Days of Madness - Breaking the Sky

The wind and rain was lashing like a maddened beast against the sentinel trees that ringed the sanctuary, howling and smashing itself with a physical rage that left the refugees within the clearing cowed and quiet despite the fact that the storm was muted to heavy breezes and rain within the protected clearing.

Dàilán walked around the half of the clearing where the Cultivator's camp was organised, quietly talking with anyone who wanted to speak with her, doing her best to be reassuring and encouraging. Some of the questions were related to their current situation - would they make it to the safety they had been promised? How much worse were things going to get?

But most of the questions were accompanied by wary glances over at the other side of the clearing where the Yāoguǐ camp was spread across the other half.

The young Heiress turned away from the latest questioner as the young woman left with a confident stride, sighing as she looked across the clearing at their new neighbours.

"I know how you feel," her Father's voice rumbled out from behind her, the background sounds dropping away as his Cultivation Domain enveloped them in a small sphere of silence, "are you certain this was the correct choice?"

"No," she admitted, turning her head to look her father in the face, "but then, everyone is asking the same question - probably the same on their side as well."

Her father barked a short laugh, "They do not seem to have a good opinion of Cultivators, do they?"

"That seems to be a common view among those we have met lately - I always thought Cultivators were revered everywhere," mused Dàilán.

"You have always lived within the Clan," answered her father, "outside of the Human Empires opinions are mixed. They naturally believe their own methods of cultivation are superior and generally look down on human cultivators."

"I remember the old legends were not particularly complimentary towards Yāoguǐ either," Dàilán countered slowly, then she sighed again, "but given that we are supposed to be working towards an alliance, I could not decline their request for shelter from the storm once it grew severe, even if the alliance is meant to be temporary."

Her father grimaced, "even within the sanctuary, it is becoming difficult to cope with the wind and rain. I did not know it was possible to have a typhoon this far inland. It did not seem to blow in from the direction of the coast either - it just appeared from nowhere." He shook his head smiling slightly, "Outside is - Essence seems to be literally coming out of the clouds with the rain, wind and lightning. The forest is growing madly - I swear I saw a seed go from sprout to forest giant in a shùnqǐng on my last patrol circuit."

"The storm is another Essence Disturbance," guessed the young Heiress.

"Partially, I think…" her father seemed deep in thought, "...something is familiar about it... reminds me of storms when I was younger…"

"You saw storms like this when you were my age?" exclaimed Dàilán in surprise.

"Oh - nowhere as destructive or as strong as this one - most of those would have blown out long since. And it was not that far back - the last one I remember was, en… maybe seventy, eighty years before you were born, although…" his eyebrows drew down over his brows, clearly thinking of something else.

"Yes?" prompted his daughter after he remained silent for several moments.

"Your comment about your age - now that I think of it, when I was a child they were a lot stronger - though not as strong as this one - and not at all unusual. Now that I think about it… it seems odd that I do not remember experiencing any in the last few decades," the older Cultivator rubbed his chin, "regular storms with wind and rain yes, but Storms that replenished the Essence of the land as well as watering it, no."

Dàilán blinked slowly, "that… seems, wrong?" she offered carefully, "I always thought the Golden Crow, the wind and the rain replenished Essence in an area? Or it recovered over time from the land itself? If it relied on Storms like this… would the Essence not - run out?"

Her Father regarded her seriously, "We have not had our chance for our weekly meeting lately. And…" he motioned to her and started walk towards the middle of the clearing, where a strip of empty grass almost a yǐn across separated the two camps. Both groups were avoiding the area as a sort of an unofficial 'borderzone', despite neither group's leaders suggesting it.

Dàilán followed her father to one of the Sentinel Trees that stood over one end of the strip of empty clearing and up into the wide lower branches, where the tree's higher branches and thick foliage protected them from the rain and wind that was making it past the clearing's protections.

He sat cross legged on the large platform-like surface of the branch, tucking his robes under his legs to avoid sitting directly on the bark.

"One of the reasons - beyond those I have told you about previously - I chose to return back to Hujian after my adventures when I was younger," he began without preamble as Dàilán sank down into her own cross legged seat in front of him within his domain, "was precisely because of Essence 'running out' as you put it. I had discovered that while the Imperial City and all of the other fabled cities in other Empires are truly marvellous with wonders beyond imagining, there the Essence is thin - worn - almost nonexistent in some places, hoarded by the Great Clans and Sects with Formations and restricted lands."

