A gentle mist lay over the predawn Skarian forests, shrouding tall oak trees and the occasional red maple. Some of the forest's inhabitants has already gone into slumber this close to winter, but the rest of them in the underbrush or canopy lay silent as three children rushed past.

"Come on, Yue, the game is only fun if you actually catch us," laughed Kelia, the eldest of the three, leaping fallen branches and moving through the forest like a tiny gazelle. Sweeping her head back around, her long fair ponytail over one shoulder, the twinkle of her bright green eyes taunted Yue more than her words.

Kerk, Kelia's younger brother by ten minutes, laughed as he paused beside a branch, closed his eyes for five seconds and lifted his hand. Yue sprinted with all the might in her twelve years old body, closing in on Kerk, not noticing the small branch hovering just slightly above the ground. She slammed into the earth near his feet while he leapt away and gave his sister a victory clap on the hand.

"Stop using your weaving, stupid. You know it's not fair when I can't." Yue sat up and brushed her stinging palms.

"Then you need to start practicing harder, moonface. Your father's the best beast weaver in Skaria, or at least that's what they say in Vyrnos. There's no way you can't weave."

Yue threw a handful of leaves at Kelia, hating the nickname but hating the reminder even more. She meditated and practiced every day, but she still had trouble looking at the world's threads even as she concentrated, much less manipulate them.

"The Mother's gift comes when it does, moonlight," her father would ruffle her head affectionately whenever he sees her frustration, "won't do you any good to rush it."

"Come on, let's get to the river before Master Jun decides we need more chores for being tardy." Kerk gave Yue a hand up as Kelia circled around and brushed her off, giving them that familiar elfish grin so similar to her twin's.

"But even if he does go all temperamental again, I won't be the tardiest." With that, Kelia sprinted off.

"That idiot." Kerk smiled as he took Yue's hand and bag of supplies he dropped during their game of tag. They walked briskly in companionable silence for awhile, drinking in the cool morning air and listening to the birds and little animals in the underbrush start to stir. Yue looked up at the older boy, her brother in everything but blood, looking at his green eyes take in the forest around them with a small smile. Yue knew he was looking at the world with his thread Sight, and the usual pang of hunger and curiosity rose within her.

"What's it like, Ker?" Swirling green eyes met her dull grey gaze.

"Imagine all the colors in our paint set in the learning pavilion, Yue, and all the colors besides. Imagine them brighter than any gold or silver ornament in Lady Shu's headdress. Now they're like slivers of crystal shards crossing each other, weaving together to form the Great Mother's amazing tapestry, always flowing, always moving. Like that tree, if you follow the threads, you'll see that they flow down and around the trunk, tangling with the neon green of the grass and those hopping pink and purple that I'm guessing are the rabbits in their warrens, and circling back up again into the canopy."

Yue strained her eyes at the tree that Kerk was pointing at, and to the spot where the rabbits were supposed to be. And for all the good it did, her sight refused to come.

I'm never going to be a weaver. Her heart sank heavier this morning, dreading Master Jun's weaving class. She walked the rest of the way to the river in silence.

***

"You're late."

For once, the stern consternation in Master Jun's voice wasn't directed at Kerk and Kelia. Holding their half squat, Resting Stallion positions, the twins gave Yue secret smiles, peeking towards the forest where two figures tried to slink into the clearing unnoticed. Master Jun didn't even turn to see the latecomers, calmly correcting Fu-er's stance with his sheathed wooden sword as he addressed them.

One slender with a ponytail of midnight tresses, the other a tall, gangly teen with his canvas sling sack threatening to fall off his shoulders. Both jumped in shock and immediately bowed deep at their waists with both fists against each other.

"The kitchens has been busy due to the visiting garrison from Concubine Pan-rin's Villa, Master. This is a letter from Mistress Wei, sir." Pretty Ri-en stood up and extended the letter from the Head Mistress of the Shu Imperial Villa's expansive kitchens. Dressed in the standard loose navy training tunic and pants fastened at the wrists and ankles of the outer household, Ri-en waited patiently for Master Jun's response.

