The interior of the building is scarcely warmer than outside, but at least it's reasonably dry, and when Shen Yuan pushes his wet hair out of his face it stays where he puts it, instead of getting picked back up by the wind and slapping him in the eye. A small but important improvement.
"Ah, it's a poor story I'm afraid," he sighs, stifling a groan as he lowers his aching body to the floor. "Although I don't mind telling my benefactor, if he really wishes to know." As his shivering eases, he manages to smile up at Varre's inscrutable white mask, returning its look of serenity with one of shy embarrassment and just a touch of self-deprecation. "I'm no Tarnished, you see -- and yet, I came to these lands seeking my fate, much like they did." He sighs again, letting his eyes slip closed while he tips his head back against the cold stone wall. "I suppose one way or another, I'll find it quite soon."
It is not quite suicidality, that makes him present himself so passively to a person of unknown motivations and beliefs. Rather, he is simply too tired to care about the consequences. He's walked his feet nearly to the bone crossing this land; if Varre wants to hurt him then he's welcome to try, but won't he be nice and let Shen Yuan rest for a moment first?
Not a Tarnished? And not part of some retinue of hangers-on, nor obviously a frustrated Maiden--the Golden Order was very particular in who they blinded with the promise of a cause.
"What rotten luck," he seemingly commiserates, kneeling to look the man over. Lips painted pale blue with cold, but still shivering. Not yet succumbing to the elements, but it could be a close thing. Perhaps mercy would be the way of it, regardless of whether the Dynasty's security required it.
"Hm?" Oh right, his story. Shen Yuan forced his eyes open again, and said with a tired, unsteady laugh, "It was a dream, if you can believe it. I dreamt of a rose garden, over and over...the loveliest, reddest, sweetest-smelling roses you can imagine...with terrible thorns like daggers, but there's a path between the bushes...I always felt quite safe, so long as I stuck to the path..."
He found it necessary to force his eyes open a second time. He shouldn't fall asleep while he's still all wet like this, he'll feel miserable when he wakes up. Although it might be worth it anyway, because -- "For a time, after waking from this dream, it's as though a crimson flame hangs before my eyes. In my home country it was a mere blot on the horizon, but it awoke a desire in me to follow it...and ever since I passed through the mists, it's grown larger every time I wake from the dream...larger and stronger..."
How easy it was to coax stories from benighted travelers. It was a part of his calling, and his Lord had been eminently logical in his selection.
Behind his serene mask, his eyes had never shed the lustreless amber yellow of common blood from the plateau. A useful thing now. It made him less distinctive, more approachable, and yet still knowledgeable. A blessing in and of disguise, in a decrepit land still plagued with gold-worshiping zealots.
But as he listens, he goes very still. Roses and flame? Truly? Such lovely things seemed too pure to be true. He reaches out, taking Shen Yuan's wrist and finding his pulse. "Stay awake for a while more. Where do you see this fire?"
"Mm? Oh, that way." Shen Yuan raised a surprisingly steady hand, despite his shivering, and pointed east and southeast. "I can't see it right now," he said apologetically. "It's been too long since I last slept...but it was that way, I'm sure of it. Your hand is very warm." And he laughed again, tired and sorry for himself and embarrassed by it, and let his hand fall back into his lap. "I'm sorry, I'm not normally so pathetic as all this...it's just I've been walking for such a long time..."
He wanted to sleep, or at least close his eyes again and rest...it would do him good, he felt suddenly sure, just getting another glimpse of that garden...
Shen Yuan points toward the seat of the Dynasty, but his heart doesn't
feel touched by noble blood. Not--maybe. He can sense
something within the man. But if he's received communion, it was
unconventional.
He needs a sample. "And perhaps you'll find your flame soon. But without
the strength of runes to see you safe, the strength of your blood must
suffice." He draws his knife, keeping a firm hold on Shen Yuan's hand,
puncturing the skin of a finger with precise technique.
The scent is proof enough, the little glint of truth upon the knife point.
"And it is blessed," his businesslike tone cracks, revealing a
glimmer of hope. "Oh, you are fortunate to have sheltered here."
Senses slowed by the cold and his fatigue, Shen Yuan spots the knife too late to do more than quietly gasp in shock and make a grab for Varre's wrist -- after he's already drawn blood. Stupid.
"What do you mean?" he asks, eyes wide. "Blessed how?" Why did you do that? his shocked -- and despite everything, still disappointed -- face demands.
He shifts just slightly in Shen Yuan's grip, the tip of his knife briefly
disappearing in a flare of crimson light. It sinks into the Formless
Mother, gently, with ever so much reverence. Her red flame drips down the
blade, mingling with Shen Yuan's blood.
They blend together beautifully. How lovely! "Oh, forgive me for the
deception, you poor thing. There are so many who seek to thwart my Lord's
work.I had to be sure."
