Chapter 1: A Life No One Could Touch
Many know of the Monkey King and how his mischievous ways were the sole reason for the Jade Warlords migraine however only a select few know about his other half, his chickadee. Her name was Xiu Ya Chen and she was his complete opposite, while he took pleasure in goofing off and causing trouble she spent her days quietly tending to her garden and helping others. She lived above a small village near the bottom of Five Elements Mountain and was well loved by its residents; they would often go to her when they were injured or sick for she was a skilled healer and a kind soul.
For many years she lived peacefully in her small cottage content to lead a simplistic life. However that all changed when a stranger stumbled into town, he had the features of the monkey and carried a golden bo staff with him, his arrival sent a wave of fear through the village; many wondered if he had been sent by some lord to wipe out their small village so that he may claim it as his own. Luckily he soon proved that while he may seem appear intimidating he had the attitude of child and had come across their humble town by pure luck as her wondered the land. The children took to him instantly and spent many hours following him around and asking him to tell them stories and he was always more than happy to indulge their inquisitive nature. He would spin wild tales of faraway lands and terrible beasts but he would also tell them of the many times he had defeated the Jade Army, the idea that one man could best an army especially the Jade Army astounded the children and they could often be found acting out the stories he told them while they did their chores.
He never gave the villagers a name to address him by and so they simply stuck to calling him traveler, each night a different family would allow him to stay in their home and soon he became a regular site among the busy town market or the surrounding fields and forest. The stranger had been in the town for a full week before he even met Xiu Ya Chen, he had been watching some of the boys reenact one of his stories by the river when one of the boys slipped and banged his head on a rock. The traveler instantly leapt into action and grabbed the boy quickly spiriting him back to the village where he searched for the healer it wasn't long before someone noticed the man's frantic expression and realized that he had a small injured boy in his arms. They pointed him to the hill that Xiu's hut sat upon, they said that he would find a hut at the top of the hill and that the person who lived there would be able to help the injured youth.
With no time to waste the traveler carried the boy up the mountain, at the very top nestled into the trees and shrubbery of the forest was a small hut with a thin wisp of smoke drifting from inside. He hurried up to the door and knocked careful not to jostle the boy in his arms too much, seconds later the quiet footsteps could be heard approaching the front of the hut and the door opened to reveal a young woman in a simple brown and tan kimono. She seemed as surprised to see someone from beyond the village outside her home but quickly brushed the shock aside when she noticed what, or who he carrying.
"Oh dear, would you please lay the boy down over here that looks like a rather nasty bump he has on his head."
Her voice was soft but authoritative as she instructed the stranger to lay the boy down and prop his feet up on a small pile of pillows that were at the bottom of the bed. While he focused on making sure the boy was comfortable Xiu went over to a pot of water she had boiled earlier that day, scooping some into a small bowl she brought it back to the bedside and proceeded to clean the wound on the boys temple. As the blood washed away it became apparent that while the cut was rather nasty and somewhat deep it was in no way life threatening and she soon came to the conclusion that he would just need a few stiches to make sure the cut would heal properly. She grabbed a small box from the nearby table and from it she pulled out a small needle and a twine of thread.
"I'm going to have to stich the skin together; I'll need you to hold his shoulders down so that he doesn't jerk too much."
The traveler nodded and moved into a position where he could easily keep the boy from squirming around injuring himself further. Luckily the wound was relatively small and the whole thing was over in a matter of minutes, she then swapped the needle and thread for a small jar of green paste that she spread over the cut before bandaging. Finally she allowed the youth to sit up and carefully helped him to his feet before kneeling down so that she could be eye to eye with him.
"There you go, all better. Now what where you doing that you ended up with such a nasty cut on your head?"
The young boy looked at the healer sheepishly, "Me and the some other boys were acting out the story that the traveler told us today down near the river, I slipped and accidently hit my head on one of the rocks Miss Xiu."
