Rising Kite - A story from the world of HWFWM

“Good. Again, repeat after me. Shiiii-”

“Thiiiii-” the toddler and the pretty carp-turned-draconian said together, both similarly struggling with the ‘s’ as they tried to imitate auntie Crow.

“Good try, girls!” auntie Dove still praised from the sidelines, causing Raven to respond with her usual somber look while Glint, currently in her new and shiny humanoid form, preened with pride. Given that she had only been anatomically able to form coherent sounds for just shy of a week, Dove had to give it to the familiar; she was a fast learner, even if the contrast of her and Raven sitting there side by side was absolutely adorable.

“I better get the recording crystal,” Dove realized, hurrying off into an adjacent room as the little lesson continued in the other room. With Raven’s attention span, the gods would be kind if they had more than two or three minutes remaining, so she had to work fast.

As she was heading back, crystal already primed and recording, Dove did have the chance to glance out the window, her smile returning in force as she saw the much fiercer practice outside.

“Oh how little Kite has grown. And Dragonfly too,” she thought as she glimpsed flashing movements and discharging powers. “They sure have been going at it for a long time now. I better make some tea after Raven’s practice is over. Sparring like that always calls for tea afterwards. And- oof, that looked painful. I better bring out a healing pill or two as well.”

A loud chiming sound rang out as Kite’s staff intercepted Dragonfly’s axe, snow cascading from the ground beneath as it bore the brunt of the force. At the same time, one of the arms of Kite’s mantle brought out his chitinous shield to intercept the animated one that came in from the side. While Dragonfly normally used her conjured axe in that role, she had quickly learned early in their friendship that she didn’t need to bother with that when facing Kite, as most conjurations just became a liability. Instead, she used her spare; a simple, sturdy thing with more basic enchantments that would do in most situations.

Kite too adapted in what ways he could to his lover’s powers, such as withholding his new shield from retaliating through its many small projectiles. Because with Dragonfly’s ramping boon becoming resistant to dispels when ranking up to silver, putting fuel to that fire was now a much more risky proposition.

Still, Kite could at least push back reliably, with his superior number of attacking limbs and vectors making sure that he steadily ate into Dragonfly’s mana; another way to circumvent her gaining enough power and speed to outclass him.

After a few more exchanges, one where Dragonfly managed to land a particularly powerful kick to Kite’s side, the pair eventually disengaged.

“It feels like you have progressed in leaps and bounds, dear Dragonfly,” Kite honestly complimented as they cleaned up the yard as best they could before turning to go inside.

“Well, plowing through monsters does tend to help one get strong,” she said playfully, flexing one arm to further prove her point. “But I got to hand it to Soul; that woman knows how to fight other people. I learned a lot in the two months spent in Boundary with her. And I might just have risen to the level of acceptable in her eyes, even if she was probably still disappointed that I wasn’t you.”

“The thought of the two of you in combination does feel a bit terrifying,” Kite agreed, while still being happy that Dragonfly had chosen to go. His lover’s passion and enthusiastic companionship tended to be a bit infectious, which was probably something that the battle-mad celestine needed. “And as for learning from her, I can only agree. I spent one week with her. One intense week, true, but it was still an eye-opener.”

“But still, Kite, you’ve obviously grown as well. There is something different in how you fight now. A bit more simple and direct yet still in a devious way. The way your annoying arms kept targeting my arms and legs to interfere were just… well, annoying. Supremely so.”

“You didn’t seem to mind the extra arms that much yesterday,” Kite jibed with a wink, causing his companion to flush a bit.

“That was entirely different and you know it. Still, those massages…” she grumbled, even though her tone did turn rather wistful towards the end.

The two cleaned up and were enjoying a cup of tea with the rest of Kite’s family when a crystal next to the door suddenly lit up with a distinct blue light.

“It would seem that someone is at the gate,” Crow noted, gesturing for Kite to remain seated as he was about to rise and go greet whatever guest they had waiting. “Finish your tea in peace, little Kite. I’ll take care of it.”

