Chapter Three:
Suspicion
Warnings: Swearing.
Dark!China
Note: This chapter was really hard to write. I dunno why, but it was. This will also be updated next Wednesday. Also, Sorry if this seems short. I got stuck and suffered for it. _
-/-
Midnight – a time when anyone sane enough would be sleeping, snoozing away on a pillow and snuggled down into a nest of blankets. After a hard day of work, anyone would be dead asleep, and that didn't exclude Yu, the representative of Singapore. She had been dreaming of birds and a song, one that sounded like it was on harpsichord, but something about strawberry fields… until the shrill ringing of the phone downstairs woke her up. Yu groaned, rolling over to check the time. 12:01 A.M. "Whoever woke me up is going to pay…" she rolled over and landed on the floor on her knees, and gave another groan. "Too early…" she yawned, as another blast of shrilling from the phone went off. "Fine, fine," she sighed, tucking in a loose strand of hair. "If it'll keep you happy…" she muttered crossly in Mandarin, cursing the one who woke her up.
"What are you saying, Lumi's missing?" Yu asked crossly, one arm crossed and reflexively in a fighting stance. A garbled answer was given, and she frowned, "Well, why the hell aren't you looking for her; hell, what about Ivan the Stalker?" Her eyes widened slightly, and instantly gave a mental prayer to whatever god was listening at the moment. "You're telling me that they're both missing, and you don't find that the least bit odd? Honestly, I'd think you guys were báichī." She sighed, hearing more garbled words. "Fine, I'll keep an eye out; wăn'ān." She hung up, and sighed heavily.
"Great…" she muttered, stretching. Instead of getting dressed, Yu decided to flop back down onto her pile of pillows and blankets. "It's freaking midnight, and he calls; báichī." She grumbled, "I worked all day today, and I deserve sleep." She started to slip into dreamland, a faint smile on her face… until a banging on her door woke her up. Sitting up suddenly, Yu felt a strange sense of paranoia slip over her. More banging, no one calling out – just violently bangs on the door. Instead of calling out like she normally would do, Yu decided to take it safe and silently climbed up the stairs, before slipping into a room that would normally be under strict lock and key.
It was a room that only Yu – the representative of Singapore and former pirate – could entre.
The room was full of weapons – including cannons – from the days when Yu was a renowned, and dangerous, pirate. However, time was of the essence. Whoever was at her door, banging on it was going to have deal with her. Eyeing each weapon critically, she finally selected her old comrade: the qiang. She had normally would've used a dao, but due to special circumstances, she'd rather have a qiang on her side, but for old time's sake, she grabbed the weapon, and crept downstairs stealthily with both weapons in hand.
Whoever was willing to break into her home obviously didn't know of her past. Or if they did, it would be extremely foolish of them to encounter her in a dark corridor of her home.
-/-
Sitting in the dark of her closet, Yu went over every single possibility that could go wrong. She leaned her qiang against the wall, knowing it would be considered useless in such a cramped space. A firm hold on her dao had her thinking of all the possibilities that could go wrong. The robber could easily leave, finding no one home and thus ransacking the place; or the robber would happen to find her, and just like a jack-in-the-box, she would spring and cut his head off before he even knew what hit him. Light footsteps could be heard downstairs (Yu had very sharp hearing), a slight shuffle.
"Not here either…" the person swore in Chinese, "where could have she gone? I know she's still here – otherwise Lán sè would've left." Yu silently cursed – that's what she forgot. However, how did the intruder know of Lán sè…? She frowned, and tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword. Yu sighed, and looked up at the ceiling, which was concealed by the many clothes that she had. She was about to nod off, and shook her head vigorously, trying to shake off a yawn. "Oh, what is this?" Yu heard the intruder pick something up and cursed herself. How foolish of her – to leave the phone lying on the ground! She could've called for help – but this time, she was the báichī. Instead of going out to fight, she stayed where she was, trying to not fall asleep. It would be foolish to go and engage in a fight that she couldn't win.
It wouldn't do much good for her to simply fall asleep.
However, her body was tired – it demanded that Yu slept. After the surprisingly tough workout she had gone through, along with massive amounts of paperwork to do, the day was draining. The adrenaline rush was ebbing away, replaced with a dull feeling. Maybe… just for a minute or… her head landed on the wall, her hair falling over her face. She felt tensed, ready for action, but her face seem to radiate a calmness that would've fooled anyone.
Yu was asleep within minutes…
… And moments later, she was rudely awakened by the door being ripped open. Jolted awake, Yu tried to fend the intruder off by swinging the dao blindly, the adrenaline making her reckless. "Get away from me, I'm warning you I know how to fight with this!" she screeched, screaming all sorts of things in a mixture of English and Mandarin. Yu fought back like a cat, lashing out with her dao rapidly, causing the intruder to get cuts all over their limbs – until she judged her attack too late, and with a dull thok –
Yu was out like a light.
-/-
Author's Note: Ok, I know that you all are sick of hearing excuses, but damn was the first half of my summer break hectic. I meant to update this story sooner, but I got side-tracked and kidnapped and stuff… so yeah, sorry! ;; I'll try to keep everything flowing more smoothly from now on!