She nodded, it wasn't the first time one of the village boys had showed up at her hut with a game related injury and it certainly wouldn't be the last, however each time one of them got hurt she always gave them the same lecture in hopes that one day her words of wisdom would stick in their young minds.
"I know you boys like to play and that it's no fun when adults tell you that you can't do things but you must be more careful. Don't play so close to the river, you could have been seriously injured or even knocked unconscious and swept away by the currents. I'm not asking you to stop playing there all together just that when you do you are more cautious about what you do."
She waited until he nodded his head before shooing him out of her hut, he would have to come back in a few days to get the stiches out but other than that he would be fine so long as he kept the wound clean.
As the boys small head disappeared down the hill she finally turned back to face the stranger who had brought her latest patient to her, she studied his face as he studied hers and both came to the conclusion that the other was quite attractive. He had a handsome face and his eyes seemed to have a permanent twinkle in them as if he was ready to start laughing at any moment, his body was muscular from many years of kung fu but at the same time he always appeared to be on his toes and was obviously rather agile. In contrast she was had a petite figure that made her seem extremely fragile, her skin was pale and her face was free of any blemishes. Her eyes were a pale green and her hair a beautiful honey brown color that fell in silky waves down to her shoulder blades. She was obviously used to the strains of a hard day's work and yet her hand still seemed be as soft and delicate as any well trained geisha that you could find in the bigger towns.
They continued to study each other for some time before Xiu realized how rude she was being, upon realizing her social blunder her cheeks turned an endearing shade of pink before she offered her guest a quick bow.
"It is a pleasure to meet you I am Xiu Ya Chen, welcome to my humble abode. May I inquire as to what I should address you by kind sir?"
The traveler was stunned by the sudden change in formality. Not an hour before she had been ordering him around with little care of who he was, it struck him as funny how this young woman could go from being such a powerful and commanding person to being the quiet little bird currently standing before him and he couldn't help but laugh.
However if soon became apparent that Xiu didn't understand the humor behind her previously issued question and felt rather affronted, he was laughing at her! She didn't even know what to do, no one in the village had ever laughed at her unless she made a joke or did something silly to amuse the children, as she contemplated what to do she became more and more distressed until finally the man in front of her answered her questing effectively cutting the flood of questions and insecurities that were running rampant through her mind off.
"I have no name but many titles, the villagers here call me traveler." She nodded; it made sense that the title bestowed upon him by her neighbors was simply what he was. Hey were simple people like her and had little use for imagination once they had become adults, it was something that was mostly used to entertain the younger children and was otherwise considered useless.
"I was surprised when the villager told me to take the boy to the hut at the top of this hill. I didn't even know that there was someone living up here until today. Why have I not seen you down in the market or around the village?"
"I'm afraid I don't have much use for going down into the village, I grow most of what I need right here in my garden and what I can't grow I can find easily enough in the woods. I am a rather quite person and don't care for the crowded streets of the village nor the amount of noise it generates, even such a small community makes such a racket when they are all out buying that it makes my ears want to bleed."
She turned red at her last statement realizing that she probably sounded a bit crazy and even a little stuck, she was about to explain what she had meant when he nodded to her showing that he understood her meaning. Seeing as how the traveler didn't seem to plan on leaving soon she ushered him over to her table and served him a cup of tea before sitting down herself.
"So Mister Traveler what brings you here, our village does not get many visitors."
"I am simply a wanderer looking for new adventures and opportunities where ever I go. I am also on the run from the Jade Army," looking up he noticed that Xiu had a rather alarmed expression on her face and quickly rushed to placate her fears, "it seems that while I goofed around I may have angered the Jade Warlord. But do not worry he will not be able to follow me here, I covered my tracks well and I only found this village by chance. Your friends and family are safe I promise."
Xiu and the traveler made eye contact and she could tell he wasn't lying, if their village was attacked it would mean that the warlord had someone already in the village who told him where to go.
"How long do you plan on staying here?"
