The Travels Of Xiang, Episode 7

Xiang followed the girl to the edge of town, where buildings were more spread out.  Eventually, they came to a small house.  "This is the place?"

The girl nodded.

"Very well."  Xiang walked up and knocked on the door.

A middle-aged woman answered.  "Hello, young lady.  What can I..."  Then, looked past her to see the little girl and went pale.  "No.  Why are you here?"

"Huh?" Xiang said.  That didn't seem right.  "This girl says she's your daughter.  She was getting roughed up in an alley by a man, but I rescued her."

The woman looked horrified.  "No!  You fool!  What have you done?  Take that girl back where you found her.  If you don't, it'll be the death of me and my husband."

"That girl?" Xiang asked.  "She's your daughter!"

Then, a man came to the door.  "What's going on, honey?"  He noticed the little girl.  "Fiddlesticks!"

Was this really happening?  A mother and father were reunited with their daughter, but neither of them seemed happy.  No matter how Xiang tried to put it together, she couldn't make it add up.  "I...don't understand."

"We're going to die because you brought that darned child back here!" the mother said.

"I...I thought I was helping..."

"Thanks a lot, you stupid girl!" the father shouted.  "I've always wanted to live a shorter life."

"I'm sorry..." Xiang said, on the verge of tears.

The mother looked at the father.  "If we leave now, maybe we can escape."

"There's no escaping Musciani," the father said.  "We may as well just accept our deaths."

The mother looked at the girl again.  "Maybe if we take her there personally, we'll be spared."

Xiang didn't know who Musciani was.  She didn't even know the girl's name.  But she knew one thing.  "I wont let that happen."

The parents looked surprised.  "You wont let what happen?" the father asked.

"I won't let you use your daughter as a bargaining chip," Xiang said.  "She's your daughter and barring that, she's a child.  No child deserves that."

"She's our darned child!" the mother shot.  "We'll use her however we want!"

Xiang gasped as a dull pain stabbed her chest and a wave of shock coursed through her body.  Hearing them talk like that actually caused her physical pain.  These people weren't parents.  At this point, she doubted they were human.  A single tear ran down her cheek and she turned away, grabbing the girl by the hand.  "Forget you."  She started walking away with the girl in tow.

"Hey!" the father shouted.  "Where are you taking her?"

"Away from you."

"We need to give her to Musciani to live," the mother shouted.

"I don't care," Xiang said.  "Unlike you, she still has value as a person."

"Get back here!" the father roared, giving chase with a broom.

Xiang let go of the girl and got into her stance.  Then, she waited for him to swing the broom at her.  That's when she let a punch fly, destroying the broom.

The father stumbled to a stop and fell.

"Give back our daughter, you trollop!" the mother shouted.

Xiang grabbed the girl's hand and went back to walking.  She looked back over her shoulder at the parents and said, "Screw off."  As she turned to face forward again, tears ran down her cheek.

"You didn't believe me," the girl said.  "You just had to see them, didn't you?"

Xiang didn't answer.  All she could do was sniffle and cry.  She thought she was helping.

The Travels Of Xiang, Episode 6

Xiang collapsed down on the bed in her room back at the inn.  She'd made it back safely.  As she lay there, she looked up at the ceiling and asked, "How could this happen?"  Was this really how things worked in the world?

She wrote down the experience in her journal.  She struggled to write the words because it was too embarrassing.  Afterwards, she got up and restock her food supply.

She walked around, going from merchant to merchant picking the freshest fruits and vegetables she could find.  She briefly though about getting some meat, but chose not to.  Meat or not, she wouldn't starve.  She wound up getting carried away, ending up with two heaping bags of food.  Satisfied, she headed back to the inn with a smile on her face.

Then, not far from the inn, she saw a young girl run out of an alley, then get snatched back in by a big, hairy arm.  "Huh?"  That didn't look right.  Also, she couldn't have been the only one who saw that.  How come no one else reacted?

She shook her head.  It didn't matter who else saw it, she definitely did.  And if no one else would do anything, she would.  Determined, she rushed to the entrance to the alley and heard a man talking harshly, possibly to the girl.  She listened in.

