Chapter 194: Chapter 189: Mother Has Legs
Location: Pavilion - Private Quarters
Ti: Day 231 (Doha Actual) | 765 - 21 Voidmarch, 9938 AZI (Evening)
"There’s sothing else."
Yinxin’s voice had shifted—lighter now, almost hesitant. The heavy emotional weight of her story was settling, and sothing new was rising to take its place.
"The mories showed
how to do sothing I never learned. Sothing all dragons can do, but..." She trailed off, a note of old grief in her voice. "My mother never taught . She was too broken by then, too hollow. And the other dragons on Telia—most were being hunted. There was no one left to teach the young ones."
Jayde raised an eyebrow. "Teach you what?"
"Shapeshifting."
"You can already shapeshift. I’ve seen you change size—"
"Not size shifting. True transformation. Taking a completely different form." Yinxin’s golden eyes held a mix of excitent and nervousness. "Human form."
The room went very still.
"Show us," Jayde said.
Yinxin closed her eyes. Concentrated. Reached for mories that weren’t quite hers—ancient queen knowledge, passed down through generations, explaining the technique in terms she was only beginning to understand.
Silver light rippled across her scales.
Her massive form began to shrink. Scales retracted, flowing into skin like water into sand. Wings folded and folded and vanished. The long, serpentine neck compressed, the tail retreated, the bulk of an ancient dragon compressed into sothing impossibly small.
And where a three-thousand-year-old silver dragon had crouched, a woman now stood.
***
She was tall—about five foot ten—with silver-white hair that flowed past her waist in waves that seed to move on their own. Her eyes remained golden, dragon eyes in a human face, bright and ancient and not quite right. Her skin was pale with a faint silver undertone, almost luminescent in the Pavilion’s soft lighting.
The transformation had created clothing with her—simple robes in silver and white, elegant without being elaborate. She was stunningly beautiful in a way that wasn’t quite human. Too perfect. Too ethereal. The kind of beauty that made you uncomfortable if you looked too long.
And she was staring at her legs with an expression of absolute bewildernt.
"These are so strange," Yinxin said, her voice now higher, musical, with the faintest harmonic resonance. "How do you balance on only two points of contact?"
The wyrmlings woke up.
The silence lasted approximately three seconds.
Then Tianxin’s voice, shrill with shock: "MOTHER HAS LEGS!"
"Mother is SMALL!" Shenxin added, scrambling to his feet.
"Mother and Aunty Jayde are the SA!" Huaxin observed, her eyes huge.
They sward their transford mother with the sa enthusiasm they’d shown the kitten earlier. Poking at her legs. Circling her feet. Trying to climb her.
Yinxin wobbled dangerously.
"Children—wait—I haven’t—"
She took a step and imdiately grabbed for Jayde’s arm, nearly pulling them both down.
"How do you BALANCE?!" The question ca out almost as a wail. "There’s no tail for counterweight! No wings for stability! Just these—these STICKS!"
Jayde was trying very hard not to laugh. "It takes practice."
"Dragons have four legs! Four legs make SENSE! Two legs is clearly a design flaw!"
"Billions of humans would disagree."
"Billions of humans are WRONG!"
Tianxin, anwhile, had discovered that mother’s new robes were excellent for climbing. She was halfway up her leg before Yinxin noticed, which caused her to yelp and stumble sideways into Reiko.
[OW,] Reiko sent, as several hundred pounds of confused dragon-woman crashed into his flank. [Watch the—watch the everything, please.]
"Sorry! Sorry, I can’t—these LEGS—"
The emotional weight of the evening had been completely shattered by wyrmling chaos and the sight of an ancient dragon queen flailing about like a newborn foal.
Jayde was laughing too hard to help.
***
"Okay. Okay, let’s... let’s try this properly."
Twenty minutes later, the wyrmlings had been convinced to watch from a safe distance (the promise of extra treats helped), and Jayde was attempting to teach Yinxin the basics of human locomotion.
"One foot in front of the other. Weight shifts as you step. Arms move opposite to legs for balance."