Her father quirked his lips up in memory, "The average person in the civilised areas of the Empires is barely a Cultivator by our standards - just not enough Essence to go around. Despite the somewhat rustic situation your Cousins and their mothers were constantly complaining about - between the politics and the constant low level squabbling over resources that the merchants brought in or were doled out by the large organisations," he shrugged expressively, "Hujian is actually a much better place to Cultivate, if more physically dangerous. It did not always matter so much, but in the last few decades the more settled areas have had less and less free Essence present in the environment to Cultivate with - you had to have connections with a larger group to be able to progress."

Dàilán frowned, tapping the bark under her legs softly with a thoughtful figure, "and I suppose, the ones in charge see it as a good thing rather than a problem - if they control the Cultivation resources they can stay on top."

"Precisely," agreed her father, bestowing an approving expression on her, "ironically, Cults like Grass take advantage of this and gain support among the population, by claiming they are working for the common good of the people, by working to bring down the Sects and Clans. They place emphasis on the corruption and hoarding of Cultivation resources and Essence rich locations to cover up their own unsavory deeds. It is enough for them to convince many who do not know better that the Cults are actually unfairly maligned and have their best interests at heart."

"No one is going to be pleased with a change in the status quo," summarised Dàilán, "it appears that Grass may have achieved at least some of their goals despite failing to capture the Knife Sect's lands - the resulting upheaval has had far reaching consequences."

Her father frowned, "A leader must be more honest with themselves than with those they lead. Your deflection of the obvious does you no credit, Daughter."

Dàilán sighed and she looked away, looking out over the clearing as her finger came to rest, "We cannot know for certain if… Lin… is the reason everything is changing."

"What do you feel?" her Father asked her plainly, "When it comes to the Dao, reason eventually must take a back seat to our connection to the rest of the Great Dance of the Heavens," he leaned forward, his voice intense, "you have begun to step into the levels of Cultivation that many never reach, I was nearly - four times - your age when I broke through to Sky, Lán'er and it was a difficult Tribulation that nearly killed me. On the other hand - recently, you seem to be advancing like drinking water and eating rice - your potential is remarkable. But…"

He paused before sighing and sat upright again, "forgive your father. I never wanted this for you. I had hoped that you might live your life safe below the sky. Perhaps I acted selfishly as a father rather than a Cultivator - I do not wish to lose you as I lost Xiùyīng," he ran his hand through his hair and snorted coldly, "the Heavens have clearly decided otherwise - who finds a mysterious Cultivation technique that allows them to break though in a pawnshop, outside of old stories?"

Dàilán looked at her Father in confusion, feeling more than a little hurt, "are you not happy that I am advancing in my Cultivation, Father? I thought… are you not proud of me?"

"Oh, Daughter…" her Father smiled proudly down at her although she could detect more than a shadow of sadness in his expression, "not even a son could make me as proud as you have. Every day I see more and more of your mother in you. But when you have your own children…"

His smile turned wistful, "Cultivation is walking with death as well as life. The last thing any parent wants is for their children to be consumed by it. So I was relieved when I thought you might stay below the Sky - I had hoped the Prophecy the Star level Cultivator spoke of was not for you…"

"I do not understand," Dàilán admitted, "what does all of that have to do with my connection to the Dao?"

The Clan Leader looked apologetic, "as your Cultivation slowed, I avoided discussing the higher Cultivation levels with you - I focused on teaching you Clan management and leadership. Then everything changed so quickly… and you broke through the sky," he laughed ruefully, "suddenly I realised, I had not spoken to you about the influence the Dao has on a Cultivator once they break through the sky."

He shook his head, "my own teacher warned me that the easier a Cultivator broke through the sky the more influence the Dao would have on them. My own breakthrough was very difficult, so I have not personally experienced it as much - but it is important to know that breaking through Sky is a threshold - and a Cultivator must pay much more attention to their feelings and intuition as they hew closer to the Dao."

Dàilán frowned and rubbed her nose, "so you are saying - my feelings and instinct are important?"

"It is better to say - you have an much closer connection to the Dao than you did below the Sky," her father smiled at her, a flash of boyish wonder breaking through, "and you must learn to pay attention to the information you are perceiving from that connection. To most Cultivators it comes in the form of unexplainable feelings, knowing things that you could have no way of being sure of and yet - knowing absolutely it is so - you must learn to absolutely accept and follow that instinctive knowledge..."

He took a deep breath, a grimmer expression crossing his face, "...there are techniques and evil methods that enemies can use to affect your connection to the Dao, as well, so you must learn to separate truth from influence…" he smiled again, "but those techniques are less likely to work on those with stronger connections to the Dao - and your connection, my daughter, will only grow stronger - this I know."

