The League's Story

Various members of The League notice Zii's entrance into their cove of training. They embrace her presence and the one she brought with her.

How to answer and not feel like a Misty Cloud Sect instructor when the faction of Misty Clouds had been disbanded ? Then again how could Yun Yun explain anything when she rapidly went through the first volume of Battle Through the Heavens, finding the point where she and Nalan Yanran had reached the Black Corner Region of the Jie Ma Empire.

She held the page out to Zii, "Here" She said, "Nalan Yanran and I were last together in this area. I remember her saying she wanted to explore a bazaar, I said I'd meet up with her in the markets after getting supplies." She turned a page. And stared, she didnt remember going that way before ?

She was confused. The only way to explain it as she read further was that she did indeed leave the Jie Ma empire as she and Yanran intended. The book said that much.

So why was she there, in another world ? With people chasing her ? She had one of her fans, and her sword, spatial pockets worked wonders really. But her original clothing, she had no idea someone had discovered it and already had it packed away somewhere.

She closed the book, she felt an odd sense of strength from all around the room. Like there was energy sources to allow for cultivation. She hadnt found anything like that since she left the Jie Ma Empire... or at least according to the book left the Black Corner Region.

Then again she did take a wrong turn, a seriously wrong turn in that weird alley in the Black Corner Regions marketplace. She tried to remember, could she go back ?

Easy answer: not really, no

Did she want to go back ?

Well, she wasnt sure.

Did she miss Xiao Yan ?

She picked up the book again and went to the character art pages, finding the first three pages were of various angles of Xiao Yan, with and without his sword. Yes she missed him, just hearing his name made her smile. Seeing him kill Yun Shen, her old teacher right before her eyes, and in the process removing the seal he had placed on her own cultivation, with Yun Shans death, her cultivation had a breakthrough. If she remembered correctly she lost her first real kiss, to Xiao Yan

So did she still miss him ? Yes, yes she did

Nanlan Yanren and the bazaar. Zii remembered that. She didn't feel the need to comment, but she was curious about the other thing.

"OK, so you don't remember how you ended up here after all that? Stands to reason you traveled dimensions through space and time."

Which was one of the reasons why she was at her old stomping grounds. This place had a lot of connections to such concepts. They were close to the metaphorical, aspects and concepts that are pure. They were all here, the history and knowledge of this place was at her disposal.

But...Zii still needed to check in with Tierge. Who undoubtedly would be at his restaraunt right now. She could send one of the trainees here...it would be good experience to get out of here every now and again. She turned to inner general area where other folks moved about.

"Assemble, second and third rank or below." Zii said.

Shadows moved and swirled swiftly in her direction. Some faster the others, some shadows deepened and then dissapear altogether before appear next to some of the people that came walking or scattering over. Some general looking people even stopped what they were doing immediately. All turning and almost teleporting to line up in front of her. About 35 people lined up in orderly rows in front of her, some shadows that weren't around before, were there and deeply embedded into whatever they were attached.

"I need a message delivered. Squad of 4 with a backup recon unit. Anyone interested?"

Many would be members were excited to operate at the whim of any senior. Especially one as respected as Zii. They were happy to exceed and eliminate her needs, or fall on a sword if necessary.

Some of them trained day and night, getting very little sun or action. Just more and more training, endless improvement, endless study, days awake on edge for those in the shadow, and nights awake for those study for Light. They always needed a breather. Senior Zii and her unit always knew how to make sure the trainees got some air, which is why they were so respected.

One member, the oldest in the room who was sitting on the ceiling unnoticed (like it was a floor) right above their table, began to speak for everyone first. A deep and hauntingly disturbing vocals rang out.

"Senior, shadow units 56 and 78 are most needing. I see 4 and 5 here but I recommend Daylight unit 3 for recon."

The entirety of the people lined in front of Zii rearranged themselves according to units mentioned. Some shadow stepped in silence, appearing as if teleporting from where they stood to where someone else was. Shadow wriggled and some people melted into their own shadows. Until there was only 12 people left.

Zii nodded. She liked those units and they were always so diligent and silent. They would have never said a thing nor asked to be sent.

