Chapter 15: Yin/Yang

Hello, and welcome back to our irregularly scheduled nonsense!

Last time, literally nothing new happened.  They drove for a couple of days, and had conversations that we've already had, so we didn't learn anything new about the characters.  Also, Mr. Kadam is directly responsible for European colonialism in Asia.  Yikes.

This time, Kelsey and Kishan have another training scene (goody), and they get ready to meet the Ocean Teacher so that he can bless them before their trip to Mount Everest.

Chapter Fifteen: Yin/Yang

Ooh, so we're bringing Taoism into this story now, too.  At least it makes sense regionally.

Since the Dalai Lama isn't, you know, actually in Tibet, Mr. Kadam sets up a meeting with his staff located in Lhasa.  The meeting is in a few days, which gives them some more time to sightsee.  And by "sightsee," I mean "list off a bunch of places without going into any more detail as to what they're like in order to provide a sense of atmosphere or do anything interesting."

We saw the Rongphu Monastery, the Potala Palace, the Jokhang Temple, the Sera and Drepung monasteries, and also shopped at the Barkhor market.

I've mentioned this several times over the last couple of chapters, and it's still bad here.  This kind of list means absolutely nothing to people who aren't familiar with these places, and it reads like a fourth-grade "What I Did This Summer" essay.  And as much as I'm glad that we don't have to read yet more filler, what's the point of all of this, anyway?  Wouldn't it be better if they were just able to meet right away?  Kelsey doesn't even seem concerned that they're literally just burning time until they can rescue her boyfriend.

(I've been including pictures because I feel like I'm actually adding more to the experience.  You're welcome.  I won't here, because there's like a billion in that list.)

Kelsey does say that she feels sad, but it looks to me like she's sad she's not doing tourist things with Ren.  There's no sense of urgency or impatience, which would be completely normal emotions to feel in this situation.  Proof:

Although I trusted Durga to keep her promise and watch over him, I really wanted to be with him myself.

I rest my case.

A couple days before their meeting, Mr. Kadam takes them outside the city limits to practice using their new weapons from Durga.  Because that's what this story needs.  More training sequences.

Mr. Kadam finds the discus to be extremely heavy, just like the gada, because it's Magic.

When Mr. Kadam turned his attention to me, I was ready.  He taught me how to string the bow first.

You know what would have been about a thousand times better?  If all of the sword training back in India was archery training instead.  Because then we wouldn't have wasted so much time.

Don't worry, though.  We get into the nitty-gritty of archery from our good friend Encyclopedia Kadam.  I have no idea if any of it is correct, because the only time I've shot a bow and arrow is at Girl Scout camp.  (Also, I got to shoot a few arrows in Inner Mongolia a couple of years ago, which in combination with riding a horse through the grass plains made me feel like Genghis Khan.  It was awesome.)

Mr. Kadam tries to string the bow, and finds that he can't, while Kishan can.  Because it's Magic.  Kelsey asks why the arrows are so short, and Kishan says it has to do with the size of her arms and the draw length of the bow, because an archer doesn't want a bow that's "unwieldy."  I always thought it had to do with the amount of strength needed to actually use the bow, since larger bows require more strength to draw back.  A longbow is definitely "unwieldy" because it's like six feet long, and requires a ton of strength to use.

Kishan points out the different parts of the bow (which are presented in a gigantic list, which is the same problem as our drive-by touristing that I pointed out before), and Kelsey nocks an arrow.  Fun fact: I was today years old when I found out that it's not called "knocking" an arrow.  This whole section is full of stuff like this:

"Good.  Nock your arrow and rest it on your thumb with the single fletching pointing out.  Hold the bowstring with your first three fingers and tuck the arrow in between your first and middle finger."

So you're welcome for summarizing this bit.  It's very boring.

The really important part of this scene is that Kishan gets to stand behind Kelsey and guide her hands while she's doing archery.  Because we've never seen that in any media, ever.

Of course, Kelsey is amazing pretty much immediately.

Mr. Kadam exclaimed, "That was very good!  A wonderful first attempt, Miss Kelsey!"

God, I wish I had Mr. Kadam around as a cheerleader whenever I try to do something.  It's not just him trying to make her feel good about her first try, either.

I quickly built up enough skill to hit the tree like Kishan, although not in the exact center.

Oh, but it's alright, because she's not perfect, even though she's basically near-perfect.  That's a character flaw, right?

Mr. Kadam was amazed at my progress.

Same!  I've shot a bow a few times and I'm complete garbage at it!

Apparently her practice with her lightning power means that she's now a crack shot at archery, even though shooting lightning out of your fingertips is presumably a very different set of skills than archery.  That's like saying a sniper is good at archery because both involve ranged weapons.

