The sun was fading when Yu Rael returned to the top for the last time. This could potentially be her last visit.
Her hood flapped with mountain wind, sandy with the sand of the Chaos Region, but uncreased by time. Three years had gone by since she had last come here.three long years since she left Vaen in the care of the old scholar. She came to visit if she had time. Now, it's time to take him back.
Now she returned as mercenary captain and Saintess of the Moon Tribe. Her one hand lay loose against the hilts of her daggers, the other supporting a leather pouch slung over her back. Her pace was easy, but with every step it was apparent she was tense with quiet tension, the sort that was built upon decades of violence.
She stopped just short of the scholar's cave, brushing a few loose hairs from her cheek.
"Still alive, blind man?" she cried out.
There was a pause, then Vaen stepped out into sight from among the shadows, his usual tranquility pulled onto his face. His robes were changed. Darker and more refined. Something weightier seemed to cling around him, something tightly wound and subdued that rested just under the surface of his skin.
Yu Rael's sharp eyes tightened slightly.
He had matured. Much.
"You're not blind anymore," she growled. "You have advanced eye art. Why are you looking like that?"
Vaen smiled weakly. "Still I am blind."
A weak grunt escaped her lips. "Did the old bastard actually taught you something, huh?"
Inside the cave, the Qi Scholar coughed. "That old bastard is still listening."
Yu Rael rolled her eyes and walked in with the air of someone used to the ribbing. "And you're still not dead, old turtle."
The old man sat cross-legged, leaning on a staff that was more ornament than support. His eyes squinted, but there was a faint smile on his weathered face. "You're late."
"I wasn't in a rush."
She tossed a small package. Inside were some good breads; precious as an offering of tribute. She thought it's excellent for an old man.
The three of them sat quietly for a while, a quiet which occurred so seldom in the stone chamber. Outside, the mountain wind howled, but in the cave there was the oppressive weight of past years.
And finally, the aged man spoke. "His battle prowess has probably already been at Nascent Soul… unreliable, but formidable. He could kill most early Nascent masters with enough time and surprise."
Yu Rael shot Vaen a sidelong look. "Three years, eh. You are now ahead of me ."
"Didn't realize it was a contest."
"It's not," she replied with a dry chuckle. "If it were, I'd have killed you in your sleep by now.".
The old man coughed. "You've come to take him away?"
"Yes," she said. "He promised, remember? He'd return when you'd finished teaching him not to destroy the sky."
"I succeeded only in that area," the old man said in a firm voice. "If he forgets himself now, he might very well tear a mountain."
"Sounds like a party," Yu Rael smiled.
Vaen sighed softly. "I'm still learning."
"Good. You'll be finding this sense of humor handy where we're going." Yu Rael rose, shaking her cloak. "Round up your shit. We're departing at dawn."
The old man straightened, leaning on his staff. "Before you go. Listen, Vaen. You are different. I still do not know what is in you. But there is something of the ancients that stirs. Whatever it is, keep it hidden. Don't let the people of the imperial cities smell you out. Or worse,those of the stars."
Vaen bowed. "Thank you, teacher."
The old man looked at Yu Rael. "And you. Protect him for a while longer. At least until he knows who he truly is."
Yu Rael gave a noncommittal grunt. "I'm not his babysitter."
"Of course not," the scholar smiled, "you're his shadow."
She didn't respond to that. But, she felt irritated inside. I am not his lover or anything okay. I am still his employer
They slept the night away. At dawn, the mountain lay shrouded in pale mist. The desert wind below was cold, with no heat in it, only stillness.
Vaen stood again at the cliff's edge, sword by his side. Yu Rael appeared beside him, hooding her head as the sun rose in the east.
"Ready?" she asked.
He nodded, "Let's go."
And the two walked down the mountain road, not strangers, not quite friends, but two edges sharpened by time, toward the chaos that lay in Darahem.