Chapter 3

Jia never mentioned the coins on the table. She didn't need to.
Lihua and Shu had arrived home shortly after Jia and Renshu, which limited certain aspects of conversation between the two of them. But Renshu had caught the look in her eyes as he came and sat down at the table. He couldn't quite pinpoint what emotions were lingering behind them, but he sensed slight hurt and disappointment - though, not because she had been surprised by his actions. Although any kind of treachery on his part might be expected, it didn't make it any easier for her to deal with.

The next day, Jia had actually gone out before sunrise and purchased a much better-looking and more comfortable mask for the wolf to wear. There was only one mask-and-kite shop that was open at that hour, and she took advantage of it perhaps for the first time.

She was pleased to find Renshu already awake when she got home. "I...I have something for you. Well, kind of." She presented the mask to him.

His face contorted in puzzlement. He took the lightweight mask from her and observed it. It was another dragon, but in much better shape than the one Shu had made. The red and gold scales shone even in the dim light of the room. "...A better choice, at least," he said, and patted her shoulder. "Well done."

Rubbing her shoulder, she fixed him with one of her skeptical stares, and said, "'Well done'? Do my ears deceive me, or did that sound like...praise?"

After breaking their fast, and saying goodbye to Lihua and Shu, Jia headed to the marketplace with Renshu. He still felt self-conscious about having to wear a mask, but it was more bearable this time. For one thing, he knew what to expect from being with Jia and her little restaurant, and for another, this new mask was more becoming of him.

"It can't be that hard to escape," Jia said at some point during the day as Renshu surreptitiously studied his small dagger.

"Even at night, there are too many people out on the streets," he answered. "They'd recognize me right away, and I'd be done for."

A moment of silence, then she said, "You could wear the mask. If no one recognizes you in broad daylight, they certainly won't at night."

He twirled the knife in his hands, sighed, then turned his piercing gaze toward her. "True, but...first, I have to find my companions."

She gulped - she had completely forgotten about the others he had mentioned. "You mean Zhong and...what was the other's name? Bolin?"

"That's right. I can't leave without them."

She became silent again, thinking the situation over. Her movements had slowed as a result of her heavy thinking, and she neglected to meet her quota of prepared noodles and vegetables. Customers came and went, and most of them still seemed rather entertained by the sight of Renshu in his new mask.

'I can't believe I'm just sitting here in this mask and they still find me funny,' he thought.

Only when the villagers had left and it became slow did Jia venture to talk with him about his predicament - which, in a way, was equally hers. "Renshu...how do you plan to go about finding them? What if they had been taken prisoner?"

He had considered this possibility, of course. "I can't just leave them there." He stood up and took several steps toward her. "If you knew anything about wolves, you'd know that we stick together as much as possible." He stared down at her face.

"...Ok...I was just saying..." she faltered, becoming increasingly uncomfortable under his stern gaze. "I was only reminding you that it was a possibility; I wasn't suggesting you abandon them." 'Though I certainly wouldn't mind it,' she thought, disdainfully. 'The sooner you leave, the sooner my sisters and I can get on with our lives.'

He turned away slowly, and she let out a quiet breath.

She immediately turned around to focus back on her usual tasks. But after a minute, and another slight sigh, she said, "Do you want my help in any way?"

He caught the slight tremble in her voice. "I don't even know what I'm going to do yet..."

They spoke very little to each other as the day progressed. He still had a difficult time just sitting on the stool fiddling with his dagger, or staring at the sights all around him, or listening to Jia talk with customers in that voice of hers that - had he been brave enough even to admit it to himself - he found charming. Soothing, even. He wasn't used to soft voices...wasn't used to kindness. He didn't know what to make of this sheep that he had become acquainted with, albeit unwittingly. He had been shown so little compassion in his life, that he didn't know how to respond to it when it was given to him. His ears found themselves in a different world...so accustomed were they to the harsh, belligerent voices of commanders and generals, that sometimes he could still hear their orders and battle cries ringing in his ears, most of all when all was silent.
The soft lilt of this sheep's voice was foreign to him. It spoke of things he knew close to nothing about. Worst of all, it made him think of sunshine and of wind blowing through fields of grass...things that had been inaccessible to him most of his life.

