(Writing this instead of my essay for the times write tomorrow—feeling GREAT 🥲👍🏽)

Caelus 🚚ing hated kids.

Hook, The Moles, Clara, Yanqing, and Yun were all exceptions, but Caelus couldn't stand kids.

They were obnoxious, immature, and so damn PETTY! Take this situation for example.

The short girl with the big sword, Yunli, had stolen one of Yanqing's swords and REFUSED to give it back. Yanqing was understandably ticked off about it, so him and Yunli had been going back and forth ever since they properly met during the little meet up with Jing Yuan and General Huaiyan.

Caelus thought it was funny at first, but now that it was getting in the way of his vacation, he no longer found it humorous.

He watched with a small look of mild annoyance as Yanqing and Yunli were duking it out in the rooftops. What had started as an abomination killing competition quickly turned into a duel as the two kiddos played a not so friendly game, one evading while the other literally tried to murder him.

Lingsha, the new Cauldron Master who had gained Caelus's respect with her swift settlement of the situation with the IPC at the Artisanship Commission, had made a reasonable attempt to kill two birds with one stone by having Yanqing and Yunli help clean up the Alchemy Commission as a competition.

'And look how that turned out. Maybe she was instigating all along.' Caelus thought as he watched Yanqing go flying off in the direction of the Elixir Furnace, Yunli darting after him, "Miss Lingsha, they're going to kill one another."

"They might, so we should keep an eye on them. Come on, we may be able to stop them before they go too far," the woman sighed, gesturing for Caelus and March to follow.

They hurried after her, the three of them getting to their destination right as Yunli and Yanqing were in the middle of actually meeting each other head on.

Yanqing had summoned his flying sword, and Yunli was ready to slam her sword down on him, they were really trying to put each other in graves!

Of course, that didn't happen.

Right before the two little twerps could make impact, a foxian lady appeared seemingly out of nowhere. She easily stopped both of their blades with her bare hands, scattering Yanqing's flying swords as the duel came to a sudden halt — though Yunli was still fighting to go after Yanqing.

"Well fought, my young friends," she hummed with a warm smile, only releasing their weapons when they'd shown no signs of trying to continue the fight, "However; there are shortcomings on both sides. One of you focused on dodging and weaving, while the other relies on brute strength, aiming to take down targets with a single strike."

The two kids exchanged a look before Yunli gave the woman a curious look, "Who are you?"

"Me? I'm merely a patient seeking medicine from the Alchemy Commission," the foxian lady replied simply, "A passerby, if you will."

"Hey! What happened to going slow, huh?" a familiar voice demanded, and Yanqing jolted when he spotted y/n approaching with a ticked off look.

"Miss Y/n!" he blurted.

Y/n gave the boy a look of surprise, "What the—? Yanqing? You're fighting again! Does Jing Yuan know?"

"Huh? Well, no... we weren't fighting! We were just sparring!" Yanqing protested as y/n strolled over and checked him for injuries. A precious person to Jing Yuan was a precious person to y/n, of course she was going to make sure he wasn't hurt.

"This isn't the time or place, if you two are going to fight, do it at the Wardance! Or, if you can't help but fight now, at least end it with a solid punch to the face!"

Yanqing immediately shielded his face, "What?!"

"I don't care if she's a girl, if she can swing a sword at you full force, you can punch her in the face! Try it! Right now!"

"T-That wasn't what I was concerned about—!"

Feixiao and Yunli watched silently as y/n and Yanqing went back and forth, the boy looking somewhat terrified while y/n was riled up and trying to show him how to throw a really good punch.

They only stopped when y/n caught the foxian woman staring and frowned, "Eh? What are you staring for?"

Feixiao looked at y/n, then at Yanqing.

"You never mentioned anything about being a mother."

"WHAT?!" both the trailblazer and the boy shouted simultaneously, their jaws dropping, "No way!"

"That's not how it is at all!" y/n protested.

"Exactly!" Yanqing agreed, "Where'd you get that from?"

"I dunno, this is just the first time I've seen n/n act like a fussy mother. It's kind of endearing," Feixiao remarked and y/n shook her head furiously.

"You've got it all wrong!"

"Well, whether she's your mother or not, y/n does speak truth. You'll be able to have a proper duel in the Wardance's ring, resolve your differences, and put your grudges behind you," Feixiao hummed, glancing back at the two kids.

