Shuzen's head whipped around, his sore muscles protesting the sharp movement, his hand instinctively closing around the hilt of his sword. The voice came from his immediate left, and it was startlingly close.

Seriously? He'd let someone sneak up on him again?

But there was nothing.

No one was there.

Of course. He had finally lost it. After days without proper food, constant exposure to the elements, a guilty conscience and fighting for his life, Shuzen was hallucinating. Maybe that dead girl was haunting him for not giving her any semblance of a funeral.

"Sorry..." The voice came again from above him, a little louder this time. "Um, look up."

He did. Perched within the magnolia tree's weaving branches like a frightened bird was a girl.

A survivor? Maybe. If so, he'd likely just stolen and destroyed some of her property. At least he could maintain his sanity that she wasn't a ghost. Catching himself daydreaming, he cursed inwardly and attempted to keep a neutral gaze as he fixed her with a suspicious look. It was entirely possible she had nothing to do with the massacred group an opportunist, scrutinizing him for weak points. Well, Shuzen was many things: hungry, tired, and flat broke, but he was not an easy mark.

Her next words came out in a rush, catching him off guard.

"If you promise you won't hurt me… I could show you where we camped last night! We had better food there a-and rice wine!" Her words spilled out frantically.

Did she not realize that's exactly the direction he came from?

This had to be some kind of scam, or worse, a trap. More bandits could be waiting in the wings, ready to ambush him the moment he let his guard down. He glanced to his right, scanning the path for movement, then to the left looking for any sign of an ambush before turning his gaze back to the tree and the person in it. The girl was small, her face pale beneath a smattering of freckles. While her robes were of finer material than what most commoners wore, they were filthy: torn in places and caked with mud. If she was posing as high society, she would have to try harder than that. He looked at her exposed skin; if she had a tattoo that matched the others', it certainly wasn't on her bare forearms or neck.

He should walk away. Best-case scenario, he'd avoid a brawl with whatever scummy lowlifes were lying in wait. Worst case, he'd have been a jerk to a scared kid in a tree. At least, he wouldn't need to explain to her he'd been looting her dead companions.

Although, he reasoned, maybe the man who'd been his escape opportunity earlier was from the same group and she was waiting for him to return. If that was the case, she'd be better off staying put.

If he were still alive.

Shuzen sighed. She was probably waiting for help that would never come. Not if Bozo... (seriously what was his name?) and his companions decided he was their next mark. Shuzen hadn't seen it, but he knew how these things worked. The branches quivered a bit as the girl shifted herself against the trunk as if she planned to be absorbed by it, drawing his immediate attention once more. She opened her mouth and a silent 'Okay?' seemed to form on her lips. She was probably put off by his silence, and he couldn't blame her. If she wasn't a con artist or a bandit, he probably looked terrifying. A bandit himself about to rob a civilian, and a helpless one at that.

His stomach twisted, gnawing at itself with a sensation heavier than simple hunger.

Screw it.

Scammer, bandit, lone survivor or whatever else she might be; he couldn't just walk away. Especially if she belonged to that dead traveling troupe. He'd have been the worst person in the wood to just leave her waiting for help that wasn't coming.

"As long as you're not planning to pull a weapon on me, you're safe." Shuzen replied, keeping his tone neutral, though his grip remained firm on the hilt of his sword. "If you're a civilian, I won't hurt you. You can come down."

The branches rustled as the girl shifted, peeking out further from her leafy refuge. She was even smaller than he'd originally thought, maybe 15 or 16 at most. Certainly didn't look like much of a fighter, but he had been raised to know better than to trust appearances. Especially a girl's.

She raised her only free hand slowly, palm facing outward. "Not yet. You have to promise." she demanded in a small voice.

Shuzen scrutinized her again, searching for any sign of deception. If she was as bad an improviser as the fools he'd encountered earlier, the truth would show itself soon enough. He wasn't sure what he would do if that were the case, though.

"I've actually already saw the camp," he said. Might as well be upfront with her if she was a survivor. Better she hear it now than notice him with it later. Holding up the bag he'd retrieved, he showed her his ill-gotten gains. "Sort of… I picked it over."

"Have you seen anyone— anyone alive… with tattoos?" She asked, her voice peaking a little. A sign that she wasn't an ambush, at least, but he wasn't convinced yet.

