Weaves of Ashes

Chapter 195: Chapter 190: Takara’s Terrible Day

Location: Pavilion - Various Locations

Time: Day 231 (Doha Actual) | 766 - 21 Voidmarch, 9938 AZI

Another day of pretending to be a mindless kitten.

Takara lay curled in his designated sleeping spot—a cushion near Jayde’s bed that she’d arranged specifically for him, because apparently that’s what humans did for their pets—and contemplated the series of choices that had led him to this moment.

Five thousand years of service. Countless successful missions. A reputation that made lesser beings flee in terror. And here he was, wearing a collar with a communication crystal, a harness with supply pouches, and—he shuddered internally—the lingering memory of yesterday’s pink ribbon.

The things I do for Lord Fahmjir.

Morning light filtered through the Pavilion’s crystalline walls. Around him, the strange household was stirring. He could hear the wyrmlings beginning their daily chaos, could sense the massive essence signatures of the transformed shadowbeast and the silver dragon queen.

And there was the girl. Jayde. Sitting up in her bed, stretching, completely unaware that she was being monitored by one of the most elite warriors the Oceanus Domain had ever produced.

She looked different than when he’d first been assigned to her. Taller—significantly taller. Older, somehow, her features refined in ways that suggested transformation rather than natural growth. And her essence signature...

That was the confusing part.

She felt human. Completely, utterly, boringly human. No trace of the phoenix fire he’d sensed before. No hint of dragon heritage. Just... ordinary mortal girl.

Something had changed during those six months in the cocoon. Something significant. But Takara couldn’t figure out what.

At least the fish is fresh, he thought, as Jayde scooped him up for the morning cuddle that had become routine. Small mercies.

***

Breakfast was more organized than the previous day’s disaster.

The wyrmlings, while still demanding attention, had calmed somewhat. Six months of anxiety was slowly being soothed by consistent parental presence. They stayed close to Yinxin—who was practicing her human form at the table, wobbling only slightly now—but they weren’t climbing on everyone with quite the same desperate energy.

Reiko had learned to position himself away from breakable objects. His massive form occupied an entire corner of the dining area, and he’d developed a technique for eating that minimized the mess his too-large mouth created. It wasn’t elegant, but it was functional.

Jayde sat cross-legged on her cushion, Takara in her lap, feeding him small pieces of fish between bites of her own meal.

”Good boy,” she murmured, scratching behind his ears. ”You’re such a good little kitten.”

I have assassinated three kings, Takara thought, accepting another piece of fish. I personally ended the Crimson Tide Rebellion. I once held the eastern border against a demon incursion for seventy-two hours without rest.

”Who’s a fluffy boy? You are. Yes you are.”

I am going to need so much therapy when this is over.

But he purred anyway. Because that’s what kittens did.

***

The training hall had been partially repaired overnight—Pavilion systems were remarkably efficient at fixing damage—and the morning session began with cautious optimism.

”Let’s see if you can manage basic locomotion without structural damage,” Green said, her fractured emerald eyes assessing Jayde with professional detachment. ”Walk to the far wall. Slowly.”

Jayde took a breath. Focused. Took a step.

She didn’t launch across the room.

Another step. Then another. Her movement was careful, deliberate, like someone walking on ice. But she was moving at approximately normal human speed, and nothing was exploding.

”I’m doing it!” She reached the far wall and turned, grinning. ”Look! Walking! Like a normal person!”

”Excellent progress,” Green acknowledged. ”Now—”

Jayde’s arms went up in celebration. The gesture was enthusiastic. Perhaps too enthusiastic.

Golden fire erupted from her right palm.

”Oh for—” She slapped at her own sleeve, which had caught fire. The flames were too hot, too bright—divine fire that didn’t respond to normal smothering techniques. Green had to douse her with Torrent essence before the entire arm ignited.

”...improvement,” Green said, after a long pause.

***

Reiko’s morning went approximately as well.

He’d been heading to the training hall when he encountered his nemesis: the doorframe.

The Pavilion’s internal doors were sized for humanoids. Reiko, in his current lion-sized configuration, was decidedly not humanoid-sized. He’d managed the door yesterday by turning sideways and shuffling through. Today, he forgot.

He walked directly into the frame.

His front half made it through. His back half did not.

”Uncle Reiko is stuck AGAIN!”

The wyrmlings materialized from somewhere—they had a supernatural ability to appear whenever something embarrassing happened—and immediately began providing commentary.