"Thank you Yuri, I'll go with the 3 units. Have Daylight track from Outpost 6. Bless the 2 field units, and I want you to track the op."

Zii leaned back in her chair to look up at the person sitting on the ceiling. She smiled bright when she saw Yuri sitting with the scarf and gauntless she gifted him two weeks ago for the holiday season

"I appreciate a man who can rock such a non-stealthy piece of hardware. You make pink somehow look black."

She could see his facial muscles twitch. But she knew that wss just hom trying not smile or blush. Even though they are not always killing, they do very often. So trying to hide the emotions was something they were all taught. A bit foolish from Zii's perspective. But she understood the need for that skill.

"Alright. I'll telepathically send you the message, but meet with my recon leader. He'll let you in on the op. Tell Tierge I'll be running late."

Zii focused back on Yun Yun as everyone of the people she spoke to dissapeared like mist or smoke, in complete silence and without a single movement...or so it would seem. Zii smirked, because she caught 3 of them making noise. She tapped her earpiece.

"Hey, tell unit 3 of Daylight to work on that."

"2 weeks in the forest for training. Got it." Said the person on the other end.

Yun Yun shook her head and spoke softly, "No, it is more like, I was in a marketplace, but once I passed through that archway I was somewhere else, it was raining and when I turned to go back the way I came the archway was gone. My outfit at the time stood out among those I suddenly found myself, so I had to dress similar to what was the norm there." she motioned to herself, her current outfit at least. Of course she didnt have money to afford the outfit, she ended up stealing it.

Finding something that fit snug without being too snug was not easy, but it worked. "I had no idea where I was, but I managed to get to a transport and get away from there. When I arrived here... wherever here is, wing something or other, They attacked me, if it werent for some soldiers I would have been captured, I've a small place to call home I guess ? But I havent been to it since yesterday." Yun Yun explained. Concluding on how she got her current clothing and where she was. She remembered it all.

She then looked at Zii. "When I asked you before the meal we shared if you were an Assasin, you answered part of my question by whatever mision you completed. But.... You're not one of theirs, are you ?" She meant the people chasing her, the man she got away from referred to himself as she heard him calling for backup as Hunter C-21

"I'm no number. I don't really understand how someone could be so generic as to refer to themselves as such. Unless they were..."

Zii made a serious face. Thinking hard and quickly as she is looking Yun in her eyes. She came to a bit of a theory.

"An authority figure referring to themselves as numbers...that only happens when there are so many of them that it's easier to do so...such an organization would be massive. But the fact that I have not heard about it. It implies they aren't safe nor known, and that they are certainly not bound by any other major forces in the multiverse. I'm surprised the Aschen Empire or others aren't at war with them."

Zii began to wonder if these people weren't even a part of this reality with such a hypothesis...but, how would that be possible? There are tons of people she knew who navigated dimensions, time, and space. There would be some sort of information from Tierge or Heralding.

Zii started to get pretty worried given the explanation of Yun. Moving through time and space and then ending up here? Followed immediately by getting chased? Her being from a fictional universe is by far the least of her worries at this point.

Such authorities...if they were real...wouldn't be stopped by regular authorities. Wing City militia being fully out and around due to planetary scuffles and war, they wouldn't be able to get away with things easily. Wait...

"Shit. The timing is too tight."

Zii looked at Yun with a furrowed brow.

"Remember that void feeling at the restaraunt? The fact that it happened RIGHT when I met you...things are happening that I can only guess at. But I'm putting pieces together. I just need an expert like my master or Heralding. We gotta go."

Zii got up. She would need more than the recon unit she sent earlier. She touched her earpiece.

"Hey, we got a serious problem. We need to assemble the elite units in the area. At least 40 of the best. Get it done in 10 mins." She said in a serious tone, gathering the books up that she intended to relax to.

She looked and saw Yuri still above. He nodded and looked over at the group who were still in the room. Some nodded and dissapeared and others walked off quickly putting books away that were previously used by others who left. The snappy reaction was seemless and coordinated with very little communication needed.

Zii spent a few minutes heading back to where she took the books from and returned them before, taking out the note the receptionist gave earlier. She scribbled on it two words as she headed back to the entrance and handed it over.

