The Story of Dusk 10 RIVER FESTIVAL

It happened that night there was a night festival, on the street, every child at the same age as Senja was walking on the street with beautiful dress and nice shoes. They walked hand in hand with their parents.

When they finished their dinner, Senja looked at the crowded street expressionlessly, but her eyes glued to the beautiful colorful paper ships in the children hand with candles were place at the bottom of it. They held a celebration of river festival every year when the moon was waning on first July and when the sun has set, every girl under age of 17 would gather to set the colorful paper ships into the river.

"You want that paper ship?" Ye Xiu looked at Senja's dull expression with concern.

She looked back at him before she nodded slowly.

"Let's buy one." Ye Xiu stood up and reached out his hand to grab Senja's small hand and guided the little girl outside of the stall.

Ye Xiu was old enough to have a daughter around Senja's age, however his focus in this past years was to looked for Riana whereabouts, so he never thought about having his own family. Added to the fact that Senja had mistreated, perhaps when he was with Senja, it was a fatherly instinct of him to treat her better.

Senja looked at Ye Xiu's big hand that enveloped hers as a vague smile curled on her lips.

He brought Senja to one of the stall that sells colorful paper ships with various design and size. He glanced at the girl, although her expression didn't show anything, but her eyes beamed with joy and subconsciously a smile raise on the corner of Ye Xiu's lips.

"You can choose." Ye Xiu released the girl hand so she could move freely.

Senja looked at him with wide eyes. "I can choose?" She asked for confirmation.

Ye Xiu simply nodded his head.

"I can choose whatever I want?" She asked again in disbelief.

All this time, everything that she own was something that Carye had been chose for her. In spite the items was a good quality, because regardless of the mistreated Senja had received from her, as a member of Black Sword Clan, she must be presentable in front of all the people, but it was something that she didn't like or something that she didn't want.

"Yes. You can choose whatever you want." Only when Ye Xiu said that Senja stopped asking and started to circle the boot with the other two little girls as wide smile rose on her lips.

Senja looked at the girl with blue dress who chose the blue paper ship that same like her dress color and went away happily with her father and mother on both her side while the other girl was still considering her option.

And then among the colorful paper ships Senja saw the only one paper ships with brown color. Mostly the paper ships there were painted with bright color such as red, blue, yellow or white. Only that paper ship with color brown. Happily she got the paper ship and was about to turned back to show it to Ye Xiu when the other girl shouted at her.

"I want that!" The girl in her yellow dress that looked older than Senja pointed her finger to the paper ship in Senja's hand sullenly. "Father, I want that!" The girl whimpered to her father beside her.

The father of the girl frowned as his nose wrinkled in dislike and with long strode he was already in front of Senja. Before the little girl could realize it the man had snatched the paper ship from Senja's hand.

For the reason that nobody was around her, he assumed Senja was alone. But, the thing that he didn't know was, Ye Xiu who was leaning his back again the pole saw everything that happened and before the man could turn back with the brown paper ship, he grabbed his hand forcefully.

"Aargghh! What are you doing?!" He shouted in pain.

"She gets this first." Ye Xiu said curtly and his grip tighten around the man left wrist.

"Fine, fine, here your paper ship!" He cried in pain while giving the paper ship back to Senja.

Hastily Senja took the paper ship from his hand and only by then Ye Xiu released him. The man walked away from him with cursed while he dragged his daughter away.

"Thank you." Senja said shyly her heart swollen with happiness, before this nobody ever stood up for her and it was a good feeling to be protected by someone.

"Next time, if there is someone force you to do something you don't like or snatch things that belong to you, you must say it that you don't want to be treated like that. You have to stand up for yourself." Ye Xiu reprimanded Senja. Like a father reprimanded his overly timid little girl.

"He is grown up man and I am just a kid." Senja mumbled, what she wanted to say was an 8 years old girl couldn't be possible to stand their ground against someone who was far way older than them.

"No, is no. No matter how old they are, you have to make it clear what you want and what you don't want." Ye Xiu said sternly. Now that he found out one of the reasons why they had mistreated her, he wanted Senja became a little bit strong. The little girl allowed them blamed her it was because Senja didn't stand up for herself.

However, Ye Xiu could understand why she has this personality. If even her own father didn't even care when he stabbed her, how the other member of her family would have treated her any better?

Ye Xiu soften his voice when he spoke again when he saw Senja hung her head low. "Come, we need to pay the paper ship." He reached out his hand and grabbed Senja's little hand again.

Senja slightly raised her head when she followed him obediently. The stall keeper was sat on the coach not too far from his boot while talking with the other stall keeper.

He was an old man who loved to talk, because the moment he saw Senja hugging the brown paper ship, he jumped exaggeratedly, "Aih! Beautiful how you could choose something with gloomy color like that? Brown is no good for festival. I painted it that way just to spend my brown paint only." He rattled out and walked to his own boot "Come, looked at this white color is will be better, or this red."

He held two paper ships in each of his hands and showed it to Senja, "Here, most people would chose white color. It looks good when you set it on the river. I remembered that I have hid it at the back, how you can find that brown paper ship?" He was muttering his last sentence absentmindedly.

Senja retreated to Ye Xiu side as the old man kept talking very fast. She didn't even catch up some of his words. The stall keeper thought Senja was only shy and kept offering her another color of paper ship as he moved closer.

However, after sometimes he talked with no response from Senja, "You will take the white color, yes?" He probed her and eventually stopped talking.

Ye Xiu looked down at Senja beside him, who kept hugging her paper ship when the little girl looked back at him. "He asks you." He said.

Senja looked at the old man and looked back at Ye Xiu again who nodded his head slightly to gave her courage. She back away again and hid half of her body behind Ye Xiu's back when she spoke. "I don't want white color." She said softly.

"What about this red color?" The old man offered happily when Senja gave him a response.

But, Senja shook her head. "I want this one." She said in low voice firmly.

"She wanted that one and we will take it." Ye Xiu added while giving the money.

With confused the old man scratched his itchy scalp when he gave Ye Xiu the changes. "But, that color is so gloomy. Not suit you. Why do you want that color?"

"Because it suits him." Senja glanced at Ye Xiu's brown robe.

"Ah! So it's like that." The old man laughed heartily.

Only when Senja mentioned it, Ye Xiu realized that the color of the paper ship has the same color as his robe.

"Little girl, you really love your father, yes?" He stated without aware that Senja didn't say anything. Even Ye Xiu didn't give response to that statement and was about stride away with Senja when the old man stopped them again. "Girl, this is for you." He shoved the small white paper ship into her hand. "Have fun at the festival!" He exclaimed happily.

"Thank you." Was the only thing Senja said before she followed Ye Xiu.

When they had walked quite far from the stall Senja gave the small white paper ship to Ye Xiu. "For you."

Chapter end