The Heavens Shall Fall

The snow had started to fall by the time Siu reached the Wardens' tower. He rushed along the path leading up to it, and when he arrived, his robes were wet up to his ankles as fresh snow began accumulating really fast, covering everything. Doors were shut, and for a moment, he was afraid he had forgotten his spare keys, coming in such a hurry.

“Empty…” Siu muttered, patting himself down.

“Marly!” Arya said as an order from atop his head, her tail whipping towards her.

"Yes!" She saluted, and to Siu's surprise, the little squirrel scrunched up her mouth and then... spat, directly into his hand.

"..."

"Key retrieved!" Marly saluted, making Arya nod, and although Siu wanted to question what was going on, there were more important matters at hand.

Using the slipper key to open the entrance, he pushed it open, coming in, hoping that maybe others were still here or up on the other floors... He had to look for where Neya and the rest of her group went. But, naturally, the lower floor was deserted; the tables stood alone, with a few scattered notes left behind, none of which were any help, as they weren't related to her mission at all.

“Let’s go up,” he said with a shrug, and the climb was quick, taking the flight of steps two and three times at once.

Somehow, every floor was empty, which made him shrug, because other times this damned tower was so busy nobody could have a conversation unless shouting. Yet when he needed them, they were all away?! Really?! That was when she heard a faint laugh coming from the top floor, which meant someone was still here. Maybe the twins? Rinmei? Hopefully, the latter; she ought to know exactly where Neya had gone in the forest.

What he didn't think about was that maybe it was the twins... with a guest.

“Well, well~!” Milli’s voice rang out just as Siu pushed the door open. She was stretching lazily as she turned her head, wearing... well, nothing. “Look who decided to visit at this hour—”

"Hm?" Nilli stopped, her naked torso leaning over from the other side of the sofa, looking at him, starting to grin, "Siu! Perfect timing! We need a boy to complete the night. Don't worry, Neya won't find out about it; it will be our dirty little secret!"

"Mhmhmh?!" came a third voice, also very much feminine, as Siu noticed a struggling pair of feet under them... Apparently, the twins were sitting on both ends of... someone.

"Nyauh!" Nilli giggled as the voice tried to speak, "That's nice, don't stop talking!"

"Come, come!" Milli said, standing up, not even covering any part of her shiny, hairless body, her eyes almost glowing in the dimly lit room. "It will be fun, promise!"

"..."

"..."

Even Arya and Marly were speechless, but only for a moment, before Arya suddenly came out of her trance-like state, watching Milli's body.

"Master, I would very much like to see you dominate these... vixens, because it would be super fun, but we are in a rush! Maybe after? If we saved Neya, she should give us a reward... then you can... spear them!"

"We have a situation!" Siu spoke up after hearing her voice, getting a hold of himself and pushing down all his feelings, because it seemed that, since experiencing its joy with Neya, they were more effective against him... Considering his body's reaction... That was simply the truth. If not for the sense of danger still ringing bells in his mind, he may not have been able to say no to Milli's invitation.

"Oh?" Milli stopped, sensing the urgency in his voice, and finally, Nilli too stood up, being perfectly identical to her twin... everywhere.

"Clothes!" Rinmei's voice yelled out, revealing that she was the one under the two, scrambling to sit up, looking for anything to cover herself with, "Clothes, for heaven's sake!"

"Oh come on," the twins shrugged, crossing their arms, "We came out naked, plus, he is not a virgin anymore. Let him compare some differences! Maybe he will like what he sees. I like Neya, but she looks like the vanilla type. Does she shave it or go all natural?"

"He said something happened!" Rinmei complained, finding a blanket, wrapping herself in it, fixing her hair, and wiping her mouth and face. "What's going on?!"

“I need information,” Siu said, doing his best to ignore the situation, looking at Rinmei, hoping to convey his sense of danger and urgency, "I need to know where Neya went!"

The twins exchanged a glance and then looked back at him, furrowing their brows, coming up to both sides of him, watching him and then his beasts.

“Alright,” Milli said, her tone completely different now. “Talk.” Nilli added, before both of them asked in tandem, "What is it you feel?"

"Feel?" Rinmei asked, surprised.

"I..." Siu took a deep breath, which was a bad idea because he could smell their sweet, overflowing scent as they were interrupted right in the middle of everything. “I woke with a bad feeling.”

“About what?” Rinmei asked, not as sharp as the twins, but still looking at him, taking it just as seriously.

“Neya.”

“Are you sure?” Nilli asked quietly.

“I have a bad feeling,” Siu repeated, his voice steady by now. “About her. I searched for it and confirmed it myself. It's her.”

“And you’re sure it’s not just you worrying?” Rinmei pressed on, wanting to make sure, but then again, Siu shook his head.

