Lanying moved through the crowded terminal of the Beijing Capital airport as quickly as she could without drawing attention to herself. Her messily braided hair and jeans gave her the appearance of a university student hurrying to catch a plane to some place of amusement for the summer, and this helped deter any more curious eyes.

The Chi Lin family was a large and globe-scattered one, which was pleasant enough under other circumstances—relatives in dreary England relished the chance for a visit to cousins in exotic and sunlit Egypt, relatives who made their residence in the ever-long summer of northern Brazil delighted in excuses to visit their sisters and see snow in Russia.

The only problem this posed was when tensions between other families of the ancient creatures that had once freely roamed China began to fray and finally snap. The heritage of each family belonged to some creature or other, Lanying’s own family owing it’s ancestry to what most of the world deemed the Chinese unicorn.

Whispers were rife in the Chi Lin family of the Byakko family plotting the demise of the former. Lanying did not doubt that members of her own family were plotting against the Byakko as well, but this did little to ease her nerves. The Byakko clan certainly had the advantage if it came to an actual war.

“Nonsense,” Lanying’s mother had sniffed at her worries, “Such a war would be of mythical proportions. These are modern times, and we could not sustain such hostilities without all being captured and taken to labs or some such thing. There has been no fighting amongst the families for nine hundred years.”

Lanying had taken great comfort in this six months ago, but by this point, she was not so sure. The Chi Lin clan, ever more fretful, had decided to group together in Stockholm for the time being, where the most powerful members of the family were located. The hope was that there would be safety in numbers. In the event the Byakko clan did indeed try something, however, it would be easy to escape to homes of other Chi Lin in neighboring countries—another advantage of a thinly spread family, Lanying supposed.

A cousin from the United States, Louisa, whom Lanying was particularly close with, had spoken to her over the phone not even a week ago. “My father says,” Louisa had whispered, as if it would help if someone was listening in, “That we aren’t just going to Stockholm for defensive reasons—but offensive ones as well. Strategizing, you know.”

Though she didn’t say it aloud, Lanying privately thought that Louisa’s father had always been a violent and rather stupid man. She hoped that he was twisting information around to suit his own desires.

In another ten hours, she would be in Stockholm, provided there were no delays or troubles with the flight tasking off in half an hour. Even so, Lanying worried—ten hours was plenty of time for one of the Byakko family to make a move. And her parents would be in Beijing another two weeks before following her, so as to not raise suspicion—what of them?

Lanying finally reached the gate assigned to her flight, though she did not sit while she waited. Instead, she scanned the crowd, looking at their dull pink auras, as if suddenly, a person would appear enveloped in a brilliant white one that would make them as a Byakko.

Perhaps they weren’t all bad, Lanying tried to convince herself. After all, in her own family, there were plenty of rotten people and plenty of wonderful ones, why should it be different among the Byakko? Besides, she had never even met one, how was she to judge?

These thoughts did little to assuage her fear, and she instead found herself even more panicked.

The virtue of the current emperor was sliding, and the Byakko clan could feel it. While most people believed that the theory of the Byakko showing up when the emperor was virtuous was as much myth as the White Tiger clan itself, they couldn't be more wrong. Her family had returned to Bejing because there was talk of the Chi Lin family gathering for an attack. There also seemed to be plans to get the first blow if it came to an all out war.

Huian sighed, her ancestors of Xī Fāng Bái Hu were whispering in her elders ears while they slept. Telling them that if they were going to strike the Chi Lin family, they needed to do it while they still had enough power in them to win the battle. She hated all talks of wars. So why was she silently stalking one of the members of the Chi Lin family? Two reasons: Old habits died hard, and you can't be named "peaceful" without some of it rubbing off on you.

Huian wanted to put a stop to this as fast as she could. She was decked out in case it turned into a battle. Throwing knives, shruikens, and other things meant more to get innocents pinned to the wall and out of her way hidden all along her body. The fact that she was wearing a short skirt, high heels and a tank top meant she didn't have very many places to hide them.

