暗香疏影

i’ll be slowly popping into everyone’s dms for plotting  ^ ^, but please feel free to give a like to this intro if you’d like to plot too! 

but enough about me  (≖o≖├┬┴┬┴ it’s probably time for ziyu to take the center stage! under the cut is a rundown of ziyu, and some plot ideas that momentarily hit like a lightbulb in my head! below are some links to her profile & background as well, so feel free to take a look at them too!

profile | background 

{  * tired eyes  }

it’s easy enough to pretend he is just a bodyguard, until it isn’t; until the memories and grief that comes along with them becomes too suffocating. then, he excuses himself and heads outside. it’s a bit of a walk, but when he was a student at lotus academy, he found a quiet spot on the campus that grew to be his favorite hideaway. he searches for it now, and thankfully, the festivities haven’t reached it: a small alcove in the trees on the outskirts of the campus, separating the buildings from the mountains. there, there are several large rocks, one of them flat enough to sit on, and so finn does.

here, it’s quiet. he can hear the festival off in the distance, and can see the lights, but he doesn’t think anyone can see him. here, he can pretend, at least for a moment, to disappear. he’s not proud of it, but deep down, he knows that’s still what he wants.

* @ufziyu

bringing finn to the lotus festival was a selfish choice of hers to begin with--the age old pain of the fall of his own country lined in the way he lingers on, far behind them, lips pursed at times into a thin line as he avoids the brief stares from those he knows with a subtle look to his face. 

and the guilt assails her once again, subtle yet ever present as she watches him slink out through the door, her conversation with one of the lords fading in competence as her attention is drawn away by the misery she’s wrought him, much to her dismay.

she quickly bids the lord a soft goodbye, promising wares and wine the next time that they should meet (the greedy look upon his face is not missed as his eyes dance over her frame, the reedy sound of his voice lilting cautiously to ask if anyone has caught her eye at this time and age), following in finn’s footsteps with as much subtlety she could master in the crowds ahead.

it takes her more time than she would have liked it to be able to catch up with him, slipping past the door into the pleasantry of nature as she gave a soft, grumbling sigh.

the garden is a familiar place to her; filled with fond yet painful memories that she still found terrible to recall. it was a place of fantastic beauty..and yet--it was also a place that reminded her sorely of things that could have been. moments of a particular someone surging through the leaves with a loud, excited voice, grabbing her hand and...her thoughts trail off, like a tv that turns static halfway, unwilling to let things play on any longer.

ziyu shook her head, clearing her thoughts as she spared herself a brief glance around the garden once again.

she should stop reminiscing and start trying to find finn.

her feet shuffle, still drawn towards the place where she favoured once as a younger girl, a softened alcove, where the lights reached her warmly and the noise of bustling life did not. and her feet shifts her towards it involuntarily.

finn’s there. she realizes belatedly, the sound of her feet against the cobbled stones loud in her ears as she shifts her weight, lips dry and awkwardness blooming, nearly rooting her in place. it feels almost as if she had intruded into something for him and him only--something that she ought not to be disturbing.

the frown upon her face deepens with slight worry as she watched him, contemplating if her honesty would ruin things between them in a moment of being guilty.

“oh… ziyu.” she smiles fondly at the other’s first attempts to be encouraging. the alcohol has definitely clouded astrea’s mood somewhat, with her sudden dip in faith becoming near-impenetrable, but ziyu’s words smooth her over anyway. certain that the glass was a safe distance away from any further drunk fumbles, astrea turned to face her friend, leaning against her elbow on the back of the couch. “i don’t know what you’re talking about, that was quite encouraging.”

“you are right. sometimes… it just is what it is.” not all wounds can be healed. not all people can be saved. it’s a fact that astrea learned early into her training, especially once she joined in the war efforts. no matter the logic she applies to it though, that heavy feeling never lifts. “but i can’t… i don’t know if i’m coping. i don’t know if i’m making the right choices every day. fate, destiny… it feels more like karma. spite. things may be okay now, but i know any second i’m going to break what i have.” her gaze has dropped to the couch, which she now draws shapes onto with her finger. “is it too much to ask for things to stay peaceful? for my loved ones to all be happy and healthy?”

time, is never something that waits for man, no matter whether the person that needed it to wait was said to be grieving or not. 

it was just...the way of the world. moving on, regardless of whether wounds had healed, or if time had chosen to take away the pain or not.

