The room is lavish in dust. Half expecting to see the spirits downstairs who were tossing a ball of dung at each other, Mimi shuts the door and winces at the fact that she is leaving footprints in the dust. Waving her hand, the dust miraculously disappears, leaving a pristine room that only smells of dust. This done, Mimi set to work on digging one of her claws into the palm of her hand until she drew blood. Squeezing her flesh until a decent amount appears, she traces a sigil on the door for protection. She does the same for all four walls and the window. Healing her thumb, Mimi presses her sharp claws into the palms of both of her hands, drawing blood. She flicks the blood at the ceiling and does the same on the ground. As of above, so below, she thought slyly, watching the blood spatter sink into the walls. This would prevent any intruders from leaving, tying the would-be assailant securely in a gift-wrapped package for her. Deciding that the casket would be better off hidden in the forest and not in her room, Mimi puts the casket in her pocket and shifts into her fox form.
Leaping from the window, Mimi easily jumps from battlement to battlement of the roof and finally to the ground. Stretching a little, Mimi looks back to memorize the placement of her window before darting out into the woods. God, it felt good to run again in this form, Mimi thinks as she races past the koi pond and into the woods. Mimi conjures multiple balls of foxfire to light her way. The clean air is wonderful. Ever since Sara had become pregnant, Mimi hated leaving her at night. Sara. Mimi lets out a painful fox howl. The foxfire flickers in sympathy, and Mimi runs further into the forest. The pain inside her and in her paws causes her to finally stop. Tails between her legs, Mimi begins to dig. She digs until her entire form could fit inside. Satisfied at how deep the hole is, Mimi shift into a human form and pulls out the casket.
Clutching the casket to her breast, Mimi leans over the hole and screams. She screams her pain into the hole. The loss of her wife. The loss of her child. The guilt. Mimi digs her hands into the soft ground and screams until her throat is raw. When Mimi can no longer utter a sound, she sets the casket into the ground and buries it with her pain and grief. Flicking her tails, Mimi places a ball of foxfire within the ground. Sealing it with her kiss.
It is a slow walk back to the castle; Mimi enjoys the silence. Her heart felt heavy in her chest. Cold and steady. How would she get through the tasks like this, crippled by her heart? Mimi looks down at her arm, at the ribbon buried in her right wrist. What if she just tore it out right now, she thinks, she could return to Sara. To the one who may have left her on purpose. Mimi feels tears sliding down her face. Aggressively wiping them off. The gesture makes her notice the red ribbon float above her wrist. Did it want her to cut it? The ribbon still attached to her skin floats in the night air, leading her back to where she had come. Curious, Mimi shifts into her fox form. It takes a moment, but the ribbon reappears, leading her away. The words Lillian had said echo in her mind. That her soulmate kept her in the past. Feeling stupid, but oh so very curious, Mimi puts a paw on the ribbon. Without a destination in mind, she backs into the shadows. Oh soulmate, where might you be, she thinks.
Mimi lets out a sharp cry as she strikes something that shocks her body as if she had inserted one of her tails into a light socket. That is what you fucking get for shadow traveling without a destination in mind, Mimi scolds herself. You never know where you will end up. Mimi shakes her head and looks around. Obviously, she hit some sort of protective barrier. Looking down at the ribbon on her wrist, it hovers languidly, pointing towards the barrier. Thinking quickly, Mimi tosses a rock at the barrier, and it shines a light blue before disappearing. Being a fox, Mimi eagerly sees an interesting challenge before her. Like a fox to a particularly powerful bug zapper, Mimi decides to burrow. Most individuals were more than happy to put a protection spell over or around the area they were protecting. Starting from a foot away, Mimi begins to dig. Being exceptionally careful of potential cave-ins, Mimi burrows under the protective barrier. Delighted with this discovery, Mimi's tails swish about eagerly. She could smell chickens. But Mimi quickly squashes that plan. She is a fox spirit of more than two hundred years of age. She would not stoop to such childish behavior. Looking down at the ribbon, it floats in a northern direction. Mimi follows it closely, keeping a close eye on her surroundings as she did so. Hiding under a building, she sees two young boys running across the ground. Is she at a school? Choosing to follow the ribbon, something occurs to Mimi, she looks back at the boys and notes that they carry swords and they wore white robes. Ohh, just her luck indeed. These were cultivators. Exorcists in training, she thinks, watching them giggle. This is truly unlucky.
