Heavenly Shae

Chapter 14: "Act Casual."

It took four days for the situation to change, and it wasn't quite what Shae expected.

She was outside during mid afternoon, cleaning up after eating. There was a gust of wind and loud thump between the campfire and the entrance to the indoor sect area. She looked up to see a cloud of dust and grass. A strict looking woman strode out of the dust in pristine Honorable Dragon's Entreaty sect robes, not a hair out of place.

"You, Mortal? What are you doing here?"

Shae inclined her head in respect. "Honorable Elder, I am Miss Shae, here by invitation of Elder Ghon Fixiu."

"Oh?" She said skeptically. "For how long?"

"Four days ago my presence was no longer needed, Elder. Just before this happened." She gestured to the area around the campfire. It wasn't a complete mess anymore, the damage from the tribulation being almost a month old. The bruise in reality was still there, however. Shae could still sense it sometimes, and about twice a day she saw small shards of mirror the old monster had missed. They glinted in the grass when the light caught them a certain way. If she watched they would slowly flake away and would shatter into nothing if she got close.

She glanced around with unspecific interest, either not caring or not seeing the bruise. Shae thought the latter. "Yet, I see you are still here? Did the Elder succeed?"

"You can't tell?" Shae confronted her.

"Watch your tongue, mortal." A hint of pressure weighed down on Shae, it probably would have been debilitating if she had been mortal. Maybe even at her current stage without the tempering.

Shae sized the woman up more closely. She looked older than Shae's own mother, and appeared healthier which was enough to hide a few decades. Certainly she was quite pretty, so long as you liked stern and pale librarian types. Her sect robes were probably a fashionable cut, but Shae could not tell beyond them fitting better than the old monster's had. The robes were mostly a clean white, with delicate red and blue dragons embroidered along the outside of the sleeves and disappearing across the back of her shoulders.

The woman had several patches over her heart like military medals, one of which depicted a stylized yin & yang symbol. The distinctive white and black swirl was widely associated with medicine, like a red cross was on earth. She had several small pouches at her side, one of which also held the symbol, suggesting it was a first aid kit. Because she was a cultivator, it might also store emergency pills. Hers was large enough that it could store copious medical supplies.

Shae decided the woman could probably help the old monster. Then she frowned at her rebuke, which also looked like frowning at being pressured. "Elder Ghon is inside recovering, or making a show of it. He was injured four days ago when he shattered his Dao, presumably ruining his cultivation base, but to what extent I have no idea. Can I assume you are able to help him, Elder?"

This caused the older woman to flinch, just a little, and move a hand to her first aid kit. "His Dao? Did he tell you this? How could you know?"

"He did not need to say it. I was here for it and it was quite obvious, Elder." Shae stated flatly.

"Hmmm, still, I cannot take the word of a... are you mortal?"

"Completed tempering, Elder." Shae shrugged, keeping the details brief, she didn't want to spend hours explaining, which might be needed if she was too open with information.

"Ah, that would do it." The elder dropped the qi pressure she had been maintaining, her point seemingly made. "So, what did you do then? Something stupid to get him to save you from a spirit beast? He is always saving mortals, wouldn't surprise me terribly if he cracked his core over it."

Shae was somewhat offended by this but held her tongue well enough. "If you think I could get that stubborn old monster to do anything, then I'd say you've never met him. Elder."

This earned her a smirk from the older woman. "True enough. Well, if you're tempered then you can handle the way down fine." She looked down the mountain. "I'll check on ol' Ghon. Which way are you headed?"

She pointed in the general direction of the sect's mountains. "At least to Minlin City."

"Vague. Could you run a message for me?"

"To the village? Didn't you just come from there? How was the harvest festival, if you don't mind, Elder?"

"I did." She said, then eyed Shae suspiciously. "We missed the festival, delayed because of the tribulation news. I didn't mind it actually, festivals can be a bit... trashy. The message would be ready after I check on him." She gestured behind her.

Shae inhaled sharply, considering. "Well I would have liked to leave right away, now that you are here. Would it take long? Elder."

"You would rush medicine? It takes as long as it takes."

"And you would want it delivered quickly, I assume? Would there be any compensation involved? Elder?"

The older woman squinted at her further, "The sect always rewards timely delivery of a message, letter, or other parcel, at the sect itself."

"All the way to the sect, then? More expensive than the city for sure." Shae was enjoying teasing the woman. It helped that she didn't really want to courier another letter, especially one with much more time sensitive information.

