Thar Shaddin

"I like meat." Piao Bai had ceased his poking and prodding and now watched as Cai continued hers. "Does that make the water heat quicker?" He had never had to heat his own bath before. In fact, he wasn't sure how the big bath at home worked and that was a substantially larger bath by far. In contrast, it might be a small lake or large pool.

Piao Bai's head snapped around as Cai berated him for almost dying. Hmph. His little bottom lip stuck out ever so slightly. As if he had a choice in that matter. He had been betrayed by the one person he worshipped most in the world. Piao Bai huffed and began to move in a circle. He turned three times before curling up into and tucking his nose under his tail. The fire was nice and warm. He stared at Cai as she slumped down, watching her. His eyebrows moved as he glanced away and back again.

"Thank you." He meant for everything - for saving his life, for making sure he could get clean, for thinking of food, but who knew how she would take it.

"Mm. It is small, but as I have shrunk I suppose it will do." His tone was very much woe-is-me.

Cai's body quivered violently. Was she having some kind of episode? Piao Bai was almost worried, but the woman's mouth began working again.

"I don't know. Have you tried it yet?" Piao Bai pushed up onto his front paws expectantly.

Cai rubbed her temples and replied "You are welcome." The room had started to warm somewhat, which was pleasant, and while she pointedly ignored the little dragon's whining, Cai conceded that attempting silent communication was a good point. "Let's try now."

The Jinyiwei's only prior experience of such a thing had been with the Emperor, Tianlong Huangdi, and that had been an all or nothing circumstance. This little dragon, though, lacked the mental or spiritual presencer of her beloved liege. Still, the experience meant she did at least have a frame of reference to begin with. And, as with the pact of the Dragon Guard, there was a potential link. She took a breath, calmed her mind, and let qi flow through the pattern of her new tattoo where her blood and Piao Bai's were combined.

If you can hear me, respond with the phrase 'In hindsight, I may be small, but at least I can fit through narrow gaps and have a bath of my own'

Well, perhaps Cai hadn't quite ignored the whining, and perhaps she felt the need to make a point on the subject. Not to mention if he'd been larger, there'd have been little chance of reviving him in time or fitting him in any kind of bath. Had Piao Bai been larger, he'd be an outside dragon, and would be sent to bathe in the damn streams.

On the topic of bathing it still felt amiss to Cai that, having had such an exhausting day, she had to prepare her own bath and would likely have to hunt down her own food before trying to convince the locals that everything was sorted. Damn sorcerers and their loud and pompous magic. Of all the times to have scared away the villagers, it had to be now. Cai would have given much for a warm meal right then and there. It was, at the very least, something she and Piao Bai presently agreed on. Only once the villagers were calmed, assuming Cai felt secure in their care, could she focus on the task of restoring her physical well-being.

"In hindsight, I might have been too big to staunch my pair bond's wounds and she might have bled to death. Hmph. She should be grateful he helped her. That nagging "really must do it, because my life depends on it" feeling aside, he didn't HAVE to do it.

Piao Bai's brows were lifted as he fixed her with a gimlet-eyed stare, before uncoiling his body and disappearing around the back side of the tub. He reappeared seconds later on the bench, starting intently at the tub. Bunching up his body, Piao Bai suddenly launched himself at the side of the tub. His front paws grabbed onto the lip and his back paws scrabbled against the wood, digging little holes as he gained purchase. Hoisting himself futher, he stuck out a paw and dipped a finger into the water.

Snaking his head around to look at Cai, he said, "It's getting warm. I will go look for food while we wait." With that, he unceremoniously dropped to the floor and lifted his nose. A look of distate crossed his face.

"People are smelly." Girding his courage, Piao Bai lifted his nose again, turning it this way and that as he headed through the door. He prissy-footed around the bloody footsteps Cai had left, in rocking front to back hops.

