigned to the knowledge that he will never have such teachers to turn to again.

The sudden opportunity has opened a sense of yearning long ago locked away. The fruitless search for Khan's activities has left him every day feeling old and tired, worn down by a worry of failure. Marpa Tulku and the aid he can bring is the breath of days he thought long past.