"You can't run," he said.  "Your parents couldn't pay up, so the boss decided to accept you as payment.  If it was me, I would have taken you from the beginning and let them keep the money.  Matter of fact, the boss won't mind if I take my cut right now, heh heh."

Xiang could not let this continue.  She entered the alley, set down her bags, and said, "Let her go!"

The man and the girl looked her way, both of them startled.  "Who the heck are you?" the man growled.

Xiang looked at them both.  The girl, who looked no older than twelve, was small, her clothes torn.  The bruises on her face indicated she'd clearly been hit.  The man was just an ordinary goon.  She could tell his muscles were just for show.  He was unskilled and, had his victim not been a little girl, he'd be lying in the alley knocked out.  "Why not let go of the girl and try out a grown woman?"

"Why not stay outta affairs that ain't none of your business?" he shot back.

"Because I can't turn my back on a child in need," she said, getting into her fighting stance.  "Step away from the child or endure a beating."

He shove the girl down and turned to Xiang, cracking his knuckles.  "Think yer tough, huh?  How about I put you in your place and have both of ya right here in this alley?"  He started walking toward her with a sick laugh.

Xiang ran in and sent him flying twenty feet with a single punch, where he crashed to the ground and skidded to a stop.  "Get up, maggot."

The man tried to sit up but failed, coughing up blood.

"Fighting someone who's skilled is different, isn't it?" she asked as she walked and stood over him, then looked down.  "It's not so much fun when your opponents can actually hurt you, is it?"  She knelt down and grabbed him by his shirt collar.  "Idiots like you just don't get it, though."

"P-please..." he begged.

Xiang raised her fist in preparation to strike him.  "Don't cry now.  It doesn't hurt yet.  This beating has just begun and I'll introduce you to a world of pain you never knew existed."  Then, she looked back at the little girl, who was sitting there looking terrified.

The man was no threat, so she let him go and headed for her slowly.  "Don't worry.  He can't hurt you anymore.  Now then, let's get you back to your parents."

"No!" the girl shouted.

"Huh?"  Maybe the girl misheard her.  "I'm going to take you home.  Lead the way.  I'll protect you."

"No!" the girl shouted again.  "I won't go back!  They can die for all I care!"

Xiang was thoroughly confused.  She'd never seen or heard of something like this before.  Things like this didn't happen back in Shao Village.  "Why don't you want to go back home?"

"They gave me away to be...used...to pay off their debt," the girl said.  "They don't love me.  They're probably glad to be rid of me."

"That can't be true," Xiang said.  "They're your parents.  They wouldn't do that."

"Heh," the girl laughed.  "What a load of crap."

Xiang slapped the girl.  "Stop talking like that."

The girl felt her cheek.  "Oh...I see.  You're one of those types.  Fine.  I'll prove it to you.  Let's go."

The Travels Of Xiang, Episode 5

Xiang exited the locker room out to the reception area, still wearing the robe.  She felt defeated as she lumbered over to the desk.

The receptionist looked over at her and said, "Did you enjoy your...what's wrong?  Why the sad look?"

Xiang held out her cloth sack.  "Your cleaners...they didn't happen to hold on to some undergarments, did they?"

The reception gasped.  "What?  Your undergarments are missing.  Hold on  I'll ask them."  She hurried off into the cleaning room.

Xiang plopped down in a chair, grabbed a magazine started reading.  She came across a map of the world and looked for Shao Village.  Sadly, it wasn't marked, but she knew where it should have been.  It was about thirty miles from the ocean and a river ran through it.  She looked at the map for quite some time.

Then, the woman came out of the cleaning and walked over to her.  "I'm sorry, young lady?  None of them have your undergarments.  I don't know who or where..."  Then, she looked as if she had some sort of revelation.  "That boy..."

"What boy?" Xiang asked.

"I left my station for a quick rest break.  Then, just as I was returning, a boy ran out of the women's changing room giggling.  He ran down the street and vanished into the crowd. It must have been him who took your undergarments."

"What!  Oh no!"  Xiang slumped down and looked at the floor.  "What am I going to do?"

The receptionist looked down.  "I'm sorry."  Then, she perked up.  "I know.  I'll give you double...no, triple your money back.  And you next visit will be free."

"Are you sure?"