A minute later, she returned while carrying a sealed messenger’s tube which she used a strand of hair to deposit in front of Kite and Dragonfly as she once more sat down.

“Adventure society business, it would seem,” Crow said to them, one meaningful eyebrow raised. “The courier was in a hurry, but told me that it would only open to either of your badges.”

“I thought it odd that you didn’t invite the poor messenger in for tea. The society is sure putting them to work,” Dove noted with some concern while Kite and Dragonfly unlocked the sealed tube and retrieved the scroll from within.

“Something serious, dear?” Crow asked, apparently sensing the way both Kite’s and Dragonfly’s auras seemed to tighten a bit as they read.

“Could be,” Kite said in way of answer. “Apparently there are some leads to a potential cell of cultists to the south. Dobrazza wants us to come in and help plan a strike against it.”

“Finally, we can begin in earnest. It felt like ages ago that we had that first gathering up in Knowledge’s temple back in Gilded,” Dragonfly said. “I’ve been called in to kick down a door or two while you were gone, but nothing major.”

“With the information from outside that the task group happened upon and leads from the site we took down, things have apparently started to move along. Braid or Wander can probably tell us more though. From what I gathered, they were involved in this find,” Kite noted, rising from the table and calling to the other room. “Glint, it would seem that it is time to return to Bastion. May we humbly ask for your services in ferrying us there?”

In response, Kite got a confirming cooing sound before his familiar, still in her draconian form and carrying Raven, rejoined them. After the toddler had been safely deposited with one of her mothers, Glint’s form shimmered before it shrank down to her original shape of the carp. As she did so, Kite felt a bit of relief through their bond, and he could understand why. While Glint was ecstatic at the potential of her new form, it was still new and rather alien to her as well. She still slept in her bottle, for example, preferring to widen her new world a little bit at a time.

Fortunately, she was still more than happy to help Kite and any other friend of them get around, and the trio was soon zooming northward over the treetops, Glint’s huge carp-dragon form dragging Kite’s enchanted boat after it through the sky on their way to start the process of turning their homeland upside down and see what would fall out, one contract or lead at a time.

“Tell me, little one, what patterns do you see? Turn your mind’s eye inward. Embrace the pain of stillness, and let it help you bring clarity.”

Dancer on the Broken River sat in meditation in her latest safehouse in Convergence. While it was little more than a small crawl space between two buildings, it also benefited enough from the concealing arrays of said buildings to make for an excellent hideout. As an adherent of Pain, the lack of creature comforts could be seen as yet another way of communing with her deity.

For the last two months though, River had been more on edge. Something was shifting in the undercurrents of the region, but she had yet to grasp the bigger picture. In his mercy, Lord Pain had offered his assistance, giving River hints until she could procure a certain pill which currently rested between her teeth, ready to be swallowed once she found the correct mindset. River knew that her deity tended to be viewed as female in many parts of the world, but as Lord had ever been the title used by her father and the voice she communed with was distinctly masculine, it just seemed odd to imagine anything else, even if she knew that the appearances of the gods varied.

“I can sense your avoidance, little one. You already know how to embrace my gift. Set yourself free in that, and persevere.”

Realizing the truth in her god’s words, River once more centered herself before finally swallowing the pill. The little sphere went down easily enough, but soon started to make its effects known as currents of chilling, absolute stillness started creeping through River’s body until it finally reached her mind. The agony of the process was severe, but River had spent a life enduring and even embracing Pain’s gift, and supported by her meditations, she threw herself into the icy clarity that her current state provided, where her physical attributes were forcefully lowered for a short time to push her spirit attribute to new, if temporary, heights.

“The undercurrents have been shifting a bit these last two months, but its origin isn’t here. Something is making waves, and we’re seeing the ripples,” she thought, her mind speeding through the process as her body kept locking up. Going through hundreds of small details she had observed during the weeks gone by, she could also glean some patterns. “The east and north are more compromised somehow, and local operations shift in turn. Information seems to leave for the south. But what is returned? I will have to investigate. This shift should be an opportunity for me.”