"Grudges? I already told you, this isn't a fight," Yanqing began again, trying to explain, but y/n tilted her head.

"A fight is a fight, Yanqing, and your 🍑 needs to own up to it," y/n retorted, "Fighting isn't bad, I could tell you were ticked off."

Feixiao side eyed y/n, "You sure you're not his mom?"

Before either her or Yanqing could further refute the comment, Caelus, March, and Lingsha approached, the two trailblazers immediately running to greet y/n.

"Y/n! If you were going to help out Yun, you should've told us! We would've come too!" March complained, poking her companion in the shoulder, "Don't just run off, you scared us!"

"Yun...?" Feixiao murmured with a thoughtful look, the gears clearly turning in her brain. Y/n was quick to point at her with flushed cheeks and a fierce, "Whatever you're thinking, stop thinking it immediately."

"What brings you here, Lady Feixiao?" Lingsha inquired, "Have you finished your health consultation with the Dragon Lady?"

"Health consultation?" y/n murmured with a curious frown, but Feixiao made no attempt to address her curiosity.

Yunli and Yanqing, however, were gazing at the foxian lady with looks of surprise and awe as realization dawned on them.

"Fei...Feixiao...?" Yunli breathed, "Grandpa always mentions that name, could it be that you're...?"

"The Merlin's Claw of the Xianzhou Yaoqing?" Yanqing finished for her, his eyes seeming to twinkle with wonder.

The foxian woman smiled at the pair, amused, "Seems like I'm quite famous on the Xianzhou Luofu, too."

"Of course," Lingsha hummed, "Everyone has heard of the Vanquishing General, known to all, and unbeknownst to none."

"Who's Feixiao again?" Caelus asked, clearly not reading the room, and y/n pointed to the foxian lady, "Ohhh, okay, okay. Cool. So she's a General like Jing Yuan. You got a crush on her too—" "SHUT YOUR MOUTH!"

Caelus barely had the time to scream as y/n pounced on him, March immediately whipping out her phone to snap pictures as the two of them tussled on the ground like angry cats.

"The Vanquishing General? Isn't that title a bit too... much? I'm not fond of it," Feixiao remarked, "Ooh... y/n once told me that there's a Dozing General here on the Luofu, so I came up with a humble nickname of my own: The lacking general — lacking in worries, regrets, and rivals."

Y/n paused her scuffle with Caelus, holding him down with a hand to the face as he squirmed frantically in an attempt to free himself, "Huh? What was that?"

Feixiao paused, letting out a small chuckle, "Well, we may have to reconsider that last bit until y/n and I get to have that rematch we've both been waiting for."

"That so? What do you say we both enter the Wardance, yeah? I've been looking forward to trading blows with you again!" y/n chimed with a grin.

"Likewise, maybe we should! Though I wouldn't mind settling things elsewhere away from prying eyes," Feixiao retorted and the two women stared each other down with fiery gazes while poor Caelus kinda laid still where he was still being held down.

He glanced at them both, "Are y'all fighting fighting or fighting in bed—URK!" he broke off into a wheezing fit of coughs after y/n smacked him in the chest.

"Let's not start that here, you two. The sparring session has ended and we don't need another one right after." Lingsha interjected before glancing at the two kids, "Speaking of which... Yunli, Yanqing, shouldn't you politely thank General Feixiao for her guidance and put this dispute of yours to rest?"

Yunli heaved a sigh, before turning to Yanqing and offering him one of his swords which she had snatched earlier, "Haa... here's your sword. Be sure to keep it safe, or it may be taken away again. But get this — we haven't settled the score yet. I'll defeat you next time we fight."

And with that, she turned on her heel and strolled off.

"I— this is how she apologizes?" Yanqing demanded in an incredulous tone before taking a deep breath, "Now that I finally got my sword back, I should report to the Seat of Divine Foresight. I'll take my leave, General Feixiao."

He continued walking, but paused beside Lingsha with a, "Oh, by the way, Miss Lingsha, whenever you have free time, I'd like to invite you to the Seat of Divine Foresight to speak with General Jing Yuan. I think there's more to those personal grudges you mentioned earlier..."

Y/n's senses immediately started tingling, but Caelus freed himself and scooped her up before she could demand more information on those alleged grudges.

"Bye, y/n's friend! We'll be going with Yanqing!" Caelus exclaimed, immediately taking off while March and Yanqing followed.

