"The tradepost of Hunzai Li was an almost permanent fixture back then. I still remember it, that lynx with his freindly smile, and those three ragamuffin children with him. Oh, they were scrawny, but they were adorable too..."
-Quote from "Mother Tia Naira, an elderly's perspective", an auto-biography of a goat by the same name.
The three children looked up with barely concealed fright at the large feline in front of them. He was almost twice their height, and from their perspective, he looked very fierce.
"What have we here?" he asked, his arms still crossed, "What are you three doing in here, and locking me from my own shop?"
"We wouldn't have done it if you allowed us to just walk in," Wan pointed out, although she was shaking like a leaf.
"Quiet!" Su admonished sharply, then fixed Hunzai with her piercing assymetrical gaze, her eyes boring holes in his.
The lynx took a step back, astonished by the depths he saw in this child's eyes. They spoke volumes... And the volumes were not good.
"Who are you?" he asked, more serious this time, leaning down and looking intensely. He was met with no response, so repeated his question.
"Who are you? Tell me your names, children!" he almost shouted, harsher this time.
Instead of the verbal response he wanted, he received a sharp scratch across his face by a terrified cub, and he leapt back in pain and fury. He was on the verge of charging at them, and giving them the thrashing of their lives, when-
"Su." the largest, and presumably oldest kitten stated, her voice calm.
"What?" Hunzai asked, confused, studying the child before him. She looked scared, but her voice was so threateningly calm...
"My name? You asked my name," the kitten repeated, "My name is Su."
"Oh," the lynx said, somewhat sated. "And you two?" he addressed the remaining cubs.
"Wing," one stated quickly, obviously afraid.
"Wan," the smallest kitten whimpered, refusing to meet his eyes.
The lynx leaned back. What odd names!
"Do you have a last name?" he inquired, then added with an accusatory air, "Or are you orphans?"
Su, the eldest, drew herself up. "Both," she said, traces of arrogance on the fringes of her voice, "Our last name is Wu. And we are orphans."
Again Hunzai was shocked. What kind of orphan talked like that? And what was wrong with her eyes? It wasn't that they were a different color... It was that they were boring into his soul... Looking into it with a kind of broken sanity that made perfect sense.
They scrutinized his soul for flaws...
And they devoured it.
Shaking himself away from her eyes, he took another step backwards, pondering the three kittens before him.
"What am I going to do with you?" he wondered out loud, "I think you deserve a better punishment than simply being thrown out... Not after locking me out of my own store..."
"You ain't gonna do nothing to us!" Wing suddenly yelled, scurrying towards the door, with an astonishing speed for one so small. Su and Wan rushed after her, as she pushed the door open and fairly flew out down the road.
"Hey!" Hunzai yelled, making a flying leap after the fleeing children, but they were too fast... As his fingers closed on air, he pushed up and grabbed again with desperation. He wasn't quite sure why he wanted these children so badly, but he didn't question it now.
His final lunge caught ahold of silky fur. Success! He pulled the kitten back, just in time to see Su and Wing dissapear down the street.
"Lemme go!" Wan, held firmly by the scruff of her neck, exclaimed. "Lemme go!"
"I'm not about to do any such thing... Er... Wing?" Hunzai replied.
"Wan," the kitten bawled, mewling plaintively at the top of her lungs.
"Stop that racket!" the older feline instructed firmly, dragging Wan back into the store. He sat her onto a chair, and kneeled down to her level.
The poor kitten was terrified, small tears rolling freely down her face.
"There there," Hunzai whispered, in a motive-unknown attempt to comfort the child, "I'm not going to hurt you..."
Wan sniffed, and looked up, into his eyes. "You can't do this! My sisters will rescue me!" her tone spoke of the highest of confidence and regard. She truly believed that, with all her heart.
It was such a pity that Hunzai would have to break the cruel truth to her.
"No they won't," he stated bluntly, "Those street urchins only think about themselves. They might regret leaving you here, but..."
He leaned down, and tried to look comforting for his next words.
"...they won't risk their own safety for you, I'm afraid."
Wan shook her head emphatically. "You're lying! They'd come back! They will!"
"Will they?" Hunzai asked, touched by this display of childlike innocence and naiveté before him. "Then I shall wait for them with you... And you shall wait for them in bed," he added, noting the rapidly declining arc of sunlight over the horizon.
Wan looked confused, so he helped her by picking her up around the middle, and placing her in the bed at the back of the store.
