The sun was hanging low in the sky as the ragged caravan finally saw the great city of Darabaile. The old tree at its center was the first thing Willow noticed as they drew closer. Its gargantuan size dwarfed even the tallest building surrounding it, and sparkling lights could be seen hanging from the various other tree-like protrusions sprouting from the roots of the great oak.

  Rotter was left at a facility outside the city that was dedicated to storing and caring for larger spirit beasts associated with the Wanderers Sect, though currently it was only the viridian serpent that needed to be stored there. Which, according to Mu, was fairly common as not many Wanderers with beast bonds patrolled in Clan Darach’s territory. Which was a real shame as Willow was excited to see more spirit beasts when she had first heard they were stopping there for a moment.

  Currently the group was being forced into an inspection at the entrance to the city, two stern-faced guards in earth toned leather armor blocking their way with gruff commands. Willow was surprised to sense that both their qi flows felt less prominent than the majority of the adults in their little group. Something that she’d ask her teacher about later.

  “We’re not open to refugees at this time, turn back and head to one of the outlyin’ settlements.” The slightly older guard commanded with a gruffer version of Mu’s lilt.

  Said woman made her way to the front, doffing her wide brimmed hat at the guard whose eyes widened in recognition.

  “They’re with me, and not staying long. Just meetin’ up with family and restin’ for the night in an inn before they head to their new home.”

  The two guards stepped away for a moment, quietly discussing something before they came back and handed Rowan a wooden plaque with some qi imbued in it.

  “Keep this on you at all times. Since you have Miss Mu vouchin’ for you it should be fine, but linger too long or cause any funny business and you lot’ll be in for a world of trouble, got it?”

  The two of them then went back to their posts, causing the wanderer woman to snort. “Always pleasant, dealing with these boys.” She then tapped the plaque that Willow’s father had been handed. “They’re not wrong about keepin’ this with you though, it’s your temporary pass into the city. If you’re caught without it the best you’ll get is a fine.”

  “And what’s the worst?” Rowan rumbled from beside Bough, having dismounted to talk to the guards.

  She let out a cloud of smoke, and had a dark look on her face. “The worst would be your spirits confiscated and you all bein’ forced into servitude to Clan Darach. They don’t take kindly to refugees unless you got coin to flash around. Which, if I’m understandin’ your current monetary situation correctly, you don’t.”

  “What is our ‘monetary situation’?” Chirped Willow from beside Mu. She’d been told what money was, conceptually, after running across it in her stories. That was even reinforced more recently after her father mentioned winning some prize money at a tournament long ago. People traded money for other stuff, but she had no idea how much things actually cost.

  Since their little community gave everything they needed to each other without compensation it was still a fairly foreign concept to her.

  Her father just gave her a strained smile. “We have enough for what we need, sprout.”

  Which just made her teacher roll her eyes. “Which means you have enough for a small plot of land in one of the smaller settlements, but not much else, aye?”

  Rowan winced. “Lin and Maple have been gathering some extra funds all this time, maybe we can do a bit better than that.”

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  Willow felt her mentors qi swirl in a manner akin to pity.

  Her father cleared his throat. “We should head in and get settled for the night. Have an early day tomorrow.”

  Willow was not looking forward to going into the city, she already felt the throngs of life on the edge of her perception promising a deluge of emotions.

  Yet if she braved the horrible crowds she’d see her older sister again.

  It was a real dilemma, though she didn’t really have a choice in the matter as the group began to make their way inside the bustling city. Only her teacher was currently aware of the potential issue, and she seemed to have other thoughts on her mind at the moment.

  The technique that Mu had used for her previously hadn’t helped as much as the wanderer woman had hoped, but it did make it marginally more bearable for her to deal with the maelstrom of qi and emotions common in civilisation.

  However, Willow quickly determined that those marginal gains were not nearly enough for her to handle the influx of information she was now experiencing.

  There were so many people out in the streets this evening, most of them tired from a day’s labor, though even in that one feeling there was a depth to it that was beginning to hurt the girl’s mind.

  Some were tired, yet satisfied.

  Others, yearning for more in their lives.

  Still more were despondent, having given up.

  And there were so many more for her to try and parse.

  She vaguely noticed that she’d stopped moving.

  A spike of concern in those around her.

  Voices called to her, but she couldn’t understand. Her mind was already overburdened.

  This might be bad.

  She felt the familiar technique from earlier flare to life in the pathways in her head.

  Yet it wasn’t enough.

  Even with the unnatural focus granted by the concept of Knowledge it wasn’t able to stop her from drowning in the emotions of others.

  Instead of supplying the technique with wood qi she drew on her bond with Harmony, drawing on her energy and concept.

  She didn’t care, in this moment, that both her spirit and her teacher had told her this could be dangerous.

  She just needed it to stop.

  Willow flooded the pattern in her head with the concept of Harmony. Overwriting the concept of her mentor’s spirit.

  The discordant notes shifted into a beautiful chorus.

  The flow of qi hadn’t actually changed, but the way she viewed it had.

  There was no need to understand, just listen and let it flow over and through her.

  She felt all emotions brightly until she felt nothing at all.

  She let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding, and began comprehending her surroundings once more.

  Willow had fallen over at some point, it seems. Her family, and several strangers were currently crowding around her, though once she sat up, seemingly unharmed, the majority of the strangers left.

  “You alright, girlie?” Mu asked from a kneeling position right next to her. The wanderer woman's blue eyes searching Willow’s grey-green.

  She nodded.

  “Are you sure, sprout? We can find lodging outside while you get this under control.” Her father spoke with clear concern in his voice.

  “I’m fine now.” She said honestly. The mental technique made her feel odd, but it felt far less unnatural to her than the previous one. The main issue being that her own emotions felt oddly muted now.

  But was that truly an issue?

  She couldn’t find a reason for why it would be. She was a single note in a beautiful song, there was no need for her to contribute more than was necessary.

  “Let’s go see sissy.” The girl painted a smile on her face. Because she was excited to go and see her sister.

  Right?