2 - Chapter 1

Sabina awoke feeling very strange indeed. She remembered falling asleep in her bed in the hospice. She had a feeling, like a dream but more real, that something had happened. She had the sensation of being in a line waiting. Then a feeling of a presence, inexorable yet gentle, then feeling warm, safe, comfortable, before a sudden feeling of speed. It was all jumbled together, the feelings passing, but the impressions remained. It was another strange thing, normally after waking from a dream, the whole thing melts away, but this time some of the impressions remained as if remembering a conversation.

As Sabina let go of the feeling and started to notice her surroundings, it didn't feel like her bed at all, in fact it felt like she was laying down on the ground. Had she fallen out of bed? No, it didn't feel like the tiled floor of the hospice. Come to think of it, something was missing. It came to her in a moment of clarity, the little niggling aches and pains, the soreness on her back, the little annoyances that she had gotten so used to that she hardly noticed any more were all the more notable by their absence.

She finally opened her eyes and looked around. She thought she was still dreaming, she rubbed her eyes and didn't recognise the hand that came up. It was milky white, and slender. The skin was that of a young girl. Sabina looked down, she was in what seemed like a simple tan hemp dress with no underwear. As she looked around, she seemed to be under a wooden carriage out of old stories. In the distance she could see bodies of people, and a group of soldiers in armour rounding up the remaining people. The style of dress and armour was reminiscent of an eastern style from Chinese or Japanese history. Just where was she? And whose body was this? How had she ended up here? Sabina ran her hands over herself and felt a bump on the back of her head, a little bit of clotted blood came away in her hand. Obviously she wasn’t home anymore.

Had she taken over this body? How? The smell of the blood and faecal matter filled the air. It took her back to helping dig the bodies out of houses after the bombing of London during the war. It was only her experiences that stopped from throwing up. She gingerly checked herself and found that apart from the knock on the head, she was generally fine, if dirty. She could really do with a good bath.

As she stood and looked around, she was noticed by one of the people in armour. The man called out something that she didn't understand, but felt like she should, and motioned for her to join him. He then looked over to a woman in the robe and said something to her whilst pointing at Sabina. The more she heard the words, the more she felt like she should know the language. Sabina found she was barefoot, She gingerly walked over to the soldier and was joined by the woman in the robe.

As they said something to her clearly asking her something, she shook her head trying to clear a ringing. All of a sudden something clicked in her mind, a sensation of a part of her falling into and locking into place. She shook her head again and now she could understand what was being said to her. She knew it was not English or any other other languages she knew, but it was like she had always known this language.

“Sorry, I am feeling a little fuzzy. I was struck on the head I think. Where are we? What is happening here?” asked Sabina.

“I am lieutenant Han Ji of the imperial army. This is Cultivator Sun Li. We have just cleared out the bandit camp, since you have a head injury you must be checked. Then you will be held whilst we work out how you ended up here.” stated Han Ji.

“Come with me,” said Sun Li. It was not a request but a command from some used to having their commands followed without question.

Sabina followed quietly. She needed time to think, and she didn't remember anything of this body's history. Also had the lieutenant mentioned that Sun Li was a cultivator? Was she in a world where cultivation was real? What else was real here? Would they be able to tell that this was not her body? How would they react? She had read some of those types of novels, and body snatching was considered an evil or forbidden art. She had to keep her own secrets or they might end up getting her killed. The best thing to do now was to gather information.

Sabina followed Sun Li into a small tent. There was a small desk and stool and not much else. There were some documents, not made of paper, but something hea

vier on the desk. Sabina didn't recognise the characters, but again felt like she should.

Sun Li gestured for Sabina to stand in front of the desk as Sun Li walked around her. Sabina felt something warm surround her and try to enter her body. It felt like dense air.

