Campfire

"Ah…" Chún gently loosened his hold and Dàilán gracefully retracted her small jade-white hand, the dagger strapped to her wrist shining dully for a moment in the dim lighting of the Essence Plants and the Essence motes floating around hot spring.

The young female Consumer sank back into the steaming water with a sigh of relief, "I am glad that is settled," she murmured quietly, leaning back against the sculpted rocks that Chún had smoothed to form convenient seats.

"What about the others?" asked Chún quietly, taking a few steps back to sit down against the boulder rather than remain perched at the edge of the spring.

"Some of the Senior Enforcers from what is left of my Sect will not be happy that I have made this decision without consulting them," admitted the young heiress, "doubly so for my Father…"

"You know he will be well enough to resume his duties in the next couple of days," asked Chún, "would he really not support your decision?"

"He still sees me as his treasure," answered the other teenager, "although we were discussing my marriage - it was only due to pressure from other Clan Elders. He would prefer I not have to make such important decisions yet - possibly never," she ended with a slight humorous lilt to her voice.

"I can understand that," agreed the young man, closing his own eyes and leaning his head back against the boulder, "I wish with all my heart that I had someone else to make decisions like these for me."

"Unfortunately, my Sect Members would not accept his leadership - they already consider him to be an outsider that has been keeping me from taking up my duties as Sect Heir," Dàilán explained, "I am the only person that both sides will follow without immediately starting arguments we have no time for."

"You mentioned your Father has been training you for leadership," Chún frowned, opening his eyes to look at the indistinct shape of Dàilán's head floating above the water, the faint luminescence of her jade-white skin making her easy to spot despite the dim lighting,"Would he not approve of you decisively taking action to safeguard your… people?"

"I believe so," responded Dàilán, "However, he would likely disapprove of… my approach." She shrugged, "If it becomes known, my future value as a bride will be reduced. Which is why I chose this method, of course."

Chún shifted uncomfortably, ill at ease with all this talk outside of his scope of experience, "I will leave that to you to decide. I have no interest in discussing it with anyone - least of all your Father."

The young woman turned her head slightly towards him, a note of curiosity in her voice, "Most young men I know would be bragging about speaking with - a beautiful woman alone."

Chún felt his face heat, "Maybe I do not feel securing the future of my land with a risky deal is worth bragging about all that much. As for the rest," he motioned with one hand at the spring and the woman in it, "you are the first Xia female my age that I have ever had a long conversation with. It does not seem to be something to really brag about."

Several breaths passed in silence, "I find the fact that you felt the need to qualify that statement with my race - as opposed to my gender - absolutely fascinating," Dàilán remarked eventually.

"Life has been interesting lately," replied Chún matter-of-factly, lapsing back into silence which stretched out comfortably, neither young teen feeling particularly inclined to break it. In the depths of his thoughts, Chún idly prodded at the link, but failed to receive any response from his locus other than a feeling of frustration and growing curiosity, mixed with threads of smug satisfaction.

After a Diǎn or so, Dàilán sighed, "I should get out and make my way back to the camp." A grumbling noise interrupted her statement and she blushed, "Unusually, despite my Sky level Cultivation, I find myself to be very hungry."

'Given the amount of fighting, healing and travelling she has had to do over the past week or so,' commented Tai in the link between them as Chún tilted his head at the young woman consideringly, 'that is hardly surprising. And despite her strangely undamaged Dao Pattern - for a Consumer, that is - her Cultivation barely qualifies as Sky rank.'

'What is strange about her Cultivation, Tai?' enquired the young true Cultivator into the link in the space between breaths, while thinking quickly, "as it happens Lady," he offered out loud, "I have a fair amount of Essence Beast meat as well as Essence rich fresh fruit and vegetables on me. No rice or pickled vegetables, but one cannot be too choosy in the wilderness. I would be happy to have a guest for dinner."

As Dàilán blinked in surprise, his locus grumbled within his thoughts, 'If I did not know better, I would say she is Cultivating more like a True Cultivator than a Consumer. There - are signs - that she was causing damage to her Dao Patterns with a typical incomplete or twisted Consumer technique at some point in the recent past, but almost all of the artificial Dao pattern has been removed and replaced with strengthened forms of her own natural patterns.'

