[It's towards the evening that she feels comfortable going out of her room again, hoping others won't be roaming the halls just yet.
...But that's not quite the case. When she enters the kitchen, she sees that she's not alone - and in her surprise, she makes eye contact for a second too long.]
gu yun has also been avoiding this. he's kept to himself all day, claiming a migraine; now, he's sneaking out to grab a cup of tea before leaving. so, naturally, he meets endorsi's gaze for a millisecond, and it's enough. -- ]
[ the world comes into focus in a sea of red.
it's not blood - rather, it's red kites. sleek, mid-sized air ships with beautiful red sails, hovering high in the sky around the yunmeng grand view tower, koi shaped bows focused on the spectacle occurring down below. this is great liang in celebration - it's the eve of the lunar new year. you're in high spirits, as is everyone else - after dragging your less-than-thrilled ward out of his cooped up studying to play along, and a rousing dinner and drinks with your men, you've made your way out onto the deck of the kites to watch the show below, on the round ting yuan platform. nobility watch the show from the ground level, and the common folk clamor around the upper levels to get a sight of such a fantastic piece of entertainment. you're tipsy and warm, pleased from a long evening of celebration, and ready to take in this year's act.
it's a circus. you're far away, and you have to take a pair of binoculars to your liuli glass to see properly. as a tiger leaps through a set of flaming hoops. people throw gold coins to the sides of the ring shaped platform, tipping the performers, as they cheer and delight in the spectacle. round after round of applause rings through the platform.
but there's something raising the hairs on the back of your neck, and your danger senses are finely honed. you lock your vision onto the tiger, who is looking increasingly uneasy and agitated as it hops from flaming hoop to flaming hoop, and like a train crash imminent, you watch as an idiotic audience member from the upper deck throws an unbelievable rain of golden coins directly into the ring.
the tiger snarls, turns around, and breaks free of its hold, immediately tearing a chunk out of the clown standing beside it, who screams, and the entire place bursts into chaos.
your instincts are fast, though, as the common folks scream for the joy of gold, unable to see the tiger's attack, while the rich flee from the tiger, who bounds into the crowd. you grab chang geng's shoulder and shove him behind you, and turn to the door. the private red kite of the black iron camp has a longbow, and you grab it and a pack of arrows, pushing chang geng into the main room of the ship, much to his protest, shutting the door in his face. a second passes. you turn your attention to the screaming crowd below and nock an arrow.
"Everyone calm down!" one of your soldiers shouts - several more in their black armor leap from the red kites to the ground below, iron wings catching the air and drifting down to immediately provide reinforcement, "The Marquis of Order is here, don't cause a commotion!"
those three words are effective enough to stop the crowd - some of the hubbub and screaming silences at the sheer weight of your title. it gives you the moment you need, as you take your archery stance and turn your gaze down to the crowd below. the tiger has moved on from roaring, taking a leap and pinning a man to the ground, screaming.
five minutes ago, you were tipsy-drunk, and now, all of your focus narrows down to the world below. the hot wind from the engines of the great kites blows your hair back, as you move to the head of the great kite, and tilt your body downwards. you are hundreds of feet in the air above, the target barely a pinprick, and your vision already isn't good. the chaos calms down to nothing in your ears.
you inhale. and on the exhale, you release the arrow and the bowstring.
--
the arrow shoots like a meteor, streaking through the sky and threading through the cobweb-like rope structures that keep the red kite ships in place - it slams, with pinpoint accuracy, into the back of the tiger's head. it pierces through the skull of the beast's head - it sways, once, and slams dead into the ground.
the man underneath it is unharmed.
you don't get time to think about it, though, because as fast as lightning, you grab another arrow, nock it, turn a quarter inch, lean back on the doorframe, and fire. the arrow shrieks through the air, and there's a scream on the deck, a hundred feet below - it grazes over the head of a foreigner and hits the center of his hat, pinning it to the closest post, the tail of the arrow vibrating with the force of the shot. the man falls out of his chair, flat on his ass, and looks up, making eye contact with you.
you regard him, for a moment, the man who you observed - who threw all of those gold coins onto the deck and started the chaos.
a hush falls over the entire platform, and you stand straight and tall, dropping your archer's stance and tipping up your chin. ]
Plotting to harm people. [ you say, clear and sharp, as the crowd seems to take its first breath again. you turn to the black iron soldier who told the crowd you were there, regarding him. ] Arrest that man for questioning.