“We know that look.” Nilli leaned forward slightly, her gaze sharp. “And we know that kind of feeling when one of us is in trouble.” Milli explained, “We have something similar,” She said, while Nilli began tapping her temple lightly. “When something’s wrong with one of us, the other knows. It's not like a telepathic connection others or your beast have with you, it's instinctual. I also can tell if she is hurting or enjoying something, because I get the same tingle.”

"But you are not at the Blood Resonance... yet... Are you?" Rinmei asked, her mouth falling open as she looked at Siu.

"No, he isn't," Milli answered before Siu could, "This is about dual cultivation. Heh! The two of them are super compatible, it turns out, to already establish such a link."

"Virgin-on-virgin action! Oh, the boons!" Nilli joked, but seeing that Siu wasn't in the mood, she just shrugged, turning towards Rinmei, "Let's see where they went. You have the logs, no?"

“Ye-yeah,” Rinmei nodded, holding the blanket around her and moving toward the bookcase in the back, pulling out a rolled map, notes, and slips. “I took extra care to note it, as she is a core member after all.” She spread it open quickly, weighing down the corners with nearby objects she could find, one of them being their garments.

“Start from the beginning,” Siu said, looking up at her. “Who went exactly, and what was the objective?”

“It was a joint group, I have the names here somewhere..." Rinmei began, looking through the notes, "Wardens and Ember Circle in a three to six split... Um... They went to capture mounts.”

“Mounts…?” Nilli muttered, scanning the map. “Then it’s not a random hunt, and for sure they knew where they would find beasts that can be used for that.”

“I bet that's Ember Circle information,” Milli added, stepping beside the table, leaning over it. “They’ve been targeting specific beasts lately, and they aren't keen on sharing their spots.”

“Sadly, she is right,” Rinmei grimaced because she also had nothing. “Since Tian had tamed his stag well enough, he has been riding it when going into the forest. I think they are switching from hunting to capturing... What Lorean told us is that they want to set up a whole pen! They want to sell beasts to the disciples who can't capture one by themselves."

"That's... huh. That's smart." Siu nodded, biting his lips, "So they didn't tell us where they would go?"

“I only know what I paid Lorean for, because we didn't interrogate them. We are allies, after all." Rinmei added, showing that she was still a good organizer, going the extra mile even if behind Ember Circle's back, "What I know is that they went to hunt something similar to a stag, but not A stag. What the info told us was that whatever they aim for migrates from the eastern edge towards the western in winter, every week, foraging for food.” Rinmei continued, tracing a line across the map. “Which is too big an area for us to cover, so it will be hard to track, especially with fresh snow covering all the pathways and footprints...”

“Then we ask an Ember Circle member,” Milli said.

“Tian,” Siu nodded at once, "I'm going to see him now!"

“Do that,” the girls moved too, now taking it just as seriously as if the sect was under attack. “We’re coming with you,” Nilli said immediately, and by then Milli was already dressing up, throwing her sister's clothes at her.

"You—" Siu began, but the twins continued, interrupting him.

“Of course we are,” Milli added, already dressed and now moving to grab her coat. “You’re not running off alone in this mood; you need some level-headed side-voice, keeping you on your two feet. We will provide that! When the prince is going to save his princess, he shouldn't rush into the dragon's mouth!"

Siu didn’t object anymore and caught as Rinmei looked at them for a moment, then nodded when their eyes met.

“I’ll stay,” she said. “I’ll wake a few people, get a response group ready, and gather whatever information I can from the others. We can also sweep the forest, follow your trail, and join up with you after.”

“Thanks,” Siu said, already heading towards the door.

“If you head out,” she continued, her tone firm, “don’t go too deep without backup. I mean it! Wait for us! Many of the beasts may be sleeping now, but they are more dangerous when woken up in the middle of winter!”

“I’ll try... No promises.” Siu answered, disappearing, leaving the frowning Rinmei behind before she began running, too, springing into action.

...

....

.....

The snowfall had picked up even more by the time they had arrived at Tian's place, coming down in clump-like flakes. At least they made the ice on the stones less slippery, while the twins kept their pace up with him easily, but for a change, neither of them spoke or joked around.

“Left side,” Nilli muttered at one point, pointing past a narrow path veering away from the main trail.

“How do you know where he lives?” Siu asked, already turning.

"We are working in the Mission Hall," Milli smiled, "We know a lot, I would wager, only Golden Scroll knows more.

He didn't ask more, because they reached Tian’s dwelling by then. It wasn’t far from the edge of the sect’s outer ring. Similarly to his own home, it was carved into a slope where the mountain began to rise more steeply. By the time they reached it, the entrance was half-covered in snow, hiding it even better than his entrance was, so he first kicked most of it out of the way and began knocking on the rock as hard as he could.