She kept working, mentally analyzing, theorizing and compiling for as long as she could before tingling warmth started making its way back into her rigid form. Gradually, the mental clarity faded, leaving only a dull, aching pain suffusing her whole being. But River leaned into the feeling as she once more centered herself and let her body cleanse the remaining effects of the dangerous pill.

Her little crusade had persevered as she had carved out a place for herself in the local underworld, often clashing with the interests of the Lover, the current uncrowned queen of Convergence. But as it had gradually been made clear to the other, more experienced silver-ranker that River’s machinations were not targeting her or her operations, things had settled a bit. River had even made some headway in tracking more and more small trails of resources to attempts at creating small cells and cabals, but it had been slow.

Whatever was happening now though, was causing things to move just a little bit more. And with movement came risks. Or opportunities. River would gladly start fishing in these muddied waters.

“Wow, Kite, things went pretty smoothly here. Gauntlet seems to have taught you a lot~!” one of Wander’s bodies squeaked from his shoulder while Kite himself was busy keeping an eye on their bronze-rankers handling the last of the summoned blood oozes. As he had already taken part in capturing the pair of silver-rankers leading this little cell of blood cultists and Wander hadn’t been able to find other similar threats, it only felt proper to let his juniors temper themselves a bit.

The two teams he led on this contract consisted of local bronze-rankers already approved and trusted by Jarvan, Dobrazza or any other branch director they had brought into the fold, with similarities to instructor Whisper and the others led by deputy director Rupert back in Gilded. Kite also had hopes of adding some of their own more combat-oriented guild members to that roster once they had enough members of bronze and above. With their recent expansions, it should definitely be possible.

“I believe that I need to tell you the story of when we breached an underwater pirate lair when we have the time then,” Kite replied with some amusement. “That should only serve to prove that Gauntlet has been kicking down all kinds of doors now, and has grown most adept at it. I just tried to learn as much as I could.”

“Stop humblebragging Kite and just embrace some true bragging. It might do you good~,” his rat companion jibed, poking one little clawed finger into his cheek. “Both this and the two before were easy work because of that.”

“Thank you for your praise, oh illustrious Wander,” Kite said in return. “But I would hazard a guess that our dear sect allies over there might disagree,” he finished, gesturing subtly to the groups wearing the colors of the Wandering Winds sect.

“Remind me again why they were invited~?” Wander asked, her skepsis clear.

“Because you marked this as very urgent due to the ritual you discovered, and we needed people for crowd control but didn’t have the time to muster more teams of our own. Hence inviting warriors from the closest sect. It was a good thing too. I don’t believe anyone missed how far that exploding ball of goop scattered the summons.”

“True. But still… They’re just so… Oh, they’re coming over~.”

True to Wander’s words, the lone silver-ranked sect elder was currently marching over to Kite, flanked by his two bronze-ranked disciples. Kite had been disappointed to learn that Whistling Ivory, the one person he knew from the Wandering Winds sect, hadn’t been sent. Elder Gale had so far been less than enthusiastic in their assigned role.

Still, Kite wanted to at least try and preempt an argument, so he turned and called out as the sect trio drew closer.

“Elder Gale! My commendations to the warriors of your sect. None of the summoned monsters managed to escape your cordon, and the people of nearby villages and towns surely rejoice that they are under the protection of the Wandering Winds sect.”

His polite tone did cause the man’s stern stride to falter slightly, but from what Kite could glean from the other man’s aura, he still wasn’t happy.

“Pathbreaker,” he greeted curtly as he came close, the title seeming to almost bring a sour taste. “While I had no doubt in our ability to curtail such wretches, I still find our assignment a slight to the honor of our sect. Mere ‘guard duty’ should have been beneath us, especially while your team gathered both the honor and spoils within the stronghold of our foe.”