"I would be honoured to eat with you," the young Heiress bobbed her head formally, then grinned, her teeth gleaming white against the twilight of the hot spring's dimly lit environment, "I am surprised Mountain Spirits eat, however."

"I will admit it is mostly for enjoyment," agreed Chún - even as he thought between breaths into the link, 'if her Cultivation Technique is so close to correct, it might explain why she seems to have responded so much better to the medicine - and possibly why she was able to sense me manipulating the Dao Patterns here while I created the hot spring'.

Bowing slightly to cover his distraction, as Tai rumbled thoughtfully, he continued talking to the Heiress, "but it would be a pleasure to host you. Now that we have come to an agreement, it would be nice to have a conversation without the weight of immediate consequences behind it."

"En… true enough, I suppose," agreed Dàilán, then she cast her gaze over to her soiled robes on the boulder and frowned in distaste, wrinkling her nose, "I do not look forward to wearing dirty clothing after finally getting clean. All my clothes are basically unfit for company," she stated in a resigned tone of voice as she got up from her seat and started wading towards the opening in the bamboo wall. Chún noted with slight disappointment that she kept the water just above her collarbone as she moved.

"If you do not have any objection to wearing plain male peasant clothing, I have an unworn set of pants and tunic I can give you," offered the young man at his locus' reminder, "they are clean and in good repair."

The young woman paused her slow wade and turned around, nodding with enthusiasm, "please. I would be grateful. I do not care as long as it is clean and relatively undamaged."

"Wait there then," cautioned Chún, as he rose and walked around to the other side of the pond, where the rest of the clothing Dàilán had been wearing under her robes had been draped across another boulder. Chún ignored them and retrieved a set of the plain clothing he had purchased from the village the last time he had visited from the mists of the Cloak, laying them down on another boulder, before walking back around the fence.

"I do not have suitable underthings, I am afraid," he apologised hesitantly and Dàilán laughed merrily, "I would have been most suspicious if you had," she joked, waving a jade-white hand in relief, sending out a spray of silvery droplets, "thank you."

"It is not a difficulty," replied the young man, "I will go outside and set up a fire for our repast." Bowing slightly he turned and left down the path that led outside of the small copse of trees.

---

Dàilán blinked thoughtfully to herself as she fingered the weave of the clothing she had just finished dressing in after drying herself off with a simple extension of her personal hair-drying Essence control exercise and using the same technique to tie her long hair back into a simple braid somewhat neater than her earlier attempts by hand.

While the Mountain Spirit… Chún, she reminded herself, was correct in stating that the clothes he had left for her was of a peasant cut for a male, both the long 'Tang-style' tunic with the old-fashioned high collar and the trousers were made of an oddly soft and silky material that she could not place - although as she observed glimmers of light refracting off the threads she was reminded of the bolt of Essence cloth her Cousin Yue had purchased from the old Knife field Enforcer.

"But who would use Essence Cloth to make plain peasant clothing in such an old fashioned style? No one has worn those for thousands of years. So much for claiming he is a human my age," she frowned, tapping her lips in thought, "I would not even recognise the style if it was not for Cousin's fashion preoccupation," she murmured to herself in interest, "surely he is not a tailor on top of everything else?"

Shaking her head she moved to strap on her spatial pouch and other accessories, folding and placing her soiled dress and underclothes away, once the belt and pouch were secured around her waist, "I will just be grateful that the clothing is much more comfortable and better made than I expected," she decided firmly, enjoying the feeling of the expensive cloth against her skin and thankful for the snug fit of the tunic that gave her some support.

She walked around the pond and picked up her Sect Enforcer robes from where they had been draped over the boulder, shaking her head at the damage, "The Formations on these are destroyed," she muttered in resignation then sighed and packed them away in the spatial pouch as well.

Careful checking revealed her leather and cloth boots were badly stained and scuffed but still wearable, so she slipped them back on, thankful the Formations keeping them sanitary and comfortable were still working.

Squatting quickly she picked up the bāwū laying on the rock at the side of the hot spring where she had placed it, smiling as she traced the almost jadestone finish of the bamboo, before placing it to her lips and beginning to play a gentle, happy tune as she straightened up and walked down the narrow path out of the small glade.

