open

[espritdecorpse]

WHO: Wei Wuxian and you
WHERE: Chroma
WHEN: Early June
WHAT: Quests and other ideas good and bad
WARNINGS: death- and blood-related narration NOW WITH ACTUAL VIOLENCE thanks trash god

(Please feel free to contact me via PM or tinuvielberen for plotting.)

[ In another life, he’d been stabbed and left for dead upon a mound of fierce corpses, with the expectation that he’d be torn apart by them and his spirit forever trapped. “Attempt the impossible” was his family motto however, even if most of that family had been killed by his would-be murderers, and he walked out of that place three months later, master of the ghost path and hell-bent on revenge.

It’s been longer than three months in this place, and while nothing here quite works the way it did back home, he’s at least been able to use some of the malevolent energy emanating from the forest for his own ends: controlling his puppets and flauting away monsters, for instance. But none of those threats, somehow, seem quite as serious as the creeping trees. They remind him of walking corpses in their own way: moving slowly, wreathed in resentment.

The forest’s monsters always stop at the forest’s edge; when he and Red Blue Saber managed to capture a manticore and bring it back forcibly to town, it was terrified and died within the day. Clearly, there’s something in the town that repels them; or maybe it’s the absence of trees that they can’t abide. Either way, it’s disturbing that the trees are advancing: if the town becomes part of the forest, what will become of their (relatively) safe haven?

Thus, despite the known dangers, he is grimly applying talismans to the trees, inscribed with his own blood. The slips of paper immediately blacken and combust, their ashes fluttering down like grey flower petals. Last month, when the trees started stealing emotions, he wasn’t badly affected. If anything, he was more like himself. Perhaps it was luck, or that he hadn’t cut down too many trees, or a natural resistance to malevolent energy.

After a while, he attaches a much larger talisman to the tree, looking over his shoulder at anyone else who might be nearby. ]

You might want to stand back.

Comments

for Pyra

[espritdecorpse]

[ At her birthday party, he'd promised to create a magical device to seal her powers, so that she'd never have to worry about hurting anyone under the town's or the forest's malign influence, despite her formidable abilities. Easier said than done. The technical challenge of coming up with something sufficiently subtle and strong to function as a seal, that's only part of the problem; the real sticking point is that, to understand the nature of her own peculiar sort of energy, he'll have to trace her meridians.

That is....

Well anyway, there's been no point fretting about that, because he's nowhere near ready. He needs to make a few more experiments first, test a few more theories. And so he's been dithering, until today. ]

Pyra, are you there? It's me. Wei Ying.

[ His hand raps firmly against the timbers of her door. Today, after blasting down a number of the trees encroaching on the town, it occurred to him that there was no more point delaying on examining Pyra's energy meridians. He'd come as far as he was going to, on his own. As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he left off his impromptu lumberjacking and made his way to her home. ]

[pyrafect]

[ She opens the door to him happily, greeting him with a smile. ] Wei Ying! Good evening, it's nice to see you.

[ A pause. ] Is there something I can help you with?

[ That he's mentioned he would make a seal for her has been on her mind, but it's not as if he's promised her it, and it's been quite a while since he'd brought it up at all. She hadn't thought to pester him for something that he might have been too busy to work on in the first place; thus, she doesn't think he's here for that reason.

Which leads her to guess at other reasons for why he is here at her door. Maybe he needs dinner? ]

[espritdecorpse]

Likewise.

[ He returns her smile, brightly, looking perfectly at ease and self-assured. That said, he looks slightly different than he usually does: hair lazily pulled back rather than tied in a high ponytail, so his long hair spills across his shoulders, and his cross-collared robes are looser than he usually wears them, so a bit more of his chest is showing. ]

Actually, I'd like to help you. Can I come in?

[pyrafect]

[ HUH WELL now that she looks at him, yes he looks as chipper as ever, but usually he wears his hair up (not that she's complaining about it being down), and he's more mindful about how much skin he shows! She's guessing his more disheveled look comes from, oh she doesn't know, some of physical activity, or perhaps mysterious cultivator thing to which she is not privy.

Regardless, it's just to cause her to stutter after she realizes she's been staring. ]

E-er... yes, you can. [ And she's moving to the side to let him pass, closing the door after him. ] Come in.

But I'm not sure what you mean by, um, "helping me"?

[espritdecorpse]

[ Ordinarily, being stared at like that—having Pyra stare at him like that—would be enough to make his heart flutter and he'd have to forcibly put on his mask, to grin and joke.

Today, however, he just stands in the doorway, basking in her gaze. When she stumbles over her words, his eyes glitter with amusement; but he doesn't comment or joke beyond saying: ]

You don't remember? That night at your party? Our... conversation.

