This venerable one is the Moon Supreme of the Moon Tribe, the most powerful being in the Three Realms, and Captain of the Corsair ship the Phantom Moon | 月幻影.
NOTE
Do not bother this venerable one with idle chatter.
[It took Cid a few days to return to the location where he last left Dongfang, both in part due to his own need to recover and just the distance. The Ring of Returning returned to his apartment back in Nogard, so that set him back quite a bit. Thus he is not surprised to find the place empty... But it doesn't give much relief.
He can only hope the god's absence meant he healed and nothing untoward happened to him. So he sends a message through the shellphone.]
Dongfang, it's Cid. Just wanted to check in and see how you were.
[After sending it, he heads back to the boat he used and return to Eltrut, wondering if he'll get a response...and hope he didn't end up leaving a negative impression on the god. Last thing he needed was to inadvertently make an enemy.]
[When Dongfang Qingcang had awoken and found that Cid failed to return as promised, he had not been surprised. Neither had he been disappointed. Nor relieved. There was simply the sense of confirmation that Cid had made the most sensible choice in not expending more effort than necessary. To leave Daqiang to live or die as he was able. Dongfang Qingcang would have done the same.
A message days after was, therefore, surprising. And confusing. Was Cid attempting to probe at his defenses and see if any weakness still remained? If he was, the method chosen was far from ideal.]
[There's some relief when there was an answer. He wasn't sure what to do if he didn't, either assume the worst and something happened to him, or the god was just avoiding him.]
Took me a bit longer to recover and get back here than expected. Didn't see you around so had to check.
[It seemed Cid was attempting to determine Daqiang's current state. That he'd returned to the island to do so instead of simply starting with the message made little sense.]
Why did you return?
[For the time being he was going to ignore the questions on his own health.]
To assess in person was not unreasonable. But something about it sat wrong with Daqiang. Why call him at all if he'd already seen the state of the island in the aftermath? That Daqiang wasn't there should have made it clear that he was able to 'heal up alright'. Or at least well enough to remove himself from the site.
Was he attempting to curry Daqiang's favor for a perceived offense?]
If you are concerned that this venerable one will retaliate, you may be at ease. You did only what this venerable one asked of you.
[The fault was Dongfang Qingcang's for underestimating the effect his own power would have when combined with Ramuh's.]
[Of course not. Not out of concern, anyway. He was the Moon Supreme. Of his subordinates, only Shangque would dare ask such a question. ...Orchid would as well. But she was an anomaly. Anyone else would be doing it in an attempt to test his defenses.
..or was he attempting to make himself an ally? A poor means of doing so. However, Cid would now have a firm idea of exactly how strong Daqiang was... and what it would mean to have Dongfang Qingcang on his side.]
The only ones who ask such are those who see themselves as this venerable one's allies. Or his enemies. Which do you desire to be, Dominant Cid?
[Whether Cid was being honest or not was difficult to discern. Dongfang Qingcang wasn't inclined to trust anyone absolutely, but as with many of the mortals he'd met in this world, he could not puzzle out a reason for Cid to be lying to him in this instance.]
You are currently neither ally or enemy. But if you wish to be this venerable one's ally, this venerable one is willing to accept you into his service.
[That's what being his ally meant, after all. At least in Daqiang's view. And as a show of tentative trust toward Cid:]
This venerable one has 'healed up all right'. You need not worry that he cannot protect you should you have need of it.
Cid can't help the dry laughter that escapes him. That does seem like an answer he'd give.]
Good to hear.
We'll have to consider what being an "ally" means, but for now I don't see you as an enemy. Neutral ground is just as fine until we learn more about each other.
[Just as long as Dongfang doesn't target him or his group, he'll be satisfied.]
Which begs the question. I know you say I'm neither ally or enemy, but after that little "demonstration," how would you judge me?
[How fickle. If Dominant Cid wished to be a neutral party, then a neutral party he would be.]
As Ramuh, you are not as strong as Xunfeng, this venerable one's younger brother. But you would rival Shangque, this venerable one's lieutenant. To rival a dragon, who also controls the skies, the rain, and thunder, is no small feat. As yourself, you rival many of the lesser gods.
You would be a beneficial ally to anyone you chose to follow.
[He was inclined to let the conversation drop, but then had a thought. Since Cid was already speaking to him, he may as well ask. See what kind of principals the god-vessel followed.]
The outcome of our encounter. Have you spoken of it to anyone?
You withstood and managed to survive my attacks, proving yourself a strong opponent should we ever have to cross swords.
Which I hope never comes to pass.
[Again no real details, but...yeah. He gets the impression that Dongfang wouldn't want to be perceived and described as weak, nor would he have gloated about it. Not after the complicated feeling he was left with after that. But hard to not talk about it without the implication he beat him down a bit.]
[It tells him little. But if that was the gist of what Cid had told this other, then he had failed to both mention that Dongfang Qingcang had lent him power, and that Cid had used that power to bring Daqiang to a point of weakness against another that he had not experienced in a very, very long time.]
A wise hope.
You have now 'checked in' and received the information you desired. Is there anything else you wish to ask of this venerable one, Dominant Cid?
This venerable one showed you very little of his power.
[But more than he'd intended.]
However, if you wish to prove yourself to this venerable one as a potential ally, then speaking nothing of what you did see would benefit you greatly in that regard.
You prefer Cid an you have been calling me Dongfang, without other titles, as an intimate friend would be allowed. Is that the way of your world? To be so informal with everyone, regardless of your relationship?
And I tend to be more casual to others in general. If you prefer to be called something else, I can do so. But as for me, I just don't like having my identity tied to being a Dominant or Ramuh. Others don't mind theirs, but let's just say I have a bit of history with it that makes me less inclined.
In the Three Realms, using only Dongfang or only Qingcang implies an intimacy. Friendship. Familial connections. Lovers. It can also serve as an insult by implying a relationship between those who have no such connection.
This venerable one understands his name is difficult on your tongue and that insult was has not been intended.
[He's mostly been blaming the magic that translates everything for that difficulty.]
[He had wondered if Cid would correct himself or continue on as he had been.]
You may continue to use Dongfang, Cid.
[Cid did prove himself quite capable. Leeway when in a world not his own was allowed. And he could always use the reversal of the privilege as a warning, should such a need arise. A way for Cid to understand exactly where he stood with Daqiang if he made a mistake that could not be overlooked.]
But if you speak of this venerable one to others, you should be clear what this venerable one's name is.
[ It feels appropriate to give him some distance, and so she waits until the next evening after the events of the toy island before deciding to speak with him.
Rem lifts the back of her knuckles to his door, gently tapping upon the wood. ]
[He can tell it's Rem behind the door. Her spiritual presence was too familiar too comfortable at this point for him not to recognize her.
He didn't want to speak with her. Not after the events of the day before. The sea of his heart was still too warm. The cracks in the ice flows growing. And his heart in his chest felt like it was flayed open. Raw. Tender.
But he was still the Captain. And there was a chance - a small chance - that what she was coming to him for was not related to what had happened.
Steeling himself behind a face of empty emotion that was more difficult to effect than it should be, he called out:]
[ She enters, shutting the door behind her. Immediately she notes how his expression seems empty compared to when she'd last seen him.
It reminds her of the time at his apartment, how she'd seen distance take over his expression before they started cooking. Then there had been the time after he'd had his portrait completed, how quickly he had fled. And another time, over the network, how quickly his voice had hardened at the topic of his childhood. Most recently, he had warped away after the events of the toy island.
If his hollowness and fleeing is a defense against pain, she's realized it far too late.
And so she gets to the point. ]
I wanted to check on you.
[ Rem doesn't take a step further, though, and instead leans her back against the door. ]
[She leans against the door like it will prevent him from leaving should he decide to cut the audience short.
Daqing draws himself up and turns to face away from her. Gaze set out the wall-spanning windows at the back of his office. One hand tucked behind his back and the other settled on a think pile of papers on his desk.]
As you can see, this venerable one is fine. Is that all?
[He asked as dismissively as possible to discourage her continuing in that vein.]
[ It is a discouraging response. Who is she to check in on a god? But as a friend-(or is it too presumptuous of her to call herself one?)--
The image of the barren tree remains seared into her mind. As does the anguish, the tear she could not wipe away. Lest she forget the pain she witnessed. Suffering is never fine.
I think... you know that's not what I'm talking about.
[ Please don't be like this, she wants to implore. But pleading had only ever fallen on deaf ears with the one other person who had been like this in her life, the kind that set up impenetrable walls at the very end. It led to disaster, to tragedy.
Donfang may be immortal, but he deserves so much better than that. ]
[He asked, bored tone shifting into something clearly heated with frustration. The hand on the desk curled into a fist as he took another breath to calm his heart and return to the cold. He still didn't turn around.]
[ She hears the change in tone, and again, she falters. The last thing she wants to do is provoke his ire.
She inclines her head, pressing her lips together as she gathers her resolve. ]
This, Moon Surpeme. [ Her hand raises to her chest, and she places it over her heart. Knowing that his back remains turned, he specifies: ] What's held here, inside.
[He turned around, yelling, more emotion in the act than any frustration he had shown before - even the flashes of anger she'd seen prior were but a tepid pot of water to the full boil on display. The fires of all the candles lighting the room flared, making it look as though the sun had decided to rise inside the office and flood it with light.]
The roots should be dead! The sea should be frozen! There should be nothing growing in this venerable one's heart! What good was my father's efforts to kill it all if they're just going to come back!
[ Ire provoked, then. Fright grips her like a vice around her neck, eyes widening at his response and causing her to startle. She takes a step back, and the hand over her heart quickly clutches for the clasp of her cloak instead, gripping it nervously, while the other hand at her side reaches for the handle of the door...
But she stops herself from retreating as she looks over him. Just as quickly as it appeared, the trepidation washes from her expression like rain off a windowpane. What she sees in the flare of flames and his frustration is far grander than anything she'd ever seen him express. On someone who presents himself so impeccably, the emotion looks like... he's finally alive. Alive, but only in the most painful of ways.
Perhaps this frustration isn't directed at her, or at least, not entirely for the reason of her bringing up the topic. ]
You.... ...Crystals, you really don't see it, do you?
[As quickly as it came, the anger slipped away. Like he couldn't hold onto beyond the moment he felt it. Emotions always just out of his grasp. Not his to keep. Not his to hold onto. Not his to nurture.
The candle flames returned to their normal level, flickering in the sudden dark that followed. His voice back to that bored emptiness.]
[ Rem steps forward, and her hand falls from the clasp. She gestures to one of the candles, now nearly all but exhausted in their wax from the fire he galvanized, and then with that same hand, she motions to him. ]
The afternoon we cooked at your residence. The way you cherished that flower, and then became distant.
The day Miss Grey drew a portrait of you... and then you departed.
What happened at Yotelsia...
Every time your father is brought up.
That snow-covered island.
[ She takes another step forward. ] You may be suppressing how you feel. [ Running, denying, shutting down are all symptoms she's seen before; symptoms of turmoil, anger, fear, and hurt. She could be assuming too much, she could be overstepping-- no, surely she is. But on the off chance that she is not--
Rem's breath wavers as she inhales. ] But Moon Supreme... You-- you've failed to see how you're suffering.
[He reached for her, to grab her by the wrist, but stopped his hand at the last moment. Let it hover for a second. Then he moved to rest it on her shoulder.
Between that moment and the next they were transported from the ship to-
an island.
A tiny but beautifully alive little island in a turquoise blue sea with a single tree in bloom, bright with flower and green leaves, growing strong and true in the center.]
This is the sea of your heart and your seven emotion tree. Can you tell the difference now? Your tree isn't dead. This venerable one's is.
[ It takes her a few moments to adjust to the sudden transition. A tree stands healthy, lush, and vibrant on a solitary island amidst a sea.
Awe strikes her at being suddenly transported to this, enough that she's silenced by her own wonder. Rem steps away from his touch towards the tree, craning her neck to look upon its boughs. She may be unfamiliar with the terms "sea of your heart" and "seven emotion tree", but the context is clear. This is hers, and he's somehow brought her to behold it...
To make a point. That hers is alive and that his, in contrast, is dead.
Rem has a thousand and more questions about this space, the tree, how he has the power to take them here, and everything else, but today is not the day to ask. This isn't about her, and she doesn't wish to be distracted. She turns from the tree to face him. ]
[He looks down at her extended hand and then back up. He had no reason to take her there. But he wasn't exactly vulnerable there. Not with his seven emotion tree having been killed already. If she tried to harm it, it would only serve to push the burgeoning weakness that was warming his sea of heart. But what if she attempted something else? Something other than harm?
Daqiang took her hand and pulled her against him with a quick jerk to spin her so her back was to his chest. He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her firmly.]
You will touch nothing.
[He would hold her the entire time to be sure of it. But he still wanted to hear her promise before he took her anywhere else.]
[ Spun and forced to have her back to him, her body goes rigid, then relaxes. Cautiously, she tests how much movement she does have with her arms, if she can bend her arms at her elbows, or if she'll simply have to keep them tucked by her side.
