Oh neat! Oh goshies! Oh... wow. That's a lot of people! Oh no! Oh no, oh no, that's so many people! There must be at least, uh... (numbers, numbers) forty people here! Oh no! That's so many, that's too many, that's... that's even more than her village had in it when they did anime night! Meep!

Yue spins in a cirlce three times before she's able to stop herself. H'okay Yue, deep breaths. When you're nervous you take deep brea-- ooh wow this works even better than usual through this big wet silly nose of hers! So many cool smells, that's, oooh goshies is that popcorn? Can she have some? Can she-- wait wait wait, there's a duel here. Her duel! Her very first duel! Her very first duel in front of forty whole entire deep breaths, Yue. Deeeeeeeep breaths.

Oh. Um. Okay. She's, um, supposed to salute? Hrm. How is she? Er? Th-they never covered this in practice. Gosh. Well, uh, if she still had hands she'd lift her sword up to the sky, probably? Or... oh, no no no when Hyra was leading the other day she held it out para...ways to the ground and did a bow. So that! That! But it's hard to, hmmmm. Well, actually, with the blade in her mouth like this she's kinda already holding it right, y'know? Easy, then! She dips her head down to the ground in her bestest, most wolfful bow she can manage and holds it for three... two... one... and up! Good girl! She wags her tail and waves with her paw, wiggling like a sillyhead to show Tianic she's friendly.

Goshies, wow. A big city squire! That means she's got a real actual honest-to-goodness knight teaching her, right? She must be amazing! Even if she does smell like this is her first-ever duel, too. They've got that in common! She really wishes she could say something about it, but even if Hyra had figured out a speech spell in time her mouth's kinda full of sword right now. What a shame. Someone's gotta tell this girl how pretty she is. Especially her skin, which is so rich and smooth and tantalizingly dark that she must have taken, like, at least three baths at some point to get it so nice and touchable looking. But especially those shining green eyes! Oh, they're like jewels, they are. Glittering emeralds all full of life and fire and battle spirit! And y'know what? She's also got a real cute face. It's all soft and rounded in that way that makes her look super touchable and says she's living a good life with three straight meals and no need to worry about where they're coming from or what it's gonna take to gather 'em. That's nice. It's real nice. Gosh, she wishes she could tell her.

B-but there's no time for that now! The duel is not about noticing how your opponent is a cute and pretty knight-in-training (with an awesome giant sword)! The duel is about the duel. Which is to say it's about fightin'. Ya don't get to be a master swordswoman slash tea brewer slash herbalist slash magically transformed animal girl if you let yourself go and forget that, and don't make any mistake about that. So plant your feet, Yue! Which is to say your paws! All four of 'em, that's it! And dig in, 'cause this is gonna be tough!

It feels so nice to run. Yue may not be much of one for good swordplay, and she doesn't have her dress to tug her through the forms and whisper suggestions in the middle of a fight the way she'd kinda gotten used to, and she definitely doesn't have the range or height advantage here (that's a thing, right? Somethin' about zones?), but she is good at run. Her current body's made for it, and it's what she does. She sprints across the arena with joyful bounds that carry her straight at her opponent like a bolt of furry lightning.

It's not what she learned in all those practice fights. Sorry, Hyra. You can be disappointed at her all you want, later. Call her a bad girl and boop her nose as much as you want, sh-she can take it! It's just, well, um. Y'know, it's that while she was doin' all that bowin' and admirin' got her thinkin', too. And, like, Tianic's a squire, right? A squire! And that's way more than a cool title that makes her much farther along the road to being a knight than Yue is, especially since she's still not sure that's quite what she's aiming for. The more important thing's that she's got a proper Knight lookin' out for her, doesn't she? She's got a Hyra too. Or, well, maybe not quite anything that nice, but someone takin' care of her. Someone who probably was watching the wolf learn to run around outside the castle, and made Tianic practice fighting fast things that'd move in big zippy circles around her guard. She'd've been practicing too, see?

And that's why she goes straight in. That's why she leaps like she's trying to end this in a single hammer blow. It's all about respect, right? It's all about givin' your very best shot right at the start, while still secretly holding back your Secret Techniques until things get real spicy-like. She's seen the stories, she knows what's what! It's 'cause she has to see what the real version of her opponent is like after all the training she did to chase her dreams.

Come on, Squire Tianic of the Sky Castle! It's go time, let's have fun! Come on girl, catch the stick!

Princess Chen is enraptured. There is no other word for it. Jessic has shown her something beautiful. And not just beautiful, but focused, niche, special. That people had these stories in their hearts, such specific people doing such absurd and specific things. Of course, she had known, that was after all how so many different princesses had their sunshards. But, she had understood this sort of vision only with her mind, not with her heart. Honestly, she hadn’t even really understood with her mind. When your main points of personal experience were Qiu, Yin, and your parents training you, it didn’t exactly make the idea of this kind of story enticing.

Imagine, if you will, growing up and thinking to yourself, in a world full of magic, “my job is to keep everything just as it is” and practicing with the sword for such a purpose. There is still wonder, so many things to discover, but there is no drive there, only a sort of fear and a forgetfulness of the self.

So Chen is enraptured. She can’t tear herself away from these stories that match the ideas budding in her heart. But even as they end, she finds her mind carrying them on. She finds herself daydreaming during breaks, imagining during meals, and dreaming to herself of fantasies at night. She dreams not of the sort of force that Yin creates, or even the wild and free plains that Jezara has worked, but of something different, of cities filled with people who can change their shape at will, of sword flying with little wind leopards and being carried about by a Rose in full throated joy of herself, and a place where everyone can have a companion of any sort they wish.

It is not that she has convinced anyone of her vision yet, or suddenly escaped the dreams of every other person in her life. But as days pass, there is a new sort of conviction forming about what Chen wants in the world, one that might carry her against the pressures she faces. An underlying dream that suffuses her as she blinks in the sunlight of the sky castle, dazed and happy in a way she had quite nearly forgotten she could feel.

Oh, gosh! Goshies! She’s— she’s in charge of— it’s her responsibility to decide what should happen to Cyanis? That’s a whole lot of responsibility!

Okay, what sort of perfect punishment would be just right for Cyanis? Think, Rosie, think! Something that would make her feel so special and safe and ready to obey. Something that would make her feel just like you, Rose!

“She should... have to entertain Princess Jessic,” Rose says. It’s perfect! Imagine Cyanis, in just the cutest of outfits, chained to a mighty dragoness’s paw, asked to lift spirits and bring smiles and tell stories! Oh, oh, that’s important. “And, and she won’t be allowed to go until she’s told Jessic a better story than anything she’s ever heard! And her royal title will be the Court Cutie! And—“

Wait, Rose! How can she be so mean to Cyanis? Rose can see her so vividly, eyes full of betrayal, pleading desperately for Rose to go along with her story. And isn’t that what foxes want? They want to tell stories so clever that everybody else dances along to them! And, sure, yes, she did need to answer the Countess honestly, but... but doesn’t Cyanis deserve someone who does her best for her, too?

“B-but,” Rose continues, “whatever she deserves... I deserve a lot worse.” Some strange feeling is roiling deep inside her. Like... it’s right. For silly, useless, weak Rose to protect somebody else however she can. “Because she’s telling the truth! I’m a muh... I’m a muh...”

The words clog in her throat and she tears up. She’s found something she can’t say. Something that’s worse than spankies. If she says those words they’ll eat her all up just like a monster, a real real monster.

“I’m a bad girl,” Rose manages to squeeze out. “I’m really, really good at lies. And duplicating. And everything else that Cyanis said, because really she is a good girl.”

Really, the best punishment for Cyanis would be to make her come in here and look at the absolutely miserable expression on Rose’s face as she tries as hard as she can to internalize everything her friend said about her. Because she’s agreeable and helpful and trying her very best to distract the Countess with someone who much, much more needs punishment, right? Look at her, she’s obviously been plotting the downfall of the entire sky kingdom this entire time! And the only reason that it’s still up in the sky must be that she’s...

She’s bad at being a bad girl.

Chen!

+I kind of think you can't have dreams without studying the dreams of other people,+ thought Jessic in the cold light of one early morning, breathing in the steam of her hot chocolate. +In a way, I don't think you can even be a proper person without it. Civilization is dreams layered on top of dreams going back thousands of years, and it's an inheritance and a treasure. This is a world with demons and machines and dragons,+ she ruffled her wings, +but all of them become human when they decide to lay claim to that inheritance of human stories. The more steeped in that tradition they become the better they are able to contribute to it, and when they do they're enriching humanity as a whole. That's what I think a Princess is, Chen... it's about being an artist, and part of being an artist is studying art.+

Rose!

The Countess snaps her fingers, and immediately her handmaidens are by her side. She turns away from Rose to single handmaiden Thian out.

"You," said the Countess to Thian, "have failed me. I instructed you to train this girl properly, and here she is calling me a liar. Here she is contradicting me. Here she is, so uncertain in herself that she is rating the words of a fox above mine."

She gestured again, imperious. Her will was clear - and in moments, Rose was unchained from the wall and Thian was bound and gagged in her place, blushing and squirming as it was always a handmaiden's right to do.

"It seems as though I have to take care of this personally," said Countess Keron with a sigh. She held out her right hand and without speaking her handmaidens knew to place her armoured metal gauntlet upon it, pulling the straps tight. The Countess flexed her fingers experimentally - and then grabbed Rose by the throat and lifted her off the floor and pushed her firmly against the wall. Little crackles of electricity ran through that gauntlet, causing sharp little jolts of static force to play across Rose's skin and through her hair.

