Wu and Dawn Star were no longer in Tien's Landing, said Darting Lynx. They left for the Imperial City just two days ago.
Just as Kia Min leaped to her feet to find a way there, nearly knocking over the cup of tea Darting Lynx ordered for her, Darting Lynx grabbed her arm and said gently but urgently, "They left by flyer. And it would take a whole season to get to the Imperial City by foot, and there are no ships in port right now. There is little point in leaving right this second."
"Yes, but..." Kia Min trailed off. But what? What could she do?
Darting Lynx smiled weakly. "I have it on good authority that a ship will arrive with supplies within the next couple of days. It'll head up north after; we can get passage with them. I'm going to need your help to do it, though."
Kia Min sighed. That could not be her only option. Surely if Wu and Dawn Star could have left by flyer, Kia Min could find a way to do the same. But... "My help? Why me, and what help do you want?"
"I wish it were a simple matter of silver," said Darting Lynx, "and that while Tien's Landing suffered a recession and I was stranded here, I could not make the money necessary to travel to my next destination. I am running low on my funds for food and lodging, but that is not the help I need. I want to get on that ship north. But the captain is notorious for not wanting performers as passengers. We're not exactly a lucrative bunch, you know."
"Performer?"
"I'm an acrobat." She grinned a proud grin. "I put on shows of feats of balance and precision, delicate routines to shock and amaze. I haven't put on any shows in Tien's Landing for some time, though, since I wound up stranded here and nobody was shocked and amazed by my feats anymore."
"But then, how did you manage to make enough to get by during your time here?" asked Kia Min. She glanced at her chair, but decided not to sit back down quite yet.
Darting Lynx laughed. "I do more than perform. I teach, too. Some of the sailors who were stranded here, before they became too disgruntled, were interested in learning new techniques for balance and speed. Your friend, the Lotus Blossom, she learned from me, too. Not to mention that I'm very frugal. I don't spend my silver unnecessarily. Which is easy when I don't make too much to begin with."
"So it is silver you're needing."
"No," said Darting Lynx. "I have enough saved up for a voyage to the next port. I'm running low on my money for food and lodging, but not travel. But the captain of this particular ship won't take a performer by herself. I need a patron, a sponsor, of sorts. And you look like a warrior; he wouldn't deny someone who could pin him to the plank in one fell swoop."
Kia Min nodded slowly. Her request was reasonable, and a journey on a ship would be her quickest bet unless she could find another flyer, and she had no idea how she was going to go about doing that. "Well, why not just look for another flyer? That'll get us out of here in no time."
"Flyers are expensive and rare," said Darting Lynx. "Only nobles have them. Nobles and--" She lowered her voice. "--Lotus Assassins. Not to mention wind maps are even harder to get."
"Wu did it," said Kia Min.
"Yes, but you know your friend is something unique. So are you, but not in the same way. Besides, I know how she went about getting everything she needed. She left for the pirates' lair by Ru's barge and returned in a glorious flyer, and Ru returned alone. She went into the Great Southern Forest and came out with a wind map stuffed into her pouch. The pirates are gone and I doubt there are anymore flyers there; and whatever she did to get the wind map doesn't need to be taken care of anymore."
So that was it, then. Unless she was really, really lucky, that boat was her only option. "You need my help," said Kia Min. "What do I get in return?"
Darting Lynx grinned toothily. "That's more like it. How about this--I can teach you some balancing and speed techniques for free. You won't be disappointed, I promise you."
That sounded fair, but there was more Kia Min wanted to know. "How about that, and you tell me why Wu and Dawn Star went to the Imperial City."
"I have to disappoint. I don't know why they went there. They never really told me. But they looked like two women on a mission, and the Lotus Blossom, I can tell, is going to be someone important. Minister Sheng left for the Imperial City right after they did. It wasn't too hard to figure out. Besides, all roads and all destinies lead to the Imperial City."
Kia Min froze. She remembered the last real conversation she had with Jing Woo before the casks fell and Two Rivers burned. He had said the same thing. "If Wu doesn't return before I graduate," he had said, "I'm going to the Imperial Arena and wait for her there. She'll wind up in the Imperial City, I know she will. After all, all destinies..."
She had gently laughed and nudged him with her elbow and accused him of being too much of a hopeless romantic. But now, she wondered: could there have been some truth to what he said? Was going to the Imperial City on an assumption worth the effort?
"So they do," she murmured. She slowly sat back down. "Alright, I'm going to trust you. And I'll help."
