Yu appeared in a bed. It was familiar to her only in that it looked like she was in a healing center in the sect. It quickly became more familiar when the cloth curtain was pushed aside and Core Sect Healer Shuijiao was there. She looked Yu over, bloody hair to shoeless feet, and sighed, her mismatched eyes looking sad.

Yu watched the healer tend to what remained of her wounds, removing all of her scars as well. She then patted Yu’s head, turned around and left without saying a word. A moment later Yu found herself next to her master in the familiarity of his tearoom. He was looking down at her with an unfamiliar expression on his face. Sympathy.

“Are you alright?” he asked her quietly. Yu shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. Equally softy he said, “I failed to protect you. I apologize.”

Yu did not know what, maybe it was his voice, the tone he used, or possibly the words themselves, but whatever it was, triggered something in her. All the emotions of the last few days burst from her in rush and, without thinking about her actions, Yu lunged forward and buried her face in her master’s chest. She had held it in as long as she could, but now all the uncertainty, fear, anger, guilt, and pain had finally overwhelmed her. She screamed muffled screams into his chest, bunching her fists in his robes as she cried great sobs of anguish. She fell to her knees and he followed, wrapping his arms around her.

He held her, saying nothing, until she ran out of energy and tears. Yu felt drained. Empty. And a little lighter from it, perhaps. After a while, she leaned back away from him. She sniffled and wiped her face with her sleeve. “I’m sorry, master.” Then she looked up at him. “I know you’re not—"

“Not at all,” he gently told her with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I was the cause, so I must deal with the consequences.” She watched him, unsure what else to say. He had never been… tender. He just wasn’t that soft. But now he seemed if not caring, at least gentler than usual. As if in evidence, he offered, “How about some tea? I have a blend that helps calm the mind.”

Yu nodded, surprised but thankful for his concern. She stood, headed over to the table, and sat again. She watched while he moved to a shelf on the wall, made a pot, set it on a tray, and carried it over. Yu reflected that this was the first time she had ever seen him actually make the tea that they drank. Every other time she was in this room, it was already made and waiting for them on the table.

Quietly, he sat and poured them both a cup. He blew on his cup and took a sip. Then he spoke. “While you drink, let me tell you what happened while you were… gone. I assume you know of the formations that protect the land this sect has dominion over?” Yu nodded and took a sip of the tea. “They are designed so whenever someone leaves, specific people are alerted. For example, outer sect disciples such as yourself are really not supposed to leave at all. So the vice leader for the outer sect is alerted – along with the law enforcement group and the roving patrols – whenever that happens. Well, in order to get past the formation, the Asura Sect, that would be those with the masks, did three things.” And he took another drink.

“First, they separated you from your sect badge.” And he tapped the one on his chest. “This allowed for them to eliminate the easiest and most direct way to track and locate you. Here it is by the way.” He held out his hand and it appeared in it. She took it and placed it in the ring. “Second, they used an exceptionally expensive and hard to produce piece of alchemy called the Mystifying Hidden Source Pill. It turns a cultivator who consumes it into a mortal for a period of time. Mortals are not tracked as they are not seen as a threat. Perhaps an oversight to review. Either way, only a grandmaster alchemist could create it. Of course, the rarest ingredients are tracked and monitored in the sect, so that old man, the now deceased elder Houjin, the mad boy’s grandfather, used his own ingredients. He was also being watched by the core sect healer you met before, Shuijiao, ever since she kicked his grandson out of the Alchemists’ Association. Irrelevant now, but you should know I suppose. Moving on… Third, they set up a few distractions. One was a number of simultaneous small beast attacks in the sect’s hunting areas. The other was a rather large brawl that took place in the Mission Hall, drawing the attention of the law enforcement group.”

Yu blinked at him. “That’s awfully elaborate.”

“Indeed it was. Elaborate, costly, full of risks, and yet successful. Because of all these events and precautions, nobody realized an outer sect disciple went missing. That was until a certain Gui prince alerted my brother.” Yu wondered if the surprises would ever stop tonight. “Apparently, a frantic Gui Ai contacted her elder brother, an outer disciple in the sect, about waking up to a tiger nearly breaking down the door to your suite.”

Oh gods. Bai!

And she dug into her bond. He was calm and, having felt her, flooded her with relief and joy.

“Relax,” her master said placatingly. “I spoke to your bond already. He is with your suitemates and has calmed down. The distance was too great for your connection and he felt it, so he broke out of the pens and went to your suite which woke your suitemate. Anyway, the prince used an emergency contact method to reach the vice leader who listened to the story and immediately attempted to track your badge. That failed because Gui Zihao handed it to him, having found it in your room. My brother immediately contacted me using our own particular method of emergency communication and I arrived to an update of all the available information. I used my own various methods to attempt to track you, only to hit something of a wall. That formation, as sloppy as it was, did indeed stop Qi from entering it. Knowing you how I do, I felt it likely you would find a way to alert me to your presence, so while I waited, I did some investigating of the sect. While unlikely, it was possible someone might know of your location. It quickly became obvious that there were traitors and conspirators inside the sect, and I kept busy finding and publicly torturing to death everyone involved.”

Yu gasped but he went on. “It is important to set clear boundaries, especially for someone like me. In this case, word will certainly spread and it is unlikely anyone in the sect will make the same mistake those traitors did. As expected, none of them knew of your location, or even much beyond their own actions. I’m sure you know the general idea of what happened after you escaped the formation and allowed me to find you. And as you have finished your tea, I will ask you to tell what you know.”