"Listen to me," she said. "You are a bad girl when your mistress says so. You are a good girl when your mistress says so. You only have one job and it is to serve your mistress. If you are such a scatterbrained little mess that any passing fox can usurp your mistress' authority then she hasn't made herself clear. Your mistress commands your obedience not because she is strong, for she knows that you could overcome her in battle if you so chose. She does not command your obedience with code phrases or mind control or threats, those simply paper over weaknesses. Your mistress commands your obedience because she is correct. She knows your place and she knows hers. You serve because it is the right thing to do, for you and for her. And the definition of being a bad girl is someone who acts incorrectly, such as by serving unworthy mistresses. Am I clear?"

Yue!

It turns out that there's one thing harder than training to fight as a wolf: training to fight against a wolf. When a big canine sprints across the battlefield right in a devastatingly straight line and your instincts are torn between 'what a cute doggo!' and 'run for it!!', knowing what to do with a blade is less important than having experience with dogs. And you learn something from that as well, Yue - decisiveness is more important than opposable thumbs.

You bowl her over before she works through her lizard brain instincts, and before you know what's happening a bell has been rung and there's a round of applause from the stands and someone on the side unfurls a banner underneath your name with a score of 1 - the first round to you. Are there rounds? Hyra didn't say - maybe she didn't know the Sky Castle rules, maybe she didn't think it was important. But it seems the right thing in the circumstances to let Tianic get to her feet sporting a massive blush and brushing sand out of her battle dress. When she sets herself again it's with a fierce determination, the sting of humiliation cutting through the fog of her nerves. T-that was a fluke, you can almost hear her telling herself. Get it together!

This time when she sets her stance she's filled with a maiden's determination. This time will be a real fight. She has someone she can't let down too.

[Roll to Fight!]

K-keep it together, Yue! It wasn't a fluke, it wasn't a fluke! You can do this, ok?

But it's never that simple, is it? You can't do a thing, succeed so surprisingly, and just... do it again. Not when you don't really know what you did in the first place! Not when you're so flustershaken nervous that you can only sorta remember how it felt when you were there in the middle of the motion and all. It's the problem with flying before you know how to walk, y'know?

First thing, she steps with the wrong foot. That kinda thing shouldn't matter when you've got four of 'em (and you don't plant a one of 'em to attack with your sword!), but it hits her right in the heart just the same. Why's her front left paw wrong? Because last time it was front right. And good form matters when you're trying to be the best swordmaiden slash tea maker slash wolf slash girlfriend you can be, so this single step might as well cut her power level in half right then and there. And... and it's not like she had a lot've that to go around startin' with either, is it?

Her second charge is as straight as her first, but there's so little heart in it that even Kat could probably parry her. For Tianic? It's no problem at all. Her massive sword slides into place with a move so simple and yet so practice it pulls an appreciative "mroof" out of Yue's jaws even as she bounds backwards to avoid the classic pivot-into-overhead-counter that smashes into the floor where she'd been a second ago. Meeps! And Yike! Wait, what?

No no no, come on come on! Focus, Yue! It's all right, mistakes happen. You're not a bully who took advantage of an unprepared opponent, you're a good girl who's been practicing as hard as anyone's ever done before you. It wasn't a fluke, ok? It wasn't! So just... focus on your paw work and everything'll be ok. She snuffles a deep breath through her nose (and smells excitement! Adrenaline! Churros? Ooooh~) and plants all four feet firmly on the ground. Just, just do better than that last time. That's all you gotta do, Yue.

She circles round and comes in from behind this time. It's a basic flank, but with the speed she's fought so hard to master that oughtta be enough, right? It's not. And it's not because even though she thought and thought and thought about her front right paw the entire time she was going, she noticed partway through that her front left was leading again. Again! It's like all her instincts were betraying her right at the most important part! Oh goshies, here she comes!

And that blow's parried even easier than the first one! Wowies, Tianic, you've got some really fast feet, didja know that? That spin! That swing! Yue could barely twist her neck in time to block it, and even then she only got enough of it to go flying in the air instead of cratering into the ground. But don't think she's licked yet! You don't need to think about what foot you're leadin' off with at all when you're diving down from the sky!

In she comes, and this time she feels it! The confidence, the poise, the ability to focus on the actual attacky part of her move! She's a fluffy canine comet and she's coming for that point! Come on Tianic, give it your best! See if it's not en--

THWACK! THUD! Fwumpa fwumpa fwumpa fwumpidy fwump fwump... thwop! Yue yelps in surprise and almost drops her sword when she's sidestepped completely and then smacked all across her side with the flat of that ginormous blade. She tumbles end over end, making all those sounds you're already playing in your head just now before skidding on her chest and... dropping. And then she really does spit out her sword, 'cause she needs a moment.

And for a second, everything's awful. She tried her very best just now! She was clever and turned around a blow, and she didn't even gunk up her technique (such as it was), and it wasn't even close to enough. Hyra's shouting something at her, but among all the clapping from this super huge crowd it's a little hard for even her sensitive wiggle-ears to figure out quite what it is. Probably telling her not to bother coming to practice tomorrow. That's rock bottom, it is. For a second, everything's awful. And then that second passes.

And the second, erm... second? It's not so bad! Yue shakes and she wuffs and she pushes herself back on the ground, and her eyes blaze fierce with the will to win. She bends down to chomp her sword and settle into a Wolf Sword Stance (which is where you're a wolf with a sword, and you stand), and... her heart's racing? Like, in a good way? And oh goshies gosh and goshikers, look at Tianic! The way she's planting her feet! The way her shoulders are set so broad and proud, so powerful! She looks... she looks like she's gonna charge without even waitin' this time!

And her face! Eeeeeeee, her face! Her eyes! Her smile! That's a girl who's takin' everything just so super seriously and got so darned sure she wasn't good enough to even be here (and goodness don't that just sound familiar?), but she's doing it! She did it! Somewhere up above her special someone's looking at her and beaming, and Squire Tianic's heart is so full of life and light that she's just about glowing, cutie that she is. You go, girl! Way to be! That was, that... that was so cool!!

Yue's own face lights up in spite of herself. Her tail wags in that kind've way that tells her straight off there's no way she's gonna be able to stop it maybe even for the entire rest of the fight. And her legs are gettin' a little wobbly and it's harder to breathe than it was before, but so what? So what? That's just the height up here. That's just old sore muscles from all that running she's been doing, plus a good solid hit from a certified warrior! That's not gonna stop her, no way and no how! This is so much fun! Let's go to five... no, seven, no! Thirteen points! Come on, you wanna go too, right? You wanna play too, right??

She gets one more second to feel things before it's time to go again. She never thought for a second that losing could be so much fun! Just one more second, then it's serious faces and waggy tails and clashing swords again, yeah? And in that second, she... she thinks about the look on Qiu's face, back when Yue bit that first cookie. When she just seemed so... w-well, ok, she's um, she's... y'know, not sure. This is only one second's worth of thinks, uhuh? But it feels the same. She's sure it feels the same as that. And maybe even the helicopter chase after. Not that it was gonna stop her from comin' back and throwin' everything she's planning on picking up while she's floating up here right back in her smug (and pretty!) dragon face, but it changes how she feels about it, y'know? Makes it less scary and more, oh! Shoot! Second's up!

Yue whirls about in a circle - the Chase My Own Tail Technique - and builds enough momentum to counter Tianic's charge head on despite how much smaller and lighter she is than the squire. And the look of admiration that flashes across her opponent's face makes her feel lighter than a hot air balloon. It makes her feel so cool and special that she wishes the Demon Swordswoman was here to see what she's done with all her ghost lessons. And that feeling doesn't do squat to help her with the rain of blows that comes crashing down every which way she scoots right after, but no matter how badly she's gettin' outclassed right now her heart keeps singing just the same.

This! Is! So! Much! Fun!! Come on, come on, let's play! Let's play! You're having fun too, right? You are right? Let's go! Come on, come on, chase her! And she's off like a cuddly bullet across and around the arena, on paws that could run on flower petals without knocking them from their stems.

[Fight: 1, 1 = 2]

Rose flinches from the zappy, bitey, familiar jolts. Not that the Countess ever got so mad as to use this on her before, but... she must have broken a Burrow artifact when she was a child, to flinch and risk tears as the little fangs nip at her skin. To remember— pain. And not the good pain.

But the words. They’re the gentle soothing she needs. To serve is right. Her mistress (whether the Countess or her beautiful Chen) is correct. She must have been such a sillyhead! To think that the Countess agreed with Cyanis! Just because she was repeating the fox’s words... oh, what a silly girl she is!

She nuzzles into her— into— into the Countess’s thumb with her cheek and looks up with those big, dark eyes. “...does this mean I’m not a bad girl? Do I... do I not get spankies? I... I don’t understand...”

Because that would be! Well! Maybe she just deserves them a little bit for being so easy to be confused! Just enough so that she knows she’s been punished and then forgiven. And then she can go back to being a good girl and waiting for her princess to save her, which... she’ll do eventually, right? R-right??

Chen lets the cool breeze of the sky castle blow through her morning bedhead. She's been sleeping in a room next to Jessic's quarters, and came over this morning in her jammies (the sky castle being chilly, she has a set of fleece pants and a fluffy pink t-shirt) to sit on the balcony and chat before they got into the day's studies. There's supposed to be a fighting tournament too, or maybe it's been going on already? She lost track of time, but probably should check in on her friends at some point. She hasn't seen Rose either, but surely by now the candle had burned down and Rose was fine and just biding her time. Still, she should check in.

