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WHO: SiZhui and you!
WHERE: Around the village
WHEN: August
WHAT: August Catch-All
WARNINGS: None planned

i. Library
[In his explorations of the town, SiZhui had discovered the library. It was an interesting place, but also disappointing. He had found a fascinating book on some sort of science and luckily he had read through it when he did because when he had come back a second time, he had found the same book again and it was not the same. Having the information was good, but there was no way to review it later unless one transcribed while reading it.

This didn't stop him from going back and seeing what other interesting things the library had given them.

So this was where he ended up today. He had wandered into the library, intending to see what he could find when he rounded a corner]

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize there was someone here.

ii. In Bluo
[SiZhui had decided he needed to take a break for the day so he had headed out to one of the bridges in Bluo District. It would have been pretty if the water didn't look so... disgusting and a majority of the bridges actually made sense.

But he wasn't out there for that really. He wasn't paying enough attention to his surrounding that this was about ambiance.

What most of his attention was on was a butterfly. Flitting around him and landing on his hand when he extended it, it made the teen smile. If one should get close enough, they would see that the butterfly was not a normal butterfly, but it appeared to be made of wood and paper]

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[Today, SiZhui headed not too far from his own house to the house where Lan WangJi lived. It had been a while since they had spent sometime alone and it was strange since WangJi didn't have the same memories that he did. So he wanted to fix that.

Of course he had asked for permission to come over. He wasn't just going to barge into a senior's house. Father or no, that was impolite. Once he had received permission to come over, he had set out, bringing his guqin with him - partially because he was loath to leave it alone.

He had his token of passage which would allow him to reach WangJi's home. Absently he wondered if he should set up an array around his house, but he wasn't as good at it yet and he didn't have a definitive reason like WangJi did so he shouldn't inconvenience his housemate.

He stepped up to the door and knocked]

HanGuang-Jun?

Sizhui.

[ Knowing that he was to expect him meant that Wangji could be quick to open the door for the junior, letting him inside with a soft expression. He had the tea ready, too, motioning Sizhui to the table and settling at it himself. ]

[SiZhui of course gave him a bow when the door opened before heading over to the table. He sat down across from WangJi, of course sitting properly with a pleasant smile]

I'm glad that we are able to spend some time together.

Mn.

[ Wangji's voice was calm and quiet, but his eyes did not try to stray away, attention very much on Lan Sizhui as he poured the tea for them. ]

Must be... strange, for you, that I do not know so much. Are there things you want me to know, first, or things you wish to know of me?

[ He had never been and never would be a great conversationalist. But asking what may be wanted first made sense, did it not? ]

It is. Very strange that we don't have the same memories.

[It had been hard at first, but it was better now. He thought about that for a moment]

Well, since I received my courtesy name, I've been leading juniors to assist with night hunts, which was how we found Senior Wei at the Mo Village and ended up at Yi City with you.

Mn.

[ Wangji watches him for long moment, considering what he has already heard him discuss with Wei Ying, and...

And what he remembers of looking back on his own self, at that age. ]

Is that... what you want to be doing?

[He picked up his tea and took a sip as he considered it]

I like it, at least for now. I think... I'd like to take what I learn from going on night hunts and teach younger juniors.

[ Wangji considered that and, for the first time, wondered if that had not been the position that he was supposed to have taken. The older brother as sect leader, the younger brother as shifu...

But, while there were things he could teach people, he doubted he would fare well at the head of a classroom. Not for good. ]

Like shufu. [ Not like a temporary teacher holding one kind of class, that was. ]

One has to learn much to be able to teach.

[ Which was not casting doubt, merely pointing out that this path was not easy, either. At least A-Yuan had always been kind and patient, even as a child, unlike Wangji himself. Perhaps teaching would not be unsuited, indeed. ]

[He nodded] Like zushufu.

I know. I still have a long way to go before I can do something like that. It is a goal I would like to work towards though.