”His butt is too big!”

”Wiggle, uncle! Wiggle!”

”Can we climb on him while he’s stuck?”

[I am not stuck,] Reiko sent with dignity. [I am temporarily... positioned.]

He wiggled. The doorframe creaked. He remained thoroughly wedged.

Jayde appeared behind him, assessed the situation, and sighed.

”Push on three,” she said, bracing her hands against his haunches. ”One. Two—”

”THREE!” the wyrmlings screamed.

Jayde shoved. Reiko popped through the doorframe like a cork from a bottle, skidding across the training hall floor in a manner that was not at all dignified.

[This never happened,] he sent.

”It happened yesterday, too,” Tianxin pointed out helpfully.

[Yesterday never happened either.]

***

Yinxin’s walking lessons continued throughout the morning.

She’d mostly conquered the basics—forward motion, turning, stopping without falling over—but certain bad habits persisted.

”What did I say about the—” Jayde started.

”It’s a REFLEX now!” Yinxin protested, her hips swaying despite her best efforts. ”I’m not doing it on purpose!”

”You’re definitely doing it on purpose.”

”The muscles simply move that way in this form!”

”They really don’t.”

The wyrmlings, who had been watching their mother practice, had decided to join in. Three small dragon forms waddled behind Yinxin, copying her movements with disturbing accuracy.

Three tiny hips, swaying in perfect synchronization.

Jayde’s expression went through horror, despair, and resigned acceptance in rapid succession.

”Oh no. No no no.”

”We’re walking like mother!” Shenxin announced proudly.

”Mother walks the BEST!” Tianxin added.

Green, observing from the sidelines, was making a sound that might have been a cough. Or might have been barely suppressed laughter.

”Perhaps,” she managed, ”we should consider different role models.”

***

The incident with the ribbon happened around midday.

Takara had been resting in what he’d thought was a safe corner, recovering from the morning’s indignities, when the wyrmlings discovered him.

”KITTY!”

He barely had time to flatten his ears before they swarmed.

”Let’s play with the kitty!”

”I want to carry him!”

”No, I want to carry him!”

What followed was fifteen minutes of being passed between small dragon claws like a particularly fluffy ball. Takara endured being held upside down, carried by his scruff, and at one point, placed in a tiny wagon that Shenxin had apparently constructed specifically for this purpose.

”He fits!” he announced triumphantly. ”Kitty wagon!”

I have infiltrated enemy strongholds. I have survived torture by the Crimson Claw Sect. I am being pushed around in a wagon by a creature that hatched six months ago.

Then Huaxin appeared with the ribbon.

It was pink. Bright, violently pink. And Huaxin clearly intended to put it on Takara’s head.

No. Absolutely not. I draw the line at—

The ribbon was tied in a bow between his ears.

—I am wearing a pink ribbon. I, Takara of the Lightning Panthera, elite guardian of the Oceanus Domain, am wearing a pink ribbon.

He sat very, very still. If he didn’t move, perhaps he could pretend this wasn’t happening. Perhaps he could dissociate from his body entirely and exist only as a consciousness floating in the void.

”So pretty!” Huaxin declared.

The void sounds nice. I would like to go to the void now.

Jayde appeared, took one look at the scene, and immediately scooped him up.

”Children, be gentle with Takara.” She removed the ribbon—thank all the gods and spirits—and held him against her chest protectively. ”He’s a living creature, not a dress-up toy.”

”But he’s so FLUFFY!” Tianxin protested.

”Fluffy things still have feelings.”

Do they? Takara wondered. I’m not sure I have feelings anymore. I think they died somewhere between the wagon and the ribbon.

He mewed pitifully. It wasn’t entirely an act.

***

The school discussion happened after lunch.

Isha materialized in the common area, his translucent fox form unusually serious. The kitsune gathered everyone’s attention with a gesture—even the wyrmlings went quiet, sensing that something important was about to be discussed.

”We need to talk about your enrollment at Obsidian Academy.”

Jayde’s expression cycled through several emotions, landing on resigned disgust. ”Do we have to?”

Academy? Takara’s ears perked up. What academy?

(We’re REALLY going to do this?!) The voice in Jayde’s head—Jade, the child aspect—was practically vibrating with excitement. (We’re actually going to SCHOOL! With other students! Like a normal person!)

