C H A P T E R E I G H T
R I T U A L
Tao felt the soft fabric of a warm bedsheet on his bare upper body. With his head still spinning slighty and temples throbbing, the events of the past day suddenly flooded his memory. Throwing the sheets off himself he examined the new scars, scabs and bruises which now embellished his body and legs, he then felt a sharp pain shoot through his back. His back. Tumbling off the edge of the huge bed, he rushed to the silver rimmed floor length mirror which stood beside the door. Sighing, he observed the deep strike that ran from his shoulder blade, slanting diagonally across his back to his lower waist, slighty puffy around the edges. Everytime he twisted around, a sharp stabbing sensation would propel through him, how was he to fight, how would he train, or to uphold the family name and generation long traditions? How would he tell his family?
At that moment, the door softly clicked open and Tao spun around, bringing him to face with those bright purple eyes once again. Mei spoke with a soft concern as she entered the room, then a teasing touched her tone.
"It seems as if you took quite a battering, Huang Zi Tao. What is this, finally the downfall of the mighty young warrior?"
Tao smiled slightly, but could not help the grimace which washed across his features. Mei stepped closer to him in order to check his bandages, he looked down towards her as he spoke.
"Feeling? Battered, both inside and out, both my body and my pride."
With this, he glared at the white carpetedfloor and clenched his fists, only to feel them being unclenched by cool fingers. He looked at his hands to see Mei forcing his fists open while she said with a small smile
"Don't frustrate yourself further, Tao. What is done cannot be undone, however, we can work with what we have to prevent such things from happening again, hmm?"
She was now looking right at him, a hopeful light in her eyes. Tao could not help himself, but he felt a sort of sense of confidence rush through his veins, and smiled back at her. A momentary silence settled over them both before Tao broke through it by speaking out first.
"Thank you Mei. For this, for everything. You've given your helping hand again, and we barely know each other."
With a nervous chuckle and sligt bow he added
"I feel as if I am indebted to you, once again."
Mei in turn, with a teasing bow in return and laughter that rang through the air like a soft tinkling of bells she replied
"Shall we make a cut to the formalities, Mr Huang Zi Tao? "
Tao pretended to be deep in thought, his non existent beard, then responded
"I think that that is not a bad idea."
Extending an arm, Mei simply said
"Alright then, deal."
Tao took her small hand in his and gave it two firm shakes
"Deal."
The two stood in front of each other, just smiling as once more a sheet of comfortable silence lay over them.
"I will be right back, we have to check up on those wounds of yours, haven't we."
As she rushed to the bathroom to ready the neccessary medication, Tao seated himself on the edge of the un made bed. He stared out the double glass doors which led to a wide terrace, and watched the orange red sky slowly dim as the sun began to set. He was startled with this realisation. The sun began to set? It was evening, whilst the events of the previous day had occurred during the morning. How long had he slept for, knocked out and unaware? Did his family have any idea where he was?
It was then when Mei returned from the bathroom, cradled in her arms various bottles of creams, ointments and clean bandages. Tao rushed up to her and grabed her by the shoulders, leaning his face down closer to hers.
"Mei! How long have I been sleeping for?"
Startled, yet recovering quickly, she replied
"Well, at least you have dropped the formalities. Oh, and you've been out from yesterday when you came here until now when you just woke up."
He placed a hand over his chest and sighed in relief
"Thank god. Judging from how drowsy I was, I thought it had been much longer, a few days perhaps. Have my family been contacted? They must be worried..."
"Relax Tao, your eldest brother has been informed and if he is responsible and sensible as he was the other night, common sense tells me he will let your parents know of this too. I also let him know that you are in no condition the move vigorously and that you will be staying over for another night. Now, are you going to let me take care of your injuries or not?"
Tao sat back down as Mei helped him apply a variety of salves and ointments to his wounds as well as changing his old bandages to fresh clean ones.
"I'm afraid you'll have to lay on your stomach, Tao. The wound on your back is severe, it will take longer and unfortunately I cannot say that it will be painless. That blade which cut you was no regular blade. "
Not a regular steel blade, then what could it have been? The girls short sword which he had wielded was made from purified and hardened white gold, surely the girls other weapon were made of the same materials too? Now that he thought about it, after he was cut his back not only experienced immense pain, but also a strange tingling sensation afterwards as the strikes which he cut the girl with didn't seem to affect her too much. Also, as he was observing the damage dealt and examined the wound in the mirror, the edges had seemed slightly irritated and red.
"Mei, the blade that I used, also belonging to the girl was made of a hardened white gold. Purified. Is it not usual for swords people to associate themselves with one type of material, so as to be familiar with the weight and balance of their weapons? I had thought that the white gold was a rare enough blade, what else could her long weapon be made of?"
Pursing her lips, Mei thought about it for a few moments.
