Info on the style of dress: I'm using traditional Chinese clothing so if I
spell some things wrong or do anything wrong, please tell me immediately. I
don't want to offend any cultures - I also know, that traditionally, the
Chinese dress do not have pockets. Yelen is special so her qiapo has
pockets. I might introduce some western dresses when some things happen.
May I
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Twisted Sakura Blossoms Chapter Chapter Two: Welcome to Hong Kong!
By Emerald-eyes ----
"Mother, will you please stop interfering?!"
"Xiao-Lang, for heaven's sake, show some respect!"
"Mikado, I would really like to talk to Xiao-Lang along, if I may?"
The council member bowed and left the room, not doubt to be listening on the other side.
When the heavy door had closed, Yelen turned to her only son and the formidable lady sighed and massaged her temples, a few pieces of black hair falling in her face. She brushed them back before looking at her son again "Xiao-Lang, I want what's best for you and the clan and only that. She was a nice girl, pretty, and with a magical aura."
Xiao-Lang, better known as Syaoran, slumped into a chair opposite to his mother and despondently looked at a spot on the wall, treating his mother as he always had, as if she was just another person. He finally spoke, a note of desperation to his voice, "But she was a complete idiot!"
Yelen tutted her son and he made no move to correct himself, instead he kept on going, "I didn't like her, she couldn't hold a decent conversation."
Yelen sighed, "Many girls in this city are the same, but you can't spend years trying to find the one girl who will not flutter at the mere site of you. You're nineteen soon, most clan leaders are ready with a wife at seventeen. Why are you so different, darling, why?"
Syaoran stood quickly, and made for the door. Slamming it behind him, Yelen shut her eyes with frustration as she heard him stomp down the hall. She looked out to a large window, overlooking her garden below, and putting her head in her hands, she whispered to an empty room, "What am I going to do with him?"
Syaoran quietly treaded down the stairs and slipped through the kitchens. He roamed the house freely and often, and this was the most direct way to the training room in the back of the garden. The kitchens were a bustling, smelly and slightly dank place and Syaoran's least favourite spot in the house. He preferred the openness of his training room to any other place in the world. Annoyed at the open staring, the irritable young Li stalked through the kitchen and out of the back door.
Keeping up his quick pace, he made his way through the training rooms, tempted to jog the rest of the way. But his hopes of a peaceful training hour were short-lived, his eldest sister Xeifa ploughed straight into him, a bright spark of happiness. She ruffled his hair and smiled at her brother "Xiao-Lang, darling, aren't you meant to be posing with us for the portrait?"
He suddenly remembered the portrait and miserably sighed "Yes, I suppose I am"
His eldest sister Xeifa, looked incredibly elegant. Her ankle-length, dark- blue qiapo had golden dragons crawling up the sides of the splits, the splits that showed up to her knee. It was embroidered with golden thread and golden buttons fastened the high neck. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun with one cherry blossom placed in the side of the bun. She took his hand and began dragging him over to where his other sister's sat posing.
The other three, Fanren, Fuutie and Feimei all looked equally as elegant as Xeifa.
Fanren wore her dark red qiapo with beautiful black patterns twining all over it. Her hair matched the other three girls. She sat on a tall chair with her legs neatly locked into place. Middle sister, Fuutie wore a plain emerald green qiapo with golden buttons on the neck. She sat next to Fanren, kneeling on a pillow. Feimei wore a cherry-blossom-pink qiapo with white flowers embodied all over it. She also kneeled on a pillow, on the opposite side of Fuutie. Xeifa took her place up the back; her hands placed on Fanren's shoulders.
A place was obviously reserved for him beside Fanren and Xeifa.
Syaoran stayed behind for a few minutes, admiring the site openly. The Sakura Tree, in front of which the group was posing, was in flower and blossoms floated in the light breeze. His eldest sister beckoned him into the portrait. He strode forward and scowled as he took his place beside Fanren and Xeifa placed her hand on Syaoran's shoulder.
They posed like that for hours; Syaoran's training even stretched to the limit as he stood. He could only imagine what his sisters felt like. They were each quite active as it was, and found it difficult to hold a pose for more then an hour. It was late evening before they stopped and the portrait painter began to pack up his things, claiming he would be back tomorrow to put the last touches on it. Each of the children bowed and thanked him. Xeifa began showing him the way out with a blush in her cheek and a twinkle in her eye.