"The fault is entirely mine," the receptionist said.  "I can't just let things sit this way.  That's my way of making them right."

"T-thank you."

Xiang returned to the changing room and got dressed.  Somehow, she still felt naked.  This was concept was totally foreign to her.  Would anybody else notice?  She felt conscious about it as a group of women entered the changing room, gave her the once over, and snickered.

She looked down at herself.  Everything that needed to be covered was.  What did they see?  She couldn't see it.  This wasn't good.  She needed to find some new undergarments and fast.

After leaving the changing room, she got her coin sack and the promised refund from the receptionist, as well as a voucher for her next visit.  She then asked for directions to the nearest clothing store and was informed that it was around the corner and a few blocks away.  With that, she hurried out.

She felt even more self-conscious as soon as she got outside and it didn't help when several people looked at her.  She didn't know whether to pull down her shorts or wrap her arms around her chest.  What were they staring at?  Why couldn't she see it?

It got to be too much and she ran down an alley to hide.  Then, she slumped against one of the building and started crying.  She thought she was ready to face the world when she left Shao Village.  "If only I had know things would turn out like this, I'd have stayed home."

She cried for a bit before regaining her composure.  Yes, she would have stayed home if she had known the world was going to be like this.  But, she chose to leave home to see the world.  She was an adult.  It was time to handle her business like one.  "Get it together, Xiang.  It's not going to be the death of you."

She took a few deep breaths and stepped out of the alley.  Staying there wouldn't make her undergarments come back.  Getting to the clothing store would, though.  "To the clothing store."

The Travels Of Xiang, Episode 4

Xiang exited the inn and looked down the road.  Somewhere in the middle of all those crowds and merchants lied the bathhouse.  It wasn't going to just walk over to her, so she made her way down the road.

As she navigated the crowds, she was bumped into a lot and almost knocked down a few times.  She could have sworn somebody felt her up but identifying the perpetrator would have been impossible in this crowd.  There were too many potential suspects.  All she could do is hope that person's day was made and that it wouldn't happen again.

It seemed to take forever, but she finally emerged from the crowd.  She looked both ways and there it was.  The bathhouse was to her left.  "Thank goodness."  She hurried in.

Upon setting foot inside, she noticed an immediate difference.  The air was crisper and smelled fresher.  A smiling woman stood behind a desk with a door on either side of her.  The one had a picture of a woman hanging above it, the other had a picture of a man.  Through another door to the far right she saw people hard at work cleaning clothes.

"Welcome to Izuna's Bathhouse and Cloth Cleaner," the woman said.  "We charge twenty coins per hour in the bath and ten coins per outfit to be wash."

Xiang walked over, fishing out thirty coins from her coin sack as she did, and paid the woman.

The woman gestured to her left and handed her a tablet with a number on it.  "You may go through there and change into a robe if you wish.  The bath is down the hall from there.  Make sure to remove the robe before entering the bath.  And naturally, there is to be no clothing of any kind in the water.  Leave any clothing you want washed in the sack conveniently located at the foot of your changing station.  Don't forget to grab a wash cloth.  And feel free to leave your belongings with us for safe keeping.  Enjoy."

Xiang handed over her coin sack, then stepped through the door.  There were numbered booths with robes and sacks lined along the walls off to the left.  There were a few women changing, but it was empty for the most part.  She walked over to the booth with her number and shed her clothes and slipping on her robe.  She then put her clothes in the sack.  She also put her boots in as well because she didn't like the smell coming from them.  After that, she proceeded to the bath.

The bath was large, circular pool that smelled of jasmine.  Xiang could sense the water was enchanted with a combination of magics.  At the far side of the pool, she saw two women; one wearing a white robe and the other wearing a black robe.  From that, she could deduce what magic the were using.  The one in the white robe was a likely a light wizard who probably had cast Cleanse to give the water a cleaning properties without the use of soap, and Purity, to keep the water clean and clear.  The woman in the black robe was a standard wizard, probably casting extremely low-level elemental spells to regulate the temperature.

The bath was quite active, with a number of women conversing, washing themselves, wading around, and just sitting there doing nothing.  She shed her robe and stepped in so she could do the same.  The water was warm and had a refreshing feel to it.  It was like chocolate for the body.

