He sat upon a straw mat in the middle of a dark room, the only light coming from a lamp directly in front of him. Draped around his shoulders was a heavy comforter, given to him to replace the tattered robes that had begun to soak in melted ice. Lien Hua, under Hui Chao's instruction, had given him the blanket, cleaned his face of the dirt that still stained it, and brushed the tangles out of his hair for him, tying it out of his face. He stared at the burning wick mindlessly, watching the flame dance back and forth until he heard somebody enter the room to his right. He listened to the old woman's shuffle, still watching the flame bounce around. He heard her set something down on the ground behind him, heard her groaning sigh as her arthritic knees fought her on her way down next to him. She brushed her robes off, massaging her sore joints as she looked at the silhouette of her guest's back.
"Did Fa tell you why he was sending you here?" she asked, patting her knees. She saw the man's head shaking 'no'.
"Ah, I see. Well, young man, I can assure you, it's not because he feels you need a vacation," she said, chuckling softly to herself. "Now I need your word that you trust me to do the job he sent you to me for, understand?"
She saw him nod tiredly. With that, she unraveled the bundle she had brought with her, revealing an array of needles laid out in order, along with a towel, an assortment of blocks of pigment and another block of a transparent, green gel-like substance. Hui Chao took the towel and dipped it in the cauldron Lien Hua left next to their guest, rubbing the damp part onto the green block. She yanked the blanket down to reveal his bruised and battered back, temporarily snapping him out of his flame-induced daze. He felt the rough fabric of the towel around his shoulder blades, the cool, smooth quality of the substance that smelled faintly of aloe.
"Just setting the canvas," he heard Hui Chao say, wondering if she even noticed the lacerations she was rubbing her towel over. He briefly contemplated the meaning of her words, not understanding until she set the towel down and picked up one of the needles.
Suddenly he felt the steel tip of one attempt to pierce into his left shoulder blade, right in a fresh bruise. He jerked upright, reflexively elbowing the air behind him, knocking the pointed tool out of the old priestess' hand.
"Aiee!" she cried out in startled annoyance. "You said you understood that I had a job to do! What's the big deal?"
For the first time, he turned to look at Hui Chao, resting his weight on his arm behind him. The blanket had fallen to his waist, allowing the light from the lamp to show Hui Chao all of his wounds. Stone-faced, she looked back up to him, noting the look of shame he wore for his outburst. She softened a little.
"May I try again?" she requested. Gingerly, he grabbed the edge of the blanket, pulling it back up to recover some of his modesty. He nodded, turning back around to face the lamp without a word.
Hui Chao paused before picking up the needle he knocked out of her hand. She cleaned it off again, this time more careful to put the tip on his shoulder gently.
She dug the point in, drawing the first drop of blood.
Lien Hua kneeled right outside the silk screen door, waiting for the moment Hui Chao would call on her to bring any other supplies. To her surprise, the screen door slid open much sooner than Lien Hua had anticipated. She rose to her feet immediately.
"You're done already?" she asked incredulously as her mentor slid the screen shut behind her.
"No," Hui Chao responded bluntly. "I've barely even started. And it doesn't look like I'll be making any progress."
At this she held up one of her needles, which Lien Hua squinted to see in the dim light of the lantern-illuminated hall. As her eyes adjusted, she noticed that the steel tip had broken off completely. Confused, Lien Hua looked back to her elder.
"What happened?" she asked Hui Chao.
"That is not a man in there, Lien," Hui Chao answered. "That is a god."
Lien Hua's mouth dropped open in shock. Her teacher, however, simply cleaned the needle off on her robe, as if she hadn't just revealed that there was a deity in their presence.
"W…What?" Lien Hua finally stammered in disbelief.
"You heard me," Hui Chao responded nonchalantly. "That is Raiden, the god of thunder and protector of Earthrealm. Didn't you notice the clouds following him here, Lien?"
The younger woman was silent, embarrassed that the thought had not occurred to her.
"Anyway, there's no way these needles are going to do the trick," Hui Chao continued. "I can only imagine what gave him those bruises."
Lien Hua paused, still trying to collect her thoughts, ignoring her master's casual indifference.
"So, what does that mean? We can't help him?" Lien asked the priestess, rotating in place to keep eye contact as the old woman walked around her student.
"Of course we can," Hui Chao answered gruffly. "His skin is simply too tense for the needle. Go make him some tea."
"Oh," Lien Hua exclaimed. "Yes, of course."
She gathered her robes, sprinting off in the other direction on her master's orders.
He heard the screen door slide open behind him, although he didn't see the point in turning around. The candle in the lamp continued to command his barely-there attention.
Lien Hua carefully balanced the teapot and cup on the tray she carried, apprehensive as she made her way over to the divinity sitting in front of the open lantern. She placed the tray down wordlessly, pausing nervously as she brushed off her robes, unsure of what to do. Although she made an effort to keep her gaze averted to the ground, she couldn't help herself from glancing up once. She only saw slivers of his profile, impressions of the hook of his nose, the prominence of his lips, hints of the front of his broad cheeks. A momentary flare from the candle illuminated the cuts on his lips, the bruise that extended from his temple to the inside of his nose, swelling his eye almost shut. A small portion was still visible, though; an empty gray iris that caught and mirrored the dancing orange of the candle. But even the reflection of the flame could not return the vitality to his gaze.
Catching herself staring at their guest, Lien Hua immediately pushed back from him, bending forward and touching her forehead to the ground in prostration.
"Don't bother," a low voice muttered pathetically. Lien Hua slowly raised her eyes until she could make out his profile once more. He hadn't moved.
Conflicted between doing what she thought was expected and obeying his wishes, Lien Hua conceded to the latter and straightened herself until she was kneeling upright once more. She rubbed her knees nervously. Timidly, she pushed the tray a little bit closer to him, assuming that he had not seen it.
"Please," she encouraged him, but careful to limit herself to as few words as possible. "Hui Chao's orders."
He gave no response. Finally, gaze still transfixed on the lantern, Raiden brought one of his hands out of the blanket and reached mechanically for the cup next to the pot. He tugged it towards him until it hit the raised edge of the tray. Then he was still.
Lien Hua looked from the cup back to him, puzzled. She waited for a moment to see if he would do anything else. The cup remained on the tray.
She crawled over to him, tentatively lifting the cup out of his hand and holding it under his nose, hoping that the scent would spur him to take a drink. Slowly, he brought his hand up to take it back from her, waiting for her to draw back before he brought it to his lips. He took a sip without another word.
She didn't know why she felt the need to make sure he kept it down, but she lingered for a moment until she saw him take another drink. She averted her stare to the straw mat beneath them.
The screen door slid open behind them. Only Lien turned to see Hui Chao standing expectantly in the entrance way, holding another bundle that presumably held a second set of needles.
Lien Hua hurriedly gathered herself, stood up and walked over to the priestess.
"He may need a few minutes," the younger woman mumbled. Hui Chao nodded.
"I'll take care of it from here," she told her student. "You may go."
Surprising herself, Lien Hua took one more look behind her to the weakened god sitting on the mat.
She silently made her departure.
