i'm a late-twenties lesbian woman who has played xiv and roleplayed on and off for several years. most of my characters are primarily on primal, but i spend the vast majority of time roleplaying on crystal.Uyo is a passion project of mine, a loving combination of many character traits and themes i've adored for years, whatever interactions you may have with her i hope are exciting and intriguing.i enjoy both short and long-term interactions, with a hard preference for the latter. deep character exploration and building long-term relationships is where Uyo flourishes.

.    To Peer Within.    .
One with a delicate touch, Uyo has unwittingly found herself being approached to provide healing services, and one with mastery such as hers she is more than capable. Her true expertise lays deeper, ailments of the soul are what she is best at dispelling..    Myriad Lessons.    .
Uyo is a splendid teacher with a wealth of wisdom at her back, with a soft spot for budding sorceress' looking to hone their minds and skills. There used to be talk of her walking wandering the streets, an eye always open searching for someone worthy. Perhaps you find yourself up to such a task, or you merely wish to know her myriad secrets..    That Which Seals.    .
The witch is an accomplished practitioner of many magics, though she has a particular knack for techniques that bind. Seals upon the body, spirit or mind. Perhaps you're in need of such protections, or you desperately need to keep something at bay, and she is a prime candidate to keep it in place.

• The First Practice — Home

• The Second Practice — Bisected

• The Third Practice — Think of Love

• The Fourth Practice — Visitor from On High

• Codex

Twelve Branches
– The Great Journey of Her Divine Light –

.    – High Sensitivity Pendulum –    .
A technique of deception. Uyo feigns a more typical aetheric burst building at her hands, all while the true attack builds at the victim’s rear. Upon release, the aether bursts into the target's back. In order to keep the aether imperceptible the attack is relatively weak..    – Hungry Demon Siege –    .
Focusing her aether at her feet, Uyo launches herself forward with intense force, using aetheric tethers at her back to latch onto and drag any caught in the shockwave. Any caught in this are dragged rather violently towards her..    – Scorched Earth Mandala –    .
Uyo begins to violently charge her energies, meant to intimidate. She takes in the surrounding ambient aether and puts out a heavy pressure to both physically and mentally keep opponents at bay..    – Dream of Prosperity: Luna Megalopolis –    .
Myriad orbs of aether are thrown around the victim, purposely missed, as a diversion. Once surrounded, the orbs then slowly close in on the target and connect to one another via tethers, forming a minefield of sorts. Physical contact with the orbs or their connections set off a chain reaction of devastating explosions..    – Heavenly Way Atop One's Palm –    .
Uyo builds up an intense reservoir of aether, culminating a massive, unrelenting beam of light. Primarily a finishing move or a last resort. Though it is not a requirement, Uyo only employs this technique while airborne, as the destruction wrought by her unbound energies would otherwise be cataclysmic..    – The Snake Eats the Croaking Frog –    .
A defense-shattering technique, Uyo conjures two pillars of light, specifically tuned to bear down and shatter wards and aetheric shielding.
For when brute force is strictly necessary..    – Deeds of Devilish Beasts –    .
Light aether flaring from her palms, Uyo blasts herself forward in the direction of an enemy. Once in striking range, she flourishes her hands forward and unleashes the pulsing aether at the victim, releasing it all in a single burst of a strike..    – Blood of Gaea –    .
A shield of aether encircles Uyo, if airborne, fully forms a sphere around her. Though not impenetrable, it would take a massively focused attack to pierce it. The shield does not halt her momentum, however..    – Life of a Nimble Severed Head –    .
Light bends and perception itself is distorted, appearing as if there are multiple copies of Uyo. The apparitions themselves are unable to attack, being mere illusions, but they bear the selfsame signature of aether that Uyo carries, essentially becoming invisible amongst the crowd..    – Awaken, O Buried Phantoms –    .
Uyo conjures potent blades of light manifested from her own aether, at most up to seven. At the witch's behest, the swords clash and tear into whomever they come into contact with, dissipating after a single swing..    – Moonlit Canine Teeth –    .
Masking her hands with her own aether, Uyo makes a show of catching projectiles both physical and magical. Once caught, the cloaked aether allows her to throw whatever was caught with increased force. A personal favorite for demoralizing lesser mages..    – Beyond All in the Fog –    .
Uyo shines her inner light, imperceptible to most, as a means to locate and hone in on nearby threats. Similar to echolocation, her aether escapes her, bouncing off of her surroundings for a large radius.

.    The First Practice.    .

.    HOME.    .The sole thought that entered the witch's mind as she set her eyes upon the steep ranges of the mountain before her, one of the many peaks that formed the Fanged Crescent. It had not been terribly long since she visited last; Uyo and a few companions had sojourned to the mountain on a family trip. However, they had not crossed the precipice between the trail and the temple: a long, narrow staircase leading up the mountain. Nearby, buried deep in the snowy peaks, lay the Erayo Temple, where a young Uyo was taught the key to eternal life. It is within such unhallowed halls that her father resides, and within those halls Uyo will echo her new mandate.Clouds threatened to grace their hike with snow. Uyo fills her lungs with crisp mountain air, her eyes shut as she focuses. Her energies normally flow freely, but she had no intention of making herself known until she sets foot upon the stone of the temple. The witch hazards letting loose a small fork in the river of her aether, should she need a spell or two for warmth. Uyo exhales, allowing her brief meditation to end.“Auntie, let's get a move on…” The tranquil silence shattered.The witch had only just opened her eyes, turning her head towards the childish complaints. A few paces behind stood the two closest to her heart; her great-niece Mayumi currently the source of the humming and hawing. Mayumi had accompanied Uyo on her last trip, but she’d never made the full trek up the mountain. The young woman was dressed warmly, but that didn't stop her from blowing into her gloved hands rather dramatically.Next to her niece, eyes of deep crimson stare back at Uyo. Khampuu, the witch's betrothed, the unholy beast that she was. She had stood silent as the witch readied herself for the climb. Uyo looked back at her lover, her pallid skin beginning to blend in with the cloudy landscape behind her. Khampuu was holding back a grimace, especially now that Uyo had returned to them. The shade abhorred the growing cold.Uyo steps back to the duo, wrapping her arms around Khampuu’s midsection, digging her forehead against the beast's chest.“Is the cold becoming too much to bear at this height already, my beast?” Uyo teases.Khampuu shakes her head, “Your enchantment holds, I will bear what comes. You will come close when I require it, however.”Mayumi, already a few steps ahead of the couple, shouts back, “Let’s get going then, any more of that and I’m going to scream.” The young thing continues up the trail.With a smile and a scoff, Uyo lifts up off the ground, quickly floating her way up to and past Mayumi, setting back to the ground into a gentle stride as she resumes her position as guide.–The group makes their way up the mountain’s lower path, a fine dusting of white covering the landscape. The path winds and climbs; the witch finds herself having to rely on muscle memory to retrace her way, the path looking as if it hadn’t been used in years. She wonders how long it has been since her father stepped down from the temple’s heights. He required no food, and probably no provisions. Her mother was dead, and neither his two children nor their descendents wanted anything to do with him.The snowfall begins in earnest as the trail opens into a small clearing, a tranquil area where a small riverbed cuts through. A few yalms from the waterway, a small monument rises from the earth, nestled in front of several imposing boulders. Offerings rest at its base, flowers left behind had only just recently started to wilt.Mayumi stops, tugging on the sleeve of Uyo’s jacket, “Let's stop and give our regards first, Auntie.”Uyo acquiesces, “Let's. I wish to take the moment to discuss something with you as well.”The three approach the monument, the front face is etched with two names, though the passage of time has worn the characters into obscure etching. Uyo and Mayumi take position at base, the latter setting herself down onto her knees, both offering a silent prayer. Khampuu flanks the two, keeping her eyes on the duo.“A person is buried here. I assume the body of your mother.” Khampuu levies the statement in Uyo’s direction, her way of asking a question.“Auntie’s mom and dad, you mean. Is the cold dulling your senses?” Mayumi responds with genuine concern, not wanting to assume Khampuu was merely being disrespectful. The beast averts her eyes, saying nothing more.Still gazing upon the monument, Uyo begins to speak: “It was not my intention to deceive, my dear. However it is time you know. My father yet lives.” The words hang in the air, the witch expecting a barrage of upset words.“You don't need to lie so much, Auntie.” Instead of anger or resentment, Mayumi seems rather unfazed, “But– great-grandma, she's actually buried here right? I haven't just been praying to a fake grave over and over, right? That would be so embarrassing.”Uyo nods, her mother is well and truly gone. A fact as immutable as her own immortality.Mayumi’s eyes widen, “Wait a second. Does that mean your dad is still up there? And we're… are you both going to…” Mayumi takes her thumb, making a swiping motion along her neck.“The hermit will perish only if he brings such retribution on himself,” Khampuu states plainly, arms crossed as she speaks, “Your aunt and I are to be wed, following your human traditions, correct? Those traditions typically require the verbal agreement of the paternal figure.” Her explanation is almost surgical with its sarcasm, a small hint of a grin forms on Khampuu’s lips, only to flatten once the moment passes.The young thing is nearly shocked beyond words, it was by her own instruction that Khampuu even knew how matrimony worked, but to take it so literally seemed like insanity to Mayumi.“I thought you hated the guy, Auntie. He didn't, er, doesn't sound like a kind guy.” Mayumi thinks back to the stories Uyo would share; the amount is very small in number, and it was clear as to why. The sole Erayo patriarch was, by Mayumi’s estimations, fanatic in his pursuit of immortality. The final son of a long line of equally devoted hermits that are raised from birth to continue studying and improving the techniques that lead to undeath. Uyo’s father was the first to succeed, and desperate to continue the Erayo legacy, he fathered two children. A single son was all the Erayo patriarch required, and in his eyes he was cursed with two daughters.“I will not speak of such ills in front of mother,” Uyo runs her fingers along the faded text on the stone face, “Come, we will speak of this on the final climb.”–On the opposite end of the waters lay a tall, narrow staircase that leads further up along the mountainside. At its zenith, the temple waits patiently for its daughter to return. Uyo levitates her way over the waters, with Khampuu close behind carrying Mayumi like a sack of rice. The steps rise and wind along the mountainside, time has worn them terribly, making the already tiresome climb a treacherous one. Uyo once more takes the lead to ensure safe passage, with Khampuu minding the rear to ensure Mayumi can be safeguarded should she fall. As they climb, Uyo spells out her plans plainly; she will speak her truths to her father. Decades of mistreatment, disrespect and torment.“He will be made fully aware of his folly, and of the majesty that I have fostered in spite of him.” Uyo waxes poetically, skipping a few steps ahead, “I will regale him with my newfound love, and he will be forced to writhe in agony that I continue to eclipse him in every regard.”The witch, almost on cue, steps foot on the final approach with her final word, turning her gaze upward as the destination is finally reached. Erayo Temple now stands before the three, an ornate building embedded into the mountainside itself. At one point in time the temple would have been a beautiful sight, but now it stands in disrepair. Frayed wood and rusted metal ornaments adorn the front entry, the ceiling within the entry hall creaks terribly under the weight of the fresh snow. The main garden was in a similar state of disarray, the sight of such leaving Uyo with a sour face. As the group reaches the opposite edge of the courtyard, they stop at a large doorway, the entry sealed tightly. Uyo turns on her heel and faces Mayumi.“The choice is now yours, my dear. I can feel his meager energy beyond. Will you be joining us?” Uyo posits, she did not wish for her to enter the chamber, but the witch would not stop her should she choose to.Mayumi’s brow furrows, as if she had already been considering her options long before this moment, yet had not come to a decision. She places her hands on her hips, pacing back and forth. Uyo and Khampuu merely watch quietly as the young thing deliberates in her own silence, as if the wrong decision would mean life or death. Minutes pass before Mayumi resolutely stands in place, raising her eyes to her aunt once more, her next words spoken with unrelenting confidence.“Nah, I'll stay here.” Mayumi nods, satisfied, before meandering back to the gardens.Uyo blinks once, twice, her face unchanging, “Very well, come Khampuu.”

