Rising Kite - A story from the world of HWFWM

“- But I believe that little adopted brother over there will have some way to surprise you. He seems to be pretty good at that, wouldn’t you say?”

Pristine Mirror whirled at the sudden voice, a pair of kamas made from reflecting light manifesting in her hands. But while he had sounded close, the speaker turned out to be standing around two meters away. It was another silver-ranker, a celestine man with onyx hair and eyes, even if the latter were thin enough to give him a rather mischievous look. Otherwise, he looked quite out of place, dressed in colorful robes of bright orange and green with a parasol across his one shoulder.

“Oh? Such hostility from an idle comment?” the celestine man remarked, glancing down at Mirror’s conjured weapons. His posture did not change, but a ripple across his aura gave him the sense of a thundercloud about to burst out in storming rage.

“Who are you? Allies of the Pathbreaker? His fate is already sealed, and I would advise you not to cross the Heavenly Shadow sect in this matter,” she said tersely, even as the sounds of violence continued behind them.

“It did not seem like you were listening, Pristine Mirror,” the man countered. “I do believe I wagered on the Pathbreaker’s resourcefulness in this matter. Me and two cousins came over here to pull him out of your little bind. But it looks like we got a show instead, as he seemed to perform above expectations.”

“Then name yourself, fool, so that the sect may know who creates such fell karma between us.”

“A fool too? Such vitriol for stating some facts?” the man ‘tssked’. “If you must know, my name is Little Crow Plucks the Moon.”

When hearing the name, things clicked into place for Mirror. She should have guessed as much just from the man’s appearance.

“The Tengu’s brood would intervene here for this outcast?” she asked, tension rising. “This is an operation sanctioned by the sect, overseen by a grand elder. Not even you are protected from what might befall you, should you overstep here.”

“That might have been the case,” the man agreed before gesturing with his parasol towards the hotel’s southernmost roof. “Fortunately, senior brother agreed to come along and have a nice chat with the venerable grand elder Slate, allowing them to catch up. They have known each other for a long time, after all.”

Mirror couldn’t help herself, and glanced to where he was pointing. She had previously been unable to locate the grand elder, but now she saw her clear as day. The elven woman had a terse smile plastered onto her face as she seemed to converse with a man who stood at her side, his face covered by a scowling mask painted a bright red. While it looked cordial, Mirror felt that it was anything but as she sensed a hint of the masked man’s gold-ranked aura, rich and overwhelming.

“This is bad," she thought, looking back to the clash in the garden. Even glowing severely from within, the Pathbreaker fought with controlled precision as his three pairs of arms worked with furious momentum. Attacks and defenses were executed simultaneously, giving the ambusher no quarter. Disciple Singer was trying to make a frantic retreat, but as she was suddenly enclosed within a box of force walls along with the Pathbreaker, Mirror realized that what should have been a nice and simple strike had been turned on their heads.

“He’s doing surprisingly well, isn’t he?” the man from the Tengu’s clan noted, following Mirror’s gaze. “For a rather unknown outcast to come here with such a path… Truly, the heavens can be quite mischievous. While he looked to be handling himself rather well, making sure that this was left to the younger generations to settle was the least we could do for our little adopted brother.”

“The Pathbreaker is one of yours? Then why would he not say so? What trickery are you up to?” Mirror demanded. “Still, unless you have a cleansing power potent enough, he is already finished. But I could cleanse the afflictions myself, if you agree to my terms. Just let us retrieve him. We will not harm him. It’s even for his own goo-”

Mirror was interrupted by yet another wave of tension from the man’s aura, violence simmering just beneath the surface. And given the powers which the Tengu clan tried to awaken in their young, she did not want to be on the receiving end if she could help it.

“I did say, adopted, no? If you must know, he was taken in by one of our lost eggs. But he is an interesting one, so helping him would be fun.”

“As I said, the terms-”

“Are irrelevant,” the man interrupted as a bright light filled the inside of the force cube even as disciple Singer’s aura lapsed into the fitful instability of unconsciousness.

Mirror felt it too, as that light burned away her afflictions, searing through the layer of illusory ones which locked the true dangers beneath the surface. From having an aura tinged with slight exhaustion of both the physical and spiritual, the Pathbreaker was suddenly a bonfire of excess energy waiting to be spent. A bonfire who turned towards Mirror.

