This ain't no self-insert fic.
This ain't no slash fic neither.
This is Top Dog.
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Xian Pu was angry, mourning, and frightened. All at the same time.
She was in her favourite hiding place; the long grass behind Ro Shi's forge. She'd learnt a lot at that forge; she'd learnt to craft blades from raw iron ore.
She'd also learnt to hide away and try to deal with her thoughts.
Ro Shi, the elderly mastersmith, was one of about two Joketsuzoku men allowed to have a female subordinate. That was because he was a mastersmith, able to create weapons no Amazon woman could make. There was great competition between customers; everyone wanted a Ro Shi sword.
Xian Pu was his disciple, because she was the only person he'd ever met who shared his fascination with the behaviour of red-hot steel.
But, right now, she was using the ground behind the forge as a hiding place.
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Disclaimer: The contents of a cup of coffee are supposed to be hot.
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Top Dog: Biker Half 2.0
Book 1: Birth of a Modern Legend.
A Doghead13 / United Galaxies fanfic
Written & produced by Calum J 'Doghead13' Wallace
With thanks to HWSoD, who became the first person to post a comment on the comment board for this version of the fic.
Brought to you by Hairy Scottish Git Productions, GMBH
This is not a drill.
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Xian Pu felt tears starting to swell up; she angrily wiped them away. Crying would shame her mother; she wasn't going to do that.
"Hey, squirt." A voice said. Looking up, Xian Pu found herself looking at Ru Ki.
Ru Ki was a slave. She'd broken the law; she'd allowed her brother to order her around, so she'd been deemed unworthy. She was still on sale.
Xian Pu glowered at her.
Ru Ki gave Xian Pu a knowing look.
"You're angry, aren't you?" she asked.
Xian Pu thought about that for a few moments, then nodded.
"I thought so. You know your mother was sent out on that suicide mission to get her out the way, don't you?"
Xian Pu nodded vehemently.
"You want payback, don't you?" Ru Ki checked.
Xian Pu nodded again.
Ru Ki sat down beside her.
"Did you know that the laws haven't changed for ten thousand years?"
"I knew that." Xian Pu snapped.
"Sure, we all do. But don't you think they ought to?" Ru Ki asked.
Xian Pu shrugged.
"If the laws changed." Ru Ki said, "Maybe our brothers would be able to make suggestions to us. Maybe we'd be able to be who we want to be."
She paused.
"Maybe no other girl would have to be taken aside and shown the bill for the bullet." Ru Ki said.
Xian Pu levelled her worst glare at the older girl.
"You're not the only one." Ru Ki said. "The Elders sent my mother on a suicide mission too. Then they sentenced me to enslavement because I listened to my big brother. I hate them too, Xian Pu."
"I'm going to kill them." Xian Pu snarled, clenching and unclenching her fists.
Ru Ki awkwardly hugged her, then had a fish around and pulled a wad of black cloth from her pocket.
She handed it to Xian Pu, grinned shyly, and withdrew.
Xian Pu sat there and stewed for a while, then unwadded the cloth.
It was a T-shirt, with one Chinese pictogram emblazoned on the chest.
The pictogram?
Reform.
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COMING VERY SOON
General revision 18/April/07, improvements to formatting.
Further general revision 25/April/07, more improvements to formatting.
