![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lucathiaSadly, for both Day 8 and Day 9, I didn't reach 1,667 words but only wrote a little more than 1000 each day. 1k is a nice, comfortable word count for me. 1.6k is apparently not. Of course, I blame Day 9's word count on Legend of Sun Knight volume 8 (and my unwillingness to put it down).
I finished reading it. In a matter of hours. :'D (I am bursting in fondness for Adair, ahhhhh. And well, LSK in general *needs to fangirl, but, no one to talk about the last volume with, omg*)
But I did manage to finally finish writing chapter 1 of Lhordata. And sort of plan the next chapters. Not sure how many chapters I'll need... the pacing of this story is so slow.
(Hm, LJ is doing something funky to my layout...)
Prologue
Lhordata
Chapter 1
~5857 words
Even without a map, Tekatme knew exactly which direction the town of Lhordata was. His nose told him everything he needed to know, and that everything included the fact that he wasn't going to like the town any better than before, just like he had expected.
As he walked, his nose twitched. The next breath he took almost made him double over, his two tufts of hair on the sides of his head twitching as he planted his face in his palm in a sad attempt to block off the smell.
The stench of fish was so strong! The smell was only marginally more bearable than the smell of the harbor town he'd passed by during his travels, but Tekatme still couldn't stand it. It was growing stronger and stronger the closer he got to town.
Tekatme tried pinching his nose instead, breathing out of his mouth. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. He'd passed by Lhordata during his town-hopping and had considered not even setting foot inside of the town because the place had stunk of fish. At the time, he had been tired and hungry though. So he'd gone in. Absentmindedly, he'd heard someone welcome him to the town of Lhordata.
Maybe the guy in charge was called Ata, Tekatme had thought. And he was narcissistic enough to name the place after himself.
Therefore, Lord Ata.
What a terrible choice it was - not the name, mind, because Tekatme couldn't care less what people wanted to name their towns and villages. What a terrible choice, setting foot inside the town. His hunger had rendered him senseless. If he had all of his marbles with him - not that he even owned any marbles, but that wasn't the point - he'd never have considered walking to his doom. It'd have been smarter to skip town, but Tekatme had long accepted that he wasn't all that smart.
Even after entering town, the stink of fish hadn't lessened at all. He didn't know why he'd thought it might get better. Logically, the closer he got, the worse the smell should be, and he'd walked right into the pit.
He'd spent the entire time in the town with his nose pinched, barely able to smell anything over the horrid stench of fish, rendering him with one less of his senses available to him. When he'd gone to one of the taverns, hoping to be able to order some real food, he'd been completely and utterly appalled to discover there was nothing but fish on the menu, from trout to bass to stuff he couldn't even name. He'd randomly ordered something that didn't sound like fish - he really should've asked what it was first - but of course it was fish.
A nightmare. That was the only way he could've described his time in town. Needless to say, he got himself out of there as quickly as he could. Which meant he'd probably only stayed in town for at most an hour. Tops. Without, you know, making any acquaintances.
So why was this old granny talking to him like she knew him? He should be pretty much a nobody to everyone in town. This was his second time here, yeah, but he'd gotten himself out so quickly that no one should've remembered him. He definitely did not know any white-haired old grannies. Or any old grannies, white-haired or not.
"Dearie, there you are, I've been looking for you," the old granny pretty much croaked, voice cracking in the way only people who'd overused their voices when young spoke. Or something. What did Tekatme know? The fact was, she croaked when she spoke, and she looked like she was going to you know, croak. The limbs underneath her patched sleeves were thin as sticks. Bony. Like some dried up fruit. Shriveled plums or something. She wobbled when she walked, back hunched, her feet barely lifting off the floor, scraping across the dirt ground, leaving behind scuffle marks. She was dragging a ridiculous sack of fruits and vegetables behind her that was completely weighing her down and making her even more hunched-back than she probably was. That sack was leaving its own mark on the ground. If it weren't for that heavy sack of groceries, the old granny looked like a strong wind could blow her right off the ground. It also looked like that heavy sack of fruits and vegetables would be the end of her with how she struggled with it.
Tekatme scowled, revealing sharp teeth, but he moved forward and grabbed the old granny's fruits and veggies, hefting the lumpy sack over his shoulders in one swift motion. He shifted the weight of the sack a bit to prevent a stray fruit from rolling out. The old granny didn't become any taller after he relieved her of her sack, but she smiled a wide, toothless smile at him, eyes squinting so much that Tekatme doubted whether or not she could actually see him.
Maybe she really couldn't see him all that well. It'd explain a lot.
"Which way?" Tekatme asked with a stuffy voice, the kind you had when you were sick with a stuffy nose. Because he still had his nose pinched with his other hand.
"My cottage, dearie."
Tekatme obviously didn't know where that was, having never been there before.
"Surely you have a better memory than that?" The old granny continued in that croaking voice of hers. She was doing a passable imitation of what a frog might sound like. Tekatme hadn't a clue what she was on about, but the old granny finally extended one shaking hand, bony finger pointing towards some direction away from the marketplace, and off they went, even as she mumbled something about how young'uns these days had such bad memory.
Lord, was she mistaking him for her grandson or something? It sure sounded like she thought she knew him.
He peered down at her.
She didn't even reach his chest. She was so tiny and shriveled. He had to slow his steps down by a whole lot to make sure the shuffling red blob next to him - seriously, she looked like she was wearing a large red bag as a dress - could keep up with him. Even then, Tekatme wondered if it wasn't faster to throw her over his shoulder too, but the townspeople would most likely freak out at that. It was probably a cardinal sin to toss someone's grandma over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes regardless of how much quicker their trip would've been had he done it.
While they walked at their ridiculously slow pace, Tekatme thought he felt people staring at him. It wasn't a feeling he liked. He definitely heard giggles. Discretely, he tried to see who was laughing at him, but all he saw were some women who waved at him when they noticed he was looking at them. The men who were bustling around weren't participating in the giggling, but many of them did salute Tekatme before they went back to whatever it was they were doing.
Strange.
Distractedly, Tekatme listened to the old granny chatter away about her day and what bargains she'd managed to weasel out of the townspeople. There was this merchant who sold his apples by half dozens, but she had somehow talked him into giving her two dozen apples for the price of a dozen and a half. Lord, that was some skill, and wait, two dozen apples were in this sack, squished between who knew what else was in it? No wonder it was hefty! Did she really think she'd be able to carry this by herself? Tekatme shifted the sack to make sure it wouldn't slide off his shoulder in his gait.
The old granny's anecdotes were followed by dry cackles, making Tekatme think that maybe she wasn't as defenseless as she appeared. She certainly could talk her way around people, and if that didn't work, all she had to do was turn on the poor, defenseless granny look. Lord, look how ensnared Tekatme was!
"Bless you," the old granny said when they arrived in front of her porch. "Just put them over there, dearie."
Dearie. Tekatme shuddered, his dratted hair quivering along with him. Lord was he glad that his dad and sis never took to pet names. Still, he dropped the hefty sack of apples and whatever else was in the sack on the porch. The wood groaned under the weight of the two dozen, hard-earned apples.
