Disclaimer: Namco owns all of these characters.
Seung Mi Na had never felt so embarrassed in her nineteen years of life. While the Ryukyu Kingdom native seated in front of her guzzled drink after never ending drink, and talked nineteen to the dozen, he was loud enough to be heard by everyone in the tavern; and she was the one given dubious glances and irritated looks by the other patrons.
At first, she thought of just getting up and leaving the tavern and this blubbering fool behind, but she admittedly needed his help. During his ludicrous speeches, Maxi had mentioned something about a "sword capable of single-handedly mowing down armies." There was no doubt that this sword was the Sword of Salvation she had spent nearly four years searching for. And she'd be damned if she didn't pick up on any clues as to its whereabouts. And Maxi, as embarrassing to be with as he was, knew his information. He claimed to have found out where the owner of the sword was headed and where it came from, though he had left those important details out. Mi Na was determined to decipher these "details".
But what intrigued Mi Na was that despite all of what Maxi knew about the Sword of Salvation, he didn't seem interested in the sword itself. He was more set on hunting down someone who was searching for the sword. It was for revenge, he had said. Mi Na figured that was a delicate subject she shouldn't touch and didn't question him any further about it.
"Berm chika bear bum!" Maxi air-drummed to some onomatopoetic song playing in his head.
"Uh, Maxi," Mi Na murmured softly and harmlessly so as not to spurn the drunk Dandy, "I think you've drank too much."
"Nonsense! I'm just getting started!" He leaned back on the hind legs of the chair and turned his head at an angle to yell out, "Barkeep! Another pitcher of ale, please!"
"Sorry, but we're getting ready to close."
"Up yours!" Maxi suddenly brought the chair down on all fours and angrily slammed his fists on the tabletop. "I bet they're not closing and just saying that to get us to leave 'cause we're foreigners," he muttered---rather, he slurred.
"Ah, no, I don't think that's it," Mi Na said, attempting to sound sweet and patient with him. "I think they're really going to close. It's kind of late and look," she gestured to the now nearly vacant tavern, "everyone's either gone out or about to go."
Maxi rolled his ruby-colored eyes. "Very well." Then he stood with his arms extended out to the sides. "Take me drunk! I am home!"
Mi Na slapped her palm against her forehead. This wasn't her night.
Xianghua blinked her coffee brown eyes open after sensing something gently tapping against her shoulder. Her blurred vision finally cleared up and when it did, Kilik's handsome face was in her field of vision.
"Finally awake?"
"Wh-where are we?" she asked, sitting up and checking out the environs. She saw stacks of hay, and noticed they were on the back of a cart. She had remembered a German man by the name of Heinz offering them a free ride to a hamlet a few miles southwest his own destination, Johannesburg. But everything else was in a gray area.
"We've finally arrived," Kilik replied. "On the way here you fell asleep. And now, we're waiting for Hilde, who went to check us into an inn."
"Who is Hilde?" Xianghua asked, massaging her aching temples with her fingers.
"She's Heinz's daughter," Kilik said with a bit of a laugh. "You're too tired to even think, let alone remember much of anything," he leaned over and plucked his finger gently against Xianghua's forehead, "don't overdo it."
Just then, a young woman headed in the direction of the cart. It was Hilde. "Oh, looks like she's finally awake," she said with a polite smile.
"So what's the news on an inn?" Kilik asked as he hopped down from the cart.
Hilde shook her head. "I'm sorry. The ones I've found are full…"
Considering his luck, Kilik wasn't surprised. He sighed with exasperation. "It's alright, Hilde. Danke."
Nodding to Kilik, and then looking to the Chinese girl practically stumbling out of the cart, Hilde couldn't help but feel concerned for the girl's safety. "Are you certain she's going to be alright?"
"She's just tired. She'll be fine once she gets some peaceful sleep."
"Ah. Well, I wish the two of you Godspeed on your travels," Hilde said, making her way to the front of her father's horse-pulled cart, where he and the two horses rested.
"Thank you Hilde. And thank your father for this, too." Kilik waved to her and after she was out of his sight, he turned to a very weary Xianghua "Are you ready to go inn hunting?"
"I think I am…"
"Just stay close to me and you'll be fine."
After several attempts to fully wake Xianghua up, the two were on their way, checking every inn that came across their path. As Hilde had said, the inns were full, much to their dismay. The majority of them consisted mostly of foreign customers lured to the country in search of a sword deemed miraculous by many and a tool of the Devil by others. The hamlet they chose to stop at was nothing more than a typical trading post. Kilik couldn't help but feel exasperated by the situation. Of all the days to curse him with ill fortune, why did the gods choose this one?
The pair found themselves weaving through more than a few dark and narrow streets; they would have considered this place to be a ghost town if it weren't for the occasional wailing of a dog or the sight of someone hurrying to the comfort of their home. Or the drunks. Kilik and Xianghua had spotted a profusion of the staggers-for-steps folk engaged with indulging themselves with too much alcohol throughout the streets. They were all male and several of them had made bawdy comments towards the Chinese girl, as Kilik had expected. Instead of fighting with them, he, instead, ignored them.
The two wound up unsuccessful in their search. "It looks like we're going to spend a night under the stars, Xianghua," Kilik said, apologetically after an hour of looking for a place to stay for the night.
"It's alright; I can manage it," Xianghua said with a shrug, "let's just get away from these slums. Problems may arise."
Kilik agreed with her and they began to make their way through the maze-like streets towards the forests on the outskirts of the town. As they turned corner after corner, the pair couldn't help but hear a strikingly familiar voice emanating from somewhere in the vicinity, in the form of a song. An awful sounding song, but a song nonetheless:
"They're coming to take me away! Hey! To the place where life is good and life is fine! To the place where everything is mine, mine, and mine!"
Both Xianghua and Kilik stopped walking and glanced at each other with a similar surprised look. They fell silent and listened on to confirm their beliefs.
"Be quiet. People are trying to sleep."
Kilik nearly choked as the air was suddenly trapped in his throat at the sound of that second, feminine voice. It couldn't be. It shouldn't be…
"If they remain awake at this time, then they're obviously not trying hard enough!" There was a brief pause and then, "WHOOOA! The cow kicked Nelly in the belly in the barn! The cow kicked Nelly in the belly in the barn! The cow kicked Nelly in the belly in the barn! The farmer said it would do no harm! Second verse, same as the first. A little bit louder and a little bit worse! WHO---" [1]
There was the sound of something, perhaps a foot or a hand, clouting against something that rattled softly. "Maxi! Cut it out!"
Xianghua was the first to react to the realization that the wailing fool was none other than his or her good friend Maxi; suddenly awake and full of joy and life, she ran up to the intersection and faced the incoming Ryukyu Dandy with a smile stretching from ear to ear. "Maxi!"
As Kilik caught up to the incredibly nimble Xianghua, he noticed that smile of hers fade. Instantly. He turned the corner and saw exactly why.
Standing there, holding a very smashed Maxi, was Seung Mi Na.
****
[1] If you're wondering where I got this tune from, I got it from Married with Children. My all-time favorite show. =)
A/N: Remember how I said I was gonna make these longer? Er. Well. You see, I tend to get dragged off to Roppongi on my weekends and this is one of the first things that is put off to the side. Sorry! x.x;; I'm also writing other fanfictions the same time as this one, so that's another excuse. Yup, I am a SmegHead. Please write a review or send me an e-mail at: kaldea@tekken.cc
