Reborn - Bound to the Peerless White Fox - FULL | Reelshort
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00:02I took my sister's white fox during the bonding rite.
00:06Your power is exceptional.
00:08This fox barely registers on the scale.
00:11Give it to your sister.
00:13In my past life, I chose the powerful white tiger.
00:17When the demon horde came, he left me to die.
00:20I was badly wounded.
00:22I begged him for the last healing elixir.
00:25He gave it to my sister instead.
00:26So this time around, I choose to let them be together.
00:31I was reborn right before the bonding ceremony.
00:34I am the most powerful one in our clan and have the right to choose first.
00:38The creatures gathered from across the land were all exceptional.
00:42But the white tiger stood above the rest.
00:45He wore a collar, never bowing to me, even in chains.
00:50Then my sister Luna came bouncing in, cradling a limp white fox.
00:54Luna had barely started her training.
00:57She could have skipped this ceremony entirely.
01:00Luna hugged the white fox and cried.
01:03Because he was dissatisfied with the fox he'd been assigned.
01:06The white tiger's heart ached for her deeply.
01:09Saying he only wanted to form a pact with Luna, the elder cleared his throat.
01:14Luna, you've barely trained.
01:17Even if the tiger chose you, you wouldn't be able to handle him.
01:21That was when I stood up and said,
01:23Elder, I appreciate your consideration.
01:27I find I'm fonder of this white fox.
01:29The white tiger clearly favors Luna too.
01:32How about we swap instead?
01:34They pulled me aside.
01:36Clara, this tiger is far more powerful than the fox.
01:40My name is Clara Ashvale, one of the four great families of the Eastern Reaches.
01:45I was ten years old when the demon horde first came.
01:48My parents died holding the line.
02:00For I possess stronger spiritual power, and then more beloved within the clan.
02:05But the tiger ignored me.
02:07I'd never been rejected before.
02:09Not once in my life.
02:11I threw everything I had at him.
02:13So I took mission.
02:14Hunted rogue demons.
02:16Came back injured almost every time.
02:19The tiger noticed nothing.
02:21He only appeared when I brought out elixirs.
02:23Took what he wanted, and walked away.
02:26I spent 20 years on him.
02:28And eventually, he took human form.
02:30Tall and striking.
02:32Yet he still refuses to speak much to me.
02:35Only coming when he needs something.
02:37I told myself it was normal.
02:39Strong creatures had pride.
02:40He'd come around eventually.
02:42Then one evening, I came home exhausted.
02:45And saw him watching my sister's profile with something like reverence.
02:49I was still reeling when an elder walked past and caught sight of them in the distance.
02:54Clara, when you go out on contracts, stop sending your sister to look after the tiger.
02:59He's clearly more attached to her now.
03:02You need to be careful.
03:05I never ask Luna to look after the tiger.
03:08She comes every time you leave.
03:10Says you asked her to.
03:11Doesn't she have her own bonded creature?
03:13That fox?
03:14It passed away in its second year.
03:16You didn't know?
03:17I hadn't known.
03:18I'd spent 20 years building someone else's happiness.
03:21I began targeting Luna.
03:23I hated her.
03:24That enraged the white tiger.
03:26He colluded with the demon.
03:28Opened our clan's protective wards from the inside.
03:31Left me to face the invasion alone.
03:34When I was badly wounded and begged him for the only healing elixir we had left,
03:39he gave it to Luna, who had a scratch.
03:42This time, I want to see how long it will take him to take human form without me.
03:47The elder was unwilling to grant the mighty white tiger to an inexperienced young woman.
03:52Yet the tiger would only bow before Luna.
03:55He sighed and ordered the ceremony begin.
03:58The ceremony startled the white fox.
04:01The white fox in my arms fainted the moment the ceremony ended.
04:05Luna completed her bond with the tiger.
04:07You and that little fox really do suit each other, Clara.
04:11Luna, if your sister hadn't yielded to you, how could you have gotten this white tiger?
04:16You should be on your knees thanking her.
04:18Oh, she's crying again.
04:20Always with the tears.
04:21Like she's the one who suffered.
04:22The white tiger wanted to stand up for Luna.