“you mean time is cruel. apart from people.” ziyu’s eyes fall back onto her shattered drink, contemplative as she steal a glass, brings the drink to her lips, and sips. “i didn’t want to become an heir. hell, i don’t think i was even slated on the list to become that.” an edged note of despair overwhelms ziyu as she hunches over into herself, forehead pressed against her hands. “it was always supposed to be my sister.” 

but here they were--with her lacking a husband to be, and the weight of her family resting upon her shoulders.

“say, would you...if you were given the choice. hypothetical, that is. nothing real.” she hopes that astrea misses the way that her voice hitches ever so slightly at the mention of it not necessarily being real (it was real, at least for someone who went through what she did. to her.) “if you were given a choice to choose between dying with your lover or killing your lover’s entire family, which would you have chosen?”

her face crumples for a moment, guilt eating her from inside out as she tried not to curl into herself, lashes mildly wet with tears that remained unshed as she stared ahead, wide-eyed, drunk and yet unseeing.

“would you have rather died with them, or would you rather have survived, just because you could?” her fingers grasped her friend’s almost begging for a fraction of reassurance about her choice. if---if it had been right.

it hadn’t been, of course.

or she wouldn’t be here now, with her heart ripping into pieces in her chest, struggling to breathe as though the world had collapsed in upon itself.

the days after the massacre had been horrendous--the stench of blood that followed her everywhere when she wiped her hands against her face. everything mattered of little to no importance to her--from the elders gathering to decide who would be the next heir, to her older sibling’s expectant face.

she had holed herself up in her room, chased by taunting dreams of fractured smiles, blood and faces.

and then the doors to her room had opened, the familiar pair of shoes belong to her mother stopping right before her as she curled under the weight of her sins. 

don’t you dare crumble to pieces until i tell you to, yet.

ziyu’s eyes flickered, searching astrea’s own for an answer that she knew her friend couldn’t possibly know. 

ZIYU has received a 1 STAT level up and is now LEVEL 23.

you will gain levels by being active throughout the roleplay and meeting certain requirements. these requirements are a secret, but consider every ic post as something that gains you experience and puts you one step closer to your next level up.

remember, the stats you can add have been randomized, and even though you were on the unlucky end of the rng and only earned one stat point this time, you must add that point to one of the three strengths listed on your application. (MAGIC, DEXTERITY, SPEED.)

it’s not very often that ganggyn receives news of a visitor, yet alone a noble visitor, and even more of a sparse occasion that it’s a noble visitor that seeks the audience or company of shangguan ziyu, the lord of iotone. 

in fact, most of the people that reside in iotone know of their lord as someone rather lazy to entertain the nobility, preferring to spend her time enroached within her chamber, or in practice with her sword. 

to say that she would put that aside to entertain her guest was somewhat..duly shocking. 

but at this particular moment, ziyu could hardly care less as she swept over the familiar corridors, a faint but small smile curving the corners of her lips as she allowed her eyes to trail over the young man in the door, a slight inclination of her head ever the respectful greeting.

“ you could have told me that you were coming sooner.” the words were chiding but still bluntly soft, and a soft puff of a sigh escapes ziyu’s lips as she stepped out into the garden, beckoning. “hardly do we ever have a visit from such an esteemed lord such as you.” a faint teasing tone warmly enveloped her voice, half amused as they fell into step with each other. “ pray what brings you here, nathaniel?” even after a couple of years of their families having been rather close with each other (as did all, if not most of the nobility did), his name still fell from her lips in an awkward murmur. “ some trouble afoot? maybe...love troubles in the horizon?” she absentmindedly touched her sword out of habit, just as she always did when things started to remind her of other things that she wished had not happened.

like love. 

even after a couple of years, that wound was still fresh. her eyes glazed over with reminiscence momentarily, before she turns her attentions back onto him once more.

he doesn’t know what he would request, anyway. his hand drifts to the hilt of his sword absentmindedly. new weapons? no…his sword functions perfectly well. he wouldn’t mind a new one, but he knows he would still fall back to this one: a sword his father gifted him for his 16th birthday; one that has been with him through all the ups and downs of his life, and maybe he is a little sentimental after all.

“maybe…new boots,” he decides, albeit a bit hesitantly. “maybe it’s a strange request, but mine are wearing out and i haven’t had the gold to buy new ones. if we’ll be traveling much, it would probably be good to have some that aren’t falling apart.”

after he explains, he nods to himself, suddenly more confident. “so new boots, and…your name? it’s not vital, if you want to keep it a secret, but you apparently already know mine.” how? who are you?

new boots?

if anything, ziyu doesn’t press the matter, nodding slightly as she takes his words for what he wants, despite the apparent question upon her face.

