Awaking just before dawn, the clan leader sluggishly rises to his feet. Truth be told, it was one of his better nights, he thinks. Completing his morning routine and sticking a mint leaf in his mouth to chew on, Lan Xichen finally tugs on the forehead band. Staring at himself in the mirror, he is reminded that today is the day that the Lady Shen must face the water demon. The idea of her facing that creature alone makes him shudder. He had not allowed himself to hope since meeting her. She is coldly brash but kind, intelligent, quite feral in her appearance, and extremely protective of her little sisters. His heart had never felt so confused since he had met Guangyao The tasks she needed to complete, Lan Xichen shakes his head, trying to physically dismantle the horrors he had seen within their shared memories. Only feeling the physical sensations and emotions secondhand, he could hardly imagine experiencing the full violence of her rage as she sees her littlest sister's hand sticking out of the pot as her brother fully prepares to cook her. That is before the Lady Shen mercilessly turns him into a koi.
He had held on to the little girls just a little tighter after he had seen their wraith-like forms within Shen Manor. These tasks that she needed to complete to aid her defeat of Lord Shen terrified him. Seeing Lady Shen on the infirmary floor, struggling to breathe as she bled out on to the floor, awakened something in him. He had made the promise never to allow her to hurt like that again. Sighing, he steps out the door. If she should fail, he thinks as cold hands grip his heart. He is the clan leader; he thinks he could make up another task. He could demand she remain. His uncle wanted him married. After all, it probably would not take much to convince him. Lan Xichen can already sense a headache coming along as he steps to the dormitories to make sure the children had awoken. Many years ago, he had begun this habit when it was agreed that his adopted nephew would join the dormitories with Lan Jingyi. There had been many more children than, he sighs. During his two years of mourning, it seemed as if his grief had forced an austere quietness on to Cloud Recesses. Each year fewer cultivators arrived for teaching, and fewer families sent their children. People did not want to stay.
Knocking on the door, he is greeted with silence. He knocks again. The boys were always so prompt. Deciding on going in anyway, Lan Xichen is startled to see that the children were not in their beds. In fact, it looked like the beds had not been slept in at all! Nor were they getting ready for breakfast, as was expected. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he reasons that the children might have beaten him to the dining hall. Lan Xichen regally strides quickly to the dining hall. The only people in attendance were his brother and uncle, who were already sipping tea. Panicking, Lan Xichen turns around only to see the two young cultivators beaming at him. He notes that they look incredibly well-rested.
"Good morning, Zewu-Jun!' the children say in almost unison.
"Children, why weren't you in the dormitories?" he asks calmly.
Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi look at each other, having not come up with a proper excuse.
"The Lady Shen said we were to stay in her residence last night," Lan Sizhui finally explains, "she said she did not want us to walk back to the dormitories in the dark."
"Why were you at her residence?" he asks, already calming down.
If the boys were simply staying at the Lady Shen's residence and not night hunting on their own as he had initially feared. They would have been entirely safe. Probably even spoiled, judging by the way the boys were behaving.
"We were studying with the young Lady Shen's and lost track of time," Lan Jingyi says, hiding his yawn behind his hand.
"I will be confirming this with Lady Shen. If she confirms your whereabouts, you will not be punished. Now go inside for breakfast."
The young cultivators scurry into the dining hall, and the clan leader follows soon after. He could already tell it would be quite an interesting day.
Settling down on to the grass to watch the daily cultivation lesson, Mimi is not surprised when the clan leader sits down next to her.
"Good morning, clan leader," Mimi bows, and he returns it, gently placing his hands on her own.
"Good morning, Lady Shen," he greets with a smile, and Mimi can tell he is mulling something over. Her suspicions are quickly confirmed when he says, "May I ask you something?"
"Of course, clan leader, is this about the task set for today?" she asks.
"No," he laughs, "but that is something I would like to discuss with you in detail. I was merely wondering if you were harboring the children in your residence last night?"
"Yes, they were," Mimi says apologetically, but she could see his relief, "They dropped by to study with the girls, and I didn't want them walking back in the dark."