He won't be able to see her expression, but her tone is sincere. ]
[As she moves her arms, he shifts his hold to allow them to be free while still holding her against him. He wasn't trying to lock her entirely, just prevent her from rushing off and messing with things she shouldn't once they were there.
After she gives her promise, he shuts his eyes and breaths out. Between one moment and the next they appeared on the snow-lined shore of the island she'd seen now in both paint and plastic.
Six inches of snow covered the ground. The tree was white with frost and lacking any obvious growth, it's boughs bare and all the more sullen for it. The sky was so overcast that the grey of it blurred into the thick ice of the frozen sea and no horizon could be made out in the distance. The only thing marring the pristine image of a dead and frozen heart was the single, one-inch wide crack branching out like lighting through the icy sea. The only proof of his heart beginning to warm.
He gave her a moment to take it in before asking:]
[ Her eyes slide shut for the transition, only opening when she feels the cool air dust over her skin. Winter always marks a barren time, where food and warmth are scarce and all are left vulnerable to the elements. Death claims many in this time, especially in the everfrost of the West. What can snowy clouds, harsh enough to blur the horizon of the icy sea and sky, symbolize for an immortal who will never suffer exposure or death by it or famine? Surely, it would simply be yet another lovely season, immaculate and crystalline and white, for a god to experience without its frigid, unforgiving terrors. As if it were nothing but beautiful.
But there is no joy in this scene. No peace. A barren tree rises with tortuous, black boughs from a solitary isle as if struggling to reach for some shred of warmth from the sunless heavens above.
With her arms free, her hands slide over his forearms that are wrapped around her waist. The hold is wholly unnecessary, really. Even if he hadn't told her to touch anything, even if he hadn't decided to restrain her, he's both fast and strong enough to stop her in her tracks. Perhaps he's not solely holding her not for a reason of mistrust, then. Perhaps he is scared, in his own way.
"What good was my father's efforts to kill it all if they're just going to come back!"
... ]
You asked the wrong question earlier, I think.
[ What she knows of his past are bits and pieces. A sword, hellfire, a succession, and, apparently, a necessary act by his father to begin the process of destroying the root of his heart. It began with him, but she's seen time and time again how the son shuts down his emotions, how he continues to choose it-- to choose to suffer for a cause. And simultaneously, to choose to honor his father by doing so.
But duty and honor, she thinks, is not so strong a motivation to keep a man going for thirty thousand years in this manner. There's something else, perhaps, that's been there all along, still alive but merely buried. Perhaps it's piety. Perhaps it's remnants of familial love from a child to their parent, still unresolved. Whatever it is, she sees the results of it as plain as day: his is a tortured soul. ]
You and your father... your efforts are true. [ Her shoulders shudder, and her voice weakens. ] I see it here, I do. I see how much you've sacrificed. For all these years, it has not been in vain.
[ Her head dips, and she shuts her eyes to prevent them from misting. ] But in this present... is your suffering necessary, if they're going to come back?
[Just as suddenly as they'd entered both seas of their hearts, they were pulled back out. Daqiang's arm pulled away as if he'd been burned and he took two steps back before turning to face away from her. To look out the large windows that allowed the light of the sun to flood the room at sunrise when docked appropriately.]
Until now this venerable one has never suffered!
[The words snapped out of him before he could pull the emotions back and put them under control. Put them behind the ice he needed them to be under. So that he wouldn't feel. Wouldn't lose the power he needed to protect his people. To revive the Cangyanhai and the Moon Tribe. To defeat Shuiyuntian.
To be their weapon. Their tool. Their unfeeling knife at the tip of their spear.]
This venerable one does not suffer out of choice. It is only because of the emotions of others forcing this venerable one to feel that he knows what suffering is. Without emotions there is no suffering.
[Without emotions there was also no happiness. No joy. No love.
...he was so tired of feeling things. Rem made him want to feel but he was just so tired of how much they weighed on him.
[ As soon as the ice-covered scenery gives way to his office and he steps away, Rem's hand goes to her chest. How it hurts to hear him speak like this, how it hurts to see him treating himself like this. How she doubts that he's never suffered until now, not when he's already spoken of his father and past before. Perhaps it's a matter of him not wanting to acknowledge it, or worse, he doesn't even realize that he has.
He deserves so much better than this. He's a god, the strongest in his world, evidently. Can allowing himself to feel truly be beyond the likes of him? ]
Moon Supreme, please...
[ She's not even sure what she's asking for. Please be kinder to yourself. Please let yourself feel. It's safe to feel in this world, one away from his own that requires a great duty of him. Please talk to her, tell her of his feelings, or if not her, then someone, anyone, because he shouldn't be alone. Please don't shut others away. ]
[He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He was trying very hard to keep those emotions packed away. Under the ice. Where they belonged. Why was it that the more he tried not to feel, the more he seemed to be overwhelmed by emotion?
He felt like he was about to break. Like the ice over his sea was going to crack again. It was there, a pressure in his chest and she was the catalyst. Her plea to him was the catalyst. There was something welling up inside him and if he let it out wasn't sure what would happen.]
Leave
[He said again. Demanded really, weak as it came out. He couldn't keep the desperation and exhaustion from his voice. Whatever was coming he didn't want her to see it. Didn't want anyone to see it. She needed to leave.]
[ Although she doesn't see his expression, his tone is weaker than she'd ever heard it before.
She struggles with a decision. Should she leave? If she leaves, then perhaps she can get someone else, someone whose presence he might tolerate more to help him, if she's too much of a nuisance to him.
But if she leaves, it would be repeating the same mistakes from before. If she leaves, he will be yet another friend who so dearly needs help turning away. (What can one do, when pleas do nothing but fall on deaf ears? It feels too familiar.) Yet if she leaves, he will be alone in his struggle, possibly as he's always been. He'll shut down his struggle, probably as he's always handled. He won't learn that others can be there for him, too, to share in that very same struggle, to help him through it, and to not judge him for it.
She knows he can leave at any time, if he truly, desperately wishes to be alone. So she gambles, making the courage and effort to take a few steps forward instead. ]
[He forgot himself for a moment and lifted his right hand to snap his fingers with the intent of teleporting her from his presence. But she did not move. His power flaring but unable to work as desired. The seal on his abilities preventing him from doing something as simple as sending another person away.
Daqiang's breath heaved as he fought to keep his emotions at bay in the face of this reminder. Everything in this world seemed bent on tearing him down.
Another breath and then -
He disappeared in the usual thick black smoke and sparks. Leaving Rem alone in his office. Near the window, having been hidden by his body for the entirety of the conversation, the orchid from his home on Nogard sat: happily facing the big picture windows that would let the sun in every morning.]
Just because he's a Corsair doesn't stop Shoto from utilizing the delivery system. It's handy to not have to know exactly where someone lives in order to give them something. That's why, however it happens, Moon Supreme, the supreme of all moons within the moon tribe who is also supreme will be getting a package in what constitutes as at his door.
Inside are pathetic attempts at cookies, but they look to be at least edible if the burnt parts are either something someone enjoys or scraped off. Or thrown out, he'll never know the difference. A small note reads:
Good morning, possibly evening or afternoon depending on when this arrives.
I wanted to celebrate my birthday by giving other people things this year. You're one of them. Thank you for helping me where that magic food was involved. I promise that I haven't put any magic in these, salt and sugar, the usual.
I've been thinking a lot about you missing your pastries from home. I miss things like that from home, too. I can't cook them, the pastries, but I have confidence in two people who might be able to. One of which we both know and enjoy the culinary arts of, Toge Inumaki and my best friend Katsuki Bakugo. If you do try, I will add support however I can.
Written on fine quality paper, with beautiful calligraphy:
To Shoto Todoroki,
The pastries you delivered for your birthday were burned and very hard and had too much salt. This venerable one tasted each piece and found that only one was soft enough to chew without feeling as though gravel had been placed in his mouth.
This venerable one understands that this must be a very difficult recipe you are attempting to master. It is certainly one that this venerable one does not recognize. Chocolate is not used in this manner in Cangyanhai, where this venerable one is from.
You must continue to practice. This venerable one expects the next delivery to have less salt, be softer, and not be burned. But they should also not be undercooked.
With all due regards, Moon Supreme of the Moon Tribe, Ruler of Cangyanhai Dongfang Qingcang
I found some information on the sleeping curse from torn books on Avaleci. According to the text, there's a dark, round disk that can be used to dispel the sleeping demons that cause the curse.
I don't know any more than that. I tried looking pretty much everywhere I could.
This venerable one will look for more information. Since the book with this knowledge was found on Avaleci, and the curse began appearing after the God-Beasts arrival there, it is likely the curse is connected to the island directly.
There was a strange alter in the sulfur fields. Guarded by a strange horse-like beast of fire and bone. Did you encounter it at all?
It was rather fragile, made of obsidian, so I doubt it was built to last. There were red stains on it, although I'm not sure if it was blood or another type of igneous mineral. Whatever it is, I plan to find out. Near the altar were pieces of bones and fabric, as well as a stone tablet. Also working on finding out more about those items and gathering more of what I can from the mountain. I'll let you know as soon as possible.
Okay. Please don't push yourself. And keep someone nearby if you sleep. [ /fuss fuss fuss ]
[He wasn't going to ask anyone to stay nearby while he slept until he absolutely had to.]
This venerable one must push. There are too many threads to trace to do otherwise.
This venerable one also examined the alter. But did not see this tablet you speak of. It is possible someone else took it, that it was moved, or that it was destroyed before this venerable one ventured out to investigate the sulfur fields and the lava plains beyond.
This venerable one is more aware of his limits than he was when he first arrived.
['Worry' was one of the seven emotions. He could feel it. He was aware of that. (Now). But he didn't feel it currently. And if he was careful, he would (hopefully) not feel it much at all.]
[ A few days after their last conversation, Nimona is sending a message. ]
So, I just wanted to check in with you after our talk about emotions and all the other stuff. I thought you might be mad (you sure seem like you can get angry) or something by what I said, so I gave it a few days.
You're not having an existential crisis over it, right?
[He also wasn't having an existential crisis. He knew what he should do about his emotional roots recovering. He simply didn't have the energy to try.
...or anyone he trusted to do the torturing necessary.
They hadn't recovered much, anyway. He had time. He could still experience it a little. Just a little. Just enough to understand what he'd be giving up. Maybe enough to finally understand what Orchid had meant by there being strength in those emotions. By what Nimona had said, even. It was at least worth trying to understand. Since it compelled and influenced so many others.]
[That... that was surprising. Genuinely. He wasn't sure if anyone had ever expressed that they wanted to understand what it was like to be without emotions.
Of course, it could just be words. A trap of some sort.
Nimona didn't think well of him. That was a fact. Those who didn't think well of him often attempted to hurt him or ruin his reputation. That was also a fact. He had started to make a reputation for himself in this world. Another fact. His reputation in this world only mattered as far as it provided him with means to protect those that he now counted as his own people, find a way to break the heart-curse, and find a way to return to the Three Realms. Also facts.]
Without emotions, you can see clearly the pros and cons of a situation. There is no pity, no hate, to drive your choices. There is no guilt over doing what must be done to deter you from doing it.
[ There might actually be people out there that don't have emotions, but it's not exactly the same, is it?
Now, Nimona might not consider them to be friends or any sort of companion, but she's also the last person to hold anything against him. If he had hurt her friends or maybe even called her a monster without trying to understand at all, then they'd really have a problem. But honestly, maybe he'll see that this world is different from his own. Not everyone is out to get him. ]
Ages are difficult to correlate between mortals and immortals. It was before this venerable one's voice cracked and he began the final growth that marks a child becoming an adult.
This venerable one used a forbidden art to kill his emotional roots.
[His father had started it, of course, but Daqiang had obeyed him. That made it much his own choice as his father's. To be filial. How ironic it was, then, that it was his unfilial killing of that parent which firmly put him on the throne as the undisputed Moon Supreme. All because his father couldn't accept Daqiang being stronger than him, ruling over him, and insisting that the only way to take it all from him was to kill him. His father had been weak. Dongfang Qingcang had not.]
No. This venerable one was already the named heir and would become the Moon Supreme so long as this venerable one could prove stronger than all other contenders for the title. This venerable one did it to obtain power that only one other being in all of time had ever held.
Because this venerable one's father, the Moon Supreme before this venerable one, was already losing. Territory. Goods. Lives. And he was the most powerful and talented of the Moon Tribe prior to this venerable one's ascension. He would not have been Moon Supreme otherwise.
He deserved his fate.
If not for this venerable one mastering Hellfire, which gives him enough power to face down an army on his own and more, his people would long be scattered at best. Completely eradicated at worst.
[No. Because a certain God of War killed herself and managed to separate his primordial spirit from his body which made it easy to capture him and imprison both in such a way they couldn't reach each other. But that's not something he's telling Nimona.]
Nearly all our territory had been lost when this venerable one took the throne.
Much of our armies need rebuilding. Even if this venerable one can face an army on his own, Shuiyuntian has had the time and resources to field a dozen. There is still much to regain before we can take the battle to the heart of them.
This venerable one has prevented Shuiyuntian from wiping his people out when they otherwise would have already fallen. That is a feat only one other in history can claim. If it takes another 10,000 years or another 30,000, this venerable one will be the one to bring an end to Shuiyuntian's oppression of Cangyanhai.
