Immortal Mortals

A Mouthful of Wine

Taking a moment to consider his words, and having already formed an accurate opinion of the womans character, it did make sense to him.  Being center stage was the reason for her reticence to meet him in the first place.  "Alright, I will meet her alone." he said leaving them all sitting where they were, once again sighing in relief.

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Her back was to him when he arrived.  A small slender woman with very long hair that reached past her waist, and with her hands clasped behind her back, he slowly made his way forward, but she knew he was there by the way she suddenly shivered at his approach.  He didn't need to see her face to know she was not looking forward to this meeting any more than he was.  So seeking to put an end to it for both of their sake', he stopped moving any closer to her.  "Bai Qian.  Why not put an end to it now?  I can cancel the arrangement if that is what you wish." he said softly to her back.

Slowly she turned, but not enough to fully face him, or for him to see her face.  "Please follow me Mo Yuan." she said just as softly.  In fact had she not started moving away from him, he may have thought he had mistaken her words.  The very gentle tone of her voice was so soft, he barely heard her.

In fact the softness of his voice was such a surprise, she suddenly wanted to hear it again, but knowing her brother and Zhe Yan, they would be hiding close by watching their first meeting, and she did not want them eavesdropping on their first conversation either. Especially Zhe Yan who had a habit of quoting everything he heard, word for word.  

Smiling softly to himself, Mo Yuan too knew what the man was like and the reason for Bai Qians decision to keep their first meeting private, so following her along the path, and still of two minds as to whether he would continue with the arrangement or not, he suddenly became aware of her energy as being one he had felt before.  But before he even had time to think on it, she suddenly stopped and disappeared.

Thinking this was just another one of her childish games, his anger once again rose. "Up here." she called down to him.

 Looking up, he caught sight of her pale blue dress hanging over the edge of a branch high up in one of the larger Peach Trees in the Grove.  Smiling to himself he was starting to get a feel for this womans unconventional nature. So under a clouded burst of energy, he rose to meet her, finding himself seated on the branch facing her.  

And when her face finally came into view, he almost lost his balance.  Thinking he was not used to sitting in the tree tops, she quickly erected a barrier around them to prevent him from falling causing him to look at it in shock.  

Grinning cheekily at him, she waved her hand towards the barrier.   "I can't exactly allow The God of War to fall out of a tree now can I." she laughed heartily at his still shocked face.

But it wasn't the tree that caused the shock, but the Goddess he had met in the Mortal Realm.  The very one he was working to repay a debt to for the damage he had caused her towns folk, and the same one who was sharing a tree branch with him. 

 He was stunned.  Not only was she even more beautiful than the first time he had seen her, she was playful and somewhat odd, something he found rather refreshing if not unorthodox in her approach to others, something that was in complete contrast to the Powerful Goddess he met earlier.

 And he had never expected their first official meeting to be in a tree branch, he actually felt like laughing at the absurdity of it all.  He was liking her already, but remembering Zhe Yans words from their earlier meeting, he felt it best that he not mention that they had actually already met, instead keeping it to himself for now.

With a cheeky grin of his own, he too waved a hand at the barrier.  "I think I'm more afraid of Zhe Yans hearing than falling out of a tree."  he laughed, drawing her attention to the man searching the forest floor below them, causing her to laugh even more, and being behind the barrier, he not only couldn't see them, he couldn't hear them either.