Chasing the Dragon
By Mudpie
Rating: R
Warnings: Drugs! Sex! Prostitution! LESBIANS!
Disclaimer: Not mine. NOTHING!
AN: This is a bit…late. Gomen! I've been ill and bogged down by…schoolwork.
Key! This chapter needs a key!
It's a dream! Or a nightmare. Or a hallucination.
"The first time I saw you I knew we would be together forever."
Two girls were lounging in a flower filled field, pulling apart daisies.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Wufei asked, squinting against the sun to gaze at Merian, who was silhouetted against the artificial L5 sunshine.
"You and I. It's like our ancestors brought us together. We're meant--"
Wufei quickly tackled her lover, silencing her with a kiss.
Although they could not be any older than fifteen, they were very much in love.
"I mean it, 'Fei." Merian ran her hand through Wufei's silken hair with a misty smile. "We must see that nothing separates us."
"Always and forever." Wufei promised, her girlish smile fading as the lights began to dim and the weather system kicked in, giving the flowers their daily watering.
"I should go, Meiran. The elders will be wondering where I've gone..." With that, she rolled off the other girl, only to be jerked back by a slim hand around her wrist.
"Stay, airen?" Merian pled, her almond-shaped eyes sad. "Just stay?"
"What's wrong, love?"
The first thing Wufei felt during her abrupt, warrior-like return to consciousness was the fact that there was a dagger wedged firmly between her brows.
One large black eye cracked open with an almost audible squeak, although her brain was trying to figure out why she wasn't dead. A thick blade to the forehead was supposed to stop your eyes from opening.
Sunlight was streaming through red gossamer curtains, casting an odd, fiery glow about the clean order of the owner's private rooms, a place that Wufei was definitely not used to waking up.
Frail, finely boned hands found their way up her familiar face, checking for damage.
When her hands did not encounter the hilt of a blade wedged between her eyes, but smooth skin, the second eye opened warily, as if it were afraid that appearing completely would acknowledge the reality of her blinding headache.
Madam Xiu Qian, the brothel's owner, made her ponderous way over to the soft bed her favorite prostitute was currently lounging on.
"Mei, you overdosed again. This is beginning to get serious. Dr. Liau said that your brain is bleeding." Her Standard was heavily accented, but the concern was obvious.
Mei. That's my name. Wufei stirred slightly, testing the limits of her strength.
"I'm sorry, Madam..." She broke off, wincing. Even her own voice, rough from disuse, caused her poor head to throb.
The homely woman sighed, eying the prone figure strewn across the large bed.
"Can you work tonight, Mei? You're in the courtyard, dancing."
"Of course, Madam." Wufei's reply was obedient, as ever, even though she could feel every damaged cell in her brain throb with the thought of standing, let alone the complicated movements of The Gossamer Dragon's signature fan dance.
It was an hour until sundown, and Chang Wufei, the last member of the Dragon clan, was going insane.
Following the doctor's orders, she abstained from using cocaine. Her mind was too fragile, and another dose so quickly would simply cause another attack, or even worse, a seizure.
Instead she injected cool water into a vein in her thigh, hoping that the liquid would cool her aching head and prevent the cravings that she knew would soon send her into fits of paranoia and mood swings.
Unfortunately, it wasn't working.
The thin girl paced the tiny rectangular room, hands constantly rubbing together, hardly keeping tempo with her rapidly racing heart.
The L5 pilot paused in her constant race against her shadow, drawn out against the worn wooden floors behind her, to peer at her reflection in the one luxury allowed to each whore in their rooms: a cheap full length mirror, blackening around the edges with age, and warped.
Her image stared back at her, with wide, nervous eyes, their slant emphasized with far too much black kohl liner.
Nervous, sweating hands adjusted the costume pieced together by the Madam herself, the tight-fitting top that was in reality just a strip of cloth tied firmly about her chest was given a final tug.
Wufei then picked up the fans that were such an important part of her signature dance, carefully testing them with deft, practiced flicks.
With surprise she looked down at the now open fans, which were gold with several white flowers gracing the folds. Her scholar's mind automatically supplied the Madam's obscure reference to a famous Chinese opera.
"Peonies…" she murmured, a rare smile making her look her age.
"Mei!" A girl, who could not be a day over six, flung open the door to Wufei's darkened room. "Madam Xiu wants you o-"
The teen spun quickly, forgetting that she was just a simple prostitute and dropping quickly into a fighter's defensive crouch.
The small girl froze at the intense glare that pinned her to the opposing wall.
"…in ten minutes." She finished weakly, her tiny hands grabbing at the wall behind her in defense.
"Fine." The door slammed in the young girl's face, leaving her to scurry down the corridor to her mother's rooms.
A warm summer breeze crept into the lavish courtyard of Madam Xiu Qian's famed brothel, toying with the rich red curtains like a teasing child and threatening to gut the torches that staved away the oncoming darkness.
This well traveled summer breeze brought with it the earthy scent of rice paddies to the south, which chased away the fetid, lingering scents of refuse and despair that slums are so fond of.
The southerly zephyr paused in its mocking of dance to watch the scene play out below.
With all the confidence of a master martial artist, Wufei strolled into the courtyard via an elegantly draped entrance. Muted conversations dropped off one by one as all of The Gossamer Dragon's prized customers turned to watch.
The slight figure stood completely still, her breathing visible only through the slight rise and fall of red and blue fabrics down her porcelain skinned back.
The over sized fans snapped open, hiding her slim body and enticing the crowd with their elegant golden sheen.
Somewhere above the courtyard a gong sounded, breaking the spell and setting the girl into a frenzy of precise movements very similar to Wufei's once-loved katas.
The ex-pilot's double-time heart beat calmed immediately, the cravings inflicted on her body pushed aside at once as she lost herself in the steady beat of drums that throbbed through the heady summer air like a pulse.
Unbeknownst to all but the sprightly summer breeze, a crew of highly trained agents prowled through the brothel's filthy corridors, silently arresting the sinners within.
Hmmm…things begin to get INTERESTING!
Next chapter in two weeks (or less, if midterms aren't TOO stressful!)
Please review, or I'll be forced to sing 'Paperback writer' next chapter.