Chapter 4: Elderly Welcome
Silence, nothing but a pure, humble silence had occurred for seven long extensive hours. Loud constant splashes of water came gushing down the hills into a lake below soon after, bombarding the gray rocks beneath the falls. Lei Fang's eyes suddenly opened to the loud wet noise generated around her, awakening from lost consciousness. Looking beside her shriveling body, dripping in cold wetness, she saw Hitomi lying in a ground of dirt, a handful of brown hair stroking her sleeping face from the changing current of the wind, thoroughly sweeping past them. Lei Fang, thankful for being alive, exhaled a calm sigh after learning her friend was fine and rose to her staggering feet. However, when she took a stand, a twisting pain shot deep inside her right ankle. Somehow, she had sprained it, falling to the ground with an unsettling groan, and then sitting on top of her knees for comfort.
In addition to her wrenching pain, one soft step at a time came creeping close to her without making much noise. Abruptly, her head looked up as she then heard footsteps, mild footsteps drawing in closer with every passing second. It was at that time, Lei Fang saw a timid little girl staring at her shyly from a distance, her brown hair made into short hanging pigtails and tiny brown eyes that shined with a dazzling sparkle.
"A little girl?" Lei Fang said, with a paused look of surprise. "Hi there," she then greeted as she tried to reach out and touch the young child.
Frightened, the little girl quickly dashed behind a tree and hugged it with all her strength. She whined with uneasy nervousness, afraid after discovering the two teenagers. Lei Fang meant to cause no physical harm to the scared little girl, but she thought otherwise.
"Hey. Relax, I'm not going to hurt you," Lei Fang said to calm her. Unfortunately, the little girl did not buy it and kept her distance.
"She does not like strangers," came an old, gruff voice, foretelling of wisdom and passion. "Give her time to adjust and she will fear you no longer."
Lei Fang let out a smooth gasp, coming to notice that voice belonged to Gen fu, an old martial arts master that she had seen participate in the previous Dead or Alive events. His full white fabric uniform caught the sight of her eyes as he advanced toward her, unfolding a pair of wrinkled hands behind his stiffened back.
"Gen fu?" Lei Fang asked him.
"Ah, I thought you looked familiar. Let me guess." He went into deep thought, putting a finger on his head to memorize her name. "Lei Fang, correct?"
"Yes, that's right. And she's Hitomi."
Gen fu and Lei Fang had never fought in either of the Dead or Alive Tournaments. However, they did meet behind the scenes. At that moment, Lei Fang thought she was not speaking with the same old man she had encountered a few times before. The Gen fu that fought in the tournaments was a very serious man, not allowing anything to get in the way of achieving his own hidden agenda for competing. Never once did he smile or show any kind of compassion toward the other fighters. Yet, here he was with Lei Fang, kind and fully relaxed with a widening grin seen partly behind his beard.
"You two look like you could use something to eat," he suggested. "Let me help you. Besides, you can't walk, at least not you anyway."
A shocked Lei Fang gasped again. "How did you know?"
Gen fu smiled with a small, knowing laugh. "Trust me, young one, I've been on this Earth long enough to understand a lot of things you wouldn't believe."
Lei Fang then rubbed a soft hand against Hitomi's bended back to awaken her and grasped Gen fu's extending hand to stand. Hitomi wiped the sleep from her rested eyes and looked around in question, staring across the sparkling lakes of water, watching the tall blades of grass peacefully sway about as the mother birds flew home to feed and rid away the hunger of their chirping young.
The old master, Gen fu, lead them both to his courtyard house in the woods, moving through a plethora of bushes and trees spread out in their way. Hitomi and Gen fu aided the ankle sprained Lei Fang, holding on to her sides as she limped on one foot, slightly breaking between hisses in pain. When they had reached the courtyard home, after climbing the stony steps that lead to it, Lei Fang sat cozily on a warm pillow with Gen fu helping her to the floor.
"It does not look too serious. You should be fine by morning," he said, reassuring she would recover quickly.
Against the wall, Hitomi leaned, her eyes circling around the courtyard home of Gen fu. The interior, having a few differences compared to Lei Fang's, was still astounding to admire. Along the wall, hung fine arts of Chinese calligraphy, all personally done by Gen fu himself. His living quarters had little to no furniture. No chairs were present for tired wanderer to sit, since the old man preferred to do that on the floor with the cushioned pillows instead. When it came to either a hardwood or a dirt surface floor, Gen fu was perfectly fine with dirt surface, feeling it to be more suitable to the look of his home. His garden was beautiful, consisting of artistic potted plants in decorative pots and a variety of exotic flowers.
"Wow, he's got such a nice place," Hitomi thought.
Suddenly, the little girl Lei Fang had encountered from outside had walked into the home, fearfully hiding behind Gen fu's leg, still trembling at the sight of Lei Fang and Hitomi as they saw her. Upon noticing her, Lei Fang smiled and gave a friendly wave, but the girl, staying locked around the old man's thigh, did not even bother to look directly at the college student, instead turning to face the other way.
