Biohuman

"There." Lily looked at the woman. The woman stared back at the young halfling in shock. "'Share a song with those that talk badly about you. Maybe it'll open their hearts to understanding they're just as bad as the ones they slander.'" Lily recited. She stood up and looked directly at Lee Seng. "Rox'su mentioned you would have a temper, too." She smiled. She hopped over the woman's legs and moved straight up to Lee Seng and hugged him. "Rox'su was right about you. You would say something. He also told me to quote that when it got too scary." She pulled away from Lee Seng and looked up at him.

'Is she just a… little girl?' Lee Seng wondered.

'She's a teenager. A small one.' Keng answered. Lee Seng looked up at Keng who nodded.

"I guess this is how we're formally meeting." Lee Seng stepped away and stuck his hand out. Lily looked at it and shook it.

"Mom told me this was a human thing. I've seen many people do it but they're not human like you and I." Lily told him.

"It's just how we greet each other sometimes. Just like when someone waves at you. It's a hello and a goodbye." Lee Seng explained.

"Oh, no wonder why the other Fox Spirits do it." Lily nodded.

"My name's Lee Seng Chang. Can I ask what your name is?" Lee Seng pulled his hand back to his side.

"I'm Lily. Lily Wang. Dad said last names don't mean much in Daros, but if a human ever spoke their last name, I should say mine." She beamed a smile at him. Lee Seng smiled and nodded. The room was awkwardly just watching their interaction.

"Well, Lily, it's nice to meet you. Let's heal the rest of these people and talk in private, alright?"

"Sure." Lily turned and skipped over to the next person. She greeted them kindly and began to hum another song. Lee Seng pulled the Dark Matter blade back and turned to attend to the injured. Keng moved past Vedi and Chimera and started to tend to the injured as well. Chimera turned around and moved out of the room, scattering the crowd. Vedi gulped and turned, leaving.

Time passed as Lee Seng finished up his last patient. He let out a sigh of relief. The Fox Spirit hesitantly shifted in their spot.

"You can get up in a while. I'd take it easy, alright?" Lee Seng told them. They quickly nodded, turning away. Lee Seng stood up and stretched. "Ahhh, all done!"

"Ready to go chat?" Keng asked Lily. Lily nodded.

"I wanna know all about Lee Seng now!" She pointed at him.

"Mm, let's go, then. We'll talk in one of the rooms in the back." Lee Seng waved. He led them down the hall back to the entrance. It seemed like nobody was around. The front door was opened and voices were quietly trickling into the building. The fresh air calmed Lee Seng as he turned left and made his way to the back where the shrine was.

"You're done?" Ritsuka's voice called out. Lee Seng turned towards the entrance of the base and noticed Ritsuka was climbing the steps.

"Just finished." Lee Seng nodded.

"What're you doing now?"

"Lily wanted to talk to me and Keng about something."

"Ah," Ritsuka nodded. "I'll let ya'll have some privacy then."

"He's a human?" Lily pointed. Ritsuka was halfway turned when he heard Lily ask that question.

"What?" Ritsuka asked.

"Oh, you're human, right?" Lily asked. She broke away from the boys and moved over to him.

"Yeah. You caught me. You don't remember me?" Ritsuka raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, yeah, yeah. I remember now." Lily nodded. She stuck her hand out. "I'm Lily. Lily Wang." She smiled.

"Ritsuka Yamada." Ritsuka shook her hand.

"Well, I won't hog your friends for too long, 'kay? Just a moment." Lily reassured him.

"Take your time. We have an extra day before we have to leave." Ritsuka turned towards the exit and waved at them. Lily nodded and turned back to Lee Seng and Keng. Lee Seng led Lily and Keng to the end of the hall and opened the door.

"I think this will do." Lee Seng motioned for Lily and Keng to enter. Lily gasped in awe as she entered the shrine room.

"Isn't this a shrine room, though? Should we be in here?" Lily asked. Lee Seng shut the door behind him as Keng motioned for Lily to sit in one of the seats.

"You can sit here, Lily." Keng tapped the chair. Lily nodded and hopped up onto the chair. Lee Seng leaned against the door, crossing his arms.

"What did you wanna talk about?" Lee Seng asked. "I'm more curious as to why you're here. You're pretty young."

"We're only four years older than her." Keng pointed it out. "It'll make more sense if you just let her tell you what she told me."

"Fine." Lee Seng sighed. Lily cleared her throat and looked at Keng before turning back to look at Lee Seng.

"Well…" Lily started. "Like I said, I'm Lily Wang. My father is a Fox Spirit and my Mom is human. I took Mom's last name because Dad said I should keep apart of Mom with me at all times. I had a way to explain all of this, so if I don't talk about the situation that happened over there, right away, sorry. I-It's just the way I rehearsed it in my head."

"You've rehearsed this?" Lee Seng raised an eyebrow. Lily nodded.

"I've been waiting for this moment for a while now. Y'see," Lily shifted in the seat. "I'm from a Village further past this place. I was always told to never come this far south because I would hit the cursed forest before I could even reach the Village where the God King likes to reside. Mom and Dad told me the Foxes at that Village don't particularly like humans. I started to have dreams about this forest fairly recently. Rox'su visited me in these dreams and told me 'Twins are coming to the Realm. They will fight the blight at afflicts the forest to the south of your home. Go there in a week's time and you'll meet them. One bears the aura of my Sun while the other one bears the aura of my brother, Vox'su's, sun.'

"So, I told my parents about it and they didn't believe me at first. I had to get the priest involved and they convinced my parents to sit down and listen to my dream. I told them about it and the priest told them they should let me go. My parents were worried but the priest insisted it was a right of passage. 'Her power will grow on the journey and she will come back Blessed.'"

"Blessed? By who?"

"Well, I should preface that I showed signs of musical talent when I was young. My love for music grew and so my powers manifested as music. What you saw earlier is a fraction of what I can do. My parents thought Tear'a, the goddess of music, was interested in me. So when they heard a mention of a Blessing coming my way from the priest, they were sure Tear'a would pick me.

"So my parents allowed me to go, but someone would have to walk me to the forest. The priest told my parents and insisted, themselves, I would have to do the rest alone. I learned a lot from those two days. What it means to be out in the open. What it means to stay up and take 'watch' I learned a lot from my dad in those two days. He told me this was what hunting was. This is what my older brothers did when they weren't helping in the smithy. When we reached the forest, my dad told me the forest is a dangerous place. He gave me this." Lily pushed the long garb away, revealing a dagger.

"He said to use it only in emergencies. My father's a rune smith. He fused some runes into the dagger to aid me. I've only had to use it a handful of times since." Lily moved her garb back into place and looked back up at Lee Seng. "I wandered the forest for hours after Dad left me. I was scared. I felt like… something was going to happen soon. I was ambushed. I tried my best to not get hurt by those monsters, but one of them managed to get me. I had to use the dagger and I tried to heal myself but it wouldn't go away.

"That's when I saw Rox'su. The golden god entered the forest and I saw the forest return to its normal self. It was beautiful. He said he wanted to play a game. I liked games so I played. 'As long as I am here, nothing shall harm you. We will play our game and depending on if you win or not, something will happen.' That's what he said."

"What game did you guys play?" Lee Seng asked.

"Hide and seek." Lily answered. "I would seek for the Sun god. If I could find him within the forest before nightfall, I would win. I spent all day searching for him within the cursed forest. Just as he said, nothing bothered me. Nothing attacked me. Nothing stalked me. I eventually came across a small opening. A cave that followed this small little lake. I started into the cave because I thought Rox'su would be hiding there. As soon as I entered it, a strange feeling came over me."