Chapter 3: Mud x and x Blood
"What do you mean I can't work here!?"
Sen was furious, her cheeks puffing in irritation. The man towered over her, scratching his head. He looked to be in his fifties with graying hair and had a chubby belly.
"First thing is, you're too young. Second," he looked over the tattered girl covered in mud, "This establishment hires people who have the sense to stay clean."
The small girl growled, eyes turning away as an embarrassed flush crossed over her cheeks. She had been living in the city streets for two weeks already, living off of food from the garbage and sleeping in dark alleyways. Unlike other Stories, where she would be picked up by whoever had a heart, this Story seems to be filled with cold, cruel people who spared no glance to a starving girl.
"Now shoo, you're scaring away my customers," he barked at her, slamming the door with a quick snap.
Sen slumped. He was the third guy that rejected her, not that she really blamed him. Though she healed up all her visible bruises and cuts from that fight on the hill, there was only so much her dark clothes could take against the streets. Stains had started to appear and threads began to loosen. Her once immaculate boots were scuffed and encased in a thick layer of dry dirt. A result from her trying to bend mud when it rained three days ago.
Well, time to go jumping into dumpsters again. Sen shuffled her feet against the cobblestone ground, stuffing her hands deep into her pockets. The sun slowly went down as night approached, the shadows growing longer and longer. Sen bit her lip. Still unsure of what Story she was in, it became difficult to for Sen to figure out what to do.
Normally, she would just follow the pacing of the narrative, going along with whatever adventure the main character was in. Other times, she would actively try to prevent some disasters that she knew would kill the ones she began to love.
This time though, not only does she not know anyone, she doesn't know how this world works. It left her feeling even more lost and alone than when she had woken up in her first Restart.
Slowly, Sen walked into an alleyway she hasn't been to before, hoping to find better food than the one she went into yesterday. She grimaced at her situation, but her stomach gnawed down at her, leaving her little to nothing to do but to dive into the trash.
Giving a small huff she jumped in, rummaging through the plastic bags before she was suddenly grabbed by the back of her shirt.
"You dare go through my dump'ter?!" shouted a screeching voice.
"Hm?" Turning around, Sen came face to face with a very angry looking woman, her eyes bulging ferociously from their sockets. Her hair was gray and raggedy. Her clothes were composed of a mesh of things that weren't considered clothes at all, like wine bottles and an odd piece of rope. Sen's nose twitched as the old lady came up close to her face, her breath was even more putrid than the garbage.
The crazed woman suddenly tossed Sen off to the side, before diving into the garbage herself. "Kekeke~ My garbage. My garbage. Kekeke~"
...Okay.
"You can keep this one then, Sasha," the girl said calmly, scratching the side of her head as she slowly walked back out onto the streets. Sen had met Sasha just three days after she popped up into the city. The crazy lady was the one who saved her when she was about to collapse from starvation, by stuffing her face with rotting bread.
.
"Blergh!" Sen coughed, the extremely tangy taste of the bread stinging her tongue. "Forget it! I'd rather die than taste that again!"
The old woman merely cackled and stuffed more rotten bread down the girl's throat.
.
Their meetings were always brief, but Sen was always grateful for the woman. Somehow, the old lady showed her how to look through the trash and be comfortable in this odd life of poverty. Her weird antics always gave her something to smile about as they lived in the alleyways of the slums. Or at least her actions puzzled her enough to occupy her mind.
"HEY!"
"Oh~?"
"Get your ugly self outta mah trash, you stupid woman!"
The girl continued on, thinking that Sasha would just cackle and slither away again like she usually does. Sen had tried giving the old woman some food as thanks for everything she had done for her. But every time she presented her gift, the old lady would just laugh her weird laugh and disappear into the shadow of the alleyways. Sen slowly trudged on, her stomach imploring her to look for anything edible.
Suddenly a hard smack rang through the air. The sound of glass splintering against the ground crinkled with a bright flair. Dark eyes widened.
Sasha.
Turning around, Sen quickly sped back down to the alleyway. Her muddy boots thunked against the cobblestone ground as she gritted her teeth, pushing away her oily bangs.
"Sasha! Sasha are you alr-!"
Ba-dump.
