Chapter 30
Safron grabbed the bushy tail of the fox-boy and she pulled, laughing as the young man/spirit animal yelped in surprise and leapt into the air before turning around to scold the little girl. Safron ran away laughing and screaming as she completely ignored the scolding. When the fox-boy gave chase, the girl hid behind the legs of the rabbit-girl, who stood stalwart between her and the predator, her expression serious.
“You wouldn’t harm a child, would you, Ember?” the bunny-girl asked
“She needs a spanking,” the fox-boy argued.
“That’s for her parents to decide, not us,” the bunny-girl argued. “If you feel like tattling to Mistress Wensho over such a minor thing --”
Safron abruptly yanked on her fluffy tail as well, causing her to screech and leap six feet into the air. The little girl ran away screaming in delight, the wet snow crunching beneath her feet.
“That little brat,” the bunny girl exclaimed.
“Surely you’re not going to chase her and spank her over such a minor thing,” Ember, the fox spirit, teased.
“Shut up,” the bunny girl said.
From the side, where the old man who was a carp was using his magic to move the snow out of the paths between the mansion and the old farmhouse where the spirit animals were staying now, came a bark of laughter as the old man enjoyed the antics of the young. While his face vaguely showed his true nature, with fish-like eyes, a large mouth and a flat nose, he looked more human than his companions for the most part.
“Aren’t you glad you decided to join us?” the fish-man asked the monkey man, whose tail had forced him to cut a hole in the seat of his pants.
“It’s nicer in the warmth,” the monkey admitted. “I’m reluctantly grateful for the welcome we received. But as soon as it thaws, I’ll be turning back.”
“And I as well, Thume,” the fish-man said.
Thume, the monkey-man, nodded, as did the other two spirit animals in human form. They were growing accustomed to living as humans, but they still preferred their natural forms and were looking forward to the spring, where they could live their lives as they had always done before awakening as spirit animal and/or coming to live on the Shen farm.
“What do you think the master and young master will do when they return?” The rabbit-girl inquired. “Do you think they’ll kick us out?”
“I doubt it,” the fish-man answerd. “No, Clover, if the lady of the house extended us hospitality, I doubt that her husband would revoke it without just cause. As long as we continue to make ourselves useful I’m certain that we’ll remain welcome.”
“If you say so, Elder Pike,” Clover said. She giggled. She thought it was funny that a carp was named Pike.
“I suppose that I can’t be too angry at the little girl for pulling my tail now and then,” Ember admitted. “She did give me the stone which led to my awakening.”
“Yeah, me too,” Clover admitted.
“Well not me,” Thume said. “She pulls my tail and I’ll pull her pants down and give her a proper spanking whether her mother says so or not.”
“Will you really?” Pike asked. “Would you risk the rath of Lady Wensho Shen over such a minor offense?”
The monkey man paused, then his bravado left him as he realized that the carp was right. It was better to accept the indignity than risk angering a cultivator of Lady Wensho’s caliber. “Well anyway,” he said, “I’m going to go split more firewood.”
“I’ll join you,” Clover agreed, and the two went to complete the task together.
Ember remained behind, melting a few ice patches that had formed with his magic to prevent anyone from tripping on them. “Do you think that they’d give us more cultivation resources if we asked for them?” he asked Pike.
“I think that is a decision they’d choose to make as a family,” Pike answered. “But they have been generous in allowing us to live when they could have consumed us. And they provide us protection by keeping those who would hunt us as spirit animals away, simply by allowing us to live on their farm. I believe that it would not hurt to ask for their insights, or perhaps assistance in constructing a new burrow to align with your element.”
“I suppose you don’t need it,” the fox said, regarding the powerful fish cultivator warily. He wasn’t certain exactly how strong Pike was, but he was fairly certain that the story that Tan had told his parents about capturing the fish had involved a bit of acting on the old fish’s part. Tan was strong, but he was just a boy. Ember believed that the fish was ancient.
“There is never any shame in using whatever resources are available to improve oneself,” Pike answered. “If the master and mistress of the house are so generous, I will request a formation to help concentrate the Qi in the pond where I have come to live when the spring thaws it back out.”
Ember’s fox ears cocked in surprise, then he nodded. “I suppose asking for help with a formation around my Den wouldn’t hurt anyone, would it?”
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“No. And Clover could use a similar aid. The monkey is on his own, he has already been paid in the form of the spirit stones that he negotiated from the lady of the house,” Pike said.
Ember nodded. “I’m glad that I awoke. I remember being alive before I was aware, and while it was … something, I am so much more than that now.”
“Yes. The wonder of the now compared to the before never quite goes away,” Pike told him, then went back to sweeping the path with a broom and his magic.
~~~~~~
Tan stretched as he got out of bed, yawning and looking around at the unfamiliar room. He wasn’t particularly lost, he remembered exactly where he was, but he’d cultivated until after dark the night before and hadn’t seen the bedroom of the Soaring Tower in the light before. He got out of bed, stretched, scratched himself, used the chamber pot, and began to dress.
He went into the antechamber and found that there was a platter with fruit for his breakfast, and he quietly ate the offered grapes and sliced melons. It was tasty and exotic compared to the more staple foods of his parents farm.
