Queen of Thieves is going nowhere right now, and I've got a new idea that I want to try out. Also, I'm casting actors for this one, so you guys can see the characters as I do. I'm not signing up for Watty Awards, because I doubt I'll have my story done by November.
Please enjoy the story, and I hope I can actually finish this one. :)
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The memories always came when I was meditating. Only when the Other World had complete control of my mind, only when my essence was drawn back past the layers into the very Core, did I see moments of my past.
I was lucky to be born into a Governor's family; otherwise I might have had to take on a less than pleasant job. Since women were forbidden from the Education Halls and only the rich were permitted to own foodshops, most of us had to sell our bodies just to provide meagre scraps of food for ourselves.
I was born in the Medic's Temple. My father had hired several midwives for my mother, so the screams echoed even louder when they cleaned and wrapped me. The silver tattoos winding themselves up the right side of my face were clear indicators of a Dragon Master, save for one small problem. Only males became Dragon Masters.
A girl becoming a Master. Never had it happened, not since the first days when Gregory Oakanovich merged his soul with the Red Dragon. Since then, children were brought from all over the world to the Dragon Isles. They're a chain of ten islands forming a circle, connected only by thin bridges over clear blue waters.
My fate was debated over twenty-three days, with several options to what could become of me. Most suggested just leaving it alone; why bring a girl into the purity of the Dragon Isles and disrupt the flow of Běnzhí. A fair amount suggested a Killing, saying that a girl had no right even having the Tattoo and that nobody could merge with the Silver Dragon until I was dead. The smallest side, yet strangely the side that ended up getting its way, suggested letting me grow up on the Isles like the other boys.
The Grand High Emperor, master of all the lands, agreed with the minority. That's probably what gave it the extra boost. His son was Red Dragon Master, living on the islands at the age of two. Maybe he wanted a girl there for his son to pleasure himself with, maybe he truly believed in me. I never got the chance to ask him, seeing as he died soon after his vote. Now the Red Dragon Master was also Grand High Emperor, making him the most important being on our world.
My mother reluctantly gave me up to the Messengers, vowing to see me whenever she could. Which was never. The life of a Master was a lonely one, never seeing anyone except the other Masters and our Trainers until the age of twenty-five. Then we graduated from Xuétú to Zhǔ (rather, Apprentice to Master). Only then were we permitted to leave the islands, to travel on the backs of our Dragons. Still, the Dragon Isles were our home, and we always returned.
I was the Silver Dragon Master, Diànlì shuòshì, Master of Power. Being Master of the most powerful Dragon evened out the low status I had been given because of my gender. Well, almost. Most other Xuétú treated me like a girl, like I was lower than them in every aspect of training.
Dragon Masters begin training in meditation at the young age of one year, leaving no time for the Demon Spirits to enter our bodies while we had no guard. The rest of the training, like learning our dual-swords or practicing the channeling of Dragon Power, began at five.
Every Xuétú wore Apprentice robes. They were the same design for every Xuétú, just different metallic colours to match the tattoos of the Dragon Masters. When we were younger the Tailors had it easy. I was built the same as the other boys, seeing as none of us had hit puberty yet. But while the others around me became broad in the shoulders and muscular, I thinned out. They didn't know how to make robes for a woman. I had a tall, slim build and a rather flat chest, and the years of training had given me muscular arms and toned legs. The slight curve to my hips and a delicate bone structure were the only indicators that I had a female's body, and not one of a scrawny male. Still the Tailors managed, and the tight-fitting top made the other Xuétú lose concentration, on occasion. I may not have been the curviest or most beautiful, but I was the only girl they'd ever seen.
As was rare, eight out of ten Dragons had a representative master between the ages of five and twenty-five. Usually, since people can die of all different things at very different times, and a Master is only born when his preceding Master dies, the assortment of ages is more... jumbled. Yet we were made up of mostly teenagers.
"Reiara..." Something was poking into the layers of subconscious and conscious, not even getting close to reaching the Core but still managing to distract me from keeping the flow of Néngyuán balanced. "Reiara..." The annoyance continued, and I could feel something disturbing the shell of Běnzhí I'd manipulated to surround my body.
Finally the annoyance became too much to bear, and I slipped out of the Core, sending an apologetic glance to the glowing silver eyes that followed my Línghún back to its nesting place deep within.
I sat for a while longer, rebuilding the walls around the Core, wishing that whatever (and I had a pretty damn good idea who) was playing with one of my four knee-length braids and whispering my name would leave me to finish my meditating session in peace. No such luck.
"Reiara, you done yet?" My thoughts returned to the Substance World, my hyper-sensitive ears leaving nothing to the imagination about who was disturbing me.
I spun quickly, too quickly for my antagonizer to register the situation, and pinned him to the floor, straddling his chest and keeping his head down with the heel of my hand. The I leaned forward slightly and looked into the blue eyes of eighteen-year-old Hayden Drake, the Grand High Emperor, Red Dragon Master, and best friend of one sixteen-year-old Reiara Minn.