"They have dormitories and can protect themselves," the clan leader argues weakly.
"They are children. They should not have to fight unless they need to. Besides," Mimi feels her face flush, "they were complaining . . . of loud noises."
"What sort of noises?" he asks, once again concerned and confused at the way the Lady Shen is blushing.
"Noises. From your brother's residence," she stares at him levelly.
"Ah, well, I will try and do something about this," Lan Xichen says, immediately knowing the reason, "Thank you for ensuring their safety."
"One does what one can," Mimi shrugs as the two cultivators' approach.
"Thank you again for allowing us to stay the night, Lady Shen," Lan Sizhui says, presenting her with a bouquet of wildflowers.
Beaming, Mimi replies, "You are so sweet. Thank you," and Lan Xichen kicks himself for not thinking of this himself.
Lan Jingyi comes up behind Lan Sizhui and holds up a river rock with a large hole in the middle.
"I found this while Sizhui was picking flowers. I thought it was cool and thought you might like it."
Mimi takes it politely, "Thank you for the thoughtful gift. Did you know that one can see hidden things through the hole of a river stone like this? In my land, they call these witches stones."
She holds it up so they both could see through it. Lan Xichen notes her small hand movement and watches as the children marvel at what they see through the stone before she tucks the stone in her sleeve.
She bows to the children, "Thank you both. These are lovely."
"Go warm up with the Lady Shens'," he instructs calmly, and the two cultivators join Chen and Dumplin.
"I wanted to talk with you about the task," Mimi says quietly, watching her sisters, "I wish to do it at night so as not to scare my sisters."
This does not sit well with the clan leader, "I don't believe this is wise. The spirits will be at their most difficult."
Mimi wants to ask if that would include her as well but doesn't, "I am aware. But for what I am planning, I do not want an audience. I am afraid for the townspeople."
"We have already warned them that someone from our clan will be arriving to remove the water demon. They know to stay inside."
"I believe that the spirits will be difficult either way," Mimi sighs, "they did attack us in the middle of the day."
"I only wish to assist in any way I can," the clan leader looks at her worryingly.
"Do you think I will not succeed?" she asks quietly.
"I . . . have every hope that you will succeed," the clan leader puts his hand upon hers, "I merely do not want to see you hurt."
"If I do it my way, I won't be," Mimi lies, and she knows he doesn't believe her.
"If you need assistance, please don't hesitate to send up a red flare," Lan Xichen doesn't like that it sounds like he is begging, "or return to Cloud Recesses. You may try again."
"How about when I complete it?" Mimi asks.
He smiles at her confidence, "Send up a white flare."
They sit in comfortable silence, and the clan leader wants more than anything to dissuade her. But the stubborn set in her eyes told him it would be pointless.
"I can send my brother and Master Wei to babysit if you like," the clan leader offers, knowing his brother had already anticipated this and had bought a startling array of toys for the children to play with at his residence.
"Are you sure? I don't want to be a bother," Mimi observes his expression curiously.
Lan Xichen could already picture the disgruntled look on his brother's face at missing an opportunity to babysit the Lady Shen's adorable little sisters once again. He had a strong suspicion that his brother and Master Wei would undoubtedly pop up and claim them anyway.
"Trust me, Lady Shen. It is no bother."
"I thought we were staying with Mameki?" Dumplin asks as they approach the cultivators' residence.
"I thought so too," Mimi says, remembering her conversation with the clan leader from earlier.
"But you aren't going to be alone, are you?" Chen asks worriedly, tugging at her sister's sleeve.
Mimi crouches down to her sister's level, "Your right, but don't tell HanGuang Jun and Master Wei that I am cheating. It is extremely foolish to send one person to kill such a creature. Our eldest sister has wanted an excuse to go after the water demon for years, and I am certainly not going to deny her help."
"What about Daiyu?" Dumplin asks.
"Daiyu is . . . supervising, apparently," not quite sure what her sister in law would contribute.