[The statement was ambiguous enough to imply that he hadn't had 30,000 year nap that set everything back without actually lying about the matter.]
What will happen when the fight is over, and you don't have to worry about them being a threat? Will you try to restore your emotions or do you want to stay as you are?
[That was a question that shouldn't have had any answer other than 'it doesn't matter because it's not possible'. But it was possible. Because his emotional roots were recovering. Slowly, yes. But faster than he was ready for.
And thinking about what he wanted when it came to feeling them...
No. No. It still wasn't his choice. Not really. He needed to be able to control Hellfire. It was what he'd destroyed himself for. Became a monster for. Was tortured by his own father for. He was the ruler of Cangyanhai. But also their weapon. That was the purpose he'd sacrificed all his emotions and desires for.
What was he if he wasn't a tool of war to hold back whatever threatened his people?]
Once this venerable one has conquered the Three Realms in their entirety, this venerable one will rule over them all and ensure peace remains for his people to thrive.
[Did it answer her question? No. Was he going to? Also no. He didn't really have an answer to give.]
[ That is... a reverse Nimona answer. Where she doesn't tell the story about "how she got her abilities" with truthful words, Dongfang gives a non-answer to the future. It's probably a big question, one he doesn't have an answer for yet. He denies having emotions, but Nimona has seen them.
Truthfully, it's okay not to know exactly what he will want. Maybe he'll get more emotions back or maybe something will happen, and he'll lose them between now and then. He went through a lot for this power to protect his people, sacrificed more than just his emotions. ]
Okay, I feel like I understand a lot better now. Thank you for answering my questions. If you have any for me, that don't involve my origins, you know how to find me.
Text, soon after Emet-Selch's Toe Ring network post
[It's technically for some sort of fetish that Daqiang does not understand the appeal of, but he purposely asked for it so there was no risk of it being used - specifically on him. He did not want to be influenced magically to kiss someone's feet.
Nooot really? But it might be useful. Like, what if you're in the middle of battle and fwah! You whip out your foot and suddenly your enemy has to kiss it instead of attack you? BAM. You got yourself the perfect opening!
[That was his exact reasoning for asking for it in the first place. He didn't want to risk the ring being out in the open and it being used against him.]
So it is not your fetish. You merely have a mind for tactics.
Humiliation for the sake of humiliation is a cruel tactic to employ, though he agrees it can be a sound one.
What would you be willing to agree to, if this venerable one did consider giving it to you?
[Even if she did enjoy having her feet kissed, she was still the first to express and understanding of how easily the ring could be used against an enemy.]
But like, what if the other person is also into it. Or they just need a little nudge to express themselves? Or it's just a cool ring and I wanted to wear it because it's pretty?
You want me to do something for you? Sure. People always ask me to do stuff. What do you want?
Then it should be discussed with those other people and not forced on them in the middle of battle. If you just want a pretty toe ring, there are more attractive ones in the markets.
This venerable one does not know your capabilities or what treasures you might have to want anything from you. He is asking if you have something to offer.
[ That recognition seemed to placate the vulpine redhead, and a mischievous smirk slid, warmly, onto his face. ]
I was gonna have to call you Donny if you'd forgot me already, yo.
I was able to get a few things. The fertilizer uses magic.. didn't seem to be much though, even when I used it on some tree seeds. And they filled up at different rates between the leviathans, but I had a feeling it would.
[a hint of actual emotion in his tone: annoyance, frustration, desire to kill something or someone (Ranma)...]
Being in this venerable one's presence for the time it took to transport them to where he intended to measure caused them to 'fill up' before he could arrive.
[ Luckily, his direct supervisor was of a very similar demeanor to Dongfang, so he was absolutely equipped to pick up on that subtle shift in his tone, and he absolutely chuckled through a toothy grin at him, well aware of how much of a brat he was being.
It was something of a hobby of his. ]
Nah, you remembered me just in time.
Oh, huh. Imagine that. I guess with all the shit going on, your crew couldn't just do it either.
Well, glad I could help out. I was thinking about asking that Kaveh guy if I could keep a few, but they're not the most efficient little scouts. But if you still want some and need transport, I can pick up the leg work if you'll give me rides here and there. Gettin' around this place has been shit, yo.
[If he needed a ship rented for a time, Daqiang could do that. If he needed teleported around, Daqiang was limited to the Ring of Returning if he wanted to take anyone other than himself. If he needed to be flown... that Daqiang could do easily.]
This venerable one would prefer to be able to measure certain power levels on Avaleci. Are you able to travel to the island yourself or would that require a 'ride'?
Just transport between islands if we're going the same way, or you got something you want me to do for you.
[ Reno would be amenable to either, though the teleportation would take some convincing or a more dire necessity. ]
Avaleci? I'd need a ride, yeah. [ He chuckled warmly at how the other adapted to the informal use of the word. ]
I can get the recon work done, no problem. You wouldn't mind giving me a briefing of what exactly that place is while we're on the way though, would you?
Avaleci is the island the God-Beasts visited just after the new year. The side with the volcano had a shrine at it's base, where a ritual binding held a fire-beast enslaved. Destroying the seal carved into the ground around it was difficult but it was destroyed. In the time since, this venerable one visits to see if there is evidence of the fire-beast returning or if someone has attempted to use the shrine again.
This venerable one seeks to measure the ambient power levels at the shrine and at points in the sulfur fields that lead into the shrine. First without this venerable one's presence, and then with his presence.
[He'd been attempting to bind the volcano to his spiritual presence so he could draw on it's power, but he hadn't made a lot of headway on it. And he wanted to see if there was something blocking that might be able to be measured in general ambient power levels.]
This venerable one can transport us to the island and back.
So is Avaleci a Leviathan like Eltrut or Atnam, and this is the first time I'm hearing about god-beasts. What kind of god-beasts are we talkin', here?
[ He mulled over the rest, with a lackadaisical posture that juxtaposed the sharpness of his focus. He seemed to look what he could see of Dongfang down and then up again, but ultimately, his head lolled to one side, then he nodded. ]
Teleport?
[ His brows raised. ]
How's the teleportation work? And as long as I can breathe on the sulfur fields..y'know how it goes for mortals, us needing oxygen and shit.
Eltrut and Antam are God-Beasts. As are the others called 'leviathan'. Avaleci is merely an island of great elemental potential.
[He tilted his head, lifting his chin in mild interest at how Reno was speaking. It was similar to Cid, but different. Similar to Yuffie, as well.]
This venerable one will key his Ring of Returning to Avaleci and use it to take us there. Once we are done, this venerable one will use the ring to bring us back to the Phantom Moon. The sulfur fields are breathable for mortals. They are very hot, however. And home to fire sprites that will flock to us once they are aware of this venerable one's presence. They, too, are very hot.
[ Once the semantics we're out of the way and he'd parsed Dongfang's vocabulary, the rest fell right into place.
He took a moment more to chew over the given dangers of visiting. He really hated the feeling of isolation being stuck in this place left him with. He was so used to being able to call any of his co-workers at a moment's notice for field support, and in fact had to catch himself from doing just that.
Mulling over the given specs highlighted even more how isolated he was here--so many things he'd not have to bring into question, or could be simply assumed on the basis that his team had absolute trust in one another. But here, he not only had no safety net of the sort, but he didn't discount the fact that maybe one person would notice and have any concern if he went missing, and that he knew next to nothing about this world. At least on Gaia, he knew what he was getting into with any given mission.
He breathed a small sigh in and out through his nose slowly, glancing off to the side during that time he thought it over before returning his focus to Dongfang. ]
Couple things first, then.
How hot is 'very hot'? And once we get there, how bad is that swarming gonna be, and how quick is it gonna start? We both know the sensors are gonna fill up quick, but I'm gonna plan as if we're gonna be there for a few hours, and make sure we're on the same page in case shit goes ass-up.
Most mortals this venerable one has seen in the fields are able to be there for several hours without risk to their health so long as they carry enough water with them. It is uncomfortable for them. Not hot enough to cause a mortal to begin burning upon touch, but hot enough to wilt flowers within moments.
The fire sprites are always very excited to see this venerable one. They usually notice his presence within a half hour. If you separate from his presence by several yards but not too much further, they should mostly ignore you.
[He turns and reaches one hand to the side, past where the camera can see him. After a moment, he brings his hand back into view and a very fat fire sprite (a ball of fire with hands and feet of flame that got sucked back into its body and strangely visible eyes) that glowed bright red and orange clung to his sleeve. It crawled around his wrist and between Daqiang's fingers like a kid exploring a playground. It's mouth opened every so often to 'bite' at Daqiang but did no damage. Nor did it burn Daqiang's skin or his clothing.]
[ His head tilted a bit, but he perked back to attention when the little mote was brought on screen. He gave it a pretty sharp once-over, but after taking note of what details he could, Reno's lips quirked into a grin at the mote. It was a cute thing. ]
Pretty cute little guy. Are you able to handle it cause you've got powers, or are they all like that?
Sounds alright--I'll shoot a buddy of mine a text, grab some water and be ready to head out.
[ The terminology was wild to him, but he could surmise well enough that it more or less meant he had an association with fire that gave him an unknown level of invulnerability. ]
Gotcha. Ten minutes, east end of Eltrut docks, how's that sound?
[ G'raha heads over to the ship as soon as he is able. This is not the sort of conversation that should happen over the network nor is it something that can truly wait either. While the Miqo'te isn't entirely sure what has happened here, he knows that he bears responsibility for it. Thus it falls to him to clear things up.
There is only a small moment of hesitation before he just enters Daqiang's cabin. He doesn't knock - though maybe he should - mostly because he has not had reason to. ]
[Daqiang stood looking out the expansive window at the back of the cabin, back to the door. He had felt G'raha's approach, of course. The spiritual presence of everyone on his crew was now familiar to him. G'raha's more than any other than Orchid's.]
[ And step inside he will, just shy of being within Daqiang's personal space. Of course G'raha has never been one to treat the other man any differently, even when they have not seen eye to eye on things. G'raha is loathe to start, but if that is what is needed... ]
I know not what to say at the moment, in truth. It didn't occur to me that some harmless fun, as embarrassing as it is, would upset you so.
[ Because he can recognize it. Daqiang is upset. G'raha just isn't sure how deeply it runs. ]
[Harmless fun. Meaning Daqiang had over-reacted. Meaning it was his mistake.
But shouldn't he have been told when things changed? Why was it his mistake for not making an assumption of change if he wasn't told it was happening? Why should he have known just because G'raha had been friendly with this other man? G'raha was friendly with many people.
He was very friendly with Daqiang.
After a long moment, he murmured:]
You did not tell this venerable one that you were no longer his.
[ The quiet bothers him. It's not like Daqiang's usual silence. This has some tension that he cannot put a finger to, only that it makes him uneasy. His chest ache.
When he finally says something, G'raha's ears strain to catch it. ...No longer his? ]
I... Suppose that would depend on the context. [ Which he's never thought it to mean in a romantic way. Perhaps he has been mistaken this entire time? ] Though from my perspective, this has not truly changed.
[ He takes a breath and steps into the other's personal space. G'raha is going to try to get a good look at the other's facial expression. ]
Miqo'te... Are a social race, Daqiang. We live in family units. Tribes. I was taken from mine when I was a child. Then, later, the Students became that for me. Yet I lost them as well and that void remained for the longest time. Since coming here, you have been someone that has filled it for me. Thus is why I consider myself to be yours as much as you are mine.
[He asked, eyes sliding to the side to look at G'raha with no small measure of pain in them.
He was not sure what he had counted G'raha as in his head and heart. Only that it was not 'family' because family... family meant betrayal. It meant being treated as tool of war. One to be feared, yes. But one to be used as well. A weapon. A shield. A scapegoat.
A monster.]
This venerable one's family has only ever wanted to hurt him. Kill him.
[what do you remember?
father please! Let me out!
do you remember familial love?
...
do you remember brotherly love?
...
Then... do you remember loyalty?
(a quiet sob)
good. very good.]
Use him.
[His eyes went hard and his expression cold. But the fires in the room flared.]
If this venerable one is family, which of these things do you wish of him?
[ He knows that "family" is a touchy subject. G'raha knows that Daqiang has not had a particularly kind childhood. Now had he known the specifics to this extent? No, not at all. G'raha can't imagine what it is like to have a family that would want to kill him. Hurt him.
Though that's not what G'raha would ever want. And even though the man is growing more distant, that's not something that G'raha will allow either. Hence it is his turn to take hold of the man's sleeve and look up at him with that stubborn glint in his eye. ]
I am sorry that it was the case for you, Daqiang. Were I able to go back in time and resolve it for you, I would. [ And he means it! ] Alas, I no longer have that that ability.
[ His expression softens. ]
Family is not always blood. Your dragon and your flower. This crew that you've put together... Those that you trust and have given you their trust in return. These individuals could all be defined as your family. One that you have selected for yourself. Quite frankly, the only thing that I would ever wish of you is for your happiness. What I wish of you is to flourish and for you to see yourself as many others do.
[He stiffened, spine rigid as G'raha took his sleeve. Controlled. So he wouldn't lash out. So he wouldn't burn him with the fires raging in his head and in his heart.]
