//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 — Trust Issues (Huoshan II) // Story: Pom's Chapter — A Novelization of a Story That Doesn't Yet Exist // by AIPomgeon //------------------------------// When did it get so hot... Every traveler, tourist and trespasser who isn't warned about it in advance is blown away by the sudden temperature increase upon breaching Huoshan's great wall. The immense heat from the volcano's magma rises, and the wall prevents lava from running down the mountainside; there's enough of a rise at the shore for travelers to notice, and it's easy to assume that's the full effect of the volcano. Pom, having made it atop the great wall, has had that illusion entirely shattered. The sweltering heat nearly knocked her over when it hit her, and never before has she been so grateful to still have only her baby fleece. More oppressive than the heat is the crowd. Word spreads fast in a small empire, and the 'fight' between Huoreshi and the lieutenant only helped. Dozens of longma colored like the rainbow stare on, none of them having ever seen a sheep before. Despite knowing better about longma, the scores of snake eyes fixated on her position instinctively makes Pom's skin crawl. Huoreshi quickly shoos them off, instructing them to return to their positions, and while some linger to get one last stare most of the guards and soldiers fly off without a hassle. Pom's heart settles down. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!" Pom's heart soars straight into her throat at the screech of a longma. The last guards exit, leaving only two in the crowd. Zhongweiran stands unamused, listening to the frenzied screaming of his subordinate. His scales are black, but covering the entire length of his body are intricate green and purple swirls. It's a giant tapestry of fire from his hooves to his neck, only obscured by the uniform. The sight is alarming, to say the least. Straining to maintain some calmness and defuse whatever is going on, Zhongweiran states "I suggest you stop giving me lip now, soldier. If she's not here, she's not here, I don't care what she promised you. There are more important things in Foenum right now, and you'll just have to wait a couple months." A second, even harsher screech rings out in response as green flames burst from the longma's body. "MONTHS?!" "I said watch your tone!" snaps the lieutenant, shunting him. "Where do you think you are?" Pom's attention is diverted from the scuffle as Huoreshi steps into view. "Let those two brutes sort it out, we have important things to talk about." she says. Pom, happy to oblige, scampers after the serpentine longma—as do the lumbering dogs after her. Both of the bickering soldiers snap in Pom's direction. Zhongweiran stands on alert but immediately relaxes. The other one looks Pom dead in the eye. Pom freezes at the longma's death glare; it's not normal. Even for a longma the malice is clear, whatever Pom did upsets him to his core. Worse still are the eyes themselves—behind the neon green irises, unlike every longma Pom's seen, are black sclera. The lieutenant picks up on this odd reaction and grabs hold of his head, turning it away from the lamb. "I don't know what that was but don't shoot the messenger," he scolds in an uncharacteristically hush tone. Pom remains frozen still, long enough to catch one last side eye from the black one, until Huoreshi gets impatient and tugs on Pom's collar. The group runs off, leaving the crimson lieutenant to continue raking his junior. The architecture of Huoshan is like nothing else in Foenum. Taller pillars than any ungulate-made structure Pom had ever seen, and from what can be seen every single one has been decoratively carved, topped with walkways even longer than the spiral Pom had to ascend. The same obsidian brickwork from the spiral makes up the streets beneath Pom's hooves, the lanterns from before forming an inner ring by what what Pom considers a concerningly tiny fence to stop people from falling to the rocks below. Maybe that's not a large risk when everyone can fly, she supposes. "If there's anything at all you are curious about," says Huoreshi as she leads the way, "I would be more than happy to indulge you." Her hooves lightly kick off the ground as she walks; underneath her professional demeanor there is a barely restrained spring in the longma's step. "What is... that?" The historian looks at what Pom is referring to, and stops. With a grin, she answers "That is Heaven's Perch." Across the open mouth of the volcano stands a spire, naturally formed, with the glowing outline of a temple precariously