Her steps sent ripples through the surface of the water, and metal ribbons cut through the air with a whispering hiss. Bai Meizhen's wrist barely moved as the ribbons of her weapon danced. The urumi was a difficult weapon to master, and an unusual choice even in the Bai clan. Originally brought to the Thousand Lakes by Bai Di Xia, who had returned from a sea voyage to the lands beyond the Red Garden with a ship full of treasure and a foreign husband in the time of the first dynasty, it had grown rather popular among the starstruck members of the Violet Caste for a time.
Bai Meizhen breathed out as the snapping ribbons traced an arcing wave through the waters and snapped back with a subtle adjustment of her grip and guiding qi. Of course, she had not known any of that obscure history when she selected the weapon. She knew only that her Aunt Suzhen preferred it.
It was a painful weapon to master. With the meager skill of a barely awakened child, she could not count the number of times which she had cut herself, had risked loss of eye and ear and finger to the hungry ribbons. Now, those metallic strands moved as an extension of her will.
If only it was possible to apply such mastery to all things. Her gaze fell upon the muddy shore of the tiny lake, and pain spiked deep in her heart. She… she did not know what she had been thinking. That night on the lakeside, she had sat beside Ling Qi, with both of them draped in little more than dripping shifts and every lesson on self control, every lesson on restraint and propriety had flown from her head. The unfamiliar feelings which had clouded her head defied all sense.
And then, when it was over, she had seen Ling Qi's eyes, and it had felt like a rivals fangs sinking into her heart. Incomprension, alarm,and fear; Ling Qi, who asked to be subjected to her clan arts as training, who had approached even as an untrained mortal, had never looked at her with eyes like that.
For a moment, Bai Meizhen found her breath unsteady, and the smooth ripples of her steps faltered, water churning into whitecapped froth beneath her feet. It wasn't fair, this wasn't how the story was meant to go. The fearless petitioner to the great serpent was not meant to pull away in disgust after all the trials had ended.
Her grip tightened on the handle of her urumi, and she crushed that childish thought without mercy. Her qi stilled, and the next step of the kata flowed once again with perfect grace. At first, she had told herself that it was not like that, that Ling Qi's Imperial upbringing had merely left her unprepared for… non-reproductive pairings, but she had not been able to hold onto that delusion for long.
Ling Qi did not look at her that way. Ling Qi would not look at her that way. And, though she did well to hide it, the fear that she had seen bloom in her eyes that night never really went away. All the little things which she had told herself were expressions of interest, or at least, not disinterest, had been mere illusions of the mind.
The corners of her eyes burned as she spun, her snow white gown billowing out, following the ripples of her steps. She understood that her feelings would not be reciprocated. She did.
So why did Ling Qi continue to approach her? Continue to treat her with such intimacy? It didn't make sense. Every time she had convinced herself that she could move on, could step away and return to normalcy, that cruel girl would reignite the foolish hope in her stupid heart.
It hurt her, but she could also see that it hurt Ling Qi, every time an awkward silence fell. She didn't understand.
Cai Renxiang had been a boon in the days immediately after. Cui had been spitting furious, and it was all she could do to restrain her sister from attacking Ling Qi physically, and Ling Qi herself… that problem was obvious.
Cai Renxiang had offered her an attentive and unjudging ear, and silence that did not ring with unspoken words. In time, she even began to find some pleasure in the idle needlework with which they occupied their time.
And, if in a moment of weakness she had reached for the girl's hand. The simple and matter of fact assurance that Cai Renxiang was not interested in such things hurt far less than Ling Qi's rejection. Even if the same idiot part of her that searched desperately for signs of Ling Qi's interest whispered that surely such interest could be aroused?
Bai Meizhen understood why so many cultivators excised such drives as they followed the Path.
Her thoughts were interrupted then as she felt an intrusion of another presence into her awareness. Not a foe or a threat, but an unremarkable second realm, running for the lake shore. Who would dare approach her training grounds in such a way? Bai Meizhen opened her eyes, ending her martial dance and turned to the shore.
The young man she had sensed sprinted from the treeline, skidding to the halt on the shore. He was not someone she recognized on sight, but her eyes fell upon the plain white armband he wore, and she did not lash out.
The disciple fell to his knees, bowing his head low. "Message from Lady Cai to Miss Bai," he announced hurriedly.
Bai Meizhen frowned marginally as she glided across the water and back to the shore. Unusual. It must be urgent if Cai Renxiang would interrupt her cultivation. "Speak," she said imperiouslly.
"Lady Cai requests Miss Bai's assistance," the messenger said without pause. "The rebel Princess Sun has gone on the offensive."
Bai Meizhen cocked an eyebrow as she reached the shore, already? She had expected more build up from that top heavy wretch. "Where?"
"She was last seen hunting council member Ling Qi on the upper mountain. Sir Fu assisted her escape, but danger re-"
The boys voice cut off with a strangled sound as a metal ribbon tore a gauge in the stones in front of his face. The waters of the shore rippled violently and the color seemed to fade from the world. Out in the lake bubbles rose as water churned, and fish floated to the surface belly up.
Bai Meizhen barely noticed the faint acrid scent of urine tingeing the air. Sun Liling. How dare she.
She vanished from the shore with little more than a rustle of cloth and the hiss of steel ribbons. On the shore, a messenger collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, his face reddened by shame.
