The sun rose steadily from behind the huge mountain shadowing the city. The last remnants of snow melted under the glare of sun rays. Spring had arrived. The city of Seung Yeung, barricaded against the rest of the world during the long harsh Winter, once again braced itself for the onslaught of enemy troops. The Winter had been hard on the people. Food was carefully rationed by the military stationed within the city. No contact was made between Seung Yeung and other cities. Nothing was imported or exported, no merchants arrived to barter or sell. No one ventured out, no travellers wandered into the city either. Normal citizens were not allowed to move in and out of the huge city gates. The Seung Yeung city gates were the people's first and last defence. With foreign armies lying in wait just beyond the gates, the people of this strategic city stayed cooped within their tightly guarded city perimeter, expectant of war any day, any hour. Troops patrolled the gates even during the coldest nights of Winter, strictly regulating all incomings and outgoings. The city of Seung Yeung this last Winter was lonely and alone. Although the mood had been sombre, the people were not desperate or fearful. For just as the cold had been hard on the city's people, it had equally been a difficult time for their enemy. The Mongolian invaders.

    Mongolia had been waging a war against Greater China for some years now. Seung Yeung lay directly in the path of the Mongolian enemy troops from the North. The city was thus a strategic target for the invading army. Once it had been taken, the rest of China would most assuredly fall rapidly, one major city after another. As such, the safety of Seung Yeung held great significance not only to its one million citizens, but also to the rest of China. The city was rigidly protected from within. Nonetheless, repeated attacks had slowly begun to weaken its defences. The past Winter, though hard, had however also provided a few months of respite for the people of Seung Yeung. The Mongolian army could not attack in the harsh snow blizzards that were frequent and unpredictable during Winter. The city was also better and more easily defended from within against armies that not only had to brave the Winter storms but also fight against the defending forces who were much more familiar with the terrain and the weather. Because of this, the Mongolian troops laid low all Winter in their camps, a few miles beyond the city gates. They did not retreat back to Mongolia. These hardy military troops were determined and persistent. They were led by descendents of the Great Genghis Khan and demonstrated his famed ferocity and passion for command and conquer. China was a target the Mongols had longed for since the time when Genghis Khan was alive. China, it seemed to these brave barbarians from the plains, was almost at hand. And Seung Yeung was the key.

    The lull in attacks allowed the city to survive the Winter months in relative peace. It also allowed the enemy to have ample time to regroup and strategise. Morale was high amongst the Mongolian army. The people of Seung Yeung, on one hand welcomed the warmth and renewal of life with the arrival of Spring, nonetheless felt dread as the last snow-capped mountain revealed its green lushness to the world again. Would their city receive the wonderful promises of Spring and all its natural bounty? Or would blood be shed and the life of the city be choked out sooner by the invading armies or later by their very own country who held on to it as tightly as would a drowning man held onto the last floating plank in the sea, not letting go even as waves washed him down and away? The people did not know.

    As the city defences continued their vigilance for any sign of movement from the enemy camp, the people went about their business now that warmer weather had arrived. The city streets began to fill out as more and more people ventured from their homes and took in the sunshine. Shopkeepers re-opened their shops, selling wares that were made and produced during the short days of the Winter past. The local army patrolled the city streets, keeping everything in an orderly manner and also looking out for any unusual signs of activity.

    From the backs of a dark alley, a girl of around 16 years of age skipped out into the streets and yelled cheerily backwards to her twin, "Polo, hurry up!"

    The girl had bright intelligent eyes and a wide cheerful smile. Her voice was high-pitched and one could detect unabrashed impatience and restlessness from her tone of voice. Kwok Seung swung her arms wide apart as she turned round and round in abandon on the streets, welcoming the much-missed warmth as she let the sun shine onto her smiling upturned face. Kwok Seung had been cooped up in the house for far too long during the Winter days. Her parents were frequently busy with their duties of plotting the city's defences, her elder sister had her own family to take care of. In actual fact, it had been more than the past Winter. These past few tense years, the adults in her life had spent most of their waking hours concerned with their country's safety. Hardly anyone could spare her attention and more often than not, she was left alone. For a girl whose personality veered towards restlessness, Kwok Seung craved excitement in her life. She longed to roam the world, meet new people and experience life. Today, she took advantage of the bright new day of Spring and ventured out from her home to explore the streets of the city, now bustling with life.

