The right to ignore one's elders is a gift afforded only to the very young. -A saying from the Summoned Isle

Xinya scowled as she balled her fists in frustration. As the blue-silver light of Yoru's qi disappeared into the darkness beyond the inn door, she felt tears well up in her eyes. She blinked furiously, denying them any legitimacy. After all, there was work to be done, cultivator's work.

That's what she was, what she would be. The lightning within her heart churned at the sound of the screams beyond the relative safety of Half-Moon Harbor's broken and battered walls. People were being hurt, and it was a cultivator's duty to protect them. Those who can, must help those who cannot. That's what her father always said.

"Miss Ishida?" she asked cautiously. The apothecary was a skilled cultivator, this Xinya had seen first-hand only moments ago as the water-like qi of her core soothed her uncles' wounds, closing them before her very eyes. But, Xinya didn't yet know what kind of cultivator she was. Was she the active kind? One who would go out of her way to help others? Or was she more defensive? Preferring to take care of those in her care first and foremost.

"Yes, child?" the woman answered, her eyes still flicking from broken window to broken window for the next void spirit to try and gain entry.

"I know Uncle Yoru said to stay here," Xinya began, "but is there nothing we can do for those outside?"

Miss Ishida turned back, and Xinya noted a sad look in her eye. "Not right now."

Before she could elaborate further, a dense shadow crawled through the window next to Old Satoro's table. It shrieked, and Xinya covered her ears, though it did little to stop the noise. The sounds seemed to reach straight into her skull, driving nails of throbbing pain directly into her mind.

Ishida reacted. In the instant that the creature launched itself across the distance between them, her qi flared outward in a wave. The skin of her arms darkened and hardened, turning to bark as thorns grew impossibly fast across her arms. Her punch struck the void spirit clean across the head, or what Xinya assumed was its head, but before it could fly backward, the tree that had grown from the inn's counter almost to the ceiling flung a branch downward at the creature. The second blow slammed the monster clean into the ground. It howled as its qi burst apart, leaving tiny pockmarks in the floor.

Uncle Lin will probably have a small fit fixing the wood, Xinya thought. However, before she could think any further on the state of her uncles, another void spirit burst through another window. The tree branch that had destroyed the first attacker intercepted once more, only to be snapped in two. Ishida shouted a string of words Xinya had never heard before, but she recognized the tone as one of intense swearing, the kind she used to hear from frustrated fishermen back in Saikan.

"Stupid, thrice damned bastards!" she finished, sending out another wave of watery qi that seemed to accelerate the tree's growth once more. "I swear, if I ever get my hands on those absolute morons who supposedly protect this city from harm, I will hang them from the highest branch I can find and leave them to wither and die!" Another void spirit fell at her hand, only for another to take its place.

At first, Xinya watched the battle with interest, trying to at least say that she'd learned something from watching Ishida's unique style of combat, but then, a figure appeared in the corner of her eye. She turned, to see a woman just outside the window. The void wrapped around her, yet Xinya could see her clearly, even in the darkness.

Most importantly, Xinya could see that she was voidspawn, just like Uncle Yoru. Her dark hair was pulled back in a practical tail and pinned with a rather ordinary hair stick, yet it was pulled so tight that not a single hair was out of place. Her eyes were silver, surrounded by black, giving them the appearance of small moons in a dark night. And, those eyes were looking directly at her.

"Who are you?" Xinya called softly. This was not the first time the woman had appeared to her. Several times while the little girl had been sick, this strange woman had appeared at her side, watching over her. Then, when the battle had begun, the woman had appeared again, almost as if she were trying to warn everyone of the approaching attack.

Yet…nobody else had seen her.

"Keep your voice down. They'll find us!" Xiaolong hissed, but Xinya ignored him. The boy was scared, but she wasn't. Uncle Yoru would fix things. He always did.

The woman didn't answer. Xinya wasn't sure if she could even speak at all, since she'd never done so in the past. Instead, she beckoned to the girl.

"Uncle Yoru said to stay here," she said.

The woman rolled her eyes and gestured even more fervently. Then, she disappeared, walking down the alley beyond the window and out of Xinya's view.

