The Heavens Shall Fall

“I still want to join,” Nokoh said after listening to the explanation and learning that members were expected to pay a monthly fee, right into the coffers of the Spirit Wardens. Yes, they were promised benefits, but at this early stage, they were only promises.

"Then I welcome you," Siu said with a smile, "And you can come with us. We are just in the middle of checking up on our future, permanent headquarters."

"Well then," Quillian rose from his chair with a groan and reached for his cane, “I am not spending an entire morning staring at buildings, so good luck with that. I have work to do.”

“We may need your opinion,” Siu said, but he just stared at him.

“What you need, my boy, is money. And don't look at me like that, it won't work."

"Senior, I look like this at all times," Siu answered, almost twitching an eyebrow, because he didn't even change his expression and wasn't about to ask for money either.

In the end, the group that left the Reed with Siu, who walked at the front next to Seloryn. Next came Arya, who once again held on to the side of his robe, while Marly rode on his head. Joren and Ruben walked on opposite sides of the two, while Nokoh and Cho’Wa came last. As for Vael, he stayed in the Reed, continuing his shift while Quillian indeed disappeared, heading back to the Red Leaf.

“We will visit the simplest option first." Seloryn said, checking the signs as they walked by, "It is close to here, so it should take only a few minutes to get there.”

“How many options will we check on?” Nokoh asked.

“Four.” Siu answered, then looked at Arya for a moment, "Well, three, as the fourth is still questionable if it is up for sale or not, but we ought to take a look."

Soon, they got to the first of their targets, which stood on a quiet side road only a short distance from the Public Road. It looked like a little home of a reasonably successful disciple. The building was only one story high, built from gray stone with dark wooden beams crossing its outer walls. Atop it, the home had a shallow, tiled roof that extended forward and leaned over a narrow porch. Two wide windows faced the street, now closed, and a small iron plaque beside the door marked the property as available for lease. It was smaller than most places, as there was no yard attached to it at all.

“Let's take a look,” she said as she walked up to the door, tapping on the plaque as the door opened for them.

Inside, the building was clean but completely empty, void of any furniture. The front door opened into the largest room, which occupied nearly half the floor space. It had scrubbed, white walls, wooden floorboards, and enough space for a long table, several shelves, and maybe a couch. Besides that, two smaller rooms could be accessed from it. One faced the opposing street with a narrow window. At the same time, the other had no window at all but featured a simple ventilation opening in the ceiling, suggesting it was likely designated as the kitchen area. Finally, at the rear, there was a tiny washroom and a storage closet.

“Smaller than Arya,” Marly spoke up first, making her yelp.

"Oi!" She flinched, "You are the small one!"

“It is affordable,” Seloryn cut in, ignoring them, "But... It doesn't really offer confidence, does it?"

“We are not a family moving into the countryside,” Ruben said, agreeing at once.

“We could be a family.” Joren argued, "Do we want a big organization or an elite one? We already have, well, three Paragons, so... That is enough to give us legitimacy over most other associations. And we aren't going to live our days here; we are disciples, constantly moving around, training, working, you name it. This is just to drop in and check what's going on with the group."

“Well..." Ruben muttered, rubbing his chin, "It could work as an office,” he said carefully, “The front room could be the meeting hall, the one rear space could hold... stuff. The other could be used as a private lounge. I guess.”

"It wouldn't be ideal for disciples with beasts," Nokoh said as he moved around, checking the windows. “Cho’Wa cannot stay inside comfortably, especially if there are more of us in, and there would be furniture around.”

“It is close to everything.” Joren offered as a last resort, and Seloryn agreed.

“That is its best feature, making it easy to find and easy to maintain because of its size.”

"We still have three more to go," Siu spoke up in the end, looking at the group. "Let's remember the points we all made, and we can come to a decision at the end of it all. Let's go."

The second property took a bit longer to reach, having them walk almost up to the Companions' compound before taking some detours to reach the old stable. The front building was larger than the first property by a proper margin, although, looking at it, it was still less attractive. Its white plaster had yellowed in several places, and the dark roof it had was sagging slightly at one corner. Walking up to it and opening the two wide double doors, they entered the central hall, while smaller side doors opened into what had probably once been offices or caretaker rooms.

It was simple, spacious, and, right behind the front-facing building, the main reason anyone would consider the property became clear: a broad, fenced yard. It was larger than the plot of land the main building occupied, and it was covered with short grass from end to end. Several old posts remained around the perimeter, along with empty feeding troughs and a stone water basin.

Cho’Wa walked through the open doors and into the yard at once. After a bit of sniffing around, the wolf trotted along the fence, continuing to sniff each post, before breaking into a slow run, testing his front leg. Seeing it run, Arya stared at him, ignoring the talking of the others, before her ears finally flicked back and ran after him.