[ you turn - you hear the man's iron eagle kickstart, as he immediately, unquestioningly, follows your order-- and hang the longbow back up on the post behind you. ]
[So, Endorsi is not the type of person to call anyone cool or impressive to their face, mostly! But as they both come out of the memory, she has a very enthused expression on her face before it smooths out, and she blinks.]
...That was yours?
[She can guess so, given how the other memories she's seen so far, but just in case.]
[ ENDORSI CUTE, don't think he didn't notice that excited face!!! ]
Mm, it was. [ an interesting memory - one of the better ones that he's shared, so far. gu yun grins, thinking back to the night itself. ]
Think it got a little too wild. [ Wild. haha. ] It was a shame we couldn't get the informant to cough up much in the way of answers, but, I left with a story to tell. Good thing we decided to pack a longbow on the Red Kite!
Well, I have my speculation - and there are hints, but I'm afraid it leads to a much larger scheme. Just a small puzzle piece.
[ and one that could have been much worse, were the black iron crows not there to stop it.
endorsi's last question gets him to look genuinely surprised. ] What - New Year? You all don't celebrate the New Year? The oddities of the worlds everyone is from never cease to amazing me... You're missing out!
It's the beginning of the Lunar New Year. Jiangbei typically has the largest celebration in the country, but even the hovels in the West celebrate it best they can.
[Her expression says she's curious about that first part - but the curious look she gives him is a little bit too direct, and they're thrown into another memory.
It begins with a fall from a great height. You'll holding onto someone as the two of you plummet towards the ground, and from the shrieking both you and her are doing, it's clear the fall wasn't on purpose for either of you. There's a pain in your legs as you hit the ground, fierce and biting, and you immediately start yelling at her as you reach forward to grab your knee. From the lack of real anger that you're feeling, though, it's probably just play fighting on your part.
"Ahh, this sucks! This is definitely broken!"
"Shut up, idiot." She says in response, her voice much lower than yours.
"If this leaves a single scar on my beautiful legs, I'll hate you forever!" You respond as soon as she stops talking, rolling over slightly so you can look at her where she landed.
"Your beautiful legs?" She asks. "Don't you mean your thick trunks, hag?"
When you respond, it comes out in a screech, affronted. "Hag?! How could you call such an insane beauty a hag?!"
"Stop screaming. I can feel it in my wounds." She says, still sounding much calmer than you are.
You roll back over so you're laying on your side, the outrage in your voice gone as soon as it came. You're quieter when you speak next, more thoughtful.
"Hey."
"What?" She asks in return.
"About your mother—" You start, but she interrupts before you can continue, a new note of anger in her voice as she answers you.
"Why do you care about her?"
"Don't try to start a fight with me." You answer immediately, but that request is more calm than you sounded at the start of this exchange, even if it's blunt. "She was kind of nice to me when I first became a princess." There's... something like regret in your tone as you say that, and you give pause for a moment before you continue with a question. "Tell me. Did she ever regret what she did?"
The other girl pauses for a long moment, shifting so she's flat on her back on the ground. When she speaks, it's soft.
"...Probably not. That's what I believe."
Whatever you're discussing, whatever this girl's mother did that she probably didn't regret - before the memory ends, you feel a pang of loneliness, of longing. Just as quickly as it began, though, the memory ends.
...It isn't the worst one she's shared, not by half, but she still looks dissatisfied as they both come out of it.]
as the memory fades, gu yun is quiet for a long moment, like he's dissecting the details. probably not she said, and for a moment, it reminds him of the old marquis.
eventually, as he speaks again, he glances up and notices her facial expression. it tugs the corner of gu yun's mouth up in a wry smile. ] I have a feeling you won't want me to ask.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
w2, monday.