When the stillness was beginning to get to him, he stood up and walked over to Jia. She looked up at him.

"Can you give me something to do?" He said it as neutrally as possible, wanting to make his request seem casual.

She blinked, clearly not understanding what he meant. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I can't stand sitting in that dratted stool a second longer." He huffed and folded his arms, almost wishing he hadn't brought himself into this uncharacteristic situation. But he couldn't turn back now. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Yes...there is. You can boil some water for me; I need to start my next batch of rice." Still somewhat taken aback by his offer, she showed him where the cookware was and helped him to get started.

He did feel a little better having something to do. If his mind was going to wander anyway, it might as well do so while his hands weren't kept idle. The mask made it a bit tricky for him to see what he was doing, but not to the point where he couldn't manage. As he set the fire and the water to simmer, Jia had stepped away to talk to a customer, who was also a friend of hers. The sound of their voices vaguely reached his ears. He bent down to retrieve a small satchel of rice, but when he stood up, the end of his mask struck the pan handle and spilled the pot of boiling water all over the place. Some of it landed on his outstretched hand, and he nearly howled.

That would have given him away, but just as quickly, he pressed a hand to his mouth and waved the other frantically.

Jia heard the clatter and saw what had happened. "Oh no..." She left her friend and rushed over to him. "Renshu? What happened?"

He was panting now. He showed her his scalded hand.

She gave a small cry and covered her mouth. "Oh - here!" She rushed over to her kitchen and drew out a small box with cloth in it. Coming over to Renshu, she held out her hoof to him. He growled in pain, but slowly conceded once he saw the concerned look in her eyes. She lightly touched a hoof to the burned area on his paw. He winced; she was spreading some kind of salve on it. Whatever it was, it noticeably lessened the pain. When she was done spreading the substance over his paw, she carefully wrapped a cloth bandage around it.

"There," she said, taking the little jar of medicine and extra cloth. "It wasn't so bad. It will heal just fine."

The wolf couldn't find it in himself to say anything. She sensed his hesitation, and said, "If you don't want to do anything, you can relax and I'll do the rest -"

"No. I'm fine." He stood up. "I can still lend a hand." He strode past her, but stopped and turned his head slightly. "...Thanks..." he said almost too quietly for her to hear.

But she did hear, and was taken by surprise for probably the fifth time that day.

The sun sank lower into the sky, and already the shadows were lengthening on the streets.

Jia looked up at the clouds, relieved that the temperature had lowered to a comfortable level.

Renshu had actually helped her with her work throughout the rest of the day. It wasn't as if he felt that he owed her something (though in truth, he did, but he wouldn't have admitted it), but busying himself with little tasks put his aggravated mind at ease. It may not have been his first choice for a distraction, but it worked nonetheless. Jia, he had to admit, was good company. Maybe it was the fact that he had spent two days with her during her hours of operation, maybe it was being in close proximity to her and getting to know her bit by bit, maybe it was the mask...but he no longer felt very certain of his role to her as the oppressor. Although it had only been two days, things seemed to have changed in some way from the way they had been, the night he forced her to lead him to her house. He had truly been an oppressor then, that was without a doubt. Now he thought of it, he wondered why - and how - he had let things get to this point, where he was helping a sheep with her cooking, wearing a dragon mask, and even going so far as talking with her. The strangest revelation of all was that it didn't seem to bother him much.

Sometimes he would think about Zhong and Bolin, and a stab of guilt would pierce his hardened heart. He knew he had to go and search for them so that they could all escape from this city. But he also knew that he would most likely only have one chance to do it right without getting caught, and that chance couldn't be wasted without a decent plan. The first thing he knew he needed to do was to locate them. Hopefully they were in the same place, otherwise he'd really be in for a wild goose chase.

This time, when Jia had finished loading all of her cookware and supplies into the cart, he took the handles without a word.

She stared after him, eyes wide with wonderment. But then she shook her head and remembered that Renshu was always itching to get home. She quietly followed after him.

