Unintended Cultivator

If Sen were capable of getting headaches from something other than a horrible injury, he was certain that he would have had one by the time he and Falling Leaf left the ice wolf in his cave. At the very least, he was frustrated. Sen had imagined returning to the academy triumphant with a solution to one of their biggest problems firmly in hand. What he’d gotten was… It wasn’t exactly nothing, but he hesitated to call it something. When they’d gotten into actual discussion, a few things became abundantly clear to Sen. First, the wolf was terrified of him, personally. Second, whatever group the wolf was representing wasn’t even pretending to give a damn about human survival.

It was obvious that they wanted to use humans and human cultivators, in particular, as a hammer to smash their enemies. Anything that deviated from that particular goal was not of interest to them. Objectives like providing information that let humanity preserve cities and the infrastructure there weren’t on the table. A fact that would have become clearer, sooner, if the wolf wasn’t so damned afraid of him. Instead of being upfront about it, though, the wolf tried to sidestep anything he thought might send Sen into a murderous, wolf-slaughtering rage. Unfortunately, that list seemed to include just about anything that might make Sen unhappy to hear. By the end of the conversation, Sen was very nearly in the rage state that Winds of Winter seemed so keen to avoid. He’d finally lost his temper.

“Listen,” Sen said through clenched teeth, “I get that you’d probably be almost as happy as the rest of those spirit beasts to see every human being in the world die.”

“No, I—”

“Don’t me interrupt me again. I’ve been sitting here, listening to you make excuses for almost two hours. Now, it’s your turn to listen.”

Winds of Winter slowly closed his jaws and lowered his eyes. Sen nodded in approval before he continued.

“I understand that helping humanity isn’t even on your list of priorities. Frankly, I’d have called you a liar if you tried to pretend that it was. But what you want is to throw us at your enemies, leaving us and the Beast King weak. All so that you can swoop in and kill off everyone that’s left in the end. It’s so obvious that it’s painful. So, I’ll tell you now that it’s not going to happen that way. No matter who wins this war, you will not be left in charge. You might survive. You might claim back some territory in the wilds, but you will never rule these lands.

“These are your options. You can take your chances with the Beast King, but I think we all know where that leads. You can sit out the war and hope humanity wins. You can throw in with us. If you throw in with us, though, you don’t get it all your own way. You will have to help us achieve some of our goals. One of which is preserving a substantial human population and some of our bigger cities. That is the message you are to take back to your group.”

Winds of Winter was trying to keep the baleful glare out of his eyes and failing spectacularly. Sen supposed being told flat out that their strategy was transparent and wasn’t going to happen wasn’t great political maneuvering on his part. He supposed that he should have played along and pretended he didn’t understand what they were trying to do. Then, he could have tried to use them while they tried to use him and the rest of the human cultivators. Except, Sen wasn’t good at those games, didn’t like them, and suspected he’d get people killed trying to play them. The good news was that he was in the stronger position. The rogue spirit beasts could provide something he desperately wanted. That let them negotiate up to a point.

On the other hand, only he and the rest of humanity could provide them with the thing they absolutely needed. They needed the Beast King, his immediate underlings, and a massive portion of his forces destroyed. They needed that for their long-term survival. More importantly, it had to be a decisive victory. Just pushing the Beast King back into the wilds for a few centuries wouldn’t help the rogue spirit beasts. It would probably spell their final doom. Sen recognized it, and he could only hope that they recognized it. If not, nothing would save them. If humanity lost the war, it would be just as bad. That would give the Beast King all the time in the world to finish what he’d started with the spirit beast races he’d mostly killed off.

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“I understand,” said Winds of Winter.

“I hope you do. Also, there is something I want to make abundantly clear.”

“Which is?” asked the wolf.

“If you do throw in with us, and then betray us, I will abandon the war against the Beast King. I will make it my personal duty to hunt down every last one of you. None will be spared. So, I suggest you make a careful choice.”

The wolf actually let out a whining noise at that declaration, and his ears flattened back.

“What if we choose not to take sides?”

Sen shrugged.

“Then, you don’t matter at all. But you certainly shouldn’t expect to get anything when the fighting is done,” said Sen, standing and looking at Falling Leaf. “We should go. It’s clear that he doesn’t have the power to agree to anything today.”

She had joined him without a word of protest, and they had headed back in the direction of the academy. Since then, though, he’d been second-guessing himself. Had he done the right thing? He felt like he’d gone too far with that last threat, except it hadn’t been a threat. If they betrayed humanity after promising to help, he really would hunt them all down. In general, though, he thought that he had probably been the worst possible choice for that meeting. He finally drew to a stop in a relatively clear spot. Falling Leaf followed suit.

“I didn’t do very well back there,” he said without preamble.

“You did as I expected you to do.”

“You expected me to get angry and start issuing threats?”

Falling Leaf considered that briefly and nodded.

“I wasn’t sure it would go quite that far,” she said, “but I thought it might.”

“Then, why take me? I’ve never been good at those kinds of things.”

“Because they didn’t understand what they were dealing with. I’m a spirit beast in their eyes. They expected me to accept their plan without question. I couldn’t make them understand that humanity wouldn’t simply let itself be led to slaughter just because they wanted it to happen. They assumed they could trick humanity and then wipe out whatever was left after. They needed a human to shatter that absurd fantasy. Someone had to tell them what a disaster it would be if they tried to use human cultivators that way. Most of all, they needed to hear it from someone they would believe. And they fear you. Whatever else they might tell themselves, they will believe that you would destroy them all if they betrayed you.”

“Then, what would stop them from simply sitting out the war? Isn’t that what gives them the best chance?”

Falling Leaf was quiet for a time as she considered that question. It was honestly what Sen expected them to do. It’s what he really tried to convince himself that he would do in their situation, even if he couldn’t quite sell himself on the idea.

“They dislike humanity. They would be happier if humanity was gone, but they hate the Beast King. They want revenge. They want to see him suffer and die. I want to see that. Keeping faith with you, assisting humanity, is their best chance of making that happen. Remaining neutral might help keep them safe for a while, but it won’t satisfy their bloodlust. Now that they finally understand what it will cost, a few may decline to help, but I think most will agree to do what is necessary.”

Sen wasn’t as convinced as Falling Leaf seemed to be, but he believed that she understood the rogue spirit beasts better than he did. Not that it alleviated his concerns about the future. Trusting them to hold up their end of any bargains they struck was going to be a lot more difficult. Revenge was all well and good, but it made for a very small patch of common ground to stand on.

“I don’t know how much effort this took for you to set up, but I expect it was a lot. I also recognize that I’ll get more out of it than those spirit beasts will, no matter what kind of an arrangement we make. So, I have to assume that you did this almost entirely for my benefit.”

Falling Leaf seemed abruptly uncomfortable and started shifting back and forth like she couldn’t decide where to settle her weight.

“It wasn’t just for you. There is the kit and the Caihong. I don’t wish to see them die.”

Sen smiled and walked over to her. She stilled as he drew closer. He reached out a hand and gently squeezed her arm.

“Thank you. I don’t say it often enough, but if I said it as often as you deserve, it’d be the only thing I ever say to you.”

Falling Leaf looked up at him for a moment and said, “True.”

Sen snorted in amusement as he looked around at their surroundings. It was deep enough in the wilds that no one was likely to bother them. Plus, their combined presence would keep all of the spirit beasts in the area at a healthy distance. It was just about the perfect location for a meal.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

Her eyes lit up, and she asked, “Are you cooking?”

“If you like.”

“I’m hungry,” she announced.

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