Truth and Lies
Ling
This girl had no idea who he was.
That fact confused him greatly. She looked as though she came from Xing, but she had no knowledge of government or culture. Is it possible that she lost her memory?
And what was she doing lying on the side of the street? It hadn't seemed like she was injured at all. More like she had been knocked unconscious and placed there, though the prince knew that couldn't be the case.
'Sugi Zhen' was the name she had given him, but how much could she be trusted?
Who is she?
Sugi
I blinked.
"…Whoa…. Information overload."
Ling had just explained to me about Xing, and also about the different clans and their rivalry.
"So, wait. Lan Fan, what do you have to do with this?"
"I serve and protect the Young Lord."
I nodded slowly. "I suppose that makes more sense."
"'Makes more sense' than what?" Ling asked.
"Oh, I thought Lan Fan was your girlfriend or something. But she does call you her Lord, so I guess her being your bodyguard makes sense."
"Wh-what?-"
"I-it's not like that-!"
Both of them where red faced. Well, I guess Lan Fan was red faced behind her mask, she was stuttering after all.
I could feel my body shaking, before I threw my head back and laughed, falling back onto the bed I was sitting on.
"O...Okay...Okay...!" I got out as I pushed myself up and tried to stop laughing. "Let's…" I paused to take a gasping breath. "Let's just forget I said that." I thought it over. "Actually, while we're on the topic of forgetting, why don't we forget about the whole problem after I was woken up? Why don't we start over?" I held my hands out, one in Ling's direction, one in Lan Fan's. "I'm Sugi Zhen." I said with a smile.
There was a small pause, but then Ling reached out and grasped my hand.
"Ling Yao, twelfth son of the Emperor of Xing."
Lan Fan followed her Lord's lead, and grabbed my other hand.
"Lan Fan."
"Good." My smile widened and I dropped my hands. "Now that that's over and done with…" I trailed off as I rubbed the back of my neck and looked off to the side. "You got anything I could eat…?"
Ling laughed, and I jerked my head back to him.
"Of course! Come on~"
That was some good food. I thought. I had finished eating, as was down sitting outside, leaning against a tree, watching Ling, Lan Fan, and Fu- Ling's other bodyguard and Lan Fan's grandfather- spar.
My legs were pulled up to my chest, my arms wrapped tightly around them, my head resting on my knees. The gentle breeze ruffled my black hair as I sat, deep in thought.
This is going to be bothersome…. I can't do anything like Lan Fan or Fu… but if I plan to stay with them…. I did want to stay with the three of them; they had saved my life after all. I wasn't injured, but I most likely would have died from hunger if no one had bothered to help me. I'm a weak link. I thought before smirking. But being a weak link would require them to actually care what happens to me, which is unlikely. Though we had 'started over', I doubted Lan Fan trusted me. I also think Ling has his suspicions about me. I did, after all, just pop into his life when he decided to help me, whether he liked it or not.
But…something else just felt…wrong.
'Sugi Zhen'. That's the only thing I remember about me clearly. The rest of it is all blurred together into an unidentifiable mess. I sighed. A name wouldn't get me far here. I had to get stronger. I had to be able to fight. I had to be able to survive on my own.
Man, this sucks. I could practically feel the waves of depression weighing me down. Why can't I just take the lazy way and mooch off of them? I thought, but I already knew the answer. It just wasn't like me. I couldn't do that to the people who had been so kind to me.
…Okay…. So maybe they weren't all that kind, with Ling dumping water on me and Lan Fan almost killing me with her kunai…. But Fu hadn't done anything to me yet! That had to worth something!
I sighed and I stood up and stretched my arms above my head before letting them drop back down to my sides.
Let's see what's around here….
So wandering off might have not been the best idea, but at least I hadn't run into an assassin.
No, I just happened to run into a vicious little panda.
"Ow! What the hell?" I exclaimed. I had reached out to pick up the abnormally small panda, since it seemed like it was looking for something, and it had bit my hand. "I'm trying to help you! You're lost, aren't you?"
…Wonderful…I was talking to a panda.
Said little panda stopped squirming around and released my hand from its sharp teeth as it dropped the short distance back to the ground, since I was crouching. It just stared at me.
"I'm going to assume that I'm right." I cautiously reached my other hand out- seeing as the first hand I used was now throbbing with pain- and after a slight pause, the black and white animal jumped onto my hand. I smiled. "See, I'm not going to hurt you."
Letting the panda ride in my hand, I continued walking forward. Whatever it was looking for, it wasn't the way I came.
After some time of silence the voice of a younger girl cried out:
"Xiao-Mei! Where are you?"
Perking up, the panda -Xiao-Mei? - jumped out of my hand and ran in the direction of the voice.
"H-hey! Wait!" I called, running after the undeveloped panda.
