Life on the Farm <Tachi Dai, Earth Kingdom>

[jialingjin]

Jialing nearly jumped straight up, but by the grace of the gods, remained seated as she whipped around and grabbed Ting into a headlock. With a hand over the girl's mouth, she knelt close and whispered "Shhh! I wanna hear what they're saying.. promise?" She then let Ti go, and smoothed the girl's head before turning her attention back to the women. Her hair fell into disorganized shreds around her dirty face, her brown eyes narrowed as thick and unkept eyebrows sat on her forehead. Jialing's nose was pressed so close to the paper screen, she was certain she'd leave a smudge mark of dirt and oil. After all.. this was Jialing we were talking about, girl who couldn't remain clean for a single day. She had been like that in her childhood. She remeber Zunina scolding the child for being so dirty when she worked with such delicate threads whose colors would be ruined by the dirt on her. What Zuina didn't see was that Jialing always kept her hands spotless as a child because of her work. Now that she didn't spend hours seated at a loom, she had let her thread bare hands become calloused, and dirty engrained with dirt.

[reed]

Ting argued or mumbled in a arguing tone, as Jialing held a hand over her mouth. As Jialing asked her if she were to stay quiet Ting vigorously nodded her head until Jia removed her hand. Ting wiped her mouth on her shirt and whispered, " Gods above, Jia! Don't you ever wash your hands!?" She said trying to keep her voice down as low as she could. Ting went beside Jialing and stuck her head near the window to hear her to "Aunties" have a word with one another.

"Minge, I'm so sorry about your loss. He was a beloved cousin and I'm sure a beloved husband and father." Minge nodded slowly still pouring the tea for the two. Zuina continued: " I know this may be a little off the subject but, when do you suppose the wedding is?" Minge tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, "Wedding?" Zuina took a sip of her tea, " Why yes.... Do you mean to say you haven't planned it yet?"

Ting lifted an eyebrow and widened her eyes. "Someone's getting married?" She thought to herself.

" I really have no idea what you're talking about Zuina.." Minge said placing her tea cup down. Zuina rolled her eyes, " I'm talking about the marriage between Reed and the Xiang."

Ting shrugged her shoulders, Never heard of a Xiang before....Oh wait...have I?... Reed's getting married? Ha! Succcckkkkerrrrr!"

Minge once again was lost in the conversation, " The Xiang?" Zuina decided to explain the whole thing. " Do you not remember? Your son's betrothed?" Minge smiled, " I do remember her. She was such a sweet girl, and so talented at her art... Though I did forget her name.. But we never went through with that whole matching the children up." "really?" Zuina said. "Well, Miss Jialing is the Xiang and they are both here so I suspect their wedding is too."

Ting grew wide eyed and got all up-in-your-face to Jialing, " YOU'RE MARRYING REED!!!" She said in a LOUD whisper.

[jialingjin]

"Like Hell I am." Jialing mumbled, standing up and throwing the paper door open with such a forceful slam the wood splintered. She took one step inside, her grimy hands clenched into fists as she threw her head. Her thick, greasy strands of hair floated about her face like snakes would on a grecian medusa, crimped in much the same way. Her long nose crinkled, it's button end smudged with dirt as always. Those amber eyes flashed in the dim lighting of the darkened room.
"There is no way I am marrying anyone. I don't care if my father and mother made the arrangements 8 years ago! I will not end up a pathetic housewife who spends her days weaving tapestries for stuck up, pug nosed women like you, Zuina. I know you were behind this all! I doubt Reed's Mother, a blessed woman she is, would do such a thing to her son! I would be caught dead than caught up in your schemes, Zuina!"

