Heavenly Shae

Chapter 4: "An Old Geyser."

When Shae approached the site of the geyser, she was surprised to not find the caravan strewn about. She wasn't sure what to expect, but some kind of formal campsite was her number one expectation.

There had been multiple paths off the road, and she had followed the one that headed to the actual geyser she had seen on her approach. Instead of oxen and wagons and campfires, she found a desolate rocky plateau with a couple dozen sect cultivators scattered across it. Some practiced martial forms, most meditated.

Her gaze searched for someone she recognized. Either of the Bai's, or that other one.. Chen. Her gut clenched at the regret of not really knowing anyone from the sect. Hindsight said she should have spent her time in Minlin city getting to know them. Instead she rushed in and made a scene, and then another scene a short time later. She had set herself apart so much that she was asked directly, by Elder Bai, to keep her distance from the group that could very well be her classmates for the next year, or longer.

"Hey! Girl! Get out of here." A musclebound sect cultivator said to her, after moving to stand a bit too close.

She swung her tired gaze up to his face, the weight of her disappointment at herself, and now at him landed and his eye twitched.

"You're trespassing."

"Oh. Here too? Has the sect claimed all the interesting landmarks?" She looked away and kept talking. "I'm looking for either Cultivator Bai, with the caravan?"

"Oh? You're with them? Uh, fine." He turned slightly and pointed at a larger group. "Over there. You're late. Try not to interrupt the lecture." He stayed still, obstructing her way, and making her step around him.

Walking away from the rude man, she registered his words. I'm not here for a lecture, that could take too long, I just want to find the caravan, find Curly and Lari. She recalled and paraphrased Captain Hua's last advice, 'trust they are safe'. The thought relaxed her and she took calming breaths.

As she calmed she found the qi that she had been running with still rolling through her channels, she repeated several thorough exhales and deep inhales, packing the qi back into her Dantian as she breathed. Her joints and muscles came alive with pain and soreness as the qi was withdrawn, reminding her she would be feeling the run for some time to come.

She walked in a wide arc, approaching from the rear of the gathered group of sect hopefuls, with the intent of disturbing fewer of the listeners. She was nearly empty of qi as she stopped behind the group, and found herself nearing exhaustion. Even her qi channels felt sore.

All of the students were sitting. Some in a lotus pose, some on their knees and sitting on their heels. Most had at least a blanket to sit on, some fancy cushions. At the head of the group, Elder Bai sat to the side. In that same chair he had in Minlin City. He was facing the group, giving Shae a tight lipped glance, but he was not the lecturer.

Shae sat with a sigh and a groan, stifling both to not make a scene. She nearly collapsed as she began to crouch, her legs suddenly jelly. She looked up at the night sky and carefully released a sigh of relief that she didn't know she needed. Instead of matching the others, she simply extended her legs straight out in front of her, massaging and flexing the muscles as they demanded attention. Eventually, her focus returned to the lecture.

The lecturer was an older man who could have claimed to be Pop's brother, just from the assortment of gray hairs sprouting from his face. He was dressed considerably better than the chess master. In sect robes as beautifully embroidered as any she had seen. His long gray hair was tied back and folded several times behind his head, but a trail of hair still fell down his back. A sword sat prominently at his hip, and Shae guessed it was a Jian from its thin scabbard.

Unlike the master of ten-li-house, he had been talking since she began her approach.

"Much like a lunge with a weapon. The geyser is not to be underestimated. It can happen suddenly, without warning. Bursting forth into the world from seemingly nothing. Similarly, a weapon master can strike without warning."

His lecture went on in a similar way. Constantly rolling over metaphor and often setting up comparisons to swordplay.

Shae was tired and had little patience for it. It could have been interesting, she thought, especially if I didn't know what a geyser was. She tried to imagine it as something else, something she felt still held mystery for her.

The speaker was skilled however, he knew how to lecture students, even easily distracted ones like Shae. His words snapped her out of her distraction. Over and over again.

She frowned slightly as his words began to feel almost repetitive. No, she thought, not repeating, just covering all the angles, he spoke in enough variation to not miss a potential metaphor; he struck at all the vital points. She frowned as she was making the swordplay comparisons now.

