Chapter 4: Ch 3 : Sunlight

Back at the cave – Sylvia made the bed, the mattress and sheets disappeared with a *puff* sound

Ly Yu still seemed a little shocked, Sylvia turned to him and smiled “so want to see your new room?”

The mention of a room made Lu Yu feel excited, what kind of interesting place will he be staying in?

Sylvia lead Lu Yu out of the room they were and and back to the main lobby with the chabudai and zabutons to the right as they exited the door was another made of a green patterned wood in a similar style to the blue door, the rocky walls either side were covered in a layer of green moss illuminated by all kinds of glowing plants. “what kind of plants are those?” Lu Yu looked at them closely

Sylvia seemed to smile again “ah! Those are my own breed! There’s a kind of glowing fungus in a cave I once found!” she explained “but it wasn’t very pretty asides from the glow so I cross bred it with some of my favourite flowers!” she looked very pleased with them “don’t misunderstand though! These strains are a result of constant trial and error it took me years to finally get the pink and green glows asides from the blue ones” Lu Yu began to look at the plants providing light to the cave with new interest.

Through the blue door there was a round room with two doors to the left and right one in a dark grey with metal rims and the other seemed to be green however it was covered so heavily in flowers and moss Lu Yu had trouble telling the original features. “is that your room?” he asked, as they cam to a stop in the centre “ah, yes I guess I forgot to clean up the last time I practiced my energy control...” she turned hastily around, rubbing the back of her neck “hehe... the grey door is yours!” she pointed puffing up her chest a little, Lu Yu waited to be led and side but seeing no motion from Sylvia to do so he walked to the door

 “ why grey?”

 “oh it matches your eye colour!” Sylvia said she kicks one leg forward and teeters forward before looking up “we can change it later if you don’t like it” she grinned

 “no I like it” Lu Yu smiled back and opened the door to a simple but spacious room. “how is it?” Sylvia walked in besides him, Lu Yu did a lap around the room around looking at the empty desk and bookshelf before leaping on to the bed and bouncing a little, “why is it on a wooden frame?”

Sylvia smiled “so you are at standing height when you get up and you can store things underneath!”

“I see...” Lu Yu felt the thick quilt covering the bed and looked at the soft white pillows. From kneeling Lu Yu let himself fall onto the soft bed feeling a gentle rebound from the mattress. Lu Yu closed his eyes a little and let out a deep breath.

Sylvia watched with amusement before turning to the desk ‘needs an ink stone and brush’ she thought, her mind filling with the kinds of colourful ink she could make with dye from the petals outside. There was a rustle from the bed “ready to set off for your home yet?” Sylvia asked leisurely

Lu Yu found he had almost forgot his home in the village, it felt almost distant now. “yes let’s, I can show you some of my favourite places when we get there!”

Sylvia stood and walked to the door “ sounds wonderful” she said over her shoulder “you can take a little longer in there if you want whilst I get ready”

Sylvia disappeared from Lu Yu’s sight into the room beyond, he went to the door himself just to see the moss and foliage covering the other room’s entrance slither away from the door as if it were alive.

Sylvia skipped through and came out a moment later with a grey cloth cloak, sturdy faded green boots and a walking staff.

“Aren’t we going to travel like Zhang Yuan?”

Sylvia looked at him seemingly taken of guard “what? No~ I’m not missing the chance to have a lovely walk in the forest!” she kept a quickened step to the door leading to the lobby before stopping “hang on, you need shoes as well!” she looked at Lu Yu’s battered sandals before handing him the boots in her arms and reaching into the moss by the green door to pull out a nearly identical pair of boots.

“do you always keep your shoes in weird places like that”

Sylvia seemed a tad distracted putting her boots on “huh? Yeah all the time they keep the plants company”

Lu Yu wrinkled his brows “what?”

Sylvia shot up from sitting position “alright let’s go!”

Lu Yu had to hastily slip on the boots after discarding his sandals and rush after Sylvia who had already made it up the sloping stone path and to the final door.

“you really didn’t wait for me.” He said

“nonsense” Sylvia turned around “I was a little impatient but I waited here didn’t I?”

Lu Yu squinted and slowed his pace “we could’ve walked out here together, I left my sandals in the middle of the floor in my hurry”

Sylvia looked a little guilty “oops, don’t worry I’ll put those away when we get back” she smiled “now” placing a hand on each door “let’s see some sunlight”

The door opened smoothly to reveal a lowering sun and golden sunlight “Woohoo” Sylvia ran forward soon leaving the confines of the cave and coming to a stop at the edge of the cliff ledge

Lu Yu couldn’t help but compare his new master to some of the noisy kids in the village, he had a feeling he may begin to resemble their older siblings.

Lu Yu also left the cave but didn’t come as close to the edge as Sylvia who was spreading her arms to feel more sunlight .

“Where do we go from here?” He asked

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Sylvia stopped and looked around “well, this cliff edge was a lot further forward than last time and also had a path!”

