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 Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 2:36 pm
Lily didn't like the mud. This did not compute in the tiger child's head. Which was why Jin Feng had gladly wriggled out of the watchful eye of his prissy guardian and made his way to the pond on his own for once.
He skulked along as usual, reveling in the light breeze that tossed his hair and dove to his belly when he saw suitably tall grass to play in like he was hunting some kind of invisible prey until he saw the bank of the little pond and dove straight for the mud. The fact that being filthy in his home was so taboo only made getting coated in the stuff to his knees that much more enjoyable.
But it still wasn't enough to keep him totally occupied and he eventually got sick of just getting dirty and grabbed a little round stone to toss into the water to see if he could try and make it skip over the surface like he'd seen some other kid do.
It was a magical mystery, but one he was determined to figure out as he tossed stone after stone into the water and watched every single one just sink to the bottom with dismay.
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Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 2:49 pm
A day of play at last! Begrudgingly, Koji had given in to Ani's constant pestering, and whining, and temper tantrums, and allowed her to go play by the pond, thinking she would eventually get bored of the dingy little pond, and not want to play in the mud.. He had not foreseen, however, that she was a klutz, and the moment she raced to the pond, she slipped in the mud, and got cozy with it, completely covering herself with the sticky substance.
Koji rushed over, careful not to slip, making sure she had no cuts from rocks that might be in the mud, but his concern didn't last long when she pelted his chest with a mud pie, and darted off, running around the pond. Koji grimaced 'Little brat...' he thought to himself, sighing. He loved her dearly, but she was was simply too much like a child, and too energetic for him. He was getting on in years, and he couldn't keep up with her.
Ani raised her head, listening to a queer sound, a 'bloop, bloop, plunk', sometimes it would last longer. She raised her head, and saw someone, skipping rocks along the waters surface, until they finally fell into the water. She silently went over, watching, before chiming up "How do you do that?" She asked, smiling.
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Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 3:34 pm
Jin Feng looked up, finally breaking his intense glare at the water's surface to realize he wasn't alone. In fact, he had been approached by some girl who smelled like roses and he hadn't even noticed.
"Do what? Throw rocks into water?" He asked sarcastically, obviously embittered by the fact his failures vastly outweighed one or two little successes. He definitely didn't get the hang of it yet.
"I'm trying to make them skip aaaaall the way across but it's not working," He complained, crossing his arms and making an angry little pout before huffing and flopping to his butt, causing a splatter of mud in all directions as he did. Not that he cared about that stuff once he was in a bad enough mood to sit there and fume.
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Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 3:46 pm
"How do you make them skip...?" She asked, her eyes wide with wonderment as he flopped to the ground. "I-I think, y-you could make them skip all the way." She said, nodding cutely. She picked up a rock, that was no where near flat, and chucked it at the water, sinking instantly. "Nnnnn...I cannot get mine to be like yours....do you use magic!?" She asked, turning to him excitedly.
Her little, nimble fingers fumbled with finding another rock, and she handed it to him. "P-please enchant it wizard!" She said, smiling at him. "I-I wanna learn magic like you, and make rocks dance across the water!" She said, still handing him the rock, expectantly waiting for something magical to happen.
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Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 10:13 am
"By... like... um..." Jin Feng really hadn't figured out the flick of the wrist to make them skip. The few times he managed to get it just right enough to do one or two skips, he had trouble imitating or remembering exactly what he did.
He was honestly a little bit comforted by the fact she sucked worse than him, though, the brat he was.
And then she asked if he was magic and he couldn't help but quirk up an eyebrow at her assumption. Did he go with it? She definitely seemed naive enough he could keep it up. He was mulling over this opportunity when she handed him a rock to enchant and he just started down at it, still surprised and pursing his lips in thought.
"...Uuuuuuh," His eyes quickly looked to the side as he tried to think up something quick. And then, getting an idea, he reached down and grabbed a smooth, flat stone and handed it back to her in turn. "Here, take this one. I uh... enchanted it earlier," He said, giving his innocent salesman grin and showing off his pointed teeth.