Sun Li circled the girl to examine her with her Qi sense. The girl looked to be young, but well spoken. She also didn't carry herself like any commoner she had ever met. Most commoners wouldn't dare look up or question an imperial officer or a cultivator, but this girl had done both with such nonchalance as if she had been doing it her whole life. That was surprising enough to find a noble and if she was any judge, to find a high noble in this place. She got another surprise when she tried to examine her, the QI was kept out effortlessly. Just who or what was she?

“Wait here.” said Sun Li, then walked out of the tent.

Sabina realised that she couldn't hear any sounds coming from outside the tent. Was there something cancelling sound within the tent? Sabina thoughts were racing from all the new things she was experiencing and she couldn't help but compare them to the cultivation novels she had read. Even though fiction was not a great way to judge a new world, she was glad she had something to provide at least a rudimentary framework.

Sun Li called over the lieutenant. “I need you to watch the tent. I will need to do a deeper examination. Something isn't right.” stated Sun Li. “You noticed how she spoke to us? How she looked at us? Well she also managed to block my first scan. I need to make sure she is human, if not we may have a fight on our hands.”

“I will get a squad ready, you do what you need to.” replied Han Ji.

Sun Li re-entered the tent with Sabina none the wiser to her suspicions. “I need to scan you with my Qi sense to understand your injuries. It will need to be a deep scan. I need you to let me scan you. Please let my scan enter your body.” said Sun Li. She purposefully said please to see the girl's reaction.

Sabina shrugged. “Sure, do what you need to Cultivator.”replied Sabina.

Sun Li was more and more surprised by the way the girl was acting. She decided to go for a full scan. She pushed out her scan, and this time the girl let it enter her. Sun Li forcefully examined everything. The body, there was an injury on the head, it should have killed the girl, but she seemed to be recovering. She examined what she could sense of the surface emotions. She could feel some confusion, introspection and uncertainty but no fear. She really wasn't putting up an act. Lastly she checked the soul, soul shape and how it tethered to the body. She couldn't see anything that would indicate a foreign presence.

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The force of the scan caused Sabina to pass out. Sun Li caught Sabina and laid her on the floor whilst she continued her examination. She checked everything that she could think of and apart from her head injury nothing seemed to be wrong. Still she had to be sure. She tried to examine the soul and spirit root and her sense was violently ejected. That just wasnt possible. She either had to be a high noble or a demon. Nothing else made any sense. She would need to ask her master who was a nascent soul level cultivator to check, as a core formation level cultivator no mortal should be able to block her scans, especially while passed out.

Sun Li went to speak to Han Ji. “We have a problem. I have confirmed that the body is that of a 13 year old girl. However her actions and power are an issue. I told you that she managed to block my scan casually. Her emotions showed no fear, only confusion and introspection. When I tried to scan her soul I was forcibly ejected, even though she is not conscious.” stated Sun Li.

“So she is either a high noble, or something worse?” responded Han Ji, “What would someone like that be doing here? I have asked around her name is Sa Bina. She was kept separate from the other slaves and kept to herself. We have confirmed that she was a slave, but was treated exceptionally well for one. Do you think the bandits who managed to capture her were trying to ransom her back? We killed them all so cant even interrogate them. The other slaves we found only knew her from the bandit camp. We haven't found anyone who knew of her before.”

“I think to be safe, we keep her unconscious and take her to my master back in the city. If she is a high noble, I will apologise and pay recompense.” said Sun LI. “It was my decision, don't worry, I will take full responsibility.”

*

Sabina awoke in another unknown place. At first she thought she had dreamed the whole thing, but as she became more aware, she realised she was in a small room decorated in an eastern style. She was in a cot bed, there was a small dressing screen and a half mirror in the corner. There were some long underclothes and a rich purple cheongsam style dress hanging over the privacy screen. Sabina was still in her hemp dress. It seemed that she had passed out from the scan, and then been moved to this location. She felt the back of her head. The injury was gone and the hair was clean. So someone had magically healed her and cleaned the dried blood. Things were looking more and more strange.

She decided to make use of the mirror and take a look at the new body she found herself in. Since she wasn't dead or in a prison cell she assumed they hadn't found out about her situation, or that it wasn't an issue. However, she would not bring up the topic. She would see what they said when they came to get her.

