Many Steps Behind

[xun]

Xun merely shook his head at the grinning... applicant, if you could call him that, and Lin's amusement at this man's expense. He would have liked to have finished his tea before it went diving off the table and swimming onto the ground.

Curious at this man's weapon of choice, Xun began to slide his fingers under the cudgel then rolled it into his hand. Effortless to him he gently lifted it from the table. Inspected its weight by bouncing it on the ends of his fingers just where they met his palm.

Quite hefty, he concluded. Kindred spirit almost, he didn't want to admit. Instead he gently rolled it back onto the table, bringing it to a halt with his thumb leaning over it.

"That is well and splendid mister... Sun, was it?" His head slightly tilted towards the window where the waitress had suddenly popped out from as if by magic. "I take it you are a resident or frequenter of this town, with people who can vouch for your abilities? If they can are you willingly to take a grueling, perilous road for the good of our King and Kingdom?" He then quickly added. "Repaid in and with ample rewards of course."

[sun]

Sun allowed the man to inspect the cudgel, not surprised that the man paid little heed to the weight, the soldier was twice his size easily. It was far heavier than a wooden staves most people used and with his lean frame he had needed train for over a month to gear to the weight. The effort was worth it when a fire nation soldier found his sword or bones suddenly snapping under the unexpected force of impact it carried. And as peaceful as Sun was, there was a certain satisfaction there was a certain amount of pride to be felt when his swings crumpled a fire nation helmet.

"I take it you are a resident or frequenter of this town, with people who can vouch for your abilities? If they can are you willingly to take a grueling, perilous road for the good of our King and Kingdom?"

Sun’s Cheshire Cat like grin didn’t fade from the flowery phrasing of the question. “Depend‘s who ya ask around here, but anybody below the nobles can vouch for me,” he chose not to say that the reason for that was that he had angered every noble family in the city.

[linhyan]

Lin clamped down on her laughter as Xun inspected the staff. Gotta get serious here... She stayed off to the side as Xun continued the 'interview' asking for references to Sun's abilities while thinking of a way to convince Xun of her own.

He sees me as a 'young girl' not as a woman, even after witnessing my fighting, he's reluctant.... She sighed and frowned slightly as she watched the exchange.
Let's see..... law man, family man, honorable if a bit old fashioned..... What do I have to do to convince him?
Lin suddenly smiled as the thought occurred to her what her best route to convince him would be.Honor loves humble!

With a shake of her head to wipe off the silly grin, she stepped back into the conversation.

“Depend‘s who ya ask around here, but anybody below the nobles can vouch for me.”

"That's interesting. Did you piss off someone? I personally don't understand how it's possible for anyone to be angry with you."

There was no sarcasm in her voice but laughter in her eyes, face and voice. Despite the obvious problem with his 'honey talk', and the personal hygiene, he wasn't that bad.

I've smelled worse.
The grin she tried to get rid of earlier was practically from ear to ear as she addressed Xun again. She couldn't help herself.

" So Xun, who do you wanna talk to first? That waitress seemed pretty friendly..."

[xun]

Xun’s fingers press and patted the table, emoting a line of thought.
“A good place as any, Lin-Hyan. In fact,” gripping the table edge before heaving himself upright and out of the chair. “I would appreciate if you took care of that for me.”

Xun’s eyes then turned towards Sun. “You and I are going to the town’s constable office,” then gave another cursory look over Sun. “If anyone there can vouch for you as well that also fine. But more importantly, if I’m gonna deputize you then I might as well have it on official record.” He paused. Gave Sun another look over while trying to ignore the man’s odour. “For good or bad upon hindsight…

“Lin-Hyan,” tuning around began sifting into his robes for a money pouch. “Once you’re finished,” telling the woman as she neared, “come to the office as soon as you can. But if you notice anyone perking their ears up, don’t hesitate for their opinion as well.” Producing a dingy cloth pouch, Xun tweezed a few coins from it then handed the pouch to Lin. “No telling what sort of person he really is and information may have to be coaxed.”

