Book 3 Chapter 6

Willow was surprised that Missus Faber had recognized him so quickly, and he wished that he had access to his senses right about now to get a better idea of what exactly she was feeling in this moment.

Although… He supposed they were closer to the edge of the village now, so he could probably get away with unsealing them with minimal consequence.

His senses unfurled and while he was briefly stunned by the flood of information he suddenly had access to once more, Remy’s mother had crossed the distance between them and both her husband and son had tensed up at her approach.

Yet she wasn’t angry, hostile, or even fearful of him like she had been in the past.

She was distraught.

“What did those spirits do to you?!” Sarah Faber asked while grasping his broad shoulders and looking him over. She seemed to be growing more and more upset as she took in more of his yang form.

Willow had frozen up a bit at her growing distress, though thankfully his uncle intervened.

“Sarah, that’s no way to greet a guest of our home.” He rumbled.

She looked with wild eyes to her husband. “But have you seen what she’s done to herself? What happened to that sweet little girl I held in my arms?”

Yeah, this really wasn’t going how Willow thought it would.

“She seems to have grown into a fine young man. I know it’s hard for you to accept, but Willow has his own path to walk, and neither of us are a part of deciding its destination.”

His wife was only more incensed by that argument.

“But I’m the closest thing she has to a mother! I fed her as a babe, so surely that counts for something?! Right?”

“Flame of my hearth, please stop this, Willow is not your child, and it was your choice that led to us separating from his family.”

Missus Faber grew despondent at that, and Uncle Lucius began leading her back to their home, shooting both teens an apologetic glance.

“Remus, can you please help me tidy up the forge as I take care of your mother?”

Remy nodded, his normally wide eyes were larger than usual due to the spectacle his mother had made, and when the two adults had made their way indoors he turned that stare onto Willow.

“I am so sorry about that, I didn’t think-”

Willow held up a hand, interrupting his old friend’s apology. “It’s… fine, Remy. I knew your ma wouldn’t like seeing me like this, and yet I came with you anyway. Didn’t think the reaction would be that strong though.”

It made him a little regretful about sticking with his yang form for the meeting. He had expected a different kind of freakout from Missus Faber. A bit more anger, possibly a little fear, definitely not the deep sadness he felt from her. Though he felt that sadness was quite misplaced. Aunt Jieun or even his sister Maple were more prominent maternal figures in his life than Sarah Faber had ever been.

He was also surprised to find that the Faber household seemed to be untouched by the effects of the Grudge in the town. There was a small thread connecting to Remy, but the rest of his family seemed to be free from the malevolent spirit.

Remy seemed to be deep in thought as the two of them wordlessly moved to his father’s forge, Willow doing his best to help clean up and quenching the flame with an application of qi. Though his brief shift to his fire form had his old friend staring in surprise and more than a little caution.

“Is that a normal thing for Wanderers to do? Haven’t met too many out here, so I just want to be sure.”

Willow scratched his cheek nervously, a bit happy to have a distraction from what just happened. “Nah, it’s something specific to my path that I have to shift like that to use elemental qi.”

Remy perked up at that, and curiosity flickered in his core. “Can you do any others? I remember you had two other spirits aside from your fire one, right?”

How much did he want to share? There wasn’t a big reason to hide anything from him at this point since his capabilities will be known by the Wanderers in short order, for better and worse.

Willow nodded lightly to himself, decision made. “I’ve bound seven spirits, actually. However I only have forms for the base elements.”

The wide eyed teen was quite impressed, though a flicker of jealousy also lurked in his core. Though that was somewhat understandable, having even one spirit could be a boon for a family, so the fact he personally had seven was basically unheard of.

None of those conflicting emotions showed on his face, instead Remy just asked him to show off a little of what he could do, which Willow happily obliged. It was a good way for the two of them to distance themselves from the uncomfortable moment that had just happened with Remy’s mother.

He created some flowers and danced on the air in his wood form, did some light tricks in his metal, and made some sculptures out of both water and stone.

Unfortunately, the fun times had to come to an end as Willow’s old friend had to make sure dinner was prepared, as he was unsure if his mother or father were currently working on the task.

“I can help with dinner, if you want?” He offered, eager to help after the difficulties his presence caused.

Remy hesitated. “I’m not too sure that’s the best idea, I don’t want either you or my mother to be upset, and it seems like an inevitability when the two of you meet.”

Willow smiled sadly. “That’s fair.”

Although… Maybe things would go better if he switched to his yin form? Or would that just make things worse? Blegh, he wanted to keep hanging around Remy for at least a little longer, and it couldn’t possibly make things more awkward, right?

“Um, actually I want to try something.” He called as Remy had begun to go back to his home. “Though keep facing that way for a moment.”

His yin form was shaped quite differently from his yang one, and he always had to adjust his robes in order to avoid showing off more than was proper for a young lady.

After confirming that Remy wasn’t going to turn around, he cycled some yin qi from Harmony through his pathways and into the realms of his spirits before making use of Change’s concept to shift to her other form. It was a much more convenient process than it had been in the past when she had to do a whole cycle of her core training to swap forms.

Willow then adjusted her clothes to make sure she was decent before calling out in a much more melodic voice compared to the rumbling baritone of her yang form.

“You can look now.”

Remy’s already wide eyes grew comically large when he saw how she now looked. Gone was the large and muscular young man and in his place was an equally tall, but much more compact young woman.

Willow was glad that her yin form kept some of the muscles from her yang form at this point. Though her arms were much slimmer, there was now at least visible definition, and she was quite happy with how her legs looked, even if her current attire didn’t really show them off.

“So, do you think your ma would mind my presence if I looked like this?” She asked the dumbstruck teen in front of her.

He looked away while scratching at his now ruddy cheek.

“There’s only one way to find out, I suppose.”