137 Days of Madness - Younglings

Dàilán landed softly in the wet grass and wind blown rain in front of the Yāoguǐ camp a step in front of her Father; irritated, she shot an unamused glance over her shoulder at her Father's transparent political maneuvering - given that he had leapt off the branch a considerable length of time before she did, there was no natural way for her to have landed first unless he had deliberately slowed and directed his fall so that she landed first - and - in front of him.

He smiled slightly in response, "the agreement was made with you, Daughter," the expression on his face faded into a small grimace as he gestured for her to walk ahead, "and they captured me embarrassingly easily under the circumstances - I doubt they would have much interest in anything I have to say to begin with - regardless of any status I hold within our group, which," the smile returned, more than a shade mischievous once again, "may I remind you, daughter, is lower than yours anyway."

"Father," Dàilán protested, feeling her face heat as she flushed from embarrassment, "you are still Clan Leader…"

"Which means very little at this point," he interrupted her firmly, "under our current circumstances, I can do more by exerting my full power to protect you and the others and supporting you with my experience and knowledge, rather than play political games. You are, for better or worse, the leader for this journey. So do your duty, Daughter. I would hate to think all I have taught you has gone to waste. Do not worry, I will involve myself if and when it becomes appropriate."

Dàilán nodded firmly as they walked slowly through the wet grass towards the shelters that had been set up by the Yāoguǐ. It rather looked like a collection of stand alone forest bowers - made up of large bushes and small saplings woven together - and miniature caves had popped up mysteriously out of the grass of the clearing, scattered haphazardly throughout the area. Unlike the human camp, there was much more space between each shelter and the grass on this side of the clearing had grown very tall overnight, unlike on the Cultivator's side of the camp.

Small Yāoguǐ - Dàilán guessed they might be young ones - ran or tumbled about in enthusiastic play in the areas around each structure, with excited barks, yips or other less definable vocalisations as the caught, escaped or pounced on each other, ignoring the rain and wind with the typical ease of children everywhere with their minds on play - although Dàilán thought she saw sparks of Essence that could hint at protective techniques that might keep them dry and warm.

Dàilán's eyes widened as she saw an entire mix of what looked to be young animals that she would normally not expect to interact, outside of acting as predator or prey, playing together with no visible signs of fear.

Even as she drew close to the nearest shelters, a young buck rabbit bounced cheerfully out of the grass onto the snout of what appeared to be a young feline who appeared to be searching for something; the feline gave a startled yowl of some description as the rabbit raced off with the cat in hot pursuit in and around a large circle of other young creatures that exploded out of the grass in all directions.

The circle of young Yāoguǐ included some much larger predators than the feline and smaller herbivores than the rabbit, but despite staying in roughly the same area they were all clearly working to obstruct the other two as the chasing and chased dodged and weaved between the others - the feline clearly taking pains to follow the rabbit's exact path through the group - with all evident signs of excitement and enjoyment. The feline made a misstep in his pursuit and was immediately called out for not tracing the path with a chorus of excited calls from the others, causing the rabbit to stop and rejoin the rest.

"Looks like Yāoguǐ children play Cat catching Mice as well - although they seem a bit more serious about it," remarked Dàilán, smiling at the sight, "I wonder where all the adults are?"

There was a light thump against her robe and Dàilán looked down in surprise, to see a large ball of fur had rolled into her from the longer grass. It separated into a pair of smaller bear cubs who looked up at her, blinking.

"~ah… man?" a voice floated up from one, cute confusion clear in its tone, "~why... man here?"

"Bro~ther dumb fuzz," came a higher pitched tone, "they from the man camp, Aunt warned us…" the slightly larger female cub scolded, pointing a front paw in the general direction of the other side of the clearing where the Cultivators had moved their camp, "we was not sup~posed to leave the grass… dumb fuzz."

"Oh." The male cub blinked, "Man not smell scary," there was puzzlement in his tone and Dàilán found herself restraining giggles as he looked up earnestly at her, "why~ man here?"