“Now then,” turning back towards the table and gesturing for Sun to stand while a few coins jingled in his hand. “Let’s have you registered,” then held out the coins to Lin to pay for their meal with maybe a little estimated in for Sun, save for the broken cup and whatever he had on his tab. “For all of us.”

[sun]

Sun responded to Lin as if he was remarking on the weather, “I may have been caught in a compromising position with the eldest daughter of the Yuan family,” it was impossible to tell weather he was lying or not. Further elaboration was prevented when Xun addressed him.

“But more importantly, if I’m gonna deputize you then I might as well have it on official record.”

For the briefest second, Sun's grin shrunk at the mention of being deputized. It wasn’t that he didn’t like he town officers, in fact he had grown up with many of them. But to the free spirited Sun, the regulations that officials had to follow limited them in the very duties they were tasked to perform.

After a mental shrug Sun’s grin returned to full strength.
“Alrighty,” he announced. He placed his palm on the end of his staff and pushed down firmly. This caused the staff to lever up where Sun could catch it on his shoulder. “I‘ll lead the way!” With that he literally spun on his heel and began marching down the street.

[linhyan]

"Right Boss!" She saluted and chuckled truly wishing she could see the faces of the law men at the office when Sun walked in. They'll probably laugh Xun out of the office. Although- She interrupted her own thought with a big grin. -yeah. Even with it being Sun I don't think they'd dare. She watched them go, marking their direction before poking her head in the teahouse. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness for a second before she spotted the waitress from before still muttering under her breath.

"Ma'am?" The waitress looked up with a start." Um here this is for our tea..."

She deposited the pre-counted coins into the womans palm. She clinked them once giving them a quick go over before closing her hand over them tightly. It was a little more than what everything had actually cost. She half glanced at Lin with a small frown clearly wondering why. Lin just smiled brightly in response.

"A small tip Ma'am. I was also wondering if you could give me a little information about Sun." The waitress looked her up and down with a semi hopeful look on her face.

" You arrestin' him for something?"

Lin's face was going to be soooo sore the next day.

" In a sense." She said with a chuckle, she hid her mouth a little with her hand. She could not talk about Sun without grinning about the odd man and his increasing cartoonish-ness " Either way, any information you could give might be instrumental into getting him out of your hair."

She perked up a little and deposited the coins into the front of her apron. The woman squared her shoulders a little seeming to think about what information she was willing to give before she answered.

"Waddya wanna know?"

[sun]

The waitress smoothed a wrinkle in her apron as she thought for a moment of how to respond to the young girl.

“I’m not sure what there is to tell,” she said with a slight smirk. “He lives on what’s left of his families land but he‘s only here for a few days every month or so before he wanders off.” The waitress gave a lopsided smile reminiscent of Sun’s own mischievous grin, “no ones particularly sure what he does while he‘s gone,” she said with a chuckle.

“I‘ve seen him acting as an escort and a guide but I’ve also heard stories ranging from him being a treasure hunter to being a pirate. I‘m sure no two people here have the same two stories.” She stopped for a moment and wondered if those facts helped or hurt his reputation. “But he‘s quite… talented,” she said after a mental shrug, “we‘ve seen that boy dragging in men that the prefect and city guards couldn’t handle, and I‘ve lost count of the number of times he‘s helped deal with the earth rumble fighters when they’ve drank too much.” She appeared about to say more but seemed to think better of it, “Is that what you were askin‘ for?”

A distance away Sun was leading Xun towards the guards station. While Suns companion would have to occasionally dodge out of the way of an impatient citizen or wall Sun seemed to take a path of least deviation. Many times when a cart or basket was in his path he would hop over it instead of walking around it. At one point, he began to walk along the top of a short wall to avoid the crowd and leap frog over a man standing near the end. Few people seemed annoyed at these antics and a number even called greetings to the man, every once an awhile a child would run up to Sun and jabber something to him before running off to play.