Letting out a breath, Yu nodded. So she told the story as she remembered it. When she came to the failed branding, he chuckled. “How amusing.” Seeing Yu’s desire for answers, he explained. “That tingle you felt during the blood draw was another piece of alchemy. It is a Qi blocker. My guess is the Asura used it on you so that the Qi half of the rune binding would fail. I actually have an idea why, but I will not say until I can prove it out. The amusing part of this, however, is that even without their intervention, the branding would have failed.” Yu’s look of confusion was enough for him to explain. “You are immune to physical heat.”

Yu processed what he said and gasped, “The fruit!”

“That’s right,” he agreed. “A binding requires both the Qi and the brand being simultaneously applied. If either is missing or failed, no binding can take place. So not only did you resist the branding, thanks to your kidnappers you were immune to the Qi as well. There was no way a binding would work no matter what those old fools did.”

Yu couldn’t help but grin maliciously. She felt that it was rather amusing when thought of from that angle and not about the pain and torment they had caused her. It was just a little bit of victory over powerful old men whose pride had gotten the better of them.

“Continue your tale,” he ordered. Refocusing, Yu did. She reached all the way to killing Xing with her spirit weapon without interruption. “That is a powerful and dangerous weapon,” he told her seriously. “Be as cautious using it as you are showing it. Spirit weapons have been known to alter their wielders as much as the wielder alters the weapon.” Yu nodded, completely agreeing.

“Well, that nearly ends our evening. I say nearly because we have just one or two more things to address. First, I wish to ask if any of these events have changed your mind about cultivating and continuing your drive to grow strong.” Yu shook her head. She couldn’t think of anything that would. “Good. Then the plan for the spirit realm remains in progress. Second, I wish to compliment you on killing that Xing Houjin boy. Not just in the action, but in your fortitude to do it, and also in your lack of guilt. You should feel no guilt when you kill those who deserve it. Remember the world in which you live. Third, your faction. You have been building it for many months now. It is time for you to step up and lead. Do not waste the opportunity those who serve you offer. And finally, I wish to reiterate that I am at fault in these events. Our arrangement is that you grow strong for me and my plans, and I protect you from outside forces. I did not meet my obligations. As such, I will offset my failure through a payment or service.” Yu was about to ask to send her home for a day or two when he held up his hand. “I will decide my recompense, not you. I have to think on it now that I have heard your story. Before I send you back, do you have any questions?”

Yu had had her first question ready almost immediately. “Can you get me back my ring? It had my armor and swords in it and the yellow masked guy took it.”

“I’ll work on it. For now, I think it may do you good to be without. Never depend too highly on tools.”

The sadness you felt at him not saying ‘yes’ and returning her things to her struck like a blow.

“I did not say no. Now ask your next question.”

“Can you tell me about those masked people?” she asked somberly.

He looked pensive for a few breaths and then responded. “I will tell you some and no more. They actually belong to a sect whose primary sphere of power is outside of this empire. The Asura Sect, as they are called, are in essence a mercenary-for-hire company. It is likely they had hoped to use this event to gain both silver and a foothold in the Gui Empire. That is all I am willing to share at the moment. Anything else?”

Yu nodded, putting aside that information for later thought. “Did you send Bao Qing to his suite?”

“Ah, yes… the Bao boy. You are taking a risk, but one that I approve of. Well done. In answer to your question, he has been returned to his dorm and will resume classes starting tomorrow. He will also be joining your Water Mana sessions. Oh, yes. In case you lost track, when the sun rises it will be day 4. So a mission day, which you should feel free to not conduct if you wish to recover. Or you may go if that is what you want. I support your decision either way.

Day 4? It was day 1 last I knew. I had no idea so much time had passed. I’ll need to talk to people about it.

“Yes, a few days have passed. No matter. Off you go now. Good evening and well done.”

***

Yu appeared outside of her closed suite door. She took in and let out a long slow breath and entered. A roar welcomed her along with a flash of black and white fur. Then a weight hit Yu’s chest and she fell to the floor with an oof followed by a rough tongue licking her face and leaving smelly drool behind.

“Ack! Bai! That’s gross,” she laughed. But despite her words, Yu could only hug him tightly, reveling in the joy and relief in both his actions and the bond. Then another weight fell on Yu and wet white hair flopped on her face. Yu felt a wet face and cold nose smush into her cheek and neck as Ai also expressed her feelings. Of course, tears immediately followed, which made Yu cry all over again.

Then a ball of fluffy red fur landed on Yu’s head yet more licking ensued.

“Me too!” Yu heard Li call just before another weight unceremoniously fell on her. “Move Bai!” she grumped, and then all kinds of pushing, wiggling, roaring, whining, crying, and laughing followed.

Eventually, the emotion and energy of their reunion ran low and they all flopped on the floor together. Somewhere in the chaos, Bai and Se Fei had gone off and started their own wresting match while a complaining Li was on her stomach on the floor being sat on by a grinning Lu. The only one still on top of Yu was Ai. She had stopped crying, but she wouldn’t let go of her death grip around Yu’s neck.

Yu just ran her hands through the messy wet hair and kissed her forehead occasionally.

“I swear,” Li groused, “If you don’t get off of me, I’ll put bugs in your bed!”

“Do that again and I’ll put chili sauce in your bath!” Lu declared back

Yu looked over. “Again?”

Lu proceeded to bonk her sister on the head and nodded at Yu. “Yeah, this little brat put a bunch of dirt and bugs in my bed when we were eight.”

“You deserved it!” Li declared in her defense.

“What did you do?” Yu asked as Ai turned her head to the pair, also curious.

Lu sighed as if put upon. “I threw her in the lake after she made fun of my size.” Then she looked down at her prone sister. “It’s not my fault she’s so tiny and easy to throw.”

“That’s it!” and an explosion of air sent Lu up and over the couch with a squawk and Li flying over Yu and Ai and into the washroom with a “crap!”

Ai dug her face back into Yu, shaking with laughter.

Yu shook her head and could not keep the immense smile from her face.

It was good to be home.