C H A P T E R T H R E E
R I T U A L
Late that night, in a particular bedroom of the manor, the drapes had been drawn, candles had been lit around the room and the door was shut and locked to make sure none of this important meeting was leaked. Three young men were positioned around a round table, one of them with parchment, quill and ink ready at hand. Nothing could be missed and every detail had to be recorded for the sake of not only himself but the destiny of those dear to him. Slowly, one man rose from his seat and began to speak
"Let the lesson commence!"
"Wei, stop being so dramatic, this whole set up was your idea. What is with these candles anyway? I'm well aware our family follows a cult that is centuries old, but is this really necessary?"
Tao could not help but agree with his eldest brother. He needed help, desperately and had gladly accepted his brothers' offer to 'coach' him, but all in all, taking things to this extent was more than a little bit ridiculous. What was so secret about getting a girl to fall for him that no other person could hear? Trust Wei to bring about this drama.
"Our baby Taotao needs help, and I am here to provide it. Is that a crime?"
The sound of two foreheads slapping the redwood table surface was heard followed by a muffled chorus of:
"Shut up Wei."
"You're an idiot"
"Why am I related to you?"
"What have you done with your life?"
"How did you survive until now!"
Buried under an avalanche of insults, Wei reseated himself. Yun spoke up instead.
"Ok. Shall we begin again?"
Tao nodded, and Wei remained motionless.
"Let's start. The first thing you should remember Tao, is that family background plays no part in your decision. She should be the one with the exact assets you are looking for which mainly is our blood diluted with hers. It is conpletely irrelevant how rich or poor the girl is, the thing you have to look for is the presence of our blood. "
"I am well aware of that. But my problem is not that, but the fact that personally I take looking at a girl for longer than necessary to be a sin. "
Wei chimed in again
"Well, too bad baby brother, you are going to have to throw that mindset into the trash. Set your sights on her and don't let her out of it. If she is even vaguely interested then you've already played your first piece. Then wait for her to make a move, if she doesn't, then you play your second piece. "
Tao glanced at his parchment, his cursive scrawl read:
~Piece one: Look at girl
~wait for her to make move
~Piece two: make move (?)
Reading over his notes he scratched his head; these things were definitely easier said than done.
"Actually"
Two pairs of eyes looked towards the speaker.
"Maybe we should just demonstrate?"
Wei's mouth lifted into a sly grin at his older brother's suggestion. It was no secret that the two eldest Huang sons were basically prodigies with the ladies, they could get any girl wrapped around their finger with barely any effort, and they were not ashamed of it. Despite this, the boys made rational decisions and did not take advantage of any scenarios they created. At this moment, Tao was glancing between his brothers wishing he was like them in this aspect.
"Time for me to show my charms to the fullest."
Was Wei's reply has he flicked his fringe out of his eyes, and gave Tao a smoky glare.
"Watch and learn."
Tao and Yun almost threw up right then and there.
"We are your brothers. Not a girl who turns giddy at your glance, and that was disgusting."
Tao could only nod in agreement, even though he had to admit, it would be hard not to be drawn into his brother's expression if a girl that attention. Maybe it would not be too bad an idea to try it out for himself.
"Let me try. That look. It seems to work well enough for you. "
His brothers smiled.
"Hit us with your best shot. "
That was the simultaneous reply he received.
Tao breathed in deeply and flashed back to Wei's expression, then he created a mental image of a female he thought to be alluring. Then, he stared at his brother's with the most charming character he could conjure at the present time.
"Tao, you want to attract her, she's not a practise wushu dummy. Perhaps tone down the aggressive a tiny bit. "
Aggressive? He was not aggressive, he was aiming for charming. Breathing in again, Tao prepared himself once again. This time, alluring was his concept and he directed his look at his brother's for the second time. He received smirks in return.
"Not bad Tao, not bad at all. Why are you so shy for? If you did this more often they would he falling at your feet. Very good. "
Yun was impressed. Tao had always been a quick learner, mastering wushu movement and routines in no time and before long, he had been overtaken in rank by his younger brother of 4 years.
Wei was impressed also. He has alao been overtaken in rank by his baby brother of two years, but in the art of weapons. Tao had mastered not only the sword, but the spear, hand to hand combat (assisted by his mastery of wushu) and the lance on horseback. Neither of the older two stood a chance at outranking the youngest despite their years of experience.
"I agree. Baby brother, why did you not reveal this talent earlier hmm? Your expertise at martial and weapons arts will prove to be a big assistance also. "
Tao's self confidence suddenly sky rocketed and he was no longer afraid. If his brother's were right in judgement, then all he had to work on was finding the right girl. His lady to be who carried traces of the Huang bloodline. His destiny.
Smirking, and puffing his chest out slightly, he spoke up.
"Let's take this experiment to the test zone. "
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Wham!
A petite body was thrown into a wall, a dead end of a narrow street. The girl moaned in pain as she felt a rib crack and her vision slowly getting black, luckily she had methodically twisted her body in the final split second before impact and spared herself from a spinal injury. The three men were gradually closing in around her, and as she sunk to the cobbled ground, head lowered, she heard their footsteps advance and sense them creating a human barricade around her. With her lowered vision, all she could properly make out at the moment was the pair of iron toed boots which had just then been applied with exaggerated force to her side.
