Chương 121: Bearing Destiny 7

Ran Fen did not know what had surprised her more—her friend's invitation… or her parents' acceptance of it. There was a break post-tournament, before the Sect would resume its yearly activities and classes, between its deployments. Enough time for a short trip north to the central forests along the route her parents would be taking home. … Father was being truly embarrassing, doting on her so much for her accomplishments.

It was still quite chilly, at this time of year, the many trees skeletal without their cloaks of leaves. Black and brown, pale or white, and warmer shades of brown between. But the beast court was vibrant even in the fading winter. The crumbling ruins, half-buried by the forest, glowed pale green and blazing yellow along the paths of ancient formations. They were strange, blocky things, foreign to her eyes. She supposed it must have been the pre-imperial script of the founders of this province.

There were colorful tokens strung among the thin branches above, arrangements of loose feathers and uncut but shining stones, and fairies in many bright spring colors dancing above. It was rough, but… a kindly ambience. It was of course, full of beasts, a circle of wolves occupied one side, gathered around a fire, one of their number twisted into more humanoid shape, leading the others in something like a carol carried on their howls.

Foxes and rabbits scampered among the hooved feet of deer, whose great racks of antlers were filled with chattering birds. The normal divide of predator and prey seemingly set aside for the festivities. … And if that were not bizarre enough, turning her head, she could see up at the top of the shallow steps of the ruins, there her father was seated on a slightly crumbling stone throne across from a gargantuan bear, whose fur was woven with charms and prayer tablets of all kinds.

Mother was serving them both tea, though the bear's cup more resembled a bucket.

"You are distracted, stripling."

"My apologies, Sir Hujian, my surroundings do overwhelm me a little," Ran Fen said, turning back to her conversation partner. The fox she was speaking to was old, his dull red fur fading to grey and white, with numerous scars and a one-eyed visage that gave him a ragged look, like some of the old veterans who performed clerical duties at the Sect.

"Mn, the first time I attended a human festival, it was much the same. I will forgive this," the fox replied gruffly.

"Especially seeing as your care kept that fool boy in one piece in the land of men."

"Were you skulking in the shadows, watching your charge, Sir Hujian?" The fox gave a rasping, yipping cough that might have been laughter.

"Skulk? Under the eyes of that place? You flatter an old man. No, this Hujian merely has a niece in their employ, who is willing to give her uncle news."

"Ah, that is much more sensible," Ran Fen said. She knew at least a few young noble ladies who attended the Sect just to be such a 'source of news'; some things were the same, whether one wore a skin of fur or not. She considered her next words carefully.

"Sir Rixiong is clever, but he has difficulty with subtle things. It is not too hard to explain things, once you understand how he thinks."

"That is a kind way to put it," Hujian snorted.

"It is correct," Ran Fen sniffed. She turned her head again, this time toward the sound of roaring laughter. Rixiong stood on the east side of the court, along with a sloth of young bears of similar cultivation. Black and brown, the smallest was the size of a man, the largest the height of a horse. One of the largest now sat confused on its haunches, having been bowled over by a shoulder push from her friend. He was laughing, and soon ursine roars and rumbles joined him.

Heads butting, paws shoving, like little boys tussling in the stableyards. It felt strange to see him like that, after so long at the Sect, where he had learned to rein in that playful physicality.

"Hmph, enjoying being able to play with his cousins again, I see. He was put out when they started to outgrow him," Hujian grunted.

"It's odd, bears are not sociable beasts as a rule," Ran Fen said idly.

"Too territorial for that."

"The Matriarch's lineage is less solitary, but mainly, it is this place. In the great temple, the laws of the forest are relaxed, and all may gather to honor the sun," Hujian said.

"Who dares to bellow about territory when they stand upon the Zenith's porch? Hmph, that is part of the reason I worry for the boy; he grew up here, though I exposed him to the wilds proper as much as I could. He sees this harmony more as the norm than the exception in his heart. For all that he knows what it is to be a hunter, to be predator and prey, in his head."

"Hoh, instructor Hujian, I feel my ears burning! Just what are you saying to my friend?" Rixiong ambled toward them, a wide sunny smile on his face. He was utterly at ease, without any of the tension or furrowed brows that he had when focusing on being respectable.