    "I'm right behind you, you brat!", panted Kwok Polo, as he scrambled after his energetic sister.

    Kwok Polo was tall for his age, slim, and, as a result, rather gawky in stature. Beneath the non-threatening exterior lay an alert and intelligent mind, a mind that somehow found it extremely difficult to communicate what it was thinking into intelligible words. Hence, more often than not, he chose to remain silent rather than struggle within himself to formulate words to rebutt and refute, when challenged. Kwok Polo was passive just as his twin was pro-active. Usually taken to be a quiet boy and not too bright, he was constantly outshone by his two vivacious elder sisters and his famous parents. His nearest and closest, however, knew him to be a cheerful and slow to anger person. His plain features were often startling changed when he smiled with real pleasure. The right corner of his mouth curled up a fraction higher than his left, and was topped by a light dimple. More significantly, his eyes tended to mirror his feelings, be it pleasure or sadness, and spoke more eloquently than his mouth could ever form words to convey.

    Now, as he caught up with his sister, who was still twirling around happily on the streets, Polo's eyes were unusually bright, as he too took deep pleasure in the warmth of sunshine and the hustle and bustle of the revived city.

    It is as though we all woke up from a deep slumber, eager to stretch our long-unused limbs. But yet one could feel the tension in the air still...the expectancy that such carefree days would not last...

    With a quick shake of his head, he joined Kwok Seung and thought to tease his sister of her uncontrolled exuberance. Teasing words flooded his mind as he struggled for a second or two to form them on his lips. Then he gave a short laugh and just grinned down at Seung-yi instead. "So what did you plan for us to do today?", asked Polo. "Father told us to deliver the message to General Leung at the West Gate. Shall we go to the West Gate first?"

    Seung-yi finally stopped spinning and crouched in the middle of the street, resting her chin on her knee as she panted. She then looked up and grinned, "Well, I guess we could go to the West Gate. Maybe we'd even get to spot some refugees begging entrance there. We could make up stories about those people like when we were little...'that scruffy-looking fella's a hero in disguise...oh and that old woman with the huge basket is probably a spy from Mongolia!'" With that idea firmly in her mind, she took off towards the West Gate.

    Refugees. Oh yes, Spring is here, the people are mobile again. But would we dare to open the city gates? And how could we not? They're people too.

    With that somewhat sombre thought, Polo followed his sister towards the West Gate of the city.

    The West Gate was busy with activity when the siblings approached. As they made their way to the top of the wall that surrounded the city, the twins could perceive that there was an unusual amount of chattering amongst the soldiers guarding the wall. While Polo went in search of General Leung to pass on his father's message, Seung-yi stayed behind to mingle with the soldiers, some of whom she had known all her life. The soldiers in Seung Yeung were generally respectful of Kwok Jing's active young daughter, and allowed her the run of the place without too much hindrance. Having been born and bred in what was widely considered a military stronghold, the intelligent young lass was extremely familiar with the workings of the army and knew when to keep out of the way and when to sidle up to the beloved comrades of her father to gather interesting bits of news of the warfare.

    "Good day, Old Uncle Chung! How are you faring lately?", Seung-yi asked one of her favourite soldiers with a bright smile.

    On hearing her greeting, an aged soldier, his skin creased from years of guarding the city walls in all forms of weather, turned and returned Seung-yi's smile. "I welcome the beautiful Spring day, lass. My bones ached tremendously this past Winter, now I look forward to some much-needed warmth and sunshine to ease my pain hahaha", he laughed heartily.

    Looking around, Seung-yi again noticed the persistent murmur amongst the soldiers on duty there. Curious, she peered over and beyond the wall, hoping to catch sight of what that was causing the more-than-usual prattle amongst the normally jaded soldiers, most of whom had been stationed in Seung Yeung for some long years now. Beyond the city gates stretched miles of empty plains, and further beyond these plains lay forests so thick that one could only penetrate on foot, and not with great ease either. Nothing seemed to be out of place outside the city. In fact, not even a blade of grass could be seen swaying in the wind, as most vegetation had yet to grow, so soon after the cold season. The refugees that she had predicted to her younger twin were nowhere in sight.