Master Jun appraised her petite almond face already smeared with flour with his usual cool gaze and read the letter. He scanned it quickly and gave Ri-en a nod to assume her position at the back of the gathered students waiting in mid stance. From her place in the front row, Yue could hear Xu Jing's and Tian Feng's soft pants of fatigue behind her. Ri-en bowed again before joining the back row with the others from the outer household, letting loose a soft sigh of relief to be out of Master Jun's sightline.

Zeng, with his back still bowed and fists together, visibly swallowed. Master Jun walked over to where he stood, his long billowing black sleeves covered the wooden sword he carries around for practice. Standing in front of Zeng, Master Jun spoke with soft but clear enunciation.

"What are the first four tenets of the Scripture on morality, Apprentice Mu Zeng." Master Jun had an unnerving way of making innocent questions sound rhetorical. Yue didn't envy Zeng, but her screaming thigh muscles were occupying the majority of her attention at the moment that she could feel no sympathy for the latecomer. Sweat was dewing on most of the students' foreheads in the cool of morning. She could see the limbs of some of the other students start to tremble from her periphery.

"Obedience and loyalty. Respect and diligence. Selflessness and bravery. Discipline and punctuality." Zeng answered with no hesitation in his perfect recall. As the son and apprentice of the Head Advisor to Concubine Shu, Zeng had the memory of a Laisternian Dolphin. But he also inherited Advisor Mu's awkward nature and lack of physical adeptness.

"And yet, knowledge without practice is as regrettable as ignorance. It is disappointing that a child of the inner household cannot uphold even the simplest and most basic of the Scripture's tenets. It is the foundation of this country and of a weaver. After weaving practice today, you shall go to Mistress Tian to receive extra chores. At the end of the seventh sunset from this eve, I expect you to submit twenty handwritten copies of the Scripture's passages on the first four tenets. Get into formation."

Zeng bowed his head and straightened, eyes downcast and shoulders drooping. As Master Jun walked back to the river line in front of the his students, he resumed reciting the various forms of the Stallion routine. Yue felt more than heard the sigh of relief from her peers.

"Rise and Rear. Twist, bend and Snap. Sweep up to a Canter—"

As Master Jun recited, he would walk up and down the two lines of students, snapping his wooden sword at forms he thought were not executed with perfect posture.

Martial routines were Yue's favorite. In fact, she excelled in it. Movements flowed through her body, and without the need for weaving or thread sight, Yue closed her eyes and broadened her other senses to take in the wider forest around her.

Casting her awareness outwards, beneath the sounds of the students' movements, she could hear the quiet morning river currents behind Master Jun as he paced, the leaves above in the evergreen canopy rustling happily in the mountain breeze. She smelled the dew on fragrant leaves, the clean morning mist. Beyond that, she sensed in the dense underbrush and high among the oak branches the attention of little animals, curious about the gathering of humans so close to their homes. She smiled and curled her body into a resting stance and stood up with the rest of her peers.

After completing the Stallion warm-up routine, Master Jun had them prepare for their weaving meditation. Fu-er on her left walked over, wiping at her brow with her loose white sleeves cinched at her wrists.

"Morning, Yue. So, what did Kerk and Kel do this time to make you arrive almost after the Master did?" The granddaughter of the oldest Lieutenant General in Skaria said loud enough for the twins nearby to overhear.

"I'll have you know we were the ones who had to drag Yue from her supposed morning meditation. Am I right, brother?" Kelia said indignantly from where she was laying out her bamboo mat on the forest floor.

Kerk's attention was on Ri-en at the end of the line, his body on autopilot as he dug in his satchel for the little mouse he usually brought for weaving practice. Kelia gave him a little push with her feet. He fell and gave his twin an annoyed look. He turned to them and gave Fu-er a solemn nod.

"Ah yes, little Yue over there apparently learnt to water weave drool while she was so deep in her meditation."

Yue's look of incredulity was enough to send the twins into fits of laughter and earned a hearty chuckle from Fu-er.

"Great Mother bless your lying soul." Yue rolled her eyes. "And I guess I wasn't the one who had to go to the stables two days ago to wake you up before Ri-en could walk by and see you water weave your drool all over your baby face."

"Baby face!" Kerk sputtered. "I'll have you notice my budding man-stubble here along my chin, woman," Kerk said while lifting his chin.

