A few days passed with the caravan making it through the mountain range, and Willow now felt physically better than ever.

  However, she wasn’t quite at her best mentally.

  Not once had the rest of her extended family come to visit her since Harmony and Change revealed themselves to them.

  While her Aunt Sarah had been a touch overbearing while she’d been recovering, her fair haired aunt had shown how much she cared for her in her own way. Yet now all she could spare were distrustful looks and fearful glances.

  The shift in attitude from her family hurt.

  It apparently also had knock-on effects in the form of her brother’s friendship with Rom being effectively terminated at some point over something he’d said. There had even been a minor scuffle that had to be broken up by her Uncle Lucius.

  Which made the young teen not all that sociable or fun to be around, but Willow tried her best to be there for him, when he allowed it. Which sadly wasn’t as often as she’d like.

  To add on to the worries plaguing the child’s mind her friends were not at all pleased with the apparent threat the Wanderers now posed to their continued friendship.

  “What right do they have to try and keep us apart!” Change had grumbled when Willow had told him and his sister what Mu had said.

  “Just because he knew our siblings doesn’t mean he has the authority to tell us what to do! I swear if I meet him I’m gonna give him a piece of my mind on this whole foolish endeavor of his!”

  “We are in agreement, brother. While I can appreciate the intent behind his goal, it is not his place to meddle in the affairs of our progenitor.” Harmony’s eyes had twinkled ominously at the time and the spirit’s next words were said with a conviction that stuck with her.

  “We will not let some old fool interfere in our vow, child.”

  Willow shook her head to clear it of such thoughts. She’d definitely succeed in becoming strong enough that there wouldn’t even be a question on if she was capable enough to keep her friends safe.

  To that end it was time to begin her lessons with Scholar Mu in earnest.

  The two met on top of Rotter as he cleared a path through the trees of Clan Darach’s territory, using the same technique he had earlier when moving the trees in the Vale.

  However the wanderer woman was much less lax and jovial than she had been in their prior encounters.

  “I’ll admit to bein’ initially stumped on what I should teach you.” She started. “You want strength to impress the head, and I’m personally not much of a fighter. I leave that to Rotter as I’ve mentioned afore.” She patted the rough scales of her beast at that last part.

  “However, I’ve a curious mind, and a touch of knowledge on most subjects. Plus I’m likely one of the better experts on Wood Qi in the whole of the Allied Clan Territories. So I should be able to teach you how to make use of that little flower spirit you have bound, and teach you enough about the workings of spirits and beasts to give you a bit of an edge against most who wield their power.”

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  That definitely sounded like a fantastic start! Yet Willow was left with an important question.

  “What about the rest of my spirits? I should learn to fight with them too, right?”

  Mu puffed on her pipe. “I have a plan for that as well. I’ll be callin’ in some favors, when the time’s right, to get you some tutelage in the things I lack the ability to teach. Don’t want to give you the wrong idea on how certain qi types function in practice when I have next to no experience in their actual use.”

  Willow supposed that made a certain amount of sense. If Mu couldn’t use the qi types she’d be using she wouldn’t know how exactly to use them, and would just give general vagaries on how to manipulate qi like her aunt had done.

  Thinking of her aunt’s lessons brought her back to happier times, but she quickly snapped out of it. Now was a time to focus.

  The girl brought out her flowery friend Andrea from their space in her throat, at her mentor’s instruction, and the tiny poppy spirit danced in her palm.

  “Now I want to make sure, you’re fully healed aye?”

  Willow nodded, but her teacher still seemed unconvinced.

  “I’ve already checked your pathways and they seem fine to my senses, but you know your body best. If there’s any discomfort when shiftin’, just let me know and we can put this off for another day or two.”

  Mu really seemed shaken up by the mishap with Huey if she’s now so concerned about her safety like this.

  Then again, Willow was also a tad hesitant to harmonize with a spirit, so soon after it had left her bed ridden for about a week.

  She gave her teacher a grin. “I’m fine Miss Mu, I’ve done this lotsa times.”

  Though not with Andrea yet. Frankly she was quite curious on what her wood form would look like.

  She sent her friend a warning that she was about to begin before she harmonized with the tiny flower.

  There was a slight tingling in her newly healed pathways that hadn’t happened before, but to Willow’s senses it seemed more like the wood qi resonating with some of the lingering spring conceptual energy rather than anything dangerous.

  The girl’s tanned olive skin took on the greenish hue of a plant's stem, with her nails becoming a bit rougher, almost akin to bark. Her hair turned to vines, with myriad poppy flowers dotting them, a riot of color that she took time to marvel at.

  But that was just the physical changes.

  She now felt alive in a way she hadn’t before.

  The urge to take in all she could.

  Sunlight.

  Air.

  Water.

  Soil.

  The need to grow, using all she had taken.

  It was a familiar and comforting feeling. One she had grown up surrounded by, both from the fields of crops her family grew, and the more wild growth found in the forests of the Vale.

  Scholar Mu broke the trance Willow seemed to be in.

  “You all right, girlie? Got awfully quiet after you transformed.”

  Willow gave her a warm wooden smile.

  “I’m fine! Just feels different.”

  She idly began to wonder why her earthen form hadn’t provided much feedback when she had first shifted to it, yet both fire and wood did.

  A mystery for later.

  Mu gave her a skeptical look. “If you say so. Do let me know if things’re too much for you.”

  “Will do!”

  She then started to teach Willow several exercises for how she should use her wood qi, switching over to more practical knowledge of the world whenever the child ran out and needed to rest.

  All in all it was a wonderful start to their shared lessons.