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At the 4th dual-hour of the day, Huohuo woke up, rubbing her eyes and shuffling out of bed. Brushing her fur, cleaning her teeth, consuming an austere breakfast.
Routine, frankly.
“You should eat something else for once.” A low grumbling resonated in her mind. “I used to be a conqueror. Now you’re making me eat bread!”
“Well, you’re not a-anymore, and it’s nutritious…besides, you can’t even taste things right now?” Huohuo stammered out in response, and Tail huffed.
“It’s the principle of it!...you could at least get some noodles sometime.” The heliobus retorted, but didn’t make any fuss. He remained quiet enough as she slipped away from the table, quickly getting into her uniform. Working at the Ten-lords commission was draining, and keeping an official-looking outfit helped Huohuo feel like she belonged.
“Your hat.” Tail rumbled, as Huohuo quickly backtracked to take it from her bedside. She then quickly ran out of the door, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
“Huohuo, I have a job for you.” Hanya smiled softly as the Foxian came in. “The Cloud Knights have requested talismans for various purposes, and a lot of our staff are occupied repairing the damage to the Shackling Prison. Though you’re only a trainee judge, I cannot think of anyone I trust more to handle this task. This requires someone of moral character to take responsibility for tools that will be vital to the work of the other commissions. Do you understand why I have asked you, Huohuo?”
“Not really!” Huohuo blurted out, before realising this was perhaps not an ideal response. “I mean, I understand that you think I meet that qualification! But…ah…you know, I…well…” She stammered, and Hanya chuckled to herself.
“I had a feeling that would be the case. Then, Huohuo, I have a secondary task for you. I want you to reflect over the course of the day, and think about why I may have chosen you.”
“Is it because Xueyi is still being repaired?” She asked, and Hanya shook her head.
“Even if my sister were ready for field work, I would not ask this of her.” The Judge put her hands together. “Stay safe, Huohuo.”
“This should be fun…” Tail rumbled, a note of amusement in his voice. In other words, he’d figured out what Hanya was planning, and found it hilarious. That didn’t bode well. Not well at all.
It was probably better than cleaning up Lupitoxin remnants from the Shackling Prison, though.
“Take a left.” Tail mused, before snapping suddenly. “No, the other left! Aeons, girl…”
“I had to! Can you imagine pushing through that crowd?” She grumbled quietly as she darted out of the bustling street, talismans in tow in a large satchel.
“Yes.” Tail quickly retorted, and yes, in hindsight, that was a foolish question. Of course Tail would imagine himself driving people out of his path through fear and presence. Not for the first time, Huohuo wondered what it’d be like to be feared like that, to be powerful.
She put the thought aside. Allowing idle fantasies with the first step to being swayed by a heliobus. Even if Tail probably didn’t mean her any harm, it was still not a great idea to tempt fate.
“You’re nearly there, if you’re still panicking.” Tail rumbled, and as she looked up, she did see the barracks. Or at least, a barracks-shaped building. A building that resembled the mental image of what a barracks would look like, with the caveat that Huohuo had never actually seen the barracks. Suddenly, she was less convinced that this was the right place. “I mean it. That’s the barracks, shorty.”
The heliobus’ mocking aside, Huohuo approached, and the Cloud Knights were in front, so…that was probably a good start? She approached the front, only to be stopped by the knights.
“Halt! Who goes there?”
“Ah! Ah…Trainee Judge Huohuo, for the Ten Lords Commission. There was a delivery requested?” A pregnant pause, and the two guards looking at each other. She couldn’t see their faces beneath the helmets, but she could recognise the attitude of ‘this little thing’s a judge?’
They weren’t exactly wrong, either.
“Come in, Judge Huohuo. Have a seat, the Lieutenant will want to look at these talismans himself.” They opened the door, and she shook as she went through it.
“The Lieutenant, eh? This should be interesting…” Tail smirked to himself from within Huohuo’s sealed teal, and the knowledge that her heliobus was excited didn’t set her at ease.