"Truth..." Shen Yuan echoes the word dumbly, the crimson fire perfectly reflected in his wide, phoenix eyes, like two black mirrors set into his white face. "You..." He shakes his head slightly, trying to steady his thoughts against the whirling in his brain.
"You know...him? The one who planted the roses, who controls the flame?" Tears spring to Shen Yuan's eyes, relief to heavy a burden to bear when added to the weight of his fear and exhaustion. He hastily scrubs them away, adding, "Please, deceive me no more. It's been so long...I endured so much just to get this far, and I am so weary..."
He anxiously searches the other's eyes, looking for any sign of judgement, any sign that, gods forbid, his weakness marks him a failure, here within a stone's throw of his goal...
"He is the Luminary Mohg, the last, loving Lord in these shattered lands," his voice, his eyes full of fervor. "He saved me, just as He would preserve you."
"I will tell you everything, but we must see you warmed. Come, I can light a fire." He draws Shen Yuan up, over to the fireplace. It's rain-damp, the stones settling into a bowled shape, the ash of old fires replaced by algae and tiny weeds.
He gathers his focus around the formless seal of the Dynasty, finds the throb of a vein in the Mother, and cuts it open, keeping the blade in her flesh as She bleeds. His finger flares with sweet pain from the vapors that rise from Her, but he will not pull away until Her blood has filled the depression with a bright and healthy flame. Oh Mother of our Lord, accept this wound that You may be venerated by all.
In such distant lands, after so much hardship and misery, even the smallest familiar sight is one to be treasured.
"Your magic is a bit like mine," Shen Yuan murmurs from where he's propping up the hearth-post with his body, and raises one hand to form the seal for light. A small glowing sphere appears in his palm for a few seconds before snuffing out like a candle in the wind, and he smiles sadly. "I'm so weary," he repeats, but he can't sleep now. "Please, tell me more. Does the fire come from your lord? Is that why he's called Luminary?"
He kneels beside Shen Yuan, the living heat of Her gift slowly sinking through his gown. He the man form a seal with empty hands--light, uncorrupted by gold. What a beautifully ephemeral little thing, beside the bounty of the Formless Beyond. "This is the blood of His mother, and He is blessed with Her flame."
He still feels a little of his Lord's warmth even now, as they all do. It has brought him comfort, in these hollowed lands. "The Erdtree wanes, and the stars are silent, but His vision brings us into a new light. A new life, as He becomes consort to the most blessed Divinity."
He takes Shen Yuan's hands, feeling the pulse slowly returning to pale fingers. "A life one that all may share, through ennobled blood."
And that is the core mystery of this man. "You have already received some small inoculation, through means unknown to me." But how lovely it is, to know that their Lord's works are everywhere.
"And through this, He has summoned you." While all the rest waited for the awakening of the Divinity. "Have you ever met with another practitioner of the sacred blood? One with red eyes, a marked hand, a trident sigil upon them?"
"Never," Shen Yuan says softly, "Or at least, none that cared to reveal themselves to me." The heat of the fire prickles on his exposed skin, and rouses his nerves back into stinging life as his blood warms and begins to properly flow once more. "But your words send a thrill through me," he whispers, and turns his hands to entwine his finger's with Varre's in possibly a too-tight grip. "My senses and thoughts tell me they are altogether new, but in my spirit and heart..."
He peers at Varre curiously from beneath stone-heavy eyelids, fallen now to half-mast. "It's as though I've heard them all before," he whispers cautiously. "In some dream unremembered, or a song that followed me from a past life...I wonder, if the Luminary Lord is so wise and powerful as to summon me here so far from my home, as we both now know he did, perhaps it was also his will that I should hear these words first from you?"
The grip presses pain into his finger, burning sweet.
"He chose me for this task. To find those who would join our new life." The lost Tarnished, turned from the Golden Order, guided by his words.
"Knights of the Dynasty. They wait in these lands, for our Lord's summons. Only you have been called." And he cannot help but feel a stab of jealousy for this, delicate as a surgeon's knife. Shen Yuan is such a sweet thing, but what will become of him? Will he reside beneath the stars below, seen only in glimpses?
"I'm no knight," Shen Yuan says slowly. "In my homeland, I was a scholar...a poet, even. Here...I don't know..."
He sighs heavily, only to interrupt himself halfway through with a wide, jaw-cracking yawn. "Forgive me," he says, embarrassed, and drops Varre's hand so he might cover his own mouth. "The heat's working, I think -- it's getting so hard to keep my eyes open..."
Suddenly alarmed he reaches back and squeezes Varre's hand. "Will you stay with me?" he pleads. "If I sleep, will...will you still be here when I wake up? Please?"
No. This man is certainly no knight. He is something new. Loathsomely pathetic and achingly beautiful.
