The Sparrows
heavy wings, Song and heart strong

It is a quiet evening, Nuwu Lianhua stood on the back balcony of the teahouse singing to the sparrows. Her lavish dress blew in the wind, the whole silks like a ghost ether in the air, with red streaks showing. She had gathered quite a few, everything from her Cinnamon Sparrow Xiao Feng to a few other species native to the area.

He spins and sings back to her, a cacophony of laughing and trilling as the woman takes in the moment of joy. Beneath the gilded mask and hat she was smiling all the while. The warm sun felt wonderful, the air felt fresh.... She cherished this moment. Perhaps it would be her last? That thought brushed her mind with a grimace but she huffed under her breath. "If I must, I will not stop singing. The wings are heavy but my heart is strong. For my fellow Stars I must."

The words came out loud and fierce. A fighting spirit, not wanting to let anyone down.

"All those flying sparrows,
That's not a common show"

Ye Yu's voice echoes from behind Nuwu Lianhua. She was standing in the door frame, wearing her traveling outfit, straw hat, mask, ample clothing... And she was chewing on some rice crackers Kaena was usually serving with tea, her hands and pockets filled.

"I just heard you talking
To nobody but the wind
If you don't mind me asking
Why would you stop singing?" she asked, coming a little closer, handing over a cracker.

She took one and smiles sweetly. Her voice still remained flat somewhat, the warmth showing in her cadences ever so slightly. "It's... The mind. I went mask on for a time, became someone I wasn't. I sang no more, the 'incident' plagued me until someone shook me awake." She sang, the sparrows spiraled in a column of feathers.

Her eyes would glow behind that veil, showing a candles flicker turned to a warm flame of vigor. Seems she had a talent for making the birds her friends. "Do the birds sing when caged, or do they remain silent? And when they sing despite the fact of their imprisonment.... Are they not the strong of heart despite heavy wings?"

"Is it truly a song
Or a call of distress
Maybe your heart is strong
But freedom is a bless" she answered, as poetic as her interlocutor. She made a few more steps, joining Nuwu Lianhua's sides to watch the birds dance in the air, still biting in a cracker while she crushed another one in her hand, opening her palm to feed the most courageous ones.

"What incident are you talking about? I haven't hear you talked about such thing out loud" she asked, slowly waving her palm to attract the feathery animals.

She bristles. To talk about it meant giving information out she wasn't sure she had the authority to say. "A patient..... Died on my table. He.. my drug was the thing that ended his flame. I carried that guilt." The Sparrows that were bold came to peck from her hand, the rest danced in the sky like a feathery team. Beauty at its finest, among the clouds.

"How can you be sure? People die for nothing.
You said that their flame, you've been caught
snuffing?
What if they decided it was time to go?
That they wished for no tomorrow?
...
Well... I mean...
...
If for just a flu, your patient came to
And left your clinic with his lips blue...
But isn't it the toll of many doctors?
Being just humans, dressed as saviors?"

She wasn't looking very moved by the news, more like curious and trying to put things into perspective. Or maybe she did not care much. She was more focus on the sparrows on her head, still not looking at Nuwu Lianhua.

"Well.. I... Tried to commit to surgery on the patient. And they...." She went silent, it was hard to be reminded. "I tried to save him and ended up in this." Motions to her guards.

"And... so? Since when is it a crime to fail at saving someone?
Should we blame you for trying your best
At claiming this soul from Eternal Rest?
Without you, since long, they'd have been cold one" she commented, raising an eyebrow while looking at the guards.

"Are those clanking scarecrows here for your safety... Or are they making sure it's your last day free?"

"No. It was a mistake I made. Using poisons, that weren't sanctioned. I was not thinking." Her voice cracks but the energy within stays. Feng got on her shoulder and nuzzled her. "They.... Are my watch. My weighted wings. They hold the key to my cage."

"And I fear the worst, but also I hope I can redeem myself somehow. If they do not decide to seal me away for an eternity."

Thoughtful, Ye Yu eventually gave Nuwu Lianhua a glance when Feng landed on her shoulder. She picked another rice cracker from her pocket -how many did she had in there?- and waved in near the bird.

