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Yue drifted amongst this new place; the home that was not a home. It was something else entirely. Without order, is what she felt in her bones. Her waking dreams had recurred, voices telling her not to trust the lands – but Yue silenced them with a deft hand. She had no time for such stories, especially not ones told by dreams.

Not when there was a land in chaos, needing of order and rule.

In the small amount of time between now and her recent awakening, the empress had, unbeknownst to her, had mirrored Princess Fen’s own activities. She sang and hummed under her breath and walked about. Then she watched the newness of this sunset, somehow different than all those that painted the sky before it.

She thought about what this meant for her, for Tianlong, for those who did not make the ethereal transition to this new land. Would they be okay, without their regents to steward them?

Then she laid awake beneath the moon, allowing her breath to stir the dirt between her paws, in repose but sleepless. She spent many nights like this, as her many duties oftentimes drained the lethargy from her bones. Her vivid dreams beckoned to her, but she did not answer. This night, she knew the remedy.

The Empress stole away along the edges of the river, wishing to see if either princess was awake. Eventually finding Fen, Yue smiled, her expression softening into something welcoming. If it was anyone she worried for during these times, it was Tianlong’s royal youth.

Fen, she greeted in a voice that was almost a whisper so as to not disturb any others nearby, but the joy of seeing the young girl for the first time since she had awoken was evident. I am so grateful that your Father has found you and your sister. This place is made better by your presence.

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It would only be a matter of time before Fen found her footing in this new world. Unfortunately, now was not yet, and not yet felt like a watered-down pelt thrown against her shoulders—overburdened, exhausting, and massive. Though her trust was suspended and strengthened within her faith, built into a strong foundation, and bolstered by the confidence she felt in her father’s words, seeds of doubt still grew in the darkness of the evening.

What if this wasn’t the plan of the Celestial Dragon? What if this was a form of punishment the dynasty had yet to face? And most terrifying, what would happen to their old world now that their emperor had gone?

All of it was unsettling. Concerning. And in ways, horrifying, if Fen allowed herself to think longer on those seeds of doubt.

And so she hadn’t. Instead, she put her attention to the shadows that weaved like wisps within the murky evening light. Her paws carried through the territory she did not know, and she explored where she believed others had not.

She carried on like this for hours until the sound of a voice greeted her ears. Gentle as it was, the familiarity of such notes was more comforting than she had expected them to be. She threw a mossy stare behind her and was greeted by the slender silhouette of the Empress herself.

At least she had made it alongside them.

Empress, Fen breathed her welcome, dipping her chin into a duty-bound nod. And yours, as well.

I did not expect others to be out at this hour, she admitted through flattening ears, unsure if the empress would attempt to send the young princess straight to bed. She could try, at least, but Fen would ultimately protest. Does the prospect of sleep not call to you either?

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There was something so lovely and comforting about being near Fen, that the Empress found herself expressing silent gratitude that it was specifically this princess she had happened upon in the dead of night. Even just the words that left Fen’s lips made the woman feel warm, as if she wanted to take the girl up in the embrace, and kiss her cheek just for existing.

She was not her child, but she was a royal child. A child of the dynasty was the Empress’s responsibility, and it was one that Yue upheld fiercely. She kept the princesses close. Saw potential in them. Yue was the mother that was not a mother,

and that was a hole that stewarding a nation could not fill.

Yue received her honors with a smile and a brief closing of her eyes. Then she opened them, unable to be anything but honest underneath the influence of the night, the lack of sleep, and the moon’s heavy weight on her shoulder. I would make a sorry Empress if recent events didn’t keep me up, she admitted, not certain Shenlei had been able to broach this (potentially negative) perspective with his young daughters yet.

He was strong in the face of all things, and she would never expect him to be anything but. She was here to deal with the finer workings.

Has your mother made the transition as well?

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Skill: Orater/Counselor..?

