"Cubs, I want you to go to the residence," Mimi says calmly as she hands Dumplin to Chen, her eyes glaring at Lan Sizhui's scar.
Recognizing the tone immediately, Chen bows to the clan leader before scampering out of the library pavilion.
"I am going to take care of that," Mimi promises as Lan Sizhui lowers his tunic in confusion.
Rolling up her sleeves, Mimi regally also bows to the clan leader before following her sister's lead.
"Lady Shen!" the clan leader calls as she raises her skirts and heads in the direction of town.
The rain had mercifully stopped, and Mimi simply needed one good shadow. She would deal with this water demon before it hurt anyone else.
The clan leader quickly catches up to her, "Where are you going?"
"I am going to complete one of the tasks a little earlier than planned," Mimi says, a little sassily, "I hope the Gusu clan enjoys seaweed wraps."
This gets a laugh out of the clan leader, "Preferably not ones that have been underwater for nearly a decade."
He finally manages to step in front of her, efficiently stopping her, "Sizhui's scar upset you?"
Mimi feels some of her anger leave her, "Yes, I don't like things that hurt children."
"Because of your own scars?" The clan leader asks gently.
"I have accepted those long ago," Mimi feels slightly annoyed as she decides to step around the clan leader to continue her mission.
"My uncle would be disappointed if the tasks were performed out of order," the clan leader says.
"I am sure he will be forgiving when I come back with its head."
"Might I make a suggestion?" Lan Xichen watches the fire light upon the woman's shoulders with interest.
"You may," Mimi says, making her way down the path, debating whether she could outrun the clan leader before finding a shadow to disappear in.
No sooner does she say this, the clan leader wraps his arm around her waist and stands on his sword. Guiding them carefully up into the sky. Mimi makes an unpleasant eeking noise and grabs on to him.
"Do you not like heights, Lady Shen?"
"When I am in control of them," Mimi is clinging tightly to the clan leader, not allowing her feet to touch the sword.
When she realizes that he will not suddenly launch them into a tree or move incredibly fast, she settles down a little and looks below them, instantly regretting it.
"Have you never used a sword like this before?" he asks in confusion. He knew that Lady Shen could not use spiritual weapons or really any other weapon besides her claws, but still.
"No, so please do not let this be my last. As you recall, I have two sisters that depend on me," Mimi reminds him.
"I will not let you fall," the clan leader promises, and Mimi surprisingly believes him.
"Where are we going?" Mimi asks, trying to relax her breathing.
"To town. I wish to tell you more of the water demon before you decide it is a task you wish to complete," he says this strangely, and Mimi wonders if he wanted her to complete it at all.
"Do you not want me to complete the task?" she asks him, deciding not to bother beating about the bush.
This makes him pause, "Do you not want to complete the task?"
He is answering her question with a question. Her wife used this tactic when she did not want to discuss something that is worrying her. It is best to merely say how she feels rather than wait for Sara to bring it back up weeks later.
"I do. I like you," Mimi says, wondering belatedly if a fox could land on her feet from this height.
"You like me?" his voice is tight, and Mimi sees the pattern once again.
"Yes, you are truly kind. If I did not like you or disapproved of you, I wouldn't have bothered letting my cubs get attached to you or come to Cloud Recesses at all. That's a tree!" Mimi lets out a breath as they narrowly miss the tree.
"You like me?" he breathes, looking down at her.
"Watch out for that house!" Mimi shrieks as the sword graze the top of the house.
Screw it, Mimi extricates herself from the clan leader and, using her claws, grabs on to the wind, leaping into the air like the aerialist she is.
She swings around the clan leader as he follows her with amazement.
"I am perfectly capable of flying," the clan leader says, bemusedly as Mimi summons enough foxfire to keep her afloat.
"As am I, but I am not about to run into a tree or house," Mimi says from her small column of fire as she speeds ahead of him playfully.