"Now Chen," Mimi looks over her sister, "We will be using fox music for this task. If you hear it, you may be tempted to leave and follow us. I don't want either of you to potentially be in danger since I am sure Qiaolian and I will be very distracted tonight. I don't think you will hear it, but just in case," Mimi offers her some makeshift earplugs for both her and Dumplin.
"You'll be okay, won't you?" Dumplin asks, her large eyes worried.
"I am sure I will be fine," Mimi nuzzles her nose and then Chen's, "though I am slightly offended by the implication you aren't worried about Qiaolian."
"Qiaolian is the Golden Phoenix," Chen says this as if it is blatantly apparent.
"Alright, I have to meet them in half an hour. Come along, cubs," Mimi picks up Dumplin, who coils her little fingers around Mimi's hair as Chen grabs on to her hand.
The sisters stop at a lovely building near Lord Qiren's private residence and the dormitories. Remembering the reason for why Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi had escaped to her home on the other side of Cloud Recesses last night, Mimi begins to re-think this decision.
"I hope this is the right one," Mimi says to her sisters. Maybe Lord Qiren would be an interesting babysitter.
Before she can knock, Lan Zhan is already sliding the door open and greeting her with a bow. Dumplin is already wriggling in her grasp, so Mimi sets her down on the ground.
"Hey Uncle Wanji," she says adorably, waving at him with a chubby hand.
A little smile appears on his face, and Mimi could swear he greets her with the word, "Dumplin," he nods at Chen with the same small smile.
"Good evening, HanGuang Jun. Thank you for agreeing to babysit. The clan leader said it was alright for during the task," Mimi says.
"It is no trouble," Lan Zhan intones softly.
"What do you mean trouble?" Master Wei pops his head out suddenly from behind the clan leader's brother, "Lan Zhan has been planning this for weeks."
Raising an eyebrow, Mimi says, "I was only told of this today."
The black cultivator's mouth is suddenly sealed shut, and Mimi marvels at it, "That is a handy trick."
Momentarily distracted, Mimi turns to her siblings, "Okay, I want you little ladies to behave yourselves for HanGuang Jun and Master Wei. I have to go kick a certain water demon's butt."
Her sisters giggle at this and hug their sister firmly. Mimi kisses them repeatedly before letting them go.
"HanGuang Jun, may I talk to you privately for a moment?" Mimi asks, watching her sisters be led into the residence by Master Wei, who still had his mouth sealed shut.
"En."
The white-cloaked cultivator closes the door behind him, and he guides her towards an impressive rabbit warren. Mimi doesn't get too close, knowing the bunnies would bolt as soon as they caught the scent of a fox.
"HanGuang Jun. I will be using a traditional set of instruments for the task tonight. I thought that you should know that . . . my sisters may be drawn to the sound. I gave Chen a set of earplugs just in case."
"Instruments?" he asks curiously.
"Very special instruments made by the Shen clan. You would not have seen them before," Mimi awkwardly steps away as the bunnies curiously draw closer to her.
"Umm," thinking of Chen's recent chicken snatching adventures, Mimi adds, "my sisters are also kind of rough with small animals. Umm, Chen is a sleepwalker and likes to take things. Dumplin sometimes likes to sleep in closets and cupboards. If she isn't in her bed, she may be tucked into a small space."
The white-cloaked cultivator is unruffled. He simply nods, acquiescing.
"When would you like to me pick up the cubs?" Mimi asks, "I think the task will only take a couple of hours."
Raising an eyebrow at this, Lan Zhan says, "Xichen said tonight and tomorrow?"
Mimi chuckles, "To give me time to recover?"
Lan Zhan slowly nods.
"Do you mind if I ask the girls? I wouldn't want to leave them without notice," Mimi says.
Nodding approvingly at this, Lan Zhan leads her into the residence where Master Wei is chattering pleasantly to her little sisters. Mimi relaxes a bit more at the sight of them laughing at him.
"Cubs? Can I talk to you for a moment?" Mimi asks, and her sisters run over to her.