Yinxin took a step. Then another. Then three more.
"I’m doing it!" Pride lit her features. "I’m actually—"
She tripped over Shenxin, who had snuck back to investigate, and landed directly on top of Reiko.
[AGAIN?!] The shadowbeast’s ntal voice was incredulous. [I’m not a cushion!]
"The hatchling was in the way!"
"Mother fell on uncle!" Shenxin reported gleefully. "Again!"
Attempt number two went better. Yinxin made it halfway across the room before losing her balance. Attempt three, she reached the far wall. Attempt four, she managed a complete circuit.
And then Jayde noticed sothing.
"Yinxin... why are you walking like that?"
"Like what?" Yinxin looked down at herself. "I’m copying how I saw won walk on Telia."
Jayde’s eyes narrowed. The silver-haired woman was moving with a pronounced sway—hips rolling with each step, an exaggerated sashay that drew attention to certain areas in ways that were definitely intentional.
"Where... exactly did you observe won walking?"
"A district near the port. Very colorful. Lots of lights and music." Yinxin seed pleased with herself. "The won there walked like this, and the males seed very attentive to them. I assud it was the proper technique for attracting attention."
Jayde’s face went through several expressions in rapid succession. Horror. Realization. More horror.
Reiko, who had apparently figured it out at the sa ti, sent: [Oh no.]
"Yinxin." Jayde’s voice had gone very careful. "That was... that was not a place where respectable ladies walked."
"But I am not a lady." Yinxin looked genuinely confused. "I am a dragon."
"Yes, but when you’re in human form—"
"Why does form matter? Movent is movent."
"It’s... humans have rules about..." Jayde struggled for words. "Certain ways of walking imply certain... professions..."
She was holding Huaxin in her arms—the quietest wyrmling had climbed up during the lesson, seeking comfort. And without thinking, completely on instinct, Jayde covered her ears with her hands.
Yinxin stared at her.
"Why are you covering the hatchling’s ears?"
Jayde froze. Looked down at Huaxin, whose ears were indeed covered by her palms. Looked back at Yinxin.
"I... habit. Humans cover children’s ears when discussing adult topics."
"But the hatchling cannot hear your telepathic speech."
"..."
"..."
Jayde slowly removed her hands from Huaxin’s very confused ears. The wyrmling looked up at her with an expression that clearly asked why Aunty Jayde had suddenly decided to give her ear muffs.
"Right. Yes. I knew that."
She buried her face in her free hand.
"Humans have very strange rules," Yinxin observed.
"We really do."
***
Teaching Yinxin to walk properly took another hour.
"Less hip. Less—no, less than that. Just... walk normally."
"This IS normal."
"That is not normal. That is advertising."
"I don’t understand what I’m advertising."
"YOURSELF, Yinxin. You’re advertising YOURSELF."
"But I’m right here. Why would I need to advertise my location?"
Jayde made a sound that was sowhere between a groan and a scream.
The wyrmlings, who had given up on understanding what was happening, had turned the situation into a ga. They were waddling behind their mother, copying her movents—three tiny dragons with pronounced hip sways, looking like the world’s strangest parade.
"No," Jayde said, watching them. "No, n,o no. Stop. Everyone, stop."
"But we’re walking like mother!" Tianxin protested.
"Mother walks wrong."
"Mother walks GREAT!"
Reiko, who had wisely stayed out of the walking lessons, was watching with barely concealed amusent. [This is the most entertainnt I’ve had in months.]
[You’re not helping,] Jayde sent back.
[I know. Isn’t it wonderful?]
***
By the ti Yinxin could walk without looking like she was soliciting custors, the evening had grown late. The wyrmlings were flagging again, worn out by the excitent of their mother’s transformation. Takara had long since fallen asleep in a corner, curled into a tight ball of white fur.
"Your turn," Yinxin said, settling carefully onto a cushion in her human form. She was clearly exhausted—shapeshifting and walking lessons had drained her more than she’d expected. "Reiko. You haven’t told us about your transformation."
