Lover with Wings

Chapter 17 Preparing to enter the city part 1

At their current pace, they would reach the city in two days. christine sighed and looked out over the water. It was a warm day and the sun danced across the water like it was glass. lian was looking at the surrounding trees and plants while also chatting with some wolfs . christine was laying on the side of the boat, periodically dipping her hand in the cool water and watching the ripples it created. She then took her hand out and watched as the water dripped down her fingers to return to where it came from. She wanted to be like the drops of water, to be able to go home and have things go back to the way they used to be. The cat sighed again and rested her head on her arm, letting the other droop down so her hand was in the water again.The sun was shining on her so she began to doze off. She was half asleep when Shen came out on deck, he was checking on their progress when he noticed christine laying on the edge of the boat. "Tired are we?" he asked walking over. startled awake by the sudden presence of his voice she jumped. "Gahhh!" she exclaimed nearly falling over the side and into the water, clinging to the side but not before the bottom half of her was soaked. She climbed back onto the boat and looked over to Shen, who was trying not to laugh. She groaned, "Oohhh, those were my favorite pants!"

Shen couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't realize you were sleeping"

"Half sleeping," she replied, shaking one leg and then the other trying to get the water out. "And, that's ok. I'll just sun dry."

"I'm sure there's something inside you can wear," Shen offers."No, no. That's quite alright," she says squeezing out some water from her top piece. "Thank you though." The feline put a hand on his shoulder as she walked by to the front of the boat. He watched as she settled down to let the sun dry her clothes. As he walked away, he noticed Boss Wolf and lian walk past him and toward christine. They heard him speak, her yell and a loud splash. Shen chuckled when he heard the woman yell about how cold the water was before disappearing inside.

christine was clinging to the side of the boat again, this time completely soaked from head to toe. Boss Wolf and lian helped her on the boat,nearly slipping on the wet deck and apologizing left and right. "I'm sorry, Lady Linghun. I didn't realize you were sleeping," Boss wold apologizes as she sat down to wring herself dry again. "I was half sleeping. And hat's quite alright,". smoothing out her fur, she stopped and looked at him with a confused look. "Did you just call me 'Lady ' Linghun?'" she asked."Well, yes," he replied. "You're the guest of Lord Shen so you have the title 'Lady'."

"what about me!" lian interjected. Boss wolf chuckled " you are lady lu lung". lian's grin stretched from ear to ear " 'Lady Lu Lung' " she places her hands on her hips, " I like it! "

"O-oh," christine replied wringing out water from her top piece. She had a small smile on her face when she decided to change the subject. "Well, I guess I can forget about sun drying. This will take nearly all day to dry."

"I'm sure there's something inside you could wear.". She looked over at him suspiciously. " Funny, that's what Shen said after I fell in the first time."

"You fell in before?" lian giggled, small smirk on his face. "That's not the point," christine huffed.

"Well, don't you have something else?"

The cat thought for a moment. "As a matter of fact I do," she said. It was a relief too, she didn't want to spend all day in sopping wet cloths. She stood and hurried inside, nearly slipping and falling because of the water on deck, and into her room. She found the outfit she packed in case something like this happened, it was a blue dress with a floral pattern on it and dark blue pants that stopped just below her knees. The cat traded her wet training cloths for this outfit and walked outside. She stood nervously as Boss Wolf and a few others looked at her for a long time. She waved her hand in front of their faces. "Helloooo." They snapped out of it, shook their heads and returned to what they were doing. Only Boss Wolf was left. "Judging by the look on your face," christine said, "You approve?". lian fell on the deck laughing, this was too much sillyness for her to handle. Boss wolf snapped out of it "Yes, much more formal than the previous outfit," he replied still looking at her. "Eyes up please," she said lifting his head a little. "Er, right. Sorry," he said when he realized where he was staring. He blushed red. When she walked past him, he slapped his forehead and mumbled. "idiot" as he walked away.

Christine stayed at the front of the boat for the rest of the day until it was dark. She headed inside to eat. Shen tried to get her to eat with him but she declined, taking her and her daughter's food into their room. She did, however, say goodnight to him by giving him a smile and a few acai berries arranged in an elegant way for a light before-bed-snack. Shen smiled and peeked into her room to find her and her daughter sound asleep . He chuckled a little before turning around and having a few bites of the treat left for him before going to bed.

When the morning came, Christine was still sleeping when Shen woke up. lian was wide awake and wandering about the boat and when asked where her mother was she told shen that she was still sleeping . He went to check a few things before checking on christine . "We're nearly at Gongmen City," he said poking his head into her room.She flinched before turning around. "Will you stop that?" she asked standing up. "Stop what?" Shen asked a little puzzled."Sneaking up on me and scaring me," she replied putting her hands on her hips. "First the training ring, then the mountain and then yesterday, the water.". Shen smiled as he remembered. "Oh that."

"Yes that," christine said as she moved toward her things to get changed."You won't be needing those," Shen said as she picked up her blue top piece. She looked at him suspiciously. "What do you mean?" she asked. "I have something you can wear," he said before disappearing into his room. He returned a few minutes later with an elegant red dress with white and gold trim. He also brought a gold headdress with two long chains and many gold "branches" coming from a central piece and a large circular object in the front. He also had a smaller, much simpler red dress decorrated with gold wintersweet blossoms. Why he had this with him was a mystery to the feline. "You want me to wear this?" asked Christine wide eyed. Shen nodded. "The Master's Council is residing in the city and I was thinking this would be appropriate.". Shetook the dress and looked it over, she noticed the meticulous embroidery on the front of the dress and on the very long sleeves. The dress went down to the floor and the sleeves were nearly just as long. looking at what was presumably her daughters outfit it was much shorter, just below the knees "Thank you, Shen. It's beautiful."

"It will look even more so with you in it," Shen replied with a smirk. She blushed and stared as he walked out of the room. She looked at the dress again, unable to get over the embroidery and the length of the dress. Calling in lian, the mother presented the small dress to the cub. "he's kidding right?" the leopard stated. christine shook her head. "why do we need to dress up?"

"because we are meeting the master's council in Gongman city" her mother answered." but I'll look ridiculous" lian pouted. Turning, christine picked up and presented her dress to her cub. lian's eyes widened almost to the point where it looked as though they were popping out of their sockets. The mother smiled as she held it out in front of her.

'A little much for my taste, she thought, but it's still a beautiful dress '

" alright you, time to get dressed " christine ordered.