Orphan's Rest

Moments after crossing into Hidden Mountain, Chún arrived above the Heaven and Earth Vine's clearing. He ruefully reflected that he probably had to start remembering that he could move very fast now - he probably wasted more time than he should walking around like a non-Cultivator - although he winced slightly as his body protested at the sudden and rapid channeling of Essence to push himself in midair across the intervening distance between the gate and the clearing almost instantly.

Not to mention the sensation of being slammed into a wall - just because it did not actually damage his body did not mean it was comfortable. The almost instantaneous crack of displaced air that announced his arrival also pushed the steady rain away from his location in a vast globe of spraying water that momentarily water blasted the entire clearing - and deafened him, even as everything around him was blown outwards - debris, trees and plants bending or being thrown across the clearing in all directions around him.

His body recovered almost instantly, but there was a definite downside to enhanced senses. He also noticed that all his disguises and obscuring Dao Patterns had reverted to his actual self - it appeared the full pressure of his Essence being circulated had torn away all the various methods he used to appear closer to a normal Consumer.

How did Consumers manage to deal with the chaos of battle if their senses were enhanced like this?

"Well it generally takes them many years to get this point," his locus answers his thoughts, "they generally slowly acclimatise to the various side-effects becoming inhuman. For example, they almost instinctively learn to control their senses to block the negative effects of their techniques and so forth."

Chún raised a hand in a gesture of understanding, only to pause awkwardly as Tai continued matter-of-factly, "also, most Cultivators at Sky level have established a domain which protects them from the side effects of their own actions - such as impacting with the atmosphere they are moving through at high speeds. Something you seem to be unable to master, oddly enough."

"Ah," Chún felt inadequate for a breath before sighing and dropping his hand, looking down at the tableau below - Prince Bái and Lady Bingqiǎo were frozen in mid attack on each other in their humanoid forms - looking up at him with startled expressions.

The Black Tortoise was wearing her full 'mysterious warrior' outfit - the dark cloak with shimmering indistinct tortoiseshell patterns, deep hood and mask, leaving only her eyes visible - with her sword held poised to strike or defend across her body; Chún noticed her 'hair braid' curving upward just behind her head, hidden but ready to deliver an overhead strike.

The White Tiger was in his 'savage barbarian chieftain' form, black striped tiger loincloth complete with with angrily lashing tiger tail and furred boots, and the tiger 'headdress' framing his wild hair and broad, bronzed features that glared out between the fangs of the snarling mouth. The tiger ears of the 'headdress' were flat against its skull, though one twitched up towards Chún. Prince Bái held his fists up towards his opponent, the dark gleam of the Essence Weapon that Chún had helped him forge visible over his knuckles.

Chún noticed with some amusement that neither of them seemed to have noticed the roots under the surface of the clearing that were moving to surround them, the swirling swarm of Essence Sprites swirling agitatedly in and around the Heaven and Earth's Vine's leaves and tendrils - or the Silver Snake moving towards them from the mouth of the cavern entrance - even from his position mid-air above the clearing, Chún could see the Snake Prince's irritated body language.

Taking advantage of the interruption, Chún dropped unhurriedly to one side of the pair, deliberately channeling Essence as he dropped the World Tree Staff with a definite impact on the 'grass', letting the complex swirls of Dao Patterns underneath the black 'lacquered surface' glow and pulsate, a shadow of the World Tree's pressure spreading out from the weapon.

Both Guardians winced slightly and sheepishly relaxed out of their combative stances as Chún leveled a mild gaze at them, "Do either of you wish to explain why two of my Guardians have chosen to exchange pointers in someone else's home without seeking permission or even giving face to the owner?"

There was a loud rustling from the Heaven and Earth Vine and some roots erupted pointedly around the three of them as the swarm of Essence Sprites swooped down for a close flyby, humming like a hive of wasps.

The rush of Essence sprites left a smell of lightning lingering in the air in their wake and the Snake Prince, now a truly mammoth example of a Essence Snake Beast, reared sharply up out of the grass with the dark green mass of the Heaven and Earth Vine behind him as a contrasting backdrop, his metallic scales glinting sharply for emphasis as he swayed, regarding them with eyes that glowed with Lightning Essence.

"My Father would find both of your behaviourss unbecoming ass Guardianss," hissed the Silver Snake harshly, "as senior Guardian, your childissh actionss reflect badly on him."

