Unintended Cultivator

Sen spent a little of the time that he didn’t have walking to where Misty Peak had apparently bought a very large house. It was distressingly close to Lu Manor. A fact that he was quite sure she had taken into account when she acquired the place. His first impulse had been to race over, but better sense took hold before he did that. He knew that he could be impatient. However, impatience would not serve him well when dealing with that woman. At the best of times, she could only be described as an experience, and these were not the best of the times. The fox woman was erratic and sly. She was also largely a mystery to him. Despite the time they’d spent together, he in no way felt like he actually knew her or what drove her. That would make any conversation with her frustratingly fraught.

Even so, he didn’t tarry during the walk. He would only take enough time to clear his mind of other concerns before he talked to her. Being distracted would only lead to confusion or misunderstandings. Misunderstandings that she would certainly try to capitalize on in strange or unpredictable ways. The streets he walked along were hectic with activity. People were racing from here to there, and there was an edge to everything people did. Minor offenses threatened to escalate into physical violence more than once, although the city guard and other citizens usually managed to talk sense into everyone before it came to that.

Sen barely noticed any of it. He was letting the endless problems and worries sink beneath the surface of his mind. They would all come rushing back at a moment’s notice, but a few moments of peace before the conversation and the battle ahead would likely do him good. By the time he arrived at the gate to the fox woman’s home, he was as close to being at peace as he thought he was likely to get. He hadn’t achieved the mental stillness that he’d been striving for, but that was to be expected. There was a lot going on around him and inside him. There were guards at the gate. It seemed they were expecting him. There was no challenge or demand for answers. Instead, they offered respectful bows and opened the gates for him.

He stepped into a courtyard and found Misty Peak waiting for him. She’d chosen to dress herself in pale yellow robes that he wasn’t sure actually suited her very well. Not that it matters, he thought. I doubt most people are thinking very hard about what they’re wearing right now. He certainly wasn’t. His only condition for what he wore was that it was clean. Of course, he’d also had several sets of identical blue robes crafted for himself some time back. He didn’t need to think about what he was wearing most of the time because he always wore the same thing. The fox woman eyed him in return, and a small frown briefly marred her otherwise placid expression. Then, her lips curved upward into a familiar smirk.

“I knew it,” she gushed. “Even the mighty Judgment’s Gale is helpless before my charms. You’ve finally recognized the truth and returned to me.”

Sen stared at her for five full seconds.

“I don’t have time for this foolishness. None of us do,” he said before turning back toward the gate.

“Alright. Alright!” said Misty Peak in a fierce whisper.

He looked over his shoulder at her and asked, “Are you ready to be an adult now?”

“Yes,” said Sen.

The blunt answer seemed to catch the fox woman by surprise because she moved her lips wordlessly for a few moments. Shaking her head as if in disappointment with a dense child, she gathered her wits.

“Fine. All business then. You should at least come inside. We have things to discuss that are best not heard by random ears.”

Sen agreed with that much and said, “Lead the way.”

“If only you could be led, we’d have a lot more fun.”

Something in his expression must have told the fox woman that she had reached the end of whatever limited patience Sen was prepared to grant her. She inclined her head and gestured toward the door. He followed her inside, only to be surprised by the number of people inside. The place was almost bursting. Children raced by, chasing each other and trading insults, while adults seemed to keep half an eye on them and half an eye on the windows. Despite the bustling activity, there was a miasma of dread in the air. It was as if they were all waiting for some looming calamity.

The mortals out on the streets had some of that, but it was amplified in this house. It wasn’t that hard to figure out. Everyone around him was a nine-tail fox. It seemed like a lot of them until he considered their numbers relative to all of the humans in the city. The adults had to be painfully aware of how precarious their situation was in truth. He caught many of them glancing at him out of the corner of their eyes. He had no idea what, if any, reputation he had among the fox people. If he had one, it was likely a product of some combination of stories they’d heard from mortals and whatever tidbits that Misty Peak and Laughing River had chosen to share. Assuming Laughing River really had gone off to reclaim his abandoned leadership role.

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Sen realized in that moment just how thin his knowledge of nine-tail fox society really was. He didn’t even know if it could rightly be called a society. They seemed to mingle with humans so much that it was hard to tell where human expectations left off and wholly alien fox expectations took hold. He didn’t have time to ask any questions of the gathered foxes, much as he might have wanted to pick their brains. Misty Peak led him past all of those people and into what might have been the only empty room in the entire house. It was a small room that contained nothing but two chairs, a small table, and the tea set on the table.

