Chapter 1:

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It was a peaceful day at Chang'an City. Everyone was doing their own thing. The children were playing, farmers selling food from their crops, entertainers performing shows. Everything seemed average. But a little ways away from the main square, sitting on a branch on top of a high tree, a girl played a beautiful tune on her flute, while watching over the village before her. The way the sound flows through her ears puts her in a calming trance. It always seems to put her at ease whenever she's stressed, nervous, or she just wants to hear the beautiful music. After a few moments, she stops playing the flute, and just stares off into the sky, where clouds were already starting to come in. Then, she hears a whine coming from below her. She looks down and sees her companion, a brown and white stallion with a black and brown mane. He looks up at her, as if asking her to come down. She smiles and said "don't worry, Tao, I'm coming". With that being said, she climbs down from the tree, and then lands gracefully on her feet. Tao trots up to her, and she gently pets his nose. "Hey, buddy. How are you doing?" she asks him, still petting him. The horse sniffs at her satchel bag, trying to look for something. She chuckles and says "sorry, Tao. I'm afraid that I don't have your apples". He looks at her, a sad expression shown on his face. "But, I bet you Lieur has some just for you" she said to him, causing him to brighten up with happiness. She laughs, but then hears a strange commotion coming from the village. She didn't have to use her special hearing for very long, since she knew what was going on. "Oh, Lieur, what are you up to now?" she thought aloud. "Come on, better go make sure he's getting into any trouble". Then, the two started making their way back to the village.

While Tao followed close behind her, the girl keeps looking around, trying to find the young, adventurous boy. "Lieur! Lieur, are you!" she calls out. She looks up at the rooftops, and there was Lieur running over them, playfully laughing. She widens her eyes, as her motherly instincts kicked in. "Lieur! Get down from there!" she shouted to him. Before she could run and catch up with him, a man 'accidently' pushes her shoulder. She looks at the man and said "oh, sorry, sir". The man gives her a angry look and said "you better be sorry, demon". She was silent when he called her that. Then, Tao snorts angrily at the man, causing him to jump in fear and speed walk away. The horse looks at his companion, giving her a guilty face. "It's okay, Tao. Some people just don't see me the way others do" she tells him. Looking around, she sees Lieur between two dragon statues. He had red face paint on his face, just like the monkey king toy he has in his hand. She sighs in relief and goes over to him. The young boy stops what he was doing and looks at the two coming towards him. He smiles brightly as he goes to them. "Li Mei! Tao!" he says. Tao leans his head forward and nuzzles his cheek, causing him to giggle. "Tao, that tickles" he said in between giggles. Lieur reaches into his pocket and brings out a bright, green apple. "Look what I got you" he said to the stallion. Tao whines happily, shaking his head a little. He gratefully takes the apple off his hand. Li Mei couldn't help but chuckle at her horse's reaction. "I told you he might have a apple" she said to him. She then turns he attention back to the young boy and asks "Lieur, may I ask why you were on the rooftops?" "I was pretending to be Sun Wukong, Li Mei. Fighting the four kings, and other kinds of monsters" he replied. She sighs, but smiles none the less. "But you know how Fa Ming feels about you fighting" she says to him.

"I know, but still, it would be an amazing adventure to meet all those things". Before she could say anything else, Lieur runs off, but bumps into an older man by the name of Fa Ming. "Si Fu?" Lieur said. "Lieur? Li Mei? What are you doing here?" Fa Ming asks them. "Well, you see Fa Ming, I-" "Li Mei was helping me beg for ams"(or oms, I don't know how you would pronounce the word). 'That's not what happened' she thought. Fa Ming sighs and wipes the paint off of Lieur's face. "Lieur, I hope you grow up to be a good monk, and you won't have to be like the rest of the people in this world" he said to him. They both started walking, with Li Mei and Tao walking behind them."But, I have a question. As monks, we try to find ways to fill our bellies. How is that different from everyone else in this world?" Lieur asked. "It is different, Lieur. But collecting oms is the step to becoming a great monk" Fa Ming explained. "Yes, what he said is true" Li Mei said. As the two recited words, like meditation and practicing zen, Li Mei suddenly felt an uneasy feeling inside her. Something didn't feel right to her. It's like, she knew that something terrible was going to happen. Whenever she gets these feelings, they always turn out to be true. She was looking around in different directions, wondering where the possible threat would be. Tao must have gotten the same feeling, because his tail started to swish back and forth, his strong hooves clamping the ground nervously. She was lost in her tension, that she didn't notice Lieur calling her name. "Li Mei? Li Mei?" he said. She shakes her head, breaking her trance. "Y-Yes Lieur" she said, uneasiness in her voice. "Are you alright?" She hesitated for a moment. She didn't want to cause any fear or panic to him or anyone else. "Uh, no. Nothing's wrong, I'm okay" she lied, forcing a smile on her face. "Are you sure? You do seem tense" said Fa Ming. "It's nothing, Fa Ming. I'll be alright" As she said that, she mounts on Tao's back, gripping gently but firmly on his long mane. "It's about time I start doing some patrol now" she said to them. "Can I come with you, Li Mei?" Lieur asks her, a bright smile on his face. "I'm sorry, Lieur. But I'm afraid you're much to young to come along. Besides, it could be dangerous" she explained to him. "Oh, right" he said, his smile faultering. "Hey, don't worry. I'll take you riding some day when I'm not too busy, alright?" she said. "Really!?" "That is a promise, young one. See you both later" With that being said, her and Tao walk away from them, starting their way through the city. She looks back and gives a smile to them. Li Mei could not get rid of this bad feeling inside of her. She prayed and hoped that whatever this feeling was, it won't come true.

-Whew, that took a little while. By the way, in case you all were wondering. Up top is a picture of what Tao looks like. Hope you guys like the chapter.

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