"I think I'll bet… Six of my contribution points. That should be enough to show that I'm serious, right?" Ling Qi mused.
"It should be sufficient," Cai Renxiang agreed. "Did you have any further concerns as to your challenge?"
"No," Ling Qi replied.
"Very well," the other girl replied crisply. She flicked her wrist, and a folded envelope appeared in her hand. "Take this before you leave then. The auction for your item was completed. There is a formation seal on the receipt holding your stones."
Ling Qi blinked as she took the envelope, only for her eyes to widen at the sum shown on the paper within. "..This much?" she asked faintly.
"I do have a connection or two, even under Mothers restrictions," Cai Renxiang pointed out dryly. "Spend wisely, wealth is no excuse for waste."
Ling Qi nodded, hurriedly tucking the envelope into her sleeve. "Thank you very much Lady Cai."
"You may leave then. I should like to have our spar one hour earlier tomorrow. A meeting has come up in the normal time," the other girl said turning her eyes back to the scrolls.
Ling Qi nodded again, only to pause as she moved to stand. There was one more thing, but… she wasn't sure about mentioning it. She hadn't spoken to Cai renxiang about the dream yet. Unsurprisingly, her moment of hesitation was caught by the other girl, who glanced up. "Speak, if you are troubled."
"...If my gown uh… ate part of a spirit, is that normal?" Ling Qi asked tentatively.
Cai Renxiang looked up, putting the scroll in her hands down with a thump as she scrutinized Ling Qi. "If the spirit were attempting to tamper with it's weaving, then yes," she replied bluntly. "What manner of arrogant creature did you encounter that it would ignore the warnings woven into the fabric?"
Ling Qi thought of the King and his disregard, as well as what had come after. "...One I won't miss," she grunted. "I just wanted to make sure nothing was wrong."
Cai Renxiang shook her head. "Your luck is strange. In any case, though your gown is apprentice work, the thread of Liming has given it the same protection Mother gives to her personal works. It is unwise to tamper with them."
"I'll keep that in mind," Ling Qi said lightly, brushing her hands over the silk of her gown… She wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that. "Let me actually take my leave then, my Lady," she said with one more bow.
The next day, Ling Qi found herself traveling up one of the many winding paths that connected the cliffside dwellings of the Inner Sect Disciples. She had already delivered the notice of challenge to the Sect offices for processing, but it was generally polite to go and speak to the person you were challenging. Not doing so was a deliberate snub, which wasn't her intention at all. Sp with some small time open in her schedule, she found herself going off to pay a visit to Disciple Eight Hundred and Twelve
As she made her way up the steep winding path toward Yu Nuan's abode, she caught the sound of music floating down from above. Though the notes were deep in tone, Ling Qi recognized the sort of aimless playing that was not any particular piece, but a simple expression of feeling. She lowered her head as the notes thrummed in her bones. There was anger, passion and spite aplenty woven into the sound, but the base of it was something more like determination or rather defiance. Unfocused as it was, it presented no theme or image in her thoughts, but she could recognize the skill behind it.
She was the better musician, Ling Qi thought, but the gap was not that large. As she thought that Ling Qi crested the top of the path and caught her first sight of the other girl. Yu Nuan stood with her back to the path, looking out over the cliffs edge. She was tall and dusky skinned, like Ling Qi herself, though not quite as much so. She wore boyish clothes, loose, baggy pants of heavy black cloth, tucked into sturdy boots, and a similarly loose shirt of dark purple silk that billowed on her lanky frame.
Her hair drew Ling Qi's eye, it was cut short, barely reaching her ears, and retained the natural curling that Ling Qi had tamed out of her own locks early last year. "What's up then?" She was shaken out of her thoughts by Yu Nuan's gruff voice. Ling Qi met the girls green eyes as Yu Nuan looked back over her shoulder. Ling Qi paused a moment, to stare at the jade studs piercing the girls lower lip and right eyebrow.