"Dumb fuzz!" the other cub chirped, batting a paw on her brother's head as she took a step back, "is not man. Is Girl-man!" she looked up at warily, her voice trembling slightly, "brother not all wrong. Here Yāoguǐ place. What Girl-man want?"

"I was hoping to talk to your… parents, actually," Dàilán replied after a moment, deciding to simplify things, "where are the… adults?"

"There [a few] around to [watch us]," came a new voice - also young sounding - as the long grass rustled and suddenly a multitude of miniature Yāoguǐ poked their faces out all peering at her with various degrees of caution, suspicion and curiosity. Dàilán suddenly realised that the sounds of the various young animals playing had stopped - evidently their senses were sharper and their common sense more developed than the young girls in her group. They would have never noticed if one of their members had run into a stranger while the rest were occupied - although, recent experiences were starting to teach them to be more alert.

The young Yāoguǐ that had spoken stepped forward out of the grass, placing himself protectively in front of the two bear cubs. He was a young fawn, the small nubs on the top of his head just starting to poke through the top of his skull and the last of his protective collaboration fading into a russet coat. A small shimmer of Wood Essence crackled between the two crowning horns and gleamed in his eyes.

He eyed Dàilán and her Father suspiciously, "friends escaped - they [warn Caretaker] about [you]."

Dàilán's father laughed, "I would never let my daughter or her friends roam out in dangerous territory unsupervised. I am sure they are watching us closely to see how we treat you and are waiting to intervene if we do anything that seems the slightest bit untoward."

There was a surprisingly loud chorus of indignant declarations coming from the crowd of young Yāoguǐ - Dàilán was pretty sure there were more creatures in the grass then were immediately visible - "[We/I/all] [of/us/could/would] [chase/fight] you off [my/ourselves!]"

Dàilán frowned at the odd tonal qualities coming from some of the voices - almost an overlap or something - other than words involved. The fawn's voice had a similar harmonic while he was speaking - his mouth only moved for certain words, the rest seemed to slide in between his actual movements of his mouth.

Even as she turned the thought over her in her head she smiled, fighting the urge to break out into giggles and bowing respectfully as she solemnly agreed, "You are all very fierce and brave - but I am sure your caretakers would prefer that we not speak to you on your own. So we will sit here and wait until they get here."

The group of young Yāoguǐ went quiet, but almost immediately started whispering at each other. After a moment, the two bear cubs ducked around the fawn, the female shooting him a dirty look, "we ~not scared…"

"En… ~strong!" growled her brother, the two of them bumbled back up to Dàilán and looked up at her, "girl-man… why - smell different?"

Dàilán blinked in confusion, "Excuse me?"

The younger bear pipes up, "~girl-man smells nice... ~and nasty like ~big man also."

"Dumb Fuzz!" the female cub growled, "that is her Sire… of course, they smell together."

"All [humans] do not [smell good]," added the fawn, "just a [human] thing," he sniffed, "it is [true] that she [not smell] bad as most [humans]."

Dàilán looked back over her shoulder at her father who was watching the discussion with amused twinkling eyes, "I do not think he smells bad," she answered with a smile at their cute earnestness, "and I have pretty good senses at my Cultivation level."

The young female cub scoffed, "Not ~body smells. Essence." She narrowed her eyes, "Sire says you learn from ~Ancient."

"~oooh," camed a small chorus of excitement from the other little Yāoguǐ and Dàilán blinked in confusion as she asked, "what is a Ancient?"

"She [is the] oone?" A young Ox calf shouldered his way out of the grass until the front half of his body was visible, taking a long sniff through wide nostrils, "She beat Móowáng?" He blew a long breath out and shook his large head, already tipped with small but perfectly curved horns, ponderously from side to side in a way that seemed comical on his miniature size, "She [dooes noot] seem very big."

"Size is not always - ciktik~tan - the most important," piped a small voice and looking down in the direction of the new voice, the sharp muzzle and bright beady eyes of a large ferret poking out of the grass.

The young bull grunted and dipped his head down to pull up a mouthful of the grass around the edges of the border, before wandering back off into the long grass side of the clearing, seemingly losing interest in the conversation.