When it no longer seemed probable that the Empress would send Fen to bed, a weight had seemed to lift from the princess’s shoulders. It brought a calm, easy smile to her lips—subtle amid the shining light of the moon—but welcomed in the comforting presence of the empress.

Yuè was not her mother; however, there was an air of motherly instinct she had always noticed within the Empress. A softened demeanor that cradled a young girl’s vulnerabilities within the velveteen hands of what might have been a parent, provoking feelings of support, surety, and confidence within its embrace. Fen had often felt her own walls dissolve in the Empress’s presence. Not entirely—as that was something not even her own biological mother could do—but somewhat.

Enough that Fen would at least give the Empress a taste of her own worries and thoughts when the situation called for it, and would simultaneously accept what motherly affections she might have offered.

As long as they did not encroach on what freedom Fen believed she had.

Now, I don’t think that is possible, Fen offered through a half-hearted smile, You? A sorry Empress? The sky would have to fall for that to be true. Her tail swayed behind her, a flick of amusement swimming behind her mossy stare as she shook her head. The people love you no matter what world we are in.

Or even if the Empress needed sleep.

Who would’ve thought we’d be home one day and in another world the next, She added after a thought, tail twitching in idle thought.

However, when the mention of her own mother was made, Fen turned her gaze to the stars. I’m not sure, she admitted, I have not seen her…But I believe my father can feel her. He had seemed confident that their mother was around when Fen had first arrived.

Things have been so busy, she offered through a light-hearted smile, one easily made to mask whatever emotions brewed beneath, I’m sure if she is around, we have just been passing ships in the night.

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Though the princesses were the closest thing Yue had to children, the Empress did find it something that could only ever fulfill her halfway. They were not the heirs to the dynasty, but they were Shenlei’s prides and joys – there were bonds between blooded family that Yue would never know. She couldn’t possibly understand. Her own clan, her own parents, had lived a thousand miles away once she had been married. Now, the empress supposed they were an entire universe away.

Yue hadn’t been a part of a nuclear family for a long time.

She made the best of things, and took her familial pleasures where she could. Sending night-walking younglings to bed was the responsibility of a true mother, so here, she had no such obligation. Yue smiled and sighed, allowing Fen’s affirmations to wash over her. It felt good, to feel as if everything in life was so secure, even if just for a moment.

It was the blessing of the youth, to be able to think in such a way.

Yue did not have the heart to tell the girl that her reality was due to shift entirely at least twice more in her life: when she became married, and when she produced offspring. It served no one to dwell on such things, especially not now, when reality was so subsumed with the vicissitudes of the times. Of course this was not the time, not when the girl’s mother was still missing.

Still, Yue smiled, inspired by Fen’s inner assuredness that Mei would arise from the darkness of the worlds before. The orchid herself desired very much for the woman to join them, as she suffered a great responsibility for Shenlei’s happiness. There was a small sliver of Yue’s consciousness that would find a way to survive should she not appear.

Yue smiled, certain the dark was obscuring her emotions. I see. Yue sighed. I do hope you see one another soon, the empress expressed, her voice the smallest prayer of hope for a different future; one where Fen did not have to mourn her mother, and where Shen did not have to pine away for a great love lost. He needed to stay strong, if he was to rebuild the dynasty. Yue could be his strength – but she had never seen him heartbroken before.

She didn’t know if she could survive that.

We will be moving soon, she then said, knowing this from the feel of winter’s oncoming frost on the tips of the wind, more than the Emperor’s own words. She began to wonder aloud. What could lie beyond this morass? The woman sat, then decided to lie on the earth in repose, her forelegs crossed quite elegantly, demonstrating that she was keen on staying a while. Is there anything you’ve ever hoped to see?

For two women whose future was predestined, this might be their only chance to see what lay beyond their own great walls.

