Caring For An Urchin

Beneath all that dirt, Shu Xiaolin was a frightfully skinny little boy, but his face was still youthful and full of a liveliness that adults just couldn't obtain. Liu Liangzhe had walked with Shu Xiaolin's hand in his own for a long while, just following the beaten path. They passed no more villages or towns, and he made fires for them to sleep around to keep warm. He most commonly let the boy sleep against him, because a child needed that security. Monsters wouldn't dare snatch Liu Liangzhe away in the night, but Shu Xiaolin was easy prey for such creatures.

They reached a mountain pass, a forest of sparse birch and bamboo mixed around in a very beautiful environment. The mountains themselves were pale gray stone that had lichen growing along the sides. The soft tinkling of a nearby creek could be heard from their position on a patch of dirt with tracks from mule pulled carts and feet alike.

"It's so beautiful here, Xiaolin," Liu Liangzhe said with a sigh. He was struck by an idea, and picked the boy up so he could run with him through the trees and bamboo that surrounded them. Unlike normal children, Shu Xiaolin didn't just stay silent, not speaking, he stayed silent by not laughing or making any sound. It was disconcerting to see and interact with, even if it seemed like a blessing to hear. Children were supposed to feel comfortable enough to express themselves in any way, and this child clearly didn't.

Liu Liangzhe climbed the mounds of dirt that led to the base of the fat mountains. They followed the bulbous base and found a creek that ran through into the dirt and down into the forest. There were small fish inside with fan-like tails. The water was pristine and there were plants growing along the edges of the water. Liu Liangzhe had a few great ideas, and one of them was to stay right where they were at. He carted Shu Xiaolin back towards the main mountain face, not far from the water's edge, and set him down.

"Stand behind me," he said, and sure enough Shu Xiaolin stood behind him, clutching his hands in the back of his black robe. His robe was plain and made of basic materials, the kind that anyone could buy. It wasn't so common or poor as to be coarse, but it wasn't smooth like silk. It was enough for him however, since before his imprisonment he had been a rogue cultivator himself, and had little money to his name. Now, however, he had even less money, just a few baubles he had gotten from the corpses in Wufatian. They had brought him treasures from their kills, something that Liu Liangzhe was still thankful for. He held his hands together, creating the hand signals required to bend stone and did just that. Charged with energy, he slapped his hand against the rock, and it caved in to make a smooth entryway into the cave. It was small, and there was only a single area, but it would make a comfortable home.

Instead of staying put, Shu Xiaolin used the freedom that Liu Liangzhe had been trying to encourage from him to rush inside the mountain without any fear that it could cave back in on him and looked around. The boy inspected every inch of the cave before he plopped onto the dirt ground and just waited. Liu Liangzhe entered the area armed with a small bag full of the items that they had collected during their travels. He had a comb for Shu Xiaolin and a comb for himself, the bag had cost money since it was made of sturdy leather, and he had bought better shoes for them both before he was nearly out of funds.

"Are you tired?" Liu Liangzhe asked as Shu Xiaolin yawned loudly, another out of character trait for the boy thus far. "Fine, you can take a nap. But not for long, or you won't sleep tonight." Liu Liangzhe stripped his outer robe and rested it on the ground for the boy to sleep on, but the boy just sat there, staring at him. He pointed at the robe before he picked it up. He stood at the back of the cave. It did little to help Liu Liangzhe understand what it was that Shu Xiaolin wanted from him.

Liu Liangzhe gets up and goes to pick the boy up. He swaddles him in his robes and sits down with a grunt, as if he were an actual old man and not an old soul in the body of a twenty-six year old (the age he was locked away to await his death). He holds Xiaolin on his lap and strokes his now cleaned and brushed hair. He runs his fingers through the long strands of earthy brown hair, like a dark lacquered wood tone. He wondered for a moment, as Xiaolin squirmed into a comfortable position against him, who Xiaolin's parents were. Had they loved Xiaolin? Why had they left him? Were they murdered? He didn't know, and he wasn't going to ask the boy and retraumatize him either.

"You were the one who seemed tired," he said as Xiaolin's persistent squirming didn't cease. The boy wasn't finding the right position, much like an alley cat trying to find the perfect perch in the sun. Finally the boy stopped wriggling and closed his eyes, the back of his head nestled at the hollow of Liu Liangzhe's throat.

Were Xiaolin's father or mother only children? Was there nobody out there who could take care of him? Has something happened? Was someone trying to find Xiaolin? Would Liu Liangzhe be prepared to see what would happen when someone did come a-knocking for their nephew or grandchild back? Would Liu Liangzhe dare to give this sweet and precious child to a stranger?

It wasn't about him, Liu Liangzhe knew, and perhaps someone else may be able to better care for Xiaolin… but Liu Liangzhe also didn't want to lose the boy after finding him. They weren't well acquainted, not like Liu Liangzhe would have expected had it been his own child, but Liu Liangzhe knew that while he cared for him now, he could love him like he was indeed his own one day. It was so close to already happening, seeing the boy start to make small sounds and motions, the kinds the children should be allowed to make but Xiaolin had been forced to repress for who knows how long.

Liu Liangzhe just knew that he would be there when Xiaolin needed him, for as long as he needed him, because after a thousand years locked away, anyone and everyone that Liu Liangzhe had ever known or cared about would be long dead. As pitiful as it was, the street rat Xiaolin was the only one that Liu Liangzhe now had, and he would care for the child, a heavy duty and responsibility for him to bear alone, for as long as necessary.

He hadn't expected to drift off to sleep as well, the rhythmic stroking of the little curled bangs down the sides of Xiaolin's pointy cheeks must have helped him doze into some sort of trance until he was finally overcome by the need to sleep. After a thousand years of lost consciousness, he didn't want to sleep anymore, and his body didn't need it, but his mind still seemed to.