Black Butterfly Knot

Chapter 2: Cold Blood

Another clearing of trees, she can see the talisman sitting innocently on the ground. She can finally feel her body calm down as her fingers wrap around the thin slip of paper, the only hope within reach. Maybe it's time to try again. She closes her eyes, holding the talisman out in front of her. Her heart is far from calm and so is the wind combing through her hair and garments. 

As if on cue, the trees opposite her let fall a sprinkle of leaves. A white figure flutters into the clearing. It's another breathtaking entrance. The fox bears her claws again, the red stains along them still evident. A murderous glint is in its eyes. "Hand over your life and I might consider giving you a painless death." 

Ying Ru who has been silent, finally opens her eyes. Something is different in her complexion. Her fingers let go of the talisman and it is immediately caught in a large bubble of glowing, pulsating air. There's no smirk on Ying Ru's face like the one that is painted over the jing's (jing is a being that can take one a human shape but is essentially an animal). A string of whispered incantations escape her lips. The bubble grows to twice it's previous size. With qi (pronounced 'chi', means energy) flowing freely throughout her body, Ying Ru feels that everything is alright again. Another string of incantations flow from her lips, this time to melt the talisman. 

By now, the fox has sensed something amiss. The tables have turned horribly against it. A human girl who can't utilize a talisman correctly is no threat, but the Ying Ru of this moment has already broken through that disadvantage. In all her hundred years of existence, this jing has never encountered a talisman, but it's power isn't something that can't be imagined. Instead of running as Ying Ru would at this turn of events, the fox assumed an unwavering stance. Half of it wanted to see it's power, the other half probably was too prideful to turn it's tail upwards and dash off into the forest in flight. 

The talisman has already begun to dissolve into tiny glittering specks, fusing violently with the ball of qi encasing it. Even a blind man can feel the energy and destruction it can bestow. A last string of incantations leave Ying Ru's chapped lips. The spell is very taxing to use and to add to it, she has already recieved a set of injuries from earlier. She hopes she can stand at least until she can deliver a decent damage. 

The blow came predicted and unpredicted at the same time. Ying Ru is confident it could finish it for the fox, but she didn't expect herself to be thrown back into the air as well. It proved too much for her weakened body to sustain. While the cry of the jing, something human and animistic at the same time, sounded in her ear, she herself felt the bone-cracking impact of her back against the trunk of a tree. Blood seeped out from the corner of her lips. Her whole body hurts badly, as if she had just fell down a cliff. At least she's still alive, she thought. Hao Yang might sigh at the sight of her when she gets back, but at least she isn't dead. Ying Ru doesn't need anyone to protect her, she smiles proudly. Even if she ends up like this from something as small as using a talisman, she managed to keep herself in one piece, didn't she?

She is really tired. Realizing that her overactive mind has already become so unoccupied as to think about these useless things again, she decides to pull herself up and start heading home for real. She doesn't have another talisman nor the energy to run into another jing. 

Just when she got up, a rainfall of red leaves flutter down from over her head, some landing on her shoulders and hair. She hadn't touched the tree at all. The sound of shuffling reached her ears. Another drizzle of leaves follow.

She arches her neck up, peering up into the tree behind her. Ying Ru can subtly make out a figure against one of the highest branches. She takes a few steps away and to the side of the tree. Now it was obvious there was something in the tree above her head, more specifically someone. She didn't know how long she stood there just gazing.