It had been a few days since Xiang started her journey to the next town or village. The town was in sight. It was business as usual, except for the fact that Chika was in tow.
As Xiang was staying at Chika's house in the last town, Chika made it known she was going on an adventure. Xiang told her she was going to resume her own adventure, so Chika decided to tag along for a few days. Part of the reason was to have some friendly conversation, but for the most part, they just happened to be headed in the same direction.
"My, my, this has been a rather exciting two days, has it not?" Chika asked.
It was nice to not be walking alone for a change. "I guess it was," Xiang answered.
"Shall we spend some time together in town before parting ways?" Chika asked.
"That would be nice."
After about an hour or so, they entered the town. What should they do now? What would Chika want to do?
"We should go to the bathhouse and wash off all the grime of our long journey before we do anything else?" Chika suggested.
Xiang lifted her arms and took a quick sniff of each armpit. "Yeah. Good Idea."
They made there way to the bathhouse for a bath. It was anything but relaxing as women swarmed Chika, trying to touch her and asking questions about her skin. It got so bad, Xiang had to stand in between her and the handsy crowd. Eventually, everyone left and they were able to get some quiet time in the bath.
Once they finished bathing and getting dressed, Chika suggested they get something to eat. They wound up going to a food booth and getting beef skewers. Xiang rarely ate meat, so she savored the taste.
After that, Chika wanted to go see a play. So they went to a theatre to take in a show called The Dragon And Her Bodyguard. The characters seemed familiar to them.
They did various things after that to cram the day with fun. Eventually, night fell. They knew what time it was.
"I must say, it has been a while since I have had so much fun," Chika said. She bowed. "I am glad I met you, Xiang Wenling."
Xiang bowed as well. "Maybe we'll meet again someday." Then, as she returned to an upright position, she saw a familiar person drunkenly staggering past about ten feet behind Chika.
It was a middle-aged man of Tzezhange origin, like Xiang herself. He was average height, dressed in the loose, light blue garment of a Tzezhange monk. He had graying facial hair, but despite not having any last time she saw him, there couldn't be any denying who he was. "Master?"
"Hey now, there is no need to call me that," Chika said. "We are friends and equals."
Xiang called out as if she hadn't heard her. "Master!"
The man shook his head as if recovering from a strike to the head and looked her way. If he was drunk, he immediately sobered up upon seeing her.
She hopped up and down, waving. "It's me, master! Xiang Wenling!"
He looked away and bolted.
"Huh?" She hadn't expected that.
"Do you know that man?" Chika asked.
"He's my defense arts instructor, Master Tsu," Xiang answered. "I haven't seen him in four years. He clearly recognized me. I wonder why he ran away."
Chika took a guess. "Knowing what I know of you, I find it hard to believe, but perhaps he thought you were a bad student."
That couldn't be true. Could it? Xiang gave chase. "Master! Wait!"
They weaved their way through crowds. Tsu would occasionally look back, a look of fear on his face each time he did. What had she done to receive such looks from him. "Why are you running away, master?"
Xiang was fast, but she couldn't catch up with him. Despite this, he started throwing down obstacles. A broom here, a trash can there, nothing that would cause damage to anything. "Why are you acting like this? Can you hear me? Master?"
Apparently still feeling the effects of whatever he may or may not have been drinking, he would up tumbling head over heels, crashing to the ground. Not wanting to let this opportunity pass her, she quickly caught up and pinned him to the ground. "You're dead!" she shouted. Tears started to well up in her eyes. "You mysteriously vanish four years ago, leaving me with nothing but worries and a broken technique. Then, you ran from me when I tried to greet you. You are so dead."
"Get off of me, you stupid girl!" he said with slurred speech.
"No, because you're going to run," she said. "I want answers..." She softened. "So please...promise you won't run. That's the only way I'll let you up."
Some patrolmen came. "Is everything alright over here?"
"It's okay," Xiang answered. "We know each other."
"I don't know this trollop," Tsu barked, trying to wriggle free.
Xiang gasped. "Master..."
Chika finally caught up. Hunched over, she panted, "My nose does not lie...but that man does. I do not know the cause of this disturbance...but it is true that they know each other."
"A dragon lady," one of the patrolmen said. "A dragon of knowledge hybrid if I'm not mistaken. If your nose is the one speaking, we can trust you. Still, we can't let people get into brawls in the street."
"I just want to talk to him," Xiang said. "I have so many questions I want to ask. I'm just making sure he doesn't run."
"I smell no lies coming from her," Chika said.
"Well...isn't this quite the predicament I find myself in?" Tsu said. "Pinned to the ground by a crying girl and exposed by a dragon girl. Fine, we can talk. Just give me a chance to sober up. I won't run."
Xiang looked to Chika, who nodded her confirmation.
"It seems we're not needed, then," a patrolman said. "Carry on."
Xiang got off of Tsu.
He got up and dusted himself off. "Let's go somewhere a little more private. From there, I'll answer any questions you have."
"That's fine," Xiang said. "I'd like you to come along for obvious reasons, Chika."
Chika nodded. "Yes. I'll do it."
No comments:
Post a Comment