"Hi," he said feebly, trying to use his muscular body to heave me off and flip our positions. I narrowed my eyes, summoning just a dribble of Diànyuán from the Other World, using it to keep Hayden at my mercy.
"You interrupted my Míngxiǎng!" I complained, shaking my head furiously so that strands of black hair pulled away from their bindings. Hayden chuckled, and I glared down at him, effectively making him shut up. "Now Yín sè is upset and it makes my month cycle even worse!" Yín sè was my Dragon, and only Hayden was aware that I knew her name. Not even twenty-two year old Cray Piazzo, Orange Dragon Master, knew the name of his Dragon.
The man under me grimaced, his face contorting like it always does when I mention the monthlies. "Yeuch, no. Rei, I don't wanna hear about that." He shuddered, a difficult feat when I had his body pinned to the warm wooden floor.
"Someday your wife will have monthlies," I shot back, narrowing my green eyes. "What will you do then? Ignore her for a week?" Stupid Hayden.
"No, I'll just..." He trailed off, apparently thinking up a comeback. He was biting his tongue, a habit he had whenever he would think. It was quite cute, actually. Like a little kid trying to figure out where the sweet rolls are hidden.
"Nothing, huh?" I said proudly, happy at having rendered him speechless. I almost always won our little verbal battles. His arrogant nature was no match for my cocky attitude and quick wit. "I guess I when then. As a punishment, I think you should-"
"Hey! Wait a second! I'm not done!" His voice was frantic; he didn't like being punished by me. Not only did it usually cause pain, it also humiliated him in front of every person living on these islands. "I was just, um... Distracted! By the view!" He gestured up at my legs on either side of his abdomen and my chest over his.
"Oooh, gross!" I scrunched up my nose. "You're such a pervert, Hayden Drake." I shifted so that I was still keeping him down, but wasn't giving him a view of anything he didn't need to see.
"Just kidding, Rei. You know I wouldn't treat you like that. Now get up before Trainer Ko comes in here and separates us again. Stupid báichī, thinking the two of us are..." He waggled his brown eyebrows to finish the sentence.
"Perve," I muttered, rolling off of him to curl up in cat pose. He sat up and brushed imaginary dirt off his shimmering red Apprentice robes. "They're clean, nimrod. As punishment, I sentence you to get me a cool glass of iceberry tea. And my schedule scroll for this month. Bring them to my quarters on Gōnglǜ dǎo."
Each island represented one of the ten Dragons and their charm. In order, from the North clockwise, they were: Gōnglǜ dǎo (Power Island), Xìnxīn dǎo (Confidence Island), Xíngdòng dǎoyǔ (Action Island), Qīpiàn dǎo (Deception Island), Hépíng zhī dǎo (Peace Island), Zhìhuì dǎo (Wisdom Island), Zhēnlǐ dǎo (Truth Island), Hǎo yùn dǎo (Good Fortune Island), Huānlè dǎo (Joy Island) and Qiānxùn dǎo (Humility Island). The corresponding Xuétú slept on their Dragon island every night, but we trained in different sections depending on the lesson.
I made my way across the rickety bridge, positioned high over the blue ocean. My theory is that the bridges are there so we don't develop the phobia. A Dragon Master with a fear of heights wouldn't be a good mix.
I needed only wait two minutes until Hayden returned, two tall glasses of iceberry tea in his big hands and a scroll stuffed under his arm. After setting the glasses down and tossing the tightly bound scroll in my lap, he reached into his sleeves and pulled out two red paper packages.
"Red Berry Sweet Rolls," he answered to my raised eyebrows. I grinned, and he sat down across from me on the comfy silver tea-pillow. We grabbed our drinks at the same time, taking large gulps to relieve our parched throats from the dry summer air.
After a few moments in silence, drinking our tea and relishing the flavour of the stolen rolls, I carefully undid the silver ribbon around my scroll. My eyes skimmed the month schedule.
"Here, let's compare." Hayden moved around the table and squeezed next to me, his large shoulder pressed against my tiny one. We looked over each other's schedules. "Sweet, we have Dǎjí, Míngxiǎng and Zìwǒ kòngzhì together on Mondays and Thursdays." He bumped me with his shoulder affectionately.
When I'd come to the islands, Hayden and I hit it off right away. We were inseparable, the best of friends. We've known each other our whole lives and it just makes me happy to be around him; we understand each other. Never did he try to treat me like a plaything. Never did he tell me that I'll never be as good as a man.
I bumped him back, and then leaned my head against his left shoulder. Sure, the life of a Dragon Master was lonely. But at least I had a friend like Hayden.
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So? Like it? Hate it? Love it? Tell me what you thought, but with constructive criticism. No flames, please. That's the end of chapter one! I know it wasn't very action-packed, but it was mostly about introducing the world and customs and stuff. Please keep a watch for chapter two. Hopefully I'll finish it soon!