HetaWriter/HetaReader here, and yes, this is a new story - you all know by now, that if I have plans on some things, or just feel hugely driven to write something, I post it by now, don't you?

Well, I'm also experiencing writer's block, so I just wanted to try something new. This story is inspired and based on Heidi, which was a book I was rather fond of reading as a child. :)

I would also like to note that the setting is fictional. Hence why the town and city names will sound strange. ^_^'

Anyway, I hope you enjoy. :)

There was once a peaceful little town that stayed neatly on a layer of levelled land. However, going farther from that very place, you would see that the very same land would be stretched out into green fields of fresh, vibrant grass. Yet, if you wanted to go even farther from the fields and along a trail of dirt, you would soon find that the land would become far less even and instead, be much higher and higher, and stretched wider and wider – soon ending in several cliff sides that overlooked a beautiful lake that was just beyond, but not too far out of reach. There were a line of mountains that surrounded the lake, as if to provide a kind of protection to some sort of little secret.

Since you were away from civilisation, nature's own unique and fresh aroma would gently take hold of you in its grasp, and calm the very essence of your being. It helped as well that the beautiful view matched the same pleasing scent. There was fresh, dark soil that blended neatly with the crisp, green grass, and the trees that decorated the landscape, also stood tall and proud with slender branches that swayed slightly with the cool breeze – as if dancing in the sunlight, while providing friendly shelter to anyone who travelled along.

The lake itself was sparkling from dapples of the sun's rays glinting off of its surface – causing the water to glow softly in a slight light. On some of the lake's surface, lily pads and lotus flowers bloomed in a harmonious tranquillity that befit the beautiful scenery; providing their own colour to the natural painting of reality.

It would definitely have been a lovely time to go out on a boat.

However, if you happened to be there one February morning, then you would have caught sight of a young Asian woman who was hurriedly making her way up the path and through the fields.

The young woman had dark hair that reached to her hips, and matched the colours of her eyes. She also had a white flower in her hair, and wore a crimson shangpao with no sleeves and gold accents. She was also wearing thigh-high black stockings, and slipper-styled shoes along with black, fingerless gloves that extended to just below her shoulder on both arms.

This young lady's pace didn't cease at all - she was in a really great hurry.

The little one behind her, on the other hand, was struggling to keep up with her unbroken face; her slightly chubby cheeks becoming flamed.

Of course, with what she was wearing in such warm weather, it was no wonder why. From head to toe, the Taiwanese child was wrapped up in clothes as if it were the middle of a cold winter night. She wore two or three dresses – one on top of the other, a robe over them, a red bandana, and flat zōri that was made from lacquered wood.

After an hour or so of steadily trekking the land, the pair had come into the Town of the Resting Koi - an average and simple town filled with people who were just going along with their everyday business.

This very town though, was where the young woman, Lanfen, had grown up.

As they continued along the way down the narrow street, greetings would flow out from nearly every house and shop. However, Lanfen, this did not even slow her steps. She didn't return the greeting much – only giving a simple nod of acknowledgement in return.

She was not there to visit the town,after all.

Lanfen continued pulling the child through the town and soon, they reached the far edge of it, and then reached the start of the green fields.

"Lanfen!" a voice called after the pair.

Turning around, the young Asian lady saw that the one who spoke was a Korean girl with her long hair tied back into a braid. She was also wearing a long, light green hanbok with large, over-sized sleeves so that her hands were not in view.

"I'll walk with you to the lake," she offered with a warm smile.

Finally for once, Lanfen stopped in her steps.

The poor little girl that she had been dragging along with her, pulled her hand out of her grip, and at once, plopped herself down on the ground.

"Are you tired, Mei?" questioned Lanfen as she arched an elegant eyebrow at the child.

"No," panted the little Taiwanese girl. "I'm hot…"

"Don't worry, it's only for an hour more," assured Lanfen, though her face still appeared a bit serious. Then, she turned her attentions onto the Korean girl that was coming out of her house.

The two older females had linked arms together, and at once and began walking up the path. Throughout this, they soon began talking rapidly in a common, native tongue; laughing and giggling soon after like a pair of old friends that were reminiscing their high school days. The Korean girl, Soo Jin, began telling Lanfen of all the occurrences that had happened in the Town of the Resting Koi, and in return, Lanfen told Soo Jin of her life working in the Town of the Singing Nightingale.

And as for the little girl, Mei?

She began trailing farther and farther behind…

"Wait a moment, Lan-Lan," piped up Soo Jin. "You didn't tell me about where you're taking that little girl. She's the daughter to your eldest hyeong, isn't she? The orphan?"

Lanfen nodded before replying, "Yes, she is. And I'm going to take her to live with her uncle – my older brother, and Yao's younger brother."