balanced atop. The two gaze at it, a wonder of the world to Pom's eyes. "What's it for?" "I can show you tomorrow morning." "I am not crossing that!" "This is the quickest way, please. I promise it is safe." "No! That's lava! There's not even a guardrail!" All attempts at pleading useless, Huoreshi relents. "If you insist. We can take the long way." Pom relaxes, still looking anxiously at a narrow bridge suspended directly over the mouth of Huoshan's volcano. It's a long walk, but it gives her the chance to better soak in how unlike anything else this place is. Houses are built directly into the unusual rock formations surrounding the volcano... is what Pom had thought from a distance. They have the shapes of houses, at least, and the longma seem to 'live' there, but to call it a house would be ridiculous. A single pole juts out from a crevice, a roof above it. It's impossible to see what's inside that crevice, probably just the longma's belongings. Is the pole where they sleep? There are uniformed soldiers here and there, but that's all. No matter what they're doing, every longma seems to be working, doing some task, carrying something to another place. Until, near the destination, one runs up to Pom. "What are you?" says a squeaky voice. Pom inaudibly gasps. A big-eyed, stubby-limbed longma looks up at the lamb. It's completely bald—or lacking fire, rather. It stands there, mouth open, stubby little fangs visible. An unexpected warmth fills Pom's heart looking at it, the kind she gets looking at a puppy. "Hello. I'm Pom." "What's a Pom?" the child asks, circling around Pom to get a better look. "'S my name. I'm a sheep." "What are those?" The child fearlessly approaches the dogs behind Pom. "Oh, those are my pups!" The tiny longma bends down in front of Woof. It receives a sloppy kiss in return, prompting it to spit out an ember in surprise. Pom looks on with a smile, enjoying these two predator-adjacent creatures getting along. She smiles until she's suddenly pushed out of the way by Huoreshi, who scoops the child up in a panic. "You get back to the nurser right now!" she scolds, pushing and prodding the child in one direction until they go down a staircase to where they presumably should be. Huoreshi returns to Pom, biting her lip before sharply inhaling and saying, "Forgive me but please do not speak to the younglings. We do not want them to develop bad impressions early in development." "Did I do something wrong?" Pom tilts her head. "Ye- no, but- you did not do anything wrong but it is something we wish to avoid here." "I dinnae understand." Huoreshi bites her lip again. After a moment, she faces forward and continues walking. "It's a matter of our culture, please be understanding." Pom can't understand a thing, but drops the subject. When they arrive, Pom is politely told "this area of Huoshan is entirely grounded, I can promise you. I've spoken with many foreigners—though never the Sheeple—and none have complained. You have nothing to fear." Where did all that come from? "Thanks, I guess." Pom says. She enters a doorway carved into the stone; there are no candles, lanterns, or any other kind of light source indoors. Pom stops, instinct telling her to hold still and wait for the pack to catch up with her. Which she realizes, after a score of seconds, has not happened. Without a thought Pom runs outside, all manner of betrayals playing in her head. They separated me from me flock so they could pick me off! They don't trust the dogs so they set off to eliminate them while she wasn't looking! It was all a long con, Tianhuo in on it, so they could get fresh mutton! None of these things are the case, but the reality isn't much better. "Wh-What are ye doing?!" Several soldiers, busy unsuccessfully corralling Pom's entourage somewhere, perform an about face in surprise. How did such a loud shout come from this tiny lamb? "Leave my pups alone!" Pom stammers. All six dogs stampede to their owner, trampling the pair of longma. "Aghh..." "Guest, please!" a voice shouts. Pom looks up at Huoreshi overseeing the others. "We are going to watch your animals while you speak with me." "What? I... no. No way!" "There is nothing to be afraid of." "There really, really is!" Pom points to one of the guards, still on the ground after being stomped on by Papa, and asks, "What do you know about takin' care o' pups?!" "Stay out of their path?" he grunts. "I promise you it will be fine." assures Huoreshi once more. "How?" "Well we— we—" The historian lands, hoof to her chin for a moment. "I promise on behalf of the Empress that it will be alright." she