"Do you have more information about the tribulation that occurred?" The woman changed subjects, trying to ruin her fun, maybe?

"The one from a month ago? Hmmm, would you believe me if I told you, Elder?"

"Would I believe a rude near-mortal I met by happenstance on a mountainside? About a tribulation? No, probably not." She was a little angry, but was clearly also trying to bully Shae a bit.

"Rude? And this from the magnanimous elder who hasn't even introduced herself." The extra sarcasm was probably a mistake.

That really caught the older woman off guard. She stared for half a breath then scoffed angrily. "Petulant child. You are on sect property, I've no need for formalities."

At that the qi pressure slammed down hard. Shae nearly blacked out. She wavered on her feet. Her experience of arguments with the old monster spurring sudden tempering was the only thing allowing her to hold on. She wanted to gasp in surprise but her body was locked up, only leaving her the willpower to manage her balance.

After a few stilted breaths, she recognized some of the qi, it was the mountain's pressure as well. The sect elder had opened the formation to increase the pressure. Ah! the formation! Shae realized it could be considered sect property.

The realization or some understanding must have shown on her face because the elder lifted some of the pressure. "I'm surprised you're still standing, he must have trained you well, foolishly, but still."

Shae knew what she had to do, Ghon had instructed her on formal apologies after all. She bowed deeply then dropped to a knee when she couldn't rise from the bow. "My apologies Elder. I failed to consider the whole formation area. Elder Ghon only drew the line at the door inside."

"Bah! That old fool was always too loose with strictures." She paused to see if Shae would react, but she did not. "At least you learned some respect. How long will it take you to leave the area."

"Minutes if you wish me gone now. An hour if given it, though I can delay slightly longer if you wish me to courier to the village, Elder." She remained kneeling, with head bowed. Part of a proper apology was often some gift, favor, or backing down from negotiations.

"Hmmm, ah hour should be plenty, but don't wait for me. I can send a qi message in any case."

Shae remained silent in case there was more. When the remaining qi pressure vanished, she looked up reflexively to see that the sect elder was gone. She got up and began her prep to leave.

Her travel pack had stayed packed after her first investigation of it, and she had little to add to it. She had been trying to smoke rabbit meat for the journey, to little success. They did not have enough salt for a proper cure, so very dry and gamey rabbit meat was all she got. She wasn't even sure how long it would last.

She had another egg left from the hen, and considered simply eating it raw right then, instead of trying to pack it away safely. She prepped it with salt and copperfur leaf instead, like she would whenever the fire was out. She would still eat it raw before she left, not wanting to waste her time or dirty more kitchenware.

Mostly ready to go, she planned her route out. She only had a few options for ways to leave the clearing. She had checked most of the snares in the morning, but could check a few more on her way out, maybe get lucky. There were berry bushes and herbs on her path out as well. She stretched while she planned, working through a quicker version of her village's Tao Yan to warm up her muscles.

Being mid afternoon, she had just eaten lunch, so consuming more food and then as much water as she could was a very uncomfortable process. Still, it was much easier to carry it in her belly than her pack, especially since the small waterskin she had was very lacking. It was nearly the only item remaining since she left home almost a year ago.

She considered just sprinting away, she had been practicing runs through the forest the last two days, getting used to her body without going so far as to get lost. However, if the Elder returned or checked on her with divine sense, she didn't want to be seen as running away.

All of the closer bushes and herbs were well picked over. So, she passed by them quickly and reached those that were further, the ones that she rarely checked. An ember cherry bush held a reasonable bounty. A dozen cherries and some spurned flowers that had wilted without being pollinated. The flowers were the source of the spicy flavor, angry at being ignored by insects and birds, Elder Ghon had said. The cherries were small but flavorful, juicy and sweet. She thought both might sell well in the village if she could keep them that long.

Her next find was a cousin to the blister root. Unlike its cousin, this carrot-like root grew larger and was completely edible, though its flavor led it to be called bitter root. As it reached maturity it sweetened, which just meant that it was destroyed by the local rabbits as soon as it was sweet enough for their willpower or hunger to get them through the meal. She found these that way, a small field of white almost-carrots that had been slowly eaten away by the wildlife. She began digging them up with a dull knife, her only other possession from leaving home. It had served her well, but having access to the well stocked kitchen-workbench here meant she hadn't needed to keep it sharp. She should have sharpened it, she realized.