04:25Yet he possessed no power right after bonding with her.
04:28The elders had built my residence himself, ringed with good cultivation energy.
04:34Luna had once tried to move in.
04:36He'd turned her away, citing my training as the reason.
04:39As soon as we entered the room, I began to observe the white fox.
04:43He looked different from any I had seen before,
04:46with a wisp of red fur on his head and an unusually large tail.
04:51My courtyard had a natural spring, warm with cultivation energy.
04:56I set him in it and watched him wake up instantly,
04:59floating on his back, drinking in the warmth.
05:02I laughed.
05:04Aren't you afraid I'll hurt you?
05:05The fox stared at me, then gave his small head a solemn shake.
05:10All right, rest here and recover.
05:14You're not going anywhere.
05:16I can handle you.
05:17The next morning, something woke me wrong.
05:20I opened my eyes and saw a handsome face.
05:24Pale skin, dark lashes.
05:26He was also asleep, arms around me.
05:29He had gotten in without waking me,
05:31which meant his power was well above mine.
05:34Who are you?
05:35How did you get in here?
05:36I scrambled to the edge of the bed.
05:38He sat up slowly, noticed the clothes he was wearing,
05:42and looked faintly amused.
05:43Before I could react, he pulled me into his arms.
05:47He said,
05:48I have a name.
05:49His eyes drifting down to meet mine.
05:52It's Ash.
05:53Like he was about to kiss me any second.
05:56It turned out Ash met the Elder when he was severely injured
06:00and was taken back by him.
06:01I stared at him.
06:03Please tell me whoever hurt you isn't coming here looking for revenge.
06:06We're bonded now, Master.
06:08I suggest you train hard and do your best to keep up.
06:11Ash laughed.
06:12He was genuinely useful, as it turned out.
06:16I had a fire affinity.
06:17He complimented it perfectly.
06:20He produced a cultivation manual from somewhere.
06:23Fire techniques.
06:24And good ones.
06:25Two days of work and I could already feel the difference.
06:29Every time Ash practiced cultivation with me,
06:32he took off his top.
06:33His fair skin always made me lose focus.
06:37One afternoon,
06:38Luna called my name from outside the gate.
06:40I dragged my attention away from Ash and went out.
06:44Luna stepped into the courtyard without waiting
06:46and stopped dead when she saw him.
06:49She stared him.
06:50Ash stood,
06:52dressed properly in seconds,
06:53and settled a robe around my shoulders without being asked.
06:57Who is this?
06:57Luna's gaze didn't move.
06:59You don't recognize him?
07:00The fox.
07:01From the bonding ceremony.
07:03You said yourself we were suited for each other.
07:06I think you were right.
07:07I smiled pleasantly.
07:09What do you want?
07:10We're in the middle of training.
07:14I was hoping we could raise the tiger together.
07:17I can't afford to keep up with his needs on my own.
07:19If we shared the work,
07:21what exactly makes this my problem?
07:23You're the one who gave him to me.
07:24You could have kept him.
07:25You chose not to.
07:26That means you owe me.
07:28I owe you nothing.
07:30Yeah.
07:30Half a year and every LXMR I had is gone.
07:33There's nothing left for my own training.
07:35I'm at the bottom ranks.
07:41No, you can't.
07:43Little sister,
07:44don't mistake me for a fool.
07:46I'm not funding your creature for you.
07:48If you can't afford him,
07:50bring it to the elder.
07:51Let someone else take the tiger.
07:53I'm sure he'd prefer a partner
07:54who could actually keep pace.
07:56She'd never do that.
07:57Where were we?
07:59Weeks passed.
08:00I broke through to a new cultivation stage.
08:03The great elder dispatched me
08:05on an assignment
08:06alongside elder Margaret
08:08to handle a demon outbreak
08:10in the lowlands.
08:11I handled them all
08:12before Margaret to intervene.
08:14On the way back,
08:15she suddenly laughed.
08:17Clara,
08:17you should hurry home.
08:19Your little fox is waiting for you.
08:22She vanished.
08:24I hadn't finished processing
08:25what she'd said
08:26before Ash appeared in front of me.
