“And you say that they just… all clumped here and have been walking in circles around the compound?”

If her gaze could barely hold her incredulity, the mere fact that she had been brought in for a scouting report just outside her walls held her attention.

“It is odd, Elder. None of the scouts, old or new, have ever seen the yaks move like this. It is like they are being herded or something. Junior Disciple Jung, his family used to tend to yaks, but , well he can tell it.”

Hu nodded to the disciple. The glint in his eye was infectious and Jessica found herself a bit calmer when he began to speak.

“Elder, in all my times as a youth we did husband these animals, but they don’t rut around or act odd unless it’s the summer mating season.”

Jung lifted his arms to the war room around himself, as if to show off that they were still ensconced in a heated room. The winter hadn’t lifted yet, but she’d been told it wouldn’t be long.

“To make matters worse, their coats tell this one that they’ve come from part north of here.”

Jessica tented her hands, willing one of the scouts to take the lead and give an analysis. She could draw her own conclusions, but it was grating that she would have to keep pushing her cultivators to think for themselves. Maybe that was why Fa Za didn’t come out as often as he should have. He was taking the sequestered master thing very seriously, and Jessica wondered often if he was more hands on in his own Sect.

Taking the hint, Jung held up his own Yak fur coat. The long white hair was one of the many colorful ways that the students differentiated themselves. Though their robes were white and their belts had different colors, each yak fur was unique.

“The far majority of the herd outside has a white fur like this, with a minority of them black and brown like,” he said, indicating an auntie near the door with a split black and brown fur coat. The auntie stood to display the coat trying to accentuate her curves, cat walking in between the assembled leaders of the school.

“So your analysis of the problem is that these yaks have come here, and they have come a long way?”

“We see them come, and we see them go, but none so fast as these. They’re slow. Something else has been going on and there’s got to be something that has upset these yak. Another thing the Elder might not know is that Yak will not eat grain. They will only go where there is grass. There are patches of grass around the compound now, more than before, but many of these beasts look haggard.”

Jessica released her hands from the prayer pose she had them in. Jun nodded to her as if he was waiting for more encouragement or perhaps more questions, but she didn’t have the time to dive into Yak minutiae at the moment.

“Scout leader Hu, what eats Yak? Or should I ask who eats Yak?”

Hu paused to smooth his oh so tiny moustache.

“Honestly, everything around here that is carnivorous eats Yak. Everything that is larger than a yak, that is.”

“Well that certainly narrows it down a bit, then.”

The laughter from the aunties unnerved Hu, who was normally the most composed member of her leadership. Pressing his hands together in a form of ritual acknowledgement that he had lost the point he nodded.

“If this one may,” Jung said, once again standing, “The Yak are not the problem. Whatever caused the Yak to move here is the problem, if what the Elder is trying to get across is correct.”

“Good. Now, the question that I need you to answer is what, or perhaps who?”

Jung looked ready to go attack the problem. That he apparently wanted to hit it with a rock or something might require some work, but Jessica saw his shoulders high.

“Does the elder want us to go and gather information?”

“Yes. Observe, and give me the best information possible. Take as many as you can, and if you are able to take some of the new second realm cultivators with you, do so. Keep them safe, but make sure that they understand this is a volunteer only mission.”

“Understood. Will there be anything else?” Hu bowed, his flexibility still shocking Jessica.

“We’re counting on you.”

Hu turned on a dime and the scouts in the room followed his exit.

***

Jung followed a fair bit behind the two spear cultivators, Ki No and Ah Le. Ki No had possession of the demon spear as he scouted ahead, then he would pass it to Ah Le and she would take point.

So it was that the most dangerous of the scouts would be at the front of their small formation.

Most of the scouts ran behind the pair.

The spear siblings leapt, almost coming to a fly as their lightweight frames made each jump light as a feather.

They were following along a trail of the Yak hooves, one that made Jung worry more and more. He was already running as fast as he could, expending qi almost as fast as he gathered it. So it was with trepidation that when the scouts stopped, hours later that he was able to gather enough cold aura to feel fully replenished.

