Chapter 6: Chapter 4: Talking With Strangers

The room she had been shoved in was plain and there was little in the way of furniture. There was a wardrobe looking object, but when she opened it she only found a bucket and two old brooms. There was a thin bench with a blanket draped over it. The floor was heavily worn and creaked slightly as she shifted from one foot to the other. The walls were so thin she could hear loud arguments in both rooms on either side and felt her heart twist in very familiar discomfort.

To heap on the awfulness was the fact it was cold even though she could see no window for a draft to come in. She leaned out the door into the hallway. All sorts of people were going back and forth, entering or exiting rooms, going down the stairs or running back up them. None one paid attention to her. But no one ever did.

A plan sprung into her brain. With Liu Xie gone, she knew there was nothing stopping her from walking right out of the building and going to get more food. Or hunting down that nice lady and asking for more. It was a brilliant plan she could see no flaws in.

Idony took a deep breath and slipped out of the doorway, pressing herself to the wall as two adults went past while holding a damp map and bickering over something on it. She crept down the long hallway and to the stairs. They were made of rickety wood and did not look evenly placed. Worse was that the steps were clearly meant for people with longer legs than her. Or goats. Dozens of loud conversations echoed from below while the scent of cooked meat wafted further up and galvanized her spirit.

Idony kept herself close to the wall and carefully measured each step with a hesitant outstretched leg as she went downwards. Some of the steps had awkward lumps where the wood had not been sanded down, or funny grooves from rot or earlier damage.

Occasionally an adult would go past her, maybe casting the small girl a glance, usually just moving to avoid tripping over her as they themselves walked the uneven steps. Once Idony finally reached the floor she was grateful for how solid and flat it felt.

Something touched her foot and she jumped back up a step in surprise, looking down at the floor in alarm with the expectation of some sort of big bug. Instead a small round orange thing. She crouched down and picked it up and weighed it in her palm when she spotted another similar round orange thing a few feet away, closer to where numerous adults of all sorts sat at tables in raucous conversation or intense planning. She fidgeted with the orb in her hand and found it had a peel that her broken nails easily cut through, releasing a sweetly tart scent.

Her mouth watered as she ripped off the peel and shoved the entire orb in her mouth, moving over to the next round thing as she struggled to chew what was already in her mouth. She had never actually tasted anything like it before. There was a tangy sweetness that was vaguely like the berries in the spring that would make her dizzy for hours, but without the tongue numbing. She awkwardly swallowed it down bit by bit.

She looked about for a third one and found it, a short distance away that she hunkered down and waddled over to as she made herself as tiny and as unobtrusive looking as possible.

Closing the distance, Idony grabbed her prize and saw another flash of orange color and grabbed for it.

“Oh hello there!”

She blinked, realizing what she held was a fancy looking orange slipper. She looked up to see a table, and then past that table was a round faced older man with a warm smile and a well maintained thin grey pointed beard. He wore a rich looking outfit of various colors of yellow and held another bright orange thing in his hand.

“Not a very elegant introduction.” Said a soft yet dour voice. On the other side of the table was a stunningly beautiful but cold looking young man completely dressed in black. His face was so pale it looked like a ghost and his long black hair was just as dark as his clothes, blending in to some degree. He turned his black-eyed gaze down to Idony. Idony suddenly felt very scared, letting go of the older man’s shoe and backing up slightly. The young man’s face then softened, but not much.

Idony warily looked at them both, hunching over her prizes like a defensive dog. “Who are you?”

The young man in black began to open his mouth to answer, but the older chubbier man straightened up and with a smile like the sun replied, “my companion here is-uh-Hei! I have a name a lot of old folks call me, but you can call me Uncle Po.”

The young man made a funny hissing noise as his dark eyes glared at his companion with such rage that the older man shrunk back a little in his seat. “Yes, thank you, Uncle. Po. For. Telling. Her. Our. Names.” Every word sounded like it had to be pulled out from his stomach. Then he turned his face back to Idony with such serenity she briefly wondered if she was going to die. “Are you hungry?”

