Days had passed since Nue told Siu about the hunting opportunity in the winter, and he had finally decided that it was time to revisit the idea. It had simmered enough in his subconsciousness, thinking it over while not really thinking about it, and when it finally bubbled back up to the surface, he had his answer.

  "Will you be training that new stance again?" Neya asked, smiling as she fixed her clothes, ready to leave the dormitory herself, "I barely have free time with rotating work and training myself... I never thought cultivation would be this... well... busy? Crowded?"

  "Yeah, it is," He chuckled, shaking his head, looking at her, noticing that she was much more relaxed nowadays with a tinge of growing confidence in her eyes, "But no, today I won't really train, I have some things I will have to take care of."

  "If you are not that busy, want to have lunch? Well, whenever you are done with your part, that is..." She asked, suddenly blushing a little, averting her eyes, while Arya perked up, sitting on the bed, tilting her head from left to right, while glancing at Neya.

  "Meat! Master, let's go eat her meat!"

  "Eat with her, no?" Siu asked again, getting pretty sure that Arya was making these blunders in her speech, not because of innocent mistakes... they were way too frequent for that.

  "That's what I said!"

  "Sure," Siu answered in the meantime, not wanting Neya think he was overthinking it, "I don't know when I will finish, though."

  "Just come and find me," she answered, her eyes twinkling and her smile growing in size, going from ear to ear. "I rented a private meditation alcove, B9, you can find me there today!"

  "Mhm," he nodded, returning her smile, "Sure thing."

  "Yey! Meat, meat, meat! We will pound some meat!"

  "Eat some meat." Siu turned around, gazing at Arya, who was now jumping up on the bed, getting noticed by Neya, who came up to her, giggling, rubbing her head, which the little fox let her do, pushing her head into her palm.

  "That's what I said!"

  "No, you did not."

  "Yes, I did. Pinky swear, Master!"

  "..."

  "She is pretty excited, isn't she?" Neya chuckled, unaware of the discourse between the two.

  "She loves eating meat," Siu shrugged, shaking his head, walking over and picking Arya up by her scruff, "But she can be really naughty, so she may not deserve a good lunch. We will see how she behaves."

  "Oh come on," Neya laughed, watching as Siu put Arya up on his head, wearing her like a hat, "She is still tiny! All kids are like that..."

  "Not like her," Siu mumbled, shaking his head, but not really explaining anything more.

  "I'm not a kid!" Arya answered in the meantime, while Siu and Neya left the dormitory, heading in different directions, "In your human years, I count as sixteen!"

  "So, you are a kid."

  "I am not! You are!"

  "Yes, I just turned sixteen a week ago." Siu agreed, without pause.

  "I'm older?! Woah! Awesome!"

  "You don't act like you are..."

  "Oh! Master, you can talk back! Ahaha, are you learning from your big sister here?!"

  "Call yourself a big sister again, and no meat for you for a year, only potatoes, beans, and corn."

  "Yuck... Master, don't bully me!"

  "It's punishment and not bullying... and of course I have things to shoot back with." He explained, smiling to himself a little, "Do you think that when I had to endure ridicule, I hadn't said anything to them in my head? I'm just careful what I let slip out."

  "Hm... hm... I see, I see..." She mumbled, apparently agreeing with him about it, "Um, Master, if you had a birthday, why didn't you say so? We could have celebrated and eaten some meat!"

  "We ate meat... That's why we went to the kitchens, don't you remember?"

  "Ah? It was on that day?! But... we should have gotten more meat! For you to celebrate!"

  "And for you to eat?"

  "Yes!"

  "Be happy you will get any today!" He chortled, unable to hold his laughter in, "If you behave. As for celebrating...? I don't care. It's just a date, like any other."

  "No, it isn't! Master, we should make it into... Meat Day!"

  "Certainly not."

  In the end, ignoring Arya's blabbering, he had gone to find someone from the Golden Scroll, paying them for the information on where Nue was that day, and it was how he found her standing near a stone railing overlooking the forest, apparently having a meeting with someone, because she wasn’t alone. Whoever she was talking with had an arrogant posture, standing next to her, arms crossed, with decorative spiral tattoos running from his fingers, disappearing under his robe, only to reappear on his neck, reaching towards his ears and onto his face. In the end, Nue simply waved him away, and although the man looked angry, he only spat at her feet and walked away, ignoring Siu as he passed.

  "An ex?" Siu asked as he walked up to her, involuntarily repeating what Arya had said, wanting to curse himself for slipping up.

