Ru relaxed alone in her lavish room. She sat on the edge of her bed wearing only under garments as it was quite hot year round, a cascade of white strands disobeying her every command. She had to constantly blow the hair away from her face. The long strands hung down over her breasts and nearly reached her bellybutton. Ru was so entranced in her drawing that she didn’t bother putting it up to keep it out of her face.

The golden peak mountains were placed somewhere in the middle of the deserts of Thrain’s badlands. A vast expanse of hellish landscapes that comprised most of the southern portion of the continent. All of the disciples and most of the people who joined the sect after the cleansing weren’t aware of the exact location of the sect.

With a pencil and paper Ru sketched a detailed drawing of a creature that she’d learned about in her demon class earlier in the day. Demons were similar to magical beasts in terms of their natural ability to cultivate as well as how they were classified. The only difference was that instead of using qi or world energy to advance their cultivation they drew directly from the nexus. The nexus energy, similar to world energy was evil in nature instead and came from the nexus, home to the five demon lords. Every demon was in some way the spawn of one of the five. One of the most prominent and well known demon race was the vampires. Their intelligence being similar to that of humans but they were exceedingly cunning and manipulative as well as more physically gifted, among other things. While most vampires survived by drinking the blood of other creatures, some had to feed on world energy, due to that fact, they were far more powerful than the former. The most prominent difference between the two, being that the latter could walk in the sunlight and the former could not.

Ru chewed on the end of her pencil while lost in thought. She remained like this for a few moments then started erasing furiously and tossed down the paper onto the floor. The demon she had been attempting to draw had fascinating eyes. A sort of endless spiral encompassed the entirety of them and she couldn’t get it right. She stared down at the paper for a moment before draping her long body across the bed and massaging her temples. A second later a knock came at the door. It was gentle which meant it wasn’t her father and her mother never knocked so it had to be Sheng, none of her siblings ever came to see her.

“Come in.” She shouted and didn’t bother to cover up. Cultivators didn’t see nudity as a taboo like many of the civilians did. To them, their bodies were weapons, not tools of seduction. While still able to be used for that purpose they were so much more. Sheng came in and she moved over a little, feeling the smooth feeling of the silk sheets against her bare skin. Sheng plopped down right next to her. He smelled strongly of Lunar weed which was a plant many of the disciples used to relax. Most of them smoked it through a pipe. It could only be found in nightsbane grotto after sundown. The grotto was home to all kinds of nocturnal plants that gathered around a large underground oasis deep in the mountains. Many of them glowed, providing an eerie source of light.

“Did you bring any for me?”

Taking a moment to realize what she meant sheng finally spoke. “I thought you didn’t like that stuff.”

“I don’t but I could use some right now.”

“Parents?”

She shook her head, “not this time.” It had been a couple days since the Grand elder told them of the tournament moving up and each of them had spent their days training together and their nights relaxing, both of them had their own methods for that. They didn’t need to sleep much as most cultivators didn’t. One of the lesser appreciated perks of qi coursing through ones meridians.

“What is it then, the tournament?”

She answered him with a look that said it all. It went without saying that she was stressed about that, her family expected her to win without incident. Her father being the head of the civilian counsel and her mother one of the battle master made their family one of the highest quality among the sect.

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“What then?” She sat up and Shengs gaze followed her as she leaned down to pick up the pad of paper. She didn’t have to say anything for him to realize what was bothering her. He knew she hated it when she couldn’t get a drawing right. He took the picture and looked at it for a moment before speaking, “maybe if you put up your hair and relaxed a little you’d be able to focus.” She smiled as he moved behind her. She always drew better when he was around. He slid behind her and crossed his legs, placing the pad of paper in her lap. Her body tingled, he smelled of lunar weed as well as his familiar scent that she couldn’t get out of her head. Shengs rough hands scooped up her long snow white hair that her family was known for and began braiding it while she took up her pencil again and tried to draw. He, on the other hand couldn’t focus one bit. Ru’s hair smelled of frostlace, a flower that only the wealthier families could afford as it was dangerous to get ahold of, only growing outside the mountain. It was an odd name due to the fact that it grew in the desert but it’s white and light blue color gave it its name. That mixed with Ru’s pleasant aroma was enough to make him slip up and have to start the braid over again.

***

Ru noticed Sheng had to start the braid over which was odd since he was excellent at braiding. She didn’t mind, if it meant that he stay their a little longer.

As Ru lost herself in the relaxing feel of her hair being done and the newfound success of her drawing, and Sheng in the action of braiding hair, they both didn’t realize that a knock came at the door. Before they could cover themselves a man as large as a bear and his arms as big around as trees barged in. Sheng shot onto his feet and sprung off the bed. While it wasn’t uncommon for a female cultivator to be wearing so little clothes around a man, especially a friend, it was when they were so far apart in social standing. Ru belonged to the Whitethorn family, arguably the most powerful in the sect while sheng was an orphan. His standing was next to nothing, he had no support and aside from Ru, no one he could call family. The behemoth standing before them now, his face red and muscles bulging was none other than Rux Whitethorn, the head of the family and a very powerful practitioner. He bore their insignia, it was in the shape of a white rose. Now that Ru lived apart from them, they rarely came by. Especially her father who was focused solely on the success of his two sons.

In a blur, Rux crossed the room and snatched up Sheng by the throat. His giant hand was nearly large enough to wrap around the entire thing. Shengs face turned red almost immediately and the veins began to protrude. Even though Ru’s wall had been made of stone, it cracked as Rux pressed the boy into it. Sheng undoubtedly reinforced his body with qi lest he be killed in the mans fit. The insane part of the whole debacle was the fact that Rux didn’t need even a shred of qi to perform the feet, he was simply that strong. Rux pressed harder as Ru screamed at him and clawed at his hand around her friends throat but it did little to stop him. She knew her father would never kill a disciple but she couldn’t stand to see him suffer.

Her father had always hated that she was friends with an orphan and never allowed him in their home. That’s why she had to leave. He would scream and he even struck Sheng on more than one occasion but never reacted this violently. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Rux released and Sheng fell to the ground, barely conscious. Rux took care of that with a crisp backhand and Sheng went limp.

Ru stared at her father, barely able to contain herself. Tears streamed down her face but she knew she couldn’t harm him. After her previous attempts, he simply blamed Sheng for his uncivilized influence on her and took it out on him instead. She looked to Shengs limp body and longed to cradle it but that would have to wait until her father left. Rux walked to the dresser next to her door and rummaged through it, tossing clothing on the floor. He finally managed to find a suitable dress and tossed it to her.

“Put it on,” She did without a word and proceeded to stare at him once more. “Now come with me.” His tone was commanding and without looking back he turned and began walking. When he didn’t hear any footsteps behind him he stopped and turned. “Now.”

It took all her nerve to refuse her father and she knew it would mean consequences later but she couldn’t leave Sheng. “I’m staying.” Her father would never harm her, while he didn’t show it very well he loved her in his own way. Rux appeared in front of her so quickly that she barely saw him move. He stared at her, his face turning red and try as she might the tears wouldn’t stop coming. She wanted to look adamant in front of him but instead looked little more than a pouting child.

“You shame your family girl, and that boy there,” he pointed at sheng. “Maybe he does deserve you after all.” He turned and spit on Shengs unmoving body and walked towards the door. He stopped just inside the threshold and placed something on the dresser, a note. “Don’t bother coming,” He said, he sounded tired now, the anger washed out of him. “Your no longer welcome in our home.” He slammed the door. Ru picked up the note and began reading, a moment later, fresh tears streamed down her face and she tried to choke back a sob, to no avail.