Sen grasped the front of her dirty shirt as she felt her heart stop beating. The old lady laid still on the floor, her straggly, gray hair covering her face. Bits of shattered glass speckled the ground, twinkling under the light of the setting sun. Blood slowly pooled on the floor under the old woman, slowly thinning as it crawled its way between the cracks in the stone. Standing to the side was a large man, his eyes wide in shock at the prone form below him. Sen gave a hard swallow as something burned in the back of her throat.
It felt as if her heart had choked back up her airway, making it difficult to breathe. Her shoulders trembled. It was a familiar feeling. Too familiar. Sen stared blankly at the fallen form, a surge of old memories flashing rapidly through her eyes. The sight. The smell. The air. It was all too familiar, she can recognize it so easily. Sen gritted her teeth as her dark hair fell over her eyes, lowering her head so she couldn't see the body. Living through countless Stories, she should have been accustomed to it already. Accustomed to the death.
The death of a friend.
Suddenly, something bright flashed through her mind. Her eyes hardened.
No.
I refuse.
Sen rushed down toward the old woman, her knees crashing against the stone ground as she knelt down toward her friend. Her heart pounding, the skinny girl shakily reached over the frayed hair. She bit her lip, fingers quickly pushing away the gray hair as her hard eyes looked over the pallid face. Her body went frigid.
Sasha's eyes, were entirely blank.
Sen stayed still next to the old lady. Softly, she pulled away the rough hair from Sasha's pale face, her fingers delicately closed her empty eyes. Sasha was as cold as stone.
Sasha...
Suddenly the girl stood up, turning towards the man who was still shocked at the body on the ground. Noticing her sudden movement, the man stared warily at the girl before him. Her dark hair covered her face, blocking his view of her eyes. He shuddered as fear disturbingly creeped into his mind. Something told him to run. To run as far away as he could. He tensed slightly before a sudden spark flashed before his eyes.
Wait.
Why should he run?
He was only defending his property. Even if it was trash. Private stuff was private stuff. Those beggars never had the right. Suddenly his eyes grew fierce as his face turned to that of contempt. The large man stood his ground as he looked down at the girl, noting her skinny frame, sunken cheeks, and withered clothing. It was only a tiny, frail girl. What had he been so frightened about? He opened his mouth, about to yell her off when a sudden gust of wind blew her dark hair away from her face. He gasped.
Dark and aflame, her eyes were lit in fury. The man took a step back as his heart pounded in terror, it felt like she was burning a hole though him. W-Why-?!
Sen trembled as she clenched her fists, the ground cracking under her feet. Her mind was boiling with rage, unable to create a coherent thought. She knew. She knew that if she attacked the man he would surely die. Glaring intensely at the man she bit her tongue, feeling the warm blood pool around her mouth. The slight pain and tangy taste did little to calm her down. A sudden flash of light appeared in the corner of her eyes. Unconsciously, Sen glanced down. It was a shard of glass that had attracted her eyes, but she was drawn to another thing.
All she saw, was Sasha's limp body.
Her anger suddenly exploded.
"WHAT'D YOU GO ON AN' DO THA' FOR?!" Sen shrieked, rage consuming her entire being, taking over what little reason she had left.
The man took a couple step back, drops of sweat appearing on the side of his head. Just what kinda girl is this? The anger rolling off this girl was unnatural. His heart was thundering against his chest as he stood stock still before the girl. Fearing any sudden movements would result in death, or worse.
The furious girl was about to take a step forward when he suddenly pulled up his hands desperately. "H-Hey! All I did was punch her and she fell over! It must have been those glass bottles on her! They prolly broke and stabbed her!"
The girl's black eyes were empty. However, it was markedly colored with hot anger and hate. The man shuddered, taking more steps backwards. It didn't seem like she heard him at all.
"I-IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" he choked, his back hitting against the wall, "I already told this hag a hundred times not to go through my trash! I already gave her a beating for it before, but she still came back!"
At that the girl's fury grew hotter. The man whimpered, his hands scratching uselessly at the brick wall. Suddenly, the splintered pieces of glass suddenly started throbbing along the floor. The man jumped, it felt almost as if the entire ground was shaking. Looking back at the frenzied girl, he gulped, sweat now pouring down his face. Fear took over his entire being. How can such a little girl be so scary?!
