[Center][h2]The Moving Mountains[/h2][/center]

Chagatai watched his parents from a distance, broom in his hand as he swept the stone tiles in front of the dining house. Altansarnai stood next to Hermes, holding the fishing spear as the two adults talked. The onlooking boy rubbed his nose with his sleeve and went back to work, waiting. Hermes leaned in and gave Xiaoli a quick peck and Chagatai made a face, Altansarnai grimacing from a distance. Altansarnai tugged on Hermes hand but she leaned in and whispered something to Xiaoli that made her smile. Chagatai rolled his eyes and after a few more delays, Altansarnai and Hermes finally left on their hunting trip.  

Meanwhile, Wenbo, Ai and Li were hanging up the daily laundry. Wenbo kept scouting eyes on the main gate, but made certain to turn away every time his mother’s hawk-like stare found its way over to him. It did not help much that Ai also glared dagger at him, though in a concerned way - like if the daggers were packed in bird dow. Little Li, on the other hand, loyally pretended to perform his task by actually performing it, all the while giving Wenbo regular thumbs up to reassure him that he was indeed doing as commanded. Wenbo nodded approvingly at the young soldier, and as Xiaoli closed in, he winked at him.

It was time.

“Hey, Li? What did you say you wanted for dinner again?”

"Duck!" Li shouted a little too loud and grabbing at the hem of Xiaoli's dress with perhaps too much enthusiasm.

“Duck?” Xiaoli giggled in surprise and patted her little son’s hair. “My, but that takes a lot of time to make, you know! Especially if you want the skin crispy and flavourful. How about something a little easier, hmm?”

Wenbo tossed a shirt over the clothing line. “Well, Li does seem really eager - and duck is amazingly good, even when it’s rushed a bit. I’d love to have duck tonight!”

Xiaoli hummed indecisively. “Well, uhm… Ai, would you also want duck tonight?”

Ai shot a sideways glance at Wenbo and folded together a dry robe. Sweat began to moisten Wenbo’s forehead as time passed. Eventually, though, she said a curt ‘sure’ and frowned disapprovingly at Wenbo. Thankfully, her back was facing Xiaoli, so their mother was none the wiser.

“O-oh, alright, then! Li, since you’re evidently so eager, would you like to help?”

"Uh," the small child plotted his hands together indecisively, looking over at Chagatai in the distance. The other boy gave him a 'do it' face but Li looked back at his mom, "I wanna play with Wenbo and Chaggiei."

Wenbo stifled a groan and snapped his finger, calming himself in a second and looking at Li with a friendly smile. “But hey, Li! How can the Twins keep on going strong if we have no sustenance? Like the war supply lines, we -heavily- rely on our great support--” He knelt down and pressed a finger against Li’s chest, nodding proudly at him. “--you, our precious brother and squire.” Xiaoli merely shook her head, smiled and rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything. Ai buried her face in her palm.

"Okay!" Li beamed, his golden freckles wrinkling around his cheshire smile. He grabbed Xiaoli's hand, "I wanna help." Chagatai seemed to relax in the distance, turning to sweep at the stairs.

Xiaoli gave Wenbo a wry smile and a raised brow and pulled Li along. “Alright, dear, alright… First, we got to find a duck…” As they went to the larders, Wenbo dropped the loincloth he was holding back in the basket and patted Ai on the shoulder. 

“Keep up the hard work, sis! We’re counting on you!” he said as he sprinted towards Chagatai. Ai groaned audibly. “You idiots,” she called just loud enough for Wenbo to flash her a quick grin midrun. He hooked his arm around Chagatai’s shoulders and squeezed.

“Alright! We set to go?”

"I snuck a bag with some snacks by the gate guardians after breakfast," Chagatai nodded, "It'll be a few hours, but then bam! The perfect rocks."

“Yesssssss!” Wenbo celebrated, “alright, let’s head off!” 

With that, the boys zoomed out the gates, Chagatai snatching the backpack he tucked behind the black obelisk on the way, and together they entered the forest in the direction of the moving mountains.

It took a few hours, plus a short break filled with a breakfast pastry and some fresh water, but eventually they exited the forest and began their trip up the grinding slopes of one of the mountains. The trees gave way to canopies of mushrooms and flying moss. The boys were at wonder, only having seen this part of their home once before. 

