Next chapter should be on the 24th of March.
At that moment the wind picks up suddenly.
The whole time the girl has been speaking it has been building, growing louder until it was almost distracting. Now it is a roar which dampens all other sound despite the walls keeping it outside.
Fai says something to the glass rattling beside him then walks, steps filled with a strange tension. He makes his way to the door like it will bite him but he isn't certain if he'll mind yet.
The girl screams at him and he must make sense of the words before I do because his hand stops just above the door handle.
Not that it matters because the door is ripped open and Fai grasps tightly to the wall to avoid being torn out by the gale which slices into the room, pulling everyone sitting to their feet haphazardly.
I grab for one of the pillars and feel the crack of pain as my palm smacks into it. Instinct kicks in and I grip it hard. My body slams into the wood and I hold on despite the pain, wrapping my arms around it.
I open my eyes a fell moments later, trying to see what has happened to the others.
There's a tremendous creaking and I feel the support I'm holding to shudder as light breaks into the room. I look up, barely catching sight of anything else as the ceiling fills my view and the hole in it with planks trying to pull away still.
Then the wind is gone.
There's a slam and then scattered thumping, inside and outside the house. I let myself fall, grip faltering and teeth clenching against the ache which fills me up and covers me completely. As I slip down the column.
Someone sighs.
"Well at least the door still closed." Fai says, sounding completely at ease.
"Mokona almost got swept away!" Mokona whines.
I manage to pull myself into a more upright position.
The small creature is curled against Kurogane's neck, tiny paws grabbing hold as tight as they can. The man doesn't seem sure if he's upset by this or not yet. He stares down at the door handle in his white-knuckled grip, pressed up against Fai's loosening hold.
"What the hell was that?" The ninja growls, letting go of the door handle as if it had burned him and turning, scowling, to face the young girl whose house has just been torn open.
She looks around, seeing nothing as she takes in the state of her home.
Her lips part a few times, not really considering, more reacting to the fact that she should be saying something as a second, different kind of tension rises in her.
Sakura's arms are still wrapped around her and Syaoran's around them both as they huddle together, shaken.
The girl bursts into tears, head dropping as she curls in tighter on herself. Sakura pulls her closer and Syaoran gently loosens his hold, uncertain of his place in it despite the fear and worry in his eyes.
Fai steps forwards, face falling as he does then stops, hand dropping where it had started to raise and coming to hang by his side.
He bends down instead after a few moments and begins to pick things up, turning them over in his hands.
Kurogane softens somewhat, teeth still set in wariness and still bristling in anger but understanding. He stoops down too, one hand holding Mokona to him as he scoops up books and pieces of pottery.
Syaoran looks at me and we start to follow their lead, sifting through the broken and the salvagable in silence aside from the sobbing of the girl in Sakura's arms.
It's almost evening by the time we finish tidying what we can. The floor has been swept and broken things have been piled in a small heap outside for the girl who owns them to sort through when she's woken up. Unbroken things have been placed back in places which seem fitting for them or, again, aside for her to put back later.
It wasn't as bad outside, like the house itself had been targeted, and most of the pots and plants are intact if a little dusty.
The six of us are sitting in silence on the swept floor of the main room, rough cups of some foreign tea in our hands taken from the small, mostly unaffected kitchen to the side.
Fai looks almost at ease aside from the slightest tension across his shoulders, a lingering alertness to his movements as he props himself up on one arm and looks out the hole in the roof to the stars.
Syaoran and Sakura are almost touching, migrated together though neither breaking the gap between them. Mokona is nestled in Sakura's lap with their own cup of tea. The princess drags her fingers gently through their fur.
Kurogane sits opposite Fai, not even pretending to be relaxed.
He is sat bolt upright, arms crossed resolutely, cup held firmly in his left hand.
I sit between Kurogane and Syaoran, tea clutched between my own hands. The warmth is somewhat comforting despite the hot climate.
I can feel the tension running through me like an electric shock still.
The adrenaline has worn off but whenever the wind picks up slightly my ears prick and I feel any focus I had drop.
I think the others might feel it too.
There's a hush which comes over us, though we talk little anyway, whenever the wind brushes against the walls or whistles as it passes over the house.
