With a push of her mind, Raika opens her interior out to the world, playing with the spatial alteration to form a new balcony to the room she’s in. She sits across from herself, letting the prismatic light of the crystal shine in, and waits for her guests to enter.
While the one dressed in woven grass and the darkness-and-honey scented cultivator, they hesitate, but Aurick steps right up, strolling onto the newly-formed floor like he expected nothing less. Which maybe he didn’t- he seems as much at ease with her brand of weirdness as he does the Pale Thresher’s, and anyone that can act as a handler to that thing likely can take a lot in stride.
Though he does come up short at the sight of two of her.
She waves at him from two bodies, similar but not identical. He blinks… and then nods to himself. She notices, however, that his Intent shifts very slightly after seeing the two versions of her.
It inches a little more towards respect.
…Why? He saw her fight with the Warrior-realm Feng commander. Why would seeing her do something so much more basic, in terms of biomancy, impress him?
She puts the thought to one side as the others approach, and whatever energy they were giving off before, it’s clear that it’s shifted alongside the Intent that Aurick is radiating. They enter a lot more quietly and politely than they originally approached, some of the casual air dropped away.
She extends the table out between them, leaving them room to take a seat facing both of her, and gives them a smile.
“Welcome to… what I believe is still technically someone else’s house. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Aurick turns to the others, who continue to defer to him. He is the one who actually knew her first, and he takes to the role of center-field for the discussion.
“Just doing due diligence, I suppose,” Aurick says, taking a seat with his lower limbs leaned to one side. “Easy enough to enter the city proper, but since we’ll be moving on soon, I figured I could bring those who want to talk with you to you, rather than wait. Agreeable enough?”
“Just fine,” the Raika on the left says, shrugging. “Do you plan to stay longer? I had assumed we’d be heading out soon.”
“Can’t wait too long, not with pale, tall and bloodthirsty on standby. Finding you moved some plans around, true enough, but that Wall won’t stay open forever, and it’ll only be so long before the rabbit and other things like it start chafing at staying still. The Pack isn’t something like the orderly ranks of the invaders- we act as we will, and strength can only ensure so much patience.”
“Mmh. And you’re still taking me to…”
“Well, seeing as you can stand not to eat Singheart, I figured I could take you to my Pack leader. It’s closer to here than some of the others, and one of the least likely to eat us for meeting it, and it can decide what we do with you better than someone like me. I’m more a peacekeeper than a killer, hmm?”
The Raika on the right barks out a laugh, sharp and full of teeth. “Now that’s interesting. What made you change your mind?”
Aurick tilts his head, looking at the two other cultivators to his left. The cultivator of caves and sweet honey is hiding it pretty well, but the idea that Aurick brought something that could, in theory, “eat Singheart” has him both annoyed and… not entirely surprised. The last member of their group, wrapped in bright green, purple and blue weaves, says nothing, only keeping her gaze locked politely on the table and her smile calm. Very professional, very hard to read.
Aurick turns back to her. “What makes you think I changed my mind?”
“Your ‘rabbit’ friend is proof enough that wanting or being able to kill a city isn't something that forbids entry to your Pack. If you wanted to test me for that, there are easier ways to do it. And like you said, that breach in the Wall won’t last forever- time is of the essence, but you were willing to take your time, bringing us here. So why the change of heart?”
Aurick turns his head back and laughs. “Ah, a refreshing change, to be among one who can think further ahead than the next meal. You are… rather more socially and mentally inclined than many of my fellows. Power and intellect are not one and the same, and there are many forms of both that don’t lend to behavioral prediction like you demonstrate.”
“But that’s not why you changed your mind.”
“Is it something I’ve done specifically?”
Aurick looks back and forth between the two Raikas, pausing… and then coughs, a bit awkwardly. “Maybe it’s best we address… less heavy concerns first? I brought these two here to grant them a proper introduction, and if it’s alright with you, I’d like to make good on my word.”
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One of the Raika’s huffs, while the other tilts her head quizzically. “Very well,” one of them says. “This one is named Raika, and titled the Unbroken. To what do I owe your presence here?”
Before the stronger of the two can speak, the woman in woven grass fashion bows her head nearly to the table, holding her fists out in front of her in a gesture of respect.
“This one is Wei Na. On your journey here, you saved the life of one Wei Xin, one of the only members of my tribe that I know to have survived the loss of my people, and a member of my very family. This one came only to offer her gratitude. While my tribe has lost much of its strength with the loss of our home, I still hold some weight amongst the Many and All, and offer my services to grant you anything within my power.”
One of Raika nods, bowing in turn. “The offer is generous and appreciated, honorable Wei Na. It was simple luck that granted me the chance to assist Wei Xin, and it granted me in turn the opportunity to strike back at an enemy of mine. To ask for something more of you would be disrespectful in my eyes.”
