Twinned Destinies: A Cultivation Progression Fantasy

They went out the same way they came in, so the path was uneventful. No new monsters waited for them. They hummed their marching songs, told ghost stories, and ; it was as though they had already left. Everyone knew the worst was over.

Ruyi spent most of the trek in her happy place: on Dow’s back. She tried a lot of positions, but her favorite was still face down with her head buried so deeply she couldn't see any light. There was something fun, exciting about feeling the movement through the jolts of his big body, hearing them thumping along. You missed so much when you were just looking with your eyes and seeing the surfaces of things. She liked the new perspective — it showed her things she missed.

The only annoying thing was she also heard things she didn't particularly want to hear, like Darius standing at downside, whining at her. She'd studiously ignored him for the past nine hours, but it was getting increasingly hard to do. He was bored, and she was denying him his favorite pastime: poking her.

"What do you want from me?" he sighed. She just lay there. "It was a joke! You can take a joke, you're a big girl."

Ruyi did her best impression of a dead person.

And after a long silence, "Alright," he said. "I'm sorry."

She jerked up. "Hmph!"

"I know how much you hate being made fun of, and I do it anyway. I'm a terrible person. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?"

She squinted at him. "I guess I can. Just this once.”

She was actually quite relieved. By then she'd been clinging on to her anger at him by a thread. Usually, it was hard for her to hold on to anger against someone she liked for more than an hour, but what he'd done was truly unforgivable. She had to keep reminding herself of that; it was the only way she lasted this long.

Of course as soon as she did, he went back to making fun of her. She probably should’ve seen it coming.

***

Later on, Drusila stopped by, to Ruyi's surprise.

"I hear it was you who was first into the tunnels with the Cyclops, and first to jump the hounds."

"That's right," said Ruyi.

Drusila looked thoughtful. “You've been here but a short time, but you've given much to the tribe. It is time for the tribe to give back to you. Ask me for a prize, and you may have it. Anything."

Ruyi sat up.

"I don't want anything," she said.

"Everyone wants something."

"I just want all my friends to be happy," she said. She was being honest. She couldn't think of a single thing she wanted more in the world.

Drusila considered that for a moment. "Perhaps you may serve them better if we solidified your position. Would you like to be Chief Brewer?"

Ruyi was astounded. “But Claudia’s Chief Brewer?”

"And she was who I consulted when I considered you for the role. She said there was no better fit. She said she would be honored to serve as your second."

"But," Ruyi searched for the words, "I've only been here two moons," she said weakly.

She was thinking of Claudia as she said it.

"Yes, but seniority matters very little to us—that is a human way of thinking, a way you must shed. It is ability that counts.”

If Ruyi was honest with herself, she really wanted it. She knew she was the best person for the job. She knew with herself in charge, the whole tribe would be better off. Claudia was quite good, but Ruyi was one of the best alchemists alive. She might be the best—she believed so, anyway. And if she was chief brewer, nobody could ever doubt it; everyone would know. The thought thrilled her a little.

Still, though... Sometimes, when she was done with her forms late at night, she had seen light streaming out of the brewers' tents. She'd seen Claudia's shadow pacing back and forth, shuffling the notes she'd taken on their conversation that day. Usually Ruyi took a huge amount of pleasure in being better than other people, but seeing Claudia work herself ragged just to get things Ruyi saw in a second only made her feel bad. Claudia worked her whole life to be chief brewer, ever since she was picked up as an initiate at six years old… this was her dream…

These past few weeks, Ruyi had seen this confident, bright, loudmouthed girl totally undone. She didn't recognize the meek creature who'd slinked over to their meetings, head bowed, mumbling whenever they talked. Ruyi was almost afraid to push back on anything Claudia said anymore, since Claudia would fold instantly, and apologize profusely, and Ruyi could see how much it hurt her pride every time.

Drusila was waiting for an answer. Ruyi wanted Claudia to be happy. Of course, she did! But she might have lied a little, she was realizing, without even meaning to. She did care that her friends were happy.

But she still said, "I'll take it."

"Good," Drusila patted her on the leg. "You deserve it."

"I know," said Ruyi. She felt bad about it anyway.

***

When they left the spring, the bright blue sky was something out of a dream. She swore she'd never seen a color that pretty, that lively, her whole life. She was having that feeling again, about wanting to capture this feeling, this moment. And when she said as much to Aelia, Aelia whipped out her chisel and wood blocks.

"Here," she said, “Have a go at it! Go on."

Ruyi broke her first block in two. Her next block didn't last much longer. She could tell Aelia was trying not to laugh.

"You're too blunt! Gently," Aelia put her hands on Ruyi's. "Here, let me."

