3 Third Time's the Charm!

| ~2000 B.C. | A Plateau | ??? Tribe | ??? |

A woman's screams echoed out into the night sky, as torches flickered giving light to an imposing tent set upon an outcropping overlooking thousands of smaller tents.

The tent was defended heavily with strong-looking men and woman decked in full leather armor carrying an assortment of weapons made of sharpened stone. Axes, clubs, spears, bow-and-arrow.

These guards were currently inspecting a young girl, no older than five, who was carrying a wooden bucket filled with river water.

The girl was a serving-girl from a respected family within the tribe; she served the wife of the chief, who was inside the tent behind giving birth. She had been sent down to the river to fetch more water just a few minutes prior. The guards knew who she was, yet they still checked her for anything hidden, just in case.

After passing the inspection, the girl entered the tent greeted by the labored breaths of a heavily pregnant woman on the verge of delivery.

She moved through the tent toward the sole male in the room. Her master and chief of the tribe. Stopping one meter away bowing, "I have brought the water, Uncle."

"Mmmhn." The chief nodded his head keeping his watch over his wife, "Thank you, Lei."

He followed up with, "Set the bucket down on the table and then you can go back to your tent and sleep. There is nothing more for you to do tonight."

"But I want to see the baby! Can I stay, please?" She made herself look as cute as possible while placing down the bucket.

The excitement in her voice and actions must have swayed him as his stern expression softened ever so slightly. "Hahaha. Very well you can stay to see the child. Go over and hold your aunt's hand for the final push."

The bouncy little girl arrived at the edge of the bed taking hold of the woman's hand. Encouraging, "You can do it, Aunt! You're almost there!"

"Silly girl- You can be springy now- But when you are giving birth- one day- I'd like to- see you keep that up-" The pregnant woman said through her labor pains.

Before the small girl could wittingly respond another scream came out the woman followed by a pregnant silence; then cries. Cries of a baby boy now in the arms of its father as he stood back up.

"A boy! A little boy! Aunt, you have a son!" The girl danced about next to the exhausted woman. Stopping after a few seconds then asked, "What are you going to name him?"

The woman lying on the bed set her gaze out through the hole in the roof of the tent out into the starry night, thinking.

Just when she opened her mouth to reply she saw a star, which had previously looked unassuming, light up brightly in a flash before dimming back down.

"Xing. He will be named Xing. May he be the brightest star amongst the tribe, guiding us into the future." She said as she took ahold of her baby boy for the first time.

"Can I hold him? Pleeeeease?" Puppy dog eyes attached themselves to the little girl.

"Maybe tomorrow Lei, go get some sleep girl." Commanded the new father.

"Fine. Goodnight Aunt and Uncle! Goodnight baby Xing!" Said the girl as she ran out the tent.

Unbenounced to the three within the room the baby who had now stopped crying had a look of maturity in his eyes. And he had listened and understood everything that had gone on in the tent.

'So I do get a third life. Thank the heavens. Xing huh? An alright name, with the stars above it's easy to figure how she came up with that one.'

He set his gaze upon the couple and around the tent.

'Well, these two look better than last. Not skinny, better-weaved clothes and they both have a sort of leader vibe surrounding them. The tent is well-made and doesn't look like it will collapse at any moment. It is bigger than any tent that I saw in my previous life which adds to the aura of these two; they must be leaders.'

'Ugh, this body is getting tired as quickly as the last. How I wish I could speed up the aging process.'

He closed his eyes and quickly went to sleep while his parents chatted with each other, taking turns to hold him as time marched on.

***

Time passed by slowly as the baby grew up into a boy, aged 5. Possessing a sharp mind and eagerness to learn about the surroundings, Xing's parents were pleased with their child; sure that he was destined for great things. His father was convinced that he was the best son and heir a man could ever ask for.

In this lifetime he had been born into a large tribe called the Xia Tribe and like he mused when he was born his parents were leading figures amongst the tribe.

His father, named Zheng, held the highest position amongst the tribe. Tribe-Chief was his title, and everyone followed his lead. 6-foot-5 tall, huge-muscled body, fierce facial features hiding intelligence in his deep dark-brown eyes, the man looked like a black bear with all the hair to match.

Xing could tell that the man who seemed to be somewhere in his 30's was full of ambition. Whatever that ambition was, however, he hadn't figured out. That would have to wait until he grew up and was able to ask about wider topics.

His mother, named Ying, held the position of Great-Warrior and was the leader of all the warriors in the tribe. Every warrior and hunter showed deep respect for the woman. She was tall for a woman, only a few inches shorter than her husband. Tight muscle lined her body without sacrificing womanly curves or charm, curiously she moved with spring in her step despite how tall and muscled she was. She hung an ice-cold expression on her beautiful face, and a serious look gleamed in her bright hazel eyes around everyone aside from her closest family.

Despite how perfectly-beautiful she was there was one glaring peculiarity, which although did not affect her look and gave her a mysterious feel it did distract. This anomaly was her hair which used to be dark-brown but had faded rapidly over the years and was turning full white, and it already had in some places.

Apart from these two figures, there was another who was around almost every time of the day; and if she could, every night.

