Fantasy A Monk's Journey

[elusivethought]

ashwynne Sia Fable

Mentioned: ashwynne & Sia

Koda was used to drawing a crowd’s gaze. His odd appearance and sometimes beggarly clothes lent itself to being stared at. But Shixiang’s denizens stared at Koda and Miyako together, and that was a sensation Koda was thoroughly unaccustomed to. He was glad she’d attached to his arm, and he suppressed the urge to wrap an arm around her shoulders. Not that he meant to be possessive, but he wanted to shield her.

Compared to the relative quiet of the ship, Shixiang was clamorous. Koda walked down the street with unsteady sea legs, clinging to Miyako himself when his balance faltered. Perhaps people thought he was drunk? Perhaps it was their seemingly inexplicable pairing that drew their eyes?

Still, despite his discomfort, Koda couldn’t help but bestow a sunny smile upon the vendors hawking their wares. They seemed disgruntled by his friendly demeanor, because while he seemed like an interested customer from afar, Koda just found it hard not to greet someone in return. It was a blessing they passed few jewelry stalls. Koda might have been tempted then.

Miyako, however, didn’t seem interested in fine jewelry. Koda practically glowed at her question, warmed to the core by her unified ‘we.’

“Oh!” Koda exclaimed cheerfully, realizing he hadn’t thought to explain it to her. Sometimes Miyako’s actions and words seemed so intuitive, he’d forget what he’d told her. He beamed down at her. “Well, my duty was to copy a few holy texts we’d lost during a fire at Ennai,” he explained. Koda shrugged, his face lighting up. “There’s a famed library here in Shixiang, larger than the one in Taishu. I thought we’d try it next?”

His voice lifted in a question, though he would be loath to abandon his brothers. He would, with no hesitation, for Miyako’s safety. His brothers and mentors would understand, even if he turned up empty-handed. They would never put books above someone’s life.

Just when he thought to prompt an answer out of Miyako, a young man brushed past them, knocking Koda into Miyako and making him fumble for his balance.

“Whoa,” Koda breathed, whirling Miyako out of the way. He’d registered the man’s apology, but it didn’t really matter. By the time Koda might have offered forgiveness, he had vanished.

The next thing that registered were the words shouted into the salty air, bellowed by an authoritative voice: ‘Catch him!’

Koda groaned, his stomach sinking. Here? Really? Already?

“Come on,” he said to Miyako, grabbing her hand and threading their fingers tight. He didn’t want to be separated from her. His heart thundered as he wound them through the stream of people, murmuring apologies as he went.

“Don’t let go of me,” Koda told her, wracking his brains for a plan. “Though… if you have any ideas, I’m all ears.” Perhaps Miyako wouldn’t know how to give them a quick disappearance, but Koda didn’t know how, either. And the soldiers were approaching, still following them the last time Koda glanced over his shoulder.

 

[ashwynne]

[ elusivethought , Fable , Sia ]
--> Mentioned: elusivethought & Sia

As they slowly wove their way through the throngs of people, Miyako either let her gaze slip serenely over those who stared, or spent her time watching Koda. There were times when he leaned a little more heavily on her, and times where she leaned more against him. They were both struggling to readjust to land, though fortunately the periods of time where they faltered in balance did not occur in unison. Miyako shuddered to think of the pair of them falling in a heap together should that happen—though her grin as she imagined it belied any actual distress at the thought.

For his part, Koda seemed to make it a personal mission to greet all the shop vendors who called to them. It made it difficult to keep from laughing. The faces of the vendors as the monk returned their greetings with sunny aplomb and not a coin to spend was far more priceless than their wares.

A contented sigh escaped her lips and she gently squeezed Koda’s arm a little tighter as they went. If she dwelled too much on how greatly her life had changed in such a short period of time, Miyako feared she might be struck dumb by the immensity of it all. A new life, magic, love… her dark eyes flicked up to shoot Koda a bright smile with eyes full of unabashed adoration as he began to answer her question. The look faltered, however, as his answer registered in her mind.

Speechless, she could only blink stupidly up at him. Koda intended to waltz to an imperial library in order to copy holy texts? Him? The incredibly distinctive, silver-haired, monk who was wanted as a traitor? She was not quite sure whether to laugh, scream, or cry. Perhaps some horrendous amalgamation of all three.