And he didn't stop at one or two; he kept pounding it until it finally rumbled, beginning to fold on the left side.

“If this isn’t important,” Tian's gruff, sleepy voice muttered from within, “I’m going to throw you out myself... After tearing your fucking arms off! Do you have any idea what time it—” But then Tian’s words stopped because he saw his expression, standing there. Furrowing his brows, he looked at the twins, and then, all his anger and sleepiness was gone. “What happened?”

“I need information.” Siu began quickly, "I need to know where Neya had gone with your people."

"Neya?" Tian asked, furrowing his brows, moving his eyes, already thinking, “…which group? When did she leave? We have multiple in the forest right now.” The moment Siu began giving more details, he raised a hand to stop him. “Okay, I know which one! They are good guys, great trackers, too, so they shouldn't be in that much of a danger...”

"..." But as he said that, for some reason, Siu’s chest tightened. “Where?”

“Does the Spiked Warth Ridge tell you anything?” Tian asked and watched them look back at him blankly. “Second line, from the Quad Humps and... Ah, forget it! Our names differ from those on all maps for safety reasons. It's best if I take you there!” By then, he stepped back from the entrance, pulling on his boots and grabbing his thicker robes. “They would camp near the Broken Sled,” he added. “There, they would be sheltered from the wind, in the night, and it's well hidden.”

"How far...?" Siu asked, watching him come out, closing his door, and leading them away from the cave.

"Far." He snorted, shaking his head, "On foot, in this weather, you would have to travel until dawn to get there. I have a better method, though."

He moved past the caves, heading toward a nearby overhang, whistling with two fingers in his mouth. A moment later, a low, rumbling snort answered his call, and his stag came clamoring up to him, his antlers weirdly shiny, even in the dark. It stamped once, recognizing Tian instantly, then his eyes moved towards the others, and then he tilted his head questioningly. He still remembered them... and it was hard to tell what he thought of the group. However, Siu could tell it was afraid to look into Arya's eyes.

"Tian..." Siu muttered, noticing something else too... There was a glint on its antlers. He had seen that before... He hurriedly checked its fur, but it was still brown, but... BUT, slowly fading... into white? Most of it all, it wasn't shivering in the cold.

“Up,” Tian said, already climbing up, ignoring Siu's words and observation, just giving him a knowing smile, "Girls, you can sit behind Siu! Snuggle up, Spike is still growing, so there won't be much room for the four of us."

Siu didn’t question it; he just stepped forward, placing a hand against the beast’s side, feeling the... cold beneath its thick fur before pulling himself up. The twins followed without hesitation, settling behind him with surprising ease, yelping out.

“Damn! This one is cold, my kitty is freezing!” Milli muttered, already holding onto Siu's waist, leaning against his back, and soon, Milli's hand also reached forward, doing the same... but instead of listening to Tian, she sat in front of Siu, facing him, holding him from the front.

"What are you doing?" Tian asked, looking behind him with a grimace.

"Your pet is cold, he is hot," the twins answered. "We aren't looking to catch something! The last thing we need is our precious snuggleboxes to freeze over!"

“Don’t get used to it,” Tian shot back, grunting, searching for Siu's pets, but Arya and Marly were faster, already hanging off the stag's antlers.

"We will make sure to sniff and scout!" Arya reported while Siu translated it at once.

“Okay...! Well? Hold on,” Tian exhaled, patting his mount's neck, and the stag shot out like a meteor, its hooves striking the snow, splashing it everywhere. Where a human would have struggled, it cut through it all with ease... it was clear that the beast was loving the winter.

"Say..." Siu said after a minute or so, lost in the darkness of the forest, yet Tian was navigating his beast as if it were a clear day.

"Yes." Tian answered, knowing what he was going to ask, "It is still not there, but soon." muttering, he shot a look at him from over his shoulder, "Can't have you snag up all the special ones... Can I?"

"No," Siu smiled, ignoring the twins who kept holding him tighter than ever and sniffing around, apparently, letting themselves relax... or trying to make him relax, and, he had to say, it was working. "Can't wait to see it transform completely, just make sure it doesn't flip the contract on you."

"Don't worry," Tian chuckled, patting the stag's neck again, "Believe it or not, he is a loyal one. Now, stay put! Let me navigate... The forest is so much different in the dark than in the day. I need to keep watch to find my way. Warn me if your pets pick up anything!"

"Will do," Siu nodded, scanning the dark forest as the trees whizzed past them, "And thanks."

"Hmph," He snorted, "It seems like you keep owing me favors. Tsk, tsk tsk... I will have to think up something nice for this one, too!"

Siu didn't answer this time; he just smiled, focusing on Arya and Marly, who kept holding onto the antlers that illuminated their surroundings in a soft, blue haze, carrying the group deeper into the forest.