"A few corpses this morning a few miles back, didn't see if they all had one."

She nodded numbly, and he slumped mentally. Smooth Shuzen. Smooth. He tried to cover his lack of tact. "Can you tell me what happened there?"

She looked like she was withdrawing into the safety of the tree. "I-I don't know," she stammered, her eyes wide and tone shaky.

There it was. The clumsy performance of feigned innocence. Shuzen tried his best to fix his face into a look that didn't radiate disbelief.

"You don't know?" he prompted.

"It was too dark… happened too fast. Lishan told me to stay up here out of sight, so I did, while she ran for help, but she hasn't come back."

Maybe she was telling the truth, but the odds that this girl had survived the night unscathed by simply climbing a tree seemed absurdly slim. If the attackers were as relentless as the carnage indicated, she would have been an easy target.

Or she was a plant.

Once again, he carefully scanned his surroundings, eyes darting over every shadow, every rustling leaf. Still nothing.

"So you've been up there all night?" he pressed as he kept scanning, the doubt unmistakable in his tone.

She nodded, her face pale beneath the freckles, sweat sticking strands of hair to her forehead. Either this girl was a hide and seek champion or an incredibly dedicated liar.

Just not a convincing one, but for a meal, he was willing to take the risk of finding out which it was.

"For what it's worth, I haven't seen anyone threatening looking in hours," Shuzen called out, as he gestured to the empty road, "so it's safe to come down."

She didn't move. From her perch, she stared down at him like an owl.

He shut his eyes and breathed in. "Okay, okay. I promise I'm not going to hurt you." So long as you're not another bandit, he added mentally.

"R-right," the girl replied, though her tone wavered with uncertainty.

With a soft rustle, she began to navigate her way down to a lower branch, her movements slow and deliberate. She paused, her leg hanging halfway down to the next branch before she drew back up, perching like a bird again, unsure whether to take flight or stay hidden.

"You're not just saying that so I'll come down and you can rob me, are you?" She called down an ebb of suspicion in her tone as she clung tighter to the branch.

Really? She was laying it on thick now, overplaying the innocent act. Shuzen resisted the urge to roll his eyes again, already mentally preparing his critique of this half-baked scam once it fell apart. His gaze traced the length of the magnolia tree. Each branch was perfectly spaced, creating a natural staircase of wood and leaves.

"If I was planning to rob you, I'd probably just climb up and do it." He replied flatly.

"What if you can't climb?"

"What? I've got all four limbs and basic strength. I can climb." The nerve of this girl!

"Prove it then."

"Seriously?" Shuzen let out a slow breath, irritation simmering just beneath the surface. This was pointlessly easy, but if that's what she wanted, he would play along. He stepped toward the tree, muscles already tensing for the climb. He grabbed the first branch, but before he could reach up and grab the second, the girl scrambled higher, quicker than he thought possible. Her feet barely grazing the lower tiers before she found a higher perch.

"Wait!" she called, her voice more frantic now.

"Are you kidding me, what now?" Shuzen called, stopping mid-hoist.

"You're right. This is too easy a tree. Climb that one," she said, pointing toward a nearby sycamore. The trunk gleamed slick and wet, the bark stripped clean. The first branch hung high, far out of reach without a running leap.

Shuzen stared at the tree, frustration curling in his chest. He could turn away now, should turn away in fact, and leave her up there with her ridiculous demands. Why was he proving anything to someone who almost certainly at this point intended to do him harm?

But then, his stomach growled to answer for him; because he had used his lunch as a weapon instead of food, and she promised him more than bird feed, that's why.

Shuzen approached the sycamore with grim determination, his eyes narrowing at the sleek, slippery trunk. He flexed his fingers, feeling the tension in his hands, then crouched slightly, preparing to leap. The wet bark gleamed under the light, mocking him with its impossible smoothness. But there was no turning back now. Not with this girl watching.

He took a running start, his boots digging into the damp earth before he launched himself upward. His hands and feet moved with practiced precision and reflex as he caught the branch and pulled himself up.

Easy.

As a matter of fact, why stop there? He glared at the girl, and then up at the next branch. It wasn't so far… and just who was she to doubt him and put him through this nonsense? He might as well prove that point.