I'm on the Olympics archery team!

Also, the arrows never run out of the quiver and disappear from the archery target.

Hmm.

Kelsey takes a break and watches Kishan train with the discus for a while.  Mr. Kadam corrects her and says it's called a chakram.  Why is this information showing up two whole chapters after Kishan got the weapon?  Don't worry about it.  It's apparently Vishnu's favored weapon, and Kishan has already learned how to use it a long time ago, so he just needs to practice so he isn't rusty.

Vishnu holding a chakram.

Anyway.  This chakram is gold and bedazzled with diamonds, like the gada.

It had a curved leather handgrip like a yin-yang symbol.

Why...why does a Hindu weapon used by the Hindu god Vishnu and given to them by the Hindu goddess Durga have a Chinese Taoist symbol on it?  I've been okay with the Hindu/Buddhist blend up until now because those at least occupied the same geographic area within India.  But Taoism (or Daoism, depending on your Romanization) is such a uniquely Chinese thing.  Yin and yang are specifically from Taoist philosophy, and even though there's some debate as to whether this originally came from India, the whole "yin-yang" symbol is particular to China.  Also, "yin" and "yang" are Chinese words.

The chakram can be used in close combat or thrown at enemies, but this one is special because it returns like a boomerang.

Hmm.

So that's a thing.

After dinner, they play a board game.  The stakes have never been lower!  Kelsey laughs (rude) and asks if they're playing Parcheesi.  Kishan says it's called Pachisi, but it's played the same way.  Mr. Kadam and Kishan reminisce a bit about the last time they played, which was with Kishan's parents (also, Deschen was a bit of a sore loser, apparently).

"Do you mean you guys played this game way back when?"

Kishan chuckled.  "Not like this, exactly.  We played the live version.  Instead of pawns we used people.  We constructed a giant game board and set up a home base that everyone had to get to.  It was fun. [. . .]"

Huh???

Am I wrong here, or does this sound like something a cartoonish villain does?  This is the kind of thing that I've literally seen in other fantasy stories that's used for heavy-handed symbolism to show that the bad guy treats people as objects.  

They play for a while, and Kelsey is happy to see that Kishan is enjoying himself.

I could easily envision this proud, handsome, taciturn man as a happy, carefree boy who grew up to stand in the shadow of his older brother, loving and admiring him, but at the same time feeling he was somehow less important.  Somehow less deserving.

I don't know where Kelsey's been this entire time, but "taciturn" is just about the last word I would use to describe Kishan.  He's constantly flirting and joking around (yes, as a front for his Drama, but it's still not "taciturn").

Kelsey and Kishan trounce Mr. Kadam, and Kishan lets Kelsey win.  Which is supposed to come off as thoughtful, but this would literally drive me up the wall.  It's so patronizing.  Kelsey asks him why he threw the game, and he says that he did it to make her happy.

"What I won was seeing you happy, happy like you were.  I want to see your smile come back.  You smile and laugh, but it never reaches your eyes.  I haven't seen you really happy these last few months."

MONTHS???

We're finally getting an idea of how long it's been since Ren got kidnapped, and it's been a few months??  Kelsey's just been fucking around for literal months while Ren is being tortured by Lokesh.

Wow.  I'm almost speechless.

Kelsey says that she's been dreaming about Ren almost every night, and Kishan says that he's been dreaming about him too.  Kelsey asks if it's a vision or just a dream, and Kishan says he's not sure.  That sure was pointless.

Scene break!  More Mr. Kadam exposition in the form of, "What is X?" "X is [blank]."  My favorite.  Kelsey asks about the Dalai Lama and Buddhism.  No real reason, it's just that Houck decided that this should be a chapter, and Kelsey is just filling up pages.  Ugh.  It's a very basic explanation of karma and dharma that you can find in more detail on the Wikipedia page.  Mr. Kadam says that the point is to reach enlightenment and become an eternal spiritual being.  Kelsey says that Mr. Kadam is kind of an eternal being now because he's immortal, and asks if that means he's reached enlightenment.  He says that that's an interesting question, and says that he doesn't think he has because he hasn't put a lot of thought into it, and then they go shopping.  That sure was pointless.

The next morning, they finally go into their meeting with the Dalai Lama's Tibetan office.  They meet with a guy who tells them to share their case, and if it's urgent enough they'll be referred to a higher office.  I guess we'll get a taste of the most terrifying enemy this series has to offer--bureaucracy.

Also, it's incredibly surprising that they've made it this far in in the first place, and Kelsey repeats the fact that Mr. Kadam has a lot of connections.  We already know this information, so this is pointless.