Lan Xichen feels a little annoyed but decides to let it go. The Lady Shen had slipped right through his fingers, literally. But . . . she had said that she likes him. The clan leader narrowly avoids another house. She had touched his forehead band repeatedly. Pressing his fingertips to his forehead band in remembrance. She likes him.
Mimi speeds around him, laughing. She had not thought of doing this in decades. There was no time, and doing this above a city would raise more questions than it was worth. Mimicking, the clan leader Mimi stands up and stretches her arms above her head. She needed to do this with her cubs.
"Would you like to race?" he asks boyishly.
"To where?" Mimi says challengingly, the water demon momentarily forgotten.
"Anywhere," he grins.
Was he happy she had told him, Mimi wonders? She studies his face from the safety of her flames. He looks happy.
"Chase me to the horizon," Mimi yells as she speeds ahead of him. To any onlookers, the pair would resemble a cultivator chasing a barking green comet.
She looks back at him as she raises her height to avoid any collisions with houses or trees. Or heaven forbid birds. Mimi was not about to allow a goose to strike her face. He is close behind her. Zooming faster, Mimi sits down amongst her flames, allowing them to warm her arms. She stretches much like a cat. Suddenly she is greeted by leaves that resemble two birds floating above her head. She cups her hands out, and the birds gratefully land upon her claws.
"What is your message?" Mimi asks respectfully.
"The Lady Feng is grateful for your quick response," the bird tweets, "and would be delighted to have her sisters over for a visit. How does 1 o'clock sound?"
"That is perfect. Tell the Lady Feng I look forward to seeing her again, and the girls are quite curious to get to know their eldest sister."
The large bird flies nimbly from the flames without being singed. Mimi turns her attention to the smaller bird.
"What is your message?"
The bird chirps in Daiyu's voice, "I am grateful for the upcoming visit. I will have a late lunch prepared us all. Thank you again!"
The bird disappears completely, having fulfilled its requirements.
The clan leader finally catches up to her, and she realizes his face is sweaty from exertion. He had probably exerted quite a bit of spiritual energy in trying to match her speed.
"Would you like to join me?" Mimi grins at him.
He seems to contemplate this for a moment before he nods.
Mimi stands up and holds out her hands for him. He leans his sword close to the foxfire and carefully takes her hands before hopping in. The sword sheathes itself.
"I don't think I will grow used to your fire, Lady Shen," the clan leader's eyes were sparkling as Mimi increases the speed, chasing the clouds.
"I haven't done this in a long time," Mimi says happily, tossing her mane of hair back, a strand getting into her mouth.
"May I ask you something?" the clan leader asks politely.
"Of course," Mimi looks at him sideways but keeping her focus on the horizon.
"Your scars," he gestures towards her collar bone.
"Mmhm," Mimi sighs, "you would have found out sooner or later."
"I have this one on my collar bone," Mimi pulls up her sleeves to expose the three on her upper arms and, "I have a couple on my legs."
"I would like to know why you were allowed to get them," the clan leader looks amused as he watches her eagerly show him all her scars.
"I was given to nannies, which graduated to teachers as I grew up," Mimi says carefully, "I do not know my mother very well. My father was not a part of my life. When I found the claws, it was more of my responsibility to keep myself from hurting myself accidentally. I got used to controlling them eventually."
Mimi cards a hand through her hair. It is so irritating having long hair. She wonders if she could convince the clan leader to try his sword on her hair. Perhaps she could bribe one of the children.
"I could only visit my mother once a month," the clan leader says quietly, "My uncle raised Wanji and me."
Mimi allows the foxfire to slow down and drift.
"You count the days until you can see your mother again, and suddenly, she isn't there anymore," Mimi says quietly, understanding, and he nods.
"What about your father, if you don't mind me asking?" Mimi gently puts a hand on his to show her support.
"He went into isolation after he married my mother. It was not a marriage that was approved of by our clan. She killed one of his teachers for reasons I do not know. Nor care to know," Lan Xichen finds himself relishing the touch of her hand.