Following the path only took moments and Dàilán walked slowly out into the ordinary lightly forested area that the camp was situated in, shivering slightly as the warm feeling of the higher Essence Levels around the hot spring dropped away. A short distance away, the light of a fire could be seen glimmering through the trees and she headed for it, still playing softly.

A cheerful chuckle greeted her as she arrived at the side of the small fire where the impossibly handsome young man was seated at the end of an old fallen tree trunk, busily laying out pieces of meat and various items on a grill. Between the now velvet night lit only by the light of the First Attendant - The Princess and the Second Attendant were not visible tonight, she saw as she cast her eyes skyward for a moment - and those elegant features, sinfully long platinum hair and mystical robes that seemed to shift with his movements, he looked like some Janghu warrior out of the poet's sagas contemplating the mysteries of the Dao as he gazed into the fire.

Of course, the image was somewhat ruined by the fact that he was skewering meat and peppers onto sticks briskly like a barbeque stall owner, with every evidence of enjoyment and skill. Dàilán's playing turned whimsical as she sat on the other end of the log, reflecting her thoughts and she smiled into the mouthpiece as Chún began to hum along approvingly, nodding his head along to the beat.

"It has been too long since I have heard anyone play anything half as well," he exclaimed when she paused to take a breath and relax her lips an incense stick of time later, "and just in time too," he declared, leaning forward to pick up one of the skewers off the grill and offering it forward along with a plate of vegetables and fruits that appeared freshly picked, "this goes very well with the fresh leeks, my talented friend."

Dàilán put the flute down and accepted the skewer as Chún placed the plate of vegetables and fruits between them on the log, swallowing her saliva at the golden meat that glistened with perfectly rendered juices, the edges of the peppers - and pieces of wild onion, she noted - just beginning to crisp along their edges.

Glorious flavours burst along her tongue and she blinked in surprise, realising she had taken a large bite out of the skewer without conscious thought.

Quiet laughter came from beside her and a soft touch on her lap made her look down; a large flat plate with familiar looking patterns had been placed below the skewer just in time to catch the drips of juice as they fell from her bite.

"I would not want you to mess up your clean clothing so quickly," Chún commented, his eyes flashing with good humor, before taking a bite out of his own skewer, his free hand holding another plate underneath.

Dàilán felt her cheeks warm with embarrassment at his good natured teasing, but the rest of her was soaking in the rich burst of Essence that swirled up from the food as she chewed, satisfying a craving she did not even realise she had.

After a couple of bites, the immediate demand was assuaged and she was able to slow down, looking at the plate of fresh fruits and vegetables sitting between them. Again she noted the familiar patterns on it - or rather, embedded within the glaze - reminding her strongly of the pots that had kept the Essence herbs alive that the old peddler and Knife Field enforcer had sold to their group.

Pickling up a leek, she admired that it seemed to still have droplets of moisture on its surface before biting into its crispness, the freshness cleaning away the richness of the taste of meat, peppers and onions from her tongue. A sigh of pleasure escaped her as she took another, slower bite from the skewer and enjoyed the renewed blast of barbequed meat pairing excellently with the sharp taste of the peppers and the sweet warm flavour of the roasted onions.

"If only there was some wine," she sighed in regret causing Chún to cough with laughter at her side. A moment later his laughing voice replied, "here, little gourmet, catch."

Dàilán's free hand darted out with the swiftness of a hummingbird and caught the small gourd that the young man had tossed out and her eyes lit up as she realised it was a small jar of wine with the wax still on the seal. Without standing on ceremony, she popped off the seal with one thumb and threw her head back to catch a sparkling stream of liquor that jetted out from the mouth of the jar as she tipped it up.

"Good Wine!" she praised a moment later, lowering the jar and regarding the plain looking gourd with respect, feeling the gentle rush of Essence that accompanied the liquor.

"En. I will let Pr… my friend, know you approve of his choice of wine," grinned Chún as she turned to look at him and Dàilán nodded enthusiastically, causing him to laugh, "I did not expect someone from a noble family to find pleasure in simple things like this."

Dàilán rolled her eyes, putting down her empty skewer on the plate in her lap as she answered forthrightly, "I have always wished I could wander Jianghu, free and unrestrained. Even to dress as a man, so that I would not have to deal with all that - pure and virtuous beauty garbage - hunting for relics, living by my daggers and wits."

