The Heavens Shall Fall

The first snow of winter had arrived only two nights ago, which was a nice change from all the rain. It was, at least in Siu's opinion, especially after being thrown around in the mud for so long. Snow was... much softer and fluffier than the ground. Well, at least until it was fresh, because when it became compacted from being constantly hammered into it... It was as hard as rock. Oh well, at least it was much easier to dry a wet cloth than to get the mud out of his robes every day. Those were the thoughts swirling in Siu's head as a sharp crack echoed across one of the training grounds, while his body twisted mid-air, his spine bending at an angle that would have crippled him if he tried to do it a few months ago. Finally, he managed to twist himself out of Elder Thane's grip, dodging another throw as his foot touched the ground for a fraction of a second, allowing him to push himself out of harm's way.

“Again!” Elder Thane said, while Siu was already doing just that, preparing for the follow-up strike, his hot breath fogging the air between them, as he pushed his body to its limits.

By now, switching between the form's two modes was coming much more easily than before. Apparently, after the constant breaking, his bones seemed to become more elastic, and his blood rushed through him faster, too. More importantly, he felt it flow smoothly, allowing his attacks to gather power more quickly and move faster than the speed of sound.

If used correctly, that is.

To achieve it, he had to go still, flex his muscles and body, treating himself like a spring; otherwise, it wouldn't work. Even then, the two of them finally worked it out that Siu's body, at his current strength, could produce about two, at maximum three such attacks, before his bones would crack again. Using it in that state guaranteed broken bones; the question was, where? Because it could mean certain death in an actual fight. As for their training, just now, this was his second attack, and he could already feel how his joints spiked with pain under the strain, and how his muscles were close to snapping. Worse, he could feel how his attack would lose all its explosive power if his body gave out just then.

Of course, Elder Thane was patient enough to allow him to gather his attack, even if it only took a second or so. When Siu's body released the tension, his fingers shot toward Elder Thane’s throat, making him furrow his brows, because this was now becoming way too frequent. He was about to teach Siu a lesson about repeated attacks, raising his fingers to stop it once again, when he smiled.

"Smart..." Elder Thane whispered, suddenly seeing through Siu's attack, masked by the Fox's deception, something he wasn't aware the boy was capable of pulling off with the Snake yet.

Thane's mind had already locked onto the true trajectory of the fang-like fingers, aiming to pluck his eyes out. Shifting his blocking hand, he was close to touching his wrist, but then a secondary snap echoed out, the Elder's eyes flashing brightly.

"...?!"

Elder Thane's surprise was genuine because apparently the boy before him managed to retrain part of the energy coursing through him, releasing it in a delayed burst, accelerating his attack at the last moment even further. Although his two fingers were caught, his wrist held by Thane's own in mid-strike... Siu's fingers were only a hair's width away from his left eyeball.

"Impressive..." He muttered, exhaling, looking through Siu's fingers into his gaze, watching him grin proudly.

"Thank you, Elder." He said, relaxing his fingers, and Thane just nodded, doing the same, watching him step backward and start shaking his hands around, noticing the tremble in them.

“When did you manage to start merging the Snake into the others?”

"Just now," Siu exhaled, letting his body relax as the tension drained from his limbs, missing the sudden twitch in Thane's eyes. "I had a sudden idea, thought to try it out and... well, it worked, but I think I cracked my shins, using them to withhold part of the force... Ugh." Indeed, glancing at him, his legs trembled the most, barely supporting him as he stood.

“You’re improving faster than I expected, yet I already adjusted my expectations,” Thane said, watching him closely, shaking his head. “We will pause it for now. Tsk! The fact that you managed to pull this off... Haaah, I will need to readjust your training. Give me a few days to come up with the next phase.”

“Thank you, Elder,” Siu said, bowing again, looking up at him with a questioning gaze, "Don't you need to train other outers, though?"

"Why worry about my schedule, boy?" He asked back with a snort. “Don’t get comfortable, because I will work you to death anyway. Be happy, your bath this time will be a short and cheap one."

"I wouldn't dare to take it easy, Elder." He said with honesty because he was simply afraid that the private attention he was getting would look bad on Elder Thane's side. How many outer disciples were trained by an elder? Beside him, he couldn't pinpoint any. As for inner disciples? Naturally, he was unsure of that.

“You’ve reinforced your bones well," Thane hummed, ignoring his look, "Your flexibility is catching up faster than I expected. Did you do something else that I'm unaware of, or are you just a freak of nature?"

"Maybe both?" Siu nodded once, thinking, "I usually get a full massage after every healing bath."

"Oh? By whom?"

"My girlfriend." He answered simply, tilting his head, "Why?"

"She has a natural touch then," Thane said, his lips curling into a knowing smile, “No wonder you are recovering faster, hm, hm. Don't stop now! Make her continue. Enjoy being young and vigorous.”

"Err..."

"What? You broke up already? Shy? Be a man!" He said, raising a brow, making Siu shake his head.

"No, of course not, we didn't break up or anything like that, but she is not in the Sect at the moment. She went with others into the forest; she needs to train herself, too, Elder Thane. I can't hog her for my own advancement all the time; she has to get stronger, too."

