~DEMURE YU~

One look at Du's carmine scowl ought to have sent the Imperials fleeing, but they'd turned every house in Crane's Mooring into a small fortress and held the harbour. Yu, in the end, healed Zha Yao's men, sending them back into battle as soon as he could, adapting to the fresh, gaping wounds of war. The man who'd given up his horse, he told Yu to keep it. They fed him a soldier's rations.

The dark days of street fighting dragged on as the fall's farewell heat was chased away by the first winter rains, and the narrow streets of Crane's Mooring turned into a muddy mess.

Yu healed, ate, and slept, and embarrassed himself with dreams. The cold rain pounded on him too, but euphoria kept him warm enough. Between all the illusions he almost failed to comprehend the cries of 'victory'. The slippery docks were theirs. All that mattered to him was 'how long,' and the answer was 'too long'.

On the day of the winter solstice, the foot reinforcements arrived to relieve Du's horsemen and hold the Crane's Mooring for Zha Yao, denying the Imperial troops access to the southern mainland.

Two days later, his rescue ship sailed down the river. It was foreign in design, narrow, with a long prow and strange triangular sails in front. The lanky sun-browned outlanders rushed around its deck in bright trousers and headscarves, their women's hair braided in dozens of skinny plaits almost to the waist. Their men's beards were bushy. And nearly every inch of their garments, hair and skin was either sewn, pierced or braided with thin golden rings and jingling medallions. Their chatter filled the chilly air of Crane's Mooring, loud and incomprehensible.

"Yu." The unfamiliar man picked him out from the dockside crowd and waved him onboard. He looked foreign as well, but the different kind of foreign than the vibrant ship's crew. He resembled a steppe dweller, was plainly dressed in black, and with an air of power around him. His wide-set dark eyes appeared more Inscrutable than the Contagion to Yu.

Intrigued, he tried to study the man's qi, and got pushed back hard. The other day when he had tried to inspect his borrowed stallion's hooves for damage, the ungrateful horse had kicked him in the solar plexus. Same difference, except the man did not move a muscle.

"You are timid, and you've never encountered opposition," the stranger observed. The way he said that reminded Yu of Sayewa.

"I am Senior Mage Apprentice Finch," the man said and helped Yu straighten up.

Yu sucked in a tentative breath. I'll live.

"I am honoured, Master Finch. Do you have a faery half-sister?"

"My sister is the Bei of our people. We do not allow faeries within an arrow shot of the yurts." Finch paused, then added pointedly, "Or demons."

What does he want from me? A bow? An apology? Nevermind that! The ship was still docked. "Why aren't we leaving?"

"Captain Zyed?" Finch called, and a barefoot woman swung down from the rigging, the rows upon rows of her golden medallions jingling a happy tune with her every move.

"What do you wish, handsome customer?" Her Shen was accented, but effortless.

"Our new companion is displeased with the delay," Finch said placidly.

"Is he now?" she turned to Yu and tapped the side of her nose. "The wind will tell me when to sail, precious."

"Please, hurry, Captain," Yu pleaded, "a woman's life is at stake. It has been weeks since she was carried off."

He'd counted every day of Tien Lyn's captivity, and the worst of them he spent sitting right here, in Crane's Mooring, waiting for the ship. He hated the view.

Captain Zyed clicked her tongue. "Would that I could, precious. I had a cordial agreement with the Laughing Men, but now that the war broke out, I am afraid they will be tempted to take my ship and my own beautiful person as spoils of war. We shall sail when the wind and the night favour us."

With that the captain grabbed the rope's end and climbed back up the rigging, talking loudly to her crew, in their own tongue.

"A delightful lady," Finch commented, "and her 'Waverunner' is the fastest ship in our employ. It will shorten the journey by a day or two."

Chastised, Yu hung his head. He was told it took a 'tenday' to get to the Laughing Men's Islands, and it felt like an eternity to him. He looked around the ship for a corner to burrow in, but the mage apprentice had no intention of letting him be. "Let us strategize while we wait, Yu."

Finch unrolled a bamboo mat, revealing a map of an archipelago, obviously the Laughing Men Islands. Then he started up a small burner. "What do you suggest we do once we reach the Laughing Men Islands, Yu?"

Kill everyone who stands between the beach landing and Tien Lyn. He shrugged instead of voicing this brilliant plan.

"Hold this," Finch thrust a small porcelain bowl full of wax into Yu's hands. He held it over the fire to the best of his ability, and the wax started to melt. He could do that at least. Finch dug up a ladle from his travel chest, dipped it into the bowl, and started dripping molten wax over the map. They turned into small figurines, men, women or children.

"Tien Lyn! This looks just like her, Master Finch!" Yu exclaimed, forgetting caution.

Alive, she is still alive, at least!

"Yes, it is her. And here is my eyes-and-ears, Shan Jiang," Finch pointed.

With a pang of jealousy, he watched the two wax figurines move along the map together. But there was a third one with them, a tiny bent woman, so---

Finch snapped his fingers to attract Yu's attention. "I have planted Shan Jiang with Jung Hwa a while ago, and he will help us. But I've planned this mission for reasons other than saving Lady Tien Lyn. It complicates matters, and that's why I brought you along. For us to succeed, you will need to tell me exactly what you can and cannot do, Yu."

Yu did, but Finch kept pressing him, "How many people can you render unconscious and keep asleep? For how long?"