declares. "...what if the Empress told ye tae hurt my pups?" "H-Hahaha, what are you implying about Our Magnanimous Ruler?" Huoreshi blurts out, forcing a crooked smile to hide the indignation. The two other longma lack such restraint, immediately scowling. The concern Pom feels from this wordlessly turns her pack on the defensive. Not wanting a repeat of earlier Pom does her best to backpedal. "Sorry, it's just I've not met her. If yer lying, I'd be gone when ye did... whatever, tae them." Like the sun peeking from the clouds Huoreshi's attitude clears up with the apology. With her previous formalities she resumes, "Mm, I wish I could better assuage your fears but I am unsure why you're so fearful in the first place." How can you not tell?! bounces around Pom's skull hard enough to give her a headache. Is all this really normal here? They tried making me walk over lava and I'm the one who's— It's not their fault, they're raised here and probably hadn't even thought about it. I need to trust them, I trusted Tianhuo. Pom pushes a bit of bile back down her throat and pushes those nightmare scenarios to the back of her mind. "Okay. Ye can take care o' them." "Excellent!" Huoreshi beams, tapping the ground. "Let us not delay then." She proceeds into the building; her keen hearing picks up a lack of hoofbeats behind her, however, and with an annoyed sigh she exits. "You make sure they have water! Every fifteen minutes check if they need water!" Pom dictates to the soldiers. "Of course, ma'am." "And they need something soft to lay on! This ground is rough, it's not good for 'em!" "Yes, ma'am." "Ye better not forget the water!" "We will not, ma'am." One soldier turns her head and rolls her eyes. "Are you ready yet?" Huoreshi asks as cordially as her impatience will permit her. "Just a sec!" begs Pom. She walks into the pile of dogs, patting them one by one. "All ye be good, ken? Set a good impression for me. It won't be long." With reluctance in their eyes the dogs agree, surrounding the increasingly nervous guards to be escorted. Pom finally follows Huoreshi into the building, only stopping to take one forlorn look back— Woof didn't listen to her. Rather than a good impression he's much more invested in leaving bite marks on that poor longma's legs. "Woof, here boy!" Pom calls. "I really think we are fine, there's no need to micromanage them." "He's coming with us." says Pom while the puppy catches up, nearly tripping over himself as he stops at Pom's hooves. "That is a lot to demand of us. The point of not bringing them here is to not disturb those within the building." "He's too young tae be separated, though. Wilnae even listen to commands. It's not safe tae leave him out there." There's no use trying to argue this further when her goal is so close. Huoreshi represses a groan and budges. "If it stays close to you, then that is fine." Every hallway is pitch-black—or it was before Huoreshi entered them, emitting enough light to make the signs at each doorway readable. Readable for her at least, written in that script only the longma seem to know. As Pom descends several floors beneath the surface yet another wave of panic creeps up on her. Should something happen, there would be no means to escape this place on her own. But, that won't happen, right? She trusts the people of Huoshan to act in good faith. She just needs to keep telling herself that. Pom does trust Huoreshi, at least. With no watchful eyes of bureaucracy bearing down on her she's free to make her glee known, the noodly longma nearly skipping down the halls. "We are almost ready, I merely need to take a few measurements." Huoreshi says with the same polite demeanor as always, in contrast to her body language. After a quick height measurement, one hoofprint, body length, leg length, neck length, abdomen circumference, the three other hoofprints, pompadour girth— "Is this all necessary?" asks Pom. "At this rate yer gonna know me better than I know myself." "Just covering my bases while I can," the historian assures as she tries her best to measure Pom's width with a tapeline. "It is a shame the scale was broken though, the needle hardly moved." "Looked accurate tae me." "You Sheeple have a wonderful sense of humor." At last Pom's eyes are relieved as she enters a room with several lit candles, no longer having to rely on the flames produced by longma to see. The smooth stone floors of the building are for the first time interrupted by some kind of fabric floor, too sleek to be a carpet but with just enough cushion that it's okay to lay upon. The room is furnished with many shelves, but the only