Syaoran watched as his sisters began to disperse and go in to go get changed for dinner. He too began to walk towards the entrance of the kitchen, preparing for dinner. Collecting his thoughts, he decided to change course when inside the manor. He walked up to a grand painting of his parents and pulled it open by its almost invisible hinges. He closed the painting/door and walked into his study, inherited from his father. He cringed at the thought, the murder all too fresh in his mind.
Syaoran remained in his study for most of the evening, ignoring his mother's calls, unaware of the magic going on outside.
The Sakura Tree stood stock-still, before swaying slightly in the wind again. A warm glow, a sparkling blue, enveloped the tree like a hug. A girl floated out of the tree, gracefully touching down, her long golden-blonde hair fluttering in the unnatural breeze and her eyes closed. She opened them and the glow of the tree stopped, as did the unnatural breezes. She surveyed her surroundings, shivering in her greyish-black tunic-dress that looked like it was five-hundred years old.
For this girl, Sakura, it was probably extremely close to the truth.
She shivered as a night wind whipped past her, lifting her dress slightly. The head-chef looked out his window, disturbed by the glow, and in the middle of chopping a duck's head, saw the girl. He grabbed his largest knife and went towards the door, quick and as stealthily as his large, wobbling tummy would allow. He ran out the door screaming "Thief! Get off the property!!"
The other kitchen staff looked at the man as if he'd sprouted four heads and was speaking in Latin until they saw a girl, running as fast as she could towards a wall. The girl scaled the wall as fast she could, narrowly missing her foot being cut off by the insane cook. Instead, it hit deep into her foot, ripping apart flesh but thankfully missing any major ligaments. She screamed, but to high with adrenalin to care much about the red blood pouring out of it. She limped as quickly as she could into the Hong Kong streets with the cook screaming obscenities behind her.
A few minutes later, a loud, feminie voice was heard from the door way of the kitchens "Where is the cook?"
He walked inside, panting and taking off his hat and wiping his forehead with his apron. He saw Yelen in the doorway, looking furious. She marched towards him and towered over him "I heard yelling about a thief and other obscenities from this part of the house, and then I heard a scream, explain!"
His belly, wiggling in fear and his voice quaking "I saw a thief near the Cherry Blossom. I chased her off."
Yelen visibly relaxed, but not allowed a smile onto her emotionless face "Very well done Cook, now please continue with the duck?"
He nodded and placed his chef hat back and returned to the duck, he knew he had cut her foot and he remembered his knife and began to clean it. Its sharp, silver exterior glinted in the bright candle light. But he couldn't forget the girl's face as quickly as he washed the blood off his knife; she had looked so confused and frightened. That same confused and frightened girl could be anyway in the city, possibly curled up in box, on a street corner somewhere.
But, the frightened girl was not. She wandered the streets, not sure who to turn to or where to go. Could she walk into a shop somewhere and ask where she was? No, not dressed like she was. So she passed every shop as curious onlookers wondered why as girl, as pretty as she was, was wandering the streets alone. Soon she came to back streets of Hong Kong, the bad side of town.
She passed countless massage parlours till she saw a girl, dressed in a normal qiapo but with sides that reached up to just the middle of her thigh. She was giggling and waving at men, who looked at her interestedly. She stood on a street corner and had a sign next to her in Chinese, it read 'My name is Sheng-Xin, there are many more like me. Please ask for directions"
Sakura, quite shabbily dressed next to 'Sheng-Xin', walked towards her, she seemed friendly enough. She tapped her shoulder and the Sheng-Xin spun around and answered, smiling, "Yes little one?"
The girl was taken aback by her sudden friendliness, it seemed genuine enough. Sakura responded with a big smile and spoke in fast Japanese "I was just wondering if you knew where we are?"
The girl laughed and responded back in Japanese, "We are in Hong Kong, China, the centre of the world!! Why, little one, do you ask? Are you lost?"
Sakura nodded and smiled shyly. Her ankle throbbed painfully, she winced and Sheng-Xin looked at the blood pouring onto the sidewalk from the gaping hole in Sakura's ankle. Wordlessly, Sheng-Xin took her hand and began walking with her.
