The hulking bear of a man looked up at XJ-V and smiled through his luminescent moon tattoo.

“A Cog Cultivator,” he said. “I bet you’ve been giving old Longhua a headache, eh?”

Amidst a sea of awestruck silence, XJ-V simply smiled back at the Planeswalker.

“I think most people do.”

“Har!” the Planeswalker yelped. “A Cog after my own heart! Looks like there might just be hope for the old man yet. What’s your name, Brother?”

“XJ-V. I’m happy to mee-”

With a single, fluid twist of his torso the Planeswalker suddenly ascended to the heavens and rocketed back down to stand, with the grace of a practiced dancer, beside XJ-V and Mah-Jung.

“Glad to meet you, XJ-V,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll get along famously.”

The cloaked Planeswalker then turned his attention to the rest of the Cultivators below and bellowed down at them – voice augmented, XJ-V was sure, with tremendous quantities of Qi to allow it to travel.

“Brothers of Ramor-Tai!” he yelled. “It is good to be home!”

The sea of trepidation instantly became a tsunami of good cheer, Disciples throwing their fists into the air and cheering the name of the Planeswalker who towered over them all.

“Ori’un! Ori’un!”

Ori’un…XJ-V pondered, looking up at the broad-shouldered man who waved like a boisterous schoolboy to his old Brothers. It was like a long lost family member returning home.

The wrinkled upon his face had faded away with his smile, almost like a snake shedding his skin.

And just like that creature writhing in the dark corners of the earth, XJ-V could sense a grim necessity that hid behind Ori’un’s eyes.

“Brother Ori’un!” Mah-Jung cried. “Come, you must taste of our Baijiu. Ours is the sweetest nectar of all the Sects – as I’m sure you remember. Or have you grown too fond of the dry wines of Nocturnus?”

Ori’un grinned at his Brother’s request, but shook his hand firmly.

“In time, my good Dragon, in time!” he said. “Right now, I have business with you-know-who.”

Mah-Jung cocked his eyebrow.

“Trouble in the wastes?” he asked.

XJ-V looked to the gradually darkening face of the Planeswalker before he re-equipped his candid, toothy smile.

“Always such an overstepper,” he said to Mah-Jung. “I remember when you were ye-high,” he said, indicating his shinbone. “Even then you asked me what sights I saw out there. But there are things hidden in the ruins of Qing’s empire that are best kept hidden.”

Unbeknownst to the wailing crowd, Mah-Jung’s smile dropped completely.

“Har!” Ori’un shouted. “Watch this one, Cog,” he nudged XJ-V. “He loves to poke his big nose where it doesn’t belong!”

Without waiting for either man to answer, the Planeswalker rocketed from the gate beam to the center of the crowd, his balled fist carving a crater into the courtyard and then, without even thinking about it, repairing the blasted tiles as though he hadn’t just torn them apart.

“After my meeting with Longhua,” he said. “I shall drink with all you boys - the Cultivators of the greatest Sects! Tigers and Dragons, side by side in arms, let us make this a night that shall live on in the annals of the wasteland!”

“Tell us of your adventures, Brother!” Kai-Thai shouted to the postulating traveler. “What do they say of us in the Limra oasis? Or in the stuffy castles of Raz'Han's Ring? Do the nomads of the Everdark Tundra sing our praises? Or does the process of thawing their tongues from stones keep them too occupied?”

Stolen novel; please report.

To all these questions Ori’un simply held up a swarthy hand and batted them away like invisible ghosts, glittering shades of emerald and ruby following his fingers like cobras slithering around totem-poles.

Before he could make another bombastic response, however, there was a lull in the excitement.

The eyes of the Planeswalker flew to meet those of the old man who had just emerged from his chamber, fixing him with a stern stare that, even for him, seemed cold.

“Longhua,” Ori’un said with a curt bow.

The Master turned away and began walking right back the way he came.

“You have an hour,” he called back from the doorway of his private chambers. “Make it count.”

The crowd’s silence was just as overwhelming as the roar of ther celebrations, but, as usual, the Planeswalker alleviated all their concerns.

“See you in an hour’s time, my Brothers!” he yelled. “Break out the good glasses for me, won’t you?”

XJ-V watched him wave and shake the hands of all the Disicples, Tiger and Dragon, that greeted him as he waded through the crowd towards Longhua’s chamber.

