singlelogbridge | Inbox: Ximilia

When we get back to the station, we'll go to a simulation of my home world. I'll show you where you can make him out on the moon.

Have you heard this one before, Itachi?

Mochi.

In my culture. The rabbit is making mochi.

Does he also keep the lonely moon goddess company? Her name in my culture is Chang'e 嫦娥 and she was separated from her beloved husband, the mortal archer Hou Yi 后羿.

Where are you right now?

Elindes.

[Elindes. That isn't so far from where he is now. He's already moving.]

Would you like to hear another story? I've never told you about how I fought a false Xuanwu 玄武, have I? [He knows the characters will mean something to him because they'd spoken of the phoenix before.]

The characters are the same. The name differs. Genbu.

No.

it's different from the other one of course, but I like to think that it might still become legend. [Perhaps one that was unflattering to him given his fall from grace, but a legend all the same.]

Before the war, when the other four great sects were still trying to roll over for the Wen to avoid a conflict, the Wen demanded each sect send their heirs to the capital of the Wen territory where they would be subjected to a "reeducation" camp. It was a hostage situation and all the great sects knew it, but no one was willing to challenge them so all of the heirs were sent.

I went because I wouldn't let Jiang Cheng face it alone.

Despite everything, the leader of the Wen sect, Wen Ruohan, knew better than to actually seriously harm any of the heirs so it was mostly a lot of annoying tedious tasks. He set his second son in charge of us and Wen Chao was an idiot and a weak one at that.

Anyway, one day Wen Chao got it in his head that he wanted to hunt down the rumors of a great beast that resided in a nearby mountain. Being a coward, this meant sending all of us into the mountain cave first and trying to use us as bait to draw it out. I'm not sure what he thought he would have done if it had worked, it would have devoured him in an instant.

It wasn't working though and after he tried to sacrifice a young woman in our party to draw out the beast with blood, a fight broke out that led to the beast awakening and the Wens retreating to leave the rest of us trapped with it. The beast was a false Xuanwu that mimicked the real Xuanwu's form and it had once been a weapon of war used by another Wen centuries earlier.

It had risen from a lake in the middle of the cave system and we were able to find a way out through the water. Jiang Cheng led the others out while it was distracted, but it realized what we were doing eventually. Me and Lan Zhan stayed behind to keep it distracted and the escape route caved in with all of the beast's thrashing. So there we were, trapped in the cave, injured and without food, and with a ravenous false Xuanwu waiting on the other side of some rocks to swallow us whole.

[As he takes his time with the story, Wei Wuxian journeys along the path to Elindes at a run. If Itachi were dying, Wei Wuxian has his word that he'd admit as much to him, but there is something wrong all the same. Even without the agility and speed that he once had, he makes quick work of the road, continuing forward as fast as his feet will take him.]

Foolish of you both.

But brave.

Aha, well, it wasn't entirely selfless. Lan Zhan's leg was injured and he wasn't fast enough to get out. [What goes unspoken of course is that while uninjured himself at the time, Wei Wuxian never would have left anyone behind on their own.]

The false Xuanwu had killed thousands and thousands across the centuries. It was hungry for blood. No one had ever been able to defeat it and we didn't even have swords. I forgot to mention, Wen Chao had taken our swords long before he sent us on this suicide mission.

But we faced death of starvation or death in battle, and you know I've never been the patient type. So we decided to fight.

Lan Zhan gathered the strings from all the fallen bows that lay around and I fashioned weapons out of the arrows, tying them together to have something to stab with.

Lan Zhan's sect is renown for a certain technique, capable of using string to dismember an enemy. With his newly forged weapon, he was to wait until the Xuanwu was distracted and then strike. I of course, would be the distraction. I ventured into the shell of the Xuanwu and found a peculiar sword inside. This was the sword that had been supressing it for so long, and in removing it, I succeeded in getting the beast's attention.

While it came after me, I fended it off with my newly acquired weapon, and meanwhile Lan Zhan targeted it from the outside, eventually gathering enough of its attention to send it back out.

Our plan worked. Lan Zhan beheaded it with his string and I kept its attention from killing him.

In the end we killed the legendary false Xuanwu and then dragged ourselves out of the water to nurse our wounds. And instead of succumbing to our injuries, we received rescue in a few days time before it was too late.

And that's how two sixteen year old cultivators stripped of their spiritual weapons defeated a legendary beast. I think Wen Chao tried to take credit, but the tale had spread too far by then.

More fool he, I suppose.

[Wen Chao's is a familiar name to Itachi. Wei Wuxian had spoken of the man who had thrown him into the Burial Mounds before, but Wei Wuxian had long avenged himself against him and the rage that used to burn at the thought of him leaves only numbness in its wake now. So it's nothing to brush past the comment and just keep talking, to give Itachi something to focus on as he so clearly wants.]

Mmm. He really was an idiot.

Jiang Cheng was so mad at me later. I'm not sure if it was more jealousy or worry. He'd never admit to either.

I slept for a week after. A little strange that it's a fond memory now, but it was exciting to be thought of as a legend at the time.

[He's closer to Elindes now, though not close enough that he slows his pace. He has a dozen more stories he can tell, but he’s antsy to find Itachi already just to know that he's alright.]

Edited 2023-02-06 00:56 (UTC)

Perhaps it is both.

Brotherhood can be complex in that way.

Complex is definitely accurate.

You know when Jiang Fengmian first brought me home, Jiang Cheng didn't want anything to do with me. Mostly he was upset because he used to have half a dozen pet dogs and when Jiang Fengmian saw my terror, he gave them away.

