Sixty teams of six entered the Shattered Empyrean Isles realm, but only seventeen made it until the end. Should mention that this was not because any teams had been lost to the denizens of the realm or its other pitfalls, it was an event set up by the Institute and they tried to ensure that death during any competition and expedition that they led was minimal. No, the other teams had simply left the competition early, having lost the will, due to injuries, or simply knowing that they were facing death otherwise.
Two of the most serious injuries were suffered by youths of different teams with one squishy mage having lost his hand due to his team's failure to keep him shielded while he cast spells and the other was a head injury caused by an unforeseen accident, very hard to avoid. Both were currently in the Healer's Hall. It was uncertain whether the mage would be able to get hold of one of the most illusive pills that literally regenerated limbs, such was rare in the Higher Realms let alone in Xulaphrey. The other, a female Martial Artist was currently in a coma, but the Healer's felt that she should wake up soon.
Other injuries were mostly superficial, exhaustion and hunger had been common factors in teams giving up early. In fact, had they seen Pike's team emerge looking quite chipper and well fed, they would have glared in envy and disgust.
As Pike handed over their interdimensional bag to be sealed, ready to be evaluated a day later by the judges, Bowyer and his team appeared behind them. Their team returned with an additional member.
"Bo ge, Lua Lua is hungry, squawk!"
Three black lines appeared on Bowyer's forehead as his tired team rolled their eyes and other teams stared at them in disbelief. Was that a Luan?!
"Bo ge..."
"I'll give you something to eat soon, just hold on a bit longer," Bowyer told the four foot tall bird beside him, a note of exasperation in his voice.
A Luan was a bird-type beast, shaped somewhat like a pheasant with slightly longer legs than the weaker creature in comparison to their respective body sizes. It's colouration was not too different from the male pheasant, the majority of its feathers speckled brown, reddening at its chest and cut off by a white ring upon its neck... or in this case, necks. A Luan was a twin headed bird. This Luan had sea-green feathers adorning its neck and head, becoming more peridot than emerald around its black eyes. These colours were reflected in its long tail feathers and upon the tips of its long wings, which were not just for decoration. It could fly, but it was quite lazy and usually chose not to.
Luan birds were also not weak, vulnerable spirit beasts either. Their beaks were strong and the tip sharp enough to draw blood should it attack with it, it's talons were also not to be underestimated. However, they also had elemental infinities, usually to water, wood or fire, which could be judged due to their neck and head feathers. For example, this Luan's natural was wood; it could effect its surroundings, make its woodland nest an obstacle to any with ill intent, it also instinctively knew which herbs and plants had strong spiritual energies within them or which held or could cure poisons.
The other important feature regarding a Luan was that it had intelligence and could communicate using human speech. That said, it was only that of a three-year old child, but considering it retained much racial instinct, actually taming one not held in thrall while it was still in its egg was unheard of. Even more, eggs hatched in human hands were very, very few. So finding a person with a Luan as their spirit beast was like finding a needle in a haystack, not impossible, just not probable.
Yet one had joined Bowyer's party?!
The mage assisting an elder Teacher hesitated as Bowyer handed him his team's interdimensional bag. "Will the Luan be considered part of their spoils?" The man turned to the elder behind him. It wasn't as if the Luan could be put in the bag!
"Oh, its not unheard of for teams to bring back live beasts," she said in response, looking nonchalant. In truth, she was also flustered, usually the spirit beasts to be captured were only half-tamed cubs or fledglings, not something as unbelievable as this adolescent Luan. "We usually add a scroll of note to the bag before sealing, let the judges know that the beast was indeed tamed in the realm."
The assistant did so, just as the Luan's left head began to whine about its empty stomach once more. Leon recalled that he'd stored a few berries in his interspatial bag as he'd become fond of the taste of them and thought to try grow some with the seeds buried inside the fruit. He took a handful out and was about to offer them to Bowyer, however the Luan caught their scent and rushed over to peck them out of his hand. It seemed that both heads could eat freely.
"Yum! Like!" The left head gulped down the last berry happily, while the right head rubbed against Leon's hand affectionately.
"Smells good," the right head murmured, to which the other confirmed;
"Does smell good. Like ge ge!"
A trilling noise escaped from its throats as it showed Leon more affection.
"Just how did you come to gain this fellow?" Pike asked Bowyer, curiously.
"Actually, when we came across it," Bowyer replied, scratching at his tangled hair with one hand, "it was wounded. It seemed to have been in a fight with a starving worgen, probably an usurped Alpha from the looks of its size and many injuries. It killed the beast, but suffered in the battle, breaking a leg and had a large bloody scar across its belly. Canis felt a bit sorry for it, suggested we give it some pills. Luan's aren't all that sought after dead, so it wouldn't have been worth the effort to kill it and it had plenty of fight left in it. Healed up, it ran off, as we expected, but what we didn't expect was for it to be grateful enough to want to offer us a Crystal from its nest!"
"That doesn't explain why it follows you, though," Pike pointed out, which caused Bowyer's team's beast tamer to laugh.
"When it came back, Bowyer was eating a pastry he got from his mother in Winter break!" The man, Canis informed Pike.
Bowyer's expression fell.
Bowyer's origin's and background were really not too unlike Pike's; they were both born of concubines, both had noble fathers with small harems and grandparents with high expectations. However, unlike Pike, Bowyer was not treated poorly by his father's main wife nor his older Di-brothers due to his shu status. That was in part due to his mother.
She was the only descendant of a chef, who'd been hired in the noble household due to his good cooking skills. He'd not sold himself as a bond servant, he was treated well by the household, so when he fell ill with an incurable disease, he thought to ask Bowyer's father to take his daughter in as a Concubine. Her only other prospects would have been to marry a bond servant, have her descendants all bound to serve or leave the household and risk the outside world as a vulnerable young woman. Bowyer's father agreed.
Bowyer's father was not a lustful man, just had a wife and one other Concubine, the former had given him two sons, both teenagers and the other was infertile from before their marriage. The man thought he wanted a cute daughter, like his nieces. He got the uncute Bowyer (his words) instead!
Bowyer's birth mother didn't seek favour, didn't compete with the Di-wife, just made herself busy raising Bowyer and making sweets and pastries. Many of these sweets and pastries naturally made their way into Bowyer's stomach, but a great many of the rest found their way on his Di-mother's table. In this way, his birth mother won over his Di-mother and helped to maintain peace in the harem.
Bowyer always brought many pastries back from his birth home after visiting each holiday, Pike had even tasted a few and knew that they were quite good, even for him who didn't like sweet food too much. Bowyer usually stores them away in an interdimensional bag in his room, savouring one now and then. But for some reason, this time, he risked taking a couple into the Shattered Empyrean Isles. Feeling generous after receiving the small gift of gratitude from the Luan, he'd broken the pasty in half and given it to the Luan. Turned out, the Luan had a sweet 'tooth' and followed after Bowyer hoping for more pastries since that time.
Pike laughed, clutching his sides in mirth as he walked beside Bowyer as he gained the full story. The two teams paused outside of the griffins nests, which were waiting to depart, taking students back to the outer schools they were related to. They would all reunite the following day in the Inner Martial Arts school as the two men that led their respective teams were from there. And it would be there that they would receive their final judgements.
Leon climbed up with Aries, Bowyer's alchemist, onto the back of the Griffin heading to the outer alchemist school. He did not know whether he would see Jin Li when he returned, but he was still looking forward to going home.