Jin growled his approval, padding beside the girl as she whipped around and stormed out. Jialing threw her arms into the air, bandages and all around her forearms. She grumbled as she walked. Jialing was in no way bride material. She hardly bathed, her clothes were full of holes, with crudily done patch work. The ostrich-horse harness she wore to hold her quiver, and various trinkets was falling apart at the seams. Two years on the road had ben rough on Jialing. She had a proper young girl when Zuina had first met her, twelve years old with her hair brushed into a long braid, and her little form wrapped in a jade-colored robe with elbow lenght sleeves. She had been shy around strangers, and stood in the corner while her weavings were displayed. She had hoped one day to become a Kimono embroiderer. Ha!
Jialing sneered, remebering how the past few years she had spent at home had gone. Constant shouting matches between her and her mother, working her fingers to the bone so she could run off and play with her brother, swimming in the nearby river. Then, she ran away.. and she hadn't looked back since. Not since she figured out Reed was the Tachi-Dai boy she had met once in passing.

[reed]

Ting tried to reason with Jialing before she decided to break the door. "Jia wait-!"
Reed heard a huge !CRUNCH! and made his way to the room to see what had happened. "Jeez! Who decided to kill our door! And do what to me?" He asked. Ting held her head and yelled at Reed, " Reed! LEAVE! " "Fine!" he yelled back. Talk about freaky ladies with hormones. Ting ran out of the house back to the porch not wanting to get in the middle of this. Reed walked out of the door into the hall way. Very soon after a raging Jia ran out to the room. "Jia, what.. the hell. is with. all the god damned screaming!" He yelled. " And why'd you break the door? That was a good door!"
Once all the "children were gone" Minge got down to business. "Zuina.." She said her voice still trying to be the least bit nice, " Reed and Jialing are NOT getting married unless they decided so.. Jialing and Reed are their own people and I don't want you telling them different. So either you apologize or you leave my house.. NOW."

[jialingjin]

Jialing flipped around to face Reed, her hair flying around her face as she stood a good five feet from him in the hallway. She tilted her head to the side, a sneer on her face. "You really are oblvious. Don't you remeber anything at all?! Don't you remeber Zuina dragging your sorry ass to Lochan 8 or 9 years ago?" She jabbed a finger at him, approaching him slowly and methodically. "She went to go purchase the very tapestry in your room. From the Xiang Weavers. She introduced you to a timid little girl, not much younger than you with rat-colored hair in a braid who hid behind her mother. That little girl wove your tapestry. She hid a little golden bell in a ruined stone shrine, her signature. Her name means Beautiful Bell." She stopped now a short distance from her. "Zuina paid the Xiang's what would become a pathetic amount in the coming years if they betrothed their daughter to you." Her brown eyes narrowed, and her lips curled into a crooked smile as she eyed his confused face. Her hands came to rest on her hips, the new bandages on her forearms already lose and marked with string lines from her practice with Ting. "You never saw that girl again, until a few months ago. Jia - Means Beautiful. Ling - Means bell. Last name is Xiang. Figure it out."

[reed]

As Jialing went about with dragging his ass to Lochan, Reed just shrugged, "Why would I remember something like that? I never cared a rat's ass about any of her crazy schemes." Reed listened blinking every once in a while. "Oh yeah.. . . . I remember that little girl...I thought she was cute...." Reed said tapping into flash backs as Jialing continued. Reed curved his brow. "That was you??" He said pointing to her, his voice echoing in the hall. "Wow. . . . . This is very. . . Akward...." Reed thought for a minute, " .... So ow long have you known. I mean if you had remembered me then you would have probably shot me with an arrow. . . . .Oh, wait. You did shoot me with an arrow! You've known all along and you didn't tell me!?" Reed scanned her clothes, and face, hair and everything else about her over. "From the shy little girl you were, to the cursing won't-take-BAD!-from-anyone adult you are now. . . . Wasn't expecting that. .."

[jialingjin]

Her face dropped, that harsh chiseled look of defiance crumbled as if the weight she bore fell from her shoulders. Her eyes dropped, lashes hiding the warm mahagony of her eyes as her head fell forward. Jialing's chin brushed the split collar of her vest.
Lips parted in a heavy sigh, "Yeah.. I'm Jialing Xiang, the weaver girl." There was a heavy sadness in her face, as Jialing faced a part of her past she had hated. She hated remebering her family, her mother who drove her nearly insane with her weaving. Jialing used to love to weave, till it became less of a game, and more of a chore as she grew up. And yet all of her hard work amounted to nothing. The family was still poor, stuck in a run-down village surrounding a decrepted temple to an Earth Kingdom Avatar of millenia ago. She gritted her teeth, and jerked her head away, causing her body to follow. The ostrich-horse harness jingled against her back as she stormed away, tapping her hand against her hip as she lifted her head and muttered in a deep voice. "C'mon Jin.. we're going for a walk.."

