The Heavens Shall Fall

The cold the Icecrown Stag had left behind kept lingering at ground level for a long time. Of course, when the mist-like air turned invisible to the eye, that didn't mean it was gone. Before attempting to go down, Siu had broken a branch off the tree he was on, throwing it down, watching it turn into an icicle.

"Damn it..." Kae'Lin grunted as he saw it happen, being a few trees away, surveying the land and what remained of the others from her position.

"How many of them survived?" Siu asked, shouting over to her.

"No idea." She shook her head, and with that... their short conversation was already over.

With nothing else to do but just wait, Arya and Marly remained perched next to him, sitting on their branches, both of them being unusually silent. Arya's fur was still puffed up, her ears flinching now and then as she moved them around, scanning the forest, while Marly clutched the tree with all four limbs, her tail wrapped tight around herself, trying not to shiver.

About half an hour later, Siu exhaled slowly, watching his breath fog the air before throwing multiple new branches down, noticing that, apparently, the cold air was finally gone, giving out no reaction... Still, he waited a few more minutes before climbing down, and doing it very, very slowly. When he touched down, his boots cracked a layer of ice before they sank into snow that was no longer iron-hard, but returned to, well, how snow should act. He only took one glance at the remains of Nue, walking over her fragmented form, heading closer to the point where the stag had stood when it released its spell. There, the snow was still frozen solid, becoming a giant block of ice that was now connected to the frigid, blue visage of Jarek and the shards that remained of Harrik.

"It's gone! You can come down!" He shouted, glancing towards Kae'Lin.

"Let's not shout too much," she grunted, lowering herself onto the ground and looking around. "We don't want anything to track us..."

"I think we are still within the territory of that stag..." Siu muttered, watching as Marly jumped off the tree, gliding through the air, landing on his shoulder, while Arya appeared atop his head, still alert, her ears twitching constantly.

After testing the snow, making sure she wouldn't turn into a snowman, Kae'Lin slowly walked to the place where Harrik had fallen, watching the shattered frost shards that remained of him, being pink and red chunks of frozen flesh. Glancing to her left, she watched as tiny cracks spiderwebbed across Jarek's body, his mouth still open but clogged by ice... he wasn't alive inside that form, she could tell. As for the rest of the helpers who were here? Dead.

"Do you have any idea where the others are?" Siu asked, breaking the silence.

"I don't know," she said, stepping back, standing with him. "I guess, they ran the moment Rinmei was hit. The herd scattered us after its damned call."

"Didn't seem like it from my point of view." He answered, making Kae'Lin shrug, knowing what he meant.

"We regrouped shortly after, because the Icecrown went after you."

"Hmph!" Arya scoffed, and it was an audible one, making Kae'Lin look up at her on the top of Siu's head.

"It was a collective decision."

"Master, she is talking nonsense!" She scoffed again, but this time, in Siu's head.

"It doesn't matter anymore." He answered simply, glancing around the empty battlefield, "So... Ryn was our great scout..."

"I don't think she is alive, or she would have warned us." Kae'Lin defended her, crossing her arms, but her voice was... less convincing. "Plus, the horde had come way too suddenly; she didn't have time to do anything."

"Well, we should go." Siu interrupted her, making the girl nod in agreement.

"Yeah, we need to leave, now..." Kae'Lin agreed, "That thing could circle back once it realizes it has healed enough. Who knows what else it can do?"

"You should have asked that question before the idea of hunting something like that occurred to you all. I have my own thoughts about your preparations." He grunted, finally letting some of his grievances show, "Where were YOUR firebombs or whatever else?"

"..." She didn't answer, mostly because she didn't know how.

None of them expected something like this... The stag was supposed to be just that... a bit stronger stag. Watch out for its horns in battle, make sure you pin it down... and that was it. Rinmei hadn't mentioned anything about it being capable of using spells! Probably because she never saw it do anything like that...

"Rinmei," he said suddenly, making Kae'Lin look at him, wondering if he was able to read minds or not. "She was thrown around... We should head back to the depression first, see if she's alive."

"You really try to save everyone, huh?" For a moment, it looked like Kae'Lin might argue, measuring him, but then her lips parted slightly, taking a quick breath, "Fine," she nodded. "But we go and do it fast."

By then, Arya was already moving, scouting ahead of the group, leading them back towards the start of the battle. When they arrived, they not only found her but the helper she had brought along, doing her best to stabilize Rinmei's injuries. Even then... She didn't look good. There was visible frost clinging to her body and hair, and even the blood that leaked out of her injuries had frozen solid. The more Siu looked, the more he noticed that her veins were turning blue, slowly but surely, spreading across her body.

Only acknowledging their presence, her helper kept kneeling beside her, her hands shaking as she pressed down on the wounds, her face pale, not really knowing what to do next, running out of ideas.

"She's alive," Rinmei's helper said hoarsely when she looked up at them. "Barely... I stopped the bleeding, well… It stopped by itself, being frozen solid. I don't have enough strength to do more than try to keep her warm."

Just then, Rinmei's eyes fluttered open as Siu knelt beside her, taking a closer look at her injuries.

"Siu?" she whispered, her voice barely more than breath, and even that came out without fogging the air, showing how cold she must have been, even inside her body.

"Don't talk," he said immediately, sliding an arm beneath her shoulders, ready to lift her up. "Come on, we are heading back to the sect."

"I would leave her here," Arya interjected, while Marly remained silent, not daring to speak her mind but... Siu could feel that she agreed. It was these others' fault... everything was their fault.