"My oath has brought me here." It is his duty to provide others the way to their Lord. "I will stay." But for them, at least, he has the knowledge that they all wait together, bereft of their Lord.
His hand closes tightly around Shen Yuan's, his grip strong. "Rest. You must not be in such a state when you bow before divinity."
"No, of course not," Shen Yuan mumbles his agreement, head already swaying as he lowers himself to the floor. "Need to be respectable...so I can show proper respect..."
He was asleep within seconds -- and it seemed that no sooner had he closed his eyes than he opened them again to behold the garden, sweet-smelling roses seeming fain to glow in the warm afternoon sun. The gate was before him, and gladly did he stretch out his hand to open the latch.
Passing through the gate was as walking from day into night: darkness fell, and yet far above him the sky was lit with thousands of shimmering stars, which provided light enough to see the crumbling stone path before him, winding its way through ancient pillars to a sort of open terrace some ways ahead.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2023-05-14 04:46 am (UTC)"Ah, it's a poor story I'm afraid," he sighs, stifling a groan as he lowers his aching body to the floor. "Although I don't mind telling my benefactor, if he really wishes to know." As his shivering eases, he manages to smile up at Varre's inscrutable white mask, returning its look of serenity with one of shy embarrassment and just a touch of self-deprecation. "I'm no Tarnished, you see -- and yet, I came to these lands seeking my fate, much like they did." He sighs again, letting his eyes slip closed while he tips his head back against the cold stone wall. "I suppose one way or another, I'll find it quite soon."
It is not quite suicidality, that makes him present himself so passively to a person of unknown motivations and beliefs. Rather, he is simply too tired to care about the consequences. He's walked his feet nearly to the bone crossing this land; if Varre wants to hurt him then he's welcome to try, but won't he be nice and let Shen Yuan rest for a moment first?
no subject
Date: 2023-05-14 10:34 am (UTC)"What rotten luck," he seemingly commiserates, kneeling to look the man over. Lips painted pale blue with cold, but still shivering. Not yet succumbing to the elements, but it could be a close thing. Perhaps mercy would be the way of it, regardless of whether the Dynasty's security required it.
"What drove you so, to cross the fog?"
no subject
Date: 2023-05-15 12:25 pm (UTC)He found it necessary to force his eyes open a second time. He shouldn't fall asleep while he's still all wet like this, he'll feel miserable when he wakes up. Although it might be worth it anyway, because -- "For a time, after waking from this dream, it's as though a crimson flame hangs before my eyes. In my home country it was a mere blot on the horizon, but it awoke a desire in me to follow it...and ever since I passed through the mists, it's grown larger every time I wake from the dream...larger and stronger..."
no subject
Date: 2023-05-16 01:11 am (UTC)Behind his serene mask, his eyes had never shed the lustreless amber yellow of common blood from the plateau. A useful thing now. It made him less distinctive, more approachable, and yet still knowledgeable. A blessing in and of disguise, in a decrepit land still plagued with gold-worshiping zealots.
But as he listens, he goes very still. Roses and flame? Truly? Such lovely things seemed too pure to be true. He reaches out, taking Shen Yuan's wrist and finding his pulse. "Stay awake for a while more. Where do you see this fire?"
no subject
Date: 2023-05-16 01:29 am (UTC)He wanted to sleep, or at least close his eyes again and rest...it would do him good, he felt suddenly sure, just getting another glimpse of that garden...
no subject
Date: 2023-05-24 01:57 pm (UTC)Shen Yuan points toward the seat of the Dynasty, but his heart doesn't feel touched by noble blood. Not--maybe. He can sense something within the man. But if he's received communion, it was unconventional.
He needs a sample. "And perhaps you'll find your flame soon. But without the strength of runes to see you safe, the strength of your blood must suffice." He draws his knife, keeping a firm hold on Shen Yuan's hand, puncturing the skin of a finger with precise technique.
The scent is proof enough, the little glint of truth upon the knife point. "And it is blessed," his businesslike tone cracks, revealing a glimmer of hope. "Oh, you are fortunate to have sheltered here."
no subject
Date: 2023-05-24 05:15 pm (UTC)"What do you mean?" he asks, eyes wide. "Blessed how?" Why did you do that? his shocked -- and despite everything, still disappointed -- face demands.
no subject
Date: 2023-05-24 08:04 pm (UTC)"Your blood has been touched by Truth."
He shifts just slightly in Shen Yuan's grip, the tip of his knife briefly disappearing in a flare of crimson light. It sinks into the Formless Mother, gently, with ever so much reverence. Her red flame drips down the blade, mingling with Shen Yuan's blood.