Kite thought that calling the enemy hideout a stronghold was perhaps a great deal too generous as it had been nowhere near as sizable and defended as the one he had taken town with the task group. But he let that point slide to focus on another part of the man’s statement.

“Spoils, elder? You truly believe that there were any great treasures inside such a place?” he asked, his skeptical look firmly giving away his thoughts on the matter.

“As we weren’t allowed to take part in things, there is no way for us to verify that except for your word. And you’ll forgive me if I don’t hold the word of an outcast very highly.”

Sighing inwardly, Kite resigned himself to the tone in which this conversation would continue. Outwardly, he instead let his aura grow sharper, its solid feeling condensing into that of a fortress ready for war rather than just a place of shelter. “Elder, we offered you and yours a contract, whose remuneration for rather simple duty was clearly above the standard. And yet I find you here complaining while insulting my honor? It would seem like the good impression I had of your sect through Whistling Ivory was a sad misconception.”

All of this was delivered in a tone that, while polite, brooked no argument. While Kite himself wouldn’t go too much on the offensive, he was way past the time in his life where he felt the need to try and placate the egos of people such as this elder.

The tension lay heavy between them for a while, the accompanying bronze-rankers clearly affected by the elder’s aura trying to grind Kite’s down, to no avail.

Kite was just thinking if he would need to ready himself for a challenge when elder Gale eventually turned in an attempted show of dismissal.

“Bah, as usual there is no proper courtesy or respect to be found from outcasts. Come, we will leave this place and collect our earnings,” he stated tersely, the two disciples following him in his wake as if eager to get rid of Kite.

“Aaaw, he backed off. I hoped that he would challenge you so that I could get to see a proper fight~,” Wander complained from Kite’s shoulder where she had been watching the exchange.

“It isn’t impossible that rumors of my little misadventures from the capital have spread. While I am unsure if that will prove helpful or not in the long run, I suppose that it remains to be seen,” he said, looking after the retreating elder who started to gather the disciples of his sect. Turning back to the rat on his shoulder, he continued. “Still, you locating yet another location so soon was great work. I couldn’t just tell him the true reason for us keeping them outside either. Even if there were none present this time, risking some overzealous sect warrior outright killing potential captures for us just isn’t worth it.”

“Oh I know I’m great, but that’s no reason for you to stop saying it~,” Wander preened as they too readied themselves to gather up their people and return to Orchard where they would eventually portal back north. “So yes, please praise me just a bit more~!”

“And this, little Raven, is an icicle. Isn’t it pretty?” Kite asked, pointing at one of the many glittering lengths of blueish ice hanging from a ledge high up on one of the stone pillars. The toddler in his arms was entirely uncaring that the two of them stood over thirty meters up in the air, instead fully focused as she stretched out her little gloved hand towards her perceived prize.

“Waven. Want.”

“You want one? Here, let me procure one for you, little young mistress,” Kite said with a smile as the toddler somberly nodded. He reached out and gingerly snapped off one of the icicles from its rocky perch, where it soon ended up in the eager hands of the toddler who started waving it around in different ways to see how it catched the morning light.

Kite was just about to grab one of his own for some tried and tested icicle fencing when he felt a familiar aura make itself known beneath them, the spiritual presence flaring out to announce itself.

“Oh? Raven, I believe that uncle Walker is back from his trip! Shall we go meet him?”

The toddler seemed to ponder the question a bit before nodding gravely, and Kite started making his way down again, using his small conjured pieces of barrier as a makeshift stairway. As they drew closer to the ground, the familiar shape of Brave Walker of Paths emerged from one of the frost-covered trees, his hand raised in greeting.

“Little Kite! And little Raven!” he called, looking both happy and weary at the same time. Knowing that his uncle could probably trek along the whole northern part of Hua-Xi without breaking a sweat, Kite suspected that it wasn’t the trip itself that had put such a damper on his uncle’s spirits.

