"Well... I can't tell you about my clan," Jie said, "but my family was... nice. We were close. I used to walk with them in the pa... in a large garden. And my parents would tell me about the trees and plants there. One day a week we would have pizza day..."

"Pizza day?" Pan Tian asked as she tried the word as though sampling its flavor, "What's that? Some kind of combat trial?"

Jie laughed. "No. It's food. We would have it as a kind of family celebration I guess you could say. It's quite tasty," she said.

"A weekly celebration? Your people always sound so fun-loving," Pan Tian teased.

"It wasn't as big of an event as you're imagining," Jie said, "it was... well it was a lot like this. With us right now. It was... nice."

Somehow Jie's words seemed to make the other two girls sad. Particularly Pan Tian who seemed as though she were staring through her plate into another dimension.

"What? What'd I say?" Jie asked.

"Oh... nothing," Pan Tian said, "I just... that sounds nice."

"Didn't you ever have anything like that?" Jie asked.

"Sometimes with my mother... before she died," Pan Tian said.

"Oh. I'm sorry... and what about your father?" Jie asked.

"He's the family head... he can't show any favoritism. I sometimes get appointments where I report to him, but nothing like this," Pan Tian said with a wistful note in her voice and a thoughtful look in her olive green eyes.

Jie didn't know what to say to that and a silence followed, broken only by the sound of Xue munching on a bone.

Pan Tian shook herself out of it and her brilliant smile returned. Though this time, it seemed more like a mask to hide her sadness than a genuine smile.

"But, what about you Ithilix? What's it like in the hive?" Pan Tian asked.

"This one doesn't know much about the hive," Ithilix said, "this one was kept sequestered away from most of the hive."

"What? Why?" Jie asked.

"This one was born to fulfill this experiment mission. The hive took steps to ensure that if this one was captured and tortured for information, this one would not be able to reveal much," Ithilix said.

Jie shared a look with Pan Tian and it seemed neither of them knew how to respond to that.

Ithilix smiled at them softly. "Do not worry. This one had a pleasant life. This one was given many resources and training to prepare for this mission and this one is able to serve the hive with her life. What more could this one ask for?" she said.

They talked only a little longer before the eating and conversation died down.

"We should all get some rest and cultivate. It'll be another long, dangerous day tomorrow," Pan Tian said, "I have a few things to finish up here. I'll take first watch inside our tent. The formations and enchantments should alert us if anything intrudes on us, but there are ways of bypassing such things, so it's best to be cautious."

As Jie settled into her bedroll and pulled the soft, warm furs over her, she saw Pan Tian still sitting at the table, writing on a scroll of parchment with elegant strokes of her ink brush. An empty memory stone rested on the table beside her parchment. Jie wondered what notes she was making and what use she had for the memory stone, but decided it wasn't any of her business.

Knowing Pan Tian, she was recording the important events of the day. Perhaps for future treasure hunts, to sell her notes, or to gift them to her family. In any case, Jie felt too tired for more questions.

"Jie?" Pan Tian said questioningly as she stopped mid-stroke.

"Yes?" Jie said as Xue padded over to her and sniffed her, his whiskers tickling her face.

"I'm sorry about your parents... I know some of what that's like," Pan Tian said, "and... though it's not my place to say... for whatever it's worth, I'm sure they'd be proud of you and everything you've achieved."

"Thank you," Jie said as she forced a smile. In truth, she didn't know if they'd be proud or horrified by what she'd done. What she'd agreed to do. They would never have approved of revenge... or the bloody path she was on now. And Pan Tian's words only reminded her of that.

But Jie knew the older girl meant well. So, Jie hoped her smile was a convincing one.

Xue curled up in a ball beside Jie and Jie settled into the soft, comforting warmth of her bedroll as she closed her eyes.

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"I'm sure your mother is proud of you too. And your father. Even if he can't show it," Jie said softly, "and your hive... I'm sure they're proud of you too, Ithilix."

Ithilix mumbled something that might've been a sleepy thank you.

A wet nose pressed against Jie's cheek.

"Yes, you too you little furball. Everyone's proud of you, our overlord of supreme cuteness. Now let me get some sleep," Jie mumbled as exhaustion claimed her at last.

***

They awoke just before first light the following day when the sky was still dark. After a light breakfast, they packed up the tent and Pan Tian led them alongside the winding river once more. The sky grew lighter as they traveled, the horizon turning from pure darkness to a band of golden light that cast long shadows. As the sun rose, the snow around them gained a golden sheen. Soon, their dangerous surroundings became a picturesque mix of blue and gold.

The river led them to a lake. It was large enough to be a sea back on Earth and entirely covered in ice and snow. Jie looked around but saw no sign of buildings or landmarks. Certainly nothing that looked like a temple of any kind. But the lake was large enough that there might easily be something hidden on the other side.

Pan Tian led them out onto the frozen lake itself. The ice was slick and it made Jie feel uncomfortable to run across it the way they were doing as it would be difficult to stop. Thankfully, she had lightning step to stop herself if she needed to, but she wasn't sure about the others. The smell of rotten eggs got worse as they moved across the lake. It wasn't quite unbearable, but it was definitely unpleasant.