–The doors crash open as Uyo pours her magic against the seals that held it, nearly breaking the slabs off of their supports. As the witch steps into the meditation chamber, the large room is nearly unchanged from when she last stepped foot inside. Despite the sparse lighting, Uyo immediately locks her golden eyes on a figure sat at the far side of the room. A gaunt silhouette sat unmoving in the cold darkness. Her father.At the sight of him, Uyo’s fingers twitch. He does not speak, not even a protest at the damaged chamber doors. She does not wait for the patriarch to even raise his head, a witch must introduce herself correctly.“Rise, and bear witness. The Undying Witch of the Crescent blesses these halls with her presence,” With a flourish, Uyo snaps her fingers, setting alight the myriad candles that line the edges of the room. Now with proper view, she struts forward, Khampuu at her flank.The patriarch is unerring in his silence. He does not move an ilm, practically not even breathing. To the layman, it would look as if he passed away upright. Uyo stands with conviction at the center of the room, knowing full well the cur still draws breath. A moment passes, and a shift occurs. The skeletal figure shifts forward, rising to its feet, the man turns to meet the intruders.The Erayo patriarch bears a grim face, his horns large and loud as they wrap around and frame his face, much like his daughters, though they lacked her opulent alabaster sheen. His features are stiff and cold, much like the chamber they find themselves in. Long, white hair drapes against his back, frozen exactly at the point he reached undeath so long ago. His robes hang upon him, as if he were a coat rack rather than a person.“The wailing child returns. You have finally come to be admonished for your absence.” His voice is gravel, as if he has not spoken in years. Her father's eyes bore into her like needle points, but they no longer pierce as they did when she was a girl.“On the contrary. I have come to allow you the chance to repent. A final courtesy, much more than you deserve,” Her eyes narrow, making her immovable smile seem all the more sinister, “Every ounce of pain you inflicted upon me. Every tear you forbid me from shedding. Every drop of blood spilled upon these stones. You will answer for all of it.”“Wasted on you. All of it. The endless toil of my father, his father before him. My forebears who could not reach the truth I led you to, they would have me spill my insides upon witnessing you.” The venom pours from his mouth, all of the bile he did not get the opportunity to spout when she left all those years ago.Uyo can practically feel her lover grit teeth behind her. The two had anticipated this exchange turning volatile, and the beast could make no promises that her temper wouldn't flare.“The Erayo line would be in awe of me. I have achieved far more than any of them could have possibly fathomed. As those fools died in darkness, I shine brightly so that my own disciples can see the path with clarity. Our family's slate will be burnt clean, with my inflorescence as its new beginning.” As Uyo speaks, she makes grand movements as if she is orchestrating a symphony, “That mother cannot be here to witness this moment, is my sole regret. Father.” Sadness rings through her final words. Compared to her long life, Uyo spent precious little time with her mother.Her father's face remains stoic, as if in direct opposition to the endless expression exhibited by his own flesh and blood. He removes his hands from his robes, arms poised forward as if grasping for something unseen.“She lingered for far too long. Two mistakes too many. After your mother died, I finally reached it. I finally understood. To confine the self with another, you cannot achieve what we have…”“Silence.” Uyo’s words literally shake the room. Fury builds in her chest, her smile wanes, her father's words contorting her face in a manner most unladylike, “You barely crawled to your infinity, and I should strip it from your pathetic form for even daring to sully her memory.” Her right hand twitches, her light practically begging to pierce the cur’s body. Burn him alive from the inside. Uyo fights off the urge.The hermit ignores the threat, his eyes shift in Khampuu’s direction, as if he had only just now noticed that Uyo did not arrive alone.“Interloper. This child has beckoned you to my temple to witness her tantrum. You are not welcome here. Leave this place, now. Ensure the reject in the garden leaves as well. I will not repeat myself.”Khampuu does the opposite, she takes a hard step forward, the force leaving splinters underfoot. Without a word the beast closes the distance, her claws wrapped around the hermits neck, lifting the man an entire fulm into the air. His face stays still, but his eyes betray him. A hint of panic, just what was this ghastly thing that followed his mistake of a daughter?“Unhand me, diseased thing! That my blood would resort to abusing magics of the dead,” A wild grin flashes across him, toothy and unnerving, his eyes fixed on Uyo, “You will both meet fitting ends. I will end you here, so that you may plague your mother and sister in the next life.”“Enough of this!” Khampuu shrieks. “You speak heresy, gods stand before you, and you refuse to kneel! You think yourself superior to the very witch who has risen far above your wretched species? I care not if you are of her blood, I will spill it upon this shrine as an offering to Erayo no Uyo.” The scales adoring his neck begin to crack as Khampuu’s grip tightens; the hermit is only able to raise his hands, clamping onto Khampuu’s arm. A vain maneuver, the beast is magnitudes stronger; Khampuu would have ended him already if she wasn’t relishing in his struggle.“Khampuu.” The witch approaches the struggle from behind, her brief loss of composure now over. She stops a few paces short of her lover.“I will not abide as this worm continues to blaspheme. Standing before this shrine as if he has any claim to the same divinity you hold. It is disgusting!” Khampuu raises her voice, but solely in her father's direction. The beast looks back to her lover, and Uyo’s gaze is steadfast.“Make him bow. We are owed this.” Uyo retorts, she feels uneasy yet her face does not show it.The shade snarls, recalling briefly the agreement the two had made. She releases her grip and sends the man sprawling to the floor. The hermit is not unscathed, he brings a hand to his neck and breathes quick, ragged gasps. Khampuu’s claws had punctured him; the hem of his robes slowly soaking up the trickles of blood.The witch and her beast now loom over him, glaring down as they both silently judge what occurs next.“M–Monsters…you h–” He can barely form a sentence, but the message is received all the same.Monsters.Uyo smiles once more. The shadows that now cloud her face cast a frightening visage. If she was a monster, what would that make him? The witch muses, as she watches her father fumble to his knees. His strength has left him, left unable to rise to his feet.“I had hoped to expel you from this temple, take it for my own. Watch over my disciples here. They are a tempestuous bunch, and I wished to give them a constructive place to build themselves to my height,” Uyo looks up, tracing the outline of the chamber, a forlorn look on her face, “I can see now that I was mistaken. This temple is no longer suitable for me. It never was.”She briefly entertains tearing it all down. Razing the foundations entirely, burying her father within the rubble, letting him suffocate. The witch looks to Khampuu, she would find her answer in the eyes of her beast.“Uyo. Say the word and I will tear him asunder. This will be his final sin.” The beast keeps her crimson eyes locked to the sprawled man in front of them.His final sin. The witch finds what she had been searching for.Taking a step forward, she sets her hand alight, a hum of magic only familiar to the beast rings through the chamber. Khampuu instinctively sets herself back a few paces in response.“To the hermit that lay broken before me, I know not why you persist. Witnessing my divinity, you must be shaken to your core. I am no fool, the Erayo line has an endless tenacity. Your payment is thus, I will take from you what is most dear. What my forebears treasured most.”Her hand clasps onto his mouth, a vice grip that could not be shaken. The hermit attempts to shift, doing absolutely any movement necessary to escape. All useless before the witch. A brilliant light shines, a piercing hiss radiates through the room before all returns to as it was. Uyo frees her hand, throwing the man backward onto his back, a feat one would not expect from someone as short of stature. The man lurches, no doubt intending to throw curse after curse at his ill-mannered daughter.Nothing. No screams, no insults, no whispers. No sound comes from the man.“Your punishment is silence everlasting. You will never utter another word. You cannot pass on the teachings. You will never take another disciple. It will be as if you are dead amongst the living.” The witch's smile returns, utter satisfaction at her total domination. Her sole spectre entirely vanquished in such a fashion that only Uyo could administer. It is by the father's hand that the daughter is capable of such cruelty.Uyo turns on her heel, elegantly stepping towards the waning daylight outside, “Our business is concluded, my love. Let us rejoin Mayumi.”

