Katelyn (A/N: yes she's the main character) was up at the crack of dawn. As usual. She had a scroll, a bowl of rice, a paint brush, and a bottle of ink in front of her. She was reading from the scroll as she wrote on her arm.
"Quiet and immure. Graceful, polite," She said, putting some rice into her mouth. "Refined, poised...punctual!" She said, finishing the markings on her arm.
That's when a rooster let out it's call.
"Ayah!" She said, jumping out of bed. She ran out, blowing on her arm to get the writing to dry. "Little Brother!" She called. "Little Brother!! Little-ahh! THERE you are!" She said, bending down next to a small dog.
The dog stood up and yawned, then barked slightly.
"Who's the smartest doggy in the world!" Katelyn said. She had to admit. This was one of the dimmer dogs she'd met. But, he was a cutie. "Come on smart boy. Can you help me with my chores today?" She asked, receiving a series of barks from the creature.
She took a bag of chicken feed that had a small slit in the bottom, allowing the feed to escape. The bag had a rope tied to it. She tied it around Little Brother and, somehow, got a stick through the rope. That had a string with a bone that had scraps of meat left over tied to it.
The dog then began to snarl and bark, chasing after the bone that was in front of him. He ran after it, running into the wall in the process, then out the door, the bag of chicken feed following behind.
He ran past the chickens, who jumped around, terrified. But then, they began to peck at the feed, realizing that they were being fed by that weird animal again. Little Brother ran past Katelyn's horse, Chen, who just looked at the pup like it was crazy, then went back to drinking its water. The wyvern then began to race up towards the family temple where Katelyn's father, Eric, was getting ready to pray.
He got down on his knees, and bent his body, his hands folded.
"Honorable ancestors." He said in a gruff, yet calming voice. He straightened the upper half of his body and looked to the sky. "Please help Katelyn impress the Match Maker today.."
Just as he said this, Little Brother ran in a circle around him, barking like mad, and leaving chicken feed behind him. Two seconds later, a bunch of chickens bawked and cawed as they flapped up the steps, pecking at the feed.
"Please. PLEASE help her.." He said, getting up after a moment.
Little Brother sat at the steps, trying to grab at the bone with his claws. Katelyn was walking up with a teapot and small cup. She chuckled and bent down, giving the bone to the wyvern. He started chomping at it and she shook her head, standing up straight.
"Father! I brought some-whoa!" She said, bumping into her father. The platter dropped, the cup along with it. Lucky for them both, her father caught the teapot by the handle, with his walking stick.
"Katelyn!" Her father said.
"I brought I spare!" She said, pulling out another cup from one of the many folds of her dress. (A/N: Them Chinese dresses were intricate man!)
"Katelyn..."
"Remember. The doctor said three cups of tea in the morning..."
"Katelyn.."
"...and three at night."
"Katelyn. You should already be in town. We are counting on you to-"
"Uphold the family honor. Don't worry, father. I won't let you down." She said, pulling down the sleeve of her dress so it would cover up most of the writing of her arm. "Wish me luck!" She called, beginning to bound down the steps, and picking up her dress slightly so she wouldn't step on it.
"Hurry!" He called after her. He then looked down at Little Brother, who had, somehow, gotten the entire bone inside his mouth. "I'm going to...pray some more.." He said, turning to go back into the temple, with the teapot and tea cup in hand.
Meanwhile, in the busy streets of O'khasis, Katelyn's mother was pacing.
"Li!" A women called to Katelyn's mother (we'll pretend that's her mother's name). "Is your daughter here yet? The Match Maker is NOT a patient women." The women said, walking back inside the building she came out of.
"Of all days to be late! I should've prayed to the ancestors for luck.." She said, sighing. That's when Katelyn's grandmother walked up, carrying a small cage in her hand.
"How lucky can they be? They're dead!" She said, looking up into the sky. "Besides! I've got all the luck we'll need." She said, looking into the cage. Inside the cage was a little cricket. "This is your chance to prove yourself." She said quietly. The cricket looked very worried.
That's when the old woman covered her eyes and started walking out across the street, where carts, horses, mules, and people were racing past.
"Mother! No!!" Li called out to her mother.
People tried screeching to a stop so they wouldn't hit the woman. They ended up crashing into each other, creating a big plume of dust. As the dust subsided, the old woman arrived on the other side of the street, still holding the cricket, unscathed. She uncovered her eyes and smiled, turning to face the side of the street she'd just come from.
"Yep. This one's a lucky one!" She called. The cricket fainted and fell over in its cage.
Li sighed and looked to the ground. She then looked up when she heard the neighs and galloping of a horse. Sure enough, here came Katelyn on Chen.
"I'm here!" Katelyn said as she jumped off her horse. She received a look from her mother. "What?" She asked. Her mother just shook her head. "But mama! I had to-!"
"None of your excuses. Now let's get you cleaned up!" Li said, leading Katelyn into the building, to get her ready for her match making.
~××~××~××~××~××~××~××~××~××~××~×
Word count: 1019
Do NOT judge me!! I got REALLY bored! And I can just see Katelyn being Mulan.
Also, this is gonna be Jefflyn towards the end. Because, well, you know!
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Bringing honor
I'll see y'all next time. Nice it! And stay awesome!
~Little Dragon~
