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Author: hayashi
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Aidan part 5
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College began this week and things have been hectic. Updates will be slower. Thanks again to all who are patient enough to keep up with my amateur story. I am planning to write Cynn after Aidan if people are interested. Heres another challenging chapter of Aidan, enjoy =)
Also, if you spot a lot of mistakes in my stories, I'm currently looking for an editor =P Just trying to give the best to the amp community.
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Night fall slowly covered the lands of Nolani. Zho quickly hustled back to her caravan, which was set up in a grassy plain twenty miles from the bustling markets. The caravan was composed of three huge wagons and ten small wheel carts for craft storage. The wagons resembled a moving tent and could house a small family inside its silky cloth. Next to the lead wagon sat an old man, who was relaxing against the wagon wheel and humming to the tunes of Canthan folklore. Upon seeing Zho, the old man sat up, took off his straw hat, and revealed his warming smile.
“Zho! You are back. How was the market? Did you enjoy it?”
Zho smiled back as she walked towards the old man. She took her small jade bow off her back and leaned it against the wagon and then snuggled next to the elder.
“Grandpa Xiajun! Nolani is such a great place! I have never seen so many strange looking crafts and interesting people my entire life!” said Zho as she shuffled her feet in excitement. “But it’s a shame, uncle Daming showed up...”
Daming, a man of about thirty had dark brown hair and an unshaved face. Even though he was poorly groomed and smelled like a street-side beggar, he was recognized as one of Canthan’s best craftsman. With limping steps, Daming approached Xiajun and said in a very coarse voice:
“Grandpa Xiajun, you shouldn’t spoil this girl like that. She’s in charge of the security of this caravan. We didn’t travel thousands of miles to lose our precious goods to bandits. This is not Cantha, we don’t know what foul creatures lurk in this Nolani outskirt. Tomorrow I expect all our remaining goods to be sold. And Zho, you sure don’t live up to your reputation… we didn’t hire you to play around.”
Xiajun stood up and looked angrily at Daming.
“Daming,” said Xiajun. “I didn’t let you into our caravan to complain all day. I don’t care if she is a ranger or shingjea assassin for all that matter, all I know is she is a little girl. I understand you have a daughter at home Daming… what does she do in her spare time?”
“But grandpa Xiajun! We paid her! I knew I shouldn’t have trusted the monastery. How could such a little girl bear such responsibilities? We should have insisted on that boy Yuun. He looked much more – “
“That boy is a nutcase! You will say no more or else tonight we will make bonfire out of your crafts! Now go about your business.”
Zho listened shamefully. As Daming strolled away, Zho picked up her bow and hung it over her shoulder. She reached into her pocket and took out her mask and slowly tightened it around her lower face. She readjusted the string that held her eye patch and retied her boots. Her ranger insignia was clearly branded on the arms of her light silk armor.
“Uncle Daming was right,” said Zho as she retrieved a new batch of arrows from the caravan. “You have been too nice to me grandpa Xiajun. I almost forgot my place. My bow isn’t used for recreation. It’s my tool for delivering death…”
Zho swiftly jumped on top of the largest wagon and knelt on one knee. Her face was down and her eye was closed. Her palms rested flat on the caravan roof as her long hair danced in the wind.
“… Because I’ve sworn to my lost eye…”
A fiery aura began to spread across the caravan encampment.
“ … That I won’t lose again to any creature. Or my name isn’t Zho, the tracker.”
Xiajun looked on and let out a sigh. “My dear child, what has the world done to you…” he whispered. Xiajun put back on his straw hat, and retrieved into the wagon. Zho drew her bow and locked two arrows onto the string.
“Good. Everyone is safe now,” said Zho as she finally opened up her eye. “I can hear their footsteps… come! How many are there… five… no, six. What excellent timing; and I was just feeling guilty about my job.”
The grass rustled as the footsteps approached louder and closer. The eerie swish of the grass soon surrounded the caravan, unnoticed by anyone except little Zho. A few shadows suddenly jumped out from the tall grass and surrounded Zho. Soon Zho found herself in the middle of incoming projectiles.
“Daggers?”
Zho dodged the projectiles swiftly and blocked the rest with her bow. She leaped into the air and stretched her bow string. As she surveyed the surrounding quickly for a target, another shadow snuck up from behind and pulled out its dagger, which found its mark on Zho’s cheek.
“Don’t move,” said the shadow behind Zho. “It’s not our mission to kill you. We’re only here to take Xiajun. You’re a professional, little girl, you know what’s best for you. This is our business, and we don’t want to take unnecessary lives.”
Zho, who could feel the cold dagger edge on her cheek, shoved herself away from the shadow behind her. A thin red line slowly began to form on Zho’s cheek, and blood began to drip down her little face.
“I thought I told you not to move… little girl. Are all elite students of Shingjea so foolish nowadays?”
Zho wiped the blood off her cheek and chuckled. “It’s you who’s foolish; foolish enough to step into my conflagration!”
Zho released her dual arrows into the chest of the shadow. Flame began to erupt from the shadow’s chest and soon, the entire shadowy figure was engulfed in fire, outlining its human shape. The fire ate away at the shadow’s flesh, but the shadow remained silent and finally burnt out without a sound.
“So, you’re just a human,” said Zho, who smiled triumphantly.
“Not really,” whispered a voice behind the stunned little girl.
Zho turned around immediately and caught the penetrating dagger with her arrow hand. In this moment of life and death, Zho couldn’t feel any pain, only the adrenaline rushing through her veins. Zho tried to hold back the force that was closing in on her, but a sudden kick into her stomach sent her flying and tumbling along the wagon roof.
“Zho!”
The little ranger could hear the voice of Xiajun’s struggle. Just when she got on her feet and began to run towards Xiajun’s call, she quickly tumbled down after a few steps. Caltrops were jabbed into her left foot. For the first time, pain and the feeling of hopeless dominated Zho’s morale. Tears began flowing down Zho’s cheek and stung her facial wound.
“Grandpa Xiajun! Im sorry,” yelled the little girl as she laid helplessly.
When just about all was lost, a strong wind blew through the plain and cleared the fiery aura. The rustles of the grass were soon replaced by the howl of the gust.
One of the shadows reached out its hand and felt the fast moving wind.
“A South-East wind in this region is impossible. Somebody is tampering with the spirits of winds. No good! We’re being targeted!”
The shadow’s realization was a bit too late as an arrow ripped through its throat.
“Uaa!”
“You – little girl!” said an echoing voice from the dark. “I’ll prove to you now that you are not better than me!” With his left knee into the grass and right knee leaning against a nearby tree, Aidan was ready for his hunt.
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