Right on cue, Liu Mei barreled into view, panting and full of urgency.
"Master! Master!" she huffed, panting as she reached him.
Ace gave her head a gentle rub, the way a father might calm an excited child. "What's up, Mei'er?"
She caught her breath, her cheeks puffed with frustration. "Have you seen little Aoki?! He ran off again!"
"Oh," Ace said, glancing in the direction the bear had vanished. He casually lifted his hand and pointed. "That way."
"Thank you!!" Liu Mei shouted, already taking off again like a blur of wind and energy. Her voice echoed down the path.
"Little Aokiii!! You get back here right now!!"
Ace watched her disappear over the hill, lips tugging into a smile.
He shook his head, a chuckle escaping.
"That poor bear," he muttered. "Bound by soul, tormented by energy. If I were him, I'd already be praying for an early reincarnation."
Ace wandered back toward the creaky wooden chair set beneath the shade of the old, sprawling tree.
