Zhang Liao Wenyuan (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
800isenough) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
seaofhearts2016-03-20 09:49 pm
800isenough) wrote in seaofhearts2016-03-20 09:49 pm
What is a warrior's path?
Who: Everyone!
What: Take a step back through time tofanfic Ancient China!
Where: A hodgepodge of battlefields from the Three Kingdoms era
Warnings: Corpses, blood, will edit if needed!
[The first thing he's aware off is the cold. An unpleasant yet achingly familiar bite that nips at the joints and pinches the skin. Eyes snap open to stare at white and black, and as he pulls himself off the ground his hands move automatically to brush the snow off his armour. Even in the dark though, there's no question what that looming gate in the distance was. A sharp gasp, and he's scrambling onto his feet, kicking fresh snow up behind him. Small puffs of breath escape from his mouth, but not even this chill can distract him from a quiet mounting horror when his gaze moves from the gate to the broken remnants of ships in the distance, and then further away there's the orange-red glow of flickering flames.
And even this area he's awoken in is all too familiar. Crumbling and burning houses and ruins, with rubble and charred walls. And from here he sees the bridge, and oh heavens he knows that bridge. That iron tang scent seems almost sharpened both by the cold and as the realization hits him hard. This...but this can't be Changban, it can't be Hulao Gate, it can't be Chibi, that can't be Xiapi Castle--
He didn't even realise he'd moved a step forward when his foot nudges against something on the ground, a mound covered by the snow. What does it say about him, he wonders, that he can recognize what it is from the size and shape? Carefully he pulls his foot away and steps over the corpse, taking care to maintain his calm even as he sees more and more of those snow-covered mounds scattered across the ground. And he sees the crimson stains on the snow, and it's all fresh. And there are so many.
Quickly he starts to look around for the others. If this is his world, if this is his heart, then they're all in great danger. If a child's heart can prove to be nightmare? Then gods, please protect them from his.]
What: Take a step back through time to
Where: A hodgepodge of battlefields from the Three Kingdoms era
Warnings: Corpses, blood, will edit if needed!
[The first thing he's aware off is the cold. An unpleasant yet achingly familiar bite that nips at the joints and pinches the skin. Eyes snap open to stare at white and black, and as he pulls himself off the ground his hands move automatically to brush the snow off his armour. Even in the dark though, there's no question what that looming gate in the distance was. A sharp gasp, and he's scrambling onto his feet, kicking fresh snow up behind him. Small puffs of breath escape from his mouth, but not even this chill can distract him from a quiet mounting horror when his gaze moves from the gate to the broken remnants of ships in the distance, and then further away there's the orange-red glow of flickering flames.
And even this area he's awoken in is all too familiar. Crumbling and burning houses and ruins, with rubble and charred walls. And from here he sees the bridge, and oh heavens he knows that bridge. That iron tang scent seems almost sharpened both by the cold and as the realization hits him hard. This...but this can't be Changban, it can't be Hulao Gate, it can't be Chibi, that can't be Xiapi Castle--
He didn't even realise he'd moved a step forward when his foot nudges against something on the ground, a mound covered by the snow. What does it say about him, he wonders, that he can recognize what it is from the size and shape? Carefully he pulls his foot away and steps over the corpse, taking care to maintain his calm even as he sees more and more of those snow-covered mounds scattered across the ground. And he sees the crimson stains on the snow, and it's all fresh. And there are so many.
Quickly he starts to look around for the others. If this is his world, if this is his heart, then they're all in great danger. If a child's heart can prove to be nightmare? Then gods, please protect them from his.]
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sing our campfire songtry not to die from hypothermia.[This might be Changban or some small part of it, but this snow and cold has to come from someplace further north. Either way though, the night time is proving chilly and they're definitely going to need shelter and a fire.
So that's what Liao focuses on first. It's not hard for him to find a structure that'll offer at least a roof over the heads, and thankfully the building still has its four walls, but that's all the comforts they're going to get, because although the basic structure of it is still standing, everything else inside is trashed.
Still, he clears up enough space to accommodate all of them. Grabbing a few pieces of wood here and there, and soon enough he's got a fire going. So yay for warmth? He's definitely open for discussions on his heart though, even if the tight-lipped expression he's wearing might say otherwise.]
