Sky Pride

Some time during the night, the Crane had flown in through the hole in the cavern ceiling carrying in nesting materials. Tian found her organizing a big pile of sedges and long marsh grass by the edge of the pond, only looking up to share the memory of meeting with Lin, and a sense of Lin coming over around midday. There was a feeling of transformation to it, and excitement. She had made her choice.

Tian offered to help with the nest, but was rejected. She wanted it just so. Tian could respect that. He sat, dangling his feet in the water and watched her. He ate a breakfast of warm soy milk and fried breadsticks. Simple food, filling without being heavy, and easy on the stomach. He pulled out the book on acupuncture he was working his way through and started grinding once more. Everything was so simple when looked at in isolation, but what in medicine was isolated? Everything affected everything.

Some time passed, and he decided he was thirsty. He set down his book and brewed a rather ordinary red tea. It wasn’t his favorite, but it had been a while since he drank it and he had a hankering. He gave the tea pets their due, then poured a cup for himself. The fermented leaves gave him their sweetness and that barest hint of astringency, floral, rolling across his tongue. The flavor was flowery and honey-sweet without differentiation, the aroma pleasing but brief; an economical drink, but happy-making. He chuckled, and steeped a second cup.

Tian wiggled his toes in the little pond, looking at the money eating toad with its seven dots on its back and the Snow Grace Crane making her nest and the little garden with its scrabbly herbs and brave vegetables struggling their way into the light. He looked up at the pale blue sky and dainty white clouds through the hole in the cave ceiling. Every breath was sweet and rich and filled with life.

“Is this an ascetic life? I just don’t understand. Who lives more richly than me?” Tian laughed softly and sipped his tea. “I don’t suppose you would care for a cup, Old Toad?”

The toad gave him a look. Unlike the toad’s normal looks, this one was a bit speculative. Tian laughed and poured the toad a cup of tea, then strolled across the pond to set it on the rock. Toad stood, sniffed, and slapped the cup over before settling down again. It gave Tian a look of profound contempt, then closed its eyes.

“Old Toad, are you looking to die? How dare you look down on this little daoist’s tea!”

The toad wouldn’t even spare him a glance. Contempt for the poor oozed from its slippery skin. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“Insolence! See if you can keep that haughty attitude of yours when I show you my real strength!”

Tian sat back down on the pond bank with a slam. He yanked out Suneater’s aged white tea as well as some of the yin water he had collected before being stuck on the mountain. “Hrmph! Hrmph! Just you wait.” He put a generous pinch in the lidded cup, heated the water to just the right temperature, then carefully poured it on the far inside slope of the cup. The tea leaves tumbled pleasingly, quickly soaking. But white tea was tricky, you had to move fast. Tian reached out to dump the wash into the pond when Grandpa Jun jumped in.

No, pour it out on the toad! Quick, quick!

“Grandpa, that’s evil.”

Its skin is hard enough to stop a peak level nine crane’s beak and its guts can digest brass, but you think it’s going to care about a little warm water? Dump it on the toad, quick!

Tian thought that was a good point, and poured generously over the three-legged toad. To his bewilderment, the toad croaked and visibly relaxed, enjoying the tea. The little stars on his back even faintly glowed.

“It’s a damn tea pet?!” Tian didn’t shriek, but he did lose control of Moon Crossing the Lake for just long enough to take a splash. The tea survived, his dignity did not. He flopped his way to the bank of the pond sputtering and swearing, stripping off his robes and hanging them to dry on a line.

“A damn tea pet! How in the hell is that possible?”

Grandpa Jun, when he gathered enough ghostly breath to ghostly breathe again, explained. It’s not exactly a tea pet. I swear, the random crap I have seen over the years… It’s not exactly a tea pet. It’s a demon. Or its ancestor was, who knows how long ago. I guess you would just call it an auspicious beast now. And yes, it likes having tea dumped on it.

“Grandpa, what is this thing?”

A fortune gathering toad. It eats money, but it also brings money and good fortune. And yes, it does like a good cup of tea. It’s not a tea pet, exactly, but you can make it a pet and it will be happy if you give it tea. This little beggar is spoiled from living on the Mountain. It disdains your normal tea leaves because they don’t have a meaningful amount of qi in them. Bland and tasteless. Fortunately for you, you are now on a mountain with hidden Heavenly tea trees and plenty of spiritual water. Brew up another cup and dump it on the toad again.

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“All true, but it’s not like I have ancient, Heavenly grade tea lying around spare right now. It seems a waste.”

It’s a fortune gathering toad, and you can see those stars glowing. It’s gathering lots. Now, turn your head to your right and tell me if it’s a waste.

