The silent night continued as the two couldn’t say anything more as the sentence was said. The night passes. The light pink and purple sky seemed to make the mountains glow. The water was calm and still. The top of the lake had lily pads and flowers that were various colors. The wind lazily brough leaves down from the trees, scattering them all around the water. Ever leaf that touched the water’s surface made small little ripples. Soon the water started to sparkle with the sunlight hitting it. Quietly Yue sat at the edge of the water legs pulled up to her chest. She took a deep breath, as she moved her neck around. ‘my head feels heavy. How long is my hair?’ She thought to herself. Indeed, her hair had gotten longer in the past few days. Always close to the full moon would har hair grow longer. Every month she would have to cut it which was a pain, yet this time she could not cut it right away like before.
“I need to clear my head.” Yue said to herself as she undressed the rest of the way. Quietly Yue walked into the water. The low ripples when she moved made it seem like the lake welcomed her to bath in it. Yue couldn’t help but want to swim in the lake as it was a place that she felt comfortable. Taking a deep breath, she dove under the surface of the water and relaxed under the water. It could be a while before Yue long would want to come up from the water. Quite a few times her mother and father had panicked and cried themselves silly from this act. They believed that Yue had downed only for Yue to burst from the water perfectly fine and breathing in the air above the water. Even with a big smile at that would say she did nothing wrong.
Ah but then Yue would be dragged out of the water and punished for scaring her mother every single time. Now that she was a young woman if Yue would come home at night, they had no qualms about her staying outside. Silently Yue sank into the water watching as the light above her shine through. It made her feel at peace like there were not any evil and there was no fighting amongst people. Outside the water it was busy with the singing of birds and animals running about. Under the water these sounds were muddles and seemed like they faded to disappear. The thundering steps of the animals didn’t crowd Yue’s hearing nor did the songs of the sweet birds. Instead, it was a serene sound of nothing, a silence that was beautiful to ears trained to hear everything. The more Yue sunk the dimmer it got around her, the darkness seemed to envelop her and give her a warm embrace. Like Yue’s mother would when she was a child suffering nightmare’s. But this darkness was not for the warm embrace of comfort but for the soft cool touch of plants.
Closing her eyes Yue gave herself time to clear all the thoughts about her daily life to focus on last night. The shadow in the sky had piqued her curiosity the most. ‘What was that? Who was that? Why dance such a way? Where is your partner? Who is your partner? Why did you look so lonely?’ These questions plagued Yue’s mind little by little each one weighing her down to sink deeper. Time passed by as Yue wondered her mind.
“AHHHHHHHHHHH!!! SAVE ME!!!!” this made Yue jolt from the sudden scream. This scream was as clear as day. The water could not muddle it. “HELP PLEASE!!! AHHHHH” Again the scream came and it clear as day. This time Yue opened her eyes to see the water had changed. It was dyed a red color now and the blue that was once there was gone. The screams had come back to haunt her again and this time they came with revenge. Visions had risen from her mind that was once clear and filled with thoughts of the shadow in the sky. The shock made her gasp forgetting she was under the water. The rush of water and Yue’s open mouth made her loose the air she was holding in.
Quickly Yue swam upwards and towards shore. Her breath was going quickly, having her swim faster to get to the surface. Breaking through surface, she coughed up the water in her lungs and swam to land slower than she wanted. But that is because she was coughing the water that got caught in her lungs. Finally getting to land Yue looked back at the lake she loved, and it was back to blue.
“Yue Long its time for you to get ready you have spent the day going in and out of that water. You still must attend the event at the Ma sect. Get your ass in here now YUE LONG!!” Mimi screamed at Yue from the porch. “AND DON’T PRETEND YOU CAN’T HEAR ME!!” Caught on the very thing Yue was going to do made her look at the water. Has Yue been coming in and out of the water all day only to be called by her mother now? She can hold her breath for quite a long time maybe 10 to 15 minutes but then she would come up for air. Even would have to take a break from swimming for so long. If she did this why does Yue not remember it at all? ‘What happened while I was clearing my head?’ Yue had thought to herself. It was impossible for her to be possessed by a daemon and her forgetting anything was unheard of.
Looking up indeed at least half of the day had passes from when she first went into the water. It was now well past noon the sun was now just above the green tree line. Taking off the bandages Yue proceed to put on her robes. Bear footed she ran all the way home, up the stairs, and to her mother. Who was laying out the clothes from the wooden box. “Mama can you rebandage my back for me before we put those on. And they have patterns of…..” Yue looked at the clothes. White in color with black lotuses embroidered near the black lining of the outer robes. The inner robes were black that looked like it was speckled with white paint. Black bracers tied with white string were placed by the sleeves. The contrasted with the white outer robes and almost blended in with the black inner robes. Only if the white string was not there. Mimi picked up two white ribbons from the box and placed one on each of the sleeves. Finally, black shoes were placed on the floor in front of the robes. “lotus…. Mother these aren’t dress clothes, right?” Yue asked a bit perplexed as she had seen something similar but not quiet these.