Prompt B, Day-time, Changban Village/Bridge + broken ships
[The next day he's already out looking for puzzles. There's not much food and water around here, so they need to be quick. He checks the bridge, explores the village, and follows the path all the way to the harbour. There, he stands and stares solemnly at the ships, before he'll start to check if any of them can be explored.]
Prompt C, Day-time, Xiapi Castle
[And of course, he'll be drawn to Xiapi Castle. He'll explore as much of it as he can, but he'll be careful, of course, because if there's one thing he's learned about this cat and rabbit game is that they hit low and they hit hard, and Xiapi Castle was where his sense of self was utterly crushed.]
A
Was this a war?
[He's aware that the older man doesn't have to answer, but... well. Ken wants to know.]
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However, what you see here is a distortion of sorts. My heart has taken pieces of different battlefields that I have fought in and merged them together.
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[He's never known war on a large scale, but a personal one, fighting to save people, watching them die around you... trying to set things right. Not this kind of war. Not with armies and hundreds of people.]
You're some kind of leader, right?
[From the way he carries himself... though it could just be a 'different time' thing.]
C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E-WE ARE ALL DEAD-SONG (a)
[The young man somehow seems even jumpier than usual. In every pool of shadow, around every corner, beneath every tree, the place is crawling with infected that no one else seems to see. Hell, when he tries to look directly at them, the trolls and beasts are gone. But they're somewhere. They're always somewhere, always watching.]
[Lalli approaches the husk of a building as quietly as he possibly can. He takes his first glimpse inside and lets out an involuntary gasp. The place is filled with-- with--!]
[...oh, wait, it's just Liao.]
[Lalli stands there wide-eyed, allowing the general more than enough time to identify who he is. However, by the light of the fire, Liao would also be able to see the beginnings of a nasty rash on his face that definitely wasn't there in the hub...]
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I'm afraid this fire is the best I can do. Please, come in and take a seat.
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[O... kay... he's having difficulty believing that, but let's see how long it holds up.]
[Lalli creeps into the dilapidated house and curls himself up in a tiny ball near the fire. His head isn't ducked, though, a sign that he probably won't shut out conversation.]
B
But he marches through the snow regardless, teeth gritted and arms crossed in an effort to stop his body from protesting too much against the conditions. Regardless of his feelings on the matter, they still need to get through here sooner rather than later.
He'd like it sooner. Which is why, when Liao comes across him, he's picking through one of the razed buildings, too intent on fighting off the chill and investigating to notice his presence right away.]
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When he spots Sasuke, he immediately walks up to the boy, both to see how he's doing and if Sasuke's found anything of interest.]
Sasuke. Anything unusual?
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...Nothing so far.
[Although his voice shakes, he somehow manages to avoid outright stuttering.]
Have you-- [Oops, there it is.] --Have you found anything-?
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[As they go on, Ken keeps stopping, crouching at the bodies, brushing off the snow and - no. Too big, too hard to get through, too much of a pain to dig out this or the other from the snow. It looks like they've been here long enough for things to get soaked, though maybe he'll find something soon that he can use.]
[Fires are good for drying stuff out, after all.]
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[You hecked up, in case you couldn't tell by the rash that's been creeping along Lalli's face since they entered this Heart. And also the hugely skewed chemical imbalances in his head that are pretty much kicking his paranoia into overtime, all the time.]
[Buuuuuuut.]
[Every time Ken stops, Lalli stops. When Ken goes poking around in the bodies, Lalli just... stands there silently and watches. He is a totally impartial observer, looking more shellshocked than anything else. Soon enough, he actually speaks up, albeit in a faintly eerie monotone.]
...I should do something with those...
[But he doesn't really want to. He's stopped caring and he's not sure why, and it's terrifying.]
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Maybe. What happened to your face?
[Gold eyes blink slowly, not really caring if that was rude. Why should it matter?]
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[With some difficulty, Lalli fixes his gaze on Ken, and looks a fraction of a percent less dead than he did before. But only enough to say:]
You know.
[You were the one who did it to him, after all.]
[Not all deaths come quickly. Lalli knows well enough what this rash is supposed to be; he's seen the symptoms so much that the images of the dead or dying have imprinted themselves upon his mind's eye. The only problem is that if this is supposed to be The Rash, you know, the one that wiped out 90% of the population of planet Earth, then he wouldn't have it. He's immune.]
