"Stupid emperor, stupid herb, stupid voyage" the man muttered as he walked. He was wiry and thin, with a small beard and sharp eyes the color of rain-soaked skies. Dark bags hung beneath them, and his expression was a weary mix of anger and exhaustion. Five hairpins held his long, unkempt hair: an iron one, gifted by his father when he was fifteen; a bronze one from the day he became an alchemist; a jade one bestowed by the Emperor himself; a bone one he had carved after his first voyage; and a glass one imperfect yet beautiful that he had made with his own hands. His robe hung loosely from his frame, once gray but now stained with ink, salt, wine, and countless other marks of travel its color now somewhere between gray, red, black, and green. Around his waist was a belt heavy with small pouches and a single jade bottle. His name was Xu Fu. Once, he had stolen a chime, and Emperor Qin Shihuang had seen it. The Emperor had ordered his execution but Xu Fu had done the impossible. He convinced the Emperor that he could find the herb of immortality. His first voyage had ended in disaster, attacked by some sea beast. Yet, against all odds, Qin Shihuang allowed him a second chance. Now Xu Fu wandered through the town, frustrated for although the Emperor had granted him permission for another voyage, he had given him no crew.
He walked and walked, wondering who in their right mind would ever join him. Then, suddenly, he felt a tug and saw a girl sprinting away with his coin string.
"Wait, you little—!" Xu Fu shouted, breaking into a run. But his frail body betrayed him, he quickly ran out of breath, wheezing as he chased her through the narrow streets. Turning into an alley where she had disappeared, he saw that someone had already caught her.
"Thanks…" Xu Fu managed between gasps.
The man who held the girl looked almost like Xu Fu's opposite. He was athletic, with light blue eyes, short hair pinned with a single iron hairpin, and delicate, almost feminine features. A faint smile played across his face. His clothes were a deep gray - beautiful and deliberate, unlike Xu Fu's grimy robes - matching the color of Xu Fu's own eyes.
The girl, on the other hand, wore only loose purple pants and bandages wrapped around her chest. Her hair was long reaching nearly to her heels and a dirty shade of brown. She struggled fiercely in the man's grip.
"Let go of me, bastard!" she shouted.
"You stole this man's coin string," the man said evenly. "Return it, and I'll release you."
after a bit of strggling she said "Okaaay…" clearly displeased, but handed Xu Fu his coins all the same.
"My name is Jing Ke," the man said. "May I know yours?"
"Xu Fu" he replied.
Suddenly, the girl spoke up. "My name is Xin Yan."
"No one asked you." Xu Fu muttered.
"And?" Xin Yan smirked. "My intuition says I'm going to be with you for a loooong time and my intuition never betrays me!"
Before Xu Fu could answer, another voice cut through the air, sudden and sharp, as if its owner had appeared from nowhere.
"There you are, Mister Xu Fu. I suppose this is your team? Even if not, now they are. The Emperor demands the herb as soon as possible. I'll be joining you as well."
The newcomer was Jun Cheng, one of Qin Shihuang's servants. Xu Fu had met him only a handful of times, they barely knew each other. Yet now, their fates were bound by the Emperor's command.