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Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 10:50 am
She seemed disappointed when he stumbled over his words. She wiggled her nose and sniffled a bit, the sadness evident in her mannerisms. This was the type of girl, who couldn't lie about a thing. She'd give herself away before she finished a sentence. Koji had mentioned that he didn't know whether to be glad she couldn't lie, or worried.
He handed her another rock, and she blinked, taking it in her hands. It didn't feel any different. It didn't feel like magic, but he had to be telling the truth. She smiled and graciously accepted it. "Thank you wizard!" She said, before blinking, looking at his teeth, seeing how they were pointed. She came to the conclusion right then, that he had to be magic, so it had to work.
Ani thought to what he was doing when she first saw him, the position he had and how he threw them. She quickly tossed the rock along the waters edge, getting two good, long skips, before it sunk into the water. Her eyes turned wide and she nearly screamed, but it only came out as a high pitch squeal. She turning to Jin Feng, her new found wizard friend "You are magic! You're amazing!" She said, clapping her hands in delight.
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Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 12:03 pm
Jin Feng really couldn't handle Ani's sudden sadness. At that point, he probably would've said anything to make her stop that, even if he wasn't the lying type. Except he was, conveniently. But spinning tall tales? Totally up his alley. Making girls cry? Not so much. It a given he would have to play wizard for today.
He was pretty satisfied when she took the rock, watching it skip a few times and then he nearly jumped out of his skin and fell over at the squeal. He wasn't expecting that. "U-uh... you're welcome?" He said cautiously, watching her clap. At least she was happy.
Plotting and concocting in his little head, he picked up a little rock with a sharp point and started gathering the flattest stones he could find. At first he was going to write a symbol on them, or maybe a word that made them seem magic, but it just occurred to him he couldn't write hardly any Chinese characters, and the ones he did know certainly weren't mystical. He would have to pester Lily about this later, he figured, finding it odd she would drill him about learning languages and didn't even bother teaching him to write, especially since she fancied herself a writer herself.
He did, however, know the English alphabet and started scratching each stone with the letters M A J I and K. Just because he know the alphabet didn't make him a fantastic speller. And he figured she might not know how to read English letters anyway. He was hoping, at least.
"THESE are the enchanted stones," He said, holding up one so she could see his handiwork.
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Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 12:19 pm
Ani watched as he gathered up rocks, blinking, and rocking on her heels. He seemed to be looking for specific ones, but she didn't question it. Ani was so happy, she had a friend now who could magic. Even if he didn't know that he was her friend now. She fiddled with her fingers, waiting for him.
He started scratching something onto the rocks and she moved close to see, blinking and smiling. He turned suddenly to show his magic stones, and she looked at them. He was right that she couldn't read English. She barely knew Chinese, and Koji still expected her to learn Japanese. She studied the characters, and smiled "W-wow....Magic characters...! I can't believe it!" She said "I've never seen anything like it!" She said, bouncing up and down happily.
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Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 2:15 pm
"Yes," Jin Feng said, squaring his little shoulders and standing up straight. "I had to travel to the far west to learn these characters, so I know for sure that they work but you still have to practice," He went on and handed her two of the smaller ones. "These are my gift to you," He started innocently and then...
"But if you want more you have to pay. Or trade. Or something."
By now he'd scratched the letters into a suitable hoard, which he pulled towards himself with both arms. Well he wasn't going to be playing wizard for nothing! Also he was half wondering if he could trade the kids back home for 'majik' stones too. Probably not, since he'd seen the oldest doing the skipping but it was still worth a thought.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 12:14 am
Ani searched her person, patting herself done for something, anything to buy or trade with. As she searched, Koji happened upon them, sighing in relief "Thank goodness you're alright Ani...I was worried sick." He said, looking at Jin Feng. He noted the strange appearance, but Koji had seen stranger. He watched as Ani searched herself, until she finally turned to him.
"K-koji! I need money! I wanna buy more magic stones!" She exclaimed, holding up her 'magic' stones, showing them to him, beaming happily.
Koji narrowed his eyes as he looked at them, and then turned to Jin Feng "Magic stones? Really?" He asked, standing at his full height, which was well over 6 feet. "And you were going to charge her for those?" He asked, his voice lowering to the point the impending doom was imminent.
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