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.    The Second Practice.    .

^{cw: bodily dismemberment, brief mention of suicidal ideation & cannibalism}

.    BISECTED.    .The moon shines brightly over the Crescent this evening.Her campfire was set up a few fulms back from the cliffside. Despite the dangers of it, she truly cherished the view. It was in the open air she felt safest. The cuisine for the evening was simple: a few meat skewers, emitting a lovely aroma as they simmered against the flames. Gifted by a Xaela trader along the road, she could always play to the concerns of the kind when she needed to. Such a young lady along a quiet mountain path on her own. Apparently those facades garnered enough sympathy to be gifted such delights.The witch sits at the fireside, her only companion this eve. A satchel sits open at her side, containing the few belongings she ever kept with her. Most notably her ointment, and her scales were rather dry this evening.Undoing her robes, she allows the sky and the stars to take in the sight of her body. She starts with her face, her left hand trails across each side of her pale skin, trailing down to her neck. The crest of alabaster white along her neckline now sat fimbriated with irritated red skin, a common annoyance. She pays careful attention to the flares that begin at her waist and stop just below her breasts, the usual problem area. At times she privately cursed her anatomy, but only in these quiet instances of upkeep.Uyo gazes down to the right side of her body. The burnt, softly glowing stump of what was her right arm stares back at her.Foolish witch, once more your carelessness takes its toll on you.The air was cold, winter was slowly approaching the Crescent.–The sun brought a soothing warmth to the Crescent that morning.That wretched thing had been clever this day, it must have been tracking that trader for some time. Somehow knew the witch would cross her path, or influenced her somehow. Uyo had just talked her way into a lovingly packaged set of meats, she was in the throes of conversation, distracted. The trader had such a beautiful pendant, the witch couldn't help herself. With her right hand she gently cradled it, listening intently to the Xaela describe how she received it, given to her by a previous lover. Kept as a charm for luck on the paths. How touching, so sickeningly sweet, the typical sort of tale the witch loved to be audience to.Barely a second passed before the beast leapt from whatever object she had possessed, and imploded the entirety of the traders midsection. Uyo had been too close, her arm taken with it, torn up into the void that the monster conjured.A shame. She had such a sweet face, an interesting set of horns, and a finely-worked body. This campfire would not have been a silent vigil this evening.To be ambushed and maimed so brazenly left Uyo in a panic, unable to fend the best off how she had before.Freeze the joints. Pierce the spine. Open the earth. Bury it within.Uyo had meticulously repeated that process with the beast twice, but there was no plan here, her mind simply couldn't recall stratagem or tactics. Adrenaline pumped fiercely through her veins, replacing the blood gushing from her arm. Neurons fired at a maddening pace, so feverishly did her body cling to life that it practically moved on its own.Fire burst from her left hand, as hot and blinding as she could muster. What remained of the trader was singed to ash, the beast fully engulfed in the torrent, flailing backward just enough for the witch to leap in the opposite direction, floating above the path and gaining distance from the monster.It will be on you in an instant. Away, you need to flee.The pain from her arm suddenly screams past the adrenaline, her thoughts interrupted, nearly sending her crashing to the ground. Uyo’s lifeblood sails down into the dirt, more than she can afford to lose with the beast so close. The witch urges the winds, lowering to the ground once more. Fire aether still licking violently in her left hand, she brings it to her gnarled bicep, searing into the severed section. The bleeding stops. Her horns ring so loud, second only to the sound of her screams echoing against the mountainside.What frightened her most was not being able to recall what happened after. When her consciousness returned to her, she knew not how much time had passed, or if this was even the same day.All she could remember was the terrible ache in her chest, her lungs felt labored, every breath escaping her a raspy croak. What the mind couldn't recall, the body spoke back in vivid detail. Details of her failure, a festering thing turning the acid in her stomach into a frothy mess of shame and anger. She wanted to vomit the sensation away, scream so terribly that the thoughts couldn't possibly hope to penetrate her mind, even briefly considering turning aether on herself. Uyo had performed the movements so many a time, piercing the minds, hearts and spines of myriad victims. Truly, she felt worthless enough at the moment to join the pile.Enough. The witch chants to herself. Enough. Enough. ENOUGH. The cacophony of her own denial is drowned out. A persistent feeling of shame persists, much as she does. To collapse here would please too many, the curs that would lay the witch low at any given opportunity. If absolutely nothing else, her death would please him.The sun was setting. Uyo was alive.–The plan was to eat half of the meat now and save the latter half for the morrow, but Uyo couldn't help herself. The day's events eluded her, but the hunger from shock, exhaustion and the proceeding mental debilitation didn't. The skewers were delicious. Any residual guilt over the trader's tragedy had left her presumably during her stupor. Neither of them could have predicted a monstrous thing had stowed away with her. Uyo didn't consider herself a defender of the weak, though the beast rending someone to pieces in pursuit of her left a foul taste in her mouth.To be interrupted so horribly as she displayed her magic of conversation, and while she was admiring such a beautiful work of metallurgy and craftsmanship. The trickery of the whole ordeal felt cowardly, yet inversely she found pride in this. Her enemies had to turn to foul, underhanded tactics otherwise they've no chance against her might. A twisted smile graces her face at the consideration.The charred mess that was her arm pulses with a dull throb, reminding her that she had no joy to revel in, and the moment passes. Her body will not let her forget the ignominy.The beast had marked you, Uyo.She rises to her feet, eager to escape this line of thinking. The witch's eyes tire, her body yearns for sleep yet the mind wishes to wander. Her urges win out this evening. To the best of her ability she affixes her robes back into place, stepping away from the fire she slips into the darkness.–Wandering aimlessly, the witch stumbles upon a path etched along one of the mountainsides, smiling serenely as she follows it. The moonlight crashing against the mountains was indescribable, her gaze only occasionally drifting back to where she was walking. Uyo knew one thing for certain: she had no idea where she was. Her mind still somewhat disoriented, she didn't immediately recognize where she awoke. This wasn't a complete shock, her feet haven't crossed every ilm of her mountains, it could very well be decades before she could consider the region fully charted in her mind.The witch was in no rush, unending life will instill that calmness in a person.Uyo walks for quite some time, the moon hanging delicately at the sky’s peak, at some point she loses track of the beaten path, instead wandering through the trees lining the mountain. The witch stumbles upon a waterway, deciding to follow it for a time, the wooded area growing thicker as she treks further along the bank. Her persistence is heavily rewarded, the waters reveal a secret now known to the witch, a picturesque hot spring formation against a small cliffside. For a moment, the witch merely stares and admires. The mountains were divine to her, and from her devotion they bestowed this blessing upon her. The springs seemingly unsullied by mortal hands, she hazards inching closer.Humid air caresses her, beckoning to soothe aches that Uyo was certain were not bothering her a moment ago. The waters call to her, and she would be a fool to not oblige. The witch approaches one of the few pools of water at her disposal, deciding on the smaller of the set. She crouches, her face looking back at her. A few scratches remain on her visage, her curative magics would not be able to attend to them until she could afford to divert attention from her arm. An irritation she will need to live with, for now.Your beauty transcends these blemishes, my dearest. Uyo echoes her mothers words in her mind. That you could see me now, would you be proud?The witch smiles, amused at how her own mind wanders.Standing upright, she slips her robes off of her shoulder, taking special care as they drape past her arm. Undoing her sash, they cascade down to the stones at her feet, her body once more bare against the pale rays of the moon. Despite the growing cold brushing against her figure, it brings a sense of relief. On instinct, she motions to undo her hair, scoffing to herself at the realization it had been down since she awoke. Another hair clip gone missing, how disappointing, this one complimented her robes so well. Though she found those to be tattered in a few areas upon waking as well, she would need to find new garments the next time she found herself in town.A flourish of her left hand, the tips of her fingers vibrate with aether. Magic fills the air, sinking deep into the waters. The submerged stone she claims as hers for the evening smooths to a fine marble against her energies. Her body has suffered enough recently, she did not wish to entertain chafing against harsh rock. Uyo waits a moment before stepping in, savoring this. Closing her eyes, she recites a brief personal ritual.Breathe in, through the nose.Mountain waters babble down, the pools drifting into one another. Always moving, always flowing.Breathe out, through the mouth.The moon embraces me, the warmth of the mist cloaks me. As the waters flow to me, so too will I flow to the waters.Her golden eyes raise skyward, the stars meet her gaze. A silent prayer for the universe she resides in, and the universe she has become. Though she still has much to learn, her words are accepted regardless. With a smile so serene, her heart full, Uyo dips herself into the mountain’s waters. The exhale that leaves her echoes out for what feels like malms, it wasn’t until she rested in the spring that she felt truly relaxed. Yes, she survived the ordeal, but something had felt incorrect since she had regained consciousness. Now? Uyo was reconnected to the nature she held in such unfathomable regard.The air goes still. Snow begins to fall. Uyo takes another breath, submerging her head and hair for a brief moment. That she allowed her hair to get so tangled and filthy is an embarrassment she is glad none were audience to. Raising her mangled arm into view, she watches as her aether envelops the wound. Wisps of her energies flow out, then back in, forming a pale glow in an attempt to rebuild her limb. The light blots out just how vicious the tear was, but the burnt skin that surrounds it tells enough of the story. The witch briefly tends to herself personally, ignoring the gnawing doubt that her magic may not be enough for this. Moments pass, and she relents, slinking deeper into the waters. Locks of her golden hair flow out as the urges to shut her eyes overtake her. The warm stone feeling heavenly against her back, Uyo hazards shutting her eyes for a moment, maybe two.A pair of eyes had been watching her since she descended into the spring. To anyone lesser the feeling would have been a passing paranoia, a common fear when in the wilderness that one is being watched by some unseen assailant. The feeling of the aether was unmistakable to Uyo, but the witch waited for no attacker, and she was in her element.It was the sound of its bare footsteps that gave her pause, she did not anticipate another approach so soon. Uyo cursed her faulty memory, perhaps in her shock-induced stupor she didn't harm the creature enough, it needed less time to recuperate. Her eyes remained closed, but she could clearly imagine the form of the beast approaching her quaint little bath.Interloper.Uyo says nothing, her body does not tense. Try as she might, she was simply too tired, too focused on repairing her injury. The calmness in her bosom does not leave her, despite this apparent vulnerability. An irony brings a curious smile to her face, should her blood spill here, she would flow with the waters.Such is her vow to these mountains.“My carelessness binds me once again, it seems.” The words escape her without much thought, Uyo had no way of knowing if this monster could understand her, let alone respond in an intelligible manner. Perhaps she longed for conversation, or means to delay what could well be her death.The footsteps ceased, by her estimations it stopped just short of the water. In a moment, it will likely leap at her, claws boring into her chest and its teeth sinking into her jugular.“A pathetic sight. Wallowing in your defeat. You have no shame.” A voice like gravel responds to the witch's words, shocking her somewhat.It can speak. Uyo muses to herself, where once a small droplet of urgency formed, it was now overtaken by a roaring curiosity. It understands my words.“A woman is bathing in solitude, it is you who has no shame.” The witch deigns to open her eyes now, “Unless you wish to soak yourself, it would be proper manners to leave.”The moon’s light casts an eerie shadow over the beast. Uyo keeps her gaze on the thing. Visibly, it held the appearance of a sickly Raen woman, with skin so pale it was practically translucent. Its hair, dirty and unkempt, flowed down past the shoulders and stopped midway down its back. It lacks any semblance of an expression, the beast simply stares at the witch with eyes so brazenly red, it felt as if it was willing the witch to die with her gaze. The body is draped in rags, a beige-colored bodysuit with little in the way of covering the arms or legs, a corset hugs its midsection, a loincloth drapes over its front and rear. An absurdly-designed opening on the chest reveals its cleavage. Its feet are haphazardly wrapped in some manner of bandage, but otherwise it traipses about barefoot. Various bits of metal adorn its face, a chain runs the length of its face accompanied by piercings on the lips, nose and upper eyebrow, such a display the witch found amusing. A monster with the need to accessorize, she felt kinship in that.“I come to revel in this.” A wave of her arms, as if she were showcasing the nude witch to a crowd of on-lookers, “You cower in some empty corner. You lick your wounds, like a dying animal. A single injury sends you fleeing like the rest of the filth that populates this star. Where is the pride you always wear upon that face of yours? Gone! Gone with the notion that you could ever hope to oppose me!” The rabid thing howls at Uyo, its voice booming against the surroundings.The witch's silence is palpable, the beast spouting a severely irritating truth. The hope was to spend the evening alone, to meditate on this failure and ensure it is never repeated. To be subject to such gloating threatened to make a vein in her forehead burst. A disturbing feeling settles into her, watching this thing shriek at her as if it were superior, that it could ever hope to measure up to Uyo’s majesty. It played dirty, got lucky a single time, and now it acts as if it won.

