A Two-Stone Game
Bile filled Choshu Ishi's throat as he raged around the Pagoda of Infinite Strategy's lower library; he never rose to the top floor. "I can't believe they left me behind. Again!" He kicked a shelf and sent the books spilling across the floor.
"Choshu Ishi? Is something wrong, Choshu Ishi?" The Perfected Vigilance of Stone appeared in the room, huge and full of menace. He glanced significantly at the scattered books.
"Err..." Ishi looked to the spirit, as tall at the shoulders as he was, back to the books and then to the spirit again. He was brave, but he was not a fool. "No."
He bent to put away the books.
The lion dog stroked his thin beard between two claws. "Hhm. It must have been an accident, then."
Ishi put the last book back on the shelf and sighed. "I wasn't left behind by accident."
"What?" The lion dog's eyes shifted, as if searching for something hidden against the wall.
"My sister was happy to tell me. She heard it from Nama Bi, who had it from Tao Tie, who had it from Hsuan Lin, who heard Sapphire River at Midnight herself say it. She didn't want me along."
"Ah. Gossip. I never cared for gossip," said Vigilant Stone, yawning as he lay down on the wood floor. "Go on."
"Solar Exalted or not, I'm the better fighter."
"Really?" The lion dog folded his front paws and rested his massive head, filled with his grinning jaws, on top. "I heard from Pu Lao that she's just learned a special new technique called Failure to Communicate."
"Whatever." Ishi sunk into a chair. "I'm working on a new technique of my own. I call it the Five Avalanching Dragon... Strike... Fist."
The lion dog smiled. "Really?"
Ishi sighed. "All I'm saying is I'm not useless. Green Frowning Bear's court is filled with huraka, storm serpents, zephyrs and thunderbirds, each of them disposed to war. Some of them resent our lords already, or so I've heard. I could help them fight!"
Vigilant Stone tilted his great head to the side. "Resentment? Do tell."
"Hhm? Oh, nothing. I've heard that Rivers Between Us once summoned a zephyr named Younger Tempest and a thunderbird named Ten Thunders Shatter the Mountain and they both want vengeance for the insult."
"Interesting..." The lion dog made a mental note of the names, but Ishi didn't notice. "You know that it might not come to blows, yes? That our lords might not want it to?"
"With a raging storm before them, how could it not?"
"You've never met a Crowned Sun before, have you?"
Ishi folded his arms across his chest. "She doesn't trust me."
"You're quick to anger where she is careful. Are you surprised?"
"None of them trust me."
"Nonsense. Mi Ji told me that the Nameless Ravine himself taught you some of his finest techniques."
Ishi raised his head. "Well..."
"Not long before the monk shot poor Shai Mei with his arrows. Why did he do it, do you think? I heard that he was a spy from the Blessed Isle all along, building Nameless Ravine's trust until he could strike an undefended blow."
"Soho! Rivers came from the East and took him back instead of me. After what he did. Soho!"
"Not that I would've fallen victim to such a ruse, mind you. But, then, I never met Soho." Vigilant Stone yawned.
"I'd be better off a champion in the Hundred Kingdoms; the wars are petty, but at least there one nation would know my worth."
"I heard Storm of Amber himself speak highly of your success at Fenghuang Temple."
"That was no success of mine. I was lucky. Zombies dragged me to the ground and I live only because my men rescued me."
"Your men helped you win the victory, but Storm's praise was for you, and yours the name on the rolls of honor."
Ishi darted his gaze towards the bookshelves. "They keep rolls of honor?"
The lion dog stood and shook himself along his spine. "Choshu Ishi, you rode twice against the last defiant Mayhiros, turned back a hidden general of Lookshy and ensured the completion of Fenghuang Temple. Our two martial lords praise you openly, and you lead a talon of men whose loyalty you have earned through blood and whose worth you have learned through battle. What more do you want?"
"I want..." Ishi blinked. "I never thought about it like that. I guess I've been doing pretty good, haven't I?"
"Two hundred mortals and a score of amalgams cheered your name at Fenghuang Temple, Choshu Ishi. You are a hero already."
Ishi grinned widely. "Huh. I guess I'm starting to be. Thanks!"
"Think nothing of it."
"No, this is important, what you've done for me. I'll put your image on my banners; I'll lead the Two-Stone Talon!"
"Well. That's quite a gift of gratitude." Vigilant Stone took his thin beard between two claws again. "But tell me, do you know if anyone is still hiding any Fivefold Monkey Picked Tea? That might be a better gift."
"Uhm... No..."
"Ah. Pity." The lion dog sniffed. "Then have you heard anything of the conversation between my mistress and Lu Fei before the two went East? I've heard it was tense..."
