#destroyedsectheir

“Of course I would be here with you.” The statement was a matter of fact, as if it were the most obvious thing in the universe. “I mean, sure so I wish we’d made it to a town or village before nightfall sure, but the stars are pretty comfortable too.” He leaned back, one arm behind him to keep himself up right as he turned his head upward to look at the night sky above them, his other hand finding the small of her back and delivering a soft and comforting touch. “I will always be here with you.” While he was sure that he would be, he had a sneaking suspicion that he’d have to say it a hundred thousands times over before she truly believed it. 

While Zizhen wasn’t exactly a fan of quiet, the quiet seemed so much easier with her here. That he could sit here in soft silence with her and stare at the stars. How strange a concept. A deep breath he wondered about what they were going to do next, a lul in work and training wasn’t usual…hell he couldn’t remember the last time they just stopped…but maybe it would be nice?

“I know there’s a lot going on right now, but we should just go…enjoy ourselves for a while. You deserve it.” They deserved it, “the world can’t be just work with no time to enjoy the world and what it has to offer.” You couldn’t live jumping from stress to stress expecting to end up with some kind of fully fulfilled life. He’d seen his parents do it. Work and work and work, and what had it led to? Endless work and a miserable marriage with no one around at the end of it to enjoy your old age with?

Zizhen didn’t really like the sound of that. 

🌸  ┊ letter received from @destroyedsectheir        He Wēnróu Tóng :  “The prophecy was vague, but it spoke of a journey through the realm of dreams.” / Fantasy sentences.

          Mulan sat silently as she glanced at the scrolls of ancient texts that was laid out before the two of them. it was well past nightfall as the firelight was the only source that helped them to read within the hidden sector of the library. outside the window, not even the moon dared to show itself tonight, as dark clouds hid the sparkle of the stars.

          it came as little surprise to her that the prophecy had left much to the imagination, for she knew that it was meant to overwhelm anyone's attempts to outwit it. even now, she could still hear the warning of the restless spirits that had been bound to this scroll by regret, their pleading for them to turn back so earnest, for they did not want them to suffer the fate of their former comrades and be plagued by madness should they survive their quest.

        ❝  i am not surprised.  ❞    she spoke at last, pushing away the warnings as she shifted her attention to the cultivator beside her.     ❝  at the very least it is a start and one of which we should leave for as soon as we can. we cannot really afford to waste time when already mentions of the plagues that was foretold are already beginning.  ❞

          taking in a breath, she moved to get up before heading to the shelves of scrolls in search of a map that would best help guide them. she found a few and brought them over to the table before spreading them out according to the realms so that they could best study where to start.      ❝  the most ideal would be to enter from the Heavenly Realm but unless we get the proper permissions, it might not go over well... but, i have heard rumors that there is an entrance between here and the Diyu but it is as the spirits warned, extremely risky.  ❞    she pointed at the small sector of the map, an area that had not been explored near a valley far to the right of the map.

        ❝  either way, it poses risks. my recommendation is a small party, as anything more would draw unwanted attention that could give further delays.  ❞   

It was not a regularly scheduled Night Hunt, Jin Ling had come to see them as foolish the competitions was silly. They should not be doing this at this stage. What they should be doing was taking tally of places they had helped. It was not a popular opinion. People wanted a reason to get together and hunt and brag. In fact he was pretty sure the Sect Leader Yao would out right revolt, not that he was good at night hunting but he liked to brag.

There was a small mining town at the base of a mountain and a wide expanse of forest with thick shadows and heavy fog. The small town had been having problems with a pack of wolf headed creatures. They had written for help and Jin Ling had been asked about it at a Sect meeting. He hated when the Sect that was asked brought things to him, because they didn't want to do anything with it, since they would not be given much in return. Jin Ling wrote to his friends about it. He had invited the Lan's Sizhui had not been able to attend but promised to send Jingyi. He had written to WenRou because a spiritualist was always good, and someone capable of magic was important with Sizhui out, and of course he would invite Zizhen he was his oldest friend in all of this and the closest to him.

That he wasn't silently mooning over.

Also he needed someone to keep him from throttling Jingyi

He was waiting on the outskirts of the town at the appointed time, Long bow over his shoulder and blade prominently displayed. At his side was Fairy, and she was clad in a leather vest. If they were going after anything wolf like his Spirit dog would be protected. He gave a wave as the other's arrived drawing attention to his presence where he stood in the shade of a huge tree.

“Over here.” he sounded excited to have a break from Sect duties to do this. 

in beauty with the peach blossoms, side by side

It was not a request that came lightly, Zizhen knew this. Silently, he reached out for her, arms wrapping around her shoulders to draw her close to his body. He let the silence lay there. Protectively let a hand travel up to the back of her head, carefully cradled it and found himself contemplating the idea that he’d hurt anyone who touched her. It was a visceral response. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he closed his eyes and embraced her, “what’s wrong?” A gentle question, he knew there was a chance that she wouldn’t want to share it, Gods only knew that Zizhen understood that.

Sometimes, he didn’t want to share it either. He just wanted to have someone beside him, to not feel like he was alone. Even the presence beside him was comforting in its own way.

Immediately he moved, a step towards her as he switched his sword in his hand, and picked up her arm, wrapping it around his shoulder and taking her weight. “I got you.” He would carry her if he needed to, though he hoped that the support alone would be enough, should they get ambushed it would be easier to draw his sword like this, rather than having both hands full. “We’re not far from the town,” he remembered, the path should lead directly back into the west side of the village. “We can go back to the room and tend to your injury,” it was becoming a recurring theme, but then again, Night Hunting was dangerous and there was a reason for that. People got hurt.

Progress was slow, then it was too slow, fuck it. Zizhen handed her his sword, “hold this.” He entrusted it to her, before bending down, his arm found the back of her knees and picked her up. They would get home fast this way and he didn’t want to spend more time out here then they needed to. He balanced the risk of time and weapon access and went with time.

A tired shake of his head. A hand stroked black fur. Truthfully, Zizhen had no clue what the hell the daft animal had eaten, but it clearly disagreed with her. Light rarely would lounge across him like this, lethargic, the occasional flick of a tail if she was deeply uncomfortable, it all concerned him. So much so, that he’d got up in the small hours of the morning to keep her company...and...to watch over her. Concern sat in the base of his chest, he’d found them a spare blanket, pulling it over the black furred feline to cover most of her body. A head that he could stroke poking out.

“No…” Zizhen answered quietly, his voice a whisper as a hand came to rest on her head. Slowly, he let qi trickle, his slow feed of energy during the night had kept her safe, and while Zizhen bitched from time to time, he would be devastated if something happened to her. “Light isn’t well.” He clarified, the reason for his sleeplessness implied, and also the fact he wouldn't have woken her up unless it was a massive emergency, one of them needed some sleep.

Soft fingers traced a line from the middle of the cats eyes, slowly over head, careful and gentle, Light in a pet induced trance as she dozed. “I think she ate something dodgy,” of course she would have. That was very much in the realm of possibility for her, “suppose it’s a lesson in not to go raking through the rubbish for food, even if it smelled amazing. Light always does things the hard way.” Would they have had it any other way through?