Ren walked through the stone passageways to Yaxi's room hands tucked in his pockets. The air thick with the smell of earth and stone. He heard hurried voices speaking and he pushed himself up against the wall before the turn.
"Not long...once that happens...he'll lose his mind..."
"Be quiet," someone else murmured, "it is fate. She'll be gone like Huaike."
The voices petered off. Ren pressed against the wall for a few seconds his eyebrows knitting. He peeled off the wall and continued toward Yaxi's room. The wooden door was inlaid with metal artistry shaped into the forms of stylized animals. Ren leaned forward peering at one of the creatures. It had the head of a bird and the legs of an equine.
"Ostrich-horse?" he murmured and shook his head rapping on the door. It opened to Yaxi's pale face. She smiled lightly. She wore a white dress, the shoulders, and neck trimmed black.
"Thank you for coming."
She walked through the entry room and into a room he hadn't been in before. It was compact. A green embroidered rug covered nearly the whole room. She sat at a round table in the center of the room.
"Do you want some pickled cabbage and meat?" she asked, "or maybe blood soup?"
Ren swallowed. "Just cabbage."
Soon, a woman came in with a large plate of meat and a variety of pickled vegetables. They plucked food from the main plates onto personal disks. He ate a vegetable coated in green paste.
"It's good, different than the food I had in Yue City."
"You've been there?" she said, eyes growing large.
"Yes, but only for a bit. The only other places I've been are the towns near home."
"Where did you grow up?"
"In a village called Baiyan."
She stared at her plate for a moment. "I've never been out of the city. I don't know what it looks like away from the cliffs and water."
Ren leaned his chin in his palm leaning on the table as she spooned something into a bowl.
"Could you tell me about the places you've been?" she asked looking up.
He nodded. "If you want me to."
"Please do."
"Baiyan's a town south. It's surrounded by fields since a lot of the people are farmers. We had a creek that ran down along the property. Grandma raised ducks and we grew food in a large garden. She'd have my brother and I do most of the harvest. Tetsu— my brother would usually get tired during the late afternoon so I'd usually finish. It was hard work. Grandma'd reward us with a large meal of our favorites."
Yaxi leaned forward. "What did it look like?"
"The house? The fields?" Ren asked.
"Everything. What colors were everything."
"Spring is my favorite. It smelled like dragon-flowers which have got tall stalks and bloom this pretty yellow. I'd usually run around the fields. The only problem with dragon-flowers is that their pollen stains clothing."
Yaxi laughed. "How big were they?"
"About this big," he said holding his hands to show her.
"I'd like to see one," she said. "What else was there? What about the towns you lived near?"
"There were two towns close enough to walk to in a few minutes. The one where went to school was around thirty minutes away. It was bigger than our town and had a really large market."
"What was school like?"
"Most of the time I felt cooped up," Ren said. "But since it was a farming area school didn't start until after harvest. We'd also get a break during spring for planting."
She laid back comfortably against a pillow. "It sounds nice. What is it like during winter?"
"It's usually wet and rains most of the time. Sometimes it would get misty. The best part about winter was that we had a school play each year."
"A play?"
"Yeah, the whole class would act out events real or fictional. You'd have to practice to get it just right. One year both my brother and I were in one called The Golden Seal. I was pretty good." He smiled.
Yaxi rubbed one of her eyes with a pale finger.
"Are you tired?"
She shook her head her cheeks pale. "No, I'm fine tell me more."
Ren later returned to the apartments. He paced in his room for a moment his leg bouncing on the ground.
"If only I could show her something of the outside world..." He straightened. "Wait, I can! They don't have fields here but there is a port."
He rushed out of his room and intercepted the man who had shown them around.
"Could you take me to the docks?" Ren asked.
The man frowned displacing his usual even expression. A moment later, he inclined his head. "Of course Avatar."
They exited the concentric maze-like structure of the aggregate and came to plainer streets orderly and neat. People walked dutifully along the wide avenue. They descended a controlled slope and came into a flatter and more spacious part of the city where buildings sat together in measured blocks. The street grew louder with conversation. They passed a large circular citadel and curved to the left. The sound of people become even more pronounced and the call of gulls echoed in the air. A mixture of different people flowed down the streets. A pale-skinned man in a black fur coat passed them on the right. A woman with dark green eyes and a large nose on the left. The streets were bare of Kantocars made purely for pedestrian traffic. They descended large terraced-like areas of stone going further down. Each stone area was a large sector with buildings and people occupying most of the terrain. After reaching the seventh area Ren could see the bay below them. It was wide, rocks jutting far into the ocean creating a complimentary semi-circle to the half-moon bay. The guide silently led him down. Instead of the regular charcoal grey, the bay was a warmer-toned reddish stone.
