Prologue
Langshui of the Water was a complicated man, full of intricacies that would befuddle the most learned of scholars. The simple truth was that he was unpatriotic; he did not need to be, and he did not see fit to be. He was able enough to care for himself, and such trivial attachments were meaningless to him. But in Feudal China, with such events as countless war campaigns and territory expansion his ideology was rarely found. In truth, it was heresy to think as Langshui thought, and any who did were dealt with accordingly.
The more complex truth of Langshui was his apparent selfish outlook on all things man-made. This was not limited to material things, but such beliefs as philosophy, an example being the patriotism he so despised, and fictitious country borders. Besides military forces, he held no allegiance to any singular person or land.
The sole reason he had lived so long with this open resistance was because nothing could be done to change his mind. He was too powerful to be killed, and too intelligent to be persuaded otherwise. The reasoning behind this is Langshui's inherent abilities. Directly conceived from God's own spiritual energy, Langshui and four others were created by the Omniscient One to help hasten the duration of the War between the Three Kingdoms.
Each of these divine individuals were granted power of an element with no limitations. Their mastery was molded after the Chinese philosophy that all phenomena stemmed from a combination of two or more elements.
Mutou of the Wood , Huoyan of the Fire, Dizhen of the Earth, Gangtie of the Metal, and Langshui of the Water. They all had weaknesses and strengths relating to their corresponding component, all had different attitudes given the nature of their constituent, all had diverse appearances according to the physical embodiment of their element.
Langshui himself was elongated and slim, similar to the flowing property of Water. Extensive, blue hair masked a fair portion of his pallid face and reached to his waist, whereas his azure eyes were still visible behind it. His clothing also resembled Water, loose yet long. Instead of blue, his attire was purely white.
They were doomed to a brief life of war and grueling deaths, all at the hands of one another. Each had sword themselves to a martial faction, except for Langshui. He wasn't certain whether he was made that way, or whether the decision to avoid all militias was his own to make. But he was positive that his purpose was to destroy Huoyan of the Fire, who had allied himself with Sun Jian's assembly of Wu.
Today, like all days before this, Langshui continued his solitary journey, producing water in every one of his footsteps. Rain also flowed around him at all angles, yet avoided letting any drops hit Langshui in any way. He strayed far from armed conflicts, his motive being that he didn't want to waste his time. His purpose in life was to kill the Fire, and he resided in Wu, while Langshui was still in Shu. Then, his father would see fit what to do with him.
Coming upon the small fishing village of Xi Pi, Langshui found lodgings and, even though he did not need it, food. Even though it was undersized town, there still happened to be an inn and Langshui simply proceeded to an empty room without any imbursement. The owner had predictably tried to stop him, but he rethought his choice when he saw the water pouring out of thin air. Instead, he followed Langshui, cleaning up the water that had drenched his wooden floor. He was still too ignorant to notice he was in the presence of a corporeal incarnation of Water. It would have been funny, if Langshui had a decent sense of humor.
Sleep overcame him as soon as his head hit the pillow, yet he was not tired. Fatigue didn't affect any of the Elementals, but Langshui just enjoyed slumbering, as well as other mortal privileges. Naturally, the bed was soaked within seconds, but the water somehow did not dampen his clothes or his skin. The moist sheets also mysteriously dried whenever Langshui changed positions.
His stay was uneventful, except for the two men who intruded his sleep because they wanted to capture the Water 'demon'. They were killed promptly and without hesitation, yet Langshui made sure that it did not ruin the innkeeper's room any further, even going as far as to dispose of the bodies through evaporation. Langshui had a particular respect for laboring individuals.
The intrusion had cut his break slightly shorter than intended, and he left in a foul mood. Before completely leaving the village, he ran into a little girl no older than seven years. She wasn't as dim as the innkeeper and immediately recognized him for what he was.
"You're Langshui of the Water, aren't you?" Her words made Langshui falter in his stride. He turned to face her.
"Yes I am. Tell me young girl, how is it that you know of me and no one else in this village does."
"My dad's a soldier." Langshui faltered again, this time in his words.
"Sad fa--Yes, that would explain it."
"Mister, when is the war gonna end?" Her curiosity was genuine, and Langshui could not help but give her an answer."
"Soon young one, very soon." His answer was not exactly truthful, "But another one will rise just to take its place."
"Mister, why do the grown-ups fight?" Once again, the look in her face expressed the utmost of authentic inquisitiveness.
"For land and power. A better question would be: Why are all the grown-ups controlled by three men who only want land and power?"
"Are you gonna help with the war?"
"I will have to, but not with common foot soldiers. Only with the others of my kind."
"Mister, why do you fight?" Langshui was puzzled. Of course he had asked himself that question numerous times but his answers were too convoluted to explain to a simple child. He simplified his answer, lying in the process.
"I was made only to fight."
"But…can't you do something else?" This question seriously offended Langshui, to the point of yelling at the girl.
"It is not your place to ask! And it is not my place to decide!" She flinched at his sudden change in tone.
"I'm sorry Mister." Tears streamed from her face, a symbol of her fragility. Langshui was appalled at her frailty. He left her, resuming his direction. Behind him, the girl was on her knees struggling for air. She was clutching her throat in a desperate attempt to breathe. She was being dehydrated at an extremely rapid rate, her brain shutting down, successfully disabling her bodily functions. Seconds passed, and she collapsed onto the soil, unconscious. She would be dead within another several seconds.
"It was not her place to ask. She caused her own death." Langshui tried to reassure his reasoning, yet he could not even convince himself. Even through all his mastery of Water, inside and outside of the body, he had never been able to spit, sweat, not even cry himself. Probably that, and not her own 'weakness' was the driving force of her death.
Langshui continued on westwards, the rain around him falling stronger than ever.
