|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 4:01 pm
Rin-ji’s new employers had been forgiving when he hadn’t shown up for two days. The first was because he had spent it in jail, and the second he had simply not been able to drag himself out to work. Razuten was dead, and with it Rin-ji’s tangible chance to learn firebending. He had snuck back into Razuten’s house and taken all the fire bending scrolls he could during that time, knowing that he was no longer welcome to hide out there. After the realization that lessons were out of his reach, in some ways his life had become easier. His pride was simpler to push aside when he started working again. He was no longer Razuten’s student. Rin-ji was just like every other street rat struggling to get by. It was easy for his new job to forget his short absence because he got paid simply depending on showing up earlier than the others.
This was his first day back, and he made sure to rush out and get there in time to find his place. A long wooden pole with hooks on each end supported two buckets of water. He would go down to the canal, fill them with water and carry them back to the bath house. It wasn’t enjoyable work, but it was a little bit of money and didn’t demand much of him. He tottered through the streets with his full buckets, calling for people to get out of the way.
“Move, please,” he told the nearest person in a dull tone as he turned to enter the alleyway, splashing a bit of water across the stone street. The bathhouse was a nicer one and he blended in with all the other servants rushing around the area.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 4:20 pm
Li Ren sighed boredly. Several women scurried around her as she entered the private room of the bathhouse. Her fiance was due to arrive that evening and she had been sent off to be properly pampered and primped before he arrived. Life had continued on much as it always did since she had heatedly parted ways with Rin-ji the last time. Well, aside from the fact that Razuten had been murdered, leaving everyone in the military a little shaken, though they wouldn't admit it.
She had never met Razuten, so she found it difficult to muster any sadness over his death. There was a part of her, however, that wondered how Rin-ji had been getting by since then, wondered if he'd been tossed out on the streets or if he had managed to find himself a teacher after all.
She reached up and undid the knot in her hair, letting the locks free to fall down her back. "Well, let's get this over with."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 4:35 pm
In the background the tall young man entered, this time hefting only one bucket in with him and dumping it into the tub. He made this trip several times before he realized that the girl they were walking in looked uncomfortably familiar. The sight of Li Ren made him start and he splashed water down the side of the tub. He couldn't believe it was her, and now he stumbled to recover.
"Careful!" One of the lady attendants scolded. "Are you going to be heating this up, too?"
"Uh," he hesistated, looking at Li Ren apprehensively, "yes ma'am."
"Hurry and fill it, then keep it hot," the woman continued in a blustery tone. "I'll tell you when to get out, and when I say leave you leave. If I catch your nose around here I'll cut it off."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 5:02 pm
Li Ren rarely paid attention to those people tasked with waiting on her. It was a trait inherent to her noble upbringing. Yet when she heard a strangely familiar male voice, she was shaken out of her indifference. She saw the tall gangly boy bent over the tub, but it took a few moments for her to realize that it was indeed the same boy she'd found herself thinking about when she wasn't otherwise distracted with her continual training.
"Really," she said in an highly agitated tone, "Is this anyway to run a bathhouse?"
The lady attendants froze momentarily in shock to hear Li Ren speak, before quickly scurrying to appease her in whatever way they could think of.
"He's a new boy, ma'am," one of them excused anxiously.
"Is that supposed to make it all right," she demanded, staring each of the women down. As one of them tried to reply, she quickly cut her off, continuing in a commanding tone, "Fine. If you can't handle your own employees, I'll just speak with him myself. Go. Leave us at once."
There was no room for argument when Li Ren assumed the role of the imperious noblewoman. The women quickly fled the room, closing the door behind them and leaving the two alone.
Before Rin-ji had a chance to get in a word or attempt to flee as well, she let out a long weary sigh. "Fancy meeting you here."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 10:00 am
Rin-ji remained silent for a moment. He dumped the remaining bucket into the tub before actually looking at her. "Yeah, I guess it's been a while."
Li Ren had been in his thoughts frequently, right up until about the time Razuten died. Before that his biggest problem had been trying to convince himself that she wasn't worth being so angry over and with Razuten now as his primary concern, those thoughts just slipped from his mind. And he had been glad for it, too. He was still trying to tell himself now that she couldn't hurt him unless he let her.
