The hard truth
***
Um, to all of you Yueh fans, you might not wanna read this chapter.
***
" I do!!! If this person can give us info on the team or somethin'!" Pei said, placing her hands on her hips. Ray sighed and turned to Kun Li. Pei looked at them both, and noticed Ray looking dismayed. She waited for them to respond, and she finally heard Kun Li utter softly: " Okay, fine, let him in."
The doors slowly creaked open, and Pei quickly reverted her attention to the opening doors. She crossed her arms on her chest, and tapped her foot patiently, as two burly and tall palace guards entered the room. Squashed between their girth, was a short, balding, and stout man, who was gasping for air.
Ray and Kun turned to the direction Ryo was facing and fell silent. Pei ignored their action, she was too busy staring at the little man who took a deep breath of pure air as the two guards bowed rather courteously, and left them in peace. The tiny man then reached into his torn and tattered dull brown robes and brought out a pair of broken moon glasses. As he fumbled to get them on, Pei raised an eyebrow.
" Okay, who's the old coot??" she muttered under her breath. Kun turned around and whispered to Pei: " Uh, he's a witness to the gang's latest uh.destruction." Pei said, softly: " Oh.." and she walked over to the man's side. " You okay mister?? Were those two men hurting you??" she asked concerned as she feigned sweetness and innocence. Kun snorted, whenever Pei did that, knowing her, they were in for a good show.
" Oh no, I'm fine, thank you, I mean, well, thanks, uh, ah, thanks." He stammered fumbling with his glasses still. " Oh, we are my glasses??" he moaned desperately. Pei stared at him as if he was a freak and he sort of was. " Here they are.." she mumbled, not taking her eyes off him as she took his glasses, and put them on his face. " Tha-I mean, hanks! I mean thanks!!" he said smiling. " Where did you find them??" he inquired.
" Uh, you were holding them??" she replied pointing to his hands. " My hands??" he gasped, shocked and puzzled as he stared at them. " I thought I was holding my lunch!!! No, wait, I ate it.." he mumbled thoughtfully. " Why is he here again??" Pei hissed to Kun, who was looking at the puzzling old man with raised eyebrows.
" Uh.." Kun muttered, scratching his head. " Oh brother," they heard Ray groan as he turned around and crossed the room to the man. " Like Kun said, he witnessed the latest attack of the gang." He replied calmly, guiding the man to a wooden chair near the table that had the map. " so what does that have to do with me being here??" Pei asked. " Uh, you'll see."
" Please, tell us what happened to your village." Kun said, trying to sound refined and polite. " Oh, my village, a really nice one, clean, pollution free and..." he began stammering. " We said WHAT HAPPENED, not DESCRIBE it." Ray said clamping his hand over the old man's mouth. " Oh." the man muttered softly flushing.
Ryo finally joined the three people sitting on the floor and began to listen to the man's story.
" Well, it all started 3 weeks ago. I was the head of the inn at the forest near Szechuan. Well, now, my inn was very clean, it was a nice little comfy..." " Uh, the gang thing??" Ray interrupted. " Oh yeah.." the old man mumbled, cleaning his glasses with a dirty hanky. " Uh, where was I again??? Right, anyway, 3 weeks ago, it was a full moon, and it seemed so peaceful that night. All of my clients, people who booked and currently slept at my inn were sleeping, I was the only one awake. Well, I was reading a book from my great aunt Mia, nice old lady, a little thick in the head, but nice anyway. So, while reading, this young fellow comes bursting through the door, all clad in dark blue and black, friendly young man. Half of his face was covered with black hair." " Yueh?!?!?" Pei exclaimed excitedly as she jumped up and grabbed the old man's collar. " Where is he?!?! I must see him!!!" she growled. The man was quivering as he began to sweat. " Pei." Ryo said, coolly as he rested his hand on his sister's shoulder. " Remember what you always tell me, DMY." With that, he took hold of Pei's arm, and dragged her back to her spot, and allowed her to sink down, and sit comfortably. " Sorry." She whispered, blushing and covering her face with her dress.