Mimi drifts closer until their shoulders touch, "I'm sorry. I am sure they are proud of the men you and your brother have become."
He looks up and sees her eyes shining on his behalf.
"Thank you," he says after a moment of silence, his heart beginning to thaw.
"Umm, I still need to pick up my sister's dresses from town," Mimi says casually, "would you like to accompany me?"
"I can also show you the water demon," the clan leader agrees.
Turning the foxfire about, Mimi speeds it across the valley.
"This is quite extraordinary," the clan leader says in awe as he looks beneath them at the individual fox fires keeping them afloat, "Would it be impolite to ask how much spiritual energy you are using to pilot this?"
"I am not expending any energy," Mimi winks at him, "I am merely guiding the direction. Once I summon the element with intent, it is its own manifestation. I merely control the movement and dismiss it when I choose."
"Your sisters mentioned that when you fought Master Wei, you were studying his movements at first, not expending any energy at all."
"My sisters do like you," Mimi praises affectionately. This pleases her, "What they said is true. I wanted to see how his summoning style worked, and since I wasn't under a time limit or my life in any sort of peril, I took my time. Once I started controlling more than one element is when I start to expend more energy. But I have been doing it so long I have built up stamina."
Mimi lowers them on the outskirts of the town so as not to draw attention to themselves with a large ball of fire. She picks up her skirts and narrowly avoids a mossy looking puddle.
The clan leader hhms to himself and offers her his arm. Mimi carefully takes it, and they step out into the town. If she thought they could blend in, she is much mistaken. A townsperson immediately comes up to the clan leader and bows. Lan Xichen returns the bow, along with Mimi, who is still attached to his arm.
"Clan leader Gusu, there have been strange instances of rats with bloodshot eyes running around in the night," the man said, his eyes curiously drifting towards Mimi and their connected arms.
The clan leader pats her hand almost subconsciously, and the townsperson's eyebrows raise to his hairline. Mimi realizes that it must be quite strange indeed to see the clan leader with a woman. At least she didn't have to worry about competition.
"I will send a team of cultivators to investigate tonight, if that suits," Lan Xichen promises and continues to make small talk with the man for a few moments.
Mimi found her eyes drifting to the water. She pats the clan leader's arm and gently extricates herself from him to investigate the water. She had looked it over a couple of times when she had taken Chen and Dumplin to the market. Yet it was one thing looking at it with two children at her skirts and another by herself. Curious, Mimi takes a stick and pushes it into the water. As she suspects, the water is viscous looking. It was like sticking something into jello.
"Strange, isn't it?" the clan leader says, standing behind her.
"How long has it been in residence?" she asks. She had never seen anything quite like this before.
"Sixteen years, give or take. The Wen Clan chased it here from another river upstream. We have tried to purify it, talk to it, and chase it out, but it does not seem to wish to leave," his voice is distant, and Mimi wonders if he is going over her words from earlier.
"That is because it is well fed," Mimi says quietly.
Water spirits and fox spirits, as a rule, did not get along. Mimi had zero interest in boarding a boat to go for a closer look. She could sense the water demon laughing at her from the bottom of the lake—the glutinous bastard. Mimi sends a ball of foxfire to skip across the water. Nearly four water spirits attack it from below.
"I think . . ." Mimi says, "and I could be wrong. But the water demon is attracting water spirits from the surrounding river systems and eating them. That is why it is not leaving. The people who I am sure fall in on a fairly regular basis are probably not a bad perk."
"What do you suggest?" he asks curiously.
Biting her lip, Mimi stares at the water, "Depends on how much time I was given and how it would affect the town. If I had time, I would cut off all the surrounding water supplies. Damn up every river or temporarily redirect it. This would cut off the water spirits from getting in. I would focus on cutting off the food supply completely. Starving it. Then I would go ahead and get rid of it while it is weak. Unfortunately," Mimi hums as a water spirit grabs on to her stick, but Mimi releases a fireball at it, frying it on contact, "you don't have time, and there are so many villagers. What I plan to do is make it mad enough to face me itself. Then exorcise it."