Soo Jin then stopped dead in her tracks. She stared at Lanfen with widened brown eyes; looking much like a frightened rabbit, "You're not talking about Quan, are you?" seeing Lanfen's serious face showing no inclination that there was a joke happening, the Korean girl cried, "Have you gone crazy?! He'll just send you back!"

"He can't," Lanfen responded simply, and far too calmly for Soo Jin's liking. "He is her uncle, and he's the second eldest of our family now that Yao is gone. Also, it's high time for him to take care of her – with Yao gone, he's the head of the family; it's about time he accepts that. Also, I've looked after Mei long enough. Sakura was an only child, and I've been offered a job in the Silver City; I can't keep Mei with me."

"But what on earth will Quan even do with a child?" Soo Jin exclaimed as she shook her head vigorously. "He's lived alone at the cliff side and near the lake for so long, that he's forgotten how to be civil! Nangbi mimo! Whenever he comes into the town, he looks so cold and pissed off, that everyone stays away from him! People are scared senseless of him!" the Korean girl then visibly shivered and whipped her head around to make sure that the small child hadn't heard her.

But there was no need.

Little Mei wasn't even there.

"Uh, Lan-Lan…"

Lanfen turned around and both of her elegant eyebrows arched up upon the lack of a small form. She quickly scanned the great slopes, and the vast fields.

"Hold on, there she is!" Soo Jin pointed after helping her for a moment. "It looks like she's found Lovino, Emil and the water buffalo."

And sure enough, there was Mei, who was scrambling out into the fields after two older boys and what appeared to be a herd of water buffalo of varying sizes.

"Looks like Emil's late this morning," noted Soo Jin as she put her hands on her hips. "And it seems like Lovino's joining him today. Doesn't matter – now those two can keep an eye on her; and it's about time Romulus' son takes some responsibility."

"Mei actually doesn't need much looking after," Lanfen remarked fondly as she continued along the way. "She may only be seven, but she actually keeps her eyes open."

"That's a good thing, then!" piped up Soo Jin. She would also have loved to dearly include that Mei wouldn't get much looking after from being shoed under the care of Quan the recluse, but for once, chose to keep her mouth shut so as not to offend Lanfen.

Because after all, that cold, scary recluse was her older brother.

Upon coming across a small fork in the dirt trail, and as the land began to grow higher in slope, both of the older Asian females parted ways.

Soo Jin was mumbling something about Quan before turning left towards a rather run-down looking cottage that appeared to have people inside of it. Lanfen waved good-bye to her and resumed along the high hill to reach the small cliff's side where her older brother resided.

Meanwhile, far below, Mei could no longer see her aunt Lanfen anymore, but she worried not in the slightest. After all, the path was still in view.

Besides, she was far more interested in following the two boys and the water buffalo.

How different they both looked!

The taller one had dark brown hair and olive skin, as well as having a funny looking piece of curled hair stick out from his right side. He was wearing a dark jacket with the sleeves rolled up, and worn trousers that reached up to his knees as well as some slippers.

The shorter and younger looking boy meanwhile had tousled, silver-white hair that curled a bit more inwardly. He was wearing what appeared to be a white shirt, and had a dark brown jacket that was tied around his waist, as well as trousers of the same colour as the jacket. Mei was intrigued to see that he was wearing what appeared to be white boots as well.

What was even more interesting was that there appeared to be a bird that followed the younger looking boy. It was a black and white one that was sporting a pink bowtie.

She was quite fond of the colour pink.

Every so often, Mei noticed that the two older boys would look back to see if she was still following the both of them. Admittedly, it was hard for her to keep up with them in her heavy clothes and clumsy footwear.

Finally, having had enough and not wanting to lose them, Mei planted herself down on a patch of the green grass, and began taking them off.

First came the zōri, then next the scarlet bandana, and finally off came her dresses and finally the great robe, and soon, the little girl was wearing nothing but a white cotton slip.

Leaving the heap of clothes where they were, Mei began sprinting after the two older boys, now that she didn't have to worry about the extra weight that they added on her body, and how hot and uncomfortable they made her on that fine, sunny day, she was fast and fleet-footed.

Mei leapt over a bush, surprising the two boys when she landed right in between them when they seated themselves on a log.

"Hi, I'm Mei!" she greeted cheerily with a big beam.

To say that both boys were startled was an understatement.

The older one with the darker hair and the curl gave a scream of 'Chigi!' or something among those lines and bristled, while the younger one with the lighter hair actually jumped off the log after giving a yelp, and landed on his front. His bird was squawking in alarm and flapped its wings about.

The older boy looked down at Mei's new get-up, and turned his head to see that there was a pile of clothes that were lying in the grass a little way away. He couldn't help but feel a bit amused at this.

That was probably what led him to crack a little smile at her.

"Ciao, the name's Lovino," he said in a noticeable Italian accent.