But for the moment, she was sipping hot cocoa and sitting on a nice stone deck looking out over the vastness of an open sky. She felt comfortable with Jessic. Comfortable enough to skip dressing or brushing her hair. Maybe it was just that she'd already been trussed up and dangled for the whole town? Or more likely, it was that they'd been sitting and watching anime together and you stopped caring when it got late into the night and early in the morning. There was just, Chen didn't know, just something about those times of day that said you didn't have to be all put together and pretty yet.

She breathed in the steam and took another sip. She loved that Jessic loved warm drinks, and warm clothes and warm things. It was incredibly sweet, and somehow cuter because she was such a big powerful dragon. She wondered if that was part of the story Jessic was telling? All these thought about art and culture. Was everything part of someone's story? Maybe that wasn't the right way to look at it. Maybe it was the other way around: you thought and you felt and you believed things and the stuff that you cared about sincerely is what became your story. That seemed more right to Chen. She was inspired by how sincerely Yue seemed to love learning about this world. And even more so by how much Rose had enjoyed their play. And the face she had made when they were brought up here, the blush in her cheeks, that was the real Rose for sure. It made Chen blush a little thinking about it, and she hid it in the steam and the whipped cream of her cup (because obviously hot cocoa came with whipped cream, Jessic wasn't a monster).

"I think you're right." She said presently, looking over her cup. "I think, there are things I've cared about, but watching anime, learning about all these different stories that people have made, I feel like it's giving me things to think about. Being told that you can do anything you want with a sunshard isn't that helpful, you know? 'Anything' is so many things that trying to pull something out of thin air just ends up being nothing. Or it ends up being some big monster thing like my moms did to train me or maybe like Yin does. Or it's like, a good cup of hot cocoa and a relaxing bath or something. Which is okay, but I feel like there could be so much more."

She sips for a second. "Why do you think some of the princesses push their stories so hard though? I mean, I understand that when, or if I get a shard, I get to make my own domain. A-and since I'm deciding, I get to make stuff in my domain how I want just like you do here. But some of them, it feels like they try to force everybody into their story. That's kind of what Qiu does, and I get there's a way to work with her that's like letting her be important and giving her the special fight without just being sad and angry. But it's still like she's getting the shards to force everyone to have the fight she wants. And I think, like, Mommy Ysel used to be like that and kind of still is, she just decided that she was good with Ys and its vassals and doesn't go off and fight so much any more. And Yin is kind of...like she turned Hyra into a wolf because Hyra upset her. She didn't ask if Hyra wanted that, or see how it worked out, she just left in a huff when I wouldn't help her and I think she's probably still mad at me about that. But like, she's sooo pushy. I think that having that kind of power should be like, you offer your vision to the world and people get to choose how they want to live in it. It shouldn't be like, like forcing people to be something they don't want to be."

Chen thought for a second. "Or even, I think, that forcing people is the thing that's bad. Like, what made me feel so bad is that when I found that I really liked some of the important princess stuff, my moms were forcing me to to be what I wanted to be. Like it stopped being my thing and became the thing they were forcing on me. Even though I wanted it! That's different from, y'know, all the kidnapping and play and stuff that we all do. I mean, sure you hung me over the square so I could wiggle and squirm to entertain everyone cuz I was captured, but that was, was because I wanted to be that role and it was fun, and I knew it was part of the role I took on and was okay with it."

Chen thought for several more seconds, a space that Jessic was giving her to work through her own mind, she realized. "I want to come up with a beautiful story that makes me happy and that inspires other people to join me. I want to fit in the other princesses stories too and make them happy, but I don't want to force people into them, I don't want people to be hurt and sad. And, I'm gonna stand up for anyone who needs help." She nodded once, emphatically, and then emptied the rest of her hot chocolate.

Chen!

+I think it's grasping,+ said Jessic in answer to your question. +Some princesses get stuck on their stories for the same reason that some people grasp for objects. This is something they love too much to let go of, that they are afraid to let evolve, afraid to let it go a different way. They want to be isolated authors explaining what's in their heads and not members of a community who let the world change them in ways they don't expect. They're afraid they won't get to tell it, they're afraid to trust their personas to other people's hands, especially to new people. You should ask Keron what she thinks about that kind of,+ she made finger quotes with her talons +"fake-ass domination".+

+It's hard, though, to fight for what you love, to put in all the work and energy and not have that respected. Anyone in a creative area wants to be heard, be loved. If you want to disarm a Princess you need to give them that love - and then beat them. If you don't love your opponent, at least a little bit, it's not a duel, it's just a fight. And fights are ugly.+

Rose!

"Don't be absurd," said the Countess, spinning you about - and with a click chaining you to the wall. "We both know you'll never remember a word I say if I'm not spanking you as I say them. And besides, if even as well trained a handmaiden as Thian can make mistakes, someone like you has a lot of training ahead. From what I hear, you even dropped some of the Princess' possessions on the ground while assisting Cyanis? A handmaiden must be graceful, Rose..."

...

It is some time later, and a thought is weighing on your mind.

Obviously you're waiting for Princess Chen to rescue you. She's beautiful and warm and has a smile that's just - so! She's your girlfriend, she said so, and not once has the Countess ever contradicted that. Every one of her statements has always been in reference to your mistress, without ever suggesting that she is your mistress. She is simply training and taming you because it is correct for her to do so, and so that when you are with your mistress you'll be ready.

But Countess Keron is so good at it, though! She knows exactly what you want and what you're ready for and how to make you feel safe even with her hand around your throat. She's as confident as fire. But still she's been keeping you at a distance because you're not hers. Yet. She's also keeping you at a distance from Jessic, and not once have you been asked to wait on the Princess.

You must be getting very confused and very torn, Rose. It would have been easier if Chen had just saved you right away, but now you're wondering what she'd look like tied at the base of the throne alongside Cyanis. Tell us a little about the struggle in your head.

Yue!

The crowd is cheering. They have seen many things but they have never seen this.

Fighting like this is riding a wave. It's about falling in love. It's about not letting your adoration for your opponent drown out your own voice and style. Tianic is trying to tell a story about distance, reach and stability - a figure like an unapproachable castle, long blade rotating in advance of whichever direction you try to reach her. If she can tell the story her way she will shine all the more beautifully, fending the wolf off and keeping it at bay with a blade that spins in concert with impeccable footwork. If she tells her story it will end with her untouchable, a worthy custodian of the blade she carries.

But that's the difference between her and a more experienced warrior, a better warrior. Her story doesn't have a place for you in it other than 'defeated'. She is doing her best with the skills she has, she is doing her best to make you admire her, but when she admires you it is despite herself and the persona she is trying to wear. Her smiles, while genuine, are slips. She's still trying too hard to copy someone else's style. She's fighting with her mind more than her heart right now and, if you could figure out just where to push her, wouldn't this be so much better?

You'll need to Entice her to get her to see what she's really capable of - but the how for that won't be hard. Your joy is infectious and she's already willing to fall. The risk here is that her hidden potential may be more than you're currently ready for.

Listen. Listen. []List[/i]en. If there is a single thing to know about Yue, then you already know it. You've watched her journey outside her tiny little world of teapots and waterfalls and warm glass full of sunshine for home remedies and therapy, all the way around the world. Over hills and under bridges where she was brave enough to make camp by a river of all things. On foot and in cars where she had to learn how to drive a stick shift in less than ten minutes so she could escape from an angry helicopter. Flitting through hearts until she finally found the one she fit all the way inside, and got turned into a wolf for her efforts. Wandering the whole entire world until she found herself living in a (surprisingly nice!) prison cell in a castle floating in the sky!

So if there's anything important lurking underneath all those goofy smiles and all that fluff, you've found it. You're not a dummy. And now me I'm biased, but I happen to think there's a whole lotta stuff about lil' Yue that's worth knowing. Like how toast with sweet berry jam and a salted, runny egg on top (like a little golden crown!!) is basically her fifth favorite breakfast food, even though she only tried it for the first time like four days ago. Or how she's got this knack for always knowin' whether or not you're about to... b-but never mind any of that right now. There's one thing you're thinkin' of, 'cause you're a smartypants, aren't'cha? Yes you are, yes you... ahem! 'Scuse me.

Nah, you're right. Ya girl l o v e s stories. Breathes 'em. Her whole entire life 'fore this was constant wall to wall reading and watching and listening and dreaming up her own while she sat out in a glade somewhere waiting for sunlight to gather. Invitin' her to be part've the tellin's like asking a fox if she'd like an ear massage. Well goshies, I dunno! What d'you think?

That's why she doesn't get sucked in. And it's why she doesn't spin up some new yarn about... I dunno, a wolf that runs like the wind and pierces the Invincible Fortress with clever tricks and a trickster's determination or something. Tianic's worked really hard on all her everything and it'd be rude to blow that up just 'cause she doesn't wanna lose to it. Not that she does. Yue's stuffed to the tips of her cutieful ears with desire to pull this off and go trotting back to Hyra with a mouth full of victory. It's just, y'know, Tianic's a lot prettier when she smiles. So she's gotta do whatever it takes to make sure this whole thing ends with that pretty smile lighting up the whole arena. And it'd take a swordswoman with a lot more experience than Yue's got to manage that and win for sure, wouldn't it?