Cai suspected that people who kept pets, such as little cats and dogs, would not continue the habit if their pets could speak. She returned Piao Bai's stare with one of her own.

There you are. You now have two reasons to give thanks for a small stature.

As the little dragon scrabbled up the side of the tub Cai wondered how she would phrase her reports. She was not particularly looking forward to the trek back to the provincial capital of Shanyi, and hoped circumstances would permit a brief intermission before doing so.

Cai's musings were interrupted by the little dragon's comment, and Cai's lips pursed. It was one thing to have had to deal with the day's events, but to be told by a little dragon that she smelled? That was quite another.

You are in as much need of a bath as I, Piao Bai. Do not drape insult over others for faults you also bear, for hypocrisy brings shame to the hypocrite.

Really, it was as if someone had combined the wilful traits of a small child with the worst traits of a demanding cat, and given it a voice. Cai did not believe her emperor had ever been like that. On the bright side, Piao Bai had granted her privacy for her bath, which was a considerate gesture. Or perhaps merely a pleasant side-effect of the little dragon's hunger or curiosity. Either way, Cai discarded her torn and blood-soaked clothing with relief, glad to be out of its uncomfortable grasp.

The greatest joy about being without hair was that Cai never had to clean blood out of it. She could imagine her compatriot Hongjiang Mu having to deal with such circumstances. The man would be in conniptions over the ruined silk of his garments and the blood soaking his carefully groomed hair. The thought was amusing enough to return a smile to Cai's face.

Cai carefully transferred warm water into the laundry tub using the bucket, and kept the bucket filled for tending her would after the bath. Entering the warming water of the tub, Cai gasped as the gashes on her side stung in protest. Using torn linens as wash cloths, Cai carefully cleaned the blood off the tattoo which represented the emperor. With the emperor no longer fouled by Wenli's blood, Cai held her breath and curled forward to duck as much of her body under the water as she could, wiping as much of the gore off her as she could before resurfacing for breath.

Emperor preserve her, it was as if she was bathing in a cauldron of blood. This was almost as bad as the time she had to expel Yaoguai from an abattoir. Cai grimaced and stood in the bath, making certain that no gobbets of flesh or entrails remained stuck to her form. It really did stink. It was an affront to all that was pure, and if the building were not made of stone she'd have burned the damn thing to the ground.

Cai was still an unpleasant shade of red when she alighted from the bath, but use of a torn sheet helped to remove most of the remaining blood. She fetched over the bucket of clean water, sat on the bench, and began tending to the gashes in her side properly. She only needed to keep the wound clean until she could call upon Nature's Regrowth. Given her state, she would likely sleep for a full day or two. She'd need a secure location before she could embrace the healing sleep of that tattoo's power.

There you are. You now have two reasons to give thanks for a small stature.

Piao Bai snorted in response.

You are in as much need of a bath as I, Piao Bai. Do not drape insult over others for faults you also bear, for hypocrisy brings shame to the hypocrite.

The thought response came casually in the little dragon's wake as he left the room.

"I stink because I am covered in human gore! I had a lovely bath full of cherry blossoms just before I was... came to this forsaken Nether World." Lecturing me? Really?

Piao Bai snorted again and paused several steps beyond the door. The house had other "Yaoguaii" as Cai called them, though none caused harm. Little shadow Yaoguai, that looked like fuzzy, black dusty bunnies skittered in darkened corners. Further away, at the periphery of his senses, a larger Yaoguai traveled through the woods, though he did not know what it looked like. He wondered if they would encounter it. He lifted his snout and sniffed the air. Something that smelled edible was that way! Something... yeasty! Piao Bai loped off in the direction of the smell, covering ground quicker than one might expect. His nose rewarded him with the discovery of a small kitchen.

