Welcome to Gaia! ::

Tien Tzi stood in the midst of the road somewhat cautiously and smoothed his tossed and ever-unkempt dark brown hair behind an ear, ignoring that it sprang free again all but immediately. His large dark eyes glanced around nervously, and he stood somewhat hunched in upon himself. Every aspect of his stance and mannerisms gave off the impression he was uncomfortable. He shifted his foot about restlessly, yet obviously with no real aim or intention even so far as altering the appearance of the dirt in the road to an image.

From his clothing, in coordination with the setting, you might think you know why he is uncomfortable: his clothing is ragged, robes patched together from scraps of spare and ragged cloth with stitching that looked as if it had been done by the wavering hands of a child that had never before wielded a needle. In contrast, the houses on either side of the street he now stood in the center of were large enough to have the tops of their roofs shrouded by the darkness of the night, and most had some small decoration in hints of fall or the specific Western holiday, Halloween. A few were more elaborately, and accurately, decorated, yet the more intimidating for it in this Asian town.

Yet, despite appearances, Tien was not intimidated by this. On the contrary, he felt far more comfortable amidst these houses than he did among the dilapidated and crumbling houses of the poor. Yet still, he nervously clutched a large lotus flower he’d brought to complete his outfit: a flower that smelled faintly of the Mooncake incense his parents had made him burn for it when he’d spoken in passing of its origin with the strange child-like “Immortal,” an immortal whose features he could not remember, only as usual the cryptic personality. This flower, too, was not the reason for his nervousness.

How had he been the first to arrive? His thoughts were frantic and his face red with embarrassment. To be sure, he desired the candy given to those that participated in this particular series of events, a promotion for the Western holiday of Halloween, yet not so much he’d be comfortable waiting until the others arrived. He’d gotten a small note, as usual, denoting the time and location of the meeting. Perhaps he had left a little early, but only because he had suspected he was not the only one. Had he gotten the location wrong? Even the organizers were not yet here.

Despite them not masking their arrival in the slightest, it took some time for Tien to notice that there were people finally approaching. Instead, he was trapped in his own world of embarrassment at being too early, compounded with the fact he stood alone in the midst of an empty street. He had kicked a small pebble around a bit, yet grown bored of that soon enough. Could he not start now? What was to force him to wait for others to arrive? He could get a head start on the others, and with that time visit more houses and potentially gain more candy. Yet he was held back by embarrassment, and the thought that, should he do that, it might be rendered invalid, despite how little sense it made, and his meager horde of candy might be taken away.

His ears finally caught the sound of footsteps, and he looked up hopefully. The snatches of conversation he now heard, involving the specific nature of the holiday, were of no interest to him. That which he had not already gathered would hold little point, and he was here for the reward rather than the culture. If he might use such a situation to gain treats and, perhaps, status accompanying large quantities of these sweets shown to the other boys. Yet the sound of voices and footsteps prompted him to rush toward them for the mere appearance of not being alone and awkward.

There were two people: a full grown man, old from Tien Tzi's perspective, though not from the perspective of most, and a young child that seemed near enough to Tien's age. Both were dressed in matching costumes: they dressed as fox spirits. The younger looked vaguely familiar in a way Tien Tzi could not place, yet felt strangely...off. He shook the feeling off quickly, then remembered. He had seen both of these before, with the younger wearing his current outfit and Tien Tzi also wearing the same thing he wore now. And it was his understanding that the older was the organizer of this event. Regardless, at least now he was not alone.

He tucked the lotus under his arm carefully and sprinted as best he could without tripping over his outfit toward the two males. "Hello," he said with a quick bow, "I am sorry, I appear to have mistaken the time and arrived rather early..." He showed his embarrassment on his face. "Sorry to impose so soon after you have arrived. Do we wait for others?" Tien had, after all, been late before, but never early.

