Chapter 2: Chapter 2 - Whose Baby Is This?
Tian impatiently waited on the surface, growing more tense on the surface. Hearing a terrifying rumble from somewhere underground, the entrance to the cave suddenly shuddered, and started to fall in on itself. Distraught, Tian ran to the opening and held up a large portion of stone to keep it from fully collapsing. He then shouted into the dark "Hati!!! My Lord!! CAN YOU HEAR ME??", but alas no response was given. A minute passed by, and Tian waited blindly in the clouds of dust that were escaping from below ground. Soon, the rumbling died down and the dust cleared, leaving him in the midst of a sinkhole holding up a large rock weighing at least 300 kg. If one looked carefully, they could see his glowing orange veins thrumming with power.
Looking around in solemn desperation, he slowly set down the rock, his body dimming. Without saying a word, he wound up and punched the stone as hard as he could, cracks forming around his fist imprint. Blow after blow followed, chipping and breaking the stone piece by piece. A slight growl escaped his mouth as he vented his helplessness. But Tian, being as level-headed as he is, soon ran out of anger and began to feel incredibly sad. Placing his head against the boulder, he stood quietly in the night.
Out of nowhere, a large bang was heard, smashing his face straight into the stone. Hearing a crunch from his nose, he turned around quickly and tried to see out of his teary eyes. Only seeing two blurry figures, he channeled the vicious power of flame into his hands as his eyes started to glow again. About to let loose a stream of searing fire, the blurriness in his eyes slowly dispersed and all he could see was a dust-covered Hati holding a bloody Lord Ru and...what seemed to be a baby?!? On the grass around them, a circle of rainbow colored runes started to disappear like they were never even there. "Hati?! Wha.... How...I thought you were all dead!", he said while rushing over to them.
As soon as he got there however, Hati opened her eyes and a rainbow brilliance shot out of them, which slowly started to weaken. Opening her mouth she whispered faintly, "Take the baby. I have..exhausted myself." Afterwards she swiftly collapsed onto the ground dragging Ru with her. Tian, standing there dumbstruck holding a naked baby, looked up to the sky wide wide eyes. After standing there for a couple minutes in silence, he suddenly shouted "What The **** just happened!!??"
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As the orange sun started to break over the horizon, the darkness slowly receded backwards. In some part of the Errant Wilderness, one could see a determined man holding a baby in one arm, and dragging a dilapidated-looking sled with a bloody man and an unconscious woman on it. Trudging up a grassy hill, he marched until he got to the top, and then sat down on the summit, looking extremely exhausted. After creating the make-shift sled and walking for 6 hours, Tian was incredibly tired. After the amount of stress and lack of sleep he's had, a normal person would have already collapsed at this point.
Finally resting his head on the ground, he started to fully relax when he felt something move in his arms. Opening his eyes begrudgingly, he looked up and came face to face with the mysterious baby. A pair of big golden eyes started with silver flecks at Tian, making him feel slightly uncomfortable and shocked.
Due to the unique energy that created the universe, all children are born with gray eyes. If elemental qi never formed in someone after the age of 16, then typically they would never control these energies in their lifetime. Some geniuses could form their power at the tender age of 8, going through an awakening ritual and developing different colored eyes very early on. Power that was developed can be commonly seen by the color of their eyes (for example. blue for water, orange or red for fire, white/yellow for lightning). For those who are extremely powerful, the element of their eyes can even affect the surrounding air around them, however this is rarely seen. Perhaps only twenty percent of the entire population can develop elemental powers. When one awakens their power, wisps of colored energy starts to flow from the atmosphere and collects in the eyes. At the very end of this phenomena, the person's eyes shine like beacons up into the sky with a blast of sudden energy, and then fades to their new elemental color.
No baby Tian has ever seen had different colored eyes other than gray, which deeply surprised and worried him. Where the hell did this baby come from, and why did Hati suddenly appear holding it? Facing far to many questions, he sat up and held the baby. It didn't do much of anything except for just stare at him. Usually babies are extremely loud and cry often, however this one was so silent to the point that one could forget that it was even there.
