Flying through the air and landing on my shoulder the Frog is now clad in lavish robes and has produced a pipe. “Calm yourself girl and the name is Jin Chan, not Speckled bastard, don’t hate me for not going on a suicide march with a bunch of twerps. I won’t be shamed because at the end of the day, this secret attic vault could barely hid my spiritual essence...and I’m alive.” he puffs a smoke ring into her face. Aoife screams at him “YE DINNAE KNO’ THEY DIED YEW SPECKLED BASTARD! WHEN AH GET ME HANDS ON YE I’LL-” She is cut off by a wet frog hand slapping her upper lip. Good lord, why did it have to be a frog? I am so disgusted by them. The frog begins bouncing off the walls of the room after a speed neither of us can follow, but I notice he seems to be making some kind of qi focal point in the area before he jumps to it. He continues. “THEN YOU’LL DO WHAT? We aren’t all as useless as you girl, some us have actual ki that can be detected. They knew looking after you would get everyone in this town killed and gambled our lives anyway, for what? There is no curing or controlling the blight!” I shoot a radiating sword into one of the qi focal points. The frog screams and drops to the ground before it can hit the focal point and the repulsive creature scrambles up my shoulder to rest as it had before. Aoife is out of breath from her earlier battle and chasing Jin Chan around the room buy still breathlessly laughs. He begins chastising her. “YOU THINK THAT’S FUNNY! YOU CAN’T PLAY AROUND WITH THE BLIGHT GIRL! YOU!-” He notices that I am slowly accumulating radiation on my shoulder, something I just thought of watching him, those focal points were water qi that he was using to both propel himself and soften the impact of landing. “AHHH!” He jumps gracelessly off of my glowing green shoulder and into Aoife’s waiting, enormous hand.

As Aoife begins to grip the frog he grunts out a name “Lem shitan...is dead.” Aoife lets him go and he dusts himself off standing straight up on his singleback leg. His arms folded behind his back as he takes a drag from his pipe and blows it through his nostrils with closed eyes and his back turned to her. “That’s right girl, I was The Mayor and a damned good one, I knew his name and their names and more besides. Likes and dislikes. All of my citizens, you don’t go putting your guilt on me, had I not survived who would bury the dead or report to the council? Or would you prefer to remain cowardly among the dead? Yes, I know about your plan to jam an arrow in your eye and hide.” Aoife is crying in the fetal position and I’m about to see how well I can project radiation when the frog opens one closed eye and sighs. He turns back around to her and hops over on one leg.

He lifts her chin and looks in her eye. “We are all weak, it is what we choose to do with that weakness that makes us strong. Now tell me who this alluring young woman is! A little muscular for my taste, but me-yow! The twin sounds on my vomiting and Aoife’s laugher fill the room before we all realize we started crying again before the room slowly grew quiet. Jin Chan says “I take it you aren’t a girl then?” I answer subconsciously deepening my voice and still feeling like it came out childish sounding with a “Yes. My name is Zhong Li. This incident has waylaid me, but I am en route to the Eternal institute.” He holds his chin and ponders, blowing smoke rings from his nose. “I see well then Zhong Li, Aoife, If all parties agree I suggest we head to the Eternal Institute. It at least pretends to be neutral ground and has an office of representation, as the survivors of this catastrophe they will want us doubly dead. In addition to you two having such unusual qi, we have knowledge of the massacre that took place here. The colonization forces will no doubt offer extraordinary bounties on our lives. We need to get out of here immediately.”