Mn. I do not... do well with teaching, [ because while he can explain things and assign learning and ever give example well enough, his communication skills will always be lacking, ] but I think you can do well at it, one day.

You have taught me. So you are kind of a teacher.

[But then again, after so long with WangJi, he understood that sometimes things weren't said directly. Others did not understand it so well]

Thank you. I plan to study hard and learn as much as I can, no matter what I end up doing.

Do you like it?

[ He pops up unexpectedly from behind a nearby pillar, his face wreathed in smiles. Clearly he's been watching Sizhui for a while, basking in the boy's obvious delight with the toy. ]

You're like a little kid with that thing!

[He had heard someone nearby so he wasn't startled with WuXian suddenly popped up, grinning. SiZhui still smied, the butterfly currently sitting on his hand, slowly flapping its wigs like it was resting]

I do like it. Very much so. Thank you for this.

[Oddly he felt like a little kid with it...

Like a kid. He'd been thinking over some of the comments that WuXian had made to him earlier. Half complete thoughts or things he'd stop himself from saying. SiZhui's smile faded slightly as considered it again]

[ He sees Sizhui's smile fade away, and blinks at him, confused. ]

Hm? Is there something wrong with it?

[ He reaches out, to take the butterfly and inspect it. ]

[SiZhui moved his hand away, keeping the butterfly out of his reach]

Nothing. It is perfect.

[After a moment, he looked up at him again]

Senior, did you know me? Before what I can remember?

[ His hand falls. He glances away. ]

I —

[ He'd intended to keep the information from the boy, for his own good. But now that he's beginning to remember, it doesn't make sense to lie. He looks up again, smiling gently. ]

I did. Back when you were very small.

[He smiled when WuXian confirmed it]

I had been wondering for a few days. What you said before... [And there were some things that seemed to be there that weren't before]

How... how old was I then? You met me when I was with HanGuang-Jun?

Not exactly.

[ Of course. Sizhui's a smart young man. And he hasn't been too careful with his words, lately. ]

Hanguang-Jun met you when you were with me. You were just a toddler back then. About three years old, I'd say.

I... I was with you first? Before HanGuang-Jun?

[He was, understandably, confused]

With me. And other people, too.

[ He has a hard time schooling his expression, so he turns around, propping his arms up on the railing, looking out across the grey water. ]

Other people. Your family. Your real family. I was... just a caretaker, of sorts.

Oh... [SiZhui was quiet for a moment as he thought about that. He had no memories of this, but it made sense. He'd only had WangJi, which he was not so innocent to believe he could have a father and only a father.

Though as his gaze shifted back temporarily to the wooden butterfly slowly moving its wings on his hand, he seemed to remember... a grass butterfly]

Just a caretaker? I think you are being too modest.

[He moved his hand and the butterfly started to flutter around again]

So what was my family like? How did I end up with you?

[ He glances back, over his shoulder, smiling helplessly. ]

Sizhui...

The questions you're asking don't have easy answers. It would be a lot simpler for you to put these questions away and be a Lan, and nothing else.

[ He turns around fully now, leaning back against the railing and facing the boy. ]

But... if you really want to know, I'll tell you.

[He looked confused when he said that before looking a bit sad. Was it really that bad? He both wanted to know, but also wasn't sure if he should. Maybe he was right; maybe it was better to just believe he was Lan. If he didn't ask, he could believe that. If he asked and got the answer, there was no taking it back]

Yes, Senior Wei. But... when you said "you really are my" ... what did you want to say?

[ Sizhui's sad expression cuts through him like a knife. What must the boy be imagining? Perhaps he should be truthful, after all.

Slowly: ]

Your... your granny couldn't carry you, when we were fleeing. It was more than she could do, to ride a horse and hang onto you at the same time. I picked you up and carried you instead.

[ A little pause; his eyes are far away. ]

You didn't cry, you only chewed your fingers.

[ He exhales, his features softening. ]

Later on, I met Lan Zhan by chance, in Yiling. He asked me who you were. I lied and said you were my son. But...