Lei, the boy's cousin who used to be his mother's servant, now her apprentice. Both her parents were warriors, with her mother being sisters with Xing's mother. The girl was 5 when Xing was born, now aged 10 and she had stuck to him like glue for all those years. One would think that she would be the mature one between the pair of children, however, she was still a little girl at heart; constantly in a playful mood.

Dark brown hair tied up in an innocent ponytail, sparkly hazel-brown eyes full of life, lean and muscled from the daily warrior training with her aunt and cousin. She looked like a copy of his mother, often hearing people remark at how similar-looking she was to his mother when she was that age, yet how her personality was the exact opposite.

***

"Xing! Come play with me!"

A voice came calling up the hill which gave an overview of the entire tribe. Xing was on top in the middle of his own personal training regime, doing one-thousand final sit-ups for the day.

Before long a girl had raced up the mound to where Xing was, before proceeding to look down on him asking, "You still doing those weird exercise thingys? Isn't the normal training that we both do enough?"

"1000!" Finished with his exercise the boy lay on the grass catching his breath. "For the last time, they are sit-ups not 'weird exercise thingys' and in such a hostile world why would you not want a body that can deal with whatever is thrown at you?"

"Whatever, you're just weird. Now get up and come play!" She reached down and started pulling at him.

"Ugh, fine." He said as he was getting on to his feet.

***

Walking through the mass of tents was always an eye-opening experience for Xing. For someone from modern times, he found it challenging to navigate the busy tribe-camp; it was messy, lacking order. There was no layout, somewhere you could walk yesterday now had a tent blocking the path, somewhere you could acquire what you needed was now located on the opposite side of camp.

"How are you able to navigate this place, Lei?"

"Easy, I just walk!" She casually responded, "And if I'm lost I'll just ask a random person."

"You're too easygoing Lei. What happens if you ask someone bad?"

"I'll beat them up or if they are tough, run away!" She punched the air in front of her, "Also there won't be anybody bad around here."

"And how do you know that? There are at least 10-thousand people in the tribe, there will definitely be a few bad apples."

"14-thousand. And I meant that there would be no bad people near where I go. I always travel places I've been before and have many people around; people that know me. Also, what's an apple? Sounds tasty!"

"Did I say apple? I meant purpapple." He quickly recovered from his blunder then quickly changed the subject, "And wow, you can be smart when you want to be huh?"

"Teehee, stop you'll make me blush. Speaking of purpapples you've made me want some now! Come this way!" She declared as she ran back in the opposite direction.

"Ugh, I can't keep up with this little devil," he said, running to keep up.

It didn't take long for the pair to reach a market; Lei running to the closest stall which had purpapples on display. Just looking at the things made him grimace. Purple, lumpy, and hanging like an inverted pyramid from its stalk. The fruit tasted alright; like an apple, yet he couldn't bring himself to eat one unless absolutely necessary.

"Xing, you want one?" Lei asked not noticing the expression on his face.

"No, I'm fine."

While Lei was in the middle of bartering; Xing had a look around the market. Not far away from where he was standing a heated argument was going down and it appeared to have been going on for awhile as a crowd had gathered, watching the spectacle.

On one side was a typical pompous shaman and what was most likely, a few of his warrior lackeys standing behind, both male and female. The other side was a man wearing ragged clothes with bits of leaves stuck to him making it look like he had just returned from within the forest. In his hand was a blue glowing mana-crystal. Upon seeing this Xing immediately knew just what the argument was about and also knew how it would end.

"But sir I was going to take it home and have my wife wear it under her clothing so that our child will grow up with magic!" The raggedly dressed man yelled.

"Nonsense superstition. I won't say it again hand over the mana-crystal!" The shaman moved closer toward the man; adding a divisive comment, "Mana-less."

"Yeah hand it over!" Said a male warrior

"All mana-crystals should be handed over to people who can use them!" One female warrior said

The shamans' lackeys added to the fire.

By this time the surrounding crowd had figured out just what was going on here and also heard the comment made by the shaman. While the term mana-less was used officially for classifying those without mana in society, it was often used in a derogatory manner. And sure enough upon hearing those words made those within the crowd who showed support for the ragged man shut their mouths. Of course, quite a few of the onlookers themselves were without mana, they scowled at the words but didn't do anything.

"No! I found it and I certainly won't give it to you of all people!" The man tried to run but the crowd was not giving way, and they didn't need to. The shamans' entourage had already encircled the man and he just gave them the excuse to attack. The man didn't last long, a few punches from one of the female warriors and he was in the dirt.

"That's what he gets for wandering around with a mana-crystal so openly. Stupid." A female voice said just beside Xing.

He turned and saw Lei taking a mouthful out of a purpapple.

"Do you know who that shaman is?" He asked. "He seems familiar."

"Yeah, that's Great-Shaman Peng in the flesh. Quite surprising since that lazy bastard almost never goes anywhere himself; lets his followers do everything for him. He replaced your father when he was made tribe-chief. He also has a son the same age as me, who is as arrogant as his father." She turned and looked at Xing. "You should know stuff like this, after all, Peng is your fathers biggest opposition; neither like the other."

She took another bite of her fruit then said, "Come on its almost midday, we need to get back!"

Taking one final look at the defeated man laying on the ground being kicked repeatedly and the shaman Peng who was inspecting his loot while watching the beat-down smirking to himself.

"Fine let's go back."