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Skill: Orator

Fen’s stare remained cast toward the sky, watching with an aimless and faraway gaze, as the stars danced and twinkled above. It was strange how familiar this place could seem at times, when the reality of it all, was this world was as foreign as it was alien. There was no Tianlong Dynasty, spanning for generations on this soil. No palace grounds filled with the same blooms and trees stacked along hidden ruins. No pools of water filled with the same peaceful magic bestowed by the Celestial Dragon.

And yet, the stars appeared the same.

Or rather, similar enough that Fen had not noticed the differences.

Instead, she spied the familiar Orion constellations, and dragged an emerald gaze across the familiar twinkling stars. Yue’s words were an echo of her thoughts as she gave a brief nod, not yet finding the courage to return her gaze toward the Empress. Me too, she softly said.

And perhaps it was for the best that Fen’s gaze sought the swirling darkness that twinkled above, better for everyone that her attention was fixated elsewhere.

An ear turned at Yue’s mention of moving and for a moment, Fen’s spirited seemed to lift—her heart rising in her chest with a few fluttered beats. It was not as though she despised the swamps, they were…delightful in their own special ways, but she could neither not admit that the thought of going elsewhere…was well, more exciting.

Her expression lightened at that as she flashed the Empress a curious glance. Where would she hope to go? What would she hope to see?

They felt like loaded questions, where not one single answer could entirely capture what it was that Fen would like to experience. She would like to see the grandest waterfall in all the land, one so large that it would take her breath away at the sound and sight. She’d like to see the differences in mountains—were they as sharp and pointy as the ones she knew? Or were they soft and molded with quiet intention like the rolling waves of wind along a field of grass? She wanted to see the sky, picturesque in the various colors of a wintertime canvas and outlined by the softness of clouds.

Her thoughts swam with the prospects as she flicked an emerald stare towards the sky, I think… she started softly, her voice barely above a whisper. My soul craves the thrill of adventure, Fen paused for a moment as she listened to the steady beat of her heart. and it thirsts for knowledge, more than I am capable of providing myself.

It felt like a secret she were admitting to, as if such understanding was not so easily written across the young Princess’ countenance at all times.

The easy answer is that I’d like to see it all, she offered with a breath and a tail-end of a hesitant laugh. But the truth is that I wish to see a place that takes my breath away, she explained as her gaze flickered from Yue and back toward the sky, A place that I cannot reliably form into words but a place I know by feeling. One of beauty, of peace and of belonging.

Perhaps, she sounded crazy.

Maybe her words did not make sense.

They sounded silly.

The princess shook her head and smiled with a flash of humor: I’d be delighted to see a very large waterfall embraced by a forest below and mountains above. Yes, that would be her answer, she thought with a quick bob of her head.

What do you hope to see?

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Listening to Fen was like listening to a dream itself. Yue herself was only two years older than Fen, but sometimes, the girl felt light years away. It was their biggest difference as well as one of the main reasons Yue held her close: it gave Yue a peek, a small window of opportunity, to experience life through the lens of one who allowed themselves passion and youth and fun – something Yue never had, not even when she was a young girl on the cusp of adulthood, as Fen was now.

The Empress allowed her own attention to follow the girl’s up to the heavens, but Yue did not have any recognition of constellations – that was what astronomers were for, and a good astronomer was worth its weight in gold. Yue’s heart yearned momentarily for the legion of professionals she had lost – and now had the task of replacing, lest she be forced to rule without their expert influence and insight.

The Princess’s light-hearted reaction to her question gave them a moment to breathe that (at least Yue) had needed. The sylph sat back on her slender haunches, listening to how Fen audibly pondered her question – and yet, at the same time, metaphor was present. Waterfalls. Wild adventure, more than the dynasty could provide. Breath taken straight from her lungs, in the best of ways.

Yes, you are quite adventurous. May the crystal dragon bless the future husband who must try to keep you.