"We wait, then?" Tien Tzi made a valiant effort to hide his disappointment and distaste: he could hardly think of anything more boring than simply waiting for others, and the promise of confections beyond the door of each house called to him. Still, waiting with others was indeed more comfortable than waiting alone, and Tien Tzi too perched on the edge of the doorstep. He had been too preoccupied to see the strange movement from Muoh Li's fox appendages.

"What made you choose that particular garb? It is well made...was it by your hands?" Tien Tzi asked, attempting to make some excuse for conversation. Distracted and nervous as he was, though, he did not wait for a response. "My costume is one I myself made...I did my best to imitate the garb of the 'Immortal,' though of course his garb is more finely made than this, and of a finer cloth..." Tien Tzi shifted awkwardly, drawing his own attention to the lotus again.

"And this...is strange. It was given to me by a strange being on the lake...And they did not flee from his touch as they do normal beings..." Tien Tzi shook his head, dispelling the thought, "That aside, it seemed to somehow complement this...costume." Tien Tzi only now realized he'd been rambling about himself, and inclined his head in apology.

"Thank you," Tien said with a bow, doing his best to mask his confusion at anything beyond the first portion of the compliment. How would his age affect the quality of his costume? Would it not be better, in fact, for him to be somewhat older, to be the Immortal that those that saw him often reported? And as for the comment on the lotus...He paused a moment, trying to comprehend, before voicing aloud his confusion with a simple "Wh-what connection?" Perhaps it was not the greatest show of intelligence he'd ever made, but in this case he'd prefer his curiosity be sated.

He eyed Lien Si at the mention of the other child and his costume, and had to admit he agreed with the older man. The fox costume certainly was impressive, and suited the boy quite well. It looked soft and, if not realistic, incurably adorable, and certainly warm enough to suit the chill autumn night (something he had not accounted for in his thin costume). It also made Tien Tzi almost irresistibly inclined to pet it and, slightly indirectly, the boy wearing it. So, after a moment of contemplation, he voiced his agreement. "It does indeed suit him. And you must have put quite a bit of effort into it's production?"

As for MuohLi's rant on the nature of his decision of foxes, that was, for the most part, ignored. He needed not the lecture on lore of fox spirits: he was from a wealthy family, and had received a decent education, and thus knew of what the older male spoke. He was more intrigued by the realism of the adult's costume, but MuohLi did not seem as if he were inclined to address how he had done that. Instead, he watched the other boy's sudden awareness and confusion with some amusement, though he was startled enough when we was suddenly addressed.

"H-hello!" he responded, with a nod in place of a bow. "I am well enough, thank you. And you?" After a moment, he realized he'd not introduced himself to the younger boy, despite the boy seeming extremely familiar. "I am Tien Tzi, by the way. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He made his best effort to smile warmly at the fox-boy.

"It...is good you are...well?" Tien Tzi responded in a hesitating and questioning tone, obviously confused by the sudden bout of what seemed almost to be a paranoia. His confusion was heightened by the boy's repeating of his name, though he easily justified it to himself in that perhaps rapid repetition was the best method to memorize something. Still, it was all he could do to prevent himself by exclaiming quite rudely, "WHAT?!"

Tien Tzi did not, however, notice the change in the lotus. His nose was hardly sensitive to such insignificant changes in scent as a small flower brought as an accessory might hold, and he had no knowledge of the unique nature of the lotus. Instead, he tilted his head in acknowledgment of the phrase that originated his name, and responded, "It is nice to meet you," with a quick bow. In his own curiosity about the other boy, he only noted in his subconscious that the background noise that was Muoh Li's voice had since ceased.

But he felt strange...watched. It felt as if the attention of the two was on him, and he some novel new item to be observed, or some strange new foreigner with blonde hair and blue eyes that did not understand a word of Chinese and no one could understand why he'd even come to the area. Perhaps this particular analogy came to his mind because he'd just seen one such character earlier in the week, but nonetheless, he felt uncomfortable under their gaze. After a moment, he shifted around nervously and softly inquired, "May...I help you?"

