[Six months after the Brevon Incident; three days after the Siege of Shang Tu]
Deep in the heart of Dragon Valley, far from the prying eyes of fan‑filled civilisation, a solitary treehouse is home to the trio of young girls that cemented their place in the history of all Avalice by showing a green maniac how to save a planet. However, their victory that day seems a lot further away than usual for one of the residents of the treehouse, a young basset hound on the cusp of turning eleven.
Despite the efforts of her best friend Sash Lilac, popularly referred to as the 'Saviour of Avalice', Milla Basset had learned how close the Red Scarf Veteran Maria Shanmao had come to death only the day before during the Siege of Shang Tu, a terrible event where the Jade Alliance of the Gotoshi Republic invaded the Kingdom of Shang Tu and stole the Elemental Crystals from the research laboratories' vault deep under the Royal Palace.
Initially, Lilac wanted to pursue the invaders as they retreated, but the Royal Magister had other ideas. Ignoring the young dragoness's protestations, he had given the mission to a quartet of Red Scarf veterans: Rob Stiil, Danny Brock, Xander Lykos, and after a miraculous elixir‑fuelled recovery from her life‑threatening injuries, Maria Shanmao. Therefore, once the city of Shang Tu was confirmed as secure, Team Lilac were dismissed, their services no longer required.
Of course, Lilac wasn't happy about this, but thankfully her best friend Carol Tea managed to persuade her to sit this one out with the promise that, if the Scarves failed, Team Lilac would be called to action. Ultimately, such an event did not come to pass: against the odds, the four Red Scarves succeeded in reclaiming the Elemental Crystals, defeating Captain Aquila Kawaguchi, liberating the Jade Alliance from his control, and rescuing their fiery friend Hanna Skarlett from captivity.
Lilac was ambivalent about the Scarves' success, although she did ultimately accept it, while Carol had no problem recognising the achievement. However, Milla felt a very different reaction: for her, the closeness with which the Scarves brushed up against failure and death reminded her too much of her own experiences during the Brevon Crisis, where she too came extremely close to dying. And if it wasn't for the expert care given by Priestess Neera Li, Milla is certain she would have died that day.
And that is why, after Lilac had passed the news onto her and Carol, Milla had excused herself and made her way up onto the roof, where she simply sits and stares out across the tops of the trees, her beige coat absent, leaving her with just her green‑and‑white striped leotard. While she watches the birds act as if nothing is out of the ordinary, she can hear Lilac and Carol have an argument that she is thankful not to be part of. Thankfully, the argument is short‑lived and devoid of anger, though there is significant frustration plainly evident on both sides.
A few minutes after the brief argument ends, a two‑tone viridian wildcat in a loose black crop top and green shorts scrambles up to join her on the roof and asks, "What ya doin' up here?"
"Huh? Oh, hi Carol," Milla replies. "Did I miss anything?"
"Nothing new," Carol answers, sitting beside her friend. "Just Lilac being Little Miss Heropants, as usual."
"She's not angry, is she?" Milla asks, concerned.
"Nah, not really," Carol assures. "She's just a bit jealous someone else got to save the world this time. I don't understand it myself: the Scarves don't exactly cover themselves in glory, instead preferring to remain largely anonymous, so it's not like they're going to take attention away from her."
"That's nice," Milla comments, not really listening.
Carol can sense Milla's troubled. "You sure you're OK?" she asks. "If there's anything wrong, please, tell me."
"Oh, uh… Nothing's wrong, I just…" Milla tails off.
"Let me guess: bad memories gettin' ya down?"
"Sort of."
Carol watches her friend for a few moments, waiting for Milla to continue.
"These last six months… So much has happened, and it's got me thinking… Is this really the life I was meant to lead?" Milla eventually asks.
Carol allows herself a knowing smirk. "I ask myself that every day," she replies. "About me, I mean," she adds in hasty clarification.
"Have you found an answer?"
"Truthfully? No. Well, not with any certainty, anyway."