They blend together beautifully. How lovely! "Oh, forgive me for the deception, you poor thing. There are so many who seek to thwart my Lord's work.I had to be sure."
no subject
Date: 2023-05-24 08:18 pm (UTC)"You know...him? The one who planted the roses, who controls the flame?" Tears spring to Shen Yuan's eyes, relief to heavy a burden to bear when added to the weight of his fear and exhaustion. He hastily scrubs them away, adding, "Please, deceive me no more. It's been so long...I endured so much just to get this far, and I am so weary..."
He anxiously searches the other's eyes, looking for any sign of judgement, any sign that, gods forbid, his weakness marks him a failure, here within a stone's throw of his goal...
no subject
Date: 2023-05-24 08:44 pm (UTC)"He is the Luminary Mohg, the last, loving Lord in these shattered lands," his voice, his eyes full of fervor. "He saved me, just as He would preserve you."
"I will tell you everything, but we must see you warmed. Come, I can light a fire." He draws Shen Yuan up, over to the fireplace. It's rain-damp, the stones settling into a bowled shape, the ash of old fires replaced by algae and tiny weeds.
He gathers his focus around the formless seal of the Dynasty, finds the throb of a vein in the Mother, and cuts it open, keeping the blade in her flesh as She bleeds. His finger flares with sweet pain from the vapors that rise from Her, but he will not pull away until Her blood has filled the depression with a bright and healthy flame. Oh Mother of our Lord, accept this wound that You may be venerated by all.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-01 04:35 am (UTC)"Your magic is a bit like mine," Shen Yuan murmurs from where he's propping up the hearth-post with his body, and raises one hand to form the seal for light. A small glowing sphere appears in his palm for a few seconds before snuffing out like a candle in the wind, and he smiles sadly. "I'm so weary," he repeats, but he can't sleep now. "Please, tell me more. Does the fire come from your lord? Is that why he's called Luminary?"
no subject
Date: 2023-06-02 11:27 pm (UTC)He still feels a little of his Lord's warmth even now, as they all do. It has brought him comfort, in these hollowed lands. "The Erdtree wanes, and the stars are silent, but His vision brings us into a new light. A new life, as He becomes consort to the most blessed Divinity."
He takes Shen Yuan's hands, feeling the pulse slowly returning to pale fingers. "A life one that all may share, through ennobled blood."
And that is the core mystery of this man. "You have already received some small inoculation, through means unknown to me." But how lovely it is, to know that their Lord's works are everywhere.
"And through this, He has summoned you." While all the rest waited for the awakening of the Divinity. "Have you ever met with another practitioner of the sacred blood? One with red eyes, a marked hand, a trident sigil upon them?"
no subject
Date: 2023-06-03 05:41 am (UTC)He peers at Varre curiously from beneath stone-heavy eyelids, fallen now to half-mast. "It's as though I've heard them all before," he whispers cautiously. "In some dream unremembered, or a song that followed me from a past life...I wonder, if the Luminary Lord is so wise and powerful as to summon me here so far from my home, as we both now know he did, perhaps it was also his will that I should hear these words first from you?"
no subject
Date: 2023-06-03 10:37 pm (UTC)"He chose me for this task. To find those who would join our new life." The lost Tarnished, turned from the Golden Order, guided by his words.
"Knights of the Dynasty. They wait in these lands, for our Lord's summons. Only you have been called." And he cannot help but feel a stab of jealousy for this, delicate as a surgeon's knife. Shen Yuan is such a sweet thing, but what will become of him? Will he reside beneath the stars below, seen only in glimpses?
no subject
Date: 2023-06-07 07:01 am (UTC)He sighs heavily, only to interrupt himself halfway through with a wide, jaw-cracking yawn. "Forgive me," he says, embarrassed, and drops Varre's hand so he might cover his own mouth. "The heat's working, I think -- it's getting so hard to keep my eyes open..."
Suddenly alarmed he reaches back and squeezes Varre's hand. "Will you stay with me?" he pleads. "If I sleep, will...will you still be here when I wake up? Please?"
no subject
Date: 2023-07-14 10:28 pm (UTC)"My oath has brought me here." It is his duty to provide others the way to their Lord. "I will stay." But for them, at least, he has the knowledge that they all wait together, bereft of their Lord.
His hand closes tightly around Shen Yuan's, his grip strong. "Rest. You must not be in such a state when you bow before divinity."
no subject
Date: 2023-08-02 07:48 am (UTC)He was asleep within seconds -- and it seemed that no sooner had he closed his eyes than he opened them again to behold the garden, sweet-smelling roses seeming fain to glow in the warm afternoon sun. The gate was before him, and gladly did he stretch out his hand to open the latch.
Passing through the gate was as walking from day into night: darkness fell, and yet far above him the sky was lit with thousands of shimmering stars, which provided light enough to see the crumbling stone path before him, winding its way through ancient pillars to a sort of open terrace some ways ahead.