"Now [who] being [Dumb Fuzz]?" snapped the fawn scornfully, ignoring the antics and side discussion of the young bull and ferret "Ancients [not seen] for thousands [years] - we have been [sleeping] years [last several thousand] since then. Ancients [do not] exist anymore."

"Cultivators like us did not think the Yāoguǐ existed anymore until this week," Dàilán pointed out gently and the fawn blinked in surprise as she continued, "Could you tell me about Ancients?"

"Sire says Ancients taught ~everyone Cultivation," growled the female cub, "stick legs should ~not call The Sire dumb fuzz," she snapped at the fawn, the fur around her neck standing up aggressively, "~Telling Uncle Staghorn."

"I [did not] say Mówáng [Dumb Fuzz]," the fawn protested, "I said [you were] being [Dumb Fuzz]."

"But ~I just repeated what ~our Sire said," the young female cub answered sweetly.

The fawn winced, "Sorry. [Do not tell] my Sire.. or [your] Sire, [please]?"

"Why not?" the cub's reply was all teeth, "will you trade, Stick Legs?"

"~en!" Her brother sat up sharply on his haunches, his eyes alight, "trade for silence!"

The rest of the young Yāoguǐ started laughing and chanting with anticipation clear in their little voices, "Trade! Trade! Trade!"

The fawn stomped a hoof irritably, "Fine. [Do not tell] my [words]," he paused, his eyes narrowing, "I will [not] say [you were] playing outside the [long] grass."

"Ooh," chorused the others, falling into an expectant silence as the female bear cub blinked, obviously taken aback.

"~not playing out of long grass!" her brother defended his sister cheerfully, "~only rolled out. Girl~man came here! Was nice! Sire says she is Ally. We follow duty!" They younger cub seemed satisfied with that and poked his sister who shook herself and quickly spoke up in agreement, "Yes. Bro~ther right. Sire told - speak res~pect~fully to Ancient's student."

The little female made an annoyed grimace and sighed, "Stop using [herbivore] speech around humans. It bothers them. I will not Tell."

Dàilán felt herself recoil slightly as the young cub's voice took on that odd tonal quality for a single word as well. Did that mean the children were using some sort of Essence Technique to speak certain words?

The other children - including those still hidden in the grass seemed to grumble, "bad trade. Bad trade!"

The two bear cubs ignored the others as they looked at the fawn who nodded, "Agreed. Best to keep peace - though, makes speech difficult." His speech was more stilted, but that odd overtone to some of the words was gone and his mouth moved for almost every word.

"Easy and less ~painful to ears," the male cub grumbled, "Stick-legs speak less ~good."

The fawn reared back, clearly offended and the female cub swatted her brother idly, "behave," she admonished, but judging from the satisfied tone of her voice, her heart was not in it.

"Can you explain herbivore speech?" Dàilán interjected before another squabble could start, "I have never heard of it before?"

"~So.The younger plant-eaters have trouble making some sounds that humans use to talk with. All Yāoguǐ do to some extent. So we use a technique to produce the extra syllables. It can produce uncomfortable harmonics if one is not proficient in their use, Young Cultivator," answered a familiar rumbling voice and there was a wave of worried and distressed, squeaking, yowling and barking from the log grass around them.

The visible young Yāoguǐ around Dàilán, cowered, ears flattening against skulls. The ferret vanished into the grass and the two cubs curled into themselves with what Dàilán was sure was guilty expressions, their round ears crumpling over, while the fawn gasped and did its best to lower itself onto the ground entirely, looking like it very much wanted to run away.

"Mówáng," greeted the young Heiress, straightening up as the large figure of the Bear Yāoguǐ appeared, striding through the long grass to stop a pace away from the edge, "apologies for disturbing you. I did not realise you would come when I asked to speak with an adult."

"~So. It is no matter," the large Yāoguǐ waved one paw like hand, "the Essence Storm, outside is still fierce. Though I and the other adult Yāoguǐ patrol our territory to guard against any opportunists, the truth is that after the great sleep, no one will have the manpower to risk losing in a Storm as wild as this." He sighed and looked skyward for a moment, "truly the Heavens here have been unbalanced for a long time, for this Storm to gain such momentum."

