Author's note: Dang, I've fallen behind. This chapter was a bit rushed (as I've completely run out of buffer), so I hope it's up to par. Anyway, it's a bit on the short side, but Hina does learn a few new things that I hope you will find interesting as well.
Chapter 13: Arrival
The forest they were travelling through became steadily darker and denser, but they ran into no further trouble on their way.
Kirin had offered the renegade gang member a place in the group, but after some deliberation, he had elected to strike off on his own.
Hina managed to glean a few more bits of information from various conversations along the way, to the effect that they were on their way to one of the group's larger bases, one they hadn't been to in a while, and that the bandits they'd defeated yesterday had been newcomers who simply chosen a bad place to make their stand, and that the group's usual pattern was to set up a more or less permanent base from which to send out smaller parties on different missions.
"You were lucky," said Aijou, the green-haired girl whom she had asked about it. "That's one of the few things that everyone goes to—we might not have found you otherwise."
She was a young one, though not quite as young as Koyu, and had a kind of cautious cheerfulness about her. Hina had wondered what her story was, and asked her how she had come to join the group.
The girl was quiet for a moment.
"That's…not something you'll want to directly ask anyone here," she said softly. "For a lot of us, it's a new start, so asking about that is kind of…frowned on. A lot of people only share the details of their stories with people they're really close to. I think Shizuku is the only one who knows Hyoujin's story…though she's not really shy about her own."
Hina had apologized for her unknowing breach of courtesy, and settled into a contemplative silence.
So that was why Kirin hadn't insisted on knowing her origins, why Shizuku had let her curiosity be known in a way that let her politely ignore it. She wondered, though, about the girl's comment about Shizuku and Hyoujin…they were really that close of friends? Aijou had made story-sharing seem like a really big deal.
She went over in her mind what she'd seen of their interactions, and then over what she knew of the sociology of this world. As she did, she came up with a rather disturbing option.
Were they, perhaps, a mated pair?
She knew people did that here, but still…a shudder ran down her spine as she thought through the implications of that.
No, best to simply go with the "very close friends" theory, and not think too hard about it. It definitely wasn't any of her business, whatever they were.
When they finally reached their destination, Hina almost didn't realize it at first.
They had come to the base of a hill that jutted sharply up out of the dense forest like a sentinel, but there wasn't really any clear place for them to be—not even an open space for the tents. The base of the hill itself—cliff, really—was overgrown with vines and gnarled trees, and it looked like it had been abandoned since the beginning of time.
Then Juhi stepped forward and placed his huge hands gently on the largest, most gnarled tree of them all.
As Hina watched, the tree seemed to shiver, and then it began to shrink, seeming to grow backwards through time until it was a sapling again.
In the newly exposed rock, a doorway yawned open.
Kirin saw her staring, and smiled at her. "One of the many benefits of having a plant-user on your side."
The base was much larger than she had expected. There were rooms carved into the rock, some even with well-hidden windows, and perfect steps and doorways carved into the stone. Hina could only assume that the rock had been shaped by an earth-user.
When she had a chance, she asked Hyoujin about it.
"Yeah, it was definitely an earth demon, but it was way before my time. Besides, I couldn't have done it. I'm too…conflicted…for that kind of power." He shook his head, and then offered, "Wanna see the rest of the place? I can give you the grand tour!"
He showed her the meeting rooms and sleeping quarters, the dining hall and the storage areas, and winding stairs that led to the lookout post in the top of the hill.
And— glory of glories—an indoor bath.
An underground river had been channeled through carved pools in the rock, with stairs leading down into the water.
"It's a little on the cool side—though you might not mind," he said, remembering her element. "Uh…the door locks like this," he said, showing her how to twist the knob.
The doors in this place were works of art. The rock-shaper must have worked together with a wood-shaper to make them—wood and stone wove seamlessly around each other to form the hinges, and each door had a different geometrical design etched on it, each more elaborate than the last.