“Yes,” she answered promptly, hoping that Mr. Hei would look away from her with that expression for a moment.

“More fruit then?” Uncle Po suggested.

“No, you can’t just keep giving her fruit. She needs something else,” Mr. Hei frowned. He reached out and grabbed the sleeve of a serving man walking by, who went from looking vaguely annoyed by being grabbed to looking utterly terrified when Hei started speaking to him in a quick low tone. The poor man nodded his head and quickly wobbled away when Hei released him.

“So!” Uncle Po placed his hands down on the table. “What might your name be?”

She started peeling one of the fruits in her hand, “Idony.”

“What a lovely name,” Uncle Po said warmly. “You must be from Norwen. What’s it like there?”

“Cold,” she answered, “there’s lots of snow. And trees.” She was about to shove the entire unpeeled fruit into her mouth when Hei’s hands reached out to take it from her, gently pulling the fruit apart and giving it back to her. Idony looked down in bewilderment at the pieces in her hand. Who knew fruit could come pre-sliced?

“Just snow and trees?”

“Graves,” she added. “When it got really cold, I went to my mama’s. But then someone blocked it up and I couldn’t go see her anymore.”

Uncle Po shifted in discomfort, “o-oh.”

“You’re really terrible at talking to children,” Mr. Hei remarked. “Little Idony here doesn’t need to be harassed about where she came from. It’s bad enough she’s here. By herself. Alone.” Mr. Hei’s last words ended in a growl.

“Now now Hei, I’m certain there’s a good reason for that!” Uncle Po said quickly in a soothing tone.

“And what would the good reason be, hm?” Mr. Hei said. “Look around at all these people here-” he gestured at the numerous other people crowding the various tables. Idony was busy finishing off her slices of fruit but did notice some of the people in the crowd looked rather frightful. But not nearly as scary as Mr. Hei, who despite looking very pretty had a presence that made Idony fear even chewing too loud. “Who knows what sort of horrible folk can be among them?”

“I think you’re worrying a bit too much,” Uncle Po said amicably. “You’re always so stressed Hei that you keep leaping to conclusions.”

“This is a little girl, she’s only-” Mr. Hei looked at Idony. “How old are you, dear?”

“Uhm,” Idony scratched her head with sticky fingers. “Uhm. Eight!”

“Eight? You’re eight!?” Mr. Hei’s eyes widened. “You are far too small!” He grabbed her arm and pulled it up and examined the skinny limb, then he moved his face close to hers. “You’re so thin! Has he not been feeding you at all!?”

“Hei, please, you’re going to cause a scene!” Uncle Po pleaded.

The younger man turned his head to Po. “I’ll make a scene if I want to, you fatheaded indolent idiot,” Mr. Hei spat.

Uncle Po’s lower lip quivered and he shrank down a little, “I… th-that’s a little bit mean, Hei.” Idony felt bad for the older man she had only just met and as he startled sniffling she offered him one of the pieces of fruit she had not yet inhaled. “O-oh, thank you,” he took it from her with gentle fingers.

There was a soft clacking sound in front of Idony and the strong smell of meat. A bowl of soup with large rolling chunks of meat and vegetables that Idony did not know the names of nor did she care to, she was far more interested in eating it all as fast as possible. It was scalding hot but it was the most delicious food she could remember having in her entire life.

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“I should take her back with me,” Mr. Hei said.

“You can’t, that would break the agreement we all made,” Uncle Po reminded although he did not sound happy about the fact either. “This is the best any of us can do unless… extenuating circumstances occur.”

“If the idiot isn’t feeding her then an extenuating circumstance will occur.”

“Lets trust him just a little bit more, Hei.” Uncle Po said with a shaky smile, still teary eyed.

Mr. Hei crossed his arms with a sour expression on his face, “I suppose I will listen to you. This time.”

Uncle Po turned his attention back to Idony and smiled slightly wider, “you know. I have a special thing for a young lady like you.”

Idony was nearly finished with her bowl of soup, “more food?”