[reed]

Reed really didn't know how to react to that. . . I mean, the closest thing he EVER though Jialing and him would be is friends, or . . . . . . . Good buddies or something.

Minge glared at Zuina. Okay, well if you won't apologize it'll be okay. but could you please follow me please." Minge got up and Zuina, suprisingly followed. Minge walked looking not mad to the least bit. She passed Jialing and Reed in the hall. "Excuse us." Reed oved to the side. Reed decided to follow as minge lead to the door. She graciously opened the doo and looked at Zuina. " it was a 'joy' having you here. Now GET. OUT." Zuina eyes widened and scoffed in panic. Reed have her an are-you -stupid look. What'd you think my mom was going to do? Give you cake? Zuina left the house after spitting at Minge feet. The family watched as there realitive left them. " I still say we should have screwed with her a bit... Or at least hit her or something." Reed said. Kai and Ting, who were sittin gon the porched holding in laughter held up a pocket knife. "She's gonna have one hell of a day." Ting laughed. "TING!" The who family yelled at her. "what!? kai said it first!"

Reed looked to Jia, " Can I come?'

[jialingjin]

The young woman cringed, and shot her daggers at Reed as he had the audicity to ask her. Her eyebrow lifted up an she turned her body towards Reed, her weight shifted from one foot to the other and the metallic bits on her ostrich-horse harness clinked with her movement. Her arms crossed torso, below her breasts, and she drew in a sharp breath. Her lower lip stuck out as she held that breath for a moment, before grumbling a "Fine. Move your @$$ ."

She turned swiftly on her feet, her hair whipping her face as Jialing stormed off, her feet leaving sizeable indents in the nearly dried mud. Her feet were huge. Jin whined, his eyebrows shifting back and forth as he looked to Reed and the others before padding after Jia, his head hanging low as his long lanky legs swung easily. The two headed down the road, a grassy path through the woods save for the wheel ruts that were heavily indented in the ground. Fields of tall, untamed grasses rose up on both sides, and small streams ran over the road in low spots. Jialing walked ahead at a very fast, very delibert pace, nearly jogging.

[reed]

"What's the hurry?" Reed asked as he followed Jialing as she "walked" quickly he caught up with her and soon slowed down because he felt that he was power walking and he wasn't gonna do that. He stuck his hands in his pockets and as a few quiet minutes passed. "It's pretty weird how you and me were suppose to be betrothed, huh?" Reed brought up, " It's also kinda ironic saying as that i was kinda falling for you."

Reed had finally admitted that he had feelings for Jia. He looked the other way as he passed her and gave Jin a pat on the head. His boots made slight splashes as he came down on a puddle. " . . .I really wonder how she's going to react to that. . . ." reed thought as he continued.

[jialingjin]

Her reaction was probably the opposite of what Reed had expected. Her head was thrown back suddenly, and a great bellowing machine-gun like laughter escaped from her throat. Oh what a great joke! Her taupe colored-hair bounced around her face, forever locked in it's crimps that would never straighten, never clean enough to reflect the sun's shine. Her arms, the bandages dirt covered and torn to reveal unharmed skin along her wrists, folded across her stomach as she weaved between arching backwards and doubled over laughing.

Jialing stood for a good minute, teetering between her feet as she tried to remain upright, tears pouring out of her eyes. Her speech was breathless and broken as she tried to talk. "Oh my ancestors! ...T-t-that.. was the most.. FUNNIEST.. thing I ever... heard!" Her dirty hands, fingers dry and brown wiped away the tears that trickled down her cheeks, smearing the fine dust and dirt around her face. Slowly her laughs began to die away and weaken, replaced with complains about how her sides were hurting.

Jin's tail merely wagged weakly, as he looked to Reed with his bright eyes, and shrugged.. Yes the dog shrugged.