  "Me? With him?" Nue snorted, turning around to gaze at Siu, "No. I prefer soft girls over thick boys. Plus, he has been here longer than I; I am not letting weaklings share a bed with me. He wants your position, in fact, I'm just refusing to bring him along."

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  "Master, I think she wants your meat. Stinky... don't let her, you will catch something nasty!"

  "So you do understand when you say all those stupid innuendo jokes!"

  "I don't know what innuendo means, Master. Is that a type of fox?"

  "You know," Nue snorted, watching the two, "I can tell you two are talking, your eyes move when you answer, and hers do too when she speaks. Should I beat the fuck out of you both to hear what you are speaking about?"

  "She said that I should be careful with you, or I will catch something if I get it on with you."

  "Dream on," Nue sneered, looking at Arya, who suddenly shrank herself down, trying to hide in Siu's hair. "I wouldn't ride you, although strangling you to death, seeing you go out with a stupid pleasure-filled expression on your face, does fascinate me, now that I think about it."

  "Did I hit you that hard, or were you always this manic?" Siu shot back at her, while his face remained unshaken and uninterested.

  "So, have you thought about it?" Nue asked, ignoring him, but Siu saw how her fingers curled into fists, holding down her explosive anger, "Otherwise, you wouldn't have looked for me."

  “Actually, yes,” Siu replied calmly. “I want to know more about the hunt first. If you expect me to risk my life, I want to know what kind of teeth it has... and how many.”

  “No,” she said immediately, “You don’t get details, not unless you’re in. That’s how this works.”

  “So you want commitment without information... How are you going to find anyone like that?”

  “I want commitment before information,” Nue corrected him, smiling like some kind of minor villain in a book, “There’s a difference, Just Siu.”

  "..." This time, it was Siu who held himself back, his fingers twitching once, but refusing to ball up. Instead, he studied her for a long moment, measuring her posture, the way her eyes looked at him... "This rule was not made by you."

  "That is correct." She nodded, and Siu could feel she wasn't lying. "It is to protect our target, because the Ember Circle's bastard leader would gather her whole group and try to kill it before everyone else. She is that type of a bitch..."

  "Is there any place in the Sect where you don't have any enemies?"

  "She's my cousin." She said, enjoying how Siu raised his eyebrows, holding back his surprise... but... Now that he thought about it, remembering her looks and way of speech... it made sense. "So? Out with it, I don't have all day!"

  “I’ll join.”

  This time, it was Siu who made her raise her brows, because she actually expected him to say no to the offer.

  “You’re agreeing?” she asked, wanting to make sure.

  “I already weighed the risks,” he replied, nodding, “Including that you may betray me. Have you ever heard of the tale of the scorpion and the frog?”

  "Everyone did." She snorted.

  "Good." He smiled at Nue, and it wasn't really a smile, "We will see which of us is the scorpion."

  Hearing him say that, her lips pulled back in a grin that was more aggressive than anything else.

  “Good,” she whispered, “Then you’ll meet the other scorpions.”

  “The others?”

  “The core group,” Nue replied, already turning away. "There are six of us who matter, and they will check you out. If they say no, you are not coming; if they say yes, we will tell you more.”

  "Mhm," Siu nodded, following her a step behind, "Lead the way."

  While walking, apparently Nue had pulled out something like a token from inside her robes and was speaking into it, but he had no way to listen in as her voice became muffled, just the same as the answer that came back. Probably the design of... whatever that was, he thought. When they arrived at their destination, the gathering place was beneath a natural overhang. Stepping up to it, Nue touched the stone under the shade of the rock as it rumbled, revealing a hidden door that slid apart.

  "Don't fret," She looked at him over her shoulder, heading in first, "the sect is filled with secrets like this... It's up to us to find them."

  Although Arya was complaining against the idea, Siu ignored her, walking in, going after Nue, watching the smokeless torches burning on the walls, illuminating the circular, stone room inside, a perfect place for hidden meetings like this. Looking at the figures, the five other people in the core group were already there. Of course, they all turned towards them as Nue arrived, and then... to him. Siu felt it immediately as their assessment began at once, with recognition in their eyes, especially when they saw Arya trying to be invisible, flattened to a pancake on his head, looking through his hair like some weird ornament.

  “This is Siu,” Nue said, standing with them, making one of them roll his eyes.

  "Yeah, we know! You really went and chose the guy who humiliated you? And then arrogantly went against every group that tried to recruit him? Birds of a feather flock together!"