We all are a little battered.
We've each tried straightening ourselves out, adjusting clothes and running hands through hair and washing our hands in the cool water from the well tucked away behind the house.
There's not much we can do about the bruises or the small cuts from either shards of pottery or exposed skin when the wind struck. We clean them as well as we can, pulling out anything stuck in them and rinsing them free of dust and dirt.
Maybe when the girl whose name we don't know yet wakes up we'll be able to do something other than wait in silence.
For now we sit.
Kurogane grumbles at people every so often because he has nothing else he can do and paces occasionally. He disappears outside every so often.
None of us ask what he's doing.
At some point in the evening Sakura and Syaoran fall asleep leaning against each other. Kurogane stands with his back against the wall near the door, clearly not considering sleep any time soon. Fai sits in silence too, long-empty cup dangling from long fingers as his arms rests against his raised knee.
Somehow they seem much less affected by this than the rest of us even with Kurogane's restlessness.
I wake with a slight jolt, aching from both bruising and the unyielding floor as I push myself up. There's a lingering pain in my hand and I hiss, drawing it back sharply. The welt across my palm throbs and I close my fist on the pink and purpled flesh with a grimace.
The pressure doesn't help the pain exactly but there's something soothing about locking the pain away in my fist.
There is a blanket, pooled around my waist now, caught on one shoulder. I shrug it off. As I do I feel the pull of muscles which would rather not be used right now.
I look up and around properly, hearing soft sounds from the kitchen area. There's a rhythmic thumping from outside.
He girl is up now, on her toes a little as she murmurs something to Fai, bent over her as she stirs something in a pot. Mokona is settled in the crook of his elbow against his chest. He nods in a soft seriousness and passes her a small bottle of something- not powder but close. The man looks better than yesterday, more at ease.
Syaoran has woken up already and is watching over Sakura who has been resituated into some kind of nest of blankets and seems to be deep in sleep. A few of his bruises have lightened a little and there's a strange shine to areas of skin above them. He is focussing intensely, thumb running over the back of her hand repeatedly.
Kurogane is nowhere to be seen.
The smell coming from the kitchen is strange. There's sweetness to it and an underlying spice which is attached to something earthy. I'm not sure I like it.
When I stand I'm made aware of small injuries as my body resettles. It's easy enough to push them away again. I leave the blanket where it is for now- it doesn't seem so important after last night.
My shoes thud gently at the floor but in this quiet it's enough.
"Eliza-san. You're up." Fai says, smile coming to his face as he turns.
He is astoundingly calm.
The girl turns, face uncertain. The corners of her lips turn up a little and her eyes avert as she lets Fai take over, hands coming in front of her, thumbs brushing over each other lightly in no discernible pattern.
"Thank you for helping clean up." She says, voice sounding far more level than yesterday controlled. There's a quaver of deliberation which passes over, brows furrowing and lips pursing as she bows very slightly.
"Eliza-san." She adds to direct it, pitching it up in question.
"It's Elizabeth but that's okay." I say with a nod.
"Ah. It's- I'm Chun-yan." She replies, that brief smile coming back.
It drops quickly and her gaze flickers down.
"I'm… I'm sorry for what happened." The young girl says, swallowing, "It's just-" She tries to continue, the skin around her eyes turning pinkas she rubs her lips together.
Fai's hand comes down on her shoulder and I turn my attention to him, all one huge grin.
"Do you think this is alright?" He asks her, gaze flickering to mine though he keeps her head directed towards her.
She starts a little, turning without looking at me to the pot sitting on a surface that emanates a distorting wave of heat extremely quickly.
"It's alright." She says shortly, taking the word from him easily, voice tight as she takes the spoon from him too. Her grip is tight as she resumes stirring.
"Ah- that's good! Does it need anything else?" He asks, head tilting in genuine interest and exaggerated by his clear attempts to distract the girl.
She sniffs quickly and then again, more gently.
"Maybe some more of the hrem powder?" Chun-yan says.
Fai hums as he looks through a small tiered set of shelves clustered with tiny clay pots with lids and a few glass bottles.
"What does it look like again?" The blonde asks.
