The Heavens Shall Fall

The morning was still cloudy and cold, but at least it had stopped raining when Siu slowly stretched as he stepped out of his cave, taking a deep breath. To his surprise, he rolled his shoulders and tested the range of motion, feeling if they wanted to pop or not... but everything felt normal and relaxed.

“One massage… Huh?” he muttered, looking at his fingers, then rotating his arm fully, and still, feeling no sharp stinging or any kind of resistance within them. It was moving smoothly. Smiling to himself, his gaze drifted back toward the cave entrance as Neya came out after him, also yawning, pulling her robes close around her, letting the wind catch her hair. “Already up?”

"Mhm," Neya’s cute little moan answered him, as she unabashedly hugged him from behind, snuggling up to him, "Sleeping with you is the best..."

“Then what should I say?” Siu answered with a laugh.

"That we help, too!" Arya chimed in, jumping out from the cave, landing on his head, followed by Marly, who settled on his shoulder, one paw in her mouth, searching for something... which turned out to be stashed food that she began munching on.

"I didn't say you don't." He answered, making Arya shrug, rolling her mismatched eyes, and throwing a glance at Neya.

"Wait until we can turn into a human form..."

Naturally, Neya had caught the look on the girls' faces and raised a brow slightly, letting Siu go and tilting her head.

“What are they saying?”

“Arya was telling me that she will want to do the same when she gets to turn into a human.” Siu blurted it out, and then he realized what he had done, trying to find a reason why. Damn! Maybe Neya's massage was so relaxing that it affected his mind, too?

“...” On the other hand, Neya was suddenly rooted in place, opening her mouth trying to say something, but, after a hurried gulp, what came out was a very weak answer. “…Maybe.”

"Huh?" Siu asked, not really hearing it as her voice was as low as a mosquito.

"Nothing!" She rolled her eyes, but there was no anger in it, stepping up beside him and leaning lightly against his side, pouting, mumbling something about still being the first. “So?” she asked, trying to change the topic. “What now? Training again?”

“No,” Siu shook his head immediately. “Elder Thane said to rest for today, and as a good disciple, I’m going to listen to him. I learned early to not go against the advice of those who know what they are doing.”

“Hmmm, I do think it is a good idea to adhere to that,” she nodded in full agreement.

“I’ll go check on the Wardens.” Siu continued, smiling to himself, "I am still the leader or something like that."

"It runs surprisingly well without much interference from us," Neya started, putting a finger to her chin, "Which is nice, because we only have to deal with requests, about disciples spending their points, and that sort of stuff... And Rinmei is really good at that; she alone can handle almost all of it."

"Speaking of her," Siu hummed, nodding his head, "She looks better nowadays, don't she?"

"It's the twins." Neya shrugged, suddenly going quiet again, her face blushing, "They pulled me aside and well... anyway, it was girls' talk, you don't need to bother about it!"

"O-okay." He nodded and didn’t push it, having a good idea what that was like, knowing the twins. He simply stretched once more, then, after a good breakfast, he headed towards the Wardens' tower, while Neya went to focus on her own training.

Looking around while taking a slow stroll, he had to admit, the sect felt… different. It wasn’t obvious at first glance, because most of the disciples still moved along the stone paths just like before, while groups of them still gathered here and there, and on the surface, nothing had changed. But that was the first sign that it was different. Looking closely enough, people weren’t watching each other like they were prey or competition that had to be squashed. They weren't even that paranoid about anyone approaching them, as if they had some underlying wish to exploit them.

They were just... talking... And most importantly, they were working together.

“This feels much better!” Arya exclaimed, catching on to his thoughts, making her Master nod in agreement.

They had passed a group heading toward the forest just then, a wholly mixed group, not one of their members coming from a single association. They were discussing trying to capture a beast and planning routes on a map, with a Warden amongst them. They didn't even notice that they walked past him, and Siu was happy about it, not wanting to be asked to come with them. Making sure he was out of sight, hastening his steps, he managed to run into two smaller groups that had sat around a table, going over what looked like gathered materials, splitting them out in the open, with only mild disagreement popping up now and then, mostly on the price and not about who gets what.

“Now this looks more like it,” He muttered, "We are in the same group after all."

It was always something he couldn't wrap his head around. Why were both back then, when he was a child, and until now here too, people so antagonistic to each other when they were in the same sect? He understood rivalry, like the one he had with Tian, and he could see the logic behind having competition amongst the disciples. But the type of animosity, like how Chalvert oppressed Varren? That... he couldn't reason to himself, no matter how much he tried to.

Yes, he knew why the Elders let it happen. Yes, he even warned Neya about it, that it was simply the way they prepared the disciples for how the world works... But he always had a thought that it could plant some really nasty traps along the way. People experiencing it, becoming Elders later on, with a stupid grudge festering in them for decades or centuries... What good does that bring?

"Is it really worth worrying about it, Master?" Arya asked suddenly, following his thoughts from start to finish.

"Yes and no," He answered after a brief pause, "Yes, because I am intending to become someone with a name inside the sect. No, because I am still far away from that position."

"I don't get it," Marly muttered, but Siu didn't explain it further.

When he reached the Spirit Wardens’ tower above, and behind the kitchens, he was happy to see the members moving in and out constantly through the open front door. They were carrying sorted goods in boxes, others were returning from the forest with new hauls to process, and some were sparring in small groups next to the tower. He even noticed Kira and Varren helping to train others, while suddenly a shout ran through everyone.