08:29I reached out
08:30and touched his cheek.
08:31What's wrong?
08:34Clara Ashvale,
08:36why are you trying
08:37to get rid of me?
08:38Is it something I did?
08:40Or have you found someone new?
08:43What are you talking about?
08:45Your sister came by yesterday.
08:47Said you sent her
08:48to look after me.
08:49He started to show teeth.
08:51I flicked his forehead.
08:53He recoiled,
08:54then immediately looked betrayed.
08:57You betray me first
08:58and then hit me?
08:59I'm going to say this once.
09:01I am not reconsidering anything.
09:04And I have no idea
09:05why Luna told you that.
09:06What I do know
09:07is that I never asked her
09:09to come near you.
09:11Understood?
09:16We ran into a group
09:17of younger clan members
09:18on the way.
09:19I asked why they'd turned back.
09:21Luna cleared everyone out.
09:25Let's go.
09:27You're going to lecture me
09:29about picking fights
09:30and then drag me
09:31directly into one?
09:32We found them
09:33mid-argument.
09:34Or rather,
09:35Luna was arguing.
09:36The tiger couldn't speak.
09:38He'd never broken through
09:39to human form,
09:40so he was expressing himself
09:42through sheer body language.
09:44And none of it
09:45was agreeable.
09:46What is wrong with you?
09:48I didn't force you
09:49to come here.
09:50You said this place
09:51would help you advance.
09:52I've given you
09:53every elixir I have
09:55and you still
09:55can't even talk to me.
09:56You want me to go
09:57hunting rogue demons?
09:59I just started training.
10:00You'd be sending me to die.
10:02Clara's fox
10:03has been in human form
10:04for months
10:05and you can't even
10:05answer a question.
10:07What exactly
10:08are you doing
10:09with yourself?
10:10I heard the tiger's
10:12version of a response.
10:13A low rumble.
10:15In my past life,
10:16he'd never once
10:18spoken to me
10:18with anything
10:19resembling patience.
10:21Watching him endure
10:22Luna's outburst
10:23without walking away
10:24was a strange thing.
10:28Luna,
10:29there you are.
10:31Lyra,
10:31what brings you out here?
10:33I patted Ash's arm.
10:35He gave a small,
10:36resigned sigh
10:36and crouched.
10:37He held me in his arms.
10:39Luna's gaze locked onto him
10:41and didn't move.
10:42Nothing specific.
10:43I just wanted to know
10:45why you visited my companion
10:46without my permission.
10:47Luna hadn't expected
10:49me to know so quickly.
10:50She started backpedaling.
10:52No, you misunderstood.
10:52I was looking for you.
10:56She told me
10:57I was supposed to be hers,
10:59that you'd stolen me away.
11:01She was very convincing.
11:03And what did you do?
11:04I removed her
11:05from the property.
11:07She's not strong enough
11:08to argue back,
11:08so she left fairly quickly.
11:10I stood and faced
11:11Luna directly.
11:12If I remember correctly,
11:13you didn't want the fox.
11:14He was badly hurt.
11:15If you'd taken him,
11:17he wouldn't have survived.
11:18That's not true.
11:19I would have cared for him.
11:20The tiger's crest
11:21stood fully upright.
11:23You're doing this deliberately.
11:25You're trying to cause trouble
11:27between me and the tiger.
11:29If you try this again,
11:31there will be consequences.
11:33On the way back,
11:34my mood was good.
11:36Ash was quiet, though.
11:37He wouldn't shift and carry me
11:39even when I asked.
11:40When we reached home,
11:41he caught my arm.
11:42You and the tiger.
11:44There's something there.
11:45I didn't hide it.
11:47We have a history.
11:48It ended badly.
11:51Do you want to know?
11:52He turned,
11:54shifted into fox form,
11:55and wrapped his enormous tail
11:57around me.
11:58No!
11:59I'm better than that
12:00by every measure.
12:01And you promised me
12:03you wouldn't seek out
12:04another bonded creature.
12:05I ran my fingers
12:06through the fur
12:07at the back of his ears.
12:08I won't.
12:10I promise.
