The Heavens Shall Fall

The invitation reached the doorsteps of the Stone Ward collective about a day later... and it didn't come from their spies, nor was it through the rumors, or members of Golden Scroll. It was Siu himself who walked into their headquarters and told them openly about his request to meet Bren. Which was promptly denied. Still, he left with the invitation wide open, not asking them to answer straight up, but simply asking them to think about it.

And that... to them… it looked and sounded like nothing but straight mockery.

The Stone Ward’s meeting hall, after he had left and the current 'leaders' had gathered to talk about it, fell into a strange, unnervingly long silence. Nobody knew what to do or what to say to Siu when he kept talking, so they did... nothing. They simply listened to him, then, after remaining silent, he shrugged while smiling... and left. What should they have done? Say no? Say yes? Attack him? Why? It was an impossible situation, and nobody had the gall to act while Bren remained unreachable.

“He invited us... That motherfucker waltzed in... and invited us... to a barbecue?!” The words came from one of the older members, finally breaking the silence, his anger finally forcing him to start speaking his mind.

“Lower your voice!” someone hissed at him at once.

“Why?” the first one shot back, though indeed somewhat quieter this time, his jaw's muscles flexing visibly through his skin. “It’s already all over the sect. Everyone knows! Fuck...”

“That doesn’t mean you need to shout in here!”

"You are also shouting!"

A few of the others shifted where they stood, their expressions changing constantly, though not all in the same way. Some looked angry, then annoyed, then back to angry, while others… mostly showed that they were largely uncertain.

“That bastard thinks this is funny,” another muttered, his arms crossed, as if hugging himself for some comfort.

“Of course he does! He’s mocking us!”

“After what happened? After what he did? Who wouldn't?” One of the others added with a humorless chortle.

No matter how they tried to twist it, no matter how they thought about framing it in their own minds, the result of the duel was the reality. Bren had lost, and worse… he had been almost killed. No, that wasn't even the worst thing... That was the fact that he had been in seclusion since coming out of the baths, and nobody could get a hold of him.

“Fuck… Where is he anyway?”

The question made everyone present look at each other, happy that someone finally dared to ask it out loud. Chalvert, who remained silent until then, as he was one of the youngest members of the leading ring of the Stone Ward, couldn't help but bite his lips, listening to the others. His eyes moved across the gathered members slowly, afraid that all he did, all the ranks and power he finally accumulated, would now slip through his fingers... just like that! Why?! Why now?!

“Is he still in the baths?” someone answered.

"No," Someone else added, "He got out already, but... He was in for a long time."

“For how long?”

“More than a day.”

“That’s longer than Siu,” Chalvert whispered to himself, but not quietly enough for the others to miss, and they grunted and fidgeted while standing... That comparison landed poorly and wasn't something they wanted to acknowledge, making them unsettled.

“He took more damage,” someone said defensively, but it rang hollow, especially after another replied to it under his breath.

“And dealt less..."

“Watch your mouth!”

“Why?” the man shot back, his voice sharpening, showing that cracks were forming inside their ranks. “You think pretending it didn’t happen changes anything? One god damn loss and look at us! All that authority we had is turning into sand!”

“Shut up!”

“No,” he said flatly. “I won't.”

The tension spiked even further for a moment, the air between them tightening, but Chalvert spoke up before it could escalate further.

“We shouldn't fight each other...” His voice wasn’t aggressive, and he tried to keep it diplomatic, “This isn’t the place for this,” he continued after the argument seemed to die down, “And this isn’t the time.”

“Then when is?” one of them muttered, rubbing his face.

“When Bren returns.” Chalvert tried, searching for something, anything to hold onto.

“And until then?” someone else asked, looking directly at him this time.

Chalvert didn’t answer immediately, opening his mouth and closing it after, but they were still looking at him. To give him more time to think, he turned slightly, his gaze drifting toward the entrance of the room, as if waiting for Bren to finally walk through it, giving them a new direction.

But it didn't happen.

“I…" He stammered, "I don't know. Until then... We wait...?”

“That’s it?” A few of them frowned at that, even mockingly laughing at him, "That’s what you’re going with?”

“What about the invitation? That bastard had put me in the corner with it!”

“It’s not an invitation,” one of them snapped, almost biting their own tongue. “It’s a joke! A fucking provocation! I agree with Chalvert, we should wait and ignore it."

“And we’re just going to ignore it? Really?! One setback and we are pulling our tails under our body?! I did not join a flock of pussies!”

"Fuck you!"

"No, you fuck you!"

“We should not act without Bren... He is going to be angry if we do something... worse...” Chalvert tried again as the arguments restarted, and although that shut a few of them up, not everyone was buying it.

“He’s not here,” someone pressed on, his tone openly mocking, “And that thing is happening in two days. Bren got us into this shit, and now he is retreating? Great!”

"He is recovering." The same man who agreed with Chalvert started, but was cut off immediately.

“And? Siu was fine, yet he had half of his body broken! Did our Indestructible, or Invincible, or whatever the fuck he liked to tell us, Dear Leader, break?! In one fight?! All that talk to raising us all to Inner Disciples, all the work, sweat, and blood we poured into this group, down the drain, just like that?! Were we lied to, all this time?! I WANT ANSWERS!"

“If we go there, we look weak! Same if we don’t respond.” Someone else said, ignoring the yells, but then again... it was nothing but shouting and arguing for the next ten minutes.

If nothing else, it showed that their group had split into two: those who still looked at Bren as their leader and those who immediately lost any respect for him.

“We will look weaker if we respond incorrectly, so we can't respond without Bren's guidance.” Chalvert countered, or at least tried, "So we can't go..."

“How would it be showing weakness if we go?” someone demanded.