“Judge Huohuo?” The short lieutenant smiled, offering his hand. “Lieutenant Yanqing. I asked the Ten-Lords Commission about the talismans. May I take a look?”
She nodded shyly, and handed the bag over. Yanqing pulled a talisman out, inspecting it. He looked it up and down, clearly a man of great precision and focus. His presence was imposing, and Huohuo had to fight the urge to run away.
“Hmm. Yep, I think it’s good? I don’t really know Talismans, but I don’t see anything obviously bad!” He smiled, and Huohuo reeled at the public statement of ignorance. Here he was, just openly trusting her to be the voice of wisdom.
“T-they should help with things like Astral Spirits and Heliobi. Any…any intangible or similarly difficult to interact with…things.” She got out before her words stopped, and Yanqing stopped thoughtfully.
“Oh! Yeah, those would be really useful. I caught the fight between Luka and Tail at the Wardance. I would have had a tough time with that guy. Luka seemed headstrong enough to go at it, but I prefer to dodge and duck, and I can’t really outdodge fire, right?” He nodded, thinking to himself. Of course, that was the moment Huohuo’s tail chose to smolder, the Heliobus’ voice coming from around her.
“Ha! Would have liked to show the Cloud Knights why I’m the best part of Ingamar the Conqueror, too! But…I’ll settle for fighting that…belobogian twerp…” He grumbled, his protests losing passion. It was pretty clear to Huohuo that despite himself, Tail really did enjoy his time with Luka.
“Oh! You’re Tail, right!” Yanqing beamed, almost bouncing, and Tail emerged around her, immediately showing himself on her shoulder.
“That’s right, youngster! Would have enjoyed putting you on your ass, but what’s done is done. At least this one got a little more confidence talking to people!” Tail laughed to himself, and Yanqing rubbed the back of his neck.
“Hey, I’ve got time. If you want a spar, and you want to help your friend develop a little confidence, I might have an idea…”
“Do I get a vote on this?!” Huohuo burst, and Tail immediately laughed.
“Of course not.” He said, taking far too much joy in this.
“Mr. Yanqing, are you sure about this?” Huohuo questioned, as Yanqing gently held a sword of frost.
“As sure as I ever am!” Yanqing beamed. “Look, there’s no danger. But I believe in you, and the only way you’ll face your fears is if you don’t think, and let yourself act! Believe in me, and believe in yourself and your…Tail? Right?”
“The shortie has a point, girl!” Tail laughed, and Yanqing smiled compassionately.
“I want you to land a hit on me. It doesn’t matter how, or how hard. Just push yourself, alright?” He offered, and Huohuo took a deep breath. Going along with it was easier than refusing and risking offending a Cloud Knight, and besides, she’d never hear the end of it from Tail, and that in of itself was pretty awful, and-
“Huohuo!” Tail snapped, and she refocused, pushing away her thoughts for a second. There was no escaping this, and she gave a little nod. Yanqing laughed, jumping into a stance, and Huohuo just froze for a moment.
“Mr Tail…is charging at him really stupid?”
“Definitely. You should do it anyway. No way of learning otherwise.” She didn’t move, and Tail just sighed. “You don’t challenge bad assumptions by sitting around in ignorance. Make mistakes and learn from them!”
Well, if that was the case….
Huohuo felt herself run at Yanqing, her eyes closing in fear as she waved her small banner frantically back and forth. When she opened her eyes, Yanqing was stood inches away, hanging from his own sword with a cocky smirk.
“Gentle tip! Make sure to keep your eyes open!” Yanqing ducked backwards, letting go of his sword and rolling to the side. “This might save your life one day!”
Well, that certainly upped the stakes. Huohuo kept running, making her flimsy strikes, but it was no use. She couldn’t even get near Yanqing, let alone tag him. Then, she recalled something. It didn’t matter how, and if this was to save her life…she’d need to use it in an emergency.
Inspiration struck, and her eyes flew upon.
“Mister Tail! Help me!”
“Help you? Help you how? Want me to…take over?” He laughed, and Huohuo, for the first time, felt genuinely angry and focused.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to fight him! Then help me fight him!” She ordered, stomping her foot once, and Tail froze, and then laughed harder.
