Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)

Ling Qi grimaced in concentration as she wove through the storm the twisting, writhing ribbons of steel that sang through the air. Hungry strands of metal stained a deep toxic purple tore through the flickering shadow images left in her wake. With utmost care, she danced through the boiling pools that pitted the ground, bubbling not with heat, but toxicity as they devoured the earth and stone beneath her feet.

Only her masterful skill allowed her melody to be heard over the pounding roar of the venomous rain. Despite the rain, her mist hung stubbornly in the air, thick and dark, swirling in eddies kicked up by the roaring rain, the black phantasms within howled and circled her enemy, ready to descend at her mark. Her opponent rose high before her, staring down imperiously from the shadows of her liquid mantle, suspended three meters in the air on coils of black water. For an instant, Ling Qi faced her, flute raised, she glowed like a emerald beacon, the full suite of techniques from Thousand Rings Fortress enough to allow her to stand tall even under the toxic rain. Then Meizhen's right hand twitched, and ribbons of metal screamed as they caught and deflected Ling Qi's singing blade and flung it away.

In the same moment, Ling Qi bent low, allowing the silvery edge of Meizhen's domain weapon pass through the air above her with a muffled boom, carried on the leading edge of a fan of water that carved a meters deep cut into the wall of the arena behind her, and exploded into motion, soaring over the lake that churned beneath Meizhen, growing with every drop of rain that fell. Through her flute, she sang, and falling curtains of rain shattered as she flew through their newly solid forms. Meizhen's free hand rose in warding as her refrain reached its crescendo, and black water froze and shattered, leaving red ice burns across her friends palm.

Slashing ribbons carved through her verdant armor in response, but Ling Qi dissolved her form before they could touch flesh, passing through the binding coils like a shadow. Before she could strike again however, Meizhen's golden eyes flashed, and Ling Qi faltered, her concentration scattered as what felt like a titanic hammer of raw terror smashed into her, pralyzed for a fraction of a second, she failed to raise a defense as a tail of black water smashed into her chest and sent her flying backward to crater the packed dirt of the arena floor.

She grimaced as she stood, still feeling a little shaky as she shook off the pain of the metaphysical bludgeon Meizhen had smashed her over the head with.

"Better you than me, wasn't even aimed at me and I felt that," Sixiang muttered. "Remind me not to piss her off, yeah?"

Ling Qi chuckled as she raised her hands in surrender. There was no point in pushing further than this in a light spar and they were short on time regardless. "Let's call it here!" She called through the rain. Despite the black clouded sky and churning mist, she could still sense the qi of the sun above. It was getting late.

The specter of terror and abyssal water that loomed above her paused, and the lashing metal ribbons slowed their dance. "Hm, yes, it seems that we allowed ourselves to be carried away," Bai Meizhen's cool voice echoed strangely from under her mantle, but a moment later, the toxic rain began to clear and her watery coils began to dissolve, letting the pale girl drift slowly down.

Ling Qi cut off the flow of qi to her mist as well, and the training field began to clear, a wide circle of packed earth encircled by sturdy qi enhanced stone, pools of sizzling poison pitted the field and deep gauges and shattered stones marked the walls. "Really though," Ling Qi huffed. "Who gave you the idea to cultivate such an unfair art."

Meizhen gave her a bland look as she alighted on the surface of the largest pool, the one that formed beneath her. Her friend swiftly glided across the surface, and stepped soundlessly onto the muddy earth. "I could not imagine," she replied serenely. "An idle whim I suppose."

Ling Qi cracked a grin and laughed. "Seriously though, it seems like I really can't catch up, no matter what I do."

Bai Meizhen raised her eyebrow. "Ling Qi, fishing for praise does not become you. That you are keeping pace is absurd enough, given the resources that have been made available to me."

Ling Qi stretched her arms overhead, she was fine physically, but her whole spirit felt sore after that last hit. "Hah, sorry," she breathed out. "Should we head on to lady Cai's then?"

"I believe so," Meizhen replied gracefully picking her way through the ruined field. As she passed by, something caught Ling Qi's eye.

"Right, that reminds me, why'd you decide to change your hair?" Ling Qi asked curiously as she turned to follow her friend out. Meizhen's hair had always been very long, reaching down to her hips after the girls third realm breakthrough, but she had always worn it loose. Now, starting at her shoulders, the girls white locks were bound by a pale blue ribbon of silk. Hardly the most fanciful hairstyle she had seen, but it was a change all the same from her conservative friend.

Bai Meizhen glanced back at her as she caught up. "The ribbon was a gift, it seemed wasteful not to make use of it."

"Oh, something from your family?" Ling Qi said. She had noticed the faint white stitching picking out formations characters, so it was obviously a talisman.

The other girl paused, but it was so brief that Ling Qi barely noticed it. "No, it was from Bao Qingling, she wished to express gratitude for my collaboration with her projects."

"Ah, right that silk thing you were talking about," Ling Qi mused, out of the corner of her eye, she studied her friend. "What does it do?"

