It seemed like the fish had been practically throwing themselves at Idony’s fishing rod and Lang Lang’s spear for hours. They came in a rainbow of colors. Some were fat red fish, while others were a deep purple with glittery blue fins, some were the colors of new leaves, or orange with pink bellies. Some of them were strong enough to yank her into the water, although Lang Lang fished her out and made sure she had not gotten hurt each time with his usual gentleness.

With a basket full of fish, Idony happily followed Lang Lang back to the shrine only to nearly bump into him when he stopped abruptly. The girl grunted in consternation and glared at the demon before she leaned to the side to look at what gave him pause.

A stranger was standing near the entrance of the shrine. Unlike Lang Lang’s simple hempen clothes, the stranger wore muted black silk robes that gave the strange sense he had feathers on his shoulders and his hair was left long, messy, and unbound. He turned his face towards them and dreary pitch black eyes stared out, although a black scarf covered the rest of his face beneath his eyes. Idony frowned in judgment as she realized there was not a single color to this man besides black yet quickly averted her eyes when she felt his gaze settle on her. She jumped in surprise as a fat raven squawked before coming to land near the man.

“Oh!” Lang Lang straightened up for a moment and then lowered his head. “I’m so sorry, I forgot you were coming today!”

“That’s fine,” the raven spoke in a human voice. “I was going to come later, but after I got some news I figured I should arrive earlier.”

The man walked a few steps closer to them, stooping to look at Idony. “Who is this little child?” The raven’s distant voice asked.

“This is Zhu'er, I found her in a dead forest surrounded by some very sad folk,” Lang Lang replied. “She was very bony and thin, so I brought her back here. She doesn’t speak our language very well but she’s getting better every day!”

The man continued to stare at her for a long quiet moment before he rose to his feet. He turned away and walked over to the talking bird.

“Lang Lang, why does the bird talk? Why is his face all covered?” Idony asked quietly, turning her head and hiding her mouth in case the stranger turned around.

Lang Lang leaned down towards her and also spoke softly as though he were telling her a secret, “he sewed his mouth shut some years ago to stop himself from eating people. He doesn’t talk about it much, but apparently some sort of evil spirit took him over and a lady removed it, but he’s been suffering from a flesh-hunger sickness of some sort ever since. I keep telling him he can live with me but he won’t have it.” Lang Lang tipped his head to the side with eyes downcast. “...I think he’s ashamed.”

“Of what?”

But then the man turned back around, holding a string of shiny blue beads in one hand while the bird seemed to sulk. He held out the beads to Lang Lang. The dog took them in his hands with a smile. “Ah, these ones are really nice. Are they from the East Kingdom?”

The other man nodded slowly.

“Alright, let me go grab your stuff real fast,” Lang Lang smiled. He took a step and then paused to look down at Idony. “Come on.”

“I won’t hurt her, Lang Lang,” the raven’s voice croaked.

Lang Lang laughed softly, “I know. But Zhu'er doesn’t do well with strangers. I’m more worried she might hurt you!”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Idony’s eyes widened in indignation as she turned over the meaning of Lang Lang’s words. “I’m not mean!” She protested, stomping a foot.

“Really? You did try biting me when you met me,” Lang Lang’s amusement was visible on his face. “If you wait out here, will you promise to not bully him?”

“I’m a nice person,” Idony huffed.

Lang Lang shook his head as though he could not surmount such an argument and held out his hands for the basket of fish. Idony dutifully lifted it up to him. “Well, if you say so.” Lang Lang gave a fake-weary sigh then carried the basket of fish into the shrine.

When Idony turned around, the stranger was right beside her. He loomed over her with the sun catching on the pretty iridescent threads of his robes. She tried to match his flat gaze with her own unimpressed glare but it just made her guts feel like worms. So instead she turned to focus on the raven behind him.

The raven hopped over to her, bouncing awkwardly as it did so before it came to a stop at her feet. “You’re a foreigner, aren’t you?” The raven asked.

“Yeah, so?” She replied defensively.

The man leaned down so his face was close to hers. “This may be far-fetched to ask, but do you know a woman named Lady Eona? You look just like her.” Idony’s mouth dropped open. “She traveled with a young man in white and green when I met her, I think his name was Liu… something...”

She nodded so fast she felt her head might fall from her neck, “yes! Yes! Eona is my mommy.”

The man’s eyes widened while the raven spoke, “where is she?”

The breath in her lungs vanished as memories surged through her mind. Idony stopped nodding and felt tears instantly well up in her eyes as she tried to smother her heart’s pain. She tried to open her mouth but her lips only quivered instead. The man reached out and put a gentle hand on her head.

“I owe your mother a debt,” the raven said softly. “Because of her, I’m myself again. But since she’s gone, the debt I owe belongs to you.” The raven went quiet for a moment, cocking its head to the side. “How did you come here?”

“Lang Lang brought me here.”

“No, I mean here. To the Four Kingdoms.”

Idony felt the memories were fuzzy, although she definitely remembered the dead wolves and the gross reddish drink. Stupid tea leaf juice. “Liu Xie brought me here… he wears white and green robes. He’s mean.”

“Hm,” the man tipped his head in thought.

“He’s very mean…” Idony muttered, “...but I don’t think he’s mean-mean. I think… I think that he’s sad.” She said softly as she struggled to put thoughts that had rested in the back of her mind together. As much as he made mistakes, she never felt like he hated her. Not like her father did. Idony would prefer Liu Xie as her father than him any day. Even if Liu Xie did forget to eat or give her food. “He came to look for my mom but… she was already gone.” She sank down slowly onto her haunches. “I’m a disappointment.”

“Did he tell you that?” The raven croaked.

“No, but I think so,” Idony muttered. “If I was a boy, maybe she would still be here.” Her face was hot and she struggled to not let it bunch up with tears again.

“Fate’s a river that moves no matter what we do,” the raven said. “From what little I know of Liu Xie, I don’t think he would believe you’re a disappointment. Lady Eona didn’t seem the type to tolerate someone like that.”

“He said we were going to see her again,” Idony mumbled, feeling herself sink further into a pool of loathing and only half listening to the raven at her feet.

“So!” Lang Lang’s voice was like a whip crack and Idony stood up straight and wiped her face with her sleeve as he emerged sheepishly from the shrine. “I can’t find it, so how about you stay the night?” He said.

“You lost it.” The raven crackled.

“No,” Lang Lang shook his head. “I misplaced it! Much different. If you stay the night it’ll give me more time to look for where I misplaced it.”

“It’s lost.”

“It’s misplaced,” Lang Lang gestured to the door. “We have tons of fish, by the way. Do you like fish? I don’t mind cutting it into little pieces to fit in your beak. Also I cleaned another room while I was looking for where I misplaced your thing, so you can stay in there if you want! Besides, talking about news is best done over a meal I think.”

The stranger sighed, casting a glance back down at Idony, then over at Lang Lang. “Fine, just one night,” the raven fluttered past the door with the man following with his shoulders sagging.

“Yes!” Lang Lang grinned over his hard won victory before Idony abruptly found herself lifted up into his arms and the grin missing from his face. “Is something wrong?” He asked. “You look like you were crying.”

“I got dust in my eyes,” she lied.

“What kind of dust?”

“What were you looking for?”

“I asked you a question first.”

Idony stuck out her tongue and a bit of humor returned to Lang Lang’s face as he chuckled. “It was dust.”

“I’ll sweep more then tomorrow,” he said. “Lets go inside and see what we can make with all those fish we caught!”