12:11Some time later,
12:13Ash decided
12:14I wasn't advancing
12:15fast enough.
12:16Get up.
12:17I refuse to share energy
12:19with someone
12:19who progresses this slowly.
12:21The Great Elder said
12:22I'm the most talented
12:23concultator of my generation.
12:25Unlike my past life,
12:26all the elixirs I earned
12:28this time went into me.
12:29Five years.
12:31I moved from the early stages
12:33into the middle tier
12:34of my cultivation rank.
12:35When I returned to the clan,
12:37the Great Elder
12:38was close to a breakthrough
12:39of his own.
12:40The younger members
12:41had grown considerably.
12:43Only one thing
12:44hadn't changed.
12:45The tiger still hadn't
12:47taken human form.
12:49We expected the tiger
12:50to elevate the entire clan.
12:52Ten years in,
12:53and he's no closer
12:54to breaking through.
12:55We sent an elder
12:56to assess him quietly.
12:58The gap is too large.
13:00Even with assistance,
13:02he can't make the crossing.
13:03Luna had barely enough power
13:05to sustain herself,
13:06let alone a creature
13:07of the tiger's requirements.
13:09But honestly,
13:11his not breaking through
13:12was the best outcome.
13:14I wasn't strong enough
13:15to kill him,
13:16so control
13:17was the only option.
13:19I threw myself
13:20into building up the clan.
13:21I trained with the younger members daily.
13:24If something went wrong,
13:25I wanted them to be able
13:26to protect themselves.
13:28Ash gave me space for it.
13:30He knew what I was doing.
13:32One evening,
13:33I came home exhausted,
13:34and he was waiting for me.
13:36He picked me up,
13:37threw me over his shoulder,
13:39and started walking.
13:41You look terrible.
13:42I'm taking you
13:43to see something entertaining.
13:45His idea of entertainment
13:46was crouching at the edge
13:48of the back valley
13:48and listening to Luna
13:50and the tiger fight.
13:52The tiger couldn't speak,
13:54so the entire argument
13:55was one-sided.
13:56Don't look at me like that.
13:58I didn't force you
13:59to bond with me.
14:00You came to me.
14:01You told me to wait.
14:03You told me once
14:04you took human form,
14:05we'd leave together.
14:07You're the one
14:08who picked the fight
14:09with Clara at the ceremony.
14:13And now what?
14:15You're stuck,
14:15I'm stuck,
14:17and it's all your fault,
14:19you useless.
14:20So they'd known
14:20each other before.
14:21The tiger had come
14:23to Luna deliberately.
14:24He'd made her promises,
14:26but that still didn't explain
14:27why they'd opened the wards.
14:29Why involved
14:30the demon horde at all?
14:32Unless they'd already
14:33been working with the demons.
14:35The one that killed my parents.
14:37My parents,
14:38who were also Luna's parents.
14:41How could she?
14:42I needed to find out.
14:44And when I did,
14:45there would be a reckoning.
14:47Back at the residence,
14:48I was working through
14:49what I needed to investigate
14:51when a visitor appeared
14:52at the gate.
14:53The tiger.
14:54He was staring at Ash,
14:56who was soaking in the spring
14:57and determinedly ignoring him.
15:00What do you want?
15:01Shouldn't you be with Luna?
15:02Ash emerged from the water
15:04and immediately positioned himself
15:05between us.
15:07Master,
15:08you promised.
15:10No, no other bonded creatures.
15:12Don't even talk to him.
15:13I just want to know
15:14why he's here.
15:15That's all.
15:16He's regretting his choices,
15:17obviously.
15:19He chose a dead end
15:21and he knows it.
15:22I started to look at the tiger.
15:24The gate was empty.
15:26This life,
15:27I'd kept my distance.
15:29I hadn't interfered with him.
15:31If the tiger genuinely wanted
15:33a different bond,
15:34the elders would have been
15:35glad to help.
15:36There was no reason
15:37to come to me specifically.
15:39Unless the tiger
15:40had also been reborn.
15:42I didn't say anything to Ash.
15:44I went straight to the clan's
15:46protective wards.
15:48Intact.
15:48I breathed.