She stood in front of the mirror and disrobed. She was still dirty. She looked around the room and saw a bowl filled with water, a washcloth and towel on a table to the side. Sabina used the water and washcloth to clean her body. She tied her hair in a top knot, as she had no way to clean it at present. She would love a bath or at least a shower, but this was better than the condition she found herself in previously.

She then dressed herself in the fresh clothes. She managed to get herself into the dress without help. The ties were a little different from the versions she had tried on her travels, but similar enough that we managed to complete dressing.

She took a long look in the mirror. She had an almond shaped face with light hazel eyes and dark hair. Her features were more south asian then chinese or caucasian, though none of the labels from earth would fit her look. Her skin was delicate and light. She looked like a pretty young teenager. She wondered if purple had any significance here. Back on earth purple was the colour of royalty. She laughed at her own presumption, if it was the same here why would they give some random girl a purple dress?

Just as she finished examining herself, there was a light knock on the door.

She waited a moment, composed herself and said “enter”.

The door opened and 3 people walked in. She knew Han Ji and Sun Li, they were accompanied by an older man, though he looked like he was in his 30s. He had a presence, as though used to command. Sabina had seen that look in senior officers during the war, though this man had a more real, more vicaral presence, like the world itself recognised it.

The three entered the room and saw Sabina standing there dressed and composed. They shared a glance that meant nothing to Sabina, but she was sure had some significance.

They noticed Sabina scrutinising them and were even more sure of whatever they had deduced.

The three of them bowed, Han Ji the lowest and the new man the lowest, but all of them bowed, then recited in unison “Our most sincere apologies Lady Sa Bina.”

Sabina looked on, but they held the bow. She wondered if they would hold the bow until she told them to stand. By this point she really wanted to know what was going on.

“Please stand. I need to understand what is going on?” said Sabina, looking at the new man she continued, “and who may you be?”

The three looked up in unison. “I am Cultivator Ja Son, an elder in the Green Mountain Sect.” said Ja Son. “If you permit, we can move to a more comfortable room where we can speak further. Refreshments will also be provided, I am sure you are hungry by now.”

“Sure, lead the way” said Sabina, or rather I am Sa Bina now she thought.

The four left the room and walked along a well decorated corridor with wooden flooring and walls to a comfortable looking parlour. The other three waited for Sabina to sit before taking a seat themselves. By now Sabina was beginning to think they really did think she was nobility, there was no other reasonable explanation for their behaviour based on her limited knowledge and experience.

“So can one of you tell me what is going on please. Why is an elder attending to me?” asked Sabina.

“My apologies Lady Sa Bina, the sect patriarch is away at the moment I was the most senior elder available.” said Ja Son in a very serious voice. “We will of course compensate you for this oversight.”

“Please stop apologising and tell me what is going on!” responded a now frustrated Sabina.

The three exchanged significant looks again.

“What do you remember from the bandit camp my lady?” asked Ja Son.

“I remember waking up injured, and seeing the dead around me. Han Ji ordered me to see Sun Li. She scanned me, I must have passed out, then I woke up here. I don't remember anything from before your men attacked the camp.” stated Sabina succinctly, trying to get information from them.

“Well, that is accurate. You suffered a head injury, it was serious enough that we were surprised that you survived. In these cases it is not unusual to lose some memories, they may come back.” said Ja Son.

“Yes I am aware of head injuries leading to amnesia and the potential prognosis. This doesn't explain your behaviour or what I am doing here.” said Sabina, she was probably a bit more curt than she meant to be. She was not used to the fact that she would be viewed as a child here, her response more fitting of her school teacher persona speaking to a recalcitrant student refusing to get to the point.

The three shared another significant look. “If you don't start explaining what is going on, and those looks I shall be most cross,” said Sabina in her best strict teacher voice.

Han Ji visibly gulped, the other two looked a little taken aback not used to being talked in that tone.

Just what was going on?