Sword of the Missed (SOTM) - 3. Chapter 3

The place Yan Rui called home was nothing more than an abandoned shack on the outskirts of the town. The wood was old and rotting, held together by a few frayed pieces of rope he had managed to scavenge, and when it rained a dusky and moldy scent would surround the decaying structure for days.

Ducking inside, he removed Senior Mu’s arm from around his shoulders and attempted to help him sit upon the cold, unfurnished ground, but the man swatted away his hands and remained standing, a rather lost expression on his face. Yan Rui prepared to ask him why, but then remembered he wore no underclothes or ku, and it was probably uncomfortable for him to sit at the moment.

The wind picked up outside the shack, whistling in from cracks in the wooden walls. His stomach rumbled quietly, a reminder that it had been several hours since his scrap of bread he ate for breakfast, and night would soon fall behind the clouded sky. The old crone Lao Ping may have thrown out a few bruised vegetables, so he could stop by and see if there were any the scavenger children hadn’t taken yet.

Lao Ping was strict and always had a scowl on her face, and his back had seen her bamboo cane more than a few times when she was angry, but she was very picky about her vegetables and would refuse to eat them if they had more than a few spots on them. Sometimes, she would throw them out for the poor to fight over, especially in the late fall and early winter when they began to spoil.

Lost in his thoughts, Yan Rui startled when Senior Mu’s wandering hand touched his arm, jumping slightly as he turned to face him fully. “Senior Mu? Is something wrong?”

He was silent for a moment, his forehead creasing. “Heard… your stomach.”

Yan Rui’s eyes widened in surprise. He heard his stomach rumbling? It wasn’t that loud, could it be that his other senses were heightened since his sight was impaired? “Oh! Sorry, I’m just a little hungry. The noise will stop soon, but if it’s bothering you I c-”

“You don’t… have food?” Senior Mu frowned, then grimaced slightly in pain. The motion must have pulled the muscles around his injured eyes.

“Not a lot.” Taking his hand in his thin ones, Yan Rui gave a small smile, a smile full of gratefulness even though the man couldn’t see him. “It’s ok, I’m used to it. I’ll be sure to get some for you, though it may not be as nice as you are used to.” He had to have been a nobleman of some sort, with his high quality albeit torn clothes and sophisticated features.

Senior Mu’s hand tightened in his grip, and he stepped forward, causing Yan Rui to look up at his well defined features. “You eat first.” His tone was commanding and his expression stern, his aura somewhat different than what he had shown before. Even dressed in the queer pink robes too small for him, he suddenly seemed strong and capable, a man to be respected.

“I-I..” He stuttered. He could feel his cheeks warming and turning that blotchy red they did when he was embarrassed. How could he do such a selfish thing like feed himself with the scraps he found before his guest? He may be naught but a mere peasant, but the ladies at the Tao Hua House had at least shown him how to be hospitable.

“A-anyway,” he continued, changing the subject. “Your hands are pretty sturdy, Senior.” Turning the hand in his grip over so he could observe the palm, he traced a crooked finger over the rough calluses. “I met someone once, a wanderer who had similar calluses on his hands. He said they were from using a sword-”

At the mention of the word ‘sword’, Senior Mu recoiled, yanking his hand away and stumbling back, hitting the side of the shack. He grasped his head, a small groan escaping through his clenched teeth.

“Senior?!” Yan Rui stepped forward, his hands hovering inches away from the agonized man before him. “What’s the matter?! Is it something I said?”

“... sword,” he gasped out. “I… had a sword… river…”

“You remember that you had a sword?” Spinning around on his feet, his mind moved quickly. If he had a sword, and it wasn’t with him in the alley where he was found, it may still be at the river he came from, the river that made him soaking wet.

The Lu Yun He was the biggest in the Guan Empire, and it ran from the mountains all the way to the sea, bordering the Imperial Complex high on a cliff above. He only knew that because of the wanderer who came all those years ago, sharing most of the geographical knowledge Yan Rui now possessed. He had never even dreamed of leaving the town, so his information on the outside came only from stories and tales.

