#38 Xiao-mei
The Jungle… its mysteries, its secrets, the mystical feeling one couldn’t help but notice floating in the air. Xiao was happy to be back among her people, even though her tormentor’s shaddow felt like it had the substance of reality.
A few days earlier, she had met a few troubling people. It all started with that Zoraï with the weird name… Kyo-shin Zamurato. What did his parents think about when they named him? She decided his name would just be Kyo. He told her he’s been hired as her personnal bodyguard, but had refused to give her the name of the one who had hired him. From the moment they met, he followed her everywhere, day and night.
The Young Zoraï kept on training like nothing happened until a second Zoraï, just as weird –or even weirder!-, came by. His name was Krokwai and he told them he was the leader of a local tribe. They talked together for a while and very son, he told her he had secrets to get rid of the poison. She couldn’t help but stare at him, wondering if there was something to be learnt from that homin. She decided top lay dumb, to entice him to speak, and simulated interest in what he had tos ay. Flattered by the homina’s interest in hiw chosen subject, Krokwai told her about the remedies his Clan had invented and proudly showed her a vial.
Xiao-mei’s sap froze in her veins. A purple vial. She did her best not to show how scared she was, asked if his tribe occasionally sold those to strangers. Krokwai told her it never happened, that you had to show yourself worthy of it. Xia attempted to learn more of it, but didn’t manage to. This knowledge was for members of the tribe only.
The homina was thinking about how she could pry the details out of him when a third Zoraï walked up to them. His gait was proud and tall, an ironic smile hovering at the corner of his mouth. Just then, a Matis lady who was close to them joined the group, obviously unhappy with the presence of the last of them.
- Who are you? What are you doing here?
- They call me the Devourer of Hope. Nice, isn’t it?
He turned to Xiao and asked her :
- Do you remember me, Xiao-mei?
- No. Should I?
- No, it’s just perfect like that.
She was in way over her head in such company. The Matis was demanding the newcomer leave the Jungle at once, and the Devourer of Hope was demanding that Krokwai never approch Xiao again. Krokwai was lost, and the more he expressed his loss, the more threatening the newcomer became and the more twitchy the Matis became. Xiao was the unwilling spectator of a show she just didn’t understand, trying to follow the developements from behind Kyo’s shoulder –who just wouldn’t accept the possibility of an unobstructed path between the Devourer and his charge.
Placid lake becoming quicksilver, the Matis assailed the Devourer of Hope… who dispatched her effortlessly. Kyo turned to Xiao and shouted :
- Run! Now, to Zora! Quickly!
She didn’t need him tos ay it twice. She went as fast as she could, glancing once behind to see her probably hopelessly outmatched bodyguard doing his best to protect her… to protect the young Zoraï who felt like the harbinger of chaos.
She hid close to the entrance of the city. Close to people, close to guards who could protect her, shivering in fear, listening to sounds she could only imagine. Nobody seemed to have pursued her.
She decided to come back and check on her protector… hoping he was still alive, and now happy he’d been there.
She found him slightly wounded, but still in one piece… mostly. The other one was nowhere to be seen.
The day had been a tad too harsh for her taste. She had to tell Fey-lin about it. Her wisdom would guide her, and maybe she knew of some of those people.
Xiao-mei lay on her bed, looking at the roof, thinking on the events of that day. The bodyguard surging out of nowhere, the master of poison, the protective Matis, and that terrific Devourer of Hope who seemed to know her, but that she didn’t remember.
There was a strange attraction to the powerfull presence of the blue fighting machine. But that isn’t something she’d tell Fey-lin. She wouldn’t like it.
The Jungle… its mysteries, its secrets, the mystical feeling one couldn’t help but notice floating in the air. Xiao was happy to be back among her people, even though her tormentor’s shaddow felt like it had the substance of reality.
A few days earlier, she had met a few troubling people. It all started with that Zoraï with the weird name… Kyo-shin Zamurato. What did his parents think about when they named him? She decided his name would just be Kyo. He told her he’s been hired as her personnal bodyguard, but had refused to give her the name of the one who had hired him. From the moment they met, he followed her everywhere, day and night.
The Young Zoraï kept on training like nothing happened until a second Zoraï, just as weird –or even weirder!-, came by. His name was Krokwai and he told them he was the leader of a local tribe. They talked together for a while and very son, he told her he had secrets to get rid of the poison. She couldn’t help but stare at him, wondering if there was something to be learnt from that homin. She decided top lay dumb, to entice him to speak, and simulated interest in what he had tos ay. Flattered by the homina’s interest in hiw chosen subject, Krokwai told her about the remedies his Clan had invented and proudly showed her a vial.
Xiao-mei’s sap froze in her veins. A purple vial. She did her best not to show how scared she was, asked if his tribe occasionally sold those to strangers. Krokwai told her it never happened, that you had to show yourself worthy of it. Xia attempted to learn more of it, but didn’t manage to. This knowledge was for members of the tribe only.
The homina was thinking about how she could pry the details out of him when a third Zoraï walked up to them. His gait was proud and tall, an ironic smile hovering at the corner of his mouth. Just then, a Matis lady who was close to them joined the group, obviously unhappy with the presence of the last of them.
- Who are you? What are you doing here?
- They call me the Devourer of Hope. Nice, isn’t it?
He turned to Xiao and asked her :
- Do you remember me, Xiao-mei?
- No. Should I?
- No, it’s just perfect like that.
She was in way over her head in such company. The Matis was demanding the newcomer leave the Jungle at once, and the Devourer of Hope was demanding that Krokwai never approch Xiao again. Krokwai was lost, and the more he expressed his loss, the more threatening the newcomer became and the more twitchy the Matis became. Xiao was the unwilling spectator of a show she just didn’t understand, trying to follow the developements from behind Kyo’s shoulder –who just wouldn’t accept the possibility of an unobstructed path between the Devourer and his charge.
Placid lake becoming quicksilver, the Matis assailed the Devourer of Hope… who dispatched her effortlessly. Kyo turned to Xiao and shouted :
- Run! Now, to Zora! Quickly!
She didn’t need him tos ay it twice. She went as fast as she could, glancing once behind to see her probably hopelessly outmatched bodyguard doing his best to protect her… to protect the young Zoraï who felt like the harbinger of chaos.
She hid close to the entrance of the city. Close to people, close to guards who could protect her, shivering in fear, listening to sounds she could only imagine. Nobody seemed to have pursued her.
She decided to come back and check on her protector… hoping he was still alive, and now happy he’d been there.
She found him slightly wounded, but still in one piece… mostly. The other one was nowhere to be seen.
The day had been a tad too harsh for her taste. She had to tell Fey-lin about it. Her wisdom would guide her, and maybe she knew of some of those people.
Xiao-mei lay on her bed, looking at the roof, thinking on the events of that day. The bodyguard surging out of nowhere, the master of poison, the protective Matis, and that terrific Devourer of Hope who seemed to know her, but that she didn’t remember.
There was a strange attraction to the powerfull presence of the blue fighting machine. But that isn’t something she’d tell Fey-lin. She wouldn’t like it.