Chapter 151: Ch-151: Ours
Morning broke slow in the orchard, light catching on the dew-beaded branches, turning them to strands of glass.
The Scouts stirred at their usual rhythm — Ji Luan checking the perimeter, Little Mei coaxing the fire to life, Drowsy already circling above in a slow, lazy arc. It could have been any other day. That was the trick of it.
Tian Shen rose with the sun, as always, yet something in him resisted the movement. He lingered by the low wall they had built for drying fruit, fingers resting on the warm stone, gaze traveling the length of the trees.
They had worked so hard to make this place more than a camp — a haven — and now, in the air, he felt the faintest pull of an ending.
Feng Yin noticed. She always did.
"You’re watching it like a man watching the tide go out," she said, voice gentle as she joined him.
"Maybe I am," Tian Shen replied. "Or maybe I’m just trying to remember the shape of it before we’re somewhere else."
She followed his gaze over the rows. The orchard had changed them, each in their own way. The constant labor had made Ji Luan’s movements less restless, more rooted. Little Mei had stopped counting days.
Even Drowsy seemed calmer, her wings less quick to tense. And for Tian Shen himself... he’d found a rhythm that did not come from battle or orders.
They spent the morning as they always did: tending, training, cooking. But even those motions felt like they were being memorized.
...
By midday, Tian Shen took the Scouts into the western clearing for drills. They worked in pairs — silent hand signals, flanking movements, the quick recovery from a fall. It wasn’t the most intense training, but every gesture was deliberate. When they finished, he had them form a loose circle.