"You sure you don't need me to, I dunno, lug them inside for you?" Tekatme asked while eying the lumpy sack. He dropped his hand from his nose. The scent of fish was a little less severe in this part of town, though Tekatme could still smell it if he breathed in deeply.
Or maybe he was just getting used to it.
He shivered at that thought.
"You've been a mighty help already, dearie. Once again, I owe my thanks to you. Now run off and play, dearie. You must have a lot more to do than keeping these old bones company." The old granny dug through the sack, face lighting up as she pulled out an apple. Surely finding an apple out of the two dozen that were in the sack wasn't hard enough of a task to warrant such a delightful smile?
Tekatme wrinkled his nose once he realized that she'd told him to go off and play. She was totally treating him like a little kid! Even if he was a kid compared to her age, he was still almost out of his teens. That wasn't so little anymore, and he was going to turn twenty soon too.
He bid her farewell and didn't even give more than a passing thought to how strange that "once again" was. When she tossed the large apple at him, Tekatme easily caught it - even though it fell short - and was more afraid that the old granny would tumble over from throwing so hard. He'd moved forward without even thinking about it, heaving a sigh of relief when she righted herself and smiled up at him with her toothless grin, eyes squinting into lines.
-----
After shining the sort-of-orange apple on his shirt - was this apple trying to be an orange or what? - Tekatme bit into the fruit that had an identity crisis. It was mostly sweet, just a little tart, and juicy. Also crunchy. Not bad. He took another bite as he sauntered down the street to find an inn for himself. The taste of the apple helped him forget the smell of fish that hung around town.
Just for a bit.
Even though Lhordata was considered Veline's neighboring town, the town wasn't actually all that close. It'd taken Tekatme three weeks to reach the place by foot, and he'd traveled at a quick pace. It'd have been a lot smarter to travel by raft, since a river did conveniently flow through Veline and would bring Tekatme fairly close to Lhordata. Tekatme just trusted his two feet a lot more than some flimsy raft, so that travel method was out.
Lhordata was a fishing town built near a huge lake. Seriously, a huge lake. As in, Tekatme couldn't see the other side of the lake, and it'd probably take him more than a day to walk around the entire perimeter of the lake, not that he was going to do that for no reason. He didn't have that much leisure time on his hands! At the moment, he could see that there were a lot of canoes out in the water, fishing poles everywhere, thin black lines like legs of a sprawling spider.
Fishing? Certainly not Tekatme's ideal for a pastime or a career.
Giggles continued to follow him, much like what had happened when he had that old granny's sack of apples and vegetables over his shoulders, but now he wasn't being altruistic and helping an old granny out anymore, nor was he pinching his nose, so what the lord were they laughing at now? Was watching someone take a bite out of an apple that entertaining to them? Was this how they treated visitors to their town? If it was, Tekatme sure didn't like their idea of a welcome party.
Tekatme turned, eyes narrowed. He bit down on his apple. Hard. It made his teeth smart.
The giggling women only giggled harder. He really did not appreciate being laughed at.
The one in closest proximity approached him without a care for his glare. She was decked in a subdued blue dress that reached past her knees, but her voice was anything but subdued. "Dear sir, you look different today!" she exclaimed exuberantly, red head bobbing as she talked. She had a woven basket perched on top of her head that bobbed along with her, stabilized by her right arm. The basket was filled with various vegetables.
The other women caught up to the one in the front. There were a total of four of them, including the first one that'd spoken. Two redheads, one blonde, and one brunette. Another one of the redheads spoke. She also had a basket on her head. Her basket was filled with solely onions. So that was where the smell was coming from.
"Oh yes, I think it must be your hair. It's more, how should I say it...wild? I like the look. You should wear your hair like that more often," said Onion Lady. When she nodded to herself, the onions in her basket threatened to tumble out.
Okay, so he could excuse the old granny for having bad eyesight and for possibly having a muddled memory, but these women had no such excuse! The oldest one of them, Onion Lady, looked to be no more than ten to twenty years older than him, her faces free from deep wrinkles, though he could see faint hints of lines around her mouth and eyes. Laughter lines. No doubt from giggling too much. None of these women were old enough to become addle-minded, and they looked like they were in full possession of their wits, other than the fact that they were crushing their skulls with heavy baskets.
Blue Dress Lady smiled a smile that stretched across her face. She looked positively delighted despite Tekatme's scowl. She couldn't be too far from his age, except she kept calling him sir as if he were some old man. "Very dashing, dear sir, if I must say, especially when you are usually so prim and proper!"
"Lord, what are the lot of you on?" Tekatme finally spluttered, flabbergasted at how they just kept on going and going as if they knew him. As if he was supposed to know them too. Was this some elaborate joke or what? First with the old granny, now with these women... He really shouldn't have stepped foot into town. The stench of fish was a warning of the townspeople's insanity. This suddenly made a whole lot of sense.
Onion Lady giggled. "Oh, don't be such a prat! Come join us! It's a beautiful day. There's no need for you to mar your young, pretty face with wrinkles from scowling too much. A walk will do you some good."
Both of Tekatme's eyebrows shot up. He bristled. She had got to be kidding him. "What the lord? Pretty face? I did not just hear you say that."
The entire group of women dissolved into giggles. The vegetables and fruits in their baskets rolled around.
Tekatme was not amused. Not. Amused.
"My, dear sir, are you unhappy that we have not reminded you of your dashing looks often enough?" piped Blue Dress Lady mischievously. "We will strive to do so daily from now on."
"Look, I think you have the wrong person," Tekatme said as calmly as he could. That, for Tekatme, was an impressive feat, though it wasn't thanks to his control. He was actually too confused to react in any other way. It was like he'd walked into a town where everyone was conspiring against him, except they were doing it in such a saccharine way, chatting him up like they were long-time friends, most likely so they could throw him off balance and strike when he was most unaware. Whatever they were doing was working because he felt distinctively uncomfortable, like there was an itch he couldn't get to. He'd much rather have everything out in the open. That made things much easier to deal with.
He narrowed his eyes once more.
"Oh, don't get angry and pretend that you don't know us!" exclaimed Onion Lady.
Basket cases. They were all basket cases.
-----
No matter how much Tekatme tried to explain to the four women that he didn't know them, they refused to believe him and thought him to be joking. They then began to treat his denials like a game. One of the other women, the blonde, started spinning some ludicrous tale about how gallant he had been when he saved her from slipping into a pool of mud - while Tekatme wasn't going to go around and let women fall face first into mud (his sister had drilled some propriety into him, though it would be a funny sight to see) he certainly did not remember ever saving this particular woman, who was now Mud Lady in his mind, from that fate. He told her as much, only to cause Onion Lady to slap him on the back for being so humble about his good deeds.
He coughed from her hearty slap, and her basket teetered over from the force she'd used, onions happily rolling down the dirt path. Tekatme gave up on explaining himself and helped the women chase down the wayward onions. For each onion that he forcefully tossed back into the basket, the women would be reminded of another time when he'd helped them and what a nice and polite young man he was. It was all little things, like helping them carry a basket, finding something they'd lost, and so forth (the one that made him laugh in disbelief was the one where he'd gone fishing with them and helped them catch a large fish. If nothing else, that told him they definitely had the wrong guy), but they really appreciated him and hoped that more men in town could be like him, or that more boys will grow up like him.