piece of furniture is one very oblong table stretching nearly end-to-end in one axis. Pom's not quite sure how far beneath the surface she is, but it's enough for the temperature to drop to something tolerable. She cannot help but think about how her poor pups must be panting up there, though. Huoreshi shuts the door, a visible flame erupting from her nostrils as she sighs with relief. Walking to the end of the room, she calmly slips out of her uniform. Pom is quick to notice the longma's flames almost entirely die out as she grabs a stack of papers, roaring back to life after they're set down near Pom on an elongated table. A glance is all it takes to see the little text on the front page is written in that foreign longma script, but it's not for Pom after all; with a pen in mouth Huoreshi puts the full weight of her body on the table, laying her body all the way to where she had placed her parchment. There's a slight wriggle as she gets comfortable followed by one final, concerted effort of a stretch that arches her body backward. She finishes, puts her back hooves on the table, and looks at Pom with a wide smile—and with that predatory longma stare. "I cannot express my excitement for what is to be learned today." At least several dozen feet beneath the surface, in a room only illuminated by flame, Pom sits across a fiery half-predator with nowhere to go. I actually let this happen again. flashes in her mind. "I heard you announce yourself as Pom. I have been in such a rush that I failed to ask, could I please get your full name and title?" "It's just, Pom." says Pom. To preempt the followup question she tacks on "That's my full name. We dinnae have 'titles' in the Meadow, but I guess I'm, well, Champion of the Meadow." Huoreshi nods, jotting it down. "Was this title of champion appointed to you by your chief wolf, or did you declare it for yourself?" "'Twas the flock that made me—chief wolf? What?" Pom leans in, ready to inquire before a hoof is raised to stop her. "Ah! Getting ahead of myself, I see. Do the wolves openly rule you or is it more similar to the ice sprites' covert lordship over the deerfolk?" "What?" Huoreshi blinks a couple times, before better phrasing it. "How would you describe the Sheeple's relationship with the wolves?" "What?" Huoreshi blinks several times. "Forgive me but I need one moment." She scratches her forehead, unable to parse the lamb's response. Were the wolves' takeover even more subtle than what was written down? "Indeterminate Champion of the Meadow Pom, let us begin again with more simple questions. How do you feel about wolves?" Pom's brow furrows and she answers without an ounce of hesitation. "They're awful. If I could I'd not see one again." "I... see? Well, how about the small one beside you? How do you feel about it?" "Woof?" Pom looks down at the pup, halfway asleep, face buried in her wool. "O' course I love him. He's—" Pom's face tenses. Her ears begin twitching in distress. A tiny voice encourages her to begin shouting, though she can quickly pushes it out. With a stony stare Pom locks eyes with Huoreshi and states, "he's not a wolf. They're not wolves." The longma's gears whirr to no avail. The mental picture of speaking with a species not seen for so long, gathering all the missing information and publishing it to Our Link To Godliness The Empress, all crumbles as Huoreshi's script disappears in a puff of smoke. "If they are not wolves then—" "They're not wolves. They're dogs." "There is no need to split hairs, Indeterminate Champion Pom." Woof's peaceful kip is ripped apart when Pom stands. The pup is jostled at how angry Pom seems, ducking his head. "I know what a wolf is. Have ye ever seen a wolf?" The answer is no, Huoreshi has never even left the volcano, but she must deflect. "Are you sure you have seen a 'wolf'?" "I nearly died tae one! Tae several! They barely look alike!" Pom shouts, her confusion at the initial encounter forgotten. "There is no need to raise your voice." Huoreshi says hoping to deescalate the situation. "Let's please continue the interview—" "Say they're not wolves." "They are not wolves. Who would you say does control Baaah? The w- the dogs?" "The will o' the flock decides everything, we're not controlled." Huoreshi grimaces at Pom's tone, no less harsh than a moment ago. "Yes, there are mentions of this 'will of the flock' in the information we have on the Sheeple. I expected it to be outdated given how it sounds, but to be sure could you describe it?" "Every sheep old enough tae work gets a vote. When something needs tae change everyone goes tae the hall and we