[ Now he turns his gaze back to SIzhui, finally answering the boy's question. ]

...I suppose I'd come to think of you that way.

[SiZhui listened to it and by the end, he was smiling again. Maybe... at least for the moment, that was enough information. He'd had another family before - which to be honest, he'd always wondered about his mother given that WangJi had never been interested in anyone that he saw. That didn't make WangJi any less his father, having raised him for so long. He had always treated him as though they were family.

But this was new and exciting information and explained in the simplest of terms how he'd gotten into this world]

You did? You thought of me as your son?

[ Sizhui's smile... in his mind, it overlaps with A-Yuan's smile, and he can recall the first time he saw the boy smile, after they'd settled at Burial Mound. ]

I — well, it's not like I had a choice! Hahaha!

[ He reaches down and pats the boy's head. ]

You would always cling to my leg and never let go! I could hardly walk around, for you hanging onto me!

[He chuckled softly at that]

I did that? That sounds both adorable and difficult.

[Yes, he knew he just said that about himself]

Always clinging to your leg...

[Then he paused, a perplexed look on his face]

And... HanGuang-Jun's?

[It had just came out of nowhere, that he had done the same to WangJi. Not suspecting he had; knowing he had and seeking confirmation]

And Hanguang-Jun's.... hahahaha, especially Hanguang-Jun's!

[ He folds his hands behind his head, grinning. ]

Why, I remember the day you met Hanguang-Jun! You'd toddled away from me at the market, and when I found you again, you were sitting at his feet, crying your eyes out! Hahahaha, everyone thought you were his son, and said so! It created quite the spectacle! Hahahaha! I thought I was going to die from laughter. Imagine it...

[ He darts forwards, touching Sizhui's shoulder with one hand and using the other to gesticulate a "scene." ]

...the esteemed Hanguang-Jun, who never in his life had suffered criticism or ridicule, now the object of a crowd of people's opinions and stares. You crying, and him not knowing what to do, and everyone laughing that you must be his first-born son, and after he has a few more, he'll know his way around. I don't think I've ever seen him so confused in his life, I almost died of laughter, hahahahahaha!

[The Gusu Lan disciple in SiZhui couldn't help feeling bad that his senior had been made to feel embarrassed because of his actions, even if he had only been so small a child to not know better.

The teenager in him found it rather funny that so serious a man as WangJi had been perplexed by a small child and the reactions of a group who had mistaken their relationship.

In the end, the teenager won out and he chuckled softly as WuXian put his hand on his shoulder and gestured like he'd be able to show it to him with just the wave of his hand]

Was he? That sounds like it would have been amusing to see. He tries so hard.

Also... oddly prophetic. Don't you think?

[His butterfly landed on WuXian's hand as it tried come to rest on SiZhui's shoulder]

Pffft! It was, I couldn't breathe.

[ He pauses, for a moment, remembering. Lan Zhan had been so distraught that day, but it hadn't taken more than a few minutes for the man to warm up to the small child hugging his leg. ]

Prophetic, yes.

[ He rubs his chin. ]

The first thing he did afterwards was buy you a bunch of toys and treat you to a meal. You never stopped hugging him, after that.

That was very nice of him to do that, since I wasn't his child.

[Nope, still didn't quite remember that part of the reason WangJi had bought the toys was because WuXian had showed them to him and then took him away without buying them]

It was, wasn't it? He's a very kind man.

[ His eyes go soft. Lan Zhan's kindness, he seen evidence of that his whole life, but hadn't ever really been able to appreciate it, until they'd met again, here in Chroma. ]

He is. He has always treated me very well that I can remember.

[SiZhui had lived with WangJi long enough that even with that serious expression he showed to the world, SiZhui could read between the lines and see what he was really trying to say]

[ Fortunately, she keeps a good hold on the number of books she's carrying in her arms. Peeking out from around the tomes, she smiles at him sweetly, nodding at him. ]

No worries. [ Stepping to the side, she places the books upon a reading table. ] Are you looking for something?

