Open Post: Yiling Patriarch Edition

[singlelogbridge]

The flames lick at my feet
Their hearts full of hate
What they don't understand, they condemn
What they can't comprehend must meet its end

But I won't scream, won't give them that satisfaction
No, I won't confess my false interaction
As I breathe deep and prepare for my passing
I hear them chant, burn the witch


For any and all Yiling Patriarch needs.

•Can be canon compliant during the sunshot campaign, or post canon where he reverts due to a curse or other plotting device.
•If we've threaded before in any capacity or we're plurk friends, drop me a starter or a request for one, no need to hit me up first!
•If we haven't, feel free to drop a plotting comment!

Comments

[pluckily]

Artemis! Stay here! [ she is running even as she is shouting commands. ] You!

[ she points at the man. ]

Those things on the ground! Were you using them to keep the fire contained?

[singlelogbridge]

[His gaze snaps up at the sound of the explosions and he stares foggily for a moment before jumping to his feet, stumbling for just a second before he catches up to her.]

They were. [And if she's asking, they were disturbed. He frowns and sprints to one of the sections where the fire has expanded, stepping just out of reach of the flame. It's much harder to stop a fire than to contain it and let itself burn out, but he can expand the boundaries now and try to contain it in a larger area if he can work fast enough to get ahead of it.

Pre-made talismans gone, he bites at his thumb before dragging it through the air in a complicated series of movements. Red energy follows his thumb's wake and leaves a bright red sigil behind that he casts into the ground. Without waiting, he moves on to begin the same process in another section.]

How many of them are gone? [Actually] Forget that, which sections? Are all of them gone?

[pluckily]

No idea!

[ missing rei more than ever, venus peels ahead. mars would have known immediately what they were. she could help seal it now. that particular skill isn't inside venus' wheelhouse. but she's not out of tricks, either. ]

I'll take a lap around and look! Contain as much of it as you can; I'll handle the rest!

[singlelogbridge]

[Wei Ying doesn't waste any time doing exactly that, covering every thirty feet or so with a new talisman. Drawing the resentful energy to create them is taxing which is why he'd come with pre made ones, but it's not like he has a choice now. He's on his sixth when he feels his energy wane and he drops to his hands and knees, the world tilting beneath him. It takes him precious minutes to regain himself. He's already used so much energy on the fight and summoning the corpses.

After another minute he rises and begins to continue but his hands are shaking and he has to stop again when a coughing fit has him spitting up blood. He finishes one more and then rises to look for the girl, hoping she'll bring back better news about how many more sections are vulnerable.]

[pluckily]

[ good news: around half the compound is covered. bad news: around half isn't, and venus and artemis played a role between stepping and jumping on them. the realization only further hardens her resolve. the fire has to be out out. now ]

Hey! Hey, guy! Oh, what? Don't tell me you're dying too!

[ against his pallor, the bright red drops dribbling past his chin are a stark contrast. she can't have two dying guys to look after; her luck cannot possibly be that bad. (a voice eerily reminiscent of artemis reminds her that it is.)

venus grabs him by the arm— ] Let's go, you're not going to want to be anywhere near— [ and, after wrapping her arm around his back in support, bodily hauls him out of the (literal) line of fire. ]

[singlelogbridge]

[Wei Ying goes with a grunt, letting out a frustrated sound and shrugging her off once he's clear of the fire.]

'm fine, not dying. Show me where I need to work. [He swipes at the blood on his lips and chin and wipes it off on his pants.]

[pluckily]

Oh, you're not working. [ despite their surroundings and the circumstances in which they met, sailor venus winks at him. ] This is my show now.

[ she takes position before the fire, a teenage girl against an inferno. the orange skirt of her sailor uniform ripples against her thighs. the heat is intense; it prickles at her skin. the firelight catches her hair; for a moment, she looks crowned in gold. closing her eyes, she inhales.

her eyes snap open. ]

Venus Power! [ she cries, her gloved hands thrown open to the sky. her planet heeds her call; she thrills at the familiar heat, the purity of the light that pours within her. she is a chalice. she is a channel. she is venus. ]

Love Crescent Shower!

[ golden light pours like rain from the heavens. everywhere it touches the fire, the flames hiss and snap and are extinguished. even with the new borders, the fire claimed a wide area and over a wide area she calls down the purifying rain.

a few pockets of fire remain as the beams of light fade, small, not likely to become a danger to the others on this mountain.

sailor venus slowly lowers her arms. a fine tremble takes her limbs. she was full: full of power, full of energy, full of life, of love. now, she feels oddly empty as she only does when she overexerts herself. she gazes upon the destroyed compound. it sits blackened and smoking. the acrid smell lies thick in the air. there is nothing left here but ruin and death.

