That's one of the things Elena liked best about her Uncle Jin. His exterior never mattered. No matter what form he took, his soul and personality shone through, eclipsing all else.
"While you were sleeping, I maybe did a little tinkering and spawned a few more of myself."
Elena crawled forward another few inches on her belly before she was forced to stop and rest. "No wonder Auntie gets so upset with you sometimes."
"Your aunt has a propensity for overthinking things. She's a worrier."
Elena thought Auntie might have a good reason to be, if this was the kind of behavior she was forced to deal with.
"Hop to, little girl," Uncle Jin ordered, glancing back at Elena.
Elena wiggled forward again in the narrow space. "This isn't as easy as it looks."
It was quite exhausting, actually.
"I imagine not. Maybe next time keep your nose out of adult business," Uncle Jin said with zero sympathy as he led the way. "That was a real surprise you gave me, Elena mine. I almost had a heart attack. Who knew the first thing I'd see when I came to was your face hitting the business end of a staff?"
They reached an intersection where the ducts crossed. Uncle Jin headed to the left. Elena squirmed after him.
"You don't have a heart, Uncle Jin."
The lu-ong looked back Elena. "Don't get cheeky with me, young lady."
Elena almost giggled, the familiar scolding tone washing away the last of the fear lingering from her encounter with the strange Tsavitee.
"We're here," Uncle Jin announced.
He hopped up onto the duct covering. From outside, there were several tinks as the fastenings dropped to the ground.
"You're using ki," Elena said in surprise.
She would have noticed earlier when he was holding the duct cover in place if not for how preoccupied she was with the possibility of being discovered.
The ki running through the lu-ong spawn was faint. Barely perceptible. Something she never would have noticed on Ta Sa'Riel due to the ki rich environment. Probably not even on a human or Haldeel planet where the ki density was considerably less but still present on some level.
It was this place. There was something critical that felt off. Wrong even.
It made Elena sensitive to things she might not have noticed otherwise.
"Does Auntie know?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Uncle Jin said as he lowered the cover to the ground. "Let's go."
Elena frowned at her uncle but didn't argue, sliding out of the air duct after him. She went head first, catching herself with her hands before her face got up close and personal with the floor.
Uncle Jin put the duct cover back into place before hopping onto her shoulder.
"Where were you when I woke up? I was worried," Elena asked.
Just a little though since Uncle Jin was so awesome.
"We’re in a dangerous situation. As tempting as it is to wait for your Aunt to arrive, we can’t rely on her finding us in time. The thing that we need most is information. I left to do a little reconnaissance."
Elena followed her uncle’s directions through the halls, winding her way back to the room.
"That said, I didn’t leave you unattended. Didn’t you see the spawn I left behind?" Uncle Jin asked.
Elena shook her head. "I didn’t notice anything."
