Hello everybody! Seems as though we updated faster than we thought we would! Hope you enjoy the chapter! It's more informational than anything.
It's all about Ling! Hope this clears some stuff for everyone!
The rain pounded the rooftop of the orphanage. Another cold night. You can see the breaths of all the little kids that pilled up on each other, trying to get some sort of warmth that they haven't felt since summer.
"Ling!"
Grey eyes looked for hazel-green.
"Yes?" a tiny voice made an older woman with grey hair turn to see a four old Ling.
"There you are! I was looking all over for you! Come here!"
Ling stepped away from the "warm" huddle of kids and walked to the old lady, the crisp air making her skin get goose bumps.
"I know you are only four but you are turning five next month… That will make you the oldest here…"
Ling wrapped her arms around herself and listened without interrupting.
"Now I don't usually keep kids here that are older than five, but I thought that with you here… Well, I thought that maybe you can help me somehow…" The grey haired lady took Ling into her arms, "Will you be willing to take care of everything here for me? You see I have something that I really have to do and well I can't go with twenty four-three year olds…"
Ling nodded silently not looking at the women straight in the face.
"Good! I'll get my stuff so that I can go right now!" She pushed Ling away and ran to the door, "I'll be back in an hour or two!" A brush of cold air and the woman was gone.
Ling had been staying here at the orphanage for the last three months and it was always like this. She had to learn how to feed twenty kids one piece of bread and how to have the best time that she can in these types of conditions. But she was tired of this. It was time to leave and hit the streets. Just like any other kids older than five. Some girls had gotten adopted by shady looking guys, but anything was better than this.
Her mom had left here. Told her that she was going to go see a friend and that she would be back in an hour to pick her up. That was the last time she saw her mother. Ling never found out exactly what happened, and she didn't want to know.
Five hours later. The old lady came back through the door. She had probably been out drinking. Again.
The grey-eyed lady crept inside two room house. She tip toed around the children scattered around the floor asleep and made her way to the other room in the house. Her room. As she went inside the room and finally closed the door, Ling's eyes snapped open.
Ling's eyes started watering as she glanced around the room, "I'm so sorry. Please forgive me." Her heart jumped to her throat as one of the little kids woke up and grabbed her ankle. She wiggled her foot free and mouthed goodbye at the little girl. A tear slipped down her face as she opened the door and the cold air came into the room. "Goodbye, everyone," Ling whispered, stepping out and shutting the door. She held herself as the chill air entrapped her all over.
She didn't know where to go. It was very cold and her only warmth was a worn-out tunic. She walked and walked around the small village, and ended up behind a decrepit building. She laid on the hard, sordid, floor, and awaited morning.
The light was the first thing that had awoken her, that and the rat crawling about ten feet away from her. She jumped up abruptly and hit a garbage container. She spotted a piece of stale bread and didn't think twice on stuffing it in her mouth.
After her "breakfast," she started walking out of her village. Many people were up about their business, going to the market or with fishing poles, but still giving her warm smiles. She was a cute four- year old girl. Dirty, but cute. She finally reached the edge of the village that trailed off into a forest. What did she do now? If she went in, she might get lost and die in there.
"Woah there! You might wanna get out of the way before ol' OrangeNose tramples ya!"
Ling turned around to see a horse pulling a wagon coming her way.
"Woah OrangeNose! Heel girl, heel!" She stopped right in front of Ling. An old man unable to be seen behind the beast's head turned sideways to face Ling. "Need a lift sonny?" he said squinting. Boy, this man was old, but Ling took her chances and hopped on next to man.
"Giddy up OrangeNose!"
It would've been quite a long walk for Ling by herself. On the wagon, it was about two hours. They stopped halfway to let OrangeNose drink some water in a stream, and the old man unveiled what was in his wagon—oranges. They ate a couple, Ling had to peel them and it made her finger prick with pain from the acid juice. But it was still good, and the old man, Meng, was very nice to her.
"So, sonny. Decided to start livin' on your own? That's pretty darn good! When I first fled the coop I was only-"
Blah. But beside the boring talk, he took her all the way to the next town. It was much, much bigger too. Qu Dong. My new home.
"Okay there sonny, be good, and make an honest work's livin'!"
"Bye Meng!" She waved as the old man led OrangeNose toward another part of town. This seemed like a very secure place to be. Guards had stopped them at the entrance and Meng had shown them his passport and said she was his grandson. Ling blushed when the guards eyed her, but they got through just fine. Now she had to go and find a place to sleep at. She toured the town by herself. She found the market place and surreptitiously grabbed an apple without anyone looking. Honest work. Blah.