    Turning towards Old Chung, Seung-yi asked, a little puzzled. "What is going on, Uncle? Why do all the soldiers seem so excited? Is it the Mongolians? What happened? Oh won't you tell me!" She tugged at the soldier's arm impatiently, when he did not answer her immediately. Instead, Old Chung moved towards a nearby stone bench and sat down on it slowly. Seung-yi followed suit and sat by him. She beseeched the old soldier with a forlorn look and smiled sweetly up at him.

    "Oh don't look at me like that, young lady! You know I cannot resist your charming ways, you brat", Old Chung admonished her in jest.

    Kwok Seung flashed a cheeky grin back at Old Chung just as her brother approached where they were sitting. "Polo, come quick. Persuade Old Uncle Chung to tell us the greeeat secret!", she waved cheerily.

    Polo reached the duo and greeted Old Chung with the same familiar ease his sister had shown earlier. "What great secret?", he enquired with interest, as he proceeded to crouch beside the bench. He too had noticed the excited atmosphere hovering around the wall today but did not pay it too much heed as he had had to deliver his father's missive. Now, he too started to get curious, perhaps partly influenced by his twin's infectious enthusiasm.

    Old Chung cleared his throat. The twins turned towards him with matching expectant looks on their faces. Chung laughed and started telling the pair the bit of news that seemed to have excited the troops today. News from their spies in the Mongolian army had arrived this morning and told of some unusual commotion that occurred in the enemy camp for the past few days. Apparently, there was someone hiding within the Mongolian camp and causing not a small amount of mischief to the enemy. A half-burnt Mongolian flag was found one day, a barrel full of grain was found mixed with sand the next. The crunch came when the General of the Mongolian troops had his head shaved bald in his sleep one night! The leader was livid and had ordered a thorough search of the camp to find the mischief-maker. However, according to the news that reached Seung Yeung, three days and nights of search turned up no suspect. And the mischief had continued. The Seung Yeung troops were of course extremely tickled by this latest piece of news and laughed uproariously amongst themselves. When the hilarity had died down, they naturally tried to figure out the identity of the mischief-maker. Bets were thrown around and accepted with glee among the soldiers. Morale was equally high on this side of the wall it seemed.

    "Well, we reckon that this person had to be highly skilled to go undetected for so long. And he had to be on our side. But we could not figure out why this person is only causing minor inconveniences to the enemy...or does he have even bigger plans up his sleeve? We do not know until more news reach us, but the soldiers are nonetheless having a great time discussing this, and of course laughing at the enemy's expense!", chuckled Old Chung, his eyes all crinkled up in his obvious delight.

    Seung-yi's eyes widen in appreciation of the trick played on their enemy. "How clever this person is. And how brave...I wonder who he could be...", she said in a whisper, almost as though she was talking to herself. She fell silent for a moment as she stared off into space with a small smile playing on her lips.

    Next to her, Polo noticed his sister's curious expression and felt a small twinge of uneasiness. She looks like this whenever she's planning something unusual. I hope she is not thinking of doing anything foolhardy. He cast her a worried frown but did not say anything. Polo was smart enough not to give his inquisitive sister any ideas, just in case she was merely thinking about tonight's dinner! Nevertheless, he made up his mind to keep a lookout for her for the next couple of days.

    Polo stood up, stretched lazily and said, "We should get going. We still have chores and don't forget our studies. Mother would be hounding us if she knew we have skipped our lessons again."

    Seung-yi nodded absent-mindedly and got up from where she was sitting. The siblings bade farewell to Old Chung and started towards the centre of the city, heading back to their home.

    "Polo," Seung-yi said, slipping her hand comfortably into her brother's as they walked. "Who do you think that person in the Mongolian camp is?"

    "You mean the one playing all those pranks?".