“Mah-Jung,” the Cog asked his rather stunned companion. “Is it possible to see glimpses of the future through the Dao?”

Mah-Jung seemed transfixed by the sight of the Planeswalker’s departing back. “Hm? Oh, it has been known. But the Dao is an elusive mistress. Sometimes it shows us the past, sometimes the present and future, and sometimes a distorted mix of all three. Why do you ask, Brother?”

“Because,” XJ-V said. “I saw that man coming.”

The Cog had expected only laughter to spill from the throat of his normally jovial Brother. But, curiously, Mah-Jung scratched his chin and considered his statement.

“Interesting…” he said. “Did you happen to see what he was coming here for?”

XJ-V shook his head. It was true – he didn’t know a thing about this man or his purpose. But from the look Longhua gave him, and the chilling stare he had fixed XJ-V with in the dream realm of the Dao, the Cog suspected the news he had of the outside probably didn’t bode well for any of them.

…

He retired to his room with Arha as the other Disciples rummaged around to prepare dinner and drinks for their long-lost hero.

XJ-V would’ve aided them in their exploits – he certainly had a vested interest in hearing the stories the Planeswalker of the wastes might have. But his mind was wracked with a more pressing question that he knew he wouldn’t get a straight answer to.

“What is he here for?” he asked the lithe form of Arha stretching by the window. “And what is the connection to Feng-Lung? Why wouldn’t he emerge to see the Ori’un come home? These questions are haunting my Dao-Walks. Perhaps it is a sign that I must discover what secrets this man holds.”

He glanced up at Arha as she yawned in his face.

“Perhaps a being native to the Dao could help me?” he asked

“Don’t look at Arha - Arha doesn’t know,” the Huli replied. “The Dao is never obvious enough for you mortals. You all never can just go with the flow, can you?”

“You sound like Master Longhua,” XJ-V smiled.

The Huli straightened up. “I sure hope not!”

“It is a compliment, Arha. It means you are becoming wiser. Maybe you will be an old, wise fox soon.”

The eyes of the little spirit bulged.

“…old?”

XJ-V was suddenly possessed by a sense of mischief.

“Ah, yes,” he said, concealing his smile from the spirit. “After all, Longhua would not give his Disciples any help. He would have them figure out their own solutions to problems. He would also leave them to be miserable even though he could help them if he wished. Yes. It seems harshness and aloofness are the markers of the old.”

“Harshness! Not Arha! Never Arha. Say these things are not true, XJ-V!”

She was pawing at his leg like a kitten scared its owner was about to leave.

He went in for the kill.

“And you know what they say about people when the get old,” he said. “They never like their heads being patted. I suppose my fingers will just have to find a nice, smooth dragon statue to pet instead.”

“NO!” Arha erupted. “Ok. Okokokokok – maybe there is something Arha can do to help you.”

She shuffled in XJ-V’s lap, lifted a spectral paw, and then laid it on his hand. He felt a surge of energy wash through him, like an electric charge running up to short circuit his systems. Immediately he gasped in pain and then – then the sensation was nullified.

And he was looking up at himself, staring down at Arha with dulled eyes.

“Arha?”

He saw his own metallic lips move. He heard his own voice speak right back at him.

What…

“Qi transferal, my good machine!” Arha’s voice thundered in his mind. “We Hulis are known to have many tricks up our…paws. For a little while, you can see through Arha’s eyes. You can see what she sees and hear what she hears!”

A snap of raw energy buzzed in his brain and he was back in his own body, looking down at the proud little fox.

“I…I see…” he said. “But how does that..?”

“Oh. XJ-V!” Arha moaned. “Must Arha explain everything to her Cog? The big snake man goes to meet with old stinky Longhua, right? So, Arha can sneak in, hide, and let you see what is being said!”

XJ-V merely stared down at his spirit guide for a few moments as he processed the magnitude of what she had just said.

Then, all at once, he flew into an excited craze.

“Arha!” he cried, grabbing her and planting a steel kiss on her spectral face. “You have done it! This is how we shall learn the Planeswalker’s mysteries!”

The fox creature blushed. “Praise me more then! Arha needs head-scratchie – hey!”

XJ-V had already thrown open the door to his chamber, taking up the Huli in his arms.

“Wh-what are-“

“You are a genius spirit, Arha,” he told her as he marched towards Feng-Lung’s chamber. “You have just shown me how to solve two problems at once.”

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