"Third Sister."

"Yes?"

Hu Ye called as he went into the Four Seasoned courtyard, the courtyard Hu Zi and Shou use to practice most of the time.

"What is it, Forth Brother?" Hu Zi was in the garden. She turned her head toward the round shaped wooden gate of the Four Seasoned courtyard and smiled. Her purple eyes were visible as she smiled.

"Third Sister is going to start training in the mountain again in a few days right?"

"Yep." Shou told her that he had something to do and was away for a long time, so she hasn't visited the mountain in a while.

"Can Guang and I come too?" Hu Ye said getting to the point. "The school will end soon so we can't use the archery practice hall freely like before."

"Huh?" Hu Zi's eyes widened at Hu Ye's request. She was so shocked that she dropped her fan. "Forth Brother..."

"Is my request too much?" Hu Ye had a questioning look. Hu Ye picked up Hu Zi's fan and gave it to her.

"No. I think it will be okay." Hu Zi changed her shocked expression and smiled as she took the fan. "Master is still inside the house, he said he does not want to be bothered. So I will tell you what Master Shou says later.

"Great. I hope he does not mind two more companions." Hu Ye smiled calmly and turned his back. "Later, Third Sister!"

"Later!" Hu Zi waved. After she sensed Hu Ye close  the wooden gate, she closed her eyelids and thought. "That was... fascinating." Hu Zi pondered. "Since when did Forth Brother call Qing Guang by her given name?"

Hu Zi turned her body and walked. She walked deeper inside the courtyard, passing by the pond that reflected the color of the sky. It was late in the evening so the pond was colored yellow, orange, red, and a shade of purple. Hu Zi walked by the bridge, passed the plum tree, and arrived in front of a small house.

The house was the only building inside the Four Seasoned courtyard apart from the pavilion. The house was made of wood and bricks. The front door was red, it looked old but sturdy with mud on the lower side of the frame.

"Master, Forth Brother and Qing Guang want to come with us to the mountain, is that okay?"

"Huh?! Qing Guang? Isn't she one of the one who got you in trouble when you were at school long ago?"

"Yeah, but it seems that her relationship with Forth Brother is getting... into something interesting..." Suddenly, Hu Zi thought of an idea. "Ging Bo always had some sort of weird attachment to Second Sister as he challenged her every so often. And Qing Guang is with Forth Brother..."

Although they pick fights with us often, the twins are not actually that bad. They have intelligence and talent, that's for sure.  Hu Zi's face lightened up as she thought of the pairs.

"If you are okay with it, I am okay too. Oh, oops..." Just then, a sound of crash came from the house.

"Master? What happened? Are you okay?"

"Oh I'm fine..." Finally, Shou answered. "There was just a bit of, umm... accident... I will clear things up with my wind."

"Just what are you doing inside?" Hu Zi asked. She was curious because Shou said he had a surprise for her. Hu Zi already tried to use her radar to know what's happening inside. Yet, it was useless as Shou was using his wind to make her radar hazy. "Can I come inside now? I finished gardening ages ago."

"Don't! Practice with your fan while you wait."

"I just did that for five hours straight." She knitted her brows. "I am darnn tired, I want to rest, Master. Let me in! Or just stop using your wind so I can sense what you are doing." Hu Zi said curiously.

"No, wait a bit... let me just..."

"?" Hu Zi had a questioning look. Her eyes were shut as she raised an eyebrow.

"Alright!" Shou went out in a rush and grabbed Hu Zi's body and swung her around. "It is all done!" Hu Zi was used to Shou's way of playing with her so she did not get dizzy. She frowned while Shou spun her around in mid air. "But, before that, we will have the last lesson for today."

"..." Hu Zi was still frowning.

Shou tapped Hu Zi's knitted brows with his index finger to ease her frown. After that, Hu Zi opened her eyelids as she was still showing an unsatisfied look.

"Xiao Zi, do you know that your eyes have the same color as the wing core?" Shou asked.

"Uh, no?" Hu Zi said. Although Hu Zi could feel her surroundings, she could not see the color, so the world was just shapes to her. "So this core color you said is purple?"

"Yep!" Shou told Hu Zi while he spun her around. "They say, a normal person's core has the color green."

"Green?"

"Green is the color of summer leaves. Then, water masters' core is blue, blue like the color of the sky."

Hu Zi seemed interested, she began to ask more curiously. "Then, how about earth?"

"Earth is yellow."

"What is yellow?"

"Yellow is like the color of yolk."

"How about the fire masters' color?"

"It is red."

"Red like what?"

"Red like blood." Shou smiled gently. His smile was as heartwarming as always. But if Hu Zi could see, she would have noticed the shade on his smiling eyes. A shade that was full of sorrow.

Happy birthday, Nix Foenix8!