He frowned as he suddenly realized that this was the longest he’d been without one of his parents or the other standing over his shoulder his entire life. That was … a strange thought, he realized. He’d never resented their presence, but it had always been there in the background. Comforting, supporting, nurturing. But now his mother was thousands of miles away, and his father was … somewhere in the ashlands, which was both very close and very far, he thought.
The ashlands itself was a thousand miles in diameter, a sea of burning steppe filled with fire Qi, spiritual beasts, and spirits.
Or so he’d been told. He’d never been there himself. He was a little relieved, to be honest, that his father had dropped him off for babysitting at his friend’s place. If he was also a little resentful that the adult had misled him on how useful he’d be during the spirit hunt, well, he could be two things at once. He was complicated that way.
Once he’d seen to his body’s comfort, he climbed back up to the perch of the Soaring Tower and stared out at the sky. The air Qi was particularly rich in this location, with formations throughout the city and surrounding lands set to concentrate it within easy reach of a cultivator in his position.
Tan sat and closed his eyes, and began to cultivate. He continued for several hours, using dedication and focus that he’d gained while trying to reclaim his spot as the strongest child on the farm from Pao.
After a few hours, the ambien Qi began to lessen, and he frowned. That … was strange, he thought. It never mattered how much he took while he was on the cultivation hill at the farm, but here it seemed like at first he was ‘skimming off the top’ of the ambient Qi, but after a while the quality and quantity both began to lessen.
Well, he was bored anyway, and he was curious to see what his babysitter had to teach him. He got up, stretched his legs again, and rang the bell to summon the servants.
~~~~~~
Zenith stood at the table as the three other masters of Mosanatas ate the luxurious spread before them. He waited patiently until they were finished. Two of them had agreed, but the water cultivator was being somewhat stubborn, holding out for a greater reward than simply the calling in of a minor debt.
He sighed, thinking of the scroll that he’d delivered to the emperor last night written by the hands of Mistress Wensho herself. He didn’t really want to help this water cultivator by allowing him to glance at such a priceless thing, but if it came down to it he would see that he was given the opportunity if that’s what it took to ensure his cooperation.
“I’m still not seeing what’s in it for us,” the Water cultivator said now that his belly was full, taking a sip of the warm tea mixed with milk that went with their breakfast. “They’re not our kids. Who is this hidden master who wants us to impart our secrets on a bunch of strange brats?”
“He has a few different names, but he’s been lying low for the last thirty years or so. With his wife. He instructed us to treat all of the children as though they were bound to him by blood, which implies that, while not all of them are, at least one of them is. He’s likely raising them to be an elemental quartet, capable of working together on the highest of levels,” Zenith explained.
“And how does that benefit me to contribute to this arrangement?” the water cultivator insisted.
Zenith sighed. He was about to inform the man of Lady Wensho’s scroll, when the earth cultivator abruptly smacked the table.
“It benefits you to not make me angry,” she said, glaring at the pudgy man. “Just because your efforts are required in the orchards and the vineyards doesn’t make you indespensible, Rainard. If I were to crush your skull, the emperor would scold me, but he’d still replace you within the week.”
Rainard glared at the earth cultivator, who glared back. “I don’t have to work with her, do I?”
“Yes,” Zenith said. “We’re coordinating our lessons to ensure that the team of children benefits the most from the insights that they gain while under the care of the Red Tiger Empire. Coordination means cooperation.”
Rainard glared at him next, but Zenith met his eyes with a stubborn expression. Finally the water cultivator relaxed. “You’ll owe me a favor,” he said.
“I’m calling in a favor that you already owe,” Zenith countered. “Don’t think that--”
“It was a minor favor between friends. You’re asking me to help an unknown water cultivator along her path, not fixing a minor part of a worn down formation which was scheduled for maintenance anyway,” Rainard argued.
“Maintenance that was only required because of your constant use,” the fire cultivator said. “Which affected all of us, I remind you. You want to claim two favors for one? You always were greedy. Greedy and glutinous.”
“Shut up Pyter,” Rainard scolded. “Unless you’d like to count this as one of the favors that I owe you as well? If we were to count this as a favor to you then--”
“How about we count it as a favor if I don’t shove this chair down your throat?” the earth cultivator said.
Zenith sighed. A servant came into the room to tell them that the children were being gathered in the center hall after having a productive night and morning of cultivation, and he decided to procrastinate.
“Fine, Rainard. You don’t want to help? Then we don’t need it. I’ll call in a favor to one of the other water experts in the city. You may go.”
Rainard looked shocked. “What? You’d waste my time and just send me away like this?”
“You’re the one who doesn’t want to participate. You’ve had a free meal, so don’t call it a waste of time. The balance of debt between us remains unchanged,” Zenith said. “I’m going to go teach the children the lesson of the strangled flame, then find a replacement for Rainard. Pyter, Nora, please think of what lessons you’d like to impart to the children as a group and individually.”
“Yes, of course,” Pyter agreed readily.
“I’ll give it some thought,” Nora, the earth cultivator, agreed.
Zenith left them to bicker without him. He sighed. Why couldn’t the masters of the city ever get along?