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

"It'll be interesting, definitely," Sixiang said. "How many you thinking of inviting?"

"It will depend on what I see at the summit. I should have a chance to talk to Wang Lian there," Ling Qi said, the wind whistling past her ears. The green and grey and white of the landscape rushed by, the tips of the highest growing pines swaying with her passing.

"Right, she's overseeing construction ain't she?"

Ling Qi hummed in agreement, the first part of deepening the connections she had made was more face to face meetings. She'd pick out a few from among the foundations, the ones offering the most sincere advice on operations. A little meeting, a little tour as they set up, accepting well wishes and showing good will.

A minor project, she could maybe even involve her family, meet them at the sect and then travel here?. Let Mother cut her teeth on guests less intimidating than comital scions. Plans and plans, so many things to do, so little time. And right now, she had another small task to see too, one more thing she could squeeze in before Hanyi arrived. One which thankfully, would allow her to treat her time as a little bendable.

"Dreams are useful like that eh?"

They were, Ling Qi supposed. She cut into a dive, soaring down like a bird of prey toward the scruffy little cliffside where her dream travels had begun, the crumbling shrine, mundane and quiet.

She landed without a sound, her gown billowing out in a phantom wind. "Hello Xuan Shi, I'm sorry if I was late."

"This one chose to arrive with the dawn," Xuan Shi said, tipping his head-and hat to her. He sat beside the overgrown temple pond, seemingly in contemplation of the waters. "The shell of the Nameless Mother is thin here."

"It's not a place for cultivation," LIng Qi said, moving to stand in the center, the groove where she had last installed the dreaming gate remained. A flick of her wrist replaced the old talisman. "The energy is not right for that, but it is a place of the moon nonetheless."

"All power does not exist to be consumed," Xuan Shi allowed, rising to his feet, the air shimmered and his staff shimmered into existence.

Ling Qi nodded absently. "Just give me a moment to wake up our last companion."

Zhengui had made her promise that the next time she went across in full, she'd take him with her, after last time. He'd been sleeping off a foraging session into the hills near the grotto when she found him this morning. She was kind enough to let him nap a little longer.

There did, however, have to be some consequences for sleepyheads.

With a not so gentle 'shove' Ling Qi pushed Zhengui out of his resting place in her dantian and he materialized several inches above the placid pond. There was a great splash and a hiss of steam as Zhengui, shrunken to the size of a large dog, hit the water. Twin cries of indignation erupted. Ling Qi stood at the edge of the pond with her arms crossed in satisfaction.

Xuan Shi slowly turned his head toward her.

"He asked for five more minutes. I granted that, and even a little extra. It's not my fault he didn't spend the time on the trip over rousing himself," Ling Qi said with a sniff.

"Biiiiiiig Sister," Gui complained, looking up at her as he climbed out. Zhen's scales flared, boiling away the water. "That was mean."

"It was pretty funny though," Ling Qi said, crouching down to pat his heads. "And you're awake now, right?"

He grumbled, but didn't disagree.

"This Xuan Shi greets you, and is glad for your company," her companion said finally, as if choosing to ignore the whole exchange.

Zhen looked up at him, tongue flicking out in a puff of steam. "I, Zhen, greet the… Carver. Let us both keep Big Sister safe."

"I'm not made of glass," Ling Qi huffed.

"But Big Sister does like to run her face into scary things," Gui said impudently.

She narrowed her eyes at the shrunken tortoise. He stared back with wide, guileless eyes.

Sixiang snickered in her head.

Xuan Shi shot her an unreadable look. "This one will keep that in mind. Now, what measures or rituals must be taken?"

At least someone wasn't a stick in the mud. She could tell that Xuan Shi was excited by this. That was a proper attitude in her opinion. To delve into the realms of thought and dream was dangerous, but, if you weren't going to dip your toes into danger, then you were not going to get very far in cultivation.

…Although after Madam Grey, she would be a little more cautious.

"The gate talisman will handle the heavy lifting of the transition. And I will take up the rest, for your part, just focus your mind on who you are, your own self. It's easy to lose track of that on the other side, and I can only help so much," Ling Qi explained, stepping up to the outside of the ring. Zhengui trundled up beside her.

Xuan Shi gave a small nod, wearing a thoughtful look on the narrow slice of his face she could see between collar and hat. "Intriguing. Very well, this one is prepared."

LIng Qi nodded. "Then step forward."

And they did.

The dreamside of the abandoned shrine was a disc of stone and gravel, floating silently in the dim air this time. The frameless door of the Gaol sat in the shadowed entrance of the crumbling main building, and the small golden Dreaming Way statue hovered overhead, casting off gentle, shimmering rays of light into the darkness around.

The trees which stretched infinitely above and below remained as they ever were, outlined by the faint golden light that shone from above, crackling with heavenly power. There were fires burning in the trees today though, distant and red, like glowing coals in the depths of the fireplace.

