Chapter 57
Despite the expectations that Freedom would have an air spirit bound to him, it was actually a fire spirit which burned within the falcon’s body. And so Won sat in the forest with a falcon and a five year old girl listening to him lecture on his budding understanding of fire one evening when a sudden hooting caught his attention.
He turned, and was surprised to see a majestic owl on the branches nearby. Suddenly a Pop! And the owl was a young woman. Without clothes. Won blushed deeply, and Safron ran off to tell her mother “Mom, it’s happening again! There’s a naked lady in the orchard!”
“Hello young master,” the owl-woman said.
“I’m not actually the young master. I’m his friend,” Won said to the spirit animal. “I think that you should speak with the adults if you’re looking for something. I’m just a kid.”
“You’re a powerful cultivator in your own right,” The owl argued. “You aren’t nearly as surprised by my transformation as I thought you’d be.”
“Ah, well, yeah. Once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all,” Won said. Then he blushed deeper as he realized that wasn’t the best thing to say.
The spirit animal chuckled at his shyness. “I admit that I only just arrived last night. I came seeking the center of the growing spiritual oasis that began to empower my hunting territory over the last year. I wished to pay homage to your sect and thank you for its bounty.”
“We’re not really a sect,” Won said. “I mean, we kind fo are, but not officially. Master Tren is, well it’s complicated. But he and his wife, Wensho, are just raising their kids, and they’re teaching a few disciples. It’s nothing formal.”
“Even so I have benefited, and it is only right that I give thanks,” the Owl-lady said. “Will you lead me to this Master Tren?”
“Yeah, sure. Um, maybe his wife first, to get you some clothes?”
“Whatever you think is best. You may call me Mouser.”
Mouser followed him out of the orchard and to the main house, where Wensho met him halfway with a robe for the bird-woman to wear. She donned it and was shown into the main dining room, where she was served a cup of tea.
The owl-woman luxuriated over the cup, sniffing it and tasting it slowly. “I thank you for your hospitality, Lady Wensho.”
“May I ask why you are here?” Wensho inquired.
“To give my thanks for the increased bounty I have noticed. I have been suspicious of the increasing amounts of Qi for a while, but only recently decided to investigate. When it became clear that the phenomena I noticed had a definitive center, I came to see what was here, and found your wondrous farm with its miracles,” Mouser explained. “I live at the periphery of the increasing Qi fields, but even if I do not shift my territory to be nearer the epicenter, I believe that it will not be long before the benefits are undeniable to my own cultivation. So I am here to give thanks.”
“I see,” Wensho said. She shrugged. “Well, you’re welcome. We’re not doing it for you. Most of it is just a passive effect of us living on the land and raising our children. You’re welcome to live wherever you want, so don’t feel like you owe us anything if you decide to live nearby. Just don’t hunt the rabbit or the chickens and we’ll get along fine.”
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“I understand,” Mouser said. “Might I spend the night and meet your family? I donned this form on a whim to try to communicate with your children, but I find that now that I have taken it, it is intriguing.”
Wensho shrugged. “You’re welcome to spend the night. I’ll make up the guest room, and you can spend the night here as a human, or you can leave whenever you want and take your natural form. You can keep the clothes and stash them somewhere for the next time you decide to interact with humans. You’ll cause quite a ruckus if you show up in a village without them, so I’d recommend against that.”
“Of course,” the spirit-animal said.
So Mouser spent the night, meeting the children and the master of the house and the spirit-boar who was helping to grow rice and cabbages as though he were a human man. When Tremble told her of the other spirit animals, Tan volunteered to show her to the pond where Elder Pike resided, and she jumped at the chance.
Pike noticed the two wind-cultivators approaching and stuck his head out of the water to greet them.
“Ho there, young lady. Some sort of bird, if I’m not mistaken?” Pike asked.
“My natural form is that of an owl, yes,” Mouser agreed. She bowed respectfully. “It is a pleasure to meet a peer. I can sense the weight of age upon you. I myself have seen forty winters.”
“You’re forty?” Tan asked. He blinked in surprise, eyeing the woman up and down. “You don’t look it.”
“Well, I am pleased to meet my junior,” Elder Pike said, amusement in his voice. “What will you do now?”
“I think that I might move my nest closer to the center of the Qi phenomena that is invigorating the area,” she admitted. “So I may swing by again to speak with you, if that is alright.”
“You are welcome by the shores of my home anytime, my lady,” the fish said. And Tan could have sworn that, somehow, despite being a fish, Pike managed to bow to the owl-lady.
He shrugged. “Anyway, I’m going back inside. If you’re going to spend the night, you can either come with me or make your own way back.”
“I think I would like to speak with Elder Pike for a while,” Mouser admitted.
“Alright. See you later,” Tan said, and he flew back home.
When they were alone, the owl turned to the fish. “There is another like us who lives nearby. Should she also come and pay homage?”
“What is her natural form?” Pike asked.
“She is a doe. Like you, she has bonded a water spirit,” Mouser explained. “Is that a problem? Will they hunt her if they knew of her?”
“I don’t think so. They had an opportunity to eat me, Clover the Rabbit, and they have welcomed a wild boar into their own home and are guiding it in the path of cultivation. I think that if they were aware of one more of us, they would only express a mild interest, if that,” Pike answered.
“I shall meet with her tomorrow and instruct her to come pay homage to the master of this land,” Mouser declared. “I will leave you now, Elder Pike. I am very curious to see more of the Shen household.”
“Wait, I’ll join you,” Pike said. Then he Popped into the form of an old man and dressed in the clothes that were stashed in a cache nearby. Once he was dressed, he returned with her to the Shen household, where they had a pleasant evening exchanging in the gossip of the forest and the village.