Mir wasn’t exactly surprised when he encountered Jia again.

Again, he had been heading down to the well, and again she was coming down the path. The Witch lived deep in the woods; she must have been visiting her.

Again, she sensed his presence before he said or did anything.

“Are we going to talk or are you going to attack me?” she asked without turning around. Her voice rushed over him like a rock falling on pebbles; there was no emotion expressed, just a hollow noise. Mir was unsettled. Before meeting her face to face, he had presumed her a normal human, but by the way she was so icy, so expressionless, he was beginning to doubt his assumption.

“Uh, talk, I guess,” Mir said, coming out of his hiding place in the trees. “As I said yesterday; you owe me and explanation.”

Jia turned away. “Walk with me, but be warned; if I suspect an attack I will not hold back as I did yesterday.”

Mir nodded even though her back was turned and took a few hurried yet wary steps toward her.

Jia told Mir her story. Well, not all of it. Mir had a very curious mind, and was constantly interrupting her with many questions. Not that Jia minded; she answered them in the same manner as she told her story.

Her story was a long one, and Mir’s journey to the Well was a short one. Jia walked halfway with him; halfway to the well the rough track split in two; one path led to the town, the other to the well. And so Jia didn’t walk any farther.

“Your story is not complete,” said Mir. “And I would much love to know more. Would it harm you to tell me the rest tomorrow?”

Jia gazed at him. “How do I know that you are not planning an ambush attack?”

Mir shrugged. “You have my word – and besides; if I were to I doubt you would be fazed. You are the quickest warrior I have encountered.”

Jia thought for a moment. She saw no reason why she should. Was meeting with Mir associating with the enemy? She was unsure, but seeing how she was still protecting the townspeople she reasoned that it would be okay.

“Fine,” she said. Without any further farewell, she turned and walked away.

And Jia was right, within moments of her arrival; Mir stepped out from the shadows of the trees.

Jia was taking a risk in coming here. She could have ended up meeting a whole army of Wolves, but she didn’t think that would happen. And if it did, Jia was almost unbeatable as long as her guard was up.

Jia rarely let her guard down, so she figured she would be safe.

Without so much as a greeting, Jia began where she left off, telling her story with the bare minimum of detail, patiently answering Mir’s questions.

Mir looked horrified when she had finished.

“That’s…that’s awful!” he said. “FeiFei…well, I don’t know much about her, but how can you possibly worship her when she takes people like you and turns them into…” his voice trailed off.

Jia stopped walking. “Turns them into?” she prompted.

Mir’s voice was lower this time he talked. “Monsters,” he said. “The essences of humans are emotions and feelings. By taking someone and stripping away all feeling and turning them into killers is…horrible.”

Jia took in a sharp intake of air.

Jia had heard villagers gossiping about her, calling her an alien. She had heard Wolves and other beings curse her for her deeds, yet no insults could break through her shell. Yet somehow, when this man spoke his words pierced through her like her arrows pierced through the flesh of his companions. Jia’s armour rarely broke down involuntarily, but this Mir had broken through it twice in three days.

The reality of his words sunk into her while she was still feeling. Anger (at both him and FeiFei) and hurt clouded her vision. Frustration at herself also hit her; how could you let him get to you? As Jia mostly didn’t feel anything, when she experienced feelings they were amplified.

Jia’s breathing quickened, her blood rushed. For most, a harsh word like Mir’s would not provoke such a dramatic reaction but everything was different for Jia. Letting her proverbial armour come down and it being forced down were too completely different things.

And of course, with her emotions raging and her being in such a state, Jia couldn’t regain her composure. Raising her eyes, she saw Mir staring wide eyed at her, and a touch of embarrassment joined the swell of feelings inside of her. Jia could practically see the tinge of red on her cheeks.

Jia snarled, and with a sudden burst of speed she rushed forward, pushing Mir backwards.  Surprised and startled at her change of demeanour and sudden attack, Mir took a long time to react. He stumbled before regaining his balance. “Who the do you think you are?” Jia all but yelled. “Who are you that makes you able to make me feel all these emotions? Not just once, but twice?” Jia continued, angry spit flying into Mir’s face.

Mir looked wary, more cautious than he had been that day. His guard was up once more as he spoke. “I was simply speaking the truth,” he said. “Allow me to explain,” he added hastily. “Feelings are what drives humans to do both good and bad acts, yes? Humans live by feeling happiness or sadness. So, if you cannot feel them, how are you human?”

Jia scoffed. “Please, I am as much of a human as you are, and I am living.”

Mir shook his head, his hair shaking slightly. “No, you are not living. You are merely surviving.”

Jia said nothing.

"Ask any wise person and they will say that love is the greatest power on earth," Mir argued. "Love drives people to both peace and war. If love is present in both, that means that feelings are both dangerous and peaceful."

