Ep 1: Rain
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A rook flew under the eaves of one of the shacks in the ever sprawling slums of Wenxiang, a well-traveled town for most salt smugglers. At its heralding call, those still out in the late evening quickly finished their work, setting in for the night, just in time of the heavens to finally give in, and droves of water began to fall downward toward earth, slamming into the hard packed dirt of the street, which it grabbed it up so quickly, the next was greeted with as little yielding as the last.
Toward one of these small shacks stacked against the others in the slim-street ghetto, strode a tall man. He had a sharp, severe standing beard, neither long enough to reach his clavicle, nor short enough to reveal his neck, and his eyebrows were thick, but angled over his eyes, as if scrunched there from years of ingratitude toward his position. It had been a long journey to get here. Exhaustion cloaked these eyes beneath the bushy swords, but his walk was as firm and unyielding as it perhaps had been born to be and had ever been since, and as it perhaps would be when he returned back home.
Suppose one not to think that a man, with such a finely trimmed beard, with an outfit like that of a gentry should grace his presence on this dirty street, nor choose such an inclement evening to do so. And yet, here he stood, and walked, his finely trimmed boots, the leather brought from the far west and treated several times, besmirched by sod and filth on the streets of Wenxiang.
A man behind him held a closed umbrella in his hand, and yet, this nobleman made not effort to grace it over his head, so that his fine, long hair was already drenched through by the time he gathered himself at the door of home he had come all this way for.
The moment his feet caked the dirt outside, a child could be heard running forward, he made no effort to knock, a child gazing at him through the cracked of the mal-crafted door, before running back across the dirt inside.
One shout, and the door breathed open a crack, a boy no older than 9 slid open the door. Stark white hair cut short, eyes a dull grey. The man sneered at this non-consanguineous boy, pushing past without decorum. The boy didn't back down, and his face was smit in response by an impervious elbow.
The door was smacked shut behind him, the men following him remaining outside.
A taller boy stood by the bedstead, the man nodded to him, the boy had the same strong eyebrows as his father, but they delt themselves lower as if unable to imagine a thought of ingratitude.
His other son stood across behind his first, stepping away from him as he drew near the only bed in the one-room house, and toward the white-haired boy who had come over to stand behind him, a scoffed expression proliferating his face.
Beside the bed was a little girl, and two more boys, one younger and one older. The littlest boy had beautiful green eyes that peered up at him curiously, and yet his own never saw them, as for the other, he had one streak of white hair like his full-blood brother's entire head.
For a long moment as the tall man stood there, nothing could be heard other than the drip from a leak, the heavy hammering drilling into the thin roof and heavy breathing that pushed out from the bed.
"How long has it been?" he finally spoke, down at the shriveled form, she had once been a great beauty, now, it could hardly be imagined. He glanced downward, at the girl, judging her age. "Four, five years?"
Shaking, a hand barely breached the entrapping covers, grasping for his, he took it.
"I'm sorry," he finally said. "I did fail you, if only i had taken you back that year, that year before.." His eyes inevitably drifted to the boy with ash-milk hair, before falling silent, "No," he continued, "There's little I can do to make it up to you, that you have ended up like this…I have bear a great responsibility as well. Can you forgive me? Is there anything you wish of me?"
The lips sputtered, sputtered weakly, as she did her best to form the words, a tear dribbled down her face, "You….this result is no fault of your own, you, I have no resentment for, nor did i expect something, you did what you could, and more, I only desire, please, my children…I fear for them, what comes, after I depart…"
"Xiao Hua, fear not, I shall take my children back with me, I will care for them well, clothed, fed, educated, until they become adults. And even then, they will carry some inheritance."
Another tear slid out of her eye, her hand squeezed him one last time before losing strength and falling out.
"Thank you…" She whispered.
Her only daughter grabbed at the hand before the man could take it back, "Mother!" A tear slid from her eye. "Don't go! Keep fighting!"