"I'll get someone else to replace me really quick. Just don't get me fired."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 12:46 pm
A hurt look passed over Li Ren's features, but she quickly adjusted them to take on a more neutral appearance. Did he really think so poorly of her that he thought she would do such a thing? She had been about to apologize for the way things had been the last time they met, but his reception caused her to take on a more cool demeanor.
"Don't think so little of me." Her expression was stony, as if she was threatening at any moment to slip back into the role of the proud noblewoman. "All I wanted was to talk to you, but it seems we have nothing to talk about after all."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 2:24 pm
"Listen, I'm sorry," he sighed earnestly, somehow detecting that she was ready to give up on him. He didn't want her to actually send him away. Rin-ji turned over his bucket on the tiles and sat on top of it. He rubbed the back of his head and met Li Ren's eyes tiredly. "It's just been kind of bad these last few days."
After a small moment of hesitation he added, "It's nice to see you again."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 2:50 pm
His response managed to soothe her wounded pride a little and she began to relax again. "I was going to ask how you were," she said, looking down at him, "I heard about Razuten, of course."
"I'm glad to see you aren't wasting away on the streets," she added sincerely, not thinking that her words could possibly be considered offensive. She was still the same girl with little concept of what it was like to be in someone else's shoes. The idea that Rin-ji had been on the streets was really far too abstract of a concept for her to truly understand what it meant.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 3:23 pm
"Naw, not on the streets." He denied, rubbing his hands together awkwardly, looking down at them now. "The first night I was under arrest, but they let me loose the next day because I didn't do it. Then I started sleeping here. They've got a yard in the back that I can stay in."
"How about you?" He turned his eyes back up at her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 3:46 pm
Li Ren frowned slightly at that. Sleeping in someone's yard didn't sound terribly desirable to her. "I'm the same as always," she said, which was pretty much true. She was more agitated today than usual due to her evening plans, but otherwise little had changed.
"Why would they arrest you," she asked, sounding genuinely confused. "How did you get here of all places?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 4:30 pm
"Before I... found out about Razuten, I went to find some work so I could have some extra money." He shrugged a little, sighing sadly when he remembered that the avatar was still being held behind bars. She didn't deserve to be there. "But I guess I was a suspect, so they came and arrested me."
"They've arrested the Avatar, too, and aren't letting her out. But there's no way she would have done it." He sounded terribly convinced and spoke about her with admiration usually absent from Rin-ji's persona.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 5:48 pm
"Why would the Avatar murder Razuten," Li Ren asked, her eyebrows raised. As a non-bender she was less given to keeping up with Avatar lore, but she did at least know the Avatar was expected to be a keeper of peace. And.. hadn't Razuten taught her?
Li Ren waved a hand dismissively before he had a chance to answer. To be perfectly blunt, it really didn't matter to her. Li Ren's world didn't extend very far beyond herself and thus whatever troubles the Avatar was experiencing were not something she concerned herself with.
After a few quiet moments she continued, "I've been wanting.. to apologize for the way things were left the last time we spoke." It was a dangerous topic to bring up, but it had to be mentioned eventually.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 7:18 pm
"It's alright," he said slowly, as if he weren't entirely sure. But he pushed forward, eager to keep her there with him still. "You're right. But I don't like to think about how we're kind of... I don't know. I just wish it didn't bother you any."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 7:37 pm
"It's easy for you to say that," Li Ren sighed, resting her hands on the back of a chair and looking into the large wall mirror, "No one has any expectations for you."
She hated the way she looked with her hair down. She thought she looked weak. Like a woman. She frowned at her reflection and turned back to look at Rin-ji.
"You're a far more free man than I am."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 8:05 pm
"You can just say 'no' when someone pushes you around, can't you? If you needed firebending lessons, you could have anyone you wanted to teach you. You could do whatever you wanted to me, just about." Rin-ji said naively, even smiling faintly at her. He imagined Li Ren as perfectly in control of her own life, with all the opportunities he lacked. He could tell she was unhappy about something but on his own would never be able to comprehend the foreign difficulties of Li Ren's life.
"Why wouldn't you be free?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