...But that's not quite the case. When she enters the kitchen, she sees that she's not alone - and in her surprise, she makes eye contact for a second too long.]
no subject
gu yun has also been avoiding this. he's kept to himself all day, claiming a migraine; now, he's sneaking out to grab a cup of tea before leaving. so, naturally, he meets endorsi's gaze for a millisecond, and it's enough. -- ]
[ the world comes into focus in a sea of red.
it's not blood - rather, it's red kites. sleek, mid-sized air ships with beautiful red sails, hovering high in the sky around the yunmeng grand view tower, koi shaped bows focused on the spectacle occurring down below. this is great liang in celebration - it's the eve of the lunar new year. you're in high spirits, as is everyone else - after dragging your less-than-thrilled ward out of his cooped up studying to play along, and a rousing dinner and drinks with your men, you've made your way out onto the deck of the kites to watch the show below, on the round ting yuan platform. nobility watch the show from the ground level, and the common folk clamor around the upper levels to get a sight of such a fantastic piece of entertainment. you're tipsy and warm, pleased from a long evening of celebration, and ready to take in this year's act.
it's a circus. you're far away, and you have to take a pair of binoculars to your liuli glass to see properly. as a tiger leaps through a set of flaming hoops. people throw gold coins to the sides of the ring shaped platform, tipping the performers, as they cheer and delight in the spectacle. round after round of applause rings through the platform.
but there's something raising the hairs on the back of your neck, and your danger senses are finely honed. you lock your vision onto the tiger, who is looking increasingly uneasy and agitated as it hops from flaming hoop to flaming hoop, and like a train crash imminent, you watch as an idiotic audience member from the upper deck throws an unbelievable rain of golden coins directly into the ring.
the tiger snarls, turns around, and breaks free of its hold, immediately tearing a chunk out of the clown standing beside it, who screams, and the entire place bursts into chaos.
your instincts are fast, though, as the common folks scream for the joy of gold, unable to see the tiger's attack, while the rich flee from the tiger, who bounds into the crowd. you grab chang geng's shoulder and shove him behind you, and turn to the door. the private red kite of the black iron camp has a longbow, and you grab it and a pack of arrows, pushing chang geng into the main room of the ship, much to his protest, shutting the door in his face. a second passes. you turn your attention to the screaming crowd below and nock an arrow.
"Everyone calm down!" one of your soldiers shouts - several more in their black armor leap from the red kites to the ground below, iron wings catching the air and drifting down to immediately provide reinforcement, "The Marquis of Order is here, don't cause a commotion!"
those three words are effective enough to stop the crowd - some of the hubbub and screaming silences at the sheer weight of your title. it gives you the moment you need, as you take your archery stance and turn your gaze down to the crowd below. the tiger has moved on from roaring, taking a leap and pinning a man to the ground, screaming.
five minutes ago, you were tipsy-drunk, and now, all of your focus narrows down to the world below. the hot wind from the engines of the great kites blows your hair back, as you move to the head of the great kite, and tilt your body downwards. you are hundreds of feet in the air above, the target barely a pinprick, and your vision already isn't good. the chaos calms down to nothing in your ears.
you inhale. and on the exhale, you release the arrow and the bowstring.
--
the arrow shoots like a meteor, streaking through the sky and threading through the cobweb-like rope structures that keep the red kite ships in place - it slams, with pinpoint accuracy, into the back of the tiger's head. it pierces through the skull of the beast's head - it sways, once, and slams dead into the ground.
the man underneath it is unharmed.
you don't get time to think about it, though, because as fast as lightning, you grab another arrow, nock it, turn a quarter inch, lean back on the doorframe, and fire. the arrow shrieks through the air, and there's a scream on the deck, a hundred feet below - it grazes over the head of a foreigner and hits the center of his hat, pinning it to the closest post, the tail of the arrow vibrating with the force of the shot. the man falls out of his chair, flat on his ass, and looks up, making eye contact with you.
you regard him, for a moment, the man who you observed - who threw all of those gold coins onto the deck and started the chaos.
a hush falls over the entire platform, and you stand straight and tall, dropping your archer's stance and tipping up your chin. ]
Plotting to harm people. [ you say, clear and sharp, as the crowd seems to take its first breath again. you turn to the black iron soldier who told the crowd you were there, regarding him. ] Arrest that man for questioning.
