Thar Shaddin

For the most part, Cai enjoyed the lengthy calm period devoid of incessant whining. But there always had to be a caveat on her serenity, it seemed, and the energy and emotions whirling around in the tattoo on her arm occasionally proved to be extraordinarly distracting.

The first day after Piao Bai's tantrum was treated simply as a blessed relief, and Cai actively ignored the discomforting sensations generated by the little dragon's disquieted rest. She kept a steady hiking pace, stopped only when needed, and got by on as little rest and food as she could. On the following day, when the thick forest surrounding the mountain's flank gave way to the more sparsely wooded hills, Cai permitted herself a decent dinner. It was only then, on the second night where Piao Bai did not respond to her inward statement of "It is time to set up camp and dinner", that Cai began to suspect there was something more amiss than a mere tantrum. Still, while she could sense a chaotic jumble of emotions seeping through the link which bound them, she found herself unable to engage in conversation with Piao Bai.

Well, maybe she'd have to stop by a town after all, just in case she had to monitor his condition more carefully. It would be impossible to do so adequately while in the middle of nowhere. Cai gave some serious thought, for a good several hours of her hike, as to that dilemma. She absolutely did not want to waste time in a town. It was an open invitation for unwanted recognition. But if the little dragon was seriously unwell, which Cai was beginning to suspect was the case, then she had a moral obligation to see to his health.

On the third day Cai had already shifted the direction of her hiking, although the very act of doing so soured her mood considerably: all because Cai knew the nearest town would be Laoshanmen. Noisy, busy, Laoshanmen. The 'farming town' famed, and occasionally ridiculed, for having more inns and teahouses than mills. It had grown nearly large enough that Cai was certain that within another century or two it would be called a city.

Centuries ago Laoshanmen had simply been like any other agricultural region: a loose conglomeration of fields, farmers' housing, and communal milling and meeting facilities. But then mines were opened far to the northwest, and broad roads were built to facilitate the transport of mining equipment and mined goods. Enterprising farmers, noticing that the mining convoys regularly camped at a certain area when travelling, constructed the first inns to service the convoys in exchange for goods. Over time, Laoshanmen became half agricultural centre, half mercantile town. The military outpost became necessary when Laoshanmen's prosperity attracted the attention of bandits on a regular basis. The town was eventually assigned a permanent magisterial posting when theft, muggings, and other petty crimes became a problem.

It was the kind of place were bored miners swapped stories with bored farmers and travellers over rice wine. The kind of place where rowdy miners exchanged coarse words with rowdy farmers and travellers due to an excess of rice wine. The kind of place that needed a permanent magistrate. The kind of place Cai generally tried to avoid wherever possible.

On the fifth day, with Piao Bai's energies still roiling in a most disconcerting fashion, Cai's unwilling feet brought her to Laoshanmen's outskirts. The gate guards didn't seem to recognise her, which was a slight relief, though they recognised the authority of the Jinyiwei token she wore immediately. Cai's first stop was to the local magistrate, Chongde, to register her presence as per protocol and requisition spending money. Then she attempted to find the most shabby and empty inn she could find. It was a task which proved to be extraordinarily difficult, so she settled instead for an inn called the Jade Crucible. The choice was made with perhaps more haste than Cai would have liked, but she'd started to notice the small signs of burgeoning recognition. The widened eyes, the mouths shaped in an O, the subtle nudgings of elbows. Signs that the damned stories had made their way here. The Jade Crucible Inn as not shabby but, by virtue of not being next to the main thoroughfare, it did not have as many patrons making use of their services. And that suited Cai's needs well.

Cai had placed the packs down, and started setting up the room to her liking, when Piao Bai erupted from the tattoo with an all-too-familiar proclamation. Cai sighed inwardly. It seemed she had worried for nought, and was now forced to stay in Laoshanmen for no good reason. "Of course you are hungry. It has been several days. Here, eat and drink what you will. We have reached the town of Laoshanmen and can resupply easily enough." Cai passed Piao Bai the packets of food to start with. Cai's restraint during the travels meant that there was quite a lot of food left over for the little dragon to pick at. She poured some water in a bowl, for undoubtedly with hunger would come the more harsh demands of thirst.

