The turning of days comes to an end. Another year passes the great and the small alike. The emissaries of Heaven are already on their way, and nothing will slow the steady tread of their starry oxen. No machination of demon, divine, mortal, or anyone in-between can hope to change the hour of their arrival. They will come to the house of the Sapphire Mother, with two grand carts, bearing in them two jeweled eggs, or two earthen jugs, or a chest of stone and a chest of jewels, or a silver cloud and a golden cloud, depending on who tells the story. The Sapphire Mother will open her storehouses, and accept the new year’s fortunes. If her houses be not empty, then they will burst, and all will be thrown into chaos as ill and good fortune flood the land.

The wise say it is for this reason that all must quietly accept their lot from the Sapphire Mother, for it is to spare us all a far worse disaster that some must suffer. The wise might also say that it’s not actually the end of the year yet, but given how wrong they were on the first point Han sees no reason to believe them on the second. How else is she to explain the mountain of bad luck crushing her voice into a quiet moan? In fact, that stupid fox is probably the one who delivered it all! The jerk! How dare you look so pleased with yourself! No, don’t [i]kiss[/i] the rascal, bud! Gah!

She still has a chance. The night’s dark. The priestess has no lantern, and is completely distracted with fox kissies. Up to the treetops. Leap to the open sky. Get out of binding range. Don’t return to the earth until this place is a distant memory. Find a new village to live in. Forget everything she had in her old place, it’s dead to her now. No, wait, she didn’t give her a name yet. No way to track her down. Daughter of the Thunder Dragon? Weird priestess nonsense. Unless Machi ever said her name? (warmth. drowning in her. hers. her stone-heart) Nope. No way to tell. Can’t risk it. Dead to her. Wait hang on did she say exciting? Heroic? [i]Always wanted to?![/i]

[i]What?![/i]

Here she makes her second-worst mistake: Instead of leaping out of her life forever, Han takes another look at the little priestess. She lets herself hear the wonder in her voice, see the delight turning her fingers silly as she fumbles with her veil, instead of the perilous threat her heart screams must, [i]must[/i] be there. No matter how hard she looks, all her fears catch a glimpse of is the terrifying possibility that she herself might be the cause of all this. And her worst mistake? 

Deciding to open her mouth.

“Uhhhhhhhh. Yeah. That’s right. [i]One[/i] of the dragon-blooded. Guess I’m just lucky to have met you. First. Instead of all the other dragon-blooded running around, because there’s so many of us.” Oh gods above below and sideways what was she saying. Why was she saying. This is the worst and dumbest she has ever been. “Good. Good. Glad you’ve thought about it. You shouldn’t go rushing into things without thinking, or else you’re going to get yourself in trouble.” Gee, Han! What a great idea! [i]Thinking.[/i] Who’d have thought?! “Now that that’s all settled, we should make camp for the night. And.” Han. Han. What are you doing. “And you can tell me everything you’ve heard about dragon-blooded.”

No, wait, actually, that’s good. That’s a good idea. Get her talking, see what she knows. See what she expects. If she’s going to be travelling with a priestess, Han can’t afford any mistakes. She’s going to be an ordinary, [i]simple[/i] dragon-blooded girl, escorting a priestess to a faraway temple, which everybody knows is the last thing an angry guardian spirit at large would be doing.