"Excuse me, Gen fu? Who is she?" Lei Fang asked.
Gen fu looked down at the terrified girl, trembling against his rumpled leg. "Her name is Mei Lin, or Mei for short. She's my granddaughter."
Hitomi walked over, bent herself down, and looked at Mei Lin blankly.
"What's wrong with her? She seems petrified."
"She does not like strangers. They scare her easily. The only person she does not fear is me. Trust me, she'll grow to like you girls as long as you give her time. Anyway, we were just getting ready to eat. Would you girls like to join us?"
"Sure!" Hitomi and Lei Fang said, with rousing smiles.
"Ok. Zongzi good?"
"Zongzi?" Hitomi repeated, in confusion.
"Rice dumplings," Lei Fang translated.
"Oh. Hey, Gen fu, can I help you with that? I would like to learn how to cook these things if I ever get my hands on any. So far, the food here has been great. It's delicious."
" I'm glad you think so. Of course you can," he answered back, nodding.
Gen fu and Hitomi progressed into the compact sized kitchen, leaving Lei Fang by herself, lonesome, on the large cushioned pillow to roll back and forth, installed in a world of boredom until their inevitable return. She wanted to stand on her two feet again, but she knew of the pain it would bring her if she were to risk trying it. Anytime she dared to take a stand, a twisted pain would hit the center of her ankle and bring her down, kneeling to the floor, not very tempted to try it again. As the ceaseless minutes passed, Lei Fang suddenly swung her head to the left after hearing a startling moan occur from the outside.
"Ahhhh! Errrrr! Ugggggh!"
She thought about standing to check it out for herself, but went against the idea and called Gen fu out from the kitchen, pointing toward the door.
"Gen fu, something's out there. Sounds like a wounded animal."
Gen fu urgently slid open his door and rushed outside. There, he found Jann Lee, incapacitated with small streaks of dry blood smeared across his body, exhausted from walking such a far distance. The old master, with Hitomi coming out to aid him, brought the battered young man into the courtyard home and laid him on a cushion where he could rest. The moment Lei Fang caught a glimpse of her wounded rival, her body jumped up with worry.
"Jann Lee? Oh my goodness. What happened to him?"
Gen fu shook his head, not knowing what to make of it. "He has claw marks all over his skin. No doubt, he was attacked. By who, I don't know."
Hitomi sat along the floor and examined Jann Lee's body, ducking herself down and laying her head against the thickness of his chest. "He's still breathing. He'll make it."
"Tssssssssst!" Jann Lee muttered, as he suddenly sat up from the cushion, with a tremendous headache throbbing the back of his skull.
Placing his hands on the floor to push his body upward, Jann Lee saw nothing but light redness in front of him, the redness of Lei Fang's qipao dress, and, while titling his head up slowly, he saw the cheerful face of the college student hovering over him. Rather than greet her, Jann Lee screamed startlingly and threaded his feet backward.
"Wha…..you? You! What are…..where am I?"
Surprised and confused he sounded, as he further frightened Mei Lin with the strong bass tone in his voice.
Gen fu climbed to his feet off one knee. "Calm down. You are in my home, Jann Lee. You were hurt, so we brought you in here."
"What? No! I can't stay here," he retorted, heading toward the outside. But before he could reach the door, Hitomi stood in the way, blocking his exit.
"You can't go back out there," she told him. "Not in your condition. Your hurt."
"Out of my way, girl!" Jann Lee commanded, forcibly pushing Hitomi aside. However, as he touched her, a strong pain hit his shoulder and stopped him from leaving.
"Jann Lee, she's right," Gen fu said, concurring with the German girl's statement. "You have been beaten up, and for your own safety, I do not want to have to resort to violence to get you to listen to reason."
Holding his aching shoulder, Jann Lee turned away from the door to face the brusque master.
"If I were you, old man, I wouldn't dare touch me," he warned.
"This old man can do more than you think," Gen fu counteracted, bluntly. "Would you like to try me to find out?"
Jann Lee felt he had no time for games. The only thing on his mind was fighting Tengu, not the old man that seemed against fighting in his own home, but welcomed it if it was necessary to settle a dispute.
"Tell me, Jann Lee. What is it your after? Does this have something to do with the battle you were in? For your own safety, you should stay here until you recuperate. I insist."
"Um…Jann Lee? Can I ask you something?" interrupted Lei Fang.
Jann Lee slowly turned his head toward her with a galling scowl, his hands at his side.
She looked at the wounds on his body. "I just wanted to know, what did this to you."
"I was in a fight with a monster," came a monotone sound.
"Monster? What kind of monster?"
"A creature named Tengu."
Gen fu's eyes widened in disbelief from what he had just heard, scratching the side of his wrinkly face.
"Di….did….you say…….Tengu?"
Jann Lee nodded and turned to face the elegant female.
"That was the creature me and Hitomi fought last night," Lei Fang said, recalling the fight with Tengu that happened not too long ago.