    His sister nodded her head rapidly, sending her plaited hair flying in all directions at the same time. "Who else do you think I could be talking about, you twi...err..you silly boy," she grinned.

    "Well, I don't really have any idea...who do you think that person could be, sis?" Polo took no offence at his sister's playful ribbing of his intelligence. In fact, he did not mind being stupid at all, for his mother always told him affectionately that he reminded her of his father. Polo could think of no greater honour than being told that he resembled, even if merely a fraction, his father, the greatest man alive in his view. But I do not seek to be my father. I only wish to be me. He turned his attention back to his sister when he caught some of the words she had been excitedly chattering all this while. "Wait a minute, what do you mean 'Big brother Yeung'? Don't tell me you suspect that that mischief-maker could be Big Brother Yeung Gor?!"

    Seung-yi continued walking and did not answer. Her brother looked at her, puzzled. "Why aren't you saying anything?", he asked.

    His twin threw him a sulky look, but the twinkle in her eye revealed her true feelings. "You were the one who told me *not* to tell you. I'm just obeying your wishes, little brother," she replied cheekily.

    "You...you...you knew I didn't mean that! I meant..I meant....". Her hapless twin threw up his hands in frustration as his lips could not form retorts fast enough to throw back at his mischievous sister.

    Seung-yi burst into fits of giggles and hugged her brother close. "I'm sorry for teasing you, my dear brother. I know what you meant, I just wanted to have some fun."

    "I know you know what I meant," he couldn't help but smile at his sister's obvious delight in teasing him. Hell, even *I* knew what I meant. I just couldn't make those words come out of my mouth. "Nevermind that now. So what was that you were talking about?", Polo ventured to ask again.

    "Oh nothing much, I was just day-dreaming as usual. Pay no attention to me," she said airily. "Hey, take a look at that!"

    With that, she skipped ahead of Polo and bent to pick up something that caught her eye further down the path. The twins reached home just in time for their midday meal. Their elder sister reminded them to do their chores and also to practice their meagre skills in martial-arts later. Both youngsters, knowing better than to irritate their Big Sis, nodded quickly and went their separate ways to attend to their chores. The day's events were quickly put aside and forgotten, at least by one of them.

    Polo looked up as someone knocked lightly on his door. It was already fairly deep into the night. His room was brightly lit with two large oil lamps, one was placed on the table where he was working, the other by his bed.

    Without waiting for an answer, his mother entered his room. Wong Yung, bearing a tray of snacks and a warm smile, came towards where her son was sitting.

    "Studying? Come have some supper," she said as she placed the tray on the table that was already scattered with many loose sheets of paper.

    Polo stood up and stretched, yawning tiredly. "Not studying of course! I am just doodling as usual. You know how much I like to draw, mother", he smiled and gave his mother a brief hug.

    Wong Yung examined her son's various line drawings and paintings, most of which were devoted to caricaturing the family. She nodded appreciatively and said,  "You have a talent for capturing human beings, especially their expressions and the essence of the moment...it is as though you managed to freeze a live moment and transferred the image into ink and paper." She was especially enraptured by a drawing of Seung-yi. "This one....you managed to capture her rebellious expression and yet....yet I can see the gentleness and kindness in her eyes....this is exactly like our Seung-yi."

    Polo felt a surge of warmth inside him at his mother's praise. His mother was a woman of many talents. She was widely famed to be not only smart and skilled in martial-arts, but was also extremely at home with the arts. She looked up at her quiet son and saw the pleasure tinged with shyness reflected in his eyes. "My awkward, tongue-tied son cannot even express himself eloquently in front of his own mother. This quality of his reminds me so much of his father", Wong Yung thought to herself with a smile.

    "You don't have to say anything, your mother can read her only son's mind very well. You are sorry that you did not draw me younger, then I'd have praised you even more, eh?", she said to Polo with mock seriousness.

    "Oh mom! Don't tease me like Second Sis always does. You know I could never out-talk either of you. Even father says the two of you combined could...could..well, the two of your mouths combined could tease us fellas into running far away, if only the city was not barricaded!"

    From the doorway of his room came a hearty laugh. Both mother and son turned at the familiar laughter and welcomed Kwok Jing, Polo's father, with matching warm smiles.