The younger boy brushed off himself before coming to his feet. He arched an eyebrow at the little girl standing before him and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm Emil," he said in a slightly shy voice, his voice also laced with an accent, but nothing at all like Lovino's.

Even with children, he still wasn't good with strangers.

"And this…" the bird flew down and perched onto Emil's arm. "Is Mr Puffin."

"How ya doing?" the bird questioned in a gruff, male voice in an accent that sounded a little similar to Lovino's. This caused the Italian to wrinkle his nose.

Mei giggled, "Really well!" she then asked both Emil and Lovino rather curiously, "Do all of these water buffalo belong to you?" Her light brown eyes were shining in curiosity.

"My nonno owns a couple," responded Lovino as he pointed them out. However, upon seeing the slightly confused look on the little girl's face, the Italian quickly spoke up again; realizing that the little girl wouldn't understand pieces of his home tongue, "I mean! My grandpa; my grandpa owns some of them."

"My family only owns one," responded Emil as he rubbed his head. "I'm just the herder."

Mei looked quite impressed – she had never met one of those before.

"I just go with this guy because I'm bored."

Emil snorted at his older Italian companion, "Yeah, right; because I need your company…"

"What that supposed to mean, bastardo?"

"Do you know my auntie, Lanfen?" Mei questioned next, not paying attention to the slightly heated banter between the two boys. Now, she was starting to wonder if she was even going in the right direction. Lovino, Emil, Mr Puffin and the water buffalo had wandered further away from the path after all. The two boys seemed to be choosing their own way along the land; taking the bovines past the best bushes, shrubs, patches of grass and to the much cooler spots of the lake it seemed.

"No," Emil shook his head.

"But if she was going along the trail, the she's probably going up to see paddle bas- I mean, Quan," spoke up Lovino as he quickly cut off a word upon seeing that Mei was just a little girl.

"I'm on my way there myself, too," added Emil.

And so, Mei followed both Emil and Lovino – soon running around the great forms of the bellowing water buffalo. After a rather short amount of time, they all rounded a turn.

And there was Lanfen; standing in the path with a hand rubbing at her head as if she were experiencing a headache of some sort.

When she caught sight of Mei, she perked up, and her hand immediately placed onto her hip as her eyebrows knotted down into a scowl.

She did not look so happy.

"What on earth have you been doing, Mei?!" demanded Lanfen sharply. "And where on earth are your clothes?! And the new zōri?!"

"Over there," Mei pointed in a rather calm fashion to where her clothes laid.

Emil and Lovino turned to look to where she was pointing at, and could see a tiny red speck in the distance, which was the red bandana that Mei was sporting before.

Lanfen heaved a heavy sigh after looking at the pile of clothes, and fixed her gaze onto Emil. "Go and fetch Mei's things for me, would you?" she said rather abruptly.

"I'm already late as it is," Emil replied as a frown crossed his young features. He really didn't like it when someone spoke to him in a rather bossy tone like that.

Lanfen glowered at the younger male, "Excuse me? I'm sure it won't take you that long of a moment to get a pile of clothes."

Before Emil could retort, Lovino quickly spoke up, "I'll go get them for you, signorina." He flashed the boy a warning look before not wasting another moment to do the deed.

Mei couldn't help but marvel at the fast speed that Lovino was running towards the clothes – he was sprinting at a quickened pace and seemed to match the wind itself as it flapped against his hair.

While Lanfen and Mei continued up the path, Emil followed them with the water buffalo around him. And soon, Lovino had also quickly caught up with all of them just as a small cottage was coming into view.

This cottage stood quite proudly on its cliff top and was exposed to every bit of wind and ray of sunshine that fell down upon it. The roof appeared to be strongly thatched, and the walls were sturdy and strong despite how slightly worn the resources that made it appeared to be. Behind the cottage, there stood a great tree – its large branches provided as a source of shade for a smaller hut nearby, as well as the front part of the cottage. The smaller hut nearby appeared to be as sturdy and firmly in place as the cottage.

The cottage's front door was closed and locked with a strange padlock. But that mattered not.

Because it was empty.

How did they know this?

It was because they could hear a sharp noise of someone chopping wood in the small hut nearby.

Mei tilted her little head and squinted her eyes a bit to get a closer look of the person who was inside of the hut, and see what they were doing. She was the first one to reach the hut as she ran forward, interested in seeing the figure inside properly.

Rather short, but I have a feeling that the chapters will be pretty short due to time constraints and life being busy. Also, this is just a little thing to relax with. XD

[Characters]:
Mei [Taiwan]
Lanfen [Nyo!Hong Kong]
Soo Jin [Nyo!South Korea]
Quan [Nyo!Vietnam]
Emil [Iceland]
Lovino [S. Italy/Romano]

Anyway, thoughts and opinions are greatly appreciated. Have a pleasant day. :DDD

Sincerely,
HetaWriter/HetaReader