Both Guardian's eyes widened and they sent embarrassed looks towards the Heaven and Earth Vine and the Snake Prince, dipping in quick Cultivator's bows towards the Heaven and Earth Vine and the Silver Snake. Shé Yin hissed dismissively as he lowered himself back into the grass and disappeared from sight.

Chún raised an eyebrow and both of the Guardians made much deep bows towards him, then the Tiger Prince spoke up hastily, "Pardon, Boss - but this pretty boy came into your clearing and refused to respond when I challenged him to explain his presence…"

Lady Bingqiǎo gave an icy sniff, "Sstupid Tiger…" she scoffed, before falling silent as Chún flicked her a glance.

Chún clicked his tongue in annoyance, "I suppose neither of you bothered to attempt to introduce yourselves?"

"Sstu… Prince obviously wanted fight." The Dark Lady's eyes curved into exaggerated 'happy' half-moons, although Chún was willing to bet her smile was razor edged. She sheathed her sword as if underscoring her point as she spoke, "love defeating arrogant godlings."

"You are a battle maniac," pointed out Chún dryly, looking over at the White Tiger who had lowered his fists but was glaring across at his Northern counterpart at the arrogant comment, "and what is your excuse, Prince?"

"I never did like pretty boys," he half-snarled, then he sighed and slumped slightly, his tiger ears folding down in remorse, "I should have realised that it was North - but it did not occur to me that you would have found a Xuánwǔ so quickly - I assumed an intruder had managed to discover your home and immediately moved to intercept them."

"Not so foolish then," Bingqiǎo observed, "apologise not attempting less violent resolution. West defended appropriately as Guardian. Needs more work on senses though, North Empress is - not - pretty boy."

Chún coughed awkwardly, "I cannot exactly blame him, Lady. I had the same concern when we first met."

The Black Tortoise rolled her eyes, "Golden Quilin need to improve sensing too - Yin Guǎn is complete. Time to train True Cultivator."

"That explains why you came here, to let me know?" Chún smiled in relief as she nodded, Thank you, Dark Lady. Things are changing soon, I suspect I will need properly taught Martial Techniques soon."

"Wait - she is a female Xuánwǔ? A natural Yin aspect?" Prince Bái's nostrils were flaring and he had an expression of shock on his face, "How? Where…? I thought Female Xuánwǔ were a myth!"

"Likely as adult Bái Hǔi without mountain," returned Lady Bingqiǎo cooly, "found this place same as kitty - likely same reasons."

Bái blinked then threw back his head and laughed, "That is amazing Boss - do you realise how much more powerful a Xuánwǔ that does - not - have a conflicting male/yin nature can become?" He frowned, "hey - if you are doubly Yin, why do you still look…?" he gestured somewhat crudely towards the other Guardian, "like you could be a guy or a girl…"

Chún snorted in amusement as Bingqiǎo visibly bristled, "can you tell when a tortoise or snake is male or female without checking closely? Besides," he gestured good naturedly at the lady and she returned an ironic bow in response, "she is playing it up with the cloak and the mask to make it harder to tell. Apparently female Xuánwǔ are… greatly prized. Better to blend in, I think."

"Ah… yes, good point. I can tell you a few stories about being pursued for more than just my fabulous company and splendid personality," replied the Tiger Prince, rubbing his beard sagely, then he smacked the fist of his right hand into the palm of the other, nodding at the North Guardian, "I take it you are a Lord of Martial arts as all Xuánwǔ? Excellent - we should definitely fight!"

"Better than other Xuánwǔ," the woman replied, her eyes shining with anticipation, "Anytime, Tiger."

"Away from here, if you please," interjected the young True Cultivator, rubbing his forehead, "there is literally hundreds of thousands of lǐ of empty land out there that you can fight without destroying anyone's home - pick some place like that to spar. And I mean spar," he leveled a stern look at both of them, "I do not want my Guardians incapacitating each other - save the deadly attacks for the Enemies of the Mountain."

"I can pull a punch, Boss," the Tiger Prince riposted jovially, "what about her?"

"Can go easy on small cat - not difficult," the young Dark Empress answered for herself, causing Chún to roll his eyes hard as the Prince immediately made a provocative gesture in response, "Let us go turtle-girl! Need to see if you are worthy of being a Guardian."