Him, nice and polite? They were seriously mistaking him for someone else. And he'd never have gone fishing with them. Were they out of their minds? But after bonding over onions, Tekatme found himself walking alongside the five women who all sported baskets on their heads, listening to them chitchat. He glanced over the brunette, the quietest in the group, but her hair was too short for her to be who he was looking for, not unless she'd decided to cut her hair. It only came to her shoulders. She didn't appear very confident either, the complete opposite of what he'd expect from Veline's leader, so she was most likely not it.
The brunette fidgeted and glanced through her eyelashes at him with deep brown eyes, eyebrows bunched together. Tekatme decided she looked mousey, so she was therefore, Mouse Lady.
"Dear sir, if you stare at her any more deeply, you will make her blush!" exclaimed Blue Dress Lady.
Immediately, Tekatme scowled, and a blush spread across Mouse Lady's face thanks to Blue Dress Lady's words. It was in no way Tekatme's fault. It was more the Blue Dress Lady's fault. "I wasn't staring!" He protested and then decided this was as good a time as any other to start making inquiries. "I was just wondering if any of you know of a Lady Tokara? I heard that she's supposed to be in town."
Onion Lady hummed, her white dress swishing about her legs. "Can't say I've heard the name before."
"Is she your lover, dear sir?" gasped Blue Dress Lady, eyes lighting up at the potential piece of juicy gossip. "Is that why you're looking for her?"
"No," Tekatme gritted out, regretting he'd even asked.
They refused to let it go though and kept badgering him for more information, yet they were no help to him with figuring out Lady Tokara's whereabouts. They giggled and tossed out random names about who might possibly be this "Lady Tokara", but hadn't he already told them that he was searching for Lady Tokara? They took to pointing at various females, eagerly asking him "Is that her? Oh, oh, is that her?"
Lord were they annoying busybodies who were clearly making fun of him. He could smell the amusement oozing off of them, mixed in with the scent of onions that was radiating from Onion Lady's basket. Still, he glanced at each female they pointed out. While there were a few brunettes among them, none of them looked to be the right age, with the right physical features. She was supposed to be in her early thirties or thereabouts, was what Tekatme had been told. Lord, this was impossible. His captain really should've been the one to come to drag Lady Tokara back to Veline! Tekatme hadn't ever met her before and didn't even know her scent. How was he supposed to find her?
He scowled some more.
Mud Lady sighed. "It seems we're no longer enough to hold your attention. Here I was so fond of the days when you would lend me a handkerchief whenever I needed one. You were such a gentleman! Has that Tokara gal bewitched you so much that you no longer have eyes for us?"
Tekatme twitched and reminded himself that really, the person he should be annoyed at was Captain Akatkai for sending him here in the first place. Getting frustrated over four giggling women wouldn't help him one bit.
If he repeated that enough, maybe he'd start believing it.
Onion Lady thumped him on the back again.
Or maybe not.
-----
After the other three women left - not before Mouse Lady regarded him with furrowed eyebrows but still left without saying a word - Tekatme found himself helping the husband of Onion Lady paint their house. He was totally being pulled in with their flow. What the lord was he doing? This wasn't helping with his search!
Seriously, one thing led to the next, and now he had white paint on his cheeks and hands. Hands that smelled like onions. The smell was going to be a pain to get rid of.
"It's great to see you about!" the husband said jovially. Much like Onion Lady - lord, were they perfect for each other with how similar they were in the way they expressed their affection - he thumped Tekatme heartily on the back, causing the paint from Tekatme's bucket to slosh over the side. Lord, now his shoes were white too. Could someone magic them back to black for him please? The splotches weren't doing his shoes any favors. Someone might even think he was a fan of cows.
"Haven't seen you around for a few days," the husband continued to say as he moved his brush up and down the wall. The white paint was a stark contrast to the husband's dark blue hair that was closer to black than blue.
Lord, of course he hadn't seen him around. Tekatme had only just arrived in town today.
"I thought it was because you'd gotten hurt. Heard there was a pretty bad scuffle near the town center the other day. Thought you might've been involved."
While it was true that Tekatme could often be found in the midst of a scuffle, he hadn't been involved in this particular one for obvious reasons. The more these people spoke, the more confused Tekatme became because they sounded so sure that he was who they thought he was, but he was most certainly not.
What the lord was going on? Was there some guy out there who looked exactly like Tekatme? The opposite wasn't worth considering, really, because it would be silly.
"I wasn't involved," Tekatme said.
"Good to hear. You stay out of trouble. Wouldn't want to see my wife's favorite youngster get hurt!" the husband said.
They painted in companionable silence, or at least that was what the husband must've felt, but Tekatme just thought the whole thing to be strange. He'd come to Lhordata to find Lady Tokara. He wasn't here to help random townspeople who were totally mistaking him for someone else, some goody two-shoes from the sound of things.
The reason Onion Lady had asked him to help paint, however, was because the husband had a bad back and couldn't reach the top parts of the building. The task was a cinch for Tekatme. He leapt up the tree that was next to the building, clinging on to the branches. Safely positioned, he finished painting the parts that were out of reach for the husband. After he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and started on his way down the tree, a cool and refreshing breeze tickled his face. Thankfully, it didn't bring with it the smell of fish.
As thanks, Onion Lady gave him some onions.
"Onions? No thanks," he said bluntly, nose wrinkling from the smell when he tried to rub his nose. His hands already stunk of onions and paint. It wasn't like he planned on cooking during his stay in town either, so he really had no use for onions even if he had saved those very same onions from rolling away to their deaths and therefore should have a claim on them.
He'd be better off without them, really.
-----
Hands full of onions, Tekatme continued on his way. At least they smelled strongly enough for him to forget the smell of fish.
He was still considering that maybe those four women, the husband of Onion Lady, and the old granny were all in together on some big conspiracy to make fun of Tekatme, but when he wandered through the marketplace, asking people to direct him to an inn, the townspeople happily directed him and talked to him as if they were acquaintances. A woman waved hello and thanked him for the other day, something about saving her from a thief. A man grinned at him and told him that they should spar again soon - that made a lot more sense to Tekatme, all except for the fact that the man mentioned "again" - and that he looked forward to it.
Bemused, Tekatme continued on his way to the inn.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" came a high pitched scream.
Without a second thought, Tekatme acted, breathing in deeply to let his nose lead him to the scream (but almost choking when all he smelled was onions). Perhaps he was not so different from whoever they were mistaking him for.
Or perhaps he was just itching for a fight.
-----
The scene he came upon made him grimace, and the stench of fear was strong in the air, strong enough to combat the stench of fish that perpetuated the town, as well as the heavy smell of onions that was clinging onto him. He couldn't pinpoint who was feeling what, but the crowds' emotions all piled onto him and made his adrenaline rush.