Such condescension will not stand.“Kill me then. I tire of you. If I cannot even so much as enjoy a midnight soak after such a horrific morning, why bother living at all?” Uyo almost forced a disarming smile, but she opted for an expression as blank as the beasts’, “I would find difficulty defending myself, should there ever be an opportunity to wrest my head from my body, this may well be your final opportunity.”“Cease spouting your crazed nonsense. I do not act in hopes to strike you down.” The beast does not speak for a moment after that statement, as if it understands what it meant to build tension, “Your body. I wish for it to be my own.”Uyo pressed the back of her only hand to her forehead. Humor returns to her in this moment, rising just enough from the water to further reveal more of her obnoxious bust, “Ah, you flirt so terribly if such is the case, beast. Women such as I do not take kindly to such… brutality.” The lone hand takes rest just above her bosom. A sorry sight she must be, her tattered and singed upper arm in full view as she feigns a flirtatious look at the aberration that stole it from her. The beast eyes it, no doubt noting that the stump is fully steeped in the witch’s energies.The monster bares its jagged teeth, not entertaining Uyo’s banter, “By rights, your form belongs to me. I will vacate this flesh, and take yours as my new form.” Red eyes glare not at the witch herself, but at her missing arm, “Why do you delay, witch? Regrow the lost extremity, I refuse to debase myself with a damaged vessel. Do not dare prolong the inevitable.”“Uyo. My name is Erayo no Uyo.” The witch undying formally introduces herself to the monster beckoning for her, “If you mean to steal away with my body, you will at the very least show respect and call me by my name, filth.”“Your mortal pleasantries make no difference to me. The title given to you will be forgotten once my rightful place is taken within your flesh. You should take solace in this, witch. The torment which resides on your face, such pain will be extinguished once your soul is expelled.” It inches closer to the spring, beginning to creep at its edge, determining whether to circle it from one side or another. Uyo was not focused on the puppets movements, but rather than in some odd way, it seemed to be attempting to comfort her.Repulsive. This rabid thing knows nothing of her, not an ounce of what she has suffered and bled for, what it took from her to scale such a peak. Had she the strength, its lower jaw would be pulled off from its shockingly delicate face. Uyo daydreamed about the sight for a moment, the beast nursing its own injury, groveling at her feet. The beast continues to insult and proselytize, Uyo does not listen. The thought of this filthy thing bleeding at her feet was where her focus lays. It is only when a name is spoken does the witch return to reality.“...Khampuu, my true name. My cognomen, Turagrama. Etch it upon your memory, for however short it will continue to serve you. It is you who will show reverence and refer to the god who claims you by the proper title.” The thing splays its arms out, craning its head upwards, yet that crimson glare stays fully locked on the witch.All the better that it gaze upon Uyo closing her eyes once more, looking rather bored with the ordeal, “You mutilate me, yet you will not kill me. You wish to seize my bountiful figure, yet you only give your name and shout wildly as you shiver away in the cold. This charade you play, it is no more than the ignorant thrashing of a beast with no further ambition. I will ignore the disrespect you show by ogling me in the bath. At this juncture, you may as well join me, Khampuu.” The witch utters the name with a heavy disdain, a twitch of sickly pleasure tugs at her lips as she utters it, hoping her vocal display goads this monstrosity into doing something foolish. The bodily shakes emanating from the creature does not escape her attention. Uyo had already surmised that the body it paraded around was stolen, likely a corpse. If the monster felt anything at all, it was facing the full brunt of the cold in that rather distracting outfit. It was freezing, which meant it would be slow. A beast is a beast, and Uyo was comfortable with the gamble that she would go unharmed this evening. Which meant more poking, more prodding, asserting her true providence over this ‘Khampuu’.If Uyo’s words inspired frustration in the beast, it did not show on that blank, unmoving face of hers, “Your goading falls upon the deaf, I show myself to let my claim on you be known, no more and no less, witch.” Khampuu moves now, the gentle patter of her footsteps a far cry from the utter animalistic way she typically flung herself at the witch. “Adhere to my command, mend your flesh. You are useless as my vessel with such a disfigured limb.” Khampuu lingers close to the water's edge, crouched on her haunches with eyes boring directly into Uyo, much closer than she's ever been without some manner of bloodlust frothing from her. “I require no affirmations on this. Your magic still flows on the wound, that is capitulation enough.” The beast gazes at her with the curiosity of a wild animal, examining her arm once more.“Will you not bathe with me? I am weak, defenseless. If you will not make mincemeat of me at least have the decency to make proper company, beast.” A hum escapes her breast, she is enjoying this, whatever it is. “Do not deny me, that is my command to you.” Wicked is the smile that follows those words, her warmly soaked hair sticking against her face, the golden sheen of her eyes peeking through the strands. An addiction to the conflict, perhaps. The witch is no condition for physical conflict, and yet the beast obliges this tête-à-tête, which brings the selfsame flutter in her chest.“The loss of your arm is driving you to madness, to think you could command me. If you wish to die so brazenly, rise from the waters and I will put you out of your misery.” Khampuu rises to her feet as she issues this challenge.“I refuse. If you wish for my body, you must sink into these waters.” Uyo was adamant, almost childishly so, that her pursuer join her in an intimate bath. “If you wish to continue this impasse, I vow to you that I will win in this conflict. I could reside in this warmth for days, the lovely meal I had this evening will keep me sustained for plenty of time.. Could you survive the frigid winds for as long? You shiver terribly, and yet this is not even close to the harshness of winter in these mountains.” Uyo flits her delicate fingers over the surface of the water, the steam giving her the impression of a shade.Khampuu looked as if she would spit, Uyo wondered if she had the capability, “Had you not flung an inferno during your tantrum, I would have had a meal for myself. You waste flesh, and condemn me to hunger.” Khampuu alludes, barely, to her diet of spoken flesh. This was no surprise to the witch, the first feat Uyo witnessed was the beast tearing furiously through what remained of the Garlean contingent that had her imprisoned. The beauty of her dance still stood firm in Uyo’s mind, to see so much imperial blood spilled so quickly drove her wild, yet the beast would turn that brutality on her shortly after.A shame. Uyo confesses to herself. Words she wouldn’t dare insult the beast with, nor shame herself by admitting aloud. “A foolish magic you employ then, had you any tact you could have at least been feasting on my arm at this moment. Your lack of wit is magnitudes greater than I previously imagined.” Uyo exhales, reclining further against the smooth stone at her back. No matter her movements, her eyes do not leave Khampuu’s gaze. To break the link now would be a defeat, and the beast is well aware of this.“A test of your own skill, one that you failed.” A dagger to Uyo’s heart, “Your failures are my own victories, and soon will come the day I make this star bow at my feet, built upon the boons you give me with every misstep, witch.” The beast clenches her fists, her expression isn't one of an opponent who finally sees victory over a rival, instead she looks as if she lost in some respect. Khampuu shifts her body, starting to make for the clearing she had likely been hiding in.“You are leaving, then?” Uyo raises her voice, almost questioning why Khampuu did not seem to care for their staring contest. “You would leave a wounded young girl alone in the wilderness like this? A curse upon you, monster!” No answer, her words do not seem to stop Khampuu’s stride, Uyo keeps her gaze fixed on her until she fades into the landscape.The moonlight shines brightly over her, alone. Her arm throbs.