"Man-stubble," Fu-er snorted as Yue giggled. "You mean that patch of dirt covering your baby chin?"

Their banter caught Master Jun's attention by the river, which made them promptly scatter and sit on their meditation mats. Yue lost all humor as she looked at the others with their practice objects and the empty space in front of her. Chen Fu-er and her brother Chen Guan had bowls of earth, dry topsoil for Fu-er and a mixture of subsoil and bedrock for Guan; pieces of wood for Tian Feng and Mu Zeng; and steel hot plates with oil rocks for Xu Jing and Rien. She shook her head to clear her mind, breathing in deep and pictured what the thread world should look like, channeling her focus into her sight.

The thread world started appearing in minute shades of grey after what seemed like forever. Staring at the grass in front of her mat, a sickly pallor of light green and brown threads moved sluggishly around each other. Shifting her gaze upwards towards the river and distant forest, all she could see were grayish hues of blue, green and brown fading in and out of her vision. Beneath the green threads of the forest carpet, she focused her gaze first on the moving faint pink threads of the ants in their tunnels. Without breaking her line of sight, she lifted her hands to pull at the threads towards her, picturing them walking towards her mat in their orderly fashion. Her hand rose to align with her sight line and she mentally pulled on the pink threads as hard as she could. For a moment, the pink threads wavered. Yue's eyes widened and her breath quickened in excitement. The pink threads continued to waver, but started to lose its color, taking on a grayish hue. She tried squinting harder, pulling harder. The grey threads flickered and scattered before her eyes, and the material world reappeared before her again.

Frustration overwhelmed her. She felt a terrible urge to punch at the trees around them. Taking a deep breath, she sneaked a glance at the others.

Master Jun stood before Guan, whose eyes were glowing the brightest yellow, wholly focused on the dancing rocks and deep earth above his outstretched arms. Yue switched to her muted thread sight in time to see Guan twist his hands slowly, separating two shades of brown threads from each other. In a quick snap, he extended his right hand completely, flicking the lighter shades hard. Soft thunks sounded from across the river. As her thread sight wavered and disappeared, she looked in the direction of Guan's outstretched arm. The rocks above his hands had shot forward and hit several trees across the river before falling to the ground. Above his left hand danced the dark brown particles of deep earth. Master Jun tapped Guan's temples to indicate the unnecessary strain he was placing on his sight. Guan nodded and slowly lowered the soil back into his bowl.

A soft swish came from the back row, drawing Yue's attention. Ri-en's eyes were wide open and glowing a luminous emerald. Her hands hovered over a small steady flame on her steel hotplate. After a few heartbeats, she pulled upwards with her left hand. A small part of the flickering flames jumped into the air to hover a few inches in front of Ri-en's crossed legs. Light around her fireball seemed to sparkle at places, illuminating the small frown of concentration on her almond face. As a subset of light weaving, flame weavers manipulated the threads of light particles in the air. It was also one of the hardest threads to weave due to the endless energy and motion of the element itself. Ri-en tried growing her floating ball of flames, lifting her hands higher. The flames danced higher and faster, growing agitated. All of a sudden, it gave a brilliant spark and fizzled away. Ri-en's head snapped back from the flash, shaking her head to clear the afterimage.

A throat cleared in front of Yue, and she snapped her head back forward to see a pair of dark blue leather boots with gold trimmings. Master Jun whipped his wooden practice sword hard on her arm for her distraction. She flinched, giving him an apologetic half bow. He tapped his temples and his chest, and walked away. Yue's throat closed up, feeling a complex mix of shame and gratitude. Master Jun never gave up on her, no matter if everyone knew she was a dud. He would constantly check on her and insist she continue her meditation practices.

Walking to his original position in front of the students, Master Jun bid them keep their mats for the next part of their weaving class.

Yue smiled inwardly. Combat weaving.

Even if she could not weave, her mastery of the martial routines and her heightened senses have always allowed her to stay on par with the rest. She also loved the pure physical exertion of the exercise. Yue folded her mat and placed it in her satchel. Lifting her right arm over her head, she started loosening up her limbs for the upcoming sparring session.

As she lifted her left leg to place vertically against a tree, Kelia came over with an animated Kerk engaging Ri-en in conversation a step behind.