“Don’t tell me you’re growing a Spine, girl! Alright, move aside, amateur!” She glared, and refused.
“No. We’re doing this together!” She demanded, and Tail paused, and then his mouth curved in delight.
“Who are you, and what have you done with my wimp? That’s more like it!” Tail loomed over her, and then, the two of them dove. Trails of phase-flame carved their way around the battlefield as Yanqing’s area to dodge within shrunk. Huohuo continued her advance, simply focusing on tagging Yanqing with her banner. He kept leaping back, but his smile had disappeared in favour of a look of concentration.
“Huohuo! Fight smarter, not harder!” Tail ordered, and an idea came to her. Her Talismans! She had a range of them for protection…but protection was versatile. Taking one for erecting a temporary barrier, usually used to keeping the public away from danger, she threw it. Yanqing dodged it as it passed, before leaping backwards.
As he leapt, the barrier appeared, and Yanqing flipped face-first into the barrier. He slid down it, groaning in pain as he landed in a heap. Huohuo ran over, panic filling her, as Tail shrunk back down.
“Mr. Yanqing! Are you okay?” Huohuo ran over to him, and Yanqing slowly looked up, his nose bloody.
“Guess I had that coming, huh? Shouldn’t have teased a Judge so harshly…”
“I didn’t mean to! I did without thinking, and…oh, Madam Hanya is going to be so upset with me, and….”
“Shorty. You did fine. You followed a request from a Lieutenant of the Cloud Knights. Not exactly punishable.” Tail chuckled, and Yanqing nodded.
“He’s right, Madam Huohuo. If you take any trouble from this, just point them my way, and I’ll take the blame. You should probably hurry back, but you did good!” He beamed, and as Huohuo backed away, she couldn’t help but feel that this was all very convenient. Too convenient, frankly.
“Master Yanqing of the Cloud Knights said he was very pleased with the Talismans. He also mentioned a duel, Huohuo. I’m surprised.” Hanya put her hands together, and Huohuo swallowed nervously.
“I’m sorry! It was his idea but I went along with it and I think it was made to help me get confidence but I probably shouldn’t have agreed and-”
“Huohou. Breathe.” Hanya chuckled to herself, and Huohuo paused for breath. “Believe it or not, I’m not chastising you. I had a feeling something like this might happen.”
“Did you plan this, Madam Hanya?” Huohuo asked, and she shook her head.
“No, no. Although when our friend on the Astral Express recommended I provide talismans to the Cloud Knights as a show of departmental unity after Hoolay’s escape, I suspected she had an ulterior motive.” She laughed to herself, and continued. “I was right, evidently. But, Huohuo, I asked you a question this morning. Why did I choose you for the role?”
“Because Stelle asked you to?” She said bluntly, and Hanya shook her head.
“Not quite. I could have refused, or had someone else do it. It’s a delivery, and if nothing else, I could do it myself. I was, in fact, lying about there being nobody else to make sure you took the job.” She shrugged. “So, again - why did I assign you to the job?”
“I…still don’t know, Madam Hanya. Can I ask you?”
“I think you should ask someone else, first.” Hanya gently offered, and she turned to her left, where the Heliobus was already waiting.
“Mr. Tail, why-”
“Because you were capable, shortstuff! You did the job just fine. And you did more than you thought you would today! There’s a competent judge in you yet!” He laughed, and Hanya wagged a finger.
“Tail, behave. She is already a competent judge. But I agree. I chose you, Huohuo, because you didn’t believe you could do it, and I knew otherwise. I want you to reflect on that, next time you face something that you don’t feel you can do.”
“I will do my best, Madam Hanya.”
“I know you will. Get some rest, my friend.” She stood up, and Huohuo took that as her cue to leave. It was time to make her way home, get something to eat, and get an early night. In fact…despite herself, she’d done very well for herself. Perhaps she could treat herself?
“Mr. Tail…do you still want noodles?”
“Damn right!” Tail said, and Huohuo swore she could hear a smile in his voice.