The bear Yāoguǐ looked down at Dàilán, "I doubt you came here to entertain the young ones, Young Cultivator, although I am grateful for your tolerance," there was a subtle cast to the bear-man's face that suggested he was smiling.

"So you are keeping your young in the sanctuary while the stronger adults who can withstand the Storm are patrolling your territory?" her father asked from behind her and Dàilán blinked in surprise, having almost forgotten he was present, "seems risky, given you do not completely trust us. A test of our motivations, perhaps?"

The bear Yāoguǐ cast a fond glance at the two cubs on the ground who were darting him sneaky glances out of the corner of their eyes when they thought he was not paying attention, "~So, Younglings in such numbers would give most Earth Rank Consumers expecting defenseless babies pause. And these are among our strongest."

Dàilán found herself smiling as the young Yāoguǐ she could see seemed to try and puff themselves up at that statement, especially the two bear cubs, who stuck their chests out proudly and gave off proud little growls.

The Mówáng had no such inhibitions and chuckled loudly, "~So, you should go back now younglings. The Sire of the Young Cultivator is correct, you should not be starting so close to their camp without permission."

The two cubs looked crestfallen, but obediently turned and ambled into the tall grass, the fawn vanishing like a shadow after them - although Dàilán spotted the little male cub turning his head and giving her a brief wave with his right forepaw just as he disappeared into the thick vegetation.

"~So.There are Caretakers who watch over the younglings for any serious dangers. But they cannot withstand the Storm out there or the Essence Disturbances like us older ones can; only a few have been born since those few of us that survived started waking from the long sleep, Young cultivator," the expression on the bear Yāoguǐ was sad.

"That was why you were so desperate to gain access to the clearing," realised the young Heiress, "you could have asked, you know? We are refugees and almost all of those that follow me are young women and girls - we are in a similar position."

"Not easy to trust Consumers," the Yāoguǐ rumbled, his eyes flashing despite the overcast skies that dumped a fresh blast of windswept rain on the three of them. Dàilán noticed his characteristic verbal tic was missing and frowned, shaking her head as she replied, "I only came to ask about perhaps allowing the camps to trade - I know our younger members would probably find themselves overcome with excitement to play with your younglings if we let them."

The big bear-man snorted, "you - are - a younger member, Young Cultivator - to hear yourself speak, you would think you were a great elder of many years," he gave a toothy grin at Dàilán's embarrassed flush at his gentle tease and her own Father's chuckling in the background.

Dàilán let herself grin up at the large, legendary Dao Cultivating Bear, "I would not mind spending time with another Heiress - that daughter of yours is a firework."

The Mówáng laughed, "it would be interesting - if you could promise your people would not harm ours and protect the younglings as their own, I would agree to allow letting the camps interact and trade - the children could play as they wish. I doubt any of yours would be able to give ours any trouble, indeed I would have to warn ours to be gentle around your younger members," he brushed a paw through his wet fur absently, clearly thinking, "the younglings may not be interested - the scent of most Consumer's Essence is unpleasant."

"There seems to be some things we should discuss," suggested her father, "your children - younglings also suggested there was a problem with our Essence's - smell." Her father shot a look at Dàilán, "or perhaps we could commiserate on the woes of father with headstrong children?"

The bear Yāoguǐ cocked his head, "You do not bear me ill will after capturing you?"

Dàilán's Father shrugged, "My Heir reclaimed any honor I lost and I admit I would have done the same in your position. I would prefer to continue protecting my daughter - while I know that there is something about her you find fascinating enough to put our mutual distrust of each other to the side, you might find it easier to discuss terms with someone a little closer in age?"

The Yāoguǐ rolled his eyes, "a few hundred years more or less still leaves you a youngling to me. But I understand wanting to protect your youngling."

Dàilán' shrugged and raised an eyebrow at her Father, "I do not suppose this has anything to do with the lack of men to talk with back at the camp, Father? Or the fact that what little wine we brought with us is gone?"

