ic inbox, ryslig.

[daozhangs]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, XIAO.XINGCHEN. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 018.07.154.55 *** XIAO.XINGCHEN has joined 018.07.154.55 <XIAO.XINGCHEN> You have reached Xiao Xingchen. <XIAO.XINGCHEN> I am often away from my laptop, but I will do my best to answer as soon as I'm able.

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[daozhangs]

I haven't forgotten.

( xingchen can't help but wonder if perhaps it's best that he postpone any further unnecessary sharing until after this ordeal is over. he extended the offer as a gesture of trust, but all it seems to have done is sow doubt in jiang wanyin regarding his capabilities. )

[legbreakings]

[ Not doubt. Concern. He is concerned for his friend but he doesn't know how to voice it. ]

Good. I won't hesitate to ask much of my people but I don't ask for wasteful sacrifice.

[daozhangs]

( 'my people.' all of a sudden, he finds it quite a bit harder to regret. )

It wouldn't be.

You asked me to come.

It couldn't possibly be wasteful.

[legbreakings]

It could be wasteful if I pushed you too hard before the battle, simply because of my own discomfort or desire for convenience.

I did ask. And you had no reason to heed it. I will honor what you do for me.

[daozhangs]

( he has no obligation to heed it. not no reason. but these are nuances that he isn't sure he could eloquently argue right now even if it were the time to do so, and so he refrains. )

Should put this away for a bit.

Warm my hands as best I'm able.

( it has occurred to him, quite belatedly, that he'll need to be able to feel his fingers to start a fire. )

Thank you as well.

It's warmer with company.

( or so it feels, but jiang wanyin will have to make due with these short, clumsy renditions of what xingchen properly means to say. )

[legbreakings]

[ Oh. Oh. He doesn't quite know how to... Well. ]

Your company makes it better here, too.

But warm your hands now. We will speak later.

[ Little that he knows he won't be himself anymore by the time "they" speak next. ]

[daozhangs]

( xingchen would very much prefer for his company to be making it better there in person, but that's fine. he will arrive as soon as he's able. he has hardly reached the extent of his patience just yet.

but as cold as it is, there's one last thing that seems important to convey before his friend steps away from the laptop and back into the fray. )

Wanyin.





No more burns.

( but before jiang wanyin can answer, )

I know

Please try.

( and then he's closing his laptop and fumbling it back into his bag, arms crossing to tuck ten frigid fingers into his armpits under the outer layer of robe. )

[legbreakings]

[ The next message doesn't come until hours later, written from Jiang Cheng's laptop but by something that only wears his skin. ]

Where are you? I need you here.

[daozhangs]

( the reply takes a moment - xingchen has to shift back from fox form, to feel at the clothing draped around the modest fire (as best it's able in the small cave he's found) to figure out which is the dryest, and to wrap it around himself so that he can use the laptop without freezing solid. )

I stopped not long ago to dry my clothes. It shouldn't take more than an hour.

( based on the length of the response, he's also regained feeling in his face (and his fingers, one can assume) in the process. )

Has something happened?

[legbreakings]

[ Good. The bait has been accepted. ]

It's getting ever more dangerous. There are more of them and less of us.

Nobody can be trusted.

[daozhangs]

Are you safe where you are?

( at last check, jiang wanyin could tuck himself away in his suite and rest in relative safety - but if such a thing has changed, if his friend has nowhere secure to retreat...

xingchen only barely resists the nagging itch to reclaim his clothes and prepare to set off regardless of the state of his clothes. )

[legbreakings]

[ This time, it hesitates. How hard can it push? The vessel is proud. The question is, how gullible is this prey? Or rather, how much does he want to be the one who saves the vessel? ]

I don't know. It is hard to tell. They are everywhere.

[daozhangs]

( in truth, he doesn't need to be the one who saves him, as long as jiang wanyin is saved at all. as long as he walks away from this intact. but that seems increasingly unlikely as the situation escalates - that is, unless xingchen makes it to the lodge. )

My clothes are dry enough.

Speak quietly, turn down the lights. And tell me if you're leaving the suite, if you can.

I'm coming.


( and that's that, at least for the time being. the night has long since come by the time he replies again, at least three or four hours since his prior message. )

Resting again.

I have to try again to dry my clothes.

( but this isn't a cave - it's a sheltered crevice at best - and no kindling scatters the floor like the last.

nothing to worry jiang wanyin with. he'll find a way to manage. )

[legbreakings]

[ It takes a while for the parasite to next check its messages, as it had been out hunting. The sword and commanding voice make its vessel someone who knows how to handle this crisis in the eyes of the frightened prey. It makes for a rewarding hunt. ]

Again? Have you made any progress at all?

[daozhangs]

( the message gives him pause, though perhaps not for the reason it should. it's not suspicion, but the briefest sting of something deeper even than the cold can touch.

xingchen should have been there by now, shouldn't he? or quite a bit closer.

he's disappointing him. )

I have. A number of miles, by my estimate.

( a beat, and then - )

I've given you my word, haven't I? I will be there, as quickly as I'm able. All you need to do is stay alive until then. If anyone stands capable of that, it's you.

( because this irritation, it's fear, isn't it? this wouldn't be the first time jiang wanyin has gotten snappish when he's anxious, and he has ample cause to be quite anxious right now. )

[legbreakings]

You have given me your word, yes. I'm going to need you to keep it.

Everyone here is exhausted and injured. We need more fighters to turn the tide but most of the guests and staff are useless. Soft, spoiled common folk who have never held a weapon.

[daozhangs]

I understand.

My respite will be brief.

[legbreakings]

Make sure it remains so.

People are dying here.

[daozhangs]

You're right.

Forgive me.

I will push onward.

[legbreakings]

[ Well. Now it's getting fun. ]

Good. As you should.

You are stronger than them. They deserve your protection.

[daozhangs]

( is he stronger? jiang wanyin's previous words echo through his mind, that he will be useless in the hunt if he arrives weakened.

but the situation is dire (people are dying), and 'weakened' is largely a state of mind - or at least it can be rendered as such, for a brief time. long enough to finish this. xingchen will make certain.

as such, he doesn't answer. not for another couple of hours, anyway.

then, )

alright?

( because of course that's the pressing matter here. not at all the news he's about to have to break - that he's resting properly this time, even if only briefly. he has to. )

[legbreakings]

[ In these hours, it has learned something new about itself: it does notlike waiting for its prey to return to be toyed with. ]

I would be better if you were here already. Why is it taking so long?

[daozhangs]

resting. i've no choice

forgive me

[legbreakings]

[ The prey is doing WHAT?! ]

How can you rest now?

[daozhangs]

( a distinct pause before this answer comes, because it comes with great reluctance. )

my legs

legs refuse to carry me

( it's picking up the words that double on a shiver, but he doesn't quite have it in him to fix that. )

i'm coming. i'm coming

just need need a few minutes

and fire