He wouldn't talk to me at all after that. Then one night he locked me out of our room and threatened to send dogs after me. I ran away into the neighboring forest and climbed a tree. Only, Jiang Cheng got so scared when I didn't come back right away that he came after me and ended up tripping in the dark. I fell out of the tree too and Shijie found us both and carried us back.

After that, he cried a lot and promised to never let any dogs near me. We were brothers after that. Complicated messy ones, but still brothers.

[He's at the border of Elindes now, less than twenty minutes from the place Itachi was staying in the village. Almost there.]

（ perhaps he knows wei wuxian too well.

he does not answer for a while, and then, at long last, a ping to his location. ）

The third room from the left on the second floor.

Thanks

[He's close enough he doesn't continue with another story, instead focusing on making his way to the right inn. When he gets there, he knocks once and then tries the door, slipping inside when it opens, and kicking his shoes off out of habit once he's in.

He isn't sure what he's expecting, but the first thing he does is assess Itachi for physical injury, just in case.]

Are you injured?

（ he's sitting on the bed in the soft homespun linen of the sleeping clothing in this place. there's evidence that he had a bath not long before — wet hair drawn back in a braid at his nape, clothing that clings to the dampness of his skin. he looks much the same as always. paler, perhaps. wan. but certainly not injured. ）

No.

（ it isn't a wholly unreasonable guess, but if he were he would have contacted a cleric. he's not so foolish as to risk himself, given what is on the line. there will be no rest until the orb is once again whole. ）

[Wei Wuxian nods and pulls out his qiankun pouch. From it, he removes a packet of tea leaves and two mugs.]

I asked for hot water on my way up. They should be here—[Now, apparently, as there's a knock on the door. Wei Wuxian answers and takes the kettle of boiling water, closing the door and then setting to work preparing tea for the both of them. It takes him a couple of minutes and he doesn't rush through the process. If Itachi wants to talk, he will talk. In the meantime, Wei Wuxian can at least do this for him.

When it's done, he hands one of the mugs to Itachi and takes the other for himself, dragging over a small table so that they both have somewhere to put their mugs if they want to put them down. He takes a seat on the bed next to him then, not close enough to touch unless either of them reaches.]

I apologize. I did not mean to worry you.

( it is said somewhat stiffly, even as his fingers curl around the mug. )

You don't need to apologize. [And then, after a pause.] I didn't think you were injured. I just wanted to make sure.

[He lifts his cup to his lips and blows idly at the steam. It's some of the tea he had left from the last supply drop—a white tea blend from Yunmeng. He sips at it, ignoring the way it scalds his tongue.]

Would you like for me to talk?

Edited 2023-02-06 07:59 (UTC)

（ there is nothing in him accustomed to comfort. yet, here they sit. the hush and quiet of one who understands you in the furthest reaches of their soul, every inch of knowing hard-won and harrowing. the warmth of the mug suffuses him. his hands have felt corpse-cold since mccoy.

itachi is silent for a long while, simply drinking his tea. sweet and clear, like mountain dew.

then: ）

Someone told me they had entertained the idea of altering their regret to change the course of my life.

（ wei wuxian may be able to guess the individual involved, and he finds he does not especially care about keeping it secret. he will know, at least, that itachi does not speak of gwen. ）

[He inhales, soft but sharp and his fingers twitch around the mug in their grip. The weight of the offer doesn't escape him, and nor does the pain of it. He understands immediately that it must have been offered in sincerity from someone Itachi trusts or they wouldn't be having this conversation at all.

He also understands how an offer like that would cut the same as a knife plunging into his chest. He knows because it wouldn't be so different if it were him.

When his fingers twitch again, eager to reach out and take Itachi’s hand, he squeezes his mug tighter instead.]

Do they intend to follow through?

I was not especially encouraging.

（ to put it mildly. he thinks that mccoy's heartbreak will live alongside the rest of what he has inflicted on those who have ever shown him kindness until he need not concern himself further with the mortal coil. ）

[No, he thinks, he wouldn't have been. Itachi chafes at even the slightest forms of gratitude, and his tolerance for kindness directed towards his person was...low, to put it mildly. For someone he cared about—someone he respects, most likely— to have made such an offer...Wei Wuxian takes another drink of his tea and then sets it down on the table.

He doesn't need to tell Itachi they meant well; he already knows that. Knowing does nothing to lessen the sting of being told he deserved something he didn't feel he had any right to.

Always, Wei Wuxian remembers Newt's words to him as he lay alone in that cell on E23-B.]

They don't understand. [The statement is free of judgment, almost wistful. He's glad they don't. It's just that it makes things hard sometimes.]

The weight of it all...[They aren't the same, not exactly. The burdens they carry are different, but there is so much blood on both of their hands. Itachi isn't the only one who would rebuff someone trying to save him.]

No. That isn't the case with this individual. They do understand — in a way, that is worse.

（ if it was done simply in ignorance, it would not have bitten so deeply. it would be easily set aside. very few people know what he has done, fewer still what he is capable of. he had intended to wound, by admitting to the doctor the exact nature of the massacre and what followed with sasuke. somehow, the man had clung to mercy. ）

[Oh. That is much worse.

He can still feel the deep ache of Lan Wangji's words, absolving him of his own guilt while knowing everything he'd done. Even the memory stings.

In response he closes his eyes for a moment before opening them again and reaching for his tea. He holds it without lifting it to take a drink, staring into the cup as if it holds the answers to all of life's questions.]

...can I tell you one more story?

Edited 2023-02-07 01:57 (UTC)

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