Why? Why was he attacking? Wanderer couldn't understand it. His life had been spared, no, saved even. He should be happy, he should be celebrating, perhaps even a little thankful. So why was he attacking? Why was his visage twisted with such malicious glee? Some insults, some humiliation, was the weight of something like that greater than a life?

No, life was so much heavier than that. It was for this belief that Wanderer had stopped Yi Sao when she tried to kill Zin Yu. So why didn't this man understand that? Or did he perhaps understand but not care? The weight of a life, perhaps he simply didn't care about it all, perhaps life had no weight to him?

But Wanderer cared. To Wanderer they had weight. He had already stopped Yi Sao once because of that weight, that care. But was it fine to stop Zin Yu in the same manner? Yi Sao hadn't known his thoughts, his beliefs so it couldn't be helped that she acted the way she did. But this man, Zin Yu, he knew, Wanderer had made it very clear. Yet Zin Yu still acted the way he did. Did he still deserve to be stopped in the same way despite making his disregard for life known?

"No, no you don't."

The answer spilt from his lips, poured out of his heart before it even flashed in his head. Things had been made clear for Zin Yu, he understood the situation. But he still disregarded life, was still willing to spill it like water. He didn't deserve the same mercy as Yi Sao, the same thoughts.

If Wanderer still treated Zin Yu the same then the others would just treat it as if it wasn't actually all that important to him. The moment he took his eyes off of them, they'd just go back to spilling life like water. After all, someone who couldn't even be cared to mete out a little punishment would never care enough to track them down.

But death? No, he didn't think death was a fitting punishment, it wasn't a punishment befitting the crime. His eyes swept over the man, who almost seemed frozen in place, his mantis-like arms mere centimetres away from Yi Sao's neck. And then it hit him. Yes, since Zin Yu disregarded the weight of life then Wanderer would show him that weight. The weight of his own life, the weight of the struggle.

His arms moved in tune with his thoughts, his body acting on his orders. He just had to think, and his body moved. He didn't think about whether or not he would be fast enough, the warm thumping in his chest told him that he would always be fast enough. He just had to desire, and it would accomplish it.

One step brought him in front of Zin Yun. One move of his arms caught both the mantis scythes. A second move bent both the scythes inwards, away from Yi Sao's neck. And the third move pushed the scythes into Zin Yu's body.

One scythe ran through Zin Yu's left lung while the other one was bent so crookedly that it cut through the elbow that was connected to it. Zin Yu was pushed back by the force of his scythe piercing his lung, but his left arm remained in Wanderer's grasp.

Yi Sao spun around as Zin Yu was launched back, her face a shade paler than previously. She hadn't detected him at all, she hadn't even heard him as he approached. She knew, if it wasn't for the youth standing there so calmly, then her head would have left her shoulders.

Wanderer looked at the mantis scythe he was still clutching, even the blood that dripped from it was a sickly green, it wasn't something that belonged on a human. But that particular fact didn't matter to him, his head rising slightly as his gaze landed on Zin Yu, who was leaning against the wall that had stopped his momentum.

"Life... is heavy, Zin Yu. It's full of struggle, even if you sometimes can't feel it, or even understand it. Feel that struggle, feel that weight. I hope that you will come to understand the weight of life, I hope you will come to appreciate it."

The heat in his chest, the embers and sparks that flickered around. Wanderer thought that he could expel them through his voice, spread them from his body to his surroundings. But he was wrong, each word he spoke just stoked the embers. Embers became fire, sparks became dancing flames. Familiar, it felt oh so familiar. The fire called to him, the heat welcomed him. But Yi Sao's hand landed on his shoulder as he was thinking about embracing the fire, smothering the flames and cooling the heat in his chest.

"Thank you, Kiddo. Now I too, owe you my life."

She lowered her head gratefully, bending her waist in the process. One second he had stopped her from taking a life and in the next one, he stopped someone from taking hers. All for the sake of that weight he couldn't even understand thanks to his lack of memories. Was this perhaps how he was before he lost his memories? Instincts ingrained in his bones, belief carved into his body, never to be forgotten.

She raised her head again after conveying her thanks, her gaze drifting across the mantis scythe Wanderer had just dropped on the floor. Her gaze then moved over to Zin Yu, his cheetah-like legs and his compound eye. A sneer formed on her face when she saw his state, it really was sickening what he had become.

"So you've thrown your lot in with them, have you? Figures that scum like you would jump at the opportunity to earn money. I'd kill you right now, but Kiddo has already saved your life once and spared you the second time, so I'll leave it at this. But don't you ever show yourself around us ever again, I'll make you wish you hadn't survived the surgery."

She was obviously familiar with exactly what Zin Yu had done to change his body like this, and from the looks of it, she was far from accepting of it. The other patrons in the tavern also didn't look too fondly at the staggering Zin Yu, but Yi Sao didn't spare him another glance and turned away.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Come, we still need to report to Cap."

Their target wasn't here, and if Zin Yu's words were to be trusted, which was likely since he used them to taunt her, then it would be faster to head to Ninth Star city. The five other people she had brought along swiftly followed her, Wanderer staying close to her side and occasionally casting a glance at the mantis scythe he had dropped on the floor.

"Is there something special about his body? It didn't sound like you considered his change... natural."

A surgery she called it, at the same time she also seemed to consider this surgery the same as joining a certain faction. But a body like that, a mixture of multiple creatures, could something like that really be acquired through something like a surgery? According to Yi Sao's grimace, the answer was yes.

