“A gorgeous young Sect Leader, you say? Powerful and intelligent? I like the sound of that, son,” Ling Za said, dominating the air above Ah Le and Fa Za.

“And he has been staying with the Cold Steel Sect for the last two months? Why, what else haven’t you told us?” The Elder Za said, Ah Le tried to recall his name but was drawing a blank.

He was so overshadowed by his wife that it was hard to separate the man from the woman. What little Ah Le had gathered about the man hadn’t told her much beyond the basics. She hadn’t needed to know that, but seeing him stare her down, she was tempted to give out every secret she had.

Ling Za, it appeared, liked pretty boys. And so did Ah Le, at least now.

"Your pardon elder but we are here to deliver incredible horrible news, and we need to alert the village of Stone Fish that they need to evacuate as they and we are in the path of the divine beast."

"The one problem with women nowadays," Ling Za said, "Is that they either have too much nerve or they completely lack it."

Ah Le attempted to stand up but the completely hospitable look of the Za matriarch caused her to reconsider. She hoped that she would be on whatever side that Ling Za favored.

A small upturn of her lips let Ah Le know where she stood.

"Elder, please. We can talk at length about Elder Jessica, but the village… and this Sect needs to be evacuated out of the path of Rahelish. I would be willing to swear a soul bond on this."

Fa Za gasped.

"That won't be necessary," Ling Za said, "If you're telling the truth, then we will simply redirect it into the sea."

Ah Les' jaw dropped. She knew many fourth and fifth level cultivators personally that hadn't made it. They had said similar things.

But she wasn't here to save their Sect.

She was here as a courtesy to Elder Fa Za.

She looked at him, and for a brief moment they both had the same desire. The same passion in their eyes.

He had seen the way that Jessica had run her Sect and now he was a changed man. Ah Le had been touched by both in different ways.

She grabbed her short spear with her right arm, placing it pointed up as if to go.

"Elders, this one must follow her Sects orders. These scouts will return. Please take no offense at our need to not stay. We appreciate the hospitality, we do, but if we can save even one life…"

She let that sentence hang in the air, trying to not set off the Za matriarch. Surely she would see the sanctity of life in at least the same way that Elder Jessica did? Or had Ah Les' view been clouded by how different the new elder was?

“What is one life to one such as I,” she replied, but then her expression changed.

A familiar wave of searching swept over Ah Le, and she smiled.

Elder Jessica had perfected the light touch at last.

***

Five Heaven’s mountain’s Elders stood to greet Jess and her students, and she weakly raised a hand in greeting. When she’d felt three Elders more powerful than her, her knee jerk reaction had her release her nascent soul, but it was after finding Ah Le. That five would come to the western gates of the vast holdings of the Heaven’s Mountain Sect, alone was cause for alarm but it wasn’t until she saw the familiar looking face of the woman in the center that Jess knew.

“Shit,” she whispered.

She had Fa Za’s eyes, and although her jet black hair was the same as most of the cultivators in the Heaven’s Mountain Sect, Ling Za’s half bun set her apart. Apparently no one questioned her decisions.

It was then that she left the other elders and walked straight up to Jess.

“Elder Jessica Kim?”

“I am sorry Elder for I have not met you before. Please allow me to know your name,” Jess said to the apparently sixth level cultivator.

She’d never felt anyone from the sixth realm, but it felt right. It wasn’t that Ling Za was that much more powerful- she was. It also wasn’t that she was more grown into her abilities, it was as if her mind and body and core were one. A chasm of power separated the two of them, and Jess knew that she was holding back some tyrannical power with the same strength it took her to wear clothing.

“I am Elder Ling Za, matriarch of the Heaven’s Glory main Sect, and apparently my son has taken a liking to you. Perhaps we could speak at length on the matter?”

She phrased it in a way that it wasn’t really a request. Jess, however, had grown up with these sorts of requests and had already achieved resistance to the tiger mom subspecialty of inquiry.

“Elder Ling Za,” Jess bowed, “I must humbly defer this meeting to a later date as we have fought off a rock demon attack recently, one that was far too close to here for comfort. Rahelish is coming and we would not want you to be here when it does come. You are welcome to visit the Cold Steel Sect at your convenience and we will have an excellent feast to welcome you, but for now, this one is about business.”

For the first time in a long time, Ling Za was speechless.

Jess nodded to Fa Za, who trotted down between the two women.

“Fa Za, will you show us how to get to Stone Fish? We cannot fail in this task,” Jess said.

“With pleasure. Mother? Good day to you,” he said.

Ling Za stood slack jawed as about one hundred cultivators filed to her right beginning to run northwards.

After a good minute, the only thing that could be heard for miles around was Ling Za yelling.

“WHAT?”

***

“Don’t worry about mother. She tries to mean well, but she has Ah Le to speak with her, “ Fa Za said, now in the lead with Jessica. She was more radiant than he’d remembered.

“Oh really? I had a pushy mother like that back home.”

They ran in silence for a bit.

“She’s really not bad. She… Well once she gets an idea in her head she gets obsessed. One time when I was a child, she had father change out all of the purple rugs and curtains for gold. And then a month later? She had him change them to green!”

“That kinda sounds like my mother,” Jessica said, her voice getting quieter over the rhythmic sound of them running on the grass.

They crested a hill and beyond them smoke stacks topped a fishing village, and Fa Za finally saw the ocean. The clear blue was blinding in it’s beauty and they paused for a long second to let some of the scouts catch up.

“The last time I was here, they didn’t take me seriously. No one has taken me seriously, not even my mother. I even will jacked someone's qi pattern to show what the attack could look like and they dismissed it.”

“Back on Earth, where I’m from for years there has been this global problem we call climate change or global warming. It’s indisputably man made and it’s been a problem that people have been happy to ignore for years, and when I left? It was still a big deal. When I was a child I used to think that adults wouldn’t ignore what was in front of their eyes, but,” Jessica gestured towards Stone Fish.

“You have been proven wrong again and again, “ Fa Za said, sighing, “There is some honor in what you do, but no one will appreciate it. The dao will reward your efforts, of that I am certain.”

“The dao can shove it,” Jessica said, “I need to convince these people to pick up and abandon their way of life or there is a good chance that they will die.”

The last of the scouts reported that the tail end of the students had arrived on the ridge overlook and were pausing to take in the sights. A few took out sketch pads and began to take in the scenery as they drew.

“Not to mention the people in my Sect, but at this point,” he said trailing off. What he didn’t want to say was that he had all but given up on them, but he still had a glimmer of hope left.

“At this point, they know what they need to know. If they bury their heads in the sand, you’ve done all that you could. If we have time, we’ll go to them and try to convince them to depart, but we need to give these people, the good folk of stonefish, a chance.”

“We can give them a chance.”