"It tickles," Chagatai giggled as some of the flying moss landed on his arm. 

“Gmph-hrrmph!” Wenbo exclaimed as a particularly eager patch clamped itself onto his face. He stopped in his tracks, grabbed it tightly and pulled at it with all his strength. A couple of hefty tugs later, and the moss came off, squirming in his hands. “Phew… Yeah, you could say that,” he said with a wry smile and scratched his dirtied nose. He shot a few glances in every direction. “How far left, y’think?”

"I dunno," Chagatai shrugged a he studied the mushroom cloaked ground, "I guess anytime, just keep your eyes peeled." Wenbo nodded and walked with a focused squint.

He stopped for a moment to study a monito del monte, the tiny critter squeaking him an anxious message about quolls. Chagatai shrugged at the tiny creature, "I think I'm a bit big for a quoll."

Suddenly the wind blew through the mushroom forest, causing the hanging snapfruit to chime and whistle as they jostled. The whole place had an eerie feel and an even eerie voice carried on the wind:

"A bit big for a quoll. But too big for me?" There was a barking cackle. Chagatai froze, his arm hairs on end as he whipped about in search of the source. Wenbo instinctively grabbed two dry mushroom stalks off the forest floor and shoved one in Chagatai’s hands.

“Hey! HEY! We’ve not looking for trouble, but if you are, we’ll give it to you!” he shouted as bravely as he could, inciting a voice crack.

"What sort of trouble could you ever give me?" The voice hissed. There was rummaging behind the twins and they spun, but nothing was there. 

"So tired, so plump, so full of sweetssss." The voice droned on and cold sweat formed on Chagatai's brow. 

"I- I am the son of a warrior! I can fight!"

Suddenly the bushes to their left burst and the twins flinched as Li came tumbling out with a big grin on his face, "Momma said I could play!"

Chagatai was paler than pale, his eyes turning to fury and then anxiety at the sight of Li, "Li… no!" Wenbo waved him away frantically.

Suddenly a striped canine erupted from the forest-line, a jaw unhinged and snapping as it dragged Li to the ground with ease. Chagatai screamed and rushed the wrestling ball of flesh and fur. He shoved his stalk between the two, wrenching the jaws off of Li. The sobbing child fell to the ground covered in dirt, blood and tears and Wenbo slid over to him to help. The beast snapped at Chagatai, the jaws clenching around his arm, large teeth pushing through his skin. The boy screamed and as a hot fury entered his chest he wrapped his free arm under the beasts throat and flexed. He flexed and pulled, the jaw popping off his arm. He shifted and brought both arms around its neck squeezing angrily with loud grunts as the beast flailed.

"Stop-- I…"

The voice steamed from the emptying lungs of the beast as Chagatai squeezed, his face beat red and tears staining his cheeks. There was a sudden pop and the beast fell limp. Chagatai's chest heaved as he continued to squeeze the throat, only slowly letting go once his elbows pressed white from strain. He could still feel the pressure in his arms, a ghost sensation as he looked down at the dead tiger-dog and his whimpering little brother. Wenbo’s horrified eyes blinked between Chagatai and little Li’s bleeding arm.

“Oh, crap. Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! Uh, UH!” Wenbo pulled off one of his long woolen socks and began to bandage the wound with it, just as he had seen mother do when Altansarnai got a deep scrape. But how was it again? Was it supposed to be tight or loose, or-or… 

Li’s sobs became pained groans as the adrenaline dissipated. Wenbo’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest. “Chaggie, he’s hurting bad! He’s--!” He blinked back over at noticed Chagatai’s arm was even bloodier. “Chaggie, you’re bleeding!”

The older twin looked at Wenbo with adrenaline and shock in his eyes and then down at his arm, a trickle of blood dripping down. He looked down at the dead tiger-dog and then at Li. He walked over and scooped his little brother up and started walking down the mountain. He froze suddenly and turned back to Wenbo, "Come on."

“But Ch-Chaggie! We--” He swallowed as he saw the sheen in his eyes. He scooped up the tiger-dog with a grimace of disgust on his face and hurried after him. “Seriously, we gotta wrap up that arm - we can’t just walk all the way with you bleeding like that!”