It really was in the little things, the subtle things, the flicks of the wrist, the nudges of the fingers, slicing away at the wood one strip at a time. Ruyi had always thought this sort of thing was easy — Aelia certainly made it look easy — but she found it was much harder to be gentle than it was to be brutal. It took a lot more skill, and it didn't come easy to her at all. But this was how you captured things, how you made things last, Aelia said.

They were moving due east now, and Ruyi could glimpse a mountain range, pale blue, rising against the darker blue of the sky, so wispy it could have been something Aelia had carved.

When she asked Livia about it, Livia said it's the Olympus range. Apparently, Mount Olympus lay 5000 li deep in it. That was where the Lord of Demons lived.

"What is it?" she asked. She saw the expression on Ruyi's face. "You don't like him."

"He tried to poison my brother," said Ruyi. It had been years, and she still got angry whenever she thought about him. Nothing could get her angry quite so fast as the thought of someone trying to hurt Jin. She turned her eyes away, higher toward the sky.

Livia followed her gaze. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"What is it?" Ruyi said. As far as she could tell, they were both just looking at a cloud.

Then she squinted at it, and she swore she saw something moving, blended almost perfectly against it, but she could make out its outline now that she looked for it: wings and a tail and a beak.

"That is not our raven," said Livia. She looked troubled. "Excuse me."

She saw Sabina, Livia, and Drusila talking in a huddle at the head of the pack. Their faces were cold, their gestures made with fists and pointed fingers. At last, Drusila gave a signal.

The sage furs were all made to run. So were the rest of them. They headed straight for the mountains.

Ruyi sought out Sabina. “What's going on?!”

Sabina hesitated. “Nothing, I hope. But perhaps there could be trouble."

She didn't look at Ruyi as she spoke; her eyes were on the horizon.

A few breaths later, they saw a line of red and yellow stark against the blue.

"What’s that?"

"Trouble," Sabina said grimly.

Then she turned all the way around. There, on the other horizon, was a line of grisly black. At first Ruyi thought it was storm clouds, hoped it was storm clouds. Then Sabina gathered all the praetorianus.

"We've been duped!” she said. "They've trapped us. Octavius descends from the north, Lucius comes from the south. We must make for the mountains. Rufus, Fausta, Aulus, bolster the north. Darius, Aelia, Ruyi, come with me! Move, move!"

They stumbled along behind her. Ruyi was having trouble understanding. They just come out of the dungeons; they should have been safe; she’d tried so hard.

But on the horizon, she felt a wall of auras just as long as the Frigus tribes’.

And there were two of them.

"Ruyi!" It was Aelia, shaking her. "We have to go, they'll be here in an hour."

"Where?" she said.

"We just need to make it to the range. There's a choke point; we'll hold them there."

Ruyi looked to Sabina as she ran, and Sabina nodded. "It is sacrilege to do battle in the Olympus range. That is a place of peace. It would violate our sacred oaths. They would not come for us there."

She was trying to be optimistic, but she didn't even sound like she convinced herself.

***

They'd gotten so close now, Ruyi could see their faces. On one end, lit up in fire, a line of fire, and in its flickering orange light, she saw their twisted smiles. On the other end, blank faces, lost in a dark mist. They couldn't have been more than a thousand strides out.

The mountains were so close she could almost reach out and touch them, she felt, but though they were sprinting as fast as they could, she had this strange, dreadful feeling they weren't getting any closer.

But they did. They did, stumbling and panting, most of them already demonformed.

The tribe rushed into the pass. The bulk of the warriors—and all the praetorianus—stayed behind. Drusila stayed too.

“Here, we make our stand,” she said. “There is no better place. And there is no running any longer. I… should have seen this.”

She looked stricken; she seemed to have much more to say, but instead she shook her head.

“Fausta, Ruyi, Darius—go. We’ll hold them off as long as we can. It will be up to you to see them to safety.”

None of them moved.

“Your Chief commands it!”

“No,” said Ruyi. She glared. “If my friends are staying, then I’m staying too. And stop talking like something awful’s going to happen! We’re going to beat them back and win the day, just like we beat back that Cyclops.”

It was the only thing she let herself believe, and in that moment she believed it with all her heart. There was a circle of silent shock—nobody talked back to Drusila this way. Then Drusila laughed, a blunt short sound.

“Very well. I am proud to call you my brethren. And I am honored to stand with you. Ruyi is right. It matters not how many there are; we are of the Frigus Tribe—we shall break them as waves crash against a glacier. If they think we are easily moved, they are in for an unpleasant surprise! Octavius is temperamental, and Lucius cunning, but neither has our will. We shall bloody their noses, break them on the rocks, and send them scurrying whence they came! For the Tribe!”