Lan Zhan guides his cultivation partner into the other room. Mimi could swear she smelt bacon.
"HanGuang Jun, are you cooking?" she asks quickly, once again, fearing for her sister's wellbeing.
"He wouldn't let me near the kitchen!" Master Wei complains from the other room, and Mimi sighs in relief.
"HanGuang Jun told me he was expecting you two to stay until tomorrow. Is that okay?"
Both Chen and Dumplin nod excitedly, and Mimi nuzzles their noses, "We'll have to do something fun after this is all over with. I'll send over some extra clothes."
"Be safe," Dumplin hugs her around the waist.
Chen also hugs her, and Mimi presses her face in her hair, trying to remember their distinctive fox cub smell. To her, they both had a kind of puppy smell.
"Alright, as I said, behave. I already miss you two," Mimi finally stands and says to the door,
"Alright, I am heading out. I will send some extra clothes. I'll pick them up later tomorrow."
The two cultivators step out of the room and bow to her.
Master Wei says, "Don't worry, Lady Shen, we'll take good care of the little Shens'. We've been looking forward to it. Besides, Zewu-Jun said multiple times he would check on us. But I think he wants to babysit too," Master Wei gently ruffles Dumplin's hair.
Lan Zhan nods his agreement.
Feeling more comfortable leaving her cubs there for the night, Mimi leaves the residence and uses shadows to get to the border. Carving a message into the tree, Mimi steps over the territory line and is soon enveloped in a hug by her eldest sister.
"Hey, Qiaolian," Mimi says dryly as her sister's chest nearly suffocates her.
Smacking her wife in the shoulder, Daiyu envelops Mimi in a less hostile sort of hug.
"Are we ready?" Mimi asks.
Qiaolian is practically vibrating with excitement and fist punching the air like a frat boy, "I am so ready. I have wanted to kill this thing for decades!"
"Why didn't you?" Mimi asks as she carefully extricates herself from Daiyu's many arms.
"It would have looked strange if suddenly an all-powerful water demon just explodes," Qiaolian grins, and Mimi wonders if she should have warned the clan leader to not worry about small mushroom clouds coming from town.
Under the cloak of darkness, Mimi, Daiyu, and Qiaolian sneak into the town, and after making sure the streets were deserted, seal all the doors and windows of the villagers. Qiaolian casts her golden claws above her and begins casting an intricate kitsune illusion. Fog spills like water from her claws and swiftly maneuvers through the streets, giving them excellent cover for what they are about to do.
"You need to teach me that," Mimi grins at her sister's powerful magic.
"Of course, cub. I'll teach you," Qiaolian beams at her, her golden light-shielded in the fog.
Mimi feels a strange sense of deja vu but ignores it to better understand what Daiyu is doing. While she and Qiaolian were busy covering their asses if they were spotted for whatever reason, Daiyu began messing with a large mesh of silk.
"Oh love, you make the best nets," Qiaolian gushes as she sits down next to the jorogumo, her tails wagging like a giant lap dog.
"Why did you make a net?" Mimi asks curiously.
"While your sister was scouting out the town, I measured the length of the lake," Daiyu brags and shows Mimi the giant net, "I am not taking the chance of us potentially driving it to a different location."
"You are going to catch it in a net?" Mimi asks with a chuckle.
Daiyu answers with a simple yes as she heads in the lake's direction with her long net.
"I've seen members of her clan catch elephants with one of those things," Qiaolian says wryly, and Mimi about falls over as she imagines several petite women hauling away an elephant caught in a spider web.
"Okay, let's get started," Mimi stretches her arms overhead and then bends forward to touch her toes.
Summoning about ten or so balls of foxfire, Mimi sets them adrift in the air. Removing her heavy skirts for the trousers she had underneath that allowed her tails to breathe, Mimi shoves her hair into a tight bun and then removes her shoes.
Taking a deep breath, Mimi steps atop the water. The air around her, keeping her safe as she took a couple more cautious steps before looking for Qiaolian. When she finally spots the other kitsune, she wishes she had been devoured by the water demon that day on the boats.