" May I-I continue??" the old man squeaked. " Oh, go ahead." Ray replied. " Anyway, This man comes in, asks for a room, and he pays a good price for it too. He gives me a bag of bronze coins, and stays in my quaint little inn for a week. Believe me, he was a very good fellow. One day, morning, I heard noise from outside the inn, and I saw him playing with some of the village kids, with the girl's dolls, the boy's swords, all of them, and he and them seemed to be enjoying the moment. I then watched him, all day, helping out with the village, helping people build houses for the coming rainy season, helping people fix their supplies, and stuff like that, and I was very impressed. He called himself Yueh, I call him an angel." Ryo, Ray and Kun Li then all glanced at Pei, who was staring dreamily into space, muttering: " Wowww.." All three sighed, and three replied: " Kay, continue."
" So then, five days after he arrives, the rains arrive, earlier than we expected. Well, I was tending to my inn, while the rain poured down hard. I was just cleaning some dishes, when these men crash through my window. I screamed, and looked for a hiding place, I saw they had knives, daggers, crossbows and axes, so naturally, I didn't want to die! I could only watch helplessly, from under a table, as they robbed the money from my counter drawer, stole food from the pantry, and steal some of the items I had on display, like a silver brooch of a tiger, gift from my cousin, and tea set. So then after raiding me out of house and home, they immediately left. Then, the Yueh guy came bounding down, out of breath, He demanded what had happened, I could only tell him that some ruffians had just ransacked my inn. He then looked furious, as he brought out a sword and some smoke bombs, he then gave me a dagger, and told me to stay there and hide. I watched him go, and I couldn't resist following him, since as a young'un, I thrived on danger and excitement, and that is just what I needed. So, I followed, I saw the town was on fire, despite the rain, that shocked me, and I saw dozens of mean looking men raiding other houses, I watched them so helplessly. It was pure chaos!!! Everyone was running and yelling and screaming in all directions! Then I noticed the Yueh guy fighting them off, by the trios, he was fierce!! He hacked them down, one by one. Then, whilst I was cheering him on, I saw this cloaked man, evil and sinister looking fellow, whisper something to a big guy next to him. I couldn't hear since I was far, and the battle cries were quite loud. I saw him jump down the roof he was on, and he landed near Yueh, so they had one-on-one. I could only watch in awe as they fought with such rhythm and motion and grace. It seemed like forever when Yueh finally got the sword out of the evil guy's hands, and made him fall. Just when he was about to strike him, the evil one grabbed a slightly lighted torch, and flamed Yueh's face!!! He screamed in pain, as he let go of the sword, and was staggering near the waterfall near our village. I wish I could have helped, but I couldn't since I was too old and too slow anyway. So then like he's staggering near the edge, and he...he..." " He, what??" Kun demanded excitedly as he munched on popcorn he got out of nowhere. ( P.S. I know they haven't invented popcorn yet, but I'm a weird person!!!)
" He.he...zzzzz.." soon, the old man drifted into sleep as he was about to continue. He snored loudly, as Ray and Ryo both let out deep sighs. Kun dropped his bowl of popcorn, and walked over to the old man's side. " May I??" he asked casting a sinister glance at the emperor. " Go ahead." Ray replied politely.
" Okay," he said, rubbing his hands together. " WAKE UP!!!!!!" he yelled into the man's ear. The old man jumped up, startled, and crashed into the ceiling, making some of it fall on the floor. He instantly came back down to earth. " Oh my!!" he squeaked, cleaning his glasses. " Uh, what was I doing again??" " Well, you were telling us a story.." Ryo replied.
" Oh yeah, well, so, there I was, fishing at the great lake, full of big carp.." he began. " Wrong story bucko." Ray mumbled, rubbing his eyes in an annoyed manner. " Oh, yes, sorry." the old man replied, flushing slightly. " Well, so I saw him staggering over the cliff, and he.he..." " He what???" all three men demanded shouting and making the old man shake in fright at their anger, or rather, impatience.
" He, well, fell over the cliff... And into the raging waters below..." He said, turning his tone to a sad and soft one.