Returning his attention to Senior Mu, he moved slowly, putting his hands on the man’s shoulders so as not to frighten him. “Senior, please sit down. I will head to the river now to try and find your sword!”

He groaned, still holding his head, but allowed Yan Rui to gently push him to the uneven ground. Leaning against the flimsy wall, he crossed his bare legs, and tilted his head up, clearly too dazed by pain to respond.

Patting his knee, Yan Rui straightened, rushing out of the hut into the darkening afternoon. The wind had adopted a sharp chill, cutting through his flimsy rags like thin knives against his dirty skin. With every hurried step, a little more of the dried mud from his foot flaked off, and a dull pain was starting to flare up in the wound. But he had no time to worry about it, not when he was on an important mission like this!

The size of the Lu Yun He was nothing to scoff at, and the sword could be buried in the silt at the bottom of the river for all he knew, but that was no reason he shouldn’t try to find it. It was obviously something important to Senior Mu, else he wouldn’t have reacted so strongly to the trigger word. Perhaps it could help him regain more of his memories, even.

He walked quickly through the small streets, past huts filled with mean and cruel patrons hated at the Tao Hua House, around stone buildings of those who had given him chores and scraps, and through the filth of the scavenger children’s section. He did his best to stay out of their section, for they were like small vultures, and very possessive of the place they called their own. Full of the misfits, the abandoned and the crippled, but they did not look kindly upon ugliness. Hypocritical, some might say, but Yan Rui didn’t mind.

Outside Lao Ping’s hut, there were a couple bruised carrots and a half eaten cabbage sitting outside her door. The scavenger children hadn’t gotten to them yet, he still had a chance!

Normally, he would have gathered the vegetables and made a beeline for his place, but he was on a mission. He lingered in unease for a moment - what was more important? Some scraps, or a sword that could help his guest remember his past?

Why not both?

Bending down, he picked up the carrots and cabbage, tucking them into his grimy rag he used as a shirt to carry them. He would take the food with him when he went to the river, and that way, even if the sword couldn’t be found, he would return with something for the two of them to eat at least.

His problem solved, Yan Rui continued unhindered past Lao Chen’s place with the strange cyan torches within, and onwards to the river's edge only several meters away. The town had been built alongside the source of water, and things from the river often washed up on its shores, whether it was people or objects or creatures. It was sort of why they were part of the Nan Xian; disaster always seemed to wash up from the Lu Yun He.

Setting down his meager collection of vegetables, Yan Rui took a deep breath, his gaze scanning the surface of the green water and along the shore. He hadn’t thought to ask Senior Mu what the sword looked like, and even if the thought did cross his mind, it was probably better he hadn’t. The injured man looked like his head was about to crack.

For close to half an hour, he walked up and down along the water’s edge, even going so far as to wade in the icy cold river to feel along the bottom. He didn’t dare head too far in, or even attempt to make it to the opposite shore; the water could give him hypothermia if he stayed in it too long, and the central current would most definitely sweep his thin and weak form away. Having seen first hand how one died of hypothermia in the rough winter several years back, he had no desire to give up the gift of his life in such a meaningless way.

At last, when the clouded sky had almost completely darkened, Yan Rui reluctantly gave up the search. Nothing even remotely resembling a sword could be found, and while he couldn't help Senior Mu remember, he would at least bring them back the vegetables he had gathered.

Collecting the carrots and cabbage mostly by touch as there was little light out by the river, he tripped and stumbled his way back to the town and a source of light, though it was still eerie how the torches burned cyan. Rather than coming back through Lao Chen’s street, he came in further down, by way of the stone buildings of the upper and less haggard part of town. Here was where the Tao Hua House was located, but he knew he would not be allowed in to get scraps from any of the prostitutes today, for their outdoor torches had been extinguished, meaning the House was closed for the night.

His head tilted in slight surprise. Madam Fei was very adamant about keeping the House open anytime of the year regardless of the weather or time, pushing her charges to make gold and profit. The last time they had closed had been the spring before last, when part of the stone wall had collapsed in and needed to be fixed. She was a hard mistress, but she treated her prostitutes well and valued their safety.