"Not goin' t'run anymore? S'that little brats like y'self have got in ya? God! Filthy creatures like you make me sick!"
The owner of the voice raised his iron toed boot once again and rammed it into the girl's already bruised side. She bit her lips and did not scream, she could not scream and she would not scream. Beginning to cough, the blood from began to mingle with the blood from her slip lip and in a thin trickle, leaked out from the side of . Raising, a trembling arm, she wiped the blood away, leaving it smeared across her white skin. She spoke up, sophistication and dignity in her voice, a girl like herself would not back away from low lives such as these men, men who were hypnotised by power and sense of authority.
"I am not weak! I certainly am no brat either!"
As if a wild dog, the man bore what remained of his yellow rotting teeth at her. She lifted her face from the ground, silver hair falling aside to reveal a grim and determined expression. She narrowed her eyes and raised her voice once again.
"As if scum of the streets such as yourself have the right to speak up at all!"
Bracing herself for the impact which would once again pulse through her, she tensed her body. As expected, the girl felt a boot slam her once again in the same side. Grinding her teeth in fury, she whipped her face to look all three men in the eye, glaring, and when she spoke up once again, her voice was low, deadly, she was not to be messed with.
"I am going to give you one more chance, back off now and leave me alone before the worst of the worst fate befalls you all."
The men only snickered amongst themselves. They had to admit, they were impressed. The girl was still able to speak with such confidence, no, arrogance without a single tremor in her voice. They were sure that the impact of booting her into a sturdy brick wall would break her small body, but she seemed to be quite educated in some form of martial art, her self defense reflexes were impressive as she managed to save herself in the last moment.
"Whatchya goin' to do hmmm? Worst of the worst fate? Befalls us? Hah?! Brat knows how t'talk!"
The girl chuckled, a low, dangerous, rumble.
"Don't believe me? I'm not sure that's a smart idea."
Whipping her leg up in one smooth motion, she pivoted on her back foot to land the other on one man's neck. The impact cause a snapping and she knew in that instant that that man was out of the picture, he could do no damage while he had damage done to himself, specifically his neck. Face set in grim determination, she spun to face the other two men. The throbbing in her side had not yet subsided, but at that moment, filled with rage, she could barely register it.
"Still not running? Gosh, there really are such people born without brains."
She smirked. 'Time to dance' she thought to herself. As if she had summoned a breeze, her feather light white garments whipped up in an agonized motion around her, emphasising her petite figure. The men had targeted her because of this, but as said, it was not wise to judge a book by it's cover. The girl made her advancement, and walking to a position between the two now petrified men, lifted two fingers to her lips and blew a shrill, melodic tune. Smirking, she looked from one man to the other.
"Shall we begin?"
In a fury, she still managed to move with beautiful, fluid motions. While her movements looked like that of a graceful dance, it was a deadly once. Spinning, she whipped out flat hand to land on the target's adam's apple, within the second which he faltered, she had grabbed his collar and using him and leverage, kicked out her legs behind her to catch the second man in the chest. Letting go of the first, she once again snapped out both arms to catch both men by the necks as they advanced towards her from both sides. With a grip like steel, her thin fingers began to tighten around the rough skin of their necks. Losing their breath, the men's spastic movement began to weaken, and just before they out, she let go. Amidst the chaos, two white wolves had approached the scene, the girl, strode towards them and nuzzled them. She whispered to them,
"Thank you for coming. You see that scum in there? Please take them away, preferably without leaving any traces."
Striding out of the narrow street. The girl made her way through the twisting streets towards the populated area of town. Feeling a tang of guilt, she slowed her pace to that of a leisurely stroll. Generally people in the town were good, kind hearted and welcoming, but every now and again she would stumble across vermin such as from the previous encounter. Lost in her thoughts, she had not noticed that she was headed straight for the local inn.
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Tao and his older brothers had decided that the best location that would suits their purpose would be the town inn. It was a Saturday night after all and it would be quite crowded. As they made their way towards the inn, they paused outside the entrance, Tao had become quite still, his confidence from before was draining away and it was once again being replaced by his former timid attitude.
"Listen Tao. You will have to do this sooner or later, and you only have one year to find her. Best to overcome your fear now, yes?"
Tao nodded
"Ok, I think I can do thi-"
Before he was able to finish his sentence, he felt an impact at his back. He turned around to see a girl at his feet. Tao was shocked, the girl was beautiful, petite, though evidently clumsy.
"I'm terribly sorry!"
She spoke with a smooth voice. She looked up towards him and spoke her apologies through her strikingly purple eyes.
"I was too lost in my thoughts that I was not concentrating on the path in front of me. I hope you will be able to forgive me."
"Uh-uhm, yes of course you are forgiven, it was an accident after all."
Tao extended a hand to help her up from the pavement, and was graciously accepted.
"Thank you, you are most kind, sir."
Were the final words exchanged before the girl took her leave.
Wordless, Tao stared after her as she smoothly wandered away, white floor length skirt dancing around her legs as she walked and waist length silver hair flowing like a calm river down her back.
"Well, shall we enter?"
The trio entered the inn, but little did they know, Tao had already lost his purpose before the mission had even begun.
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A/N: Chapter 3 is up ^^ Well well well, Tao ((; Is she going to be the girl, or not?
Anyway, Tao, what are you doing? Tao, stahp :L
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