Hum, hum, hum! Piao Bai chuckled and hummed to himself as he delved into crockery and cabinets. This was no different than a midnight raid on the kitchen at home! Except, he was smaller. Spotting a large kitchen cloth (a servants apron), Piao Bai dragged it to a spot on the floor. Then, with a clatter, he pushed a metal pot lid to the floor. This was dragged to the center of the cloth. Each treat he found was placed on the lid, until he had a veritable feast piled on the lid. Granted, several items never made it to the food pile hoard. He had to taste them, didn't he? One pot he left alone. It smelled off somehow.

Next he carefully pulled the corners of the cloth until everything was tied into a neat bundle. This was dragged down clean floors in tugs and starts toward the bathing room. The sound preceded him: pause, scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape, pause...

Piao Bai stopped well before the bathroom, choosing to pull the pack of goodies into a nearby room not marred by bloody footprints. Paper scrolls were rolled in neat bundles around a low table. Pulling himself up onto the table, Piao Bai nosed brushes and paper to the side. Finding an unused parchment scroll, the dragon rolled it flat and used a claw to separate it into two pieces. Brushes were used to hold the edges down. Untying the bundle was a little more troublesome than he had hoped. Times like this made him desire the ability to shift to human form as his kin could. Piao Bai sighed and flicked a bit of ash from his shoulder. Perhaps, someday...

He mentally shook off thinking about what had been before. He needed to focus on "the now'" and that meant food and a bath. Exiting the room, Piao Bai cast a glance back. He had placed a small offering off to the side for whatever household deities might require it. Already a pale light moved across the room. Piao Bai nodded to the creature.

When he arrived back into the bathing room, Cai sat on the bench tending her wounds. Naked. The dragon averted his eyes. He had seen courtesans before and that was no courtesan. His first step was to shake himself off. This was done in a corner, away from his bath water. The shake started at his nose and ended with his tail, splatting gook this around him. His brows and other fluffy parts stuck out at all angles. Another shake made them revert to their regular look. Then, the little dragon mouthed a clean cloth, taking it to the laundry tub. Stretching his body, he dropped the cloth into the water carefully soaking it. Then, he wiped himself down as best he could before getting into the water. This kept the bath water as clean as possible. Slipping into the water, he found it lukewarm, but better than nothing. He paddled about, ducking himself, swimming in circles, and winding around himself until finally settling on his favorite position: on his back, floating like an otter. For all purposes and intents, his little dragon mouth curled into a contented smile and his eyes squinted.

This was good.

Cai paid the little dragon about as much mind as she would have given a bathing pet cat or lizard. Propriety regarding nudity was something one worried about in the presence of other people, after all, not animals. When Cai finished applying the bandages she forced herself upright with a grimace.

It is time for me to dress in preparation for meeting with the villagers. I shall return shortly. Enjoy the bath, Piao Bai.

Cai made her way through the empty building back to the guest room. Her nose wrinkled in distaste at the foul state her guest room had ended up in. She gingerly retrieved her travel bags and belongings, and relocated to a neighbouring room. She once more wiped down the talisman of the Jinyiwei, until it was no longer blemished by the day's outrages, and donned her spare travel clothes.

Cai preferred clothing which lacked ostentation: simple tea-dyed cotton pants and tunic, the cut of which resembled a monk's travel clothes. Her more colourful court apparel was sealed away in a weather proof package: the enchantments woven into the silk fabric ensuring its perpetual freshness until the next new year, when they'd need to be renewed by the Jinyiwei Kan Yu master.

She fetched a small mirror from her travel bags, and used another clean sheet to carefully wipe away any other vestiges of the blood which had drenched her. There was a stain of pinkness to her features, but it would not last another bath or two. She was, at the very least, presentable enough to formally address the village as a member of the Jinyiwei. Cai felt revived enough by washing that she could probably postpone eating for now. The scent of blood was not particularly good for her appetite.

