Sha Yan Shi
Part 1: Arrival[edit]
“I am here to speak to your Solar Exalted!” Sha Yan Shi planted her hands firmly on her hips. “Bring me to them at once!” Her tail twitched slightly beneath the hem of her sand-colored robe.
Shi Yong Gi glanced at the other tiger warriors manning the gate to the Plum Blossom Retreat, who shifted nervously, hands tightening on weapons, and then looked back at the cat-eared girl occupying the road in front of him. “Uh… and you are…?”
The strange woman threw back her head and laughed. “Foolish man. I am Sha Yan Shi, Voice of Sha Mo Hou, the Roar of the Desert! Favored daughter of the Great Lion of the South! Star pupil of Sifu Tian Ren, the swordmaster! I bested the Frogbeast of…”
Shi Yong Gi interrupted with a wave of his hand. “So, you’re a beastman? Because, honestly, we’ve not had the best dealings with beastmen in the past. Of course, you’re obviously not a goat-wolf, so at least we know you’re probably not from Ma-Ha-Suchi, but still…” He stopped as he saw that the girl’s dusky skin had turned a rather unflattering shade of red.
“I am NOT a beastman!” She stalked forward, one hand reaching over her shoulder to clasp the hilt of a wooden practice sword, the other pointing at his face with a single clawed finger. “You take that back right now, or so help me Luna, I’ll saw off your tongue and eat it like a…”
“What’s going on here?” Marta’s quiet, calm voice cut through the gathering storm like The Promise through soft fruit. The guards parted as the manse’s mistress wove her way through them.
Shi Yong Gi turned and bowed. “Ah, uh, everything’s fine, Ma’am. This beastman was just…”
“I AM NOT A BEASTMAN!”
The wind shifted for a moment. “Technically, she’s right,” the breeze breathed into Marta’s ear. “She’s not a beastman; she’s a Lunar half-caste. A subtle distinction, but a real one, and very rare in this Age. Hmm… and she even has Awakened Essence… only second rank, but interesting nonetheless. Still seems an odd choice for an ambassador, though.”
Marta stepped passed Shi Yong Gi to address the livid cat-girl. “I apologize for any offense the soldiers may have caused. They are merely doing the duty assigned to them. If I could just see your letter of embassy?”
“My what?”
“Your letter of embassy. The written documents granting you the position of ambassador.”
“Oh, I don’t have anything like that. We don’t use papers much down in the desert. She gave me this though…” Sha Yan Shi reached over her other shoulder and withdrew a second blade, this one real. The afternoon sunlight hesitantly gleamed along polished Moonsilver, as though remembering an old friend. The guards began to murmur nervously, stepping forward again with weapons ready, but Sha Yan Shi merely turned the blade point down and drove the tip into the earth between two flagstones. She stepped back and smiled proudly, as though she had expertly answered all questions.
Marta glanced from the girl to the sword and back again. “It’s a very nice weapon, but I don’t see how that makes you an ambassador.”
Sha Yan Shi rolled her eyes. “Can’t you people even read?” She pointed at a series of characters etched in stylized Old Realm down the center of the blade. “See? The Blessed Roar of the Desert Lion. That’s me!” She nodded to herself in satisfaction.
A soft swirl of wind stirred Marta’s hair. “Very odd… I can’t detect any sort of Wyld taint or ongoing Essence effect that would be causing derangement…”
“I see,” Marta answered them both. “Well, then, uh…?”
“Sha Yan Shi.”
“Sha Yan Shi…” Marta thought for a moment. “That means ‘The Sandstone Lion,’ doesn’t it? That’s lovely. It suits you.” The cat-girl preened slightly.
“So, Sha Yan Shi, if you will follow me, I will show you to a place where you can stay while I submit a petition on your behalf.”
“Petition?” Sha Yan Shi narrowed her eyes. “But I’m supposed to talk to the Solar Exalted.”
Marta smiled. “And you will, but they are very busy, and so I must make arrangements and set up a meeting. In the meantime, I will see that you are comfortable.”
“Hmph. Too busy? For me? Feh.” The half-caste withdrew her sword from the ground and sheathed it in a single, swift movement, then unceremoniously plopped herself down onto the ground in the lotus position. “I know when I’m being blown off. I’m sitting right here until they come talk to me. Who do they think they are anyway? My mother could crush this whole place with one paw if she wanted to. Petition… feh.” She closed her eyes and placed her hands on her knees, assuming a position of meditation.