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.    The Third Practice.    .

^{lovingly contributed by Khampuu's writer
cw: cannibalism}

.    THINK OF LOVE.    .“A peace offering, of sorts.”The witch looms over the bound and gagged Raen, a man pilfered from a jail cell, caught collaborating with the invading Garleans. Not her first choice; she preferred their foot soldiers, but in these high mountains, she was pressed for choice.Khampuu eyes her potential meal with caution. Uyo had helped her feed a few times, and she’d only suffered ill effect once. “There shall be no peace between us until I have your body for myself,” she decrees. “What use is it providing me sustenance?”“I seek to venture out past the Burn.” Uyo stands stoic, unmoving, even as the collaborator wriggles against her magic seals below her. “Regardless of your presence, I cannot bear to see my compatriots— my family abused so by these Imperials. I will move on their capitol and sort this out myself. A decisive blow.” She gazes up at the sky above, clear and cloudless, squinting at the noontime sun. Part of her wishes the beast would simply cleave her in twain right now, and relieve her of all of the doubts and what-ifs she was now feeling, but she knew Khampuu, perhaps better than any other. The beast was almost too cordial at times. “I know you will follow. Feast, I will not have you turning on me along the way.”Khampuu stays put. A deafening silence fills the air, broken only by the struggling of their prisoner and the low hum of the witch’s bonds against his skin. Finally, she comes to a decision, and speaks. “Turn around, then. I know you do not wish to view the carnage.”Uyo floats away, far enough to not be involved in Khampuu’s vile slaughter, but close enough to not seem as if she’s running away. She is engaging in subterfuge, yes, but the thought of poisoning another of Khampuu’s meals… it was a bridge too far for her, for some reason. Respect for a mortal enemy. The hum of the bindings fades away, and there’s only a single second of screaming before she hears the sickening squelching and cracking of sinew and bone. She times it in her head, well and truly familiar with how long it took her to eat.“I am finished,” says Khampuu, standing over a pile of discarded organs and bones.Uyo drops down, landing on the closest unbloodied spot near the beast. She was wary of sullying her shoes, truly a bitch to clean. “Let us be off, then. We may resume our fight once we are past the desert.”

“You are heartless, Uyo.”Her sister's bitter words echo in her mind. A shot right through her heart. This time, though, not a physical one, like Khampuu delivers. Those are easily healed. No, this one an emotional strike. Even two weeks later, as she performs an act she so loathes— beseeching a monastery for help— it stings her. But she will make it right.“Honored Sennin Uyo?” A monk approaches her. A young boy, hands held behind his back. She’d told them she was a sennin, which is only true if you squint and tilt your head a certain way.“Yes, child, speak freely to me. Have you got something for me?” She puts on a very cutesy voice.He brings his hand around to the front. A sack of herbs in one, a sack of crystals in the other.“Oh, perfect! My, how quick you were with this.” She bows as she accepts the gifts. Uyo never bows, and probably wouldn’t if it weren’t a kid, but she’ll play along.The monk grins and bows in return. “My elders are still working on the fulu! Two hundred, that’s more than I can count to!”She ruffles the hair on top of his head. “I am sure they will teach you soon enough! You seem very bright, my dear.”The young monk bows again, giggling. “I’m going to go watch! Thank you for visiting, Honored Sennin!” He bows again, then toddles away to join the other children.She inspects her requested supplies. The herbs are relatively low quality. She considers spending some time picking out the stems and rocks that have found their way in, but decides it’s not worth the hassle. She knows the beast hates the smell of burning herbs, so something in here has to cause a reaction, she reckons. The crystals, on the other hand, are of the highest quality. Delicate stones of jadeite, rounded and polished. One stone alone would fetch multiple strings of teng. Maybe she’d pocket one for herself once this ordeal is finished. Surely they won’t mind, or at least won’t notice.“Honored Sennin?” She’s interrupted by an older monk, a woman this time. She carries a large wooden box. “Your fulu. Thank you for your patronage. Your donation was not needed, but will help us further our mission. You’re sure you don’t need assistance cleansing this demon? We are happy to lend a few mages.”Uyo shakes her head. This was her war to fight, and she’d just been gifted a super weapon. “It is much too dangerous. This is something I must do myself, my dear.”Very dangerous, in fact. If she fails, it could spell the end of the star.The monk bows and makes herself scarce, once again leaving Uyo along with her thoughts. Doubt inundates her. Not a fear of failure, as Uyo is, in her eyes, perfect, and has thought of every contingency. She questions whether or not she is doing the right thing after all.A chance encounter in a market led to a fiery confrontation, Uyo’s estranged sister lobbing insult after insult at her ageless elder. She’d left more wounded than any single fight with Khampuu over the past few years. A niece, now in her twenties, that she’d never heard of, now with a small child herself. She’d missed everything so far, and she would miss no more. It would be far too dangerous with that beast following her, though.But the rush! She relished in the rush of a particularly tense fight with Khampuu. The sweat, the grime, the dirt, the blood, the soot, the smoke, the light, the dark, the tension, the taunts, the insults, the feeling of her hands on—No. I must go through with this.She offers a prayer to the statue of Nhaama in the courtyard, then leaves without a word. Of course, Khampuu waits for her outside. She was surprisingly respectful of holy sites, though it was probably an aversion to the incense. She ignores the beast for now, and sets off floating back to the nearby village.

“Are you keeping along, Khampuu?”Her singsong voice betrays their relationship, cooing as if she were speaking to a lover rather than her moral enemy, a shade who wanted to steal her body to gain more power. The high peaks of the Crescent fan out below them.Khampuu barely reacts. They can both sense each other, there was no need for a verbal confirmation. There was no need for conversation. They weren’t friends, they were enemies. The uneasy truce they’d silently agreed to changes nothing.Uyo knew she didn’t have much time. The Burn was hell for those who practiced her type of magic, depended on attuning one’s inner heaven to the outer world. Even hers, which overflows with its own energy, would suffer from ill effect in the choking nothingness of the Burn. “I am slowing down,” she calls out behind her, “do not hit me or I will be upset.”Khampuu, somehow trained well by the witch, follows directions, stopping a respectable distance away. She waits patiently for Uyo to continue on.Uyo searches the nearby peaks. The mountains on the southwest side of the Crescent, closest to the Burn, spread out like a jagged maw below her. She scans about, focusing in on a potential target. A mid-sized mountain, enveloped on all sides by the characteristic pearl white sands of the area. She senses no aether flowing sans that delivered by the sun. She glides downward, catching Khampuu by surprise. The witch descends at a rapid rate, on a collision course with the mountain.“Witch, what are you—” Khampuu calls out, though it’s too late. Uyo crashes headfirst into the side of the mountain. The beast pulls up, narrowly avoiding catching herself in the cloud of smoke. She sees no sign of the witch, but still senses her. She dives in and out, seeing no sign of the body. “Witch, come out. Cease this trickery,” she commands, though there is no response.Uyo had correctly guessed that her earth magics would be highly effective against the starved grains in this region. She carves out a walkway, spiraling down to the core of the mountain. The beast seems to have been thoroughly fooled; she is able to work without distraction. She would only have one opportunity. Once sufficiently deep under the ground to where she thinks no one would venture, she carves out a large domed chamber. In the center, she places the gems, arranging them in a circle and burying them each under a small pile of sand. Quickly, she uses her foot to trace a design on the floor, centered on the gems. She places the box of fulu off to the side and the sack of herbs concealed on her side.Khampuu fumes at the surface. She can sense the witch underground, but she cannot find an entrance. Trickery? No, the witch is not so easily fooled. Had she miscalculated and killed herself, the aether Khampuu sensed being just the residual coming from her body?“Witch, come back here this instant!” Her voice is full of panic.Uyo’s head pops out of the ground like a gopher. “Worried about me, my dear?” she says, tauntingly. “I am alright, I found a cave. Would you like to take a look?”“No.” As expected. Khampuu is all business. There’s nothing that would interest her in a cave in a hellscape.“Suit yourself. I may be a while.” Like a mother on a shopping trip, goading a child. She disappears back into the now-visible opening, Khampuu pacing for but a moment before following suit.Uyo can feel the exhaustion hitting her. She’s been expending extra energy in an attempt to make her aether seem normal. The beast would leap at any sign of weakness. She walks composed and normal, staving off exhaustion slightly with a snack of a rice cake.“This cave is strange. It looks carved by man,” says Khampuu, following a few paces behind.Very astute, thinks Uyo, someone had carved these tunnels out, just a few minutes before. She’ll keep that to herself, though. She’s lucky the darkness hides the details, as well.Her mind tells her to hurry, her energy is being sapped. Yet she stops at the entrance to the chamber.“Khampuu.” She turns heel. The beast stops mere ilms away from her, before taking a step back. “Do you think it is possible for us to coexist? I quite like my body, you know.”Khampuu glares, considering the question. Perhaps not the answer, but the meaning behind it.