“Uncle!”

“Wawa!”

Stopping in front of the older man, Raven promptly held out her little arms towards him. A conjured vine swiftly grew from a nearby plant, grabbing the toddler and carrying her the final distance.

“How are you, uncle?” Kite asked with some concern as he fell into step beside his first mentor.

“Is it that obvious, little Kite? Do not fret; it isn’t anything which a good cup of tea can’t mend, especially in the company of the next generation. Don’t think that I won’t demand a repeat of your no doubt exotic adventures beyond our borders.”

“All in good time, uncle. All in good time,” Kite promised, and the trio soon found themselves with warm cups of tea, Dove and Crow both joining them while Raven and Glint played off to the side.

“Your aura feels all but spent, Walker. Trouble?” Crow noted as she poured tea for each of them.

“Just people, Crow,” Walker muttered, nodding thankfully to Dove who reached out to drop a dissolving stamina pill into his cup. “Let’s just say that the guild’s establishment in Convergence won’t go as smoothly as it did in Bastion. This old man was forced to go spend two months in that place. Two… months… And most of it wasn’t even in actual meetings.”

Kite could all but see his uncle’s spirit shudder at the thought, and asked; “Did you face opposition then? From the city lord? Or branch director?”

Those two were the ones Walker had traveled to meet, after all, as a blessing from them was usually all that was needed.

“If only,” his uncle grumbled, taking a deep drink of his still scalding tea. “Things actually went well in the beginning. But somehow, the local sects caught wind of things, and started demanding to be part of the proceedings. And that doormat of a city lord didn’t dare refuse them. Only through the local branch director did we manage to get anywhere at all, but she and the city lord aren’t on the greatest of terms. Somehow, weeks flew by as the meetings seemed to grow sparser and sparser.”

“My condolences, uncle,” Kite said with a wince, imagining the nature-loving, free spirit that was Walker caught in such politics.

“Honestly, if Spring hadn’t been there to advise me, this old man might just have run to the woods and sworn to never return,” Walker grumbled with a shake of his head. “That girl may not have grown up too rich, but she seems to have a way with decorum and protocol. I swear, little Kite, as soon as she reaches silver, I’m sending her on all tasks like this one. Still, thanks to her and the branch director pulling a fast one on the sects, we finally managed to hammer down property ownership. But as things stand, I’ll probably need to be around a lot as the guild gets settled. Because Noel isn’t wrong in his assumptions; from there, we can easily start making a whole network of things and really, truly start connecting the northern parts of this country. And provide some powers for decent people who want to see it grow.”

“Should I join you as well? Maybe ask Dragonfly as well? In case the sects try something?” Kite asked, concerned. But Walker waved him off, even though his aura hinted at his gratefulness.

“Thank you, little Kite, but we should be able to manage. The city lord did agree, in the end, so we should have at least some protection. And the sects will probably settle down sooner or later as they realize that we aren’t interested in taking away their proud livelihood. I have yet to meet a sect warrior who loves courier contracts or guarding caravans. Also, you have already done so much for the guild. We need to find a balance to not overly rely on you. Don’t fret though, this old man isn’t too stubborn to call upon help if things start getting out of hand though,” Walker added at the end, apparently sensing Kite’s budding protest. “But now, over to more exciting things. Tell me, little Kite, how was your time with that fancy task group of yours?”

Soul looked around the clearing which had definitely not been there just half an hour ago. Or maybe crater would be a better word for it. The scouring flames and pathetic attempts at violence from her would-be ambushers had made sure that there soon was plenty of clear space for her to move around in.

“It would seem that the sect still had people watching me,” she dryly noted to no one in particular. The ambushing three silver-rankers from the Perfected Step sect had fought fiercely, especially elder Keen, as it was clear that her pride had not yet recovered from their last attempted ambush. Soul wasn’t even angry this time, as she knew them to be cowards already. No, she was more disbelieving that they tried, yet again, going at her only three to one.