A few moments later, she quickly opened one eye and glanced about, quickly shutting it again when she saw they still watched her. “Yep. Not going anywhere. Patience like a mountain…” Another thirty seconds passed; she opened both eyes. “Where are they? I said I’m going to sit here all day. Don’t they care? Ugh.” She stood, slapping dust off the backside of her tattered robe.
Marta turned away for a moment so that the other girl would not see her giggle. She composed a face of utmost seriousness. “Truly, Ambassador, you will get to meet with the Solars. Most of them are not even in the Plum Blossom Retreat at this time. Surely, if you must wait, you would be more comfortable in one of our… ambassadorial chambers?”
Sha Yan Shi scratched behind her ear with one hand. “Well… I suppose that would be acceptable.” She glanced down at herself. “And I could use some grooming…”
Her eyes twinkling, Marta held out her arm to girl. “Of course. Come with me.”
Part 2: The Pen Is Mightier...[edit]
Sapphire River at Midnight coughed politely, her hands folded into the sleeves of her robe. Startled, Sha Yan Shi jumped back a pace, her hair bristling, and reached for the sword that was currently propped against her bed on the other side of the room.
“My apologies for startling you,” Sapphire River smiled. “I knocked several times, but there was no answer at the door. The staff assured me that you hadn’t left, so I let myself into your room.” She walked to the catgirl’s side. “I was told that you wanted to meet with me as soon as possible, but now I'm curious. What is it that had you so transfixed?”
Sha Yan Shi coughed slightly and gestured with one claw at a scroll hanging on the wall of the bedroom. “This.”
“Ah, yes. A piece of our scripture. It can indeed be fascinating. You see, we are trying to bring the beliefs of the Marukan Alliance more into sync with…” She stopped as the half-caste snorted derisively, shaking her head.
“No, no, no. Not that. That’s drivel. Everyone knows that the religion of the Empire is useless, weak, and corrupt. Attempting to “bring it into sync” with anything is like trying to strengthen a pig iron sword by tossing a handful of silver into the mix. Worthless.”
“Then what…”
“It’s not what’s be written, but how it’s been written. The calligraphy." She leaned eagerly towards the long strip of rice paper, one finger hovering just over the kanji as it traced their outline." Can’t you see it?”
“Well, it’s not really my area of expertise, but Nameless Ravine certainly…”
“Nameless Ravine?” Sha Yan Shi seemed to swirl the words about in her mouth for a few moments. “Nameless Ravine. There is strength in that name. And even greater strength in his hands, I bet." Her smile became slightly lascivious. "He’s a swordsman, yes?”
The Eclipse caste eyed the girl, somewhat taken aback by her sudden enthusiasm. “Yes, he is. In fact, he is among the greatest…”
“I knew it!” Sha Yan Shi hopped up and down in place, her hands clasped in front of her. “Only a master swordsman could write like this. When will I meet him?”
“Well, you and I haven’t really had a chance to speak yet about your position of embassy, but I’m sure…”
“So the sooner we get that over with, the sooner I can meet him, right?” Sha Yan Shi turned to face the older woman, a wide grin now plastered across her face. “What are we waiting for, then?”
Part 3: The Calm Before...[edit]
Sapphire River at Midnight shrugged her shoulders, a frustrated look on her face. "I know this isn't a good time, but..."
Nameless Ravine sighed. "You're right, it's not a good time. But when is? Storm of Amber has shut himself in the Pagoda to go over our contingency plans again; Leaf Shakes the Wind just went through hell and back, it's no wonder he's in seclusion; you're still trying to deal with learning the Second Circle - "
"And trying to figure out how to break the news about Marta to Rivers at the same time," she added
He shook his head. "I do not envy you, sister. As for Rivers Between Us, he's..." Nameless Ravine stopped, at a loss for words.
"... yeah." Neither of them needed to finish the sentence.
"And here the worst that's happened to me is that I hit my head on a rock and nearly slept through my own death." He smiled grimly. "Since I'm not writing any new sutras right now, I might as well make myself useful. If this Sha Yan Shi girl has been driving the bureaucracy to distraction trying to get an audience with me, I might as well get it over with."
Sapphire breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, brother; she's been driving us all insane."
"Tell me where she is, and I'll see her at once."
"She's in one of the guest wings; I'll show you where. I do have to warn you, though, she has some very strange ideas about your sutras. Try not to get too angry..."
