Moments before Akihiro arrived at the watch tower. Tsubame walked up to Lin Liqin, looking to make small talk to pass the time while they waited for Lin Liqiu to finish forging. As she approached she noticed him holding a strange item. It looked like glass, but moved like a piece of paper in his hands and there was a strange inky black substance that flowed across its surface. The subtle white hue that radiated from the 'paper' was the last clue she needed to determine this was a ki item.
“I can feel you staring,” said Lin Liqin as he lifted his gaze from the page.
Looking puzzled, Tsubame inquired, “I thought each person could only have one ki item. How did you get a second?”
“Each person can only bind themself to one ki item, but I'm not bound to this one. It belongs to someone else, they just lent it to me.” Wanting to impress Tsubame a bit Lin Liqin added, “As a matter of fact, this is just part of their ki item. It's able to split itself up into several pieces, each capable of acting on their own.”
Tsubame could tell he was trying to show off and decided to knock some of the wind out of his sails. “Wow!” she exclaimed with mock excitement, “It sounds a lot more useful than some silly instrument.”
Lin Liqin just shrugged off her comment, “Would you like to see what it can do?” Tsubame nodded as she took a seat next to him. He gently took her hand and placed it on top of the page while laying his had atop hers. She could feel his ki flowing through her hand and into the page as he said, “Ask it a question.”
“What kind of ki item is the Gaian commander hoping to have forged?” She already knew the answer was a staff, but she wanted to test the limits of this item. This information had been difficult for her intelligence gatherers to obtain.
Lin Liqin lifted their hands from the page and Tsubame watched as the black substance rearranged itself into letters. “A staff made from red ki crystals capable of shrinking and extending at its master's whim.”
The answer was short, but no less shocking, it contained all the information Tsubame's team had struggled to gather. Grabbing Lin Liqin's hand and placing them back on the page, she urged, “How do you know this?”
The letters were slower to form this time, “One of your intelligence officers is also a member of our intelligence network. -Jia Ying”
This was the first direct correspondence since Tomo's thank you note and it left Lin Liqin quite shocked, but not as shocked as Tsubame. “Is this Jia Ying the owner of this item?” she demanded.
“I don't think so, she's an attendant that helps manage it...”
Before Lin Liqin could finish explaining Tsubame had slammed their hands on the page again. Her voice was barely a whisper, but Lin Liqin knew that the quieter she got the madder she was, “Who on my team is helping you?”
“It doesn't matter. They aren't your team anymore. Captain Mori was just using you for access to Liqin and Liqiu. Now that he has it he no longer needs you. He's cutting you out. That's why he didn't tell you about the operation tonight. -Wei”
“He...what...operation?” Tsubame seemed befuddled, unable to comprehend the message before her. Before she could examine it further it was smeared across the page as if someone had wiped it with their hand.
The black substance once again swirled forming words, “Liqin, take Tsubame and your sister and run. You need to leave now. RUN! -Tomo”
Lin Liqin wasn't sure why, but he trusted Tomo despite never officially meeting. Tsubame was still in a light daze as Lin Liqin took her hand and started pulling her along. She came to as they reached the door to the forge. The Gaian advisors had seen them approaching and attempted to bar their path to prevent them from interrupting the ki forging.
Not bothering with words, Lin Liqin's hands glowed as he bathed them in the aura of his ki. Tsubame's dagger flashed leaving a light nick, barely deep enough to draw blood, on each of the advisors as they stumbled past from Lin Liqin's forceful shoving.
One by one they collapsed. To Lin Liqin's raised eyebrow she just shrugged, “A mild paralytic, they'll survive. It's not much to a ki user, but these chi users drop like flies.” Seeing Lin Liqin reaching for the door, she placed a hand on his shoulder, “If you open that door you'll make an enemy of both commanders. Even if you escape you'll be wanted by both empires. There will be no where to hide on Duihaiguo. Are you sure about this?”
“If Liqiu is in danger I have to.”
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“Then I'm with you.”
Two short sentence, but they contained the depths to which Tsubame and the twins would go to for one another.
As Lin Liqin was about to open the door the one behind them was flung open. Blood curdling screams could be heard from the courtyard as a Gaian soldier came lurching in. The soldier toppled over, his body held aloft at a strange angle by the hilt of the ax buried in his collar bone.
Lin Liqin didn't hesitate any longer. Barging in he yelled, “Liqiu we need to go! There's been an atta...” Cutting his sentence short as his eyes went bloodshot.
A charred hunk of red crystals, obviously a failed ki forged item, lay on a nearby anvil. Lin Liqiu is covered in wounds as she deflects Captain Mori's spear, a dark blue ki item capable of bending at impossible angles. Nearby Captain Yang is supporting her with wind chi techniques, but a large wound to his right flank is obviously making things difficult.
“Damn it! Akihiro must have started early,” Captain Mori swore. “There's no reason for us to fight. Stand aside and let me finish off Captain Yang.”
Tsubame was on the verge of tears, “You're working with the traitor? What about peace?”