She was meant to follow, but was that wise? Uncle Lin had given her his sternest glare when she'd protested the order to remain safely behind the counter. Uncle Yoru would certainly give her the telling off of a lifetime if she went out at a time like this.

Yet, if there was one thing that Xinya was not very good at, it was staying put.

Besides, the woman had tried to warn her about the Blackout. Surely that meant that she was on their side.

"What are you doing?!" Xiaolong hissed as Xinya raised her head to peek over the counter.

Ishida was still single-handedly fending off three shadowy dog creatures that snapped and barked at her. The cultivator was dodging and swiping at them with one technique after the next in a dance that reminded Xinya a bit of Queen Pollen's ethereal grace. With her busy, the way was clear…

"Stay here," she told Xiaolong. Then, without a second glance, she sprinted towards the broken window.

A flash of green darted in front of her, and Xinya pulled up short. Chiho furiously trilled a litany of high-pitched protests. She scowled at the pin. This was a dance they'd done many times before.

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"Chiho, you know I won't be stopped, not even by you," she stated forcefully. "It'll be a pain to keep me here, and you know it."

The pin drooped grumpily. It knew exactly where this was going. For a sentient object that lacked a brain of any kind, it was far more intelligent than most people.

"In fact, you know I could use a bit of help," Xinya continued. "After all, Uncle Yoru will be exceptionally upset with us both if I get eaten by void monsters out on the streets. And wouldn't it be more fun to be out there than cramped in a dusty old inn anyway?"

And there she had it. Hook, line, and sinker. Chiho spun around, trying to resist the chance to stretch its wings and do something truly wild. For all its desires to follow Yoru's orders, it was a free spirit at heart. A moment later, the pin flitted around, grousing in low trills as it began to tie Xinya's braids into a neat bun it could nestle into.

With her chaperone sorted, Xinya took off down the alley in the direction the woman had fled. The darkness was oppressive, but the thrill of adventure sent a shiver up Xinya's spine. This is what cultivators were meant to do. What's the point of having power if you can't use it to bend the rules in the name of the greater good? She wasn't achieving anything sitting around and waiting to be eaten by monsters. Better to take the fight where it could do the most good. Right now, the best lead on where she could actually make a difference was with the voidspawn woman. She looked both ways, and, seeing nothing, darted into the street.

A shadow creature growled from the darkness. Xinya's heart leapt into her throat. Uncle Yoru and Uncle Lin had struggled fighting the things that lurked in the dark…but surely all the monsters wouldn't be that strong?

"Nice void spirit," she muttered. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

She couldn't be sure, but this shadow did seem smaller than the one that had fought her uncles. That one had been the size of a cow. This one was a calf at best. Maybe it was a little one?

The void spirit lunged, hurling itself forward before Xinya could even fully register that it had done so. She raised her hands, calling on the qi inside her. Voilet lightning arced from her to the monster, illuminating its horrible form for Xinya to see in full detail. It was like a rabid dog, snarling with teeth that dripped with the void under eyes that shone red with pain and hatred.

Lightning scoured the creature, and it backed off, chittering with a sound that echoed in Xinya's skull until it was a mocking laugh. Xinya gritted her teeth. This thing barely considered her a worthy meal, let alone a worthy challenger.

Worthless disciple! Failed cultivator in service to a half-wit master! The voice of Madame Tenri, Uncle Lin's mother lanced across Xinya's mind from where it was pulled from her memory. Constantly kidnapped, constantly in danger!

"It was one time…" Xinya found herself answering. She'd only been kidnapped once, and at the time, she'd vowed never to let herself be made so helpless again. But…what was the point of such a vow if she hadn't actually made good on it? She was still weak, still helpless.

Xinya barely saw the void dog jump again, teeth bared. She raised her arm just in time to keep the hungry jaws from crushing her throat, but teeth sank into her arm. She gritted her teeth, desperate to keep her screams from joining those filling the night air.

"Miss Lang!"

"Di Xiaolong?"

