Friends(hip Is Gross)

The road stretched ahead, though Ria had no idea where they were actually going. Nao had mentioned a city name, but Ria had already forgotten it. Something with a Z? Or was it a Y?

What she did remember was the weight of the pouch of money in her hands back at the Hall. She'd clutched it for a while longer just to appreciate the satisfying clink of metal before holding it out to Nao.

Nao had frozen at the gesture.

"Seriously?"

"It's part of the deal, right? Plus, we're friends!"

For a moment, Nao just stood there, hand hovering over the pouch but not quite taking it.

"Friends," Nao had repeated, voice oddly quiet.

"Yeah."

Then Nao had snatched the pouch, a grin splitting her face. "Right, of course! What's yours is mine, right?

"Urgh, take your gross friendship stuff outside." Natsume's voice had cut through the moment. "Oh, and please get that slime of yours to stop terrorizing people."

Ria had turned to look at her summon, which had apparently grown tired of dancing and decided to chase one of the people around the room instead. The ogre head bounced along behind it, leaving a wet trail across the floor.

She hurried over and crouched in front of the slime, blocking its path before it could chase anyone else.

"You did good work today," she said, patting its wobbling body. "I'll be sure to summon you again sometime."

The slime gurgled.

"I know, I know. But you can't come with us."

More gurgling, somehow sadder.

"Because Tyrant's already having a bad day, and if he wakes up and sees you, well, existing, he'll get jealous. Now go on!"

The slime deflated with another sad gurgle before dissolving into a puddle that seeped between the floorboards.

Natsume made a strangled noise as it did. 

"That better not flood the basement."

"He's good about that, don't worry."

Ria then scooped up Tyrant's limp body from where he was face-down on the box where Natsume was. She threaded him carefully onto the end of the bamboo perch, letting him dangle like her clothes when she needed to air-dry them.

"…Is he dead?' Nao asked.

"Nah, Tyrant will wake up when he's done sulking about his dandelion."

Now, walking down the road with Tyrant still limp on his favorite bamboo perch and Nao humming beside her, Ria felt oddly happy. She had a friend! A real friend who wasn't a bird, a forest animal, or Jin!

"So where are we heading again?"

"Zui'un," Nao said, swinging her arms as she walked. "A big merchant city just east from here."

"What's in this Zui-un?"

"People with taste, unlike certain ungrateful Hall receptionists." Nao said while patting the bulging sack slung over her shoulder, the one full of ogre den spoils.

"Natsume seemed nice though?"

"Natsume is a tyrant in human form."

Tyrant twitched on his perch.

"See? Even your bird agrees."

"I'm pretty sure that's just him spasming from the aftershock."

"Whatever. Point is, Zui'un has got merchants who'll actually appreciate quality goods. We sell this stuff, make some buck, then head to Ryūsen where your flower grows."

Ria nodded, then paused. "Wait, how far is Zui'un?"

"It's about a day's walk. We're actually pretty close since we made good time, but we could've gotten there faster if we'd caught something like a caravan."

"What's a caravan?"

"Nothing much, just a group of merchants traveling together. It's usually safer that way." Nao glanced at her. "You've really never left that forest, huh?"

"Not really, no. It's because Otou-san told me I'd get eaten by monsters with a palate for spineless girls."

Nao's footsteps slowed. "So this father of yours… I've said it earlier, but he's not exactly right in the head is he?"

"What? He totally is!"

"Ria, he told you Fūsen shat mountains into existence."

"Yeah, but that's because Dōsen was annoying and wouldn't stop moving around, so Fūsen kept shitting on him until he learned his lesson."

"That's-" Nao pinched the bridge of her nose. "You know what, nevermind, new plan. I'm going to explain things, and you're going to listen without mentioning shit."

"Okay!"

"So. The actual Fūsen myth says she occasionally lays eggs from the heavens. When those eggs hatch, a T'ien-ts'ai is born - someone with innate magic who doesn't need stones." Nao gestured at Ria. "That's you."

Ria tilted her head. "So I'm like... from a bird's butt?"

"Yes- No! The point is you're special. Most people need Hui-t'ien Stones to use magic, but those stones eat up your life the more you use them. You don't need any of that though . You're just... born different."

So that's what Otou-san means when he said she was special. Not the kind of special that suggested she was dumb (she hoped) but born from a big bird egg or whatever.

ln any case, Nao was explaining things without being asked. Sharing information freely, patiently even, like Ria deserved to know.

It felt nice.

Actually, it felt exactly like what Ria did for Tyrant, like all those times when she carried him around, found him the perfect sunbathing spots, and let him eat first even though she went hungry first. Because if she didn't spoil him, he'd probably waddle off and never come back.

Was Nao doing the same thing? Spoiling Ria so she wouldn't leave? Regardless, this made her happy.

Nao cleared her throat. "So, anything else you want to know?"

"What am I supposed to do?" Ria asked. "As a T'ien-ts'ai, I mean."

Nao's stride faltered for just a bit. Then she recovered, turning toward Ria.

"Well you're destined to slay demons, obviously."

Ria frowned. "Otou-san never said anything about me having to slay demons."