"Look, I said I'm sorry!" exclaimed a girl who looked like she could be no older than ten, cheeks round, green eyes impossibly huge. A large, rough-looking man was pulling her up by her thick ponytail, and from the look on her face, he could tell she was in pain, water leaking out the corners of her eyes. Tendrils of her light brown hair had fallen out of her ponytail to frame her chubby face. She struggled and kicked and writhed about, feet flailing off the ground, her hair in disarray from the thug's rough handling, bangs tangled. She swung back, giving the man a good kick to the knees.
That, at least, was satisfying to see. Too bad it only made the thug wince for a mere second.
Before the man could punish the green-eyed girl for kicking him, Tekatme threw an onion at the guy, smacking him on the shoulder. The large man blinked and stared in disbelief at the dented onion that had fallen to the ground.
"Is that...an onion?" someone murmured.
The large man's face pulled together in anger.
"Who dares to throw an onion at-"
Onions cradled in one hand, Tekatme pushed past the crowd who hadn't yet been able to react to what was happening in front of them. With the crowd a blur to his eyes, Tekatme drew his katana-still-in-its-scabbard from his side with his right hand, red sash fluttering backwards in his forward motion, and thwacked each of the man's beefy arms with the scabbard. Tekatme saw the guy's eyes widen as he was forced to drop the girl, face contorting in pain, but before the man could get himself back together, Tekatme rammed the guy in stomach with his hilt, causing him to double over. He was truly your run-of-the-mill thug. Down in one hit. Or well, three, to be precise, but all the same to Tekatme. How boring.
The dropped girl landed silently on her feet, curling into a ball - for a second, Tekatme was scared she might've gotten hurt - before she stood up, one hand flying to rub at her scalp as she winced, but she otherwise looked and smelled unhurt, just startled. Still, Tekatme would feel a lot better if she got out of here.
"Get behind me," Tekatme snarled.
Right. And that was the way to get a frightened little girl to trust you. Threaten her by revealing your very sharp teeth. Very smart, Tekatme.
She stared up at him with those large eyes of hers, one hand woven between her light brown strands of hair. Lord, she was so young and seriously needed to get the lord out of here before she actually got hurt. Tekatme absolutely did not like seeing children get hurt. It was like, you know, seeing puppies get kicked or something! It was just as bad and maybe even worse than throwing someone's grandma over your shoulder!
He hated fights like this one. It wasn't even a proper fight.
When the man with the beefy arms pulled himself back up and moved as if to snatch the girl again, Tekatme made the girl's decision for her. With his right arm, katana clutched in hand - this was going to take some maneuvering - he quickly squished her against him with the onions between them and leapt back. Depositing her on the ground, Tekatme stepped in front of her and angled his elbow off to the side - onions still cradled against his chest - to keep her behind him.
"Stay back," Tekatme growled. He didn't know whether he was telling the girl to stay behind him, or the thug to stay away. Probably both, though he was confident that he could give the thug a thorough enough beating (without even dropping his onions) that he wouldn't ever think of pulling on a little girl's hair anymore. Wasn't this guy too old for something like this? He probably didn't have a nagging older sister to put him on the right path.
Around him, the crowd cheered as if he were a hero.
"He did it again!"
"What a brave, young man!"
All right, whoever they were all mistaking him for was damn well liked. Usually whenever he got into a fight, people regarded him as dangerous - it didn't matter whether or not he was being helpful - but now they all thought him a hero. Differential treatment or what.
"You shouldn't pick on girls like that!" Someone yelled at the thug.
The large man clenched his fists but contained his anger. He glared at Tekatme and then directed his glare at Tekatme's waist.
Tekatme looked down.
Ah.
He was glaring at the little girl.
Tekatme elbowed her, trying to get her to stay behind him. He could now feel a small hand twist the ends of his shirt. That made something inside him twist too.
"Scram." Tekatme bared his teeth at the man.
The man snorted, eyes darting across the disapproving crowd before he roughly pushed his way past them, the townspeople's murmurings following his departure. They would all remember him as someone who was despicable enough to pick on a little girl.
When Tekatme turned, he fully thought he would be dealing with a little girl on the verge of tears, but instead he found himself barreled over, the onions he'd tried so hard to save tumbling out of his grasp, landing around his feet. Lord, what a waste of his efforts. Instead of onions, his arms were now full of a trembling little girl who was holding something in her left hand that was unbearably close and it was, it was...
His nose twitched.
Oh lord no.
"What are you holding?" Tekatme asked, voice level despite having a little girl clinging onto him with a death grip. Despite what he was now smelling.
"A fish on a stick," the little girl replied while she shook, her long ponytail trembling. "He caught me before I could eat it."
"G-Get that out of my face!" he almost screamed. Or maybe he did scream. He could've tossed the girl right then and there, but she was clinging onto him like a koala and she was shaking and clearly in need of comfort but it stunk of fried fish and sauce and wait was that mirth he smelled?
"You're laughing," Tekatme said in disbelief. "You're laughing."
"I knew you'd come save me, Tekatme!" the girl chirped, leaning back to look up at him with mischievous emerald green eyes. She brought her hand up and bit into that lord forbidden fish right in front of his face, juice dabbling her lips before her tongue darted out to clean it up. She had somehow managed to keep that fish on a stick in her hand even while the thug was threatening her.
But despite how much Tekatme hated fish, that wasn't what concerned him at the moment. He'd stiffened and narrowed his eyes at her, but she stared at him unwaveringly with those large green eyes of hers. She tilted her head to the side and blinked up at him, her long, high ponytail dusting across the floor. That wasn't going to work on him!
Until the crowd around them started murmuring.
Tekatme could not believe what he was hearing.
"Knew Tekatme would come to save the day."
"So dependable, that Tekatme!"
How the lord did they all know his name?
He pushed the little girl away from him forcefully, eyes narrowed as he scanned the townspeople in distrust, but none of them looked shifty, like they were hiding anything. Even when he breathed in, they smelled sincere in their praise.
It could only mean one thing.
-----
to be continued
Chapter 2
I finished reading it. In a matter of hours. :'D (I am bursting in fondness for Adair, ahhhhh. And well, LSK in general *needs to fangirl, but, no one to talk about the last volume with, omg*)
But I did manage to finally finish writing chapter 1 of Lhordata. And sort of plan the next chapters. Not sure how many chapters I'll need... the pacing of this story is so slow.
(Hm, LJ is doing something funky to my layout...)
Prologue
Lhordata
Chapter 1
~5857 words
Even without a map, Tekatme knew exactly which direction the town of Lhordata was. His nose told him everything he needed to know, and that everything included the fact that he wasn't going to like the town any better than before, just like he had expected.
As he walked, his nose twitched. The next breath he took almost made him double over, his two tufts of hair on the sides of his head twitching as he planted his face in his palm in a sad attempt to block off the smell.
The stench of fish was so strong! The smell was only marginally more bearable than the smell of the harbor town he'd passed by during his travels, but Tekatme still couldn't stand it. It was growing stronger and stronger the closer he got to town.
