Legend of Fei

1. The Journey Begins at 48 Stronghold

"A'Fei. Sister Wang wants to talk to you." the woman in her mid-20s looked up in the direction of the voice, placed the last bit of her clothes in the packet, hurriedly shoved a small, clumsy-looking pouch within those clothes, folded and knotted the bundle before she moved. The owner of the voice did not come through the doors that were thrown wide open, so she had to go seeking herself.

Outside the door, was a man in his late 20s smiling widely as he chattered away with the young miss, glancing every now and then at the little boy beside the maiden, mostly hiding behind the folds of her skirts. The woman walked over, looking unsure but with confident steps. The man looked sideways and this time, it wasn't just a smile, his eyes shone. He extended a hand and the woman took it, returning the smile with a small tilt of her lips.

"Sister Wang." she greeted the miss who folded her hands respectfully before hurrying away into her worry.

"Miss Zhou. How is my brother's qidan? Is it developing well? He is the only one in the family with the right age for development. My age is long past. Would you take him under your wing? Please accept him as your disciple."

The woman listened with increasing unease and surprise. At last, she couldn't seem to take it anymore and could only say helplessly, "there is nothing like the right age."

She looked at the man beside her and saw him holding back a laugh. As soon as she turned to glare at him in question, he took over the conversation smoothly.

"Sister Wang, Little master is still young to be a disciple and his qi is developing impressively, Miss Zhou told me just a few days back. You don't have to worry. by the time he comes of age to be picked up as a disciple, he will be ready. Also, he is very intelligent." the man looked down at the child gave him a fist and the child bumps his own tiny fist onto it, coming out of its shyness.

This visibly relaxes the young girl, "than I will wait for that time and approach Miss Zhou again."

the woman returned the gesture with a nod and a fixed smile. The couple looked at the retreating back of the girl and the child shuffling behind her trying to keep up until they were out of view. Once gone, the woman turned to the man but the man leapt away with a playful smirk.

"Why did you call me to talk to her, when you could have taken care of the situation?" Now the man laughed lightly, his teeth showing and shoulders shaking without a sound. Glaring, the woman advanced and the man lept further away and towards the open door. As soon as he was in and out of sight, the woman let her drawn fist fall to her sides and smiled to herself.

"A'Fei. You are done packing already?" the man called from inside and A'Fei walked in to see him trying to peer through her bundle.

"What are you doing?"

"Did you pack my present?"

"It's new, it will get ruined in travel."

"But I brought it for travel. We will have a traditional ceremony in PengLai. Wear it then." The woman had not moved an inch but the man was already on the other side of the room, pulling away at the sections that held their clothes. Quickly, he picked the carefully wrapped packing at the very top and brought it back to place it beside her bundle. Her smile was content, happy as if thanking the stars over 48 Stronghold for bringing her the man before her. She didn't really care for the dress but she did for the man who wanted her to wear it.

"I'll need a bigger bundle." she walked over to the open rack and looked through for a larger piece. She could clearly see he wanted her to keep some nice things, not just sufficient travel supplies.

"Where will we be going?" Up until the very morning, they still had work which had put this conversation for the last moment. Today, they were free to leisure around before having to set out tomorrow.