'Danger, Prepare.'

Cordelia skidded to a stop, her momentum halted just a foot from the library door. Peculiarly, she sensed no trace of the voidtouch in this vicinity. A perplexing thought crossed her mind—had she managed to outpace OttO and reach the destination first? The notion seemed implausible; OttO's pursuit was relentless. Unless, perhaps, his intentions extended beyond a singular target. Could his goal be more far-reaching, entwined with a larger tapestry of events?

As Cordelia surveyed her surroundings, an odd sensation enveloped her, as though unseen eyes were fixed upon her every move. And there she spotted it, fixed on the desk, unseen or unnoticed to the bewildered staff... an ornate carved mask, placed on display, his calling card. OttO wasn't late, and he certainly wasn't hiding! He was... waiting?



She charged one last time and put her full weight against the library doors.

Yun watched briefly as Zii explained what she knew and also briefly paced. But when Zii said they had to go and all but took off running, Yun Yun was hard pressed to keep up with her. Snapping up the book from the low table, she hurried after Zii who also carried the other books, after a few twists and turns, Yun Yun unfortunately lost track of where Zii had turned after putting the books back and was left alone.

Still holding the book of Battle Through the Heavens in her hands. she never heard the timedoor open. She never saw the two dozen men and women filter through the two golden panels a few aisles away.

She never knew what happened next. Her mind and gaze focused on the words of Xiao Yan wanted her, Yanran, and Ya Fei to join him in leaving the Dou Qi Continent. Those were the last things she could remember seeing, because the next thing she knew, raw solid energy smashed into the small of her back and sent her sprawling to the floor, out cold.

The Minuteman Hunter known as C-21 looked around, he motioned with a hand to have his group pair off, Since they were in a library they had to be quiet. Stun weapons only. They had two targets to capture.

Two minutemen spotted Zii speaking to the Librarian on duty, handing her a note, the Librarian was not their target, nor was she to be collatoral damage, they werent going to reset the timeline branch. No, they were there only to capture two targets and disappear.

Hunter C-21 spotted Yun Yun, and silently brought up his stunner, a whisp of zoong type sound and Yun Yun collapsed in a heap on the floor. completely out. "Primary target down, secondary target, go!" Hunter C-21 spoke into his earpiece quietly as he melted into the shadows.

Jinn. This is what he went by when he first met Zii. Back then, they didn't get along. Zii was rough, edgy, sad, hurt, and short-tempered. The complete opposite of who she is now. But no one could rival her class when it came to learning and intelligence. None but him. They took down empires together and escaped death a hundred times over.

Jinn fought with Zii on nearly every mission, being her emotional opposite but intellectual equal. He excelled at all the same things she did. From swordmanship, shadow techniques, adaptability to hidden weapons, languages, magic, recon...everything. They even competed in the more obscure things, from torture techniques for extracting information to being a honeypot to extract information.

Yes...even that act...they were equals.

At some point, Jinn does not remember when, they became true colleges...friends even....well, more than friends at one point. But being is this business, it's difficult to keep up with anything more than friends or colleges.

So when Jinn heard Zii's command to mobilize the 40 best and get them in vicinity to track her and keep task, he knew there was an emergency. Not only did he do so, he personally went into the scene himself.

"I need all local squads 1 through 4 to mobilize on me, squads 5 through 10 to mobilize on Zii. Weapons are a go, I'll mark Zii's companion myself."

The convenient thing about shadow travel is that once you were proficient enough, it acted like teleportation for some. He collected his mana and melted into the shadows as he arrived at the library from 120 miles away in a minute. He could see and feel others arriving a couple of minutes afterward.

As soon as he arrived, he noticed the commotion right aright. He saw Zii was racing to the front desk. She was moving far faster than expected. Certainly faster than the 10 mins she wanted the mobilization.

That didn't matter to Jinn. He needed to find her companion. Jinn noticed a strange sight, as golden frames of light started opening up in the ailes. Where some people started to walk out. All wearing the same uniforms.

At this point, he started to move. Still one with the shadows, him and his squads melted into the shadows of the books, of people, of the robots, of Zii and of even these strange people appearing. Waiting to pounce at his signal.