"BRING IT BACK! KAAAALEEEEEEV!"

"Huh?" Siu and everyone stopped at once, then he had to hold back a laugh as he saw Kalev's stoat, running away with a piece of meat in his mouth, sprinting at full speed, disappearing in the bushes while another Warden rushed after the speedy little beast. "Well," he quickly looked away, "Not our problem..."

“It very well will be... If they make a report about it. That little bastard just stole a well-preserved boar heart, worth about 10 or 12 Ember Crystals. Oh well... About time you showed up.”

"Ah," he didn’t need to think to know who it was, turning towards her. “Rinmei,” he greeted her with a friendly smile, noting that, indeed, she looked better now. She was standing near the entrance, arms crossed, looking back at him, her eyes moving up and down. Just the same as he was doing it. Whatever she did with the twins had a positive effect on her recovery.

"I told Kalev to start training his pet like you did with those two," she said, clicking her tongue and shaking her head. "If not, there will be issues, and the boy will be thrown into a massive debt!"

"Master, should we do something?" Arya asked, and for some reason, she sounded too eager to act as an enforcer.

"No." He shot back, "Best not to interfere until asked so. Would you listen to others butting into our business?"

"Of course not!"

"Exactly."

“It is rude to talk behind someone's back,” Rinmei said with a flat tone, making Siu smile.

“Sorry, but as you said, I do need to train them, or they will make more trouble than Kalev's friend could.”

“Point taken!” she shrugged, dropping the topic, “However, you’re still needed.”

“Am I? What happened?”

“Just come.”

He followed her inside at once, and the interior was just as busy as outside. A group of new members moved between tables, some reviewing notes they had taken from the inner board, others inspecting their equipment, or discussing upcoming runs they will do in the forest. A few of those new faces stood out to Siu as they looked a bit uncertain, watching the others and always gathering around members of the first wave.

“We grew,” he said, suddenly making Rinmei snort.

“Hah! ‘Grew’ is one way to put it. The best decision was to stop at eighty. One more and I would have quit. Organizing these many, dealing with their... things is a hassle, you know?”

"You don't look stressed out, though."

“You are lucky with me, that's why,” she added, and there was no anger in her voice; clearly, she was simply pulling his leg, feeling satisfied with her current position. “And lucky that the twins, despite how they act, are also professionals. No wonder they worked for years in the Mission Hall.”

"Noted." He said as they moved a few floors up, into the restricted floors, where the busy noise of the tower finally died down enough for a proper conversation. “So,” he said, leaning slightly against the table in the middle. “Fill me in! What happened?”

“We got an offer for a big one. Joint venture with multiple groups. And not a one-time-only request either: Ember Circle wants to organize periodic forest runs to shift from hunting beasts to capturing them and possibly selling them to disciples. And apparently, Spirit Wardens are the experts in that.”

"I can't always go." He said at once, making Rinmei nod.

"I know. I am not asking you to, but to keep that in mind. Your friend, Tian, had tamed his stag well by now. He rides it when going into the forest, and turns out everyone now wants a mount for themselves."

"You can mount us too!" Arya let out a roar of laughter, making Siu roll his eyes.

"Wouldn't you have to ride me?"

"I'm not judging, Master," Arya countered, as Siu was unable to top her up, losing against her mouth, "I'm a free thinker, Master! Everyone can ride anything!"

Immediately ignoring her, he turned back to Rinmei without a flinch, wanting to change the topic at once.

"I can't go into the forest, not with my current training schedule," He said firmly, "Elder Thane also forbade me from doing so. Be free to tell anyone if they ask for me."

"I see..." she muttered, crossing her arms. "How long will that last?"

"Until I master the form I'm studying. Or at least, bring it up to a foundational level. So... spring? Somewhere around there."

"Heavens..." She moaned, rubbing her face, making Siu raise a brow.

"That bad?"

"Bad?!" She chortled, looking at him through her fingers, "I never heard someone learn so fast... No! Don't even try telling me anything. Let's leave it at that. Instead, let me tell you some good news! Stone Ward’s done.”

“Huh…? What do you mean? They can't be down that bad!”

“Oh, they are! Worse than bad, in fact.” Rinmei explained, grinning from ear to ear. “They’re barely holding together at the moment. Their people keep leaving, and some of those just walk out and reform their old groups. All that gobbling up Bren did? It's coming to bite him in the ass!”

“Um, I can see that...”

“Yeah, so we now have a dozen or so new mining crews, small associations, all of those coming back, taking their names back, pulling in whoever’s left back as a reunion. More than that, many of them came to us for cooperation.”

"Did we accept?" Siu’s lips curved slightly, asking it, watching her nod with a sly smile, “I see. Then, I trust you that everything is in order.”

“Naturally. It's not even a fight anymore,” she added happily, “Stone Ward doesn’t have the numbers anymore, and for sure they don’t have the reputation, and without Bren… It is over.”

"Did anyone see him since he left?"

"Nope." Rinmei answered at once, shaking her head, "Golden Scroll is on a constant lookout, but... He went into the forest, and it swallowed him whole. Want to know my bet? He's dead. Suicide by beast or something similar."

"Somehow..." Siu muttered, rubbing his chin, looking towards the window, facing the edge of the forest, "I doubt that..."