A/N: Yeah, I'm making a Spirit Animals fanfic with OC's. Why? BECAUSE I FREAKING CAN.
XXX
Chapter One
For what seemed like the umpteenth time that day, Hoang swore like a sailor. Her boot had gotten stuck in the spongy marsh mud, and it made a disgusting squelching noise as she pulled it out. Even though she was cleaner than all of the villagers put together (having actually bathing every day with actual soap and water), she couldn't help but get her black robes dirty.
Living in an impoverished village in the Hundred Isles was bad enough. But compared to any of Zhong's girls, she was as ugly as a sparrow next to a crane.
Unlike their well chiseled face, lovely fair complexion, charcoal black hair, and angular eyes, Hoang was the complete opposite. She certainly wasn't fat, but she certainly wasn't tall either. Her face was egg shaped, with a button nose. Her skin was a tanned colour, her hair more brown-black than anything. Her eyes, unlike those of Zhong's, were round and lightly coloured. To make it even worse, she was cursed with bad vision; and thus, glasses.
"Stupid, blasted mud!" she whispered belligerently under her breath.
Trudging through the jungle was fun, but not in a marsh. Eleni village, unfortunately, happened to be surrounded by both.
Hoang nervously cast a glance up at the darkening sky.
Just that morning, she had turned thirteen. She had never received the Nectar, because either the Greencloaks though her village was of no importance, or they didn't know about it.
"I'd better hurry," she said to herself.
Instead of wasting her breath, she spent the rest of her time plodding through the mud, painstakingly slow.
Squelch.
Squelch.
Squelch.
The sound became a mantra in her mind, as she saw her village in the near distance. She squinted, wiping a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead with her sleeve. Brushing back a few strands of dark hair, she crossed over the ridge that marked the end of the bog. "Thank the Great Beasts!"
She hopped, muddied boots and soiled robes and all, down the hill, skidding on the mud. Cursing, once again, she tripped over a rock and stumbled.
It seemed like forever until she managed to reach her home.
The village of Eleni really wasn't impressive. At all. The houses were small and rather dingy, but all neatly kept inside. Raised on stilts to avoid monsoon rains, melaleuca trees shaded the small village. The villagers lacked all resources except their own ingenuity, and they did pretty fine with just that, Hoang noted with a swell of pride. They had running showers, public, sure, but still impressive for people who could barely afford a sack of rice a month.
Climbing up the porch quickly, she peeled her soiled boots off her socked, wet feet and pranced inside the house. She grabbed some appropriate bathing materials; shampoo, soap, new garments, and slippers. Skidding out of the house, she grabbed her boots and headed for the showers.
Half an hour later, she finished bathing under the lukewarm water, scouring herself with a sponge and a liberal amount of soap several times. Dressed and clean, she stepped back outside into the cooling night air.
Though the air in the jungle was always warm and humid, at night it cooled acceptably and a chilly breeze would sweep in. Reveling in the cold, she took her time to pick her way back to her house. Lights shone from the few windows, numerous candles alit.
"Mom, Da!" she called softly as she closed the door behind her. Kicking her slippers into a corner, she padded across the smooth floor with barefeet. "I'm back! I traded the fish and herbs and rice you sent me to. I've got a good amount of money."
Her mother's careworn, but warm face popped out from behind the doorway that led into the small kitchen. Her long, brown hair was tied up in a bun. "That's lovely, honey! I'm glad you came home safe. Here, have a bowl of warm stew and we'll count the money."
She and her mother made small talk as Hoang dumped out the money on the table and slurped up the stew with chopsticks.
"98… 100… 123!" her mother cried exuberantly. "You did very well bartering, sweet girl!"
Though her face was stuffed with stew, it was obvious that smugness shone on Hoang's face. "Dang right, I am!"
"Now, don't talk with your mouth full," her mother chided gently.
"I'll do what I want!" she boasted after she swallowed. "I am a free per- ow!"
A stabbing pain erupted behind her eyes, making Hoang see stars. She felt a haze drift over her mind, addling her thoughts.
"Ow… ow… ow…" she mumbled as she slumped in the chair.
"Hoang!" Her mother cried out in surprise, rushing to support her daughter. "Are you alright?"
"MmmmmNNGGH!" came her intelligent reply. The haze thickened substantially, at a quickening rate. "Is the world supposed to be spinnin'? Or is it just me?" she murmured deliriously.
"Curse those Greencloaks!" her mother growled. "Your father and I hoped that this wouldn't happen!"
Hoang's mind was an addled, jumbled mess. But, she did remember being carried to her bed and burrowing under her warm quilt. She remembered her mind rising to a fever-pitch, her body burning up. The local physician was rushed, and she recalled him sticking something sweet, a bit like honey, into her mouth and her swallowing it then sticking a foul thing in her mouth which she was also forced to swallow.
She recalled the night passing, the sun shining painfully through her closed eyes. Her limbs felt as if they were on fire, as it a billion nails were being pounded into her bones. She couldn't stop the scream of agony, but then… they subsided.
As quickly as it came, the headache dispelled like mist in the morning. Her vision, though blurry without her glasses, was quickly rectified as someone slipped them on her face. The incessant grinding in her bones ceased, as the fire was doused.
But what surprised her the most, was the most beautiful- yet shockingly horrifying- animal sitting patiently at the foot of her bed.
"Oh, no."
XXX
A/N: Hehe. Yeah. Sorry the entire thing was so rushed. I need to go to bed, and I was typing furiously. XD So yeah. Leave a review, whatever.