“How is it not?” another shot back immediately. “We show up to his little celebration? After he beats Bren? What does that look like? It would tell everyone that we turned against our own leader!”

“Or it would show that we’re not afraid. We don't need to say why Bren isn't there.”

“That would simply mean that we’re bending the knee.”

“That’s not the same thing!”

“It is to everyone watching!”

There was no getting from one to two... The argument simply sparked up again, even faster this time, everyone's voices rising just enough to echo inside the room, making it sound like hundreds of voices were going back and forth in a massive chaos. Their words kept overlapping, clashing without any resolution in sight, each of their points meeting another, none of them strong enough to settle the matter, or just crossing by without meeting in the middle.

And without Bren... there was not a deciding voice... at all.

...

....

......

By the time the day of the bonfire arrived, most of the outer disciples were ready to go since the sun rose from the east... they just didn't dare to. Which was the smart thing to do, because the place for the festivities wasn't ready yet. It was still in the morning when Siu and the rest arrived at the spot that Lorean was leading them towards. It turned out that the Golden Scroll, or in this case, Toban, didn’t do things halfway.

The clearing that has been chosen and for which permissions have been granted to occupy has been carved out of a section of the sect grounds that was usually reserved for larger gatherings or temporary events hosted by Elders. Mostly when they were teaching large groups of disciples. By the time Siu's group walked onto the field, it had been completely transformed. Long wooden tables had been set up in wide arcs around a central pit, where a massive bonfire base had been built, layered with thick logs and bound in a way that would make it burn steadily through the night, maybe even into the morning.

Beyond that, racks had been placed for roasting, iron spits aligned in preparation, and stacks of extra firewood had been neatly arranged along the perimeter. There were even sections, separated, mostly made for smaller groups to gather, eat, and sit without being crushed together, and sit in their own little cliques if they wanted.

“Not bad.” Arya's voice slipped into Siu's mind, sounding dry and unimpressed, but it was just a facade as he could feel how happy she was.

"This is excellent!" Marly yelped, making Arya groan, that her perfect plan of playing the unimpressed princess for further rewards was ruined, “Look at all this space! We can eat here, and here… and here! Oooooo! There will be so much food!”

Trying to ignore them, Siu huffed quietly, letting his gaze sweep across the preparations again, and he had to nod.

"I didn't think you would go this far." He said in the end, making Lorean smile.

"Me neither." She answered, but explained no more, surprised that Toban not only agreed when Siu sent word, but went above and beyond for it... She had a fleeting suspicion that the man was taking it as his own send-off party, joining the Inner Disciples the next day.

“You picked a pretty good moment for this,” A voice interrupted them, and made Lorean jump, because it was exactly who she was thinking of.

"Ah, Toban." Siu nodded, turning towards him, "I heard you are leaving us tomorrow?"

"Yeah." He nodded back at him, while the Wardens behind Siu were gazing at Toban, some not even knowing who he was, but... leaving? That could only mean he was accepted into the Inner Disciples' rank?! And it wasn't news?! “Word’s already spread?" Toban asked with a half-smile, "Weird. I was sure I kept it on the low-low...” He muttered, glancing at Lorean.

“I wanted to make him pay for the info,” Lorean said defensively, raising her hands, "But he threatened us."

Siu didn’t respond to that, simply smiled a little, and Toban waved a hand to close the topic at once.

"Well," He looked at Siu, "I got some nice barrels of drinks... But it will be you who brings them over and puts them down. We are not hard laborers."

"Naturally," Siu answered, nodding at the Wardens as they began fanning out and following Lorean to finish the preparations.

“Where do you want everything?” Rinmei asked, stepping up beside her, and as they disappeared, Toban raised a hand and led Siu away, having a private talk.

As private as it could be with Arya and Marly following along.

"You were more effective than I thought you would be," Toban began talking as they walked, only examining him once, "And this idea of yours has even surprised me. Suddenly, I will miss being an outer disciple."

"I doubt that," Siu answered simply, while Toban just smiled, glancing up at the blue sky.

"I will still think of the last year fondly. Anyway... After you join us among the Inner Disciples, I will be looking forward to working with you."

"You do realize that I can't really trust you."

"Of course." Toban answered him without a flinch, "But the two places are different, and usually those who graduate from being an inner disciple become elders of the sect. And they have to be united, especially when wandering outside of the Hollow Song's territory. It's not like playing around here, amongst the outers."

"What I know is that the competition between inner disciples is even bigger than amongst us, here..." Siu murmured, looking at him with one eye, "That means the friction is even greater amongst them than here."

"True," he nodded once again, "But also the most fertile ground for true friendships... and cooperations."

"Are you trying to recruit me?" Siu asked, stopping, looking at him fully, with a raised brow.

"I know that I can't." Toban said while shaking his head, "I will make my own group, rise on my own smarts, I always did, and I am not about to change." He continued, tapping the side of his head with a sly smile, "And those skills of mine are what allow me to measure and read people well... And watching you, I can already see that you will surpass me. Don't worry, I'm not jealous about that fact; we all have our roles in life."

"I can't tell if you are praising me or trying to inflate my pride to make me fail."

"Hah!" He laughed, and it was actually a genuine one, "You are immune to the latter, don't even try to pretend otherwise. I am simply telling you that in the future..." He leaned closer, patting his shoulder, "Don't be afraid of trusting me. I may be a fox... But I do not bite the hand that could feed me."

"Master..." Arya mumbled as she watched Toban depart with that, heading towards Lorean, leaving Siu behind, "I don't like him calling himself a fox... he gives a wrong name to us!"

"Maybe." He mumbled, watching his back, "But he is more of a fox than you are..."

"OI! MARLY! STOP LAUGHING!" She cried out loudly, even beginning to audibly whine, "MASTER! THAT... THAT! UUUU! YOU MOLESTER!"