  The one who spoke first was clearly not a friend, going by his tone alone. He was a tall man leaning against one of the stone pillars inside the room, holding up the ceiling. He was broad and muscly, his stance rooted firmly in the ground. His dark, blackish-brown hair was bound back, his robes reinforced at the seams with heavy thread, bearing an emblem on his chest that Siu recognized... he was from the Stone Ward Collection.

  Well... It seems even members of certain groups keep secrets from their own bosses... So he has nothing to stand on, but Siu kept his thoughts to himself in that moment.

  “The loud one is Harrik,” Nue introduced him, rolling her eyes, “Stone Ward Collection, as you guessed.”

  "I noticed," Siu inclined his head slightly, ignoring everything else he said.

  “I expected you to be taller,” Harrik stated, trying to get more out of him.

  “I have said everything I wanted to your leader,” Siu replied evenly, "I have less to say to you."

  "Hmph," Harrik stared at him for a second longer, but then a woman laughed softly, standing beside him.

  When Siu looked at her, he was surprised a little, because she wore the Ember Circle's pin on her own robes.

  “Don’t scare him off,” she began, “We haven’t even started yet. And my Boss also tried to recruit him, which tells me he is a good fit for our hunt.” Then, she stepped forward and extended a hand. “Kae'Lin. It is a pleasure! You should really reconsider joining us, by the way.”

  "I like to remain... independent. For now, that is." Siu nodded as he took it, and she didn't even try to overpower him in the handshake, which was a surprise.

  “I watched your duel,” Kae'Lin said, studying his face. “It was satisfying to see Nue eating dirt. She got awfully high on bullying newcomers!”

  "Fuck you." Nue snorted in answer, but Kae'Lin didn't even hear it, letting Siu's hand go with a smile.

  Just then, Arya leaned forward a little, sniffing Kae'Lin, then sneezed, pulling her head back.

  "Master, she is dangerous! Very spicy! Spicy, spicy! Ew!"

  "Bringing a spirit beast to our hunt will be a great asset..." Kae'Lin muttered and then laughed, glancing at Nue, “Finally using your brain, eh?”

  "I agree!" The third to speak was a lean woman with cropped hair, nodding to Siu. “Ryn,” she said simply, “I approve.” And then, her gaze flicked to Arya, settling on her, “I will be the one to scout out our approach,” she continued, examining the fox, “But that pet of yours may sense things we can't... make sure you translate it in time.”

  “Will do so,” Siu replied with a nod, trying to measure the woman, but he couldn't really read her.

  "Glad we all see the opportunity before us," Another of the five laughed, a well-built man with a scar down his jaw and with a perpetually tired expression. “My name is Jarek, and I am here to hit things and do it hard. Also, I have a bit of trouble differentiating friend or foe when I go berserk, so... sorry if I lash out at you.”

  "..." Siu tried to see if he was joking or not... but he wasn't. "Noted."

  "Just don't stand in front of him then," The last of the five spoke up in that moment, as her fingers idly traced patterns in the air, as if trying to draw something.“I'm the group's leader, Rinmei,” she said softly, speaking in a measured tone, “Even then, I'm more of a healer than a fighter, so you would do well to support me, or there won't be anyone to close the wounds you may gain in this trip.”

  “So... You’ve seen him,” Nue stepped in, watching them, “Decide then! I told you I had someone you would all want in on this...” She smirked, and Siu could tell that they mostly didn't want him... they wanted Arya.

  "I say no," Harrik crossed his arms. “Fox or not, he is a newbie.”

  “He beat Nue, and he had time to improve since then,” Kae'Lin shot back at him, “I say yes.”

  "Yes, of course," Ryn tilted her head. “Better than Harrik's helper.”

  "It's a yes from me," Jarek shrugged. “And we don't have to pay extra, yet he counts as two because of his fox.”

  "It's his job to take care of his beast, not ours," Rinmei nodded at once, glancing sternly at Siu, “You are in.”

  "Hmph," Harrik exhaled through his nose, shaking his head, “Fine. But if he compromises the group because he is an amateur, I won’t cover for him.”

  "You refuse to cover for any of us," Nue grunted, and finally, Siu decided to speak up.

  “Then you can tell me what we’re hunting now... Correct?"

  "Have you ever heard of an Icecrown Stag?" Rinmei asked, making Siu shake his head.

  "Well," She stepped forward, looking into his eyes, "You better go and do your research... You have time until snow falls, because when everything is covered in white, we are going to go and fight one... And even when split evenly between us all, it will make us filthy rich."