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.

Comments

[legbreakings]

It's still careless! They are not to be trusted.

[daozhangs]

Rest assured, at no point did I trust him.

Which is quite unlike me, isn't it? Perhaps I'm growing as a person.

[legbreakings]

I didn't mean to question your competence. I'm simply worried.

[daozhangs]

I know. It's unlikely to occur again, as that which he knows seems to overlap very little with that which I sought to know.

[legbreakings]

It was worth a try.

What were you hoping to learn?

[daozhangs]

How our monstrous forms are chosen. Are they hand-picked by her will, or does she plant some manner of nondescript seed and something within us decides how it blooms?

And why it is that those born here within Ryslig aren't worthy of her blessing, why such a thing is only given to those from other realms - not even a specific realm, it seems, but any realm apart from this one. As if those here are uniquely condemned to her disfavor.

And I wondered what it is that she seeks in those she draws here, if there's some common trait or inherent monstrosity, or something along those lines. Something she finds desirable, or perhaps undesirable in such a way that she feels that the Fog could remedy.

( a beat, and then: )

He had little patience for any of it.

[legbreakings]

These are good questions. Having answers would have helped us understand the Fog God better.

I suppos it was worth the risk, even though it didn't pay off in the end.

To whom did you speak?

[daozhangs]

Javert.

He had humored far more intrusive questioning before.

[legbreakings]

I see.

He seems a man who holds to his principles and is unfailingly loyal to the cause he has chosen. I respect that.

It makes him a more dangerous enemy.

[daozhangs]

I thought similarly. His forthrightness in our prior discussions also left me with the impression that he is an honest man, even if not necessarily a kind one. Were he a danger to me, I feel that he would be honest about that just like anything else.

[legbreakings]

You are probably right in that. I just don't like to offer trust, especially to people I already know are my enemies.

I dislike how disordered this situation is, in general. It is unavoidable to fraternize with the enemy, to some extent. It adds unnecessary complications once we meet in battle. Squeamish people make no good soldiers.

[daozhangs]

( there's a long pause before his next reply - xingchen means to respond to what's been said, but perhaps the thing that jiang wanyin will find more pressing is, )



I've decided I'd like to speak with her.

[legbreakings]

I expected you would want to, sooner or later.

[ He may not be happy about it but he is not surprised, either. Just resigned to the reality of it. ]

It is the only way you can get the answers you need. But it will be far more dangerous than speaking to Javert.

[daozhangs]

I know it will.

( though he isn't at all sure what manner of danger. )

I'd like to think that since I've not spoken or acted against her, she might recognize my intent to learn. To understand.

( this is why xingchen has not yet burned such bridges. perhaps jiang wanyin is accustomed to war, in which sides are chosen and fought from star to finish, but xingchen is not. he's accustomed to survival and that which must be done to ensure it. this includes taking care not to burn the path to critical resources simply because you disagree with it. one day, this war will commence properly, and it's increasingly clear to xingchen that he will take part in it - but that time isn't now. )

[legbreakings]

[ Such caution is certainly useful but not something Jiang Cheng has in him anymore these days, and now that he has declared himself it is far too late to back down anyway. He can't bring himself to regret it either, for all it is inconvenient. ]

Be careful anyway. You wouldn't want too much of her attention. Nothing good can come out of it.

[daozhangs]

Rest assured that I will be.

( honestly, he's a bit shocked that jiang-xiong isn't trying to stop him - whether it stems from some manner of trust or from recognition of the value that such an endeavor holds, xingchen isn't certain. )

[legbreakings]

[ Both. It's both. He is a practical man, more concerned with needs being met than with safety, at the end of the day, but he also trusts Xingchen not to take foolish risks. ]

Good. That is all I ask of you.

I might want to accompany you part of the way, in case you return injured.

[daozhangs]

I thought that you might.

It might comfort you to know that there's no need to venture anywhere of concern. She will speak to me wherever it is that I call to her. I'd prefer not to do so within either of our homes, but the woods should do well enough.

In such a case, you could keep your distance without losing sight of me.

( because xingchen is quite aware that jiang wanyin only said part of the way because he recognizes the danger inherent in being anywhere which the fog's followers happen to be. otherwise, he doesn't doubt the man would be there just as he was in the doctor's office in felfri, hovering terribly even as he pretended not to do so.

as such, being able to keep xingchen within his line of sight (albeit at a distance through the trees) is likely that much more ideal. )

[legbreakings]

That's acceptable. We can negotiate the details closer to the date.

[ Which, yes, means he has just made a unilateral decision that he will be making decisions here. Enjoy. ]

[daozhangs]

( for now, there's no pressing need to question it. this isn't an immediate plan of xingchen's, regardless. )

We can.

( and after a pause, )

This is nice, you know. Working together toward something rather than simply surviving. Even if we haven't actually begun yet.

[legbreakings]

It is.

A moment's hesitation since this might come across as rude but when has this ever truly stopped him.

It almost feels like having a sect again.

[daozhangs]

( that, xingchen wouldn't know. he's never had a sect. and though he can't imagine this is anything like the sect life that jiang wanyin is accustomed to (far fewer formalities and political games), it's not a terrible stretch to think that this might not be entirely unlike a sect standing apart from such things. a sect like the one he himself had once wanted to start. )

How many people does one need to designate a sect?

[legbreakings]

[ The question is enough to make him pause, simply from how unexpected it is. ]

Yunmeng Jiang was a sect of three once. There needs to be one for it to survive but one isn't a sect just a legacy to rebuild.

[daozhangs]

At least two people, then, and a shared set of goals and beliefs. What else does a sect require?

[legbreakings]

Techniques unique to the sect, their sword form. A sect residence and acknowledgment as a sect from other sects but both can come later, we did without at first after the massacre, but we still considered Yunmeng Jiang alive as long as there was Jiang blood left alive.