The next day was just like the last. Or at least, it would have been, had it not been for one incident that nearly proved disastrous.

The citizens of Gongmen City had woken up to a dark, cloudy sky. Though most of them toiled about their daily habits as usual, it proved ill news for those like Jia who had businesses that required them to be outside all day.

She was looking up at the sky from her window, studying the weather. She was in the kitchen, and Renshu had stepped up beside her. He looked at the sky, too. "Do we get to stay home because of the weather?" he joked, baring his fangs in an unsavory smile.

She sighed. "No. I can't afford to miss a day of business. If it rains, we won't get many customers, but...maybe it won't rain." She didn't believe it, however, and he noted her doubtful tone.

He leaned against the wall, still staring vacantly up at the gray sky. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped - then gave in, and asked, "Exactly how important is it that you show up with your culinary caravan?"

She glanced at him, then turned away. She said, "Between the three of us, Lihua, Shu, and I...we make just enough to get by." A pause. "If I miss a day of work, well...it might not doom us to starvation...but...every day counts."

He raised his eyes, then patted her on the shoulder, as he was sometimes fond of doing. "Well, it's your call, kiddo."

She stared at him, unamused.

"Sorry," he grinned, showing off those white teeth. "Jia."

Of course, they did end up carting the supplies into the city near the marketplace. The streets were no more crowded nor empty than usual, but some people carried umbrellas with them in anticipation of a possible rainstorm. Renshu felt a little better wearing the mask today, for the weather was cool and refreshing, and even seemed to chill his temper. Jia did get a healthy dose of business - especially for her hot soup, which always became popular on cooler days - and was rather glad that she chose to be there that day, weather aside. Everything had gone on as usual, until toward the middle of the day, the sky turned a shade darker and the clouds began to churn.

Some people in the streets were looking up; others seemed to take no notice. But Jia did. She was silent as she studied the weather, and said to Renshu, "I think it's going to rain..."

A low rumble of thunder sounding overhead confirmed her suspicion. Renshu was unphased, but looked to her and asked, "Still thinking about staying here?"

"Perhaps not." The day was already halfway through, and her earnings hadn't been any less than usual. In fact, to her pleasant surprise, she had made a little more than usual. "I suppose it would be best if we called it a day..."

As the two of them closed up shop, a sudden heavy downpour started out of nowhere. Jia and Renshu toiled in spite of the rain. They were already completely drenched, but just then a powerful gust kicked up, blowing the storm in at an alarming rate.

That's when it happened. Renshu was lifting a wooden crate into the cart, when his mask began to shake violently. Then, without warning, it had flown off his face altogether, lost to the wind like some colorful bird having escaped from a cage. His eyes grew wide, and so did Jia's. They looked around, and to their horror, a goose standing nearby had gotten one good look at the wolf and shrieked. Someone else nearby shouted, "Look!" pointing at Renshu.

Jia wasted no time. Before the situation could get any worse, she grabbed his paw, shouted, "Quick!" and ran, leading him back to her house. Before doing so, she had whisked a bit of cloth out of the cart and draped it over his head.

The cart and all of its supplies sat in the rain, sodden and forgotten.

Once the two of them were inside, Jia shut the door behind her, panting and sinking to the floor. Renshu was panting as well, and shook himself of the rain. Hundreds of tiny water drops flew off his fur in a fine mist. Then he shut his eyes tight and covered his muzzle.

She opened her eyes and regarded him warily. "...Renshu..." she said softly, "it's ok."

"'Ok,'" he repeated, barely containing his anger. "How is this in any way ok?"

She felt utterly despaired. "Not that many people saw you," she said, still trying to calm him down. "And I'm sure no one saw us come in. They don't know where you are."

"But they know I'm in the city!"

She took several more deep breaths, still exhausted from her sprint home. "Look...I know it looks bad, but..." she trailed off, unsure of the right words to say.

He was relentless, though. "It looks bad because it is bad!" He growled and turned away, pacing around the room. He said, more to himself than to her, "They know I'm here, now. The guards'll be after me, they'll be searching the entire city for me. I'll be caught, taken to jail, and I'll never get out again - I hope they don't make me share a cell with Zhong -"

"Renshu," Jia cut in flatly.

