The Story Of Dusk

It was fortunate for them that they could find a villager, who was pa.s.sing that area, accidentally.

He had just dropped his Mistress and thought to take a shortcut route through this dessert on his way back home, not only that, he generously offered a ride for them as the nearest village from where they were, would take another two days by walking.

It was a good thing that they could meet with each other, or else Senja and Gong Xu needed to suffer for another two days before they could reach the nearest village.

"Are you sleeping?" Senja glanced at Gong Xu, but there was no reaction from him. It was fine then, as long as he didn"t open his eyes, he wouldn"t know what the things that Senja was going to say.

However, as if Gong Xu could feel Senja"s gaze on him, he opened his eyes and stared back at her.

"Do you want to say something?" He frowned, seeing Senja"s weird expression as she shook her head, absolutely a lie.

But a second later she turned her body to face him and started to talk. "Are you sure you don"t want to adopt me?" She said slowly.

Gong Xu raised his eyebrows questioningly, what with this weird term that she used? Why he wanted to adopt her? He was too young to adopt someone.

"Adopt you?" Gong Xu asked, afraid if he interpreted her words wrongly.

"Hmm." Senja mumbled. "Why you don"t want?"

"Why should I adopt you?" Gong Xu sometime couldn"t understand the train of Senja"s way of thought.

"Why you shouldn"t?" Senja asked stubbornly. She leaned her back against the back of her seat and looked at Gong Xu. Somehow she felt melancholic. "I had read a book, that book said; everybody born with purpose."

"And then?" Gong Xu raised one of his eyebrows.

"I think my purpose is to meet you." Senja blurted out innocently.

However, out of the blue, Gong Xu burst into laugh. "Do you know what were you talking about? What the meaning of that words?"

Senja pouted, didn"t like Gong Xu happy reaction, what was wrong with her word?

Wasn"t that words sounded like a cheap pick up line? He didn"t interest to know what kind of book that Senja had read, but…"You should stop reading a weird book." He flicked her forehead.

"No, think about this again." Senja couldn"t accept that statement as she sat down and straightened her back, became serious. "If it wasn"t because of you, I would have been sold in the black market, but you came and saved me."

"And the remaining twenty children." Gong Xu reminded her, because the way Senja said it, as if he came just for her.

However, Senja ignored that fact and continued with her own theory. "After that, because you were badly injure, I stayed to treat you. If I didn"t stay at that time, you would have died by now." Senja"s face beamed as she nodded her head as if she agreed with her own word.

"I don"t mind." Gong Xu shrugged nonchalantly, but waiting for Senja"s next theory.

Ignoring his words again, Senja spoke. "And then when I was sick, if it wasn"t for you, I wouldn"t be able to survive."

"And then I have to save you when you got kidnapped. Didn"t that mean you still owe me one?" Gong Xu continued her theory.

Senja blinked her eyes and grimaced when she realized her own theory had put her into disadvantage, but then, her eyes glimmered mischievously. "Right!" She clapped her hand. "That"s why you should let me follow you to return the favor, right? right?"

"No." Gong Xu said with finality and then he closed his eyes.

"Argh! Why are you so annoying?!" Senja clenched her fist as she really tempted to hit his face so bad.

However, in the end she put down her small fist and chose to sleep while grumbling something incoherently.

***  

Senja couldn"t sleep well last night, as there were a lot of things that ran around her head. She felt uncomfortable with the uncertainty before her eyes.

Could she survive by her own?

Someone shook her shoulder and Gong Xu"s voice traveled to her ear.

"Wake up, we are here." Gong Xu said, he shook her shoulder again because the little girl still refused to open her eyes.

"I am awake." Senja swatted his hand from her shoulder as she stretched out and opened her sleepy eyes, immediately a yawn escaped her mouth.

"What city is this?" Senja looked at her surrounding, this city was so alive in this early morning, though the sun was still halfway on the horizon, but the people here had already gone out of their house.

"This is Q city." Gong Xu explained.

After both of them got down from the carriage and thanked the coachman for his generosity, it was time for Senja and Gong Xu took different path.

"Are you really going to leave me?" Senja looked at Gong Xu with glistening eyes, this time she really wanted to cry, it wasn"t because she had gotten used to him, but also…"I don"t have money, I don"t have something that I could sell, I don"t have skill. How can I survive?" She wailed.

Right, the horse that she would sell had gone and all the things that she had collected from the bandits before also had gone, what else she had that could she used to fend herself?

Gong Xu sighed. This kind of thing wasn"t his responsibility, but to leave her alone in her current state, didn"t feel right too.

In the end, Gong Xu fished out his robe and took out a pocket of money that he gave to her. "Use this money for meanwhile." He said.