vote." "Do the dogs decide what needs to be voted on?" "Wha— no? They cannae even talk." This is going so poorly. What am I doing to warrant such an attitude? thinks Huoreshi. Shuffling her papers she decides to relax her grip on the situation, and hopefully relax Pom. "Perhaps I should fix my preconceptions. Could you tell me an ordinary day for you in Baaah?" "Ordinary?" It feels like her 'ordinary' life was several lifetimes ago, with how much has happened in just a few days. Still, the memories flow instantly. "I'd... I'd wake up, take the pups out for a walk. Ha'e a meal, see if there were any Hall meetings. Or, well, I'd only been to a couple before I left, but that's the idea." Huoreshi nods along, jotting everything down as Pom continues. "Do my chores, then..." Huoreshi stops writing and looks up, curious at why Pom trailed off. "Go on." she says, but Pom shakes her head. Straightening up a bit Huoreshi pushes further, "I am very invested in what you have to say." "After my chores I just... played." "You did not do anything after your chores?" "It's not nothing, it's..." Pom interrupts herself. "Do ye let the children play here?" "We keep our younglings on a busy schedule to promote our cultural—" "But it'd just be nice if ye let them have a little fun—" She is interrupted by the harsh sound of the longma clearing her throat. "Are you intending to say you know better than Our Empress on how to enrich our own people?" "I-I," Pom stammers. Huoreshi's posture had straightened, a slight glint of vexation from her countenance. Immediately every fiber in Pom's body shouts, pleads even, to drop it and let her continue questioning until Pom is allowed to leave. It's so easy not to do it, and the consequences of speaking one's mind has already been demonstrated: it's why Pom is here and not continuing the idyllic life she was a moment ago describing. Pom just needs to apologize as previous and everything will go away. "It's important." escape from her lips. No no no why did I do that?! Maybe she'll drop it, maybe she doesn't want to do this either. With the same formality as usual Huoreshi replies "Go on." Any attempts from her speech to sound polite are betrayed by her expression and posture, though, her annoyance clear as day. "I didn't mean it. I promise." "It is my job to get as much information from your visit as I can. Your culture's outlook on ours is just as useful as what happened after the banishment of the predators. If not even moreso. Please, go on." Pom's inner thoughts plea for silence, despite how clear it's too late for that. Tianhuo gave her one job, don't disrespect their culture. Or it was two jobs rather, but the letter is delivered already. Now that Pandora's Basket is opened, however, all Pom can do is tread carefully and not make things worse. The damage is probably done anyway, she thinks to herself. "If..." Huoreshi nods along, ready to scribe. "If, well, if yer all work and no play, ye," she pauses, "ye miss out. You can um, learn a lot from it, ye know?" "Could you care to justify your claim?" You're backing yourself into a corner, Pom. Just calm down. "When I was wee, we had a group of Graze Scouts in Baaah, and I got tae join them for a bit. It was me, and Moira, and Toffee, and Isabaa, and..." Pom trails off, noticing Huoreshi stopped writing. With a quick shake of her head she gets back on track, "and we went into the woods tae camp. But we got lost, and Moira ran off lookin' for the adults, and then the others went in different directions, and there weren't enough dogs to protect everyone so I was just... alone." Huoreshi waits a moment in case Pom was about to continue, but receiving silence asks, "And what did you learn from this?" "Not done yet." Pom says, trying harder to focus on the story she means to tell. "I was by myself, if I went anywhere I'd just get more lost, so I just stayed put. But then, there was a scream! And I should'a just stayed put, but I didnae. And Woolsey twisted—Woolsey was with us—Woolsey twisted his ankle! An' his pup was crying an' I started cryin' an' it was just the worst." Huoreshi does her best to follow along as Pom continues the rambling tale, her fellow lamb eventually being found and everyone being rescued, but not without another two detours from the storyteller. She is very, very patient throughout all of this, holding her question until she hears the "and that's what happened." at the end. "Yes." Huoreshi nods. "What was the moral of this story?" "Huh? Don't wander off without a guide dog, don't run into strange parts alone, that sorta thing." "Are those things you could not be