month record rogue 4 5 2

Beneath the lush Ashoka tree, Jieyun shoulders her heavy backpack. She sits quietly, her legs crossed.

There once was a fowlbeast who traveled alongside her. Together, they crossed the land and the nomadic cities. She pours her spirit into it, so when it hungers, she too suffers. When it cries, she too feels sorrow. When its young hatch, she too feels joy. When it dies of age, its body turns to ash, and Jieyun's spirit returns to the forest. There was once a boulder that held back a raging river as she forded it. She becomes that boulder, feeling the endless torrent of water erode her away, feeling the trampling feet of travelers, providing shade to passing fins, before finally crumbling away as summer turns to winter, becoming a slew of pebbles strewn across the riverbed. Jieyun returns once more to the woods. She now understands that, whether living or not, all things fade away. Nothing can be brought along.

Raging waves churn the sea, and the Seaborn lift themselves aloft, casting off their ocean-going forms to fly off into the sky. Jieyun says to her fellow Seaborn: 'You have given up your form.' The Seaborn reply that they have always been giving up their forms, changing from one to another, so that they can ascend to the heavens during the day. Then, Jieyun understands that 'form' is meant to be abandoned.

Rootless flowers bloom intensely across the icefield, and demons scatter across the land. Jieyun says to her fellow demons: 'You have no thoughts worthy of this land.' The demons do not respond, continuing their eternal existence where they stand. Then, Jieyun understands that 'thoughts' are meant to be abandoned.

Jieyun finally opens her eyes. She has been a fowlbeast, a boulder, a flying Seaborn, a chaotic demon, and now she returns to 'herself', as she has found the answer. She stops her self-interrogation, her backpack still as heavy as ever. It seems she is now able to make out the vague outline of the bell tower, but still cannot find its gate.

A Seaborn that was wandering the Ashoka woods has been standing by Jieyun's side for a while now, its head bowed. It has heard all her questions and all her answers. A sudden sensation of heat begins to spread from behind its head. The Seaborn extends an arm, then another, and yet another, feeling at the back of its own head. There is a back ring there, though it does not know when it appeared. It was enlightened by Jieyun's words, and its eight limbs now stroke its new black ring with joy. The bell tolls, and it walks into the tower.