W-well, that ok! It's ok, right? You can lose a game and still win it, so long as you have fun. Right? That's right, right? That's not some secret loser's code that's gonna earn her double-jail and spankies from Keron or anything, is it? 'Cause she's still watching and all, so, um. E-eep? N-no! No of course it's right! Course it is! How's anyone gonna say you lost if you did everything you set out to do in the first place? E-except, y'know, win. But wait, the duel's not about winning. The duel is about the... goshies. Man wow, philosophy's harder than I thought!

...Hokay, right! Whatcha got, Tianic? What makes you happy, what makes your little heart sing? Yue can see what you've been taught and how badly you wanna make your mentor proud, but how do you wanna win a duel? Yue is a blur. An adorable whirlwind of fur, claw, tooth, and sword that never seems to tire out or slow down because she's fueled by that seemingly boundless well of energy called It's Really Fun To Run Around. First she comes from the right! Then the left! Then the right and then the left! From behind! Here she comes, woof woof woof! She moves with the sort of effortless grace that only an animal at play can really manage, swift and beautiful but silly at the same time in a way that'd immediately plop her on her butt if she tried to think about it at all in her normal body. But every one of her attacks are parried, and she's so good about it that only she can tell it's because she slows down just the tiniest bit before each slash to make sure Tianic's feet are planted properly before it comes. Just an extra hop here or a slide there, planting her own paws for a "power slash" even though that's not really something Wolf Holding a Sword Style is very good at. That's all. You'd have to be better at this than either of them are to catch it.

Does she smile? Is she grinning yet? Can Yue squeeze a little giggle out of her like this? She stops attacking altogether and shifts her focus to prowling just outside Tianic's range, instead. When she shifts, Yue shifts. When she rests, Yue rests, with her tail wagging delightedly behind her. When she strikes, Yue parries and slips just outside the space where all that weight and sure-footedness could get the best of her. Come, let's play! Let's play, Tianic, let's play! Have you ever met a wolf before? Do you wanna touch her fur? What if she jumps like this? And like this? What if now, every time she dodges, she leaps and rains her own strike down (though feather light) from above? Has anyone ever told you about the Terraced Lake, Tianic? Have they? D'you know what a waterfall's like? D'you wanna? D'you think a fortress could fight one? Oop, there's a smile! Good girl!

Finally, she sees her chance. It's not an opening, exactly. Or at least, it's not an opening any person could slip inside of in a normal duel. It's not an opening born entirely out of Yue's transformation either, as if Tianic had just screwed up because her expectations about how to fight a wolf were still kinda wrong. No, she didn't make any mistake at all, unless you counted grinning a mistake. Which you shouldn't, unless you're a real jerk like Princess Yin. Yue flies in for a fresh attack, but! Here's the super sneaky part: when she feels her wooden sword get blocked for the three dozenth time, she opens up her mouth! Silly girl! Her weapon drops free and her tongue flops out like a sillyhead, and suddenly freed from the expectations of sword-to-sword contact, she wriggles under Tianic's guard! Up she goes, onto her hindpaws! Pap pap! She drops her front paws on the squire's shoulders. Hiya! Wanna be friends? Please please, pretty please? She gives her first duel-buddy a series of wet, sloppy, happy licks all over her cheeks.

If Yue's got a quality anybody could admire, it's the size of her heart. If there's a person wandering the world today who's more equipped to love every opponent she meets... well, just sayin', I ain't met her, y'know? But if there's a quality that all the pretty duelist types should like, or even be scared about, it's the thing that let her seize this quiet little moment. Our Yue's a dreamer, that she is. She's a sponge, with no formal education but a love of darn near everything she sees. So she's got a lot of teachers. Good ones. More'n you ever will.

The Wandering Tales of Yue The Sun Farmer, Chapter One! The first secret sword: Katherine Isabella Fluffybiscuits You Put That Back Right Now!

Chormp! Yue's jaws clamp down on Tianic's sword. Yoink! A sleeky, lupine body drops back down on all fours and steals the blade away. Zoom! She's off like a shot, (carefully) carrying the giant blade at the middle so she can balance it like a big stick while she bounds away with perfect form. The only part she misses is the foxen laughter, but we can blame her curse for that just this once, can't we? She runs with the pure joy of someone who is Good At Run, and when she pulls too far away from Tianic she stops and plops down on her butt to sit politely and wag her tail, , tilting her head all silly and just very slightly mocking-like while she waits for the other girl to catch up. But not catch her, no no! You've gotta earn that! Zip zip zoomies! Together they run around the length of the arena two... no three... four times! Four times round and about before Yue finally gets cornered roundabouts where she dropped her own sword in the first place.

Yue stops, and sits. Looking Tianic straight in the eye, she drops the heavy blade to the ground. She bends down and pushes it forward with her nose, and wags her tail for all she's worth. Well, Ms. Fortress? What kind of story are you trying to tell? Where's your mentor end, and you begin? How can we finish this with a smile?

[Entice: 6, 4, +2 = 12. Yue takes a string. Pick an option from the list]

Scene #1.

Chen will come for her.

She'll zip into the tower on her sword, smashing through a window, or dramatically opening a door, or even sneak in and wake Rose up with a finger to her lips and that heart-meltingly cheeky smile. What, exactly, she ends up doing to get to Rose doesn't actually really matter; what matters is that it will be unexpected and sudden and dramatic, and she'll suddenly just be there. There'll be a hug. And--

And she'll take the collar off, won't she? Because that's what a hero would do. She'll tell Rose that she can go back to being a priestess of the fox goddess and take off all her humiliatingly revealing silks and wear something more modest, and Rose shouldn't argue with her, because of course her girlfriend, her lady, will know better--

But would she really feel happy about it? She likes being made to dress like this. Because there's no judgment of her for choosing to wear them. If she had to be practical and responsible and smart she'd probably dress in something oh-so-ordinary. Whenever she tries to make her own choice while getting dressed, the Countess tuts and explains to her that her place is to be a mannequin for her mistress's fashion tastes. What would that look like, anyway? Would Chen make her wear North Wind Chic? All fur and muffs, like wearing a warm blanket, instead of these whispery silks?

No, no, no, maybe that won't happen. Maybe...

***

Scene #2.

Chen will come for her.

But she'll confront the Countess and demand the return of her Rose with the grandeur of a princess, and the Countess will tell her to sit down and she'll fetch her Rose, and Chen will sit in one of the sitting rooms in that tower and wait impatiently, all ready for a trap, and that's when Rose will enter, and the lights will be all low, and Chen won't be able to take her eyes off Rose, who has made herself the goodest girl that she can be, who is the trap for Chen's heart. And that's when Rose will dance. And Chen will go as red as roses, hands in fists in her lap, as Rose draws closer and closer, showing off just how much she has learned from the Countess, and when Rose slips to her knees and offers her leash, she'll get so adorably squirmy and shy as she takes it from Rose's hands and--

And then what? Rose hasn't, you know, ever really been with Chen, but while Chen might be good at teasing her (ah, getting picked up at the market!!) she's not really like the Countess. She might be the least bossy princess in the Nine Kingdoms. Rose would probably have to walk her step by step through how she's meant to be used! And what kind of topsy-turvy world would that be? Imagine, Rose bossing around a princess! Absurd! Unheard of! She'd get them both into trouble! And however would Chen introduce her slave-girl to her parents as her girlfriend? Oh, Chen would be so embarrassed of her! No, no, no!

No, but what if...

***

Scene #3.

Rose climbs up onto Chen's lap and distracts her. That's something she's so good at! She's a pretty distraction. She drowns Chen in kisses, and when Chen finally surfaces for breath, that's when the handmaidens all around them strike! And Rose adjusts her veil and bats her eyes as Chen succumbs to the chloroform, and when Chen wakes up? That's when she'll find herself in Keron's clutches. And then, and then?

That's when Rose will get to be dangled as a prize. Maybe Rose will even get to be Chen's Thian! Just imagine, Chen, being trained in being a good girl! No more worrying about being a princess, no more furrowed brows as she talks about all those difficult things that cause her heart to hurt: the dragon-princess and her mothers and everyone's expectations. It's the easiest thing in the world to live up to the Countess's expectations, because she'll explain herself clearly, and if you get things wrong, she'll punish you and then explain things again, and she'll be so patient until a sillyhead like you learns what she is meant to do! And unlike mothers or princesses, the Countess will never push you into a place where you're really honestly truly miserable, because she takes responsibility for all of her handmaidens!

And then maybe all three of them will get to be a trio! Just imagine: Chen, the protagonist; Rose, the eye candy; and Cyanis, the schemer! All three of them, getting into mischief, entertaining their mistress, being the stars of a new sort of story. Maybe they'd even color-coordinate, though Cyanis and Chen would have to figure out who gets the light blue, and Chen would have her snow leopard pet as their mascot, and Cyanis would be the one who came up with all the zany plans, and of course Rose would be the hapless one who got into trouble, but it'd be all right, because, because, because! Because she and Chen would still have something so special, and they'd be fanservice for their mistress, and Chen's prize for being the bright and sparkling flower right at the heart of the harem would be having Rose all to herself when neither of them was on call, and then, oh, and then! And then!!

Chen will come for her~

***

Scene #4.