Walking over and placing the baby on the sled, he slowly gave water to Ru and Hati, making sure they didn't choke while they were unconscious. Tearing his shirt apart a little more, he rewrapped Ru legs which were severely mangled and corroded by the acidic qi. Thinking to himself, if Ru wasn't such a fanatic of bodily cultivation, his body might have been eaten alive in a couple of seconds. Serving as an inspiration, Tian was determined to cultivate his body to the highest degree in order to protect his friends in the future. When they got back, he would have Ru teach him a body-refining art.
Finishing wrapping Ru's legs, he looked at Hati who was deeply unconscious. What was that special occurrence that happened back at the cave? He always noticed a small rainbow spiral in her eyes, but he never knew what it was for. Maybe it is a special element that she always kept secret? He'd have to ask her when she woke up. Turning back to the baby to check on it, he then froze on the spot. The baby....was gone!! "What the ****!" He frantically looked around for the baby, but it was nowhere in sight. Suddenly, on a rock outcropping near the summit of the hill, he noticed the baby crawling onto it. "HEY get down from there!!" he shouted as he rushed over. As he stepped onto the rock outcropping, his foot started to sink down into it and get stuck there. Shocked, he tried to pull his foot back but it was completely submerged.
The baby however, had no trouble crawling on the stone, and in front of the disbelieving eyes of Tian, a fist sized piece of shiny white stone emerged from the ground right in front of the baby. It then reached out and grabbed it. At this moment the rock hardened completely and went back to normal. Swearing, Tian tried to pull his foot out of the solid rock, but found it impossible. Channeling his power to his foot, he heated up the rock so much so that it became brittle. He quickly yanked his foot out and rock shards went flying. Looking at his bruised foot, he realized that his shoe and part of his pant leg burned off in the process. "Mother******!!!!", Tian pitifully cursed his terrible luck and this weird baby.
Walking up to the baby carefully, he noticed that it fell asleep again, curling tightly around this odd white stone. Slowly picking up the child, he brought it back to the sled, and gathered up his wits among the remaining shreds of his clothes. After realizing the folly of trying to sleep in this situation, he picked up the sled again and started to trudge back south to the kingdom.
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After trudging through forests and tall grass for six more hours, he finally started to see signs of civilization. Passing by rice paddies and old farm houses, he finally stopped by one. The house was in relatively good condition, with a fresh coat of white paint on the front. It seemed like whoever owned the house was quite skilled in construction, as Tian noticed the newly built wooden deck. After placing the sled off to the side of the deck, he wearily climbed up the stairs and knocked on the sturdy door. After a couple of seconds, a tall burly man answered the door and said "If you're here for your protection fees I already gave.." and his voice died out abruptly. Noticing Tian's warm orange eyes he suddenly bowed deeply and warily said, "My apologies sir, I thought you were one of those vermin asking for more protection money."
"No good farmer, I'm on business for the Lord and ran into some trouble along the way", Tian subtly flashed him a golden token, "And I need to resupply some food and bandages for my companions over there." and pointed to the sled in the corner.
Kneeling down, the farmer said "My name is Zhou my lord, I would be glad to help. Please, come inside so my wife may cook you up something excellent. We just killed a fresh bison this morning, and would love to prepare a feast for you!"
"No no, there is no need for that. If you could, I just need some packaged food and bandages. I have an urgent matter to attend to and need to get back to Kavash immediately."
"Right away sir, if you would wait just a moment!", rushing into the kitchen, Zhou hurriedly grabbed a bunch of items and shoved them into a sack. Tian, who was waiting outside, heard loud scrambling and clanking noises for a couple on minutes, until Zhou returned to the front door holding a large sack. "This is our best food and medicine we have. Please use it however you wish!" Zhou said.