Go back? Would you kill this venerable one's father for him? So that he would not have to be the one to make that final blow and become the monster he became?
[It came out accusatory. The fires of the room flaring so brightly it was no different than daylight. But he didn't move. Careful. He had to be careful. Controlled.
But G'raha moved on to something more painful. The ache in his heart that was Orchid-shaped. Who was his, but not his. Who had chosen him, but not him. Someone who made him happy. G'raha had made him happy, too. A feeling that filled his chest in a way that nearly hurt but only in a way that also made him crave to have more of it.
He knew pride when he saw his crew working enthusiastically on their projects. He knew something that might be happiness when they were excited. He knew anger when they were injured. He knew pain when they left. Disappeared because of the fickleness of the rifts or because they decided they wanted something else. Someone else.
Always someone else.
The fires died out and he shut his eyes, turning his face away. Willing the heat of tears threatening to shed to go away and leave him some semblance of face.
He shouldn't feel at all. But he kept putting off the destruction of his Seven Emotion Tree. For what? More pain upon more pain because the fleeting taste of happiness was that intoxicating?]
[ He wouldn't flinch away even if the man before him were to scorch his fur and flesh alike. There's a shake of his head to answer the question. No, G'raha Tia would not kill the man. Now the Crystal Exarch might, but not G'raha Tia. ]
Even further still, to before any harm could be done in the first place. Daqiang, why do you see yourself as some monster?
[ Because G'raha doesn't see it. Doesn't know what is so upsetting to the man in all of this. Where is all of this coming from? G'raha can see that there is pain, but where is the source of it? It is not just about some embarrassment trying to come forward in the defense of G'raha Tia and being told that there is no need for it. Much, much more.
But the Miqo'te is stubborn and has come to terms with the fact that Daqiang is not one that needs to be left to be. Which is why he presses forward still. ]
[He said. Voice empty of emotion. A fact recited by rote.]
When someone kills their own father and feels no guilt, what else can they be but a monster?
[His voice was empty, but his expression was not. His lips twisted in a sneer and the fire was flaring again before a mask slipped over and he turned cold, closed off.]
This venerable one did so before his voice cracked, before he was even a man. This venerable one has been a monster since he was child. Has burned, murdered, and conquered realms innumerable without feeling anything about it. He has ripped the skin from his enemies while they still lived. He has cut hands and feet from his foes and fed them to the crocodiles while they wept and pleaded for mercy.
[He turned and stepped into G'raha's personal space in a challenge. Daring him to deny that Daqiang was a monster.]
Tools and monsters are the same. They don't care about the pain they bring others. They don't need to.
[He wanted to scare G'raha. Didn't dare to touch him. Just wanted G'raha to run. To turn away. To leave him to his pain. To make it easier to kill the emotions blooming in his heart.]
[ He recognizes the behavior for what it is - the man is trying to scare him. Push him away, but for what reason? G'raha realizes that there stan a choice before him now: he can either leave and create a permanent wound in Daqiang's heart or face it.
No surprises what he chooses, grabbing the front of the man's robes and twisting him to look at G'raha in the eye. G'raha, who is unwavering. He still doesn't understand what all of this has to do with why Daqiang is upset. Why does he hurt so in a way that causes him to lash out. ]
You stated that he caused you harm and that your own family desired to kill you. It was not a thought in your mind to kill him first. While I may not know the context of the other terrible things you have claimed to do, I know the man that you are right here and now. What I do not see is a monster, but a man who has had to be what he must to endure so much.
[ After a moment, G'raha looks down. ]
If you are a monster, what does that make me? Me, who traversed time to erase an entire future? You may have put down lives, but you will never match my number, for I have even destroyed that which will no longer even have a chance to exist.
[ His hand grip the other tighter. ]
I am a man who knows what it means to run away from pain and loss. To lock himself up in hopes that it would shut it all out so that it wouldn't be acknowledged. A man who nearly tore his dearest companion apart from the inside out just to achieve those means - a different future. I ripped souls from their bodies and carried them across the cosmos without the means to put them back.
[It wasn't so much about numbers. War meant death uncountable.
He reached up and put hands on either side of G'raha's face. Cupping his cheeks gently as he looked into his friend's eyes. He wanted to push G'raha away. He wanted to hold him close. He wanted the hurt in those eyes to disappear.]
Even now, you feel it. It causes you pain. It hurts you.
[Monsters didn't feel pain. Monsters didn't feel anything. Monsters were the ones that didn't care. The ones to whom everyone was simply a number on a list.]
This venerable one felt nothing. It didn't mean anything more than just a body on the ground when this venerable one killed his father. None of the ones that came after meant anything.
[The first life he took. A weapon used against its creator. Perfectly sharp. Perfectly deadly. Perfectly unfeeling.
He shut his eyes and leaned his forehead against G'raha's.]
You did what you had to. This venerable one did only what his father created him for.
[ This is partially true. There is some regret there, but more because he had to do it at all. Not because he had ended up doing what had been needed, required.
His ears perk as he feels hands on his face. A forehead against his. G'raha is trying to parse all of this. Trying to absorb it and really take in the things that Daqiang isn't saying along with the things that he is. It's why there's a little frown on his features as Daqiang continues to speak. ]
Does that not pain you? Perhaps not the deeds committed, but the fact that you believe people see you as a monster? That you see yourself this way...
[ He sighs, still looking at Daqiang even though those dark eyes are shut. ]
One could argue it is better to feel nothing at all than to feel guilt, but not the slightest bit of remorse. I would do it all again in a heartbeat, you see. While it pains me, yes, I do not believe I have done anything wrong. Yet, this isn't really a contest of who is a monster here, Daqiang. You are not about to convince me to run away and to loathe you. That isn't going to happen here.
[Of course people saw him as a monster. He killed his own father. It was one of the worst and most heinous of crimes. Almost unimaginable. For someone who could do that, there was nothing that could be taboo. And it wasn't.
G'raha had wiped out a future, but he hadn't stood over the body of his parent holding the sword that had killed them and felt nothing. He couldn't understand what made Daqiang a monster. What made all the people of Cangyanhai and Shuiyuntian see him as one.
A shuddering breath was inhaled slowly. His thumbs brushed acorss G'raha's cheeks. He didn't really want G'raha to loathe him. He wanted...
He wanted to stop hurting so much.
He wanted someone to choose him first.
He wanted- wanted- wanted-
He wanted too much. That was the real problem, wasn't it? That he wanted. That he felt. That he'd put off attempting to destroy his emotions for as long as he had. That he was still finding excuses to delay.
Another deep breath in. Out.
He pulled his head away from G'raha and opened his eyes to look down at him. He brushed hair back from the face that had brought him peace when he would have had none during the last few months.]
Okay.
[Daqiang nodded. He wasn't going to convince G'raha to run away. To hate him. He didn't need to. He just needed to stop feeling. G'raha didn't have to do anything for that.]
You... your lover does not wish you to belong to this venerable one. Has said you do not.
[ Foreheads pressing against one another is a very Miqo'te thing. G'raha has slipped into the habit more often here than he ever has in the past. Thus it doesn't really occur to him that there might be more to it. However, the thumbs on his cheeks. The deep breathing, the grounding process that was happening before him... G'raha is starting to think that perhaps he had been misreading Daqiang's intentions for a while.
What is happening here? G'raha is looking at Daqiang with concern, because it feels like the man is giving in far too easily. The stubbornness that he is accustomed to is turning into something resigned. But what is it that Daqiang is resigning himself to?
His ears fold back and then lift. G'raha repeats the motion several times, as if trying to understand what point Daqiang is driving at. ]
That... That goes back to what your intentions are by the claim. To Zack, it felt as though your approach exceeded platonic or a concerned companion.
[ But his fingers curl into fabric even further. ]
[Daqaing dropped his hands to cover G'raha's where they gripped his clothes. He held them as gently as he knew how and shook his head.]
In this world, you have watched over this venerable one when he has been at his weakest. This venerable one has trusted you when he could trust no one. If you say you belong to this venerable one, then you belong to him. However you wish to belong to him.
If that is... if that is as family...
[He took a deep and heavy breath because it made his chest constrict to think of G'raha and family when family had only ever betrayed and hurt him. He did not want one of the only people he could trust to be in a position that led to more betrayal. But for G'raha, family did not mean betrayal]
[ Eyes drop down to those hands covering his own. Then he looks back up at Daqiang. Tilts his head to the side. ]
Daqiang, you may not see it but until recently you and I are quite similar. I hid myself behind a façade so that I would not have to acknowledge my own sorrows. For a time I thought of myself as a tool or a means to an end rather than a person. I was ready to entomb myself for an eternity or die in an explosion of corrupting Light.
[ His hands shift so that he can take hold of the other man's. Gives them a squeeze. ]
Then someone called my name. My name and the years that I had spent building a wall between myself and all else shattered. I see you and I see much the same with these walls... Thus I will not cease to keep my hand stretched out for yours. If the label of "family" is too much for you to reconcile with, then call me friend. Confidant. Accept that I will not hurt you as your family has and that I will return to this place because it is where you, one of my dearest companions, are.
[Because it is G'raha that is promising it, Daqiang does his best to accept it. To trust that his words are true. That he will not hurt him... betray him... use him.]
This venerable one already calls you friend. But he does not allow his other friends the same privileges he allows you.
[And G'raha had a lover. And Daqiang... Daqiang craved Orchid's attention in a way he did not G'raha's. Though he did very much dislike that G'raha had another to turn to, and it made him uncomfortable to think about others touching him in the way of lovers... he also did not want G'raha's attention in a way that made him want to stake his claim on him as he had Orchid in front of Cid. He didn't feel the need to fight for it so fiercely. Perhaps because G'raha gave his attention to Daqiang so freely?
Daqiang was not familiar with what these affections in his heart meant. The differences in them. But he was a learned scholar. He knew that there were those who were friends. and those who were... zhiji. It was not rare for someone to have a soulmate - a close confident and companion. But for Daqiang, it was not something he would have claimed for himself. Who could possibly understand him? He was the most powerful being in the world. The most feared. The most admired. And the most hated.
Who could he possibly be friends with to have that understanding form?
In another world, his world, he would not have what G'raha was offering. Could not.]
In this venerable one's world, there is something called 'zhījǐ'. It means... someone who knows you as you know yourself. There is an understanding that others struggle to share. It is as close to family as one can be without sharing blood or marriage.
[ There's a brief flicker of a smile at Daqiang admitting that much. ]
Yes, I may have picked up on that some time ago. Realize you are one of three that I allow to fuss over me as much as you have and get away with it.
[ He knows that there is much that Daqiang needs to work out for himself. That there are emotions and matters that Raha cannot help him work through. G'raha had to do the same, when G'raha Tia and the Crystal Exarch first came into contact with one another. There had been much reconciling that the two versions of the same soul had to do in order to become who he is today. Many emotions and the like to sort and sift through.
So who else can understand? G'raha, who sacrificed his body for the future of the star? Who brought death upon himself so that another could have a path forward? A man who had only held value because of the power of his eye(s), to the point where he had faced scorn as a child. Removed from his home because Garlemald could not be allowed to possess him? G'raha, who has been forced to shoulder the dreams and hopes of others... A man who had a great responsibility to the point where he had lost himself?
He listens to Daqiang and this term that he brings up. "Someone who knows you as you know yourself." An apt thing, perhaps. As close to family as one can be. This is what Daqiang would offer without his personal feelings behind the term "family."
G'raha nods. ]
Miqo'te don't have a word for such things, but I can offer a gesture that holds significance. My name roughly translates to Raha, Tia of the G Tribe. Those that are family, partners, and those that are as close to family as one can be without sharing blood may call a Miqo'te by their true name. So you may do so as well.
[ There comes a nod in response. People back home would know this of Miqo'te. It's not something that he has really explained here, save for two individuals. ]
Aye, that it is. Though I daresay I never told you the titles that I hold. Krile and a man named Rammbroes are the only ones from home that do so now. Call me by my more intimate name, that is.
This venerable one... will hold your name close, Raha.
[He squeezed the hands he was holding before releasing them and stepping back from G'raha. Or attempted to, anyway. G'raha's grip on his clothes would determine just how far he got.]
You should... not stay. We have talked. So tonight, you should not stay.
[He didn't want G'raha to go, but he knew that he shouldn't stay. Even if he couldn't bring himself to say 'go back to your boyfriend and reassure him'.]
[ He'd be allowed to step further back. The grip that G'raha has on those robes falls away and even he is taking a step backwards. ]
I wasn't intending to. While I consider you and I to be close, my heart is his. If his own aches then so, too, does mine along with it. I would do nothing to jeopardize what he and I have.
[ If it isn't clear about where his heart lies in all of this. G'raha is making it known that while Daqiang is someone he considers very important and their friendship means so much... He loves Zack. ]
[It is something Daqiang cannot fault G'raha for. Much as he wants to nurse the hurt of not being chosen first, he is used to it. And more still... he understood it. G'raha had someone he loved. Daqiang didn't know all the ways of love, but he understood that. That someone being chosen first.
He nodded and crossed his arms. Kept his eyes down. But did not turn his back.