Ray and Kun closed their eyes, and placed their hands over their chest. They looked at each other, and sighed deeply as a thump rang throughout the room. " How did she take it??" Ray asked as he turned around, and saw Pei, fainted and shocked, being cradled in her brother's strong arms as he fanned her with a paper fan he found. " Better than we expected." Ryo replied grimly.
" Where can I take her??" he asked, lifting his sister up as he stood. " Lin Lei's room, she isn't here right now, she's at one of those social party things, you know, the one with the old snobby ladies." Ray replied as he too stood, followed by Kun. Ryo nodded, and left the room with great strides.
" M-may I go now??" the old man quipped quietly, as he could only stare at them. " Huh??" Ray mumbled, as he looked at the old man. " Oh, yeah, sure, here, take this for your village." He added, as the old man jumped off his seat. Ray got a sack of gold coins from a table decorated with jade peacocks. " Th-thank you!!!" the old man said heartily, as he totally forgot the reason why he was there, and he walked off, happy to have some money to rebuild his broken and destroyed home town.
As he left the door, an imperial soldier ran into the room, and crashed into the man. " S-sorry mister!!!!!" he stammered nervously as he helped the old man up and brushed dust off his rags. " No problem sonny." The old man replied, dismissing the little accident and went on his way.
As Ray and Kun saw the young soldier, their faces darkened. " Han Gu??" Kun asked, recognizing the nervous looking young man with short hair and lanky build. as he brought out a scroll, and out his glasses on. " Y-yes sir, it is me! Captain!" he said proudly puffing his chest. " Hoo boy, if Ryo picked out this card, remind me to never let him be the judge for the upcoming beauty contest." Kun muttered, whispering to Ray.
" KUN!!" Ray hissed. " Han Gu may look like a geek." " He IS one Ray!!!!" " Still, Ryo said he was great at archery and he was very loyal and brave, Ryo was right to choose him!" Ray said. " Sorry!!!" Han Gu squeaked as he grabbed a falling vase, apparently, he accidentally bumped into a table. " M-my fault, sir, I mean, sirs, I mean.. I don't know what I mean.."
" Somehow, I've gotta agree with what you said about Ryo being a bad judge." Ray muttered. " I heard that!" came a stern voice, as Ryo entered the room, hands on hips. Kun and Ray whistled, as Han Gu bowed before Ryo. " What Gu?? What're you doin' here?? You're supposed to be at camp."
" Well, sir, I got news from the scout following the group.." " Good!! What is the news??" Ryo asked. Han Gu began to look anxious. And worried. " Well sir, there's good news and bad news." he mumbled softly. " Now why do I have the feeling the bad news is very bad??" Ray muttered to Kun. He shrugged. " Eh, women's intuition." He replied. Ray gasped at these words, and he glared daggers at Kun, who was grinning nervously and was holding up his hands in peace.
Ryo ignored them. " What's the good news??" he asked concerned. " Well, sir, the scout said that the gang was headed for the Himalayas." Han Gu replied quietly. " And the bad news??" " The gang just attacked a wagon carrying criminals and they just overtook a village near the Himalayas."
Ryo growled, and clenched his fist. " Oh crud!!" he hissed. " I've gotta get there, fast." he muttered. Han Gu nervously waited for Ryo to respond. Ryo rubbed his chin throughtfully, and he snapped his fingers. " Ray!!!" he yelled, as he turned to see Ray strangling Kun. " What?" he asked.
" I need permission to take with me the seniors in the army!!!" Ryo replied. " Yeah, sure-WAIT!!! Why??" Ray asked, as he stopped the choking.
Ryo began to leave before he could answer. Han Gu followed him. " Uh, sir, where are you going???" he asked shyly. " Somewhere important, I'm leaving you in charge for a while." " Really?? Thanks!! But, sir, general, where're you going??" " Where else, the Himalayas."
***
People, in order for me to continue ( if I can, due to all the projects I gotta do...) I'll need two, or more if you really like my story ^_^ reviewers.
