An empty bowl of rice sat upon a crooked wooden table. A beautiful woman with jet black hair cradled her hands around a seven-year-old girl.
Across the table from them was an ugly 9-year-old boy with short black hair. The boy was extremely short for a kid his age and all-around rather plain-looking. That is except for his eyes, which were of mismatching color. Whereas his right eye was a cold deep blue, his left was a bright tree bark hazel.
The ugly boy looked up to the beautiful woman sitting across from him and spoke.
"Can I go play in the woods with Wu Chao?"
She looked down and smiled. Her smile was so warm and loving. And yet, the boy was completely unappreciative of that warmth. He didn't know…
that on that day she would…
…
Light penetrated through Wu Niu's eyelids, causing him a discomforting sensation quickly waking him from his slumber.
He opened his eyes to see his surroundings.
It was an orange summer's dawn. The clear sky and relative aridity made the marshy environment a tad more reminiscent of home. Or at least what he once considered home.
Wu Niu slowly recognized where he was. He was leaned up against a tree with a smoldering campfire at his feet. It was then that he felt a strange longing. He was a homesick child with no place to call home.
A lone tear rolled down Wu Niu's cheek as he stifled his crying. Wiping it off, he grabbed a stick with a charcoaled fish skewer on it from out of the fire. He began viciously tearing away at the fish meat with the tears of regretful sentiments rinsing out from his eyes.
-I didn't mean to…
The burnt fish was completely gone leaving only the skewer in Wu Niu's hand.
Dropping it, he stood up and grabbed his bag of fish. Once in hand, he continued walking, trying to forget his sadness. If he were going to survive in this cruel world, he would need to become hardened.
-I want to be strong.
-No.
-I need to be strong. Otherwise I'll…
Wu Niu stopped in place for a few seconds.
"have wasted all that I've lost to get here…"
Having quickly recovered from his emotional dump, Wu Niu wiped away his boyish tears and continued walking.
***
It was early morning when Wu Niu heard fast-moving water coming from the river to his left. Keeping it in mind, he pressed forward.
Coming to a clearing of trees, he saw the stunning panorama before him. There he stood atop a steep hill with a zig-zagging path to the bottom. To his left, the river turned into a beautiful waterfall that plummeted down to a lake below. The lake converted back to a river and cut straight through a large city with tall stone fortress walls.
-This must be it—what a view.
Wu Niu could see the city from an almost aerial view. It was so much larger than he had ever imagined. He hadn't ever left the Wu Family estate before, so he didn't have many expectations.
Hundreds of rows and columns of beautiful red architecture cut apart by grid-like streets. Massive paper lanterns adorned ropes that hung tightly between the buildings. The streets were layered in chiseled stones tightly packed together. The walls of the city were tall, and they had towers in each of its six corners. Running straight through the city was a large river canal with multiple red bridges of which people were commuting across. The river led to the city center, where it split into a moat around a large castle. In it, there was a beautiful park area and living quarters for the Zhao family members and barracks and training grounds.
"Wow…"
Wu Niu continued walking down the zig-zagged path.
***
Arriving at the hill's bottom, Wu Niu approached the front gate and was met by a guard.
The man wore aesthetically pleasing steel lamellar plates interlaced with white strings over a thin crimson gambeson. He held a well-maintained glaive with a long red ribbon dangling down from right below the blade in his hand.
-Wow, he looks cool.
The man looked down at Wu Niu and queried, "State your business."
"U-Uh… I'm a migrant looking for work."
The man furrowed his brow and looked at Wu Niu accusingly.
"Where is your family? Are you alone, boy?"
-I can't let him know my identity.
"E-Er, yes! Yes, I am. I came from a nameless village out in the swamps up on the hill. I seek refuge as a group of bandits raided my home."
Squinting at Wu Niu, the man gave him a suspicious look.
"State your name and your family name."
"U-Uh… Niu. Just Niu, sir. I come from a nameless family lineage."
-Please work.
The guard scratched his chin and pondered for a moment.
"Hmm… Alright then. Head inside and take a right; there, you'll see a building that contains a directory of all the job offerings in the city. You can also get a card there that shows that you are a migratory citizen. You won't be able to buy any homes or businesses as a migratory citizen, but you can live in the migrant lodges located on the city's southwestern side. I'm not certain how much it costs per week of boarding, though, so you'll have to ask."
"Thank you very much."
-What a scam.