"Home, sweet home!" a high girlish voice joined them, and Ling Qi had to hide a frown as she glanced over at the figure of Kongyou, the nightmare spirit, leaning upon Xuan Shi's shoulder. They were slim and pale, their hair a mass of floaty white fluff about their neck and shoulders. Their glimmering black and faceted eyes looked back at her impishly, over a grin full of needlesharp teeth. "You really don't do things by half, do ya buddy?"

Xuan Shi took in a deep breath. "There can be no clarity without experience. This one would like to know thy home."

"Oh totally," Kongyou said, bemused. They turned toward Ling Qi and her spirits, and their smile grew wider, cracks forming in the pliable chitin that served as their skin, exposing far more teeth and rasping surfaces. "Heey guys! Don't look so mad. We're all friends here."
"The best," Sixiang said dryly. "Behave, yeah."

"Gui is not mad," her little brother said calmly.

"You're not?" Kongyou asked, crouching down. "I kinda tried to trick your sis into melting herself you know?"

"Gui thinks you should only be mad at people, not things," Gui chirped back. "And Bad Supper was not a person then."

"What?" The Nightmare asked, blinking.

"I, Zhen, think you heard us."

There was a bit of an awkward pause, before Kongyou let out a huff of laughter. "Cute Kid you got there."

"The cutest," Ling Qi said blandly, refusing the bait. She turned to Xuan Shi, who looked a tad exasperated. "So, Xuan Shi, do you know what you are looking to see?"

He tapped the butt of his staff on the ground, sending faint ripples through the stone and soil. The chime of the rings seemed much purer here. "South, the Snow and the Mountains, where the people of Cloud and Snow wander."

"You're sure?" Ling QI asked with a frown.

"This one knows your reasons, friend. And you spoke true, there is more to distant seas than water and currents," Xuan Shi said placidly. "Sights are better than tales."

"And we can meet plenty of my cousins thataway. Those mountains are a buffet!" Kongyou said, clapping their hands.

"I understand," Ling Qi sadi, tipping her head, she considered and turned her head to the left, a glittering bridge of ice beginning to form, extending off into the misty distance. "Let's walk then."

She shouldn't have been surprised. Xuan Shi was quite smart in many ways. They set out, Sixiang floating above her shoulder, and Kongyou spreading wide white moths wings, marked by a pattern of black tear drops. Zhengui trundled along behind them, his footsteps leaving hiss pools of water in the ice.

"You know, I never asked why you were even there, that first time," Ling Qi asked, glancing up at Kongyou. "You had some kind of contract with Bian Ya?"

"Well not me specifically, I was born a few minutes ago at that point," Kongyou said cheerfully, flying upside down overhead. "Buuuuut, dirty little secret yeah? Those naughty foxwives. Just cause they took on flesh, and chose your world back in the day, doesn't mean we're not still cousins."

Ling Qi frowned at that, considering Su Ling.

"Yeah I wasn't just trying to make her mad. Even if she is absolutely delicious," they giggled. "That's a girl that's gonna march off and die alone, her ideals drowned in blood."

"Much can be accomplished, even in death," Xuan Shi rumbled. "Take a step on the road of ideal, and if another steps past thy grave, there is still success."

"Yeah, the way you keep tryin ta explain death to me, that seems like a lie," Kongyou replied dubiously.

"There are lies that need to be believed in," Ling Qi said quietly.

"Not a sentiment one thinks to here from your lips," Xuan Shi said. Ahead, the golden sky twisted and roiled, stormclouds of crimson and black in the sky as the infinitely high trees fell away, replaced with vast mountains of rock that drifted, serene, even as ash and fire consumed their slopes.

"I've been forced to acknowledge the incompleteness of my understanding of art," Ling Qi said. "If nothing else, I would like you to accept my apology for dismissing the power of stories before."

Xuan Shi hummed to himself as thunder cracked overhead, and the rain began to fall, hot and black, full of ashes.

"Can you hear them sing," Kongyou sighed dreamily.

"I can hear them cry," Sixiang said quietly.

"Gui think we should move quick, to where it is cold. There aren't any good things here."

"There are not, but this one wonders if one can face the world without seeing its nightmares."

"Maybe not, but it does no good to drown in them either. I don't think it would be good, to enter in this storm," Ling Qi said. "I…think I can take us through, under maybe, but we can't linger long here."

"This crewman defers to the captain on matters of navigation," Xuan Shi said humorlessly.

Ling Qi considered the path ahead of them, to go high where mountain stone turned white with snow and great whirling winds cast everything in clear white, blotting out the rising ash and terrible sounds which drifted up on the smoke, but there was also a yawning mineshaft in the mountains flank, its supports carved of yellowed bone, its darkness so inky that even her eyes cannot penetrate it.

She can feel instinctively that the way south is barred, that this nightmare is both gate and key to the lands of ice.

[ ] Soar high, and and witness the Nightmare of War Unending (+1 Power XP, Explores theme violence with party.)
[ ] Walk low, and know the Nightmare of Final Conquest (+1 Ending XP, Explores themes of loss with party.)