"Before you two go out to remodel the countryside," Chún interrupted both of them as they started to move towards the treeline, evidently both ready to start fighting immediately, "I know why Bingqiǎo came, but you have not mentioned when you returned Bái, nor why you are here."

"Ah… right," Bái's tiger ears folded downwards as the giant of a warrior stopped on the spot in the rain and scratched bashfully behind his head, "sorry - I forgot that I did not actually say…" he brought his arms around and slapped a fist into his palm again, "so I went around to all my flowers, my girls - and told them I found a place to establish a Tiger Mountain. Went back to my parents and told my Father too - he threw a three day banquet to celebrate. He is so proud! He won a lot of bets too, it seems… heh."

His expression grew serious and he nodded solemnly to Chún, "I did not mention being a Guardian to anyone though - did not want the wrong sorts to come looking - though I think a couple of my flowers noticed… I like them smart," he smiled and this one was all teeth and dangerous, "my flowers can kick tails! I do not like useless women - so they notice stuff even when I keep quiet."

"So I take it your mates will be coming here then," translated Chún after puzzling over the rambling explanation for a moment, "do you need my help to let them in - and how many?"

"No - I can bring them in as a Guardian - only a few. I…" he reached back behind his head, his face red, "just a few beauties I rescued on my travels - I have not actively… gone courting…"

He stopped, the tiger ears on the headdress flat against its skull with embarrassment, "...I did not want to have too many wives relying on me when I was not… I had no house of my own - others in my Father's Court would claim I was setting up a rival court and then... " he slumped, "I never actively pursued any wives… I know it is strange for a Tiger to claim that, let alone a Bái Hǔi - it is complicated."

"A Bái Hǔi that holds his honor with women," The North Guardian's curiosity was clear in her voice, "how unusual - perhaps worthy Guardian after all."

"Hey!" protested Prince Bái, "Tigers do not treat women badly - that is a base calumny - we just enjoy their company. My Father never forced any of his wives to stay with him…"

"Not all Western Emperors act similarly," was the Lady's dark rejoinder, "ff Tiger is not growing a pride - why do you have wives?"

Bái grinned and shrugged, his self confidence visibly returning, "Some of the girls I helped in my adventures would not accept no for an answer," his grin broadened, "I am just that awesome… but most of them are not the sort of women my Father would have picked…"

"With brains," was Bingqiǎo's deadpan observation and the Tiger Prince gave a toothy grin, "Ya - no trophy girls - could not afford deadweight with how I had to keep ahead of my enemies and Father's enemies and…"

"Politics sucks," Bingqiǎo agreed fervently and the Tiger Prince grimaced, "you too?"

"Xuánwǔ Emperors dislike female outperforming male progeny…" she shrugged minutely, "...all their efforts to impede me, make me better."

"Nice to have a safe place to put down roots now though," observed the West Guardian, the wisdom shining through the mask of a devil may care warrior, "They will have to get through both of us now - not to mention Senior East - he is going to be a terror when he advances," he paused and turned to Chún, "hey Boss, has South turned up yet?"

Chún blinked, shaken out of his bemusement at seeing his two unlikely Guardians bond over shaking up the status quo, "No… there has not been any sign of a Vermillion Bird… although things are changing quickly - Ancient Beasts are waking up back on Golden Crow, where Hidden Mountain originally came from - there is this whole…" he made a vague circular motion with one hand above his head, "...thing going on - some of it is bleeding over here, which is why it is raining. Maybe one will come from there?"

"I noticed things seemed disturbed when I crossed through, though I came via the token granted to me by the World Tree," Prince Bái agreed, "so if it is just bleed over, things must be pretty wild back on your home planet. Sounds interesting."

"Good Fight," agreed the Xuánwǔ and the Tiger impossibly adopted a kitten eyes expression, his bright blue eyes becoming enormous, "Boss - you had a big battle without me?"

"There was a nest of Yin Demon worms that had to be cleared out to free up some Essence Springs - turned into a yin/yang storm now the thing is dumping Essence everywhere and shaking everything up," grumbled Chún, "I could not wait for you, those motherless bastards were basically killing the planet…" he shot a glare at the Xuánwǔ, "that storm is half your fault though - you were throwing that much Yin around…"

The female guardian did not even bother to react beyond raising an eyebrow and Chún sighed, "It is good you are both here - we would be foolish to think all of this is not going to attract attention or that everyone that wakes up will be willing to live peaceably with us," thumping his World Tree Staff into the wet grass beside him for emphasis he added, "my locus says some of the Yāoguǐ Kings waking up will probably be hostile - some of them might try to invade, though I am working to build defenses in depth around the original location back on the Golden Crow. There will likely be battles soon - if not with them, then with Consumers wanting to control the region - we have to keep them out. I have plans to block that too, but they have been delayed by the chaos out there."

