the soul series and all its characters © namco, ltd
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Encounters
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-China, June 1584-
Kilik was lying flat on his back. This was his favorite spot of the Ling-Sheng Su Temple. It was the topmost pillar of the temple, overlooking the great Yangtze River.
"Phew," he felt the soft wind cooled the sweat around his cheeks, "what a view."
No matter how many times he tried, he never ceased to awe at the view beneath the Ling-Sheng Su Temple in summer. It was crystal clear blue, had thick white cottons as clouds and a flock of northern birds immigrating to the south.
But the beauty did not stop there.
The Yangtze River looked exceptionally beautiful from above. It was located at a narrow and one-way gorge engraved between the mountains, with harsh streams and no man challenging them. The river was usually covered with mountain mist, but the summer gave Kilik a cloudless view of the main watercourse.
Kilik, a boy who loved being surrounded by nature, enjoyed his private time there. He was apparently overwhelmed by the fact he was to inherit the Kali-Yuga, one of the Ling-Sheng Su Temple treasures. He did not like being the one to stand out in the crowd, though he realized he had defeated almost all monks the temple and received favoritism by higher monks and envy from his peers. There was no way he would not wield the sacred bo staff.
But there's Xianglian. Everything will be fine.
As Kilik got up to sit, he glanced at the river. He blinked several times in disbelief. Never in his sixteen years of life in the temple had he watched two people crossed swords on a raft carried by the coarse streams of the Yangtze River.
He examined carefully. It was a Chinese man—clearly seen by his attire—with a nunchaku and a girl with brown hair tied in braids, wielding a weapon he had never seen before. It was considerably large, visibly taller than the girl herself. In fact, one third of the weapon was the blade alone. Impressively, the girl did not have a hard time throwing attack after attack. But as the battle was just about to spark his interest, the poor girl fell from the raft.
Wasting no time, Kilik descended. He tumbled from pillar to pillar, rock to rock. He thanked his extensive training in the temple, where he learned not to reject the challenges of nature yet embrace them.
Kilik finally made contact with even ground. He saw the knocked out warrior, her head laid on one side over stretched pebbles. She let out a few gags, looking for support with her skinny arms. He yelled from afar for proof of life.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm okay," she rubbed her soaked forehead, revealing a clear, jade complexion. "thanks."
"Um," Kilik blushed. He was blushing. He had nevermade eye contact—let alone talk—with the opposite sex, other than his sworn sister. The young monk cleared his throat for lucid articulation.
"What were you doing back there? You could've killed yourself." He tried to sound casual.
"I need his raft." The girl's honeyed voice did not fit her barbarious-looking weapon. "That's the only way I could cross China safely."
Kilik rose his eyebrows. "From that stunt you pulled, the river didn't seem safe to you."
"Oh, I mean," She was now compressing her braided hair. Drops of water trickled from wet strands. "Without the confiscation of my zanbatou."
Kilik repeated the name aloud in his mind. Zan-ba-tou. He never heard of it before. As the name rang several times in his mind, he took an intent look of the weapon. It was about the same length of the Kali-Yuga. The handle had a dull color of scarlet, with cream-colored orbs as the partition to the blade. The blade, while glimmered beneath the sunlight, had bare yet visible tarnishes. This girl was no stranger to weapons, he concluded.
He mutely took a mental note-to-self; Ask the elders.
"By the way, do you have any vessels? I really need to get out of here—" the girl heaved, coughing for air, "—fast."
"No..." The entire scene seemed bizarre to him. A young girl, a beautiful one at that, with a gargantuan weapon, attempted on traveling across China, and fast.
"Damn!" The brunette cussed inaudibly, "Looks like I have to stay and wait for a bypasser."
"Sorry, but," Kilik did not want to interrupt what sounded like a well-planned adventure. "I've never seen anyone cross the Yangtze River...ever."
"Shut up!" The girl did not look pleased. "This is no good..."
Waves of questions invaded Kilik's puzzled mind. Just when he was about to express them, a firecracker in broad daylight broke the awkard silent.
"Oh no," The girl flashed an alerted look. "That's my queue."
"What the—"
"Thanks for the help, local boy!"
"H-Hey, wait!"
Even after drowning the cruel torrents of Yangtze, the stranger still had enough energy to sprint her way out of the valley.
If not because of his state of bewilderment, Kilik would have been a more avid runner. He could scarcely make out the logic of what just happened.
"You could've at least leave me your name..."
-tbc-
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a/n
I've been trying to write again recently. Hopefully the first chapter doesn't suck! I wanted to make it a one-shot at first, but ended up being lengthy and boring. I already finished the next chapters, but I want to see how you all think of it :) Enjoy!