“Akihiro is no traitor. He's been working undercover, offering to teach Gaian officers how to use ki, and in exchange he was granted unfettered access. He's the one that provided us with this opportunity.”
“You said the emperor wanted a truce.”
“The emperor is weak willed. The shogun[1] is prepared to drive the Gaian's from our borders, starting with Duihaiguo.”
Lin Liqin and Tsubame stood beside Lin Liqiu, blocking Captain Mori's path. No more words were needed, it was clear from their eyes that there was no peaceful way forward. Captain Mori made the first move, Captain Yang summoned a wind wall that slowed the charging spear enough for Lin Liqin to dodge back. Lin Liqiu's hammer followed up, deflecting the spear as Tsubame dived in attempting to cut at the hands holding the spear. The spear's reach kept Captain Mori safe from Tsubame's pursuit, but couldn't prevent Lin Liqin's counter.
TING TING TING DRU WAH
Waves of dizziness assaulted Captain Mori. A green aura, showing he'd completed his 4th refinement, surrounded his head. The aura was thickest at the ears. Lin Liqin kept playing furiously, producing ripples on the aura from the notes' impact. As he continued the others found they could no longer hear the music as it was completely focused on his target.
Captain Mori was obviously resisting, but his movements had become sluggish giving the lady's the opening they needed. Lin Liqiu managed to deflect the spear again and this time Tsubame's dagger found purchase, digging into the back of Captain Mori's hand. Unfortunately, the spear bent unexpectedly, traveling along Lin Liqiu's chin and plunging into her cheek, tearing her mouth open.
With his aura focused on his head, the paralytic began to spread up his arm. This further slowed his movements, but there was no chance to capitalize as Lin Liqiu collapsed from her injury and Tsubame scrambled to drag her to safety. At this moment Captain Yang stepped forward, “I can tell my injury is fatal. You all should flee. While he's weak I'll drag him down to hell with me!” With determination in his eyes, he began channeling his chi calling forth a great storm.
Tsubame was helping Lin Liqiu to the door while Lin Liqin continued to play as he moved toward the forge. He recalled their father telling him that one of the reasons ki forging was so difficult was the unstable nature of ki crystals. In between strums of his zither he began throwing handfuls of crystals into the forge causing the temperature to climb wildly. Pushing his concentration to the limit, he continued to blast Captain Mori with note after note as he channeled his chi, calling forth the flames of the forge and infusing them with his ki.
The enhanced flames rushed out of the forge and clung to Captain Mori, forcing him to redistribute his defensive aura. As the aura around his head thinned his movements became even more sluggish. At this point the storm Captain Yang was summoning descended, fanning the flames. Lin Liqin kicked a bag of crystals into the forge and slammed the forge door before running for the exit, not forgetting to play a few notes along the way.
As he stepped through the doorway he heard the forge sputtering, looking back he could see flames spewing through cracks that had formed. He could tell it wouldn't be long before it blew. Dismissing his zither, he ran to help support his sister and the three of them made their way into the courtyard.
The sight that greeted them was stomach churning, but the adrenaline from the battle compelled them to move. It seemed the main battle for the trade quarter had long since swept through this area. The few soldiers that remained were easily avoided as they made their way into a nearby alley way.
Tsubame was keeping a look out at the entrance to the alley, sending any soldiers that approached away using her status as a lieutenant. Lin Liqin was dressing his sister's wound. Returning to his side after turning away more soldiers, Tsubame stated, “I'm not sure how much longer this will work. If Mori survived it won't be long until I'm stripped of my rank and hunted like a dog.”
At that moment the entire grand forge exploded. “Hopefully that solved the problem,” said Lin Liqin, but he couldn't take any joy in the possibility. He was too focused on his sister's wound that wouldn't stop bleeding.
“She needs a healer. Where can we go?”
As soon as the words had left Tsubame's mouth an odd vibration came from Lin Liqin's pocket. He fished out the page from The Encyclopedia and a map of the trade quarter was shown along with a route through the back alleys. Handing the page to Tsubame, he grunted, “You lead the way,” as he hoisted he sister onto his back.
Tsubame was perplexed as the path laid out on the map managed to navigate them past the wandering patrols. As they turned down the last alley Tsubame caught sight of a girl wearing a blindfold holding open a gate. The strange sight caused her to pause, but Lin Liqin just carried on past her. Speaking over his shoulder, “Don't worry, she's a friend.”
After entering the store Jia Ying guided them to the back room. Standing in the middle of the room was a peculiar door that looked like it had been fashioned from the night sky itself. Jia Ying opened the strange door revealing what appeared to be a grand library. “Please hurry, Wei is prepared to treat the patient,” she said as she motioned for them to enter.
Hearing that the troublesome young man from before would be the one handling Lin Liqiu's treatment made Lin Liqin second guess the decision to come here, but the sound of his sister whimpering in his ear steeled his resolve. He boldly entered the mysterious door with Tsubame in tow. After the three entered Jia Ying stepped through, closing the door behind her as it slowly faded from existence.
Author's Notes:
[1] The emperor runs Japan, but the shogun runs the military. In times of war the shogun can be granted authority that outranks even the emperor.