"Just keep moving," Chagatai all but whispered hoarsely. Wenbo couldn't see, but he was holding back tears. The older twin rolled his bleeding arm into his shirt as he carried Li, pinching his own wounds. 

Little else was said, Chagatai falling into thought as he mechanically made his way back home. Eventually Wenbo mustered the courage to attempt to wrap Chagatai's arm properly as he walked, managing a less than perfect wrap that Chagatai nearly shoved off. 

The slope cleared and the forest appeared. It seemed like minutes despite it being hours but eventually the trio walked through the gates of the estate. All their siblings were silent, eyes wide and pale with terror. Blood seeped from Chagatai's dressings, dripping as he moved Li in his arms, the young boy having fallen asleep from all the pain and shock. Altansarnai suddenly forced herself into movement, charging into one of the estate buildings. 

A minute later, Xiaoli rushed out the door with such ferocious speed that she very nearly tore the poor slider door off the wall. Her eyes scanned the courtyard in a second and fell upon the trio. The avatar’s eyes flashed both fright and fury and she stormed over with quick steps. 

“What did you do?!” she thundered as she knelt down next to them and took Chagatai’s arm in her hand a little forcefully. Wenbo choked back tears. 

“We didn’t mean it,” he sobbed, while Chagatai remained silent.

“What did you do?!” she repeated as she scooped Li into her own arm and materialised a proper set of linen bandages using a fistful of grass. she ripped out of the ground. 

“W-we just wanted to go adventuring…” Wenbo continued with large tears rolling over his cheeks. 

“What did I tell you the last time you did that, huh? What did I tell you?!” With a few deft wraps and tugs, both Li’s and Chagatai’s arms were protected by a tight bandage each. Xiaoli grabbed Chagatai by the jaw and turned his head about, her burning eyes looking for more scratches.

"It was my fault," Chagatai whispered to Xiaoli, as if attempting to hide his voice. His eyes avoided his mother’s, looking down and away. Xiaoli shook her head, the rage and anxiety moistening her eyes. 

“You always say that, but I know you boys - it was your idea, then Wenbo egged you on. It’s always like that. The only reason you survived is because you got lucky.” She snatched the tiger-dog from Wenbo’s arms and put it on the ground next to her. “A tiger-dog is merely a quoll compared to some of the other things lurking in the woods. You are aware of this, yes? What if you had encountered a group of devils?! What then?”

Wenbo raised his hand. “We’re sorry, we-... We were sure it was going to be okay and--”

“Well, it wasn’t, was it? You two knew you aren’t supposed to venture too far from the mansion and you still did it - and you almost paid the ultimate price to learn why.” She gave Wenbo a quick check, too, before standing up, Li still in her arms. “You two are not allowed to leave the courtyard until I say you may, is that clear?”

Wenbo raised his hand again. “But mom, we--!”

“Is that clear?!” Xiaoli snapped. Wenbo shrank.

“Yes, mom…” he conceded.

Chagatai stayed silent, nodding at the command. He held his head down, hiding a few tears. The other kids began to gawk and he turned away from them. 

"May I go to my room?" He asked with a hoarse voice. 

Xiaoli shot him a look, but conceded. “You may.” Wenbo looked at his brother with concern. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ai holding a frightened Bayarmaa. She stared at him with disapproving, yet immensely worried black eyes.

Wordlessly Chagatai began to walk off when suddenly a boom of wind erupted from the gates. The flash of color turned into a steaming Hermes, club in one hand and sandals on her feet. Chagatai flinched as he heard his mother's concerned roar. 

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?"

Eyes of flaming red stared at Wenbo, and bounced to Chagatai, only softening at the maimed Li. Her eyes zipped to Xiaoli, searching for an explanation.

“Sweetgrass, get this - they’ve been out adventuring. Judging from the tiger-dog, they likely went to the mountains - exactly like they were [i]not[/i] supposed to do. I’ve already grounded them for an unspecified time, but if you would like to add anything, feel free.” Wenbo actually squatted down and covered his head against the impending scolding. 

Hermes huffed, "I! You!" She gritted her teeth against her temper, "I was worried sick! I flew circles around--" She closed her eyes and dropped her club. Pinching the bridge of her nose she attempted to swallow her fury. 