This is tactically inadvisable. Exposure to unknown variables. Limited escape routes. Potential threat assessment compromised by—

(You PROMISED!) Jade cut off the Federation assessment. (You said when things settled down, we could try being normal for once. This is normal! This is what normal girls do!)

”The Academy is essential,” Isha continued, ignoring her reluctance. ”You need formal education in cultivation theory, connections with other young cultivators, and access to resources that only an institution can provide.”

”I learned plenty in the Pavilion—”

”You learned combat, survival, and mission-relevant skills. You did not learn history, politics, social navigation, or any of the thousand other things you’ll need to function in cultivator society.” Isha’s tails swished. ”Besides, you promised.”

He tapped his temple meaningfully.

Jayde’s expression flickered. A promise to Jade, made in the desperate early days, when convincing a frightened child to share her mind required certain... incentives.

”Fine,” she muttered. ”Fine. School. Whatever.”

School, Takara thought, processing this information. The human-child is going to school.

Wait.

If she’s going to school...

I have to follow her to school.

With CHILDREN.

For YEARS.

Horror began to creep up his spine.

”There are, however, advantages to your current situation,” Isha continued. ”Your appearance has changed dramatically. You’re taller, older, and your features have been refined. Combined with the Veil suppressing your divine signature, you’re essentially a completely different person.”

”Meaning?”

”Meaning no one will connect you to Jade Freehold, runaway slave.” Isha’s voice carried satisfaction. ”The physical transformation has given you a clean slate. You can enter the Academy as someone entirely new.”

Jayde considered this. ”That’s... actually useful.”

”We do need additional layers of protection, however. I recommend you only demonstrate Torrent abilities while enrolled.”

”Only Torrent?”

”Your Inferno skills are far too advanced for a new student. An Entry Inferno-tempered cultivator appearing at a beginner academy would raise immediate questions. But Torrent?” Isha gestured. ”You’re genuinely still learning water manipulation. It fits perfectly. A Torrent-user with modest abilities is common. Unremarkable. Forgettable.”

Smart, Takara admitted reluctantly. Hide her most dangerous skills behind mediocrity.

”The Veil already suppresses your divine signature,” Isha continued. ”With practice, you can also mask which essences you’re accessing. School tests will show only Torrent affinity. Combined with your new appearance—impossible to trace to Freehold.”

Jayde nodded slowly. ”And the debt?”

”You’ll complete Pavilion missions during academy breaks. Three months until enrollment. Six weeks until the application period opens. Plenty of time to train and earn initial merits.”

Three months, Takara thought. Three months, and then I’m following this child to SCHOOL.

With CHILDREN.

Learning LESSONS.

For YEARS.

Oh no. Oh no no no.

His small kitten body began to tremble.

”Takara?” Jayde looked down at him with concern. ”Are you cold, little one?”

I am having an existential crisis, he thought desperately. I am contemplating the heat death of my dignity and the complete destruction of my career.

But he just mewed pitifully and let her pet him.

The petting is actually kind of nice. I still hate everything.

***

The Veil practice session happened late afternoon.

The wyrmlings were napping—finally—and the adults had gathered in a private section of the training hall. Isha, Green, Jayde, Reiko, and Yinxin formed a loose circle. Takara had found a corner to curl up in, pretending to sleep while actually eavesdropping.

”The Veil needs to become instinctive,” Isha explained. ”You should be able to activate and deactivate it without conscious thought. In an emergency, you won’t have time to focus.”

”Makes sense,” Jayde agreed.

”When the Veil drops, your full power will be visible. Anyone nearby needs to be prepared for the... intensity.” Isha glanced at the others. ”Reiko and Yinxin have already seen her true form.

”Let’s begin. Drop the Veil, hold for five seconds, then reactivate.”

Jayde touched the crystal pendant at her throat. Concentrated.

And dropped the Veil.

Takara’s eyes flew open.

Every survival instinct he’d developed over five thousand years of elite service SCREAMED at once.

What.

What.

WHAT.

The girl was gone. In her place stood—

He couldn’t process it. Couldn’t comprehend it. His senses, honed to detect power signatures across dimensions, were overloading.

Moonlight hair that moved with its own luminescence, flowing like liquid silver around features that were too perfect, too ethereal, too other to be mortal. Golden eyes ringed with phoenix-amber fire, burning with heat that made the air shimmer. And her essence signature—

Not just powerful.

Not just ancient.

DIVINE.