"I actually don't have a clue, Tao. Whatever it is, it only takes effect with serious cuts. Look, your smaller wounds are fine, and are healing normally, but this huge gash on your back.....heavens knows. It must be something that has impact when it comes in deep contact with flesh, rather than raking the surface of it, taking its toll from the inside out? Now, lay down so I can get a better look at it."
Tao lay down on his stomach, so that Mei could take a better look at the gash on his back. She worked silently, first wiping over it with a greenish liquid which stung when applied but replaced itself with a cool sensation after a few moments, then was an ointment which she applied to the skin around the wound also, then finally she rubbed in a fair amount of a thick, pale yellow salve. As she started to cover the gash in bandage, Tao's muffled voice spoke out.
"Mei?"
Eyes furrowed in concentration, she distractedly replied
"Hmm?"
"Sorry, I was just wondering how you know so much about this. I mean, taking care of wounds and how they are caused and such. You were immediately able to tell that the blade which caused this was not a regular one, just from examining the injury."
Strapping down the final bandage, she dusted off her hands and helped Tao to sit up comfortably before she answered with a mock lofty tone.
"I, unlike you, have not only been taught of battle and use of weaponry, but also medical aid, which is apparent. I was taught the various properties of metals, their possible combinations to form the most rigid battle arms and also which were most lethal to the human body. Along with this, from learning of their effects, I also was taught how to treat wounds caused by these types of weaponry, and which aids and medication processes were required for the fastest and most effective recovery. So as you can see Tao, you have a lot to learn from me."
With that last sentence, Mei stuck out her tongue playfully, before gathering all the lotions and salves used and replacing them neatly in the bathroom. Returning, she found Tao sitting cross legged on the bed, clenching and un-clenching his fists, brows deeply furrowed and lips tightly pursed in a thin line. Rushing towards him, she took his hands in hers once again and unfolded his fingers.
"Tao?"
He looked straight into her eyes, pain and helplessness visible in his own.
"Mei...what do I do? This, this wound...is it fatal? I mean right at the moment I can hardly twist my body around halfway without it feeling like daggers are stabbing at me from every angle. I trust that you've treated it well but, being who I am an injury such as this one is nothing but a burden."
Mei nodded slowly
"I understand. But, Tao, exactly what happened yesterday? I still can't grasp why someone would launch such an attack out of the blue."
Tao looked down again
"I don't know either...and I now know that the person I trusted most next to my parents and brothers was a traitor. He taught me everything I know today, fed me the knowledge that provided the nutrients for my growth and development, and now I find out that he is a complete traitor and wants me dead? It's a lot to take in within one day."
"Would you mind retelling exactly what happened? Do not leave out a single detail, anything could be crucial."
With this, Tao began to retell the events of the previous day from the very beginning, his entrance to the library, to when his professor decided to hold the day's lessons outside for a change, to when they took the back door to the secluded area of the garden, to when the girl appeared from out of the foliage, to where Professor Jang had that girls hair with such familiarity, to the mention of a plan. The plan. What plan? Who planned it? Unfortunately Tao had been well and truly defeated before he was able to force the girl to provide him with straight answers.
"She also told me that she was doing this against her will, but that she must because an order was an order and must be undertaken regardless. Finally, before she took her leave she said that she had gone easy on me and would not next time. That is what worries me, she said next time, which means that she is still out there and knows where to target me. Mei, my whole family is in danger. This battle was fought in my garden."
Mei's delicate features were clouded with thought.
"What worries me is not the girl herself, but who is in control of the girl. If she said that this was against her will, and part of a plan, there must be someone with ultimate control, with more pieces to play. How did she present herself? As in, how did she dress? It may give some insight to her background."
Tao thought back, trying to visualise the girl and her clothing. It was too bad that for most of the time she was chasing him around armed with a long blade.
"Well, her clothes were dark, so a dark linen shirt with tight black pants. Her boots seemed to be made of a very sturdy leather and were well worn."
He paused for a second to think, before continuing.
"Oh, I remember she also had many piercings up one ear and carried many weapons strapped to herself. Her long blade strapped to her back while her short sword and daggers hung at her belt."
Mei's eyes widened. There was only one bloodline who openly displayed their power and capability as Tao had described this girl to. Wearing that many weapon arms in public, ears pierced up all the way, meant that this girl was trouble.
"Tao......this girl. You are right, your family is indeed in danger if she knows your residency."
His brows furrowed
"How are you so certain?"
She looked up and their eyes locked
"She's a hunter Tao. I'm not sure if that means anything to you, but that also explains why her fighting abilities surpass both yours and mine. In fact, she is most likely capable of more than you and I combined can do."
Tao's eyes narrowed to slits, but Mei carried on
"As for the bigger picture, we have no lead on who your professor really is, or who is the puppet master in this scenario...but I am sure that the girl will stick to her word. She will be back."
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A/N: So I'm starting another story ^^ haha it would be awesome if you guys could check it out ! It's going to be really different from this one though.
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