Her mind wandered again, back to find other mysterious things she couldn't explain. Including things that elicited feelings other than mystery. Her memory flashed back to the old road and she shuddered, pushing it away. She looked away from the group to the mouth of the geyser. A wide dark lake with unknown depths.

When she looked back at the lecturer he was looking at her, and had a wry grin he was holding back between the words of his lecture. Yet, he didn't draw attention to her, or any other students, she noted. The lecture ended soon after.

"Now I suspect most of you have questions. And I've done enough of these to know that not all of you will be willing to ask them. Enough to know who might actually ask the good ones. Like you!" He lunged forwards, his sword suddenly in his hand, stretching over the group and pointing at Shae.

She was too tired to flinch, and when she registered what had happened, she also noted his sword was still in its scabbard. "Uhm, yes, Senior." She inclined her head appropriately. "Perhaps I am misinformed, but I understood geysers to be quite predictable, yet you have made this one sound sudden and erratic."

He withdrew his lunge. The sword now acting as a cane he leaned forwards on. "Not technically a question, but I'll take it as one. It's true that most are. The one across the road, near the campsite and baths, is quite regular. Though, it is smaller and generally considered to be less impressive than this one."

He turned to look back at the pond the geyser would erupt from. "This one does not adhere to a strict schedule. We have loose estimates, times we assume it will be active at, but I won't spoil the surprise as to when that is."

He turned back to the group, and selected another to ask a question. This repeated until either he was content, or the class had asked enough questions. Shae couldn't tell which.

Elder Bai stepped in to take over. "As discussed earlier, you will be using the night to expand your senses. The area has peculiar qi flows, especially during an eruption. For those without cultivation manuals, do not absorb the qi, simply observe. You have already been assigned your groups, so go on, until first light." He inclined his head, signaling the end of the lecture. The students stood and bowed to both teachers before migrating away.

Shae remained sitting and stared out at the lake. Stuck somewhere between just tired and mildly curious about the geyser.

"New girl! Not sure where to go? More questions?" The older lecturer called out as he approached.

She leaned back to look up at the older man, then stood so she could give him a proper greeting bow. She groaned as she stood, her legs and hips complaining profusely. "Senior, thank you for the lecture. I am Miss Zhi Shae, and I always have questions, but very few are about the geyser."

"So few? Your first question was so good I expected more."

"Hmm, yet you didn't call on me again."

"And he shouldn't have, because you shouldn't be here, Miss Shae." Elder Bai stepped in.

"Nonsense," the old man scoffed, "the timing question adds an additional excellent layer of mystery to the geyser. But do elaborate, Young Bai."

"She is not officially in the sect, Master Long"

"Neither are your other applicants. And do you really mean to tell me that this girl, the one known as both Wise and Heavenly, has not been invited by yourself directly?" He gave Bai a stern glare.

Bai had the polite manners to squirm slightly under his gaze. "No, Master."

The glare continued.

"It is surprising to hear that Senior Long has heard of me." Shae interrupted.

"Not so surprising when you know the right people to listen to." He smirked, gesturing out at the assembled cultivators.

"Ah!" She gasped. Then a breath later asked, "If I may, what is Senior Long a Master of?"

He kept up his smirk, shifting his stance slightly to rest his hand on his sword. "Take a guess."

"Uhm. Casually threatening a defenseless girl? Surely you could kill or subdue me in dozens of ways that don't require a sword."

"Heh, dozens! Quite imaginative. But you look hardly defenseless. Three weapons is more than most. Which do you prefer, bow, staff, or sword?"

"I prefer the weapon I can actually wield. The sword is peace bonded, the staff not a staff, but rather an uncarved bow. And the bow I've had very little practice with. So, I must resort to words."

"Hah, peace-bonded. And a good weapon at that, how did you earn that?" While his tone was casual, he was quite serious.

"Um... How I earned the peace-bonding, or why it was given to me?"

She felt a razor of killing intent from Elder Bai. Who had steadily been growing more irritated.

"Not the same? Start with the how."

Shea hesitated. "I cannot -"

"Insolent brat!" Bai snapped and grazed his palm over her scalp, just clipping her with enough strength to sting but not injure. "Answer your better's questions."

"Ow!" She snapped her gaze to him. First with bewilderment, then with indignant focus.