Tekatme tried pinching his nose instead, breathing out of his mouth. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. He'd passed by Lhordata during his town-hopping and had considered not even setting foot inside of the town because the place had stunk of fish. At the time, he had been tired and hungry though. So he'd gone in. Absentmindedly, he'd heard someone welcome him to the town of Lhordata.
Maybe the guy in charge was called Ata, Tekatme had thought. And he was narcissistic enough to name the place after himself.
Therefore, Lord Ata.
What a terrible choice it was - not the name, mind, because Tekatme couldn't care less what people wanted to name their towns and villages. What a terrible choice, setting foot inside the town. His hunger had rendered him senseless. If he had all of his marbles with him - not that he even owned any marbles, but that wasn't the point - he'd never have considered walking to his doom. It'd have been smarter to skip town, but Tekatme had long accepted that he wasn't all that smart.
Even after entering town, the stink of fish hadn't lessened at all. He didn't know why he'd thought it might get better. Logically, the closer he got, the worse the smell should be, and he'd walked right into the pit.
He'd spent the entire time in the town with his nose pinched, barely able to smell anything over the horrid stench of fish, rendering him with one less of his senses available to him. When he'd gone to one of the taverns, hoping to be able to order some real food, he'd been completely and utterly appalled to discover there was nothing but fish on the menu, from trout to bass to stuff he couldn't even name. He'd randomly ordered something that didn't sound like fish - he really should've asked what it was first - but of course it was fish.
A nightmare. That was the only way he could've described his time in town. Needless to say, he got himself out of there as quickly as he could. Which meant he'd probably only stayed in town for at most an hour. Tops. Without, you know, making any acquaintances.
So why was this old granny talking to him like she knew him? He should be pretty much a nobody to everyone in town. This was his second time here, yeah, but he'd gotten himself out so quickly that no one should've remembered him. He definitely did not know any white-haired old grannies. Or any old grannies, white-haired or not.
"Dearie, there you are, I've been looking for you," the old granny pretty much croaked, voice cracking in the way only people who'd overused their voices when young spoke. Or something. What did Tekatme know? The fact was, she croaked when she spoke, and she looked like she was going to you know, croak. The limbs underneath her patched sleeves were thin as sticks. Bony. Like some dried up fruit. Shriveled plums or something. She wobbled when she walked, back hunched, her feet barely lifting off the floor, scraping across the dirt ground, leaving behind scuffle marks. She was dragging a ridiculous sack of fruits and vegetables behind her that was completely weighing her down and making her even more hunched-back than she probably was. That sack was leaving its own mark on the ground. If it weren't for that heavy sack of groceries, the old granny looked like a strong wind could blow her right off the ground. It also looked like that heavy sack of fruits and vegetables would be the end of her with how she struggled with it.
Tekatme scowled, revealing sharp teeth, but he moved forward and grabbed the old granny's fruits and veggies, hefting the lumpy sack over his shoulders in one swift motion. He shifted the weight of the sack a bit to prevent a stray fruit from rolling out. The old granny didn't become any taller after he relieved her of her sack, but she smiled a wide, toothless smile at him, eyes squinting so much that Tekatme doubted whether or not she could actually see him.
Maybe she really couldn't see him all that well. It'd explain a lot.
"Which way?" Tekatme asked with a stuffy voice, the kind you had when you were sick with a stuffy nose. Because he still had his nose pinched with his other hand.
"My cottage, dearie."
Tekatme obviously didn't know where that was, having never been there before.
"Surely you have a better memory than that?" The old granny continued in that croaking voice of hers. She was doing a passable imitation of what a frog might sound like. Tekatme hadn't a clue what she was on about, but the old granny finally extended one shaking hand, bony finger pointing towards some direction away from the marketplace, and off they went, even as she mumbled something about how young'uns these days had such bad memory.
Lord, was she mistaking him for her grandson or something? It sure sounded like she thought she knew him.
He peered down at her.
She didn't even reach his chest. She was so tiny and shriveled. He had to slow his steps down by a whole lot to make sure the shuffling red blob next to him - seriously, she looked like she was wearing a large red bag as a dress - could keep up with him. Even then, Tekatme wondered if it wasn't faster to throw her over his shoulder too, but the townspeople would most likely freak out at that. It was probably a cardinal sin to toss someone's grandma over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes regardless of how much quicker their trip would've been had he done it.
While they walked at their ridiculously slow pace, Tekatme thought he felt people staring at him. It wasn't a feeling he liked. He definitely heard giggles. Discretely, he tried to see who was laughing at him, but all he saw were some women who waved at him when they noticed he was looking at them. The men who were bustling around weren't participating in the giggling, but many of them did salute Tekatme before they went back to whatever it was they were doing.
Strange.
Distractedly, Tekatme listened to the old granny chatter away about her day and what bargains she'd managed to weasel out of the townspeople. There was this merchant who sold his apples by half dozens, but she had somehow talked him into giving her two dozen apples for the price of a dozen and a half. Lord, that was some skill, and wait, two dozen apples were in this sack, squished between who knew what else was in it? No wonder it was hefty! Did she really think she'd be able to carry this by herself? Tekatme shifted the sack to make sure it wouldn't slide off his shoulder in his gait.
The old granny's anecdotes were followed by dry cackles, making Tekatme think that maybe she wasn't as defenseless as she appeared. She certainly could talk her way around people, and if that didn't work, all she had to do was turn on the poor, defenseless granny look. Lord, look how ensnared Tekatme was!
"Bless you," the old granny said when they arrived in front of her porch. "Just put them over there, dearie."
Dearie. Tekatme shuddered, his dratted hair quivering along with him. Lord was he glad that his dad and sis never took to pet names. Still, he dropped the hefty sack of apples and whatever else was in the sack on the porch. The wood groaned under the weight of the two dozen, hard-earned apples.
"You sure you don't need me to, I dunno, lug them inside for you?" Tekatme asked while eying the lumpy sack. He dropped his hand from his nose. The scent of fish was a little less severe in this part of town, though Tekatme could still smell it if he breathed in deeply.
Or maybe he was just getting used to it.
He shivered at that thought.
"You've been a mighty help already, dearie. Once again, I owe my thanks to you. Now run off and play, dearie. You must have a lot more to do than keeping these old bones company." The old granny dug through the sack, face lighting up as she pulled out an apple. Surely finding an apple out of the two dozen that were in the sack wasn't hard enough of a task to warrant such a delightful smile?
Tekatme wrinkled his nose once he realized that she'd told him to go off and play. She was totally treating him like a little kid! Even if he was a kid compared to her age, he was still almost out of his teens. That wasn't so little anymore, and he was going to turn twenty soon too.
He bid her farewell and didn't even give more than a passing thought to how strange that "once again" was. When she tossed the large apple at him, Tekatme easily caught it - even though it fell short - and was more afraid that the old granny would tumble over from throwing so hard. He'd moved forward without even thinking about it, heaving a sigh of relief when she righted herself and smiled up at him with her toothless grin, eyes squinting into lines.
