Chapter 79: Risky paths
If Mi-na and Yunsung were shocked at China's enormous population; Talim, who had always lived with her little tribe, was even more surprised at it.
Furthermore, her clothes made people look at her suspiciously, as if she were a rarity, which made Talim feel very uncomfortable.
She also had to deal with the whistles of young (and not so young) men, since her clothing was designed for Southeast Asia's heat and the girl was in her late teens. Anyway, she didn't know what those whistles meant, so she understood them as another sign of rejection.
However, she didn't care about it. She was only worried about the source of evil energy which was laying waste all over the world.
Even in the very busy Chinese cities, her instinct seemed to know where to go.
However, people's distrust wouldn't be Talim's worst problem in China.
...
Probably, her most distressing experience happened one night, when she was walking on a desert path (something unusual in China, but more frequent at night and outside the cities). She found a man sleeping on a bench, who seemed to have gone without eating for days, and she decided to help him.
As soon as she approached him, she could perceive a smell which was a mixture of alcohol, dirt and the tramp's breath.
Talim wondered if she should wake that man up. She thought that he had probably slept little and he could awake in a bad mood.
So she decided to leave some supplies beside him so that he would find them when he woke up.
She was putting some fruit by his lap when he seemed to notice her presence and slowly opened his eyes.
- Am I already dead? – he said when he saw her.
- Don't say that. – she replied with a slight smile, but a serious look.
- If you are not an angel, who are you?
- Just a girl passing by. – answered Talim, taking importance away from the question.
- What are you doing?
- I thought you needed to eat. – she said raising a piece of fruit to show it to him.
For the first time since he had awakened, the man opened his eyes completely. He sat up and picked up the piece of fruit, surprised at Talim's offering. He looked at her eyes and she smiled indicating that he could eat.
He took the piece of fruit to his mouth and ate it in less time than it had taken him to sit up. Talim immediately offered him another one, and the tramp had eaten eight pieces of fruit when he said that it was enough.
When he had finished eating, the man noticed Talim's appearance, and then his kindness disappeared.
- You're beautiful. – he said, keeping his eyes on her body.
- Thank you. – answered the naive girl.
He stretched out one of his arms and started caressing one of Talim's arms with his filthy fingers.
The girl shuddered, and she had various reasons to do so: the man's hand was very cold, it was the first time a man was touching her like that and, despite her innocence, she knew that there was something wrong about that, particularly at night and in a desert place.
First, he touched her gently, but he did it more roughly each time, until Talim decided to move away from him.
That changed the man's face, which turned from spellbound to angry.
- I'd been a long time without eating, but…I've been even a longer time without a woman's company. – he claimed, scaring Talim. – Particularly with such a pretty one.
Talim started to move away from him, walking backwards, looking at him in fear.
- I think I…I should keep walking. – she mumbled.
- You gave me food out of pity. – he replied. – Why don't you help me with my other needs?
Then, the man stood up, startling Talim, who tripped and fell to the ground.
He ran towards her while she tried to stand up. He reached her soon, and he grabbed her arms and immobilized her against the ground.
- Please…Please, let me go. – she pleaded, crying.
- Calm down, sweetheart. – he whispered. - I don't want to hurt you, I just want to have fun.
He kissed her cheek with his disgusting mouth, making her scream.
He tried to do the same on her lips, but she moved her face away.
- So you aren't cooperating... – said the man with pretended disappointment. – Then I have no other choice than doing it my way.
Talim kicked about to try to get rid of him, but it was useless.
She closed her eyes, thinking that everything was lost, when she heard a female voice.
- Take your loathsome hands off her. – yelled a woman, harshly.
Talim soon felt her attacker moving away.
She opened her eyes and saw what had disuaded him. The woman, who had European features, had put her sword on the man's neck.
Now it was him who was crying and pleading for his life.
- Kill you? That would be boring, and it would finish your suffering. – blurted out the woman. – I should hurt you…somehow else.
She moved her sword and pointed it at the man's inner thigh. His face turned even more scared.
- No, please! No! – he yelled, while the woman raised her sword to hit him.
She wasn't going to be stopped by his pleas. However, when she was about to do it, something did stop her.
- Don't! – yelled Talim.
The other woman looked at her as if she had said something in an unknown language.
- What?
- Don't hurt him. Let him go. – said the priestess.
- But…don't you know what he was about to do to you?
- I know. But now he is defenceless. Taking advantage of it would be to lower ourselves to his level. Revenge doesn't solve anything.
The woman's face turned more serious. She didn't seem to agree with Talim.
- Furthermore, he is desperate. He didn't even have anything to eat. Who knows what we would dare to do in his situation?
- He attacked you, so it's your decision. But I think you're too good.
She looked at the man as if he were a rat. Even worse, as if he were a rat excrement.
- Go. – she ordered.
He didn't react.
- NOW!
The man stood up and dashed out.
The woman sheathed her sword and approached Talim.
- If you ever find a man like that again, you already know what to do. And please, be more careful.
- Thank you for helping me.
- You're welcome. Nowadays, if we women didn't help each other, what would become of us?
- I really don't know very well what's happening nowadays.
- Why?
- I'm from a tribe that has little to do with this civilization.
- What's your name?
- Talim.
- I'm Setsuka. So, Talim, why did you leave your tribe to get in here?
Talim wanted to tell her about her dreams, the evil energy and the instinct guiding her. However, she feared that Setsuka could consider her insane, so she just answered:
- You wouldn't understand.
- Fine... – said Setsuka, without insisting.
- And you? Why are you here? Your features don't seem to be from here.
Setsuka also had her own past to tell. Because this Setsuka was the same whose father had been killed by Heishiro. The same Setsuka who had killed Edgar. And the same Setsuka who was now following her father's killer in order to end what she had begun.
She also wanted to tell Talim about it, but she remembered that the priestess didn't like revenge, so she said:
- I think you wouldn't understand either.