"That is sick." Kelia said with mock disgust. "Also, please save me from those lovebirds."

Ri-en's giggle drifted over at that moment, both of them coming over to stash their supplies as well.

"Yeah! You know how horses have almost three-sixty degree vision? I say almost because they have a blind spot directly behind the back of their heads. Apparently Helmund stallions' heads are thinner and their eyes can swivel all the way to the back. It's gross, but they don't have any blind spots. I found that out the hard way the other day when I was sneaking a ribbon on Concubine Shu's newest gift from Emperor Ka Long. It's ridiculous! How can any terrestrial animal have three-sixty degree vision?

"Oh hey, Yue. That is sick, by the way." Kerk said as Ri-en grinned and gave a nod in greeting.

"But most everyone does this for warm up," Yue said quizzically.

"Yes, but normal people don't stand so far from the tree and go beyond a hundred and eighty degrees," Kelia said slowly with emphasis.

"Do not linger in groups. Once your bags are stowed, get into your combat pairs." Master Jun said from the river line, where a perfect circle of topsoil was being pushed outwards by the master's weaving.

Ri-en waved daintily at Yue again and made her way over with Kerk to where Master Jun stood. There's no separating them once they've started conversing. Yue placed her left leg back on the ground and was about to turn to Kelia when she looped her arm around Yue's neck none too gently.

"Ow." Yue instinctively tried to wiggle out of the armlock. Kelia laughed. She sobered and leaned in close.

"It's ok if your weaving doesn't come, you know. You're still pretty amazing for your age. You're the best at one on one combat here."

"That's if there's no weaving involved." Yue said angrily, not at Kelia but herself. At the Mother.

"That's still something. There're plenty of non-weavers around, and they're not complaining. But aside from that, you have your dad's way with animals too. You're dismal in earth studies, true, but you're practically Advisor Kol's pet in Westhania History." Kelia listed objectively.

"Are you intentionally forgetting Zeng? No one beats Zeng in history. Or earth studies. Or arithmetic studies." Yue looked at Kelia pointedly, but felt her mood lift slightly nonetheless.

"Well, nobody actually counts him for anything. He's sweet, but..." They both looked over at Zeng, who in that moment caused a mini commotion by tripping over Kerk's mouse cage.

"Hey!" Kerk's indignant exclamation came from the gathered students around Master Jun's circle.

Yue giggled, grateful for the older girl's effort to cheer her up, thankful Kelia actually noticed her hurt from before. "Thanks, Kel."

"Anytime, moonface." Kel's smiling green eyes twinkled down at her. Yue used her position under Kel's arm to poke at her funny bone. Kelia laughed and flounced towards Tian Feng. Yue smiled and walked towards Fu-er, her sparring partner.

Master Jun looked everyone over sternly. "A weaver's strongest weapon is his thread sight: is this statement true or false."

The students looked at each other furtively, sensing a trick question from the master. Some murmured their opinions to their partners, while some just pondered silently.

As the forest sounds flowed through Yue during this lull, she thought of how the master had sensed Zeng and Rien sneaking pass the tree line, and how he noticed her inattention during meditation. The only other weaver she knows who was so attuned to the threads of the world was her father. Her father's words echoed in her mind. The strength of a weaver comes from his mind and heart more than brute force.

Just then, Guan and Fu-er raised their hands. The siblings weren't standing together, but their thoughts always seemed tuned to the other.

"Master, I believe different weavers value each sense differently depending on their affiliated elements and style of weaving. For example a sound weaver would value his aural capacity as much as his sight as he weaves and adjusts the output; a flame weaver his touch for heat," Guan said with his usual cool expression.

Fu-er nodded beside Yue. "Yes, and the common denominator is always still our thread sight. That's why it is the main school of thought adopted in Westhania."

Tian Feng raised her hand and interjected. "But there are those in the old legends who have lost their sight and weave better than any other in their time. Master Jun, you yourself have occasionally spoken of the vibrations of the threads on your senses. I have been attempting for the longest time to understand what you were saying, Master Jun. In the Villa's smithy with my father, I believe I have the most opportunity to sense the vibrations in the air being in the smithy. Whenever the hammers strike anvil, I am more attuned to the intentions and movements of others. I believe that our tactile sense is a weaver's strongest weapon."

