I felt like I was going crazy. Somehow the old man had gotten ‘younger’. I have no idea how but he seemed to have gotten at least ten years younger over night. It was kind of freaking me the hell out. He had gone off somewhere this morning for some reason but he was back pretty quickly.

“I’m going to need your help with making something.” He rubbed his stubbly chin while squatting on his little chair. He sounded almost happy to say it, which was off putting.

“What the hell is going on?” I had been quiet so far since it was nice not having sandals hit me in the morning but now I’m kind of scared. The old man doesn’t ask for help. He tells you what to do.

“I got a commission. I guess you could say… it woke me up.” he let out a small chuckle before he pulled out a roll of paper from his waistband and passed it to me.

It was an incredibly beautiful drawing of what looked like some sort of spear. On one end was a crescent blade while the other had a broad ax-like spearhead. The entire thing was covered in notes and scribbles I couldn’t read. I couldn’t tell if he made this in a fever one night or if he had held onto this design for years fine tuning it with so many things crossed out and rewritten.

“What am I supposed to do?” I had realized I make weird shit. Especially when I go into those stupid trances, but I don’t have control over that. Some sort of ability that you can’t even turn off usually does more harm than good. Especially one that you don’t understand.

“I just need you to tend the fire.” The peaceful expression he had was starting to get scarier with every passing moment.

“I thought you couldn't get close enough when I did that?” Long and Hu usually stayed a good distance away when I was working on any of my personal projects.

“Yet today, I feel as though fire has finally accepted me.” He stared into the distant mountains as elegantly as a squatting old man could.

I sighed. It seemed the old man planned to make whatever this was. It was obviously a weapon. I still don’t want to make weapons. At least if someone uses a shovel or an ax as a weapon I can have some excuse about how it’s not my fault. Instead it’s theirs for using the tools wrong.

I wouldn’t actually be the one making it, but this was a weapon. Just a weapon. There were no functional applications besides fighting. On the other hand, after staying with the old man this long, this was the first time he asked me to help with something so earnestly. Usually it’s just ‘Clean the house’ ‘organize the tools’. I would be a total dick if I didn’t even help when he asked for something this small after he basically took me in. I couldn’t make anything too complicated without going into a trance but he had even taught me how to actually make things.

I sighed heavily again.

“When do we start?” this wasn’t a weapon I was making. Right now, I’m just an apprentice that needs to tend the fire. At least, that’s how I'll justify it to myself.

The old man pulled down a pole of dark wood and began to mark on his anvil, the size of the wood and a few other things I wasn’t sure about. I started to prepare the fire. I tried to empty out my mind and flow my motions as smoothly as I could. Once the heat had reached this point old Long usually went to sit on the far bench while he watched me work. This time he didn’t even hesitate to place the metal in the fire. It was the difficult material that he seemed to use only for the smallest things. This time he was making the entire metal structure from it.

Once the metal was ready the old man worked as quickly as he usually did. The rhythmic taps of his heavy hammer created the shape of the crescent edge while he heated the other half of the metal for the spade side. He swapped the pieces as he needed to and worked both sides almost in sync.

The sun started to go down and we continued like this. The endless rhythm of the heavy hammer falling as old Long was framed by the sparks of the metal. By the time we realized how long we had been going, the sun was already coming up again. The forging itself seemed to be done. Old Long pulled out a metal rod and carved two small symbols into the spade side.

“You can’t read, right?” Old Long looked over at me when he asked.

“This is one you should memorize though.” He held up the spade once it was done and showed me the markings.

“It says ‘Han Ri’ and it's spelt ‘Valiant Sunlight’.” I took in a sharp breath. I had enough trouble making excuses about how it wasn’t my project and now the old man was putting my name onto it, even if my name was apparently badass when translated to writing. He passed me the metal rod.

“You’ll need this going forward.” He smiled softly as he said it. He then pulled out another rod like the one he handed me and stamped another pair of characters on the crescent side of the weapon before he began the actual assembly. He had used leather from the electric deer that were found around here as the bindings.

Once complete, I had to admit, it was one of the most beautiful pieces of metal work I had ever seen. It was simple, without adornment or gilding but the perfect flowing shapes created an elegant silhouette. The dark wood and gleaming edges creating a gorgeous contrast.

The old man sighed as he smiled into the distance once again. He pulled out a short sword with elegant carvings and intricate designs. There was a noticeable chip on the edge of it. He swung down with enough force that even I could feel the energy around us begin to heave.

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Sometimes I forgot this man was a Kung-fu wizard.

The small blade shattered on the crescent edge and the old man began laughing heartily.

I couldn’t help but smile. It seemed we made a damn good weapon.