“Immortality. Heavens curse his fortune,” Mirror thought at the revelation of a previously unrevealed power. But the Tengu clansman had known, so it must have been demonstrated during at least one of the clashes the Pathbreaker had fought in recently.

“I believe he will be able to finish up himself,” the smiling man noted. “It was a nice try, disciple, but carry word back to your sect that the Pathbreaker is affiliated with us. And that my family would be grateful if people kept it civilized in their dealings with him.” Then Little Crow Plucks the Moon made exaggerated motions of stepping out of the conflict, clearly indicating that he was not part of things. Mirror turned to the Pathbreaker once more, and saw only flat, implacable steel in his gaze as he was closing in on her, spectral arms readying themselves to strike on a background of three swirling vortices and the disc of odd, shifting symbols that was his familiar.

In the corner of her eye, Mirror also noted the gaze of her grand elder as she readied herself to meet the oncoming outcast. Grand elder Slate seemed to sense Mirror’s hesitation and, after another curt nod as part of whatever conversation she seemed to be having with the Tengu clan gold-ranker, had her aura touch upon Mirror’s in the agreed upon signal. Gratefulness welled up within Mirror as she sent a few light-based attacks and afflictions toward the Pathbreaker. She winced slightly as his manifold arms blurred, cutting the projectiles from the air while dragging even more mana from her followed by the sting of transcendent damage, but it had the intended effect.

As the Pathbreaker’s step halted for just a moment as he defended himself and sent counterattacks her way, Pristine Mirror turned and fled, the wardstone she carried allowing her to pass through the protective arrays surrounding the garden. Fortune seemed to favor her in that the outcast was either unwilling or unable to conjure those force walls to hinder her retreat. The corridors of the Vibrant Verse hotel blurred past her, as she left, the stinging shame of failure burning hot within her chest.

When Pristine Mirror turned tail and ran while using every movement trick available to her, Kite was torn. Part of him wanted to march after her, track her down and shove that suppression collar around her throat instead. Another part, in clear majority, guided the flinty dedication back beneath the surface. While the man with the colorful robes and parasol was certainly eye-catching, he did not emit even an ounce of hostility. Seeing that the threat of the ambush did indeed seem to be over for now, the harder part of Kite’s inner self agreed and receded. It had been some time since he had to bring out that side of himself, the one whose foundation had been laid during the war against the fallen sect and the aftermath, but today was definitely a good reminder of why such steel in one’s soul was needed at times.

His introspection was interrupted by a soft clapping as the other man approached. He too was a silver-ranker like Kite, and his rather mischievous face showed a wide grin.

“Well, done, Pathbreaker. Well done indeed! While I had hopes for a wayward adopted brother, I will admit that my expectations were thoroughly surpassed!”

“Adopted brother?” Kite asked, before his mind managed to process the implications of the statements. “Wait, you are-”

“Little Crow Plucks the Moon, proud son of the Tengu’s clan, at your service. But please, call me Little Crow,” the celestine man said, bowing in greeting. While Kite had to admit to having been somewhat distracted before, he should have noticed the stark similarity of the hair and eyes between this celestine and auntie Crow. “We were curious of your visit, and after having verified your claim, decided to have a proper look at you. It has been an interesting two days, seeing your duels. Even the old man Tengu might have given a nod in approval had he seen. But then we saw the sect making their little ambush here, and felt that enough was enough.”

“I… Wha-” Kite began, taking it all in. “You have been following me? I… didn’t sense a thing,” he admitted abashedly.

“Now, now, don’t feel bad. Some of my siblings and cousins can be very subtle when we put our mind to it,” Little Crow said with a consoling pat on Kite’s shoulder. Kite almost twitched to defend himself, as the man closing in had been done with such a smooth motion that his brain had barely comprehended it before the contact was made.

“I…see…” was all Kite could get out.

“Part of me coming here was also to invite you to stay at our family compound, although I suspect that it will only be for one night until your planned departure? And trust me, it will be a better place to talk. This garden used to be rather decent, but I would say that it has seen better days,” Little Crow noted. “And besides, I believe that senior brother has soon finished catching up to the honored grand elder up there. You did handle this little incident surprisingly well, but I don’t think adding a sect gold-ranker into the mix would have been in your favor.”