But then Qiu will kidnap Chen and Rose and Cyanis to send a message to the Sky Kingdom and dangle them over a pit of packaging-serpents capable of wrapping anything up in thirty seconds flat and leave them to squirm together and make such beautiful muffled conversations with each other and now they'll be the ones in need of rescue together and Chen will rest her head on Rose's shoulder to reassure her and Cyanis will come up with some clever plan for escape that ends up toppling all three of them into the snake pit and then they'll have to try to hop out of Qiu's lair only for Rose to get caught at the last minute and of course Chen won't leave her behind and Cyanis despite all her bluster will turn back too and that's why the three of them will be chained up to Qiu's throne when Jessic arrives to challenge Qiu to a duel and the three of them will have to squirm and try to tell Jessic through their big fat gags not to accept Qiu's terms for the duel because they can't be worth that much to a princess but Jessic will agree anyway because Keron told her just how good and pretty and special these three girls are and then and then and then--!!!

"Rose!"

"!!!"

"Were you listening to anything I was saying? Of course not. Hop over here so we can make sure you remember..."

Chen tilted her head in the morning air in quizzical thought. She held herself like that, just thinking and letting the breeze swirl around them for a long few seconds.

There wasn’t an easy solution. There wasn’t one way to show someone love and respect and kindness. She was going to have to figure it out.

Then she turned her eyes right up to Jessic’s. “So, Princess Jessic, what’s your story then?”

***

The first thing Chen did after the long anime run and her chat with Jessic was to fly around town.

She was a guest and a prisoner all at once, and she knew that she had been putting off a daring rescue for a while. Or something, she wasn’t sure yet if the right call was to try and bust in while sneaking Rose out (which was incredibly stupid in a castle none of them knew how to leave, but therefore also bold and daring precisely because it was unlikely to succeed). There was negotiation of course, and demands, a formal duel perhaps, though she wasn’t sure that either Jessic or Keron would be interested.

So, she was going to look around and do so in Princess style. A sword flight around the square was like saying “I’m here!” And people wouldn’t have seen her since that initial capture. But now was a time to be seen and to see. To spread a little word, to have whispers reach the palace and the handmaidens, that Princess Chen was out and about. Was she free, was she a prisoner on display? Perhaps Rose would find a way to send a sign or Chen would find her girlfriend out and about.

Eee, her girlfriend. A thrill went through her at that. A bold claims she’d made, all full of worry. But a right one. She thought Rose needed it too, and Chen felt so much more confident facing the world with her friends at her side. It was so different to having to stand there alone and declare yourself against all comers. Hmm, maybe that was why Qiu used her shards that way…

Chen rushed through the air, her light blue dress whipping behind her, balanced on her sword and arms held back for speed. She let herself be deep in thought and at once take in the clouds and the streets, the sun hovering as it did on the horizon and the deep gray stones of the castle tower.

And then she saw what seemed to be a tournament already happening. From the banners, streamers, and pennants all in rainbows it was quite a spectacle even if they were still in early matches and not yet to center stage fights. She slowed so as not to distract the combatants and went to inspect the signs as to who was up in the match.

…
…
…

Yue the wolf vs. Tianic the Squire. Yue…the…wolf. She was reading that right, wasn’t she? But, but Hyra had been and and Yue was…Chen had only been off on her own little fantasy for a few days, right?! What had happened?!

Well, she had to see this. Chen slipped into the stands and sidled into unobtrusively to an edge seat next to a couple youngsters who were cheering wildly and paid her no mind as she looked down at the stage. Yue?!?!?

A shattered world for a moment realigns.

Strange that this should feel like it's the natural state of things, and yet it is. For a long time the broken nature of the world felt natural, normal, but it wasn't. Even when the world was made whole you hadn't noticed it at first. It wasn't until Princess Qiu's transcendent skill carved the cosmos into three parts that you realized how unnatural and how artificial the separation was. How wrong it felt that these were three stories in parallel rather than one story in blended colour and motion.

A sword rises in the air, the sky and it's so natural here! Flight is carved into the bones of the Sky Castle, it is the truth that radiates from the Sunshard in its hidden depth. To scale upwards, by ladder or by engine or, indeed, by sword. Perhaps you didn't even need to be a Princess to fly atop a sword in this place of Jessic's dreams - but you would at least need to dream of becoming one. As eyes raise to watch Chen fly above the arena spirits lift too, the symphony of hearts who still haven't grown used to leaving gravity behind.

And below the sword, on steps of stone, is Rose at the feet of Countess Keron. She hasn't been watching the fight - she's been a bad girl and so is serving today as a footrest. But for all the gently wrapping ropes that correct her posture and bind her shapeshifting form into an ideal body she still has enough freedom to raise her eyes up and see her saviour above. Her heart fills with the thunderous uncertainty of knowing that there will soon be a fight over her. She is not a warrior today, she is not a hunter, she is not a tool - she is a prize to be won.

She can only watch as Countess Keron stands, handmaidens swarming around her in shielding curtains as they armour her from toes to breasts in razor sharp leather and steel, lightning-crackling war gauntlets clicking into place, streak of red battle-dye sliced into her hair. The Countess does not fight for love, and she knows that puts her at a disadvantage, but she fights for other things - for confidence, for self-respect, for the dignity of every girl who puts their trust and allegiance in her hands. She has promised those who kneel before her that they kneel before someone worthy of their obedience, someone who will guarantee their safety, someone who will hold them exactly as tightly as they want to be held. Those are no small promises, and they will defeat any small or fickle loves that stand against them.

But it is no small love that sings and slashes in the heart of the arena. It is still a duel that takes place there but the Princesses themselves could not promise better performance. It is a duel of dresses and fur and silk and swords all whirling under the sun upon a castle built on clouds. It is a duel that leaves its shape in the sand, the divots of turns as sharp as knives and the delicate dimples from footsteps as light as air. And that was all from before the world healed.

For the first time today blade meets blade and the strength of slender arms presses into each other, even as blue and orange dresses kiss at the hems. Two maidens lock eyes with the same speechless conviction as they did when it was maiden and wolf. Perhaps Hyra noticed the flow of magic from this strange moment and took advantage of it, or perhaps it is simply that a pure heart is stronger than all the Sunshards, perhaps it is that the full moon has risen out of fear that if it is not proactive in serving the needs of maidens then it might end up shot from the sky like the suns before it. Whatever it is, for a short while the curse is eclipsed and the warriors engage as equals.

And this is no longer a clash, it's a canvas. The sweeps of Tianic's long and slender blade aren't the guarded, hesitant strikes of someone afraid to break it, these are the sweeps of a brush. Her objective has changed and she isn't looking to overpower Yue any more than a painter seeks to overpower her paint. Ebb and flow and flick and spin and step and step and she takes the chaotic patterns cut into the arena sand and starts to formalize them, to organize them. If she attacks you this, this, that, and runs her blade through the sand like so in the offense she can write the first line of a mandala into the floor of the arena.

A clash of blades, a painting in sand. That would make a good Daily Affirmation of the Way <3

Tianic!

You are beautiful and powerful in ways you've never known you could be. Your every step is smooth and flowing from one motion to the next, like poetry about clouds drifting through the skies. How does it feel to realize your potential all at once? How does it feel to find out the point of all those firmly planted feet and impenetrable defensive stances was to help you bend and pivot without losing the power of your stroke?

Your sword has transformed from that kind of terrifying weight in your hands that always made you worry that either it, you, or what you swung it at would shatter with every loping swoosh of your arms into a paintbrush instead. And not just any paintbrush, but an enormous and show stopping one, the kind that's just perfect for putting on a show. The kind you'd use to paint calligraphy in the streets for people hang gliding overhead to read and marvel at, and the kind where your motion and your mastery of the art draw a crowd more than the finished product could ever hope to.

You're Squire Tianic of the Sky Castle, but tonight you're more than that. You're a beauty, battling in earnest for the first time under the moonlight. You're a swordfighter, an artist, and a future fairy too because why the heck not? Isn't this duel more magic than practice at this point? Didn't your first opponent ever turn out to be a cute girl who turned into a wolf, or a... cute wolf that turned into a girl, or a, uh... w-well, whatever the heck's going on here, but whatever it is you've gotta admit it's pretty weird and special right? And whatever else is happening, it was your sword that turned Yue into the warrior with the dazzling dress and smile before you now, and that's bound to mean you're destined for special things, too. So you're, y'know, you're allowed to dream! And if you're allowed to dream, why stop at one?

Yue, which is to say the girl Yue who is standing in front of you, presents a very different puzzle than the mischievous wolf that's been wriggling her way into your heart this whole time. For one thing she's got fingers now, attached to hands at the end of quite long arms even, so even though her wooden sword has maybe less than half the reach of your steel one, she's suddenly working with something shockingly close to a range advantage. Which is to say nothing of the improvement in her technique! But more importantly than that she's... hm.

It'd be difficult to call her beautiful, exactly. At least in the sense that she's desirable. In that way. You think? But her long, flowing, endearingly frizzy hair reminds you of nothing so much as cool milk tea as it bobs around in time with her steps. Her arms are slender to the point where your brain wants to use the word 'scrawny' instead, only for that word to slip off and go back to start for reasons you don't think have anything to do with politeness. And the curves of her body are so exceedingly gentle that she looks made for holding, and for dancing, and for admiring, and for twirling, and for so many other kinds of wonderful things that it honestly kind of breaks your heart when you realize you're probably not going to get to see most of them. Her dress is dazzling as it shifts about with every little move she makes (especially the way it keeps kissing yours) and it fits her so well she seems born specifically to wear it, and to swing a much nicer, more important sword than the one she's meeting you with right now. That girl was born to wander, wasn't she? She's a natural-born adventurer who's seen horizons from angles that'd baffle most people up here, and sooner or later she'll fall back down to the earth like rain (why does she make you think of water, anyway?) to go chasing those hills again. This castle can't hold her forever.

