Chen smiled. No no no, Chen beamed. No no, that’s not it. Chen takes over for the setting sun and lights up the world. This was a gift to her. A special sort of gift. It was sort of like the gift that Yue had given Qiu, but Qiu was in a dark place and so she didn’t believe she’d received it until she was done. Chen knows what she’s been given here, and it only took her one sequence from Hyra to lock in. This is the duel in its purest form, a chance to be completely free. Hyra’s offering something special here, mixing in a new style with her tricks, and Cyanis is laughing as she draws her katana with that special fox laugh, and Chen smiles because a little angel came down to earth and turned it briefly into heaven just for her. Can you see it from your bound little perch, Yue? The way your dear friend’s face just lights up, the way that even up in the air and far away you can tell her eyes are shining and sparkling? For a moment, the world hangs frozen. It’s like a droplet of water poised to fall from the tip of an icicle. Then Chen burst forth in a shower of sparkles glittering past the outstretched rays of the twilight sun and they were all dancing. [i]Every night, every night We’ll be forever Every night, every night Time ceases to be[/i] Fly, twirl, press, step, laugh, caress! Cyanis hasn’t finished brandishing her katana and laughing when Chen’s inside her guard and they dip together, sword guiding Cyanis’ helpless arm, one of her tails involuntarily twirling about Chen’s leg as the momentum carries them in a dance away from the rushing Hyra. [i]I dream of wishes All I see are foxes Come dance with me I’ll set you all free[/i] There’s a brush of fluff and a thrush as the lace of a maid skirt flows over a fox’s bare leg. A flail and a breathless hug as the rush of the sword blows past the fox’s cheek, so close she gasps as Chen pulls her in. She whispers “I promise to free them too” and there’s a giggle. They dip and a thrown shuriken passes overhead like a shooting star in the twilight, hot and furious. Then Chen pushes with no weight and Cyanis is falling, falling, falling like a fluffy shooting star all her own. Tails twirling in freefall until they touch the grass not far from the little shrine, the tree, and Yue. [i]Dancing alone Just the Northern Wind The swirling snow and ice Finding our own Hyperborea[/i] Hyra throws another shuriken and rushes behind it. Blades meet like lightning and there’s a flurry of strikes through the air as the two duelists clash and part. Blades whistle and sing as they compare technique: sight against speed and bluff against reaction time. They’re dancing through the air and a storm begins to swirl around them. Faster and faster until… [i]Dance together Join hands within the wind Our joy is just beginning All new worlds to live[/i] They’re flying past one another, swords catching and swirling in the storm above the temple. They strike like falcons on the dive. Swoop and dive, talons extended as they deflect with a loud clang. Armor flashes and apron skirts flap as they fly apart and up, gain altitude and dive again. They soar and they weave, and always there is the clash as talons meet and part. The partings become longer, the weaves more complex, the flights faster and faster until… [i]Laughing wildly I call Chase me, come catch me Come on, come on You can’t run that fast on two legs![/i] Light flares from the sunshards and the two are running on the grass across the hilltop right past Yue, Qiu, and Cyanis, diverting around Rose, Kat, and the Pyre as they come up parallel. Hyra barks and bares her fangs and Chen growls and swishes her new fluffy gray and black tail behind her for balance! It becomes wolf vs. leopard as the two vie for an opening, racing back and forth across the hill! The wolf is stronger, but the leopard’s more agile and so they bound back and forth in long looping circles. They leap higher and higher until… [i]Fly with me You don’t need wings I hear you calling me Don’t let the world hold you[/i] There’s a flash and they’re back in the sky, wolf and leopard running in the wind. They clash in the sky like little deities of this new shrine, unbound by any laws of the world. Tooth and claw etched upon lighting and silhouetted by stormclouds. This one passes beyond sight. Higher and higher in the clouds. Why shouldn’t it? When you’ve stopped caring about time, when the hearts of stars want to see your performance, it’s going to carry into the heavens and dance before the last light of the last sun on the horizon. They’re not wolf, nor cat, nor girl anymore but wearing forms exactly of their choosing, swords in hand, sparks flying with each blow as though the god of the forge were reworking the night sky. There’s a magic there that Chen would paint if she could double herself