It was G'raha who was leaving first.
And Daqiang would give him the respect of watching. Of accepting.]
[ In the weeks that have passed since her disastrous confrontation with Ganondorf aboard the Desert Wind, Zelda has been nurturing the seed of an idea that her enemy unwittingly planted in her mind. She has a mind to establish a ship and crew whose purpose would be providing aid to any who need it, regardless of affiliation. The princess is well versed in leadership, but commanding a ship is probably a lot different from being the sovereign ruler of a kingdom.
The first step to any project, especially one of this magnitude, is to collect information. So Zelda is reaching out to anyone she can think of that might have helpful advice. It's been awhile, but she remembers regal captain she met while she was still new.
Given what she remembers of his personality, Zelda is more formal in her message to Daqiang than she has been with anyone else.]
Greetings to you, Moon Supreme. I hope this message finds you well.
My name is Zelda and I am a researcher from the Kingdom of Hyrule. We met some months ago on Norhpip.
I am undertaking a new endeavor and I have come hoping to ask your advice.
[Daqiang's reply was just as formal. He could - and would - do casual text. But Zelda has reached out with formality, and he would return the effort.]
Greetings to you as well, Zelda of Hyrule.
This venerable one is well enough. His days have not be overly disturbed by the happenings of this world since our meeting. This venerable one remembers you, but he thanks you for the courtesy of the reminder when and where it was.
This venerable one may be able and willing to provide advice, depending on the matter it concerns. Is this an issue better left to letters or would an invitation to share tea or a meal be more appropriate?
With warm regards, Dongfang Qingcang Moon Supreme of the Moon Tribe Ruler of Cangyanhai Captain of the Phantom Moon
[ Since her greeting was well received, Zelda is content to ease up on the formality. She has to remember that a simple researcher would not treat with a ruler as though she were his equal. ]
Letters shall be of the greatest benefit to me, as I expect to make reference to this information in the future. But please know I am honored by your invitation to meet in person.
[ So much for being informal. ]
In my time here, I have observed that there is a need for the neutral dispensation of relief and aid to survivors of the various crises this world is prone to. I am aware that both the Paladins and Corsairs have ships in their ranks that provide such services, but they are, understandably, inclined to prioritize aiding those within their own armada, rather than accounting for who has the greatest need. Often, the unaffiliated and marginalized residents of this world are left to fend for themselves.
I seek to establish an organization which addresses this disparity-- or 'crew,' I believe is the proper term for such an entity.
However, an undertaking of this magnitude is vastly beyond my expertise. I have lead research and survey teams in my homeland, but by appointment only-- such expeditions are organized by the directors of the Royal Research Institute or the Princess of Hyrule herself.
[ It's a half-truth at worst: Zelda has organized and lead multiple endeavors since beginning the reconstruction of Hyrule. However, none of those endeavors involved establishing a relief organization. ]
As you are a respected captain yourself, I hoped I might solicit your advice on how to bring my idea to fruition.
[She may have dispensed with the formality in her follow up, at least partially, but if these were meant to be references for the future, he felt it better to keep it up on his end.
He was also not surprised to find she had witnessed the lack of easy cooperation between the Armada's healing forces. And only a little surprised she had not yet thought to approach the unaffiliated guilds. Just a little. After all, he had not thought to do so himself with regards to the quarantine of Snaxburg until he'd asked around more than a bit.]
Zelda of Hyrule,
Written correspondence it will be. For the time being, at least. An invitation could still be extended for any number of reasons.
A unified group completely unaffiliated with either Armada as the point of reference for such deeds would be ideal. However, as you are also riftfarer, it is unlikely you will be able to avoid association with the Armada that claims you - the one that helped you when you first arrived. You can attempt to divorce yourself some measure from it, but not completely. As this venerable one has not heard much of you among the Corsairs, he must assume your arrival and patronage has been among the Paladins.
The cleanest way to immediately pull yourself from the direct oversight of the Armadas is to join a ship that is only loosely affiliated with one. Or Captain your own. The next cleanest is to see if anyone on Antam will be willing to house you and allow yourself to be 'divorced' by lack of immediate association. This venerable one brings up Antam because of the four most active God-Beasts riftfarers are associated with, it is the most 'neutral' of them. And as with the inhabitants of both Elah and Nogard, it boasts a healers guild that this venerable one has seen manage to pull cooperation from the Armadas' many looser healer guilds. They can act as a voice of reason to convince the disparate needs of the two larger factions to act in concordance with each other. This venerable one has made some small contacts with the healers of Antam, that may help facilitate such an accord with others, should you be able to impress them that you are knowledgeable.
Since you speak of experience with expeditions, this venerable one assumes you intend to have the mobility needed to act on short notice. Thus simply living on Antam will not be enough. Finding a crew that calls one of Antam's harbors her home port, however, may serve you enough, even if the crew is affiliated with one of the two Armadas - as most crews are.
If you are looking to form a crew or acquire a ship, this venerable one can speak on his own experience in doing so.
Regards, Dongfang Qingcang Moon Supreme of the Moon Tribe Ruler of Cangyanhai Captain of the Phantom Moon
[ Although written messages give Zelda the luxury of being able to refer back to them, she takes down some notes on Daqiang's advice all the same. She has never seen Antam, let alone visited there, so she makes note to look into it. Securing the service of doctors and healers is crucial if her idea is to succeed. ]
My thanks for this wealth of information. You have given me a number of avenues to pursue.
You are correct; I am affiliated with the Paladins. And in regards to this particular undertaking, I intend to act as captain of both ship and crew I seek to form. I did suspect that full independence from the armadas might be unrealistic, particularly as a riftfarer and thus likely under more scrutiny than those native to this world.
Which conveniently brings me to your offer to share your own experience in establishing a crew and ship. I should quite like to hear whatever you are willing to share with me, including the amount of oversight or lack thereof you experience within the Corsairs' armada.
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He can only hope the god's absence meant he healed and nothing untoward happened to him. So he sends a message through the shellphone.]
Dongfang, it's Cid. Just wanted to check in and see how you were.
[After sending it, he heads back to the boat he used and return to Eltrut, wondering if he'll get a response...and hope he didn't end up leaving a negative impression on the god. Last thing he needed was to inadvertently make an enemy.]
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A message days after was, therefore, surprising. And confusing. Was Cid attempting to probe at his defenses and see if any weakness still remained? If he was, the method chosen was far from ideal.]
Why?
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Took me a bit longer to recover and get back here than expected. Didn't see you around so had to check.
Were you able to heal up all right?
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Why did you return?
[For the time being he was going to ignore the questions on his own health.]
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[Not only whether Dongfang was there or not, but also the damage he caused.]
Is that so surprising?
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...no.
To assess in person was not unreasonable. But something about it sat wrong with Daqiang. Why call him at all if he'd already seen the state of the island in the aftermath? That Daqiang wasn't there should have made it clear that he was able to 'heal up alright'. Or at least well enough to remove himself from the site.
Was he attempting to curry Daqiang's favor for a perceived offense?]
If you are concerned that this venerable one will retaliate, you may be at ease. You did only what this venerable one asked of you.
[The fault was Dongfang Qingcang's for underestimating the effect his own power would have when combined with Ramuh's.]
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[And then a pause as he stares at his own words and then back at the previous messages.]
Hang on. Are you not used to someone asking about your well-being?
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..or was he attempting to make himself an ally? A poor means of doing so. However, Cid would now have a firm idea of exactly how strong Daqiang was... and what it would mean to have Dongfang Qingcang on his side.]
The only ones who ask such are those who see themselves as this venerable one's allies. Or his enemies. Which do you desire to be, Dominant Cid?
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You are currently neither ally or enemy. But if you wish to be this venerable one's ally, this venerable one is willing to accept you into his service.
[That's what being his ally meant, after all. At least in Daqiang's view. And as a show of tentative trust toward Cid:]
This venerable one has 'healed up all right'. You need not worry that he cannot protect you should you have need of it.
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Cid can't help the dry laughter that escapes him. That does seem like an answer he'd give.]
Good to hear.
We'll have to consider what being an "ally" means, but for now I don't see you as an enemy. Neutral ground is just as fine until we learn more about each other.
[Just as long as Dongfang doesn't target him or his group, he'll be satisfied.]
Which begs the question. I know you say I'm neither ally or enemy, but after that little "demonstration," how would you judge me?
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As Ramuh, you are not as strong as Xunfeng, this venerable one's younger brother. But you would rival Shangque, this venerable one's lieutenant. To rival a dragon, who also controls the skies, the rain, and thunder, is no small feat. As yourself, you rival many of the lesser gods.
You would be a beneficial ally to anyone you chose to follow.
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Not bad, I'll take it.
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The outcome of our encounter. Have you spoken of it to anyone?
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You withstood and managed to survive my attacks, proving yourself a strong opponent should we ever have to cross swords.
Which I hope never comes to pass.
[Again no real details, but...yeah. He gets the impression that Dongfang wouldn't want to be perceived and described as weak, nor would he have gloated about it. Not after the complicated feeling he was left with after that. But hard to not talk about it without the implication he beat him down a bit.]
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A wise hope.
You have now 'checked in' and received the information you desired. Is there anything else you wish to ask of this venerable one, Dominant Cid?
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Am I correct in assuming you want me to keep some of your powers to myself?
And second—just call me Cid. I'm not really one for titles. Especially that one.
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[But more than he'd intended.]
However, if you wish to prove yourself to this venerable one as a potential ally, then speaking nothing of what you did see would benefit you greatly in that regard.
You prefer Cid an you have been calling me Dongfang, without other titles, as an intimate friend would be allowed. Is that the way of your world? To be so informal with everyone, regardless of your relationship?
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And I tend to be more casual to others in general. If you prefer to be called something else, I can do so. But as for me, I just don't like having my identity tied to being a Dominant or Ramuh. Others don't mind theirs, but let's just say I have a bit of history with it that makes me less inclined.
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This venerable one understands his name is difficult on your tongue and that insult was has not been intended.
[He's mostly been blaming the magic that translates everything for that difficulty.]
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Then my apologies. Your name isn't like anything I've seen or heard before, but that's no excuse to not try. I'll work on it, Dongfang Qingcang.
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You may continue to use Dongfang, Cid.
[Cid did prove himself quite capable. Leeway when in a world not his own was allowed. And he could always use the reversal of the privilege as a warning, should such a need arise. A way for Cid to understand exactly where he stood with Daqiang if he made a mistake that could not be overlooked.]
But if you speak of this venerable one to others, you should be clear what this venerable one's name is.
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Now that I can do.
Now I've probably bothered you enough. Take care.
not here
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Rem lifts the back of her knuckles to his door, gently tapping upon the wood. ]
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too comfortableat this point for him not to recognize her.He didn't want to speak with her. Not after the events of the day before. The sea of his heart was still too warm. The cracks in the ice flows growing. And his heart in his chest felt like it was flayed open. Raw. Tender.
But he was still the Captain. And there was a chance - a small chance - that what she was coming to him for was not related to what had happened.
Steeling himself behind a face of empty emotion that was more difficult to effect than it should be, he called out:]
Enter.
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It reminds her of the time at his apartment, how she'd seen distance take over his expression before they started cooking. Then there had been the time after he'd had his portrait completed, how quickly he had fled. And another time, over the network, how quickly his voice had hardened at the topic of his childhood. Most recently, he had warped away after the events of the toy island.
If his hollowness and fleeing is a defense against pain, she's realized it far too late.
And so she gets to the point. ]
I wanted to check on you.
[ Rem doesn't take a step further, though, and instead leans her back against the door. ]
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Daqing draws himself up and turns to face away from her. Gaze set out the wall-spanning windows at the back of his office. One hand tucked behind his back and the other settled on a think pile of papers on his desk.]
As you can see, this venerable one is fine. Is that all?
[He asked as dismissively as possible to discourage her continuing in that vein.]
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The image of the barren tree remains seared into her mind. As does the anguish, the tear she could not wipe away. Lest she forget the pain she witnessed. Suffering is never fine.
She remains quiet for a moment and then speaks. ]
...This is what "fine" is to you?
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and he didn't want to hurt herhe gave a short, clipped answer.]This venerable one is uninjured and in good health and has been returned to his appropriate form.
[So yes. Fine. Exactly as fine as he would be if he wasn't plagued by the sea of his heart beginning to unfreeze.]
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I think... you know that's not what I'm talking about.
[ Please don't be like this, she wants to implore. But pleading had only ever fallen on deaf ears with the one other person who had been like this in her life, the kind that set up impenetrable walls at the very end. It led to disaster, to tragedy.
Donfang may be immortal, but he deserves so much better than that. ]
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[He asked, bored tone shifting into something clearly heated with frustration. The hand on the desk curled into a fist as he took another breath to calm his heart and return to the cold. He still didn't turn around.]
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She inclines her head, pressing her lips together as she gathers her resolve. ]
This, Moon Surpeme. [ Her hand raises to her chest, and she places it over her heart. Knowing that his back remains turned, he specifies: ] What's held here, inside.
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[He turned around, yelling, more emotion in the act than any frustration he had shown before - even the flashes of anger she'd seen prior were but a tepid pot of water to the full boil on display. The fires of all the candles lighting the room flared, making it look as though the sun had decided to rise inside the office and flood it with light.]