Something really important must have happened for the House to be closed. Shrugging his shoulders, he continued on towards his shack, ignoring the steadily rising pain in his foot as he wondered if their closure had anything to do with the torches.

An unknown object whizzed past his ear, and thudded into the ground in front of him. Immediately Yan Rui was alert, though he was careful to remain calm, standing still. He couldn’t see what it was, for there was no light around, and the only lit torch was several yards down the street, casting its ghostly glow far away.

It was not uncommon for thieves to hide out in the town, away from officials and supposedly out from under the eye of the law. It could also have been the scavenger children, poorly throwing a rock in hopes to stun him so they could take his scraps.

Remaining still for another tense couple moments, he took a tentative step forward. The sound of clinking metal sounded in the air, and something cold struck his cheek and his arm, causing a stinging pain as his blood trickled down from the cuts.

Adrenaline surged through him as he stumbled back, a growing dread starting in the pit of his stomach. He was all but blind, and his attacker could not only see him, but hit him with deadly accuracy too. Was this how a mouse felt, being watched by the hawk circling above?

Taking a deep breath, Yan Rui started running, careful to hold onto his vegetables tightly. They were the only source of food he and Senior Mu would get for the night; he absolutely couldn’t lose them!

Behind him the metal could be heard again, and this time it grazed his back, but he did not falter. His gaze was locked on the blue torch lit at the end of the street, and his hope grew as he got closer and closer-

A spike of pain went right up his foot, and Yan Rui winced, stumbling and hobbling forward. Immediately, the cool metal weapon wrapped around his leg, his attacker tugging hard and bringing him to the ground, the vegetables scattering before him. His breath left in a huff, and he turned onto his back, eyes searching for his assailant. Footsteps could be heard, light ones gradually getting closer, and the oddly shaped metal tightened with another sharp pull, causing Yan Rui to cry out in pain as it sliced into his skin.

Just before his attacker got close enough to see, a voice pierced the air behind him. “Wa! What’s going on here?”

Yan Rui’s head whipped around, and he saw a man standing in the cyan torchlight. Though his face was hidden in shadow, he knew he was addressing and facing him.

The footsteps abruptly stopped, and the metal weapon withdrew from around his leg with a clink. Yan Rui turned again, just in time for the clouds to part ever so slightly and allow the bright moon to peek through. A dark figure leapt onto the roof of the nearby stone building, cloaked and unrecognizable, with what looked to be a metal rope clutched in their hand. As he watched, his attacker turned to look back, and a pair of piercing orange eyes locked onto his, glowing from beneath the hood. After a second, they turned away, and vanished into the darkness as the shifting clouds covered the moon once more.

Sitting still in shock, Yan Rui stared at the rooftop for another moment, incredibly confused. He had never seen that color of eyes before, was that normal outside of the town?

Distracted by his thoughts, he did not register that the man behind him had gotten closer and was speaking to him until firm hands gripped his shoulders. His body was turned, and he looked at his apparent savior, who grimaced slightly when he saw Yan Rui’s face.

“Aiya, definitely not a noble with those looks. What’s a little peasant boy doing over here…” His sentence trailed off, and he studied Yan Rui’s features a little more, tilting his head in an oddly familiar way. “Wait a minute - you’re the kid, aren’t you? The kid from a few years ago who gave me his scraps!”

Blinking, Yan Rui looked at him blankly. He had given several people his scraps throughout the years; how did that narrow it down?!

“Remember?” He sat back on his heels, talking animatedly. “You wanted to touch my sword, but I said you were too young.”

Yan Rui gasped, covering his mouth as he flushed in embarrassment for the second time that day. “Sir, I-I don’t work at the b-brothel, please…”

A moment of confused silence fell between them, until the man suddenly burst out laughing.

“Oh, you innocent little brat! Haven’t changed a bit, I see!” Yan Rui’s cheeks warmed even further, and he frowned, looking away. Now that he thought about it, the man’s voice and laughter were awfully familiar… And he said Yan Rui wanted to touch his sword? The only man he had met in the last several years who had a real sword was-

“Wait, are you.. the wanderer?!”