A cold night in the Crescent. Uyo sits on the roof of a castle, loosely covered by a robe. She’d spent hours charming the daughter of a local noble, carousing and wining her, before they’d spent the night together. She was attractive, rich, and good in bed.Why, then, could Uyo only think of her?A screen door opens below her. She floats up to get a better look.“Always a one night stand…” mutters her bedmate for the night. “This one couldn’t even wait until morning to leave. You’d think people would be fawning over a noble’s daughter.”Vile wretch! thinks Uyo. She’d simply stepped out for some air!She realizes she can’t remember the woman’s name.It’s not too late to save face. She can float down, apologize, and then leave in the morning like she’d been planning.No, she thinks. I will wait for her to fall asleep before joining her again. No use kowtowing to someone who, in Uyo’s eyes, has slighted her.That’ll give her a few more minutes to think of her, too.The noblewoman glides back into the bedchamber, shutting the door behind her. Uyo lowers herself back to the rooftop.“Six years,” she whispers, “six years since I have last seen you.” Another clear sky, just like the day she’d locked her up. The crescent moon blesses her.She thinks about her nieces, the little darlings. Luckily, they seem to have taken after her rather than her wretched sister. Curious, since the older one was already an adult when she met Uyo the first time. Perhaps it skips a generation on occasion.The younger one has learned to walk, learned to run, learn to swing a wooden sword, learned to read. Uyo wasn’t always around, being nomadic by nature, but Mayumi always felt so blessed to see her. “Auntie!” she’d cry, running up and hugging her waist. Uyo always brought a gift.If only I could have them both, she thought.If only you’d said…

“No,” declares Khampuu.There’s some hesitation, but her wording is clear. “We cannot coexist. Impossible to consider. Blasphemy.”Uyo tries her best to keep a straight face, but her lip quivers. How upsetting.She grabs Khampuu by the hand. The beast tries to protest, but the witch is insistent, and Uyo leads her into the chamber. “This room is interesting, is it not? I believe it is used for rituals,” she says, not exactly lying in this instance.Khampuu has no opportunity to offer a response. Uyo drags her to the center of the room, and once within the circle of gems, she casts a simple binding spell. A trivial thing for Khampuu to free herself from, but Uyo just needs a moment. Before the beast can swing at her, she rips the sack of herbs from her side, tossing it forward and igniting it with a burst of searing light. Khampuu collapses to the ground, shaking. Seems to have been a potent blend.Another binding spell, this one more technical, but once again just to buy a modicum of time. Khampuu struggles against the magic manacles. “Witch, you… you have… you tricked me.” She cannot even feign anger. Resignation. She’s suddenly aware of her surroundings: the small piles of sand with glimmers of green now poking out, an elaborately carved magical circle, a box of fulu. She’d been defeated. She stops struggling altogether.Uyo begins to suffuse the leylines below her with amber light. “You wretched thing. You should have said yes. Even if it was a lie. This did not have to end like this!” Her voice is shaky, but her movements are pointed and deliberate. The entire room glows. “At my touch, you will be sealed away. You will not torment me—” She hesitates, choosing her words carefully. “You will not torment others any longer.” She struts to the middle of the room, face to face now with the beast, now collapsed on her knees.The fulu rise from the box, spinning around the room in two circles.“Witch, I…” mutters Khampuu, but she’s unable to speak for long. The herbs have thoroughly sapped her strength.“Spare me your begging. I have made up my mind.” She’s lying. Even now, she hesitates. She could very well end this now, sealing the beast away forever. Khampuu has even given up.She brings her face right up to the beast’s. Khampuu musters just enough fortitude to raise her face to get one last look at she who finally bested her after years of work. A simple ruse and a pouch of potent herbs was all that was needed to best this demon, a god upon the star, now lowering herself to taunt Khampuu in her lowest moment.She’d not expected the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.“Khampuu.” The witch sniffles. “I wish it could be different. I wish you— I wish we could…” Tears fall like the frequent rain on Uyo’s precious Crescent.Kiss her.It’s all she can think about right now.Years spent together, shadowing each other, the trials and tribulations. She was such a large part of Uyo’s life. It felt only natural.She touches a hand to Khampuu’s shoulder to pull her in for a kiss, forgetting that the touch would complete the ritual.Her lips a mere ilm away from Khampuu’s before she’s forced to pull away.The gems rise from the floor, creating a cage of light. The fulu, one by one, plaster themselves on the surface. Thwip. Thwip. Thwip. Soon, Khampuu is out of view.Uyo doesn’t dare to stop the ritual, but doesn’t wish to stay to see the end of it. Deep down, in fact, she hopes it fails. She flees from the chamber, hoping some miracle happens and Khampuu breaks free, in which case she’d wish to be as far away as possible.No such escape happens. The last fulu slams itself down onto the now caged beast. She’s well and truly sealed. It took an entire mountain to do so.You are heartless, Uyo, she thinks to herself. She should be happy. She had won. Instead, she wails on the side of the mountain.

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.    The Fourth Practice.    .

^{co-written with Khampuu's writer
cw: enforced heterosexuality, implied childhood emotional abuse}

