The Jade Garden
"Isn't it beautiful?" Yu Baoshi stood as tall and proud as the queen that she knew that she was. Her long and sharp para horn sat atop her head like a crown. They were surrounded by a massive sprawling garden as green as the eye could see. Everything from the ultra soft and plush witchgrass and mossy covered rocks by the stream to the beautiful flourishing bushes and the bonsai trees made a gorgeous gradient from the darkest greens to the lightest ones. The color was only disrupted by the blue river with it's silvery rocks and the colorful blossoms of the flowers that grew in the bushes and the cherry blossoms and weeping willows of the tallest trees. The colors of the two jades fit in stunningly well with their environment.
"Not as beautiful as you are," Porree cooed. The rook looked up to the jade dove for attention. The cuddly sweetheart of a rug was more than willing to give her the admiration she desired in return for having someone to spend his time with. Yu Baoshi smiled gently at him but there was some sadness in the back of her eyes. "If only," she sighed, "This gorgeous paradise should be my kingdom but it's just a public garden." Her eye shifted vaguely back to a loud child behind them. "Yeah, but the gift shop sure is cute!" Porree cooed as he held up the miniature bonsai tree that he had bought.
Although Yu Baoshi didn't necessarily mind the concept of watching people and learning insights about them, the two decided to leave and go to a more secluded area of the garden so that they could lounge around in peace. The dove picked out a large nearly flat section of rock that was cool even against the warm day outside. She loafed down on it and the rook eagerly joined right beside her. Both of them held up their jade heads and admired the new scenery--this section of land was even more mossy than the last, had large up turn the stones, and a section of it had been turned into a Japanese sand garden that had been breakdown to show interesting shapes and figures drawn in the course pale sand.
"It's even more beautiful here," the dove decided as she talked her feet under her chest to achieve a more perfect loaf. Behind them, their two green tails sat side-by-side on the rock, nearly identical variations of color. In fact, to someone who might have only approached them from behind they might have seemed as though they were a two-headed kukuri with two tails! "Well, even if it's not a kingdom," the rook decided, "I want you to know that we can always come back to admire the gardens." Yu Baoshi felt a soft smile cross her face. "Maybe..." She thought as her tail gave a little twist, "That would be enough for now." She flicked her cyan eyes to a close and softly laid her head down for a nap. Porree stayed right by her side. For a while, he watched as children came down the path and played, but then eventually, too, he fell asleep in the warm sun.