"Only the rich and noble have such dreams, lady," returned Chún lightly, "the poor wish a stable and reliable life - full bellies, warm clothes and shelter every night," he gazed into the fire and said softly, "as I did no more than three turns of the moon ago."

Dàilán placed the wine jug down by her feet and looked back towards the fire, stretching out her plate to hold underneath as she plucked the last skewer off the grill, swallowing her saliva as she looked at the perfectly cooked food, "Sure. As if a poor person would have plates like this - I recognise the style, pots made this way are highly praised for keeping Essence Herbs alive and healthy. I will not even mention the clothes made out of Essence Silk."

"Ah that… wait, Essence Silk? No - those are ordinary flaxen clothes I purchased from one of the village women," the young looking Cultivator protested in confusion.

Dàilán shook her head in amusement as she bit into the skewer, "these clothes are easily the most valuable thing I have ever worn," she laughed after she swallowed the food in her mouth, relishing the thick curling of Essence, "and i am saying that as the Heir to a Noble Clan and a Cultivation Sect - although I have no idea why you chose such an old fashion style and peasant cut for such valuable materials."

Dàilán turned at hearing a stifled noise from beside her. Chún's expression looked as if he had reached a sudden realisation and her eyebrows raised as a second set of clothing appeared on his lap and he held it up to the light of the fire, shaking his head after a moment, "those cheeky little…"

"Pardon me?" asked Dàilán in confusion and Chún shook his head with a rueful expression on his face, "You are correct, Lady," he admitted, "Some… acquaintances of mine appear to have seen fit to��� improve, my spare sets of clothing. So many oddities have happened to me lately, that such a small thing simply escaped my notice."

Dàilán coughed in surprise and hastily took a swallow of wine to recover, "I wish I had friends like that. My own clothing and battle robes are basically ruined and I doubt I will be able have the resources to repair or replace them any time soon, given my group's situation."

"That is easily fixed," laughed Chún, "give your clothing to me. my… friends will be ecstatic to return them likely better than new, if my own clothing," he gestured to the set on his lap even as it vanished, "is any indication."

Dàilán's eyes slammed open wide and she shook her head in confusion, "Excuse me - did you just offer to have my robes and a dress remade with Essence Silk. The sort that is usually reserved for the Imperial Family and cannot be bought without hundreds or thousands of Essence stones?"

Chún shrugged, "I cannot guarantee the clothing will be remade with the same material, but my friends love that sort of thing. It would make them happy - and since you mentioned battle robes - I am guessing it would help keep my ally safe if the formations on them were in good repair."

Dàilán opened her mouth then closed it, then took a thoughtful bite of her skewer and chewed slowly, picking up the jug of wine for another swallow, then exchanging it for another leek from the dish at her side. Chún reached out and picked up a cucumber and started munching casually with crisp sounds that echoed out over the crackling of the fire.

Eventually Dàilán nodded decisively, swallowing the food in her mouth and turned to Chún, "We are allies - but this favour is hard to repay. So I will not say anything about the Formations on the Battle Robe. Just to remind you that they are normally closely held secrets and a treasure of my sect. Please do not share them with anyone else."

Chún raised his eyebrows and inclined his head, "I could ask for Spirit Stones instead?"

"I doubt my Clan's entire treasury when we were at the height of our influence could afford such a set of clothing. Even what I am already wearing," Dàilán laughed with a thread of bitterness, "Sir Chún - you take advantage of this poor beauty. I cannot afford to refuse and so I slip further in your debt," she placed the second empty skewer and plate down and picked up the jug of wine letting a long stream fall into her mouth as she leaned back on the log until the last drop fell, like a sparkling jewel in the firelight, into her open mouth.

Placing the empty wine jug down beside her again, she turned to regard the young man beside her, "I am afraid to find out what you will ask for next."

"An Empress should never show fear," replied Chún calmly, still munching on his cucumber, "I am not like those young nobles or men you dealt with in the past. I will never ask for anything you do not wish to offer. I know too well what that is like, besides," he grinned at her with a shade of mischief, "it would mean admitting I am not enough of a man to interest you on my own merits"

"Hng…" Dàilán leaned back on the log with her hands behind her and looked up at the light of the First Attendant and the stars in the night sky, "men always want more from women." She looked over and slanted a jaundiced gaze over at the young man beside her, "and it is not as if I have much more to balance the scales with."