The odd pair stopped in front of a large wooden door, blending in with the wall, with a large sign above it, lit with one candle. Sheng-Xin pushed open the door and made her way through the smoky throngs of people. Loud music played and a crowd chattered as Sakura worried about spilling blood onto the luscious carpet. Sheng-Xin stopped by a thin, elderly looking woman wearing a classy emerald green qiapo, with small slits to her knees and tapped her on the shoulder "Yen-Jing, can we help out this girl?"
Sheng-Xin motioned towards Sakura's ankle and the women turned round and smiled at Sakura, her elderly face crinkling with a smile as she grabbed Sakura by the arm and shouted back to Sheng-Xin "Thank you, dear, now back to work! I'll take it from here."
Sheng-Xin smiled and waved and shouted back "I'll be back later!"
She waved to Sakura, "I'll see you tomorrow as well, little one. I wish you luck with your ankle."
Yen-Jing had already dragged Sakura to a small dark room in the side of the club. She sat Sakura down in a high backed chair and told her to wait. She came back with a bandage and some water and began tending to her ankle extremely skilfully. She finished bandaging Sakura's ankle with a satisfied, "That'll do till tomorrow and I'll redo it."
She stood and looked Sakura up and down, "You're quite pretty, I can see why Sheng-Xin brought you back. What's your name?"
Sakura responded quietly, tired as all hell, "My name is Sakura."
Yen-Jing smiled kindly, "I can see you're quite tired, so I'll make this quick. You can stay here, but you'll have to work."
Sakura nodded, "I can do that. And I thank you for taking me in; I don't have anywhere else to go."
Yen-Jing helped Sakura up, "Dear, I won't keep you up much longer, but we'll get you washed and into some new clothes."
Sakura smiled gratefully, and bowed, "That'll be wonderful."
Yen-Jing walked out the room, Sakura following, watching the crazed woman mutter things "Emerald green qiapo, bring out your eyes. We'll have to train you, should be a good tea server, no shame in that. Not ready for the entertaining yet."
She pulled her out of the small room and marched her up the dark wooden stairs. She led here down a carpeted hall and towards a bathroom. A large bucket of water sat beside a large tub, capable of fitting three grown men. She poured the large bucket of water, warm from the last user, into the tub and told Sakura to strip. Sakura did as she was told, unbothered by her nudity. Yen-Jing took her clothing and made a mental note to burn it.
Yen-Jing pointed to the bath and Sakura stepped into the scalding water, hotter then she first thought. Her skin turned pink and Yen-Jing bent down and began washing her hair for her. Yen Jing looked oddly at the leaves and bark that came out of Sakura's hair but did not mention them.
She left Sakura to soak and came back with an emerald green qipao with golden dragons woven into the material and golden buttons. She also had emerald green slippers prepared for her. She handed Sakura a towel. Sakura walked behind a screen and began to dry herself. She squeezed her hair dry and then pulled on some underwear and next came the qiapo. She fumbled with the buttons but got them done up eventually, she squeezed into the shoes and Yen-Jing called from somewhere in front of the screen, "Are you done Sakura?"
Sakura shouted back an affirmative and Yen-Jing walked in and ordered Sakura to sit on the chair that had her clothes sitting on them. She began to braid Sakura shining, golden blonde hair into a plait that hung down her back. She asked Sakura, "Do the clothes fit?"
Sakura nodded and Yen-Jing smiled, her brown eyes crinkling "Good, now, please take them off and wear this."
She handed Sakura a plain slip and exclaimed simply, "It is to wear while you sleep."
Sakura nodded and went behind the screen again, passing over the qiapo with gentleness, and throwing on the old, beige slip. She passed Yen-Jing the shoes and Yen-Jing opened the door and walked her out.
She led her down a series of halls and up some stairs till she was on the top floor in a corridor with only one door at the far end. They both went towards the door and Yen Ling turned towards Sakura and began speaking in a hushed tone "Welcome Sakura, to your room. Your roommate is a slightly older girl, Wu-Chun-Mei. Breakfast shall start when all the girls arrive, so be quick. Your training shall begin tomorrow morning, an hour after breakfast. Here is your qipao and shoes, more underwear shall arrive in the morning. "
She passed her back her clothes and Sakura held them, tight, to her chest.