But right now, she's smiling. All for you. And the curve of her lips and the awkward little jam in her teeth are so dazzling and so... sincere and full of love that she seems in this moment to be the equal of a sunshard. Maybe even two! Not three though, that would be crazy. In any case, she's smiling, and when she moves she does it a lot like you are now, where every step of her dainty feet is directed six steps into the future, so that she arrives at the end of a pre-determined choreography that'll give her something that she wants. Like this. And like this. And like this. Ending like this. Again! The way her sword dances feels like all the wolf in her has leapt inside of her wrists and her blade and now all of its whirling pouncing dizzying and playful power is whistling through the air and leading you every which way around the arena.

And the thing is? She might be winning. It's hard to tell, in a fight like this, but so many of her moves are so artful that yours bend to better match them before your mind catches up to offer its own suggestion. She leads you around in a circle, chasing your own sword again so that you can clearly see her fluffy tail wagging even though she doesn't have one of those right now, and where her stroke ends you can't help but notice she's pushed the tip of your brush into the next line of your mandala, and the next piece you started drawing when you finished after that.

Sometimes she draws her own lines, too. But these are... not like yours. You honestly don't even need to glance down to know that this girl does not know the first gosh darned thing (excuse the language!) about letters or painting or any stuff like that. She'd be lucky to stay inside the lines of a coloring book for all the skill she shows at it. Awful. Simply awful. If she's ever had a teacher in her life that person should be hit with sticks. At least the lines she paints in the air are much sweeter, but she can't seem to help herself with the trying to be like you. She always brings the sword back down again and scratches another cringey line in the sand, and darned near bursts into giggles after she does it. Her twinkling blue eyes are alight with some strange mixture of adoration and playful mockery as she looks at you between her steps, always lifting her sword in salute between each dance. Like this. Then like this. Now like this. Ending like this. And flourish.

You're certain of one thing, Tianic: this is the most important moment of your life so far. And you don't want to lose this duel. Neither does Yue. There's a special person waiting for each of you at the end of this, maybe even special lips and attention one or both of you's never gotten to taste for yourselves, at least in the way you deserve. But it won't be as sweet without the flower of victory to crown it, will it? There's multitudes inside that flowing fabric and the lupine shape of Yue's dancing, but at the center of everything is a shockingly simple question:

Are you having fun, Tianic? Do you enjoy this? She flourishes at the end of her pattern again, and smiles sweet enough for you to put her in your tea. Do you see it? The opening she's inviting through? Claim your victory, Squire Tianic. If not through points then by dictating the terms of how this will end. What's it gonna be?

When you are a Princess in a domain of flight, there is no such thing as being unobtrusive. A beautiful lesson in Jessic's story, and in Keron's. For that matter, why should a princess be unobtrusive anyway? She may, perhaps, have the humility to respect the fighters and the fight itself, but so too should she respect the fighters for their skill, their talent, and their focus. She should not assume that they are so delicate and easily distracted from their duel that she has to creep in unannounced.

So it is that Chen's flight is remarked upon, and though she blushes to be such a center of attention, it is not her place to enter with stealth, but to be a Princess for all assembled. And this task, to be seen, to be resplendent, she can do. She can do it in the way the sun and moon dance in the sky above her and shine their light through her crystal blade, illuminating her to the audience in rose gold and gleaming silver. She can do it in the way that the wind lifts her hair and swirls her dress, carrying her in its embrace as it speaks to the watchers of euphoria, the rush of speed and freedom of flight. And Chen can do it in contrast, at once so alike and so different from Princess Jessic just as a dagger differs from a greatsword.

For a moment, Chen does remember her mothers and her conflicts and all the things that await her. But for this moment, she sets aside those heavy matters and remembers them fondly. Could she have held herself under such attention without collapsing into a flushed mess had Hestia not encouraged her poise and Ysel her grace? There is something they offered her, and a great deal about which they cared, even if they might well have grasped too hard at their own visions as Jessic had put it so well.

For a moment, Chen simply lounges atop her sword above the stands. She glances at where she had planned to sit with an amused smile and resolves to visit those children when she can and then turns her attention to the match. Let Keron prepare herself, they weren't going to have a fight before this duel was done.

And what a duel! Chen had the true good fortune to watch Yue the wolf become Yue the girl in an explosion of colorful fabric and tea-color hair. She got to watch Yue change her style in the midst of the duel and continue to run about wagging her tail despite a lack of any one being visible. To see squire Tianic swinging her sword in glorious mandalas that offered Chen more than a little of her own inspiration. This was a dance of joy, pure and beautiful and free, the kind of joy that allowed them to forget everything else in the whole world while they danced with each other and it made Chen smile.

But there was another person here. One that Chen had kept waiting. And as the duel was still ongoing, she had an opportunity for an introduction before what was very much looking like a bonus show match would start. So, very calmly, but with just the broadest smile on her face to put the sun and moon to shame, she lowered herself next to Keron, all the way to Keron's loyal footrest who had not moved as her mistress had not commanded it.

Chen's eyes were filled with her smile as she tilted Rose's chin up with a finger to look her in the eyes and said: "Rose, you look beautiful"

[Entice: 1+5+2=8]

Of course Rose knew from the moment that Keron said it that the wolf was her friend, Yue. Admittedly, up until that moment, Rose had been tilting her head just the littlest bit to see through her gold-beaded hair, just out of the corner of her eye, wondering why Yue’s girlfriend Hyra was coming out to fight for her. But the Countess would never be fooled by appearances! That meant that, somehow, amazingly, unbelievably, Yue was a wolf now! Maybe being a wolf was contagious. Many other sorts of curses were, when hearts got all tangled up and tied tight together. (She shivers and bites down on the showy knot in one of her silk scarves, tied between her full lips. For display, not use; Rose is demonstrating her self-control today.) But that meant that she’s besties with a fox and a wolf, which makes her such a lucky girl! They’re noble creatures, after all. Yes, even the wonderful wish-granting foxes, even if they are sneaky and tricky and get good girls in trouble sometimes!

Besides, now that she knows what she’s supposed to be looking for, peering between her braids all gleaming in the sunlight? Of course that’s Yue. Yue doesn’t care about being cool, the way princesses and monsters do, the way that Hyra does. Like Rose herself, Yue is blissfully willing to toss aside her dignity in order to be joyful. Watch the way that she dashes gleefully across the field, so quick that Rose can’t keep up and avoid getting in trouble at the same time! Instead of being caught moving her head, Rose stares carefully at Tianic and waits, and— there she goes!

(Something buried under silk sashes and perfumes stirs briefly, wiggles in its shining chains, and chuckles to itself. The first point to Yue the Sun Farmer. Well done. A blow only to defeat a Squire, but that in and of itself is incredible growth for a herder of sun-grazing sheeps.)

When Tianic hits Yue in the side with that broad sweep? Rose jerks her head up and lets out a garbled gasp! So teenie-tiny that doubtless Yue can’t even hear it, but Rose still feels the guiding smack of the crop against her lovely cheek for being caught at all. It hasn’t even left her rump before she’s dutifully back in position, as still as your average non-ambulatory piece of furniture, but don’t be fooled, she’s looking desperately out of the corner of her eye, and... Yue’s okay! Her veil flutters ever-so-slightly as she lets out the tiniest, most controlled sigh of relief, and the crop does not come down again, because it might have just been the wind, after all, and everyone is clapping so loudly, and Rose is doing such a good job keeping her back steady, even if she’s got her own cushion of sorts squished up against her knees.

But it’s just getting harder and harder. It’s taking all of her focus and determination to stay still and quiet, a pretty little trophy, because, oh, if she’d just been a little better or smarter or usefuller, then maybe the Countess would have let her cheer Yue on! If only she was dancing on the wall right now with the colors of Yue of the Terraced Lake and Squire Tianic of the Sky Castle fluttering from her sleeves, free to cry out and move, move, lose herself in the dance, step by step on that narrow arena wall, to let Yue know that she was appreciated! Her heart hammers against her knees, desperate to break free and wave at Yue and scream for her to win, or at the very least, to show the whole Sky Castle her very best!

Round and round and round Yue goes, having stolen her opponent’s sword, but that’s when there’s a gasp and the audience turns its attention, for just a moment, up! And Rose glances away from the perpendicular arena, just before the magical moment when Yue the Wolf becomes Yue the Sword Maiden, and just imagine how surprised she’ll be!

But that’s when Chen comes down. For her. For her. She feels Karon remove those feet from her back as if they’re happening on the other side of the Sunshards. Chen plummets through the air, dress swirling magnificently all about her, hair played with by the envious fingers of the wind, free in a way that little Rose could only dream of earning, and that for the better, because she would probably stumble right off that sword, and then where would she be?

Chen comes down before her helpless girlfriend, the picture of grace and poise, compared to which the whole world might as well be made entirely of a pack of wild Yues, exuberant and careless and happily clumsy. She reaches down and tilts Rose’s dainty chin up with one finger, the delicate silk of the veil pooling on Chen’s palm, and sees a slave-girl exploding with joy as radiant as the sun, as free as Yue down below in this moment to simply revel in the compliment, the attention, the yearning, the being wanted, and all the scenarios and ideas and guiltily desired betrayals go out of her silly little head all at once and all that is left is: ”CHNN!!!”