"Last night?" Where is he?" Jann Lee screamed, aspired to rip the beast apart with his bare hands.
Lei Fang gazed at him unsurely. "I don't know. He beat us and took off. When did you encounter him?"
"Yesterday. I saw him in the city, near the burned down buildings. He said that mess down there was his doing."
Lei Fang gasped aloud. "No, it can't……..are you saying that creature was behind the fire incident?"
"I believe he is. He admitted it himself," Jann Lee answered.
Lei Fang crunched her face angrily.
"Then…then this means that…he killed those people. Their blood… is on his hands. All those innocent victims….it was him. He's going to pay for that, I'll make sure of it. Let's go search for him now!"
"No! You mustn't!" shouted Gen fu, strongly apposing the idea. "Doing that would be suicidal. None of you are in the condition necessary to take on that monster. I will not allow any of you to leave."
He then withdrew himself from the room stirred in silence. Though they all did not like it, the three listened to Gen fu and sat back down, but wondered at how he knew of Tengu's existence. If they rushed outside in search of Tengu and took the chance of running into him, there was no telling what would happen.
"Tengu..," Lei Fang whispered. "I will defeat you."
Everyone, with the exception of Jann Lee and Lei Fang, seemed relaxed now, though in truth Tengu still existed in their minds. Hitomi retreated into the kitchen to finish cooking the food Gen fu and her had prepared, while back in the front room, Jann Lee moved himself into a corner, away from Lei Fang as she watched him. She was willing to speak to him, but he was not interested in anything she had to say.
"How rude," she thought.
While she sat with her legs in front of her, Lei Fang saw Mei Lei peeking around the wall at her. Lei Fang chose not to move or make eye contact, appearing lonesome on the floor. Drawing closer, Mei Lin walked toward her quietly, but stopped the moment the college student looked up to see her. Quickly, she turned back around and ran in the other direction into the kitchen to seek her grandfather.
"Aww. Come back, little one," Lei Fang said, sadly.
Finally, the rice dumplings were ready and Hitomi handed out flat plates to everyone in the room. Gen fu and her took their helpings first, then Mei Lin and Lei Fang received their serving second. Last was Jann Lee, but Hitomi had to go outside to give into him since he left the courtyard home to get some air. He sat before the steps cross-legged, still holding his shoulder as he glared at the beaming sun, lost in his own thoughts.
"Um, Jann Lee?" Hitomi said, a little nervously. We cooked you one too."
She sat the plate down beside the spiky haired male with gradual chariness, expecting him to eat from it. In contrast, Jann Lee only took one glance at it, snorted, and turned away, as if the chafing hunger inside his stomach was not growing any stronger.
"You have to eat sometime, Jann Lee," the Germen said, meaningfully. "I know men like you. You have to be starving. You look like you haven't had a decent meal in days."
Jann Lee continued to ignore her as he concentrated his gaze on the sun ahead of him.
"Oh fine! Have it your way!" she huffed, pacing inside, swallowing her displeasured voice.
As Jann Lee watched her leave, feeling the time was right, he immediately dug into his plate and ate everything on it, the growls of his stomach quieting from satisfied delight.
Meanwhile, back inside, Gen fu asked the girls to spend the night as their wounds recovered from the previous battle with Tengu. They, of course, agreed, and though Jann Lee disapproved of the matter, he did the same. When the skies had darkened with nightfall coming into play, everyone had gone to sleep, everyone but Lei Fang. She sat in the room Gen fu had offered her, alone without company, but not for long. Treading by the room was Mei Lin, who walked in quietly. Apparently, she could not go to sleep like the others.
"What's wrong? You can't sleep either?" asked Lei Fang in a whisper, with her head down.
Though Mei Lin barely knew how to speak and was just a child, she understood Lei Fang perfectly and nodded.
"Where's your grandfather?"
Her head tucked in slowly.
"Oh. You mean he's asleep?"
Mei Lin nodded again.
"You want to try and sleep with me?"
Mei Lin hesitated to give some form of response, but Lei Fang did not wait for one. She stood up from the bed and with still feeling a little stiff pain hit her ankle, she crouched to the floor with her arms open.
"Come on, Mei Lin. I won't hurt you, I promise."
Slowly but surely, Gen fu's granddaughter took a few steps as she approached Lei Fang with caution. But when she came close to the young teenager, she was embraced with a hug that did not turn out to be as scary as she had thought. Lei Fang's skin was warm and alluring, giving Mei Lin a different perception on her.
"See, I told you I would not hurt you. Since your awake, let me tell you a story about what I did as I child when I could not sleep."
Mei Lin listened, sitting along Lei Fang's bed as she went on about her life as a child. It brought back so many memories that made her laugh and even sometimes cry. She told the little girl a good deal of her personal information that she rarely told anybody else. With that, in a matter of minutes, Mei Lin soon fell asleep, resting peacefully against Lei Fang's fixed torso.
"Good night, Mei Lin," she whispered, running her fingers through the girl's hair.