Sakura bowed respectfully and opened the door; she was greeted with a room lit by candles. A pretty girl with mid length, deep brown hair and black eyes greeted her with a squeal, "Welcome Sakura! My name is Wu-Chun-Mei!"
Wu Chun-Mei wore an identical slip, except it was dark blue. Her hair fluttered about her shoulders and down to the middle of her back. Wu Chun's qipao lay at the end of her bed; it was dark blue with black designs woven all through it. Her bed was covered with a dark blue, lumpy duvet, then a blanket. The room was warm, with light wooden walls and a beautiful bay window over-looking the harbour. There was a seat in front of the window and a small table with a candle on it. The curtains were shut and were a light cream. The floor was wooden with a large oriental carpet covering it. Wu Chun's bed was up against a wall and in a corner near the door and Sakura's bed was to the side of it.
Wu Chun hugged Sakura with a lot of force and began chattering to her non- stop but when Sakura saw her bed, she could've collapsed. It was a warm looking thing, with a wooden head board and a beautiful forest-green duvet. A checked blanket was at the end of the bed. The mattress looked soft and squishy felt that way too when Sakura tested it. She laid qipao at the foot of the bed, folded and her shoes beneath her bed. She smiled at Wu Chun, silently begging her to stop talking, "Wu Chun, thankyou for the welcome but I am rather tired; I would really love to sleep now."
Wu Chun nodded and grinned sleepily "I am rather tired myself, good night Sakura, pleasant dreams"
"To you the same, Wu Chun. Please wake me when you wake up and we'll go down to breakfast together" Sakura muttered back sleepily.
"Of course I will Sakura. Good night." Wu Chun answered as she blew out the candle on the table and returned to her bed.
Sakura couldn't sleep, no matter how tired she was. The transformations always took a lot out of her. But, she kept wondering what this place was and the soft snores of Wu Chun told her she couldn't ask now. She couldn't see much but she was warm and comfortable and the soft lull of a flute somewhere was making her sleepier. She turned to her side and closed her eyes, thanking the gods when she finally fell asleep, her dreams taking her far away from Hong Kong, to where her family was.
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Ooo, go me. That's the second chapter down. Also, want to be apart of my snazzy updating list? You get a nifty personalized email from moi along with an excerpt of the new chapter and you know immediately after me posting. Please say if you want to in a review and I'll be sure to add you.
I should be updating EVERY Sunday.
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Twisted Sakura Blossoms Chapter Chapter Two: Welcome to Hong Kong!
By Emerald-eyes ----
"Mother, will you please stop interfering?!"
"Xiao-Lang, for heaven's sake, show some respect!"
"Mikado, I would really like to talk to Xiao-Lang along, if I may?"
The council member bowed and left the room, not doubt to be listening on the other side.
When the heavy door had closed, Yelen turned to her only son and the formidable lady sighed and massaged her temples, a few pieces of black hair falling in her face. She brushed them back before looking at her son again "Xiao-Lang, I want what's best for you and the clan and only that. She was a nice girl, pretty, and with a magical aura."
Xiao-Lang, better known as Syaoran, slumped into a chair opposite to his mother and despondently looked at a spot on the wall, treating his mother as he always had, as if she was just another person. He finally spoke, a note of desperation to his voice, "But she was a complete idiot!"
Yelen tutted her son and he made no move to correct himself, instead he kept on going, "I didn't like her, she couldn't hold a decent conversation."
Yelen sighed, "Many girls in this city are the same, but you can't spend years trying to find the one girl who will not flutter at the mere site of you. You're nineteen soon, most clan leaders are ready with a wife at seventeen. Why are you so different, darling, why?"
Syaoran stood quickly, and made for the door. Slamming it behind him, Yelen shut her eyes with frustration as she heard him stomp down the hall. She looked out to a large window, overlooking her garden below, and putting her head in her hands, she whispered to an empty room, "What am I going to do with him?"
Syaoran quietly treaded down the stairs and slipped through the kitchens. He roamed the house freely and often, and this was the most direct way to the training room in the back of the garden. The kitchens were a bustling, smelly and slightly dank place and Syaoran's least favourite spot in the house. He preferred the openness of his training room to any other place in the world. Annoyed at the open staring, the irritable young Li stalked through the kitchen and out of the back door.
