Emerald Earrings
a Soul Calibur fanfic by Somenosuke.
Disclaimer: All characters here are the respectful properties of Namco. Man, if I owned them, do you think I'd be writing fanfics!?
A/N: Thoughts are in italics. But so are stressed words. I think you can figure which is which when reading the story..
Part Two
Seung Mi Na ran and ran until she felt her lungs were going to burst out from her chest. I'm not going back! she thought, over and over again. There was no doubt in her mind that boy with that snob back at the bazaar was someone sent by her father to bring her back home. She was in no mood to return for rigorous training and another unwelcomed marriage proposal were surely awaiting her there.
The last of her energy was wasted. That escape run took the its toll on Mi Na. She slowed her steps to a halt and leaned against the rugged bark of a tree to catch her breath. Judging from the myriad lush trees and thickets, crabgrass and fallen acorns, she had mindlessly darted into the forests in the outskirts of the city. It didn't bother her. She had camped out here several times, on the scorching days she lacked the money or nerve to pay for a room. This would just have to be another one of those days...
She slumped to her posterior upon the grass and folded her hands behind her head, and grinned to the music of the larks singing above her in the trees. There's no way anyone'd find me here, she thought triumphantly. Not even that boy can find me. She found it strange that she had never seen that boy before. And here she was, thinking she knew all of Seung Han Myong's students and associates. Maybe he's from the Coastal Defense Force? No. He was too frail looking. And handsome. Very handsome.
Mi Na smiled at her thoughts. That smile once again faded like it had earlier, only this time, it was in alarm. Her gloved palm had slid into her pouch in hopes of feeling those lovely green earrings she had purchased. But they were gone!
Much to Kilik's chagrin, his travelling companions Maxi and Xianghua didn't make any plans to continue their journey further into the Holy Roman Empire. Instead, Maxi chose to spend another day in town to drink and impress ladies, and Xianghua went to see a performing arts exhibition by a group of foreign gypsies. That lackadaisical behavior bothered Kilik; it was as if no one cared about the search for the demonic sword Soul Edge except him. He almost considered leaving them to go on his own, but who was he kidding? They were his friends. He needed them. He needed Maxi for his transportation and smooth communicative skills that have gotten them out of countless binds. He needed Xianghua for conversing and straightening out Maxi whenever the South Sea pirate was intoxicated.
Guess I'll just have to suck it up... After separating from Xianghua, Kilik was left in the food market district of the city to eat an early supper consisting of a spicy cake (his local favorite) and a loaf of bread with water.
"Mister."
Kilik turned his gaze to a pair of children, both of which were boys. They were malnourished with dirt-streaked faces and hair; donned in tattered rags, they travelled throughout the city on their calloused bare feet. It made his heart sink to think that these two were completely neglected by the locals. Maxi had told him that it's a fate orphans all over the world couldn't escape. "Yeah?"
"Can me and my brother buy some of your bread? This is all we have," the taller of the two extended a grimy palm, revealing two small pieces of what appeared to be tin. "But we can pay you back."
"Kid, you don't have to pay me. Here," Kilik handed them the entire loaf of bread, "enjoy."
The eyes of the children grew large with shock and glee. "Wow! Thanks Mister!" they both exclaimed in unison before the smaller one devoured his broken half of the bread. The taller one mimicked his brother as well, and Kilik watched them, somewhat amused.
When they were finished, they had thanked him again. "He's nice. Like that very pretty lady with the very pretty dress that gave us the apples."
Pretty lady with a pretty dress? Kilik blinked. "Hey," he said to attract their attention as they began to leave. "How did this 'very pretty lady' have her hair?"
"It was in one of those tails that look like ropes."
A braid. It had to be a braid. A long, thick and shimmering braid of russet.
"And when was the last time you saw her?"
"She's at that Gypsy Show."
"She is? Here," Kilik shoved the remainder of his spicy cake into their hands and began to hastily walk towards the colorful lights, flames, cheering voices and crowds not too far from the food market.
The orphans beamed with even more glee at their new treat. "Wow! Thanks Mister!"
A rather large, bald man impressed the gathered crowd by breathing flames. A short haired girl juggled sharp knives while another girl with longer hair read fortunes, gave relationship advice, and danced. Kilik weaved through the crowds oohing and ahhing at them. He carefully looked about for the girl he had seen earlier that day.