Once Yun Yun got knocked out and zapped, Jinn waited for the The Minutemen to finish speaking. They were saying they were also after another target, whilst looking at Zii.

Jinn wrapped Yun Yun in a shadow, pulling her into darkness as he replaced her with a body clone of herself. They wouldn't be able to tell the difference unless they started asking her questions. That double should last about 2 hrs.

Jinn signaled for daggers to be thrown at every minutemen present. At least 3 daggers would swiftly and silently be impaling minutemen from random angles if they weren't swift to react.

Zii had been moving so fast, she forgot to check her 6 to make sure that Yun was following her closely. She thought she signaled for swift follow, and she believe she even said so from the outset. But somehow, she wasn't present behind her.

"Shit." Zii exclaimed.

In that instance, she sent out a telepathic wave and tracking rune to find Yun. But instead, she sensed several squads from The League, which was a great thing. But also, several unknown auras surrounding and spreading out past Yun's aura signature.

"Well damn." She looked at the librarian who was already pressing an emergency button near the desk with a nod.

Right when Zii was about the press her earpiece to communicate, the door behind her burst open and the security next to it stumbled away a foot, surprised for half a second. The 7'2 Valerian security guard pulled out a futuristic stun baton, but looked confused at seeing nothing at the door.

Zii was in an extremly heightened magical sensing state. Injecting mana into her eyes and overlapping spells for defense, speed, and strength. The door distraction cost Zii valuable seconds as she could now perfectly see a being she never has seen before. As well as notice a mask 3 ft from her at the reception.

"You're not the being from earlier...you feel different." She said to the being who was now staring at the mask.

Zii heard her comms go off in her ear as Jinn confirmed moving Yun into the shadows and body replacing her out of danger. She smirked, but still felt unsafe.

"Do we have to do this here? Or can we solve that problem first." She indicated about the golden doors opening in ailes.

Cordelia abruptly skidded to a stop, a voice addressing her from the shadows. Turning to look, her gaze swept the expansive library, and a silent thought echoed within her: damn, there's far more going on in here than I expected. It was then she stood up straight, though a slight quiver could be seen as she tried to present herself in a dignified manner. It wasn't fear, as much as, she seemed rather... self-concious.

"Feel..? You can sense the Un?" she inquired, her voice carrying a peculiar blend of pleasantness and hollowness, as if the words echoed within her. There was an accent there, distinctly English. A glimmer flickered in the hollows of her metal mask's holes as she shifted her gaze to the Minutemen and assassins entangled in battle. Stepping back, blades concealed within her ornate cloth revealed themselves, akin to a bird puffing up defensively. One thing became evident as her cloth flowed—she has no arms, at least in the tangible sense.

"Wait, what is the meaning of this!? Have you no grasp of... ah!" Her plea for understanding was abruptly cut off in a shriek as the tall, lanky figure made his entrance. A silvery rift opened above, and OttO slipped through, descending with graceful ease. He stepped out upon the ceiling, dropping down in a flip before one of the Minutemen. His arrival wasn't marked by a bang, but a muted rumble that briefly caused the ground to ripple, as if it was for a moment liquefied. The air itself quivered as he locked eyes with the Minuteman, his own gaze holding a vague and enigmatic quality.

"Ah, a protector against the unraveling chaos? Salutations! I bow to your noble intentions," OttO declared with a dignified voice that resonated through the tumultuous atmosphere. He gave the Minuteman a bow, and the sound around them distorted, leaving only OttO's voice audible over the chaos. "Sadly, no matter your attempt, that terrible end shall never be averted. No matter how much overgrowth you prune, in fact, perhaps your crusade is even the catalyst for the cascade of magnifying chaos that follows, until... dust. How arbitrary this Sacred Timeline is, then, isn't it?"

"Unmaker, you taint sacred ground, surrender now and return to the Abyss!" Cordelia demanded, pushing back her timid nature to try to assert authority, but her soft voice only barely peaked over the chaos.

