Thar Shaddin

Piao Bai, too, took the proferred cup. After turning the cup, so that the side that had faced the Lady faced him, he also took the required three sips. The tea tasted like peaches.

"My Lady, I beg your forgiveness, but we must continue to travel once this night is ended." What he had seen had given the dragon pause and dampened his normally loquacious demeanor. "Perhaps we might allow my companion to rest while I play for you."

The Lady turned a knowing smile upon Piao Bai, "You are most considerate of your bond-mate. I do hope, once you find yourself again, you will return to play once more."

"I would be honored to do so, Lady."

"Esteemed JInyiwei, please enjoy your guest rights and sleep with ease once you have taken your fill. If my Lord cares to play, I would mind it."

"As you wish, my Lady."

With that, Piao Bai lifted the flute to his lips and played soothing songs that would hopefully not bother Cai should she fall back asleep. The Lady bowed her head, smiling as she listened. Beyond the patio, the denizens of the clearing continued their revelries, though the sounds seemed more distant. Perhaps, the Lady had intentionally done something.

There was no way that Cai would be sleeping. Not that evening. Not in a place where the seal between the astral and physical realms had proven to be so thin. Habits of a lifetime did not get put away because of a nice cup of tea. Cai's knack for giving a polite phrase a backbone of steel continued as she smiled and stated "Thank you for your consideration, Piao Bai, but I am well."

The Jinyiwei bowed to the Lady of the Chestnut Grove. "If it is no imposition though, Lady, I may spend the night in meditation. I too would enjoy the sound of Piao Bai's flute." When Piao Bai started playing, Cai settled quietly in a corner of the house, and closed her eyes to better listen.

Piao Bai played for the Lady's pleasure, for three sets, each lasting three quarters of an hour. Finally, the Lady made a gesture indicating he could stop.

"You play beautifully, my Lord."

"Your compliments are as gracious as your presence, my Lady." The lady chuckled, pleased with him. Her fingers stroked under his chin and lifted it so she could look him in the eye.

"I do hope you will return."

Piao Bai bowed and remained that way until the lady had swept from the house.

When the sun rose, they would find the grove just as they hand found it before. The only difference would be their positions had changed. They slept in a bower of chestnut limbs that brushed the ground. Soft, grassy hillocks were their pillows. And, two boxes, tied up in silken cloth awaited them. Both, held trays of food stacked one atop the other. Next to the boxes sat two jugs of fresh spring water. A smaller set, sized for Piao Bai, also waited.

Piao Bai was exhausted and grateful to see the food. The dragon stretched and yawned widely before scratching absent-mindedly on his belly with a forepaw.

"What a long night..." And strange. The vision returned to his memory and Piao Bai shoved it away. He was tired enough.

Cai, too, was less than well-rested. Though she'd had no sleep, at least her meditation not been disrupted by any sense of impending ill-will from the denizens of the grove through the rest of the night. Even so, Cai was never comfortable sleeping so close to places where the seal between worlds was proven to be thin.

It was the rising of the sun which stirred her from meditation, for with it the 'wall' she'd been sitting against took on a rougher texture and the 'floor' was no longer wooden. Cai swiftly opened her eyes, and blinked as they adjusted to the sudden light. She was seated cross legged on the ground next to a chestnut tree. Well, the jinyiwei supposed, she'd had worse awakenings in her life. Cai stood and was about to begin her morning stretches when she noticed Piao Bai was also awake. She also noticed the food. Now there was a slight quandary. "Good morning, Piao Bai."

Cai started her stretches as she mused on the food. Jinyiwei records had confirmed that particularly powerful astral beings could, in locations where the seal was weak, conjure or transmute items in the material plane. There had also been many recommendations over the years both for and against eating food provided by Astral beings. Curiosity and a sense of courtesy won out over caution in this instance, however, and Cai resolved not to rebuff the gift. "You are up early, given how late our night was."

"Up? Who slept?"