"I would have to outfit your entire camp in Essence Silk to come close to matching the value of such a gift," replied Chún dryly and Dàilán was startled into unexpected laughter at the mental image of her Father's reaction not to say nothing of her sister-in-all-but-blood of everyone in the camp being presented with Essence Silk outfits as a dowery, forcing her to sit up to prevent falling off the log.

"Well, you certainly know how to give compliments," she managed to say after gathering her thoughts and making sure she was firmly seated.

The young man shrugged although there was a pleased smile hovering around his lips, "Compliments are easy when all it requires is speaking the truth, after all," he answered mildly, "and in answer to your unspoken question, I truly have no ulterior motive in offering to have your clothing replaced. It truly is a small thing in the grand scheme of things - although I would not admit that to anyone else."

"Why?" demanded the young heiress, "we have just met - and you are acting like I am your best friend. Or lover."

Chún sighed, hurt flashing through his eyes momentarily, "I would truly not know how to be the second. And as for the first - is your life so barren of friendship that every little positive action must be scrutinised for hidden meaning?" He waved a hand irritably, "just take it as looking after the best interest of an ally - and thus in my own best interest. I have to provide benefits to make sure you stay to protect my lands and are not killed too easily, after all."

"That is the other thing," growled the heiress, unused to being called ungrateful, "that Dao Oath should not have worked - Dao Oaths have to be sworn on the truth - but you named me Empress!" She shook her head in frustration and her voice dropped, "I am no one's Empress - I am barely the leader of a ragtag group of refugees."

She sighed gustly and tucked her legs up in front of her, resting her chin on her knees as she stared moodily into the flames. After a moment she breathed out apologised in a soft voice, "I am… sorry… the last few days have been - and so many strange things happening - part of me is just waiting for the calamity to rear its head."

"En," replied Chún from beside her with an understanding tone. After a moment he explained slowly, "The oath worked because it referred to potential. I am no Emperor either, but I have the responsibilities of the position - as you now do. I said what… needed to be said... and the heavens accepted it. Why worry further?"

"You have a strange outlook on life for a Cultivator," remarked the young heiress and Chún laughed, "I am sure the further you travel you will find others with stranger ideas," he replied after a moment, "It is a simple peasant's outlook. Do not go borrowing trouble when today has had enough."

Dàilán laughed, dropping her legs back down to let her boots thump on the forest floor and reached into her spatial pouch, retrieving the soiled and damaged dress and robes and handing the folded bundles to Chún, shooting him a half teasing, half warning glare, "I trust you not to take liberties with my underthings."

Chún blinked and his hand froze in the act of reaching out to accept the clothes, "Éi? I had thought you would keep those…"

Dàilán raised her eyebrows, "As if they are any less damaged than the rest. I would be foolish to pass up replacements. Who knows where I would get more? Besides," she wriggled slightly, "this material feels wonderful against my skin - of course I want to have them made of the same material. It is not like you are the one handling the replacement- or some other man?"

"Well, no… I cannot guarantee how they will be remade," Chún reminded her slowly, then he flushed - probably realising what her last comment about feeling the clothes against her skin had to mean, "I see…" he replied hurriedly, accepting the bundles of clothing, which vanished the minute he touched them. Coughing slightly, "you can consider the clothes you are wearing a gift as well. No need to return them."

Dàilán's lips twitched and she raised a hand to her face to hide her smile. "Thank you."

A slightly awkward silence fell as they both sat there. Eventually, after about a Diǎn, Chún got up off the log, "I should go and hand the clothing over to… my friends, so they are fixed as soon as possible. The area is safe - I have laid down... Formations that will alert me if anyone else travels into this area."

He inclined his head, "it was interesting… spending time with you, Lady." There was a sudden explosion of Essence mist that startled Dàilán into blinking and when it cleared, Dàilán was alone beside the ashes of a dead campfire. All the items - including the grill, empty plates, wine jars and other odds and ends had disappeared with the 'Mountain Spirit'.

"This…" Dàilán rubbed her forehead to chase away the beginnings of a headache then sighed, "I guess we both need to work on our manners."

Taking a deep breath of the night air she got up, brushed off her pants and started walking back to camp. After a few steps she summoned the bāwū from her spatial pouch and began playing a traditional slow, sad tune as she returned to the camp.