Piao Bai voraciously attacked the remaining roasted chestnuts and the water, making short work of them in quick order. When he finished, he blinked, looking around at the shabby room.

"Where are whu-huuuu..." Piao Bai's color tinged a sickly green and he moved as fast as he could toward the window. Violent heaving made his back legs and tail jut straight out with every heave. When the episode passed, the little dragon hung limply over the window sill.

"Uhhhgggg..." The sound that escaped him was not echoed through their mental link, but the feelings of nausea probably were.

"I think I ate too fast." Piao Bai lifted his head weakly to peer over his shoulder at Cai. The little dragon slid unceremoniously from the sill to the floor. He turned to face Cai, settled on his backside. His stomach was concave and his back legs stuck out. His forearms hung down in front of him and his head was slumped forward, as well.

"Where are we, anyway? Are we at the Imperial City, yet?".

Angry shouting from below the window told Cai someone had not completely escaped the wrath of Piao Bai's stomach. The Jinyiwei sighed inwardly as she continued setting up the room for an overnight stay. "We are still far from the capital. Tian Xia is not a small country. It is an empire which spans many thousands of miles, North to South, East to West. Yulongjing is still weeks off at our current rate of travel, and I am also constrained in my movements by duty. I must first visit the Provincial Magistrate at Shanyi to provide my full findings. As to where we are right now? The town of Laoshanmen."

Cai's dislike of the town wasn't from any specific prior visit, though she had passed through on one or two occasions previously. It was simply the kind of place where people tended to recognise her more easily. Something which was often unavoidable, and though Cai knew it was irrational, she resented it nonetheless. And some of that resentment towards to the town would inevitably filter through the link. "Once I am certain of your health, we can continue our travels." Cai was also considering commandeering a horse, though doing so in Shanyi would involve less fuss and less paperwork. Besides, she preferred walking. It helped her maintain the fitness and stamina she needed to perform her duties.

Cai annoyance with the town had the perverse effect of making Piao Bai want to explore it. Rubbing his forearm across his mouth, he said,

"I will be better with a bath, a scrub of my teeth, and something with meat in it to eat."

PIao Bai's brows waggled up and down as he looked around the room without much interest. At least there didn't appear to be any fleas or biting bugs in the immediate vicinity.

"And, I need some oil. My scales are getting very dry. Does that not happen to your head?" The dragon peered intently at Cai''s falcon tattooed scalp. The hurt he felt was still there, just layered now with disgruntlement and self-pity.

Piao Bai rolled forward to his paws and moved to Cai. He lifted to his hind legs and stretched his arms up Cai's legs., looking at her beseechingly.

"I feel weak, Cai, would you carry me?"

Cai was not generally one to complain over necessities. Dragon or not, she'd have had to walk the past few days, so the soreness of her thighs calves and feet were unavoidable. And yet, there was something aggravating about Piao Bai expecting her to hoist him around like a helpless infant the moment he awoke from a 4-day nap. She took a moment to take in a calming breath. There was no gain in resenting the selfishness of a child. "You will need to wait then, Piao Bai, because we have only just arrived."

She looked at the just-finished-vomiting little dragon, and his request for carrying. The effect of his plea was definitely marred by the viscous smears around his jaws. "You will understand I hope, that until I have arranged a bath for you, I have no intention of carrying you. My clothes have been tarnished by travel enough as it is."

Really, why did he try to eat so fast? Foolish. Should she have monitored his eating? Perhaps. "I will ask the inn's keeper to have two large bowls of hot water sent up to the room, one for each of us, and see what food they may have on offer, then return to our rooms thereafter. Otherwise, we may need to get food from market hawkers." Cai sighed inwardly as the inevitability of leaving the inn loomed larger on her immediate future "Try not to scare the inn's staff until after they've put the bowls of water on the ground. I will see also if they can recommend any shops or markets. What manner of oil do you require?"