"That's because your father was too busy making up those stories about giant bird shit to get you to stop shitting yourself." Nao waved dismissively. "But trust me, demons are a real problem., especially in cities near the Shūnan Mountains. They cause all sorts of trouble, and who better to deal with them than someone who's naturally strong with magic?"

That... actually made sense? If she had these powers and demons were causing problems, then helping seemed like the reasonable thing to do, but…

Ria frowned. "I don't really like fighting though."

"You literally diced an ogre up two hours ago."

"That was different. He was going to squish Tyrant if I didn't stop him."

"Right, yes, of course. How silly of me." Nao's tone suggested she didn't think it was silly at all, in a way that made Ria wonder if she's being made fun of. "Look, the point is you're powerful and you should use that power for good."

"I guess that makes sense. Otou-san always said I should help people."

"There you go! Seems like your nutcase of a father still has some common sense in him."

Ria nodded, satisfied with Nao's explanation and choosing to overlook the nutcase comment. The two were about to settle into silence again when Ria's brain helpfully reminded her that she'd been storing questions earlier.

"Hey Nao? Can I ask another question?"

"Another one?" Nao glanced over with eyebrow raised. "What now? Want me to explain what clouds are made of?

"No, I know that one. Jin said they're just Fūsen's-"

"Please don't finish that sentence."

"-ok," Ria continued, "then why do you sound like a man? You're clearly a woman like me."

Nao stopped walking entirely. The silence stretched long enough this time that Ria wondered if she'd somehow offended her new friend.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Nao's voice came out higher than usual, but then she suppressed it. "I'm a man, obviously. Can't you tell?"

Ria tilted her head. "But your outline's all wrong. Your chest isn't flat and you don't have a dangly thing."

A strangled noise emerged from Nao's general direction. Ria waited patiently while Nao made several more uncoherent sounds. This seemed like the kind of moment where pushing wouldn't help, so she just stood there, with Tyrant's limp body swaying gently on the perch.

"I'm famous!" Nao blurted out. "Yes. That's it. I'm incredibly famous and if people knew I was a woman, they'd recognize me immediately and then I'd never have a moment's peace."

"...You're famous?"

"Extremely." Nao settled back into her masculine voice more comfortably now, though it still wobbled slightly. "I'm so famous that I have to disguise myself just to walk down the street. Otherwise I'd be mobbed by admirers throwing flowers and screaming my name."

"What are you famous for?"

"Ugh." Nao's outline shifted, one hand coming up to gesture vaguely. "For music, obviously. I'm the finest bard in all of Nanrei. People even beg me to sing for them!"

“Really?”

"Absolutely. I know hundreds of songs. There's one that goes…" She coughed. "You know what, it's hard to remember all the lyrics. Point is, I'm very famous and that's why I dress like this."

That made perfect sense, actually. If Ria were famous, she'd probably want to hide herself as well. Being mobbed by people sounded exhausting.

"Ok," Ria said.

Nao's shoulders sagged with visible relief. "Great! I'm glad we got that all cleared up. Now let's- actually hold on, how did you know? About the... you know."

"Your chest and lack of a dangly thing?"

"Please stop saying it like that and just answer the question."

"Oh, that's easy. I can't see with my eyes."

Nao made another one of those strangled sounds she seemed fond of making. "You're… blind?"

"I mean technically, but not really? I can see moisture in the air, so I know what shape things are, how they move, simple stuff like that. Your outline's pretty clear."

"My outline...?"

"Yup! Yours is really nice actually. Very..."

"Please don't finish that sentence."

"I was going to say easy to read. You move your hands a lot when you talk."

"Wait so you've been 'looking' at my body this whole time?"

"If you put it that way, I guess?"

Something small and hard suddenly bounced off Ria's forehead. She reached up to rub the spot, confused.

"Did you just throw a pebble at me?"

"You can't just-" Another pebble bounced off her shoulder. "-stare at people's bodies-" A third one missed entirely. "-without warning them first!"

"It's not like I can stop sensing things!"

Ria opened her mouth to protest further, but her hand suddenly tightened around Tyrant's bamboo perch.

Nao's anger faded. "Ria?"

Ria could sense the moisture in the air shifting, revealing outlines she never encountered before. There were too many of these foreign outlines, all clustered together in ways that made no sense.

"What's wrong?" Nao's voice came from somewhere to her left, but Ria barely heard her.

Dozens of towering blocks stacked close enough that their shapes bled together into confusing blocky mass. And people - oh so many people moving between them that tracking individual outlines became nearly impossible. The sheer density of it all overwhelmed Ria's senses.

Water spheres formed around her hands without another thought. Just small ones, hovering near her palms and ready to shoot out if needed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Nao's hand grabbed her shoulder. "Easy there! What are you doing?"

"There's something ahead. A lot of somethings, actually, coming our way!"

“Oh, them? Yeah well, that's what people do when they're walking down the road.”

Nao then stepped directly in front of Ria, blocking her line of... well, not sight exactly, but whatever the moisture-sensing equivalent was.

"Relax, we've arrived at Zui'un!"