“At the very least, this one insists on granting a gift if she can. I insist that, should you ever meet another family or tribe of the Many and All, you use my name to gain whatever you require. The debt shall fall solely on my shoulders, and will counterbalance only the smallest bit of the weight which I owe you, honorable one.”
The Raika that didn’t speak turns to face Wei Na, lifting an eyebrow. “I had assumed that I already had. Is Singheart not a part of the Many and All?”
Wei Na shakes her head, shaking her long, heavy locks. “Singheart is a home, one that belongs to many families and tribes. It is no more a part of the Many and All than the trees or the grass or the sky- it is a shared place, but it does not belong to any one faction, any one tribe, any one alliance. Places that are home to only one tribe, only one clan, or only one group would perhaps more easily respond to the name of an ally.”
Both Raikas nod, turning to each other. “Makes some sense. I will gladly bear your name in mind, and should it come to pass that a favor is needed, I will be doubly glad to know that your aid might assist me in gaining it.”
Wei Na bows again, and then sits back, seemingly content with that. They are strangers to each other, and considering what Wei Na has gone through in recent times, losing so much of her home and family, what she can offer is obviously limited. Raika turns to the only person yet to speak, two sets of eyes meeting his.
“And you?”
“...I’m Ro Aian. I have lived in Singheart for one hundred and twenty two years, and protected it dutifully. I came to see if Lord Aurick was a fool in bringing you here. I see now that he was, and likely is.”
She tilts her heads. “Oh? And why is that?”
Ro Aian looks at her, his gaze firm. He is skinny, pale, reeking of his own cultivation and heavy with Qi. It’s hard to tell if he’s in the Warrior realm properly- she can’t detect a fully-grown Soul, not on the surface, but the scent of his inner self is both complex and rich, moreso than she’s used to. She’s pretty sure she can kill him quickly enough, but it’s never guaranteed, not without knowing his actual abilities.
“You speak to me from two mouths. You stare from many eyes. Out in the city, I can sense you walking alongside your young apprentice. Even from where we sit, I taste that which grows in your shadows, beneath your skin. Lord Aurick is a trusted power, and many swear by him, but I cannot see anything more foolish than to invite a replicator into the bounds of a city-place.”
A few things begin to click into place, bit by bit.
“That’s an interesting word. Replicator. Do you think that… what, that I’m infectious? That I spread?”
A dry, cold laugh. “Can you claim otherwise? As you speak to me from so many mouths? As you wear so many other bodies?”
She grins.
She steps out of one of the walls behind her. Then another. Then another.
Soon there are six, and then seven, and then eight of her in the room, all stepping forward, each both out of sync and perfectly in-step with each other.
“The only bodies I wear are my own,” she says through many mouths. “If that means I’m a replicator, then so be it. But cowardice in the face of something you don’t understand isn’t a virtue.”
His face darkens, but even when faced with such a drastic shift (at least to his perspective), he refuses to back down. If anything, his Qi rises further- in fact, she feels something like a tether flowing from him, beginning to drag power in from some other place. The scent of darkness and honey ripens, growing heavier, richer, gaining additional notes.
“I understand well what you are. Your kind are spoken of in whispers. There are beasts, and then there are monsters. Singheart is not a place for your appetites, your unrestrained spread. We do not bow to the Invaders, and we do not bow to you. We shall and will not be made slaves or food under the banner of things like you.”
Ah. Ah. So that’s what he meant.
She laughs, though this time she makes sure it comes out of only one mouth. All but one of her melts back into her flesh, fusing back into the whole of her being seamlessly (since they never actually left).
“No fear of that. My appetites are… limited. Consider me leashed, for want of a better term. Even if I wasn’t, we agree on one thing- unrestrained growth is more harmful than useful. I haven’t eaten anyone in town yet, and I don’t intend to.”
“I am aware,” Ro Aian says, his voice still dark. “The oath you swore binds you. But just because you know the Truespeak does not mean you are anything more than a monster, and every oath has ways to escape it, just as every leash is only good so long as it can not be slipped free from. I stand here to bid you a good stay at Singheart- and a good departure. One that I hope to hasten, if I can.”
She nods, leaning back and cracking her neck. “Fair enough. All the better, then, that we’re leaving soon, hmm?”
Lord Aurick nods, his good natured kindly-uncle vibes utterly unbothered by the tension in the room. “Quite. Especially considering your little demonstration there! Turns you from something that can kill a Warrior-realm cultivator to something that can potentially do a lot more. Give me… hmm. Two more days, just enough to resolve things, and we can reconvene with the pale killer and be on our way.”
“...on our way where, Aurick?”
She notes how Ro Aian and Wei Na both flinch at the casual use of his name, making a note of it. He really is well-respected in this place.
He, on the other hand, seems to very genuinely not care.
“To meet the head of the Pack I most respect. While it may not be quite so directly powerful as Skyeater or the walking mountain, Za Warudo, I think you and Many-Mouths will have much to speak about.”