“K—” her answer was knocked out of her, quite literally. A man had bumped into Koda which made him fall into her in turn.

Miyako sucked in a startled breath, tensing as she braced for a fall. It never came. Despite his own lack of balance, Koda somehow managed to artfully shelter her and twirl her away from the danger. “Are you alright?” she breathed, brushing a hand lightly over Koda’s cheek in the same moment that she whipped her head around to shoot a furious look in the direction the rude man had run off to. It was a good thing he had vanished—for his own sake. Had the bumbling idiot remained within earshot she would have burned him to dust by the fury of her speech.

It took her a full beat longer than Koda to realize the significance of the shouting, distracted as she was by imagining all the foul things she would shout at the man. As it was, it wasn’t until Koda’s fingers were threading tightly together with hers and pulling her at a quicker clip through the crowds that it dawned on her fully. They were being hunted. Transcribing holy texts was certainly not an option now.

Much to Miyako’s surprise, she felt her heart squeeze painfully at the thought. Koda had seemed so happy at the idea of completing the task assigned to him. Was he to be denied so much of what he loved now? She had no issues spending the rest of her life on the run with him, but how would Koda fare under such conditions? It hadn’t even occurred to her until now.

He told her not to let go and asked for ideas, two things that pulled her back to the present situation they were in. “I won’t let go,” she said firmly, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. “As for ideas…” her eyes scanned over the crowd and then beyond to where the edge of the village lay and a forest of bamboo beyond. “Perhaps we had best get clear of the village for now? I imagine they’ll have trouble finding us if we’re hidden among the bamboo and we can decide what to do from that point on.” It was not perhaps ideal, but if nothing else it would buy them time.

“Come on,” she said softly to him, this time leading the charge and pulling Koda with her towards the outskirts of town. They were not particularly inconspicuous, however, and Miyako felt beads of sweat begin to break out on her forehead. There was nothing to be done about their looks for the time being, she could only pray to whatever ancestors might still care for her to protect them both and get them clear to the bamboo. One step in front of the other. She had something to lose now, and Miyako had no intention of losing him so soon… or ever.

Was that a glimpse of a man ahead of them? Slipping into the bamboo as she had suggested to Koda? Miyako could not be sure, it was just as likely that her eyes were playing tricks on her given the burgeoning desperation she was feeling. “We’re almost there…” she said to him, half panting, unused to this degree of exertion coupled with the fearful pounding of her heart.

 

[Fable]

( ashwynne elusivethought Sia )

Bai's suspicions were confirms that Nishan was involved in the fighting circuit which pitted man against man for the betting pleasure of those who had gambling problems or simply enjoyed watching violence or pain inflicted. However, he at least seemed to have been involved within the voluntary fights, not the underground ones that were much nastier and lethal. It also gave her the information regarding his capabilities for self-defense. He wasn't wholly inexperienced which would only work in his favor for his survival.

Her lips quirked in an amused smirk at his reaction after she seemed to dismiss the information he shared. She wouldn't blame him for his attitude, she wasn't going out of her way to be friendly. She also said nothing even as he left, no additional words of threat, not warnings or well wishes.

As much as her injuries bothered her, she pushed through the pain and quickly re-wrapped her arm before setting off to follow Nishan silently and at a safe unnoticeable distance. She could have just left. She could have walked off and continued to her destination on her own. Bai hadn't sworn an oath, promised, of truly given her word she'd not abandon him. However, even as she was tempted to leave him behind her personal morals made her grimace in annoyance.

He could have just let her get caught by the soldiers and refused to assist her across the water on his boat, but he hadn't. To abandon him now would be dishonorable. She'd get him to the safety of her master's estate and that would be the end of owing Nishan anything.

Bai trailed him from the shadows, from small spaces in darkness where she went unseen. When he bought the bread she had to stop herself from laughing in mild amusement. Of all the things he could have bought with the coin she'd given him, bread? She would have gotten something with much ore protein, but then again she was more of a survivalist perhaps. Protein was much more important when sometimes you didn't know when you would get your next meal.