She belts out her girlfriend’s name at the top of her lungs, around that expensive and oversized knot, beaming and wide-eyed and smiling, helplessly smiling; not even Keron’s most terrible threats of discipline could stop her, not even she herself could stop the way her face melts into delight.

And then—

A candle finally snuffs out.

Chen gets to see that sudden awareness fill Rose’s eyes, gets to see those huge round dark circles narrow into slits, gets to see that joyous innocence get swallowed by centuries of experience and self-control and hurt and denial, and when Rose from the River looks her in the eye, it’s suddenly like a bird being hypnotized by a snake, isn’t it? All of that strength and power and attention suddenly focused to a razor point.

And Chen gets a front row seat to Rose from the River considering her position, considering changing her shape, considering bursting out of her pretty silks and ropes, considering becoming again that terrible monk of battle and war. Rose’s expression melts into sheepish half-irony, but she can’t hide the sincerity and desire underneath it: to get to stay Rose, simply Rose, for now, for as long as Chen will let her be.

She wiggles her shoulders to devastating effect, showing off how tightly her arms are bound behind her, how valiantly her top struggles to contain her, and widens her eyes quite deliberately, hamming it up, and that smile, if anything, is even sharper and freer because of the secret the two of them share.

“Chnn,” she moans. “Pllsss, savf muh, sayf yuuh Russ~” Yours. Yours. Are you paying attention, Chen? She’ll feel guilty for this later. She’ll struggle with the Way and how she wants, so much, to be allowed to swoon into your arms instead. But right now, she wants you, she wants to be yours, and as long as that’s true, she doesn’t care whether you win or lose. Might even sabotage you, if you let her. You look so cute wiggling and blushing, after all.

You’re allowed to blush right now, by the way, and stare, and shamelessly ogle. Encouraged, even. Why do you think she’s wiggling helplessly for you, silly girl? What’s a prize without being admired and shown off?

[Rose happily gives her girlfriend that String and then counter-volleys with an 11 Entice broadside right to the face.]

Just for a moment Tianic is the center of the world.

Everything has turned to her; everything is waiting for her. She just needs to take a deep breath and trust herself to do something good. She needs to let her sword move and feel out the shape of the dance. Even in a moment like this it's not free flowing, she'll take a stance and then second guess herself and take another. She'll backtrack, hesitate, and then commit to her original intention, maybe perceiving the flaw lay elsewhere all along. She stops for a moment to think but even as she thinks the dance has its own momentum. This isn't anything special. It's just her thoughts and daydreams and the work of her stuttering hands.

She doesn't feel like doing this will make her be loved. Love is such a strange and scary thing and there's no way this humble offering would be enough for that. She doesn't feel like doing this will make her beautiful. She's an amateur, a beginner, and she doesn't really believe she'll be a real princess one day. She doesn't do it because she has to, although she does has to. The sword comes into her hand like a compulsion, like an addiction, like sleeping - she practiced it all these years because it didn't let her not. But that doesn't make her good at it, doesn't make her confident in it, even now. She's not from a famous line of warriors, she doesn't have professional training, she's not friends with anyone and she's not even sure she could become friends with anyone. She has a hobby that she has to do because she's been doing it for so long she doesn't know how to operate without doing it but that doesn't mean she's good at it. Doesn't mean she's good enough to show this to anyone else.

But she was asked to show it.

And... nobody ever did that before. Nobody took an interest in her, her secrets, her heart. She would pour her heart into the sand every night for so long and that was just between her and the sand. Even if people knew she practiced it wasn't like they wanted to see it, just to comment on it, maybe encouragingly tell her she could be a princess someday. If she had practice partners they didn't even really want to see it either. She could just fall into being a mobile training opponent for them, constructing a test of steel and then sitting back to see if they could solve it. And oftentimes they could! They soared and exceeded themselves and mastered perfect techniques and became heroes and she smiled for them so happily and planned the next test. Nobody had asked if there was anything she wanted to work on, nobody paid attention when she did, nobody would carve for her riddles of steel that she'd need to become better than herself to solve. And so her secrets remained secret even as her hands became steadier and her flow became more confident and her technique became refined. She learned the styles that were popular and dreamed of the ones that would be satisfying, and that had to be enough. Because as far as she knew she was the only one who took an interest in the techniques of her opponents and if she took the time to focus on herself then there wouldn't be anyone like that left in the world.

And she didn't mind! She didn't mind at all, being the mirror. She got to see such marvels in bladework, got to see so many maidens blossom as they learned to navigate her webs. She got to indulge her habit, her reflex, and see wonders along the way and though she envied her opponents it was a good natured, wistful envy. It wasn't ever about her, in the end.

Except for now. When it suddenly was.

The world had turned around in this strange moment and she was its center. She was the storm which every eye was focused on. She was being asked to lead. She was being asked. Someone wanted to know her secrets. They wanted to see what was in her heart. Even when she'd come into this arena, resolved to win, she hadn't imagined for a moment that she would. She didn't ever see herself as the hero of her story, and so to lose to a wolf in the first round had seemed as easy as lying. But somehow the moment had come, the story had found her, and she wasn't just a riddle of bladework any more. She was Tianic and she'd been here all along and her story was written in the sand, line after line. Nobody could do this. Nobody could do this like her. She knew that, and she wasn't proud of it - she was just touched that somebody had wanted to see her do it. To see what she was capable of. Who wanted to see her heart more than they'd wanted to express their own.

So that was why she was doing this. She was doing this because she was asked. She was turning every flowing ripple of sand into the unfolding lotus pattern of her dreams because she had been asked. It wasn't the refined elegance of her riddles, her learned reflection patterns by which she could draw the skill out of her partners. It was a technique rehearsed in her heart but never to find true expression. She'd never thought there'd be a world just for her but here it was and while she never wanted it to stop she also knew better than to cling to it. When she was done here today she'd clean and sheathe her blade and go back to being Tianic again and the only difference would be that the world might know what secret arts were merely a request away.

It was a catharsis to finally sculpt this mandala, incorporating all the gashes and tears of a girl who was a wolf, who didn't know the shape she was building towards but wanted to see her build it. Who let herself be a mirror, if only for a moment, and reveal the shape of a love that had always been waiting to express itself. Because in this moment of blades and dance and beauty Tianic finally got to show what witnessing a thousand perfect moments had done to change her and make her ready to reveal one of her own.

So wait a moment more, maidens of sun and moon and stars. Wait a moment shapeshifters and prodigies and heroines. This moment was offered to Tianic, this question was asked of her. Yes, she's having fun. More fun than she's ever had. A victory, too, if she wanted to reach out and claim it. Enough to make her a legend in her own story in the same beat that it started.

She won't take it, though. And she's smiling as she realizes why - it's because she has more to show than even this. She has so many battles still to fight before she can accept that victory so sweetly offered. It's not that she has to do more to earn it, it's not that she doesn't want it. It's that she's not ready for it. She has a long road still to walk before she's as perfect as this wolf girl. This isn't the triumph of her story. It's a beginning for her. And so she decides, and with a final clash of blades her sword falls from numb fingertips and the blade of Yue is beneath her chin.

And she smiles, with a tear in her eye, and says "Thank you."

Oho? Ohoho? Ohohoho? What's this, then? What's this? Aha! Finally, now the sword is under the other chin! S-so this is what that feels like!

Do give Yue a teensy bit of credit, please. She does her best in this moment to do the thing right. At least, she tries to make it feel how she remembered feeling after every other time it happened to her. The tiny, oh-so-safe bit of pressure that tilts Tianic's pretty head juuuuuuuust so! The casual smirk and the careless hair toss that are supposed to crown the winner and bless the loser at the same time. The long, burning stare that holds the defeated's gaze and threatens to turn them into the hypnotized instead. Hold it. Hold it! Hoooolllld iiiiiit...

Ok that's enough of that! Yue bursts into a fit of giggles and, dropping her sword to the ground with an embarrassing clatter, swoops down and flings her arms around Tianic in just the biggest hug. Quick, while she's still got 'em! Laughing, almost sobbing, she pulls her very very first ever Real Duel Opponent close and squeezes every spare bit of love she's got into her.

"You were! You were! You were so! Amazing! The way that you moved and the way you planted your feet and the, the, the uh, um, the drawing thing was just so, like, I've never actually seen anything, y'know, never knew anybody could do that kinda thing while they were still fightin' but you were all like whoosh twist clack sparkle! Y'know?? And it's just so, you're so very, oh my goshies gosh can we be friends? Is it ok if we're friends even if I've gotta go someday and you don't gotta come with? 'Cause I, like, goshies. I, you, um! I've seen so much stuff and done so much stuff since I left home and I even sorta kinda saw two whole princesses doin' duel stuff sorta kinda near me-like, like y'know, like pointin' a sword at me one time an' tryin'ta turn me into a mouse or whatever maybe but then wolf stuff got involved and you don't need to hear about this sorry sorry and another time I bit the first cookie in front of Qiu, like, the Princess Qiu and she chased me with her heli-whatsit, but... but!"

It's ok, right? It's ok to kiss somebody on the cheek when you don't really know 'em? But you do, don't you see? You do. You know 'em almost better than you know Sis (that is, uh, your sister or whatever, assumin' you've got one and she also zipped off to the big city to be a social... uh... stalactite? Person thingy?), 'cause you've done a dance with them where you bared your entire soul just now, and you sang about love and she sang about a different love right back, and the whole thing's just like transformin' into some new and even better you, isn't it? You could poof her back into a wolf right now and promise her with seven sun's worth of wishes that she'd never get to be her human self again and it won't make a lick of difference to how much more beautiful and perfect and aware she feels now, and how much Tianic's shinin' next to her even if you told her it was her wolf curse the whole time.