He glared back and answered for her, "She made a scene in Minlin city, like she is now. Then lucked into causing enlightenments for the military that was recruiting there. They gifted her the weapon as thanks."

The area was silent for a few breaths as a lot of eyes stared at the three. Master Long and Shae both started at Elder Bai.

"Why"-"Respe-" they both began. Shae immediately bowed to let the older man go first.

"Why did you hit her? Isn't qi pressure enough?"

Bai nodded an apology to the older man. "She has completed tempering. So pressure is ineffective, and she has proven herself very disrespectful in the past week. Plenty of time for her to heed warnings."

Long looked over at her and raised an eyebrow, "Quite young for that, which means... Directed?"

Shae nodded.

"Impressive. You must have made quite the scene to have Junior Bai so against you."

She tried not to smirk when he said Junior Bai. She smirked anyway.

"You were saying." He motioned for her to continue.

She nodded in respect again, then turned to Bai. "Respectfully, Cultivator Bai. That is incorrect."

"What? You dare-" he stepped forwards, hand on his sheathed sword hilt, and burning intent to kill in his eyes.

Master Long stuck out his own sheathed Jian. Blocking the irate Bai. "Let the girl finish, Junior Bai." He looked at her. "Do give a good answer, girl."

She nodded once more and swallowed her nerves. "Cultivator Bai, aside from your clearly biased summary of events. You answered the wrong question. That was why it was given to me, not how I earned it, as Master Long asked."

The old man smirked. "An acceptable answer. Yet, your method was sloppy, you left a wide opening. A feint if I've ever seen one, but too wide, too risky." He turned to Bai. "And you!" He swung his scabbard around quickly and knocked Bai on the back of the head. *Thwack!* He flinched too much, like he had been expecting it, even Shae saw it coming. "Don't hit your students, unless you are in the ring."

"She's not my-" *thwack!* He hit him again.

"That's worse!" The old man declared.

Bai wisely didn't object again.

"Now, Miss Shae. I take it that means you did earn the peace-bonding properly?"

She nodded. "By resolving a dispute without a weapon, yes."

"But not just any dispute." Long corrected. "Peace bonding is an old tradition, going back before techniques were common, when a cultivator had only his own bodily strength and skill with weapons to protect himself." He looked out at the gathered cultivators. Most were paying attention to them now. "A history lesson, then. As most have forgotten it. It means you overcame or defeated another cultivator without your own weapon. Nothing steel or even wood. The blade you now carry would be the one wielded against you."

Shae nodded at the slight pause.

"And judging from its quality, and the ornateness of the wire wrap... He was quite strong, early core perhaps."

That caused a murmur from the gathering. Even Bai looked surprised.

She shrugged. "Hard for me to tell, just before at the least, he had begun his Dao."

"And your victory? How?" Bai jumped in, too taken by a moment of curiosity to still be upset.

She gave another nod, intentionally stretching the drama out, really enjoying the moment. "He underestimated me. And he got sloppy, flaunting his bravado, then choosing the wrong battlefield." When the tension didn't break she added. "To say more would break propriety."

Master Long raised his eyebrows again, this time letting the exaggerated gesture drag his vision up and away.

"Not like that!" She jumped in again, a blush creeping across her face, difficult to see in the dark. "Just a cultivation topic rarely discussed openly. A perfectly normal one with no strange implications." She spoke the last sentence clearly and loudly.

Bai inhaled sharply. "What you said in the square to the Sergeant. A shard, you mean that?"

Shae nodded severely.

"Really? I don't think anyone believed you."

"Yes really. Blame your Elder Ghon if you need it explained."

"Care to loop me in?" Long asked.

Bai frowned and placed a hand on the old master's shoulder. A pause long enough for a few silent messages passed. Then the Master's eyes widened. "Really?"

Shae nodded again and smirked, "Of course." displaying a bit more attitude, a spike of killing intent from Bai was her reward. She straightened up quickly, clearing her throat. "A-Hem. Yes, Master Long, I really did sense that."

A silence of a few breaths followed, interrupted by someone around them coughing.

"Right!" Long said and turned to the waiting observers. "Wise Shae is correct to withhold this information. While not strictly dangerous or embarrassing. Custom dictates we avoid the discussion." He clapped once. "History lesson over, thank-you."