Cai returned downstairs to the bathing room, no longer the viscera-splattered nightmare woman, but to all appearances a tattooed nun with an Imperial token resting prominently upon her chest. She looked at Piao Bai floating in the washing tub. How adorable the little dragon would be if it had no ability to communicate. Were all animals secretly obnoxious? That would be an interesting question for the philosophers to debate.

I will be making myself known to the people of this village, Piao Bai. You may choose to rest here further, forage for food in my absence, or accompany me as you so choose. For myself, I must discharge this obligation before I can permit myself the luxury of food or further sleep.

It is time for me to dress in preparation for meeting with the villagers. I shall return shortly. Enjoy the bath, Piao Bai.

One golden eye popped open, "There's an office of sorts three doors down in the other direction." The eye closed again and his tail moved lazily. Unlike skin, his scales did not seem to hold the colors and his careful wipe down left little floating in the water. He was still in the bath when she returned.

I will be making myself known to the people of this village, Piao Bai. You may choose to rest here further, forage for food in my absence, or accompany me as you so choose. For myself, I must discharge this obligation before I can permit myself the luxury of food or further sleep.

With an easy undulation of his body, Piao Bai rolled and approached the edge of the tub. He rested his forearms upon the edge and surveyed the woman. Had he been a human, he would have looked all the world like an insouciant prince resting on the edge. "You look like you did earlier, but without all the gross."

With an easy jump, he was out of the tub. He shook vigorously, spraying water droplets everywhere. This move was followed by a burrowing through the remaining, clean linen, in a frenzy of rolling and burrowing. An edge of the linen flew upwards with a snort of his nose. The result was a little white dragon, looking out from under the fabric at her with big, golden eyes.

I will go with you

With that, Piao Bai exited the fabric and made his way to her feet. Coming up onto his hindlegs, he reached up with his arms, for all the world looking like a little child asking to be picked up.

Cai stared at Piao Bai. The little dragon could not be serious. Well, truth be told, it probably was. Everything Cai had seen thus far suggested the dragon had been someone's, or something's, pampered house pet. Pampering, and all its soft-hearted relatives, was something Cai disapproved of wholeheartedly. It led to moral decay and a laziness in thought and action.

You may find it difficult walking like that for extended outings, Piao Bai, and I think the villagers will find you strange whether or not you try to walk like them. This is a good opportunity to accustom yourself to it. There will be lots of walking. Come along.

Cai gave the little dragon a pat on the head, in what she thought might resemble a consoling fashion, and walked out of the bathing room. It was hard to gauge the time but based on the ambient light Cai guessed it was not long after dawn. She would need to get the villagers' attention without unduly alarming them. Most village headmen had some manner of calling a village to meeting if necessary. Cai cast her memory back to the previous afternoon, and her entry into the village. Ah, of course. There had been a gong set up in a pagoda next to headman Guo's house. Cai started down the hallway which lead to the main door.

You may find it difficult walking like that for extended outings, Piao Bai, and I think the villagers will find you strange whether or not you try to walk like them. This is a good opportunity to accustom yourself to it. There will be lots of walking. Come along.

The woman declined to pick him up, did so with a snooty comment, and then PATTED HIM ON THE HEAD. Did she think him some PET? He was the second son of the LORD AND LADY of the SILVERY STREAM!

Paio Bai blinked several times and his jaw dropped in astonishment. And now she was going to LEAVE HIM THERE? AFTER he had gone to all the trouble to fix her a plate of food? Did she have any idea how heavy that damnable thing had been?

She had already gotten several long strides away from him by the time he moved into action.

"W'huh? W'hay? You pair-bonded me! YOU SHOULD TAKE RESPONSIBILITY!" He made it sound like she had kidnapped him and forced him to marry her. The words were couched in an indignant tone and were accompanied by what could only be the scrabbling of tiny claws on the wooden floor. Piao Bái charged at Cai’s back and launched himself into the air. A flash of light occurred and Piao Bái disappeared. A corresponding flash of light highlighted the dragon-shaped tattoo.

Silence reigned.