[ you turn - you hear the man's iron eagle kickstart, as he immediately, unquestioningly, follows your order-- and hang the longbow back up on the post behind you. ]
no subject
...That was yours?
[She can guess so, given how the other memories she's seen so far, but just in case.]
Ha, it seems like it was quite a party!
[Tiger...]
no subject
Mm, it was. [ an interesting memory - one of the better ones that he's shared, so far. gu yun grins, thinking back to the night itself. ]
Think it got a little too wild. [ Wild. haha. ] It was a shame we couldn't get the informant to cough up much in the way of answers, but, I left with a story to tell. Good thing we decided to pack a longbow on the Red Kite!
no subject
[With a thoughtful tilt of her head, though:]
Is that kind of celebration normal where you're from? I've never seen anything like it before.
no subject
[ and one that could have been much worse, were the black iron crows not there to stop it.
endorsi's last question gets him to look genuinely surprised. ] What - New Year? You all don't celebrate the New Year? The oddities of the worlds everyone is from never cease to amazing me... You're missing out!
It's the beginning of the Lunar New Year. Jiangbei typically has the largest celebration in the country, but even the hovels in the West celebrate it best they can.
no subject
It begins with a fall from a great height. You'll holding onto someone as the two of you plummet towards the ground, and from the shrieking both you and her are doing, it's clear the fall wasn't on purpose for either of you. There's a pain in your legs as you hit the ground, fierce and biting, and you immediately start yelling at her as you reach forward to grab your knee. From the lack of real anger that you're feeling, though, it's probably just play fighting on your part.
"Ahh, this sucks! This is definitely broken!"
"Shut up, idiot." She says in response, her voice much lower than yours.
"If this leaves a single scar on my beautiful legs, I'll hate you forever!" You respond as soon as she stops talking, rolling over slightly so you can look at her where she landed.
"Your beautiful legs?" She asks. "Don't you mean your thick trunks, hag?"
When you respond, it comes out in a screech, affronted. "Hag?! How could you call such an insane beauty a hag?!"
"Stop screaming. I can feel it in my wounds." She says, still sounding much calmer than you are.
You roll back over so you're laying on your side, the outrage in your voice gone as soon as it came. You're quieter when you speak next, more thoughtful.
"Hey."
"What?" She asks in return.
"About your mother—" You start, but she interrupts before you can continue, a new note of anger in her voice as she answers you.
"Why do you care about her?"
"Don't try to start a fight with me." You answer immediately, but that request is more calm than you sounded at the start of this exchange, even if it's blunt. "She was kind of nice to me when I first became a princess." There's... something like regret in your tone as you say that, and you give pause for a moment before you continue with a question. "Tell me. Did she ever regret what she did?"
The other girl pauses for a long moment, shifting so she's flat on her back on the ground. When she speaks, it's soft.
"...Probably not. That's what I believe."
Whatever you're discussing, whatever this girl's mother did that she probably didn't regret - before the memory ends, you feel a pang of loneliness, of longing. Just as quickly as it began, though, the memory ends.
...It isn't the worst one she's shared, not by half, but she still looks dissatisfied as they both come out of it.]
no subject
as the memory fades, gu yun is quiet for a long moment, like he's dissecting the details. probably not she said, and for a moment, it reminds him of the old marquis.
eventually, as he speaks again, he glances up and notices her facial expression. it tugs the corner of gu yun's mouth up in a wry smile. ] I have a feeling you won't want me to ask.
[ but he does want to know, ]
no subject
You can ask. It'll be more annoying if you're always wondering.
no subject
Who was that? You had mentioned family worked a little differently in your realm, right?
no subject
[She nods to that! Before she thinks about the best way to describe what she was referencing in that memory.]
What we were talking about was... Her mother broke an important rule in our family, and as a result, my father had her killed.