A ball of iron the size of Xinya's fist and ablaze with brilliant golden flames rocketed from the darkness to slam into the void dog. The spirit growled and whimpered, but tightened its jaw, even as the flaming sphere lodged itself in the creature's side.

Siezing her chance, Xinya sent lightning coursing down her meridians and into the creature as it gripped her arm. The void spirit tensed, its beady eyes going wide as the lightning shot straight through between her and the metal ball in its side before sparking outward to every inch of its shadowed form.

More qi poured from her to her assailant until the combined light of the fire and lightning burned away the shadows surrounding them. The void spirit grunted, whimpered again, then burst into a shower of qi that burned slightly against Xinya's skin. The ball of fire floated before her before returning into the darkness where it came, illuminating Xiaolong as it came to rest in his hand.

"Xiaolong? What are you doing out here?"

Frankly, Xinya had expected him to stay cowering in the inn. Though she had spent much of her time in the Black City recovering from void fever, she had interacted with the boy a few times before she fell truly sick. He was reserved to an almost fearful degree, and Xinya had written him off as a boring kid who was wound tighter than the ponytail under his hat. After all, she would never have much fun with someone who never had a single hair out of place, nor a single spec of dirt on their clothes…unless that person was Uncle Yoru, whose cultivation techniques were on the level of legends and kept his person clean even after wading in the mud.

Yet, here stood the painfully well-mannered boy, coming to her rescue, even after they'd both been ordered to stay out of harm's way. She began revising her opinion of him…at least a little.

"I…I thought…it's just," he stammered. Xinya reconsidered her revisions to her opinion of him. He was clearly having a meltdown over a little rule-bending.

"Uncle Yoru never told me to stay there after he left," she told him. "He told Miss Ishida to take care of me there. He never said I had to remain there for her to take care of."

Xiaolong frowned at her. "You know that was implied."

"And what are you going to do about it? Drag me back?"

"You're bleeding, and we haven't even left the main street! What were you thinking!?"

"There's something I have to do," she explained.

"And what is that?"

Xinya paused. How could she tell him that she was following a mysterious woman no one else could see? Even as she thought about it in those terms, she started to question the wisdom of her decision. Was the woman just a figment of her imagination leftover from the fever?

"Xinya…" The voice sent a shockwave of familiarity quaking through her. She knew that voice, yet she didn't know from where…

The woman appeared, standing just behind Xiaolong, and Xinya knew that the voice belonged to her. It was as if she'd known it all her life, from a dream she couldn't quite remember. But, she did know without a doubt that she could trust that voice.

"I have to go somewhere," she explained to the boy next to her. "I just have to. I'll know what to do when I'm there." She fully expected him to try and stop her, to protest and drag her back to Miss Ishida's protection.

Xiaolong studied her carefully, his eyes flicking from fearful yellow to a concerned blue, then to a deeper shade of navy that Xinya didn't quite know what to make of. Then, he nodded.

"I suggest taking the rooftops, at least," he answered. "The spirits cluster near the ground where people gather, but they're less dense up high."

"I will, thank you." Xinya turned, taking several steps to the far side of the street. Xiaolong's footsteps followed her. "What are you doing?"

His eyes turned bright pink as he looked away. "I…I just…you're bleeding. Ishida might be mad that we left, but she'd be madder if I let you go alone." He bit his lip. "You…don't want to see her when she's mad. She might just feed me to the carnivorous plants."

Xinya stifled a laugh. "Well, if you're going to come, you can give me a boost to the rooftops, yeah?"

"Sure." He paused. "But, close your eyes first."

Xinya frowned, not sure what to expect, but soon did as she was told. What she did not expect was to be roughly yanked off the ground by the back of her collar a moment later. Hot air puffed across her collar as she yelped in surprise. In a fraction of the time it would have taken to climb up, her feet settled on roof tiles.

"We were in a hurry, yes?" Xiaolong asked.

Xinya opened her eyes but saw no sign of what had transported her away. She and Xiaolong were just…there, as if they'd just teleported on their own.

And ahead, the woman stood at the far end, waiting for them to follow.

"Uh, right?" Xinya said. "This way!"

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