Cai also needed to obtain another set or two of travel clothes. Or at the very least a robe to wear while she washed her current set. She couldn't roam a city with only one set of clothes if it remained unwashed, and she absolutely did not want to don the attention-grabbing ostentation of her formal wear. Delays and delays. This was why she kept to wilderness except when absolutely necessary.

Even as he begged for succor after being ill, he knew it was foolish. The look Cai gave him, that steady, hawklike gaze, that judging look that Cai had perfected, said in no uncertain terms that she found him less than adequate. The words that followed left no room for hope. The sigh deflated him even further.

Piao Bai nodded, chin to chest. He perked up a little when she asked about the oil. Piao Bai tilted his head and pursed out his lips in thought. He thought about it really, really hard.

"I don't know. My servants always just brought it. It smelled good and it wasn't very greasy or oily." Piao Bai pondered again. "It was almost like cherry blossoms and something else."

Piao Bai lifted a paw in negation, "Not too flowery, mind. It was definitely a masculine scent." Obviously, he would have to go shopping, too. Her nose was probably woefully in adequate in determining the right scent. On the upside, he was regaining his color and mood at the thought of going out shopping.

Of course it couldn't have been something simple like jasmine-scented hair oil. Not that she'd ever needed to know much about such things. That she was even aware hair oil came in a jasmine scent was entirely because of Hongjiang Mu and his ridiculous pretentions. "Well, the oil may need to wait until you are well enough to go out and about. I shall return soon, with wash water preceding me."

Cai nodded once to the little dragon and exited their room. She pretended she wasn't still perfumed by wood smoke and dusty from travel as she advanced on the proprietor of the inn. They exchanged the expected pleasantries before Cai cut to the chase "How swiftly would I be able to obtain a hot meal, preferably meat. Also, two wash bowls of hot water." The innkeeper silently agreed about the necessity of the wash bowls. "If you do not wish to wait for our dinner chef to arrive and have a full meal, we do have steamed dim sum."

The Jinyiwei thought quickly. Chestnuts had been enough to cause Piao Bai an upset earlier, so it would be best to keep this meal light. Six would do, three apiece. Any more might just kill the dragon, after all. Cai made the arrangements for the hot water to be sent up first, carried by the proprietor's two sons. Finally, she obtained directions to the town's markets, then carried the food upstairs.

Cai stepped around the retreating young men and into the room, setting down three of the dim sum for Piao Bai "Please eat with due care this time. It would not do your health any favours if you fail to retain your second meal." Cai ate her own while she eyed the wash bowls and gauged the cleanliness of the wash cloths and towels. A lot could be derived about an inn from the state of its linen. The Jade Crucible, she determined, was conscientious of its guests.

Having satisfied herself the cloths were clean enough, Cai got down to the business of taking off some of the travel dust. A full bath would have to wait until later, but she could at least clean her torso and improve her scent somewhat. Much as during their first encounter, Cai gave Piao Bai about as much consideration as a house pet when it came to having any qualms about removing her tunic and washing her naked torso.

This time, though, Cai and her tattoos were not coated in blood and gore. An elaborate jade dragon weaved across her abdomen and wound around her breasts, its head over her heart. Old scars stood stark against her pale flesh beneath the tattoo, though there was no longer any sign of her most recent injuries. The tattoo on her back was a rendition of Cai herself, bathing in a pool under the shade of a willow, surrounded by chrysanthemums. Cai mused "Hopefully there will be an opportunity for a proper bath soon."

