Sky Pride

The group traveling to the testing site was a motley bunch, gathering on a rocky patch of mountainside that was clearly memorable to the birds, but struck Tian as completely indistinguishable from the rest of the mountain. They weren’t the first to arrive, and they weren’t the last. It took another two hours before the leader of the expedition made his appearance.

Elder Rui flew in on Elder Redmane. He gave Tian and Liren a complicated look, then turned to the rest of the assembled birds and humans. It wasn’t his show, however. A truly ragged looking crane flew in. It had all its feathers, but somehow it looked like it had caught the worst of a windstorm on a mud flat. Tian could see the red face and white feathers under the mud. A snow grace crane, like Burning Heaven.

“Alright. You all know me, so I’ll skip the usual.” Tian did not, in fact, know the Elder, though his voice was familiar. It took him a moment to make the connection to Elder Deepwalker, who had placed Burning Heaven in his care.

He… looked a bit different, compared to his fisherman disguise.

“The honorable emissary is in a mood, as you might be able to tell. Still, opportunities like this come considerably less than once in a thousand years, so all you cute little juniors better jump on it with both claws. I’m taking you on the safer route up to Wildhunt Valley, but I can’t guarantee it will remain safe if you lag behind.”

And that was apparently all there was to say about that. He turned, and with a mighty leap, began flying. A flock of spiritual birds started flapping behind him, taking wing, taking their daoist friends up into the sky.

Tian took a moment to look at who they were traveling with. Cranes, mostly, and most of them of the red crested variety like Elder Redmane. There were swans as well, and the very first peacock Tian could remember seeing. There were hawks, an eagle, and a couple of falcons. There was even a crow, ridden by a cheerful looking, if scruffy, daoist who was happily sipping from a calabash despite the early hour in the day. The other birds were giving the crow some space. Tian had the impression that it wasn’t fear. It was respect.

“How interesting. How very interesting!”

Heh. Make friends with that crow if you can. Be polite, and don’t be pushy, but do try.

“Oh? What makes him so special?”

He’s a crow.

Grandpa didn’t elaborate.

“Grandpa…”

Hah! Alright, alright, crows… Well, crows are the sort to return a favor tenfold and a grudge a hundredfold. They treat favors and grudges as a sort of ancestral property, transmitting them through generations. Forever, potentially. Make friends with one, and you will never have a more loyal friend. Anger one…

“I should get used to living in caves.”

That wouldn’t stop him. Nasty bastards in a scrap, famously willing to get utterly filthy to get a job done, and their ruthlessness is only matched by their intelligence. And yet, social. Look how the other birds are around him. He has many colleagues who respect him, a rare few friends, and no living enemies. Not a bad way to live. Not at all.

Tian agreed with Grandpa, and shifted his gaze to take in more of the mountain. They hadn’t been flying long, but they were already higher on the mountain than Tian remembered being before. Liren was as curious as he was, peering down into the leafy forests.

The texture of the air was changing. It wasn’t consistent, sometimes thick and syrupy or cold and piercing. Sometimes the qi was so rich, he felt drunk. Other times, it thinned to the point where he could imagine being in the low country once more.

The qi density change was first really noticeable when the whole flock took a detour. Elder Deepwalker took them on a long dip, dropping their elevation for ten minutes before quickly turning and climbing hard for height. Tian wasn’t sure why, but he could sense a vortex of elemental energy below. Some kind of twisted mass, seemingly too complicated for animal life, but he couldn’t imagine what else it could be.

“The Knotling,” Burning Heaven explained when he asked. “They won’t chase after people so long as they stay out of their territory, but they aren’t consistent about what is their territory. Flying over them pisses them off, though. A group this size isn’t afraid of them, but fighting them is unpleasant. Or so I hear, I’ve stayed well away.”

“Them? That’s a group of heavenly creatures I’m feeling?” Tian could hardly believe it. It was such a mess of elements, he couldn’t begin to decipher it.

“Whether there is one Knotling or many isn’t easy to answer, according to the seniors. I don’t know the details, but it seems that they are both. The reason we are climbing so fast is that just up ahead is the One Eyed King, an ancient Blackfire Tiger.” Burning Heavens dipped her beak.

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“Self named?” Liren grinned.

“Don’t know. But his range is hemmed in on three sides, so maybe.”

Tian found his grin matching Liren’s but quickly wiped it away. If the tiger could hold a territory on Ancient Crane Mountain, even one hemmed in on three sides, that still made him an expert worth fearing even for other Heavenly People. He gave Liren a warning look, and she was sensible enough to firmly shut her mouth.

The trees started changing. It was subtle- more pines and firs grew in stands, straight as arrows and piercing upwards. The broadleaf trees grew more craggly and ranging, the twists and whorls of their trunks reminding one of dragons and the course of rivers. Wood qi flowed through them, throbbing slow and strong. Enduring, flexible, but always returning to their proper place. Their growth was largely done, and it was time to produce seeds. Time to cultivate their dao.