[ A little pause. And then he goes on, smoothly: ]

I said I wanted to make something that would seal your powers, if necessary. Only as a last resort, of course. Still interested?

[pyrafect]

[ Oh, right. Their conversation. Huh. You know. Other things had happened during that conversation that are just as important to her! Which for one moment she thinks he is going to bring up those other things, specifically that-- causing a brief flush to color her cheeks-- but no, he's talking about the seal.

Which, actually, makes her very happy anyways. She straightens up, pleasantly surprised. ]

I-- of course! [ She nearly blurts out. ]

You've thought of something?

[espritdecorpse]

[ The play of emotions across her face, the blush on her cheeks, the effect is charming. ]

I've thought of a lot of things. But ultimately I realized that theory only counts for so much, as compared to experiment. I need more information...

[ As he speaks, he's been walking into her living room. His eyes fall upon the sofa. ]

Ah! This is where I painted your portrait. It feels like such a long time ago.

[ a beat ]

Pfff... I was engaged to Xie Lian back then, wasn't I? Hahahaha!

[alittlespicy]

Mn.

You, too.

[ Wei Ying, please. ]

[espritdecorpse]

[ He glances back at Lan Wangji, smiling helplessly. ]

I... er. I know we said we'd take them down together. But......

[ If he fails in dissipating the trees' malevolent energy, and they take something from him, something important, Lan Wangji is certainly strong enough to restrain him from doing anything he'd regret. The reverse isn't necessarily true. ]

Look, let's just see how this goes, all right?

[ With a hand seal, he activates the talisman. It explodes, making the tree fall over with a loud crack. Black smoke rises from its stump. ]

[alittlespicy]

[ WangJi watches in exasperation, but at least he doesn't think what happens is very far from what Wei Ying intended. Still. He steps closer as soon as the talisman's effect seems complete, watching Wei Ying's face. Just to make sure. ]

You are... beginning now?

[espritdecorpse]

[ He blinks. He feels about the same as he ever does, he thinks. He doesn't have any urge to do shameless things—at least not more than usual. He doesn't feel dead inside, the way he had when he destroyed everything in his heart. ]

Yes. I think it worked.

[ His expression relaxes, finally. He breaks into a wide smile. ]

I'm not sensing any ill effects. I'll let you know if I do, all right? Just keep standing by me, okay?

[ He glances back. Previously, when he's looked at Lan Wangji, these few weeks, he's been overwhelmed with a sense of guilt. But now... somehow, that feeling is almost gone. It's... it's nice, actually. He doesn't consider this to be anything amiss, so he says: ]

Let's do another.

[ He moves towards the next encroaching tree, repeating the process. ]

[alittlespicy]

Mn.

[ WangJi does move easily to keep pace with Wei Ying. There is something that's relaxed about his features, and WangJi is glad. The other man rarely admits in any clear way to pain or upset, but ... it's still there. And he deserves neither. ]

A lot of trees... need to be taken care of. I can copy some of the talismans?

[ Maybe he can. He hasn't gotten a good enough look at them quite yet. ]

[espritdecorpse]

Okay!

[ He has some blanks, which he always carries around in case he has to make something up on the fly, and happily hands them over. Ordinarily, he'd decline such an offer: it's okay if he cuts his fingers to make blood talismans, but not okay for anyone else to do it, least of all Lan Wangji.

As he looks back, Lan Wangji's features strike him as being especially pretty today. Bereft of his usual guilty pangs, he's able to appreciate them more fully.
His smile broadens; his pupils dilate. Clearly he's looking at something he likes very much. ]

Just the evil-absorbing talismans, though. I should be the only one setting off the explosive ones.

[ For the reasons he'd mentioned before. Even if his empathy is dissipating, his sense of logic is still there. ]

[theshowsover]

[Akira will stand back, but he's been watching what the man is doing with interest for several minutes now. He's not sure how wise attacking the trees are at this time, but he is curious.

He grins a little, hands casually in his pockets.]

Is this far enough?

[espritdecorpse]

[ He turns and considers. He’s seen this youth about town, but never really spoken to him before. ]

Hmm. Probably not.

[ But that assessment doesn’t seem to stop him, as he makes a hand seal and activates the large talisman. The tree explodes in a burst of splinters. ]

[theshowsover]

[Great. Now he's covered in bits of bark and wood. At least he stepped back a little further...

He takes a moment to dust himself off and shake his shirt out before looking over at the man.]

That's a pretty handy trick... but you know doing that will make you lose your emotions, right?