"It soaks in and compresses qi circulated within my poison meridians into a more potent form, by expending the refined qi, I am able to enhance certain techniques significantly," Bai Meizhen replied. "It is inferior to the family artifacts which she is attempting to replicate, but the effort is impressive all the same."

"I don't doubt it," Ling Qi said. "I'm a little surprised you got her talking to you in the first place though, how did that happen?"

Meizhen gave her a small frown, as they left the training field, even as she air shimmered under the cloak of qi that kept their conversation private. " I found her rather similar to you if I am to be honest. She is not unwilling to speak on technical topics, but she does not bother hiding her disinterest in less material subjects."

Ling Qi winced, not sure how she should take that. Was she really that bad?

"You're more subtle, and better at being nice about it," Sixiang chuckled.

"As the muse said," Bai Meizhen said, with a faint twinkle of amusement in her eyes.

"Yeah, go ahead and laugh it up. I'll be the life of the party before you know it," Ling Qi replied with an affronted sniff.

"How horrifying the prospect must be for you," Bai Meizhen replied blandly. Ling Qi poked her irritably in the side, and had her hand swatted away for her trouble.

Ling Qi grumbled good naturedly as they made their way up the mountain toward Cai Renxiang's current residence. However, she wasn't done. "So are you going to keep finding reasons to meet with her?"

Her friend's graceful stride paused almost imperceptibly again. "If time allows I suppose. I believe we find each others company agreeable. Why do you ask?"

Ling Qi paused, trying to choose her words carefully. "I know you pretty well, I think, and I'm glad you're making more friends. I guess…" she trailed off, not sure how to say it. Initial incident aside, she had not really handled Meizhen's interest well last year. "I'm just not sure what you're looking for I suppose."

"I do not precisely know myself," Meizhen answered lowly. "It is not exactly a subject on which I can seek help."

"Nothing in the vaunted Bai archives addressing matters of the heart?" Ling Qi joked awkwardly, feeling a little sorry that she had pushed the conversation in this direction.

"Hmph, you joke, but the answers are not pleasing," Bai Meizhen grumbled. "Looking back on childhood memories with further context, I am quite sure that the most common answer is to make use of ones Xiao clan companion."

Ling Qi did her best to keep a blank expression. Things were now veering wildly out of her comfort zone. Why had she done this again?

"Because you're a hopeless busybody when it comes to your friends?" Sixiang answered wryly.

"Not what you're looking for I take it," she finally replied.

"Xiao Fen's devotion is admirable, but absolutely not," Meizhen answered. "I… do not know what I want, but it is not that."

"I'm sorry that I can't help," Ling Qi said, looking down. "So Bao Qingling? Why her?"

"We share a certain interest in the less medicinal branches of alchemy, and I find her acerbic nature somewhat endearing, and well…" Meizhen trailed off awkwardly, glancing at Ling Qi.

Right, well apparently tall and gangly was a type someone could have, Ling Qi thought wryly. "Well, I wish you good luck, that's for sure." She just really hoped Meizhen didn't get hurt again. Still, it struck her then that Bai Meizhen was swiftly becoming better at dealing with such feelings than she was. She wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"Thank you, though I think one has to know the outcome they desire, before one can know whether a turn of fortune is good or bad," Bai Meizhen replied dryly. "But we are almost here, so perhaps this conversation is best set aside for now."

"Yes," Ling Qi agreed, perhaps a little too quickly. Soon, they arrived on Renxiang's doorstep, and the door swung open on its own as they arrived. Heading inside, they followed the beacon that was the third girl's qi toward her study. Inside, Ling Qi found her liege seated, not at her desk, as was usual, but in the more comfortable chair on the other side of the room. She was putting aside a rather thin volume bound in blue leather.

"Welcome," Cai Renxiang said evenly, lowering her head slightly toward Meizhen. " My apologies for my inattention."

"It is no trouble," Meizhen replied graciously. "Though I am surprised."

"Even I may become briefly distracted when immersed in a favorite," Cai Renxiang replied mildly. "I completed my cultivation some ten minutes ahead of schedule, so it seemed an opportune moment to revisit it."

Ling Qi slid into the room behind Meizhen, offering a silent bow to her liege before they made their way out to the sitting room where three chairs were arranged in a circle, beside each chair was an end table stocked with embroidery supplies. Ling Qi eyed the needles tentatively,she had not had cause to touch anything of the sort in a long time. With both her best friend and her liege, she wanted to try immersing herself in their interests more, and this was probably the best point to start.

On the other hand, she found herself a little curious. She would have expected Cai Renxiang's favorite book to be a gigantic tome of law or something. Well, she supposed it might be better to let the other two girls guide the conversation, she was the newcomer here after all.

[] Take the lead in conversation, ask Cai Renxiang what she was reading. You are trying to be more outgoing. What could go wrong with asking about her literary interests?
[] Focus on your needlework and watch your friend and liege, you've never actually seen much of their interactions, and you aren't sure you want to blunder into another difficult conversation.