Piao Bai pulled his body forward stretching out the length of his back. He alternated back legs and forelegs in the stretch. Even his tail straightened. Then his nose worked, sniffing the air in the direction of the two boxes. That, at least, made him happy.


"Let's eat and go, shall we?"


As he unwrapped the smaller boxes and placed the trays on the squares of cloth they'd been wrapped in, Piao Bai realized that the grove was completely empty. No little chestnut sprites scampered here and there.

"Hnh." He said through a bite of food. "Looks like everyone has left but us. Wonder why..."

Cai grimaced "Certainly not I. After a night like that, I shall need at least half an hour to ease my joints before we depart." The Jinyiwei ignored the food at first, slowly performing the taolu of her Longjiang style, letting her sinews and muscles warm and stretch with the soft exercise.

Piao Bai's announcement of the absence of last night's supernatural revellers was a distinct comfort to Cai. "Perhaps they all realised the benefit of sleep, and chose to enjoy some. I cannot say I would blame them." Was there a distinct edge to the tone there? Who would have thought that sleep deprivation soured Cai's mood or made her more cantankerous than usual? The world was full of wonderous mysteries indeed.

In fact, if there was any question concerning Cai's mood, it was answered as she continued her exercises "In hindsight, it would have been far more civil to just pen an invitation to the emperor, and send it off. Why throw a party when people are trying to rest? It baffles me. Men and spirits alike can be remarkably thoughtless in such ways. The slightest of forewarnings and I'd have happily slept fifty yards in any direction to have enjoyed a full night's rest." It wasn't just Cai's preference that led to her solitary travel. As a travelling companion, her fellow Jinyiwei knew, the stern woman lacked many of those traits typically desired to make any journey less of an ordeal.

A half an hour didn't seem that bad, but it would probably turn into an hour because Cai would then need to eat.

Cai's cantankerousness wasn't lost on Piao Bai. Unfortunately, unlike Cai's former companions, Piao Bai did not have to kowtow to her or her rank. Add to that, there was still the hurt and grief of the last night's discovery.

"Far be it from anyone to put you at an inconvience, Wenshen Cai. The next time I find a mossy grove in which to rest and relax, I will make sure we go out of our way to avoid it." She would probably take those comments as her due and damn her for it. Piao Bai moved away to take care of his morning needs behind a tree. This was followed by a series of bracing dips from the little burbling brook.
Lastly, Piao Bai packed what he could into his little pack. These things took less time than Cai's half an hour. So, he curled himself into a ball, tucked his nose under his tail, and stared at Cai as she did her stretches.

She would be much prettier if she wasn't so... Piao Bai dozed off.

Cai pursed her lips. There had been a definite hint of annoyed pout from Piao Bai. "I was hardly blaming you for not realising this was a place where the seal was thin - and therefore likely frequented by the supernatural - as I was unable to tell either. I am more vexed with the revellers lollygagging around the Lady of the Chestnut Tree's grove." The little dragon could take that any way it liked. Cai continued her exercises, forcing out her varied frustrations in the form of physical motion, slowly increasing the intensity of her taolu.

It truly irked her that circumstances had forced upon her an extraneous burden on the behalf of some Astral entity she knew next to nothing about. The loss of sleep was just the glazing on a bitter baozi. At least the non-metaphorical food looked appetising. A consolation for the inconvenience at least.

Cai ended up taking closer to three quarters of an hour before she had regained her sense of inner equilibrium and was willing to contemplate food. She turned to Piao Bai to find the dragon had fallen asleep. Which was, frankly, not a terrible idea aside from the obvious flaws in location. Cai packed their bags while the little dragon rested, and took stock of their situation. They were now at little risk of starving, short of catastrophe, and could reach Shanyi comfortably. She hoped that fortune would smile and she would not be needed for another task in the mountains.

The Jinyiwei had certainly trekked around enough mountainsides for one season. She'd be happy not to see one for a good year or two. Once everything was packed and ready, and she'd had her share of breakfast, Cai woke Piao Bai "It is time to go. Rest in non-physical form if needed. I am, perhaps, more accustomed to enduring the aftermath of a sleepless night."