The massive shadowbeast shifted in his corner. The rcury rune on his forehead pulsed with faint light as he gathered his thoughts.
[It’s... complicated,] he sent finally. [When I was in the cocoon, sothing awakened. Old mories. Inherited knowledge. But it’s all jumbled, like—]
"Like trying to read a library that’s been shaken," Yinxin finished softly. "I understand."
[Do you?] Reiko’s sapphire eyes t her golden ones. [Because I don’t. I don’t understand any of it. I have mories of things I’ve never seen, knowledge of techniques I’ve never learned, and this—] His paw touched the rune on his forehead. [This thing that pulses whenever I think about what I’m becoming.]
Yinxin was very still. Sothing flickered in her expression—recognition, quickly suppressed.
"What do you rember?" Jayde asked. "Anything specific?"
[Fragnts. Images without context. A path of cultivation that has nothing to do with what shadowbeasts usually practice.] Reiko’s frustration bled through the ntal link. [It’s like being given a book in a language you don’t quite speak. I can feel that it’s important, but I can’t read it clearly.]
Yinxin took a breath. Made a decision.
"Reiko. I need to tell you sothing."
He looked at her.
"You are no longer a shadowbeast."
The words hung in the air. Reiko’s form went very still.
[What?]
"The cultivation path of shadowbeasts... it’s no longer valid for you. Whatever you beca during the transformation—whatever those mories are trying to teach you—it’s sothing different. Sothing older." Yinxin’s voice was gentle but firm. "Your mories hold the answer. Your new path is there. But you must find it yourself."
[You know what I am.] It wasn’t a question. [I can tell. You recognized sothing when you looked at . That rune—you know what it ans.]
Yinxin hesitated. She did know. The inherited mories were clear—that rune marked a fledgling beast lord, an heir to powers that predated the current age. But telling him...
"I know that you will beco sothing magnificent," she said finally. "But the how is yours to discover. I cannot guide you in this. Only you can walk your own destiny."
[That’s frustratingly vague.]
"Truth often is."
Reiko was silent for a long mont. The rune on his forehead pulsed—once, twice, three tis—before settling.
[Fine,] he sent finally. [Fine. I’ll figure it out myself. But when I do—when I understand what these mories are trying to tell —you’re going to explain what you saw.]
"When you’re ready," Yinxin agreed. "I will."
It was, they both knew, as close to a promise as either of them could make.
***
The night had grown late.
The wyrmlings were properly asleep now, piled in their usual tangle of wings and tails. Yinxin had shifted back to dragon form—she claid it was more comfortable, but Jayde suspected she was simply exhausted from maintaining the transformation.
Reiko had retreated to his corner to ditate, trying to sort through the jumbled mories that wouldn’t let him rest. The rcury rune pulsed with his breathing, faint and steady.
Takara remained curled in his corner, a small ball of white fur that seed to be sleeping peacefully. Only the occasional twitch of his ears suggested otherwise.
And Jayde sat in the quiet, turning over everything she’d learned.
Silver Queens who had forgotten how to fight. A legacy of tragedy spanning eleven thousand years. A sister driven to suicide. A mother who died of heartbreak. And Yinxin, carrying all of it, was trying to make sense of mories that weren’t quite hers.
(She’s going to be okay,) Jade whispered in the back of her mind. (She has us now.)
Tactical assessnt: Subject "Yinxin" has been given purpose and direction. Combat training will improve survival odds. Emotional support from the pack unit will facilitate psychological recovery.
(Sotis you’re really cold, you know that?)
I am realistic. Realistic is not cold.
(It’s a little cold.)
...perhaps.
Jayde smiled slightly. Even her internal voices were learning to compromise.
"Tomorrow," she said quietly to the sleeping room. "Tomorrow, we start getting stronger. All of us."
No one answered. They were all too tired, too drained, too full of emotions that would need ti to process.
But in the silence, she felt sothing shift. A sense of purpose was settling over their strange little family. A direction, after months of chaos and transformation.
They would train. They would grow. They would face whatever ca next.
Together.
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