"Congratulating her for her admirable effort to keep you from getting tangled in thornbushes," Hujian scoffed.

"That was only once," Rixiong shouted.

"And you left me in the tangle for half a day!"

"And there wasn't a second time, so the lesson stuck, didn't it?" the old fox snorted, tails lashing across the tile.

"I don't recall him being nearly so mulish at my lessons, so I must congratulate you on your skill as a teacher, Sir Hujian," Ran Fen said, smirking behind her fan.

"Do not encourage him, and Ran Fen, do not listen to his words. This wily creature may look serious, but he is a troublemaker," Rixiong complained.

"Hmph, they lose respect so swiftly. Well, this old man shall leave you children to it then, if his advice is not wanted."

"Pfah, you know I missed you instructor!" Rixiong called at the fox's back as he sauntered away, before turning to her.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Ran Fen?" She blinked, smiling.

"Of course, thank you for inviting me." He peered at her carefully. Even his body language was a little different, leaning forward like he was about to sniff at her like a beast. She'd gotten him out of that habit at the Sect.

"I saw that you were standing off by yourself before my instructor approached you."

"Was I?" Ran Fen said. He was perceptive, she had learned that.

"Well, after Zhengyi wandered off to the inner shrine, I admit, I wasn't quite certain who to talk to." Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. She felt a bit lost here at his Mother's court. She knew all the signals, the signs of where to go and who to speak to at a normal function, but here she had nothing. Her eyes caught on another's over Rixiong's shoulder. She could have almost mistaken it for a small hill out in the shadows away from the center of the court.

There was another great bear, his hide even more marred by scarring than the fox's, shaggy fur almost entirely ashy grey. It was watching them carefully.

"Not like you to be shy, Ran Fen," Rixiong said slowly.

"But I could…" He stopped, mid-sentence, and she turned her head. She wasn't the only one, the whole festival was getting a bit quieter as the bear Matriarch let her qi rise, looking down at the two of them… at Rixiong really. The other great bear looked away too, turning attention to the Matriarch.

"Ah, well first, perhaps we should see what our parents have to say, eh?" Rixiong said brightly.

"Yes, I suppose we should," Ran Fen replied faintly. Taking a moment to poise herself, she followed in his wake, under the eyes of the beast court.

"My child, you make me proud. In the world of men, you found your strength, found fine allies, and have retained yourself." The great bear's voice was a bone-rattling rumble, her breath a hot gust that tugged at Ran Fen's hair and sent the little bells woven through the strands jingling.

"And my guests. This Matron is honored to host again, though it has been long."

"Your hospitality has been impeccable, Matron of the Zenith," Ran Fen's father said, raising his cup. Father was stately even here; he had, or showed, none of the discomfiture she felt.

"Our daughter has benefited greatly from your son's help. I regret only that our home is distant and that there is little I may offer you besides gratitude."

"And my son has benefited greatly from your daughter's association," the Matriarch replied.

"You are welcome at this temple for as long as your stay suits you. But, there is a reason I called to you, my son, a task, aside from a mother's worries." Rixiong furrowed his brow, but thumped his fist against his chest.

"Oh? Speak it, Mother, and I will take it up!"

It was quiet here, Rixiong thought, far quieter than the forest should be. It was the lack of birdsong, of rustling leaves and brush. Even the breeze seemed to hold its breath here. It was no impressive sight on the surface. Two crumbling pillars jutting into the sky, each one cut with the visage of a heavily bearded man, with a crown of horns upon his head. Four further pillars were broken, scattered across the half-buried stones. Of what they held up, there was no sign.

A vault, under the guardianship of the temple, was what Mother had wished for him to take care of. Every one hundred years, it was set to appear for the span of the new moon. At all other times, it did not exist in the waking world. Or so Mother had said. He admitted he did not fully understand. But he did understand that Mother thought he would benefit from its contents.