[reed]

Reed gave a nervous chuckle. “Yeah. . . . funny, huh?” Okay so, That didn’t go as well as I thought….. He thought to himself. Reed eyed her funnily lifting one of his eye brows as she complained about her sides hurting. “It wasn’t that funny, Jialing.”

Reed recalled his little talk with Kai and Ting before he left with Jia:

“You like Jialing, huh?” Ting said nudging her cousin. Reed didn’t respond. “Come’on you know it’s true.” Ting said stretching the last word for emphasis. Reed shook his head, “ Oh seriously what makes you think that?” He said as Kai came walking in, “Who thinks what?” He said chomping on an apple his mouth half full. “Nothin-” “Reed like Jia!” Ting exclaimed. “Ohhh…”Kai said swallowing a smirk on his face. “Tell her.” He said. “What?” “I said: Tell her,” Kai said throwing his arm over Reed’s shoulder an hooking his neck, “ Maybe she’ll like you for your honesty . . and you’ll get some…..If you know what I mean.” Kai said slyly smiling.

“Wait…. I don’t get it.” Ting said still thinking about it. Kai slapped his forehead… “Cake. He’ll get some cake.” ‘Seriously?” “Yes.” Ting thought about it some more.“…. . . .. .. AH EWWW!” Ting said storming off.

[jialingjin]

The dark haired girl stopped her laughing suddenly, and shot Reed the look o' death. "You are such a dead tiger walrus..." She straightened and sucked in a big breath of air, regaining power in her lungs again. Kicking a stone with her deer-rabbit skin boots, the young woman continued walking. "So... when can we blow this frozen-fruit-on-a-stick stand?" Jialing was never one to stay in a place for long, and already she was itching to move again. She stuffed her hands into the make-shift pockets sewn on to his pants, her head down and feet shuffling.
Jin strolled along side her, looking up at his tired mistress before turning his golden face towards Reed. His tail wagged as his opened his mouth, panting like he was laughing. He decided to take off on a 'zoomy'. Yes, a Zoomy. The dog rocketed forward at full speed, vanishing off into the trees only to come hurling back at them, running in literally circles around the two and vanishing occasionally only to come scurrying back.

[reed]

Reed lifted an eyebrow, “Nice to know you think my home is a stand that sells frozen fruit..” Though Reed had thought about it too. He left home before for not just money, but because it was ….well, rather bland.. and boring. He didn’t want to be mean but when he was a kid he thought he’d never leave and now that he did, he really didn’t want to spend the rest of his life here. Reed turn around and looked to the no longer visible house. “Two days.. If you’re willing to stick around that long.”

It was dark now and the moon was almost full and the sky full of stars to light their way. They had walked a long way, probably in a circle, but who’s complaining? The night air was pretty warm considering how cold it was earlier. “We should probably head back now. And didn’t you promise Ting you’d campout with her?” He said as the wind started to pick up.

[jialingjin]

Jialing sighed heavily, putting a hand up to her dirt stained cheek. She rolled her brown eyes back for a moment as she shifted her her weight to the side and glanced downward. She could hear Jin racing around the backwoods, barking at every stick and twig. Letting her hand fall down to her neck, she glanced up at Reed. She opened her mouth to spea, but she said Nothing. Jialing for once was speechless, without a unwitty comeback or a bad pun. Her eyes lifted and then dropped and she shook her head, letting a smile slither by.

She threw both her hands in the air and rolled her neck to the side as she sighed heavily in great defeat. "Fine.. We can stay a bit.. but Afterwards....." She drifted off. Jialing really didn't have any place to go, lord knows every since she had met up with Reed she didn't need to wander the Earth Kingdom is search of her next meal. And she didn't want to return home..
Jialing looked towards Reed, jumping up from her toes to bop him on his head with the palm of her head. "That's for not having any common sense." The mischevious girl then winked at him, before bolting away like Jin often did. Kicking her knees up high, she ran for the woods, leaping over a fallen log into the underbrush. "Jin!" The pup appeared, tearing after her for a second before dispearing into the underbrush again. She stumped before running forward with great big, clunky and clumsy leaps after her pup. "Jin!"