Somewhere on Langara, in an undisclosed location:

it was to be a simple smash and grab, gather intelligence on the strange anomalies that had been detected on Terra via long range spy drones, and through the prying eyes of the vast Aschen intelligence network. Senior Agent Samuelle armed with a T65 Mk II Combat skin, various weapons grenades, and other devices prepared himself for departure through the newly christened Astral Transit Array, a device capable of teleporting individuals, and small groups across interstellar distances.

"Check your weapons, smash and grab, capture any persons of interest for analysis and interrogation, and neutralize any resistance." Director Angel's voice rang through his communication system.

All systems green, Array opening in T-minus thirty microns

Slamming a fusion cell into his Type 03 Disruptor PDW, a short ranged somewhat inaccurate but fast firing weapon, Samuelle checked the power read indicator and nodded in approval.

"We don't know what we're facing, so be on your toes."

Transit array activation in ten microns!

The ring like device shuddered and began to whir to life as concentric electromagnetic inductors spun and energized, the nadion field enveloped the device, and the portal ignited with a vortex of multicolored light.

"Right." Samuelle growled, and stepped forward to feel the static sensations as the field enveloped his form, and he glanced back for just a moment in perhaps something akin to hesitation. Snapping the visor closed to his T-65 combat skin, the glossy black visor obscured his face, and offered a hermetic seal. With holographic HUD coming to life, the agent took another step forward and embraced the swirling vortex of rainbow light.


---


Inside the library of the Terran National Government, papers, book, and anything that wasn't tied down suddenly began to become agitated by wind that began to swirl from nothingness. In an undisturbed corner of the library, a vortex of multicolored light came to life, slinging books, paper, and tables not anchored down all across the room, this vortex persisted for a scant few moments before dissipating into nothingness.

Phase-shift cloaking engaged, Samuelle checked his surroundings while his HUD began highlighting targets in the distance. It was some sort of battle. Gritting his teeth, his personal shields engaged and he moved forward subtly, and quietly. Wide spectrum systems picking up an anomaly, perhaps a cloaked individual? The blurry outline of Hunter C-21 shimmered, and the residue of weapons fire became highlighted. Gritting his teeth, he opened fire with a short burst from his Disruptor, out of nothingness, searing green bolts of compressed nadion particles and barium plasma, dozens of them were hurled towards the Minuteman. The weapon barked it's sharp series of reports before silence returned.

Searing green bolts of light that were unmistakable for the disruptor weapons of the Aschen Empire.

"Unmaker? Why would you say that, Swan? Hm?" Otto's words cut through the chaos of searing green bolts of light. With a deliberate motion, he removed the glove from his right hand, revealing an unusual dark gray skin marked by visible cracks, leaking a monochromatic distortion. Swiftly, he reached up and seemingly plucked one of the bolts of energy from the air, cradling it in his hand like a captured firefly. As he brought it closer to his mask, the energy arced, emitting a shrill screech, ensnared within a field that infinitely negated it.

Amid the violently shimmering energy, shreds of books descended around him, casualties of Samuelle's indiscriminate fire. "Have you no sanctity for knowledge?" he muttered somberly before releasing the bolt upwards through the ceiling. Standing up straight, Otto weaved his hand through the air leaving behind trails of the gray residue, warping and cracking the air where it trailed. The green bolts of charged particles distorting around him as he now seemed more fixated on preventing further damage to the books.

Heralding walked unoticed through a parrallel dimension. Following OttO and Cordelia but he was still unaware of their names. He witnessed the conversation being had, seeing through the outer walls of the library as if they were not there.

Unmaker? What did that mean? The three clones of Heralding that he made earlier, were stationed in a tactical circle surrounding the library. He could reach through the vibrating translucent fabrics of space if he wanted to be right in the action.

However, watching the way OttO simply accelerated through fractions of time. If felt like witnessing a speedster navigating speeds so fast (yet visible) that after-images were being made. However, due to the distortion in space that was happening as well, it was almost as if space was collapsing around its very being; negating the gravitational pull of the fabrics of time.

Truly astounding.

Heralding intended to let things unfold as they were. Right up until the Aschen started getting involved destroying books, robots, and people indiscriminately. Heralding waved his hand, sending a ripple as fast as light through the entire library. Transporting every book, person, piece of furniture and hardware into a pocket dimension.