Every tree was a winner in their own right, controlling a tiny territory. Claiming the light that fell upon them. Yet, they did not act alone. They were in harmony with the insects, with other plants, with the soil and the air. A sort of social harmony. He had to wonder if they were properly filial.

Tian laughed silently and shook his head. He really did need to get out of the sect more. Sometimes, most of the time, a tree was just a tree. So long as it wasn’t too useful, it wouldn’t be felled. The straight pines were in far more danger than the twisted broadleafs and firs clinging to cliffsides.

They swooped in, close to the mountainside, skimming the tops of tall bamboo. The freshness of the bamboo scented air was so strong it made his heart flutter. He knew that this wasn’t mortal grade bamboo. It seemed hard to imagine it was in the Heavenly Realm, but with such powerful aroma, reaching such a towering height, what else could it be? He wanted to reach down and grab a leaf, just one leaf- but then they were gone, Burning Heaven pushing hard for altitude, keeping up with the rest of the flock.

They flew on for a full day, frequently doubling back, changing altitude, pulling further from the mountain or just skimming the treetops. Tian didn’t see what the problem was, but he could feel the tension in Burning Heaven, and some of the human cultivators were visibly sweating. More than a few of the human seniors sat with their weapons clenched in their hands.

Once, for a bare second, Tian thought he saw a fallen tree covered in iridescence. Then it moved, and he realized he was seeing a tiny piece of a vast snake. His elders' caution was entirely reasonable.

An hour after dawn on the second day, they landed at the mouth of a narrow valley. “Glorified crevice” would have been a fair description, in Tian’s unasked for opinion. It was humid, with dense mists drifting through the thickets of tall grass and anemic shrubs. Some sunlight got in there, but not much.

Elder Deepwalker turned and gave the expedition a beady eyed glare. As a giant crane, it was hard for him to look at people any other kind of way.

“For those of you who don’t know, and more importantly, for those of you who need reminding, the White Peacock is one of the hegemons of Ancient Crane Mountain. He has lived here, and held his territory, since the days when this was called Heavenstep Mountain.”

He let that thought linger for a moment, then continued. “The Emissary is a servant of the White Peacock’s fourth disciple. She didn’t favor me with her name, but her mistress has the daoist name Dawnlight Lark. So… behave. If you can’t do it, just leave. She won’t care. I won’t care.”

Tian was confused for a moment. Wasn’t that just common sense? What else would you do?

“Try and screw over your fellow test takers and even if you fool me, you won’t fool her. And you really can’t bear the consequences of taking her, her mistress, or the White Peacock, for a fool.”

Tian controlled the urge to nod. Heavenly Realm cultivators. He was still shocked to hear that, even with those selected by Starsieve to remain on the mountain, there was still a real danger of betrayal. Fingers crossed that Elder Deepwalker was just being careful.

“The trial, for you and your companions if you brought any, starts as soon as you fly into this valley. It is also where my knowledge of the tests end. I’ll be taking the tests too, so if you push further than you can endure, well, don’t expect me to rescue you. I’ll have enough problems to deal with.”

With that, he turned and flew into the mists.

Nobody moved. Tian was puzzled- didn’t people usually charge into trial grounds, worried that others would snatch benefits first? That’s what he had been told, anyway. But the seniors around him showed no signs of stirring.

Five minutes passed. Ten minutes.

“No screams, no signs of violent changes in the qi, looks like it’s slow going but manageable. We’ll keep an eye on Senior Brother Brightheart-” Burning Heaven murmured in their minds. The crow suddenly flapped its wings and flew into the valley. “Right. If he’s going, everyone will go. Us too!”

Tian nodded. If the crow went in, it didn’t mean things were safe, but it did mean the danger was of an acceptable level. If you had the guts.

“Who is Daoist Dawnlight Lark?” Liren asked.

“Don’t know, but I felt all the seniors stiffen up at her name. Not someone to cross for sure!” Burning Heaven jumped into the air and started steadily flapping into the valley. No one was rushing, keeping the pace steady as they moved deeper into the mists. It was just the preliminary screening, the test before the test, and it wasn’t a race. Being careful and resolute would carry them to the end.

The mists enfolded them. The cool humidity was subtly refreshing as the world faded away into an undifferentiated grey. If you needed to calm your mind or cut away your senses, it would be a wonderful meditation ground. The yin qi here was strong and gentle. Even if you weren’t going to meditate, a nap would be utterly delicious.

“Did Elder Deepwalker give you any clues about what the test would be?” Tian asked.

“Nope. He just clued me in on some of the good things the White Peacock is known to have. He said I shouldn’t expect to prove my strength of cultivation or fighting skills, exactly, on account of no one running the test would be remotely impressed. I should just try my hardest, and if they like what they see, all will be well. If they don’t, no degree of skill could make them accept me.”

Tian smiled a bit at that. It was a test of character and of resolve. A test of one’s dao, and dao heart, aimed at the Heavenly Realm seniors. Seniors who even now couldn’t trust each other, and happily let an elder check for danger the hard way. Not the most auspicious start.

Tian’s smile got a bit wider. He didn’t want to take a master, and the test wasn’t for him, but he couldn’t help but feel confident.