"Looking for me!?",
She had hardly ran a step or two, when that mysterious man appeared in front of her and scared the living hell out of her. Dazed, she was about to bump into him when he swiftly moved out of her way, letting her fall into the pool of water. She sat there amidst the floating water lilies and looked back at him in bemusement. Her hairs too, which were thick and bouncy when dry now seemed as much ugly when they got wet. The man stood looking at her in amusement and it was clearly visible from his face, how much he was enjoying the scenario. He hardly controlled his laughter by covering his mouth with his hands but still his giggle was audible. Little Shui looked at him in rage as his giggle was irritating her and the fact that only because of him she fell in that pool, added to her rage. She grabbed a pebble from inside that pool and threw it at him,
"I'll sew that mouth of yours!"
She literally seemed like she was about to breathe fire on him. Even after receiving the threat he kept on laughing which inflamed her even more. Gathering her wet clothes she stood carefully and stepped out of the water. The air was quite chilly in the midnight and she felt shiver running down her wet body. She stomped towards the rock she usually sits on and while walking she grabbed one end of her gown, rolled it and then wrung it to squeeze out the water.
"Such a foolish man! Playing pranks on a child at midnight and laughing like a lunatic. I wish he gets loose motions.", Shui kept on cursing him under her breath and the man began laughing even louder. She sighed and looked at him in frustration, "What a pity.. Grown ups these days are quite exasperating." She said to herself and left without saying a word. Seeing her leaving, he quickly jogged to her and asked if she's already leaving.
"What else am I supposed to do? I was starving and came here to eat in peace. But thanks to a stupid, troublesome, and rude old man. I lost my bread and now I'm drenched and cold.", she complained.
"Woah! Kids these days really don't know how to respect the elders."
"And the elders don't know how to behave. It's vice versa."
"You can get in trouble for such behaviour."
"No one knows that better than me. By the way, have you heard of a man who threatens a child because he can't win against her?"
"You've really got guts, kid."
"I wish I could get a sewing needle and a thread too…", she said exhaling deeply.
"Am I that annoying?"
"You still doubt that?"
"I'm telling you this in good faith, you really might get punished for this."
"I know, but I'm used to it now. I don't fear the cane anymore.", she told him with an innocent smile on her face.
His expression turned dark when she told him about the cane.
"Right, you're a fearless little girl. Aren't you?", he patted her head affectionately.
" I don't think so…", she replied sadly.
"Why?"
"Because fearless people do cool stuff but I'm not cool."
"And what do you mean by being cool?"
"Doing stuff like helping others and fighting."
"Oh! Look at you. You like fighting?"
"I love it. Sometimes I slap my best friend Ken, too", she chuckled in joy.
"Okay, little warrior! Then I'll teach you how to fight."
"Promise?", her face lit up.
"Promise.", she assured her.
"But we'll be in trouble if anyone finds out.",
"We'll meet here every night.", he suggested her a way.
"OKAY!", she couldn't contain her happiness and screamed in excitement.
"Brilliant! Also, get yourself a drum. ", he said in a sarcastic tone and then covered her mouth and shushed her. Then he looked around to make sure that they weren't being heard by anyone else.
"I'm sorry. I got excited.", she whispered.
"Okay, now go to sleep.", he instructed.
"Not now. First tell me who are you, and your name. And what's with this weird looking dress of yours?", she asked him several questions.
"Weird?? You're calling this weird? You've no sense of clothing at all."
"Whatever… You look like a giant mosquito in this black dress.", she gave him a judging look.
"That was really mean. I'm hurt…", he made a baby face.
"And there starts your melodrama again…", she shook her head.
"Huh! I'm not melodramatic. Anyway, I'm from a clan named Kazemi and I came here because I was bored."
"Kazemi? What does that mean?"
"It means wind and water."
"Oh! My name also means water!!", she chirped.
"Hehe", he forced out a laughter. They both were having pretty good conversation when suddenly Shui went silent. Upon being asked, she asked him about how he disappeared earlier and then reappeared all of a sudden.
"It's one of my powers.", he told her.
"Wow! You also have powers.. Except me. Everyone has some or the other power.", her voice quavered.
"What?"
"I can't control any element…. Water, Fire, Earth and Air all of them are beyond my control."
"What? Are there only 4 elements?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Nothing.. Now go to your room and sleep. We'll meet tomorrow."
"Okay, but what's your name?"
"Yoru", he said and disappeared in front of her.
"Oh he's so cool!", she said while looking at the night sky and then hopped in. On the other hand, Yoru reappeared in the entry of the dark caverns and hovered there for quite sometime, thinking about the stuff Shui had told her.
"Since when these clans became so ruthless that they aren't even sparing the kids now…", he thought.
"Either way, all the leaders and the union had gone corrupted after the massacre. This way, they'll being harm to themselves as well as to their clans. In order to restore the peace, harmony and brotherhood among the clans, I need to find him quickly.", he was determined enough.
"But first, let's visit leader Goro", he smirked and disappeared again.