Revision [2274]
This is an old revision of XiangHua made by FalconNomad on 2008-09-28 13:45:15.
Born: 1366 BCE
Deceased: 1348 BCE
Family: Metahuman
Full Story
The buds of the trees were struggling to bloom as spring reached Northeastern China. Across the plains the farmers had started planting their crops and Lifen found herself pregnant with her first child, much to the delight of her new husband Guang. As the weeks passed, she grew heavy with her child but the first shoots of rice waned as a drought continued to stretch over the land. Fears of famine grew as the conditions that had oppressed the region continued and grain shortages started to be felt. With the heat of summer looming in ever closer, illnesses began to spread, taking its toll first on the children, the elderly and those like Lifen who were trying to support two.
One evening the tired and weary villagers gathered together as streaks of light stretched across the sky, watching as they fell to the earth. Concern about these omens plagued the discussions of the elders and percolated through the villages. Though the drought continued and resources continued to be short, Lifen found herself feeling stronger as the days passed even as her family suffered. She tried to keep her obvious well being from drawing attention, but as her belly swelled and her health remained constant while others fell around her, heads began to turn and questions rose about her immunity from the conditions that plagued her village. That fall when she gave birth to her child, a daughter she named Xiang Hua, the round and healthy baby grew attention from all of the nearby villages and was seen as a strong omen of better times ahead. Indeed in the months following the birth of the child, Lifen and her family grew stronger and soon others from the village came to visit their small home to witness this ray of hope among the difficulties that had suppressed them for so long.
With the passing of time, the droughts waned and the fields of these villages grew lush once more. Along with them Xiang Hua grew strong, helping her mother care for her brothers and sisters as well as join her father in the fields. She grew close the animals that they kept on their small plot of land, helping them grow and multiply. The rumors of her health and birth through the terrible times of years past kept surrounding her, and as other animals and individuals fell to sickness, the strength and vigor of Xiang Hua’s family continued to draw attention and visits, especially those already fighting illness. Lifen used her knowledge of the medicinal properties of the various herbs and minerals of the land in order to treat those who sought to bask in the presences of her daughter. Helping her mother treat the sick only furthered the rumors of the healing gifts that this young girl seemed to offer to anyone who stayed near her for any length of time. Even the family crops seemed to thrive in her presence.
By the time she had become a young woman, people began trickling into her small village, carrying with them stories of a young man who seemed to offer death. The few that arrived in front of this growing wave of destruction sought to be welcomed under the protection that Xiang Hua was rumored to offer. These people arrived weakened and ill from their escape from the forces of the young man known only as ZaizenTamari Zaizen as well as the battles that were raging between the distant Emperor Ch’ang and the tribes that descended from the north. Xiang Hua and her family cared for them all, sharing with them the abundance that they had been granted over the years. Among these refugees was a young man name Li.
Li had gathered his younger sister and left his village as a swell of death had crested over their homeland and taken his parents. When he arrived at Xiang Hua's doorstep, Lifen took pity on the young man and his sister, so like her own children during the earlier famine, weak and close to death. She took them in and with her daughters help, treated their wounds and fed their hunger. As Li found safety for his sister, his own strength gave out and he collapsed in their small home. The two remained under the care of Xiang Hua and her mother and soon they recovered. Growing strong, Li sought to repay the debt by offering his labor to the family. He and his sister joined them in the fields and in their home. As he helped harvest the fall crop, Li Li’s eyes were constantly drawn towards the young woman who had helped him survive. Her aura of vitality captured his heart and he worked hard to make himself a worthy choice for hers. Guang saw the effort the young man was making to honor the help their family had given his and Lifen was quite aware of the way her eldest daughter was looking at him. The parents discussed the matter and determined the match to be acceptable as well as inevitable. Soon the village gathered together to celebrate the union of Xiang Hua and Li, the bride blushing throughout the spring time wedding.
The two remained on the farm with Guang, Lifen and the rest of Xiang Hua’s family. After working in the fields, Li would spend time building their own small home. His efforts doubled when they realized Xiang Hua was pregnant. By the time she was ripe with child, Xiang Hua and Li had their own home next to her parents and Lifen and her other daughters attended to Xiang Hua as she went into labor. Lifen was overjoyed with the birth of her first granddaughter but also relieved at the ease of the ordeal on her daughter. The child, Mingmei, was born healthy and pink, her voice crying out into the night air for Li, Guang and the rest of the village to hear as she announced her entrance into the world.
For the next two years, life was good for the young family and their village. The crops grew steadily as did Mingmei. The rumors of the well being that seemed to surround Xiang Hua continued to spread as did stories of ZaizenTamari Zaizen. As others entered the village seeking treatment from the young woman, they brought stories of forces that were pledging their allegiance to the young man who brought death with his ever step. The battles between the Emperor and the northern armies led by a man named Ming, also seemed to be spreading.
That spring, men allied with Ming stumbled into the small village leading a group of villagers who had been on the run from forces of the Chang Emperor and those of ZaizenTamari Zaizen. Ming Ming’s men had rescued them during the attack and the villagers in turn had led them to Xiang Hua’s village as a place of aid and sanctuary. As always, Xiang Hua and Li as well as the rest of the village gave what they could and the newcomers shared their news.
They talked of demons and shadows, of men stealing souls and feeding off of death, and creatures of immense power. In the village and in the presence of Xiang Hua, they all quickly recovered and the soldiers of Ming soon left to take their news with them back to their leader but not before promising to repay the family of Xiang Hua and the village that had been generous to them.