The man followed as Ren began walking through the dock. Ren looked back smiling.
"Do you mind waiting here?"
The man shook his head. "I couldn't leave the Avatar unattended."
"But no one knows— " Ren said.
"The Lord would never forgive me," the man replied. "Avatar Salai was born in Doku and was a great Avatar. I would not shame and disrespect your name by allowing you to be exposed to any amount of danger."
Ren began walking, peering behind. The man trailed behind him. Ren rounded several corners spryly and emerged into a busy market filled with people. He was immersed in a sea of bodies. He looked back and didn't spy the man. Ren sighed and his shoulders loosened. Each stall was slightly different. Some were painted and some were plain, while some had banners advertising what they were selling. A woman was passing by on the other side a small bag in her hand.
He leaned over. "Excuse me."
She startled and looked up.
"Do you happen to know where flowers are sold?"
She blinked dark eyes. "Flowers?" she said, "no sorry." She rushed off the other way.
He continued forward. An old man with a topknot was selling what looked like little clay figurines. He was advertising his prices by calling them out.
"Excuse me," Ren asked over the man speaking.
"Three and— " the man stopped. "What?"
"Do you know where flowers are sold here!?" Ren leaned forward.
"Flowers?" the old man yelled back.
Ren nodded emphatically.
"Plants are sold down there to the right!" the man said back. "Now are you going to buy a figurine?"
Ren glanced down at the figurines and saw one that caught his eye. It was a small fox-dog licking a paw. He picked it up and paid tucking the carving in his pocket. He walked down and turned into a section lined with stalls selling food. In the center was a covered area for eating. He heard a shout and turned. A young man behind a stall was struggling with a guard.
"I'll pay soon!" the man said.
The man threw the guard off and ran from the stall down the street to the right. Ren followed as two men in flat armor shouted to each other. They split up one going to the left and the heading down the center lane. Ren turned and ran to the right catching a flash of gray clothing and continued his sprint. Catching up with the young man, Ren ran along with him and jerked him to the right. They tumbled together into a cart.
"Please— " the young man began. "What the— "
Ren yanked him under the cart and through the legs of a person who yelped. Then he dragged them behind a small building.
The young man pulled his arm away. "What're you doing? Don't touch me!"
"They were pinning you in." Ren panted. "They would have caught you."
The man drew his brown brows close together shaking his head. "You here to extort money from me?" he asked.
Ren balked, straightening. "No. What made you think that."
The young man pushed back his hair that came down to his shoulders. "There're lots of blood-hounds here," he said. "Why'd you help?"
Ren breathed for a few moments holding up his hands in a tired gesture. "I don't know. You seemed hopeless."
"What? You think it's your job to help people or something? You look like you can't even help yourself." The man's eyes flicked down Ren.
Ren ignored him. "Why were they after you?"
The young man frowned, mumbling, "Because this city is run by a bunch of control freaks. They want me to have a permit for everything."
"What do you mean?"
"Fishing permit, selling permit, stand permit, cleaning fee, everything." He tapped his fingers. "I'm only losing money." He sighed, scratching his head. "I'll have to move to the lower-selling district where people barely even come."
"That sounds like a lot," Ren said. "Is this city really strict?"
"Yeah. Can't you tell? The problem is I'm stuck here, can't afford a ride out of this shit stain."
Ren frowned. "How much is it to leave?"
"Two hundred yuan to the closest city."
"Why's it so much?"
The man shrugged.
Far-off shouts echoed down the alley. The young man kicked himself off the building he'd been leaning against and started walking.
He rubbed his forehead. "I'm screwed. I can't pay all their fees."
Ren bumped elbows with him. "What's your name?" Ren asked.
"Huh?" the young man looked at him dumbly. "Why does that matter? I have real problems here kid."
Ren quirked his head. "How old are you?"
"Eighteen."
"We're almost the same age," Ren said.
"Yeah, same age on paper." the young man said glancing over Ren's clothes and spitting on the side of the street.
"What's your name?"
The tan skinned man frowned. "Uki. You'll be the only one to remember it when this city decides to bury me," he said smiling grimly. "So long mama's boy."