"That's because it isn't natural. It's called the Shadowchaser surgery and I've been told it's the original technique of Lucifer, one of the supreme rulers who reigns over our multiverse. He's been using it to spread chaos throughout the lands, and from what I've heard it's not just this universe that is suffering from it. It's war, Kiddo, a war of supremacy between the higher-ups who want more lands to rule. That's why I said he's thrown his lot in with them. Only those on the side of Lucifer can get the Shadowchaser surgery to increase their power, only those who have decided to join the invaders can become like that."

Big words. Multiverse, supreme ruler, war of supremacy, a stage too large for Wanderer to really understand it. But while he didn't understand the stage, he felt like he understood the pieces that moved on it. A surgery to increase your power, a surgery to spread chaos, a war too big for small people to understand. Zin Yu spilt life like water, but life was spilt far more freely than water in war. For each grain of sand in the desert, a thousand lives wasted, a thousand screams silenced and forgotten.

His chest felt warm again. The embers stirred in his heart. But there was something else there as well this time, a clogged feeling in his throat. Was he sad? He didn't know, but if he had to put a word to what he felt then he thought that sorrow was the most fitting. Life like grains of sand, scattered and tossed about without thought or care. Why was it like this? What was to be gained from this?

"Don't think too much about it, Kiddo. Sometimes, life is just like that. Not everyone views life the same as you, the stronger you get the lighter life becomes. So don't think too much about it, don't ruin yourself by worrying about the why's and the what's. Gods are the ones who have to worry about those things all the time, and we're not gods. We can only do what we want, what we've decided."

Yi Sao's hand landed on Wanderer's shoulder as they walked, she had evidently seen his thoughts on his face. But she considered them pointless. Gods were the ones who had to constantly worry, not mortals like them, all they had to do was their best, nothing more and nothing less.

Wanderer didn't respond to Yi Sao's statement, nor did she seek an answer from him, they simply kept walking. But Wanderer felt a slight sense of familiarity to those words, each syllable stoking the embers. Gods, were they really the only ones who had to worry about the why's and the what's, were they really the only ones who had that right? In that case, if he wanted to worry about those things, would he have to become a god?

The thoughts flashed about in his head, each one dancing like the sparks that awaited their fire. But there was no fire in him, only embers barely flickering with life. So he reached no conclusion, he was just left with endlessly bouncing thoughts.

Wanderer was still immersed in his thoughts, his endlessly flickering sparks, by the time they met up with Ching Shih and the others again. The captain's expression wasn't good, it was clear that they too had failed in finding something that could cure the poison that was ailing Bao.

"So... Ninth Star city is our last recourse. The Wolf Queen's groom selection is still going on so there should definitely be more people there than usual, someone will definitely have something. And if worst comes to worst... we can try to beg the Wolf Queen, her teacher will definitely have what we need."

Ching Shih was mulling over the options they had with a sour expression, quietly sucking on his teeth. The Wolf Queen, he really didn't want to disturb her while she held her little tournament to find a groom. He hadn't heard anything bad about her, but her teacher was so far removed from their lives that he didn't want to risk offending them. But if worst came to worst then he would have to bite the bullet, he just had to make sure to go there alone so that she only killed him if things really went poorly. But right now, there was another thing he also had to keep in mind.

"So Zin Yu has thrown his lot in with Lucifer... Not entirely unexpected. But he said he could get you directly to Shiren's Dune, and that part is worrisome. Even our Sand Sovereign would need five days to get there from here, the upgrades he spoke of probably aren't normal. We'll head directly for Ninth Star city, but be on a constant lookout for the Moving Fortress. If worst comes to worst..."

He didn't finish his words, but the tension in the air was clear, a cold intent seeping into the air with his words. The two groups that had met up boarded the ship again and checked up on the poisoned Bao, he still seemed to maintain a stable state, but a bit more of the Spirit Stone had been shaved off in the time they had been gone so it clearly wasn't natural stability.

"Raise the anchors, we're leaving immediately."

Ching Shih didn't hesitate. He gave the order and the crew moved to fulfil it. The Sand Sovereign left the harbour and cut through the sand once more, rushing towards the distant destination that awaited them. Wanderer remained in his thoughts, within the sparks, as the ship moved. He wanted an answer, he wanted his answer. But he had nothing, only embers and cold sparks.

But eventually, he was forced out of his thoughts. The boat rocked all of a sudden, a large wave of sand washing over the deck from the side, tossed up by an explosion that just barely missed them. Wanderer shook his head and forced the sparks down into the embers, his gaze shifting towards the sea of sand.

A ship, if it could even be called that, had appeared a few hundred metres away from them without any sign, the air around it shimmering and twisting strangely. He called it a ship, but it looked more like a moving building, a metal castle covered in large canons and weapons. The Moving Fortress, was that the name Ching Shih had used earlier? Yes, it truly deserved that name, the Sand Sovereign paled in comparison.

But no one on the ship panicked despite the difference, a ferocious glint actually appeared in the corner of their eyes. Ching Shih stood at the helm of the ship and waved Wanderer over, the rest of the crew running to their positions. They had been ready for this, they were always ready for this.

"That's the Moving Fortress, the ship of Zin Yu and his crew. You saved him once and spared him the second time, but now he has directed an attack against my crew, there will be no third time for him. So watch, Wanderer. I will show you why it is we that are the Sand Sovereign and not him."