"That would be a lot easier if Vermillion was here," observed the Tiger Prince seriously and the Dark Empress nodded in agreement, "More female Guardian for balance too.." she inserted sharply.

"That is out of my control," pointed out Chún, "my locus says that I am beyond fortunate to have found both of you so fast as it is."

"You need training," the Saint of Martial Arts declared, "do not delay coming to Guǎn."

The Tiger Prince snorted, "I agree with the queen of terse sentence structure here. Hells, I told you it was best to find a Xuánwǔ to train you. And by the sounds of it, she might have had reason to be a cut above the usual sort. More like the legends of the first Guardian Beasts, maybe," he shot a clearly provocative look at his fellow Guardian.

"This one - is - better than other Xuánwǔ," declared Bingqiǎo authoritatively, "Tiger needs training too - anyone who comes to North Heavens may train."

"I might surprise you, Lady," Prince Bái's smile was all teeth, "my own battles have been fought the hard way too - but I will take that offer. I am surprised you do not have martial disciples already."

The Xuánwǔ stiffened, "A few - similar issues - as with Tiger's Pride."

Prince Bái's expression glittered and Chún was suddenly reminded that the White Tiger was Saint of Metal and sharp, deadly weaponry along with lightning and Yang, "the bastards went after any martial disciples you took, did they not?"

The chill that oozed off the Xuánwǔ was enough to answer the question and Chún was not happy himself, "I did not realise you had martial disciples already, Lady. As with the Prince's Pride, if you can bring them here safely they are welcome in your Palace in the North Heavens or anywhere else on Hidden Mountain they wish to live."

There was a shift in Lady Bingqiǎo's body language that somehow expressed surprise and Prince Bái jumped in, "I can help. Sounds like you might have a fight to get them here if any of your enemies see you, right? Between the two of us - they will not be expecting two unsealed Guardians working together."

"You cannot help here much at the moment," agreed Chún, "You would have to seal yourselves on Golden Crow. Now is the calm before the storm, ironically enough, so you should get all your affairs in order before we have to fight here."

"I accept," Lady Bingqiǎo answered crisply, "I can find my Martial Disciples swiftly - not take long - we must learn to battle together," she declared, glancing at Prince Bái, "and True Cultivator must start training, first."

"Spar?" the White Tiger asked eagerly and the Xuánwǔ nodded sharply, before turning to Chún, "North Heavens at dawn - if late, more pain." She vanished in a dark blur that disappeared into the treeline.

"Hey, Tortoises are supposed to be slow, witch! Wait up!" Bái stopped in mid step and looked at Chún seriously, "Boss, Xuánwǔ are crazy serious about Martial Arts, teaching and basically anything to do with war. I get the feeling this one is a bit more serious than usual. You better be on time tomorrow morning or you will regret it." Then with a crack of thunder and lightning that blinded the young True Cultivator, he vanished as well.

Chún blinked away the spots in his vision and his shoulders slumped, "Well, I suppose I should be happy they are getting along. I should probably tidy up around here and clear out the Cloak - I probably am going to be busy for a while."

"Maybe we should rename this Planet to Orphan's Rest," remarked Tai in the link and Chún was suddenly aware of the fact that the presences of both Guardians had a dampening effect on his connection with his locus, even though they were tied to the Planet now.

"Strange - I did not actively notice it as much as before," he muttered.

"You are stronger and they are our Guardians now, which reduces the negative effects unless they are actively pressuring you. But they are still powerful so it still has an effect on our link - you have to make an effort to go as deep into it as you normally do when they are around," remarked Tai, "nothing to worry about, I could have spoken up if I needed to, but everything went quite well."

Chún grunted, "Why Orphan's Rest?"

"All three of you - and even myself - are orphans of one sort or another who have overcome tribulations to finally found a place of their own. It is interesting," remarked Tai.

"I thought all the good stories started that way," joked Chún as he walked towards the entrance of his Immortal's Cave, trying to use humor to chase away the shivers of fear that his Guardian's last words had inspired.