"Excellent!" said Darting Lynx as she clapped her hands. "To pass the time tomorrow, I'll teach you those techniques I was telling you about. In the meantime, you know what I'm doing here in Tien's Landing. I know what you're doing here in Tien's Landing. We really don't know much else about each other. I like to know my traveling companions."
"What do you want to know?"
"Why are you following the Lotus Blossom and her friends?"
"It's--" Kia Min hesitated. "It's a long story, really. But we were classmates. And you're right, she is on some sort of mission. I don't know what exactly, but it's important, and I... I want to help, however I can." She paused and spun her teacup in her hands. Should she...?
"That's noble," said Darting Lynx, impressed.
Kia Min nodded slowly. "Yes," she said. She should. "Would you happen to know anything about the Lotus Assassins that were around this area?" Or heaven forbid, still are.
Darting Lynx frowned. "Lotus Assassins?"
"Yes... a man from my town was here not too long ago, and that's how I knew to come here to find Wu and Dawn Star. He said something about the Lotus Assassins, and the dam and some ruins... would you happen to know anything about that? It would help me figure out what they're fighting, and why they're fighting them."
Darting Lynx shook her head. "Sorry, I don't know anything about the Lotus Assassins. I didn't even know they were here. Though that would explain why the Great Dam was suddenly opened and Minister Sheng was on edge since. Here, let me tell what I do know about Tien's Landing and your friends. Maybe that will help.
"My job often has me traveling across the countryside. Cityfolk tend to be less impressed with acrobatics than the country bumpkins. I came to Tien's Landing a couple of days before the Great Dam opened. It was a nice town, and I'm really happy to see it picking itself back up. The people didn't live in fear, and they were smiling more, and there were sailors here who had delivered supplies and were taking a longer time off than usual. A well-earned break, I overheard the captain say.
"I made a good amount of silver, and I was slated to stay in Tien's Landing for another couple of days when suddenly, the river... drained. It was the most bizzare thing. I didn't know what was going on at the time, but I soon found out. The sailors were stranded, and slowly the townspeople were falling into a panic. Minister Sheng was no help.
"Some people tried to leave Tien's Landing by foot, since water was no longer an option. But then rumors started to spread about people going missing, and soon those rumors weren't rumors anymore. Pirates, I would often hear. Pirates and slavers were running rampant just outside Tien's Landing. To leave would be selling yourself into forced labor. Not many would take their chances after that."
Kia Min breathed, "Slavers?" The customer in Hehua wasn't the only Lotus Assassin involved, then! Did the Lotus Assassins open the dam to drive the people of Tien's Landing into slavery?
Darting Lynx continued. "Lord Yun also made it clear that we couldn't get through the Great Southern Forest. Something about ghosts, I don't know. In short, anyone who was already here was staying, and anyone who wasn't already here wasn't coming. Until your friend showed up, and caused a bit of ruckus while she was here. Mostly good ruckus, I think, but she turned heads while she did it. She went into the ruins, and no one is really sure why or how, and by the end of the day the dam was closed, the sailors were gone, and the people remembered how to smile.
"She didn't stop there, though. One of the things that made her stand out was here incessantly asking for a wind map and a flyer. The pirates around here had them, so I saw her board Ru's barge to go upriver. According to two townspeople who had tried to flee Tien's Landing and were captured by the pirates, she cleared the pirates' lair and freed all the slaves who had been kept there. That's when she went into the Great Southern Forest, and when she came out, Lord Yun said something about the forest being safe for travel in a matter of days, and your friend, well, she left the next morning." Darting Lynx paused. "Did that help?"
Slaves and slave traders? Pirates? Open and safe travel? So that's what they were doing! Yes, yes, Kia Min knew now, she must catch up with them. Her chance encounter with Wayfarer Wei in the swamps, her being present at Yao Hong's capture of Little Qing, her survival of Two Rivers--this must really be her purpose, her, dare she believe it, destiny. This could not be a coincidence.
"Yes," said Kia Min softly. "Yes, it did. So, we leave for the Imperial City in two days?"
"Two days," said Darting Lynx. "It will take us about a week by boat to get to the closest port to the Imperial City. From there, flyers. I'm sure with your skills you could barter your way onto a nobleman's flyer and get to the Imperial City within half a day. If not, it'll be about a month on foot."
Kia Min nodded. "Don't worry," she said. "I'll get on a flyer. I'll find a way. And I'll get to the Imperial City, and I will find Wu, and Dawn Star. Otherwise, what am I living for?"