TBC
***
Um, to all of you Yueh fans, you might not wanna read this chapter.
***
" I do!!! If this person can give us info on the team or somethin'!" Pei said, placing her hands on her hips. Ray sighed and turned to Kun Li. Pei looked at them both, and noticed Ray looking dismayed. She waited for them to respond, and she finally heard Kun Li utter softly: " Okay, fine, let him in."
The doors slowly creaked open, and Pei quickly reverted her attention to the opening doors. She crossed her arms on her chest, and tapped her foot patiently, as two burly and tall palace guards entered the room. Squashed between their girth, was a short, balding, and stout man, who was gasping for air.
Ray and Kun turned to the direction Ryo was facing and fell silent. Pei ignored their action, she was too busy staring at the little man who took a deep breath of pure air as the two guards bowed rather courteously, and left them in peace. The tiny man then reached into his torn and tattered dull brown robes and brought out a pair of broken moon glasses. As he fumbled to get them on, Pei raised an eyebrow.
" Okay, who's the old coot??" she muttered under her breath. Kun turned around and whispered to Pei: " Uh, he's a witness to the gang's latest uh.destruction." Pei said, softly: " Oh.." and she walked over to the man's side. " You okay mister?? Were those two men hurting you??" she asked concerned as she feigned sweetness and innocence. Kun snorted, whenever Pei did that, knowing her, they were in for a good show.
" Oh no, I'm fine, thank you, I mean, well, thanks, uh, ah, thanks." He stammered fumbling with his glasses still. " Oh, we are my glasses??" he moaned desperately. Pei stared at him as if he was a freak and he sort of was. " Here they are.." she mumbled, not taking her eyes off him as she took his glasses, and put them on his face. " Tha-I mean, hanks! I mean thanks!!" he said smiling. " Where did you find them??" he inquired.
" Uh, you were holding them??" she replied pointing to his hands. " My hands??" he gasped, shocked and puzzled as he stared at them. " I thought I was holding my lunch!!! No, wait, I ate it.." he mumbled thoughtfully. " Why is he here again??" Pei hissed to Kun, who was looking at the puzzling old man with raised eyebrows.
" Uh.." Kun muttered, scratching his head. " Oh brother," they heard Ray groan as he turned around and crossed the room to the man. " Like Kun said, he witnessed the latest attack of the gang." He replied calmly, guiding the man to a wooden chair near the table that had the map. " so what does that have to do with me being here??" Pei asked. " Uh, you'll see."
" Please, tell us what happened to your village." Kun said, trying to sound refined and polite. " Oh, my village, a really nice one, clean, pollution free and..." he began stammering. " We said WHAT HAPPENED, not DESCRIBE it." Ray said clamping his hand over the old man's mouth. " Oh." the man muttered softly flushing.
Ryo finally joined the three people sitting on the floor and began to listen to the man's story.
" Well, it all started 3 weeks ago. I was the head of the inn at the forest near Szechuan. Well, now, my inn was very clean, it was a nice little comfy..." " Uh, the gang thing??" Ray interrupted. " Oh yeah.." the old man mumbled, cleaning his glasses with a dirty hanky. " Uh, where was I again??? Right, anyway, 3 weeks ago, it was a full moon, and it seemed so peaceful that night. All of my clients, people who booked and currently slept at my inn were sleeping, I was the only one awake. Well, I was reading a book from my great aunt Mia, nice old lady, a little thick in the head, but nice anyway. So, while reading, this young fellow comes bursting through the door, all clad in dark blue and black, friendly young man. Half of his face was covered with black hair." " Yueh?!?!?" Pei exclaimed excitedly as she jumped up and grabbed the old man's collar. " Where is he?!?! I must see him!!!" she growled. The man was quivering as he began to sweat. " Pei." Ryo said, coolly as he rested his hand on his sister's shoulder. " Remember what you always tell me, DMY." With that, he took hold of Pei's arm, and dragged her back to her spot, and allowed her to sink down, and sit comfortably. " Sorry." She whispered, blushing and covering her face with her dress.