"Goodnight," he whispered, placing himself on the floor by the bed. He wasn't about to have her escaping in the dead of night, taking his savings with her.
Wan did not take his advice, remaining bolt-upright on the soft sheets. She was petrified, sleep could not be further away from her.
Hours passed into the night. The eerie night-breezes rattled the branches against the walls, creating a slight, uneven tapping noise. The moon waxed overhead, casting it's silvery light through the small window, and spilling it into the room.
Night is beautiful, in a subtle, ominous way. The stillness is absolute, the only sounds being the singing of moving wind. Stars overhead rain their light down from the heavens in a gentle trickle, their beauty infinite and distant. The occasional cloud wafts before the moon, lighting up it's edges in a blaze of silver glory.
It was a sincere shame then, that the kitten Wan was bathed in the midst of this beauty, and was completely oblivious to it. Still she sat upon the bed, her ears straining to catch the slightest noises through the darkness. Beside the bed she sat on, Hunzai had drifted off into a shallow doze, the soft noises of sleep issuing from his throat.
At least... So it seemed.
If one was to look closely, he might catch sight of an opaque green glow beneath the lynx's eyelids, a sign of the brooding awareness that lay within.
A scratch was all that heralded their arrival, nothing more. An observer, watching their smooth, sinuous grace as they alighted the tree branches leading up to where their sister was held, would have no inkling of the difficulty that the two had in planning this.
Su's mind was filled with a wild, thrilling excitement as she climbed, leaping from branch to branch with audacity and skill that would put trained artists to shame. Her small claws gripped the branches tightly, whilst her thoughts were focused on other things. Namely, her sister.
Revenge was secondary on her mind. That she could think of once she retrieved her sister, her dear, sweet sister. Wan, the most innocent of their group, the only one Su trusted with her life, besides Wing. She had burned down an orphanage, killed children, but had saved Wan. Wan was her comforter, her one act of redemption.
Because she didn't have to save her, het it had been done. Su had placed Wan's safety above her own then, and in her mind, that brought her a twisted solace for the painful deaths of those lost.
Her sister must be saved. They were siblings of the truest kind, this group.
She leaped forward, alighting upon the windowsill with a low thump, turning her paw to Wing and hoisting her up. The window was a difficulty, but with practiced skill, it was opened smoothly and silently, only the sudden breeze giving testament to their actions.
Wan, comfortably placed upon the bed, looked up at them in surprise, her eyes flaming up in a furious mixture of joy, relief, and triumph as she saw her rescuers. She had been right. She knew she was.
Hunzai, his eyes opened slightly, watched Su and Wing climb down from the window in astonishment. The display of sisterly loyalty touched him deeply, restoring his faith in the good nature of others. If three orphans, who most likely had no proper nurturing in their lives, could look out for each other so...
He briefly entertained the idea of letting them escape, but cast it out as quickly as it came. He had a better plan.
With one smooth motion, he slammed the window shut, entrapping all three kittens inside. Their was a scream, and then silence.
Hunzai looked at the three pairs of eyes, watching him with somber fear. He chuckled, then leaned down to Wan.
"It seems you were right..." he told her softly, then turned to Su, who was studying his every move.
"You are quite the loyal sister," he remarked smoothly, lowering himself to her level. "Not many would do such a thing for their closest friend."
Su said nothing, her mouth shut either from fear or cunning.
"Such loyalty... Is a great virtue, do you know that?" Hunzai continued, fixing his eyes on hers.
Those eyes again. They were so cruel, so very old for their young age, but they spoke.
"We are the eyes of the forgotten." they said, their voice almost palpable in the eerie night, "We are the eyes of those who seek and do not find."
Hunzai locked her in his gaze once more.
"Such a virtue deserves reward," he said sagely, nodding at her quietly, "I believe circumstances have mistreated you. While I have not fared particularly well, I have a home. I will help you, if I can."
Su finally replied, her voice trembling. For all her strange matureness, the child was in mortal fear.
"What are you talking about?"
"I want you to stay in my house, as my children, if you will. Only if you wish," he explained quickly, "And for only as long as you want. If you do not wish, you may walk out that door."
Hunzai gestured to the door, while nodding to Su.
He answered the message of her eyes with one of his own.
"You have sought, and now you have found. Welcome home, if welcome you will be."
Morning found three kittens, seated awkwardly around a breakfast table, eating with a lonely lynx merchant.
Author's note: that was a long wait! Sorry people. Don't forget to review!