Seeing the talking couple on the roof for the first time, Kite swallowed heavily, nodding. He had never seen a gold ranker in action, and did not fancy being on the receiving end of it either. Noting the elven woman’s presence sent a chill up his spine, as the reality of his situation became a lot more complex. A silver could fight however valiantly they pleased, but alone against a gold ranker… The divide was not something one easily reached across.

“Then it seems that I am in your care. And your debt,” Kite said, bowing in respect.

“Worry not, dear adopted brother. The foul play was theirs, not yours. Bringing a gold against a silver is just poor form,” Little Crow said, putting his arm thoroughly across Kite’s shoulders as he started leading him away. “But come, let us continue this discussion in comfort.”

As the pair neared one of the doors, the array covering the building flickered and dimmed, allowing them passage. On the other side, the hotel’s owner and his daughter both knelt on the floor, foreheads pressed to the ground. Neither spoke, and Kite just glanced at them, feeling the outright terror in their auras. Both seemed to be expecting death at any moment, but Kite felt no spite towards them. While the owner was surely directly complicit, it was not like he could have refused the sect’s demand of assistance. Still, it did lessen the slightly guilty conscience Kite felt for ruining their prized garden.

“Still, it is a rather odd world we live in, where I feel a lot safer leaving in the company of an infamous family of assassins than anything previously felt in the capital,” he mused to himself as the pair left the Vibrant Verse.

Anasta Temren, director of the adventure society’s Heavenward branch, felt her eyebrows climb ever higher as she read the report in her hands. It had been delivered just a moment before by a shadowy bird pecking at her office window, the little umbral avian having bowed somberly to Anasta after delivering the scroll before gliding off on silent wings.

“Anasta, you are a gold-ranker. I know you read the entirety of the letter in a few seconds. Don’t keep your deputy in suspense,” Maximilian complained, leaning forward in his chair.

“It seems like our little fish played his role splendidly,” Anasta noted, folding up the scroll before teleporting it over to her deputy with a ‘snip’ of her fingers. Maximilian started reading while she continued, easily able to process both text and conversation. “It seems like it was the Heavenly Shadow who took the bait first, although it would have been better if the little fish hadn’t wiggled as ferociously, or been picked up by a murder of curious crows. If it had been us who had to kick in the sect’s door and retrieve him, it would have given us more to work with when requesting more resources from the continental council.”

“At least the Tengu’s clan continues to hold up their end of the bargain. I don’t think any other group of adventurers are as diligent with their reports,” Maximilian noted approvingly. “It says here that the Pathbreaker is affiliated with them and that they expect everyone in the city to treat him accordingly. Somehow I get the feeling that is directed towards us as well.”

“The Crows are a difficult bunch in some ways, and surprisingly easy in others. But a family such as theirs wouldn’t have survived unless they knew how to keep a proper balance. With how they seem to have the ears of more than one person within the royal family and the looming threat of that ancestor of theirs, I’ve found their presence to be more a boon than a hindrance.”

“Still, to dictate the society’s actions-”

“Let it rest, Maximilian. Compared to the rest of this place, the Crows are downright fawning over us,” Anasta said, sighing. “Still, this whole little debacle with the Pathbreaker at least let us know that we have more leaks to shore up within our organization. According to the Crows, the Heavenly Shadow sect seemed to know of the Pathbreaker’s being considered for Task Group Gauntlet. And it should let me make some quite pointed insinuations the next time I’m in a meeting with one of the sect’s grand elders making demands. Quite a useful little fish, that Pathbreaker. I’m curious to see what he will stir up for us in the future.”

It turned out that Little Crow was quite an enthusiastic guide as he and Kite walked through the city, the slight shimmer of a privacy screen surrounding them to make sure that only the most powerful could listen in to their conversation. That the gold-ranker in the red mask walked ahead of them in silence probably also helped, with no one crowding in close.

“-and see the tower up there in the second district on the Stairway? That was also made by the Queen of Jade and Sky, rather early in her reign.”

Looking at the colorful building before glancing at his tattoos, Kite couldn’t help but smile. “The queen’s creations I have encountered haven't been quite as… vibrant,” he remarked, comparing the monochrome, pale metal of the gates to the plethora of colors visible in the distance.