"We have tried many times at this tactic," Lan Xichen says, his face drawn, "it has been far too dangerous."
I am willing to bet you have never used a fox spirit before, Mimi thinks, stepping away from the water finally.
Mimi picks up another stick and puts it into the water, dragging it across the viscous fluid with disgust.
"Perhaps I should get this over with," Mimi thinks out loud before the clan leader gently pulls her away from the water as if she were some sort of wayward child.
"I will ask my uncle regarding this. But . . ."
Looking up from the water, Mimi looks at his face. It is quite flushed.
"But?"
"I would like to spend more time like this," he whispers, and Mimi wonders if becoming quiet and unfocused in the face of emotion is a family trait.
Deciding it is cute, Mimi steps away from the water. For now.
"To the dress shop?" he asks with a small smile.
Taking his offered arm, the two stroll through the town, garnering a lot of strange looks.
"You don't come into town very often," Mimi comments, watching a nearby woman nearly drop her jaw on the cobblestones.
"Not as often as I would like," he says guiltily.
He opens the door for her, and Mimi steps in immediately, smiling and bowing to the storekeeper.
"Hello, I am here to pick up a couple of dresses?" Mimi watches the storekeeper take in the clan leader as he stands beside Mimi comfortably.
"Of course, how are your little darlings?" the shopkeeper asks, darting into the back to fetch the dresses.
"Wonderful. They are taking to Cloud Recesses better than I expected. How is your husband?" Mimi asks, looking around the store.
"He is doing much better. Thank you for asking. I will send him your regards. He was just mentioning your adorable sisters the other day. 'I have never seen such well-behaved little girls,' he said." the storekeeper puts the dresses into a bag and sets them on the counter as Mimi pays her a little extra.
"I am very proud of them. I will be sure to bring them along with me next time," Mimi brags like a soccer mom, taking the bag and bowing.
"Please do—good tidings to you as well, Clan leader Gusu," the storekeeper bows.
Mimi is a little surprised when the clan leader takes the bag from her and opens the shop's door so she could walk in front of him.
"Would you like something to eat?" he asks suddenly, as Mimi is about to ask if he would like to return to Cloud Recesses.
That is until she spots the shave ice vendor, and all bets were off.
Lan Xichen notes the feral stare of the woman beside him at nearly the same time the grip on his arm increases exponentially. Like the princess and the god's song, he watches in amused fascination as the Lady Shen silently drags him over to the stall.
"Can we have three, please?" the clan leader wisely asks the vendor, already taking out his money purse.
"Of course, Clan leader Gusu," the vendor begins to grind the ice as Mimi shakes herself from her shave ice induced stupor.
"Why do we need three?" Mimi asks, stopping herself and her long fox tongue from lolling out of her mouth.
"Two for you, one for me. You seemed quite enchanted," he laughs merrily, putting the shave ice in her waiting claws.
She beams at him. Lan Xichen could not think of another descriptor. The fire Lady Shen is so fond of procuring almost shines from beneath her skin. Creating a pleasing glow of sugar delighted happiness. She nibbles at one shave ice and then the other, systematically devouring both cups at the same time. His own shave ice momentarily forgotten; Lan Xichen attempts to watch subtly. He had never been particularly fond of watching people eat. Had never considered it. Yet it delights Lan Xichen to no end, observing Lady Shen restraining herself from eating the entire shave ice in one bite. Watching her out of his peripheral vision as he waved at some villagers, he could see her taking much larger bites. Nearly wrapping her mouth around the top of the cone. He could glimpse her tongue licking at the sugar confection with almost near savagery. Yes. He would undoubtedly have to look into procuring one of these devices.