Yue did not come from a progressive society; moreover, her own family prescribed more traditional Chinese gender roles than perhaps most did. It was what made her lineage desirable, if what her mother always told her – the fact that they looked like fine, carved ivory figurines. It was something Yue sought to change, and she was determined to give the role more meaning than simple, surface-level beauty and whatever benefits a marriage brought.

She considered herself to be a rather involved Empress, intent on leaving the world better than it was before her, but until the society around her changed entirely, the woman was more than conditioned to believe that her only opportunities lay down the path that her husband paved for her. There was no other choice for women in the matter.

With her undertone laughing and lilting, Yue nodded and waved her tail. I am inferring then that these streams do not take your breath away, the empress suggested. Neither do they take mine. If Yue were being truthful, she had never before experienced such a distasteful, frigid place. I think I might always mourn for the land we have lost. I know that we will soon gain what you desire. I desire it too; something new. I want the ancestors to surprise me.

Never before had Yue needed to consider where she would desire to live, or the things she wanted to see. These things had never been open to her decision-making, always puppeteered by those of the generation above her. She would deign to live where there was the greatest need, even if it meant staying in swamplands to do so. Hmm, Yue thought for a moment. I haven't thought about it much, the woman hedged truthfully.

Just as the Princess had, Yue would also give two answers. My easy answer is... I'd love to see a glacier, and she thought on the concept of a glacier briefly. Supposedly, it is as if the Great Wall were made of ice. The governess of some cousin once knew a guy who had seen a glacier, and the tale was told far and wide. The story had dazzled her ever since she had been a pup.

But my truth? Her voice fell hushed. I think i'd like most to see my mother's face again, just as you do.

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Fen’s ears reared quietly atop her skull, turning slowly at the sound of the Empress’ words. A light laugh, held in the breath of a quiet worry, masked the concern that yanked at her heart. It was a conflicting sensation, one of good humor at the thought of being wrangled by anyone. And yet, a seed of fear dropped into the well of her beating heart at the notion of being wed.

Something was terrifying in that thought, one that Fen routinely disallowed herself from investigating. She was too young, an excuse she gave herself as if it were large enough to waive away the dropping sands of time. As if it could protect her from the inevitable fate that would surely come knocking down her door one day.

Fen wasn’t sure if she’d ever want to be married—perhaps for love, if such things existed. But the idea of being pawned off for the prospect that served her no good beyond a political arrangement benefiting the empire sat soured and bitter atop her tongue. Did that make her a bad daughter?

Maybe.

And perhaps that is why such fears of hers sat caged behind her teeth—never to see the light of day. Although they ached inside her, burrowing deeply into her flesh until they would certainly—

Her breath hitched, and Fen became forever grateful for the change in subject. She smiled sheepishly, a grin that sat shadowed within the night as she glanced at the Empress beside her. I am sure there is beauty to be found within these streams... she added lightly, somewhere beneath the muck.

A flash of jade flickered across the burbling paths of water, where a scent of moistened dirt and moss sat heavy and distastefully atop her tongue. But this land does not sing for Tianlong as ours had before. Her tail swayed behind her as she followed Yue’s words within her own mind, trailing behind like a shadow toward the beautiful memory that had once been their home.

I have faith that they will, she murmured in kind.

Somewhere new for them, somewhere that they truly belonged.

The thought made her smile, if only slightly.

And when the talk of glaciers arose—a piece of ice she could understand in theory, large and bulging, it was not anything Fen could easily conjure up in her mind. As large as the Great Wall, it almost sounded fantastical rather than based in reality.

Still, however, Fen hoped and prayed for Yue’s sake that she would get to see a glacier. If only once.

An ear turned at the hidden words she shared, and for a brief moment, jade colored eyes searched the lilacs of her own. There was understanding that washed across her gaze, a sorrow she couldn’t quite name, but an acknowledgement all the same as she gave a soft, but small smile.

Perhaps the Celestial Dragon will surprise us, Fen murmured as she turned her gaze back toward the glittering stars. And our whispered truths will be delivered to us as honored gifts.