"I am going mad with a camp almost entirely composed of women either strong enough to break me in half or under fifty years of age all related to me in some way - no respect - it is like a camp of mother hens!" her father declared humorously, waving his arms about as if making a declaration of great importance, "I am willing to sacrifice to act as Ambassador to our new allies and make a few new friends!"

The bear man snorted in amusement, "~So. I see females trying to order a man's life is a universal trait."

"It would not be so bad if I had not spent the last ten years or so as a single father in mourning attached to a branch house no one cared about," Dàilán's father confided in a 'serious' tone, "suddenly, I have about forty or so females of all ages paying attention to everything I do. It is exhausting."

Dàilán covered her amusement by coughing, "as long as you get a chance to discuss whether Lord Mówáng can help us reach our destination safely, I have no objections. I am a little concerned about his mentions of other Yāoguǐ... Clans?"

She looked at the bear with an inquiring expression and the Yāoguǐ nodded, "yes… that can be discussed. If our two groups work well together… I am interested in making sure my Clan - as you say - has access to the Mountain that you say you have been promised to settle on. I might be persuaded to attach liaisons to speak with the Sage…"

"If your liaisons - also - help us with negotiating passage through the territories of the other Yāoguǐ Clans," interrupted her Father, raising a finger, "after all, if the situation with the other Yāoguǐ Clans is anything like yours, they have probably taken residence in all the clearings by now and we will need to negotiate for access."

Dàilán groaned and rubbed her forehead dramatically, "I have decided, Father, that having you handle all this politicking is a fine idea. Go ahead. Just do not get too drunk."

She looked up and nodded back in the direction of their camp, "I am going to go back to the camp to tell them about setting up a market in the strip between the two camps - if both groups can trade surplus and repeat it with whichever Yāoguǐ Clans we meet along the way, we will be in a much better position to establish a more equal footing with Sage Lin - the idea of arriving as beggars and living at his mercy does not sit well with me. And I would really like to know about this Ancient business the children mentioned."

The Yāoguǐ coughed, "~So... if the Mountain Spirit that has offered you a place to settle is really an Ancient, girl - there is nothing you can do that would change your group being at his mercy. But he seems to favour you already? Perhaps it is best not to ask too many questions, Young Cultivator."

Dàilán rolled her eyes as she turned around and started striding back in the direction of the camp, "Men - all the same. Do not ask questions… that is the answer to anything a woman asks about. If I had not asked questions we would all be dead by now!" She threw her arms up in mock frustration as she marched away from the overgrown side of the clearing.

A moment later she heard both men laughing heartily and she sighed loudly, making sure to be heard while carefully concealing her smirk. Her Father was overprotective - but considering the mess she had had to deal with lately, she did not mind. And he really was much better at this negotiation stuff than she was - it was only expected given he was in his second century - and she was barely halfway into her second decade.

It was unlikely the Yāoguǐ King had taken their little performance seriously, but it let him keep face to allow the Mówáng to accept her Father as the group's liaison rather than herself, despite the Bear King clearly placing her in a higher status - which made her head hurt. She was glad her Mother had long ago broken her Father of traditional ways of thinking - or the loss of face that came with the group and now outsiders consistently placing her above her father in importance would have translated to a difficult situation for her.

Fortunately, her Father seemed to take it as a point of pride that he had raised such a 'Phoenix Daughter', even making jokes of being a 'Tiger Father' around the camp - although those were the nights he often disappeared on his own - and she knew it meant he was remembering Mother. In private, he always attributed Dàilán's better qualities to her mother, not himself, which she felt was ridiculous as she was as fiercely proud of him as she was of her Mother. Hopefully some new friends would distract him from old wounds.

It was a pity she had not had more time with those little Yāoguǐ, though, "So Cute!" she let herself squeal softly, now that she was alone, then grinned as she heard the Bear King's rumbling voice behind her, "Tell me, fellow Sire, have you ever tried Honey Wine?"

"He better not get drunk," she mumbled fondly, then shook her head. She had tasks to complete - hopefully the two camps would manage to integrate before they had to move on, they would not survive out here on their own much longer.