After a few blocks they came upon the guards station, other than it being noticeably larger than the surrounding buildings there was nothing distinctive about it except for two large guards framing the doorway. Without even looking at the men Sun strode passed them but was stopped when the larger of the two calmly caught him by the collar pulled him back out as if he were a rag doll.

“Hold on there Monkey Boy,” said the guard obviously knowing who Sun was, “Dian is in a foul mood and I don‘t need you getting me in trouble… again.”

“But the big guy behind me needs to ask him something.” Responded Sun innocently. The guard looked at Xun appraisingly for a moment.

“He can go in, you stay out here…”

[xun]

Xun dipped his head towards the guard that bid him entrance. "This will only be a moment he told Sun. Only need documents to make you official." He then turned sideways and knelt, almost crabwalking through the doorframe. But even though the standard size of single doors was often a minor trouble for Xun, at least average proportions within this structure offered none further.

After a few displays of the jade and gold encrusted jewel that marked his station and office in the Earth King's direct employ, Xun was eventually introduced to this Dian character. He seemed a bit more pleased than what was expected given the attitude of the guard outside. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Sun was being handed over to the authority and judgment under a royal court of law. Was this a likely dream for this man? That and the chance of finally being rid of Sun along with the delinquent what Dian believed he deserved.

"Summary file?" Xun questioned as Dian directed him towards a wooden file cabinet. Dian removed an entire shelf from the file cabinet and with some grunting managed to hoist it atop his desk. "You could have just given me," Xun walked his fingers through the shelf's contents and his eyes skimmed tab titles, "the folder... itself...? Wait, all of this--"

Dian nodded smugly.

"--is his?!"

"Dian continued his affirmation."

"And if these are all just summary case files then the detailed ones..." before Xun could continue Dian opened a small closet door in his office. Xun blanched at the sight.

"Well then Mr. Xola," moving back towards his desk Dian exhaled in satisfaction at the prospect of getting rid of that walking nuisance.

"Unfortunately to your health," Xun cut him off, "I must admit that I am not here to arrest Sun."

"Excuse me!" Dian's expression fell faster than a brink.

"I am currently on two cases, one of royal important, that I believe Mr. Boyue abilities would prove adequate for my needs. I am merely here to make my authorization of him as my temporary deputy official."

[sun]

Dian looked Xun in the eyes, for a moment it seemed like he was going to yell again but he deflated slightly. With deliberate care he interlocked his fingers and rested them on the table.

“Mr Xola, are you saying that you are willing to risk your career by signing your name to a man whose criminal record is used to insulate the poor district in winter?” By now Dian looked as if Xun was trying to convince him of the existence of lion turtles. Almost on cue there was a crashing sound from outside.

The captain let out a ragged sigh and hung his head for a moment. “Fine.. Fine! Just get him out of here!” He disappeared under the counter for a moment and came up with a scroll. Grabbing a brush he scribbled his signature, nearly tearing the paper as he did so. “Sign your name there and remember that anything he does is on your head!”

-

Outside the building Sun landed face first in the dirt. They had come out of nowhere and there were too many of them so he was helpless as they took him too the ground. Sun lifted his head from the dirt and struggled as the assailants each took a limb and did their best to turn sun into a pretzel, in defiance he yelled “you will never defeat me!” and cackled.

Leaning against the wall the guard picked his teeth as the village kids continued their daily battle with the ‘evil monkey king’

[xun]

Once outside, one of the constables gently nudged the quizzical looking Xun with his shoulder. Now holding his attention he then indicated to Xun the rather large and still growing mound of children trying to achieve a record once and were already high enough to reach a rooftop.

“A puzzle,” Xun muttered to himself. What he knew thus far about this Sun was disjointed like one. He strolled over towards the mound of children and tried to find some semblance of Sun amidst the pile but was temporarily distracted by a few children asking for help to get to the top of the pile. He clamped each by the shoulder and lifted up as high as he could before letting them climb the rest of the way.