Every single person present would find themselves in a vast empty room with only the shelves themselves still availible for cover. The flying books were gone, the innocent folks out of harms way, and the precious very old devices and robots that upkept this place, were all safe.

"That outta keep people focused. But stay on alert you three." He muttered to himself, looking at the other clones.

Zii watched Cordelia and OttO community. She also saw the Aschen Soldier descend his heretical ass into this precious haven of knowledge. It was at this point that Zii knew she couldn't sway this situation to work for her. If other Aschen start showing up...

Screams ensued, noise pierced her ears, green plasma sprayed the air. It would be better to leave them to this mysterious powerful organization that showed up through what she hypothesizes to be space/time doors.

When the shooting started Zii accelerated her mind and body further, and time slows down for her. She telepathically sends out a message to The League to retreat with noise. Which was directly when further chaos ensues.

A wave of energy slams into her, and within the blink of an eye, the screaming dissapeared. The books were gone and there was nothing but shelves left.

Zii pulls out a small ball from a pouch and throws it hard at the ground. A giant green smokescreen conceals a 100ft radius. Smoking out everyone present and flowing out the front door and up the extremly high multi-level building.

Zii used shadow transport to melt into the shadows and escape. Heading towards where Yun Yun would be stashed away.

"All units retreat." Jinn said to the shadows.

The League units present all follow Zii out upon hearing the retreat. More smoke screens follow up, creating a further suffocating mess of purple, pink, yellow and black smokes. Completely covering the inside of the entire building.

In the midst of OttO's attempt to preserve the literature, his targets of interest slipped away without concluding their conversation. "Ah, a misfortune, it seems, Swan, your efforts, albeit entirely indirect, are at the least... why are you here again?" he questioned, turning his head to Cordelia. At that moment, with his guard down, a disruptor bolt struck OttO's uncovered hand, wedging itself between the cracks of his unusual skin. A strange sound emitted as he lifted his hand, observing the energy that screamed within the growing chorus, struggling to escape the negative hollows of his being. The fissures in his hand emitted an emerald glow.

Reacting instinctively, Cordelia turned and ran in the opposite direction as fast as she could. Shortly after, OttO's hand fragmented and exploded with a peculiar quietness, and rippled distortions of space echoed out from him, turning everything monochromatic briefly with each pulse. Silver cracks in space had replaced OttO, and objects continued to distort. The ripples hit Cordelia, taking her off her feet and stumbling her briefly as she rolled onto the floor, before hopping back to her feet and continuing to flee. The dilations in time were only symptomatic of the greater problem—this entire space had become unstable, and before it got better, it was going to get worse. Everything related to space and time, magical or technological was going to be afflicted by this anomaly.

"Get away, get away from it!" Cordelia cried out, hoping her voice could be heard over the ripples that seemed to have a muting effect as they pulsed through. Eventually she too was taken by the distortion.

The League were moving fast, following their commander, Zii. They felt something unusual. They felt...a pull, that also felt hollow. It felt like, home. It felt like flames. It felt like surreal fear mixed with anxious melancholy. It felt like the abyss of the shadow realm that they currently traveled through, but on the first day they ever were immersed in that darkness, cold, dangerous and lonely.

It felt like emotions unfamiliar to a great number of the older members within The League. They have long coveted such feelings, but needed to disconnect from them so frequently...that it felt difficult to even notice the flitting undertones of sadness that existed within the gallows of cold nothingness. Or maybe, it existed alongside them this whole time.

"Whatever the case. I need to focus." Jinn grumbled.

Instead of trying to figure out the sensations of the moment that felt like an eternity, he should focus on safety. As they were moving to follow Zii in the Shadow Movement Technique, the completion of this infinitely long moment of the transfer should be the focus.

Jinn, was baffled with the slowness of time, and the extremes of memories and emotions that were sucked out and away from him; in fact he could feel it flowing from all the members connected to the shadows. The hollow nothingness left in the wake of this experience was familiar, as the energy waves that followed from the being in the library catapulted them all into confusion.