A smarter fox would have decided at that moment to run for her burrow. But Mimi is curious. If her soulmate were to die, it would affect her too. Logically, Mimi reasons, it would be prudent to see if this soulmate is in good health and wouldn't die before beginning her tasks.
Mimi slunk out from under the building and realizes the ribbon is pointing at the building. Are they inside, she thinks? Mimi carefully looks around, seeing multiple windows before getting on her hind legs and peering in the first window. There is nothing but an art studio. But what an art studio it was. The walls were covered with a mural landscape of trees and pagodas. Deciding to inspect this later, Mimi continues to circle the building. Circling the building a couple of times, Mimi sees another window with a sturdy tree branch near it. Mimi cheats, and shadow travels up on to the tree branch. Confident that the branch would hold, Mimi leans further out to look inside. A tall man is seated at what she knew, from Sara's proclivity in Chinese instruments, to be a guqin. But he is not playing. The ribbon points at the man, and Mimi raises an eyebrow. This is her soul mate?
Well, at least her soul has excellent taste in aesthetics, she thinks. The man is tall and slim. The light blue robes he wore perfectly offset his long black hair. Mimi lays down on the tree branch to watch. Why is he not playing, she thinks? Wondering how she could get closer, a sudden movement from some birds she has inadvertently startled fly up and strike the window before flying away unharmed. This causes the man to look over, and Mimi stays perfectly still. Her dark coloring perfectly blending her in with the shadows. But this is not why Mimi is struck dumb into stillness. When the man turns his head, he is nearly the mirror image of her wife. Surely it is her mind tricking her. Mimi summons a small pebble from the ground and gently tosses it at the man's window. To her delight, he stands and approaches the window. He looks out, and Mimi's heart cracks right down the middle. It is like looking at her wife's perfect face. This, Mimi thinks, is her wife's previous reincarnation. Her mate. Her soulmate. Sara is her soulmate. The realization makes Lie want to curl inside herself and scream. She didn't know for joy or grief.
But what is this? His eyes are bloodshot, and there were bags under each eyelid. There were signs of fresh tears on his cheeks. Why is he crying? It took everything she has not to launch herself at her wife's doubleganger and lick the tears away. There is a knock at the man's door. He smiles and shrugs to himself. Mimi loves this smile. The man in blue wipes his eyes and straightens his robes before opening the door to an older man.
This man wore a similar headband to the one her wife's doubleganger wore. Are they kin? She settles in to listen.
"One of the temple dogs is missing!" the man is shouting angrily.
As if this is her mates problem, Mimi thinks, watching with interest. At least at this time. Her mate is safe.
The man in light blue smiles, and it kindles something in her heart, "Perhaps it's a prank. An exceptionally good one too. We can investigate further in the morning."
"Xichen," the older man exclaims in a gentler tone, and Mimi grins a toothy fox grin. She now has a name!
"You are the clan leader! I know that these past two years have been difficult. But Cloud Recesses needs a firm hand. Things have been difficult with the nag."
Mimi feels her heart skip a beat, a clan leader, but of course. This would not be easy. Suddenly feeling eyes on her, Mimi looks up to see a giant stone dog watching her from the top of the building. Oh fuck. Instinct taking full control, Mimi fires a foxfire ball at the stone temple dog and hits the ground running. Her fox fire apparently not even affecting the temple dog. It lumbers down from the roof and charges after her. Mimi is about the size of a Doberman and a skilled fighter with magic at her disposal. But these thoughts do not even occur to her as the dog tries to match her speed biting at her tails. As a fox, Mimi knows at an instinctual level to fear all dogs. Trying to shake the temple dog, Mimi heads for the burrow. But she is not fast enough. The temple dog bears down on her and grabs her by the scruff of the neck like an ill-mannered puppy. Barking indignantly, Mimi is dragged to the furthest corner of Cloud Recesses and thrown past the barrier. The dog returns to its slab and stares her down as she sulkily retreats into the shadows.