The roots should be dead! The sea should be frozen! There should be nothing growing in this venerable one's heart! What good was my father's efforts to kill it all if they're just going to come back!
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But she stops herself from retreating as she looks over him. Just as quickly as it appeared, the trepidation washes from her expression like rain off a windowpane. What she sees in the flare of flames and his frustration is far grander than anything she'd ever seen him express. On someone who presents himself so impeccably, the emotion looks like... he's finally alive. Alive, but only in the most painful of ways.
Perhaps this frustration isn't directed at her, or at least, not entirely for the reason of her bringing up the topic. ]
You.... ...Crystals, you really don't see it, do you?
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The candle flames returned to their normal level, flickering in the sudden dark that followed. His voice back to that bored emptiness.]
What is there to see?
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The afternoon we cooked at your residence. The way you cherished that flower, and then became distant.
The day Miss Grey drew a portrait of you... and then you departed.
What happened at Yotelsia...
Every time your father is brought up.
That snow-covered island.
[ She takes another step forward. ] You may be suppressing how you feel. [ Running, denying, shutting down are all symptoms she's seen before; symptoms of turmoil, anger, fear, and hurt. She could be assuming too much, she could be overstepping-- no, surely she is. But on the off chance that she is not--
Rem's breath wavers as she inhales. ] But Moon Supreme... You-- you've failed to see how you're suffering.
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[He reached for her, to grab her by the wrist, but stopped his hand at the last moment. Let it hover for a second. Then he moved to rest it on her shoulder.
Between that moment and the next they were transported from the ship to-
an island.
A tiny but beautifully alive little island in a turquoise blue sea with a single tree in bloom, bright with flower and green leaves, growing strong and true in the center.]
This is the sea of your heart and your seven emotion tree. Can you tell the difference now? Your tree isn't dead. This venerable one's is.
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Awe strikes her at being suddenly transported to this, enough that she's silenced by her own wonder. Rem steps away from his touch towards the tree, craning her neck to look upon its boughs. She may be unfamiliar with the terms "sea of your heart" and "seven emotion tree", but the context is clear. This is hers, and he's somehow brought her to behold it...
To make a point. That hers is alive and that his, in contrast, is dead.
Rem has a thousand and more questions about this space, the tree, how he has the power to take them here, and everything else, but today is not the day to ask. This isn't about her, and she doesn't wish to be distracted. She turns from the tree to face him. ]
I want to see it.
[ She extends her hand. ] Yours.... The real one.
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Daqiang took her hand and pulled her against him with a quick jerk to spin her so her back was to his chest. He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her firmly.]
You will touch nothing.
[He would hold her the entire time to be sure of it. But he still wanted to hear her promise before he took her anywhere else.]
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He won't be able to see her expression, but her tone is sincere. ]
I promise.
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After she gives her promise, he shuts his eyes and breaths out. Between one moment and the next they appeared on the snow-lined shore of the island she'd seen now in both paint and plastic.
Six inches of snow covered the ground. The tree was white with frost and lacking any obvious growth, it's boughs bare and all the more sullen for it. The sky was so overcast that the grey of it blurred into the thick ice of the frozen sea and no horizon could be made out in the distance. The only thing marring the pristine image of a dead and frozen heart was the single, one-inch wide crack branching out like lighting through the icy sea. The only proof of his heart beginning to warm.
He gave her a moment to take it in before asking:]
Will you be satisfied now?
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But there is no joy in this scene. No peace. A barren tree rises with tortuous, black boughs from a solitary isle as if struggling to reach for some shred of warmth from the sunless heavens above.
With her arms free, her hands slide over his forearms that are wrapped around her waist. The hold is wholly unnecessary, really. Even if he hadn't told her to touch anything, even if he hadn't decided to restrain her, he's both fast and strong enough to stop her in her tracks. Perhaps he's not solely holding her not for a reason of mistrust, then. Perhaps he is scared, in his own way. ... ]
You asked the wrong question earlier, I think.
[ What she knows of his past are bits and pieces. A sword, hellfire, a succession, and, apparently, a necessary act by his father to begin the process of destroying the root of his heart. It began with him, but she's seen time and time again how the son shuts down his emotions, how he continues to choose it-- to choose to suffer for a cause. And simultaneously, to choose to honor his father by doing so.
But duty and honor, she thinks, is not so strong a motivation to keep a man going for thirty thousand years in this manner. There's something else, perhaps, that's been there all along, still alive but merely buried. Perhaps it's piety. Perhaps it's remnants of familial love from a child to their parent, still unresolved. Whatever it is, she sees the results of it as plain as day: his is a tortured soul. ]
You and your father... your efforts are true. [ Her shoulders shudder, and her voice weakens. ] I see it here, I do. I see how much you've sacrificed. For all these years, it has not been in vain.
[ Her head dips, and she shuts her eyes to prevent them from misting. ] But in this present... is your suffering necessary, if they're going to come back?
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Until now this venerable one has never suffered!
[The words snapped out of him before he could pull the emotions back and put them under control. Put them behind the ice he needed them to be under. So that he wouldn't feel. Wouldn't lose the power he needed to protect his people. To revive the Cangyanhai and the Moon Tribe. To defeat Shuiyuntian.
To be their weapon. Their tool. Their unfeeling knife at the tip of their spear.]
This venerable one does not suffer out of choice. It is only because of the emotions of others forcing this venerable one to feel that he knows what suffering is. Without emotions there is no suffering.
[Without emotions there was also no happiness. No joy. No love.
...he was so tired of feeling things. Rem made him want to feel but he was just so tired of how much they weighed on him.
With a shuttered breath, he murmured:]
Leave.
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He deserves so much better than this. He's a god, the strongest in his world, evidently. Can allowing himself to feel truly be beyond the likes of him? ]
Moon Supreme, please...
[ She's not even sure what she's asking for. Please be kinder to yourself. Please let yourself feel. It's safe to feel in this world, one away from his own that requires a great duty of him. Please talk to her, tell her of his feelings, or if not her, then someone, anyone, because he shouldn't be alone. Please don't shut others away. ]
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He felt like he was about to break. Like the ice over his sea was going to crack again. It was there, a pressure in his chest and she was the catalyst. Her plea to him was the catalyst. There was something welling up inside him and if he let it out wasn't sure what would happen.]
Leave
[He said again. Demanded really, weak as it came out. He couldn't keep the desperation and exhaustion from his voice. Whatever was coming he didn't want her to see it. Didn't want anyone to see it. She needed to leave.]
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She struggles with a decision. Should she leave? If she leaves, then perhaps she can get someone else, someone whose presence he might tolerate more to help him, if she's too much of a nuisance to him.
But if she leaves, it would be repeating the same mistakes from before. If she leaves, he will be yet another friend who so dearly needs help turning away. (What can one do, when pleas do nothing but fall on deaf ears? It feels too familiar.) Yet if she leaves, he will be alone in his struggle, possibly as he's always been. He'll shut down his struggle, probably as he's always handled. He won't learn that others can be there for him, too, to share in that very same struggle, to help him through it, and to not judge him for it.
She knows he can leave at any time, if he truly, desperately wishes to be alone. So she gambles, making the courage and effort to take a few steps forward instead. ]
Please... I'm here for you.
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Daqiang's breath heaved as he fought to keep his emotions at bay in the face of this reminder. Everything in this world seemed bent on tearing him down.
Another breath and then -
He disappeared in the usual thick black smoke and sparks. Leaving Rem alone in his office. Near the window, having been hidden by his body for the entirety of the conversation, the orchid from his home on Nogard sat: happily facing the big picture windows that would let the sun in every morning.]
Here Not Here - Backdated to around Jan. 11th
Inside are pathetic attempts at cookies, but they look to be at least edible if the burnt parts are either something someone enjoys or scraped off. Or thrown out, he'll never know the difference. A small note reads:
A written letter several days later
To Shoto Todoroki,
The pastries you delivered for your birthday were burned and very hard and had too much salt. This venerable one tasted each piece and found that only one was soft enough to chew without feeling as though gravel had been placed in his mouth.
This venerable one understands that this must be a very difficult recipe you are attempting to master. It is certainly one that this venerable one does not recognize. Chocolate is not used in this manner in Cangyanhai, where this venerable one is from.
You must continue to practice. This venerable one expects the next delivery to have less salt, be softer, and not be burned. But they should also not be undercooked.
With all due regards,
Moon Supreme of the Moon Tribe, Ruler of Cangyanhai
Dongfang Qingcang
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I don't know any more than that. I tried looking pretty much everywhere I could.
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There was a strange alter in the sulfur fields. Guarded by a strange horse-like beast of fire and bone. Did you encounter it at all?
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[ The second message comes after a short delay: ]
How are you doing? Is it getting worse? Do you need anything?
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[And after the delay]
For the moment it remains as it was. The salts remain sufficient.
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Okay. Please don't push yourself. And keep someone nearby if you sleep. [ /fuss fuss fuss ]
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This venerable one must push. There are too many threads to trace to do otherwise.
This venerable one also examined the alter. But did not see this tablet you speak of. It is possible someone else took it, that it was moved, or that it was destroyed before this venerable one ventured out to investigate the sulfur fields and the lava plains beyond.
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I'll head back up there again and see if I can find another one.
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['Worry' was one of the seven emotions. He could feel it. He was aware of that. (Now). But he didn't feel it currently. And if he was careful, he would (hopefully) not feel it much at all.]
You have not contracted this curse, have you?
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No.
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permatext;
So, I just wanted to check in with you after our talk about emotions and all the other stuff. I thought you might be mad (you sure seem like you can get angry) or something by what I said, so I gave it a few days.
You're not having an existential crisis over it, right?
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[He also wasn't having an existential crisis. He knew what he should do about his emotional roots recovering. He simply didn't have the energy to try.
...or anyone he trusted to do the torturing necessary.
They hadn't recovered much, anyway. He had time. He could still experience it a little. Just a little. Just enough to understand what he'd be giving up. Maybe enough to finally understand what Orchid had meant by there being strength in those emotions. By what Nimona had said, even. It was at least worth trying to understand. Since it compelled and influenced so many others.]
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[ She would not stop anyone from experiencing emotions, they can sometimes suck to have, but being without. That can really mess up a person. ]
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Of course, it could just be words. A trap of some sort.
Nimona didn't think well of him. That was a fact. Those who didn't think well of him often attempted to hurt him or ruin his reputation. That was also a fact. He had started to make a reputation for himself in this world. Another fact. His reputation in this world only mattered as far as it provided him with means to protect those that he now counted as his own people, find a way to break the heart-curse, and find a way to return to the Three Realms. Also facts.]
Without emotions, you can see clearly the pros and cons of a situation. There is no pity, no hate, to drive your choices. There is no guilt over doing what must be done to deter you from doing it.
There is no guilt over anything.
[Not even killing his father.]
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Now, Nimona might not consider them to be friends or any sort of companion, but she's also the last person to hold anything against him. If he had hurt her friends or maybe even called her a monster without trying to understand at all, then they'd really have a problem. But honestly, maybe he'll see that this world is different from his own. Not everyone is out to get him. ]
And you've been like this since you were young?
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[His father had started it, of course, but Daqiang had obeyed him. That made it much his own choice as his father's. To be filial. How ironic it was, then, that it was his unfilial killing of that parent which firmly put him on the throne as the undisputed Moon Supreme. All because his father couldn't accept Daqiang being stronger than him, ruling over him, and insisting that the only way to take it all from him was to kill him. His father had been weak. Dongfang Qingcang had not.]
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He deserved his fate.
If not for this venerable one mastering Hellfire, which gives him enough power to face down an army on his own and more, his people would long be scattered at best. Completely eradicated at worst.
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[ It's been 30,000 - so what happened? ]
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Nearly all our territory had been lost when this venerable one took the throne.
Much of our armies need rebuilding. Even if this venerable one can face an army on his own, Shuiyuntian has had the time and resources to field a dozen. There is still much to regain before we can take the battle to the heart of them.
This venerable one has prevented Shuiyuntian from wiping his people out when they otherwise would have already fallen. That is a feat only one other in history can claim. If it takes another 10,000 years or another 30,000, this venerable one will be the one to bring an end to Shuiyuntian's oppression of Cangyanhai.
[The statement was ambiguous enough to imply that he hadn't had 30,000 year nap that set everything back without actually lying about the matter.]
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What will happen when the fight is over, and you don't have to worry about them being a threat? Will you try to restore your emotions or do you want to stay as you are?
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And thinking about what he wanted when it came to feeling them...
No. No. It still wasn't his choice. Not really. He needed to be able to control Hellfire. It was what he'd destroyed himself for. Became a monster for. Was tortured by his own father for. He was the ruler of Cangyanhai. But also their weapon. That was the purpose he'd sacrificed all his emotions and desires for.
What was he if he wasn't a tool of war to hold back whatever threatened his people?]
Once this venerable one has conquered the Three Realms in their entirety, this venerable one will rule over them all and ensure peace remains for his people to thrive.
[Did it answer her question? No. Was he going to? Also no. He didn't really have an answer to give.]