told directly by a mentor figure?" Pom's eyes shift a bit. "Well... maybe, but I also learned a bit o' first aid after, so I could do something if it happened again." "What was stopping you from being taught first aid as part of a curriculum?" "Well I mean there's... nothing, I guess." Pom taps her chin several times, now unconvinced of her own story. Then there's a gasp and Pom replies, "If it hadn't happened I'd not've known I wanted to learn it." "But you still could have been taught it." Pom begins to say something in refutation but stops, unable to form any words. Huoreshi gets up from the table, stretching her legs before approaching Pom. "You must understand, Meadow's Elective For Foenum's Champion Pom. A well-balanced upbringing will teach you everything you could need. I understand the shorter lives of the Sheeple might put more pressure on maturing quickly—" What does she mean by short lives? "—but you will find that curating one's experiences and taking one's time to promote a culturally healthy outlook, as well as teaching all required skills, will make an ungulate going into adulthood much more confident, empathetic, and able to pursue their desires much more easily. I am the only historian in Huoshan, but all longma are taught Foenum's history. I did not choose to fight, but I was taught all I would need to defend myself. "If your culture adopted practices similar to those Her Reverence The Empress has imparted on Honored Mother's children, you would feel much more prepared for the journey you have found yourself on, would you not agree?" Squirming where she sits Pom rallies back with "Hey now, that's—" —completely correct, I'm out of my depth, I'm BEYOND out of my depth, no one told me I'd have to do ANY of this—! "—not the nicest way to put things. 'S not like you dinnae have bad eggs, like that guy screaming earlier." "Do not worry yourself about that one. He needs guidance, as you were already able to ascertain. It is a work-in-progress. But he is an extreme case nevertheless." "I'm just saying, you have a point but ye don't ha'e tae go so far. Maybe some of you would be nicer if ye played once in a while." "You are being extremely rude here, Pom." The lack of an awkward-sounding title aside, it is only now that Pom notices how close Huoreshi is to her, as she smells the light puff of smoke exhaled from the longma's nostrils. There's no longer any veneer of politeness; she is upset and Pom has done something very wrong. Pom forces out a chuckle before asking "Yer not mad, are you?" "It is part of my job not to be mad." she says sternly. "But yer not mad?" "I am fine." She is really mad, Pom thinks to herself. She nervously eyes the door, an action noticed by Huoreshi. She probably can't outrun her if she made a break for it, and she's probably run into a wall even if she was faster. Wait, why am I worried about running away? It's fine. She said it's fine. You can just ask— "Can I leave?" Pom asks. "But we have barely spoken!" says Huoreshi. "Yeah but I," Pom begins, hesitating to think of an excuse, "wannae make sure the pups are okay." A simple, good, not untrue excuse—but, to Pom's horror, the wrong one. "First you insult the character of our people, and now you insult our abilities to do simple tasks?" "N-No, of course not!" Pom exclaims, staring up at Huoreshi. Somehow, perhaps just her unique body type, she's even more intimidating on her haunches, craning her spine like the neck of a serpent. "It's just that you've never taken care of a dog before! 'S harder than ye might think, lots of trouble they can cause, promise!" "Perhaps you should check on them after all. I think the both of us could use a break." "I'm real, real sorry for offending ye like I did." "I am trained not to get offended. I am fine." It's a lie, both of them can tell, but Huoreshi does her best not to show it with a neutral expression. "It's just not been the best experience so far here. I'm sure this place is really nice in the winter! But right now it's just hot, and my pups are stressed by all the predators—" "Half-predators." Huoreshi insists, voice slightly raised. "Half-predators!" echoes Pom. "Yer all great people, I know that! But then that one longma who gave me that awful look—" "He was an apprentice not exemplary of our culture." Like a kettle approaching a boil Huoreshi continues to get ever-so-slightly louder. Completely aware of this, but her mouth outrunning her mind, Pom cannot help but let out her frustrations further. "And then there was that dreadful one who just treated me like I was a nuisance, flew down at me, nearly killed me, called