Pan Tian stopped running and let herself slide across the ice to the center of the lake. There was a patch of thinner ice there for some reason. Almost like...

"Wait a minute... Lake Temple... you don't mean like... Lake Temple do you?" Jie asked.

Pan Tian looked at her, confused. "Is it just me or does she make no sense at all sometimes, Ithilix?" she asked.

"This one must agree," Ithilix said.

"I mean... we're at the lake and there's no temple and it looks like someone made a hole in the ice so please don't tell me--"

"Oh, yeah it's in the lake," Pan Tian said, "did I not mention that?"

"No," Jie said, "I think I would've remembered."

Pan Tian shrugged. "Oh well," she said, "do you have a water suit?"

"I don't even know what that is," Jie admitted.

"It's fine. I didn't know if you two had any, so I brought spares. Nothing for you, Xue. Sorry," Pan Tian said.

Xue yawned.

"I don't think he cares," Jie said.

"I'm glad," Pan Tian said as her storage ring gleamed and a water suit that looked suspiciously like a wet suit from Earth appeared in her hand though it was a bit oddly shaped in places, "I wouldn't want to upset him. Anyway, here you go. Ithilix, do you need one?"

"This one came prepared," Ithilix said as she pulled out another suit, even more oddly shaped than the one Pan Tian had given Jie. Though it made sense given Ithilix's insectoid frame.

Pan Tian then pulled out her own water suit.

"Thanks," Jie said, "is there anywhere I can change or...?"

Pan Tian gave her an 'Are you serious right now?' look and Jie's cheeks flushed. Jie stripped down and put her water suit on like the others. The wind cut through Jie like an icy knife as she changed, but it did nothing to distract from her embarrassment. The snow-covered ice was painfully cold beneath her feet and the wet suit had large holes. One just above her butt and the others where her sides would be if she were a good deal larger.

The strange holes freaked her out a bit as she couldn't begin to guess what purpose they served or why anyone would select them as a fashion choice for swimming in freezing cold lakes. It didn't help that the water suit was obviously too big for her. But Ithilix and Pan Tian's suits also seemed too big for them.

"Here, Jie," Pan Tian said, "I'm guessing you'll need this too."

The older girl tossed a pill to Jie who caught it, then Pan Tian threw one to the others. Xue snapped it up out of mid-air.

"Woah! Nice catch, Xue!" Pan Tian said with a beaming smile.

The pill was green and smelled like seaweed. "What is this?" Jie asked.

"Water breathing pill," Pan Tian said, "just make sure you have enough slack in your water suit for the shift and keep your shoes off."

"I... what?" Jie said.

Pan Tian clapped her hands. "Still a race! Let's go, Jie," she said.

Jie looked at the others, but they seemed unconcerned and Ithilix and Pan Tian took their pills. Jie took hers and stored her shoes and clothes in her storage ring.

She stood with the others, shivering a little despite the fireblood pill she'd taken earlier. The hole above her butt gave the freezing wind ample access to the small of her back.

Jie was just about to mention it when she felt like her guts were being twisted inside her.

She fell to her knees, hugging her insides and groaning.

Oh god... did Pan Tian just poison me? She wondered for a moment before the other three all collapsed the same way.

Jie watched them, horrified as their bodies writhed and shifted unnaturally. She looked down at her hands and watched her fingers elongate as webbed flesh grew between her fingers and her black fingernails lengthened into claws. Her feet underwent a similar transformation as her lower back itched and she looked back up at the others to see long tails growing out of them, flat on either side like the tails of a tadpole. Ithilix already had one, but Jie saw it shift even though it retained its poisonous barb.

Xue transformed into what looked like a crocodile-cat hybrid with black scales dotted around his body and a different style of tail than the others. Jie could've sworn he got bigger too as his paws shifted into webbed appendages with wicked talons.

Jie's skin itched and her perfect, porcelain skin grew black scales similar to Xue's. The pain subsided but the shift continued, and her body morphed until she filled out the wet suit more. She stood back up, though her balance felt a little off for a moment and she swished her tail back around to look at it. It was covered in black, reptilian scales like Xue's rather than the more tadpole-looking tail Pan Tian and Ithilix had. Though his had fur that she lacked.

The holes on either side of their wet suits that had seemed so utterly insane just a moment ago now exposed their gills to the freezing wind.

"I hate that shift," Pan Tian said as she got back to her feet, "Woah! Jie! I've never seen anyone shift like you and Xue. Do you have some bloodline abilities or something?"

"No, of course not..." Jie said... then she remembered what Ming had said about making her body and his blood... and the strangeness of the ritual she'd done with Xue, "actually... I'm not sure..."

"Well... Whatever you have, it looks like Xue has it too. Are you two from the same clan or something? Are you sure you're not a magical beast in disguise? You know you can tell me if you are," Pan Tian said.

"I'm not," Jie said, "just a strange quirk, I guess. Now what do we do?"