When the door opened, the two sons entered to find the little white dragon sitting in the middle of the room as Cai had left him. Piao Bai immediately uncoiled and moved so that the boys might place the bowls of steaming water and towels. He gave the young men his most regal bow and moved to one of the bowls. Needless to say the young men stood and stared for a moment as the little dragon daintily used a cloth to wipe its face and body, until Piao Bai fixed them with a look that said, "Do you mind I am bathing, here?"

At just that moment, Cai stepped back in and presented him with dim sum. The scent was heavenly, but her caution was sound. Perhaps he'd eaten and drank too quickly after being without food for so many days. His stomach growled and grumbled. Apparently, throwing up the first batch had only served making him hungrier.

If Cai were unabashed in front of him, neither was Piao Bai. As he munched, slowly with little bites, he studied the tattoos that covered her skin. Such tattooing was not unusual on his side of the Seal and he was curious about the dragon. The rendition on her back made his chuckle. He'd never thought she'd be a narcissist as well as a fastidious, task master. The scars made more of an impression than one might think. They reminded Piao Bai of Captain Shin Yu Young, someone whom Piao Bai had admired almost as much as he'd admired his brother. And there it was again... that shiny, smooth black ball, as black and sleek as Beitzya's scales, at the center of everything. The amusement dried up, but Piao Bai forced a positive attitude and the sense of a smile. He needed to move forward and look ahead, anything else would be a waste of time... right?

"I agree, a proper bath would be pleasant. When shall we go look around?"

Cai finished washing and dried off "There are still a couple of hours of light left to us. If you are feeling recovered within that time, then potentially this afternoon. Otherwise, we can wait until morning." Cai examined herself in a small mirror. Well, she seemed a little less dusty and travel worn now. Good enough until she was able to get something else to wear while washing her clothes.

At least now, having splashed some water over herself and feeling somewhat cleaner, Cai was finding it much easier to fight off the urge to lie down and sleep until morning. She donned her tunic once more, quietly lamenting the present lack of a clean change of travel clothes, then sat down to rest her back against the wall. Piao Bai seemed to have had better luck with his second attempt at eating, which was promising.

Piao Bai was all for going shopping now that they'd bathed and eaten. To his surprise, Cai sat down on the ground. Uhhhhh...

The little dragon canted his head to the side slowly as he peered at the woman. Why was she sitting down? Didn't she say they needed to go shopping? Was she going to take a nap first? He wouldn't begrudge someone a nap, mind. He did so like to take naps himself, but he'd been asleep for at least a day, right? And now, he was awake. And, it was daytime and they'd bathed and eaten, so...

Piao Bai looked around the room. The bedding was folded in a corner and their bags were out of the way, against the wall. Piao Bai moved to the bedding and jumped easily upon it. He circled around a few times before curling up nose under tail to watch Cai as she sat.

Cai sat for a while, waiting for Piao Bai to comment on whether or not he was likely to be well enough to go shopping that afternoon. Eventually she began to suspect the little dragon hadn't processed what she'd said. The jinyiwei decided it wouldn't hurt to prompt him, if that was the case. She arched an eyebrow and asked "Well?"

Piao Bai lifted his head in surprise at Cai's terse response. His whiskers quivered in response.

"I'm ready when you are. I've been ready, but then you sat, so..."

Piao Bai unwound himself and slipped to the floor and waited expectantly.

Cai raised an eyebrow "You recover faster than I expected. You seemed quite ill mere minutes ago. Nonetheless, if you feel well enough, then let us go."

The jinyiwei rose to her feet, and in anticipation of the inevitable added "Given the circumstances, it would be best if you perched on my shoulder as previously. Laoshanmen, although a provincial town, is still quite busy." It would not do if the little dragon collapsed in the street. He'd be liable to be trodden on.

Despite her misgivings. the prospect of replacing her ruined clothing brought some mild cheer to Cai's dour mood. "Hopefully they will have the oil you are looking for. Is there anything else you are likely to need for the lengthy journey ahead of us? We shall be on the road constantly, and there are not always towns in the outer provinces with as many traders as Laoshanmen typically boasts"

Cai quietly ignored the fact that, had circumstances not dictated it, she'd have bypassed the place altogether. However, with the option before them, it made sense to take advantage of the opportunity to more adequately provision for a travelling companion.

