Ruwe demanded that Pia stay seated by the fire, wrapped in thick fur, until her pulse was back to a normal rhythm. She watched the sparks of red, orange, and white flicker up and away, trailing into the ceiling of the cave. The crackle and pop of the dry wood on the fire soothed her into half-sleep. Yijun woke her with a hand to her shoulder.

“Put this on your face,” he said, holding a small, cloth covered clay pot before her.

Pia’s nose wrinkled. Even closed the scent was pungent. A curdling scent like vinegar mixed with the scent of chrysanthemum.

Giving it a wary eye, Pia asked, “What is it?”

Crouching beside her, Yijun brought the pot up to his face, somehow not bothered by the smell.

“This is often called Nomad’s Gold,” he opened the pot and scooped a tiny bead of salve out. He reached out and smoothed it across her left cheek. Instantly the heat in her cheek cooled. Seeing her eyes go wide at the instant relief, Yijun grinned, saying, “It’s good for burns, cuts, and frostbite. Nomads never go without it.”

Scooping another dollop out, he wiped it across Pia’s cheeks. Pia gave him a questioning look.

“Since I already touched it, no need for us both to have the smell on us.”

In the firelight, Yijun’s broad, solemn face was twisted in concentration as he made sure both sides of her face were coated well in the salve. Yijun was quiet, preferring to listen more than speak, but his presence was warm and inviting. Haojie’s chatter was comforting, but Pia often liked just sitting near Yijun, enjoying the calm reassurance he emitted.

“What are Haojie and Ruwe doing?”

He wiped his fingers on his robe and closed the jar.

“They’re putting the tents together. Feel up for checking the horses with me?”

There was a lingering coolness at her core, as if she’d eaten pounds of ice that still thawed at glacial pace. Yet, overall, she was warm and refreshed. She stood up, clutching the fur, and nodded.

Tudou let out a low nicker when he saw her. His soft, furry, brown muzzle butted into her hands. Resting her forehead against his head, Pia wrapped her arms around his jaw.

“You’re smallest but fiercest,” she told him, pulling back to rub over his eyes.

Tudou’s head lowered to rest against her, enjoying the attention.

“You spoil him,” Yijun teased, tossing a fresh armful of dried hay onto the floor before the horses.

“He deserves it,” Pia defended.

Walking around him, Pia inspected his legs, feet, tail, and belly. Small scrapes on his legs had been treated with salves already. His feet were clean and his belly dry.

“Did you think we’d neglect him?”

Her lips twitched up. Stepping away from Tudou, Pia went to get him some hay. The fur, thick and warm, was hard to hold while gathering hay. Seeing a strip of leather laying on the ground, Pia picked it up and wound it around her body to secure the fur in place. She helped Yijun pile the hay in front of the horses and then the two wrapped a second blanket around each horse.

After they finished, Pia snuck across the cave to peek at the entrance. Haojie and Ruwe were bedding down the tent with extra blankets, working quickly and efficiently. It wouldn’t be long before they took shelter in the tent. Her breath misted heavily in the cave and the hairs in her nose felt crispy every time she breathed in. It was clear that the temperature was rapidly dropping.

Outside, the wind howled, and snow fell in thick fluffy flakes, piling high around the cave front. Amazed, her mouth fell slack. So much snow. She’d never seen anything like it. Wind whistled through the cave, sending a flurry of snow cascading into her. Pia brushed it off and stepped away from the front of the cave. The feeling of coldness returned to her, and she hurried away from the entrance.

“How is it?” Yijun asked, having returned to feed the fire.

Having gotten used to cave shelters, she’d still been surprised at how large this one was. The ceiling of the cave stretched upward, high above their heads. The walls were slightly curved and stretched wide. A whole house complex might fit within the cave, she thought. Pia hadn’t known caves could be so large and spacious. It effectively blocked the snow, but slanted holes in the ceiling allowed for smoke to escape. Though, it certainly wasn’t warm, Pia thought, rubbing her arms as gooseflesh prickled her skin.

“It’s incredible. The snow is so deep, and isn’t slowing,” she told him.

Not wanting to be idle, Pia went to the stacked wood and collected another armful of logs. She piled them beside the fire for easy access. Brushing her hands free of debris, Pia hovered beside Yijun.

Hesitantly, she asked, “What happens if the snow blocks the entrance?” The thought had come to her as she’d stared out at the towering piles of snow already lining the entrance.

In the last few weeks, she’d grown accustomed to snow and snowstorms, but this was the worst one she’d experienced yet.

“If we can’t dig out safely, we wait,” Yijun told her.