One of the following nights Xiang Hua awoke, hearing the startled cry of Mingmei. In the light of the full moon she could see the silhouette of one of the men she had aided kneeling above her, his eyes locked on her hungrily. Startled she reached out for Li, who woke quickly and angrily leaped at the man. Li subdued him easily, the other mans attention focused on Xiang Hua, like a man dying of thirst, as Li pinned him to the ground. Xiang Hua shuddered away from him as his famished gaze, gathering Mingmei into her arms as Li tried to gather him up and take him out of their home. As Li began to put distance between the invader and his wife, the refugee became aware of what was happening that the prize Xiang Hua seemed to possess was being taken from him and he began to struggle. His hands reached out towards her, his fingers stretching to try and reach her as Li wrapped his strong arms around him. The mans feet dug into the soft dirt floor of their home, straining against Li who lifted his fist and struck down on the mans face, crushing his nose with a sick crunch. Even that did not deter him from his quest, only making him more desperate to reach his goal. Xiang Hua stumbled further back, tripping over the few possessions that littered their home and falling backwards onto the ground, her body wrapping protectively around her child. Seeing her vulnerable spurred on the invader and he strained against Li. He seemed to find another level of determination and twisted in Li Li’s grasp, striking out at his arms and flinging himself at Xiang Hua. As he landed on top of her he shuddered and Li reached out to rip him from his wife and child, drawing the mans body off of the sharp blood covered spade that Xiang Hua held trembling in her hands that had punctured the mans chest. Li took it from her as he shoved the man away onto the ground and then walked over, slicing across the mans throat and mercifully ending his life. He threw the spade to the side, and then went and gathered his wife in his arms, cradling them both as his eyes remained locked on the still warm form in the corner of their home. Before dawn crested the sky, he dragged the body out and across his field, tossing it into the swiftly rushing river that flowed along the edge of their village, returning to find Xiang Hua steadier but fear still lingering in her eyes.
They never spoke of the event of that evening. The other villagers and refugees looked for the lost man but could find no trace of him. The others soon recovered, some remaining in the village while others ventured back out to see what remained of their homes or to join the forces fighting the evil that seemed to be spreading throughout the land. They took the story of this healing village and its remarkable young woman with them but this tale however had fallen upon the enemy’s ears.
As cold winds began to blow, the village began to wrap itself against the coming winter season. Late one bitter night as the first touches of dawn began to hit the sky; the howls of men were heard in the woods surrounding the village, growing louder as they swooped in upon small sturdy horses. At their lead was a Sever large man, covered in rust colored designs drawn across his face, long yellowed hair waving behind him and the patchwork of armor that covered his scarred body. His battle cry pierced through the frosty air as he and his followers raked through the small homes of the villagers. They cut through the confused people, stumbling out into the early morning and onto the dusty paths, confused and disoriented by the noise and attack. As he sliced through the bewildered villagers, the leaders’ wild eyes kept sweeping across the small village until he locked on to the farm of Lifen and the two small homes nestled next to the fields. He turned his horse, cutting into his it with his sword as he spurred it towards the home of Xiang Hua. He ruthlessly cut down anyone who crossed his path including Guang and his sons who tried powerlessly to defend themselves and their family. Seeing her father slaughtered by this crazed man left Xiang Hua distraught and she screamed into the night, “Ba!”. The leaders’ icy blue eyes locked on to her, standing barefoot in front of her home and he flew off of his horse towards her.
Just as he reached out for her an arrow sliced into his scarred arm and he turned, seeing new forces bearing down into the town, but it was too late. The man laughed at the shaft in his flesh and reached out towards the young woman, standing wide eyed and frozen in front of him, grasping her head in his two large hands. Li leapt angrily at him, a sickle in his hands. It bit into one arm of the man attacking his wife, digging deeply into the flesh, tasting blood for the first time. But again, the huge man laughed off the wound, batting Li away as his other hand smothered Xiang Hua’s face. His immense fingers pressed into her skin and with hardly an effort he squeezed, crushing her skull. Her body collapsed in a heap, the bloody remains of her head barely recognizable.
The large man wiped her blood and gore across his face, smearing a new pattern over his features and neck and tasting her blood on his lips, tongue and mouth with a feral grin. Only a howl from his own men turned his attention back to the battle between the new forces and his own. Whirling with deadly grace, he ripped out the sickle that Li had buried in his arm and stalked back into the fray. Leaping back onto his horse, he roared towards the other army and sliced through every person in his way, wielding the weapon like an extension of his body. As he rejoined the fight, it turned against the villagers and those that had arrived late trying to defend them and soon they were fleeing into the dark woods.
Li shook himself, stunned from the other mans blow and struggled towards the crumpled body of his wife. Horrified, only the feeble cries of his daughter brought him out of his stupor and he stumbled to his feet and gathered her in his arms and ran out into the darkened fields, away from the carnage and destruction that had consumed his home.
Major Life Events
Late 1366 BCE Xiang Hua is born in Northeastern China near present day Wenziguan.
1352 BCE Xiang Hua marries Li.
1351 BCE Xiang Hua has a daughter, Mingmei, with her husband, Li.
Late 1348 BCE Sever hunts down and kills Xiang Hua. Li and Mingmei escape to the northwest.
1352 BCE Xiang Hua marries Li.
1351 BCE Xiang Hua has a daughter, Mingmei, with her husband, Li.
Late 1348 BCE Sever hunts down and kills Xiang Hua. Li and Mingmei escape to the northwest.
Belongs to: AllCharacters