“Well they’re a bit small for that,” he said as he picked up a small basket that had been sitting on his other side.

“...What’s in the basket?” Mr. Hei asked with his eyes narrowing in suspicion. “What did you do?”

“It’s nothing to be too concerned about,” Uncle Po replied as he picked up a small pink and black thing from the basket. Idony held out her hands so the weighty thing could be placed in them.

“That’s a pig, why are you giving her a pig?” Mr. Hei's voice was sharp and wary. He picked up a small white bottle from the inside of his sleeve, uncorking it and taking a swig from it.

Idony looked at the tiny animal, which opened bleary little eyes to look back at her. Its flat snout sniffed at the air and it closed its eyes to lay its head down on her. Idony marveled at the tiny piglet and held it close to herself. “It’s really cute,” she whispered.

“It’s a special pig, also pigs are lucky,” Uncle Po explained as though that alone settled the matter.

“I keep forgetting you live in a fairy land where everything works out wonderfully and there's beautiful maidens to soothe away any worries and blow on your food when it's a bit too hot,” Hei placed his hand on his face and dragged them down as though he were in agony. “Did we not just discuss how Idony is not getting any food? Now you want to add a pig in?”

“All things will be fine,” Uncle Po nodded. “Regardless, the agreement said nothing about gifts.”

“Are you hoping the pig could be an emergency food source or something?”

“No! Nothing of the sort!” Uncle Po quickly shook his head. “Just that I felt it would be remiss if I don’t give her anything besides fruit!”

Mr. Hei was quiet for a long moment that made Idony uncomfortable and had Po nervously smile. Then the man in black snorted, “fine.” He then stood up, offering a pale hand to Idony while the other held the little drinking bottle. “Let me escort you back to your room, Idony. I still don’t trust the people around here.”

“I suppose this means our meeting is done,” Uncle Po said sadly. He waved to Idony. “It was very nice meeting you. I have a feeling a grand journey awaits you, where ever you go.”

 

Idony sat in the room, eyes half-lidded from sleepiness as she sat up against the wall. She was half-listening for Liu Xie but the rest of her attention was devoted to the small warm bundle sleeping in her lap. Occasionally it would softly oink.

“Nobody is going to eat you,” she gently spoke to the sleeping piglet, softly petting its little belly. “We’re going to be friends a-” The door slid open and Liu Xie stood there staring at her with an inscrutable expression. She stared back at him, wrapping her arms around the piglet protectively. “I’m keeping him.” She said flatly.

“Where did you even find it!?”

“That’s a secret!”

“A secr-... did you steal him from the kitchen?” Liu Xie grabbed the little white bottle that was sitting next to the door that she had seen Hei place there. “A brat and a thief, I can’t believe it.”

“I didn’t steal him! I didn't!”

The man stared at the bottle with a deep frown. Liu Xie’s hands were shaking as he pulled the stopper from the bottle and lifted it to his mouth, sucking down a few gulps before sitting down and staring at her, “did you name it yet?”

“No,” Idony admitted, petting the still sleeping piglet.

Liu Xie was quiet for a moment, “Baozi is a good name for a pig.”

She blinked, muttering ‘Baozi’ over and over again. It did seem like a good name! She smiled widely at Liu Xie and held up the piglet, “Baozi! Hi Baozi!” Her smile instantly vanished as another shadow emerged in the doorway.

It was a creature that smelled like vinegar and musty meadow flowers in simple worn clothing. There were red splotches all over his tanned skin and his face was an especially vivid mask of red, like he had just stuck his head into a pot of boiling water or blood

Idony stared up at the shabbily dressed stranger with an unconvincing snarl on her face. The stranger was cheerily smiling as he addressed her. But Idony did not trust him or understand him. He reached out to her head and Idony lunged at his hand, sinking her teeth into the flesh while still clutching Baozi in her arms. The stranger stared at her for a moment, then at his hand as an iron taste filled her mouth. Liu Xie said something nearby. Then the stranger took a deep breath.

 

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

 

Liu Xie kept drinking.

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