It contained something of the horned ones —a tool or a weapon, Mother was unsure; it was one of the many secrets of the temple that Mother's line had guarded. He glanced down at himself. He wore only his boots and trousers, and the heavy fur of his cloak. His chest was bare, but painted in pale blue geometric lines, which Hujian had applied to him with much grumbling. … Mother said he was a descendant and worthy, but was he really? Even with a year spent among his fellow humans, he did not…

know that he really belonged among them. There were so many things that itched at him, so many things wrong. He did not know if he was truly of any legacy but Mother's. But she had asked him to do this. Between the standing pillars, there was a set of stairs, descending into the earth. He straightened his shoulders and walked down them. He was uneasy, without his friend or his spirit, without even his spear. He was not weak, but… being alone was unwelcome.

His footsteps echoed off the stones as he descended, but somehow it never got any darker, the faint light of the stars seeming to linger, just enough to see by, if he could not smell. Something skittered in the dark. He drew in a sharp breath, freezing. It was a musty scent, like old leaves crumbling, but there was a copper tinge of blood.

"Ho there! I come under the authority of the Zenith Matron of the East! I come as a descendant, whose blood and mettle may be judged, in accordance with the Pact of Noon and Midnight!" Mother had told him to say these words at a time that felt appropriate. He stayed still, tense for several long seconds. There was a whisper, like two long knives being whetted, sharpened against each other. Down in the dark, pale eyes came into view, huge, pale white things, bulbs of pale radiance in the dark.

The source of the sound became clear a moment later, two smooth scythelike limbs as long as his body, slowly rubbing across each other. Mandibles snapped and chittered. A pale green, nearly white mantis towering high in the dark, wrapped in a deep black and purple cassock. Its eyes were blind, but he did not feel any less seen.

"The guardian of the vault recognizes the applicant," its, no his voice was smooth and low, punctuated by the quiet snap of jaws.

"Long, long though it has been." Rixiong nodded firmly, squinting the dark, past the mantis, to where he could just barely make out the contours of a pair of doors.

"I am Rixiong! Adopted child of the Matron, what may I call you guardian?" The mantis' head turned curiously.

"A strange question. You may call this humble servant of the Lady of Secrets Jijing."

"Sir Jijing," Rixiong said.

"My Mother asked that I come here, but I do not know what I am to do beyond that."

"Merely walk to me, that I may open the door. There is no great trial… save to be accepted by the treasure within." Rixiong looked up at Jijing, at the slowly rubbing forelimbs sharper than any blade. They could split him in twain with ease, he thought. Rixiong continued down the stairs, coming into the mantis's reach.

"Ah, is that so? I truly wonder that none have claimed it already then."

"Our patrons' plans wend and wind… who knows the purpose?" Jijing replied lightly, turning from him scuttling, he raised one forelimb, a length of thick prayer beads wrapped around the claw rattling, as he pressed the medallion of jet strung at its end to the heavy stone. The vault creaked inward.

"... That does not sound like the Zenith at all," Rixiong said dubiously.

"Aha, it is true, but then, the great brother need only provide the muscle, no?" Jijing laughed.

"There have been others before you, it is true. But their stories are not yours. Go within. The spear awaits. You need merely grasp it. You will know if you have been accepted, child." Rixiong furrowed his brow, but nodded. In the end, Mother would not send him here if he did not stand to benefit. He strode past Jijing, and into the vault. It was a plain thing, four pillars surrounding a plinth. There were shelves set in every wall, but they were empty save for dust and cobwebs. But on the plinth there was a spear.

Its head was gleaming black bronze, its haft was smooth white … bone? - and a tassel of red horsehair hung from the bronze cap on its butt. At first, he thought there was some trick of distance, confusing his sight, but no, the spear was a huge thing, thicker than one of his legs and longer than he was tall. The leather grips wrapped around its haft looked to have been used by many hands.

Rixiong strode up the short steps, squinting down at the weapon, still and silent in the shaft of moonlight that pierced the darkness from a ceiling he could not see. He carefully grasped the haft of the spear. First lightly, then firmly. There was a beat of silence. He felt nothing, smelled nothing but old leather and weapon polish. The spear thrummed in his hand, shaking so hard he almost felt it rattle out of his grip.

"All of these years, and they send me a snot-nosed stripling in his second decade?! Sun's swinging balls, boy, are you sure you're ready to graduate from toys?" Rixiong blinked. What?