Tian looked over and saw the crane had finished her nest. She was standing next to it, shifting around anxiously and checking the hole in the roof. Clearly eager for noon to come.

He sighed and brewed two more big batches. There was sure to be a limit to how much tea he could usefully pour over the toad, but until he found it, he would keep pouring. The Snow Grace Crane was in his care, and his father had sacrificed far more than this for him.

Lin came when the sun was at its peak. “Brother Tian, are you home?”

“Yes, come in- ah! Wait. Don’t come in.” He started scrambling around. The robes had dried somewhat, and being sect manufacture the water didn’t stain them, but they were still damp. He quickly scrambled through his ring, trying to find clean robes.

“What’s the matter?” Lin’s voice was urgent.

“Can’t find clothes, and Sis’ Liren will be mad if I break the dress code. Just a moment. Alright, this will do, so long as you don’t rat me out.”

“You… are decent now?”

“I am always decent.” Tian’s voice could have upheld the dignity of an imperial palace.

“But are you wearing clothes? Sufficient clothes that would not cause a scandal in, for example, a mid-sized town.”

“Yes.”

Liren came in and found Tian sitting on a stool, sliding on his shoes. His clothes were faded blue linens, coarse and functional, without the wide sleeves and flowing cloth of his sect robes. His lustrous white hair hung loose around his shoulders, pouring down his back, the tips vanishing behind the stool. He looked like he was painted into the scene, naturally a part of it, yet unworldly.

She faintly shook her head, opened her mouth, then closed it again. She looked over at the crane, and nodded. “I’ll get started. New toad?”

“New toad.”

“I’m surprised the crane didn’t eat it.”

“She tried. I have a dark suspicion about why she is so eager to break through to the Heavenly Realm.”

“Well, I’m just going to help her awaken her spiritual intelligence, the Heavenly Realm is on her to achieve. Is Sister Hong back yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Then she won’t break through. She wants both of you here to feel safe. To her, the two of you represent safety and as close to the feeling of ‘home’ as a crane knows.”

“A flock?” Tian smiled a little, flicking his long hair out like wings.

“Not really, but close enough.” She faintly smiled and walked over to sit next to the crane. “I’m going to be sitting with her silently. Don’t say anything, don’t nudge me, don’t offer me a drink, nothing. This is not easy, and cutting off my senses is just the first step of a process that takes a few hours if it’s quick, and most of the day if it goes long.”

“Got it.” Tian cupped his fist and bowed. “Thank you for taking care of her.”

“My duty. Go tend to your garden. I have it from here.”

Tian opted instead to cultivate. He didn’t know if it would help, but it probably wouldn’t hurt.

The sun was scudding towards the horizon when Tian felt a subtle, familiar, presence pressing on his mind. He smiled, and gently thought “Hello.”

“Hello. Brother Crane?”

“Brother Tian, or Brother Zihao, whichever you prefer. What should I call you?”

He had the feeling she was smiling, even though her beak couldn’t make such an expression. “There was something you thought, often enough that I remembered it. An image I loved. It looked quite impressive.”

“Oh?”

“Burning Heaven. I will be known as Burning Heaven.”

Tian blinked and turned to take a better look at the crane. At Burning Heaven. His smile grew from warm to devilish. “A very domineering name. I like it. May I call you Sister Heaven?”

She nodded her beak a little. “Yes. And yes, domineering is good. It is important to let people know where they stand in the pecking order. But also, it’s all of us.”

Tian laughed silently. Sister Lin was slowly drawing her awareness back in, looking wrung out. The crane… Burning Heaven was looking pretty wrung out too. It wasn’t easy to awaken your intelligence, it seemed.

“Yes. I like that.” Tian nodded. “I think Sister Liren will like it too.”

“I hope so. I think she is going to be here soon.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, I can hear Uncle Stormrider coming now, and he was grumbling earlier about being sent to fetch Sister and her…”

“Friends? Sectmates?” Tian offered.

“I don’t know what those are.” The crane didn’t sound bashful or embarrassed. Why would she? How could she be expected to know about any of those things?

“Have you been happy? Have I done a good job fostering you?”

“I don’t know what fostering is, but I have been happy. It has been fun traveling with you and sister. It is fun flying around this mountain and talking to all the big brothers and sisters and aunties and uncles here too.”

“That’s good.”

“A little boring these days, though.”

“Boring can be good.”

“Not really. It is hard to look domineering unless there is something to look domineering about.”

Tian nodded, feeling a touch of pride. He had truly raised this child well.

“Oh, Sister is here now.” The crane looked up, as Lin started groggily looking around.

There was a flurry of wings and a shouted “I’ve got it from here, thanks Martial Uncle!” from above the hole in the ceiling. Then Liren descended from the sky in a flurry of butterflies.