_____________________________

Wang Hu was practicing the forms old Long had taught him. While he might not understand why Henry was obsessed with his boulder, he did feel peaceful whenever he did his practice motions by the river. So he felt like he knew why the man always went to work out in the same spot.

He was drenched in sweat by the time he finished and decided to take a quick swim and clean himself before he returned. Once he arrived the other two were already deep into whatever they were working on. Neither had even noticed him while he watched from the doorway.

They were so entranced by their project that their motions never stopped for several hours. He tried to see exactly what was happening but the fire had gotten so hot he couldn’t even get any closer to them. He sighed and went to his parents house for dinner. Those two were probably going to keep going all night, and he was getting hungry.

When he arrived he was greeted by what might be the strangest sight he had ever seen.

Three men were on their knees with their heads bowed in front of his mother. She held her favorite pan in her hands while she glowered angrily at them. The largest one was his father. He didn’t recognize the other two, but from how expensive their silver lined robes were they seemed to be important. Especially the younger man, He had golden threads adorning his shoulders creating an image of a beautiful bird flying down his back. However the large swelling and bruises on his face broke that image of elegance.

His mother seemed scared for a moment when he entered the house and announced his presence.

“Honey, I thought you were helping old Long tonight?” She smiled in her most disarming way. Hu never actually fell for her fake expressions but it was probably bad to say anything about it. He hated when she pulled out the large spoon.

“Uh, they’re busy with something. What’s going on though?” Damn curiosity. He knew better than to actually ask. Now she was probably going to make him sit on his knees with everyone else.

“O-oh, They are…” She actually seemed lost for words for the first time in Hu’s entire memory.

“They’re dinner guests?” His father spoke with an inflection.

“Yes! Yes, that’s who we are, there was just a small… misunderstanding!” The young man spoke quickly. The older one nodded along earnestly. The large hunting dog was sitting quietly in the corner throughout the entire process. As far as Hu was concerned, if the dog wasn’t attacking they were probably fine. That’s why he knew he could get away with pranking Henry, that dog loved him for some reason.

He shrugged. How would his teachers respond?

“Then what’s for dinner?” He was honestly famished.

_____________________________________

After dinner the master of snow peak sat outside the little house waiting for his sister. He was shaking slightly as he thought about what he could say or do to explain himself. None of them would work. He had fucked up beyond repair. He had been a stupid child barely older than Hu was now. It was the biggest regret of his life.

He glanced through the doorway to where the kid was sleeping on his parents’ bed. He was really there, right in front of him.

He sighed remembering how he got here. He had followed the elder from a distance, thinking he was far enough that no one would detect him. The bald old man had appeared from nowhere. He was at least a half step into the heavenly realm. For the lower realms pure power was what separated them, however once one reached the upper realms things got more complicated. It was impossible for someone as young as him to have the same reserves of energy that an old monster like that would have. The true heavenly realm was separated by a sort of mindset. One that was impossible for him to put into words.

The old man seemed to have experience beating up heavenly cultivators either way. He had been slapped around like he was little more than an eyesore. The man then proceeded drag both him and the elder that had gone ahead to this house. Where his siter immediately pulled out an artifact and forced both him and the elder to kneel in silence for hours. They thought they were saved when the large man arrived, but he was forced to kneel with them before he could get a word out. The elder was lucky. He had nearly soiled himself but that was a small price to pay for surviving such an encounter.

“Why are you here?” Her sharp voice cut into his thoughts. She had aged so quickly after it happened. She was barely 35 and half of her hair had turned color.

“I… I don’t know.” He knew better than to lie to her. He stared at the ground and tried to swallow down the lump in his throat. His vision was beginning to waver.

“Then go back. Don’t involve me in this shit again.” She was getting angrier with every word.

He knew he couldn’t ask for forgiveness but he felt like he needed to explain himself.

“I’m sorry.” The tears began to fall as he said it.

“I had been put through all of those experiments and when I got out I was suddenly the leader.” He choked back as much as he could so he could get the words out.

“When they said you had run away, all I wanted was my sister back. I didn’t have anyone left.” He shook harder as he continued.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t want them to hurt you! All I said was to bring you back. I never wanted…” He trailed off as he began to sob.

“I know.” She spoke harshly. It helped him gain back some semblance of composure.

“I didn’t leave because of you.” She sighed and stared into the distance.

“I was put through those same things before you were born. It’s what the leader's family must do, but I will never allow anyone to do that to my son.” She had a determination in her eyes that the young leader had never seen before. He thought of the ice cold chamber and the thousands of needles. He turned back to the sleeping form of the large child strewn across his mother’s blanket.

He felt like he understood.