"Mistakes are mistakes, we all make them. Until it's intentional or done to screw others over, I don't mind lending a hand." Siu answered in his mind, lifting Rinmei's body as the group began to move. "I don't know if she will survive this, but... Let's try to give her a chance at it. Worst-case scenario, she can be buried properly."

Arya had nothing to say about it; she just shot out, acting as their scout, now that the human girl who dared call herself a scout, and her helper, too, were gone. It further reinforced her feeling that her Master had no one else to rely on here... just her and Marly. When the feeling reached Siu, he couldn't help but shrug, because it was true. He only trusted them, and, besides feeling neutral towards Kae'Lin now, he wouldn't trust the others to watch his back.

Luckily, the group was neither pursued nor watched by other beasts, and they managed to find their way back quickly without being ambushed again. By the time they passed through the barriers of the Hollow Song Sect, Rinmei had drifted in and out of consciousness twice, forcing Siu to shake her awake... Her breathing was way too shallow, and her skin was turning blue... There was not much life left in her. So, the moment they returned, he did not take her to a healing bath; instead, he went straight past the outer facilities, toward the passage between the Outer Disciples' and the Inner Disciples' regions, making a commotion, until an Elder he had never seen finally arrived to see what it was all about.

"Tsk..." He clicked his tongue, taking Rinmei's body away, raising a hand over her face, and Siu could see as a warm, golden light appeared around his fingers, seeping into the mouth and nose of Rinmei, drawing a cold, bluish fog out of her body. "You ran into a beast that was close to a breakthrough?" He asked, tasting the essence he was pulling out of Rinmei's body, "How many of you died?" He chuckled, glancing at the rest, remaining completely unfazed by their answer.

"Twelve of us left," Siu said simply, making the Elder smirk as he glanced over them.

"Lucky bastards... The fact that any of you have returned is a miracle in itself. Go, celebrate your second birthday. I will take care of this girl."

There was not much else to do but cup their hands and leave. After they were far enough away, Reinmei's helper peeled off from the group, saying nothing, just taking a different turn than them. Kae'Lin didn't even mind it; she just stretched with a groan, rolling her shoulders, finally relaxing a little.

"Well," she said lightly, even smiling, "there's now an injured Icecrown Stag roaming around." She looked at Siu as she spoke, as if waiting for a proposal. "The Ember Circle will want to know."

"I don't care," Siu replied, already turning away, ignoring her.

"Tsk," Kae'Lin snorted softly, watching his back, "You sure?"

After getting no answers from him, she simply shook her head and left to make her report... This was an opportunity, right after a disaster.

Returning to his home, Siu stood before its door for a moment, watching the snow start to drift once again, the clouds returning in earnest, covering the sky. Arya just sat on his shoulder, unusually quiet, her tail wrapped loosely around his neck, while Marly clung to his sleeve, hanging from there.

"Well," Siu smiled after a while, opening the entrance to his home, "I think I learned a lot from this..."

"Like?" Marly asked, curious about what he meant.

"Like..." He muttered, watching the rock close back behind him, "Dealing with beasts is more honorable than dealing with fellow disciples."

And with that, he took off the remaining firebombs, putting them away, feeling sure that the reason they were able to leave, without being ambushed once... was that he let the Icecrown Stag leave back then.

...

....

......

It took only two days for the news of an injured Icecrown Stag hiding in the forest to spread among the outer disciples. For most of them, it was nothing but a catalyst to look up what that even was, before realizing that fighting one was out of their league.

Well, unlike the Ember Circle, which was already rumored to be gathering a group to hunt the creature, which made Siu simply snort once before ignoring the news. Well, ignoring, until he met Tian again.

"Are you going?" Siu asked as the two walked the same pathway, heading towards the training grounds.

"I am not stupid," He shook his head, "That's too much for me. But those who are going are looking to buy firebombs... the issue is, they are not really items that are in stock right now, and ordering them now would mean they miss out on the opportunity to go after an injured beast."

"Want to earn some CC?" Siu asked, suddenly stopping, making Tian look at him with a weird glance, raising his brows.

"Always. So...?" He muttered, measuring him, slowly smiling like a villain, "I knew that it was weird that Kae'Lin reported you only had one... I remember what Neya said, that she made sure you would receive at least three or four from the materials she harvested for you from that squirrel."

"I'm willing to sell your Ember Circle, two of them, through you." He said simply, making Tian's eye twitch once before he began smiling even wider.

"I will take 20%."

"Greedy bastard!" Siu snorted at once, smiling.

"I'm poor. I grew up poor... I am greedy!" He answered with a similar snort, crossing his arms, "I'll keep you anonymous, of course."

"15%."

"Deal." Tian nodded at once, making Siu twitch his mouth, suddenly feeling that he should have said ten. Oh well... "Don't worry, they are anxious to go before the Stone Ward bastards find it first."

"They are also looking for it?"

"Yeah," Tian explained with a shrug, "They blame everyone else for Harrik's death, soooo... This is kind of a vengeance rush for them. They even got their hands on Ryn to lead them back into the forest."

"She survived?" Siu asked, honestly shocked at the revelation.

"Didn't you hear? Yeah, she came back in the middle of the night, apparently, she was... uninjured?"

"So she ran first..." Arya growled, making Siu simply nod his head, as there was not really any other explanation for that to happen.

"I like your murderous look," Tian chortled, watching his face, shaking his head, "Anyway... Get me the two firebombs, and I'll sell them for a good price. I need that resource to catch up to you... You bastard."

"We can spar if you want." He shot back, once again surprised, when Tian shook his head, pointing towards Arya and Marly.

"I am not talking about physical strength... I'm good on that front. I'm talking about them. It's not cheap to prepare for capturing a beast..."