Angel: I recently watched a new Chinese movie (yes, I'm Chinese-Canadian) called 画壁, or "Mural." I really love this movie. I thought of how cool it would be if I could make it into a fanfic, so here it is! (I hope I'm not breaking any of the policies. Not everything is the same as in the movie.) The names have been changed to anime characters (including people from other animes), and some are random names. Should I put it in the crossover section?
~In ancient China, where a young scholar was traveling to the capital with his assistant to take the test that would/would not make him eligible for a position in the court, a mountain thief overtook them, waving a gigantic sword…~
"Stop running! Get back here, you thief! Stop!" The scholar chased the thief escapee with his long, sharp sword that he'd snatched away. The thief's hands were bound with rope and he was running toward a small temple on the top of the mountain, while the assistant desperately tried to keep up with many big loads on his back.
The thief stumbled into the temple just as the master monk (and the only monk there) came out to see what all the commotion was about.
The thief said, "Master, master! Please save me! He's trying to kill me!" The scholar came rushing in with the sword in his hand.
"That's not true! He wanted to steal from us!" The scholar said.
The monk, with a laughing grin on his face, leaned toward the scholar and replied, "But the sword is in your hands."
The scholar immediately realized how bad he looked. He handed the sword to the monk. "The sword is his."
"Please, master! Save me!" The thief begged. Suddenly, breaking free of his bonds, he lunged for the sword…only to have it kept out of reach by the monk, who could react surprisingly quickly.
The thief lunged again. The monk twirled the sword in the air, shifting it to another position to keep it from the thief. The thief turned around and stared, a little confused but very amazed that such a short, chubby monk could get the better of him.
The monk chuckled again. "Why don't we all stop and rest a while? I'll go get some tea for us all."
The thief made a final attempt that getting his precious sword back. This time the monk swung it around sharply. The thief ducked; the sword grazed his coarse hair.
And with that, the monk disappeared into a room behind a panel.
"Hmph," The thief grunted reluctantly and sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall. The scholar sat down in a chair while his assistant hurriedly brought out some food from the luggage to give to his master.
Before the scholar could take a bite, he noticed a painting on the wall of the temple. It was a mural in old colours depicting many beautiful ladies among many flowers.
"It's the fairies in heaven! They're so pretty," The assistant said dreamily beside the scholar.
The scholar hit him on the head lightly. "What's so surprising?" He scolded. "They're just some women. You shouldn't worry about finding a wife until you're a decent man. How many times have I told you?"
The assistant stammered, "Uh…which—which one, sire?"
The scholar pressed his lips together tightly in exasperation, then prompted, "A gentleman should…"
The assistant's face lip up. "Oh! A gentleman should begin by building up a good character of himself, then take care of his family, and then his country…" He looked at the mural of beautiful fairies again, "…and bring peace to the world."
The scholar quickly corrected him, "And eventually the world will be a peaceful place! *Sigh* Have you built a good character yet?"
"I'm afraid I'll never be able to do that, Master."
"Then why are you thinking about women? Seriously…"
The assistant stood in thought until he noticed that the thief was eating their food. "Hey! Why are you eating our food? Give it back!"
Meanwhile, the scholar turned back to the mural. As he looked closer, he was attracted especially to one particular fairy. Her eyes were closed peacefully, and she was surrounded by peonies (牡丹).
The scholar's forehead bunched together in thought. For some reason something about that girl seemed so…mysterious and magical. He looked away for a second. Was he just imagining this feeling?
Suddenly, something phenomenal happened.
The fairy surrounded by peonies—in the mural!—opened her eyes.
The scholar's mouth widened in wonder and he stepped back a little from shock.
A delicate shriek came from behind the main panel in the temple. The scholar looked over and saw a girl in a flowing white dress and with long black hair appear on the floor amid a shower of sparkles. On the top left of her forehead, there was a sprinkling of white gems and sparkles. She seemed to have fallen there. The girl glanced at him, a look of confusion and mild terror on her cute face.
Could it be? The scholar turned sharply to the mural again where the girl surrounded by peonies had been.
She was gone.
Trivia: In ancient China, women and girls always had extremely long hair. This was because it was a belief that if anyone (males included) cut their hair, they were dishonoring their parents, who gave birth to them and raised them. Males usually had long hair; they wore their hair in a single braid down the back or in a bun on the top of the head. Scholars (like the one here) tucked their hair into their hat.