Trembling, he made a mad dash out, running down the street and trying to get as far away from the devil child as he could.
Growling, Sen was about to run after him when she felt a firm grasp grip her ankle. The girl paused, her eyes still blank.
"...ke."
Instantly, the girl's dark eyes brightened as her anger quickly dissipated. She looked down, noticing Sasha's trademark smirk.
"Sasha!"
The glass shards suddenly stopped jittering as the tremors in the ground mysteriously disappeared. Sen gasped as she knelt down toward the bleeding woman. The girl hastily looked over the old lady. Her face was still pale and thin from the loss of blood. Sen placed a finger on the elder woman's cheek, frowning at the coldness. Suddenly Sasha chuckled, her blank eyes twitching up at her.
"Kekeke..."
The girl froze, realization settling upon her like the brown leaves falling in autumn.
Ah right.
Sasha's eyes were normally like that.
Sen sat there mutely for a moment when Sasha suddenly wiggled her eyebrows.
"PFFT."
Letting out a small laugh, the dark haired girl hunched over as she hugged her thin self. Tears streamed down her eyes as a blush covered her cheeks. "You gave me a scare there, Sasha."
Delicately Sen reached over and lifted the old lady, taking her in her arms as she subtly increased the chakra flow in her arms. Pursing her lips, Sen hoped that Sasha wouldn't find it unusual for a girl like her with such thin arms to carry a lady twice her size.
Settling the old lady a few feet away from the broken glass and blood, her dark eyes scanned Sasha's injured back. The glass from the wine bottles had penetrated deeply, one shard almost poked through the spleen. Frowning, Sen started pulling out the glass embedded in the cackling lady's back. Her small hand deftly pulled out the shattered pieces with simple ease. Her experience as a medic ninja helping her out once again.
Dark eyes glanced at the mass of frizzy, white hair. Though she was careful not to further induce irritate the wounds, the crippled lady under her gave no signs of pain. Sen frowned as she picked out the last piece of glass. Sasha impervious to pain?
She shook her head. Her attention right now should be on healing the old woman. Sasha's wounds were now bleeding profusely once more when the glass was pulled out. It needed to be staunched quickly. Sen bit her lip as she looked down at her dirty shirt. She had nothing on her that could wrap the gaping holes on Sasha's back.
Sen jumped when Sasha suddenly let out a pained moan. She had to do something quick before Sasha suffers from extreme blood loss. Her dark eyes quickly glanced around before placing both hands over the woman's bleeding back, about an inch away from the punctures.
"Don't tell anyone about this, 'kay Sasha?"
The old lady just cackling randomly until she felt a warm aura flow across her back.
"Kekekeke-oh?"
Sen's hands glowed a soft green as the wounds on the elder lady's back stopped bleeding. Slowly, the puncture wounds started closing up, becoming smaller and smaller before new skin grew and covered over it. Her back was as good as new and possibly cleaner than it was before.
"There," Sen gave a small sigh before smiling at the old lady, "You can get up now Sasha."
"Kekeke. So you can do that too?"
The small girl jumped at that, "E-Eh?"
Cackling madly, the old lady turned over and sat across from the little girl as she stared knowingly into the little girl's eyes. "Keke, I've seen what you can do Sen-chan~. You've been making those holes in the ground and jumping into them every night, always closing up the top. Who knew you could do this as well~?"
Sen went cold at that statement. True, she had earthbended a hole wherever she got tired and slept in it. It felt safer under the earth than up above on the streets. But she was always careful when she did it, she was sure no one was around at those times. Her mouth gaped open, "H-how'd you know tha-?"
She quickly shook her head, "N-no! Before that, why're you talking so normally right now!?"
"Keke," the old woman continued, as if she didn't hear the girl. She most likely really didn't, considering her habits.
Though, that was a Sasha she knew before the glass incident.
Her dark eyes narrowed. How does this new Sasha act?
"Of course I don't blame you, Sen-chan. These streets are dangerous, no place for a young girl like you. So I was kinda glad you had that trick up your sleeve."
Suddenly the bewildered girl gave a small laugh, "Ahah. Maybe I healed you wrong Sasha, you seemed to have some memories jumbled up making you act weird!"