"What do you mean?"
Carol lets out a long sigh. "As a Tea, it should be my destiny to help shape the future of Avalice, as so many of my ancestors did before me. However, I ran away from that destiny, fearing I wasn't up to the challenge. But after the last six months or so… I dunno. I guess I'll find out for sure one day."
"Do you think I'll find out for sure one day too?"
"Probably."
"How will I know when I do?"
"No idea. Sorry."
"It's OK: I'm just being silly, I guess."
"Nothing silly in wanting to understand your place in this world," Carol assures. "In fact, quite the opposite: understanding your place in the world is one of the most important things you can learn about yourself."
Milla allows herself a small smile, though it fades quickly. "Would it be easier if I knew where I came from?"
Carol thinks for a few moments. "I guess it would: knowing where I come from helps me know who I am now and who I'll be in the future." At that moment, Carol suddenly realises why Milla's in a weird mood. "You want to find out what happened to your parents, don't you?"
"More than anything," Milla admits.
"Then why didn't you say so?" Carol asks with her trademark grin. "Me and Lilac will help you find out!"
That brightens Milla's mood. "You will?" she replies, excitement in her voice and eyes.
"Of course!" Carol chuckles. "That's what friends are for!"
"Yay!" Milla exclaims, throwing herself on Carol and hugging her tightly.
At that moment, a pretty lavender face under curved lavender horns, framed by silken purple hair, and flanked by elegant twin blue‑and‑silver chargers appears above the edge of the roof. "Um… did I miss something?" Lilac asks, confused.
"I just promised Milla we'll help her find out what happened to her parents," Carol explains, trying to free her arms from Milla's firm yet friendly grip.
Lilac makes as if to question Carol's answer, only to decide to simply accept it and move on instead. Can't object to that. "Where do we begin?" she asks as she climbs onto the roof, her trademark form‑fitting kingfisher blue sleeveless jacket and shorts doing nothing to hide her curves.
Carol gives up trying to free her arms. "I uh… I'm not sure."
"Oh!" Milla exclaims, letting Carol go. "I know where to start: Relic Maze!"
"Where we first met you?" Lilac asks. "Not a bad idea."
"It's as good a place as any," Carol agrees.
"When are we starting?" Milla asks, clearly eager to start as soon as possible.
A loud growling interrupts the conversation.
"…what I meant to say was, we'll start after lunch," Carol answers, blushing in embarrassment.
With the temperature falling below the mid‑afternoon peak, Lilac, Carol, and Milla (now wearing her beige coat) arrive at the edge of the area containing Relic Maze, Lilac's natural draconic speed easily allowing her to keep up with Carol and Milla on Carol's trusty cherry red motorbike. The location brings back a mix of pleasant and painful memories for all three girls for various reasons, but after a quick pause to rest and replenish their energy with suitable snacks, they continue undeterred to their first destination: Milla's feral home.
"It feels like it's been years since I was living here with just a tree stump for company," Milla comments once the trio have halted and Carol's shut off her bike's engine.
"A lot has happened in a short space of time," Lilac reminds kindly. "What are we looking for, anyway?"
"I uh… I don't know," Milla admits. "My earliest memories of this place are me surviving and gathering ingredients for a 'super feather potion'. I can't remember having anything else."
"Then we'll just see what we can find, and work out later if it's important or not," Carol suggests.
"If we split up, we can cover more ground," Lilac adds.
"And meet back here in, say, two hours?" Carol decides.
"That should be plenty of time to uncover anything hidden here," Lilac agrees. "That sound good to you, Milla?"
"Works for me," Milla agrees.
Two hours later, Lilac returns to find Carol has already returned to her bike.
"So, what did you find?" Lilac asks.
"Not a thing," Carol answers, clearly disappointed at her lack of success.
"Same," Lilac adds, also clearly disappointed. "Where's Milla?"
"Give her five minutes, then go look for her?" Carol suggests.
Lilac is about to agree when she sees Milla heading back towards them. "No need: she's on her way."