Later on, Hina happened to meet Juhi coming out of the dining hall (he often acted as camp cook, and well as providing them with firewood when none was at hand), and asked him about them.
"Yes," he rumbled, "I made those. I make them still…every time we come here, I change them again." He demonstrated on the door to the dining hall, placing his great clawed hands against them and concentrating.
Hina watched in amazement as the lines in the wood shifted; some moving slightly, new ones being formed, others smoothing out into nothingness. The pattern grew infinitesimally more intricate, and then Juhi lifted his hand.
"It's beautiful," said Hina.
He bowed his head in acknowledgement.
"Has it taken you long?"
Juhi spread his hands, palm up.
"We have been coming here every few years for close to a hundred years. If that is long, then yes."
Hina nodded, and was silent for a moment.
"Do you ever work with turn symmetry?"
Juhi looked at her, not understanding, so she elaborated.
"All of your designs…they fold in on themselves. They are the same on either side of a straight line. Do you have any designs that stay the same around a single point, turning on a circle?"
Juhi's great ridged brows furrowed, trying to picture what she was saying.
"Like this."
Hina help up her hand and concentrated, calling up the image of a chimi plant.
In her palm, a miniature version of her favorite fruit appeared, carved in her ice, and then she made its spiraling, fractal leaves sprout up, curving protectively around it.
Juhi's eyes widened.
"This…is also beautiful. What is it?"
"A plant from my homeland." Hina had to swallow a pang of nostalgia. "It has a different kind of pattern."
Juhi considered it long and hard, resting his canine jaw on one palm.
"Yes…" he rumbled. "I see."
"You may have it, if you wish. It will last a while yet."
Juhi bowed his head. "Thank you."
Just then, Shizuku came around the corner.
"Oh, Hina!" she called. "There you are! Come on, let me show you your new room!"
Life in the cave was another set of major adjustments for Hina.
The colors had changed on her again—from the icy blues of her homeland, to the yellowish greens of the prairie, and now the hard greys of stone surrounded by the dark greens and browns of the forest.
The routines were completely different, too—much more down time, with chores mostly consisting of hunting parties (which she hadn't been on yet), and gathering food and firewood from the surrounding forest.
However, Hina didn't have long to settle in to the new location.
Only a few days later, Shizuku came to get her.
"Hina! Mission time!" She was practically bouncing with excitement.
"When?"
"We leave tomorrow, but Kirin wants us to come hear what it's about right now."
So Hina found herself in one of the rooms (for lack of a better term) near the entrance of the cave. The rest of the members of this smaller mission were already there: Kirin, Hyoujin, and three she hadn't gotten to know yet: a shadowy man with pure black skin with stark white markings; a tall, thin man whose dark hair was kept in a topknot; and a shorter, stockier man whose defining characteristic was his blank-looking white eyes.
When Kirin saw them arrive, he nodded and wasted no time in getting to the point.
"We've discovered a good haul just across the border, so we're going to take a small group and go for it."
"Buy or steal?" asked Hyoujin.
"Buy. The problem will be getting it across the border—Tourin's been cracking down on smugglers recently."
Hina's curiosity took the opportunity to temporarily overcome her inclination to silence.
"How do you know where the…haul…is?"
It was the man with the topknot who answered. "Yochi. She's a farseer—she keeps an eye out for certain things that are in high demand. In this case, dragon scales—very rare and valuable."
Hina didn't know who Yochi was, but she nodded her thanks and stayed quiet.
"Thank you, Soukan," said Kirin. "Now, if you'll all look here…"
He pulled out a map and showed them the proposed path, pointing out probable dangers and obstacles along the way.
"We leave on the morning. Be ready at daybreak."
Everyone nodded and left to get ready.
As she walked out, leaving Kirin and the topknot-man conversing in low voices, Hina couldn't help but feel just a twinge of excitement.
Was this another sign of trust?