“Oh don’t sell yourself short, Kite. Those markings of yours are quite striking,” Little Crow consoled, having easily accepted Kite’s request for using more informal names. “The queen left long before my time, but I heard that her style has changed a bit over time. Maybe she wanted the gates to symbolize something more somber? Tempering one’s path is important, after all.”

To Kite’s surprise, Little Crow had been able to deduce the origin of his tattoos rather easily, waving off his inquiries in the matter while referring to his family having records of most things worth knowing.

“Ah, we’re here!” the celestine said when they finally arrived at the very same gates where Kite had been standing a few days prior. This time, the venerable wooden gates swung open as they arrived, the gold-ranker walking in front of them flickering and disappearing into nearby shadows as his charges reached the compound.

“Thank you, senior brother!” Little Crow called out into thin air, before turning to Kite while gesturing to the estates around him. “And welcome, adopted one, to the Heavenward seat of the Tengu’s clan!”

While Kite had seen the old wooden buildings from outside, they were even more impressive up close. Their design felt archaic yet impeccably maintained; like monuments of history still in full use. Kite could feel the hints of auras from most parts of the complex, indicating that it was a lively and inhabited place, but there was also something muddling the sensations.

Apparently noticing the slight crease of Kite’s brow, Little Crow chimed in;

“I believe that you have sensed the arrays. Some of them are as old as this place, but we’ve added more over the years as the art of formations and array-making has progressed.”

They started a meandering pace, walking between the multitudes of separate buildings which made up the complex, connected by gardens and wooden walkways. Little Crow led the way with the surety of someone who had lived within the place their whole life, and just as he was about to gesture to a smaller, separate building surrounded by a serene garden complete with a fish pond, a younger celestine man clad in more simple silken garb walked up to them. He bowed once to Little Crow before presenting a rather sizable lacquered box to Kite and retreating before Kite could ask more about it.

“Ah, your spoils,” Little Crow said as he continued to guide Kite towards the smaller building. It turned out to be a comfortable guest house, and the celestine silver-ranker immediately made himself comfortable in one of the couches.

“My spoils?” Kite finally managed to ask, opening the lid slightly to peek inside. There he saw a pair of dimensional bags as well as a series of rings, necklaces and charms. Kite recognized one in particular on sight; a necklace of large, polished stone beads of a rose-tinted white. Said necklace had been hanging around the neck of the smolder disciple who had been part of the ambush team.

“Oh, I see… Are they…?” he ventured, thinking of the pair of disciples which had been left lying unconscious in the aftermath of the failed capture attempt.

“Dead? Heavens, no. That would cause too much of a stir. Not worth it at all,” little Crow said, waving the thought away like a particularly annoying fly. “Still, your way of fighting them is rather clever. Using their mana as a trap and all. Unconscious and dead are about the same in a fight with lethal stakes, after all.”

“Ah, I see. That is… I mean, I thought-” Kite began, floundering a bit around the metaphorical elephant in the room.

“You assumed that we would kill them, given our family’s ancestral profession?” Little Crow asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Well, yes- but- I assure you, I meant no disrespect-”

“Do not fret, Kite. You are forgiven. Had the claim come from someone who knew about us, we might have raised an issue about it. Can’t just have anyone insult us after spending such a time in finding a balance where we could coexist in the open, now can we? But I understand that it is confusing, so let me pose a question for you; what is required for a family of assassins to be able to live in the open?”

“I will admit that I have wondered about it,” Kite said, thinking back to how easy it had been to locate the clan’s compound by simply asking. “I suppose that power is a main factor? But still, I would imagine that assassinations would garner quite a bit of fell karma with any other powerful actors within the city? Or even the kingdom?”

“Well, it does certainly help,” Little Crow admitted. “We have two gold-rankers connected to the clan’s main household here in the city. But while they are powerful, it wouldn’t be enough should the sects band together. No, it is the threat of the Tengu himself that gives us a proper edge in that regard.”

“Oh? Is your ancestor still here?” Kite had not heard anything mentioned about it during his time in the city, but with all the duels, he hadn’t exactly had too much time to dig for information either.