Chun-yan looks up and leans over the counter, ducking beneath his arm. She plucks up a small pot with a mesh-like pattern around the middle and lifts the lid. There's a trace of reddish powder and a smell which is almost fruity which drift from it.
"It's this one- you can tell by the smell if it's fresh. It fades over time though." The girl says, playing along.
Fai nods, humming a little.
"Ah- I see." He says. He turns slightly, not exactly looking at me but clearly aware of me being there.
"Maybe some of that tea we had yesterday would go with this. Could you get some water, Elizabeth-san?" The mage asks in a very casual tone.
I grab the same burnt orange pot we used yesterday, much smaller than the one they're cooking something in.
"I'll be back in a bit." I say though they don't turn to face me properly.
"Thank you." Chun-yan murmurs though it's clear it's for more than the water. I nod though I know she can't see.
"It's no problem." The words are true and I can't help the small sympathetic smile I give to her back before I leave the house.
The door is open, a sturdy old pot in front of it to keep it there. The floor in front of it is worn a little smoother than in the rest of the house.
The sun is pleasant when I step out, relaxing with the lack of wind pushing it away. There's a brief pause in the thumping noise and a grumbled, 'hey'.
Kurogane stands up a little straighter, axe dangling casually from his hand as if he isn't aware of it despite the readiness in the way he holds it.
"Hey." I respond in kind, looking him over. There's a slight sheen of sweat on his brow and darkening the already dark fabric of his shirt. The man seems mostly unharmed, a few scrapes on his hands the only damage to speak of.
He's discarded the headgear and cape for now. There's an ease to him in the way he holds himself which is so different to yesterday after the wind.
"How's it going in there?" He asks.
"Alright. Fai-san and Chun-yan-san are cooking something. Sakura-san is still asleep." I cover quickly, settling the pot against my hip and clenching my teeth a little at the ache that blooms from the contact. I resettle it more carefully and it fades somewhat.
Kurogane doesn't comment if he notices but nods, grunting his acknowledgement of what I'd said.
There is a collection of planks resting against the wall. They all look bone dry.
"I'm getting water for tea." I say in the silence as we both deliberate what we're meant to do. The words are awkward but they're enough to release us from the conversation.
Again he grunts his understanding and I continue my walk to the well behind Chun-yan's house.
The bucket drops with a not-so-distant splash. Winching it up takes a few minutes still and my arms complain for a while before I can hoist it up and tip it into the pot I've perched between the planks around the well's perimeter and my right hip. The droplets of water which hit me are welcome for the very slight coolness they give in the heat which now feels somewhat oppressive without the wind.
The wood pile next to Kurogane has grown a little now, the ruddy orange of the inside drying quickly into a yellow not unlike the inside of a few of the smaller gourds we had picked up only yesterday.
"You seemed restless when you were sleeping." He says as I pass.
I stop, frowning a little as I carefully redistribute the weight so the water doesn't spill.
"It was a difficult night." I admit.
Kurogane nods, picking up one of the few thicker pieces of wood left. He doesn't look at me.
"The wind was from the guy we're going to take down. He stole her mum's magic after she died." He says simply.
"Thanks for telling me." I say simply.
He nods again, axe splitting the wood in two.
It doesn't take Chun-yan and Fai much longer to finish cooking. Sakura isn't awake as we sit on the floor, legs folded beneath us and eat the spicy-sweet paste on tough, dark bread. Chun-yan sets some aside for her and sets about pouring the same tea as yesterday.
It tastes better somehow.
After we're done, Sakura has stirred and Syaoran has resumed his watch over her as she eats Chun-yan hands me a small wicker box with a metal lining. There's a slightly astringent smell which comes from the thick, greenish cream inside it. It's flecked with small black seeds.
"It stings but it will help with healing. You don't need much." She says, eyes flickering to my hand. I clench it self-consciously.
She looks to the case and there's a different kind of softness which takes over her expression as her eyes linger on it. Sadder.
Chun-yan looks up and smiles.
"My mother taught me how to make it." She explains after a pause and then; "You can go in there if you like." The girl says, gesturing to the room she'd slept in.
I do as she says. She's right about the sting but it's worth it for the numbing of the pain and the slightly less angry look to the sore skin of my palm.
