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.
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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.