She was only a fourth Chinese, being born in the states meant that people had married outside the family and weakened her powers as a Byakko. Heads turned at the red hilights in her hair. Most of her friends didn't believe it was natural. They didn't know her father was pure Scottish. Her mother only being half Chinese made it so the only real traits she kept from that end were the eyes and black hair. Though she looked more like a punk than anything else. A punk in a cute outfit...

Huian stopped suddenly, her thoughts cut short. Her target had stopped. She was certain the girl was going to sit down, but instead she stayed standing and started scanning the croud, if she looked anywhere near where Huian was standing she was sure to find her by the aura alone. She growled in the back of her throat, an involuntary reflex that came from her history and started walking towards her target. She just hoped that the girl had enough sense not to start the war in the middle of a crowded airport.

Just as Lanying started to relax—perhaps she was overreacting to this whole bussiness—a white glow caught her eye. Swerving her body around, she confirmed her fears with wide eyes and a trembling jaw. Of all times to meet a Byakko, especially one intent on her! On her own and in an unfamiliar place. Trying to look casual as she moved away, Lanying sorely regretted her mother’s dismissal of teaching her fighting and the Chi Lin’s magic beyond basic defensive skills. The Byakko girl looked like she knew what she was doing.

The gate to Stockholm wasn’t safe for her, she couldn’t risk coming back until it was time to board. As if her aura didn’t make her stand out enough to the Byakko, most of the people waiting for the flight were fair-haired tourists awaiting a return to their native home. Perhaps, if she managed to find and mesh with a crowd of people, even her brown aura would be indistinguishable among so many bodies.

She hoped hoped hoped that it would work. Along with being full-blooded Chinese, her jeans and dingy white t-shirt rendered her wholly and completely unremarkable and unnoticeable.

“Miss? Are you alright?” A man stepped in front of her, concern showing on his face. Lanying felt beads of sweat on her forehead and guessed that she was clutching the shoulder strap of her messenger bag so tightly that her knuckles were white. At any other time, she would have stifled a laugh at the heavy Swedish accent that laced the man’s Mandarin, though at the moment it did not seem particularly comical.

She gave him a swift nod and pushed past him, eager to find some way to hide.

((HAha... I forgot to subscribe... I'm such a dork.))

"Wait! I just want to talk!"

Huian shouted over the din of the airport. This brought much more attention. The girl looked almost like a deer caught in the headlights. Even though the natural power of the girl seemed to be significantly stronger than her own because of Huian's diluted blood, she definately didn't know how to use it. Her brown aura was one of the weakest she had ever seen. But it was riddled with the promise of power, if only she ever found out how to tap into it. She prayed silently she would never have to face her after she figured it out.

The girl seemed to be sneaking away and hiding in the crowd. Surely she wouldn't think that Huian herself was stupid enough to attack in the middle of a crowded airport. Spiritually weak as she was, comparitavely, she could still do a lot of damage to the people and surrounding area. That would cause panic and anyone involved would get thrown into a lab. That was the last thing anyone wanted. She scrunched her nose as she sniffed the air, checking for others of either variety. No one seemed to be there yet, but there was bound to be at least one more from either side show soon with this much conflicting energy already gathered.

As she got closer she smiled, her face always seemed to have a predatory look about it even when she was trying her best to be friendly. She just hoped that the Chi Lin girl didn't panic because of it. She reached into her skirt and dug out the one thing that would help more than anything else in this meeting.... a minature white flag. She held it up as she advanced, hoping it would make the girl less likely to run away. But with her pushing past the fair-skinned man she wasn't even sure if the girl had even seen it before starting to run away. Time was important and if she ran away now, there was a very good chance that this war would start without any kind of attempt at peace.

She sighed in frustration and picked up her speed, white flag still out and attempting to look not too much out of place. She was failing horribly. As she always failed when trying to find a place to fit in. She made a sound of cat-like annoyance in the back of her throat that got more curious looks from people passing by. She bit her lip and jumped a few times, cursing the girl for being full chinese and surrounded by taller people. She had lost sight of her, her only hope was to keep going forward and hope she spotted her again. Surely she wouldn't leave the airport until her plane took off. She had no clue which plane was hers so she couldn't wait at a gate. She kept peering around the crowd, looking for a glimpse of her.