" May I-I continue??" the old man squeaked. " Oh, go ahead." Ray replied. " Anyway, This man comes in, asks for a room, and he pays a good price for it too. He gives me a bag of bronze coins, and stays in my quaint little inn for a week. Believe me, he was a very good fellow. One day, morning, I heard noise from outside the inn, and I saw him playing with some of the village kids, with the girl's dolls, the boy's swords, all of them, and he and them seemed to be enjoying the moment. I then watched him, all day, helping out with the village, helping people build houses for the coming rainy season, helping people fix their supplies, and stuff like that, and I was very impressed. He called himself Yueh, I call him an angel." Ryo, Ray and Kun Li then all glanced at Pei, who was staring dreamily into space, muttering: " Wowww.." All three sighed, and three replied: " Kay, continue."
" So then, five days after he arrives, the rains arrive, earlier than we expected. Well, I was tending to my inn, while the rain poured down hard. I was just cleaning some dishes, when these men crash through my window. I screamed, and looked for a hiding place, I saw they had knives, daggers, crossbows and axes, so naturally, I didn't want to die! I could only watch helplessly, from under a table, as they robbed the money from my counter drawer, stole food from the pantry, and steal some of the items I had on display, like a silver brooch of a tiger, gift from my cousin, and tea set. So then after raiding me out of house and home, they immediately left. Then, the Yueh guy came bounding down, out of breath, He demanded what had happened, I could only tell him that some ruffians had just ransacked my inn. He then looked furious, as he brought out a sword and some smoke bombs, he then gave me a dagger, and told me to stay there and hide. I watched him go, and I couldn't resist following him, since as a young'un, I thrived on danger and excitement, and that is just what I needed. So, I followed, I saw the town was on fire, despite the rain, that shocked me, and I saw dozens of mean looking men raiding other houses, I watched them so helplessly. It was pure chaos!!! Everyone was running and yelling and screaming in all directions! Then I noticed the Yueh guy fighting them off, by the trios, he was fierce!! He hacked them down, one by one. Then, whilst I was cheering him on, I saw this cloaked man, evil and sinister looking fellow, whisper something to a big guy next to him. I couldn't hear since I was far, and the battle cries were quite loud. I saw him jump down the roof he was on, and he landed near Yueh, so they had one-on-one. I could only watch in awe as they fought with such rhythm and motion and grace. It seemed like forever when Yueh finally got the sword out of the evil guy's hands, and made him fall. Just when he was about to strike him, the evil one grabbed a slightly lighted torch, and flamed Yueh's face!!! He screamed in pain, as he let go of the sword, and was staggering near the waterfall near our village. I wish I could have helped, but I couldn't since I was too old and too slow anyway. So then like he's staggering near the edge, and he...he..." " He, what??" Kun demanded excitedly as he munched on popcorn he got out of nowhere. ( P.S. I know they haven't invented popcorn yet, but I'm a weird person!!!)
" He.he...zzzzz.." soon, the old man drifted into sleep as he was about to continue. He snored loudly, as Ray and Ryo both let out deep sighs. Kun dropped his bowl of popcorn, and walked over to the old man's side. " May I??" he asked casting a sinister glance at the emperor. " Go ahead." Ray replied politely.
" Okay," he said, rubbing his hands together. " WAKE UP!!!!!!" he yelled into the man's ear. The old man jumped up, startled, and crashed into the ceiling, making some of it fall on the floor. He instantly came back down to earth. " Oh my!!" he squeaked, cleaning his glasses. " Uh, what was I doing again??" " Well, you were telling us a story.." Ryo replied.
" Oh yeah, well, so, there I was, fishing at the great lake, full of big carp.." he began. " Wrong story bucko." Ray mumbled, rubbing his eyes in an annoyed manner. " Oh, yes, sorry." the old man replied, flushing slightly. " Well, so I saw him staggering over the cliff, and he.he..." " He what???" all three men demanded shouting and making the old man shake in fright at their anger, or rather, impatience.
" He, well, fell over the cliff... And into the raging waters below..." He said, turning his tone to a sad and soft one.