Keeping up his quick pace, he made his way through the training rooms, tempted to jog the rest of the way. But his hopes of a peaceful training hour were short-lived, his eldest sister Xeifa ploughed straight into him, a bright spark of happiness. She ruffled his hair and smiled at her brother "Xiao-Lang, darling, aren't you meant to be posing with us for the portrait?"
He suddenly remembered the portrait and miserably sighed "Yes, I suppose I am"
His eldest sister Xeifa, looked incredibly elegant. Her ankle-length, dark- blue qiapo had golden dragons crawling up the sides of the splits, the splits that showed up to her knee. It was embroidered with golden thread and golden buttons fastened the high neck. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun with one cherry blossom placed in the side of the bun. She took his hand and began dragging him over to where his other sister's sat posing.
The other three, Fanren, Fuutie and Feimei all looked equally as elegant as Xeifa.
Fanren wore her dark red qiapo with beautiful black patterns twining all over it. Her hair matched the other three girls. She sat on a tall chair with her legs neatly locked into place. Middle sister, Fuutie wore a plain emerald green qiapo with golden buttons on the neck. She sat next to Fanren, kneeling on a pillow. Feimei wore a cherry-blossom-pink qiapo with white flowers embodied all over it. She also kneeled on a pillow, on the opposite side of Fuutie. Xeifa took her place up the back; her hands placed on Fanren's shoulders.
A place was obviously reserved for him beside Fanren and Xeifa.
Syaoran stayed behind for a few minutes, admiring the site openly. The Sakura Tree, in front of which the group was posing, was in flower and blossoms floated in the light breeze. His eldest sister beckoned him into the portrait. He strode forward and scowled as he took his place beside Fanren and Xeifa placed her hand on Syaoran's shoulder.
They posed like that for hours; Syaoran's training even stretched to the limit as he stood. He could only imagine what his sisters felt like. They were each quite active as it was, and found it difficult to hold a pose for more then an hour. It was late evening before they stopped and the portrait painter began to pack up his things, claiming he would be back tomorrow to put the last touches on it. Each of the children bowed and thanked him. Xeifa began showing him the way out with a blush in her cheek and a twinkle in her eye.
Syaoran watched as his sisters began to disperse and go in to go get changed for dinner. He too began to walk towards the entrance of the kitchen, preparing for dinner. Collecting his thoughts, he decided to change course when inside the manor. He walked up to a grand painting of his parents and pulled it open by its almost invisible hinges. He closed the painting/door and walked into his study, inherited from his father. He cringed at the thought, the murder all too fresh in his mind.
Syaoran remained in his study for most of the evening, ignoring his mother's calls, unaware of the magic going on outside.
The Sakura Tree stood stock-still, before swaying slightly in the wind again. A warm glow, a sparkling blue, enveloped the tree like a hug. A girl floated out of the tree, gracefully touching down, her long golden-blonde hair fluttering in the unnatural breeze and her eyes closed. She opened them and the glow of the tree stopped, as did the unnatural breezes. She surveyed her surroundings, shivering in her greyish-black tunic-dress that looked like it was five-hundred years old.
For this girl, Sakura, it was probably extremely close to the truth.
She shivered as a night wind whipped past her, lifting her dress slightly. The head-chef looked out his window, disturbed by the glow, and in the middle of chopping a duck's head, saw the girl. He grabbed his largest knife and went towards the door, quick and as stealthily as his large, wobbling tummy would allow. He ran out the door screaming "Thief! Get off the property!!"
The other kitchen staff looked at the man as if he'd sprouted four heads and was speaking in Latin until they saw a girl, running as fast as she could towards a wall. The girl scaled the wall as fast she could, narrowly missing her foot being cut off by the insane cook. Instead, it hit deep into her foot, ripping apart flesh but thankfully missing any major ligaments. She screamed, but to high with adrenalin to care much about the red blood pouring out of it. She limped as quickly as she could into the Hong Kong streets with the cook screaming obscenities behind her.
A few minutes later, a loud, feminie voice was heard from the door way of the kitchens "Where is the cook?"
He walked inside, panting and taking off his hat and wiping his forehead with his apron. He saw Yelen in the doorway, looking furious. She marched towards him and towered over him "I heard yelling about a thief and other obscenities from this part of the house, and then I heard a scream, explain!"
His belly, wiggling in fear and his voice quaking "I saw a thief near the Cherry Blossom. I chased her off."
