Zhixin Lakebloom

Background
Like the majority of Pandaren who grew up on the Wandering Isle, Zin has felt a need to go out and explore the world around him since he was born. His curiousity led him to study the ways of the Monks of the Tushui path, specifically for the reasons that are the core tennents of the Tushui. Zin prefers a more passive way of dealing with problems, always making sure that steps he takes will be the best possible choice in any given situation, and watching to see the results of his endeavours.

When he began his training in the martial arts, Zin was sent on various tasks from helping a merchant locate a stolen cart to battling against invading hozen ransacking a small village. It was on one of these initiate tasks that Zin met his first friend, a female pandaren that he immediately grew fond of after talking with her while on a walk. They shared many similar interests, from drinking and eating to passtimes and aspirations of exploring the Isle and finding new things that noone had seen in generations.

Unfortunately, their dreams were not to be. While they promised to stay together no matter what, a tragic event sent shudders through the Wandering Isle - an Alliance airship had crashed into the side of Shen-zen Su. Zin and his friend immediately set out with Aysa and Ji to aid in whatever ways they could.

The group eventually located survivors of the crash, and split up to aid them in whatever ways they could to both help the strangers and save the wandering pandarens' home. Zin accompanied Ji and the Horde captives while his friend and Aysa went off in search of the Alliance crew. While he was aiding them, Zin realized that he had much in common with some of the Horde creatures, specifically the Tauren and their way of life. His time with the survivors was short, but he managed to grow fond of them.

As the rest of the events unfolded, the two groups came together to eventually save Shen-zen Su and heal the wound caused by the crashed airship. When it was decided that the pandaren who had aided them should each split off and seek to provide their assistance to the two factions, Zin was torn over who to seek out. The friend that he had grown fond of, and was starting to fall in love with, had already told him that she intended to join the Alliance. He had been thinking of joining the Horde, to learn more of the Tauren and see what he could do to aid the honorable and strong race in their struggles.

Zin meditated over his options, and after a time, came to the decision to follow his friend and future lover to the Alliance. They immediately set out with Aysa, who had also chosen to go to the Alliance, and left the Wandering Isle in a balloon that very evening. This decision would plague Zin for a long time in the near future, as events conspired to shatter the dreams that were forming for him even then.

Not long after being accepted into the Alliance as equals, Zin and his companion set out to provide aid to whoever reached out for it. The first group that they came across was out in Westfall, an almost self-contained militia was fending off rampant attacks of gnolls and other creatures, and needed some assistance to help deal with a growing threat that couldn't be overlooked. Setting out immediately, the two pandaren made quick work of the gnolls and found evidence of a plot to strike down the Westfall inhabitants by the orphaned daughter of Edwin Van Cleef.

A vicious attack on the central guard tower at Sentinel Hill left the area in ruins, with many casualties and the militia in shambles. Zin's companion was also struck down in the attack, wounded beyond the meager skill of his training to save her from the final darkness of death. Zin learned after she faded from this life that she had been with child, and it broke him in such a way that he closed off all of his emotions and merely continued to exist. He volunteered for various missions to different locales, not taking any pleasure from helping those who needed him, and ignoring any glory that was heaped upon him.

All was not lost for Zin, however. He stumbled upon a fallen crusader in the cold snows of Northrend who was on the verge of turning into a scourge warrior. The crusader asked only that Zin end his suffering in such a way that he would not come back to life to harm another, and it sparked inside of the huge pandaren something that refused to give up so easily. He went around the known world in search of a way to save the crusader, seeking magical aid in Dalaran, religious intervention in Stormwind, druidic magics from Moonglade, all to no avail. And finally he made his way to the center of Shattrath to plead his case with A'dal, a pure manifestation of the human's fabled Light.

The creature agreed to assist in whatever form that it could, and summoned Zin to the crusader's location to witness the ritual. In the windswept hills of the Icecrown Glacier, Zin watched as the crusader's soul was lifted from his broken and plagued body and wrapped within the pure essence of the Light itself, shielding it from ever raising a creature of darkness again and giving the crusader the rest that Zin believed he deserved.

After witnessing this act of redemption for the fallen crusader, Zin left to find a quiet spot to meditate and think over all he had done in the time since his lover had been killed. While he did not do any evil, he also could not say that he did any good. He was frustrated with his inability to save her and their child, and focused his thoughts towards that end to find a solution that would let him continue his life and try to cope with the loss. After spending many nights in contemplation, Zin finally came to accept that he could not have done anything differently, and that he simply had to move on.