"Are you boys okay?" Her voice was straight, and not all that comforting for once. 

Chagatai looked away with guilt, "We are okay, now."

Hermes looked at Xiaoli as if asking for the truth. 

Xiaoli sighed. “They got away with a few bites. With some rest, they should grow. The wounds will scar in time, though, so I hope they serve as reminders of what you’re not supposed to do.” She put her hands on her hips and frowned, her rage evidently having subsided a little.

Wenbo gave Hermes a sheepish, shameful look and his cheeks became a shade of pink. Hermes wiggled her nose in thought and crossed her arms, her voice a hiss, “I’ll talk with you two after dinner.” She gave them both an angry look and stomped over to her private house, club in one hand. She opened the door and before entering she turned back around, her brow furrowing as her face contorted again. With a grunt she slammed the door, leaving the courtyard in an anxious silence. Chagatai went defeated to his room.

Wenbo swallowed and looked to at Xiaoli, who had turned to the family house, nuzzling the sleeping Li with all the worry and care a mother could muster. The younger twin sat on his knees in the middle of the courtyard for a minute, a multitude of thoughts running through his head like a polluted river. As he sat there, Ai came over and sat down next to him. Wenbo gave her a quick glance and groaned.

“I know, I know… ‘I told you so’, meh-meh-meh. I don’t wanna hear it.” Something crusty poked his cheek, and as he turned to face it, something sticky smeared across his face. He recoiled at touched the smear, then saw Ai with a sad smile on her face and a jelly tart in her hand.

“It looked pretty bad,” she said softly.

Wenbo blinked, cleaned the smear off his cheek with his thumb and accepted the tart. He took one bite, chewed for a minute and swallowed. A tear accumulated in the corner of each eye and he nodded. Ai sighed and pulled him in for a hug.

“Told you so,” she snickered. A hand fell on each of their shoulders and pulled them apart enough for the blue-haired Altansarnai and a peaking Bayarmaa to poke their heads into the hug.

“So tell us what happened already,” Altansarnai demanded with curious Hermian eyes.

[hr]

“Do you want some water?” Ansong asked sweetly, her almond shaped eyes staring from a round face. Chagatai didn’t respond, he just sat. His nest was a wooden stool, and he faced looking through what may have been the worst window in the entire estate, as through the shutters was only two meters of alley and then the blank face of the inner wall -- but stare he did, eyes in thought, but lids heavy.

Ansong seemed insulted by the silence but didn’t mention it as she sat next to the boy, pulling up her own seat. Zhongcheng watched from his bed, fingers black with charcoal as he scribbled on a bark tablet.

“You know it can’t always be your fault, you know,” He said as he bit his tongue, but Chagatai didn’t say anything.

“I mean it,” He continued, “They all have a choice, and they made a choice.”

Chagatai mumbled something and Ansong perked up, “What’s that?”

Chagatai looked over at his sister, “To follow me.”

There was silence.

“It was my fault.”

“I’m going to get you some water,” Ansong sat up and rubbed a crinkle out of her dress. Zhongcheng scratched his nose, leaving a smudge of black and mudding up the fanciful crimson pattern that covered the left half of his face.

“Can you bring me one?”

“Of course!” Ansong tilted her head and shuffled away from the pair. The room fell into silence once more with only the scratching of the charcoal against bark paper making a sound. Finally Zhongcheng put the bark down and rolled to sit up.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not done thinking bout it.” Chagatai looked over his shoulder at his brother and Zhongcheng held up his hands, a clever smile on his face. Zhongcheng stood up from his bed and folded his hands behind his back as he made his way out of the room.

“Sometimes I find thinking’s better done outside the head,” He flicked his bark over at Chagatai and exited the room. The tablet bounced off of Chagatai’s shoulder and clattered to the ground by his foot. He looked down and his eyes widened. It was crude, but unmistakable… a warrior holding a beast in a chokehold, a group of smaller people huddled under the fight. 

[hr]

Xiaoli pushed open the slider door into Hermes’ new personal room. Here, she kept books, inventions, toys-in-the-making, presents, secrets - really, anything that she wanted to surprise her family with. The river girl sighed quietly as she wrapped her hand around the hilt of the great club absent-mindedly. “Sweetgrass, are you there?”