Bringing his attention downwards he sighted a recognizable staff with a hand attached to it. “Alright,” Xun slipped his hand inside the robe and pulled out a copy of the signed scroll tightly rolled. Kneeling down he unlatched the hand from the staff and slapped the scroll into the open palm. “Hold onto this,” he said. “This copy is yours and records you as officially in the king’s service as my deputy, equal in rank with the average constable but greater powers as you work under me.”

“GEE, thanks mister!” Was the high pitched reply.

“!” Xun looked back at Sun’s staff and noted the number of hands attached to it. He found one that was larger and mature looking. That had to be Sun’s, then switched palms the scroll.

“AWWWW man!” came the high pitch voice.

“I can give you the badge to go with this once I return to my room,” he spoke into the pile. “We can depart when you are ready…” And hopefully before Lin-Hyan gets here, he didn’t say but thought it well enough.

Xun was hoping that the busy work given to her, finding the station, then having to find them upon finding out they had left would put enough distance between the three of them. Sure it may have been nice to have her around if Sun became all he had to work with, but this was still a dangerous endeavour. To him Lin-Hyan didn’t deserve being dragged into work, even if it was to serve the good of king and country—she should have far better things to do with her life. He would want the same safety given to his daughters if in some madness of events they were given same options as Lin-Hyan. Crazy still is if they were given the same life as her. Over his dead body!

[linhyan]

Everyone she talked to had pretty much the same to say. Lin-Hyan had thanked the waitress after a moment of shocked silence and excused herself to find more information. She asked people as she headed towards the station, Children spoke highly of their living toy, adults spoke of his deeds( and his smell) but most reports about his character were of bravery, tenacity and strength. The children love him, the adults grudgingly respect him even though he's such a trouble maker. I think I owe him an apology.

Lin rounded the corner of a side street that came out to the right of the station, only to see what could be described as a mosh pit of giggling children. She doubled over laughing as she saw Sun's head disappear out of sight. Lin grabbed the building behind her for support until her giggles subsided to more manageable chuckles. They came back as soon as she witnessed Xun talking into the pile of bodies.
I’ll wait on that apology a little while… She covered her mouth to stall another round of giggling before she moved forward to report to Xun.

“ I’m ba-ack!” She walked up next to him and surveyed the pile with a smile. “ If this doesn’t speak well of him I don’t know what will. Not much dirt on him except the stuff on his skin boss."

[sun]

Eventually Sun was able to escape the half-pint army to the relative safety of the Boyue families small tract of land. His normally jovial face drooped slightly as he pushed open the door to the main room. Some time before he had been born the estate had been several times larger, and housed some extremely rare and unusual animals that nobles would pay large amounts of money. After at least three decades though, the stock had diminished and the land sold off, leaving them with a relatively small house and animal area.

Sun pondered what it must have looked like for several moments before shrugging and walking down a hallway towards his small room. The room was almost bare, containing only a small bed and a dresser along the opposite wall. The only signs that the room was occupied was a half dozen staves of various materials and sizes, and a small collection of personal items that he had kept from his adventures. Sun ignored these however and opened the top drawer, removing the small sack that his mother, the serving girl at the tea shop had left for him.

Less than an hour later someone took a seat next to Lin and Xun. His hair that earlier and been tangled and matted was now noticeably shorter and washed. The wiry beard was gone revealing a youthful almost childlike face. The dirty clothes had been exchanged for a new red and green outfit consisting of a matching loose trousers and a small vest. A bath and some heavy scrubbing had also removed the musky odor and layer of road dust. The overall appearance was that of well dressed young man in his mid to late teens. The only evidence that this was the same man was the rust colored cudgel he carried and the conical he wore on his back, as well as the ruddy complexion of a traveler.

“Are we ready?” He asked in a cheerful voice with a grin that nearly swallowed his ears.