Sorry if this starts out slow, it will develop soon! I have everything figured out...

Disclaimer: I do not own DW, Koei does, as always

Chapter One

Her father had been thrown off his hay cart the day he was returning from his business in Southern China. He suffered a broken neck and died that night. Her mother was kidnapped, then killed three days later. They found her body in a nearby river, and that was that. This was the story that Mei Li had been told as a child, this was the story she grew up with, whether she wanted to believe it or not.

After being orphaned within a week, the six-year-old girl was sent to live with her aging aunt and uncle who owned a farm in the middle of nowhere. Their children having moved away long ago, there was little company for young Mei Li, and boredom came fast.

Now, ten years later, as a sixteen-year-old, Mei Li was more restless than ever before. She wanted to go out and see the world, but her aunt and uncle wouldn't hear of it.

"Of course not, Li!" her uncle shouted at the table. Mei Li had brought up the subject during the family's evening meal.

"But why not?" she shouted back in a fit of rebellion.

"You're only sixteen, still a young'un. There's no way you'd survive."

"But-"

"There's no 'buts' about it. Besides, I need you tomorrow to come to town with me when I take Lei Lei to sell her."

Lei Lei was the oldest cow on the farm. She had stopped giving milk years ago, but the family hoped they could at least sell her for some meat.

Mei Li didn't respond. She had decided to give him the silent treatment, as well as her aunt, even though she hadn't had a word in the conversation yet. The three of them continued to eat the meal in silence.

That night, as the spring breezes blew in and out her window making eerie sounds, Mei Li lay awake on her bed. Angry thoughts buzzed around her head like a swarm of disturbed bees. An owl hooted outside, causing Li to wonder what he was making so much noise about. She got out of bed to look out her window, and thought she saw someone creep across the yard. She blinked, and the shadowy figure was gone. It was just her imagination.

The moon shone down on Li, and she stared back up at it.

"I wonder who else is looking at this very same moon," she whispered to herself. "But from a different part of the world, perhaps many miles from here." She reached up to her neck to finger the antique locket her father had given her for her fifth birthday. It was the only connection she had to them now. She sighed. Feeling an artistic inspiration coming on, she pulled out her sketchpad and took a pencil in hand, but once she settled herself down to draw, she realized there was no way she was going to sketch a picture of the moon without using color. It wouldn't do at all. After carefully placing the sketchpad back in place, she climbed into bed and fell asleep, far more peaceful than she had been a few minutes ago.

That night she was bombarded with an ugly dream. It hadn't been the first of its kind, but it still caused her to toss and turn in her sleep. However frightening it may have been, with the coming of the morning light she had forgotten all about it.

"Come on, Li, we've got to leave now if we're going to get to the market before noon!" Mei Li was sitting at the table eating her breakfast when she heard her uncle call to her from outside. He had already hitched up their horse to the cart and had Lei Lei tied to the side. She would follow along at a steady pace.

"I don't even understand why I have to go with him." Mei Li complained to her aunt before going outside to climb up into the cart with her uncle.

"He's not getting any younger, Li." Her aunt said, smiling understandingly. "As a matter of fact, neither am I." She chuckled. "He just needs you in case he forgets anything, or needs help lifting something."

"Well, he could hire a boy or something," she mumbled to herself.

"You know we can't afford that, Mei Li."

Li blushed with shame. She didn't think her aunt had heard her.

"Bye," she said, half to herself as she hurried out of the house.

"Oh, don't forget to ask your uncle if he took his medicine this morning!"

Mei Li didn't respond. She couldn't even if she wanted to, because she couldn't make out what her aunt had said in the first place.

Mei Li listened as the wooden wheels of the cart rolled along the stone filled path. It was an odd noise, and however much she heard it, she never grew tired of listening to it. She was completely absorbed in her own thoughts when her uncle cleared his throat and started talking.

"I know you're still mad at me for last night," he started off cautiously. "But I know you're birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks and I was hoping we could do something special."

Was this his way of saying sorry? "What kind of 'special' were you thinking of?" she asked.

"Oh, I don't know," he said. "I was hoping you could clue me in on some ideas. Anything you'd like to do?"

"Well," she said, giving it some serious thought. "Isn't the gypsy fair coming into town in three days?"

"Oh, is it?" he asked, pretending he had no idea. He couldn't have sounded enthusiastic even if he wanted to. There was no way they were going to afford the fair, unless Lei Lei sold for an unbelievable amount of money.

"I'm almost positive it is." Mei Li said, starting to get excited. "I've never been to the gypsy fair before. I bet all sorts of interesting people show up," Including boys, she thought to herself. Living in a secluded farm had left Mei Li little, if any, of a social life.

"Well, I'll have to talk to your aunt about it,"

"Which basically means no." Mei Li said, her eyebrows knit into a furrow. A dark mood had quickly replaced her previous sunny disposition.

"Mei Li, I did not say it was an impossibility." he said, turning to look at her to show he was serious.

"But you were thinking it,"

"Look, young lady," he said. "I need to concentrate on driving this danged cart, so I don't have time to argue with you. If you're going to be such a problem then maybe we won't do anything for your birthday at all!"

Mei Li, once again, resorted to the silent treatment. There were so many things she wanted to say right now, so many ... but she knew mouthing-off would not do a thing for her situation right now. She was forced to sit in wordlessness while her unvoiced thoughts fed the fire of her rage.

Once again, sorry there aren't even any real characters in the story yet. But I am SO going somewhere with this, so stay tuned!