Sha Yan Shi and the Wayward Eye of Ma-Ha-Suchi
Somewhere beyond the Rolling River, a line of jagged hills runs north to south. A patient, hardy traveller could breach the line along any number of trails, but the passes large enough to permit an army to through are few and far between. Nameless Ravine sat beneath a line of trees along a ridge overlooking one such pass, a raw gaping hole in the hills, the type of geographical formation that's usually formed by an ancient act of sorcery gone horribly wrong.
This particular pass was large enough to contain not one, but two forces. And at present, those two armies were so deeply intertwined in the maelstrom of battle that Nameless Ravine couldn't tell which had come from the east, and which from the west. The beastmen were holding their own against the army of dead things, but they were vastly outnumbered. The beast champion, an enormous, sinuous, coyote-like warrior with a pair of cruelly barbed knives, had plunged deep within the undead mass, and now struggled to fight his way back to his own lines. A caste mark burned on his forehead, but it was too far away to see clearly. A man in a blood-red cape carrying a mighty staff harried his withdrawl. Nemissary? No... the man was much to horrifying to gaze upon. It could only be a Deathknight.
Nameless Ravine hesitated. Part of him yearned to join battle, to fight alongside a Chosen of Luna, just as Alabaster Sunset had fought alongside him at the Battle of Breaking Iron. The Promise thrummed in its sheath, eager to implement its Dharma. But any Lunar force east of the Grey and west of the Sandy could only belong to Ma-Ha-Suchi Nameless Ravine immediately regretted leaving the Most Merciful Armor of the Wood Dragon in storage at the Pagoda of Infinite Strategy. He edged closer to the rocky precipice to get a better view...
"Patient Lion's Fang Falling!"
...and threw himself back to the very edge of the cliff, as Sha Yan Shi dropped from the nearest tree sword-first, carving a large crack in the ground where he'd been standing.
"Hah!" The grinning half-caste held forth her moonsilver blade and pointed to a series of small holes in the ground. "It is as you taught me at our first duel - I chose the battleground. I knew you'd come up here to get a look at the pass, so I weakened the cliff face beneath you. You have nowhere to retreat, and only moments before the ground gives way. Yield yourself to me, Nameless Ravine!"
Nameless Ravine was livid as he pointed down into the valley below. "Now is NOT THE TIME."
"Begging for mercy won't save you! You have only one choice! You... mrow. Hrmm, how interesting. Did you know there are two armies down there? What are they doing? I can't see..."
"Wait, no, stop..." As she absently stepped forward alongside the frantic Solar, their combined weight proved too much for the weakened cliff; they went tumbling down into the fray, pursued by fifty tons of falling rock.
When a Chosen of the Sun and a Chosen of the Luna find occasion to cross blades, there are very few things in Creation that can force them to reconsider. The imminent death of a mutually loved one, for example. Or the intervention of both Circle and Pack.
Or the sudden arrival of a roving band of three-hundred mutant clawstriders.
The wiry fox-coyote Lunar dug his twin moonsilver knives deep into yet another flailing lizard, and briefly made eye contact with his foe. "I recognize you. You caused the avalance at Warstrider's Footprint."
The Promise hummed quietly as it tore through three mottled beasts at a stroke. "I did not intend to do so," replied its wielder.
The Lunar laughed, a rich, deep, cackling bark. "You crushed a Death-Warrior beneath a giant rock, and I got to see the look on his bleak face the moment it happened. That is a rare gift, Sun-Warrior. When we're done with this distraction, remind me to let you live as a token of thanks."
Nameless Ravine joined in the laughter. The sun beat down on his sweat-drenched scalp as he moved through the motions of battle. It felt good to roam over the plains, to revel in the deeds of a warrior, to cross blades with a deadly foe who bore no ill will.
"Tell me, Sun-Warrior, what happened to that delicious little morsel who was with you?"
The solar stopped in his tracks, with an utterly baffled look on his face, an expression neatly matched by the clawstrider that had just impaled itself upon the Heavenly Guardian Defense. "The what?!?"
"That girl with the moonsilver thorn that was following you around. The blood of my people runs hot in her veins; old traditions being what they are, I assumed she was your consort."
Nameless Ravine rolled his eyes. "Sha Yan Shi. I sent her away. The avalanche was her doing, I assure you. I intended this journey to be a cycle of penance, not a stroll through a pleasure-garden. Nor a mummer's farce."
The Lunar grinned and charged towards the last group of clawstriders still living.
At last, the three-hundredth malformed lizard lay torn in pieces, and the two exalts crossed blades once more. Orihalcum and Moonsilver met again and again, burning away the caked layer of blood on the hot metal blades and shedding firy sparks that sizzled and smoldered in the dry prairie grass. "Root-seeker and Pierce-The-Fire's-Ashes salute your sword, Sun-Warrior. They say it is a peerless rival."
"Is it not magnificent, chosen of Luna? It is the very foundation of the Fivefold Bulwark, never have I met its equal. It is called The Promise. And its unworthy wielder is called the Nameless Ravine."
"...Ravine..." The Lunar abruptly stepped back, and lowered his weapons. "This is... perhaps not entirely unexpected. This is not a chance meeting... cousin."
Nameless Ravine's grin vanished. "Explain yourself."
"I am Hahamongna, The Wayward Eye of Ma-Ha-Suchi. You are Nameless Ravine, the son of the consort of my father's sworn sister. We are cousins by oath."
The solar dropped his guard and stared, in astonishment. "Your father's sister... you know Erdene? Do you know where I can find her?"
"I know of her. I have never met her; from what I hear, she has not been seen in many moons. But I can tell you this: If you continue east to where the Maruto River joins the great Yanaze, and press onwards to the roots of the Meander, you may find something of what you seek."
"Or, I might find myself walking into one of Ma-Ha-Suchi's traps."
"No, cousin-by-oaths. I am the Wayward Eye of the great one. I wander the land, and I bring him news of what I see. But I will be wandering afield for many more months before I return to his Nameless Lair."
"And what will you tell him?"
"I know just enough of your past to know what is at stake. So I will merely tell him that I met a member of my pack with business to the east. For you have caused the death of a deathknight, and you are kith of my kin. Until you return to the Marukan, until you rejoin your sworn circle, you are of my pack, and your dealings are not the concern of Ma-Ha-Suchi."
"And when I return to Marukan..."
"...then when next we meet, it will be as foes across the battlefield."
"I do not look forward to that day, cousin. You are a fine warrior, but you know you cannot stand against me in open battle."
Hahamongna smiled cryptically. "Perhaps, then I will not have to."
And with that, the two exalts turned and went their separate ways.