“I’m at the desk,” Hermes voice came from around the corner. As Xiaoli turned the corner, Hermes sat hunched over her desk, cloak draped around her and even pulled up over her long messy hair, hands propping her head up. Xiaoli pulled a tall clay barrel over and sat down on it, gently brushing the hood off her head and then continuing to caress her cheek. She shook her head and looked towards the door. 

“Sometimes, I really don’t know what to do with those boys,” she mumbled wearily. “Yesterday with the quoll and now this… It’s like-... Ugh…” She moved her hand to Hermes’ hair. “I think they are supposed to be like this, but… No, something feels wrong.”

“It is wrong,” Hermes looked over at Xiaoli, her eyes black with rings of red, “We are punishing them for being like us.” She let her hands fall to the desk with a thump, “I mean, they didn’t listen to us. They disobeyed and nearly got themselves killed and I want to stomp that out of them, but I don’t want to accidentally kick away their-- well… what we were… what we are.” She sighed and ran a hand through her wind-knotted hair, “Sometimes I don’t know, Xiaoli, sometimes I just don’t know.”

“Shh, shh, shh, come here,” Xiaoli whispered and wrapped her arms around Hermes. Hermes leaned into the embrace and sighed deeply, “Maybe--” Her eyes looked down at her notes on the various plants of Tendlepog, “What if I took them with me from now on? We slap their wrists for disobedience but after, we can indulge their wanderlust safely.”

Xiaoli sighed. “Hermes, you know how the boys feel about hunting. Sure, they might like the adventure, but you can’t kill anything on the way, you know. Not even quolls and squirrel bats.”

“Hm.” Hermes rested her chin on Xiaoli’s shoulder and thought for a moment, “I-- I can do adventure trips, no hunting, no killing, just exploring. Anything to keep them out of trouble… I can’t do this again, my heart was about to burst when I was out looking for them, and seeing little Li all huddled up…” Hermes stopped and closed her eyes tightly, and pursed her lips, “I don’t want to think about what could have been.”

Xiaoli kissed the top of her head and placed her cheek against it. “Yeah, let’s not think about that, dear…” She sniffed and cleared her throat. “Yeah, exploration trips could be fun! Would definitely do them some good to see other parts of the countryside and, hey, maybe there will actually be some peace and quiet around here for once while you’re out?” She pulled away and gave Hermes a playful wink.

“Ugh, my poor wife,” Hermes put a hand on Xiaoli’s cheek, “Stuck with the crazy ones while I soak in the sights of the forest. When Arya gets back, I’ll have her babysit and maybe you and I could finally get some quality time away.”

Xiaoli let out a happy sigh and leaned her head into Hermes’ palm. “That would be amazing, dear.” Her smile went wry momentarily and she raised a brow. “We could take a break in the Palace, though! It’s, you know, been a while since we last went.”

“Oh,” Hermes made a thoughtful face, “I mean… yes! We can try, love.” She let her hands fall down to Xiaoli’s, “My dreams have been weird lately though, I’m having trouble with that sort of control.”

Xiaoli’s brows furrowed together. “You’ve mentioned this before, I think. Is it the colours again?”

“It’s...no.” Hermes leaned back and tapped her chin, “There are words in the leaves… I can’t really remember very well. Years ago when the twins were babies I had a similar dream, and now it’s sorta come back. It’s probably stress, you know. What with all the kids..”

Xiaoli made a face and nodded slowly. “Yeeaah… Probably the stress. You want to try tonight and see if it works?”

“That would be great,” Hermes offered a smile, “It’s just-- well I keep waking up worried about the kids, but you know what I think?”

“What’s that?”

Hermes shifted in her seat, draping her legs over Xiaoli’s lap as she tugged an arm over the back of her seat, “Remember when we got reports of the Alma? I think their soothsaying got all wedged up in my mind and is making me anxious at night, I mean why wouldn’t it? I prayed about that though, so I shouldn’t be so worried, but here I am.” She gave a nervous smile.

“Oh, dear, don’t worry about that,” said Xiaoli and hugged her closer. “I can only imagine how His Lordship’s taking it…” She shook her head. “Yeah, it was -some- soothsaying, alright. All it did was frighten the children to tears. I didn’t even know Temüjin could understand half of what she said and still he wouldn’t shut up for an hour after it was over.”