-----
After shining the sort-of-orange apple on his shirt - was this apple trying to be an orange or what? - Tekatme bit into the fruit that had an identity crisis. It was mostly sweet, just a little tart, and juicy. Also crunchy. Not bad. He took another bite as he sauntered down the street to find an inn for himself. The taste of the apple helped him forget the smell of fish that hung around town.
Just for a bit.
Even though Lhordata was considered Veline's neighboring town, the town wasn't actually all that close. It'd taken Tekatme three weeks to reach the place by foot, and he'd traveled at a quick pace. It'd have been a lot smarter to travel by raft, since a river did conveniently flow through Veline and would bring Tekatme fairly close to Lhordata. Tekatme just trusted his two feet a lot more than some flimsy raft, so that travel method was out.
Lhordata was a fishing town built near a huge lake. Seriously, a huge lake. As in, Tekatme couldn't see the other side of the lake, and it'd probably take him more than a day to walk around the entire perimeter of the lake, not that he was going to do that for no reason. He didn't have that much leisure time on his hands! At the moment, he could see that there were a lot of canoes out in the water, fishing poles everywhere, thin black lines like legs of a sprawling spider.
Fishing? Certainly not Tekatme's ideal for a pastime or a career.
Giggles continued to follow him, much like what had happened when he had that old granny's sack of apples and vegetables over his shoulders, but now he wasn't being altruistic and helping an old granny out anymore, nor was he pinching his nose, so what the lord were they laughing at now? Was watching someone take a bite out of an apple that entertaining to them? Was this how they treated visitors to their town? If it was, Tekatme sure didn't like their idea of a welcome party.
Tekatme turned, eyes narrowed. He bit down on his apple. Hard. It made his teeth smart.
The giggling women only giggled harder. He really did not appreciate being laughed at.
The one in closest proximity approached him without a care for his glare. She was decked in a subdued blue dress that reached past her knees, but her voice was anything but subdued. "Dear sir, you look different today!" she exclaimed exuberantly, red head bobbing as she talked. She had a woven basket perched on top of her head that bobbed along with her, stabilized by her right arm. The basket was filled with various vegetables.
The other women caught up to the one in the front. There were a total of four of them, including the first one that'd spoken. Two redheads, one blonde, and one brunette. Another one of the redheads spoke. She also had a basket on her head. Her basket was filled with solely onions. So that was where the smell was coming from.
"Oh yes, I think it must be your hair. It's more, how should I say it...wild? I like the look. You should wear your hair like that more often," said Onion Lady. When she nodded to herself, the onions in her basket threatened to tumble out.
Okay, so he could excuse the old granny for having bad eyesight and for possibly having a muddled memory, but these women had no such excuse! The oldest one of them, Onion Lady, looked to be no more than ten to twenty years older than him, her faces free from deep wrinkles, though he could see faint hints of lines around her mouth and eyes. Laughter lines. No doubt from giggling too much. None of these women were old enough to become addle-minded, and they looked like they were in full possession of their wits, other than the fact that they were crushing their skulls with heavy baskets.
Blue Dress Lady smiled a smile that stretched across her face. She looked positively delighted despite Tekatme's scowl. She couldn't be too far from his age, except she kept calling him sir as if he were some old man. "Very dashing, dear sir, if I must say, especially when you are usually so prim and proper!"
"Lord, what are the lot of you on?" Tekatme finally spluttered, flabbergasted at how they just kept on going and going as if they knew him. As if he was supposed to know them too. Was this some elaborate joke or what? First with the old granny, now with these women... He really shouldn't have stepped foot into town. The stench of fish was a warning of the townspeople's insanity. This suddenly made a whole lot of sense.
Onion Lady giggled. "Oh, don't be such a prat! Come join us! It's a beautiful day. There's no need for you to mar your young, pretty face with wrinkles from scowling too much. A walk will do you some good."
Both of Tekatme's eyebrows shot up. He bristled. She had got to be kidding him. "What the lord? Pretty face? I did not just hear you say that."
The entire group of women dissolved into giggles. The vegetables and fruits in their baskets rolled around.
Tekatme was not amused. Not. Amused.
"My, dear sir, are you unhappy that we have not reminded you of your dashing looks often enough?" piped Blue Dress Lady mischievously. "We will strive to do so daily from now on."
"Look, I think you have the wrong person," Tekatme said as calmly as he could. That, for Tekatme, was an impressive feat, though it wasn't thanks to his control. He was actually too confused to react in any other way. It was like he'd walked into a town where everyone was conspiring against him, except they were doing it in such a saccharine way, chatting him up like they were long-time friends, most likely so they could throw him off balance and strike when he was most unaware. Whatever they were doing was working because he felt distinctively uncomfortable, like there was an itch he couldn't get to. He'd much rather have everything out in the open. That made things much easier to deal with.
He narrowed his eyes once more.
"Oh, don't get angry and pretend that you don't know us!" exclaimed Onion Lady.
Basket cases. They were all basket cases.
-----
No matter how much Tekatme tried to explain to the four women that he didn't know them, they refused to believe him and thought him to be joking. They then began to treat his denials like a game. One of the other women, the blonde, started spinning some ludicrous tale about how gallant he had been when he saved her from slipping into a pool of mud - while Tekatme wasn't going to go around and let women fall face first into mud (his sister had drilled some propriety into him, though it would be a funny sight to see) he certainly did not remember ever saving this particular woman, who was now Mud Lady in his mind, from that fate. He told her as much, only to cause Onion Lady to slap him on the back for being so humble about his good deeds.
He coughed from her hearty slap, and her basket teetered over from the force she'd used, onions happily rolling down the dirt path. Tekatme gave up on explaining himself and helped the women chase down the wayward onions. For each onion that he forcefully tossed back into the basket, the women would be reminded of another time when he'd helped them and what a nice and polite young man he was. It was all little things, like helping them carry a basket, finding something they'd lost, and so forth (the one that made him laugh in disbelief was the one where he'd gone fishing with them and helped them catch a large fish. If nothing else, that told him they definitely had the wrong guy), but they really appreciated him and hoped that more men in town could be like him, or that more boys will grow up like him.
Him, nice and polite? They were seriously mistaking him for someone else. And he'd never have gone fishing with them. Were they out of their minds? But after bonding over onions, Tekatme found himself walking alongside the five women who all sported baskets on their heads, listening to them chitchat. He glanced over the brunette, the quietest in the group, but her hair was too short for her to be who he was looking for, not unless she'd decided to cut her hair. It only came to her shoulders. She didn't appear very confident either, the complete opposite of what he'd expect from Veline's leader, so she was most likely not it.
The brunette fidgeted and glanced through her eyelashes at him with deep brown eyes, eyebrows bunched together. Tekatme decided she looked mousey, so she was therefore, Mouse Lady.
"Dear sir, if you stare at her any more deeply, you will make her blush!" exclaimed Blue Dress Lady.
Immediately, Tekatme scowled, and a blush spread across Mouse Lady's face thanks to Blue Dress Lady's words. It was in no way Tekatme's fault. It was more the Blue Dress Lady's fault. "I wasn't staring!" He protested and then decided this was as good a time as any other to start making inquiries. "I was just wondering if any of you know of a Lady Tokara? I heard that she's supposed to be in town."