A few long minutes of digging left her hands dirty and a small pile of half eaten bitter root at her side, one standing out among the group for being particularly misshapen and gnarled, its top only showing a single bite from the rabbits. She began cutting the chewed ends off the roots. She could have eaten them, she was sure, but the memory of decades of picky eating had left her with firm habits. The knife was woefully bad at this task, too dull to function meaningfully. She looked back then, considering if she should go sharpen it.

She was shocked to see the sect elder stalking towards her, already within a dozen paces. She stood quickly and cleaned some of the dirt off her hands. "Elder!" She inclined her head and half bowed to the woman.

"Little Fairy Shae." The elder greeted. Shae winced at the name, and the elder smirked. "He said you wouldn't like that."

Shae just nodded in agreement. Since they were still on sect lands, silence was the game.

She withdrew a letter with a silver ring-shaped coin tied to it. "The letter, to be delivered to the village, my fellow sect Cultivator Bai should accept it. And pay you for expedience if you make it there quickly." She withdrew it quickly just as Shae reached for it. "Clean those hands more first." The woman grimaced at her.

She wiped them more furiously on the edge of her travel robes, not the best way, but fast.

"Ugh, not like that." The woman stopped her. "Hands out."

Shae hesitated but did as asked. The Elder casually waved a hand over them and Shae winced in pain. A sudden sharp scouring feeling, like having her hands thwacked by a coarse cloth and the dirt was gone in that instant, only a small puff of dust left behind. She pulled her hands back and flexed them but the pain quickly disappeared, only a slight redness on her left hand to remind her.

When the Elder did hand over the letter, Shae saw her glancing at her hands. "What happened there?" She pointed between them.

"Ah, just a bit of poorly controlled cleansing, Elder." She tried to keep it brief.

"Already at cleansing? You feel too weak for that. Ah, but poorly controlled, as you said." She squinted at Shae, who could only nod slightly at the assertion. "Still, that shouldn't... Ah-ha! The tribulation! So you were there?" She accused.

The young girl tried to look innocent. "Yes, Elder."

"Mhm, so you did interfere, causing Ghon to protect you... No, the timeline doesn't fit, he would have been injured then, not a month later." She squinted at the younger girl, leaning in to inspect her closer. "Just who are you? And what is going on in there?" She pointed at Shae's midsection.

Having felt the wave of qi brush through her, she suspected the Elder used some kind of sensing skill, and found the same hollowness that Elder Ghon had. Feeling nervous from the attention, she rambled. "I am Zhi Chen-Ai, Elder. Though I prefer Miss Shae. Or Elder Ghon's title, Heavenly Shae."

"Heavenly?" She questioned indignantly. "You are too plain for heavenly. You must have done something- Ah, the tribulation again. So it was yours?" Shae nodded slightly. "Of course, that's the only way he would give you such a title. How did it occur?"

The younger girl squirmed slightly under her scrutinizing gaze. "Ah- Apologies, Elder, could we speak casually, instead."

The Elder gave her another scrutinizing stare. "Alright, fine, but mind. your. tone. I am not your equal, girl."

"Thank you." Shae relaxed immediately. Noticed she still held the letter and began to put it in her pack. "Well, I am not sure what to say. If Elder Ghon did not fully explain it, it might not be my place to say how it happened."

"He said almost the same thing, talking in circles perhaps. Probably thinks it is your story to tell, then."

Shae shrugged. "Ah, that makes sense, yes. The Elder and I were having a discussion... and well, I had a realization, I think it was kind of an enlightenment or tribulation scenario."

The older woman tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at that. "I don't think that is a common outcome for enlightenments. Powerful conversation, then, what about?"

"Ah, well..." Shae hesitated as she had just before. "I think that is why the Elder didn't wish to speak of it. He said it was a topic, 'not traditionally discussed'." She pitched her voice low in imitation of the old monster.

The other woman snorted a laugh. "Ha! Can't imagine what he'd say that to. You really won't say?"

"Um, I'd rather not. Not without asking Elder Ghon first, it really is a personal matter."

Shae watched the older woman's eyes shift up and to the side, imagining what it could be. Then she thought she saw a slight blush, and realized where the woman's thoughts might be. "Ah, no-no! Nothing intimate, never that!"

The elder came back to the present and shook her head. "I would never suggest such a thing!" She teased, but her tone also said she wouldn't tolerate Shae teasing back.

