A figure covered head to toe in torn furs stood in the back corner of one of the side alleys. He watched the strong back of Sienna as she returned home. He looked down at the cloth purse tied to his makeshift robes, pieces of multi-colored metal and his remaining money jingled as he walked.

She has a kind heart. He thought to himself.

He gradually brought his attention back towards the performers, they used the same type of abilities as his master to move the shadows around like an inky smoke. But where she would masterfully puppet and form the shadows with nothing more than her will, their performance looked stiff and full of flaws as they used far too much effort to craft and move the already existing shadow.

As he thought, the street became shrouded in darkness and went pitch black. When the light returned all evidence of the performance was gone except for the crowds gathered on either side of the street.

He quietly retreated back to his cutout between buildings and began to meditate. After years of training and guidance from his master, he finally had more control over the energy that flowed throughout his body. He circulated the energy through his meridians and could feel a strong pressure pressing on him in all directions. It wouldn’t be long now, maybe another half a year at most.

“I wish I had time to test myself in the festival.” He lamented.

The home of the Tian Che head family only made up a part of the city lord’s castle. The entire grounds were made up of four compounds with the same base designs. Grand courtyards, carefully curated to imitate only the most ideal aspects of nature. A mix between small side buildings where people actually lived. And an elaborate multi-floored pagoda that housed guests, exclusive events, and hall after hall of art. In fact, in their portion of the castle an entire floor was dedicated to a calligraphy piece, a single character stretched from wall to wall. Sienna was told that it was supposed to mean ‘earth’, but it must have been written in some ancient script because she didn’t recognize it.

Hyrua was waiting for them at the garden entrance. He had created a small indent in the ground where his foot was still thumping wildly.

“Did you not even try?” Sienna pouted.

“I spotted you at the parade once the fire school started. But I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Awe, you should have joined us. We could have had so much fun together.” Kamadra’s disappointment sounded more sincere.

“Plus, you could have protected us from the scary playboy that hit on us.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Hyrua’s thumping changed into a single stomp. “Who did what?” Just as quickly he realized how he reacted. “I mean it’s not like it matters. You’re both adults. And Sienna you’re strong enough that anyone under thirty couldn’t bully you. And Kamadra…” He paused. What was the correct title to address them? He couldn’t simply refer to them as a fighter or warrior. They might have been close in age to each other, but Kamadra’s rank was higher than his own. He cleared his throat. “If you’ll excuse my informality. I don’t know how skilled you are, but in order to be called a cultivation genius, you can’t be weak.”

Kamadra whispered something in Sienna’s ear.

“You’ll be excused if you agree to suffer an additional punishment on top of the one for losing our game.” She relayed.

He had hoped that his sister would forgo his punishment since they had a guest. His shoulders sank lower. “I agree.”

Sienna’s face contorted between several horrifying expressions as she listened to their guest. Until finally her face went bright red and she stumbled backwards. “I can’t say that to him!” She stabbed her hand at him. “It’s your punishment. You tell him yourself!”

They put on a bashful display. “I can’t. It’s embarrassing.”

“Embar- Forget it! You might as well be performing for a wall. You two can figure it out on your own.” She stormed past her brother.

“Before I forget, your friend sent a message earlier. He said, ‘She’s at it again.’ I also got a report from Lord Hwang, apparently she nearly set her office on fire this time.” Hyrua handed her the full report.

She skimmed it, but Sienna didn’t have to look at it too closely. In her opinion everyone often overreacted whenever it came to Anjia. Apparently she was trying to simplify a talisman used to boil water and ended up lighting all of her blanks. An expensive mistake, sure, but not one worth all of the commotion.

Actually, knowing Anjia this mistake would only get her in a frenzy to figure out what changes caused the reaction and she might actually end up burning down the entire guild hall. She should probably stop by tomorrow. Just to make sure.

“Kamadra. After you two finish up with your punishment game, would you like to go with me to check on a couple friends tomorrow?”

“Sounds fun.” They had already latched onto Hyrua’s robes before he could sneak off.

Sienna continued back to her room and called back. “Great! I’ll come by to pick you up after my morning training. Don’t keep Hyu-Hyu out too late.” With that she slammed a sliding door shut and disappeared.

The two of them stared at each other, the light from Heaven’s Scar reflected in Kamadra’s eyes as they looked up at him. The bright ring caused their gray eyes to transmute into a brilliant silver. He wanted to say something. To just tell them how beautiful they looked under the night sky. But a lump sat in his throat and grew roots in his stomach.

Kamadra stepped forward and rested both arms on his stomach. His silhouette was now the only thing in their wide eyes.

“Hyu-Hyu.”

Hyrua doubled over as he choked on the lump suddenly freeing itself.

They didn’t know what to do and kept stepping back and forth while trying to figure out how to help. “I’m sorry! You seemed tense so I thought I’d lighten the mood.”

“No, no.” He waved. “You’re okay. I just wasn’t expecting it.” He wiped his face as he regained his composure. “What do you say we get the punishment started? You’ll have to trust me when I tell you that you do not want my sister to have a hard time when she wakes you up in the morning.”

“That might be a problem, I had a lot of fun things in mind to do to you.”

He sighed, this might actually be one time he didn’t mind having to do a punishment.