Xiao-Mei ran into a small clearing, and jumped towards a little girl with black braided hair, who turned around and hugged the panda when it landed in her arms.
"Xiao-Mei! There you are! Don't wander off like that." The girl said, before looking up at me and frowning. "Who are you?"
"It's rude to ask someone their name without introducing yourself first, y'know." I couldn't help but chide playfully.
"Fine then, I'm May Chang." She stated plainly.
"Sugi Zhen. So I'm guessing that's you're panda?"
"Yes. What are you doing here? You're obviously not of a royal family."
Shit. I shouldn't have given her my last name. But would that have helped much?
"…I'm afraid I can't tell you who, but I am loyal to a clan." She couldn't know all the warriors from each clan, could she?
Oh wait. The clans hate each other. Shit! I'm so dead!
As if on cue, May pulled out some kind of knife and threw it at me. Moving to the side of pure instinct and will to survive, I managed to just miss the knife, though the sleeve of my shirt was sliced and my skin nicked, welling with some blood. I hissed in pain, and the next knife was already flung at me. I dropped to the ground and the knife embedded itself in the tree behind me.
"I don't want to fight! Hell, I hardly know how!" I shouted at May.
"Silence!" She yelled and another knife was flying in my direction. I tossed my weight to the side, unable to do anything else since I was still on the ground, but it was in vain. I gasped as the knife dug painfully into my upper arm. I raised my hand to the knife, but froze when I heard a man's voice echo through my head;
"Guess I better keep this in, or else I'll bleed to death."
The words stirred things around in the back of my mind, but I couldn't figure out who said them. They seemed... familiar.
May was walking towards me, and had almost reached me when her eyes widened and she jumped back. Embedded in the spot she had been standing in was a kunai. A very familiar kunai.
May and I looked towards the trees where the knife had come from, and suddenly a figure dressed in all black dropped to the ground. On their face was a red and white mask with the black Yin symbol on the forehead.
Lan Fan!
"You're a retainer for the Yao clan." May said, eyeing Lan Fan carefully, ready to attack.
"I'm just here for Sugi."
I blinked at the mention of me. "Huh?"
Lan Fan was making her way over to me, not taking her eyes off of the young princess. Unfortunately, May had decided to make her move, and tossed another knife in each of our directions. Lan Fan shoved me aside, pushing me out of the way before jumping back herself. I had managed to twist my body so that I fell onto my back, instead of my wounded arm.
A movement from the corner of my eye caught my attention. I looked, and it was Xiao-Mei. Then I got an idea.
Grabbing the small panda by its neck gently, I held it up. Xiao-Mei squirmed and tried to bite me again, but my fingers were out of reach.
"Hey, May! Let us leave!" I called, smirking when she turned and saw Xiao-Mei in my grip.
"Xiao-Mei! Let her go!"
"Only if you let us go, and don't try to attack us."
May looked like she was having an inner turmoil, which she probably was. Xiao-Mei seemed important to her, which is something to use to our advantages.
"Fine! Just give her to me!" May finally blurt out, giving in.
I smiled and placed Xiao-Mei carefully on the ground, who quickly ran over to her tearful owner.
Lan Fan walked over to me, still eyeing May, until the younger girl turned and ran, hugging her beloved pet panda.
The female bodyguard sighed. "How much trouble can you get into?"
I laughed bitterly. "A lot, apparently. I really shouldn't go searching for excitement…."
Lan Fan shook her head and crouched down beside me. She gently grabbed my uninjured arm and helped me sit up, before putting said arm around her shoulders and standing, supporting some of my weight to help me stand.
"…What are you doing?"
"I'm assuming you can't stand on your own."
"I bet I can't, but… I meant why are you helping me? Again?"
She turned her head to look down at me. "Why wouldn't I?"
"I'm a burden. I'm someone you just met a few hours ago."
"I suppose we did just meet, but you're not a burden. If you were, the Young Lord wouldn't have bothered to help you when you were passed out on the side of the street."
I blinked. "I guess you're right…."
"Now come one. Let's get you to an Alkahestrist."
I nodded and smiled slightly, turning my head to look forward. I had a feeling this was going to be a milestone for the bond between Lan Fan and I.
[Author's Note]: Now who thought this ending was kinda cute? I did. I'm trying to strengthen the bond so that Lan Fan and Sugi can become friends.
Yes, I put a bit about Ling at the beginning. I hope you didn't think he was OOC, I was just trying to capture his serious side when he's reading a situation.
Also, Sugi thinking Lan Fan was Ling's girlfriend was something I added because of what Cata-nee said in her review, about 'his girlfriend' pointing a knife at Sugi. I thought it was pretty funny. But then again, I had just eaten chocolate….
Anyways! Consider these two chapters [Chapter 2 and 3] a late Christmas gift! I'll try to update before or on New Years, but no promises!
Can I get some reviews for working so hard today? ^_^