13 Parting, Promise, and The Path

The first thing Lineir did was sprint home. The bone scythes on his arm terrified him to no end. They were inside of him, but he didn't control them! They just popped out without him meaning to draw them. The expressions on the guard's faces. Utter shock and disbelief as they were killed! Lineir couldn't get them out of his head. He ran and ran with only the desire to reach somewhere safe from accusing eyes.

"Disciple! Your path is too linear, you need to take a few side routes at least! If you head directly to your house, it will be too easy to trace your steps! What happened was not your fault, and I would have put those men down anyway! Calm down or those blades in your arm will keep coming out and give the game away!" Mei frantically urged Lineir to at least have some forethought. For once, Lineir listened, and he quickly ducked down several side alleys, taking an indirect route to his house. Once there, he realized he had long since lost his key after the events of the last couple days. He grew more and more panicked as nobody answered the door despite his furious knocking.

"Where is she! I need to know if she's okay!"

"Kid, this sister of yours, she probably has a job right? It's still early in the evening, she's probably working." Lineir realized he had been unreasonable and thought it over.

"You're right, she's probably at the bar, even with me missing she has to keep working or else she wouldn't be able to eat! Let's go!" Lineir finally calmed down a little, and the bone scythes on his arms which had been oscillating in and out of his elbows slowly slid back under his skin with an uncomfortable smoothness.

"Kid, you need to change first, I'm sure there's another way into your house, it's hardly the height of security. Look at yourself, if you brought yourself to a bar right now you'd be letting the whole city know you're the killer!"

The word killer echoed throughout Lineir's mind over and over. He quickly and without complaint went around the back and climbed up the side of the apartment. Entering his compartment through the broken window, he changed and headed back out, looking haggard and smelling of unknown substances, but at least visually less suspicious.

A quick jog and he arrived at his sister's inn, the Green Goose Nest. Walking in, he immediately saw his sister busily serving drinks at the bar. When she turned and saw him, her pinched brows straightened and curled into a huge smile,

"Little Brother, you're okay! Manager, my brother who has been missing finally turned up, can I take a moment? The manager, a heavy-browed woman eyed Lineir and nodded.

"Make it quick, drinks don't serve themselves!" With that she headed with Lineir around the back.

"Little brother, where have you been this whole time? Why do you smell like filth, good god, is that blood? Are you hurt?!!!" ignoring the fact that Lineir smelled atrocious she immediately began patting him all over looking for the source of the blood.

"Sister, just listen for a second okay? I'm not hurt, I just need to say some things." His sister's worried expression only grew deeper, "What happened?"

"Look, I've been outside the city, and some things happened. I can't tell you much, but look, we've only had each other ever since he left. I can't say much, but I need to leave, and I don't think I will be able to come back for a very long time." With that, Yiu's face grew pale,

"What are you saying little brother, we've always been together, is it the money? Don't worry, I can feed you even if you can't find anything outside the city, you don't need to worry yourself about that!"

"No sister, it's not the money. This is serious, you have to listen closely, I need to go. I offended some big people, and you absolutely must not allow anyone to know I was gone. It would be better to pretend that you didn't have a brother from now on. Both our lives depend on it!" Lineir was crafty, he avoided saying anything which would really give Yiu a sense of what was going on, while simultaneously implying that if she said anything, not only she, but he would be in trouble. Yiu might endanger herself, but she would never put Lineir in danger.

"Just remember that I'll be back one day, and when that time comes, we will never be hungry again, and tell no one! I'm sorry!!" With that he turned, breaking out of her grasp and ran off as she called his name.

"****, I'm such a bad brother, but it's for her own good. Leaving her alone like that, nothing had better happen to her while I'm gone!"

Mei had no snide comments to say,

"You did the right thing, right now there's only one thing for you to do, and that's get out of this city as fast as possible. If they haven't discovered the bodies yet, then they will soon. When that happens, security will be tightened and you will be in deep trouble. If you can get out before then, you should be able to disappear with no one the wiser. If your sister is smart, she'll follow your advice, as painful as it might be, and she'll be fine. The best thing you can for her is to go!"

Though Lineir's heart was beating fast, and he feared those dreadful blades would come sliding out of his flesh, his passage was uneventful through the gates. The guards were actually extremely distracted,

"I heard that the guards at the Eastern gate were murdered! I can't believe something like that would happen in our small Brackenrock City. Truly, between this and the undead I wonder what will become of our city?"

They were staring off at the Eastern gate as if trying to see what was there. Lost in a small group of wagons and men Lineir quickly progressed through the Western gate and was on his way out. From there, he had to make a choice.

"Mei-Mei, where should I go? The path splits in three here, which direction do you think is best?" There was a sign. The leftmost branch said, "Adriassia City" the middle, "Beltearas City", and the right, "Deltoir Fords and Dracherus City"

Mei was no help however,

"Kid, the world is vast, and might I remind you that I don't come from around here? I know of little here, and I'll leave the navigating to you. However, if you want my opinion, I would avoid cities for now. You're too conspicuous and cities are poor places to cultivate for the poor. You want to get strong and be able to return for your sister right? In a city there are far too many people sucking up and blocking the natural Qi. Only the rich can afford the cultivation resources in cities. A rat like you is much better off in the wilderness. I have an extensive knowledge of how to survive alone. I promise that if you follow my instructions, you won't die in all likelihood, and you'll grow strong faster."

"Alright master, I hope you aren't just saying empty words as I will stake my life on them. I have heard that there is a great wilderness which can be accessed near Dracherus City. We'll head along that route!" So saying, he headed off to the right. Little did Lineir know though...that this would be the beginning of an epic journey!