A little snarl curled Piao Bai's snout. There she went again, being all "I'm so much better than you." Piao Bai huffed and pulled on his pack.

"Thanks for the offer, I'll try to keep up for now."

Truth of the matter was he didn't want to be that close. He wanted space, distance, and time to think, even if that time made his mood worse. Bad enough he could feel her moods and she could probably feel his. Today, Piao Bai felt awkward in his own skin and wished he could shift like the triplets had show him. Piao Bai imagined taking long strides on two legs. He wondered if he would be faster or slower.

These were the thoughts that filled him as he waited for Cai to begin the next leg of the journey.

"I'm ready, Cai." He said, but Cai had already started.

Fine.

Cai rolled her eyes as Piao Bai's snarl radiated through their link. It seemed the little dragon got cranky without sleep. Well, Cai had no time for that. "If you change your mind later, that is fine." He could let his feet get as sore as his mood if he so desired. The Jinyiwei set off at her normal hiking pace, letting the exercise help keep her awake.

If she put her mind to it, she could even block out the sulky energy trickling through the link which bound her to Piao Bai. Cai decided to enjoy the fresh mountain air as best she could while the weather still held fair. It would certainly help distract her from the lack of sleep. The real decision she would need to make within a day or so, though, would be whether to enter or avoid the smaller towns enroute to Shanyi.

On one hand, towns meant the possibility of more food and shelter. On the other hand, towns meant curious villagers gawking at her and Piao Bai, and more damnably stupid stories being created by people with too much time on their hands. By the Emperor, if she heard one more 'The Tattooed Magistrate' story... Well, frustratingly enough, there was little she could do but ignore it. Past experience showed that, if she tried to stop people from telling them, then they perversely became more stubborn about spreading it to every traveller they could.

And the closer they got to Shanyi, the more likely people would recognise her. It had been a blessing that Yunshan had been so remote. It had been refreshing to be unrecognised beyond the presence of her Jinyiwei insignia. Yes, perhaps she would try to divert them away from towns where possible.

Lost in her own musings, Cai hiked in comfortable silence for quite a while, as the pair picked their way down the mountainside.

Despite his supposed desire for distance, Piao Bai stayed close to Cai. He was determined to keep up. Eventually, he went numb from the attempt. Keeping up had become an endurance test, which he didn't like much at all. The terrain was not even or smooth. There were lumps! Lumps over which he had to leap and scramble. Once or twice his back legs scrabbled to gain purchase on a smooth rock. Then, there was the mud from that little streamlet.

After a few hours, the walk was punctuated by whingy questions.

"Cai-ai, when will we take a rest?"

"Cai-ai, will we stop at a town?"

"Cai-ai, it's way past midday now. Aren't you thirsty? Aren't you hungry?"

'Cai-ai, how long will it be before we reach a town?"

Piao Bai had begun to wonder if Cai was even remotely human. Why didn't she have any consideration for him? Couldn't she tell he was upset about something? She didn't even bother to ask. Whinge, whinge, whinge... the connection between them was fraught with it. He was tired, he was hungry, he was thirsty, he needed a bath, and it showed the way it showed on a five-year old needing a nap.

Cai had almost forgotten that she wasn't alone. Piao Bai's more vocal dissatisfaction disrupted that pleasant illusion. The little dragon was being both stubborn and irritating. Emperor forbid she ever have children if they behaved like that!

"We will rest at dusk. We spent too much time in one spot yesterday." And Cai would take a lot more care as to where they picked their spot this evening.

"There will not be a town for at least another few days." That wasn't a lie, as such. There was a village within two day's hike, but that would take them somewhat off-route as the falcon flew, and cost another day. The next town more-or-less on Cai's planned path was about four days hence.