"I am honoured by Father's trust in me," Dàilán bowed forward from her seated position, "but how can I separate my own feelings and instincts from the Dao?"

Her father nodded, "that is the difference of a Cultivator beyond the Sky - your senses are no longer limited to what you personally encounter - rather the Dao becomes part of what you sense - in your case, I would say there is will be little difference from your own instincts and the knowledge that comes from having a close connection to the Dao."

"An example," her father held up a hand as she frowned again, "why did you choose to negotiate with the Yāoguǐ instead of leading the others to retrieve myself and the BloodWitch?"

"It was… it made the most sense. If we failed then, the other stronger Cultivators could protect the camp and bring the others away safely. If we brought everyone to attack and failed…" she looked up at her father, "Chén'er and I were strong enough - the others would not add much - and as the leaders of our group, so no disrespect could be taken for our presence…" she paused and sighed, "I say this after… but at the time I merely acted on my heart - though it did seem the right way to proceed… it was..."

Her father tapped the bark of the branch, "foolish? Yes… it had an excellent chance to fail - two young female Cultivators going to confront an unknown number of Yāoguǐ in their own forest. And yet…" he spread his hands, "And that is not the only time - against the Grass, the decision to find the Sage, your decisions have led us all to this point - safely - when all thought we would die. Again, again and again. If anyone else had led us, I am sure by now we would all be captured or worse."

He looked at her seriously, "so I ask you again, what do you feel?"

"Lin…" Dàilán hesitated, "he is important. All of this… it feels… important. The changes, the Essence levels rising - all of it - it all comes together with the Sage. If he was not involved, we would have died - I almost think, I would not have found that old bamboo scroll, or the clues that led to the Grass' plots being discovered early. There are too many coincidences, even Chén'er has remaked on my dogshit luck over the past few months. Without the plots being discovered, Grass would have conquered the Knife and occupied their lands - nothing would have happened to the Essence. I would have been married to one of Second Uncle's cronies… it makes no sense but, I think it is all of the same piece."

"There does not seem to be a link," he father pointed out mildly, "the Sage is in the Mountain - he never leaves - what does he have to do with the scroll? Or your discovery of the Grass' plans?"

"I… even Lin said my Cultivation was unusual," the young Heiress confessed, "the Yāoguǐ as well, behaved differently when he spoke with me, largely it seemed because of my Cultivation and my connection to the Sage." She shrugged, "I cannot explain it - but it feels part of a larger pattern."

"I feel it too, though not as strongly," admitted her Father, "when I spoke to that young man - it felt as if he was my son-in-law. I found myself treating him as one - even though by rights I should have been much more on guard."

"Father," gasped Dàilán in a scandalised tone and he laughed, "Your expression, daughter…" he subsided as she glared half-heartedly at him, her face flushed.

"I think you are right, daughter. I think everything is changing, because of him and in the process, he has saved you somehow and thus saved all of us. I felt it quite strongly when we spoke," he smiled sadly, "the last time I felt anything quite so strongly was when I met your mother all those years ago. The prophecy from the Star Level Dragon only confirmed my feelings, rather than eliciting a stronger sense of direction."

"You have mentioned that meeting a few times now," Dàilán remarked, "are you ever going to explain…?"

"There does not seem any real need," her father laughed to himself, "I think it fulfilled its true purpose in convincing the Sect Elders and your Grandfather to allow your mother to marry me. I would prefer you seek out your own Dao without feeling required to follow words spoken long ago. If it is true Prohespy, it will be fulfilled regardless, though with that sort of thing, that is best revealed after the fact."

Dàilán rolled her eyes, "I have enough to worry about. I cannot be bothered trying to convince you to tell me for idle curiosity's sake."

"En, Well," he rose to his feet, unfolding from the cross legged position, and looking down at the Yāoguǐ camp "for the second part of our weekly meeting, let us see if we cannot go and normalise our new alliance. Consider it a practical exercise in diplomatic relations and Clan level politics!" he shouted as he lept of the branch, falling towards the 'Yāoguǐ side' of the clearing.

"Eh?!" Dàilán half shouted in surprise, "Oh, wonderful, he has decided to relive his adventuring days again," she sighed to herself as she leapt of the branch to hastily follow, "I think I prefer it when he sticks to being Father," she grumbled, in the universal reaction of all teens everywhere, "Father, please do not embarrass me in front of the Mówáng," she called out hurriedly as she floated downward towards the edge of the Yāoguǐ camp, rubbing an exasperated hand down her face as hearty laughter floated upward in response.