The morning after

There was complete silence when Kiyu woke up. Because she was underground, she could not tell what time it was.

'It's so peaceful'

After a few moments she straightened up. Despite her fighting practice before, she didn't feel any pain and even the exhaustion had gone out of her body.

'I wonder if Zhèngyi has returned?' She hoped that was the case. After all, he had set out all alone to gather information about Tānlán and his men.

Kiyu once again entered through the door into the large room, which the two of them had carved out under the ground. Well, at least they had expanded the existing space, as they said.

"Good morning, Kiyu" Zhèngyi called, waving one hand while eating a simple piece of bread with the other hand with relish.

"Good morning, Zhèngyi," Kiyu replied, still sleepy. "..... Zhèngyi? You're back?" she called out, more upset now.

She ran towards the table where the boy was making himself comfortable and eating his breakfast. Or maybe it was lunch already? Whatever, the principal thing was that he returned alive.

"You idiot!" she screamed, hitting his left shoulder with her fist. "Don't do something so dangerous by yourself again!"

True, just a day before she despised him. But a lot had been going through her mind since then. If she looked at it, he had little to gain from helping her. She didn't even know if he wanted revenge for his dead parents.

And yet they had supported Kiyu with nothing in return. She had even received training from Toras!

"Oho! I didn't know I meant so much to you," Zhèngyi teased her, smiling at her. "I'm touched."

"As if!" snarled Kiyu back. "I just thought that my way of things was already reckless. But you're insane!"

"I see you two are getting along," mentioned Toras, who had now joined the small group as well. "How does it look, Zhèngyi? Were you successful?" he wanted to know.

Zhèngyi's face, filled with joy and good humor, darkened in one fell swoop.

"Yes," he began, "I found out quite a few things."

"And?" interrupted Kiyu, not even thinking to let him finish. "Do you know what happened to my sister?"

"I was about to explain that if you hadn't interrupted me," he hissed back. "Well. From the looks of it, he kidnapped your sister to keep her as a little doll, a plaything, so to speak," he explained to her.

"It's not the first time. If he.... finds lovely girls, he buys them as slaves, puts them in fine clothes and treats them well. Almost like having a daughter of his own. But the whole thing only goes well until they refuse a command of his." he continued.

"What happens to them when they refuse?" asked Kiyu, banging both fists on the table in front of her. The fact of kidnapping her sister was bad enough, but that he seemed to do it again and again with several girls disgusted her.

"If they refuse, he'll put them in the dungeon and let them starve there. For a week, if you want to know how long. And if they survive that, he'll start using little torture methods. All as long as they resist, of course. Most of them don't survive the starvation, or give up and bend to his will," he replied, looking into Kiyu's eyes.

"And my sister?" Fear was in Kiyu's voice and she trembled at the thought of all that could happen to Laki there.

"Has been in the dungeon since last night. I overheard some guards talking about her. He cut her hair short and locked her up as punishment for her disobedience," he confessed, bracing himself for Kiyu's reaction.

The table beneath her fists shattered in an instant, and her entire body trembled. But no exclamation came from her, and one could tell she was trying to fight back her anger.

"There is something else," Zhèngyi added. "He hired one spiritformer. However, his abilities are unknown to me.", he finished the results of his information gathering.

"I know you won't like to hear it, but it would be better if we waited until nightfall." he remarked.

"And there is no alternative?" she asked almost sadly, looking at him.

It pained her to think that some would lock up Laki in a dark dungeon for another complete day without food.

"Well," he continued, "there would still be the possibility of distractions, of course. Tānlán is the city administrator in lord Xianzhu's absence, so he has to take care of the city's affairs," he explained.

"So if there's a riot, he has to deal with it. But I'm afraid that will only draw a few guards out of his villa. He would only use his Spiritformer if it were necessary to crush the riot. And besides.... I wouldn't be able to hold them off for long." However, Zhèngyi showed little hope at the suggestion.

"Who said you were going to be the distraction?" grinned Kiyu as she made her intentions clear. "You seem to know your way around better anyway, and it seems like an extensive building."

"If it's going to take me a long time to find my way around anyway, and I'm bound to run into a lot of enemies as a result, why not take the direct route while you get her out of there?" she suggested, cracking her fists.

"Are you serious?" he snapped when he heard Kiyu's suggestion. "You're going to face that crowd of people alone? And you're sure you can do it?"

Kiyu could understand his uncertainty at the counter-proposal, considering how the few opponents in the night before had beaten her. But she had training with Toras, and her confidence raised a lot with that.

"I don't have to defeat all opponents." she explained. "If I keep dancing on their nose long enough, Tānlán will have to send his Spiritformer. It is him whom I have to defeat, the rest will be less of a problem after that!"

Kiyu felt more determined than ever before. They both looked in Toras direction, who they expected would use his wisdom to judge what was the better way.

"If you're sure you can take them on alone," Toras replied, "then it's better if Zhèngyi frees your sister from the dungeon."

Kiyu guessed from Toras' tone that he would not interfere in this matter. There was no reason for him too, either, unlike Zhèngyi.

"This is my decision then," declared Kiyu.

"By the way, what time is it anyway?" she asked. They had to use the rest of their time well, but without knowing the time, she was unlikely to do that.

"It's lunchtime," Zhèngyi replied.

"All right, I'll wait until the afternoon. When the marketplace is full, I'll start making a turmoil," she explained her plan.

"And how will I know it's starting?" he asked, unsure. If he entered the lot too early, he might get caught.

"I'm not sure yet, but you'll know the sign when you see it," she replied. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some preparation to do."

With those words, Kiyu had bowed out of the conversation and returned to her temporary room.

< It seems like you are leaving no room for your anger in your decisions, little Kiyu> Cheryu spoke to her as she entered the room.

'Like you said, it doesn't do me any good. It robs me of my vision and constricts me.' she replied. 'If I want to save my sister, I have to be reasonable about it.'

< I'm glad you're understanding my thoughts after all. There is still so much I want to teach you, > he replied to her in a joyful voice. < But everything with time. No being is perfect and you can't learn everything in one day. >

Kiyu knew it would mean more wisdom.

'By the way, I'm surprised you say nothing against my plan. After all, I will harm people and defend myself against Tānlán's men,' she wondered.

< A violence which you could avoid, I know. But at least you are not doing it out of anger or hatred, but out of a desire to help someone. It is not the best way, but it is better than letting your emotions guide you. Besides, I have no control over your actions. >, he replied in conclusion.

So he didn't agree with her plan, since she could decide not to use violence. But at least he also didn't rage against her idea. As long as she did not give in to her anger, he accepted it, knowing that he could not change her mind.

For Kiyu, this was an acceptable situation. Now she could concentrate on freeing her sister from her predicament.

"Very well," she whispered to herself, meditating as she used her powers. As long as there was still some time left, she would use it to train.