Haha, so. I got this all written, and then realized I did not like the beginning, so I removed it. It was only 400 words, but still. 400 words. Anyway, this means this is a bit stilted at the beginning, and some of this may not make some sense, but hey, it's like child birth. It's always messy and painful and there is always screaming.
Er, yeah. This is a rough start, but once I get stuck in, it should smooth out a lot.
"Resplendent Lotus, I do not care if you turned eighteen today," your father barks from the kitchen in back of the bakery. "Stop daydreaming, and put these beef buns out on display. You will have time enough to gaze uselessly at your naval later, after we have closed for the day."
"Yes father," you sigh, knowing you can not win against him, so you brush your hair out of your eyes and put the book you were flipping through down before moving to grab the rack of steamed beef buns. A slight grunt escapes you as you heft the rack up, it settling heavily in your grasp. "I swear this thing keeps getting heavier and heavier."
"I do not think gazing at one's navel is a useless way to spend your time," comes an unknown, feminine voice from right behind you. "Why, I have spent a large portion of my time gazing longingly at my navel,and it has not done me harm."
"Cha!" you can't hleo but declare as you spin, surprised, at the handsome woman standing nonchalantly behind you. "D-don't do that! And customers should not be here. This is a prep area, and...and…."
The woman seems to find you amusing, though you admit to yourself it is hard to discern that, seeing as the woman is using a fan to hide her face below her eyes. She has long, brown hair and is wearing simple silken pants and a silk shirt with wooden togs down the front to hold it closed. She's athletic, you think, with her slim figure and the way she seems to balance on the balls of her feet.
"...oh, don't worry; I got lost, you see. Got all turned around and instead of being there, I was here, and so I was here when I should have been there," the woman natters, cutting you off easily, as she glides...yes, glides, to your side and effortlessly lifts the rack from your grasp. "And since I am here and not there, I will help you, as penance of my trespass, yes yes?"
"Yes yes..I mean, no no! My parents, they will kill me if I let someone else touch the racks," you worry, trying to grab the rack back, but unable to latch your hands onto it for some strange reason. "I don't want to be beaten to death!"
"Oh pishposh, your parents won't do that, and besides, they will never know," the woman says, and she is really starting to annoy you. "They have other things to worry about...and so do you, in a minute."
Your heart freezes and you look at the woman in fear. Is she...is she going to hurt you? Rob the bakery? Kill you?!
"Do not worry, First and Forsaken Flower. I am not an enemy of yours, or of your parents," the woman says she hefts the rack in her two hands and..wait, how is the fan staying in place? "I am but a simple traveller, who found something of amusement here. Your true enemies are…."
"...alright, old woman, hand me the liang, and I don't cut your face up," a rough, male voice comes from the front of the bakery, causing your heart to seize, again.
"...and there is your current enemy, child," the woman continues seamlessly. "Now, since your hands are free, you are capable of doing something about that. Aren't I helpful?"
"What? But…," you start to say, only for the woman's fan to snap shut and somehow get tucked into your pants pocket. Then you are somehow pushed through the door into the front, quick enough that you only get a glimpse of the woman's face...was that hair on the sides...and what was that thin furry thing waving around.
"Eh? Wot's this? Oho, your daughter? She's cute," the man said and you get your first look at him and he is..cut up and dark looking and you do not know what to do! You're not a fighter. "Tell ya what; you give me the money and the girl, and I don't harm you, or burn this shitty place down."
Your breathing is rapid and your heart hammers in your chest as you look around in alarm. Someone, do something! No, you were supposed to do something, but you can't. You never learned how.
Naval. Forsaken. Your parents Way that you never felt comfortable with. Lotus. Fan. That strange woman who was a stranger but talked like she knew you. Naval gazing.
Liang.
You feel a spark in you tummy, just behind your bellybutton. It is warm and familiar and special and you know what to do. Well, actually, you don't, but you body does.
You shift your body, like you do when you are moving a full rack into its resting place in the display, only without the weight of the rack holding you down, you end up doing a haphazard cartwheel that takes you closer to the man holding the bakery up and threatening your mother, and you. Both you and he are shocked as you come face to face less than a foot away, and while you are sure you are still looking terrified, he starts to smile evilly and reaches out to grab your arm. You manage to step to the side, like you do when a customer gets a bit too close, reaching into your pants and pulling the fan.
Flashing your second best smile, you hand the closed fan to the thug. When he dumbfoundedly takes it, you punch the back of it, right into his ugly face. That causes him to stagger, so you pluck the closed fan back from his hands before he drops it and tuck it back into your pants, because you feel it will be important. You scamper over the counter, and drop to the floor with an oof, but manage to spring back to your feet and grab the broom your mother keeps there immediately after.
Of course, the thug isn't idle and he seems to have pulled a wicked looking knife from somewhere and is advancing on you.
"Alright girlie, fun is fun, but that you are going to pay for," the thug sneers, while leering at you, as if you do not know what this base creature has in store for your nubile body. "Jus' drop the broom and no one has to get hurt."
Right, and your parents will miraculously have a son. Well, that woman got you into this, but you will find your way out of this. You purse your lips and pause, before leaning the broom back against the counter.
"Yeah, that's the ticket, girlie….hey, what gives?!"
You pelt him with steamed buns of pork and beef and even peanut, and then, when he is thoroughly distracted by the foodstuffs, you grab the broom and swing it around yourself, even as you twist your body around, to give more momentum as you strike, with the handle side of the broom. Unerringly, it strikes the thug's throat, causing him to choke, and causing the broom to break.
Oops.
You smile a bit guiltily at your mother as you drop the broken remnants of the broom, but keep focused as you scramble back over the counter to land, heavily, on the guy's hand where it was clutching the handle of his knife. Bad for him, because you think you just broke his hand, and bad for you, as it makes your footing unsteady and you fall back, onto your butt.
Oh no.
"What do you think you are doing?" your father bellows as he charges out of the back and lays a beating on the would-be robber with the large, heavy metal wok he keeps in the kitchen. "That's my wife and daughter, you scum, and this is my bakery and I won't allow filth like you ruin it!"
You just kind of stare on for a long moment as your father starts drawing blood with the wok, until you catch a movement out of the corner of your eye. Turning your head to the door to the back, you see the rack of steamed beef buns sitting where it's supposed to sit, and a furry appendage wave as it disappears around a corner.
Blinking, you pull the fan from your pants,m only to discover it is not a fan, but a book. Eyes widening, you stare at the book, wondering just what the hell is going on.
'Baby's first Enlightenment: How to start a Sage's Journey right.'
What. Just...what.
What do you do now?
[X] Read the book
(this will take a few days)
[X] Find the thug's boss
(You know the thug was not working alone, and you don't want them to come after your family)
[X] Just...go back to your routine
(Deny anything special happened and hope it was all a dream)
[X] Learn to fight
(That was kind of awesome, how you just..did all that stuff, but you were really clumsy at it.l It would be better if you found someone to teach you to at least throw a punch right)
I started this late because I was trying to find a good picture, but failed. So, in between waiting to update this I will try to find good pictures. You, and yes, I mean you, can post pictures for me to consider. I promise nothing, of course, but warm fuzzies knowing you helpde me find a good picture.