15:50Then I looked at the ground
15:51near the barrier edge.
15:53White tiger fur.
15:54A handful of strands.
15:56He'd been here.
15:58He hadn't broken through.
15:59His power wasn't there yet.
16:01But he knew
16:02what was sealed here.
16:04He knew my parents
16:05had died here.
16:06I'd told him that myself
16:08in my last life.
16:09I had to watch him.
16:11Carefully.
16:12All the time.
16:13The gossip started circulating
16:15through the clan
16:16not long after.
16:17Luna and the tiger
16:18were fighting constantly.
16:20He refused her commands.
16:22Ignored her in training sessions.
16:26Made her look incompetent
16:28in front of the whole yard.
16:30And every time I appeared,
16:32he drifted toward me.
16:34Elder Margaret found
16:35the entire situation delightful.
16:37Her owl sat on her shoulder.
16:39You know what this reminds me of?
16:40Every story where someone
16:41realizes too late
16:43what they had
16:43freezes the other person out,
16:45spends the rest of it
16:46chasing after her.
16:47She said it directly
16:48in front of Ash.
16:49He moved.
16:50I caught him before
16:50he could do anything irreversible.
16:52Margaret clutched her owl
16:53and said,
16:54Oh my!
16:54I could have a conversation
16:55with Luna.
16:56Offer her a different creature,
16:57something she can actually sustain.
16:58Transfer the tiger formally,
17:00quietly.
17:00Please, no more.
17:02No, I'm not touching
17:03the clan council over this.
17:04Besides, I have Ash.
17:05That's enough.
17:06Margaret looked
17:07genuinely mournful.
17:08A bonded creature
17:08in open conflict
17:09with its partner
17:10is a problem for all of us.
17:11And Luna hasn't advanced
17:12in ten years.
17:13The elders have been
17:14discussing a field assignment,
17:15practical training
17:16away from the clan
17:17for a year or two.
17:18I understood
17:19what she wasn't saying.
17:20They'd given up
17:21on the tiger as a resource.
17:23Ash's presence
17:23had changed the calculations.
17:25What we accomplished together
17:27had raised the bar considerably.
17:29If Luna left with the tiger,
17:30I had time.
17:33Time to reinforce the wars.
17:38In the clan hall,
17:40Luna cried.
17:41She accused me.
17:41You killed him.
17:42Then, in front of every elder,
17:44she made her counteroffer.
17:46Clara wants the tiger so badly
17:47she can have him.
17:47I won't fight her.
17:48But if she takes him,
17:50she gives me Ash.
17:51A mixed Lindage fox
17:52for a pure-blood tiger.
17:54Honestly, Clara comes out ahead.
17:55The great elder shut it down
17:57before anyone else could speak.
17:59Who?
17:59Luna.
18:00Focus on your own creature
18:01and stop coming up
18:02with ideas like that.
18:03I heard this from Ash,
18:05who had apparently been listening
18:06from outside the hall.
18:07While the elders dealt with Luna,
18:09I was in the creature registry
18:10with the keeper,
18:11looking into a disappearance.
18:12Three creatures
18:13had vanished overnight.
18:15Two small rabbits,
18:16a young deer.
18:17The keeper was beside himself.
18:18I checked the seals myself
18:20before I left.
18:21Any disturbance at all,
18:22and I'd have felt it.
18:23There was nothing.
18:24Not a demon.
18:25No trace of that kind of energy.
18:27I looked around.
18:28The registry was carved
18:29into the cliffside,
18:30warded stone on all sides.
18:32The only way in or out
18:34used the clan seal.
18:35To remove three creatures cleanly,
18:37whoever did it
18:38knew this place intimately,
18:40or had always been inside.
18:42Brother the big fox.
18:42You don't need you.
18:43Big brother fox is perfectly safe.
18:45Can creatures turn on each other?
18:46They have consciousness.
18:47They would never do something
18:47so barbaric.
18:48Don't listen to her.
18:49She was just being strange.
18:50People do terrible things
18:52when they want to advance.
18:54Creatures aren't different.
18:56There's a method,
18:57old and dark,
18:59not talked about,
19:00where one creature
19:01absorbs the power of another.