They all felt the darkness tremble, and fracture. As if to be torn apart. But Jinn could feel an unknown voice whisper to him. He thought it was Zii calling to him, to focus on him.

"Here....focus....come...." faint whispers flowed through the tumultuous atmosphere of the waves inside the shadow realm.

He focused. Pulling his members. Telepathically commanding them to follow close. He was guided...

Until the darkness receded and he saw, well he wasn't sure what he was looking at. It felt ancient. It felt like something connected to time.


********


Zii found herself being pulled, through a jagged and fringed space. It was unwaveringly cold, which was saying something considering all the spells and reinforcement enchantments surrounding her. She thought she knew the direction. She felt she was headed to the hide out. But she was headed toward a feeling. A source. She could feel an ancient...feeling, maybe a space....calling to her. Calling to her colleges. Calling to the ones who protect.

Zii followed it. She knew the being would be right behind her. That thing plus it's pursuer, they would find them eventually. Following the waves and the intent/pathways of the shadow movement. Or maybe some other means. But the dark realms they used for passage wouldn't stop those imposing figured from earlier. It would likely stop the Aschen Soldier though.

"Dammit." She was losing focus and getting lost in the middle of this.

This was all beginning to be too much for even her. A whole lot of things have been happening one after another, without rest. She needed to collect her thoughts.

Plus she STILL had not reported to her master yet. No doubt he would come looking for her sooner rather than later. Luckily, she was crafty enough to leave traces. No doubt Heralding would help if he truly was around as well.

No use in thinking of hypotheticals. She needed to focus on this transfer to a new destination. She had Yun Yun to consider as well.

Zii could feel the end of the transfer technique unfolding. She could hear the whispers getting louder as she got closer.

No big light upon exit. No grand harrah. Just...silence and an alter in dim lighting. Grand and unusual architecture laid out before her. Materials unknown but vaguely familiar outline and spacing apart pillars and technology. Books and scrolls lining shelves...it was a type of library.

Zii spun around and saw Yun Yun laying on a cushioned bench nearby, completely asleep.

"Good." She exhaled.

That's one thing taken care of. She opened her comms and communicated to try and find Jinn.

"I'm here. Nice to see you made it through commander." Jinn said, walking from a shadowed pillar not far from her.

They both looked around to see 40 other members of The League make it out.

"I guess...let's recoup and figure out where the hell we are." Said Zii.

"Yea, and let's figure out what the hell happened back there too." Jinn exclaimed.

One moment she was reading a page in a book, she had gone with Xiao Yan, they all left, her, him, Xun'er, Cai Lin, Ya Fei, they had all left the Jie Ma Empire, and more then that, the Dou Qi continent, they just left entirely. She was wondering exactly where they had gone. The book never said where they went. But she went with him.

She was supposed to go with him!

Next thing she knew, she was hit by something, it overloaded her senses entirely and she blacked out from raw shock. Her dreams were both captivating, enertaining, and in some cases, heartbreaking, but what she could remebmer she saw clearly, Raising Nalan Yanran, her first meeting with Xiao Yan, the Three Year Agreement and death of one of the Misty Cloud Sect's elders. Yun Shan sealing her cultivation.

Xiao Yan pretty much coming to her rescue at her forced wedding to the Pill king Gu He. She saw it all, and couldnt help but smile in her dreamscape at the memory of how she felt when her cultivation was freed of its seal when Yun Shan died.

Her last meetings with Xiao Yan before leaving the Jie Ma Empire lingered the longest. After that everything was blank, constantly moving place to place, her brief tussle with Hunter C-21 at that weird moonlike planet where she had to steal some local clothing. she was surprised it fit so well.

Then darkness. the last few hours were a blank top her mind. She simply slept upon a low sofa inside a private condo of a sort inside the Force Temple and somehow felt like she was at home in bed trying to wake up.

She heard voices, one of them, a male voice, sounded hauntingly familar, almost as if it was Xiao Yan himself, but the other, clearly female, brought her back to reality when she recognised the voice, it was Zii, the woman she had met just hours before. Or was it hours ? It felt like hours. For all Yun Yun knew it could have been days

Yun Yun was starting to wake up.

And the book she had been carrying, was nowhere in sight.