[But he has a feeling he knows what he's going to become anyhow.]
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[(His own mother.)]
We can't stop for long here. This cold will kill us.
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[Lalli takes another look around at the mounds of people. There's snow covering them, but Lalli knows what a frozen corpse mound looks like. Hell, identifying frozen corpse mounds is part of his job.]
[Was part of his job.]
[He latches pretty quickly onto Ken's rationalization, and not for the first time, turns his back to the dead.]
Obviously.
[For once, Lalli is actually extremely grateful that he is decked out in full expedition gear, including the super thick and comfy boots. Ken obviously does not have that gift, but Lalli's instincts tell him that taking off even one layer would be a highly dangerous idea.]
...Need someplace kinda dry. Best chance of getting a fire. Pick stuff up if it'll burn.
[Hrrrgh. He's always hated team patrols.]
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[He's pretty sure this isn't any sort of modern setting. Paper might not even be a really big thing here.]
tbh I'm just gonna assume the FIRES EVERYWHERE don't give off heat, that would be too easy
[Eventually, they come across something promising! It's a half-burnt shell of a building, but it's shelter nonetheless. (The part that didn't burn was made of stone.) And hey, maybe if they leave damp wood in there for long enough it'll dry out? Without bothering to even look at Ken, he begins creeping towards the wreckage, wary of anyone or anything else that might be lurking in there.]
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[He takes a look along with him, Evoker at the ready in case he has to use her.]
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He's going to die at this rate. It's probably rude to the corpses but he better be able to grab some clothes off of them otherwise he's going to have a Bad Time and die.
Possibly more than once. ]
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[Harley wasn't expecting this, though there was no reason she shouldn't have, what with the sort of luck they'd had already. She'd woken to cold, teeth chattering and body rapidly losing its warmth due her her current lack of clothing. She cursed and began trudging through the snow, not seeming overly bothered by the smoldering surroundings that seemed to scream 'war' of some sort or another. She guessed that they're in Liao's Heart, as he appeared from some feudal era that might have looked like this, but the only thing she's certain of is that it isn't her Heart.
No, hers would be inside Arkham... perhaps spilling into some of the more crime infested parts of her past, or a carnival, but not this.
She tromps on for some time, raiding and pillaging what she can. The actions don't earn her too much, but a few odds and ends; and the act of searching helps to keep her warm in and of itself.
Still, by the time she's managed to find enough bodies to mismatch a warmer outfit, she's blue in the lips and faltering in her movements.
That's when she spies her first familiar figure a short distance away. She huffs out a gust of foggy air and begins trudging his way, lower half still mostly bare; she'd found boots that had been too large and pulled them over her own thigh high boots, but from mid-thigh to just about her crotch it's all skin (save for the belled tails of her top hanging low and entirely unhelpful my).]
Hinata!! [She picks up her pace, newly masked face and the hint of red/black hair peeking out from under her coats (she'd taken two off of corpses she'd encountered. Thanks super strength!)]
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[ And here he is, Hinata Hajime. He's having a bit of a struggle, if only because most of the corpses don't exactly have clothes his size and are a bit small, but it's good enough. ]
It's really cold in here, isn't it? [ He can feel it in his legs. Jeans aren't the best for this shit, although his long hair makes him a little more comfortable than usual. ]
A GRAVE SITE.
It appears to be a cat, although not the same annoying one they usually see. This cat is much fuzzier and distinctly wildlife; it looks built to survive the cold around here. It seems to be sitting in front of the grave, just waiting for anyone to approach... ]
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What are you doing here? [ That's awfully curious. ]
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Hello, traveler. I am trying to solve a puzzle. You will assist me, won't you?
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[He thought he'd never see that cruel, serrated blade ever again. The real sword had been lost in the chaos that followed the tyrant's death, but the glint on the blade is as sharp as the edges, a cold, unforgiving light almost seems to glare right back at him.
And then, there's a cat. Liao approaches the graveyard and the feline carefully, with all warrior instincts turned on and ready to react at a moment's notice.]
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Ah, respected warrior... you are the one responsible for this, are you not? Perhaps you can help me solve this?
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But he keeps his queries to himself. His shoulders are still tense, but at least the cat doesn't seem too hostile.]
Very well. Speak, and I will do what I can.