my boys 'wolves,' called me a counterfeiter, tried tae make me leave, then wouldn't let me leave, och! That Zong-Wan guy—" A flash of pink light blinds Pom, finally cutting her off. She turns in the direction of the door but trips over Woof, ridding her of any sense of orientation. Her hearing is perfectly fine, however, allowing her to understand every word to come. "You don't know him! You don't know anything about Zhongweiran! Do not talk about him!" It takes a few moments for Huoreshi to come to her senses. The awful red tint lingers moments longer, just long enough to inform her that she had surrendered herself to instinct, however brief it was. The subtle tingling of a bell snaps her attention to the victim of her instinct, eyes like pin pricks, lying on her back and shaking like a leaf in the wind. It's humbling, being reminded of what one's blood can reduce them to when their mind allows it to, but it's the other sound that allows her actions to really sink in. Standing above Pom, in his best imitation of a fighting stance, is her pup Woof. He musters the harshest growls and snarls his underdeveloped vocal chords can produce, a feeble effort to ward Huoreshi off from what he assumes is an immediate threat on Pom's life. It's clear to Huoreshi that he couldn't win in a direct fight with her, the last thing she would want to invoke right now, but he stands there with every intention to put his life on the line. He is definitely not a wolf. The lamb attempts to say something, only producing a shaky string of vowels. All thoughts toward apologies Huoreshi dashes forward to help Pom up, only to send her recoiling and Woof into a frenzy of threats. Pom's eyes dart erratically in every direction and she is able to form a sentence: "I'm gonna check on the dogs." "Champion of the Meadow Pom you must understand the background behind my actions," Huoreshi begins. "I need tae see my pups." Pom repeats, standing and barely maintaining balance as she involuntarily trembles. "To be a longma is to have two sides pull at you. All of childhood and adolescence we are taught to maintain this balance but given the wrong circumstance we can tip too far into cowardice or rage. Even I am capable of this, please do not fear me." Huoreshi continues on like this, but it all falls on deaf ears as Pom pulls on the handle of the door, too consumed by fear to notice the latch. Huoreshi quickly nudges the latch with a hoof and the door swings wide, the longma noticing an instant too late the hoofbeats on the other side— "There you are, perfect timing. I've got something to say to you, sheep!" No. No. Why now? Huoreshi thinks as any last control of the situation slips away. It is Zhongweiran, an uncharacteristic smile on his face. The idea of him having good news does not have the time to cross Pom's mind. The instant she processes his existence here Pom sprints past him, thoughts all but ceasing. Her hooves act on their own, turning her body to the right and up the stairs. Her face hits the wall, but she quickly feels her surroundings out and continues down the next hallway. "What in the Empress's name have you done, soldier?!" Zhongweiran shouts. Woof runs between his legs after Pom as Huoreshi tells him to do the same, visions of her most important tourist tripping and falling into the volcano flickering in her head. It is possibly the first time a longma has considered how short the fencing around its mouth really is. Pom loses herself in the pitch blackness of the underground, but catches sight of the path out when the yellow flames of the lieutenant illuminate the area. Fast as he is, Pom rushes out of the building with the help of his illuminating glow. The sudden sunlight forces Pom's eyes shut but does nothing to stop her locomotion. When her eyes finally do adjust it takes once glance behind, a glance at both Zhongweiran and Huoreshi tailing her, to convince her not to look back again. She speeds past the exact pair of guards she saw take her dogs away, but time does not permit her to ask for directions. "You two, after her!" shouts their crimson superior at them. "What is going on?" one shouts back. "I'll tell you when I find out, just get her!" With no sense of where the sheepdogs may be Pom runs aimlessly, only hoping to keep her distance up. Never looking back, it's not until physical contact is made that Pom learns out outmatched she is. A failed attempt to grab her sends her tumbling. As she rolls over Pom is able to see Zhongweiran landing with a skid, shouting at the top of his lungs "Nobody's here to hurt you, just stay put before you hurt yourself!" He