She looked around the cave. The floor was mostly smooth rock and dirt, but a few dead sprigs of weeds popped out at odd intervals. A tiny line of running water ran at the back of the cave, trickling in thin lines into a small crevice on the floor. It made a natural drinking pool for the horses and the gentle flow that continued flowing down and out kept it from freezing. Haojie explained that it wasn’t uncommon for caves to have fresh mountain water sources even in the coldest temperatures.

The horses’ breaths fogged in the air. Their bodies were warm from their thick winter blankets, but the air was rapidly dropping. Pia rubbed her arms again and pulled the fur closer around her arms.

Ruwe had given her thick robes to wear beneath her fur coat, but warned against using heating sigils, “If your body is cold, listen to it. Ignoring warning signs will kill you quick.”

She crouched beside the fire, holding her palms over the warm glow.

Haojie and Ruwe were still reconfiguring their tent. She saw them carrying bundles of straw in to put beneath their sleeping mats. The last item she’d seen was them bringing in thick sheep wool hides to protect their bodies from the ground.

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Wool, Pia thought, feeling the scratchy surface of her robe. Hemp and ramie fabric were what she’d been used to. Wool had been new. Shun had explained to her that on the plains, sheep and yak wool were used to keep farmers, herdsman, and tribesmen warm during the harsh, frigid winters. It wasn’t comfortable but it was effective. In one of the first few caves they’d stopped in, they’d found a stockpile of wool and furs, enough to clothe an army almost.

“How’s the lesson work going?” Yijun asked her.

She pulled a face. When the weather got too cold to sweat, Ruwe had her recording lessons on ‘concoctions.’ Anything that could kill, maim, poison, heal, or cure, Ruwe wanted her to learn and memorize it completely.

From her inner robe Pia pulled out her book. Opening it, she read the names off, “The five major poisons from the plains: Ghost Vine, Serpent Kiss, Phoenix Tears, Echo of Silence, and Two-Day Curse.”

“Why is Phoenix Tears on the list?” he asked, testing her. “Don’t look at the book, look at me.”

Sighing, Pia dropped the book, looking Yijun in the eye. His dark brown eyes reflected the amber orange color of the fire.

“Phoenix Tears can be lifesaving if an individual has fire poison in their system. Any other time, it liquefies organs.”

“And?”

Pia wracked her brain. Was she missing something?

“Phoenix Tears can be added to most Cold Heart Toxins to create a stabilizer that prolongs death. Used commonly in torture.”

“Good,” Yijun said, giving her rare praise.

She grinned at him and stuffed her book back into her robes.

“I still have a lot to learn. Please continue to teach me well,” she said, giving him a fist bow of respect.

Not for the first time, Pia looked across the cave, to Ruwe’s form. His broad shoulders, tall and strong frame, and his unyielding stature. Why did he want her to learn all this? Why does he know all these? Her hand reached up, tugging on a braid, twirling it around her fingers. Perhaps all Masters and sects learned these types of skills.

Somedays her brain felt full of information—poisons, healing salves, poison plants, yi techniques, sparring moves, riding tricks, survival tips, on and on the information came. It felt as if she’d never remember it all and there was so much more to learn.

Pia looked over and saw Ruwe and Haojie still arranging the tents. Scooting closer to Yijun, she leaned down to whisper to him.

“Are you all an assassin squad?” she asked, voice low.

He leaned closer to her and whispered, “No.”

“Spies?”

“No.”

“Bandits?”

“As if.”

“Soldiers?”

“No.”

“On the run?”

“Always.”

“Are you ever going to tell me if I guess right?”

“No,” Yijun said, pushing her head away with a laugh.

She sat up with a frown of disappointment.

“Why won’t you tell me?” she asked, keeping her voice low.

“You can ask the boss,” Yijun reminded her, pointing over his shoulder to Ruwe.

Pia sighed so heavily she felt it in her soul.

It was certain to her that they were some kind of warriors. Each were skilled in martial arts and sword fighting, but they had a rugged, savage edge to their fighting. It was as if they had all learned to fight for their lives like wounded animals. It was intense and ferocious. Watching them spar was like nothing she’d seen before.

Ruwe never answered her questions about what sect he was from. He gave no personal information away. Still refused to tell her who made him take her as an apprentice, or why.

“I’ll tell you when I think you need to know,” or “If you can hit me, I’ll tell you.” Even, “Do you hear a mosquito buzzing?” were the responses she got to her questions. Not that she’d stop asking.

Ruwe and Haojie returned to the fire, rubbing their hands to warm them over the flames.

“It’ll be cold tonight. Stack the logs unevenly,” Ruwe said.

On the nights it got bitter, they stacked the wood around the fire in uneven lines forming a box. The fire would eat away at the wood in the center first. Then the stacked wood fell slower into the fire, encouraging it to burn slow and long into the night.

