Flute

Being far away from home was never a simple task for a child, even when that child was supposed to become one of the strongest warriors on Earth.

Though the presence of his master could soothe him somehow, Mu still felt empty. He missed Tibet, he miss the seemingly endless mountain ranges, the cold but gentle caresses of the wind on his hair. And every afternoon, the sound of horns echoed from the sacred temples of the monks, which his master told him to appreciate in silence while enjoying a cup of butter tea.

Compared to the immense valleys in Tibet, the great Sanctuary seemed to be modest. There were different scents in the winds, different color hues under the sunlight and the butter tea, for unknown reasons, did not taste as good as it did at home. Mu did not hate the changes, honestly did not, but among the new and interesting experience, there still was a vague sadness haunted him when the sun went down.

His most favorite place within the Sanctum could be said to be the training ground and it was certainly not because he loved training programs. It was the large empty space when everyone went back after the practice that caught his affection, for it reminded him of homeland. At least to his eyes, it was the closest thing to a field that he could find here. So almost every afternoon, when all the other Saints had gone back to their own temples, Mu quietly sneaked to the field, climbed to the highest pillar and sat there, enjoyed the wind blowing while imagining he was on one of the mountains of the Himalaya.

Usually, the young Aries Saint brought with him his flute, and when he was sure there was completely no one around, he took it out and started to play. Shion did teach him some basic lessons when they were still in Jamir, however those were absolutely not enough for the young boy to master the instrument. Mu could just clumsily try to imitate the familiar melodies that he had heard when he was at home. Several attempts failed, not surprisingly, but the boy still enjoyed it. It felt like home.

Today, as usual, Mu was struggling with his flute to bring out the right tunes when he felt a familiar cosmo nearby, really near. Quickly hiding his flute in embarrassment, the boy looked down and saw right there under the pillar he was sitting, a blond boy sitting quietly in lotus position, seemingly meditating.

It was Shaka, the Indian young Saint who just came a few weeks ago. Noticing the interruption of the flute sound, the young Virgo looked up, asked nonchalantly. 'What? Do you have a problem there?'

Mu frowned slightly at the blunt question, it was not him who had a problem but a certain someone over there that suddenly showed up out of nowhere, disturbed his private time and still asked if he had a problem. He never talked to the other boy, that was the first time, though.

'No, I do not.' The Aries answered politely with a cold tone, then turned back to watch the sky, decided to ignore his unexpected companion.

'I think you do have one.' The other boy continued. 'With the flute, your playing is poor.'

The straight comment surely got into Mu, of course he knew he was not good, that was why he chose to play when no one was around, he needed not anyone to tell him that.

'In that case I think I have two,' the Aries snapped back with annoyance, 'including one down there.' He thought, but did not let his words out.

Ignoring the discontent in Mu's words, Shaka left his position and climbed onto the pillar, sitting next to Mu.

'Ci ren la suo, it is?' The blond asked, did not concerned the surprise he caused to the boy beside him.

Mu blinked a few times, it was indeed Ci ren la suo, a folk song he really liked. But he did not expect the Virgo boy to recognise its melody, especially when he just criticised his playing seconds ago.

'Yes... you know the song?' Mu asked sheepishly. He did not think there would be anyone in the Sanctuary knowing about Tibetan music, but then it snapped to him that Shaka was from India, which was located very near to Tibet.

'I do, I like that song.' The blond said, then after pausing for a while, he added. 'I sometimes heard it when I was at home.'

'I often heard it while at home, too.' Mu replied in a whisper. The reminder of "home" upset him.

After that, the two boys just sat in silence for several minutes, until Shaka again broke the silence.

'What about the other songs that you know?'

'What...?'

'Other songs, you don't just play only one song, do you?'

'Yes... but what's with that?'

'Play them.'

Mu looked at Shaka in confusion, the blond disapproved his playing and now he wanted to hear it again, how normal was that. 'Didn't you say it was no good?'

'I did.' Shaka replied calmly. 'But I did not say "I don't like it", though.'

With that, he turned his look away, leaving Mu with his confusion for a while before he took out his flute and started his clumsy melodies again. Mu's music was an acquired taste, but definitely worth trying. Shaka could confirm that, because although the Aries might not know, that was actually not the first time Shaka heard him play. Apparently, the Aries boy was not the only one that got homesick.


[Six days left]