Out of embarrassment, Shae started fumbling with the bitter root again.

"What do you have there?" The woman asked. "Ah!" She perked up, and plucked the strangely knobby root out of the pile. "An aged ginseng. Young, but still twenty, maybe thirty years old. Good find." She withdrew a small brush and dusted off the dirt stuck to it. When she noticed the bite mark, she frowned, ah the pests have gotten at it. She withdrew a knife and carefully shaved off the least amount possible to remove the mark.

Shae stood there gawking, taken aback at the woman taking her find.

When she noticed, she only shrugged. "It is on sect grounds, it belongs to the sect."

Shae's mouth snapped shut at the mention of sect grounds, her argument dying instantly. Her shoulders sagging at the disappointment, that could really have earned her some coin for the trip.

Seeing this, the older woman softened a fraction. "You are sectless, yes?" Shae nodded. "Planning on joining ours?"

Shae nodded to that too, adding. "It seemed a reasonable option, I was planning on asking about its reputation, though some of that worry has been lost since I read the sect history book Elder Ghon has, even out of date as it is."

The older lady almost winced, "Yes, I imagine his book collection could use... well, burning and replacement, likely. Still, you could probably get in on tempering alone, or into other sects instead." She seemed to be thinking so Shae didn't interrupt. She looked down at the ginseng again. "Well, a finders fee is appropriate, it should be sect comp. but you're not in yet." She took the knife out again and carefully carved off a long thin branch-root from the larger whole. "Here you are, use it well, perfect for cleansing stage."

"Uh, thank you?" She said with a hint of a question. "How do I?"

"Ah, I suppose you might not know. Just eat it mostly, but there are better ways." She looked to where Shae had been working and found her knife. The woman moved fast, grabbing the knife and then plucking the ginseng out of Shae's hand in under a second. She paused in the act of shaving a bit off it, scoffing. "Ack! What is this? Have you never used a whetstone?"

"I have, but I forgot, the knives here are far better. So it wasn't worth the effort. And I- uh just now realized I had forgotten." She gestured to the pile of slightly mangled roots at her feet.

The Elder shook her head in disbelief then rolled her eyes while speaking. "Right, well, this won't do. Seriously, you will damage the ginseng and make it worthless." She frowned, shrugged, and then pulled something else out of her satchel where her own knife came from. She held the small sharpening stone and after inspecting Shae's dull knife, carefully drew it across the stone, being very specific about the angle and touching only the corner of the stone. She inspected it again afterwards, blowing imaginary dust off it. "There, good as... a few years ago." She handed the blade and ginseng back to the girl.

Examining the knife, Shae was surprised. "Ah! It looks sharp again!?" The older woman nodded with pride. "So, I just slice some off?" She pointed at the ginseng with the knife.

"Ah, right, I forgot to demonstrate. Well, you can try it. Shave just a thin slice off the cut end, as thin as you can."

Shae did so, careful to keep the slice on the side of her knife to show it off after. The woman just shrugged and pointed at her mouth. Shae ate it, chewing slowly to see if she could sense anything different. "It's, um, earthy? Bit blander than I expected."

The woman snorted a laugh, covering her own mouth with the back of a hand. "You were expecting something spectacular, weren't you?" She watched the girl's embarrassment for a moment longer. "Thinner still, and keep it under your tongue while you cleanse yourself with qi. It's a young plant, so you won't notice much. One slice a day, someone at the sect could do more with it, if you can make it last that long. Even what is left over probably wouldn't be worth the time. If you skip cultivation for a day, eat a piece anyway, it's just good for health."

"Ah, well, thank you for your guidance, Elder." Shae bowed again.

The woman waved off the bow. "It's fine." She looked down at the pile of blister root, then pointed at them. "These I can ignore, never liked the things, but please stop scavenging from the sect." She watched Shae test her knife on the bitter root. The girl then started quickly lopping off the damaged ends and storing them.

The older woman looked down the mountain. Then after a few breaths spoke again. "There was a small group of spirit beasts in that direction." She pointed down the mountain, a bit to the right of the village's direction. "You'll likely run into them on your way down the mountain unless you sweep wide to the left."

"Ah, thank you so much for the warning!" She exclaimed, standing and looking for where the Elder was pointing.

"Not a problem, I am invested in seeing my message arrive." She turned to leave, walking away as she talked. "Ah, and if Cultivator Bai asks, I am Elder Ngoc. Safe travels, Miss Shae."