With her impassioned response, Master Jun smiled softly.

"I am glad all of you have given this much thought, and have been diligent in honing your skills. The Weaver would be heartened to have children who honors the Scripture so. There is one other school of thought that isn't as common in Westhania, an obscure one that I believe most master weavers abide by.

"It is more a way of life than anything else. This ideology came from the more controversial sect of Khar. Or as most Kharian colonies call it, Dark Khar."

The students glanced at each other nervously. It was almost taboo to mention Dark Khar in most of Westhania. The war between the mighty Soharian Empire and the Kharian colonies began because of extreme Khar ideologies spreading to the other nations. Yue has never heard details of the ideologies, but she has always been fascinated with the sect.

"Most of their teachings and research are deemed sacrilegious, but there is truth in some of them. A long time ago, my own weaving master once said a wise man hears all, but listens selectively. That is why I am going to impart a key lesson I learnt from my time in the desert campaigns.

"Tian Feng's response is only one part of this teaching." Master Jun gave a nod towards the smithy's daughter. She flushed and beamed with pride.

"It is to a weaver's credit that he is able to sense changes in the world's threads, but it is of no use if he does not utilize it. What I mean is, if the weaver should remain in the material world for the better part of his life, even if the threads are subject to manipulation, he will not sense it. An assassin steel weaver can still easily send his blades from upwind and catch his skilled victim unawares."

Zeng furrowed his brows and raised his hand in inquiry. "But to constantly stay in the thread world is not possible for us in the material world. The strain itself on the psyche is unbelievable. That is why the Scripture emphasizes that the thread world is the Mother Weaver's domain, only She is creator, moderator and lord there."

The other students nodded in agreement. Yue thought about the times she tried switching to her thread sight. Her head would ache only after a few minutes of concentration, let alone stay in thread sight constantly.

"Yes, young Mu Zeng, the Scripture does state that. And this is where the teaching's sacrilegious nature shows. The power that one might gain through constant use of his weaving comes perilously close to challenging Her authority. However the fact remains that it is possible, and the logic holds true. To remain in the thread world nigh indefinitely, a weaver must be strong in his heart and mind, to have the strongest of will to master his weaving. That is why my lessons always focus on meditation. Because a weaver's strongest asset is his mental fortitude."

The students broke out in hushed conversation, questioning the logic, the treachery on the holy Scripture, but above all, the possibilities. Yue looked sadly at all the other students. With training, maybe one or two of them might achieve this enlightened state. But even with infinite training, she might never even be able to exert her will on the threads she could see. She bowed her head and knotted her fingers.

Yue's scalp tingled and she glanced up. Master Jun looked at her, expression unreadable. After a few minutes of a fearful excitement amongst the students, he spoke up again.

"In conclusion, the focus of my lessons will be, apart from meditation, on improving your thread awareness. That is why today's combat weaving will be slightly different. Combatants within this circle will be blindfolded. You will have to enter the thread world without the use of your sight, and from there sense the changes in the world around you. Rules of friendly combat remain: no maiming, no fatal blows. Once either combatant is out of the circle, the fight is over."

Chen Guan and Mu Zeng stepped forward and took their blindfolds from Master Jun. Being the only males from the inner household, they were always first to go. Both boys stepped into the circle and pulled the kerchiefs tight over their eyes. Zeng sank into the Creeping Tiger stance, his left arm behind him while his right bent at his side, awkward at first but stabilized after a few adjustments. Guan had his left arm outstretched and his right pulled back towards his right ear, legs wide apart and slightly bent.

Yue thought Guan's starting stance was well chosen - a general one but enables the user to be able to quickly spring in any direction with a shift of his hips. Zeng's aggressive stance showed the boy's anxiety to end this bout fast.

Both boy's blindfolds started to glow dimly around the area of their eyes. Both stood still for a protracted minute. Tensed and waiting. Listening. Then Zeng bent forward and swept his arms towards the ground and up towards Guan's feet. Small roots and stem from beneath the earth broke free from the ground and reached towards Guan's feet. Guan's head tilted down the moment Zeng's arms moved, shifting his left foot backwards but not fast enough. Grasping roots looped around Guan's right foot, missing his ankles as Zeng furrowed his brows and searched more accurately for his target.