He sat down in one of the chairs, and Misty Peak took the other. The moment she was seated, all of the bright vitality she’d displayed in front of the others disappeared. It was like some cruel god had reached inside the woman and ripped it out. What was left was someone who looked exhausted and very, very frightened. Part of him instantly distrusted what he saw in front of him. What better way to manipulate someone she saw as tender-hearted than with a show of apparent weakness? Almost as soon as he’d had the thought, he dismissed it. The harsh reality was that he was their only real lifeline in this situation. She’d also seen him work terrible violence in the past. Whatever coy comments she might make, Misty Peak also knew better than to make him a true enemy.

He half-expected her to pour tea if only for herself, but some kind of apathy had taken hold of the fox woman. Even her eyes looked dull and disturbingly lifeless. Finding that spectacle deeply uncomfortable to watch, Sen took the initiative and poured them both cups of tea. He held one out to her. Misty Peak managed to rouse herself enough to grab a cup and take a sip. Sen lifted his cup to his lips and did the same. The liquid was light and floral on his tongue. It was pleasant enough but not particularly to his taste. When the fox still didn’t say anything, Sen broke the silence.

“You don’t seem well, Misty Peak.”

She finally looked at him and huffed out the corpse of a laugh.

“Not all of us have become monarchs since our last meeting.”

“I don’t know,” said Sen. “You seem to have built yourself a little kingdom of foxes right here.”

“Kingdom,” said Misty Peak, and there was venom in the words. “This is no kingdom. It’s a refuge of last resort. One that is growing desperately short of food, coin, hope, and any chance of survival.”

“Is that why you approached my grandmother? Were you looking for resources?”

“That suggests that there are resources to be had. I’ve been assured that there aren’t any. At least, not for any price I can afford or am willing to pay. No. I approached her in search of a chance of survival.”

Sen wasn’t sure what to make of all of this. He knew desperation could peel away the masks people wore, but this personality he was seeing was all but unrecognizable. It left him feeling like the footing was unstable beneath him. He knew, more or less, how to deal with Misty Peak being outrageous and propositioning him every five minutes. He did not know how to deal with what looked like the husk of the person he remembered. Still, there were practicalities that had to be dealt with whether he liked it or not.

“You have to understand the risk that you, that your people, would be taking. I can’t guarantee your safety. It’s entirely possible that exposing your presence in the city would lead to some kind of an extermination attempt. People are scared.”

“I’m one of those scared people!” shouted a wild-eyed Misty Peak as she suddenly leaned forward.

Tea sloshed out of her cup, and Sen could see that it was as much from her trembling hand as it was from her abrupt lean. She put the cup on the little table and then laced her fingers together. They were held so tightly that they were turning white.

“If you reveal us, there is a chance that something terrible may happen,” admitted Misty Peak. “If anyone else reveals our presence, something terrible will happen. We have something useful to offer the humans. If we throw in with you, we have a better chance of making it through this siege without the humans trying to eradicate us. If we help, the city has a better chance of enduring. If the city falls, my people have no chance of living through this. We’ll be lucky if the only thing those spirit beasts do is kill us.”

Sen still hated the idea. It was entirely possible that the foxes would get through the whole ordeal without being exposed. In that case, the best thing for them would be to remain hidden. Yet, Misty Peak seemed certain that exposure was inevitable.

“Do you know something I don’t? Why are you so certain that the mortals will find out about you?”

She offered him a joyless smile and said, “Because it’s the worst possible thing that could happen. Assuming that it won’t happen would just be naïve.”

Sen wasn’t sure that he agreed with her, but he also wasn’t nearly confident enough to disagree with her about it either. He also couldn’t tell her what was best for the foxes in the city because he didn’t know. It wasn’t the first time that he wished that cultivators really could be gods. If he were a god, he might know for sure which course of action was best for everyone involved. Of course, if he were a god, he’d probably be out there killing spirit beasts by the thousands instead of weighing the various kinds of disasters that could befall the people in this house. In the end, he’d have to trust Misty Peak to lead her people in the best direction for them.

“If you’re sure this is the path you want to take, I’ll go along with it. The truth is that we can use all the help we can get. I’ll do everything I can to protect you, but, like I said, I can’t make any promises of safety.”

Misty Peak leaned forward until her elbows were on her knees. Sen waited in uncomfortable silence as the woman took shuddering breaths. She didn’t look up when she spoke.

“Thank you. I do have one request.”

“What’s that?”

“All of the adults understand the chance we’ll be taking, but would you let the children shelter at Lu Manor? If the worst happens and the humans hunt us, I’d spare the children that horror.”

Sen was silent for long enough that the fox woman looked up at him.

“If it’s too much—” she started, but Sen waved that away.

“It’s not that,” he said.

“Then, what?”

Pinching the bridge of his nose and thinking of the children he’d just sent there, Sen said, “Grandmother Lu is going to kill me.”