[b]Chen![/b]

Qiu gives you a long sideways look, and then pulls herself from your embrace. "Chen," she said gently. "I think that maybe you need to take some time for yourself. You look miserable."

[b]Rose![/b]

"It seems that you are questioning my assumptions," Princess Qiu smiled as she unsheathed her katana. "Perhaps this conversation will be more productive once they are proven."

You are a creature of the ancient world, Rose from the River. You have chased a great many unwary souls. You have fought many security guards and daemonic concepts. You have had the knowledge of the techniques uploaded into your consciousness and been equipped with a shapeshifting body of limitless strength. You have served as knight and guardian in turn. But you have never in all your life fought a [b]real[/b] duel. You never had to face anything that your natural gifts alone were insufficient to overcome.

And you are not prepared for Princess Qiu.

Is it the Sunshards that let her move like this? To have her blade brushing your neck before you've even bought your staff into position and then - the tiniest nick, just enough to feel but not enough to bleed, a hicky of a cut. And then as you swing she's already wrapping around you, ghosting flawlessly into an angle where all the momentum is wrong for a strike. Her next nick flicks a fragment of your monk's robe into the air like a falling autumn leaf. And around you come and around she flows and the air comes to fill with falling orange leaves.

With each humiliation you restrain yourself a little less. With each needle-slice of fabric you allow yourself a little more power with which to bring this smiling girl to heel. But each escalation passes unremarked upon except by another fragment of orange cloth swirling up into the air.

After all, you never learned at the feet of a master, Rose from the River. You never practiced for long hours with your blade beneath a waterfall. You never meditated on what it was to engage another. You come from a world where skill was store-bought and a duel was as simple as running the math on who spent on the better combat algorithm. And where that runs short so too do your shapeshifting tricks, as though Qiu can read them on your blushing face.

You're fighting at your full strength and she's still patiently waiting for you to begin.

And then it finally registers. Princess Qiu doesn't need the Sunshards. She doesn't need an army or a kingdom. She doesn't need the Pyre of Knowledge. She doesn't need a HUNTER-Class 猎犬. She has what seems like an unlimited capacity for violence and her confidence is all justified. 

This is the first time you have pursued a target and found it out of your reach. This is the first time you have been forced to confront the possibility that you are not the most dangerous thing on this world. You have been beaten and bound before, but that was the work of Empire - and though your mind rebels at the idea, your heart tells you that Qiu could face that Empire too. 

You did not understand how a Princess might shoot down the suns. You did not understand the nature of the tomb where you found Yue, or the dress of the Demon Swordswoman. Now you do. 

And it's a [i]lot[/i] to process. 

[b]Yue![/b]

Princess Qiu quietly gasps when you take that bite of cookie.

And isn't that the part that sticks in your head? She watched you come storming back in to get your sword without even a flicker of reaction, like she had wordlessly agreed not to undermine your dramatic exit by commenting or laughing or [i]anything[/i]. She had understood that wasn't what you wanted and politely overlooked it. But she had understood exactly what was meant by that act of cookie-tasting defiance and she [i]hadn't[/i] politely overlooked it - she'd treated it as deathly serious because she'd understood that [i]was[/i] what you wanted. It was like you'd messed it up a dozen times throughout the conversation but with Qiu you'd somehow gotten your point across perfectly anyway. 

For a tyrant jerk she was probably the best listener you'd ever met. It's the kind of listening that makes you feel powerful and satisfied. You [i]did[/i] it, Yue! You told her right to her face and somehow that's the part that stands out in your memory instead of all the mistakes. Qiu had let everything else fade into the background and as you storm from the palace you actually feel like you'd done that a little bit like a real hero would have.

You've even got a moment to feel a little bit proud of yourself.

And then you look up and see a sky crosshatched with Assault Ribbons. Amidst them are larger ones, much like bulky kites, with painted on yellow eyes - and as those turn towards you they direct the lesser ribbons to dive down from the air towards you. If you're going to get out of here you'll need help - and a vehicle.