"Qiaolian," Mimi hisses, immediately averting her eyes, "Why the hell are you naked?!"
"Letting the skin breathe," Qiaolian sways back and forth within the fog, her hundreds of tails casting strange shadows in the mist.
"We are about to fight a water demon!" Mimi growls.
"I know, and I am going to attract a demon," Qiaolian grins in a very foxish way before her foxfire begins to sing.
Rolling her eyes and muttering about kitsune stereotypes, Mimi watches as her sister begins a strange interpretative dance, her fox tails taking turns grazing the water. The water beneath their feet begins to writhe, and Mimi jumps as a water spirit rises from the depths and touches her leg. Mimi strikes it with a ball of foxfire. Continuing to summon foxfire, Mimi allows the balls to caress the lake's surface like little lures. The numerous spirits in the lake, evidentially never seeing fox fire before, gravitated towards the golden orbs like moths to an electric bug zapper. The foxfire buzzed and sizzled as the water spirits struck the golden glow. Surrounding herself with foxfire, Mimi runs across the lake, antagonizing the spirits further.
"You tried to kill my sister, you bastards," Mimi hisses as twelve water spirits struck her foxfire, sizzling into ash.
The water becomes extremely choppy as the water begins to froth, and Mimi could see a pair of red eyes peering out from the deep waters. Qiaolian continues to move to the fox music, her feet and hands making strange symbols in the air and the water. When the red eyes get closer, Qiaolian summons her bow and strike a flaming arrow between its eyes. Both kitsunes leap out of the way as the water demon rises from the depths. A mass of kelp and bone revealing dark red eyes that glowed within its depths. Continuing to fire arrows, Qiaolian growls at the water demon, her hair floating behind her like a golden aura. Mimi strikes the water demon with her foxfire, but the fire flickers against its watery maw. Choosing a different tact, Mimi uses her claws to grab onto the air to strike the creature with a kick. The water demon absorbs her kick. Flipping in the air, Mimi digs one of her claws into the demon's side and summons her foxfire.
The creature cries out in pain, and Mimi shouts, "Qiaolian, do your impression of the sun!"
"What?" Qiaolian cries from the other side.
Yelping as a shooting pain crosses her shoulders from the kelp latching on to her, Mimi burns it off.
Wincing at the blood that soon stained her robes, Mimi yells, "Sun!"
Trying to heal herself, Mimi realizes her foxfire refused to cure it. A bloodcurdling war cry arises from their left. Mimi leaps out of the way as a line of sticky silk strikes the water demon. The silk holds fast, and the water demon is yanked in that direction.
The creature struggles against its bindings as Daiyu, from the bank uses her silk-like lasso. An idea suddenly occurring to her, Mimi races across the water to Daiyu.
"Get on my back. I can get you a better angle," Mimi says as Daiyu quickly looks her over before leaping on to her back.
Summoning her foxfire together, Mimi leaps up on to the fire column and hovers above the water demon. The spider legs wrap around her waist, and Mimi fights down the urge to cringe as she feels the jorogumo's mandibles click behind her neck.
"Can you sit on my shoulders?" Mimi asks, grunting at the unexpected heaviness of the spider woman.
"I can try," Daiyu climbs up her sister's in law's back and instantly freezes, "Your bleeding, a lot."
"Just ignore it," Mimi hisses as she struggles to support her sister in law's weight, "if you wrap the demon, I can try and lift it. Without the water, it won't be able to fight back."
As Qiaolian continues to merrily prance around, firing arrows and further antagonizing the water demon into rising entirely from the depths, Daiyu continues to produce her silk, tossing the sticky substance around the water demon until it could no longer move freely.
Propping her leg up on her foxfire Mimi uses it as leverage to reach out and grab one end of the silk and begins to pull. The water demon writhes in its cocoon. Slowly, Mimi is able to remove the beast out of the water entirely. Her claws bit into the silk, holding it firm. Muscles crying out in pain, Mimi knew she would not be able to hold it forever.