"Hey! Let go of me! What's the big idea?!" y/n snapped, flailing in her companion's grasp as he skedaddled away.

"Just keeping you out of trouble."

"I'm not a kid, I'll be fine without you interfering!"

"Debatable."

They reconvened with Dan Heng, the train guard checking over y/n while she complained about being alright. Afterwards, they began heading back to the Seat of Divine Foresight to speak with Jing Yuan again.

Y/n knew that they were supposed to meet at their little secret spot... but that wasn't her concern right now.

'We'll just talk personally there later. We don't necessarily have to be all buddy buddy there...' y/n thought with a small pout, lagging behind her friends a bit only to bump shoulders with somebody as she was passing, "Ah, sorry about—"

A familiar scent hit her nose, sending a horrible chill down her spine as she immediately froze. The person she'd bumped into, a foxian, gave her an annoyed look.

"Damn it, watch where you're going!" she snapped back before continuing to walk, only for a hand on her shoulder to stop her. She turned, ready to cuss y/n out, only to be met with a cold look of fury, "W—What's your problem? Let go of me!"

Dan Heng and Caelus glanced back, both of them immediately panicking at the sight of that familiar light sparking at y/n's finger tips. Caelus let out a shrill squeal, rushing to hide behind a confused March while Dan Heng hurried over and grabbed y/n by the wrist.

"Y/n, what do you think you're doing?" Dan Heng demanded. He tried to wrench her hand away, but she just wasn't budging. Come to think of it... her gaze wasn't unfocused or anything, no real signs of her being affected by mara again.

She seemed perfectly lucid, which was quite scary considering how ticked off she seemed by this random person for no obvious reason. So what was her deal? Why was she ready to fight?

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you scumbag, let go of me!" the foxian woman snapped, but y/n tightened her grip.

"You think wearing that face will help you hide? I know what you are, take off that disguise! It's 🚚ing heinous!" y/n spat back.

"Are you insane?! This is my face!"

"I'm not stupid, I'll rip it off myself if I have too!"

"No! You're not ripping off anyone's face! Calm down!" Dan Heng shouted at his companion and she gave him a look of disbelief.

"You're believing this mutt over me?! Whatever! Let go, Dan Heng, I'm gonna skin this bastard alive—!" y/n began, only for Caelus and March 7th to loop their arms around each of hers and try to drag her back.

"No!!! Don't do it! People already think you're insane, don't get yourself banned from the Luofu!" March protested.

Caelus nodded frantically, "Exactly! We want you to be able to visit your husband, but you can't do that if you give people a reason to believe you're unstable!"

Y/n wasn't having it, using her only other option and 🚚ing biting the foxian. The poor lady clearly didn't process it for a second before screeching at the top of her lungs.

"What the hell are you doing?! Stop!"

Bystanders stopped and watched in disbelief as the trailblazers fought to get y/n to release her grip on the foxian lady's arm, but the h/c haired woman showed no signs of letting up on the biting despite protests from both the owner of the arm she was biting into and her companions.

Yanqing had realized that the others hadn't been following and returned to check on them, but was horrified to find y/n literally mauling some random lady and ripping the damn skin off the poor foxian's arm.

"Ah... AHHH, WHAT THE HELL?! Stop! Stop immediately!" Yanqing cried, running to their aid.

With some more effort, they were able to tear y/n away from the foxian and drag her away as she kept ranting about ripping off her skin and shedding disguises or whatever...

The foxian lady watched them go with a look of disbelief, gritting her teeth as she held a hand over her bleeding arm where dark fur had begun to peek through.

In the end, the group dragged y/n to the gardens at the Seat of Divine Foresight and tied her to a tree, gathering around with looks of concerns as she flailed and continued shouting random 💩.

"What happened to her? She was normal a moment ago!" March wondered with a worried look, "Yanqing, is she—?"

"Of course I'm not! I'm clearly thinking normally!" y/n spat back and Caelus gave her a horrified look.

"You were trying to maul that foxian!"
"She's not a foxian!"

Yanqing frowned, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I— when we bumped shoulders, I smelled something on her. It was faint, barely there, but I recognized it! How could I not..." y/n shook her head, "That woman! There was the scent of borisin on her!"

"Borisin?" Dan Heng echoed with a frown, "There were a couple that got loose earlier, but they were captured. Maybe she'd been nearby when it'd happened and that's why you caught a whiff of the scent?"