She walked until she saw the palace. And what a palace it was! It looked so much more fancier than anything she had ever seen before! There were many guards surrounding the whole palace, but it looked rand and the temples were so glorious!
"Pretty awesome, huh?
Ling jumped at the sound of a man's voice.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. By the way you're looking at the palace, I can tell you're new here," said a man with beautiful green eyes and light brown hair tied in the back-or so it appeared. "You're quite young. May I ask why you're here?"
Ling looked at the man, thinking whether or not to tell him. It wasn't any of his business. She opened her mouth and slowly closed it. What was she doing here? She was so stupid. What would she do now? She should have never left the orphanage.
"If you don't want to tell me, that's fi-" the man stopped short. Ling held up her small hands into the man's shirt and had begun to cry on him.
"I-I'm s-so so-o-o-or-r-y!" she said through uncontrollable sobs. "I-I-I should h-have ne-ne-ver left!"
The man looked down at the little girl tightly holding his shirt. She was so cute, and his heart seemed to melt even more as she wept.
"It's okay. Come on. Lets go eat something." They didn't go very far. They walked to a small area filled with trees. The man holding the girl by her hand. They sat down where they still had a view of the palace, and the man grabbed his bag from his back and took out two containers.
"Here," he said handing both containers to Ling. "You can eat mine too."
Ling looked at the two box-shaped containers and grabbed them uncertainly.
"I hope you like it. I made it myself."
Ling opened the lid and saw rice and pieces of meat on top of it. She grabbed it with her hands and ate it, sniffing and tearing up more from the stranger's kindness. Halfway through her meal, he saw the man reach into his bag. She twitched nervously and was ready to flee when he brought out a flute.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you or anything," he chuckled seeing Ling's surprised reaction. He pulled the flute closer in to his lips and began to play a slow and mellifluous tune. Ling felt joyful and as if her past worries had melted away. She didn't know how long the man kept on playing, but went he stopped she felt the hard slap of reality across her face.
"Now then, if you want to spill your troubles on to me, I would be more than happy to listen. May I trouble you for your name?"
"L-ling. My name is Ling Xue. And y-yours?"
"So she does speak! And she asks for my name! Such honor!"
Ling giggled at the man's last retort.
"My name is Wu Kang-De, but everyone calls me Amiboshi."
"A-a-amiboshi?"
"Yes, do you want to tell me what the matter, miss?" he said with the most charming smile Ling had ever received. Ling looked at him once more with her very desolate eyes. She opened her little mouth and instead of words coming out, she sniffled.
Amiboshi chuckled once again and began to put the items back into his bag. He grabbed the containers and his flute and gently placed it inside. When he finished he patted the bag and looked at her a little more seriously.
"How about I ask you the questions and you answer them? I just can't leave you here. Would that be okay?" Ling nodded.
"How old are you?"
"Four. I turn five in a couple of weeks," she said fiddling with her hands.
"Oh. You're still very young. Where's your home village?"
"Tankka Village. The village on the outskirts of Qu Dong. And that's the palace over there. I-isn't it?" she asked pointing a finger to the magnificent structure.
"It is, Ling." Ling twitched at the sound of her name. Amiboshi smiled. "Seiryū, the protector of Kutō, resides in there with all its glory." He stated admiringly. Ling looked at his face. He seemed to have forgotten about her for a second but quickly turned to her and continued his questioning.
"Where do you plan on staying now that you're here?"
Ling frowned. Back to the same question she had asked herself before. Where would she stay? "I dunno. I was planning to stay near a park or something tonight then continue tomor-"
"Absolutely not! You can't stay in the streets alone! Lets go to the shelter right now," he said standing up and motioning her to do the same. "They take care of kids until someone adopts them…"
Ling had stood up but stopped listening to what Amiboshi had said after shelter. No. Not another shelter. She looked down at her small, bare feet, not knowing how to phrase what she wanted to say.
"Come on, Ling. I'll take you to the shelter," said Amiboshi stretching out his hand. Ling twitched again at the sound of her name and ignored his hand.
"No. I don't want to go to a shelter. I just came from one and… and…."
She clenched her fist trying to repress her tears, without any luck.
"I-I-I-I-I want to make an h-h-honest work's living! Just like M-m-m-meng said! I-I want to work a-a-and earn my own money without s-s-s-stealing and buy m-m-my own house and have my own g-g-g-garden and…and…" Ling stopped and tears started to heavily spill onto her face, leaving clean streaks on her dirty face. Her hands tried to cover her sobs and eyes, but nothing could stifle her sadness. She hadn't even noticed when Amiboshi had picked her up and wrapping his arms around her, gently patting her back.