He looked at her with his red eyes.

"Do you want my help?" she asked slowly, giving him her full attention. She stood up and walked a little closer, pleading with her eyes for him to listen. "Do you want my help?" she repeated. "I'm willing to give it to you, but I can't help you unless you want it. We'll think of something, ok? There's a way out of this."

"How do you know?" he growled.

"I just do...there has to be. You can't give up now..." she trailed off once again, feeling suddenly strange about trying to comfort him. Shouldn't she have been glad that he was spotted? Didn't that mean that he might be found and taken out of her life for good?

But she possessed a compassionate heart. Renshu wasn't her favorite person on earth, but since getting to know him a little better and spending some time with him, she came to understand that he, in truth, was no different from anyone else. He needed help like everyone else, had faults like everyone else, and above all, probably needed a little compassion more than anything. Not that she believed it would rub off on him or change his ways, but behaving antagonistically toward him would be more of a hindrance than a help, for everyone. She was in as sticky a situation as he was, and knew that there probably was no getting out of it anytime soon. He no longer seemed as intimidating as she had initially believed. Rather than the frightening warrior she had encountered in the moonlit courtyard, he now seemed more like a lost and wounded pup.

He looked at her now with deep-set confusion, and not a little suspicion. "Why are you so eager to help me?"

"I...I wasn't aware that I was, yet...I just offered..."

"You led me back here when you could have easily abandoned me to my fate." He was probing her now, trying to fish out any excuse, any reason that she had helped him out of some selfish whim, rather than out of genuine concern.

She stared at the floor. "I don't know...I just..." she fumbled for the right words. "It just seemed like you could use some help from someone...even if that someone is me. Besides, I want you out of here as much as you want to get out."

He snorted. "You're sure this has nothing to do with the amount of business I bring you each day?"

In spite of herself, she almost laughed. "You can't be serious!" she said. "Haven't I been saying this whole time that I would try and help you escape if I could?"

He couldn't come up with an answer, so remained silent.

She stood there for a minute, before becoming aware of her sodden coat, and saying, "I'll get you something to dry yourself off with." She headed upstairs and appeared a moment later with some blankets. She handed them to him. As she saw him rubbing the cloth over his fur, another question popped into her mind. "Um, Renshu...is...are those the only clothes you have?" she said it in such a small, timid voice that he almost didn't hear her.

"Yes," was all he said.

She rubbed her arm. "I'm afraid we don't have anything here that would be suitable for you to wear."

"It's no big deal. I've suffered a lot worse than having to wear wet clothes."

She nodded, but still didn't feel very comfortable with the thought of him being stuck with one outfit, especially if that outfit was wet. "If you like, I can dry it for you. Anything's better than having to wear wet clothing." When he regarded her, she said, "You don't have to take it off now, my goodness. I meant that you can leave it outside of your room, and I will return it to you, dried."

He peeled a bit of the clothing from his fur. It made an unpleasant suctioning noise; it was all the prompting he needed. "Very well," he said.

She nodded briefly. "I'll be down in a short while." She went upstairs, her hooves making a light sound on the wood.

He knew she had gone up to change out of her wet clothing. His ear twitched nervously as he tried to get the visual out of his mind, of that damp, white, beautiful fur glowing softly in the light of the fire. He put his hands on his head and shook himself, then headed up to his guest room. He peeled off his own clothing, very glad to get it off his fur, and did as she suggested - he hung it right outside the door. He sat down on the little bed, feeling strange. Of course he started up a small fire in the room, so as to get his fur a little drier. But he stayed that way for a long time, stroking his arms, staring at the fire for minutes on end, utterly lost in his thoughts. Now and then he heard small shuffling in the room next to him. He thought of the past day's events, pondering all that he had been through, all that he head heard. He didn't realize it at the time, but it was in the quiet of this room that something began forming inside of him that would shake him to the core, come the day he realized just what it was.