She noticed a few of the women look her way.  She could from their muscular physiques that they were warriors.  They waded on over and talked about workout regiments.

Xiang's own workout back in Shao village was an intense one.  50 chin ups and pull ups.  100 pushups.  100 crunches.  200 squats.  Then, there was all the farm work.  She'd round it round by getting knocked around by her martial arts instructor.  She'd do this at least three times a week.  She wondered if she'd be able to make time to do all that during her travels.  She could do without being knocked around by an instructor, though.

She talked to the warriors for a while, washing herself as she did.  Eventually, she got out and went to her stall.  There was a brand new cloth sack there, which she assumed meant the clothes were clothes.  She looked inside saw all her all her clothes neatly folded.  She pulled out a boot and gave it a test smell.  "Like new."  Satisfied, she started pulling out her clothes to get dressed.

Then, something made her gasp.  "My undergarments...where are they?"

The Travels Of Xiang, Episode 3

Xiang felt weary as she approached the next town.  She'd burned through the last of her food this morning, but hunger wasn't a big issue, thanks to her martial arts training.  What was an issue was the pain in her legs from all the walking she'd done.  A week without being able to bathe made her desperate to get to the nearest bathhouse.

Upon entering the city walls, she was greeted by the sight of shops, heavy foot traffic, horses pulling carts and carriages, and the murmur of multiple conversations going on at once.  She'd never seen anything like it.  It put her little farming village to shame.  "So this is what a big city is like."

Then, she realized she had a problem.  Where was the bathhouse?  Where was anything?  Where would she even begin to look?  It appeared she had to do some more walking.

Eventually, she came to an inn.  Perhaps she could get her lodgings squared away before continuing to look for the bathhouse.  Maybe someone inside could even tell her where it was.  It was a plan.  She'd had enough of walking and hoping to just come across it.

She entered and was immediately greeted by a women at the service desk.  "Welcome.  It's ten coins a night."

Xiang reached into her bag of belongings and pulled out her coin sack, which contained three hundred coins.  She pulled out a fistful and plopped them down on the counter.  "Three nights, please."  She needed some down time after all that walking.

After counting the coins and confirming there were thirty, the clerk handed her a key with a number on it.  "That number is your room.  Enjoy your stay."

Xiang started to walk away, but stopped herself.  "Is there a bathhouse in town.  I'd also like to know where I can wash my clothes."

"There bathhouse and clothes washer are right up the road," the clerk said.  "They are conveniently located in the same building."

"Thank you."

She wandered down the hall, up a flight of stairs, and down another hall before she came to her room.  She entered and saw the room.  There was a bed, a dresser, a table, a cushioned chair, and a mirror.  The table had a number of publications spread out on it.  One in particular, Martial Artist Monthly, caught her attention.  She was a martial artist.  What was she missing?  Her legs needed some rest, so she sat in the chair popped the magazine open.

The was a lot of philosophical stuff therein.  Some dietary suggestions, some exercise routines, and even a few moves for aspiring martial artists to start off with.  It was all fairly standard.

Then, she got to a section called "Martial Arts Woman Of The Month" and her jaw dropped.  It was ten-page interview with a martial artist called Akiko accompanied by pictures of Akiko being scantily-clad.  "What's that got to do with martial arts?" she exclaimed.

She threw the magazine on the table.  Then, she started to wonder.  She stood and walked in front of the mirror.  Staring back at her was a young woman with black pigtails down to shoulders.  She had toned arms and legs.  She lifted her tank top just enough to see her well-defined abs.  She was in peak physical condition.  Years of farming and martial arts training ensured it would be so.

She lowered her shirt and turned to the side.  The first thing she noticed was her shorts were.  They were very short and split all the way up to the hip.  She walked a few steps in place and couldn't help but be impressed by what she saw.  "Huh...I guess I am sexy."  She hadn't thought about it before because the people in Shao Village didn't look at her or speak about her in such a way.  It simply wasn't the way things worked there.

Perhaps she could do an interview in that magazine with sexy pictures on the side.  "Nah!"  She set down her belongings and pulled out her coin sack.  The bathhouse was waiting for her and her armpits were waiting for it.