View from the Bridge

"Have you ever been on a boat before, sister?"

Xiaoqing idly threw a pebble at one of the small boats slowly sailing under the bridge they stood on. It missed and hit a duck swimming alongside instead, which squawked in fright.

"No, never." Bai smiled abruptly. "Your aim is terrible, Little Sister." she added mischievously.

Xiaoqing showed her small white teeth and flung a pebble at Bai, who deflected it without even looking with a flick of her sleeve. Sticking out her tongue, Xiaoqing turned back to the river and hurled another pebble. "Ah, it's fun! I love the way the boat sways; like it's dancing. It's lovely. Let's take a ride down the river one day."

Bai glanced at her. "It seems like you've travelled a lot."

"That's the fun of the mortal world. There are so many things to see and do, almost worth the bastards you meet. Do you mean you've never travelled further than this mountain, sister?"

More slowly, Bai turned a pebble between her fingers absently. "I've never felt the urge to go further than what I know. The mountain is my home, and I feel safe and secure there. Venturing now and then to this town is enough for me. I have always lived a peaceful and simple life in the mountain, ever since I first achieved enough spiritual energy to take on my human form."

Xiaoqing clicked her tongue. "Such a modest and retiring spirit. No wonder you were able to cultivate to this level; you've never had the need to use much of your powers! Happy to just sit in that musty cave meditating and cultivating all day."

She thrust her face next to Bai's. "But don't worry, sister. I said I would repay my debt of gratitude and I will yet. I'll show you how to have fun. That, I can clearly see now, is what you need most urgently now. I shall teach you everything you need to know about mortals and everything that is worth doing and seeing and eating!"

"If your idea of having fun involves making enemies of the mortals, I'm afraid I will not enjoy rescuing you out from every dangerous situation you get yourself into." Bai poised the pebble to throw.

Xiaoqing spluttered indignantly. "Come now, sister. I admit I was at a disadvantage there, and needed you to step in. But I normally run circles around these blockheads."

Bai said nothing, but her smile only infuriated Xiaoqing more. "It's true! Why, once I outwitted five clumsy villagers and left them floundering in a mud pond."

The pebble sped through the air as Bai flicked it, closing one eye the better to aim, and there was a solid thump as it embedded itself into the roof of the boat passing by below. The oarsman on deck jumped and looked around confusedly.

"I used too much strength," murmured Bai guiltily, stepping back swiftly as the oarsman glanced up. She caught Xiaoqing's eye and they stifled their laughter.

There was a faint rumble above head, and a couple passing by them on the bridge squabbled fretfully.

"I told you to bring an umbrella, see now we're going to be drenched!" the wife wailed.

"How was I to know it was going to rain? Do I look like the weather god to you?" grumbled the husband, shuffling faster.

"It's going to rain! Sister, we better head back." Xiaoqing tugged at Bai's sleeve as they stood on the bridge.

Bai had a faraway look in her eyes as she watched the boats passing by. Without turning her head she replied, "Why? I enjoy the rain. The weather has been hot, some rain would be the perfect thing to cool down."

Xiaoqing rolled her eyes. "For snakes, yes. But mortals don't do that, sister. No one stands in the rain, everyone goes running for shelter. If we don't we'll look strange."

"What a foolish custom," Bai said without moving.

Xiaoqing looked about impatiently as people hurried past them, some opening umbrellas as the first few drops of rain started to fall. A cool breeze swept past them, playing with the dark locks of hair streaming down Bai's back.

She pulled at Bai's elbow. "Come on, sister! Don't be silly. We've got to get under shelter, like it or not, or people will stare at us and know something's wrong."

Face uplifted to the darkening sky, Bai put out a hand and traced the raindrop that splashed onto her palm. Her eyes looked very clear as they stared into the cloud-smudged sky. "Xiaoqing, can't you feel the coolness? It hasn't rained like this for a while." She smiled and closed her eyes, lashes staining the paleness of her cheeks like the clear drops that fell on it from above.

Xiaoqing raised her eyebrows, unimpressed. "A scholar somewhere probably wrote a poem about this scene, perhaps. But you still look silly. Come on. Look, everyone's running for shelter, we're the only ones on the bridge by now."

The rain gushed down with joyful abandonment as she spoke, as if the clouds had let go of their burdens all at the same time.

"Sister, don't be stubborn. No one does this, I tell you. You'll be laughed at and looked down on."

Bai shook Xiaoqing's hand off impatiently. "What harm is there in a little rain? I would like to see who would dare to laugh at me for something like that."

Neither of them noticed Xuxian making his way up the bridge towards them.

"Excuse me, ladies. I think you need this umbrella more than I do."

The patter of the rain almost drowned out his voice.

Bai turned, the sheen of rain glistening on her smooth cheeks and the dark wet ribbons of hair flowing down her back, and their eyes met.