“Arya!” Siu called.

“I am inspecting the place!” She shouted back, and Cho’Wa glanced back at her just then and immediately accelerated.

Arya’s eyes narrowed at the challenge, so she accelerated too, and even if it was a race... Four legs beat two; no matter how much Arya tried to catch up, it was just not enough. When the wolf reached back to the group, it simply turned and sat down, looking proud of itself, especially because Arya arrived a few seconds later, breathing hard. Seeing her state, Cho’Wa loudly huffed, only to be kicked dirt at by Arya, but he just moved his head aside, acting superior.

Naturally, the others ignored the two as they discussed their potential opportunities.

“This has more room, that's for sure.” Siu was saying, overlooking Ruben's grimacing face.

“And more smell,” he muttered.

"There are cleaning formations placed inside the building," Seloryn added after she checked the property plaque fixed beside the front office. “They are included in the lease, and it has a proper watering system too. It also says that the backyard's fence is reinforced, up to standards to keep beasts like Cinna inside.”

“We could remove the remaining stall walls and make this the main room.” Joren nodded, looking around inside, crossing his arms, “The loft could be storage or sleeping rooms."

"Before that, this needs a complete repainting or something," Ruben examined the plaster and kept grimacing, "How the hell did our mother do it in a place like this...?"

"Ask her." Joren snorted, staring daggers at his half-brother. "Or you don't dare?"

“This place would certainly advertise our identity,” Nokoh interjected, sensing the danger of the argument, wanting to change topics, "And probably make more disciples with beasts look at us as an option to join."

"Do we want that?" Ruben asked, now turning to him, making Nokoh shrug.

"The Hollow Song was built on beasts." He answered, "Our Founder used music to tame them, that's where the name comes from. His song was hollow until he found friends to play it for."

"I did not know that," Ruben replied, sounding surprisingly mild and interested, raising his brows.

“It would need repairs, though." Siu said as he walked back to the others, "Feels windy, so we would do well with heating for starters, especially if winter comes. And Ruben is right, the walls and roof need a makeover. So, that... has to be added to the final price.”

"We can calculate that later," Seloryn nodded with a shrug, and after nobody had anything else to say, they left, with Arya having a staring competition with Cho'Wa.

It was time to walk up towards one of the mountains and check on the empty land along the way. The cave was the most tucked-away one on their list, and the further they walked, the fewer buildings they saw around the route. In turn, though, the landscape also became much greener. As they walked, tall grass grew along the slopes, and trees began to lean over the path, their roots breaking through, creating cracks in the stone steps. They even saw multiple small streams running down from the higher cliffs and peaks, disappearing beneath bridges or into channels around them. Reaching a crossroad, even Seloryn had to stop and check the map several times to know where they were going.

“We should pass near Arya’s blank plot soon.” She spoke up one such time.

Sure enough, ten minutes later, they were standing right before the plot, which was a reasonable size, smaller than the stable and its paddock from before, but larger than the first house they visited. For now, though, it was just a flat stretch of grass between two rocky slopes, almost hidden from the road before it. A clear stream ran along one side, descending from the mountain before curving around the property and continuing toward the lower terraces, leaving the only available approach a narrow stone bridge crossing over it. It was wide enough for perhaps three people walking side by side, but the bridge had no rails, only waist-high posts at either end, the remnants of a previous arch... or something. Whatever was once here, nothing remained by now, no ruins or foundations, no mark of formations, just a flat, grassy land, covered in wildflowers, with one spindly-looking tree growing near the stream.

"Well," Seloryn looked at Arya and then pointed at the simple wooden sign that stood on the far side. "She was right."

Indeed, there was a weathered post with a barely legible mark that read 'for sale.'

"There's something under it." Siu spotted, walking closer, reading the fading text out loud, "For inquiry, visit the Nine Hanging Bells."

“Nice and quiet.” Joren arrived next to him, walking over the bridge and looking around. "Could be a good place to cultivate peacefully."

Cho’Wa crossed after Nokoh and immediately approached the stream as he lowered his head to drink. Apparently, the previous race with Arya did make him thirsty; he just didn't want to show.

“This one!” Arya exclaimed, not even looking at the wolf now, "I told you this would be perfect!"

“We have not inspected the cave yet,” Seloryn warned her, but Arya was already sure of her suggestion.

“This one!”

“It has no building,” Ruben continued, standing with Seloryn, "Erecting one... It could be more expensive than buying a completed one."

“We build it ourselves,” Arya said proudly, and suddenly, Marly also agreed.

"Like nesting!"

