Backlash Part 2

Chapter 207: Naun-er's First Flight

Nuan-er decided she was going to learn how to fly. There was no talking her out of it. It was a long journey from Nightless City to the Cloud Recesses. They were practically on the other side of the world from each other. Nuan-er didn't care how long the journey was going to be, because they flew... Every. Single. Day.

The first day she flew with Wangji-gege, A-Die. She hadn't called him A-die yet. Not out loud. But, Nuan-er had begun testing it out in her head. Wangji-gege, A-die. Xian-gege, Baba. They hadn't asked her to call them that. Nuan-er had noticed other people called them that sometimes. Calling Xian-gege, Nuan-er's Baba or Wangji-gege, Nuan-er's Die.

Nuan-er hadn't decided if she should call them that. They hadn't asked her to, but... They were their new caretakers, but they felt like more than that. Maybe closer to what Mama was. Nuan-er knew she had had a Baba before. She didn't really remember him. He was gone before her Didi was born. Nuan-er assumes that he had been closer than their later caretakers. More like Mama, less like Gugu or Shenshen.

Nuan-er decided to try it out in her head for a while. See how it felt without risking how other people might react to it. So she was in A-die's arms the first time she flew. Nothing but loud wind and open air around them. Her A-die holding her securely so she wouldn't fall. Of course Nuan-er didn't just want to look at what she could easily see. She wanted to look at the way her A-die was standing on the blade of his sword. She squirmed trying to look at other angles. Wanting to ask how A-die was flying, and could she learn how to do it too? A-die didn't seem to like the squirming much. She didn't get to look around nearly as much as she wanted to. So the next day she asked if she could fly with Baba.

Baba not only allowed squirming. He let her stand on the sword all by herself! All by herself as long as the shiny blue talisman ropes were on her. Baba flew underneath A-die a few times so Nuan-er could get a better look at what a cultivator flying looked like.

Nuan-er stood on the sword and pretended she was the one flying. She knew it wasn't the case. Baba told her it would take a long time for her to be able to fly for herself. She would have to get bigger, and work really hard. Then she'd get her own sword and she could learn how to fly by herself.

Nuan-er did not let that discourage her. Her Baba told her she was clever. He'd taught her how to activate talismans by herself. There were rules. She wasn't allowed to activate a talisman she didn't know. And, since they were really complicated, and she couldn't read them yet, her Baba had started marking some talismans for her. Little pictures drawn on the backs of them so she would know which one was which.

She was absolutely going to learn more talismans. They could do so many things! Her Baba had given her ones that could light up. Ones that could alert him if she was in danger. Ones that could protect her if someone tried to hurt her. Ones that would let her know if something was wrong with A-Yuan. She used those ones at bed time. One would be placed with A-Yuan and she would have the other one. If something was wrong, like he was upset or in pain, it would light up. If she woke up anxious she could just check the talisman and know he was okay.

Her Baba gave her talismans to help her hide if there were ever dangerous people around. They were not to be used for hide and seek. It wouldn't be fair to everyone else, and Nuan-er was already the best at it. She liked the butterfly talisman the best. It would shoot out sparkly butterflies. They were beautiful, and she could chase them around to try and catch them for a bit until they disappeared. A-Yuan liked that one a lot too.

The first time A-die saw Nuan-er activate a talisman by herself he had been impressed. Nuan-er could tell. Even though A-die had a very quiet face. Like he was whispering, but with his face muscles. His eyes widened slightly, and his mouth opened a bit without him speaking. He was surprised! He didn't expect her to be able to do it. Nuan-er was already proud of herself before her A-die patted her head and told her she had done a good job.