Dragon heritage blazed through her—not inherited, not diluted, but original. Pure silver dragon essence that resonated with frequencies Takara recognized from ancient texts, from legends, from things that shouldn’t exist anymore.

Phoenix lineage burned alongside it—golden fire that was older than civilizations, older than recorded history, the true flame of Pyratheon himself.

And beneath both, something else. Something that made the foundations of reality itself tremble. Luminari essence. Divine spark. The raw potential of gods.

Phoenix heritage, Takara thought frantically. I knew that. Dragon heritage—I knew that. But THIS?

This is an infant GODDESS.

This is way above my rank.

This is way above ANYONE’S rank.

What did Lord Fahmjir get me into?!

His kitten form had frozen solid. Tail puffed out. Every hair standing on end. Eyes the size of dinner plates.

Memories flashed through his mind—every powerful being he’d ever encountered. The Oceanus Domain Lord, ancient and vast. Elder cultivators who had lived for tens of thousands of years. Primordial entities that predated the current age.

None of them had felt like THIS.

She’s going to attract attention. Every powerful being in the three realms will sense this eventually. They’re going to come. Hunters, harvesters, worshippers, destroyers—they’re ALL going to come for her.

And I’m supposed to PROTECT her.

ME.

In KITTEN FORM.

With a COLLAR.

And a HARNESS.

And yesterday I wore a PINK RIBBON.

He could literally feel himself going grey. If kittens could have anxiety attacks, he was having a spectacular one.

The latrines, he thought desperately. Ten thousand years of cleaning latrines suddenly doesn’t sound so bad. At least latrines don’t attract divine hunters. At least latrines don’t pull cosmic-level threats across dimensional barriers. At least latrines stay PUT and don’t go to SCHOOL.

”Takara?”

Jayde’s voice—her real voice, resonant with harmonics that shouldn’t exist in mortal vocal cords—cut through his panic.

”Are you okay?”

She was looking at him. With those golden, phoenix-fire eyes. Looking at him like she was concerned about a small, helpless kitten.

I am five thousand years old. I have faced armies. I have killed things that would drive lesser beings insane. And I am having a complete mental breakdown because a seventeen-year-old girl is worried about me.

”I think I scared him,” Jayde said, and—mercifully, blessedly—reactivated the Veil.

The divine presence vanished. The moonlight hair became ordinary black. The burning eyes returned to simple brown. The essence signature compressed down to human, normal, boring, safe.

Takara slowly deflated. His fur settled. His heart rate decreased from ”imminent cardiac event” to merely ”sustained terror.”

Control yourself, he thought savagely. You’re five thousand years old. You’ve faced worse.

A pause.

No. No, you haven’t. Nothing is worse than this.

Jayde scooped him up, cradling him against her chest with gentle concern. ”Poor baby. The transformation must have startled you.”

Baby. She called me baby.

I am older than most civilizations.

I am having an existential crisis.

And she’s petting me.

And it’s actually kind of nice.

I hate EVERYTHING.

***

While recovering from his goddess-induced breakdown, Takara’s eyes landed on Reiko.

Specifically, on the rune pulsing on the massive shadowbeast’s forehead.

He’d noticed it before, of course. Hard to miss a glowing mercury sigil on someone’s face. But he’d been too distracted by the overall situation to examine it closely.

Now, with his senses still heightened from the divine essence exposure, he saw it clearly.

Wait.

Wait.

Is that—

Recognition hit like a lightning bolt.

That rune. That specific configuration of lines and curves. Every Lightning Panthera knew it. It was taught in their earliest training, burned into their memories as something to recognize, to report, to never ignore.

Beast Lord lineage seal.

A fledgling beast lord.

HERE.

Bonded to the goddess-child.

For a long moment, Takara forgot his horror. A new emotion rose—something that might have been amusement, if kittens were capable of such things.

Lord Fahmjir doesn’t know.

Lord Fahmjir has no idea.

There’s a beast lord CUB here. A potential heir to the primordial beast lord lineage. And Fahmjir—ancient, grumpy, eternally lamenting his lack of succession—finally has a ’son.’

The mental image was almost enough to make him break character laughing.

Fahmjir’s face when he found out. The legendary Beast Lord of Oceanus Domain, discovering that his long-awaited heir was an oversized shadowbeast puppy who tripped over his own feet and got stuck in doorframes.

This is HILARIOUS.

I cannot WAIT to see his reaction.