“With what money?” Siu also asked, and he was glad that only he could hear how Marly answered him, and nobody else could agree with her.

“Master’s future money.”

"Look," Siu closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, "Even if we can cut prices by buying the materials and building it ourselves... are any of us actual architects?"

"Don't look at me." Ruben raised his hands, "I am NOT going to do that kind of labor."

"We will need formations too..." Joren whispered, biting his lip, "Yeah... doing it all could ramp up prices..."

“You like it.” Arya exhaled, sounding a bit dejected, "I can sense it, all of you like it."

“Yes, but we have to be real about this," Seloryn shrugged, rubbing her head, "Also... This is strange. Land this flat should already be occupied, I wonder why it isn't.”

“Especially beside clean running water,” Joren and Ruben agreed at the same time.

“It's not only clean, there are no bitter mineral smells or anything toxic like that within it,” Nokoh also explained, "Cho'Wa says that the water is not only fine, but it's also refreshing."

"Water is supposed to be like that," Arya whispered, but as cultivators, they knew very well what Cho'Wa meant by that.

“It is still an empty plot with no price," Seloryn concluded, looking around the place one more time. "We should assume something is wrong with it.”

Siu couldn't help but agree. Either the property was so undesirable that nobody bothered to list it properly, or it was so valuable that the owner did not want to advertise the price.

"I'll go ask about it," Siu said in the end, starting to push Arya towards the bridge, "Better to prepare to be disappointed, Arya.”

“It will work out.” She said confidently as the group began leaving.

From there, the path they had to take became much steeper, cutting across exposed stone before reaching a broad dark opening in the side of the mountain. Unlike a natural cave mouth, this entrance had been shaped into an arch and reinforced with proper stonework. At the entrance, two worn pillars stood on either side, both still having the remains of an association emblem that had been deliberately chiseled away. However, the shape of the base triangle was still noticeable.

Once again, stepping inside, the first section of the cave was a broad reception chamber. It had a high ceiling, smooth walls, and several stone alcoves that could hold shelves, statues, or message boards. There were several attachment points marked where a central counter had once stood, and there had to be a lot of traffic here at once, as the floor had been polished flat, though dust covered everything now.

“Foxes are better than wolves!” Arya yelled suddenly, enjoying the loud echo that kept repeating her words, throwing a triumphant look at Cho'Wa, who didn't even turn his head towards her. "Tsk..."

"One was enough, got it?" Siu whispered, pulling on her as they walked onward towards the second section, accessible through a wide passage on the left.

It had clearly served as a training chamber once before, as the floor was reinforced with dark stone tiles, several of which were cracked from past impacts. Formation grooves covered the walls and ceiling, and a narrow observation platform overlooked the center for a referee.

“Old, but repairable.” Seloryn nodded at once, checking the now inactive formations.

“Could we use it immediately?” Siu asked.

“No.” Joren shook his head, "For sure, it needs a good amount of work."

"And money." Ruben nodded.

Walking back, taking another route, the third section stood deeper inside, beyond a pair of stone doors. Opening it, that area had been divided into smaller rooms, all of which were completely empty, numbering six in total.

“This was most likely some kind of lodging.” Seloryn offered, but Ruben just smiled, throwing a look at them with a wicked smile.

“Or cells.”

"So they were dismantled because nobody but the disciplinary branch can imprison others," Joren said with a flat voice, making Ruben's joke immediately fall apart.

“The stone would keep temperatures stable.” Nokoh muttered, running his fingers along the wall, "No matter the weather outside."

"Let's check the last corridor we saw," Siu said, and the fourth section was the most interesting.

It was after a narrow passage that descended into a round natural cavern where the stone ceiling opened into a vertical shaft. Far above, a small circle of daylight was shining down, reminding Siu of the cave he had in the outers' place, but simply larger. Here, water dripped along one wall into a shallow pool before draining through a channel carved into the floor. More than anything... the essence here felt thicker already.

“This was probably their meditation space.” Seloryn said with a flash running across her eyes, "The formation has been dismantled, but its effects, after maybe centuries of use, are still here... If we could rebuild it..."

“We need this.” Ruben said, looking up at the shaft towards the light, “This is the first property with actual cultivation value. That alone would be a kind of benefit any member would be glad to pay for.”

"Don't forget," Joren reminded him, "Repairing this... wouldn't be cheap either."

"Look," Seloryn spoke up, gathering the gazes of everyone present, "We can say the same thing of all our targets. For now, I say, we go back; everyone thinks about it for a day or two. Siu goes and checks the price of the flat, empty parcel, and I check its history. Then we will have another meeting and can decide on our next step. Good?"

There was nothing else to say after that, as they had their candidates... now it was all about choosing the right one.