Ling Qi offered a perfunctory bow, which prompted the other girl to turn around and somewhat irritably return it. Ling Qi spotted a flash and a whiff of smoke as the lute Yu Nuan had cradled in her arms vanished. A polite pleasantry was on the tip of her tongue, but she met the girls eyes again as they straightened up, and it died. "I am Ling Qi, I wanted to let you know that I am challenging you for your rank."
"Yu Nuan," she greeted curtly narrowing her eyes. " What's your ante?"
"Six Contribution Points," Ling Qi replied neutrally, folding her arms below her chest. "I hope that Senior Sect Sister will accept."
"Quit that," the girl shot her an irritated look. "I saw that tournament, don't Senior Sect Sister me."
Ling Qi huffed, but relaxed her posture. "Yu Nuan, will you accept my challenge?"
"Obviously," the girl replied, warm wind stirring around her. Ling Qi heard, or rather felt, the faint stirring of notes, discordant and heavy. She was sure that the girl across from her could here the faint sound of Ling Qi's own soul. "You'd probably beat me in a fight, but that's not the kind of challenge your expecting, is it?"
"You're not wrong," Ling Qi replied quietly. "I haven't really compared myself to a peer in music, since I started cultivating."
The other girl let out an inelegant snort and shook her head. "I'm glad I'm not a year younger. Still, there's one thing I gotta ask."
"I may not mind answering," Ling Qi replied neutrally.
"Why'd you sign up with the Cai?" Yu Nuan asked bluntly. "Just hitching your ride to the best horse?"
Ling Qi felt a twinge of irritation at the question. "Would there be anything wrong with that?" She replied neutrally. "...Cai Renxiang is a good liege to serve, though. I agree with her intentions." She wasn't sure how well it would turn out in practice but… she'd gotten a look at the ugliness of the old ways. She couldn't imagine Cai Renxiang ordering something like that.
...She couldn't say the same about her mother though.
The other girl pursed her lips, giving Ling Qi a scrutinizing look. "...Thanks for being honest," Yu Nuan let out a short laugh.
"My turn," Ling Qi replied irritably, giving the girl a mild glare, a cool breeze blew, and the sound of a distant flute was audible, even to Ling Qi's ears. "What's your problem with the Cai, you another one like Chu Song?"
"Nah, the Big Cai crushed that lot on purpose," her opponent replied, squaring her own shoulders as a ripple of heat rose from her skin, warding off the chill. "Me and mine, just incidental. You can rage against the machine, but if it bothers to notice, you'll just get crushed."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ling Qi asked studying the other girl. Her words didn't match the feelings she had gotten from the girls aimless playing.
"I think I answered in as much detail as you did. Junior Sis," Yu Nuan replied sardonically.
"...That's fair," Ling Qi admitted grudgingly.
"S'fine. One way or another, we'll understand each other by the end. That's what the music is about, isn't it?" Yu Nuan replied with a dismissive wave. She turned back to face the cliff as she finished speaking.
Ling Qi stared at her back for a second. She could take it as rude if she liked… but she wasn't sure she did. "I'll look forward to it," she said softly, letting her feet lift off from the grass. She still had a lot of cultivation to do, as always.
Later that day, she found a neatly printed page slipped under her door when she emerged from the meditation room to quench her thirst. The challenge had been decided. It would be a contest of composition. They would each compose a new piece over the next three days, and then present it to the Elder overseeing the challenge. After presenting in turn, they would then vie directly against one another, to see whose message was the stronger.
Ling Qi let out a breath as she set the notice aside. She had three days to prepare, she should…
[] Spend that time with Zeqing, who else could offer her the greatest insight?
[] Sixiang was her muse and her friend. Ling Qi was tired of being ignored. She would get Sixiang's attention and help.
[] She could use a more human perspective. Even if her friends and family were not musically talented, they could give her feedback and advice.