.    VISITOR FROM ON HIGH.    .Finally, some solace.Chiyo had been left alone well enough for most of her seclusion, but she could still feel their presence. Her husband, his parents, and the housemaid buzzing about the house, doing this or that task so she could focus on her dear little Mayumi, a hair under three months old. Today, though, sensing she wanted some true alone time, Qochi, her dear husband, took his parents into the city proper to stock up at the market, and the housemaid was given the day off.Soon, Chiyo would be allowed to walk free, allowed to start working on her artwork again, allowed to pretend her life hadn’t changed dramatically, that things would go back to “normal”, whatever that means. For now, she was free to cradle and nuzzle her dear little one.Rain fell steadily outside, as it did in the entire Crescent for the majority of the year. She thought of opening the window, hearing the pitter-patter of the droplets on the roof from the second floor window, but thought better of it. The entire manor was unseasonably hot, meant to keep her and Mayumi safe. Red drapery adorned the walls to keep in the heat, matching her likewise colored robe, the color symbolizing good luck in their culture. So she contented herself with humming a song softly to her child, one she’d learned not from her own mother, but from a friend with a child of her own. She couldn’t quite remember the lyrics, but the melody was there.She can’t remember a single time her mother ever sang to her, or hummed to her to keep her calm, or anything of the sort. And soon, that same mother who was so cold and uncaring to her for her entire life, the very one who convinced her to go along with this entire ordeal in the first place, would be there. Probably, Chiyo thought, to instill that very same coldness into Mayumi.Almost as suddenly as the thought pops into her mind, she feels it. That presence, that overwhelming presence. Had she come already? She thought she had more time.Chiyo makes herself and the baby a bit more presentable, staring at the heavy wooden door.Would she even be faulted for not opening the door? She’s supposed to be resting, after all.There’s no knock, but she can feel that overwhelming flood of energy…Something is off. This is… much more powerful, she thinks. Her mother, who would have been naturally gifted as a mage, shunned her abilities, thinking them a source of moral corruption, something which had tainted her father and driven him mad, and which drove her to leave him and her sister. There was no way in any hell she would’ve trained to have this overwhelming of a presence, but it still felt like her.She stands, waiting for a knock.—Upon the peak that hangs eternally over Reichouen, a lone figure rests upon a stone, her parasol propped and concealing her from the Crescent's downpour.Uyo's watches from on high, her gaze occasionally flitting to a large manor on the edge of town. She could feel her, if only slightly. A woman that shares the Erayo blood— No, two. The other was much smaller, had she already given birth? Her mind was in tatters. A scant few days prior, she was traipsing around the Burn to seal a wretched beast. To Uyo, it may as well have been several lifetimes gone by.This is why she was here, wasn't it? The witch had made her choice. Her sordid joy, the rushes when claw met skin, the raw ache when she would turn her back to her again, and again, and again...She’d probably never feel that again.No matter. The tears had stopped flowing just a day ago. Proper timing, she thought. Now, only the sky weeps for her.A sigh leaves her, loud and painfully wistful, she absentmindedly twists and twirls the parasol in hand, making a dazzling little array of droplets spin about. Her mind wanders again to that happenstance reunion. The way her sisters face contorted in disgust at her, how many horrid things she said, and no doubt the myriad more she declined to say. Uyo felt stricken the very moment she saw her, thinking she would never see her beloved sibling ever again, only for time to have grown a hatred within her.Uyo couldn't understand it. They had both suffered at their father's hand, Uyo spent their days together keeping her sister from harm, which had only threatened to grow worse after their mother passed. Father never cared for the lot of them, but mother—One single tear leaves her eye. The witch always had one to spare for her beloved mother.She rises to her feet, resting the pole of her parasol against her shoulder. In her mind, she supposes that too much time had passed for her sister, wounds had grown too deep, overtaken what memory of pleasantness they had between them. The long, crooked reach of their fathers hatred successfully split them apart, that is what she chooses to believe.She takes a few quiet steps forward, not descending down the rocky side of the peak, but instead calling to the winds and walking atop the air itself. The mountains and all that surround them cater to her, and with a single thought she begins to descend, her robes billowing pleasantly beneath her.Before long, her feet return to the earth, and she stands silently in front of the manor doors. She stares at them. Behind the threshold, something resembling a family reside.Not her family, surely. Uyo had no family. Just a sister that despised her, and a father that thought her a failure even as she ascended far past him. The closest thing to her was a rabid beast, now chained and sealed away. Her heart hasn't beat the same way since.She could leave. She should leave. There was no room for a vile witch here. Stick to the forests, to the mountaintops and the hidden springs. She wasn't meant to be among mortals in this fashion. It was selfish, a disastrous thing to even consider. Her kin was right, she was a monster to be reviled, not a woman, certainly not a sister.Erayo no Uyo smiles. She was always a horrible listener.Her knuckles rap once, twice, against the manor doors.—“Yes?” said Chiyo, well aware of how she would be expected to act in a situation such as this. It was considered rude to intrude on a mother’s recuperation period. “Please state your business, I am with my child.” She’s backed up quite a bit from the door, sheltering at the base of a large dogu she’d made depicting Nhaama, one which she adored so much she’d kept as a personal decoration.Now under the relative safety of the manor awning, Uyo lowers her parasol, "I come to visit the lady of this manor, I am… her aunt." It takes little effort, but Uyo adjusts her hair and straightens her shoulders.Inside, Chiyo freezes. The witch herself shows her face, it seems. She’s heard much about this wicked aunt of hers from her mother. A cowardly, self-obsessed woman who refused to join in the small rebellion against their father. One who’d so often spoken as to the beauty and care of their mother who died when Chiyo’s own mother was young, and so often cursed their abusive father, yet stayed put when the time came for the two of them to run away from his vile influence.Of course, that was many decades ago. Chiyo was about as old now as the story was when she first heard it. This fabled auntie a mere boogeyman invoked by her mother to enforce a certain line of thinking. To encourage Chiyo not to cultivate her abilities, but to suppress them and fall into society as a whole, especially with a rabid empire breathing down the door. That it now fell to Chiyo to rebuild the Erayo lineage, if not by name, by blood.Now, the boogeyman had come for her.She weighs her options. Surely, if this auntie were so powerful, she wouldn’t ask for permission to come in, she’d simply blow the door down and kill the pair then and there. Perhaps she could be reasoned with, then. Perhaps she could be sent away with a simple word. After all, if this were her true flesh and blood, they’d been absent all of Chiyo’s life. Surely, one could understand the hesitation in a scenario like that.Yet, she can’t bring herself to say it. She can’t send her away.Mother was so often wrong about everything. Perhaps she should seize this opportunity for another small rebellion?She unlatches the door, but retreats a bit further in before speaking again. “I am she. Remove your shoes, leave your umbrella outside, and shut the door quick. We must stay warm.”Doing as she's told, Uyo cracks the door open and takes that first cautious step inside. She didn't have much to be afraid of, but a part of her felt subtly nervous upon entering. The oppressive heat did nothing to help the sensation; the door shutting behind her felt like settling in for the night next to a roaring geyser. At once, she crouches to undo and remove her boots, setting them to the side, not entirely sure if the placement is appropriate. Uyo rises once more, finally meeting the face of the woman who allowed her inside.It was as if she had peered into a mirror. A different version of her altogether, a woman with nearly identical features stood before her, clutching her child. It felt an almost narcissistic feeling to be overcome with, but this woman's beauty was an entirely different concept altogether. She held on to the glow of a new mother, the sharp confidence of her expression made Uyo feel somewhat small, as if she wasn't a witch of extraordinary strength. No, this woman held a pressure that was strictly for women of their blood, a blessing bestowed upon Uyo by her own mother, and her mother before her.It's a long, uncomfortable silence, those few seconds before Uyo nods her head, "I am Erayo no Uyo," She brings her hands to rest at her front, polite as can be, "I was hoping to meet you. Your mother— my sister, she… neglected many details. I pieced together what I could to find you here. She had said you were with child. You are blessed, I am terribly sorry to intrude." Her lips purse to a thin line, the heat is scarcely helping with her shot nerves.Chiyo wears the countenance of a tiger in the brush, clutching her babbling daughter to her chest. A quick examination gives her some refuge; the woman was her spitting image, after all, and bore at least a bit of a resemblance to her mother. She had a name now, too. Uyo. Short and sweet, it bounced about her head.Some details, however, didn’t sit right with her.“Explain, then,” she starts, still guarding her daughter, ready to flee out the back door at a moment’s notice, “why have you neglected to visit me for my entire life, and why do you appear to be my age?” The latter question a rhetorical one, she had an inkling of an idea.Uyo nearly bows her head at the questioning. It was the appropriate reaction, to have an aunt that never visited for your entire life, to grow a resentment. A sick feeling rises in her stomach, was this too another relative who hated the sight of her?"I did not know you existed," Simply put, it was the honest answer, "Had I any inkling that my sister had formed her own family, I would have. You have my most sincere of apologies," Uyo grips at her wrist, she never apologizes, yet the overbearing atmosphere beckoned it from her. It was the second question that brought her a moment of pause. Uyo felt it in this woman, that talent that rests within herself and, at one point, her own sister. It's not as if Uyo kept herself a secret, in that regard. A small grin forms on her face, warm and welcoming, "As for your second question, I am undying, my dear. I imagine we are physically of similar age. I pray you are not… disturbed, by such an admission. I do not wish to obfuscate, I am a guest. That would be rude."“It’s rude to intrude on a woman during this time of her life in any case.” Chiyo, with her free hand, brushes her hair out of her face. She’s smirking. “Truth be told, though… I’d thought you a shikaisen, or my mother. I was hoping for the former, I can deal with those.” She giggles softly. “I am Chiyo, also of clan Erayo. Mother — your sister — married a lowborn, so I still carry our family name. And, this one,” she hikes her daughter up, clearly showing her face, “is Mayumi, my daughter. The kitchen is on the left. You can make us some tea.”—