Jia shook her head, but Mir interrupted before she could speak.

“Feelings are what also drives a person to battle, am I right? In a fight, anger and love drive a person to fight, fear and desperation lend to their determination not to lose. As good as you are Jia, you would be twice as dangerous as you are now if you showed your emotions.”

Jia shook her head. Her red hood fell to her shoulders and her hair tossed about messily. As Mir looked at her, he thought she looked one hundred times prettier angry than not. “You are wrong, Mir. Emotions in battle only lead to one’s downfall. I am dangerous enough as it is.”

Wolves attacked that night. More of them than ever before.

As usual, the now expressionless Jia took up her bow in the town square. As she heard their footsteps, she was not afraid.

However, there was a young Wolf on her mind. Mir.

She didn’t want to kill him. She was unsure why, but she felt that killing him after sharing her tale with him was betraying him which of course was ridiculous. She shouldn’t be feeling anything at all.

The Wolves attacked, and once again Jia fought with incredible speed. She kept an eye out for Mir, she was unsure if he would be fighting.

As she dodged blows and fired arrows, she studied each face. They all looked angry and fearful at the same time. Many were dirty and many had blood stains on their tattered clothes. Most had dirty, matted hair badly in need of combing. However, no matter how unseemly they looked, they were dangerous. They carried clubs, and swords, and some bore throwing knives.

In the midst of the warriors, she spotted him.

He looked reluctant. Mir looked as if he would rather be anywhere else right now. He was smaller and skinnier than most of his comrades, but he was quicker and carried a large axe that could have easily cleaved Jia in half. That was, if he got close enough.

Jia fired arrow after arrow, but didn’t kill. She intentionally hit them in their limbs and in the space beside them. She wanted to hurt them and to scare them, but not to kill them. Despite of her emotion-armour, she did not like the almost-sense of guilt that plagued her after a kill. Yet they Wolves rarely retreated unless she took someone’s life, and so she ended up killing one every time they attacked.

Jia grabbed another silver coloured arrow from her quiver and immediately notched it into her bow. Her aim was perfect, and as she raised the bow she looked for her next target.

The warrior nearest was Mir.

Something made her hesitate. Their eyes met and Jia froze.

Fool, a voice inside her head whispered.

Then suddenly, there was a flash of steel and a burning sensation in Jia’s shoulder. Jia gasped as she felt warm blood – the same colour as her cloak – soak her shoulder. Looking down, she could see the throwing knife of one of the Warriors and pierced her skin in her moment of distraction.

You see, said the voice inside of her. This is how emotions will be your downfall; you showed mercy and this is what happened.

The voice angered Jia.

The Wolf who had thrown the knife stood in shock for a moment. None of them had ever managed to hurt the Red Riding Hood before. A sadistic grin formed on his face as he drew his main weapon; a sword.

Jia was unused to pain. And while it wouldn’t kill her, the pain from this knife in her shoulder certainly was distracting her. She stumbled and fell to her knees, gasping. The bow fell from her hand.

Looking up she saw the Wolf steeping forward until he was right in front of her. With a smirk, he spoke aloud to the people to Huang Shi, who were surely watching with horror from their windows.

“People of Huang Shi, look closely!” he called in a jeering voice. “This will be your fate too.”

He raised his arm, pulling the sword into the air.

Under his shoulder, Jia spotted Mir, and was surprised; Mir looked shocked, he looked like he was scared that Jia would die. Jia spotted him mouthing a single word; No.

And so, for the third time in as two days, Mir of the Wolf Tribe caused Jia's armour to break down and make her feel emotions.

Jia’s pain tripled, and fear, desperation and determination coursed through her veins. Without thinking of what to do, Jia’s hand flew to the knife in her shoulder, gripped the hilt and pulled it out.

Jia did this quickly, despite the pain which was again, made worse. The piece of metal coming out of her body was almost worse than when it was going into her body. Jia grit her teeth, determined not to cry out. The Wolf in front of her swung his blade down and Jia plunged the knife upward.

The small knife clashed with his larger blade. With a fierce cry Jia stood up jumped, knocking into him.

The Wolves for their part, were terrified. The Red Riding Hood had never shown anger like this before, and were practically falling over themselves to get away. The one Jia had taken down scrambled away, and Jia let him go. The Wolves ran, scared for their lives. Yet, before they were all gone Jia made eye contact with Mir.

Mir gave a slight smile to her, which was odd, seeing as Jia had just beaten his comrades. He followed his kin into the woods.

Tears pricked Jia’s eyes for the first time in years. She needed someone to look at her wound. Hot blood was flowing from her shoulder and knives of icy pain coursed through her body with even the slightest movement. Nursing her bloody shoulder, she stood up. Despite her pain, Mir had been right; emotions had won her this battle.