Threads 105-Descent 7

Ling Qi noticed someone approaching her, their presence loud, a beacon almost as obvious as Cai Renxiang. Her expression smoothed into neutrality as she faced Ji Rong. Hanyi almost bumped into her at the sudden stop, but it only took her a moment to recover, peering around Ling Qi’s skirts to see what had drawn her attention.

Ji Rong studied her warily as he came to a stop a few strides away. He really hadn’t changed his manner much. He still stood with hunched shoulders, his hands stuffed into his pockets. Only the golden loops of scales that hung about his shoulders and the peering lizard-like head of his companion resting on his shoulder was any different. “Yo. Your boy going to be good for this?”

Ling Qi regarded him, trying to pick out just what he wanted, why he could possibly be approaching her. So it was that Hanyi beat her to responding.

“Zhengui is fine, obviously,” Hanyi retorted. “Don’t look down on him or my Sis!”

Sixiang snorted out a laugh in her thoughts, and Ling Qi tried to keep her eyebrow from twitching. This girl… She really could change gears quickly.

Ji Rong glanced down at her. “That so?”

Hanyi huffed, but Ling Qi held up a hand to quiet her before she could respond again. “Zhengui is just tired. Why are you asking?”

He met her eyes and rolled his shoulders, drawing a grumble from his own spirit. “Look, I’m not tryin’ to start a fight. It’s obvious he’s hurt though. I just wanna know if we’re down a fighter.”

“And why is that? Does he look wounded to you?” Ling Qi shot back.

He snorted. “Don’t give me that. I saw your face back then. Parents don’t get that face when their kids ain’t hurt. You looked like you were gonna gut someone.”

Ling Qi’s eyes widened, and internally, Sixiang sighed. “He’ll be fine. It’s nothing that will impair him in a fight,” she said tightly. She didn’t bother responding to his provocation regarding their relationship. “How about you? Isn’t it reckless to bring a spirit just on the edge of green down here as a combatant?”

The shrunken dragon gave her an outraged look, his gleaming golden scales puffing out around his neck in a way that made him seem bigger. “You! Don’t imply that I can’t fight. You dare…!”

“Chill, Relong. She’s just tryin to get a rise out of ya,” Ji Rong snapped. “I put down my conditions. He fulfilled ‘em. If he gets his fool self killed, that’s his own business. He’s my sworn brother, not my kid or my servant.”

Ling Qi stared at him. How could he be so unconcerned? Well, no, she knew how. Somehow, she had just expected…

<Ling Qi, you’re stressed out and it’s making you judge-y. Other people do stuff in other ways,> Sixiang remonstrated with her in her thoughts.

“I wonder how useful he’ll be though. Has he even had time to practice like that?” Hanyi asked snootily. “Zhengui is definitely way better.”

Ling Qi almost winced. Even with the small amount she knew about dragons…

She had already stepped in front of Hanyi before the young dragon had even finished coiling to spring, and Ji Rong caught him by the scruff of the neck before Relong could make it off of his shoulder. “We can’t afford to fight right now, Re,” he barked. Toward her, he said, “I’d appreciate it if you’d quit needling him.”

Ling Qi breathed out. Sixiang was right. She was letting things get to her and taking it out on Ji Rong. She gave a short nod. “Less teasing, alright?” she said to Hanyi. “If you want to pick a fight, do it when we get back.”

“Like I’m afraid,” Hanyi sniffed.

“Say those words again when I am not restrained by duty,” the dragon grumbled, dangling from Ji Rong’s fist in a way that reminded her of a kitten being carried off by its mother.

Ling Qi closed her eyes for a moment. “What did you need, Ji Rong?”

He released his spirit, leaving Relong to coil back around his shoulders, and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Seriously, I wasn’t trying to start a fight,” he grumbled. “You know things are gonna go to the hells down there, right? We might have a fancy escape route, but we’re still being used as bait.”

Ling Qi wouldn’t quite put it that way, but he wasn’t wrong either. Sixiang’s phantom finger prodded her in the side, and she nodded. “I get it. My little brother,” she emphasized, “isn’t going to be a weak link.”

He snorted, and her eyebrow twitched. “Good, but there was something else I was gonna ask you.”

Ling Qi lifted an eyebrow and gestured for him to get on with it.

“I want to fight you,” he said bluntly. She gave him a blank look. “Not here, obviously,” he clarified.

“Why?”

“Cause you’re the only one who’s beat me without being years ahead or a damned ducal,” he spat.

“And you think you’re going to win now?” she asked dryly.

“I think I’m going to get my ass kicked, but I don’t know how hard,” he said, making her blink.

“Brother…” Relong mumbled uncomfortably, squirming around the boy’s neck.

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Ling Qi shot a look at Hanyi to wipe away the smirk that she knew would be forming.