"It's okay Ling. God, I can't believe you're keeping it all bottled up inside…"
It took several minutes for Ling to finally calm down to a sniff. Amiboshi put her down softly and tapped her head. Ling looked up at him through puffy eyes and turn red from having lost control in front of an almost-stranger.
"Honest-work's living, eh? Well, if you don't want to go to a shelter and you definitely won't go back to where you came from," he smiled as Ling rigorously shook her head. "Then come with me." Ling's eyes opened wide. Amiboshi laughed.
"I know you barely know me, and I know my home isn't as great as the palace for such a fine little miss, but I can give you a roof over your head, in exchange for chores, of course," he said kneeling down to her and grinning. "How 'bout it?"
Now Ling and Amiboshi were staring eye to eye. Was he serious? No one had ever been so kind to her.
"I-I don't want to intrude-"
"So it's settled! You're coming with me!" he exclaimed standing up, thrusting his bag over his shoulder, and grabbing her hand. "On to Sodako village!"
Both of them started to walk on. Amiboshi had started to ramble on about his village. Ling was a very mature girl for her age. Inside she was mixed with emotions and didn't know what to feel or expect for the future. All she had wanted for a long time was to have a friend; someone to love her and take care of her. Now, Amiboshi was the person who had given her what she wanted in a very short period of time, and all she wanted to do now was-
"Thank you."
"-huh?" said Amiboshi looking down at Ling. She had stopped walking and quietly interrupted what he had been saying.
Ling looked down at the floor, and slowly up at him. Her eyes had began to water again as she repeated herself.
"Thank you for giving me a home, a-and taking me in. I promise to be the best helper you will ever have." She clutched his hand a little tighter.
"No problem Ling. I told you we would work through this. You just have to be a little tougher. No crying. If you want to make an honest work's living, you can't cry. You have to be strong." Ling smiled and he firmly gripped her hand.
"Onward!" he yelled out pulling her forward. "By the way, who's Meng?"
Amiboshi smiled confusedly as the little girl's giggle echoed through his ears.
Four Years Later
The sun shone brightly on a new morning. A nine-year old Ling danced through a small garden of flowers picking out the prettiest and taking out the weeds infesting the dirt. She had grown quite a bit taller since she was four, and her feminine features were blossoming with every coming day. She stood up and brushed the dirt of her loose pants underneath her knee-length, white tunic. She secured the flowers through the green satin wrapped around her clothes, and raced off out of the fields to Amiboshi's house. She saw the small building closer, and closer to her with a very frantic Amiboshi waving at her. She stopped right in front of him and frowned when he saw his worried face.
"What's wrong Amiboshi?"
"Ling! It's nearly sunset and I haven't seen you since hours ago!" he exclaimed looking a little relieved. "Come on in."
"I got some flowers!" she took the flowers from her waist and showed them to Amiboshi.
"They're really nice. That garden seems to be coming out nicely huh? Have the vegetables come out yet?" He walked to the corner of the house and started making a fire.
"No not yet. Maybe in a month or two they'll be ready!"
"That'd be nice. We can make a huge feast and get the villagers nearby to come."
Ling pulled up her hair and tied it into a bun. Amiboshi had stayed in the other room and had begun to play a sweet tune on the flute. Ling walked into the kitchen and smelled the syrupy smell of curry float in the air.
'He started dinner,' she thought. It was always delicious when Amiboshi made it, but always said that he was tired of his own and preferred Ling's. She brought out two bowls and spooned out some food for both of them. Carefully, she placed them on a wooden tray and made her way out and into the other room where Amiboshi sat. His elbows where perched on the table, his flute on his lips, but quickly pulled them away when Ling entered with the hot food. The last note he played hung softly in the air and left Ling filling quite mellow.
Amiboshi looked at the food and smiled at her. "I hope you like it. I wanted to have it done before you came from heaven knows where."
"I'm sorry. I wanted to pick out some flowers to look festive for tomorrow. Are you excited to be turning twenty-eight tomorrow?" she asked. She scooped up some of the curry with her spoon and slowly savored it. She looked up at Amiboshi for his response.
"I am excited. Will you be cooking for me tomorrow?"