Her mother's lips twitched upwards, a desperate attempt at a smile, holding her hand. "There are so many things I regret in this life, but how, how can I regret any of them for any one of you?" her eyes swept across the room. The eldest "Chui," the second eldest with blanche hair, "Shi, Chuo," the third eldest, the "Ye," attempting to crawl onto the bed, also crying, and then "Chai," the youngest. "My sons, and…my daughter," After speaking for the girl, who's had she held, last, she smiled one last time, "I love every one of you, so dearly, I'm sorr….y…." she finally closed her eyes, breathing her last, Ye wailed harder, Chai stood innocently by, not understanding after only two years of life. Chuo smirked a little, Shi made no impression, standing by his side, and Chui bit his lip so hard it was bleeding. Hui on the other hand was stuck still, her eyes in a trance, the tears halted, as the last breath slid out from her mother, the hand falling limp in her grip. Silence. If not for the rain, perhaps they would have felt a need to fill it. But now, all they wished was for it to never relent.
"You heard my words earlier, my word and my honor, on my name I will never break," a voice decided to break it. Low, strong, certain, "I will take back my children with me, those with MY blood."
Chui, Chou and Shi turned to him in shock, the rest remained in mourning.
"Chui, Chou, Hua, I'll give you good clothes, a warm bed, each a room of your own, education befitting a noble, and a place at my table."
He led the way to the door. Chui scanned the room, clenching his fist, he came over to their mother, to gaze down at her, a hand reaching out for her face, touching it briefly.
His brother smiled excitedly, pushing past Shi, to open the door for his father.
His hand fell. "Goodbye." He spoke, perhaps to his mother, perhaps to his brothers and sister, perhaps to the life he was leaving behind. A tear slid down from his eye. And eyes that looked to have never shed a tear, and who didn't dare look at those he had once been conjoined with. A foolish, pointless tear, to shed at leaving such a disheveled place. The boys went out the door, but the man stopped in the door frame, pausing for a moment, his face turned to the side, the high brow of his nose could be seen, the strong forehead and dependable chin he carried. "Hua, are you coming?"
The girl did not move. She looked around the room. She looked at Shi, a twisted expression on his face, to Ye, crying, holden his mothers cooling hand, and her little brother Chai, still at her side, innocently gazing back at her and the others in the room. Finally she spoke. "That's not my name."
The man scoffed. "You are not my daughter."
He left, the door remained open, the rain, even louder now, only comforted their noisy hearts.
Hui patted Ye, and he leaned against her, Chai also came over to join the hug, finding it fun. They had lost two brothers and a mother. She pulled them over to the side, where the old cloth, used as a bed for themselves was gathered against the wall, and laid them down. A cold sweep of wind from outside got her to head over to the door, but as she reached it, a voice interrupted her.
"You should have left with them." Sneered Shi. "You're only a burden by staying here."
She smiled at him, "We finally have three less mouths to feed, you begging for four?"
The punch caught her off guard, before she could even hope to dodge. Shi stood livid in the doorway, she was now fallen outside, her hands and back and face caked in mud.
"Shut up" he sneered. "Shut your sniveling mouth."
She stood up, wiping the dirt off her face. The hit had left a large red welt on the other side, quickly turning darker, a tooth covered with blood was spat from her small mouth. She trotted away, silently.
The door didn't close behind her.
She stopped once she could no longer see her home. The steady drizzle remained as slow as it had when she came out. She watched it hit her arms and stomach, slowly wetting her garments, through to her skin. "How long it takes," she finally commented, "If one were to bathe in the rain, it really takes so long." She lifted her head up, letting it wet her face as well, her hair began to fall damper, the breeze hit the back of her head, it felt like she were dipping it in ice water. But she didn't move.
Her shirt finally soaked through, and the water, catching her skin, dropped the temperature a drastic amount. She still didn't move.
It finally filled her torn trousers, it felt like her body was dipped, completely submerged in a frigid pool of water. Her entire body began to shake from the cold permeating every part of her skin. She lifted up her arm again, watched the rain slide off it in droves, now that so many already placed on her arm could bed their landing.
"It takes so long to get wet in the rain, but once you are…how miserable. How miserable rain becomes."
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"If you find the answers you are looking for, why are you not fulfilled; why do you keep searching for certain answers that suit you, truth not hidden there within them."
- pg. 12, Book of Whispers, rectitude