Chapter Text
The view of the Murui looked gorgeous, Nezha thought. The water flowed outward from the boat and depleted until it crashed onto the riverbank. A small mammal hopped from rock to rock on the bank. Pine trees stood tall behind the rocks and continued to the end of the horizon. A light breeze stirred the trees, back and forth. The orange sun sank beneath the trees, and a moon followed its disappearance on the opposite sky.
Jima decided the students should get a week-long winter break—if winter was even considered a thing so far south.
Everyone had their own reasoning, but if Nezha had to guess, he would say they were exhausted. Of who knows what, is his next, unanswered guess. So, with the break meant for visiting family, Nezha, Rin, Venka, and Kitay chose to have a vacation. Venka suggested it, she offered her family cabin in the Wudang Mountains, near her home in Sinegard. Venka sorted out some details, including how they’d get there. They, miraculously, found someone to take them there. The sailor, a short, stubby man, allowed them to ride on his merchant ship. He claimed it would take a few days, and he could bring them back five days later. Venka got permission from her family and luckily had a key for the property so they wouldn’t have to stop in Sinegard.
Nezha can’t wait for Rin to experience the cold and snow. She’s never been able to travel, with the sole exception of moving to the academy. Venka was able to convince her to go shopping for winter clothes and a ‘surprise,’ whatever that means.
“Nezha, food’s done,” Kitay snapped him out of his thoughts and left as quickly as he appeared. The light wind vanished as Nezha walked down the stairs to the kitchen, following Kitay.
The food was worse than the mess hall at the academy, which says a lot. But Nezha still eats it, out of obligation and need.
There was no door to the musty room, allowing Nezha to hear Kitay and Venka talk. The walk from the stairs was short. When he entered the room he noticed a change in smell even though he couldn’t tell what the new smell was. Rin was stirring a pot at the stove; she offered to cook the crew’s meal as thanks, which had been previously made by the crew themselves. There wasn’t much to make, just a strange stew for every meal.
A single table sat in the center of the kitchen. All the crew, he guessed, ate elsewhere, since it was just the four of them. Nezha took his seat across from Venka, his chair rocked when he leaned forward or back. Rin brought the pot to the table and set it down in the center. The warmth Nezha felt when she sat down was one of the best feelings he’s had. Will she still give off this heat when they reach the colder regions? He hoped so. He reached for her hand once she lobbed some of the slop onto her plate. He got some after, but not as much.
“I have a deck of Uno, if anyone wants to play after supper,” Rin suggested, breaking the silence. Nezha looked up from his plate, and so did Venka and Kitay.
“That would’ve been nice to have yesterday. There’s hardly anything to do on this boat,” Venka made a face at the bite she just took.
“It’s a ship, boats are not this big,” Nezha retorted, he took a bite as well and couldn’t disagree with the face she made. It tasted as if a pig was ground up and poured into a bowl with vegetables that didn’t get the dirt cleaned off them.
Venka scoffed and took another bite. A smile was exchanged between Rin and Kitay; Nezha noticed both of their plates were almost finished.
After supper and once the kitchen was cleaned, they sat back down at their table while Rin grabbed the Uno. They played until the sun set, until they couldn’t see the colors on their cards.
They returned to their room, just large enough for four people and their baggage. When they were shown the room, there was dust covering some wooden crates. They moved the crates and swept the dust out. They asked for bedding and were given some blankets and pillows; they were able to put two blankets under themselves to sleep on as long as they shared ones to sleep with. Nezha is on the left next to Kitay, then Venka and Rin. Venka and Kitay wouldn’t let Nezha and Rin sleep together. ‘I don’t want to hear kissing, or anything else, in the middle of the night,’ Venka had said. Although sad, Nezha didn’t blame them. He would’ve tried to hold her, and that might have led to kissing, at least, that’s what it’s led to every other time.
. . .
The next day went much faster than the previous ones on the boat. It consisted of playing Uno, arguing about Uno, then playing it again. On the first day of the week, they docked.
“There should be someone who will take us into town,” Venka said as she looked around. “There he is.” She walked over to a man atop a horse-drawn wagon. A light brown horse flicked flies away with its tail; the other horse has a brown coat, its tail and mane even darker. They were attached to a wagon with high, wooden walls and no covering, very similar to a box. Venka talked for a few minutes, then pulled out some money. Her hand waved the others over. They grabbed their bags and walked over.
The inside of the wagon was almost as large as their room on the ship. It was empty except for a single crate and some dirt on the floor. Venka got in first, then Rin, sitting across from her. Kitay sat next to Venka, and finally, Nezha crawled in and sat next to Rin. He put his bag on his extended legs.
“To the cabin, right Miss?” The driver behind the wooden wall asked, his voice had a slight accent.
“Yep,” Venka replied. Reigns whipped and they started moving. She faced us, “The cabin has three bedrooms, I’m thinking Rin and I in one, you two in the other. The third is usually my parents, we won’t be going in there.”
Nezha would have asked why he and Rin can’t have their own room, but he already knew the answer. Something along the lines of, ‘I won't let any babies be made under my roof,’ from Venka and, ‘I would like to sleep at night and not be traumatized,’ from Kitay.
“Are they like freaks?” Kitay joked and got an elbow in the side.
A few moments pass before Rin spoke, “You said there was a shop within walking distance, we should go there after we drop our stuff off”.
“Great idea, there’s not a single cabinet with food. Our first time here we left food and when we came back there were rats. We’ve never left food there since.”
A small bump knocked Nezha’s bag off his legs and almost out of the wagon. The rest of the ride was in silence. Halfway through, Nezha reaches out for Rin’s hand, and their hands lie together, in between their legs, for the rest of the ride.