The Water Sprite

A Fated Meeting

Annoyed at himself for having forgotten to raise his privacy barrier around the area, he sat motionless and silently as he watched the child cry mournfully.  It had been a very long time since he had been around children her age, yet not really wanting to disturb her or wanting to be seen either, he began to think of a way to move her on so he could leave.

That was until she picked up a sizeable rock and threw it straight through the cascade and hitting him in the head.  Immensely annoyed and about to berate her for her carelessness, he stilled himself when he noticed her wipe the tears from her eyes, before a small smile broke across her flushed cheeks.  

It seemed to Mo Yuan that the little girl had finally expended her anger and tears and having thrown a large rock at him, she now felt much better for it, however he was not.  And without thinking, he hurled the rock back through the waterfall with enough force to create a large splash.  Then watching as the water flew up over her small body before she tumbled off the edge, he chuckled softly to himself.

She was a cute child with very large eyes, and the way she gaped open mouthed towards the cascade, almost had him laughing, for some reason she looked familiar to him, but knowing he had never seen her before he gathered he perhaps knew her parents.  Not only was she very cute, but she was also highly expressive.  Her face clearly showed every emotion, that he sat and watched fascinated as fear, disbelief, amazement and confusion rolled through her eyes in seconds before finally settling on outrage.  

Demanding to know who he was or rather who had dared to throw a rock at the water and drench her from head to toe, Mo Yuan instead decided to chide her for her throwing the rock in the first place.  But when he asked why she had thrown it and what he had done to deserve it, the eyes once again began to sadden.  Even through the cascading water, he could see the tears on her lashes and he could also sense her confusion as she inched closer to stare at the waterfall, obviously searching for him.

But the moment she asked if he were a Water Sprite, he suddenly felt affronted by the question.  Because not only had she thrown a rock at him, but that she would deem him The Heavenly Overlord of the entire world a mere Water Sprite was insulting, though he let it pass quickly, the child was merely trying to rationalize what she didn't understand.  And after gently probing for the reason behind her anger and tears, he watched as she sat down and hoisted her skirt up around her waist before flapping her feet in the water and the sight had him thinking if anyone looked like a Water Sprite at the moment, it was definitely her.

Thinking to himself as he listened to her talk of her parents argument, the way she was sitting quite relaxed, while spilling her family secrets to someone she didn't even know, suggested the child was far too carefree and less concerned with holding back on exactly what she thought and felt.  But the moment she mentioned the reason for the argument and then himself and his school for boys, he stopped thinking and listened.  This little girl was actually far more insightful than he realized.  In fact she thought far too deeply about matters that children should  not have to worry about.

It seemed to Mo Yuan that his choice to keep his school for males only, was one of real reason for her anger along with her parents argument and the more he heard the more he realized just how insecure she was with her own gender.  

Though his mind did go back briefly to the day he decided to confine his school of higher learning to boys only.  In his fathers time, girls were also taken in, but growing up with them, untold trouble ensued.  They had all been of an age where the opposite sex was more important that their lessons, and because of it, he, along with his fellow Disciple brothers were forever facing punishment.  Night time trysts in the lower valleys along with torrid love affairs saw them all lose their heads.  But when one of the girls fell pregnant, Mo Yuan along with his father realized that the scandalous affect on them all had to be dealt with swiftly and appropriately.