Yelen visibly relaxed, but not allowed a smile onto her emotionless face "Very well done Cook, now please continue with the duck?"
He nodded and placed his chef hat back and returned to the duck, he knew he had cut her foot and he remembered his knife and began to clean it. Its sharp, silver exterior glinted in the bright candle light. But he couldn't forget the girl's face as quickly as he washed the blood off his knife; she had looked so confused and frightened. That same confused and frightened girl could be anyway in the city, possibly curled up in box, on a street corner somewhere.
But, the frightened girl was not. She wandered the streets, not sure who to turn to or where to go. Could she walk into a shop somewhere and ask where she was? No, not dressed like she was. So she passed every shop as curious onlookers wondered why as girl, as pretty as she was, was wandering the streets alone. Soon she came to back streets of Hong Kong, the bad side of town.
She passed countless massage parlours till she saw a girl, dressed in a normal qiapo but with sides that reached up to just the middle of her thigh. She was giggling and waving at men, who looked at her interestedly. She stood on a street corner and had a sign next to her in Chinese, it read 'My name is Sheng-Xin, there are many more like me. Please ask for directions"
Sakura, quite shabbily dressed next to 'Sheng-Xin', walked towards her, she seemed friendly enough. She tapped her shoulder and the Sheng-Xin spun around and answered, smiling, "Yes little one?"
The girl was taken aback by her sudden friendliness, it seemed genuine enough. Sakura responded with a big smile and spoke in fast Japanese "I was just wondering if you knew where we are?"
The girl laughed and responded back in Japanese, "We are in Hong Kong, China, the centre of the world!! Why, little one, do you ask? Are you lost?"
Sakura nodded and smiled shyly. Her ankle throbbed painfully, she winced and Sheng-Xin looked at the blood pouring onto the sidewalk from the gaping hole in Sakura's ankle. Wordlessly, Sheng-Xin took her hand and began walking with her.
The odd pair stopped in front of a large wooden door, blending in with the wall, with a large sign above it, lit with one candle. Sheng-Xin pushed open the door and made her way through the smoky throngs of people. Loud music played and a crowd chattered as Sakura worried about spilling blood onto the luscious carpet. Sheng-Xin stopped by a thin, elderly looking woman wearing a classy emerald green qiapo, with small slits to her knees and tapped her on the shoulder "Yen-Jing, can we help out this girl?"
Sheng-Xin motioned towards Sakura's ankle and the women turned round and smiled at Sakura, her elderly face crinkling with a smile as she grabbed Sakura by the arm and shouted back to Sheng-Xin "Thank you, dear, now back to work! I'll take it from here."
Sheng-Xin smiled and waved and shouted back "I'll be back later!"
She waved to Sakura, "I'll see you tomorrow as well, little one. I wish you luck with your ankle."
Yen-Jing had already dragged Sakura to a small dark room in the side of the club. She sat Sakura down in a high backed chair and told her to wait. She came back with a bandage and some water and began tending to her ankle extremely skilfully. She finished bandaging Sakura's ankle with a satisfied, "That'll do till tomorrow and I'll redo it."
She stood and looked Sakura up and down, "You're quite pretty, I can see why Sheng-Xin brought you back. What's your name?"
Sakura responded quietly, tired as all hell, "My name is Sakura."
Yen-Jing smiled kindly, "I can see you're quite tired, so I'll make this quick. You can stay here, but you'll have to work."
Sakura nodded, "I can do that. And I thank you for taking me in; I don't have anywhere else to go."
Yen-Jing helped Sakura up, "Dear, I won't keep you up much longer, but we'll get you washed and into some new clothes."
Sakura smiled gratefully, and bowed, "That'll be wonderful."
Yen-Jing walked out the room, Sakura following, watching the crazed woman mutter things "Emerald green qiapo, bring out your eyes. We'll have to train you, should be a good tea server, no shame in that. Not ready for the entertaining yet."
She pulled her out of the small room and marched her up the dark wooden stairs. She led here down a carpeted hall and towards a bathroom. A large bucket of water sat beside a large tub, capable of fitting three grown men. She poured the large bucket of water, warm from the last user, into the tub and told Sakura to strip. Sakura did as she was told, unbothered by her nudity. Yen-Jing took her clothing and made a mental note to burn it.