"Thank you Zhou, your contribution means much to the lord. Someone will be here tomorrow to reimburse you for your trouble. And I don't want to hear that my men came by and you refused the money!" Tian said with a knowing wink.
Turning around and leaving Zhou with that, he re-bandaged Ru, and dragged the sled slowly away to the city off in the distance. Eating on the way, he rummaged around through the sack and heard a clinking noise. Pulling out the offending item, he saw a glass bottle with warmed bison milk in it. Feeling extremely grateful to Zhou, he pressed the bottle up to the baby's lips, and watched it completely drain the whole thing. Afterwards, the baby looked at Tian with its big eyes and milk mustache and burped. Then it curled up in Tian's arm and feel back asleep.
Feeling himself becoming attached to this baby of bad fortune somehow, Tian snapped out of it and continued on his way. An hour later, with his legs and back on fire from pulling the sled for so long, he arrived at the city gate. Kavash stood in all its glory, with pristine white-gray limestone walls, and a huge iron gate that was a meter thick. A long line of farmers and citizens stood in a line before the gate checkpoint, where guards with red and white uniforms stood at attention. The lieutenant, who had a ruby red sash on his uniform, was checking all the farmer's carts who wanted to enter the city.
Suddenly one farmer at the back noticed a dirty beggar-like man walk up behind him pulling a sled with...bodies on it? Shouting for help, the farmer made such a commotion that the guards up front noticed, "HELP Guards!!! This man is a murderer! He's carrying dead bodies on a sled!!" The lieutenant, hearing this immediately dropped the goods he was holding and ran to the back of the line. When he saw such a scene, he pulled out his longsword and said, "Drop the sled! You are hereby under arrest for the murder of two people and... the kidnapping of a baby!??"
Staring aghast at the sled, he firmed his resolve and charged at the dirty man, ready to end his life. All of a sudden a huge blast of orange power burst out of the man, and the liutenant went flying backwards. The nearby spectators gasped, and inched back towards the city gate.
Tian said, "I am here on official business" and quickly showed a gold token to the guard. "Go grab your captain immediately!" Looking at the scene in horror and confusion, one of the nearby guards ran into the gates. Five minutes later, a tall man with blue eyes and a trimmed goatee came out followed by three guards. Wearing a pristine white uniform, it served as a stark contrast to the torn clothes Tian wore. As the captain walked up and stopped not even a foot to him, the difference was very clear.
He slowly raised his arm, and people cheered him on with the hope that he would take care of this vagrant. Unexpectedly, he did the exact opposite. Clapping Tian on the back and giving him a big hug, the captain released a brilliant smile and said, "Tian my friend!! It's been too long! I almost didn't recognize you wearing these rags."
Smiling faintly, Tian replied in a grand manner "Dear me captain, I seem to have ruined your excellent uniform with my beggarly clothes. Please allow me to kowtow to you as I am so deeply apologetic!" making a swishing motion with his arms he placed his hands behind his back and slightly dipped his head in a joking manner.
"HAHAHA Tian you rascal!! Boy you never change! I would hate to see you lose that sense of humor you got going on!"
People started in amazement at the scene in front of them. Who was this man? And why was the captain treating him with such respect?
"Captain Mu, I have been up for the past 38 hours and would love to make my trip to the castle as incredibly short as humanly possibly. I need you to make that happen, else I might fall where I stand."
"Oh sure! Not a problem at all. Here let me get this sled for you-"
"Nono captain! I will do so but I thank you regardless. There are sensitive matters at hand.", Tian whispered.
At this moment in time, the baby awoke and opened its large glittery eyes, staring straight at the captain. The captain, frozen in shock, stared back at the baby and said slowly, "Tian...whose baby is this?? And where the hell did you get it?"
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Red_Hair_Blue_Eyes
Red_Hair_Blue_Eyes I hope you all can leave more comments on this story! These chapters are but the first of many, and in the first volume (childhood arc). I will be writing two chapters a week for the time being and I hope you can support the story if you like it!<3
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