Cai decided as the midday sun waned that they probably should stop, if only for a light repast of chestnuts and water. It was not enough to satisfy the little dragon's desire to rest more thoroughly, though, as Cai set off again within fifteen minutes of the break. It was growing harder to shut out the incessant sulk coming through the link, and Cai herself was growing less than patient. Cai's method of burning off excess frustration was, as always, through physical activity. Her hiking pace remained relentless, despite her sore feet, as a result.

Cai eventually responded to each query regarding 'how long' or 'how far' with a no-nonsense "Four days. You are under no obligation to walk." Cai was certainly not slowing her pace. The sooner the jinyiwei was away from the mountain, the happier she'd be. Being near parts of the empire where the seal grew thin, on anything other than official business, was not Cai's idea of a pleasant time.

Piao Bai barely had time to take off his pack, eat, and put it back on again before Cai was ready to move. He could tell, through the bond they shared that:

1. She didn't care.

2. She was annoyed.

These facts made him more petulant and put-out. Every sense of annoyance on her part fueled his sense of indignation. 'Just deal with it,' was not what he wanted. What he wanted was to be patted as he cuddled. But, then again, she wasn't exactly the soft-bosomed, cuddling type, so what did he expect anyway?

Four days? Four days of this?!

"How can I not walk when you won't slow down enough for me to even put my pack away?!" The sense behind that was 'so inconsiderate!' He didn't know if his pack would go with him if he went to the in-between place, so it needed to be put in the big pack.

Piao Bai made a reasonable point, and Cai stopped briefly "Well, pass the pack here, and we can continue on our way." That being said, Cai had no idea why the silly dragon hadn't elected to do so from the beginning.

It was very clear that Cai's intention was to take the pack so as to let Piao Bai assume a non-corporeal form. There was definitely no inclination to slow the pace. Cai had years of experience in stubbornly walking the countryside of Tian Xia, for many of the places she needed to visit were unsuitable for an approach via horseback. Besides, horses didn't seem to like Cai very much. And she wasn't too fond of them in return.

Actually, why hadn't Piao Bai taken the sensible route to begin with? "You know, all this could have been avoided if you accepted my initial offer. Why didn't you?"

Piao Bai slipped the pack from his back and handed it over to Cai. He felt relieved, a little, that she'd agreed to stop long enough for him to give it to her. From Piao Bai's reckoning, Cai was annoyed, but that was a typical state it seemed. More sulkiness ensued.

"Because!"

With that the dragon disappeared in a whorl of golden light that seemed to get sucked into the line art tattoo on Cai's forearm. This was an in-between place, made of energy and consciousness. It was neither astral nor physical. In it, Piao Bai had a sense of awareness, but it was an awareness that coincided with Cai. Certainly, they weren't blended into one. They still kept their separate identities.
Exhaustion claimed him for the duration that was nearly the time it took to reach the town. He dreamt, vividly, of his formative years and of the vision in the grove. He moved and cried in his sleep, almost feverish. Even if Cai had expelled him from his spot, he would not have woken. If she spoke to him, her voice was somehow woven into the dreams, skewing them in that way that only dreams can be skewed.

Hunger is what finally woke him and when he began to wake, the temptation to cease to exist, to give up his consciousness completely, was real - especially after the knowledge he'd gained. What was the point of existing anyway, knowing ... that. Even in his non-corporeal state, the pain of it speared his heart. Had he been in a more physical state, tears would have formed. The grief hit and it hit hard now, raw and strong, that he had nothing else on which to focus.

Memories, the ones he had anyway, played across his mindscape. If could have, Piao Bai would have clawed the memories from his skull. What had happened when he was younger? Was it... ? Could it be...? There had been two marks of betrayal...

I have no home, he thought to himself, but who knew if Cai could hear it?

Out of desperation, Piao Bai thrust himself into the physical world. It was not a graceful exit, it was more like someone spitting out phlegm than that of leaping ballerina. Piao Bai fell to the ground and rolled a few paces. Shaking his head, he looked around trying to reorient himself on his surroundings. Of all thoughts, the one that came through as spoken directly to Cai was,

"Cai, I'm hungry."