"No way! It was way too strong for that! Sure, overall it was faint, but it was sort of like trying to mask a stench with fragrance spray." y/n retorted, "I'm telling you, I didn't attack some random person. That was a borisin."

The group all exchanged glances before Yanqing shook his head, "There's some business that still has to be taken care of, but I'll send General Jing Yuan here right after!"

"What?! You're gonna leave me here?!"

"Just for a little while."

"Wait, but I—!"

The others had already rushed off, leaving y/n alone tied to the damn tree. She stood there, looking flabbergasted, then cursed under her breath.

"Damn it, I could've handled that better..."

She closed her eyes with a small sigh. To think just a scent could make her lose her cool like that... it was a little embarrassing—was she really so out of control that she couldn't wrangle her own reaction to things like this?

'Still, the fact that I smelled such a strong scent can't be a coincidence. I'm certain that foxian was just a borisin in disguise, and if I'm right...'

Y/n froze, eyes widening as a foxian boy came to mind. Still running the restaurant, probably too exhausted to even pick up on danger. Yun... OH 💩, YUN!

The h/c haired trailblazer immediately took to thrashing and struggling, trying to free herself with a new sense of desperation. Yun was all by himself! If the others couldn't notice that borisin, neither would him! Or any Cloud Knights in the area who could potentially help!

"💩, 💩, 💩, I've gotta go help him—!" y/n strained against the tree, pulling with all her might. Somehow, the tree gave way before the ropes did and she fell flat on her face with a yelp.

She was left sort of pinned against the ground, groaning and grumbling with effort as she managed to roll over so that she wasn't being crushed anymore.

She started up at the night sky, fake but still full of stars, and heaved a small sigh with furrowed brows. Yun would probably be fine! He mentioned locking up early to get some rest, so his chances of running into that Borisin in disguise were slim.

Y/n decided to wait quietly, not wanting to draw more attention to herself. So she waited... and waited... and stressed, but eventually dozed off after getting a little bored of waiting around for someone to return and untie her.

She was sleeping good for who knows how long, but... she got an odd feeling and was roused from her rest as a result. Her eyelids were heavy as she blinked slowly, blearily taking in her surroundings, only to find that she was no longer tied up.

She was laid out in the grass, her head resting on someone else's lap. Someone else... who-?

"GAH!" y/n sat up abruptly, Jing Yuan barely managing to jolt his face out the way to avoid being headbutted, "Jing Yuan!"

"Had a nice nap?" the General inquired with a cheeky little smile, to which y/n's cheeks grew hot with embarrassment.

"Holy 💩, dude, why didn't you wake me?" y/n whined while her friend gave her an amused little chuckle.

"You were sleeping well, I didn't want to wake you."

"I would've preferred if you'd woken me up..."

The man only gave her a smile, "I figured that since you wrecked one of the trees after an eventful day of running around the Luofu, you'd be pretty exhausted. Not to mention the journey back her from Penacony. I figured I'd let you rest."

"But we were supposed to eat together," y/n mumbled.

"We still can, I didn't forget to bring something. Especially after Yanqing arrived with your companions and told me about where they'd left you," Jing Yuan hummed, gesturing to a little assortment of meals packed neatly, "I was hoping you'd lay low, but I see I had my hopes too high..."

Y/n immediately teleported to the food, unpacking them and immediately taking to eating—not before preparing a portion for her friend and passing some to him, of course, "Yeah, uh... sorry about that. Did Yanqing tell you about— you know."

"He did." 'Damn it.'

Y/n chose her next words carefully, mulling over what to say as she scarfed down some more food. The gears finished turning in her head and she cleared her throat, "I didn't just maul some random foxian. That was a borisin."

"I believe you, so long as you're absolutely certain of what you believe that person was," Jing Yuan responded in an even tone, his expression still gentle.

Y/n glanced at him, scanning his face for any sign of doubt or disbelief, but she found none. He seemed concerned, and there was a warmth she couldn't quite place, but he didn't seem to have any sort of uncertainty about what he was being told.

Her breath shook a little as she inhaled, but she nodded as she exhaled, sitting up a little taller, "I'm certain. I'd recognize that filthy scent anywhere. I don't know how that thing managed to disguise itself as a borisin, but o saw right through it!"

"That's certainly a concern... especially after those few