"Qiaolian!" Mimi shouts down to her, "I bet you can't outshine the sun!"
She could hear her sister's growls as the challenge finally reaches her. A blinding light envelops the entire lake like a nuclear explosion. Daiyu buries her face in the back of Mimi's tunic. Mimi screams as the water demon pulls on the silk, struggling to free itself as the elder fox spirit continued to shine with the light of a dying star. The water demon began to burn. Mimi knew that the violent eldritch scream of the water demon would haunt her dreams for months to come.
Eventually, the weight began to lessen on the silk, but Mimi did not let it go. As the light starts to fade, Mimi and Daiyu steal a glance at the bottom of the silk. There is nothing left but the still burning scorched demon meat and burnt kelp.
"And you said I couldn't outshine the sun," Qiaolian shouts from beneath them.
"Yes, you are annoyingly bright, mongrel," Daiyu shouts back and tugs at Mimi.
"Ugh, did we get it?" Mimi groans as she pulls up the silk, bundles it into a neat pile, and handing it to Daiyu, who quickly gets off her back.
Mimi lowers them to the ground and promptly falls on to the earth, squinting at the stars above her.
"Okay, love, let's get you stitched up," Daiyu says before bellowing at Qiaolian.
Still naked, Qiaolian pops up within Mimi's periphery. Weakly waving her hand, Mimi throws a robe over her.
"Ohh, thanks, cub," Qiaolian beams at her, "I totally forgot."
Producing a long-suffering sigh, Daiyu pulls off Mimi's robe to show her shoulders.
"Did we do it?" Mimi asks, looking at Qiaolian.
"We still have to bless the lake, but other than that, yeah, stupid water demon couldn't stand a bit of sunlight and burnt up," Qiaolian seems almost put out as if her new toy was taken away too soon.
Pressing her long fingers to Mimi's shoulders, she sucks in a breath at the sight of the wound, "You were bitten."
"I tried to heal it," Mimi gripes as Daiyu begins to clean the wounds.
"Ohh cub, neither of us can heal this. It must heal on its own. Demon bites are touchy when it comes to magic. But at least it's stopped bleeding," Qiaolian explains as Daiyu gives her a dirty look.
"Just peachy," Mimi sighs as she sits up to look at the water.
The water is covered with burnt pieces of kelp, but already it seemed more peaceful than before.
Allowing Daiyu to bind her silk in a makeshift bandage over her shoulders, Mimi casts several purifying sigils over the water.
"Oh, Daiyu, we didn't get to use your net," Mimi remembers looking back at the jorogumo who neatly ties off the spider silk bandages.
"I wouldn't say that," Daiyu grins as she pats Mimi's knee and meanders down the bank until she reaches the mouth of the river.
Resembling an expert fisherwoman, Daiyu drags her net onto the bank, revealing the remainder of the water spirits that had attempted to escape. The creatures jostle together like clusters of strange fish.
"Whoohoo! Go, wife!" Qiaolian beams lovingly at the jorogumo, who rolls her eyes.
"I would have liked to catch something a bit larger," Daiyu sulks, "but I think it worked rather well."
"I will get in your net anytime," Qiaolian wags her tails at the jorogumo, who gives her a sly wink.
"Okay, are we done now?" Mimi feels a headache coming on as she watches the two spirits
"I'm not even tired. I could easily go another round," Qiaolian waves her claws over the water and cleans up the remainder of the kelp and viscous fluid, only leaving fresh mountain water.
"Easy for you to say," Mimi pokes at her arms and winces at the residual soreness.
"Why don't we drop you off at the border?" Qiaolian says, her voice concerned, "do you think you can make it to your residence from there?"
"Yeah," Mimi lifts her hand and releases a spiral of foxfire into the sky.
As the trio watches the white Gusu sect symbol appears in the sky, feeling embarrassed, Mimi painfully shrugs, "I promised the clan leader I would."
"You two are very cute," Daiyu chuckles, and Qiaolian leads them both into the shadows.