“That's true... and the right mindset.” He nodded, reaching out and patting his shoulder, "Better than most disciples have at your age, hah! Haaah..."

"Elder?" Siu asked, seeing him exhale so long, curious about the issue.

"Nothing, I was just suddenly nostalgic. Those were truly good years... Even if I did do some stupid things."

"Um..."

"Go," he stepped back, preparing to leave, "Come to me two days later, then, we will continue with the next phase."

This time, he asked nothing more, simply cupping his hands, bowing, and leaving.

The cave was warm when he returned from the baths, waking Arya up, who yawned when he came in.

“Master…” she muttered, smacking her lips, prompting a white coat of fur already, "How late is it...?"

"You mean early? It's past breakfast time." He chuckled, as both she and Marly were much more sleepy when winter came, even though neither of them was a bear.

"Can't help... it..." She murmured through a yawn, lying back down, snuggling with Marly, who was on her back, legs spread apart, snoring without a care in the world, "Sleepy..."

"You know what?" he took off his clothes and lay down next to them. "A good sleep sounds nice right now."

"Isn't... it?" She asked between two more yawns, snuggling up against his chest as they all fell asleep in the middle of the day.

But... instead of having a good sleep, Siu's dreams were a mix of flashing lights and emotions that he couldn't identify, making his heart race. When he woke, his eyes opened quickly, and he could tell his heart was actually pounding in his chest. What the... What was going on? Touching it, he couldn't comprehend why it was happening. Did he overextert himself with today's training? Was his heart developing something that would cripple him? No... That couldn't be, not with taking those medicinal baths. Or... Maybe? Should he see an Elder about it?

"Master...?" Arya’s voice slipped into his mind, also waking up, and even Marly was stirring by now.

“Yeah?” he asked out loud.

“Um… you feel it too?”

"Huh...?" That made him pause. Was this feeling... coming from their shared link? Why? Did she or Marly have a nightmare?

"Um... What... who...?" Marly muttered, also waking, smacking her lips, barely awake, "My tummy... is weird..."

"Is this feeling coming from one of you?" He asked, still touching his chest, and could tell that his heart rate wasn't slowing down at all.

“No...” Arya muttered, starting to sniff at him, "It is coming from you, Master. What happened?"

“It’s weird…” Marly added, now also sniffing Siu's body, "It IS coming from you, Master..."

“Yeah,” Arya exhaled, now a hundred percent sure of it. “Something’s off! Master, can you focus on it?”

"Focus... on it?" Siu frowned slightly, pushing himself up onto his elbows, slowly sitting up, "Is this some kind of warning?"

"What else could it be?" Arya asked, being completely awake, her mismatched eyes gleaming in the dark as she began pacing around the room, trying to get to the bottom of it. "This is the sense of danger, Master..."

"Yes..." Marly agreed, getting alert, "It for sure is! Uuuuu... I hadn't felt this since following you, Master!"

"The sense of... danger?" He muttered, but... that required a good amount of essence.

Was it... really that? He knew that cultivators who had proper access to controlling essence had sharper senses, too. It wasn't proper premonition, though, but a kind of danger-sense. A tingling feeling, but if it was this kind of tingle in the heart, it never meant good. Not to mention, why would he feel it now? In his home? That didn't make sense, even if he managed to develop something like that at his current level. No matter... It was already happening, so what he had to do was to find out why it was happening.

Closing his eyes, he began meditating and did his best to reach out to his senses and find the reason he was feeling it. Nothing... No matter if he thought about the cave, himself, the sect, Stone Ward, or even Bren, everything felt… normal. And yet, his chest still felt tight.

“Hm… I don’t—” he started, then stopped, his eyes suddenly snapping wide open, because the moment he thought of the forest, his heart gave a leap, and the sense of danger doubled at once. "The forest?" He asked himself loudly, "What's up with... Oh no! Neya!”

"We need to go, Master!" Arya said at once, but Siu tried to find a logical reason first.

“But… they’ve only been gone a day,” He inhaled and exhaled, starting up his breathing technique, “That’s nothing. I shouldn't be worried, and she left with a pretty big group, including Ember Circle members.”

Yet, as he said that, he had already stood up, gathering his clothes, because the unease didn’t fade, even if he was trying to explain it to himself. If anything… it became worse.

"Master..." Arya hopped before him, looking up at him, "Trust it. We know this better than any of you." She said while locking gazes with him, and he had never seen her this serious before.

“I know,” he muttered, because his Old Man once said the same... that a cultivator's senses and instincts sometimes are sharper than any logical thought could be.

With no more delay, he dressed up and stepped outside, realizing it was already late, dark, and colder than ever. None of it was a good sign, making him shiver, but not because the wind found a way under his robes.

"I can't just rush in," He said, reining in his thoughts and feelings, because rushing headfirst into trouble would not help anyone. "I don't even know where they went... Okay. First stop: Our tower." He said, hurrying his steps, almost slipping on the ice, making him take another deep breath, and slapping his face. Calmness... That was what he needed now.

Whatever was happening, he had to be focused. Only then can he help. That was the best he could do now, and even if Elder Thane said to avoid going into the forest between trainings... at least he wasn't as broken today as usual. The risk was... acceptable. And he would dare to wager even more if it were about Neya.