"But I've never... seen anybody do it like you did. And, and I thought... it was beautiful. I thought you were beautiful. There was a second there where I really, honestly wanted you to win and then you just, just, just like, y'know, said nah no thanks that ain't me, and I'm like... you can do that? I'm gonna remember this forever. I'm gonna remember you forever. And it's, um, like, it's fine if you don't wanna be, I mean, if you'd rather just... all I'm gonna say is that, actually I don't even know what the rules are around here, do they allow visitors in prison and suchlike? 'Cause if they do then you should come to my cell for a bit, since it's actually really super nice? For some reason? Is that just how you do things up here? No I mean nevermind it doesn't matter none I just mean, like, you can come see me and I'll make you a... a cake. To say thanks. For being my first."

And she smiles, our Yue does, and she finally pulls away and her smile's got a bit of a shimmer going to it already. It's just a bit wetter than she wants it to be, smiling while she tries to stand back up. There's that subtle shifting in the air, where everything doesn't get to be perfect forever after all. That curse is still gonna extract its due, and apparently somebody owes it a lot. And even someone as super-secret-triple-special as Yue (don't tell her, ok?) doesn't have the kind of allowance that'd let her pay it off. So she can feel it pulling at her. It's happening already. The Fluffening.

But she stands her ground, as maiden turns to wolf once again. She doesn't run away or say anything more to ruin the moment, but just turns and points up at the stands where something else just as amazing as all this is about to happen. It's her turn to watch, right? It's her turn to watch with her new friend, and with Kat, and with Hyra who's going to be just, just so proud of her and tonight is going to be perfect. Just perfect, even though...

No. She's standin' her ground here, ok? Nobody and nothing's gonna make her regret pourin' her heart out here in the arena, not even knowing it might've cost her the one last chance she'd have (maybe ever) to taste Hyra's lips with hers and finally finally finally get to know what kissing her's like, girl to girl.

But, well, she's not all transformed yet, is she? She's got a moment for one more miracle. She just... can't take it. 'Cause if she goes rushin' off after all've that, she'll punch a big ugly hole right through the middle of everything she just tried to tell Tianic. So... so she'll pass, y'know? She'll let it go. See? See Tianic? Sometimes this is how love looks. And sometimes it's like...

Your Rose

The words arc like lightning through Chen. Hers. Her Rose. She blushes as the thought rushes through her. Rose agreed, they were girlfriends, she hadn't made a mistake! She had thought pretty hard, she thought she was right, but all the time in her mind there had been that niggling little fear that maybe she had made a mistake and this would all fall apart even as she'd imagined herself the hero. Part of her wanted to just collapse into a puddle and drape herself all about this new look Rose until the two of them were so bundled together you could barely tell whose limbs went where.

A thousand scenarios flashed quickly through Chen's mind, each more exciting than the last. She blushed and despite herself she wiggled a little under Rose's gaze as she imagined what they could do. As Yue might say, oh gosh, goshies!

But! But but but, she's got to pull off the daring rescue first, then she can carry off her girlfriend to...somewhere in the sky castle probably, where they can have some privacy and ask a million questions and hug and...and oh gosh. Oh gosh. Was she going to carry Rose in this state? And then tie her up and and...eep! Focus!

Well, she would focus, but before Chen can properly issue any sort of challenge to Countess Keron, the entire audience is taken with the spectacle upon the field. Chen offers a silent prayer of thanks to Yue and this incredibly beautiful duel for allowing her to collect herself and...hells was that painter on the field painting mandalas?

For a moment, Chen's attention was entirely on the duel. This was incredible. Yue had been running about as a wolf, but she'd turned back into a girl (uh...what?) and she'd pulled her opponent out of her stance and asked her to show off something incredible. This was...this was it. A little piece of what Jessic had been talking about. She'd said: If you don't love your opponent, at least a little bit, it's not a duel, it's just a fight. And fights are ugly. Chen understood a little piece of that advice better in this moment. If she'd been fighting this squire Tianic, she could have simply moved faster than Tianic seemed able to move her big sword. Chen could see that duel in her mind's eye. She'd step forward, feint, then Tianic would swing and Chen would take one more step and lean a little forward and the sword would miss her, placing her inside Tianic's guard. Her own blade would make one decisive cut and stop short of doing any harm, and the duel would be called in her favor. But, what would that even accomplish? At best, someone in the audience would be a technical aficionado and would appreciate the lesson in efficiency, but most people wouldn't even have the time to get excited. And Tianic would have been crushed, embarrassed to have even entered. It wouldn't make Chen look good, it would just make her a bully.

Instead, Yue had embraced this. She'd pushed Tianic to show off her own style and what they were seeing was an incredible and fleeting beauty from an inspired creator. It didn't matter if it was fast or slow, it mattered that it was beautiful, that Tianic's heart was singing to everyone assembled as she painted swirling mandalas with her sword. And it mattered that Yue was dancing with her, inspiring and being inspired, playing and leaping and sparkling like so much radiance that Tianic couldn't help but play off her. The whirling, intricate duel was a wolf mandala that could only be made here, like this, and it never would have existed at all if they hadn't worked together to bring it out.

Chen is crying as the duel comes to its end. Not a lot, in fact she doesn't even notice until a little drop of salty water catches on the edge of her lips and touches her tongue. But she is crying because she's just seen something breathtaking, something that had no right to ever have existed yet did it anyway. She wants to preserve it forever as she saw it, she's never been more inspired to paint something than this moment, not by any sunset or waterfall gorgeous though they were.

But that too, is not for this moment. And so, as the sword leaves the chin, and Yue and Tianic have their heart to heart, and Yue finds herself a little more milk tea fluffy than just her hair, the attention turns back to Chen, who's standing, so close to Rose, to Keron. People around them are noticing that. There's something else about to happen.

Chen turns to Keron. First she sniffles and wipes her eyes. Then, for once unperturbed by showing her feelings, she holds her own sword out formally. "Countess Keron, I challenge you for the freedom of your captive, Rose from the River"

There we go. That’s her girl. Look at those soft cheeks go all flushed just for her. Even tied up and barely dressed, Rose has Chen wrapped around her little finger, and what a rush that is.

Rose from the River’s helplessness is tempered, rather strongly, by her self-assurance. When she luxuriates in Chen’s flustered reaction, it’s from a much more centered place to stand than silly little Rose, and when she turns her head and looks, properly, at Yue— just there, as Yue points to the stands, as she’s limned by magic— there’s experience in her nod, an acknowledgement of how Yue has already grown, how (unlike the careless strength of Rose from the River herself) Yue has put in the work. Receive now the approval of the demon of the ancient world, bought and sold, yours to command if you dare. She is ancient, unflappable, and proud of her companions. A thousand blessings on the Way for carrying them into her life!

Then she is smacked on her curvy little rump and she squeaks and squirms and reacts, flustered and embarrassed, like a blushing girl just out of her village, and it’s only half an act. And maybe it’s Yue who sees (though perhaps without recognizing) the way that the formerly big and formerly scary shapeshifter melts into her performance, trying to sell to everyone (and most especially herself) that she’s in need of being rescued, that Chen is the heroine today and that Rose is the damsel in such blushy, jingly, tight distress!

Is it not said:
There is no weakness like that
of the mountain that shrugs free the sky;
there is no freedom like that
of the woman who chooses to close her eyes.

Countess Keron's handmaidens clasp the last of her armour into place and she flexes her gauntlet's talons, letting electrical currents run along its length. Prepared for war she cuts a terrible figure, jagged edges in black and gold, one deep red eye visible from through artfully arranged straight black hair. With a snap of those talons her handmaidens pull back and she fully allows herself to glow into the spotlight.

And you realize: you are overmatched, Princess Chen. You are not overmatched because Countess Keron is faster or stronger or more skilled at fighting than you, you are overmatched because that is her story. As the Naginata is placed in her grip, lightning running up the shaft to crackle along the blade, you see it clearly. Keron's story, her dance, her duel is that of the Tyrant. Slow, mighty, inevitable, shrugging off lesser blows and delivering massive and crushing strikes with a terrible weapon.

And a tyrant is not someone who is easily defeated in single combat. Anime has taught you this much. A tyrant is best fought against as a group. Friends together, each supporting each other against a singular mighty evil. In fact, you almost recognize a number of the influences in Keron's costume design from Jessic's anime. You recognize the stance.

So you realize what she's doing when the shockwave of electrical energy explodes out from her and sends you crashing down into the sands of the arena. She hits the sand and draws herself up, tall and threatening, mighty blade resting over her shoulder. With a flick of her talons laser-lightning explodes out across the arena and detonates, causing an explosion and shockwave that fuses the calligraphic sand into a twisted sculpture of glass.

And there, in the arena with you Chen, is Tianic and Yue. Admittedly squeaking somewhat and looking for cover from the lady with the laser beam claws, but they're here. It's a strange reward for Yue, whose heart was too big to allow her to rush from the arena, but neither is it - after the dust has settled a bit - an entirely unwelcome one. You stood your ground, Yue, and so now you're part of this story too. The ride is going to continue a little longer. One more complication between you and kisses, but it's the promise of those kisses that'll let you see this battle through as well.

"On your knees," demands Countess Keron, voice rising above the chaos. "I shall not release even one of my prisoners, Princess Chen. You too will serve me, in the harem or in the arena, I care not which."