The Mayor, the young now old, Gareth, looked over to Seon, dazed at his sudden intervention. ' Who is this man, and what is he doing here?' He was truly utterly confused at this development. Here he was, ready to lose both arms for his transgression, when this man appeared out of nowhere. He looked again at the young man, at his coarse light blue robe, his bare clean feet even when walking around, his long and free white air, deep brown eyes that seemed to see through all things. ' It can't be.. How long has it been? How is this rascal still so young?!' To say that the mayor was shocked was an understatement. Finally, the influence Yelena was under broke off as the eyes of Seon locked on her, watching her every move. She slowly lowered her sword, her long deep red sleeves flowing along, her eyes still wide in terror. When she opened her mouth to speak, she froze again while Seon raised his left hand quickly: '' Tut tut tut now, not a word. I'm not done with you, young lady. Gareth, stand up, how weak are your knees to stay on the ground?'' Seon approached Gareth and gently grabbed his shoulders, lifting him slowly to his feet. Gareth stuttered, saying '' Why.. Why are you here? How long has it been, and why now?'' He still looked dazed and stumbled a bit, looking at his old friend with awe and shock.
Seon just ignored his friend's questions, lowered his left hand and locked eyes with the County official while dusting Gareth's shoulder.
Yelena's breath got caught, and she knew she was in trouble. How could a monster like him be in this backwater place?! She adjusted her official's robes and quickly bowed her head, cupping her fists and said: '' This County official greets Senior.. May I know, good sir, why you interrupted this one's official duties?'' Yelena thought herself clever, not even trying to hide her hints to her officialdom and direct link to the empire. Surely, any cultivator would show respect to her after learning of her rank and status.
' Maybe he didn't notice my robes and seal and mistakingly stopped me? That must be it!', she thought. Seon looked at her with a strange gaze, as if seeing through all her ridiculous thoughts, his deep brown eyes staring at her own grey eyes. '' Bah, what official duties? I just reached Blue Lake village today, and imagine my surprise when the first thing I saw was my old friend kneeling in front of a child!'' Seon was young, less than two hundred years old, but not as young as Yelena, who should not have reached her twenties yet. '' No matter your strength, you should know to show respect to the empire's officials!'' Yelena shouted, ''Your ' old friend ' as you said it, hasn't sent the required amount of taxes to the County City! He will be crippled and retired from officialdom, and you stranger have no say in this!'',.Gareth kept looking between Yelena and Seon, not knowing what to say or do. Should he interrupt them and give himself in?
For all the sacrifices he made to this village, he was more than willing to let it go and let his successor take his place.
Seon lifted his chin, his white hair suddenly blowing wildly through the air behind, his nose high and said: '' I don't know much about your empire, girl, but what I know is that no friend of mine shall be hurt before my eyes!'' Alas, the wind was to strong and it tickled his nose, making him sneeze right in the direction of Yelena, who suddenly fell down on her knees from the impact of.. his sneeze? Seon looked down at her, mirth visible in his eyes, and had no intention of helping her up. Yelena was stunned and for a second forgot where she was, ' how could a sneeze make me kneel? It's impossible!' she thought. Someone in the crowd began to laugh and was quickly followed by the other villlagers. '' Wasn't she almighty and arrogant before, look at her now!'' Sneered a woman to her husband ,who responded '' Shh! No matter how laughable she is, she still can make our lives miserable, don't let her hear you!'' Blood rushed to Yelena's face as she scrambled up, dusting herself off. '' What don't you know about the Watelia empire! How could you walk these lands and not know?'' She glared at Seon who was detangling his hair, 'Dear Wind, why were you so violent? Just a little would've been enough..' he thought, finally settling down his long white hair.
'' Anyways, go back to where you came from lass, I need to talk with my friend.'' Yelena wanted to retort , but as Seon glanced at her, chills went down her spine and the wind went up around her, pushing her towards the exit of the old plaza. No matter how she tried to resist, she was quickly moved by the violent gale and disappeared from sight.
Seon looked down at Gareth's right missing hand, his face sad: '' Ah, friend, sorry not to have arrived before, fate had it for your hand!'' He said to the sixty year old man, a small smile forming on both their faces. '' What are you saying this for, Seon! I thought you were dead! You don't know how happy you make me right now, friend.'' Gareth then turned over to the crowed, bellowing: '' Now disperse! Show's over!''
A série of ' Ai!' And ' Yes, Mayor' were heard before everyone quickly went back to their daily routines. '' Come now, follow me for some tea and tell me all about your stories!'' Gareth put his remaining hand to Seon's back and guided him towards his humble manor. It was no more than a big house with slightly better materials, the stones dark grey instead of the regular light grey from all the other buildings. The roof was made of deep blue wood, shiny and sturdy. '' That's a nice place you have here, Gareth. Who knew the bulky boy from before would thin out into a noble Mayor like you!'' Seon sighed, obviously moved by his friend's changes. Gareth look at him, a laugh hiding in his blue eyes, and they quickly arrived before the gates of the manor. The guards all saluted at once; '' Welcome back, sir Gareth!''and went back to their straight posture.
Azure the magpie was flying ahead since short while after the sneeze, looking below at the human man she heard about before.
As the entered the manor, a sixty year old, delicate looking woman came rushing to Gareth, gasping as she took in his missing hand. Tears welled up in her eyes, not even noticing the presence of a guest. '' Husband! How could you sacrifice yourself, are you not considering your family?!'' Sadness and anger scrunched up her face, as she finally realized someone was right next to her husband. She looked at Seon, took a silk tissue to wipe away her tears and elegantly nodded, '' And this is? My apology for my wretched state'', she said, looking sharply at her husband as if blaming him for not telling her of the guest.
Seon's eyes brightened up watching this unfold in less than a minute, laughing: '' Aiya, if this isn't little Lin, then I don't know who you are! Don't you recognize your favorite brother? Well, not favorite anymore if you're married to that brute now..'' The woman, Lin, widened her eyes and rapidly approached Seon, looking him up and down: '' Seon? But.. It can't be, we saw you falling into the water and never coming back!'' She put a hand over her mouth, incredulity written all over her face. Gareth stepped in just as Azure finally passed flying through the door, saying: '' I could not believe either, especially when he sent that official woman away like it was nothing!''. Lin lifted her hand to call on a servant, ''Go prepare some refreshments and call the doctor in, we'll be in the east pavilion.'' She looked at Seon and Gareth and said, '' Come now, the wind is too strong and we need to treat you, dear''.
They quickly made their way into the manor, passing thought long corridors along a beautiful little courtyard in which centered a willow tree. Lin opened the door to a cozy little room, composed of three couches put in an open square, with a small table in front. A thick smell of incense permeated the whole room, pink curtains dimming the strong sunlight of midday.
'' This is quite good for a home, friends, much better than the last one I had'' said Seon as he lazily took a seat in the couch at the back. The mayor and his wife took on the left one, finally settling when a servant came through the door, bringing tea and pastries.
There were no blood on Gareth's wounds, and no pain could be seen on his face. As a martial artist, he'd long known how to stop blood loss and to ignore what ailed him.
Seon took a cup and was going to serve himself and Azure some tea, when Lin shot him a glare and took the tea pot from his hand, pouring it for him. '' What kind of hostess do you think I am? And how are you alive, and more than anything, how do you look so young?'' Seon tasted the tea, 'Mmh.. jasmine tea, nice' then put down his cup to answer.
'' Well.. To answer you, I'd first have to explain how it wasn't drowning, but just taking a nap..''