[He smiled back, giving her a bow in greeting]

There was nothing in particular, Maiden Pyra. I was just coming to see if there was anything interesting. I found a fascinating book one of my first times here, but alas, it changed to a different book after I read it the first time.

[He looked at the stack she had]

Did you find anything?

I did, although... [ A small glance away. ] I'm not quite sure if if it's of relative importance to the town at present.

[ She spreads out the books upon the desk. ] Chroma's history goes way back, but there is very little detail about the structures that have appeared within the forest. Take-- the thorn-castle, for instance. There is no mention of it at all, no residents within the town employed there, no king served, no details of trading with the castle. It's as if it hadn't been there until... we arrived.

It's different in the case for the underwater city. There is a fisherman's log... here. [ She lifts up the journal, tattered, worn, its pages barely hanging on by the spine. ] Within it, the man claims to have seen it, although he was not sure it was real.

As for whoever had lived within the houseboat that one can only see with the blue map in hand... unfortunately, the town did not keep records of names and addresses, or of anyone of significance that had lived within a houseboat.

[SiZhui listened to her with interest, studying the covers of the books as she pointed them out. He nodded, bringing his hand to his chin]

So the underwater city must have been something that has existed in this world from the beginning or at least something appeared prior to the original residents leaving because someone thought he had seen it. The castle though... it's possible it came here? The same as us?

[ She takes a seat. ] ...That, or it manifested just when Chroma dictated it should. Just like the dragons, the enchantments, and everything else. It's like clockwork; or... a serialized story. Every month, something happens.

[ She lifts her eyes, watching him as he thinks. A hand lazily goes to her cheek, propping herself up as if exhausted of the topic-- the mystery of Chroma. The world continues to be magnificent as it is elusive when considering its secrets. ] I wonder what will happen this month.

Hmmm... that's another way to think about it. Like you turned to the next chapter in the book and it was time for that to happen.

I still don't have much experience with things happening though Senior Wei and HanGuang-Jun have told me some of them. I wonder what will happen as well. I didn't like people almost turning into trees.

[ A brief delay passes as she closes the fisherman's log, and opens another book. ]

It is very scary at times. In the past-- the villagers here used to warn children not to trek into the woods. [ Spooky! ] And now, the woods are engulfing this very town. But bonds still remain the key. They have helped those who had become trees, didn't they? Crying over them, for example.

[ ... ]

I'm sorry, that you came into this world with such terrible timing. [ ...Then again, it could have been worse? He could have come in during the month where all the dragons wrecked the town. That would have been even more dangerous. ]

[SiZhui looked at the books as she closed one and then opened another]

It seems to common to tell children not to go into the woods. We tell our youngest shidi not to go into the woods without a trained elder. But here I have been told not to go into the woods alone. Senior Wei knows what I am capable of which is telling.

Blood and tears... [Since those both seemed to have helped WuXian and WangJi.

At her next statement, he smiled] Is there ever a good time to end up in another world?

[ She looks up at him then, briefly, but which of his statements gets her to lift her gaze is anyone's guess.

And then: ]

...Are there ways to traverse dimensions in your world?

Not that I am aware of. It just seems like that would always be inconvenient if you weren't planning on it.

[SiZhui is too serious for joking]

[ But since it seems that he's not aware of any method himself, that's... really unfortunate. ]

Mr. F's method of bringing us all here still eludes us. The well is all we have to go by; I had been thinking it was some sort of portal...

The greatest inconvenience is not being brought here, but not knowing how.

[SiZhui thought about that for a long moment, looking at her stack of books even though he hadn't touched any of them]

That seems to be the most logical conclusion, at least for us. There must be another somewhere for something as large as the castle to show up. Probably not far from it. But... Senior Shen says it is haunted and cannot be purified.

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Closed to Lan WangJi

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