“Still, they did manage something before they slunk back to the sect,” she thought, a tinge of frustration flaring up when she looked at the remains of the flying artifact she had once stolen from them. The glass bird construct lay shattered into thousands of pieces, having proven to be less agile than Soul herself as the initial attacks had struck from below.

“Perhaps I should try and pursue them after all? Take another foot or three?” she thought, glancing towards the south. But she soon discarded the thought, turning back towards the east instead. “No. Let them come find me if they want to break themselves upon me again. Finding Dragonfly and the Pathbreaker will be way more worthwhile.”

As she started running through the forest, gradually accelerating, Soul did feel the auras of some monsters nearby. While she initially intended to run past them, her time spent with Dragonfly flashed before her mind’s eye, repeating all the time that the annoying woman had pressed the importance of actually killing monsters upon her in order to protect all the weaklings.

With a mental sigh, Soul, seeker of perfection and blessed of Warrior, adjusted her course slightly, going straight for the silver-ranked aura surrounded by some bronzes.

“I might as well…”

“Another false lead, huh?” Jarvan noted, looking down at the map laid out in Dobrazza’s office.

“Taking out some actual bandits is never wrong, Jarvan,” his fellow branch director pointed out, the smolder woman managing her usual relaxed lounging even while reviewing maps.

“No, no… It’s just… Seeker’s sleek sword, Carmella. There just seems to be so much trouble brewing around us, right beneath our noses. Small scale, sure, but still; with that amount, you’d think we would have found more than one additional priestess of… you know. Almost makes me feel like they have started pulling out their clergy.”

“Which would still be a win, no? If we can then clear out the rest, they have less leverage on the region.”

“But it still doesn’t take us closer to understanding why. What their plan is. And why they are building up like they are.”

“Discord just needs chaos, Jarvan. Sometimes the obvious solution is the correct one. And we are making a difference, no matter how frustrated you are. These things take time. Just ask Braid. The patience in that man… Are you sure you won’t transfer him to my branch instead?”

“True… True…,” Jarvan said, sitting back in his chair while ignoring the attempted poaching of one of his best investigators. “And our people have done a great job. We should really give them a bonus. But at this rate, we’ll be at this for years, Carmella. And with the potential masterminds gone, it also makes me wonder… What are they doing? And planning? Will they counterattack, and how?”

“We can only continue doing our best, Jarvan,” branch director Dobrazza said with an empathetic look to her glowing eyes. “Prepare best we can, keep sending Kite and the others out to the best leads. And hope that all our semi-hidden rampaging around the local underworld will stir up enough for Anasta to start getting results on her end as well.”

“-but really now, have you heard of the gall of some of the northerners?”

“No, what? Not that I’m surprised that those uncultured peasants are up to their usual folly.”

“They’ve founded a guild.”

“What? The gall! A slap to our faces! We don’t need such outsider nonsense. The sects are a tested and time honored traditional structure that has given us strong warriors for generations!”

“I can only agree. And there has even been said that the Pathbreaker is involved.”

“Really? The outcast? Are you sure?”

“Quite. My sources were most certain.”

“Really now… After what he did to senior sister during his travesty of duels, that man needs to be put in his place, and properly. I have a brother in the Luminous Cloud sect north of Orchard. His elders would probably be very interested in hearing about this. Bringing down the Pathbreaker and his venture would give great prestige within the heartlands, I am sure.”

“Such a devoted and generous brother you are, to share such an opportunity.”

“For our country to keep its traditions safe, one needs to value sect and family most highly. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I believe I will say farewell to our hosts. This little gathering was most splendid, but with what you have told me, I have some correspondence to prepare.”

“Of course, honored disciple, of course. May your path lead to the heavens and beyond.”

As the other man left, making his way through the rich lounges of the Heavenward estate, the one remaining smiled, murmuring softly enough only for his deity to hear. “And may you spread the seeds of Discord’s garden far and wide.”