Pia got up to help fetch more wood and then helped pass the logs to Yijun. He cut a small divot in every other before placing them in the stack, locking them together. Whoever had created the pit in the floor for the fire had been wise. It was hand dug to form a deep impression and rocks were packed tight against the sides. It left a wide area for a fire to be built, and the walls kept the fire from accidentally spreading. It wasn’t likely a fire would spread in a cave, but with hay, blankets, and supplies it was always possible.

The last thing they all did was go into the dark back corner of the cave and relieve themselves one more time. Pia’s cheeks always flushed in the dark when it was her turn. But…

“If you don’t go now, you can go in the tent with us later,” Ruwe had told her, the first night she’d balked about going to relieve herself in the cave. The alternative offered had had her rushing to the dark corner.

Done and ready, all four tied themselves into the tent. It made her marvel that the first time she’d had to do this; she’d thought she’d die from anxiety. Four of them huddled together tightly, trying to keep warm...it’d been mortifying. Now, as soon as the unbearable cold crept in Pia thanked the gods for the extra body heat. Even with the extra body heat, the cold still pierced them harshly.

They took off their shoes just inside the tent and each wrapped a woolen cover over each foot. Next were their hoods. A cowl that sat on their shoulders and protected their heads and necks from the cold. In order they got into their places. Yijun always at the far left, Haojie behind him, then Pia, and Ruwe at the far end.

All four helped arrange the blankets around themselves and then huddled up, hoping for sleep to arrive soon. Despite the straw, the sleeping mat, and the wool beneath them the cold still snuck its way upward.

Shivering, Pia pressed closer to Haojie’s back. Ruwe scooted closer behind her. She pressed even closer to Haojie, hitting her cold nose against his back. It stung in the cold air.

“Ow,” she said, wiggling a hand up to touch her nose.

“How do you think my back feels getting stabbed with that pointy beak?” Haojie grumbled.

At the end, Yijun laughed, a deep rumbly sound that Pia felt seemed to warm the air around them. She smiled in the darkness, enjoying their moment.

Then a “Quiet lips sleep sooner,” from Ruwe had them all silent once more.

Pia dozed off and on. Any time she accidentally shifted out of place in her sleep, Ruwe pulled her back. Sleepily she’d apologize and readjust. Knees tucked behind knees, heads and chests curled close.

In the middle of the night the jarring sound of the wind howling and the pitter-patter of icy snow hammering the cave startled her awake. Her heart skipped a beat, alarmed. It sounded like demons raging outside! In the darkness, her eyes saw nothing, but her ears were flooded. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled and she shivered.

The others were sleeping, breaths slow and even. Pia twitched, feeling fidgety. She was envious of their ease of sleeping so evenly through the horrible sounds.

“It’s only the wind and snow,” Ruwe said quietly behind her.

Blinking away the brief startle he’d given her, she whispered, “How’d you know I was awake?”

“Your heartbeat,” he said.

From another that might have been a creepy statement, but Pia smiled in the darkness, feeling oddly reassured.

“Why are we going north still?” she asked, careful to keep her voice low.

Silence. Pia wasn’t surprised, he often refused to answer her questions.

It was only as her eyes grew too heavy to hold open and sleep was coming over her that he finally said, “Going home.”

The worst thing about the mornings wasn’t removing the foot covers or the hood, it was leaving the tent. Outside the tent, the cave was frosted. Her eyes took in the icy droplets that had formed on their tent from the heat that escaped and froze. Yijun immediately went to check on the horses. Pia gathered wood for Haojie, and they built the fire up quickly. Pia saw Ruwe go to the front of the cave, and she trotted after him, careful on the icy floor.

The entrance to the cave had a long snow drift that had fallen in, but beyond that was floor to ceiling snow. Her mouth fell open in shock. No wonder Ruwe had pushed them ceaselessly to shelter.

“Amazing,” she said, reaching out a hand to touch it.

Ruwe grabbed it, pulling her back.

“Never touch it carelessly. Snowbanks can collapse inwards and bury you,” he said, voice stern.

Her eyes widened and she looked from the snow back to Ruwe.

“How do you check if it’s safe?”

He released her arm and stuck out two fingers to the snow.

“First sense the yi inside, does it feel malleable like water or slow and still like ice?” he explained.

Pia hesitantly held up her fingers to the wall, giving him a questioning look. He nodded and she reached out to the water inside the snow.

The yi felt…heavy and slow, as if it were earth yi rather than water.

“It’s heavy,” she said.

He nodded.

“Heavy means that the snow has packed tight and is safe to touch. It also means it would be safe to dig through. Loose means the snow is slippery and light.”

“Does that mean we will dig out?”

Ruwe nodded again.

“Tomorrow, we’ll dig out.”