"That's would be... unfortunate. A question, let me ask you : how much is a life worth?
Losing a dear one not to fate, but to potions that should not be brewed, with your blood, I would paint the earth
Yet, wouldn't it be to late? Redemption, to be true, doesn't need soul rebirth."

She looked again at the guards with a small pout. The idea of being locked in some prison for ages wasn't something anyone would aspire to.

"Wouldn't you be more useful, with your new contrite knowledge,
Teaching it to those still youthful, in some medicine college?
If for thousands days, they want to lock you up,
To their decision, are you going to line up?"

Nuwu seemed to look her way, more singing as the birds moved in synchrony with her wavering thoughts. "That.... Is true. But sometimes redemption is what we do after a mistake, a lesson learned. A new song to sing."

As she says this her voice grew warmer, her smile more pleasant on red painted lips. "I hope to teach... To.... Become something people can aspire to be. Just as I was before."

"Hope is a material for poets and singers" Ye Yu commented while returning her attention to the dance in the air. "Were you some famous Master, now retired for some reasons?"

"I was... The senior taifu at the clinic." Her glittering thread cutters.... Tapping on a fresh wrapping on her hand. It seemed to be a reminder now, that she was alive.... She still bled like everyone else. "Not retired.... Unable to work due to criminal charges. Unable to leave."

She sings so sweetly, a sparrow lands in her hand and sings. "Did you know each Sparrows distress call is ever slightly off pitch based on species and level of distress?"

"I did not. But to be able to hear it and understand it, one must know their usual song tones, don't they? Otherwise, how would one know the call is off pitch?"

She turned and walk a few step away to sit on a table, feet on the bench, as if she was looking for higher places.

"That would be similar to a robin in a soundproof cage, not able to fly, talent wasted in vain."

Resting her chin on her palm, almost mimicking Rodin's statue The Thinker, she set her gaze on the doctor for a long time.

"If you like birds facts, did you know that swifts cannot take off alone if they land on the ground? Their beautiful, long wings prevent them from doing so. They just need... a helpful hand. A strong gust of wind to recover freedom."

She crushed another rice cracker, throwing the crumbs into the air.

She thought about this, her smile warmer. "That is a thought, one of many."

Her voice carries a longing, to be free... That she may sing her song and fly. "To know how the swifts feel sometimes." The Sparrows caught the treats, a trilling call as she let them rest on the balcony. They were lined up like little dancers waiting for another routine.

The doctor seemed to be quite at ease now. "Often we do not listen to the songs of the sky, but those that do hear of its boundless horizons. It's.... Exhilarating allure. Would you not agree, that freedom is worth the cost?"

"I don't know what you're talking about.
The worth of freedom, is there even a doubt?
I only live by its call, following every breeze
No chain, no home, nothing won't even make me freeze.
Thus I do have to admit, I am very perplexed:
What are you waiting here, where are you going next?"

"Well unfortunately due to my..... Circumstances. Neither me nor my junior taifu can leave the facility, and as such I wait here until the time comes in which my sins will be held to account." She sighs and motions to the clinic. "Where would I go? My roots remain here, my second best."

"What a strange idea to take roots!
When time comes to follow new routes
They are entangled all around your boots...

But...

If the plant is strong enough,
Do just break those earthy cuffs!
Better grow in foreign soil
Slowly making new green sprouts
Than dying from a long drought
In shadows, left there to spoil."

She shrugged as if the answer was obvious but the choice not her to make.

She looked her over. Not judging, but observing. "A wandering spirit, without a cause. I once held your mindset and the thought of settling meant little. No family to tie me to anything, just a legacy to uphold. No purpose, just a petal in the wind. Until I found the Seer and the garden here. Though it will take time to build repetior after this."