Senja immediately checked how much the money inside the pocket, but than her expression turned sour. "It will only last for a week…" She said sadly.

"That is all the money that I have." Gong Xu felt offended, why this little girl was so annoying?

"That"s why I said, don"t give those villagers too much money. Now we are broke." Senja complained.

"There is no "we"." Gong Xu emphasized his words. "Take the money and leave." Gong Xu waved his hand and started to walk away from her.

However, Senja tugged his sleeves and looked at him with pleading eyes. "Can"t you take me with you?" A tear rolling down on her cheek, she was akin to child, who was being abandoned by her parents. That wasn"t mean Senja had never experienced that. She knew exactly how it felt.

"For the last time, my answer is still no." Gong Xu rejected her directly and firmly as he released Senja"s clutched on his sleeves, proceeding to walk away.

This time Senja didn"t chase after him, she only stood there looking at her surrounding, confused, which way she should take.

In the end she was just standing there for hours.

She only moved aside because the sun had risen and its light too hot for her. She was standing in front of a stall that sold noodles.

Senja wanted to buy some for her, but she afraid her money wouldn"t be enough for her to survive.

It was fine to feel a bit hungry. She consoled herself.

However, after a few hours she was standing there, the owner came out from her stall. She was a fat lady that smell like onion.

"If you don"t want to buy anything, go away. You blocked my customer!" She reprimanded Senja harshly.

This was the first time for Senja for being scolded, before, though Carye was so cruel toward her inside the mansion, but in the public she wouldn"t be so mean, because Senja was the missus from Black Sword Clan.

Everybody respected her, and Carye didn"t want the glorious name of Black Sword Clan being tarnished, thus she wouldn"t embarra.s.sed her in the public, simply ignored her.

Actually that was a good thing for Senja.

"Go away." She hissed as she shooed her. "Look at your dress. What kind of dress is that?"

Senja subconsciously looked down on her dress, this clothes was indeed very lame, she just realized that she looked like a beggar.

"You don"t need to say something like that. That is rude." Senja retorted before she walked away from that noodles stall.

Biting her lips, Senja was at lost. She should rent a place to live, right? But the money would only enough to rent a place for five days at the very most.

She stopped again in the entrance of the inn, this place looked so fancy, she wouldn"t be able to afford this.

Next, Sonja walked deeper into the city, from the main road to an alley, this city was so crowd and mostly she would b.u.mp into a family everywhere she was going.

It was nice to see how they looked after each other as a family, the kind of gaze that Senja would never get from her father.

She loved to see how the father in the family would carry the younger member while holding hand with his wife or their other children.

But, her?

She had never had someone to rely on.

Senja sighed deeply.

"What should I do now?" She mumbled.

The sun was almost set and the sky had turned into the color of orange, casting her shadow longer. It was time for Senja to find a place for her to sleep.

But, she wasn"t sure, where she could find that place because all inn around this area cost too much and she had to keep the money as long as she could.

Her stomach was grumbling again. Senja rubbed her stomach. She was hungry…

"Don"t you need to eat something?"

The voice that she had used to hear, sounded from her side and when she raised her head, she found Gong Xu was walking side by side with her.

His footsteps were so light until Senja couldn"t hear them or probably she was too occupied with her hunger.

"Gong Xu!!!" Senja pounced on him and hugged his neck tightly. "You are here! You are here!" She jumped excitedly.

"Let go of me!" Gong Xu forgot about Senja"s exaggerated reaction, he looked around, only to find the other people reciprocated his gaze with smile on their faces.

Some people said; "What a lovely sibling…"

"You come to find me! Did you change your mind? Can I go with you?" Senja beamed with happiness, her arms still snaked around Gong Xu"s neck.

"I will change my mind again if you not let go of my neck now." He threatened her.

Abruptly Senja released him and tugged his sleeves instead, afraid that Gong Xu would really leave her again. She grinned from ear to ear.

"I can go with you right? You will not leave me again right?" Senja asked excitedly. That was the only reason he was here after all.

"Let"s find something to eat first." Gong Xu didn"t answer her immediately as he dragged Senja"s away from the main road. "There is something you want to eat?"

Senja gave some thought about it, when she was about to say she would eat anything, she remembered the lady who had embarra.s.sed her this afternoon.

"I want to eat noodle." She beamed with mischievous smile on her face that Gong Xu failed to see.

"All right, there is one over there." He pointed a stall that was selling noodles, but Senja shook her head.

"I want the one that near the main entrance of this city. I saw it this afternoon, but I didn"t eat there because I think it will be so expensive." Senja complained.

"You will die faster before the money finish, if you keep thinking like that." Gong Xu reprimanded her, but he complied.