A few moments later, Milla reunites with her friends. "I uh… I found something."
"Excellent!" Lilac replies. "What did you find?"
"I… I'm not sure," Milla answers, holding up a set of four bangles, two orange and two green, that closely match the ones she's wearing.
"Spares you forgot about?" Lilac asks, curious.
Carol's curiosity is piqued. "May I take a closer look?"
"Of course," Milla agrees.
Carol takes one of the bangles and analyses it carefully, quickly finding an inscription. "There's something written on here… I'm trying to read it, but it's extremely worn… 'Tiāngǒu'?"
Curious, Milla removes one of her own bangles and looks for an inscription. "Um… there's something written on mine too…"
Carol takes Milla's bangle and quickly finds the inscription. "Ah, this one's clearer: 'Měi Lán, tiāngǒu de hòuyì'."
"'Beautiful orchid, descendant of the Heavenly Hound'?" Lilac asks, confused.
"That's one interpretation," Carol confirms.
"'Měi Lán' sounds a bit like 'Milla'," Milla comments, not sure what to make of these inscriptions. "Maybe my name is really Měi Lán?"
"Looks like it," Carol confirms.
"Does that mean I can't be 'Milla' anymore?" Milla asks.
"You can go by either 'Milla' or 'Měi Lán': it's up to you," Lilac assures. "Like how I choose to go by 'Lilac' instead of 'Sash'."
"And how I prefer 'Carol' to 'Caroline'," Carol adds.
"Then I'll stick with 'Milla'," Milla decides. "But who's this 'Heavenly Hound'?"
"One of the many old legends told throughout the Kingdoms," Lilac answers. "Maybe your parents had the inscriptions done as a totem of fortune?"
But Carol isn't so sure: suspicious, she compares the two inscriptions closely. The inscriptions don't match… These aren't Milla's, they're‑ No way! Could the legend really be true? Is Milla really the latest of that line? And should I even tell her?
Carol's increasingly concerned expression is worrying Milla. "Carol, is something wrong?"
"Huh? Oh, no, it's just…" Carol takes a deep breath. Just tell her: she has a right to know. "Thing is, the inscription on the bangles you found is different, meaning they aren't your spares."
"Then who's are they?" Milla asks.
"I can't say for sure at the moment," Carol answers. "The inscription is badly worn and very hard to read," she continues, analysing the worn inscription very carefully, "but if I had to guess, it reads… 'Yuánshǐ tiāngǒu'."
"'The original Heavenly Hound'," Lilac translates, her curiosity now also piqued.
Milla is understandably confused. "I don't understand."
"I need to find out more before I can be certain of anything, but I think your family history might extend a lot further back than any of us realise," Carol explains.
"How far back?" Milla inquires.
"If the legends are even partially true, then your family line is longer than either mine or Lilac's," Carol answers. "And our bloodlines stretch back at least a millennium, right back to when dragons first landed on Avalice."
Milla can't think of anything to say.
But Lilac can. "We need to find out more before we can be certain. Question is, where do we go next?"
Carol thinks for a while. Ideally RSHQ, but there's no way Lilac will agree to that. Not that they'd let us in, anyway, and they'll have secured the way we got in before, and several more besides. "The Zao Central Library at Shang Mu won't have anything useful, and with Shang Tu rebuilding, our best bet right now is the Palace Library in Shuigang."
"Then it looks like we'll be picking this up in the morning," Lilac decides.
"I was hoping to find out more today," Milla sighs.
"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find out plenty more tomorrow," Carol reassures.
Milla allows herself a small smile. "And we know where to begin," she adds.
"Exactly," Carol grins. "Now, how about we head home and stuff our faces with sushi?"
"Sure," Milla agrees.
A short distance away, hidden in the foliage of a copse, a white half‑panda half‑cavy chimera watches as Team Lilac departs. So, the hound has become curious about her origins… I hope she's strong enough to handle what she's soon to learn.