"To see the world, without ties
To meet people, without lies
It can be a cause itself
Collecting life stories in a bookshelf" she retorted, somewhat defensive. "You met the Seer too? A blind woman, matte skin, white hair, speaking all mystically? Lady Sun Li? I am sometimes unsure if it was a real encounter or just a weird dream. Did she... uh... tried to use her tentacles on you too?" she then asked, a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"She did. And I was.... Hesitant....." She meekly smiles. "At first. I had never let my guard down around someone I just met. To the one that knows what people are capable of, I did not lower my walls." She allowed Feng to perch on her finger, petting his little black bib. "When I did she read me, and.... Saw what I was... Who I had become. As the flower who fed on blood and water I became something more than the wandering survivor without a reason to trust. I became a trusted ally."

"An ally, you said? Allies aren't they supposed to help each other?
Why aren't they here already, taking care of those who bother?she asked, almost naively.
Why aren't they here already, making sure the flower is still watery?
Clearing your name from such tragedy?"

"The whole case has.... Ripped tears in some and bonded others." Her voice carries some guilt, with her next admission. It heavily weighed on her mind, how she acted and how like a rot it spread.

"I..... Ashamedly.... Started to thrash myself and bore a weight I did not need to hold. The world felt darker and the skies no longer shines so bright."

"Just like wind, allegiances sometimes change.
Do you still feel like home in this place, with guards midrange?"

Ye Yu was still questioning Nuwu Lianhua with an innocuous, slightly curious tone, observing her, perched on her table.

"Why don't you just leave, flee and start over?
Otherwise, just go to them and turn over?" she said, designating the soldiers with a movement of her chin.
What is the point of waiting
If it's only slow, painful suffering?"

"Because mother told me when I was just a girl, go where you are needed. Go where you see strife and become the hope you seek to gain." She motions to Ye Yu with the smile so sweet. "I saw you bloom, and everyone bloom around me."

"Pain and suffering builds character, it tests us. Would I break? Or would I become more than the strife in my path?" Again, a soft giggle. "Besides, to run would make me a vagrant. And anymore blood on my hands is far too much."

"I'm not blooming!" she negated, as if she'd just been insulted. "And you, are withering!"

She pouted for a few seconds before adding : "Moreover, I do thing a talented doctor would be needed everywhere they go, from small villages to crowded cities, on bloody battlefields to tend wounds or peaceful homes, helping in giving birth. Having blood on your hand isn't always something bad."

She paused to think. Why was she trying to convince her to leave? Was it the perspective of not being free to choose their own destiny that was upsetting her? It wasn't her story, why was she trying to interfere with it? She backed up, clearing her throat and looking for a new cracker to munch on, sharing some with birds around.

"Well, if you truly believe your place is here
Then look at the future without fear
And fight like a tiger, burn like a dragon
Earn the right to stay where your belong..."

And looking at the guards, she angrily shouted : "Be it by words or by the sword!"

"Thank you... Ye Yu. Your insults are just as charming as your prose. I fear time grows shorter now, the trial will begin sooner than later." Her voice carried hope, her smile without an ounce of fear. "I must, that if I am to thrive here.... I will die fighting til my last breath."

"Why is everyone's time running out? Yuelan, you..." she complained. "Enough with dying! You have a trial planned? Then go, plead your case and win the judges' hearts. And if they are not convinced... Then who knows, the wind may turn in your favor at the most unexpected time!"

Jumping off the table, she turned to Nuwu Lianhua.

"Just by curiosity, when is it expected to happen?"

She checks the sun's movements. "I hope I can win this Ye Yu. I admire your passion, your fire for life. It is within a couple of hours. Within that time you will see that I won't be one to back down without a fight."

"In a few hours? I'm not sure I will still be around but I'll pray for your release. I'll listen to the verdict in the wind..."

She gobbled her last cracker and gave Nuwu Lianhua a confident smile.

"Fret not!
In jail, you're not going to rot!
If truth and common sense aren't enough
To overcome all those Tartuffes
No need to cry for in the shadows
Unexpected allies lie like Sparrows"

She nodded, about to take leave.

"Thank you...." She sighs, as the sun marked her hour. She seems to walk to the dojo to get her sentence with grace. "Be well."

"Be free" she answered, giving the guards a "I'm watching you" gesture with her fingers, earning suspicious stares from them before she left.