Most of the gathered folk consisted of people with olive skin, dark hair, and were of a much greater height and build than the majority of Asians. The girl shouldn't have been hard to find---she should've been sticking out like a sore thumb but she was as hard to find as a needle in a hay stack. Kilik couldn't help but chuckle at the irony.
"Hey man, what's so funny?" a very staggering and intoxicated Maxi asked him after jerking him back by the shoulder.
"Nothing," Kilik sighed in reply. "What're you doing here?"
"Enjoying the sighs if you know what I mean."
"Yeah, whatever. Have you seen--" he paused, noticing Maxi tell a tent that it had the best bosom he had ever seen.
"Nevermind." Kilik turned his attention back to the show at hand.
And then it was turned to the tell-tale sound of metal clashing against metal. The sound was so crisp and clear that it made the hair on his neck stand, and it shook Maxi into sobriety.
Then the thought had occurred to him. "Xianghua!"
"What. Are. You. Doing?" the question was forced through gritted teeth. Struggling, Xianghua applied more of her weight onto the lock between her sword and the larger zanbatou her opponent wielded. She had never in her sixteen years of life battled anyone who wielded such a weapon. She had only heard that they were used in wars to cut the legs off of horses the enemy mounted. That alone made her pray that she would never have to confront someone skilled in the art of using a brutal weapon.
"You stole my earrings! Admit it!"
"No I didn't!" Xianghua yelled back at the girl she bumped heads with earlier that day. "I won't even stoop that low!"
"Stop lying!"
"I'm not! You're just out of your tree!"
The sound of Kilik's voice rang throughout the gathered crowd: "Xianghua!"
"Yo! Xiang!" And so did Maxi's.
Not wanting to keep her eyes off of her opponent, Xianghua felt rather than saw Maxi and Kilik run up to her side. "Good to see you two here."
"What the heck's goin' on?" Maxi asked, as he bravely pried the weapons apart without so much as a hassle from either female. They still, however, used their daggerlike eyes to cut each other. The stares made his skin crawl.
"This...girl thinks I stole something from her." Expecting to hear a sassy retort from the sassy girl but instead hearing nothing, Xianghua looked at her. She saw that the girl once again froze at the sight of Kilik. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"
"You---" The girl pointed to Kilik. "Who sent you? Was it my father? Or was it Hwang?" She began to take careful backwards steps.
Kilik's eyebrows furrowed. "Who are they?" he asked.
"Don't lie to me. You know who they are."
"I'm not lying. I don't even know you nor have I ever seen you," Kilik replied calmly, trying to not seem harmful. He began to slowly approach her.
The bladed end of the girl's zanbatou instantly raised, the sharp, cold steel just inches away from his jugular. He knew better than to proceed forth.
"Back off," she demanded, sternly.
"That girl's crazy! Get away from her, Kilik!" Xianghua yelled above the voices of those around them.
"Look," Kilik told the girl, lowly, putting his bare hands up, thus dropping his weapon and surrendering, "I'm not going to hurt you."
"So then what do you want from me?" the girl snapped without lowering her weapon.
"You said Xianghua stole something from you?" Kilik asked. Despite the fact that his life was pretty much in the girl's hands, he remained absolutely calm.
"I didn't steal anything!" Xianghua protested.
"My earrings," the girl said firmly, ignoring the younger girl.
Kilik blinked. "Are they, by any chance, green?"
"Yes." The weapon was then gradually lowered as Kilik reached a palm into the pocket of his maroon colored pants. He pulled out two sparkling emerald earrings from within and presented them to her. "You dropped them when you ran off earlier today. And I couldn't find you to return them."
The girl extended her palms and Kilik dropped the pieces of jewelry into them. She murmured a soft "thank you" to him and spun on the ball of her foot, preparing to leave.
"Hey. Where are you going?" Kilik asked, halting her.
She whirled about half-way to face him as she replied: "Away."
"Aren't you at least going to give me your name?"
"It's Mi Na."
Without another word, the girl took off.
* * * *
A/N: So how do you like it? I know the ending sucked (I had to rush through it).... I have a "sequel" planned for this. Oh yeah, those gypsies were really Eilie, Bolgan, and Rina; I put that in there for fans of Suikoden II, an RPG I absolutely adore.
Please read and review! Believe it or not, your opinion matters!