Ray and Kun closed their eyes, and placed their hands over their chest. They looked at each other, and sighed deeply as a thump rang throughout the room. " How did she take it??" Ray asked as he turned around, and saw Pei, fainted and shocked, being cradled in her brother's strong arms as he fanned her with a paper fan he found. " Better than we expected." Ryo replied grimly.
" Where can I take her??" he asked, lifting his sister up as he stood. " Lin Lei's room, she isn't here right now, she's at one of those social party things, you know, the one with the old snobby ladies." Ray replied as he too stood, followed by Kun. Ryo nodded, and left the room with great strides.
" M-may I go now??" the old man quipped quietly, as he could only stare at them. " Huh??" Ray mumbled, as he looked at the old man. " Oh, yeah, sure, here, take this for your village." He added, as the old man jumped off his seat. Ray got a sack of gold coins from a table decorated with jade peacocks. " Th-thank you!!!" the old man said heartily, as he totally forgot the reason why he was there, and he walked off, happy to have some money to rebuild his broken and destroyed home town.
As he left the door, an imperial soldier ran into the room, and crashed into the man. " S-sorry mister!!!!!" he stammered nervously as he helped the old man up and brushed dust off his rags. " No problem sonny." The old man replied, dismissing the little accident and went on his way.
As Ray and Kun saw the young soldier, their faces darkened. " Han Gu??" Kun asked, recognizing the nervous looking young man with short hair and lanky build. as he brought out a scroll, and out his glasses on. " Y-yes sir, it is me! Captain!" he said proudly puffing his chest. " Hoo boy, if Ryo picked out this card, remind me to never let him be the judge for the upcoming beauty contest." Kun muttered, whispering to Ray.
" KUN!!" Ray hissed. " Han Gu may look like a geek." " He IS one Ray!!!!" " Still, Ryo said he was great at archery and he was very loyal and brave, Ryo was right to choose him!" Ray said. " Sorry!!!" Han Gu squeaked as he grabbed a falling vase, apparently, he accidentally bumped into a table. " M-my fault, sir, I mean, sirs, I mean.. I don't know what I mean.."
" Somehow, I've gotta agree with what you said about Ryo being a bad judge." Ray muttered. " I heard that!" came a stern voice, as Ryo entered the room, hands on hips. Kun and Ray whistled, as Han Gu bowed before Ryo. " What Gu?? What're you doin' here?? You're supposed to be at camp."
" Well, sir, I got news from the scout following the group.." " Good!! What is the news??" Ryo asked. Han Gu began to look anxious. And worried. " Well sir, there's good news and bad news." he mumbled softly. " Now why do I have the feeling the bad news is very bad??" Ray muttered to Kun. He shrugged. " Eh, women's intuition." He replied. Ray gasped at these words, and he glared daggers at Kun, who was grinning nervously and was holding up his hands in peace.
Ryo ignored them. " What's the good news??" he asked concerned. " Well, sir, the scout said that the gang was headed for the Himalayas." Han Gu replied quietly. " And the bad news??" " The gang just attacked a wagon carrying criminals and they just overtook a village near the Himalayas."
Ryo growled, and clenched his fist. " Oh crud!!" he hissed. " I've gotta get there, fast." he muttered. Han Gu nervously waited for Ryo to respond. Ryo rubbed his chin throughtfully, and he snapped his fingers. " Ray!!!" he yelled, as he turned to see Ray strangling Kun. " What?" he asked.
" I need permission to take with me the seniors in the army!!!" Ryo replied. " Yeah, sure-WAIT!!! Why??" Ray asked, as he stopped the choking.
Ryo began to leave before he could answer. Han Gu followed him. " Uh, sir, where are you going???" he asked shyly. " Somewhere important, I'm leaving you in charge for a while." " Really?? Thanks!! But, sir, general, where're you going??" " Where else, the Himalayas."
***
People, in order for me to continue ( if I can, due to all the projects I gotta do...) I'll need two, or more if you really like my story ^_^ reviewers.
TBC