Lu Yu began to wonder just how unstable this cliff edge was, the steep drop onto sharp rocky slopes below was a less than comforting sight.

“It doesn’t matter though” Sylvia confidently reassured “we can find a way up!”

Lu Yu simply watched as his master made her way to the almost sheer cliff face he had fallen down with Zhang yuan, the ledge he was standing on was only the width of 2 men’s shoulders, Lu Yu decided he was luckier than he thought as the fact the impact didn’t seriously injure either of them or toss them over the edge was quite the feat of probability.

“Lu Yu!” As he was lost in thought Lu Yu looked up at his master who had somehow scaled the rock face. “come on up!” Sylvia tossed a rope like vine to him. Picking up the rope Lu Yu planted 2 feet firmly on the rock face and swiftly pulled himself up. Once up Lu Yu noticed the vine had been tied to a tree, he winced climbing had reminded him of the aches from the fall.

“come on now! A bit further forward and we should be able to take the route you and Zhang Yuan took on the way up!”

“Coming” he replied, catching up to Sylvia who was already making progress up the leafy slope.

When he reached her Sylvia smiled and matched his pace and the two slowly made their way to the clearing in the underbrush where the path lay. “Do you think the beast will still be here?” he asked

“No way” said Sylvia, leaves crunching as she spoke “that beast has probably had his meal long before now!” Lu Yu did not feel relieved to hear this, and decided to focus on walking. Now they were on the path travel was easier, although Lu Yu did wonder why he brought Zhang yuan somewhere so far away. When he looked up from his thoughts Lu Yu found the short cloak and boots wearing figure had become a tall cloak and boots wearing figure. “WHAT” he exclaimed, almost falling in his surprise

The figure turned round revealing a kindly old man’s face “what do you think?” He asked

“who are you?!” Lu Yu was now thoroughly disconcerted

“I'm wearing the same clothes aren’t I?” the old man asked, his brows creasing

“that’s completely different! There was a young girl in front of me and now there’s a grandpa!” he cried, shuffling back from the strange old man

“Lu Yu, It’s Sylvia I don’t want unnecessary trouble from your mother so I decided to look more like someone she could trust.” The old man said

Lu Yu couldn’t believe it “but why did you just suddenly change?” that was not a fright he was getting over quickly, especially with the previous day’s events.

“I did tell you, and I took you silence as assent I guess you were lost in your own world.” Sylvia said, she shrugged “understandable you have gone through a lot”

Lu Yu had begun to calm down and slowly rose to his feet dusting off his battered clothing “why would my mother trust this form more? Wouldn’t a creepy old man be trusted less?”

The old man’s face moved into an expression of shock “creepy? I look wise and dependable in this form!”

“hum, with that outfit you look like a well kept beggar” Lu Yu remembered the travelling beggars who would sometimes pass through his village, they had a habit of wearing layers of  long faded clothing, often the outer layers in tatters.

“You’ll see!” Sylvia proclaimed turning to follow the path “this meeting will be far smoother than if I looked like a child!”

Lu Yu followed the now even more unfamiliar silhouette towards and increasingly familiar place. Only the crunching of the pairs footsteps on the dirt track sounded and the previous cries of surprise and defence faded into the mild afternoon. Lu Yu found the borrowed pair of boots particularly comfortable, the sole seemed to be made from a kind of spongy wood and the body of the boot was made from thickly weaved cotton, dyed green.

The trees began to thin as Sylvia saw the village ahead of them, she pulled the hood of her cloak over her head “ the fewer people see me the better” she spoke “but its good to have a few see me so rumours your mother has sold you don’t go around”

Lu Yu was of the opinion that lone old grandpa’s were exactly the kind of people someone would sell their children to as opposed to a young friendly looking girl.

Their mountain descent took longer than Lu Yu would have expected, but taking their leisurely pace into account... yeah he could totally see why the sun was currently setting!

The valley in which the village lay was  given a gold hue in the setting sun, illumination those who had lost the draw to watch the crops.

Sylvia set off down the path heading into the village, glancing occasionally at the moss covered stone walls marking the border between field and path.

Lu Yu wondered if Sylvia knew how to get to his house, it was on the edge of the village, Zhang Yuan would take a short cut across the fields to visit him and get yelled at from time to time. They came to a fork in the dirt track and Sylvia confidently took the one to the left leading away from the village centre. It was not long before they both came upon a wooden house, despite it being made of the same wood as the houses around this home looked...darker, the setting sun gave the building a looming shadow.

Sylvia waited for Lu Yu to walk up besides her “well, shall we go in?”

---- Author's note---

No chapter tomorrow because I've pretty much caught up to what I've written ahead of time, the chapter on Tuesday should be longer than this one though! Don't worry about content quality dropping though (I'm pretty sure it can't get lower) because I've already got the next 50 odd chapters planned out I just need to write them! See you at chapter 4!

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