“Heavens, no,” Little Crow laughed. “Diamond-rankers don’t have time to just sit around and babysit their families. I have seen him twice in my life though, as he still visits from time to time. Just those visits sure help against other power players getting funny ideas.”

Kite heard what Little Crow said, but his mind was stuck at a particular detail. “D-diamond? But… I thought- at least heard- that the Soaring Soul, the Queen of Jade and Sky, was the only diamond ranker to come out of Hua-Xi.”

“Well, she’s the only native to have ascended as far as I know,” Little Crow agreed. “The Tengu isn’t from this land, but he came to like it here and established his power base here later in life. Apparently something about the region reminded him enough of home, wherever that is.”

“Home? I do not understand,” Kite said, confused. “While I have not studied much geography in recent years, I thought that this region of the world had a rather unique culture not found anywhere else in the world.”

“Then I hate to confuse you a bit further, dear adopted brother, but you are right. And still, the Tengu found familiarity. Because he is not of this world, but an outworlder.”

“Outworlder?” Kite had never heard the term. That there was something beyond this world was not news, even though his astral magic theory was as rudimentary as it could be. Auntie Crow had only taught him the barest of basics along with some surface levels of knowledge regarding astral spaces. This rather sparse level of teaching was not given out of Kite’s ineptitude or any other such sentiment, but that auntie Crow simply did not know more of the matter. And whatever an outworlder was, it was certainly not a term Kite had heard before.

“Ah, I forget that you are basically from the middle of nowhere. Still, outworlders aren’t that common knowledge, so it’s hard to fault you for not knowing,” Little Crow said. “While I only know the basics, an outworlder is someone who is ripped from one world to another, often through sheer magical happenstance. They are unique in many ways, their heritage and race overridden to better adapt to their new circumstances. And while they are very, very uncommon, essence-user longevity means that there are more than a few still running around. I mean, the onyx hair and eyes of the Tengu clan is a result of our dear ancestor making babies with another outworlder, hence a new lineage of celestines.”

Kite sat back, head swimming even as his much increased cognition did its best to incorporate this with his knowledge of the world while simultaneously fighting off the slight feeling of existential dread that came with the thought of being randomly spirited away to another world.

“This is quite a lot to take in, Little Crow. I will have to once more place myself in your care and take your word for it,” Kite said, choosing to put the thoughts of other worlds and such cosmic knowledge aside, even if he suspected that it would pop up again in his dreams. Or maybe nightmares? “But back to the topic at hand; I can understand how the clan can prosper under these conditions. Still, personal vendettas and wounded pride are not uncommon, I’d imagine?”

“You are correct, dear adopted brother, but it isn’t as bad as you think. We are still assassins, sure, but there are only so many contracts of that nature coming our way. Most of us are almost exclusively adventurers, even though the family custom in choosing essences remains to this day.”

“Oh?” Kite said, the curiosity clear in his voice.

“While I won’t tell you too much, it is a rather open secret that those remaining in the clan are required to take on power sets to fit the role of assassin. A proper Crow of the Tengu clan needs to be able to do a lot of damage in a short amount of time. Essence users of silver and above are not that easy to put down, after all, and those below that rarely if ever find their way to the receiving end of one of our contracts. We do a fair bit of work outside the kingdom too. Less local politics to take into account then.”

“Auntie Crow did tell me that much, and that she received other essences as she did not wish to remain within the clan’s business.”

“The Tengu has always decreed that every member needs to choose for themselves. Still, we will help our little lost eggs when we can. And their offspring too, adopted or not,” Little Crow finished. “So with your station cleared, you will always find safe haven with us here in the capital. We won’t always keep you under watch though, but the affiliation should be enough to ward off such attempts as you saw today. Any trouble within the legitimate and public domain though, you will have to deal with yourself. The Tengu has always appreciated the cultivation of one’s own path, as there will often be times when no one else can fight your battles for you.”

“Duly noted, and thank you once more, Little Crow. It will be nice to at least rest easy for my final night here before portaling out.”