In that moment Guan stopped trying to escape his restraints. He twisted his palms upwards, biceps straining and the ground responded to his pulling. Deep vibrations sounded through the ground towards the gathered students, and Zeng stumbled forward as the ground beneath him roiled. He made a soft gasp and Guan used the anchor of his right foot to lash out quickly with his left towards a destabilized Zeng who was now within reach.

Guan missed a clean kick to Zeng's shoulder, his leg connecting with the other boy's elbow. His powerful kick managed to push Zeng through the air and onto his back, his head lying just outside Master Jun's line in the sand.

The gathered students couldn't help their sigh of admiration as both boys removed their blindfolds. Fu-er clapped for her brother. Guan walked towards Zeng and gave him a hand up. Both boys smiling amiably at each other.

"How many times do you suppose you have to knock me down before Master Jun decides to let me pair with someone from the outer household?" Zeng said ruefully, rubbing his messy head where he bumped it on the ground.

"Never going to happen, wise boy. You're stuck with me for better or worse." Guan said with a playful smirk. "Sorry, brother."

Zeng mock punched Guan. "Don't be."

Master Jun smiled at their exchange, and nodded for Yue and Fu-er to take the blindfolds from the boys. Yue's good humor evaporated. She can hold her own seven times out of ten against Fu-er during their sparring sessions. But blindfolded? She swallowed, looking over at Fu-er as they stepped into the circle. The other girl looked slightly nauseous but smiled at Yue before lifting Master Jun's black embroidered kerchief over her eyes.

Being in the circle and lifting her navy embroidered kerchief, she has never felt so vulnerable before. She took a deep breath and cast her senses further and wider than she has ever done before. At first all she could hear was her soft breathing and thumping heart. She tried opening her eyes behind her blindfold to switch to thread sight, but all she saw was pitch darkness. A soft whoosh in the air came from her right, and her body took over on instinct. She bent to the left slightly and felt Fu-er's hand slicing down an inch from her nose - almost fatal. Yue placed both her hands together and pushed the back of her hands outwards, connecting squarely with Fu-er's sternum.

An audible gasp came from the students. Yue breathed hard. That was close.

Yue tried to picture in her minds eye Fu-er's preferred style of combat. She was an earth weaver, one who manipulated the finer, dry grains of topsoil. She would manipulate the top layer of soil to move together with her soles, so that no sound was made whenever she moved. A born assassin.

With Yue's aural abilities, she reasoned that Fu-er wouldn't be able to sneak behind her easily. She decided to drop into a Resting Stallion stance, both hands bent in front of her, effective for warding off frontal attacks.

A whisper of sand disturbed on the left this time, but too intentional. It sounded like a feint. She’s coming in from the right. Yue moved towards the sound, certain Fu-er would be coming from the opposite side. A hard punch towards the left edge of Yue's solar plexus knocked her almost clean off her feet. She misjudged. It wasn't a direct hit, but it was nevertheless hard enough to push her closer to the boundary line. In that jolt, a few things happened simultaneously.

A cacophony of sound echoed through Yue's ears. Every rustle of every leaf and sand produced feedback in her eardrums. She felt a thousand vibrations along her skin, raising goosebumps on her arms. Shining behind her closed lids were glimmering grey threads of every shade, brighter than anything she has ever seen before. Dancing, moving, weaving threads. Somewhere to her right is a condensed cluster of dynamic threads of dark grey, like the outer edges of a shadow cast under a setting dusk sky. Vibrations from the same direction intensified and she felt the tiny hairs on her arms stand on end. The static in the air before a thunderstorm.

Yue whipped her head in the direction of the vibrations. Gathering all the strength in her core, she planted her feet on the ground just inside of Master Jun's circle. Her hands found Fu-er's outstretched arm, grabbing her at the wrist and underarms. Fu-er twisted her legs fast as a cobra strike, shifting the sand underneath Yue's feet. Yue saw the light grey strands on the ground waver before it moved. Yue shifted her body even closer to Fu-er, her back towards the other girl's front. Yue, her hands maintaining their death grip on Fu-er's arm, pulled downwards with all her might.