If you think it best. Did he sound pleased? Maybe a smidge. For a moment, Piao Bai was on the floor. Next, he was gone completely. A fading ball of golden light was the only indication he'd been on the floor at all. The glow reappeared as Piao Bai emerged from the tattoo on Cai's arm and moved to rest on her shoulders. From there, he took on the appearance of a stole, draped over her shoulders, all four feet ensuring he maintained balance. His tail curled around as well, not tightly choking, but simply resting against her throat.

He was ready.

A glance out of their room's window showed the afternoon sun had begun its lazy decline towards the horizon. Already the air was starting to lose some of its warmth.

Cai, with Piao Bai draped around her shoulders, stepped out into the noisy chaos of Laoshanmen. Hawkers, cleaners, workers, and travellers of every variety bustled about their various tasks. Here, a miner shouted at a food vendor about the quality of their dimsum. There, a woman's advertisements of an inn were a bit too friendly for a regular establishment. Dogs barked as they chased each other through the alleys. Caged ducks, chickens, and geese made a cacophonous choir anywhere there was a kitchen or a food hawker.

Cai took a moment to comment "The markets are an hour's walk from here. Try not to be bothered by the attention. We present an unusual sight for the people here." Advice which Cai hoped that she could adhere to as well. Normally she'd just block out everything and singlemindedly march to wherever she needed to go. But with the new link she shared with Piao Bai she found that it was a lot harder to shut out external stimuli. And there was a lot for her to try and shut out.

Though nothing like Yulongjing, Laoshanmen was a busy town, even in the side streets. Cai and Piao Bai constantly attracted stares and quite commentary as Cai stalked through the streets to reach the market district. The jinyiwei generally disdained eye contact with anyone else, jaw clenched with the effort of keeping her face an expressionless mask. It was clear she did not particularly enjoy the crowds, or the attention, and even less so the snatches of conversation which made it to her sharp ears. Piao Bai, whose hearing was much better than that of his half-elf companion, would have far less difficulty catching it all.

The snippets of conversation overheard varied in tone and content. From a dishevelled traveller talking to a hawker "...heard of her? That tattooed demon hunter. They say she's got demon blood in her, and that she's cursed. It's only the tattoos which..." Later, two guardsmen talking after they noticed Cai on their patrol "...true, I tell you. There's even a song about it. 'The headless wanderer and the tattooed nun'. Every time one head started decaying he had to replace it. It's well known she can blast a yaoguai back to where it came from with a single spell. Look, she even has a dragon spirit. The story never mentioned that, though." A mother, hurrying her child inside, was overheard saying "No, you cannot, she's dangerous. Trouble follows the tattooed one everywhere. Everyone knows she's the cursed jinyiwei. Come inside, now, in case there is a haunt in the city. Emperor preserve us, child, hurry!"

The last one was loud enough that Cai heard it in full. Her expression never changed, but the flash of strong irritation would be apparent to Piao Bai through their connection. But that was nothing compared to when a travelling musician chanced to see Cai, and began a tune on his sanxian. Cai directed a withering glare at the man, a spark of fury flashing behind her eyes, and the man paused in the face of her unspoken critique.

Cai increased her walking pace to escape the vicinity of the sanxian player. "Emperor calm me, but if I had to hear that song today I'd have broken his instrument over his empty head. No doubt he thought it flattering." Cai grumbled "There are too many frivolous fools in this world with nothing better to do than write and sing ridiculous songs. They should take the Imperial examinations and do something worthwhile with their time."

Scents on the afternoon breeze would alert Piao Bai to the vicinity of the markets before their arrival there. The accumulated hints of spices, wood, metal, and textiles mixed together was quite distinct from the general aroma of Laoshanmen.