“It was nice meeting a wayward adopted brother, and flicking the sects' noses is always appreciated,” Little Crow said, rising to leave. “Take a look through your spoils. We have already picked out the pieces which were too politically volatile and made sure to send them back to the sect in a nice little package, silk ribbon and all. Anything else you want to send back can earn you a bit of good will, or at least lessen bruised prides somewhat. But don’t be too nice about it,” Little Crow said, a shade of anger bleeding into his voice for the first time since Kite had met the man. “What they did was dishonorable and cowardly. It should be beneath them, and they need to feel the cost of their transgressions.”

“I appreciate the advice,” Kite said, nodding as his eyes were already drawn back toward the box. He did not know what disciples of a sect in the capital kept on them, but so far most of his dueling opponents had been quite cavalier in regards to the asked prize of essences or awakening stones. Even if it was not much for him personally, the guild merit exchange always wanted for materials and items.

For the first time in days, Kite felt himself truly start to relax as he started sorting through the items with the help of Glint. With the exception of this last debacle, it hadn’t been too bad with the duels at first, but the constant stream of challengers had apparently taken more of a toll than he had thought.

“However, tomorrow it should be time to finally leave and step beyond the bounds of this kingdom,” Kite thought, looking at Glint. The carp had lost herself in some piles of particularly shiny quintessence, completely forgetting the world around her. “Still, we should enjoy the calm of this moment too, I suppose,” he thought, idly stroking her silky fins. “The wider world awaits, after all. Who knows when we will next find a moment of calm like this?”

When Pristine Mirror returned to her quarters, she couldn’t help herself. All poise and decorum fled her when she leaned back against the wooden door, letting out a long sigh even though the act was a purely psychological impulse rather than actual need for breathing.

“Mistress? How are you? Is there anything I can do for you?” Sprig asked as he exited the other room where he had been sitting and studying a combat manual. The aspiring initiate both looked and felt truly worried, and Mirror couldn’t help but feel a bit grateful at someone actually worrying for her in the otherwise cutthroat culture between the sect disciples.

“A bath, please,” she said, the ‘please’ at the end escaping unbidden through her lack of proper facade. Sprig did not comment, however, the young man instead leaving to do as told. When Mirror had slid into the bubbly waters, he was about to leave when she spoke again.

“The meeting with the grand elder went well, all things considered,” she said, words spilling out as she would have no one else to speak to about the topic. Not unless she wanted to give them leverage on her. “She was quite disappointed in our performance, but the hitherto unseen arm-power and the fact that the Tengu’s Crows came calling at the end mitigated things quite a lot.”

“I… see…” Sprig said, unsure of where to stand or look, before deciding to gaze out the window.

“I was even put up for personal tutelage under one of the inner disciples, as grand elder Slate said that she saw potential in me. This will mean that I will be around less for a time, but I hope that you will keep up your studies as well in my absence.”

“Of course, mistress,” Sprig said, hurriedly bowing. “Do you want me to continue and track the Pathbreaker’s movement if I am able?”

“No… No, you should not,” Mirror sighed. “He is leaving tomorrow, after all, and his affiliation with the Tengu clan closes off many avenues of revenge. Should he return, we will have to consider things. But honestly, I just hope that he leaves and never returns, so that I can start to forget the shame of this day.”

Sprig apparently did not know how to respond, so he chose to remain silent.

“A smart man,” Mirror thought to herself, which only cemented her following decision. Speaking aloud, she said; “Also, would you please retrieve the white dimensional pouch from my attire?”

“Of course, mistress,” the young man said, walking over and returning with said container, looking anywhere but at Mirror, even though her modesty was still preserved by the lush layer of bubbles.

“Open it,” she commanded, leaning back and closing her eyes. As such she could only hear the slight intake of breath and feel the confusion and hope within Sprig’s aura, the latter kept on a tight leash. Mirror couldn’t help but smirking as she continued.

“You have performed well these last few days, and the failure of today had nothing to do with you or the information you found and spread. So I took the liberty of adding some of my sect contribution to that which you had already invested. The knife essence you had your eyes on should complement your snake essence nicely, so it only felt appropriate that you got it as early as possible.”

Mirror’s smile widened as the young man started sputtering his thanks, overcome with emotion.

“There was at least some good that came of this,” she thought to herself, luxuriating in the warm water around her. “But I will have to be wary of the Pathbreaker, should he return with vengeance in mind. Preparations will have to be made should he decide to move. And I will have to write a certain letter which will make my aunt ever so disappointed.”