"Yes!" exclaimed Ling. She had it all planned out. A big breakfast, a walk to the market where the villagers had something planned for him. Amiboshi was, after all, the kindest and most respected man in the village. His parents had died years ago in a village feud, but left their reputation on their son. Amiboshi had told Ling that he had been adopted too, and after his parents' deaths he had been left this house and the kind villagers who had loved his parents. This year they were planning to throw him a ceremony, and in the evening both would return home where Ling would make him a special dinner while he relaxed playing his flute. The perfect birthday.
"Are you alright Ling?" asked Amiboshi curiously seeing that Ling had been daydreaming.
"Oh, yes. I was just thinking on what to make you tomorrow."
"Don't work yourself too hard. It can't be an honest work's living if the work and pay isn't balanced," he said standing up and clearing the finished plates.
"I don't mind. Are you going to sleep early?"
"I think I am. I helped out the villagers at the market today and I'm tired," he said trying to hold back a yawn. "Are you okay with that?"
"Yes," lied Ling. She wanted him to stay up like other times and play the flute until she fell asleep. "I'll go to bed too." She stood up and saw Amiboshi edge closer and grab her hand.
"Well in that case…" Amboshi put his other hand on her waist and pulled her up over his shoulder. Ling started to giggle uncontrollably as he twirled her around walking to her room.
"I-I-I'm not little a-a-anymore," she said through her laughs. Amiboshi chuckled and gently placed her on her bed. He stepped back and said, "Don't stay up to late, 'kay? Sweet dreams."
He gave one last look at her and closed the door. She waited until she heard him go inside his room to get out off her clothes and into the ones she used to sleep in. She snuggled inside and soon after heard Amiboshi's serene tune flow into the air. The villagers saved up quite a lot of money for this ceremony. She couldn't wait for tomorrow.
Ling woke up early the next day and put on the white tunic she had on the day before with the green sash. She entered the kitchen and finished breakfast just as she heard Amiboshi open the door to his room. Everything was placed on the table; she quickly undid her bun and let her hair fall on her back. She grabbed one of the flowers sitting on the tables. Light yellow, to bring out her eyes. She was perhaps the prettiest little girl right then and there. Amiboshi walked into the room and smiled at her.
"Happy Birthday!" She ran towards him and gave him a hug and smiled as he wrapped his arms around her.
"This food looks delicious! I can't wait to start eating!" he let go of her and sat down at the table.
"You think that all the time when it comes to food," Ling served him a plate of all the things that she had made for breakfast.
"That's not true, only when it comes to the food that you make. We should get you a job to be a chef at the palace. That way you can make a lot of money and-" Amiboshi said with his face stuffed with food.
Ling laughed, "But then you wouldn't be able to eat the food that I make."
Amiboshi frowned, "That's true, huh? Never mind you stay here with me forever!"
A comfortable silence settled in the room as both ate quietly and peacefully.
"Amiboshi?"
"Yes?"
"I want to tell you something…"
"What is it?"
She took a deep breath and thought of all the fatherly things that he had done for her. She blushed as she began, "I love y-"
CRASH
Men circled all around them as Amiboshi quickly got up and hurried Ling to get behind him. One of them men saw and grabbed Ling by the arm and pulled her.
"No! Leave her alone!" cried Amiboshi as he went towards the man and got kicked down.
All the men had knives in their hands and out of the corner of Ling's eyes she could see two of the women villagers with bruised eyes in the hands of the men.
"We heard that one of you guys was havin' a party."
"Yeah, it's not so good to bring so much money to a town run by bandits."
The men joked and started things off of shelves in Amiboshi's house.
"Pretty girls here too, I wonder if we can make any profit off the young one there," said a man running his eyes up and down Ling.
"Couldn't agree with you more, boss!"
The man that had eyed Ling walked closer to her and roughly caressed Ling's cheek. She turned her head and bit his dirty hand as hard as she could.
"OW! You insolent little-" He raised his knife up high and it came plunging down on Ling. She shut her eyes tightly and awaited her death.
"NO!"
She opened her eyes and would've wished she never had. In front of her, on his knees, was Amiboshi with the knife coming out of his chest.
Her mind went numb as blood started seeping through his wound and mouth. His empty eyes looked at her for the last time.
She opened her mouth but nothing came out as tears ran down her face.
Yay! We're done! It was so hard to write but we are finally done!
Next chapter we will come back to Tamahome!
Please review and let us know what you think.
Oh and just in case you forgot Amiboshi is one of the Seiryū celestial warriors but his mind was erased by his brother. So he didn't know how to fight with the flute…
Since the time that Miaka and Taka left the book, the time in the book and the real world flow together. If that makes any sense…
Thanks again for reading! Please review!