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Truthfully, it's okay not to know exactly what he will want. Maybe he'll get more emotions back or maybe something will happen, and he'll lose them between now and then. He went through a lot for this power to protect his people, sacrificed more than just his emotions. ]
Okay, I feel like I understand a lot better now. Thank you for answering my questions. If you have any for me, that don't involve my origins, you know how to find me.
Text, soon after Emet-Selch's Toe Ring network post
Are you planning on using it?
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No.
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Why?
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Why not?
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[ Actually, she has no idea what she's going to use this for. ]
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However... if the mortal had that fetish...]
You wish to have people kiss your feet?
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[Was the forced kissing part of the fetish?]
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So it is not your fetish. You merely have a mind for tactics.
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This venerable one does not understand the appeal feet kissing has for yourself or others. The tactical use of the ring, he does.
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Oh, to be honest, I just thought it'd be really funny to make someone kiss your feet midbattle.
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What would you be willing to agree to, if this venerable one did consider giving it to you?
[Even if she did enjoy having her feet kissed, she was still the first to express and understanding of how easily the ring could be used against an enemy.]
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You want me to do something for you? Sure. People always ask me to do stuff. What do you want?
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This venerable one does not know your capabilities or what treasures you might have to want anything from you. He is asking if you have something to offer.
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[ It applies to both here huh... that ring. ]
Oh. Hm.
Me?
un: general-affairs // video
Oh Moon Supreme, guess what I got.
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Be clear. What is it you have?
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Someone requested test results, and I'll have you know, they were a pain in the ass to get on my own.
[ He had to set up a control and everything to make sure he could even measure the results. ]
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However, the statement of test results does cause Daqiang to connect the user name and the man 'Reno'.
Daqiang's eyes snap to the screen with interest.]
This venerable one also had issues. That you have had success is good to hear. What were you able to find?
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I was gonna have to call you Donny if you'd forgot me already, yo.
I was able to get a few things. The fertilizer uses magic.. didn't seem to be much though, even when I used it on some tree seeds. And they filled up at different rates between the leviathans, but I had a feeling it would.
What kinda problems were you runnin' into?
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[a hint of actual emotion in his tone: annoyance, frustration, desire to kill something or someone (Ranma)...]
Being in this venerable one's presence for the time it took to transport them to where he intended to measure caused them to 'fill up' before he could arrive.
[his personal ambient energy was just too much]
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It was something of a hobby of his. ]
Nah, you remembered me just in time.
Oh, huh. Imagine that. I guess with all the shit going on, your crew couldn't just do it either.
Well, glad I could help out. I was thinking about asking that Kaveh guy if I could keep a few, but they're not the most efficient little scouts. But if you still want some and need transport, I can pick up the leg work if you'll give me rides here and there. Gettin' around this place has been shit, yo.
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[If he needed a ship rented for a time, Daqiang could do that. If he needed teleported around, Daqiang was limited to the Ring of Returning if he wanted to take anyone other than himself. If he needed to be flown... that Daqiang could do easily.]
This venerable one would prefer to be able to measure certain power levels on Avaleci. Are you able to travel to the island yourself or would that require a 'ride'?
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[ Reno would be amenable to either, though the teleportation would take some convincing or a more dire necessity. ]
Avaleci? I'd need a ride, yeah. [ He chuckled warmly at how the other adapted to the informal use of the word. ]
I can get the recon work done, no problem. You wouldn't mind giving me a briefing of what exactly that place is while we're on the way though, would you?
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This venerable one seeks to measure the ambient power levels at the shrine and at points in the sulfur fields that lead into the shrine. First without this venerable one's presence, and then with his presence.
[He'd been attempting to bind the volcano to his spiritual presence so he could draw on it's power, but he hadn't made a lot of headway on it. And he wanted to see if there was something blocking that might be able to be measured in general ambient power levels.]
This venerable one can transport us to the island and back.
[Ring of Returning it would be.]
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[ He mulled over the rest, with a lackadaisical posture that juxtaposed the sharpness of his focus. He seemed to look what he could see of Dongfang down and then up again, but ultimately, his head lolled to one side, then he nodded. ]
Teleport?
[ His brows raised. ]
How's the teleportation work? And as long as I can breathe on the sulfur fields..y'know how it goes for mortals, us needing oxygen and shit.
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[He tilted his head, lifting his chin in mild interest at how Reno was speaking. It was similar to Cid, but different. Similar to Yuffie, as well.]
This venerable one will key his Ring of Returning to Avaleci and use it to take us there. Once we are done, this venerable one will use the ring to bring us back to the Phantom Moon. The sulfur fields are breathable for mortals. They are very hot, however. And home to fire sprites that will flock to us once they are aware of this venerable one's presence. They, too, are very hot.
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[ Once the semantics we're out of the way and he'd parsed Dongfang's vocabulary, the rest fell right into place.
He took a moment more to chew over the given dangers of visiting. He really hated the feeling of isolation being stuck in this place left him with. He was so used to being able to call any of his co-workers at a moment's notice for field support, and in fact had to catch himself from doing just that.
Mulling over the given specs highlighted even more how isolated he was here--so many things he'd not have to bring into question, or could be simply assumed on the basis that his team had absolute trust in one another. But here, he not only had no safety net of the sort, but he didn't discount the fact that maybe one person would notice and have any concern if he went missing, and that he knew next to nothing about this world. At least on Gaia, he knew what he was getting into with any given mission.
He breathed a small sigh in and out through his nose slowly, glancing off to the side during that time he thought it over before returning his focus to Dongfang. ]
Couple things first, then.
How hot is 'very hot'? And once we get there, how bad is that swarming gonna be, and how quick is it gonna start? We both know the sensors are gonna fill up quick, but I'm gonna plan as if we're gonna be there for a few hours, and make sure we're on the same page in case shit goes ass-up.
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Most mortals this venerable one has seen in the fields are able to be there for several hours without risk to their health so long as they carry enough water with them. It is uncomfortable for them. Not hot enough to cause a mortal to begin burning upon touch, but hot enough to wilt flowers within moments.
The fire sprites are always very excited to see this venerable one. They usually notice his presence within a half hour. If you separate from his presence by several yards but not too much further, they should mostly ignore you.
[He turns and reaches one hand to the side, past where the camera can see him. After a moment, he brings his hand back into view and a very fat fire sprite (a ball of fire with hands and feet of flame that got sucked back into its body and strangely visible eyes) that glowed bright red and orange clung to his sleeve. It crawled around his wrist and between Daqiang's fingers like a kid exploring a playground. It's mouth opened every so often to 'bite' at Daqiang but did no damage. Nor did it burn Daqiang's skin or his clothing.]
They look like this.
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Pretty cute little guy. Are you able to handle it cause you've got powers, or are they all like that?
Sounds alright--I'll shoot a buddy of mine a text, grab some water and be ready to head out.
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[No he's not going to explain that further. But yes, it's cause he has powers.]
Where shall this venerable one meet you?
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Gotcha. Ten minutes, east end of Eltrut docks, how's that sound?
Action or move it to your log?
[At which point he hung up and made his own preparations.]
oh shit yea we can move it to my log
photos causing problems
There is only a small moment of hesitation before he just enters Daqiang's cabin. He doesn't knock - though maybe he should - mostly because he has not had reason to. ]
Daqiang?
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[Daqiang stood looking out the expansive window at the back of the cabin, back to the door. He had felt G'raha's approach, of course. The spiritual presence of everyone on his crew was now familiar to him. G'raha's more than any other than Orchid's.]
Come in.
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I know not what to say at the moment, in truth. It didn't occur to me that some harmless fun, as embarrassing as it is, would upset you so.
[ Because he can recognize it. Daqiang is upset. G'raha just isn't sure how deeply it runs. ]
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But shouldn't he have been told when things changed? Why was it his mistake for not making an assumption of change if he wasn't told it was happening? Why should he have known just because G'raha had been friendly with this other man? G'raha was friendly with many people.
He was very friendly with Daqiang.
After a long moment, he murmured:]
You did not tell this venerable one that you were no longer his.
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When he finally says something, G'raha's ears strain to catch it. ...No longer his? ]
I... Suppose that would depend on the context. [ Which he's never thought it to mean in a romantic way. Perhaps he has been mistaken this entire time? ] Though from my perspective, this has not truly changed.
[ He takes a breath and steps into the other's personal space. G'raha is going to try to get a good look at the other's facial expression. ]
Miqo'te... Are a social race, Daqiang. We live in family units. Tribes. I was taken from mine when I was a child. Then, later, the Students became that for me. Yet I lost them as well and that void remained for the longest time. Since coming here, you have been someone that has filled it for me. Thus is why I consider myself to be yours as much as you are mine.
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[He asked, eyes sliding to the side to look at G'raha with no small measure of pain in them.
He was not sure what he had counted G'raha as in his head and heart. Only that it was not 'family' because family... family meant betrayal. It meant being treated as tool of war. One to be feared, yes. But one to be used as well. A weapon. A shield. A scapegoat.
A monster.]
This venerable one's family has only ever wanted to hurt him. Kill him.
[what do you remember?
father please! Let me out!
do you remember familial love?
...
do you remember brotherly love?
...
Then... do you remember loyalty?
(a quiet sob)
good. very good.]
Use him.
[His eyes went hard and his expression cold. But the fires in the room flared.]
If this venerable one is family, which of these things do you wish of him?
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Though that's not what G'raha would ever want. And even though the man is growing more distant, that's not something that G'raha will allow either. Hence it is his turn to take hold of the man's sleeve and look up at him with that stubborn glint in his eye. ]
I am sorry that it was the case for you, Daqiang. Were I able to go back in time and resolve it for you, I would. [ And he means it! ] Alas, I no longer have that that ability.
[ His expression softens. ]
Family is not always blood. Your dragon and your flower. This crew that you've put together... Those that you trust and have given you their trust in return. These individuals could all be defined as your family. One that you have selected for yourself. Quite frankly, the only thing that I would ever wish of you is for your happiness. What I wish of you is to flourish and for you to see yourself as many others do.
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Go back? Would you kill this venerable one's father for him? So that he would not have to be the one to make that final blow and become the monster he became?
[It came out accusatory. The fires of the room flaring so brightly it was no different than daylight. But he didn't move. Careful. He had to be careful. Controlled.
But G'raha moved on to something more painful. The ache in his heart that was Orchid-shaped. Who was his, but not his. Who had chosen him, but not him. Someone who made him happy. G'raha had made him happy, too. A feeling that filled his chest in a way that nearly hurt but only in a way that also made him crave to have more of it.
He knew pride when he saw his crew working enthusiastically on their projects. He knew something that might be happiness when they were excited. He knew anger when they were injured. He knew pain when they left. Disappeared because of the fickleness of the rifts or because they decided they wanted something else. Someone else.
Always someone else.
The fires died out and he shut his eyes, turning his face away. Willing the heat of tears threatening to shed to go away and leave him some semblance of face.
He shouldn't feel at all. But he kept putting off the destruction of his Seven Emotion Tree. For what? More pain upon more pain because the fleeting taste of happiness was that intoxicating?]
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Even further still, to before any harm could be done in the first place. Daqiang, why do you see yourself as some monster?
[ Because G'raha doesn't see it. Doesn't know what is so upsetting to the man in all of this. Where is all of this coming from? G'raha can see that there is pain, but where is the source of it? It is not just about some embarrassment trying to come forward in the defense of G'raha Tia and being told that there is no need for it. Much, much more.
But the Miqo'te is stubborn and has come to terms with the fact that Daqiang is not one that needs to be left to be. Which is why he presses forward still. ]
Tell me what is going on. Please.
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[He said. Voice empty of emotion. A fact recited by rote.]
When someone kills their own father and feels no guilt, what else can they be but a monster?
[His voice was empty, but his expression was not. His lips twisted in a sneer and the fire was flaring again before a mask slipped over and he turned cold, closed off.]
This venerable one did so before his voice cracked, before he was even a man. This venerable one has been a monster since he was child. Has burned, murdered, and conquered realms innumerable without feeling anything about it. He has ripped the skin from his enemies while they still lived. He has cut hands and feet from his foes and fed them to the crocodiles while they wept and pleaded for mercy.
[He turned and stepped into G'raha's personal space in a challenge. Daring him to deny that Daqiang was a monster.]
Tools and monsters are the same. They don't care about the pain they bring others. They don't need to.
[He wanted to scare G'raha. Didn't dare to touch him. Just wanted G'raha to run. To turn away. To leave him to his pain. To make it easier to kill the emotions blooming in his heart.]
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No surprises what he chooses, grabbing the front of the man's robes and twisting him to look at G'raha in the eye. G'raha, who is unwavering. He still doesn't understand what all of this has to do with why Daqiang is upset. Why does he hurt so in a way that causes him to lash out. ]
You stated that he caused you harm and that your own family desired to kill you. It was not a thought in your mind to kill him first. While I may not know the context of the other terrible things you have claimed to do, I know the man that you are right here and now. What I do not see is a monster, but a man who has had to be what he must to endure so much.
[ After a moment, G'raha looks down. ]
If you are a monster, what does that make me? Me, who traversed time to erase an entire future? You may have put down lives, but you will never match my number, for I have even destroyed that which will no longer even have a chance to exist.