Onion Lady hummed, her white dress swishing about her legs. "Can't say I've heard the name before."
"Is she your lover, dear sir?" gasped Blue Dress Lady, eyes lighting up at the potential piece of juicy gossip. "Is that why you're looking for her?"
"No," Tekatme gritted out, regretting he'd even asked.
They refused to let it go though and kept badgering him for more information, yet they were no help to him with figuring out Lady Tokara's whereabouts. They giggled and tossed out random names about who might possibly be this "Lady Tokara", but hadn't he already told them that he was searching for Lady Tokara? They took to pointing at various females, eagerly asking him "Is that her? Oh, oh, is that her?"
Lord were they annoying busybodies who were clearly making fun of him. He could smell the amusement oozing off of them, mixed in with the scent of onions that was radiating from Onion Lady's basket. Still, he glanced at each female they pointed out. While there were a few brunettes among them, none of them looked to be the right age, with the right physical features. She was supposed to be in her early thirties or thereabouts, was what Tekatme had been told. Lord, this was impossible. His captain really should've been the one to come to drag Lady Tokara back to Veline! Tekatme hadn't ever met her before and didn't even know her scent. How was he supposed to find her?
He scowled some more.
Mud Lady sighed. "It seems we're no longer enough to hold your attention. Here I was so fond of the days when you would lend me a handkerchief whenever I needed one. You were such a gentleman! Has that Tokara gal bewitched you so much that you no longer have eyes for us?"
Tekatme twitched and reminded himself that really, the person he should be annoyed at was Captain Akatkai for sending him here in the first place. Getting frustrated over four giggling women wouldn't help him one bit.
If he repeated that enough, maybe he'd start believing it.
Onion Lady thumped him on the back again.
Or maybe not.
-----
After the other three women left - not before Mouse Lady regarded him with furrowed eyebrows but still left without saying a word - Tekatme found himself helping the husband of Onion Lady paint their house. He was totally being pulled in with their flow. What the lord was he doing? This wasn't helping with his search!
Seriously, one thing led to the next, and now he had white paint on his cheeks and hands. Hands that smelled like onions. The smell was going to be a pain to get rid of.
"It's great to see you about!" the husband said jovially. Much like Onion Lady - lord, were they perfect for each other with how similar they were in the way they expressed their affection - he thumped Tekatme heartily on the back, causing the paint from Tekatme's bucket to slosh over the side. Lord, now his shoes were white too. Could someone magic them back to black for him please? The splotches weren't doing his shoes any favors. Someone might even think he was a fan of cows.
"Haven't seen you around for a few days," the husband continued to say as he moved his brush up and down the wall. The white paint was a stark contrast to the husband's dark blue hair that was closer to black than blue.
Lord, of course he hadn't seen him around. Tekatme had only just arrived in town today.
"I thought it was because you'd gotten hurt. Heard there was a pretty bad scuffle near the town center the other day. Thought you might've been involved."
While it was true that Tekatme could often be found in the midst of a scuffle, he hadn't been involved in this particular one for obvious reasons. The more these people spoke, the more confused Tekatme became because they sounded so sure that he was who they thought he was, but he was most certainly not.
What the lord was going on? Was there some guy out there who looked exactly like Tekatme? The opposite wasn't worth considering, really, because it would be silly.
"I wasn't involved," Tekatme said.
"Good to hear. You stay out of trouble. Wouldn't want to see my wife's favorite youngster get hurt!" the husband said.
They painted in companionable silence, or at least that was what the husband must've felt, but Tekatme just thought the whole thing to be strange. He'd come to Lhordata to find Lady Tokara. He wasn't here to help random townspeople who were totally mistaking him for someone else, some goody two-shoes from the sound of things.
The reason Onion Lady had asked him to help paint, however, was because the husband had a bad back and couldn't reach the top parts of the building. The task was a cinch for Tekatme. He leapt up the tree that was next to the building, clinging on to the branches. Safely positioned, he finished painting the parts that were out of reach for the husband. After he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and started on his way down the tree, a cool and refreshing breeze tickled his face. Thankfully, it didn't bring with it the smell of fish.
As thanks, Onion Lady gave him some onions.
"Onions? No thanks," he said bluntly, nose wrinkling from the smell when he tried to rub his nose. His hands already stunk of onions and paint. It wasn't like he planned on cooking during his stay in town either, so he really had no use for onions even if he had saved those very same onions from rolling away to their deaths and therefore should have a claim on them.
He'd be better off without them, really.
-----
Hands full of onions, Tekatme continued on his way. At least they smelled strongly enough for him to forget the smell of fish.
He was still considering that maybe those four women, the husband of Onion Lady, and the old granny were all in together on some big conspiracy to make fun of Tekatme, but when he wandered through the marketplace, asking people to direct him to an inn, the townspeople happily directed him and talked to him as if they were acquaintances. A woman waved hello and thanked him for the other day, something about saving her from a thief. A man grinned at him and told him that they should spar again soon - that made a lot more sense to Tekatme, all except for the fact that the man mentioned "again" - and that he looked forward to it.
Bemused, Tekatme continued on his way to the inn.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" came a high pitched scream.
Without a second thought, Tekatme acted, breathing in deeply to let his nose lead him to the scream (but almost choking when all he smelled was onions). Perhaps he was not so different from whoever they were mistaking him for.
Or perhaps he was just itching for a fight.
-----
The scene he came upon made him grimace, and the stench of fear was strong in the air, strong enough to combat the stench of fish that perpetuated the town, as well as the heavy smell of onions that was clinging onto him. He couldn't pinpoint who was feeling what, but the crowds' emotions all piled onto him and made his adrenaline rush.
"Look, I said I'm sorry!" exclaimed a girl who looked like she could be no older than ten, cheeks round, green eyes impossibly huge. A large, rough-looking man was pulling her up by her thick ponytail, and from the look on her face, he could tell she was in pain, water leaking out the corners of her eyes. Tendrils of her light brown hair had fallen out of her ponytail to frame her chubby face. She struggled and kicked and writhed about, feet flailing off the ground, her hair in disarray from the thug's rough handling, bangs tangled. She swung back, giving the man a good kick to the knees.
That, at least, was satisfying to see. Too bad it only made the thug wince for a mere second.
Before the man could punish the green-eyed girl for kicking him, Tekatme threw an onion at the guy, smacking him on the shoulder. The large man blinked and stared in disbelief at the dented onion that had fallen to the ground.
"Is that...an onion?" someone murmured.
The large man's face pulled together in anger.
"Who dares to throw an onion at-"
Onions cradled in one hand, Tekatme pushed past the crowd who hadn't yet been able to react to what was happening in front of them. With the crowd a blur to his eyes, Tekatme drew his katana-still-in-its-scabbard from his side with his right hand, red sash fluttering backwards in his forward motion, and thwacked each of the man's beefy arms with the scabbard. Tekatme saw the guy's eyes widen as he was forced to drop the girl, face contorting in pain, but before the man could get himself back together, Tekatme rammed the guy in stomach with his hilt, causing him to double over. He was truly your run-of-the-mill thug. Down in one hit. Or well, three, to be precise, but all the same to Tekatme. How boring.
