v4c19: The Plans of Men

At the news that came in the morning that they had secured the Verdant Blade Sect’s backing, the rest of Tie Delun’s new companions had cheered and he had smirked, his arms folded and his back against the wall as the others shared massive grins.

Two sects now supported them. And hopefully soon to be a third. His parents were in Grass Sea City, their next destination, but he wasn’t really worried about that outcome. The Sectmaster of the Hermetic Iron Sect would take one look at him and then ask what would need to be done. As long as they could progress their craft, they would agree.

And if things did go wrong with their plan, they would have time to prepare for any unexpected circumstances. Few lived in the Iron Fields. They had never had to politick as much as the Sects of the Great Grass Sea. They had their little secluded area, surrounded by steadily rusting iron pillars, and their craft made them invaluable for the Sects that could not produce their own weapons. It saved them the stigma of buying from mortals.

It did not take long before messengers were already being sent, bearing both the seals of the Verdant Blade and the Misty Lake Sects; messages officially calling for the conclave to be held at the Dueling Peaks, and of the recent change in leadership of the Misty Lake Sect.

For having called Xiulan’s plan mad… it was looking less mad by the day. He felt the shell around his heart cracking, and the stirrings of hope truly filled him.

“Ha! The outcome was never in doubt!” Tigu boasted.

“Not Sectmaster? Oh my, it looks like I’m the leader now. How can I follow a woman who ranks below me?” Xianghua teased. Delun’s lips twitched at the teasing.

“My father is still perfectly capable of leading the Sect.” Xiulan defended. “I could have if I had to.”

“I dunno, sounds like quitter talk.” Rags jabbed.

”All in favour of supporting Xianghua?” Delun drawled. He generally didn’t get involved too much in the banter… but the opportunity was too good to pass up. Loud Boy’s jaw dropped before he let out a bark of laughter, and Rags clapped him on the back.

“Aye!” Tigu said immediately.

“Aye!” Rags and Loud Boy chorused.

“Aye!” Yin said from where she was scratching Shaggy Two. The Torrent Rider just looked a little uncertain.

“Uh… I think you’re a good leader, Miss Xiulan,” the kid said, his voice earnest.

“Well, except for one, it looks like we’ve deposed you, Blade of Grass.” Delun declared.

“And I’ve got the last hold out.“ Yin took the Torrent Rider in a headlock and ground her knuckles playfully into his skull. The kid squirmed.

Xiulan rolled her eyes. “Alas, I’ve been betrayed, now I must rescue my loyal subordinate, flee, and plot revenge.” There were several chuckles as Xiulan chopped Yin on the head and pulled the Torrent Rider away from her. “But that sounds like a thousand other stories… so instead, let me show you around my home; I didn’t get to do so properly yesterday.”

And so, they went out into the Sect. Delun thought it would be like Xianghua’s tour… but instead they were actually exploring and witnessing things that Delun was rather certain outsiders didn’t normally get to see.

Like the forging of one of the Verdant Blade Sect’s signature green blades.

“When a disciple proves able to levitate their swords, one of these are made for them. This one will be Huyi’s.” Xiulan said.

It was truly a privilege to watch the old smith work. The man was two hundred and fourteen years old, and had been the Verdant Blade Sect’s smith since he was twenty. The man was mute; a scar across his throat telling that story.

The wizened master smith was at the Third Stage of the Initiate’s Realm and looked to be more wrinkle than skin… but still had bulging muscles on his thin frame.

Grass was involved—a single blade of Heart Grass was pressed in between two sheets of cherry red steel, the spiritual herb sizzling, but not burning away under the heat.

Delun watched as the single blade of Heart Grass was hammered and folded into the metal, the potent Spiritual Herb swirling with vital green energy and colouring the steel. It left the end result slightly translucent, looking more like jade then metal.

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It was a display of trust he had never expected, and one he was grateful for. In fact, he was already inspired. While his ancestors may have been masons… he couldn’t give up the forge. Not entirely. Like Xiulan, he knew his path forward. Not wholly in the past, and not wholly the future.

They bowed to the smith and exited the little workshop.

“That was amazing!” Tigu declared.

“The colour was like Master’s glass. It’s strange that it’s metal, still.” Yin said. “What do you think, Handsome Man?”

“Well, I don’t know much about its properties but I believe…” Delun began as he started talking about the forging techniques the man used, with the rest of them listening intently.

He was quite glad to be traveling with them.

Especially traveling with Tigu.

He now understood what Master Jin meant. He loved Tigu, he truly did… but being her friend was great too. He was learning so much about her! Her mischievous, prankster side, as she shoved him into a mudhole, then jumped in after him, her laughter bright and cheerful. Her kind, caring, nurturing side, as she helped Zhang Fei the Torrent Rider correct his stances with the kind patience of a true big sister. He got to see her stern and serious face as she stood to the right of Cai Xiulan, her arms folded and ready to back the woman to the hilt.

Well, he was getting to see a lot of everybody. The quiet introspection of bombastic Xianghua. Rags and Loud Boy reading together, the older Rags stumbling through a dense text on logistics of all things, while Loud Boy occasionally chimed in to help. Talking about mining with the Torrent Rider—and commiserating about how disgusting it was to refine silver, with all the corrosive chemicals they needed to use. Teaching Yin how to forge weapons had been interesting.

Delun knew he was smiling as they hiked all over the Sect. They listened as Xiulan narrated passages from her childhood and as they walked through the beautiful Verdant Blade Sect Manor.