"I am not sure, I had not made any sort of plans, I will leave when I no longer feel comfortable here." The healer and the traveler ended up spending the entire day talking and as he prepared to head back down to the village he promised her he would come to visit again.
The traveler ended up staying for well over two months before finally moving on and in that time he and the healer known as Xiu became extremely close in fact they became lovers. She was just what he needed to balance out his wild spirit calming him down and preventing him from going too far when he pulled pranks on the villagers and children and in return he brought her out of her shell getting her to travel into the market place with him and introducing her to some of the villagers he had become friends with. Alas even though the two of them were madly in love he could not help his free spirit and before long he felt the urge to travel to see new places.
At first he begged her to travel with him, he painted wonderful pictures of romantic endeavors and exciting things the two could do together if she agreed to travel the world with him but unfortunately she did not have the nomadic heart he did. She was perfectly happy to live in her small hut and continue to do the same things she had been doing for years and so with eyes full of unshed tears she bid him farewell as he traveled off to his next destination. He promised her that he would come back one day and in turn she promised to wait for him, just as he was about to leave to reached up and plucked a hair from his head, "keep this with you and I will always be able to find you."
She nodded to him unable to speak for fear of breaking down into hysterics. And after sharing one final kiss with her he went on his way.
Years passed and she grew older but she never once lost faith that her lover would one day return for her, the villagers were not so optimistic. As the years stretched on all of the children grew up and moved away to new places and soon they spread the word of the beautiful healer on the hill still without a man to call husband. Many men came from all over to catch a glimpse of this supposed beauty and when they saw her each one tried to woo her into marrying them however each was politely turned away.
"I'm sorry but I already have a lover," she would say, "please turn your affections to another."
And so each left, telling her story in each town they visited. And so the word spread until it reached the ears of the Jade Warlord himself, he was intrigued by her story and traveled down from the Five Elements Mountain to see for himself what sort of woman had captured so many hearts. When he finally arrived at her small village he was greeted by the villagers as if he were royalty, they knew who he was and they begged him to take the healer as his wife. They all loved her very much and were afraid that the traveler that she had fallen in love with so many years ago would never come back and she would be left alone until the day she died.
He promised them that if he found her agreeable he would take her as his bride and sure enough as soon as he laid eyes on her he knew he had to make her his. He approached her while she was tending her garden.
"Do you know who I am?"
"I am sorry sir I do not; may I inquire as to your name?"
"I am the Jade War Lord, commander of the Jade Emperors army. I have traveled from high atop Five Elements Mountain to see the woman so many men have fallen for. You are truly as beautiful as they say and so I have decided to take you as my wife."
The lord's straight forwardness caught Xiu off guard and it took her a second to process what she had just heard. He was in charge of the Jade army and he wanted her for a wife, she tried to think of a way to get out of the arrangement but could not. He was a man who had a great deal of power and he didn't need her consent to take her for his wife and so she nodded rather dejectedly.
"As you wish my lord, I shall do my best to be a worthy companion to someone of your high status."
Pleased that she gave in so quickly the Warlord told her to pack any belongings she required and to say her goodbyes for they would be leaving on the morrow to return to his home atop the mountain. There were many tears shed as she bade the villager's goodbye, she didn't know if she would ever see them again and the thought of leaving home terrified her. She only took one bag with her for he had declared that he would buy her an entirely new wardrobe when they were back at the palace and that she should only bring the things that held memories. And so she took a bag and filled it with mementos from her late parents, gifts from the many villagers who she had helped over the years, and finally at the very top of the bag she placed a small but intricately carved wooden box that help the single strand of hair her lover had given her. He had said that so long as she had it that he would be able to find her and she was ever hopeful that he would come and spirit her away before she was forced to merry.
And that's chapter one, for writing this at 2am in the morning I'm pretty proud of it. Please review so that I can get a feel for if I should change or revise anything. Thanks for reading!
-Ambercat999