Five thousand years of complaining about succession, and THIS is what the universe provides.

For a brief, glorious moment, Takara’s spirits lifted.

Then reality reasserted itself.

Goddess. School. Cosmic threats. Kitten form. Collar. Harness. Yesterday’s pink ribbon.

Still hate everything.

But at least there’s this.

***

Evening settled over the Pavilion like a blessing.

The wyrmlings had woken from their nap and immediately demanded attention, but their energy was more manageable now. Yinxin—in human form, wobbling only occasionally—held Shenxin while attempting to navigate the common area. Jayde had Huaxin and Tianxin, one in each arm, engaged in some kind of complicated game that involved a lot of giggling.

Reiko served as furniture. The babies climbed on him, used him as a slide, and generally treated him like a very large, very patient piece of playground equipment. He endured it with the expression of someone who had given up on dignity entirely.

Takara had retreated to a high shelf. As far from grabbing baby claws as possible. He needed time to process. Time to plan. Time to figure out how in the name of all the gods he was supposed to protect an infant goddess who was apparently going to SCHOOL.

Green was making tea. Her movements were precise, methodical, the actions of someone who had found peace in routine after seeing too many impossible things.

Isha observed everything with knowing golden eyes. The kitsune met Takara’s gaze briefly—a silent acknowledgment between the only two beings in the room who truly understood what they were dealing with.

We need to talk, Takara thought at him.

Later, came the reply. When the children sleep.

”So,” Jayde said to the room at large, baby dragons draped over her like accessories, ”school in three months. Missions to earn merits. Training to not destroy walls when I walk. Worm colonies still threatening the planet. Divine heritage to hide.” She paused. ”Anyone else have anything to add to the list?”

Yinxin, still concentrating on staying upright: ”I need to learn more human expressions. Apparently, walking wrong sends ’signals.’”

Reiko, covered in climbing wyrmlings: [I keep getting stuck in doors.]

Green, pouring tea: ”I need to restock healing supplies. Again.”

Isha, tails swishing thoughtfully: ”The enrollment paperwork requires a family name. We’ll need to create an identity for you.”

Takara, from his shelf: ”Mew.”

Translation: I need therapy. Extensive therapy. Possibly medication. Definitely a very long vacation.

Jayde sighed. ”Right. One crisis at a time.”

Tianxin climbed from her arms to her shoulder to her head, settling there like a small, scaly hat. She seemed very pleased with herself.

”This is fine,” Jayde said, with the tone of someone who had accepted that nothing would ever be fine again.

She looked around the room. At her strange, impossible family.

A shape-shifting dragon queen who was learning to walk on two legs without advertising certain services. A lion-sized primordial shadowbeast who kept getting stuck in doorframes. Three baby dragons who treated chaos as a lifestyle. An ancient healer who had seen too much and kept making tea anyway. A kitsune artifact spirit who knew too many secrets.

And a traumatized kitten on a shelf, contemplating the ruins of his career.

Assessment, Jayde’s internal Federation voice noted, tactical situation is chaotic. Resources unconventional. Team composition... unusual.

(But they’re ours,) Jade added softly.

Agreed. They’re ours.

Jayde smiled slightly. It was tired, that smile. Overwhelmed. Still processing the weight of divine heritage and cosmic responsibility and forty years of debt.

But it was real.

”Tomorrow,” she said. ”Tomorrow, we figure out family names and cover stories and how to walk without destroying things. Tonight—” She gestured at the chaos around her. ”Tonight we’re just... this.”

Yinxin wobbled into a cushion, Shenxin still in her arms. Reiko huffed a breath that might have been agreement. The wyrmlings made happy sounds.

On his shelf, Takara curled into a tighter ball.

Tomorrow, he thought. Tomorrow I report to Lord Fahmjir. Tomorrow, I explain that his supposedly simple protection assignment has turned into guarding an infant goddess who’s going to school.

Tomorrow is going to be terrible.

But tonight...

He watched the strange family settling in for the evening. Watched Jayde hand baby dragons to various caregivers. Watched Reiko finally extract himself from the pile of children. Watched Yinxin give up on walking and shift back to dragon form with evident relief.

Tonight they’re just a family.

A weird, impossible, probably doomed family.

But a family nonetheless.

He closed his eyes and let himself drift toward sleep.

I still hate everything, he thought drowsily. But maybe... maybe not quite as much as yesterday.