With a small jump, his outstretched hand grabbed the branch. Determined to make it to eye level with the girl, he recklessly moved up the tree for another branch or two. Then he came upon a deceptively slick branch. His fingers wrapped around it easily enough, his muscles strained, feet scrambling against the trunk for purchase. He got his left foot planted on the branch, and for a moment, he had it—his grip secure. A rare flicker of triumph ignited in his chest. His body coiled to pull himself higher, his other foot followed quickly, securing his stance.

Then he fell.

His foot slipped, skidding across the branch as if it were made of ice. His arms flailed, fingers desperately grasping at thin air. Time slowed as his balance gave way, and the world tilted beneath him. His stomach lurched as he lost all control, and gravity took hold. Shuzen felt each impact winding him as he nailed every branch he contemptuously climbed prior.

Shuzen slammed into the ground hard, the wind knocked out of him one last time as his back collided with an exposed root. Pain shot through his spine, sharp and unforgiving. He gasped for air, but none came. His vision blurred at the edges, the world around him reduced to a haze of green leaves and mocking tree branches.

Here lies Shuzen, killed by hubris and a sycamore tree.

A soft thud and careful footfalls echoed, the girl evidently having left her tree sanctuary. The girl's voice cut through the fog of his pain, closer now. "Sorry! I'm so sorry!"

He blinked, trying to steady his breath, his lungs still burning from the impact. His body felt heavy, every muscle tense and aching as he attempted to push himself up. He gave up after a second, content to just lie there and let her kill him so long as he didn't have to move again.

"I didn't think you'd actually do it! I—are you okay? Oh spirits, I'm so sorry!" She dropped to her knees beside him, her hands hovering over him as if she wanted to help but didn't know where to start. He got a better look at her now that she wasn't in a tree and realized his assessment had been hasty. She was young, but maybe closer to his age now that he saw her. She had a well-proportioned physique that emphasized her legs and lower body rather than her upper. No wonder she'd climbed so quickly; probably a good kicker. Large opal green eyes stared at him from under dark brown bangs and her mouth was a flurry of motion.

Shuzen groaned, both in exertion and at the idea that he'd been sizing her up. He forced himself to sit upright; the pain radiating through his ribs and spine. His chest heaved as he finally sucked in a ragged breath, his fingers digging into the damp soil for stability.

The girl continued to apologize, her words tumbling out in a frantic, breathless rush. "I didn't mean to—I was just—"

Shuzen raised a hand, signaling for her to stop, but she kept going, a waterfall of apologies, guilt written all over her freckled face.

"I really didn't think you'd fall! You seemed so strong when you jumped—"

Anything more she could have said was cut off as he reached over and gently closed her mouth mid stream. He knew there was a certain etiquette to these kinds of things, but his patience disagreed and won. He held her there for a second as he seized the silence to interject. "Stop, it's okay. I'm fine." It was a lie, but one she needed to hear.

She tried to reply, but it came out in a muffled garble before Shuzen remembered to pull his hand away and let go of her face. He raised a brow and gestured for her to try again.

"You're sure?" She managed softly. She looked like a baby bird, wide eyed and uncertain. Shuzen doubted she was a bandit, probably just another scavenger he'd spooked.

"I'm sure. Now can you tell me what you're doing out here?"

She seemed reluctant to answer, biting at the inside of her cheek for so long he didn't think she was going to say anything until she broke the silence suddenly. "We were going to Gaoling…" her shoulders heaved as she took a deep breath "- it was dark so I didn't see them— Lishan told me she'd find help and I heard…" She gestured to the corpse in the road.

Ah, still keeping this up? All right. In for a copper piece…

"I'm Vanda…Te family." she said, jolting him from his thoughts.

Right, he hadn't introduced himself yet. Even after possibly going through trauma, at least she remembered her manners. What was his excuse?

"I'm Shu-" He froze. There was no way that he could say something like that. She could be looking to turn in his bounty. He realized she was looking at him expectantly, and he scrambled to cover himself. "-I mean, I'm sure you did the best that you could…"

She didn't respond immediately, retreating into herself with her thoughts. He wanted to keep her talking, if only to be sure this wasn't a long con. He just needed a name. What was it that guy said?

'There's a million Lees out there.'

"I'm Lee, it's nice to meet you."