Cai paused as Piao Bai's childish complaint bounced around her mind. The tattooed woman rubbed her temples a moment while she recovered from the unexpected mental shout. Cai would later ascribe her patience with the circumstances to the fortifying effects of a bath and fresh clothes, and the failure of her perceptions to utter fatigue. A that moment, though, Cai was pondering the little dragon's words as she replied. Pair-bonded? A curious term to use.

Incorrect, Piao Bai. There is an old proverb: Try to save the dead horse as if it is still alive. It is a lesson in compassion and in not letting one's assumption of the impossible getting in the way of right-minded action. You were almost dead, and I had the possible means to save you. For better or for worse, I chose compassion over pragmatism.

A flash of light had temporarily brightened the passageway at the start of her statement, which the tired Cai initially attributed to some manifestation of the little dragon's tantrum. The sturdy cotton of her sleeve concealed the corresponding illumination from the tattoo. Cai turned to face Piao Bai, whose last movements had shown signs of agitation, her demeanour calm. He wasn't there.

Cai was certain his movement had been towards her, not away. Curious. As Cai contemplated the turn of events, she realised her arm itched in a rather distracting fashion, which drew her attention to the new tattoo. Had she been less fatigued, and hadn't already dealt with too many surprises in one day, she might have responded with more shock at what she saw: the detail of the tattoo had been filled in with a much more realistic impression of the little dragon.

Cai blinked once, to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, but it remained as she had seen it. She directed qi through her falcon tattoo, and her left arm showed another's unusual qi intertwined around her own. Logic dictated that it was Piao Bai's. That would certainly bear investigation when she was more rested. Nonetheless, the sense of connection was still there, so Cai continued her side of the conversation despite the lack of a visible Piao Bai to speak to.

Under normal circumstances, had you been a citizen's child, my obligation would be to arrange for your return to your parents and home village. But you are not a child of a citizen of Tian Xia. You are the child of entities who dwell in the Astral, cast onto this world through an unfortunate accident. If I have any obligation after having saved your life, it is to ensure you become familiar enough with your new home to continue surviving in it. In that regard I could be termed your guardian... but I am not your nursemaid, nor your servant, let alone your personal means of transport.

Cai remained in the passageway to see if the message got through. She would have also said her role was to ensure that the little dragon was no threat to the stability of the Tianlong Dynasty, but the evidence of her eyes suggested it probably wasn't necessary.

Incorrect.... compassion over pragmatism. Those were the only words Piao Bai heard, but he wasn't really listening. The sensation of being turned incorporeal was an unusual one to say the least. At first he was enveloped in golden light and then he felt as if he had fallen into some kind of liquid. But, it wasn't liquid, in its true state, because he could breathe. There was a resistance to it, too, that one did not find with liquid. For what seemed like an eternity Piao Bai fell through the liquid, curled up almost fetal-like. Golden light burst around him like bubbles.

Finally, he turned and began to swim, for lack of a better description. Unknowingly and unintentionally his movements mimicked the shape of the tattoo Cai had made of him. In that moment, the light flashed around him and a warmth infused him. An awareness enveloped him, separate from him, though he was a part of it in some way.

Under normal circumstances, had you been a citizen's child, my obligation would be to arrange for your return to your parents and home village. But you are not a child of a citizen of Tian Xia. You are the child of entities who dwell in the Astral, cast onto this world through an unfortunate accident. If I have any obligation after having saved your life, it is to ensure you become familiar enough with your new home to continue surviving in it. In that regard I could be termed your guardian... but I am not your nursemaid, nor your servant, let alone your personal means of transport.

The message got through easily, but Piao Bai found it immensely amusing under the circumstances. On the contrary, if he could come and go as he pleased, she was indeed his transport and had no say in the matter!