He wasn't aware of how much time had passed, but eventually he heard a small noise coming from just outside the door. He opened it slowly and looked around, and saw his clothing right where he had left it. He took it inside; it was dry. And, as wolves are wont to do, he lightly sniffed at it, catching the vague scent of cherry blossoms, almost imperceptible. Her scent. His spine tingled, but he shook it off.

As he dressed himself, he left the room and headed down to the kitchen. The rain hadn't stopped. There was a small fire lit, and it cast an eerily pleasant glow along the floor and walls. ('Jia must have come down and started it,' he thought.) He knew it still couldn't have been late enough for Lihua and Shu to return home yet. Not having anything else to do at the moment, he sat down at the table. A short while later, Jia came down.

She cleared her throat, a little uneasily. "Would you like some tea?" she offered.

He didn't look at her. "No...thanks..."

She began heating some water and took a small porcelain cup out of the cupboard. Somehow, the sound of her shuffling through the kitchen as she prepared her tea was soothing to the wolf. The fire, the sound of the rain outside, the soft orange glow flickering throughout the room, the sheep that stood there daintily stirring her tea...it created possibly the most calming environment he had ever been in. And still he wasn't sure how to handle it. He wondered if he should even be in the same room as these things - as these joys and comforts that had been strangers to him his entire life. He doubted that he even had a right to experience them...for if they had never come to him before, why should they start now?

He stood up.

"...Where are you going?" she asked. She had taken a seat at the table as well.

"To the guest room."

"...Are you feeling ok?"

He stared into those eyes - eyes that were so huge and shone with so much care. He tried not to sneer. "Not really." He headed toward the stairs.

But she ventured to ask, "Are...are you sure you don't want something hot to drink? It might make you feel better."

He sighed, his back turned to her, and rubbed his muzzle. "Yeah, ok." Whatever had pulled him back to her, he felt a little better when she had served him some of the hot liquid. He was never much of a tea-drinker, but she was right - it did make him feel better. Although his discomfort wasn't a result of any physical illness.

The rain poured on outside. It had become much darker. Jia and Renshu sat at table, sipping their tea quietly. Neither said a word for what seemed like a long time, but neither did they seem to mind much. Each was lost in their own thoughts.

Eventually, she dared to bring up the subject of his escape plan. "You know, Renshu," she began quietly, "we still need to figure out what you're going to do."

Strangely, he found this new topic of conversation as a relief. He didn't even sound annoyed when he answered, "The first thing I need to do is find Zhong and Bolin. I have a feeling they've been taken to Gongmen Jail. That's the first place I'll look."

"When?"

He thought for a while, gazing at the tea in his cup. "When I'm sure that I can set foot out of this house without being under heavy alert."

She nodded knowingly. "That's a sound idea." She sipped her tea. "Is there...anything I can do to help?"

He almost chuckled. "Yeah. You can get me a new mask."

When Lihua and Shu came home that night, Jia and Renshu had a much clearer idea of how fast news had spread of Renshu's blunder with the mask flying away and his identity being revealed.

Lihua had a small bag of food supplies in her arms, and set it down. "You will not believe the rumors that have been circulating around the city today."

"Everyone's saying that a wolf appeared in the city near the marketplace," Shu cut in, hopping into a chair. "You two wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?" She leaned her head in her hooves - her usual impish manner, though there was no malice in her voice.

Jia, of course, told them about what had happened. Lihua, in her typical manner, jumped to the very worst-case scenario. And unfortunately, the worst-case scenario was a valid possibility. "Do you realize that they'll probably be searching everyone's house for this wolf?"

Jia winced. She had thought of it, but wasn't at all sure what to do if it came to that. "I realize that, Lihua."

"...And? What are you planning to do?"

"I don't know yet."

As if the situation wasn't difficult enough, Lihua took it in turn to announce that she doesn't want her or her sisters put in danger if the guards discovered a wolf in their house. "They would take it as treachery on our part. We'd have to stand trial and prove that we're innocent, and that's if they believed us, which -"

"Lihua, please! You're hurting my head!" Jia leaned down on the table, feeling too defeated at the moment to raise any further argument. "They would know we're in the right anyway - no sheep in his or her right mind would house a wolf, short of being held hostage."

