[b]Kalaya![/b]

“The Conclave will be in Chrysanth,” your sister-in-arms says. It is morning, and your ragged band is making its way through the morning drizzle, through the thick wood. “Once we make our way out of the jungle, we can orient ourselves appropriately and take you there. You’re still in trouble, little princess, don’t think you’re getting out of it!”

But she’s not taking you home. She’s going to take you to be judged by your peers in the greatest city in the Flower Kingdoms. You made it through and won that concession from her amidst the tears and drinks last night. Now all you have to do is make it through the oppressive gloom of the wood.

…is what you thought. Then the first snare snaps up one of Petony’s squires, a pretty young man who drops his club as he ends up dangling from a tree. With a roar and a delighted war-cry, the N’yari burst out of the woods with swords swinging, and Petony barely manages to get her hook-sword free before she’s fending off two of the raiders at once.

But you? You are facing down a massive leopard of a girl, bearing a sword almost the same size as you.

“Little knight,” she says, flexing as she hefts that sword up on her shoulders, and, wow, she has muscles for days. “Look! Machi of the Ōei has found a trophy for her dragon! Will you come quietly, knight, or will you play with me?” Her wild grin, with her fangs on display, suggests that she very much wants you to draw your sword and show her a good time, but that she’s fairly confident that you and Petony won’t be able to stand up to her.

What do you do, Kalaya-[i]phraya[/i] of the Flower Kingdoms, in the face of a mountain barbarian who wants to have you as a prize? Whatever you do, know that you do it back-to-back with Petony, who laughs and rages with almost N’yari glee herself.

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[b]Fengye![/b]

The night was cold and the rain was not kind, and the Maid brooded over what you said all night long. Even now, there are bags under her eyes as she drags her makeshift sled to where you lie. There is a bruise blossoming on her scowling face, one that looks a little like a dainty fang-deer hoof.

“Nothing in this awful world remembers its masters,” she says, bitterly, by way of explanation. Then she takes up the leads she wove out of vines.

“Get on,” she commands, pointing imperiously, her lip only wibbling a little bit. From the look of it, she intends to start dragging you through the woods, the least dignified captor you’ve ever seen. But there’s more to it than that; she commands, and expects you to obey. Do you, Fengye? Or do you want her to try to pick you up again?

[hr]

[b]Piripiri! Giriel![/b]

“This way!” Golden Banneret of Miles cries, her shining tail wagging as she looks back at the two of you with the biggest grin on her mask. Because, after all, right now she’s not Azazuka; she is the Golden Banneret of Miles, who chose (with the caprice of Mercury’s Hounds) to insist on the regal daughter of merchants as her host.

Giriel’s working worked beyond what she had intended; you drew down this wandering star, who offered to make the path straight for you. All she required in return was Azazuka’s body (which she moves with an alien grace and energy, and which echoes her giddy laughter; the synchronization is uncanny, like a hand fitting perfectly in a glove) and Giriel’s company as the three of you make your way through—

Well, you’re not so much making your way through the wood as you are making your way from spot to spot. Golden Banneret’s walking-stick is hung with the charms that she had Giriel write, permission slips she signed that allow her to make creative edits to distance. In barely an hour, you’ve crossed all the way to the place where the [i]Lamentation[/i] left the river.

“She’s not far,” Golden Banneret adds, her shining tail wagging even harder. “Her and her Blue and her Red.” A lover and a… rival? Enemy? “They’re at a crossroads. We’ll be there soon.”

How have the two of you prepared? Piripiri, do you have Giriel’s leash tucked into your belt, or are you letting her roam slightly freer than that? And speaking of, what do you make of this Golden Banneret? And Giriel, oh, Giriel, what are you planning to say to Han when you see her? And how are you taking care of Azazuka?

[hr]

[b]Han![/b]

The salvation is completely unexpected, but perfect all the same. Because you’ve got somebody looking out for you, Han. And she peeked out from the toilets, saw you arguing with a priestess, and then rolled up her sleeves and went to work.

A little brown fox races into the room through the open door, shakes itself off dramatically, and then zooms over to Sagacious Crane and nips the bottom of her dress.

Your big sister lets out a sound like a teakettle, and then, fists clenched, kneels down and tries desperately to balance not falling over and not tearing her dress and asking what her goddess’s messenger wants and not yelling at the sacred animal that… clearly… wants her to follow…?

And she’s so preoccupied that she doesn’t notice someone clamping a sweet, floral-scented hand over your mouth, taking your other hand, and pulling you insistently over to the stairs and then going “shhh” and letting your mouth go but still pulling you up the stairs and then “which room is ours” and then you’re in and through and Lotus ties the handles shut with the sash that’s there for the purpose and then it’s just the two of you, in one room, with one bed, and she flings herself into your arms and her hands are on your face now and she’s looking at you with such worry.

“Are you okay?” She asks, and she’s staring at you in the low light of the lantern. “I could hear an argument, and that priestess was… do you think she was… looking for me? Because…”

Her eyes slide down off your face, and she slumps. “B-because… Han, if you told her… I don’t want to go home yet. You didn’t tell her, did you?”

Downstairs, unseen by you, the little brown fox is leading Sagacious Crane in circles, scampering through the mud, but right here she’s looming over Lotus and making her sad and what do you do, Han, how do you let her know she’s safe and you won’t tell your sister anything about anything?