The guy interviews Mr. Kadam, who gives cagey and vague answers.  Instead of immediately ending the interview because the other party isn't cooperating, the guy presses for more answers and asks what their purpose is in being here.  Mr. Kadam says that they're looking for the Ocean Teacher, which was apparently the right answer, because they're swept into another room and interviewed by another woman, who...asks them the same questions.

The woman asks what they're doing there, and Mr. Kadam says that they're on a quest for the people of India.

"Are you seeking riches?  For you won't find any here.  We are a humble people and have little of worth."

Uhh...this is maybe not great given how Tibet is treated by China...

Mr. Kadam says that they're looking for the Ocean Teacher, which again was apparently the right answer, and they're sent into another room for questioning.  Which makes this bit very repetitive, and not really for a good reason.

Then an old monk comes in and says that they're there to see the Ocean Teacher, to which Mr. Kadam agrees.  The monk asks if he'll be more specific, and Mr. Kadam says that it's only for the Ocean Teacher.  So the old monk says that the Ocean Teacher doesn't have time to see them, especially because they're not telling him why they're there.  Kelsey pipes up and says that it's because it's so important they need to be careful about what people they can trust.  The old monk asks them another question.

The monk pulled a medalion from around his neck, handed it to Mr. Kadam, and said, "Tell me, what do you see?"

Mr. Kadam replied, "I see a design similar in nature to the yin-yang symbol.  The yin or dark side represents the female and the yang, which is the light side, represents the male.  These two sides are in perfect balance and harmony with one another."

And, as is tradition with Mr. Kadam's explanations of religion/mythology, it's kind of right and kind of wrong by omission.  Yin and yang don't really represent male and female as a one-to-one analogy.  It's more of a description of energies--yang represents energy (heat, light, vigor, and yes, male), while yin represents the absence of energy (cold, dark, stillness, and female).

This doesn't seem to be the right answer, so maybe this monk realizes that Mr. Kadam doesn't really know what he's talking about.  Kelsey asks if she and Kishan can look at the medallion before they get dismissed.

His hand arrested in midair before handing the medallion to Kishan.

What a terrible sentence.  Especially with using the word "hand" twice.  Ick.

Kishan says he sees a white tiger and a black tiger chasing each other, and the monk thinks this is an interesting answer.  Kelsey takes the medallion, and says the craziest goddamn things I've ever seen:

I looked up at the monk.  "I see part of a thangka.  A long central thread, which is female, serves as the warp and the white and black tigers are both male and wrap around her.  They are the weft which complete the fabric."

The monk inched closer.  "And how is this thangka woven?"

"With a divine shuttle."

"What does this thangka represent?"

"The thangka is the whole world.  The fabric is the story of the world."

Why is she talking like this all of a sudden?  I guess because it's Deep and Mystical.  Or something.

This is the answer the monk is looking for, because otherwise the story wouldn't happen.  They're given accommodations at the office and their bags are bought over from the hotel.  They have dinner (which we don't have to read about), and then they go to bed.  Kelsey drinks some fancy tea and goes to sleep, and dreams about Ren again.

This time Ren was even more fiercely protective of me and demanded that I leave immediately.  He kept saying that Lokesh was getting closer, and he needed me to be as far away from him as possible. The dreams felt real, and I woke up crying.

Ooh, a rare case of telling and then showing, instead of showing and then telling!  Seriously, if you take out "The dreams felt real" and leave in the second half of that sentence, it's way better.

The next morning, they all meet up for breakfast.  Then all of a sudden the old monk is there, with no mention of him walking in or anything.  It's also unclear from the text if it's the same old monk from before, but it is.

Without looking at us, the monk spoke, "I understand you wish to visit with me."

Oh shit he was the Ocean Teacher the whole time!

Never seen that old switcheroo done before.

That ends the chapter.  Woo.

Closing Thoughts

Sorry for the short spork, folks, but this was a short and pointless chapter.  Them's the breaks.  But we did get a somewhat better idea of the timeframe we're working with--it's been "months" since Kelsey's been happy, so it has logically been "months" since Ren got kidnapped.

I'm pretty sure this is a holdover from a previous draft or something where things may have been shuffled around a bit.  If that's the case, it really should have been caught in editing.

HAHAHAHA imagine if anyone edited this book

If it wasn't missed in editing, and we're seriously supposed to just accept the fact that nothing has been happening for months, and the only thing Kelsey feels is "sad" (but not sad enough to not sit around playing board games and go sightseeing on a daily basis).  If you're trying to establish a ticking clock (we have to save Ren before he breaks under torture!), this is the exact opposite way to go about doing that.

Anyway.  Next time, Chapter Sixteen: The Ocean Teacher!  The Plot takes another shuddering step forward, and we get some more exposition.  At least it's not from Mr. Kadam this time.