The time after the encounter with the creatures of Light and the crusader were very difficult for Zin, as he found himself reluctant to open up to anyone he met for fear of them being taken away from him. He did manage to make some friendships after a while, and seemed to finally be making progress in moving on. The main catalyst for his progress was the reward he recieved from his efforts to aid his cousins in the mainland of Pandaria. He was granted a small plot of land on which to grow and raise crops, and he took to the work with a passion that he had lacked since his fallen love had passed.

Zin has since cultivated his farmland to the point of being accepted into the Tillers of Halfhill, a very proud moment for him and one that reinforced his decision to mostly give up fighting except in extreme cases. He spent most of his time working his fields and trying to perfect a recipe for addition to his family recipe book, his own creation that would stand up to the great chefs of his family and make his ancestors proud of him.

During a trip to Stormwind to sell off his excess crops, Zin decided to give away some of the best crops to gauge the reactions of those that tried them. His only request of each person that he shared some of his produce with was an honest opinion on whatever they chose to eat. This netted mostly positive results, and gave Zin many new friends to keep in contact with.

The end of that day came quickly for Zin, as he ran out of produce relatively fast. The reactions gave him enough confidence to plan a return trip with a new batch, and to spread his experiment out to a wider audience. He spent the majority of the second trip wandering through Stormwind, passing out various bundles of produce and again only asking for opinions in return. Near the end of the day, Zin started back towards the Dwarven District, heading for the portal located beyond the wall at the Pandaren camp on the lake.

As he made his way up the path towards the camp, Zin saw another pandaren meditating with the waterfall as a backdrop. He had one final bundle remaining, and did not want to pass up another opinion on his crops, so he carefully made his way up to some of the rocks across from where she was hovering. He attempted to get her attention from there, but it was no use. With the rumbling of the waterfall drowning his calls out, he would have to get closer. This proved to be both a bad and good decision.

Zin moved closer, and took a short leap towards an outcropping right next to the meditating pandaren, and missed his landing. The ensuing splash and sputtering of Zin broke the pandaren's meditation, giving her a laugh and getting her attention. The crops, however, were mostly lost to the flowing waters, Zin only able to save a single carrot from the bundle. He did not let this deter him, however, and proceeded to ask her to try it and tell him what she thought. She gave him a counter offer, he had to try her own special brew that she was working on and do the same. And so, completely soaked and agreeing to her counter offer, he followed the woman to a small grove of trees where she had her brew stashed at, and they sat down to share a drink and the single remaining carrot.

The encounter began a friendship between the two, and they met several times over the following weeks, Zin sharing new recipes he was experimenting with, and the woman doing the same with the brew she was currently working on. Over the course of the friendly meetings, they discussed various topics ranging from their individual talents to their philosphical beliefs. As it turned out, they both had much in common and, as time wove it's way further along, they grew fond of each other. This culminated in a large shared meal together, a feast of his finest dishes and her best beer, where Zin explained that, as part of his family tradition, they were now friends for eternity, and that nothing could change that fact. She was excited by this declaration, as she had been hesitant to open up to him due to some past issues that she had been through with others that she cared for deeply.

His assurances, and subsequent acceptance after she explained them to him, drew the pair even closer. Their affection for one another was clearly evident whenever they were seen together, all smiles and loving gestures. Every encounter they shared, Zin cherished. The many things that they shared about their past strengthened the bond between them, and Zin was mostly freed of the doubts that had haunted him through his trials in this new land. His intense emotions, however, would play a part in things to come, for better or worse.

Zin happened upon a large egg that was completely intact while he was out on a mission for a man that was called simply The Black Prince. While he had shared his true identity with Zin, he wished to remain mostly anonymous, and Zin respected the man's wishes after hearing his proposal. A person that had come along with Zin mentioned that a group of Pandaren in the Jade Forest would be interested in seeing the egg that he found, so he set out shortly after the mission was mostly complete to see what he could learn about it.

As it turned out, the egg contained a cloud serpent hatchling, and Zin was immediately instructed to undergo the training that the group were known for, the Order of the Cloud Serpents - a sacred group of Pandaren warriors who raised and lived beside companion cloud serpents that rode the great creatures into battle in defense against any of Pandaria's greatest threats. A skilled Pandaren astride a cloud serpent could shatter offensive formations with a single pass, and were a great boon in any defensive measures that would be used to stop any attackers.

(To be continued!)