He slowly lowered his dagger as he gazed into the young girls eyes. She seemed frightened. She was unarmed and was standing protectively in front of the tiger. Gan Ning was very curious about her and wondered where she came from. Cautiously he stepped towards her. She remained still, watching his every move. As he lowered his stare to sheath his sword, she bolted with the animal following behind her.
"Wait!" He called, chasing after her.
Through the forest and high grass, around the trees, and further she ran fearful of him. Quickly he followed suit. Keeping her in his sights, he could see she was heading for the water. He began sprinting faster. Into the river she dashed.
"Please stop!" he called.
Abruptly she came to a halt. As he neared the water he paused to catch his breath. She glared at him as the wind blew her hair out of her face, he noticed how beautiful she was, and different she looked from any other woman he had seen. He finally spoke first.
"I'm sorry, please don't run. I'm not gonna harm you."
She didn't respond and kept her defensive stance as did her pet beside her. He began to walk closer and extended his hand towards her.
"What is your name?"
When he got too close, the creature began to growl. This stopped him, but he continued to hold out his arm. The girl looked down at his hand and clenched her fist.
"It's ok," he said. His hand still stretched out. She looked up into his eyes. They were softer than before, genuine, and kind. She slowly released her tightened hand and reached out for his. He smiled as he held her hand briefly before gently leading her out of the river.
"My name is Gan Ning." Gesturing to himself and questioning if she could even understand him. He let her hand go when they were both on dry land.
"Who are you and what is your name?"
"Zhu Rong."
He looked at her surprised. She smiled at him recognizing his confusion.
"That is an odd name." he replied, that being the only thing he could think to say.
"So is yours…Gan Ning."
Crossing his arms he leaned up against a nearby tree. He couldn't believe he was having a conversation with this girl. Just looking at her he had so many questions, all of them racing through his mind. He decided to ask the logical one first.
"Where did you come from?"
"I came from my village."
"There is a village here."
"Yes, it is a Nanman village."
"How did you learn to speak my language?"
She sat down on the ground in front of him. "I learned from the elders."
"The elders, who are they?"
"They are the older and wiser men of our tribe. They teach every one of their knowledge so that they can pass it down to the next generation when they become elders and so forth. It is said a long time ago a Nanman ancestor man from our village was taken to live with the pale ones. It was there he learned their language, and returned to teach the other villagers how to speak their native tongue. It was from then on we have always spoken as such."
Gan Ning nodded listening to her story and learning more about the unusual girl. He was about to ask her another question when he felt something rustling in his knapsack. He turned to see her creature sniffing about and spilling out his supplies.
"Sorry my tiger must be hungry." Zhu Rong apologized.
"It must be after my meat bun."
"What's that?"
"It's food."
Grabbing the sack he reached in and pulled out the meat bun. Tossing it on the ground the tiger began to sniff it, then after licking its lips it hastily ate it. Satisfied the tiger walked back over to where Zhu Rong was sitting and curled up beside her. She began to pet the tiger until it fell asleep.
"That's a big animal; did you say it was a tiger?"
"Yes she is my tiger actually."
"So it's a girl tiger."
"Do you not have tigers in your village?"
"No," Gan Ning began skipping pebbles into the water. "I live in a province."
"What is it like?"
"It's like a village just that not what it's called. They are governed by the Kingdom of Wu."
"I'd like to see your kingdom."
"Oh you will."
She looked at him concerned.
"My lord plans to conquer this land in the name of Wu. With my help and the other officers together we will until the land."
"What about my people and my village?"
"I'm sure my lord would be open to recruiting an army of savages."
She stood up angrily. "What do you mean savages!"
He paused feeling bad.
"I didn't mean you."
"Just my tribe?" She turned to walk away. He ran and caught her arm as she was crossing the river.
"Please, I didn't mean to offend you."
"Let me go!" she ordered pulling away.
"I don't want you to go."
Just then Zhu Rong whistled and her tiger pounced on Gan Ning, knocking them both in the water. Zhu Rong managed to get free of his grasp and swam up to the surface. Gan Ning followed. She was on the other side when he called to her.
"Look I'm sorry. Savage is just a phrase my people use. Like pale one is how your villagers refer to me."
She turned to him. "These are words to describe people who are different from us. That is wrong. Just because we look and think different doesn't make us both not people. I may have said my people think this way, but I never said this was how I thought about other people who were different."
Gan Ning stood there, taken aback. He had never thought of it like that before. Maybe she was right. Just because someone is different doesn't make them bad.
A noise began roaring in the distance stopped his thoughts. He looked at Zhu Rong and her eyes grew wide in worry. The noise became louder and sounded like the ringing of gongs.
"What is that?" Gan Ning questioned.
"It means something's wrong. I need to go."
"Please don't, not yet."
She tried to get around him but he moved in front of her.
"I'm sorry I have to leave."
He held the girl in an embrace afraid he wasn't going to see her again. After staring into her pleading eyes, he reluctantly released his grip on her. She slowly began to walk toward the sound of the gongs. She took one final glance at him before running home.
Gan Ning stood there, and as he watched her disappear into the forest, he felt an emptiness he had never felt before. There was a loneliness unlike any other he was used to.
YAY! I GOT A NEW CHAPTER UP! PLEASE REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. I ENJOY THE ENCOURAGEMENT TO PUSH ME TO KEEP WRITING. I AM VERY EXCITED TO KEEP THIS STORY GOING :)