Piao Bai began to laugh and it was a big, belly laugh, kind of laugh. The expression of the tattoo changed to match the mirth he felt. Had he been in physical form he would have been on his back holding his stomach. As it was, the shape of the tattoo changed. Now, it was an open-mouthed dragon, curved in a "u" shape, front arms over its belly and tail curved and curled. The original line art remained, but the color that was Piao Bai had moved.

"As you say, Wenshen Cai. As you say, so it must be." His tone was very smug. "Don't let me keep you... "

Cai's brow furrowed. Now she truly was annoyed. She had already started developing a mild headache from the dragon's tantrum, and now the smug laughter was not helping. And now the little bastard was mocking her from her own arm. Cai did not move or respond to Piao Bai.

Instead, the Jinyiwei took stock of the situation, paying close attention to how Piao Bai's qi interacted with her own. They were, it seemed, irrevocably linked through the tattoo. Cai took a moment to berate herself for the haste which had made such a mess of the situation. Really, she should have known better, injury and fatigue notwithstanding. However, one dealt with the facts, not with wishful thinking.

Cai directed qi once more through the falcon tattoo. The flow and interconnection of qi surrounding the new tattoo was unusual. There was the blood link in the tattoo ink of course, but the little dragon's incorporeal and illusionary antics on her arm were an entirely different interaction. There might at least be a remedy for that. Her body was her own, by the Emperor, and she'd begrudge no creature the right to it without her express permission.

Cai breathed in deeply, expelled her breath and emotion together, then breathed in once more as she drew qi into her xia dantien. She funnelled it up in a spiral to the zhong dantien, then like an ocean crashing upon the shores in a storm sent it rushing down her left arm in an effort to expel the foreign qi from herself. Cai waited to see how effective the experiment was in forcing Piao Bai back to corporeal form.

The shape of the tattoo had already changed, reverting back to its correct lineart shape. Piao Bai had settled in comfortably enough, getting used to this new mode of being was somewhat like floating in his favorite pool. Maybe he could get her to ink in a pool with some cherry blossoms...

What happened next was wholly unexpected, and as such, highly effective. What started as a few little rolling waves suddenly became a tempest, ejecting Piao Bai up into the air with a sucking sound and another flash of light. For a moment, he hung in the air wearing a very surprised expression. The next had him moving his legs as if he could run the distance to her before he hit the floor. His luck did not hold; however, and he hit the floor hard. Like a cat, though, he'd managed to twist his body and land on all fours.

"Are you trying to break my legs, woman?!"

Piao Bai looked up at Cai accusingly, before turning nose to tail and stalking out of the room as he he'd meant to emerge from thin air and fall four feet on purpose.

Cai noted the results with silent interest. The comedic effect of the little dragon's mid-air scrabble for purchase was some recompense for his antics. Still, her sense of aggravation with the circumstances had yet to entirely abate. She let Piao Bai stalk off: her lecture followed him through the qi link forced upon them both by the tattoo.

Be grateful I did not break your neck for taking liberties, Piao Bai. You did not ask permission before combining your qi with mine. None have the right to any part of me without my express consent. That you have the ability to do what you did could be convenient to us both, but in future you will obtain my permission first. Is that understood?

Frankly, if Cai ever did meet Piao Bai's parents, she'd like to give them an earful on how to properly raise a respectful child. Dragons or no dragons. How could the little creature look so similar to her beloved Emperor, and yet behave so differently? It beggared belief. Cai turned away from the direction Piao Bai had taken, and continued towards the Pagoda and its gong.

Piao Bai afforded her no acknowledgement of her threat to his person or request for acknowledgement. When the dragon realized the woman was not heading in the same direction as he, he stopped and looked over his shoulder.

Being alone in this strange place was less preferable than constant lectures. Piao Bai turned nose to tail and quickly moved to follow the woman's scent.

He managed to slip out the door as it was closing and was treated to a sight he had never seen: a mountain village. The only familiarity to be found was the shape of the pagoda toward which Cai's form headed.