19:03Want to know how it works?
19:05The fastest shortcut was this.
19:07Take the core of another creature.
19:09Consume it.
19:10The higher the cultivation
19:11of the creature you took from,
19:12the greater the gain.
19:13Ash had nearly been killed
19:14by exactly this method
19:16years ago,
19:17before we met.
19:18Once it works,
19:21it will come back for more.
19:22We staked out the registry
19:24that night.
19:25Nothing.
19:26Quiet all the way to dawn.
19:27I reassured the keeper.
19:29Don't worry.
19:31And headed out.
19:33And immediately ran into
19:34a young clan member
19:35sprinting toward me.
19:36Guardian!
19:37Something happened
19:37at the residences!
19:38What's wrong?
19:40Ash!
19:42Ash shifted form
19:43and moved.
19:45When we landed,
19:46I knew from the sound.
19:48One of the younger students,
19:49a girl who'd bonded
19:50at her first ceremony,
19:52was sitting on the ground
19:53in her courtyard,
19:54holding what remained
19:55of her rabbit.
19:57Elder Margaret was already there.
19:58She caught my eye
19:59and gave a small, grim nod.
20:03Your guess was right.
20:04The core was taken.
20:06Clean, precise, one strike.
20:07She didn't feel it happen.
20:09The bond broke
20:09and that's when she knew.
20:13Without thinking,
20:14I turned and looked
20:15for the tiger.
20:16He was standing near
20:17the edge of the crowd,
20:18perfectly still.
20:19Don't stare.
20:20It's him.
20:22You're sure?
20:23I've seen this method
20:24used before.
20:24His signature reads the same.
20:26I went to the Great Elder
20:27and told him everything.
20:28Don't move yet.
20:29You need proof.
20:30Catch him in the act.
20:31Behind him,
20:32his courtyard had descended
20:33into complete chaos,
20:35all of them trying
20:36to interrogate Ash
20:37about his parents' bloodlines.
20:39I keep them close.
20:41Your firehound
20:42just destroyed
20:43the garden path.
20:44You could clean it up
20:45for your Elder.
20:47No.
20:47Still,
20:49with subtle pressure,
20:50I got the senior elders
20:52watching the tiger
20:53more carefully.
20:54Weeks passed.
20:55No more disappearances.
20:57But two weeks later,
20:59the girl who had lost
21:00her rabbit
21:01still hadn't recovered.
21:02She stopped coming
21:03to training,
21:05ate less,
21:06barely spoke.
21:07The other students
21:08let it drift into rumor
21:09and then into story.
21:11Ashes sat with me
21:12every day.
21:13Then,
21:14one night,
21:15something moved
21:16past my window.
21:17Floating on the water's surface
21:18was a single
21:19white tiger feather.
21:21I reached through the bond
21:22and found him.
21:23I arrived at the ward boundary
21:25and walked straight
21:26into a shockwave.
21:28Ash and the tiger
21:29were already fighting.
21:31No preamble.
21:32Fully committed.
21:33He moved through the trees
21:35in pale clothing,
21:36fast and fluid,
21:37redirecting Ash's attacks
21:39with the ease
21:40of someone who'd been preparing
21:41for exactly this fight.
21:43Near the ward boundary,
21:44Luna sat perfectly still.
21:46When I got close enough
21:47to see her clearly,
21:48my stomach dropped.
21:50Luna was dead.
21:51I hadn't even processed it
21:53before the sky
21:54began to darken.
21:55The ward clumps.
21:56Harm your bonded partner
21:58and the consequence
21:59falls from the sky.
22:01You ran this exact plan
22:03in another life.
22:04You used everyone here
22:05as scaffolding
22:06and then kicked it out.
22:07And now this life,
22:07you had the chance
22:08to choose differently
22:09and instead you took her core.
22:10The sky is watching.
22:13It ends today.
22:15Almost.
22:16One more step.
22:18He was breaking
22:19the ward seal
22:20behind his back.
22:21The creatures sealed
22:22in the valley
22:22felt the loosening.
22:24Thunder gathered
22:25directly above him.