"Six? Maybe ten?" Yu ventured.

"You are just guessing," Finch shook his head, displeased. "You don't know."

"This is the first time I've told anyone," Yu said defensively, "I had to do it in jail because the other inmates would have killed me."

"We will have to test it when we are at sea," Finch concluded and went on to trace the lines on the map, pin tiny flags to it here and there. Yu watched him, waited and fidgeted.

Right before the 'Waverunner' finally separated itself from the Crane's Mooring docks, Captain Zyed's crew put away their musical adornments.

By dusk, every light on the 'Waverunner' was extinguished. The sailors patted around barefoot, communicating in gestures. The ship floated down the Turbulent River in complete silence, save for the sounds of river water lapping the hull. How the Captain picked her way through the mudflats and the channels of the Turbulent River's delta in the dark, Yu did not know. Maybe the wind did speak to her.

Once the 'Waverunner' left the coastline behind and entered the unpatrolled expanse of the Jade Sea, Captain Zyed's first voiced command appeared incredibly loud, and the lamplight - blindingly bright.

Yu was still blinking the spots out of his eyes, when Finch came to put him through the promised drills.

"Shut me down," the mage apprentice ordered.

"What?" Yu stammered.

"My shield against you. Shut it down," the mage repeated patiently.

"But I can't even read your qi," Yu argued.

"Take a guess," Finch said. "Faeries can dispel my fires. I can break their vortex shields. You can find a way around my block."

Yu thought wistfully of the Shrine of Ceaseless Tears, where it had all been so clear to him. On the rolling deck, against the implacable mage, he fumbled.

"Think more clearly about your intentions," Finch commanded.

"My one intention," Yu grated, "was to avoid harming humans."

And yet, I nearly suggested a killing spree to save Tien Lyn earlier on.

"If Tien Lyn needs healing when we reach her, you'll heal," Finch sounded emotionless, but Yu felt queasy at the thought of her needing his healing. But as long as he did find her...

First, I need to find the way around the mage's block.

He searched his mind for something he could try. People usually did not resist his healing, save for that one time... There was once a delirious man who mistook everyone, including Yu, for someone he hated and feared. He had to slow down the man's breathing to a trickle, so the patient would struggle for each breath. Too distracted by it, the man could not shut Yu off, and he latched onto the qi to heal.

Finch was not afraid of him, but he was very focused. If that concentration was what held the block in place, and Yu could distract him... Well, it ought to be a better idea than just staring at the mage.

Yu delicately plucked at the single, already weak aspect of the mage's qi, and shook to loosen it some more.

Finch's face contorted, and he dashed to the side of the 'Waverunner' to retch overboard.

Yu felt the block go down, but the opening snapped shut before he got any further than causing sea-sickness. Finch wiped his mouth. "Better. But you must act faster. The pirates fought demons since before the Final Interdict."

"I am not a demon." Yu protested under his breath and glanced around to see if anyone was close enough to overhear.

Finch did not bother to lower his voice. "What do you prefer? Mongrel? Demon-spawn? A very long appellation in Old Shen?"

"Just call me Yu."

"Break my block, Yu."

Yu tried to hit faster after each feint, distracting Finch by exaggerating anything the Mage currently felt. A cutting touch of wind on the cheek, a dissonance in the sound of waves overboard, shortness of breath, an itch. Whatever it took. He managed to drop the Mage to his knees on the eighth try.

I have him. Next time, I'll knock him out... there... here it comes, the opening....

A tiny lightning bolt jolted him and took the wind out of his sails. "Oh!"

"So far I've only blocked you. Tomorrow I will fight back. Until then..." Finch frowned. "Think more."

"Thank you, Master." Yu muttered and picked his way around the coiled ropes, boxes, and barrels to find a spot by the prow. It would be dawn soon. He was beaten.

"Psst," Captain Zyed tapped his shoulder. "You can go to sleep below decks, precious." Her teeth were very white when she smiled.

"Am I in the way here, Captain?" Yu asked.

She shook her head, making her braids jingle, so the sailors must have found the time to reattach their jewelry. "No."

"I'll stay on the deck then. I've never been on a ship before, and it feels good." It felt better than most things he'd tried. Not as rapturous as the ecstasy of healing, but it came close. "And familiar by some reason."

"Are you from a sailor's line, precious? A red-haired outlander from the Far West, maybe?"

Yu ran his hand through his now damp, troublesome hair: "No, I am local."

Between curiosity and longing, he could not resist asking: "Could I live there, in the Far West, without calling attention to myself?"

"Nay, you'll stand out. They're a pale-eyed lot, and black eyes are considered a sign of treacherous nature among them. Or a warlock." Her own were huge and dark, so she, perhaps, knew.

"Lucky me," Yu muttered. "Demon's hair and warlock's eyes, truly, I am blessed."

"Don't sulk, precious," the captain said brightly, "it takes all sorts to make a world, but the more you see of it... phew, it's the same everywhere. The tyrants and the humble, and the few lucky sods who are neither."

"Go to sleep, Yu. We're a week's sailing away from the lady you so badly wish to rescue."

Yu sat down and hugged his knees. He did what he was ordered, and thought a whole lot, even though he doubted that Finch had meant for him to think about Tien Lyn.

AN: Thank you for reading and commenting! It's Tien Lyn's turn on Sunday.