“Ah. You noticed who ever sent these must really fancy you. To know my daughter does not wear such girly clothes. But these I never thought I would see ones like these again.” Mimi smiled as she patted the clothes gently. It looked like fond memories had flashed in Yue’s mother’s eyes. Yue looked at her mother and something felt a bit off as she seen the way she looked at the clothes. “But these ones are white and black. Shouldn’t they be black and white. I mean black with white accents. Not white with black accents.” Yue quietly whispered into Mimi’s ear. The voice was soft, but it was sharp. It gave Mimi a chill and she turned to look at her child who was staring at the clothes with a stolid face. This face Mimi had not seen in many years a cold demeanor had engulfed Yue. Noticing the look on her mother’s face Yue smiled gently. The soft and warm air around her was back with that smile. “Sorry I thought it would look better that way. But its fine.” Yue laughed this off and went to quickly get bandages from her room. “So, will you replace the bandages Mama?” raising her hand as she came back with the wrapping’s. Nodding Mimi went to her child and took the bandages. Allowing time for Yue to take the top of her robes off. The gash was cut straight across Yue’s back. Clear as day you could tell this gash was made by claws and not by a sword. The edges were too jagged and the gash got deeper as you looked towards the middle.
“How in the world can you stand with this kind of wound? Its healing nicely but you are walking and swimming like its nothing. Does it not hurt?” Mimi gently touched the healing mark. But that gentle touch made Yue lean forwards. A light noise came from Yue. “Oh… So, it does hurt I see. Then you can remember not to get hurt again.” Mimi slapped Yue’s back that didn’t directly connect with the wound. This time Yue let out a stifled yell.
“Mama that still hurts. Yes I can walk and stand like I am fine. But I never said it didn’t hurt.” Yue looked down at the ground and raised her arms a bit so Mimi could start. “Burns.” Was the word that escaped Yue’s mouth. Mimi paused before she started wrapping the bandages around.
“What?” Mimi asked.
“It burns more than hurts. It is hot and uncomfortable that is why I was outside last night and in the lake all day.” Yue told her mother the truth. Her back didn’t hurt no it felt like hot stones were placed or coal was burning her back more than the itching pain from a normal daemon hit. “And when I was hit I couldn’t mover I was stuck because of the pain. But I had to. I needed to take Min out of there before she was hit by Lin-Bao Ma. He is a disgusting excuse of a man.” Yue growled at the thought at Lin-Bao Ma who was the son of the Ma sect leader. ‘He was spoiled rotten with no discipline. I should tea-.’ The bandages tightening made Yue lose her train of thought.
“Young lady do not think of teaching him manners! He would be a good husband. Lin-Bao Ma has money and is part of the cultivation world. It would be wise to set your sights on him and not your imaginary Mr. Dragon. Stand up now and strip I am dressing you.” Mimi had gone to grab the black inner robes, while Yue stood up and let the rest of her regular robes fall to the ground. Yue picked up a thin gray clothing and put it on.
Mimi had started and proceed to take her time dressing Yue with these well-crafted clothes. From the black inner robes to the white outer robes Mimi had placed them carefully and meticulously placed every single piece of clothing. It was almost like she was remembering the feeling of doing this for someone. Yue watched her mother that had a soft smile and looked at every piece of clothing. The way Mimi dressed Yue made it seem like she has done it several times before. ‘Who did you do this for before me Mama?’ Was a thought that passed through Yue’s mind. But by the time it passed Yue was already dressed by her mother. Sitting back on the ground Yue back was straight. From the beginning Yue knew there was no escape from her mother in getting ready for an event like this.
“But mother it was a promise between me and him. And he is real. I am not becoming a coward’s wife. Id rather die than be part of the Ma sect.” Yue said this while paying with the strings of one of her bracers. “They don’t care about the safety of the innocent. Those of the Ma sect usually have numbers over ghost and daemons. But they have no common sense about the proper ways of dealing with them. Ow… mother please be a bit gentle with my hair I can’t cut it yet.” Mimi had pulled Yue’s hair. Looking at Yue’s hair indeed it had grown longer in these past few days. Mimi gathered groups of hair and starts to braid them together. Taking a closer look at the black silk like hair she noticed that strands of white hair were scattered in it. Mimi fixed Yue’s hair with a nice hair pin and two braid that met in the middle. Not all of Yue’s hair could be fixed with these types of braids thus the rest were left rest on her back.
Yue stood up and stretched as she had been sitting there. Walking forwards a bit Yue grabbed Bianyuan placing it on her hip. “No! no, no you are not taking your sword!” Mimi went to grab the sword from Yue, but a quick sidestep made Mimi miss.
“Mother if I am to go to this event or dinner. I’m taking Bianyuan with me. They will only think it is a stick. I don’t feel comfortable going there without Bianyuan.” Yue smiled as she looked her mother in the eyes. The soft smile and those cold eyes did not match.
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