By then the scenery had changed substantially and they were closer to the northern mountain range than he had ever been. Their sheer size dwarfed him, and despite it actually feeling cold for once, he smiled. He smiled at their magnificence, their will to touch the skies against heaven's mandate, to just exist in defiance of all odds.

With the group assembled, Hu brought them all in to compare notes. They had fanned out the whole time looking for clues and when none of them pointed anything out of the ordinary, Hu did not look pleased.

Jung recalled that the man had been a fair bit heftier before the arrival of the new elder, and perhaps the stress had gotten to him. Once a cultivator got to a certain point, they didn’t need to eat, and for a lot of them it dropped off as unnecessary quickly. Jung ardently believed that Hu had now done so, and was quite convinced that he knew the culprit behind the disappearance of the best rice.

Their path had followed the once scorched marks from the divine beast.

To stand at the precipice of the foothills following the path of destruction, Jung’s resolve hardened as all half of the scouts cultivated. A brief respite allowed them to take shifts replenishing their qi. This was especially helpful for the newer second realm scouts.

A fair bit of the five newer scouts tried to hide their gasps, but Jung knew. He had been there once. Being newer, Hu allowed them to take both of the half hour long shifts cultivating. The Dao knew that they needed it more than the others. The best of the second realm cultivators would need just the one cycle.

Jung knelt next to the newest five.

“Keep it up. We’ve all been there,” his raspy voice reminding him that he hadn’t drank any water in hours. He pulled out his waterskin and drained half of it.

They didn’t say anything but he felt their calm reassurance.

And then far off in the distance, one of the foothills moved.

***

“Everyone wants to donate to the flashy big new thing. It’s like a disaster is a way to become a hero, just by giving. Even my mom was one of those,” Jessica said.

Elaine paused. Elder Jessica hadn’t spoken about her parents a lot. In fact she was willing to bet that it was less than three times.

“She wanted to help others? Is that not the way? She wanted to make a difference, correct?”

Jessica paused, and Elaine could see that the tile in her hand was giving her less pause than her words. Mary sat on her right and they were playing a slower version than usual.

Anxieties about the scouts returning later were written in the crushed rocks that formed a smoky pile to Jessica's immediate left.

An-Yong had taken the position opposite Mary, and he had played conservatively, his hand slow and heavy.

“Well, someone has to do the right thing of course. But the question really is when you see something terrible, do you have to act? Or is this even a place that is neglected?”

“These cultivators did not neglect to help out our neighbors, this is true. So this one can see the point,” An-Yong piece clacked in right after Jessicas.

“Right. Had we not shown up for the village, some of the stronger villagers would have helped out, and even now all of the aunties here wouldn’t neglect their old home.”

“At least I should hope so,” Elaine said.

Her options dwindled as she drew a tile that was not a match for anything she had. She cursed silently.

“Shouldn’t the most go to those that need it the most? Frosthaven needed the most at the time and it’s not like we had any other choice?” Mary said.

“Ah, but does Frosthaven need it the most? What if there was another richer village next to Frosthaven, say we call it Cool Town, and it too had gotten hit badly by the divine beast. But in Cool Town, the patriarch had the money to pay everyone to rebuild and could confidently say, ‘No thanks’ to some outside help?”

An-Yongs face twisted in knots.

“So, Elder, Cool Town obviously wouldn’t need the help, right? So then Frosthaven is clearly where ‘the most’ should go then, right?”

“Exactly. Cool Town, it doesn’t need the money. In fact if they both were hit, some of the residents of Cool Town could take up money and fund a charity for the restoration of Frost Haven. It might not be the best usage of their gold, but you can imagine it. Sometimes the most evocative disasters really compel people to take some form of action. The donations would do more in Frosthaven, and as long as there wasn’t some worse disaster somewhere else, then that wouldn’t matter as much.”

Elaine saw Mary trying to follow along and almost nudged her.

“This is a little above my head but, this one thinks… ignore the shiny, is that what you’re trying to say?” Mary said.

Jessica's brow crinkled.

“That is exactly what I am trying to say. Now I just need my scouts to do that.