gallops to contain her only for Pom to slip out of his hooves running perpendicular to where she was going before. "She's not running toward the volcano anymore. Soldiers, take to the skies! Find points where you can cut her off and then cut her off! I do not know what our Enlightened Historian did to spook her but it's on all of us if she gets hurt!" "It was your rough treatment of the poor thing that made her so frightful in the first place!" protests Huoreshi. "We can talk about it later!" The four of them leap into the air in unison, taking different flight paths but all of them focused on the lamb. They all see her stop for a moment, having an extremely rushed conversation with a rookie passing by, and see him point in a direction she immediately pursues; she's running toward the armory her six sheepdogs were herded to, something Huoreshi exclaims she knew Pom was going to do. If for no other reason than she was told as much. All of them converge at the entrance, creating a blockade that spectacularly fails to stop the runaway sheep. The longma collectively assumed their presence would force Pom to slow down and avoid collision, and not run at them with the full force her featherweight frame can create. The sturdy Zhongweiran finds himself knocked several inches backward, just enough for his hooves to be pushed over the top stair. Together with Pom he falls uncontrollably down the flight, the woolly sheep landing atop him in a daze. "Okay now stop!" he screams. "Don't kill me!" Pom cries, energy mostly spent at this point. "Please don't kill me!" "Who wants to kill you?!" "All of you!" 'We are not predators and we are not savages!" All Pom can do is howl in agony, the desire for protection and safety overriding all else. Zhongweiran talks over her, telling her that she is safe, that her fears are unfounded, but nothing he does breaches her wailing. Everyone at the stairway hears a second howl from further inside the armory, followed by a third and more still. Like a moth to the flame Pom resumes her mad dash, slipping out of longma's grasp again. A green glow down the hall gives her enough light to find her way and make it to the source. The sight is traumatizing. Ruff, Tuft and Puff, sharing a cage. Big Mama, forced in a cage clearly too small for her. Big Papa, digging his heels as he's shoved halfway into a cage even less accommodating to his size. And the screaming longma with scales draped with vibrant markings, doing the shoving. "Get in there!" he orders with a failed push to move the much larger dog. The growling and grunting emitted by Papa do nothing to deter him, and Pom watches in shock as a flare from the longma's mouth scorches Papa from behind, eliciting a yelp. The longma feels a shove of his own from behind, indignantly turning to Pom. Choking back tears and barely able to form the words she screams into his face "WHATAREYOUDOING?" She strikes him in the face with one hoof, as hard as the little lamb can. The longma isn't afforded the time to respond before Papa backs out of the cage, immediately focused on putting distance between Pom and that black-scaled brute. "Och, please tell me yer alright Papa." Pom says, examining the newly made singe mark. A soft bark tells her he's fine, and she unlocks the other cages with haste. She takes a head count to make sure everyone, Woof included, is fine, then looks back at the longma. It's that same stare. Visceral, incoherently hateful. Pom's heart skips a beat when she makes eye contact. It's a look of killing intent, she might describe it. That look is wiped from the longma's face as Zhongweiran mimics Pom by smacking him with full force, which for him is enough to send the junior reeling across the room. "Yanwufen, what is your malfunction?! Do you realize how many centuries you may have just driven our relationship with the rest of Foenum back?! Do you think Honored Father would be proud watching you abuse a living being like that?!" "They're predators." Yanwufen says defiantly, prompting a strike from the other hoof. "I oughta lock you in a tight cage. You're not fit to be called soldier, soldier! I will see to it whoever put you on this job is punished, and they will smile the entire while because they won't have to go through what you will!" Putting every dog on alert Zhongweiran performs an about face. "I can completely understand your fears now that they have been realized." he says, kneeling. "From the bottom of my heart I hope you can forgive us, Ambassador Pom." Both Pom and the longma named Yanwufen stand straight at the announcement, shouting in unison. "Ambassador?"