The dropped girl landed silently on her feet, curling into a ball - for a second, Tekatme was scared she might've gotten hurt - before she stood up, one hand flying to rub at her scalp as she winced, but she otherwise looked and smelled unhurt, just startled. Still, Tekatme would feel a lot better if she got out of here.
"Get behind me," Tekatme snarled.
Right. And that was the way to get a frightened little girl to trust you. Threaten her by revealing your very sharp teeth. Very smart, Tekatme.
She stared up at him with those large eyes of hers, one hand woven between her light brown strands of hair. Lord, she was so young and seriously needed to get the lord out of here before she actually got hurt. Tekatme absolutely did not like seeing children get hurt. It was like, you know, seeing puppies get kicked or something! It was just as bad and maybe even worse than throwing someone's grandma over your shoulder!
He hated fights like this one. It wasn't even a proper fight.
When the man with the beefy arms pulled himself back up and moved as if to snatch the girl again, Tekatme made the girl's decision for her. With his right arm, katana clutched in hand - this was going to take some maneuvering - he quickly squished her against him with the onions between them and leapt back. Depositing her on the ground, Tekatme stepped in front of her and angled his elbow off to the side - onions still cradled against his chest - to keep her behind him.
"Stay back," Tekatme growled. He didn't know whether he was telling the girl to stay behind him, or the thug to stay away. Probably both, though he was confident that he could give the thug a thorough enough beating (without even dropping his onions) that he wouldn't ever think of pulling on a little girl's hair anymore. Wasn't this guy too old for something like this? He probably didn't have a nagging older sister to put him on the right path.
Around him, the crowd cheered as if he were a hero.
"He did it again!"
"What a brave, young man!"
All right, whoever they were all mistaking him for was damn well liked. Usually whenever he got into a fight, people regarded him as dangerous - it didn't matter whether or not he was being helpful - but now they all thought him a hero. Differential treatment or what.
"You shouldn't pick on girls like that!" Someone yelled at the thug.
The large man clenched his fists but contained his anger. He glared at Tekatme and then directed his glare at Tekatme's waist.
Tekatme looked down.
Ah.
He was glaring at the little girl.
Tekatme elbowed her, trying to get her to stay behind him. He could now feel a small hand twist the ends of his shirt. That made something inside him twist too.
"Scram." Tekatme bared his teeth at the man.
The man snorted, eyes darting across the disapproving crowd before he roughly pushed his way past them, the townspeople's murmurings following his departure. They would all remember him as someone who was despicable enough to pick on a little girl.
When Tekatme turned, he fully thought he would be dealing with a little girl on the verge of tears, but instead he found himself barreled over, the onions he'd tried so hard to save tumbling out of his grasp, landing around his feet. Lord, what a waste of his efforts. Instead of onions, his arms were now full of a trembling little girl who was holding something in her left hand that was unbearably close and it was, it was...
His nose twitched.
Oh lord no.
"What are you holding?" Tekatme asked, voice level despite having a little girl clinging onto him with a death grip. Despite what he was now smelling.
"A fish on a stick," the little girl replied while she shook, her long ponytail trembling. "He caught me before I could eat it."
"G-Get that out of my face!" he almost screamed. Or maybe he did scream. He could've tossed the girl right then and there, but she was clinging onto him like a koala and she was shaking and clearly in need of comfort but it stunk of fried fish and sauce and wait was that mirth he smelled?
"You're laughing," Tekatme said in disbelief. "You're laughing."
"I knew you'd come save me, Tekatme!" the girl chirped, leaning back to look up at him with mischievous emerald green eyes. She brought her hand up and bit into that lord forbidden fish right in front of his face, juice dabbling her lips before her tongue darted out to clean it up. She had somehow managed to keep that fish on a stick in her hand even while the thug was threatening her.
But despite how much Tekatme hated fish, that wasn't what concerned him at the moment. He'd stiffened and narrowed his eyes at her, but she stared at him unwaveringly with those large green eyes of hers. She tilted her head to the side and blinked up at him, her long, high ponytail dusting across the floor. That wasn't going to work on him!
Until the crowd around them started murmuring.
Tekatme could not believe what he was hearing.
"Knew Tekatme would come to save the day."
"So dependable, that Tekatme!"
How the lord did they all know his name?
He pushed the little girl away from him forcefully, eyes narrowed as he scanned the townspeople in distrust, but none of them looked shifty, like they were hiding anything. Even when he breathed in, they smelled sincere in their praise.
It could only mean one thing.
-----
to be continued
Chapter 2
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-11-10 10:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-10 12:02 pm (UTC)I'm at least ahead of where I was last year (this is making me lazy, since I feel I can slack off...). Must stop slacking off!
How are you faring? :3
no subject
Date: 2011-11-10 11:13 am (UTC)and you'd love to talk to someone about it right? right? (please, do say yes)
no subject
Date: 2011-11-10 11:51 am (UTC)I'd feel pretty bad about spoiling LSK because it'd make the plot twists lose meaning! But you are right that I am so dying to talk about LSK, haha. Do you know any of what occurs up to volume 7? Volume 8 pretty much spoils everything up to that point since everything builds up to volume 8. Maybe I should start with the earlier volumes?
Going to go and leave a flailing message on Yu Wo's blog first. XD; (though my message is going to be fill of wrong words, ahhhh)
no subject
Date: 2011-11-10 02:35 pm (UTC)i read up to vol. 7 online (i plan on buying the novels when i can read it without a translator), so i know what happened. also, there are some people who have spoiled it (up to vol. 7).
no subject
Date: 2011-11-30 12:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-01 02:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-01 05:12 am (UTC)KuwaNeko
Date: 2011-11-19 11:27 pm (UTC)hearing the world form his point of view is really interesting. It's fun, it always makes me grin, how my dog comes and sniffs the room or me and my family to check on how we're doing
this chapter was sure interesting, at first I thought there must have been someone really really reeeally similar to him. I laughed so hard that Tekatme didn't notice the girl calling him by his name because of the fish
lol, only reason that comes to mind for something like this to happen is............ time travel.
good luck with the rest of the story, and like my Japanese teacher used to say, 'ganbare' (she always said this to us instead of 'good luck')
Re: KuwaNeko
Date: 2011-11-20 03:02 am (UTC)Your dog sounds very friendly. :) I imagine Tekatme experiences the world a lot differently than I do and depends on smell a whole lot more, but I always seem to default to describing sights. Must remember to not default to sight.
I love time travel, hehe.
Thanks! I sure need all the luck I can get. I'm so behind...
KuwaNeko
Date: 2011-11-20 04:27 am (UTC)rather saddly, my dog is a lot more nervous that he is friendly, so, as long as it's only within family, yeah, he is a sweetheart.
it is hard, no matter how you put it, since humans are, quite on default, always thinking on terms of sight. we don't consciously put attention to either smell or sound. talking to someone blind would probably be the easiest/best way to really understand how different they truly 'see' the world.