She felt Fu-er's thud on the ground resonate throughout her body. Yue pulled her blindfold off, staring at Fu-er on the ground with wide-eyed shock. She briefly wondered if the dumb look on her face mirrored Fu-er's. No, her own was probably funnier.

There was a moment of stunned silence from the onlookers, before hesitant, excited applause came. Master Jun's proud, fatherly smile was a shot to Yue's heart, his eyes gleaming for a moment. Or was it a trick of the light? Yue felt her own disbelieving smile.

What was that? Yue thought in wonderment. She didn't know what exactly happened, but for a moment she felt invincible. She couldn't touch any of the strange monochrome threads, but it was like another sense opened up to her. Maybe this was what Master Jun was talking about. A muted thread sight that could replace being fully immersed in the thread world constantly to reduce the strain on a weaver's psyche?

Yue helped Fu-er off the ground, the other girl giving her a pat on the back. As they walked towards the other students to pass the blindfolds, Tian Feng spoke up.

"That wasn't normal." The wariness on her face transformed into a mortified grimace as she realized she had spoken aloud. She gathered her wits and continued.

"I'm sorry, Yue, I know you've always been the best when it comes to normal combat. I don't mean any offense to you or Master Jun." The burly older girl bowed respectfully to the master at this, and looked at Yue again. "The day the master talked about Dark Kharian ideologies is the day that you gain proper thread sight? Tell us, Yue, what did you see during combat just now."

All eyes turned to her. Yue felt a nervous prickle at her neck, and a lady's voice echoed in her mind.

Tell them, daughter...

A feminine lilt with an edge of cruelty. Soft yet chilling at the same time. A quiet chuckle.

Weak...

No, Yue thought. Was she losing her mind? She rubbed her suddenly sweaty palms on her loose pants.

"I...didn't see anything. I only focused on my other senses like Master Jun said. And behind the blindfold, well..." She gave a weak shrug. "Everything seemed...heightened. That's why I could...sense...where Fu-er was going to strike..."

Yue stuttered through her reply, and cast her gaze downwards lest anyone could see through her lie. Was her moment of triumph part of some dark reckoning? Was she going against the Great Mother's holy Scriptures? She was still reeling from what happened. She needed time to think this through.

The moment of awkward silence was broken by Master Jun clearing his throat.

"Tian Feng, Kelia, please take the blindfolds." Tian Feng walked meaningfully towards Fu-er, the burly girl's wariness still etched deep on her face. Kelia came over and took the blindfold from Yue's hand, expression concerned.

"You OK?" Kelia whispered.

Yue nodded, eyes still downcast. "Yeah, just need a moment."

Kelia smoothed her hand over Yue's sweaty head, smiling as she said. "That was sick, by the way. You need to teach me sometime."

Yue smiled and joined the others. Some cast her looks of awe, but there were suspicious glances as well. Zeng looked thoughtful. Kerk bounded over and patted her on her back. Hard.

"Moonface, that was awesome!"

Master Jun glanced sharply at Kerk. The older boy looked sheepishly downwards, then leaned over to whisper to Yue undeterred.

"That was awesome! How'd you do that?"

Yue coughed a bit before replying. "You going to make me cough up my spine right after my moment of glory?"

Kerk snorted, unrepentant. "It wasn't that hard. And it seems you're made of tougher stuff than I thought, moonface. So, what's the secret?"

Yue sobered, thinking about her fight. It was equal parts thrilling and frightening. It did feel unnatural.

"I'm not sure, Ker. It felt...amazing. Like I was invincible. I felt like I was a whole other person. It didn't feel like me, but at the same time, it also felt right. I could suddenly see everything even behind the blindfold. I don't know how to put this, Ker. Do you get what I mean?" Yue looked at Kerk imploringly.

Kerk's skeptical expression was not the most encouraging. "No. Not one bit."

Yue rolled her eyes. Kerk smiled kindly and shrugged. "But it seems like you've found your calling. Master Jun's teachings today really helped you, and you look happier. I'm glad for you, moonface."

"Thanks, Ker." Yue smiled at the older boy adoringly. He smiled back and bumped her on her shoulder, returning his attention to his sister and their smithy apprentice friend in the combat circle.