and watch her own performance. It’s the same magic she keeps seeing, the way that the sun, the moon, and the light and the shadow all merge together to make such beautiful colors. The way those colors reflect off swords and armor, fur and fang, the most perfect reds and oranges, blues, and purples that she could ever imagine. She’s so completely immersed in it that she never wants to stop. [i]Hold the world instead Hold love close Make but one thing And you make the world[/i] For a time it seems like it might be that way. Chen would lose herself in the joy and Hyra in the performance. They could carve themselves into the stars as new constellations forever. But there are people waiting for them down below. And besides that, it is the nature of duels to end. In the end, it is not Hyra sitting atop a sunshard as they descend to earth, but little Chen, sword in one hand resting over her lap. As she descends, she’s busy smoothing down the fluff of her maid skirts, which are now being sent every which way as her extra fluffy snow leopard’s tail flicks from side to side experimentally. Hyra rests beside Chen, exhausted and panting, but not sent hurtling back down to the hilltop. Her armor still gleams in the moonlight and her hair, now loose and scattered, somehow looks even more gorgeous. In the end, the difference was that Chen had promised after the sky castle that she wouldn’t hold back anymore, that she wouldn’t insult her opponents by hesitating. So she refused to give up and a lifetime of training for this thing she loved had let her hold out past Hyra’s endurance. As they come to the hilltop, Chen has a special glance for Qiu, equal parts pride and embarrassment. This duel had been planned for her originally. It hadn’t been needed, but Chen wanted her to know that she was ready for that too. That she had been ready if Qiu and Yue hadn’t already worked things out. Even after having her whole body thrown by her foe’s mouth, she had come back and she wanted to fight Qiu when the time was right. It wouldn’t be like that again. It never should have been, and she was embarrassed that it had. When her feet finally touch starlit grass, she runs first to Rose to show her what happened, what’s she’s done with a new shard! But of course, she finds her with the Pyre utterly lost. She humphs and straightens up her dress before licking her fingers and pinching out the candle. “Who said you could take a break, maid Petal?” Chen’s finger is under Rose’s chin, lifting up those eyes to look at Chen’s new fluffy speckled triangle ears as she towers above the prostrated Rosepetal. Chen is shaking her head affectionately, that smile on her face that she can never manage to keep off when she’s having fun. “Your job was to distract an army and, obviously, to protect your mistress and instead I find you napping! You’ve been terribly naughty, Petal. I’ll expect you to make it up to me later.” Chen picks up the candle and slips it into a pocket of her apron. “I imagine this might be useful for that too~” she says, offering her most convincing kitty smile. “Now apologize properly to your Lady as well.” And here Chen curtseys to the Pyre of Meaning and bows her head. “Apologies for the inconvenience my lady.” If she weren’t grinning so hard and with such a feral grin in all of this, everyone watching might even believe her prim and proper act. Last of all, Chen pads her way over to where Yue is tied up by the tree, near Qiu and where Cyanis so gracefully landed when she was pulled out of the sky. “I know you put them all up to this” Chen says to the tied up girl. “Not to mention whatever happened between you and Qiu first. And uh, whatever you all did to Yin.” Chen flicks her tail appreciatively…probably at least. She’s still working on figuring out the tail, but she flicks it and she means it to be appreciative, plus she accompanies it with a smile to show what she’s getting at. She stares for a moment, and then bends down and gives Yue the biggest little hugs she’s ever gotten! “This is the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me. I don’t know how to repay you, Yue, but by every right you have claim over that sunshard there, if you want it. Even though I’m having a lot of fun with it so far.” Chen flicks her new fluffy snow leopard’s tail in front of her for emphasis, brushing it past Yue’s face so she can feel how soft it is. “Oh, there is one little matter though.” Here Chen’s wearing the same face she usually has for teasing Rose, though she’s taking a bit more of a chance with Yue. “There was something about sending a fox army to assault my handmaiden and threatening to conquer Ys, I think? So, I’m not sure if I can untie you just yet. No, I think we’ll have to march you back into the city just like that first. Don’t you think?”