She crept into the clothing shop from the back and climbing up into the rafters and peered down to watch Nishan and the shopkeeper. Nishan asking for asking for a dress and getting strange looks made Bai have to seriously focus on keeping herself from chuckling which would have potentially drawn attention. The moment Nishan was recognized though her gut instincts told her to be wary. She didn't know how far and fast news traveled and since they had fled.

Her eyes noticed the movement of the young boy's movement and that was when she knew this was a problem. Bai didn't waste time getting out of the shop and lingering in the back to intently listen as she hid. The shopkeeper's tone changed when he suggested Nishan buy clothes for himself and that was when she knew for certain trouble was coming for Nishan. Nishan wisely fled as the boy shouted the soldiers he had led towards Nishan.

Bai couldn't blame the boy or the shopkeeper. There was probably a bounty on their heads and biased information to make them seem horribly dangerous. She went out the back of the shop and around it in time to see Nishan bumping into people as he tried to weave through the bustling crowd. He'd picked up moving through the bamboo forest well enough, but applying it was always a different matter.

Engaging with the soldiers was dangerous in her state and so she'd only intervene if absolutely necessary. However, her trained eyes picked up the sudden shift in body language when the odd couple Nishan had bumped into changed with their notice of the soldiers. Any normal person would naturally tense to threats around them even if not directed at them, but there were different kinds of movement with that tension that could be read. Those two stuck out oddly - and something about the monk nagged at her - and when they fled as well her eyes narrowed.

A monk with white fair hair...

Bai's eye widened as her mind snapped to grasp a memory of some vague rumors and gossip amongst local rebellious gatherings as she had been on her last mission. She wove her way through the crowd and kept her head low, moving to intercept the duo as they headed towards the bamboo forest in a similar direction Nishan had taken. She casually moved to walk beside the white-haired monk though was slightly behind him a step or two to make it appear as though she was just stuck behind them.

"Keep walking straight, they haven't taken notice of who you are... yet," she said lowly. "You have two choices at this point. You may feel disinclined to trust a stranger which is your choice and you can ignore me. Or you can listen very carefully and follow my directions."

She didn't waste time for either the monk or lady to respond in either affirmation or rejection. Bai instructed them on what paths to take to get out of the port city unnoticed which also led them back towards where she was supposed to be waiting for Nishan. They would all get to that spot before she did and meet up because she was going to arrange for a distraction for the soldiers. Once they met up with Nishan they were to leave without her. Bai would catch up to them.

A problem was not knowing how Nishan was going to react to a strange increase to their party with two strangers. She hadn't given him a code phrase which covert agents like herself used when conducting business to verify a person's identity. All she could do was hope that his understanding of them also fleeing the soldiers would be enough as well as them giving her fake name to him. It was a risk she just had to take.

Once done she split off from them and slowed her pace. The soldiers were struggling to get through the bustling crowd even as those people did their best to get out of their way. People could only move so much so fast in such space and so that was at least something in their favor. Her eyes scanned the area for something to work to distract the group of men pursuing Nishan. There, a full cart trying to move a stubborn mule to get out of the path further up.

Bai slithered through the people towards the back of the cart. The mule was beginning to finally move which didn't give her much time to sabotage the cart's wheels. It wasn't the best quality cart at least and the back was filled with large baskets of fish. There was a wooden pin keeping the wheels attached. She rounded the cart to the side opposite of the soldiers where she couldn't be seen and kicked the pins out on one side and then got out of the way.

The wheels popped out of place and the cart tipped spilling fish all over the ground. People nearby shouted in alarm and jumped away from the tipped cart and the men who had been transporting the fish cursed up a storm. The oil from the fish caused a few people who tried to step through the mess to slip and the fish merchants screamed at people to stay away as many went to try and grab fish and run.

It was the beginning of a market commotion. The soldiers wouldn't be able to pass this way now, not without trouble. Because people had been cramming to the sides to get out of their way it meant any alternate routes for them pass the tipped cart would slow them down ever more as they would have to herd those people away. Hopefully it bought them enough time to get a safe distance away and out of sight.

Bai ducked between the buildings and dashed off to meet up with Nishan, the monk, and the lady. That is if they managed to meet up and Nishan hadn't left without them. She returned to where she had originally been 'waiting' for Nishan while he had set off to conduct business in the city. From there if they had already left she'd track them down. More people meant more tracks and she didn't think the monk or the lady were stealthy or mindful enough of such things.