"sailor venus!"

her job isn't finished. rather than drop to the ground, venus pushes against it in a run. ]

[singlelogbridge]

[It's beautiful honestly, in spite of the smoke and flame. Another time he'd be staring in awe. Now his wonder is a quiet relieved thing inside of him instead. She alleviates the danger and puts out most of the fire at once, and what's left will burn out on its own soon enough. Girl goddess indeed, the goddess of love herself perhaps? He doesn't know, only knows that he's grateful.

The golden light falls on his shoulders and head, pulling a sigh of relief from him. It's purifying; he can feel it. It washes away the resentment trying to take root inside of him, purging the supernatural drain and restoring his energy levels.

It's what gives him the strength to go after her when she runs to the voice—her cat, he thinks.]

Hey, wait!

[pluckily]

[ her cat, indeed. venus hears him call, but does not slow or stop. there was a worrisome note in artemis' voice, an undercurrent she did not like. she is not surprised when she reaches him and artemis turns to her, face grave, to tell her the man is dying.

venus kneels. his pulse, once she finds it, is thready. a faint whistle reaches her ears with every shallow breath he takes. aside from his burns, which are considerable, a pool of blood extends beneath him from an injury she had not noticed he had. she does not need artemis to tell her that he won't live long enough to even try to get emergency services on the line. neither does she feel bad. not really. if pyro guy is telling the truth, this man was involved in the murder of innocents, children among them. so it is not pity she feels. ]

He's agonizing, [ she says out loud. her voice is steady. ] Will you end it?

[ she grabs one end of her chain; it locks into the shape of a long, rose-decorated dagger. her other hand slips around the man's. it's weak, but she feels his fingers close a little around her own. ]

[singlelogbridge]

[It's not what he deserves and the sentiment is clear in his eyes. They hadn't cared to ease the suffering of any of Lotus Pier, so why shouldn't he return the favor now? But with the resentment clear from his meridians, he gives the man a searching gaze. It's no one he recognizes, even if the burns conceal most of his features. Just one of many loyal Wen soldiers. He deserves death, of that Wei Ying is sure. Maybe he even deserves to suffer. Probably he does.

But he watches the way she takes his hand and is suddenly viscerally reminded of Yanli. With a sigh, he kneels and summons a haze of dark resentful energy. The tendril slips inside the man's nasal cavity and for a moment nothing happens. A few seconds later he twitches once and then goes still, his breathing ceased. The energy emerges and dissipates into the air.]

He's gone. [He settles back onto the ground and brings both hands up to rub at tired eyes. The purifying energy that had flowed inside of him has helped, but it can't entirely wipe the exhaustion from his frame, especially not the parts of it that had nothing to do with his physical body.]

It's done. [Not over, but this much at least was done.]

[pluckily]

Is it?

[ the man's dead. everyone who was in the compound is dead. only their killer remains, and sailor venus can focus on him finally. young, exhausted, driven by rage—all traits she can identify with.

she knows her limits, though. she doesn't know his.

her hands are empty, at her sides again. her chain is again only a chain wound around her waist. her eyes are as blue and as hard as sapphires when she puts to him, ] What's the plan? You have your vengeance. What's next?

[singlelogbridge]

[He shrugs, eyes locked onto something in the distance before they migrate back to her. Eventually he shakes his head.]

You can kill me now if you want to. I won't fight. [There's no point now. He's done what he needed to do. Wen Chao is dead. Jiang Cheng has a core. He has very little use to offer them now. If he dies too, maybe it'll be for the best. But...]

If you don't, then I'll go back to protect what's left of my family. My brother is angry and...and in a lot of pain, not that he'll ever admit it. My sister is grieving and trying to take care of him. I'll look after them. They're all I have left.

[pluckily]

[ artemis hangs back, quiet. they do not need to speak for her to know artemis does not like or trust this guy. she does not know that she can, either. two bodies lie near her, the one artemis rescued, and the one puppeted against her. more lie at her back in the smoking ruins.

he does not flinch when she rises to her feet. he does not beg or put his arms up or move against her. she studies him for a long moment, kneeling on the grass. the wind pulls at her hair and his.

sailor venus offers him a gloved hand. ] You haven't said your name.

[ her grave expression has cleared. her smile, though small, is warm—sunlight peering out behind storm clouds. ]