Yen-Jing pointed to the bath and Sakura stepped into the scalding water, hotter then she first thought. Her skin turned pink and Yen-Jing bent down and began washing her hair for her. Yen Jing looked oddly at the leaves and bark that came out of Sakura's hair but did not mention them.
She left Sakura to soak and came back with an emerald green qipao with golden dragons woven into the material and golden buttons. She also had emerald green slippers prepared for her. She handed Sakura a towel. Sakura walked behind a screen and began to dry herself. She squeezed her hair dry and then pulled on some underwear and next came the qiapo. She fumbled with the buttons but got them done up eventually, she squeezed into the shoes and Yen-Jing called from somewhere in front of the screen, "Are you done Sakura?"
Sakura shouted back an affirmative and Yen-Jing walked in and ordered Sakura to sit on the chair that had her clothes sitting on them. She began to braid Sakura shining, golden blonde hair into a plait that hung down her back. She asked Sakura, "Do the clothes fit?"
Sakura nodded and Yen-Jing smiled, her brown eyes crinkling "Good, now, please take them off and wear this."
She handed Sakura a plain slip and exclaimed simply, "It is to wear while you sleep."
Sakura nodded and went behind the screen again, passing over the qiapo with gentleness, and throwing on the old, beige slip. She passed Yen-Jing the shoes and Yen-Jing opened the door and walked her out.
She led her down a series of halls and up some stairs till she was on the top floor in a corridor with only one door at the far end. They both went towards the door and Yen Ling turned towards Sakura and began speaking in a hushed tone "Welcome Sakura, to your room. Your roommate is a slightly older girl, Wu-Chun-Mei. Breakfast shall start when all the girls arrive, so be quick. Your training shall begin tomorrow morning, an hour after breakfast. Here is your qipao and shoes, more underwear shall arrive in the morning. "
She passed her back her clothes and Sakura held them, tight, to her chest.
Sakura bowed respectfully and opened the door; she was greeted with a room lit by candles. A pretty girl with mid length, deep brown hair and black eyes greeted her with a squeal, "Welcome Sakura! My name is Wu-Chun-Mei!"
Wu Chun-Mei wore an identical slip, except it was dark blue. Her hair fluttered about her shoulders and down to the middle of her back. Wu Chun's qipao lay at the end of her bed; it was dark blue with black designs woven all through it. Her bed was covered with a dark blue, lumpy duvet, then a blanket. The room was warm, with light wooden walls and a beautiful bay window over-looking the harbour. There was a seat in front of the window and a small table with a candle on it. The curtains were shut and were a light cream. The floor was wooden with a large oriental carpet covering it. Wu Chun's bed was up against a wall and in a corner near the door and Sakura's bed was to the side of it.
Wu Chun hugged Sakura with a lot of force and began chattering to her non- stop but when Sakura saw her bed, she could've collapsed. It was a warm looking thing, with a wooden head board and a beautiful forest-green duvet. A checked blanket was at the end of the bed. The mattress looked soft and squishy felt that way too when Sakura tested it. She laid qipao at the foot of the bed, folded and her shoes beneath her bed. She smiled at Wu Chun, silently begging her to stop talking, "Wu Chun, thankyou for the welcome but I am rather tired; I would really love to sleep now."
Wu Chun nodded and grinned sleepily "I am rather tired myself, good night Sakura, pleasant dreams"
"To you the same, Wu Chun. Please wake me when you wake up and we'll go down to breakfast together" Sakura muttered back sleepily.
"Of course I will Sakura. Good night." Wu Chun answered as she blew out the candle on the table and returned to her bed.
Sakura couldn't sleep, no matter how tired she was. The transformations always took a lot out of her. But, she kept wondering what this place was and the soft snores of Wu Chun told her she couldn't ask now. She couldn't see much but she was warm and comfortable and the soft lull of a flute somewhere was making her sleepier. She turned to her side and closed her eyes, thanking the gods when she finally fell asleep, her dreams taking her far away from Hong Kong, to where her family was.
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Ooo, go me. That's the second chapter down. Also, want to be apart of my snazzy updating list? You get a nifty personalized email from moi along with an excerpt of the new chapter and you know immediately after me posting. Please say if you want to in a review and I'll be sure to add you.
I should be updating EVERY Sunday.