Sasha stared at the girl for moment, before letting out a mad snicker.
"I've seen you heal me girl! You healed my back. Not my head. So my memories are fine! Kekeke!"
The dark haired girl just continue to stare at the old woman. Though her speech had changed, the inflection, the behavior, the actions were all the same. It was still Sasha. Right?
Noticing the girl's suspicion, the woman just gave her a mysterious smile, "It's alright girlie. Sasha is still Sasha."
Sen just let out a small groan before slumping against the wall, rubbing her head. This was still the same woman who stuffed her mouth with rotting bread? Dark eyes peeked between slim fingers, looking over at the old lady. Her blank eye twitched as the old lady tilted her head sideways before pulling out something from her make-shift pocket.
It was a piece of bread. Mold already taking over half the loaf.
"Pfft."
Sen chuckled.
She'll accept that.
She'll accept this new Sasha.
The girl glanced over at the woman before calmly resting her head against the red brick wall. She closed her eyes as the setting sun stabbed its light into her retinas.
"I was sure no one was there when I made those holes..."
Sasha let out a laugh. "Kekeke. I was watching over you Sen-chan. I couldn't just let a little girl sleep in these dangerous alleys without supervision. Though it turns out you didn't need any watching at all!" She slapped her leg, laughing as if she had told the funniest joke in the world.
Sen pouted, surely Sasha only saw this recently?
"When did you see it, Sasha?"
"Right when you first popped outta the ground like a daisy those two weeks ago," Sasha stated bluntly, giving the girl a thumbs up.
Said girl did a facepalm. Right on the first day I entered the city.
The two just sat there, staring at each other. Well, Sen was sitting with a depressed face at the fact that her earthbending secret was discovered so easily. Sasha, on the other hand, simply played with the frayed end of her rope.
The sky above them was now a flaming orange as the sun was beginning to fade off around the bend, the orange hue closely chased by its purple partner. Suddenly, the girl stood up, rubbing the side of her head. This was the longest she had ever been with the old lady without her suddenly slipping away. Yet, because of that, staying around her any longer makes her feel awkward.
"Well, I'll be going now," the girl simply stated as she looked down at the old woman, "Please keep my abilities a secret for me. 'Kay, Sasha?"
Sen was about to walk away when the bug-eye lady suddenly spoke up.
"Eh? Who said I was gonna keep this secret?"
. . .
"Ehh!?" Sen quickly turned back to the cackling lady. "Sasha...Sasha won't...?"
The girl fell down before the old lady, her hands flat on the ground below her. She really didn't expect that comment. Sen continued to stare dumbfounded at the stone ground before she heard a muffled laugh. Looking up, she saw a teasing glint in Sasha's white eyes.
"SASHAAA! Don't tease me like thaat!" the girl whined, before falling down onto the ground in embarrassment. Sasha just let out another guffaw in laughter, the girl's face growing a brighter shade of red.
This was not the first time the old lady tripped up the small girl.
Pushing herself back up, Sen looked away from the crazy lady laughing at her, a red flush dusting her cheeks. "I'm gonna go now, Sasha. I wanna try and get a job tomorrow."
The girl was about to stand up and leave when Sasha suddenly spoke up.
"I know a better way to earn money."
Dark eyes flashed back to white orbs in confusion, "...Eh?"
Sasha just smirked as her eyes gave a mischievous twinkle, "Ever heard of the Hunter Exams?"
~o~0~o~
A/N: Aaand there it is! I dunno where Sasha popped up in my writing. Maybe it was fate. Maybe it was destiny. But it most likely was just from randomness, huh?
Anyways, here's a little tidbit of information.
Info that may or may not be interesting to you:
Every time Sen Restarts, her body is always that of a child, but the ages can vary from four years old to thirteen. Occasionally her gender can also switch. Her appearance such as eye color and hair color change as well. For example, when she was in Avatar, her eyes were green. Colorings aside, her facial features changes occasionally too. At times she would have slimmer eyes in one Story compared to another, or hooked nose, and even have freckles dabble along her skin. Though the changes seem to just be random, letting her either stand out or left in the background.
What sorta face does she have now? Dunno, Sen never got the chance to look into a mirror.
