But you are stronger than you feel you are now
It was colder here than Zhijian had expected it to be, despite everything he knew about the rural town from Miki's descriptions. He had grown up high in the mountains of China but being here did nothing to remind him of home. The Carpathian mountains seemed wilder than what he was used to. The treeline was dense and he could barely see more than five feet past it into the heart of the forests that wound their way up the mountain. He heard a howling sound that sent a shiver down his spine as clouds moved past a moon that was out even in the day time. The magic of the mountains crept up the back of his neck, reminding him that despite what the villagers dedicated their lives to, they were far from safe from the creatures of the wilds. The menacing forests were surrounded by rolling green hills with scattered bits of hay and rickety fencing. The village of Scoarta seemed like a place lost to town, the houses were old and built with very basic means and materials. Fire pits and chimneys smoked out of every structure, hot coals and wood burning stoves powering them. A band of chickens ran past his feet as he began to take a few more steps into the old village, the muddy road ruining his shiny black shoes. He didn't know how to dress to meet her here so of course he tried to wear his nicest clothes. He wanted to impress her and especially to make a good impression on her family if he met them.
Zhijian's hair was parted down the middle and pushed down formally, his button up shirt was buttoned all the way to the top despite how comfortable it made his neck, and his black slacks were neatly hemmed. He looked entirely out of place in this hardened farming town with swords, bows, and sickles hanging from walls of shacks. He looked as lost as he felt as he passed a door with a red symbol painted on the front, having no idea that it was part of a age old tradition to ward the houses from spiritual invaders and corporeal ones. The remains of a dried out and
petrified tree blocked the road he was walking down and the hand made signs nailed to it pointed to either side like makeshift street signs. He squinted at the Romanian letters and tried to remember what she had told him to look out for. He slowly began to panic, wondering if he was even in the right town, as an old woman with what looked like three dull colored skirts layered on top of one another and a bonnet on her hand passed by him with a grimace.
"You lost?" She asked in Romanian and he understood absolutely none of it. Not entirely sure what to do Zhijian took his bow, hoping that perhaps his customs would either fit into this strange town or signify that he was entirely lost but meaning no harm. "My name is Liu Zhijian, I am here to visit
@Melita Albescu" He spoke softly, deliberately, and slowly in hopes that she might understand his very awkward Russian. She looked at him like he was an alien until the very last words and Zhijian was relieved to see her face light up. She recognized something he had said and then began to speak very quickly and point further into the village. He swallowed hard as she confirmed that this was in fact the right place and that the Albescu family lived her. Dark eyes looked toward the run down village and knowing that she was here some how made it seem homier, more inviting, more interesting, and less scary. Regardless of that fact the Chinese wizard swallowed hard. Knowing she was here also made things more real and he knew eventually he would see her and even though he was looking forward to that moment more than words could describe a tiny, guilty, part of him was dreading it. During the events at the end of term Zhijian fell under the paranoid headmistresses mind control, he attacked his friends, he tried to hurt Miki, and he would have to face that sooner or later.
And sooner was coming up really fast.