    "Now wasn't that an appropriate response to your mother's teasing? I do believe you take after your mother more than we realise sometimes, son", Kwok Jing said as he crossed the room to join his wife and son.

    The three of them sat amiably together around the table, ate and made small talk, each enjoying the companiable moment they were sharing together as a family. As Kwok Jing flipped through his son's artwork, he too came across the piece of drawing of his younger daughter.

    Turning to Polo, who was busy enjoying a piece of flower-shaped snack, the elder Kwok questioned his son, "That reminds me, what's going on with your second sister lately? She has been going to the West Gate and mingling with the soldiers quite frequently it seems. In fact, General Leung mentioned in passing to me today that he saw her chatting with the soldiers for the past three days in a row."

    Polo stopped in mid-chew and tried to think as he swallowed. Second Sister has been going to the West Gate that frequently? I did not even notice that!

    "Maybe she was just curious," he ventured to answer his father. "Why don't you ask her yourself..." I don't know either!

    "Good idea, I think I will go over to Seung-yi's room and have her join us here. We all haven't sat together like this and chit chat in ages anyway", Wong Yung said. With a reassuring touch on her husband's shoulder, she got up and went in search of their younger daughter.

    Wong Yung returned almost immediately. There was a slight frown on her face and the father and son pair could sense the tension as soon as she re-entered the room.

    "Seung-yi's gone! She left a note", she blurted out, in a mixture of anger, disbelief and worry.

    Kwok Jing jumped up from his chair and stretched out his hand for the note his wife held. "Let me read that", he said.

My beloved parents,
I have gone in search of a friend.
I shall be back as soon as I found him.
Life is fated and the wings of my
destiny go with me.
Please do not worry for I shall be safe.
Your loving daughter.
Seung-yi

    "What friend?!"
    "Where could she have gone?"

    Both Polo's parents started talking and asking questions at the same time.

    "That brat knows the city so well, she could slip out anytime she wanted", Kwok Jing muttered, resignedly, knowing that it was very well too late to stop his daughter from departing the city.

    "But where is she going and who does she want to find?", his wife asked again.

    Both parents looked towards Polo for answers as the twins were close and usually spent most of their time together.

    Friend. Brother Yeung!

    "I...I think I know where she went, father", Polo said in a quiet voice. "I think she went in search of Big Brother Yeung Gor!"

    In the next few minutes, Polo told his parents what he and his twin heard the other day at the West Gate walls. He also mentioned what little he knew about his sister's postulations on that mystery person in the Mongolian camp.

    Kwok Jing thumped his right palm onto the table in exasperation. "That silly girl! It could not have been Gor-yi. Why, he just sent word to us two months ago that he was still at the Old Tomb. How could he have made his way to Seung Yeung within such a short period of time?"

    "Oh. I um..didn't think of that. And I had no idea Second Sister was serious, father, mother", Polo said, his eyes mirroring his parents' worried expressions.

    His mother patted his arm. "You are not to blame. Your sister just needed an excuse to go looking for her Big Brother Yeung. I know my daughter very well...it is only a matter of time."

    "Nevertheless, this is not the safest of times to venture out of the city, least of all to the Mongolian camp!" Kwok Jing was almost red in the face, angry at his rebellious daughter's irresponsible actions and at the same time worried of the dangers she could encounter.

    Wong Yung stood up and said, "I will go look for..."

    Before she could finish her sentence, an urgent knock at the opened doorway diverted their attentions. There stood a servant girl, her clothes all wrinkled and hastily put together.

    Breathing rapidly and deeply, the servant looked as though she had important things to say and had rushed to deliver the news.

    "Sir...there's a soldier out in the living room. He requested to see you...said General Leung sent him to inform you that there is action from the Mongolian camp!" The servant girl's eyes were as round as saucers and she panted even more rapidly, if that was possible.

    "What?!" Both Wong Yung and Kwok Jing looked up in mild shock. Their minds were dwelling on the situation of Seung-yi just a minute ago. Now it seemed something even more urgent had come up.

    "It never rains...but it pours!"

(to be continued.....)