Dried plums, goji berry, ginger, and raisins boiled in a pot. This would suffice for tea. Uyo raised no hackles at being ordered around a bit. After all, it was she who was intruding on the sacred hundred days of rest for a mother.Chiyo, meanwhile, had collected Mayumi in an araga, gently rocking the basket on her knee and cooing to her. “My, my, Mayumi, my dear little Mayumi, your scales are so pretty already!” she sings quietly, just loud enough for her auntie to hear.Uyo sets a bowl at Chiyo's side, slowly pouring the tea. "Her beauty will be boundless when she grows, of that I have little doubt. Oh— and her scales, such a wondrous color." Mayumi's, not at all like her mother or her great-auntie, were tinged an earthy brown. "Little Mayumi, such a precious name. You have done spectacularly well for yourself, Chiyo." Uyo fixes herself a bowl, then sits at her niece's side, her eyes stay locked with that new little life, only breaking when necessary to gaze upon her equally divine mother. "I hope the tea is to your liking as well, my dear. It is not terribly often that I am on the side of servitude." Uyo gives a quiet giggle, careful not to disturb the baby's tranquility, "Pardon my curiosity, but… I anticipated more faces here. My sister included, has she not come to see her yet?"Chiyo sighs, placing the araga on the bench to her side. “My… husband and his parents are out to town. We have a servant, she’s got the day off. As for mother…” She pauses, taking a good look at her auntie. Despite her initial apprehension, she feels some strange connection growing. The woman she’d heard nothing but horror stories of seems so pedestrian and normal. Compared to Chiyo, at least. “Mother and father were supposed to be here, but they never showed. Not for the birth, not for the first eighty five of my hundred days. On this, the eighty sixth, you showed up.”Uyo senses the obfuscation in Chiyo’s voice. Despite never having met, their way of speaking was so similar, as if their brains had been wired together. “And, my dear, why would that be?” she asks.“It’s simple.” Chiyo leans over, sticking her face in the basket to nuzzle Mayumi, humming a bit. “I didn’t want her here. I don’t want her around my daughter. So I delayed telling her until the last moment.”Uyo covers her mouth, not to gasp, but to stifle a spell of laughter. The feeling quickly passes when she realizes the gravity of that. "I thought her coldness extended only to me, that you would hold the news for nearly the entire duration…"Some time prior, Uyo had taken the time to visit her sister's village, not trudging any further than the single mountain road that led to it. Upon her decision to prioritize her family, the witch felt just jilted enough to impede upon her dear sister. The mountains are a harsh mistress, and the occasional landslide is to be expected. Uyo had witnessed, and caused, a great many herself, and so she knew precisely how to most effectively cut a road off, so that the clearing effort would take several days, perhaps a week or two.It seems silly now in retrospect, a completely unneeded effort. Yet her smile grows a little wider thinking of the inconvenience."To be denied the sight of this," Uyo leans closer to Mayumi, cooing away in her araga. The witch offers the child her pinky, and Mayumi gladly grips at it, squeezing her as tight as her mighty fist can muster, "I cannot imagine the sins I would that need be committed to be punished in such a way. Rest assured, I will attempt to stay in your good graces, my Chiyo." It was impossible for Uyo to not feel so familiar with her, it felt like a piece of her puzzle had fallen into place, she had known this woman for her entire life, not just the span of a little under an hour.“She likes you.” Chiyo gently caresses her daughter’s face. She would be the litmus test, she decided. “Auntie, she likes you. That means you’re a good person.” She gazes up at her newest family member, not the daughter she’d given birth to, but a young old woman. How foolish she must sound, declaring her a good person when she knew nothing of her history, none of her deeds.Now, though, it didn’t matter. She’d at least be useful to piss off her dear old mother. Chiyo figures she should stir the pot a bit more.“Auntie, may I come clean to you about something?” She takes a hefty sip of her tea. She didn’t like it, not as a fault of Uyo’s brewing, but as a consequence of the ingredients. She’d at least gotten used to it at this point. She places down her bowl, a beautiful porcelain thing she’d fired and decorated herself. “I never wanted to get married. Did you know that? I don’t like my husband like that. We were pressured by our families.”Uyo, still quietly allowing Mayumi to fuss about with her dainty hand, shoots a sideways glance in Chiyo's direction, "You've hardly the countenance of a woman who routinely lays with men. I can discern such things, you know," Uyo says, lying, "Though… this raises a far more interesting question. One I feel rather hesitant to ask." Uyo nearly bit her tongue, she hadn't meant to say it, but the thought arose before her mind could perish it, "Why allow yourself to be pressured? To chain yourself to someone you do not even enjoy… this sounds like a terrible tragedy." Uyo can't help it, her mind briefly wandering to that lonely tomb out in the Burn. It was more than likely that her name was being cursed at this very moment, "You live nicely. Enough to afford all this fine pottery, even. Oh, it is all so beautiful. My eyes are taken with everything I see, I can scarcely look about the room without some earthenware filling my vision."Why? Chiyo couldn’t answer, not in this instance, or any of the other times she asked herself. It’s not the first time it was presented to her, not the first time she met her now husband, a man in quite the same situation as her, not at the ceremony, an awkward affair where neither could muster the courage to kiss on the lips so they settled on the cheek, not during the entire nine months she’d carried Mayumi, an unhappy ordeal for her for most of that time. It wasn’t the traditional unhappy marriage, marked by coldness, anger, and tears. Just a silent, mutual sadness at the resignation they’d both shown. They were friends, sure, and Qochi seemed to genuinely care for her, performing husbandly deeds that he probably never fathomed he’d need to do, but they knew what they were doing was wrong, a moral wrong they shouldn’t have let happen, but now, with a young child, they were too far in to do anything about it without making the situation worse.Something had changed, though. Maybe it was slightly before the birth, maybe the first time she held Mayumi as the umbilicus burned, filling the air with that faint smell she didn’t like, drowned out by the sight of the little warrior she’d birthed. She felt… different. Proud. Happy.She’d never let her mother win ever again. For Mayumi’s sake.But maybe it’s a bit too early to spill all of this to Auntie. She’ll look crazy.“The pottery, yes, it’s all mine and my husband’s. We’re both sculptors, so we’re used to working with clay. That’s how we met.” She taps the side of her bowl. “I made these on commission a bit ago. There was a bit of an error in my painting of the glaze, so I kept them.” She lifts Mayumi from the araga, placing her on her lap. “It works for us. It pays well, is light work, and we get to learn about all matter of tangri and kami.”Uyo raises her bowl upward, getting a good look at it from multiple angles. 'A bit of an error', the witch's eyes couldn't see one. They were beautiful, expertly crafted, Uyo couldn't help but stare a little too long. After her gawping, she takes a sip of her tea. It was terrible, she completely botched something during the brewing, but she couldn't place just what it was. Chiyo seemed to enjoy it, and so she only allowed a small measure of embarrassment to weigh upon her, "Artisans. How lovely, I am thoroughly impressed. To be so skilled with the hands, ah— I am somewhat jealous. To create so much, call it yours, you leave behind an entire repertoire of masterworks." Uyo sighs, her signature hum bellows through the room. "I am pleased you are able to make a life with such talents. Yet… my Chiyo," Her eyes lock to Chiyo's, gaze suddenly quite sharp, a brief challenge of will, "You did not answer my first question."Chiyo licks, then bites her bottom lip. She was hoping it’d be glossed over, like a small imperfection in clay being covered by glaze. No such luck.“I can’t answer that.” And she truly cannot. Half because she didn’t know, half because the thought made her sick. “Auntie, do you have children yourself? You’re quite old, but still beautiful. I’m not sure how your… condition affects your body in that way, but I also suppose you could’ve had some beforehand. It would be nice if there were more Erayo about, no?” Assuming they were not like her mother, of course."It would be nice, wouldn't it? There are so few of us now," The Erayo were always small in number, but their numbers only truly dwindled recently, enough that only a single family remained, "I am without children of my own. It is a complicated thing, but the short of it: I prefer women, darling." Uyo gives a sheepish smile, "I haven't laid with a partner that could test my body's ability to create life. I simply do not know."The topic was slowly whittling away at her, but her face held strong. She could still smell the lingering from the seal clasping down, the look of her sprawled upon the ground, desperately staring back at her in those final moments.She bites at the inner of her mouth, "You are creating a beautiful new beginning for the Erayo clan, Chiyo. Of this I have no doubts."Chiyo, meanwhile, has taken to fussing over her daughter once again. “Hmm. Maybe, but, at the end of the day, she’s a Joutouguu. That’s where she gets her beautiful little scales from!” A kiss on the forehead for the little one. “That doesn’t matter to me, though. I love her all the same, no matter what her clan is. She’s mine. I can’t wish for anything more.”Uyo quietly watches the two of them for a moment, a mother so deeply enchanted by her child. The witch could only imagine that her own mother held such a passion for her at that time, surely. She can't help but smile, "Erayo is a name that comes with much expectation, I do suppose. Burdens that this sweet little creature has no need for."It's strange, really. The Erayo have no expectations, at least not anymore, a clan bent in its entirety to chase a single concept: immortality. Uyo had reached it, perfected the method so thoroughly that it could potentially be taught, she supposed. The witch was never close enough to any to pass the teachings along, and for the longest time she thought her kin was either dead or hiding from her.A thought fills her mind, it becomes so loud that she can't possibly push it away, "Nothing, thought? You could not wish for anything more?" She can’t play her entire hand so easily. Not now, not here. This woman was in the throes of newly-attained motherhood, to fill Chiyo's mind with the selfsame desire of longevity now would be sickeningly easy. Uyo wasn’t here to take advantage of her.“Absolutely nothing. Unless it will help me love her more. I’ve decided she is my reward for this situation I’m in.” Chiyo locks eyes with her auntie, their golden orbs like four competing sunrises over the peaks of the nearby mountains. “Where are you staying, Auntie? I’ll do you a kindness, we have many extra rooms. You’re free to stay here as long as you’d like.”Chiyo's kindness squashes the notion in her mind, for now, "Why, just until a moment ago I was at the mountains peak, but the rain, you see…" The witch giggles, "Hardly a kind place to reside, the rain has been so persistent these past few days. It would be a great honor to continue being your guest."How perfect, she thought, ample time to grow closer to her niece. Meet her husband, ingrain herself, spend more time with that darling little Mayumi. She had all but ensured that her sister wouldn't be able to intrude, even if Chiyo had bestowed her the knowledge of the birth."I do promise to not be a burden, of course." Uyo's face is bright, this was the first time she had felt anything resembling happiness in days.Mayumi starts to whimper, so Chiyo lifts her up and cradles her. “It’s no burden, Auntie. As you can plainly see, we are well off enough to support a further five aunties, if we had the rooms available.” And, how she wishes she could. That would be sure to raise hell with her mother! “My in-laws can be suffocating at times, and my mother is… my mother, hence her absence. It will be nice to have someone I agree with here.” She hums softly, kissing Mayumi on the forehead.“I will not suffer my daughter to my fate,” she continues. “She will be loved, she will be nurtured, she will not be deprived of contact with the only family she has. You, Auntie. How I wish I could’ve met you sooner. I…” She begins to choke up. “I have just one condition: you keep watch over her, protect her, love her, if only half as much as I do. That will be enough. I require no money or chores from you. Just your attention.”"You have my solemn vow, I will remain for as long as you wish." Chiyo truly has no idea what Uyo gave away to be here, in this moment, "What time you and I have missed, I will ensure it is rectified. Oh, how darling you must have been at her age, hm?" A silent curse to her sister for depriving her of this, all but insisting that she wouldn't be wanted here. How ironic, Uyo can't help but feel a small, wretched little hatred for her sister as well, emboldened by the casual indifference of her daughter,"— though, I do not mind helping around the house, of course. I am no layabout! Is that not right, little sweet thing…" Uyo closes the distance between herself and Mayumi, poking at her little baby feet, making her kick her legs about.“Her qudug will be soon, too. You are welcome in my presence during. All of my girlfriends will be there.” A heavy sigh. “And mother, of course. I trust you will be on your best behavior, hmm?” She chuckles; Uyo mentally remarking at how similar the two were, even down to the sense of humor. “I’ve talked overlong, Mayumi is probably hungry. You’re free to join me in my red room if you’re comfortable with it.”Uyo's heart felt truly full, to be so welcomed and accepted by her niece, invited into her life with open arms. She thumbs away a few tears, waving off the concerns that Chiyo begins to speak. "I am not upset, dear, I am just somewhat overwhelmed," by a love she had no inkling that she had within her, of that beautiful new life that continued to stare, stare, stare at her. Eyes wide at the odd, giggly woman who looked exactly like her mother. Overwhelmed that, somewhere in her heart, her sealing of a lover by another name felt justified, a weight that wouldn't leave her for decades, "My best behavior, you again have my word. I will be a picturesque auntie for you, and for her."Uyo dutifully follows at Chiyo's side, wiggling her fingers in Mayumi's face as they sojourn to her red room.

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