"Yes, yes," Tien Tzi said, doing his best to curtail his impatience but failing, his response sounding clipped and short-tempered. He'd been lectured before on the nature of religion, and of children's tales. "I do not believe I asked of the lotus' connection," he said, almost under his breath, then in a louder tone, "But thank you for the explanation." He managed, barely, to resist an unnecessary ending to the expression of gratitude. He had been through boring lectures the entire day, to come to an occasion of leisure to only be lectured.

'...Speaking, or rather thinking, of 'occasions of leisure'...' Tien Tzi glanced around at the road, and yet still no others came. The event's organizer was here, so surely he had not gotten the wrong location. Yet surely the time to start had come and gone, and yet more time had passed, but still the three of them were the only humans in sight, saving those that may or may not be hidden behind curtains and blinds in various houses. It was a strange predicament: why would a group of, for the most part, children relinquish the chance for free confections, regardless of the reason?

It was then, finally, that Tien Tzi noticed something strange about the lotus. It felt odd...And, he carefully backed away from where he had absentmindedly set it. "R-rather than that..." he said after a moment, speaking to the two fox-costumed males though his eyes were still locked on the lotus, "Perhaps explain this?"

Tien Tzi rather liked to consider himself quite intelligent for his age. While he did not say it, as it would seem far too cocky and unseemly, he sometimes fancied considering himself a bona-fide genius. So it is needless to say his pride was hurt by Lien Si's cryptic comments and his own inability to comprehend them.

Instead, he shook it off and could only stare as the lotus he had brought as a mere accessory began to glow, and to glow brighter, it's light pulsating with intensity. It continued to glow and brighten to the point where it would be considered shining rather than glowing. It was utter nonsense and completely illogical: how could a flower emit light like this? But at the same time it was captivating and eerily beautiful: he could not tear his eyes away, and did not even wish to do so.

As the light grew the point his eyes began to see spots and his head began to ache, a flash brighten than any previous light illuminated the surrounding area, and faded into what was still quite a strong light, in which you could watch the petals of the lotus slowly begin to unfurl one by one, a wave of the scent of mooncake washing across Tien Tzi's senses with each movement of a petal.

The last, tightest layer of petals peeled what must have been slowest of all. In the center of the now-unfurled lotus emerged, shining with it's own source of light, a...shape. Tien Tzi worked to find his voice, and could only say one word, inquiring on the last word Lien Si had said, "F-form...?" And the shape seemed to meld and shift, contorting impossibly, until it reached what may be seen as a human shape.

And indeed, as if it had been waiting for the signal and blessing from the small boy, Tien Tzi watched as the shape seemed to become more certain of itself, and seem more human than a blob of light. He watched as limbs formed and separated, and as each strand of hair defined itself. It was, to him, as if years could, and did, pass simply while he observed the shape gain definition into what could be called, had he not seen it's origin, human, so it was strange to realize that, in actuality, only a short moment passed to encompass the span of the entire transformation.

The figure, the child if one were to judge by proportions, suddenly shifted, then stretched, as if it had been in a long sleep. It gradually uncurled itself and simply sat there, blinking up at the three men with his long, chestnut hair fell thoughtlessly around his shoulders, strands pulled astray by the wind yet so obviously indescribably soft and silky. What skin that could be seen on the child was smooth and unmarked, as if the fresh skin on a newborn babe, which led, of course, to the fact that, beyond a well placed petal or two of the lotus, the child was completely naked.

Tien Tzi looked away the second he realized this, astounded by the immodesty and the child's clear lack of knowledge or shame regarding social conventions. "H-here," he stammered after a moment, hardly realizing his face was red as he handed his costume over to the strange being and was clothed only in what he'd worn beneath it, though that was nice enough to not bring him shame. Due to his head being turned away, he could not see the child's blank stare at the clothing.