Authour's notes -
*Lines with-in the stars are thoughts*



Wusheng camped for the night by the Hungtse river. He had helped the woman bury her companion, her husband, he assumed. He hadn't said anything to her the rest of the day, since he didn't speak the human tongue and it was unlikely that she spoke any elven tongues.

Still, she stuck around, as if planning to follow him back to civilization. He was up with the sun, putting together his raft from the bamboo that grows in the area. He made it larger than he had to, so that he would be more stable in the fast moving current of Hungtse. The raft and pole ready, he prepares to begin the treacherous ride across when the woman walks up to him.

"Kou Te'Lung is that way." he says in elven common, hoping that she would at least recognize the name of the town, as he points the way he came. She looks the direction he points, but does not seem to have any intention of going off alone. As Wusheng carefully sets the raft in the water, the woman climbs on.

"No! Off!" he yells, motioning for her to clear the raft. *Obviously, she does not understand what I am saying,* he thinks, *but she cannot be this dense, even if she is a human.* Instead, she just sits in the center of the raft, looking at him with sad eyes.

With a heavy sigh, he gives in. Grabbing the steering pole, he steps onto the end of the raft and pushes away from the shore. The flow of the river takes the raft quickly, pushing it down stream. The elf doesn't even try fighting it. Instead, he works to control their trip down stream, working their way to the other bank of the river.

Several exhausting hours later, the raft strikes the shore on the west side of the river. It was actually a fairly easy trip, all things considered. Only once was there any trouble, when the raft was bucked hard and the woman was nearly thrown over. He still was not sure why, exactly, he kept her from falling over-board. Surely, it would have made the rest of his trip easier.

Shaking his head, he dismisses the concerns as opportunities past. They rest at the west bank of the Hungtse for an hour before Wusheng surveys their position, ready to leave. The river had actually done them a favor. They were at least four hours walk closer to the Yehimal mountains than they would be if the river was slow.



Night falls as the pair make camp at the foot of the mountain range, one of the highest, if not the highest, in all of Abeir-Toril. The young demon hunter is surprised to find that the woman is still keeping up with him, more or less. He had not slowed his pace until just prior to making camp, and yet, she is still here.

She had tried speaking to him several times, but Wusheng did not understand her language. Looking at her, as they prepare to rest for the night, it is almost as if he notices her for the first time. He has to admit that he is pleased with what he sees.

Her long, black hair hangs loose, framing her light complexion. Her almond eyes mark her as being from this region, at least on one side of her family, even as her light skin shows her western heritage on the other side. Her form is small and light, for a human, leaving her about his size. *Not overly voluptuous, but well proportioned.* he thinks.

He finds himself smiling as he watches her lay just feet from him. She's a human. he reminds himself, forcing the thoughts from his mind. Looking at her once more, he realizes just how long of a night it's going to be.



The sun rises early. Wusheng 'wakes' from his reverie an hour before. After cleaning the camp and inspecting his weapons for damage and rust, he wakes the woman. *One of theses days,* he thinks, *I must figure out her name.* She murmurs softly in the human language, then rolls over.

A frown crosses his lips. Climbing the mountains to the Juupin monastery will be hard enough with out dragging along a human that doesn't wake when she should. He began to look around for something to wake her with that would get across his feelings about her over-sleeping.

Looking around, he sees nothing that can be used this morning, though he does make plans for the next morning, if she's still with him. Grumbling, he stands over her and whistles loudly. A scream erupts from her lips as she practically jumps from the ground to her feet. The elf has to turn and walk to his pack to hide his smile as he bites back laughter.

She yells something at him in the human language, Wusheng assumes it has something to do with is finding humour in scaring her. *She really sounds mad.* he thinks. *This is almost enough to make me wish I spoke human.*


Translations can be found at http://wuyausu.homestead.com/home.html under glossary