22:26The great elder arrived
22:28in a flash of light
22:29from the peak.
22:30Clara!
22:30Hold the creatures back.
22:32I'll reseal from outside.
22:33Clara!
22:34You can't stop this.
22:36Come die with me!
22:37I'll do better
22:39by you this time!
22:40In my past life,
22:41I had died
22:42in this exact valley.
22:43Alone.
22:44Then a hand
22:45closed on my shoulder.
22:47It is Ash.
22:48You want to take her
22:49down with you?
22:51You'd have to go
22:52through me first.
22:53You're nobody.
22:54This time,
22:55I wasn't alone.
22:56In my past life,
22:58I'd never had
22:58a real partner.
22:59Just me and whatever
23:00I could manage alone.
23:01Now I understood
23:02the difference.
23:03Ash pushed forward
23:04and I covered it.
23:05He never checked
23:06over his shoulder.
23:07I never asked him
23:07to slow down.
23:08A hundred exchanges
23:09and the tiger's
23:10composure was cracking.
23:12He couldn't find
23:12a way past Ash.
23:14He couldn't land
23:14a hit on me.
23:15He broke.
23:16This isn't right.
23:17You're supposed to die!
23:19We're supposed
23:19to go back together!
23:22Goodbye.
23:22I raised one hand
23:24and pointed at the sky.
23:25The lightning came down
23:26like a collar
23:27dropped from the sky itself.
23:31He would not
23:32be coming back.
23:33The tiger was gone.
23:35He would not
23:35be coming back.
23:38The tiger was dealt with.
23:40The harder problem remained.
23:42The creatures sealed
23:43in the valley
23:44were old and powerful.
23:46They couldn't be killed
23:47cleanly.
23:48Only re-contained.
23:50And the oldest among them,
23:51the one they called
23:53the Abyss Serpent,
23:54had been dormant
23:55for a century.
23:57Sealed originally
23:58by the previous
23:59great elder
23:59who had given
24:00his life to do it.
24:02Ash had been
24:03leaning against a tree.
24:04Expression of someone
24:05waiting for his reward.
24:07When he went still,
24:09he stared into the dark
24:10between the trees.
24:12What's in there?
24:15The Abyss Serpent.
24:17Wait here.
24:18I need to go in.
24:20Something shifted
24:21in his expression.
24:22Something I hadn't
24:23seen from him before.
24:24He started moving.
24:26I caught his hand.
24:27It's not safe.
24:29I know.
24:30Clara.
24:31He tried carefully
24:33to explain the situation
24:34to me.
24:35My past life.
24:35I died in this valley.
24:38I watched the tiger
24:39take Luna and leave.
24:40I was alone
24:41when it happened.
24:42I'm not leaving you behind.
24:44We went in together.
24:46Behind us.
24:47Who just walked
24:47into the sealed valley?
24:49Elder,
24:50that's your student.
24:51My student
24:52is extraordinary.
24:54The valley was wrong
24:55the moment we crossed
24:56the boundary.
24:57Eyes in the dark.
24:58Dozens of them.
24:59They didn't move.
25:00Some instinct in them
25:01recognized Ash.
25:03He'd shifted
25:03to his true form.
25:05Large enough now
25:06that I rooted
25:06the back of his neck.
25:07I asked him before.
25:09What are you looking for?
25:10The Abyss Serpent.
25:12Tell me why.
25:13My mother is in there.
25:14I had always assumed
25:15Ash was the product
25:16of some unusual
25:17crossing of bloodlines.
25:19He'd never corrected me.
25:20Now I found out
25:22he did have Foxblood.
25:23But his mother
25:24was the Abyss Serpent.
25:26One of the creatures
25:27from the oldest records.
25:28Vast in form.
25:30Ancient in power.
25:31Her cultivation
25:32predating the current era
25:33by centuries.
25:35She hadn't always been this.
25:37200 years ago
25:38someone had used
25:39the dark method
25:39on the creature
25:40she'd loved.
25:41Consumed his core.
25:43She hadn't recovered.
25:44I reached up
25:45and put my hand
25:46against the side
25:46of Ash's head.
25:48I had nothing to say.
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