[ His hand grip the other tighter. ]
I am a man who knows what it means to run away from pain and loss. To lock himself up in hopes that it would shut it all out so that it wouldn't be acknowledged. A man who nearly tore his dearest companion apart from the inside out just to achieve those means - a different future. I ripped souls from their bodies and carried them across the cosmos without the means to put them back.
[ So does this make G'raha a monster too? ]
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[It wasn't so much about numbers. War meant death uncountable.
He reached up and put hands on either side of G'raha's face. Cupping his cheeks gently as he looked into his friend's eyes. He wanted to push G'raha away. He wanted to hold him close. He wanted the hurt in those eyes to disappear.]
Even now, you feel it. It causes you pain. It hurts you.
[Monsters didn't feel pain. Monsters didn't feel anything. Monsters were the ones that didn't care. The ones to whom everyone was simply a number on a list.]
This venerable one felt nothing. It didn't mean anything more than just a body on the ground when this venerable one killed his father. None of the ones that came after meant anything.
[The first life he took. A weapon used against its creator. Perfectly sharp. Perfectly deadly. Perfectly unfeeling.
He shut his eyes and leaned his forehead against G'raha's.]
You did what you had to. This venerable one did only what his father created him for.
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His ears perk as he feels hands on his face. A forehead against his. G'raha is trying to parse all of this. Trying to absorb it and really take in the things that Daqiang isn't saying along with the things that he is. It's why there's a little frown on his features as Daqiang continues to speak. ]
Does that not pain you? Perhaps not the deeds committed, but the fact that you believe people see you as a monster? That you see yourself this way...
[ He sighs, still looking at Daqiang even though those dark eyes are shut. ]
One could argue it is better to feel nothing at all than to feel guilt, but not the slightest bit of remorse. I would do it all again in a heartbeat, you see. While it pains me, yes, I do not believe I have done anything wrong. Yet, this isn't really a contest of who is a monster here, Daqiang. You are not about to convince me to run away and to loathe you. That isn't going to happen here.
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G'raha had wiped out a future, but he hadn't stood over the body of his parent holding the sword that had killed them and felt nothing. He couldn't understand what made Daqiang a monster. What made all the people of Cangyanhai and Shuiyuntian see him as one.
A shuddering breath was inhaled slowly. His thumbs brushed acorss G'raha's cheeks. He didn't really want G'raha to loathe him. He wanted...
He wanted to stop hurting so much.
He wanted someone to choose him first.
He wanted- wanted- wanted-
He wanted too much. That was the real problem, wasn't it? That he wanted. That he felt. That he'd put off attempting to destroy his emotions for as long as he had. That he was still finding excuses to delay.
Another deep breath in. Out.
He pulled his head away from G'raha and opened his eyes to look down at him. He brushed hair back from the face that had brought him peace when he would have had none during the last few months.]
Okay.
[Daqiang nodded. He wasn't going to convince G'raha to run away. To hate him. He didn't need to. He just needed to stop feeling. G'raha didn't have to do anything for that.]
You... your lover does not wish you to belong to this venerable one. Has said you do not.
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What is happening here? G'raha is looking at Daqiang with concern, because it feels like the man is giving in far too easily. The stubbornness that he is accustomed to is turning into something resigned. But what is it that Daqiang is resigning himself to?
His ears fold back and then lift. G'raha repeats the motion several times, as if trying to understand what point Daqiang is driving at. ]
That... That goes back to what your intentions are by the claim. To Zack, it felt as though your approach exceeded platonic or a concerned companion.
[ But his fingers curl into fabric even further. ]
Daqiang, talk to me. Please.
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In this world, you have watched over this venerable one when he has been at his weakest. This venerable one has trusted you when he could trust no one. If you say you belong to this venerable one, then you belong to him. However you wish to belong to him.
If that is... if that is as family...
[He took a deep and heavy breath because it made his chest constrict to think of G'raha and family when family had only ever betrayed and hurt him. He did not want one of the only people he could trust to be in a position that led to more betrayal. But for G'raha, family did not mean betrayal]
This venerable one will accept it as such.
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Daqiang, you may not see it but until recently you and I are quite similar. I hid myself behind a façade so that I would not have to acknowledge my own sorrows. For a time I thought of myself as a tool or a means to an end rather than a person. I was ready to entomb myself for an eternity or die in an explosion of corrupting Light.
[ His hands shift so that he can take hold of the other man's. Gives them a squeeze. ]
Then someone called my name. My name and the years that I had spent building a wall between myself and all else shattered. I see you and I see much the same with these walls... Thus I will not cease to keep my hand stretched out for yours. If the label of "family" is too much for you to reconcile with, then call me friend. Confidant. Accept that I will not hurt you as your family has and that I will return to this place because it is where you, one of my dearest companions, are.
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This venerable one already calls you friend. But he does not allow his other friends the same privileges he allows you.
[And G'raha had a lover. And Daqiang... Daqiang craved Orchid's attention in a way he did not G'raha's. Though he did very much dislike that G'raha had another to turn to, and it made him uncomfortable to think about others touching him in the way of lovers... he also did not want G'raha's attention in a way that made him want to stake his claim on him as he had Orchid in front of Cid. He didn't feel the need to fight for it so fiercely. Perhaps because G'raha gave his attention to Daqiang so freely?
Daqiang was not familiar with what these affections in his heart meant. The differences in them. But he was a learned scholar. He knew that there were those who were friends. and those who were... zhiji. It was not rare for someone to have a soulmate - a close confident and companion. But for Daqiang, it was not something he would have claimed for himself. Who could possibly understand him? He was the most powerful being in the world. The most feared. The most admired. And the most hated.
Who could he possibly be friends with to have that understanding form?
In another world, his world, he would not have what G'raha was offering. Could not.]
In this venerable one's world, there is something called 'zhījǐ'. It means... someone who knows you as you know yourself. There is an understanding that others struggle to share. It is as close to family as one can be without sharing blood or marriage.
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Yes, I may have picked up on that some time ago. Realize you are one of three that I allow to fuss over me as much as you have and get away with it.
[ He knows that there is much that Daqiang needs to work out for himself. That there are emotions and matters that Raha cannot help him work through. G'raha had to do the same, when G'raha Tia and the Crystal Exarch first came into contact with one another. There had been much reconciling that the two versions of the same soul had to do in order to become who he is today. Many emotions and the like to sort and sift through.
So who else can understand? G'raha, who sacrificed his body for the future of the star? Who brought death upon himself so that another could have a path forward? A man who had only held value because of the power of his eye(s), to the point where he had faced scorn as a child. Removed from his home because Garlemald could not be allowed to possess him? G'raha, who has been forced to shoulder the dreams and hopes of others... A man who had a great responsibility to the point where he had lost himself?
He listens to Daqiang and this term that he brings up. "Someone who knows you as you know yourself." An apt thing, perhaps. As close to family as one can be. This is what Daqiang would offer without his personal feelings behind the term "family."
G'raha nods. ]
Miqo'te don't have a word for such things, but I can offer a gesture that holds significance. My name roughly translates to Raha, Tia of the G Tribe. Those that are family, partners, and those that are as close to family as one can be without sharing blood may call a Miqo'te by their true name. So you may do so as well.
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[He asked, eyes finally coming up to meet G'raha's once more.]
Your 'true name' is Raha? Is this what could be called your personal name? Without titles or surname?
[He wanted to be certain the translation the magic of the world provided was correct for his understanding.]
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Aye, that it is. Though I daresay I never told you the titles that I hold. Krile and a man named Rammbroes are the only ones from home that do so now. Call me by my more intimate name, that is.
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[He squeezed the hands he was holding before releasing them and stepping back from G'raha. Or attempted to, anyway. G'raha's grip on his clothes would determine just how far he got.]
You should... not stay. We have talked. So tonight, you should not stay.
[He didn't want G'raha to go, but he knew that he shouldn't stay. Even if he couldn't bring himself to say 'go back to your boyfriend and reassure him'.]
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I wasn't intending to. While I consider you and I to be close, my heart is his. If his own aches then so, too, does mine along with it. I would do nothing to jeopardize what he and I have.
[ If it isn't clear about where his heart lies in all of this. G'raha is making it known that while Daqiang is someone he considers very important and their friendship means so much... He loves Zack. ]
So, tonight, I will be going first.
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He nodded and crossed his arms. Kept his eyes down. But did not turn his back.
It was G'raha who was leaving first.
And Daqiang would give him the respect of watching. Of accepting.]
text; un: multidisciplinary
The first step to any project, especially one of this magnitude, is to collect information. So Zelda is reaching out to anyone she can think of that might have helpful advice. It's been awhile, but she remembers regal captain she met while she was still new.
Given what she remembers of his personality, Zelda is more formal in her message to Daqiang than she has been with anyone else.]
Greetings to you, Moon Supreme. I hope this message finds you well.
My name is Zelda and I am a researcher from the Kingdom of Hyrule. We met some months ago on Norhpip.
I am undertaking a new endeavor and I have come hoping to ask your advice.
Text
Greetings to you as well, Zelda of Hyrule.
This venerable one is well enough. His days have not be overly disturbed by the happenings of this world since our meeting. This venerable one remembers you, but he thanks you for the courtesy of the reminder when and where it was.
This venerable one may be able and willing to provide advice, depending on the matter it concerns. Is this an issue better left to letters or would an invitation to share tea or a meal be more appropriate?
With warm regards,
Dongfang Qingcang
Moon Supreme of the Moon Tribe
Ruler of Cangyanhai
Captain of the Phantom Moon
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Letters shall be of the greatest benefit to me, as I expect to make reference to this information in the future. But please know I am honored by your invitation to meet in person.
[ So much for being informal. ]
In my time here, I have observed that there is a need for the neutral dispensation of relief and aid to survivors of the various crises this world is prone to. I am aware that both the Paladins and Corsairs have ships in their ranks that provide such services, but they are, understandably, inclined to prioritize aiding those within their own armada, rather than accounting for who has the greatest need. Often, the unaffiliated and marginalized residents of this world are left to fend for themselves.
I seek to establish an organization which addresses this disparity-- or 'crew,' I believe is the proper term for such an entity.
However, an undertaking of this magnitude is vastly beyond my expertise. I have lead research and survey teams in my homeland, but by appointment only-- such expeditions are organized by the directors of the Royal Research Institute or the Princess of Hyrule herself.
[ It's a half-truth at worst: Zelda has organized and lead multiple endeavors since beginning the reconstruction of Hyrule. However, none of those endeavors involved establishing a relief organization. ]
As you are a respected captain yourself, I hoped I might solicit your advice on how to bring my idea to fruition.
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He was also not surprised to find she had witnessed the lack of easy cooperation between the Armada's healing forces. And only a little surprised she had not yet thought to approach the unaffiliated guilds. Just a little. After all, he had not thought to do so himself with regards to the quarantine of Snaxburg until he'd asked around more than a bit.]
Zelda of Hyrule,
Written correspondence it will be. For the time being, at least. An invitation could still be extended for any number of reasons.
A unified group completely unaffiliated with either Armada as the point of reference for such deeds would be ideal. However, as you are also riftfarer, it is unlikely you will be able to avoid association with the Armada that claims you - the one that helped you when you first arrived. You can attempt to divorce yourself some measure from it, but not completely. As this venerable one has not heard much of you among the Corsairs, he must assume your arrival and patronage has been among the Paladins.
The cleanest way to immediately pull yourself from the direct oversight of the Armadas is to join a ship that is only loosely affiliated with one. Or Captain your own. The next cleanest is to see if anyone on Antam will be willing to house you and allow yourself to be 'divorced' by lack of immediate association. This venerable one brings up Antam because of the four most active God-Beasts riftfarers are associated with, it is the most 'neutral' of them. And as with the inhabitants of both Elah and Nogard, it boasts a healers guild that this venerable one has seen manage to pull cooperation from the Armadas' many looser healer guilds. They can act as a voice of reason to convince the disparate needs of the two larger factions to act in concordance with each other. This venerable one has made some small contacts with the healers of Antam, that may help facilitate such an accord with others, should you be able to impress them that you are knowledgeable.
Since you speak of experience with expeditions, this venerable one assumes you intend to have the mobility needed to act on short notice. Thus simply living on Antam will not be enough. Finding a crew that calls one of Antam's harbors her home port, however, may serve you enough, even if the crew is affiliated with one of the two Armadas - as most crews are.
If you are looking to form a crew or acquire a ship, this venerable one can speak on his own experience in doing so.
Regards,
Dongfang Qingcang
Moon Supreme of the Moon Tribe
Ruler of Cangyanhai
Captain of the Phantom Moon
no subject
My thanks for this wealth of information. You have given me a number of avenues to pursue.
You are correct; I am affiliated with the Paladins. And in regards to this particular undertaking, I intend to act as captain of both ship and crew I seek to form. I did suspect that full independence from the armadas might be unrealistic, particularly as a riftfarer and thus likely under more scrutiny than those native to this world.
Which conveniently brings me to your offer to share your own experience in establishing a crew and ship. I should quite like to hear whatever you are willing to share with me, including the amount of oversight or lack thereof you experience within the Corsairs' armada.