Chapter 260 - Trial of Requirement

It was evening when Kai was able to make it back to the empty building where he had left Char Char. The spiky haired young man vaulted effortlessly over a wall, landing quietly in a three point pose. His eyes and ears were alert, glimmering in the orange light of the setting sun.

He moved quickly, making his way to the shuttered window and shimmied it open the way he had over twelve hours earlier. As he walked down the darkened hallways, he noted how silent the building was.

Was Char Char still in the storage room where he’d left her? Or had she ignored instructions yet again and escaped for whatever reason suited her fancy at the moment?

To Kai, he honestly didn’t care, and in fact he expected Char Char to have ignored his orders. After all, she was a Rebel. As a Cheater himself, he understood that rules were meant to be broken. How could he be mad if she disobeyed his orders?

He turned the corner into the hallway, laying his eyes on the closed storage room door. He couldn’t sense the presence of anyone in the building, but that was the purpose of the ward which he had set before he left. There was no light leaking out from under the door, and no sounds coming from within, though. These were things that the ward did not obscure.

She really left.

A smirk was on Kai’s lips as he pushed open the door. However instead of an empty room he found Char Char sitting in the center with her arms wrapped around her legs and her head buried in her knees.

He paused, standing in the doorway with a hand on his hip, looking down at the girl. She didn’t react to his arrival, though from the tension in her arms Kai could tell she was awake.

“You really stayed.” Kai said.

Char Char raised her head, revealing a calm expression, “Is Firuzeh okay?”

“She’ll survive.” Kai replied, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. The room was bathed in complete darkness, though both Exalted could see just fine. He reached out to a candleholder on the wall and lit the candle there, illuminating the room.

He made a slow circle around the room, carefully observing the black chalk line to confirm that it had was still whole, “Corbin and Firuzeh were taken in by the police and interviewed. It appears the police aren’t aware of your or my involvement in the fight.”

“That’s good.” Char Char replied quietly. A frown flickered on her lips as she buried her face back into her knees.

“What’s wrong?” Kai asked casually, pulling out the chalk as he noticed a thin spot in the line. The parchment wrapper crinkled as he unwrapped it.

“I’m sorry.” Char Char said.

“For what?”

“I was stupid… I… I didn’t take things seriously. I can’t believe I…” Char Char shook her head, inwardly berating herself, “Because of me everyone got hurt, Firuzeh almost died. Because of me.”

Kai shrugged, “It happens.”

He laughed suddenly, causing Char Char to look up at him in confusion. He sat down on his haunches, so they were at eye level with each other, “I did not expect you to be this way, Char.”

“Why are you laughing?” Char Char frowned. It was clear she had expeected Kai to be furious and strict with her.

However, this Cheater rarely took things seriously. He reached out, messing up Char Char’s hair roughly, “Loosen up. You’re making me feel bad for yelling at you earlier.”

“S-stop it!” Char Char finally broke her curled up posture as she pushed away Kai’s hand.

“This is the life of the Red Lion.” Kai said, referring to the name of their security company, “Weeks of boredom, then moments of life threatening peril. We survived, there’s no point in moping.”

“But if I didn’t—“

“So you made a mistake.” Kai interrupted her, “Don’t do it again. Easy.”

Char Char’s gaze darkened as she glared at him, feeling like he was trivializing her remorse and guilt.

“You did good too.” He shrugged nonchalantly, “You chased him off with your sword. If you had just ran we would have all died. Do you feel guilty about jumping into the fight at the end, too?”

“No, but—“

“We all make mistakes, Char. We all have regrets.” Kai said, “But I like you. Why? Because when push comes to shove, you’re not afraid to make things right.”

Char Char’s lips tensed up, quivering. She clenched her fists as she looked down, tears started running down her cheeks.

“I promise I’ll do better.” She sniffed.

“Good enough for me.” Kai grinned.

“And I want…“

“You want?”

Char Char’s eyes hardened in determination as she said resolutely,

“I want to get stronger.”

~

As Char Char made this declaration, the sun was setting deep within the Fuha Wastelands.

It had been a month since Nilya’s awakening, when he had been taken in by the guru-chi as his oji, a potential heir to the sun god’s throne.

At the guru-chi’s behest, Nilya had moved into the village healer’s house in the center of the village, and spent every moment with the wise man. Every day the young boy woke up before dawn, following his new master out into the swamp. There they trained until dusk.

Throughout this time Yuzu had carefully watched the strings, taking in every conversation, every precious piece of information which she could glean from the pair’s interactions.

“Dusk is nearly upon us.” The guru-chi said as he observed Nilya’s typical evening training.

The ten year old boy with tightly braided hair that resembled vines was cross-legged in lotus pose with his hands cupped at his navel. His eyes were half-closed as he slowly inhaled and exhaled, keeping his mind on his breaths.

“Tonight, boy, you shall undergo the Trial of Requirement.” The elder said in a soft, low voice, “In this trial, you shall enter the spirit realm and retrieve a hollow ember, which will serve as the main ingredient for your advancement to Apprentice.”

Nilya nodded, swallowing nervously as he said, “Is it dangerous?”

“Oh, yes, it is a deadly trial. We guru-chi have been sending oji into the mists for hundreds of years. Only one out of five return.” The guru-chi chuckled, “But that is only for most. As for myself, I have never lost an oji in this trial. Your training in these past weeks have prepared you specifically for this task.”

Nilya was sitting on a rock in a ring of twelve unlit candles. A ring of crushed quartz had been poured around the candles. The guru-chi stood in front of Nilya outside the ring. He reached into his robes and pulled out a gold coin, which had been etched with an intricate rune.

“The Trial of Requirement is written in the scriptures. The Oji shall travel alone, without guidance or instruction, only knowing that they must retrieve a hollow ember from within.” He recited. He assumed a reverent pose, with his left palm flat and facing upward, and his right hand held above it with the thumb and forefinger extended to the sky. The golden coin lay flat in the center of his left palm. “From the depths of the wastes, you shall be cleansed by flame and set your foot upon the path to your rightful destiny.”

The sky was ablaze with orange and red hues as the sun touched the horizon. The air grew denser and the ground vibrated with a low rumble. The twelve candles around Nilya lit spontaneously as the quartz ring began to glow with a fiery light. The light formed a dome around the boy that shimmered in the dying light of day.

Nilya’s body began to shimmer with saturated blues and reds. He felt a tingling sensation in his toes, he felt his body become weightless. He maintained his meditative posture, following his training to focus on his breathing and ignore the sensations.

In his mind’s eye a white hot light was shining from his bones, starting in his toes and traveling up through his legs. This sensation continued in his pelvis and ignited a light within his navel, the wellspring of qi, and then shot rose up through his spine.

The heat spread through his ribs, circling his chest. His breaths felt hot, as if his lungs were being heated by his glowing ribcage. The white light traveled through his shoulders and down to his elbows and wrists and to the tips of his fingers. Finally, it rose up through his neck and skull.

He heard the words of the guru-chi speak to him, “Remember, boy. You must find the hollow ember before the sun rises. If you do not return by the time the sun touches the horizon, you will be forever lost in the mists.”

When Nilya opened his eyes he found himself alone inside a strange colourful world.