[espritdecorpse]

It is, isn't it!

[ He turns around with a bright smile. ]

I'm aware of the trees' revenge. That's why I've taken precautions.

[ He pulls a sheaf of talismans from his sleeve; they're smaller than the big one he'd just used to explode the tree, and inscribed in a different script. He makes a hand seal, and they attach themselves to the next tree encroaching on the town edge. ]

[theshowsover]

Is that an emotion-keeping seal?

[He has no idea if that's even a thing, and doubts it, but this guy must have something up his sleeve. He knows a type of magic that Akira doesn't understand - who knows what it could do?]

[espritdecorpse]

Nope! But that's an interesting idea! Hmm, I've no idea how I'd accomplish that, though. Having people close by that you like tempers the curse, so I suppose if I made something that could attract people I like, some sort of perfume....

[ He giggles to himself at the thought. He's clearly just messing around, though, as he forms another hand seal. Thick black smoke pours out from the tree-attached talismans. ]

Haha! No, these are designed to disperse malevolent energy.

[holycurse]

[The forest is an intimidating beast, a living creature of its own, malevolent enough for him to feel uneasy whenever he nears it--not that the feeling has ever stopped him before.

Still, watching as a friend destroys one tree after another...he can't help but worry over the effects such an action might have on the man.]

Don't you think you've destroyed enough, for today? Maybe it would be best to wait a few days before continuing...

[He's stepping forward, toward Wei Wuxian, rather than back and away from the talisman.]

[espritdecorpse]

[ Though he’s focused intently on his task, he’s aware of Xie Lian’s presence, but not too worried about him. The man is a god, possessed of immense strength; surely he can look after himself. Besides, Wei Wuxian’s capacity to worry about other people—that is to say, his empathy—is being severely limited by the trees he’s destroying. Thus without a backward glance, he forms a hand seal, activating the talisman.

This particular tree is large, with a wide, sturdy trunk. Its wood is dark and hard, like ebony. The talisman isn’t enough to disintegrate the trunk; instead its energy spreads up and down the wood grain, dividing it into long, spear-like splinters before hurling them out into all directions. ]

[holycurse]

[Xie Lian? Looking after himself? Nonsense. When he sees that talisman light up, he moves pretty much on instinct—to get Wei Wuxian out of harm's way.

Close as both of them are to the blast though, it's inevitable that at least one of them will end up with a few of those terrifyingly-long splinters of wood stabbing into his body...and through vital areas, at that.

The god doesn't look to be in particularly good shape when he finally hits the ground.]

[espritdecorpse]

[ He's been doing this all day, so when he sees the energy spread abnormally through the tree trunk, he immediately ducks. The huge splinters fly harmlessly past him. There is a wet thunk noise—multiple wet thunk noises, actually—and when he lifts his head, he immediately notices the source.

... ]

I did say to stand back.

[ He feels a flash of irritation. He's been on a roll, using purifying talismans to rid the trees of much of their malevolent energy first, before blasting them to their roots. ]

Wait a moment, I'll get you to —

[ He stops, frozen, with his hand hanging in mid-air. He'd been about to whistle for his puppets, to bring Xie Lian to Maiden Maya, so she can heal him. Because that's what you do, when you've injured another person. He knows that much, intellectually, even if his heart isn't in it. But now that he has a good look at Xie Lian...

His hand falls. ]

Ah.

[ Even the most skilled healer wouldn't be able to fix that. ]

[holycurse]

[No matter how tolerant of pain he may be, there are some wounds you just can't easily get back up from. He can hear Wei Wuxian's voice above him, seemingly safe and free of injury, and feels himself relaxing somewhat at that realization—but relaxing in this state means he might actually be unconscious for a bit here. Is he alive? Is he dead? He certainly isn't moving, at any rate, aside from going limp just now.

If Wuxian doesn't do anything, Ruo Ye will wriggle out after a moment, to awkwardly try to pull the splinters out for him. Tough work for a strip of cloth, but someone's gotta do it.]

[espritdecorpse]

[ He looks at Xie Lian with the exact same expression one would use after one has accidentally broken a precious object. Then he exhales, rubbing the back of his head. He'll have to explain to Archer, he supposes. I accidentally killed your roommate, don't wait up for him.

Still, first things first. He has a few trees still with evil-absorbing talismans on them, ready to be exploded. It'll be a waste of blood and paper if he doesn't take care of them. Thus he walks away from his unfortunate victim, and sets about destroying several more trees. They're the same species as the last tree, so presently there's another hail of spear-sized wood splinters.

It would be really bad luck if more of them hit Xie Lian. ]