“I don’t think it helped that our house guardian…” Hermes cocked her head to the side, looking for the right word, “Well, you know.” She stuck a finger in her mouth and blew up her cheeks to make a loud popping sound. “Feathers everywhere.”

“It took me a week to get all those stains out of Altansarnai’s shirt,” Xiaoli muttered with a groan. “Like, I am very appreciative of Father’s gift, but does it really have to be so… Brutal?”

“Oh dear,” Hermes snickered and poked Xiaoli’s nose, “You know as well as I do that it is made up of the horrors of the dreamscape, I’d say its rather tame-- er.” She thought back to the pack of devils that once wandered past the obelisk without giving it an entrance gift and then tried to raid the pantry, “Well it does what it’s supposed to do at least. The kids listened really well after that, too.”

“That, they did; that, they did,” Xiaoli agreed as she grimaced at the thought of other possible horrors of the dreamscape. “Anyway, you shouldn’t think about that. Neither you nor any of our children are going away anytime soon, even if Chagatai and Wenbo are doing their best to make it so.” She sighed frowning. “They won’t face the flames, okay?”

Hermes smile faded into a serious nod, “I trust you.” She sighed and looked around the room, “Xiaoli?”

“Hmm?”

“Dinner isn’t for another half mark on the shadow clock, yeah?” Hermes looked back at Xiaoli with big black eyes.

Xiaoli gasped. “Oh no! I completely--!” She made a fist and sucked in a breath through the nose. “A whole mark, I’m afraid,” she said dejectedly.

“Oh…” Hermes looked around again, “Because I was going to say if Laia was tending to it, perhaps we could get away with hiding away from the kids a little longer.”

Xiaoli snickered airily and gave Hermes playful smile as she shook her head. “Oh, you big, beautiful, silly-...” She placed a peck on her lips and smirked. “... wonderful woman.”
[hr]


[hider=Hidden ending]“BIG HUH!?” *ROUND 2... [i]FIGHT[/i]*[/hider]

[hider=Summary!]
Boys going on an adventure, but gotta trick mommy and mommy into not seeing ‘em. Who better to use than Li, who says he wants Peking duck for dinner. In restaurants, this dish takes 3 days to prepare, so Xiaoli’s like, “shiet, son, you sure you can go hungry that long?” After some bickering, Xiaoli is convinced to make some, so she takes Li along. Wenwen and Chaggie see the coast is clear so they bounce. They go to the mountains, but get ambushed by… Li! Then he gets ambushed by a Tasmanian tiger. Chaggie gets a grip around its neck and, oh my god, he’s gonna do it, and ladies and gentlemen, it is out of the match! Chaggie won! His arm is also bleeding and Li is unconscious. Shit, so they head home and get the scolding of a lifetime - they get grounded for eternity and Chag heads to his room. Wenbo gets a hug from Ai and tells his sisters about the tale.

In his room, Chaggie sits and blames himself as Ansong just tries to give him some gosh darn water. Zhongcheng wants some, though, so Ansong gets some. Zhongcheng wants to hear about the adventure, but Chaggie doesn’t wanna share. Zhongcheng draws a prophetic drawing and goes away, leaving Chaggie with more big think.

Xiaoli looks for Hermes and finds her in her new private room. There they complain together about the stress of kids, about the annoying alma that got exploded by their guardian, about Hermes’ weird asf dreams. Hermes also suggests taking the boys adventuring to get rid of all their pent up energy. Finally, Xiaoli’s forgotten the lamb sauce, so dinner is postposed a little. They kiss and make up, tho.
[/hider]

[hider=Prestigio!]
Start: 19
+1 for Minor role.
+1 joyous collaboration.
+1 for Major role
End: 22
[/hider]


[hider=Child Count:10]
Chagatai - 12 -- The Leader
Wenbo - 12 -- The Thinker
Li - 5 -- The Follower
Altansarnai - 8 -- The Huntress
Temüjin - 2 -- The Misunderstood Artist
Ai - 11 -- The Dutiful
Bayarmaa - 6 -- The Shy
Zhongcheng - 9 -- The Clever
Ansong - 7 -- The Hostess
Laia - 10 The Cook
[/hider]