Lihua took a deep breath. "These are all valid points I've brought up, Jia. I'm worried."

"So am I! But...just give me a little time to work this out. I don't want to put Renshu in danger," Lihua raised her eyes, "if it can be helped."

Lihua gently cleared her throat. "Jia...may I speak to you in private for a minute?"

Blinking nervously, Jia stood up and followed her sister out of the room.

"Jia," she said again, "is there something going on that you're not telling me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean with this wolf. Why do you want to help him? Didn't he threaten you about three or four times by now? And didn't he practically break into our house, forcing us to take him in as if he were an invited house guest?"

"I'm aware of what happened, Lihua. I was there, remember?" She sighed. "I just don't want to condemn him any more than he's already been condemned. It seems wrong to do so, even if he is dangerous. I don't believe he truly wishes to harm us, though. All he wants to do is find his friends and leave the city for good. If we can help him do that, he'll be out of our lives forever."

"You're getting in way over your head, Jia." Lihua was silent, looking vastly disappointed in her sister. "It's not our job to reform this wolf."

"I never said it was. The fact is, he's here, and we don't know how long he's going to be here. But that doesn't mean that we have to treat him badly. Heaven knows I've been as kind to him as I could these past days, and it might not look like it's been doing a lot of good, but I can't find it in me be his punisher."

They argued back and forth like this for a while before finally giving it a rest. Everyone's mood seemed to have taken a turn for the worse. Though it was dinnertime, no one felt like eating; not even Shu.

As the evening drew on and night finally cloaked the world in darkness, everyone retreated to their rooms. Before Jia left for hers, she lightly touched Renshu's arm and said, "It will be ok, Renshu. We'll think of something." Then she headed up to her room and closed the door.

He did likewise. As he lied in bed, in the darkness of the room, he could hear the pitter-patter of the rain on the rooftop. The sound was comforting to him. Once again, he couldn't help but think what an odd situation he was in. He thought about how several weeks ago, he was camping out in the middle of nowhere, and now he found himself a temporary guest in some sheep's house. If things had turned out differently - if he had gone with Tao, or if those caravans hadn't shown up - he might still be sleeping out there, under a stormy sky with little to no comfort whatsoever. Not that there was much comfort to be had even now, with so many new worries added to his plate.

The sound of the rain was like a kind of lullaby for him. Eventually, he drifted off to sleep, and when he did, he had a strange dream.

He dreamed that he was back in his homeland with Tao and the others. Only it didn't look at all like how he remembered it. In fact, it looked a lot like Gongmen City, with the same buildings, the same shops, the same citizens. And there were wolves, too. A lot of wolves - as many as there were on the day of the city's occupation. He saw Zhong and Bolin in the dream, running their own rice stand. He walked up to them, requesting a bowl of rice, but they told him they were out. Immediately afterword, they handed some to a customer. Renshu left, and the next thing he knew, he was fighting some battle alongside Tao. Not only that, but their Wolf Boss was there as well. 'What are you talking about? I'm not dead. I was just pretending,' he said when questioned by Renshu about his fate. Then out of nowhere, it seemed as if everyone had disappeared, and that Renshu was the only one left in the city. There was a rickshaw nearby, and he thought to use this to leave the city as well. It traveled across the land faster than any speed he had ever traveled at before. Valleys and meadows and mountains and forests raced past him, so that everything looked like one colorful blur. When he stopped, he was in unfamiliar territory. He sought out to explore this new place, but the scene changed once again, and he was in a dark room. Jia was there. Her coat was gone, her fur slightly wet, and he had taken a small blanket and gently dabbed her face, her neck, her shoulders. Her large eyes were closed in a peaceful manner. There was a fire in the room, and it set everything aglow with little quivering shadows. He leaned down toward her face...

...And woke up, feeling panicked. He put a hand to his forehead and took a deep breath.

He got out of bed and raced to the door, but stopped. He wanted to get some fresh air, but in his frenzied state had nearly forgotten about the danger he was still in, of being exposed to the outside world. He went to lie back down, shutting his eyes tightly and clenching the blanket with his fist.

He lay there disturbed for the rest of the night.