#sagacious zu

Dawn Star: She’s not sure when she noticed it, or if it was ever something to “notice”, as opposed to a fact of life. But her oldest and dearest friend has always had a gift for movement of every kind, and that translated into fighting and training. When Master Li was training them, or when she was sparring with them, their talent, quickly being honed by training, for the master would accept no slacking, leapt out. They sometimes struggle with words, sometimes have to stop and think about what they’re trying to say. (When he comes to the school, Gao mocks them mercilessly for it) But when they move, when they act, when they fight, everything they want to say and intend is clear and beautiful, like Master Li’s finest calligraphy. Even the softest movements, a gentle tap on her shoulder, a quiet passing of food, carry so much meaning when they make them. And somehow, that translates to uplifting others, as opposed to pushing them down. Whatever the reason for it, whenever they spar with someone, or demonstrate a technique, or the many times they spar with her simply for the joy of it, or later on, when she fights by their side, everyone always comes away understanding their forms better, or standing slightly straighter. The way they fight alongside her makes her feel as if she can glimpse their gift for combat and emulate it, and she fights better than she could alone. Perhaps someone else might be afraid at seeing their unparalleled skill with fighting, but she’s seen their core for her whole life now. She knows their kindness.

Sagacious Zu: He’s on edge when he meets them. Not because of the thugs who call themselves “soldiers”, but because he can instantly tell in the way they carry themself that if they fought, he would lose. It’s an instinctive knowledge, formed from years of experience that leads him to look at their stance and know that his only chance of victory would be said experience and a great deal of luck. But they don’t fight. Instead, he finds himself working with them to help Dawn Star, the girl he’d spent so many years watching over and protecting. He works... well with them. It’s an unexpected feeling. He’d expected that the two of them would struggle to work together, between their lack of knowledge of each other, and his years alone, working with none. But their adaptability is astonishing. Their style shifts and their movements mold to fit his, to balance into a skilled team. It makes their fight with that brat Gao something to behold. Their teamwork with Dawn Star is greater than anything he’d ever seen in his years as an assassin, where they had all fought for the one purpose. On an instinctive level, borne of trust and knowledge, the two fight as one, as if they were each one hand guided by the same person. Gao never stood a chance. Nor did the soldiers attacking Two Rivers. It’s... frightening. Their skill is one thing. To work so well with others that those others are elevated to approach that skill level? It’s terrifying. And yet... they’re honest. They’re open. When he shuts down their questions, they leave it. They still offer their trust. Zu doesn’t know what he’s done to deserve such a gift, but when he descends into the assassins’ fortress, he does so not merely to make sure that they’re the Spirit Monk they claim to be, but to make sure that the light he sees in them won’t be snuffed out.

Silk Fox: The one thing that smarts more than her bruises is her pride. There had never been a point in her life where she’d been so thoroughly defeated and outmatched. And yet this person who called themself a... Spirit Monk, made her feel like a novice, as if the years of martial training by the top fighters in the Empire and the experience fighting criminals and assassins she’d gathered meant nothing. She had been utterly destroyed, and yet they had managed to beat her down without any permanent harm. The worst part was that somehow, she felt as if her own skill had grown leagues just by her humiliating defeat at the hands of the humble warrior. Her interest is piqued, and when she gets to spend more time with them and learns that while they didn’t know how to speak eloquently, they were fully capable of understanding and communicating thoughtful ideas and making her question so much of what she knows, she can’t help but notice them as a person as well as being a fighter. When she witnesses how utterly they dominate the arena, she knows that the Lotus Assassins will be salivating for the chance to recruit someone with their skill. When she sees their stubborn kindness in trying to help everyone they meet, her heart yearns for more.