Post by Vio on May 13, 2017 18:15:50 GMT -5
1
Three days.
That was how long it had been since Lady Meifeng of the Bai Family had arrived on ‘Dojo Island’. That was how long it had been since she had heard rumours of a challenge issued to the monastic branches and martial artists of the North Blue’s country of Zen teachings and martial prowess. Brilliant rays of sunlight had befallen upon rugged mountainous facades, laced with emerald and gold, and cast a glorious veil of radiance across the landscape upon her approach from choppy, chilly waters. Traversing the North was oft a challenge, even for veteran seafarers, but it was a journey many a civilian craft made for mercantile need. Supposedly, this isle was renowned for natural remedies.
Alas, that was not why she had come.
After a string of failures and lost trails, the noblewoman of the West had sought a place to gather her thoughts. A place where tranquillity was abundant and where one could soothe the palls of the conscience through the art of meditation, acts of temperance and accept the wisdom of elders whose experiences had hardened their bodies and opened their minds.
There she had sat, kneeling quietly upon a soft straw mat with sapphire eyes looking out across the rooftops of the island’s chief centre of commerce and tourism. The settlement was dyed a deep shade of indigo, thrown into twilight long before the usual turn of eve by virtue of the mountainous spires further inland, whose ominous forms walled off the western horizon and the setting sun. Dots of colour illuminated the streets – paper lanterns of various shades cast curious light as they bobbed upon lengths of rope tethered to building corners and ornate timber gates. The whole town was picturesque, archaic.
But the peace of two hours of silent contemplation had been brought to ruin.
Of the numerous monasteries of the country and their equal number of martial arts, it had been this town’s prime Dojo that had been issued a terrible challenge. A stranger had walked the steep, natural stone steps that scaled the side of a small plateau draped in ivies and creepers of their likeness, sandals clipping against the rock. The Dojo’s master, wizened but sound of mind and of body, had greeted the newcomer with welcome smile and open hospitality, much as he had done the young woman that quietly contemplated her life’s goals and the hardships of the path she had walked thus far.
A jagged, booming voice had broken the quiet.
It had all gone by so quickly. A powerful man, built strong as an ox, had challenged the Sensei of the Dojo in mortal combat. As the master’s refusal to oblige to such berserk and unnecessary acts, the challenger had thrust a thick and bare palm into one of the small structure’s supporting timbers, shattering it in a single blow. The roof had threatened to flatten them all – Master, students and guest – there and then. Virtuous fortune had withheld such disaster for the moment. Meifeng had watched as the strongest of the Dojo’s disciples had stepped forth to meet the challenger, only for his strikes that could shatter brick tile to fail against the man’s flesh of earthy tone. Another palm strike and bones had crunched loudly, churning the stomach of the foreign observer.
Like a quake, a single man had rampaged and brought down the establishment’s strongest few. And yet, before he could lay any more harm upon the innocents of such a monastic culture, the ‘Beautiful Wind’ had raised her blade and opposed the crushing force of her own accord. Under no circumstances could she have allowed such barbarism to continue, not least of which when the culprit had announced his name and status amongst wanted men.
And yet, in a meeting of steel and flesh, it was the former that had proven the victor. Swift, clean strikes of her sword had done naught but chip harmlessly against calloused skin – a bare palm had repelled a powerful slash with little effort. Stark was the truth; this man was immovable as the mountains themselves…-~-
“Not even two days remain,” Meifeng reminded herself, staring at her reflection within the mirroring surface of herbal tea. Blue eyes, darkened by the fatigue that surrounded them, stared back. A mere couple of days had passed her by since her defeat at the hands of the ‘Earthmover’ – such a sorry defeat it was. Bruised and grazed by skin like sandstone, the woman with white hair tied into twin buns sat upon a curvaceous wooden chair within the ornate restaurant of a local seaside hotel. Open not only to those who stayed, but also to the general public, such a place of respite was as welcoming as a mother’s arms.
“That’s if nobody else stops him before he fulfils his promise…,” she muttered quietly, reminiscing sourly about the events prior. To think, that a man’s skin could be so tough as to repel sharpened steel? It was unreal. And, in all honesty, it only further served to dishearten an already weakened-willed woman. With every failure and loss, it seemed her targets only grew tougher, stronger and more vicious. Being a Bounty Huntress was a lot more difficult than she had imagined. She sat there, dressed in white trousers and scarlet cheongsam of floral design, and watched as the mid-morning’s trade brought the town without to life. Beside her table sat Yáng Cái, steel wrapped in a linen bind, and upon the table’s surface rested several documents. The most prevalent piece was a picture of a stone-faced, rough-looking but clean-shaven man with a topknot…{OOC}! Contemplating an unfortunate defeat two days prior at the hands of a bounty she’s been tracking, the Beautiful Wind finds herself recovering in the confines of a local café, failing to plan her next move and being a little hard on herself.
Jade
Starring…
Bai Meifeng (eeeeee)
[/ul][/spoiler][/font][/sup][/blockquote][/div][/div][/div]