“it’s a reasonable request. and besides, no one spends much time in ganggyn unless they’re rich and opulent or just loverbirds wanting some romance.” she doesn’t want to add that his boots seem fine at a single glance--one could barely know whether or not finn’s boots were truly wearing out or not, just based off appearances alone. besides, the one who knew the best, was none other than finn.

“my name is ziyu.” the habit of introducing herself without the peerage of her title and dysfunctional family name towers over the habit of nobility, and she stops herself, a slight flush in her cheeks at her mistake. “i’m from the shangguan family.” her tone is slightly clipped, ever indicative towards what she felt towards her family, despite the apparent neutrality upon her face. “honestly, just address me as ziyu. that’s fine with me.” a slight cheeky smile tickles the corners of her lips briefly as she tilted her head in his direction. “if i’m introducing you as finn only, then the least you could do is something similar for me, right?” the slight hint of a tease edges in her voice, her shoulder raising and sinking slightly as she nervously exhales. “and like i said, i was looking for you. that’s why i knew about you. if that’s the hidden question you’d like to ask.”

she pauses for a moment, hand touching the hilt of her sword thoughtfully.

“i’ve never been good with words, but that did occur to me that what i said just now might have come off a little...threatening, especially for someone who wants to remain hidden.” her tongue wets her lips slightly, as she sucks in a tight little breath. “sorry about that. i guess...you could say that i vaguely heard of you? before everything went to shit?” she turned to face him slightly, no judgement in her dark but glittering eyes. 

she pursed her lips for a moment.

shang’guan ziyu aesthetic & musing -- clothes & dressing

the shang’guan family have always toted as being rather traditionalist in all aspects, not just towards how they practiced martial arts, or even how they ran things within the family, but also with regards to their dressing. 

a lot of the accessories and clothes of the people of iotone follows much of their ruling lord and family, where they have discarded much of convenience for traditional and historical impracticality. 

much of the clothes that ziyu wears in particular speak of close resemblences to that of the traditional clothes of chinese culture, with layers of inner clothes and subtle decoratives at the borders of not just the hem of her clothes, but anything of that of her person (arm guards, protective gear, even hair accessories).

 it is also more traditional for the females of the shangguan family to keep their hair long, though ziyu has mentioned that having such a long hair and intricate hairstyles for upkeep can be quite a distressing affair, especially early in the mornings. learning how to do one’s hair is one thing, but more often than not, ziyu requires a few helping hands, as do the rest of her family to help set her hair in the style that signifies she is of the shangguan family. 

ufziyu​:

A MOMENT’S REST

“maybe we wouldn’t have to exchange lives. i’m always in need of helpers at the shop, and i don’t mind adopting runaways.” she says finally, reaching out to gently pry ziyu’s hand into both of hers. it’s a lighthearted comment, but she isn’t entirely joking. “i do love my job, but i’m always worried that i’m not doing enough.” astrea is sober enough still to cast a heal, and she does it without thinking too much about the blood now on her own hands. “i… i want to be able to help everyone.” she glances at ziyu. “to protect those i love. but it’s so hard, and i’m still not a strong healer.” she lets the hand between hers go, distracting herself instead with tidying the bloodied napkins into a pile.

“and not everyone who comes through these doors is kind. pain can cause many to be at their most vulnerable, you know, and it usually results in a lot of demanding and very little respect.” too many shared feelings in, astrea takes back her glass and pours another shot to drink. “and yet, no matter how they treat me, when they’re gone i’m still worried that i didn’t do my best.”

astrea’s suggestion brightens ziyu for a moment--before her shoulders sag ever so slightly, her rejection plain in the slight shake of her eyes, eyes slightly hooded as she stared at her badly bandaged hand. “a cherry field would be beautiful, right?” she allows her friend to take her hands into her own, wincing slightly as each throb of pain from her injured hand gave her back some form of rationality through the haze of drunkenness she was in. 

“ i can’t.” the words slip from her lips, low but repressed. “and you know i can’t.” she watches quietly as the napkins dab against her injured hand, soaking up the blood that pooled in the palm of her hand. “i’m...” the word felt heavy upon her tongue, her nose scrunching in distaste. “ the heir to my house.” 

the words were almost spat from her mouth, a rare juxtaposition to the lilting softness of ziyu’s regular speech.

“did you know i got promoted to being the heir of my house?” her eyes flicker darkly as astrea pours them another shot to drink. “they made me the new heir barely a day after my fiancee died.” she accepted the drink, allowing the alcohol to slip slowly down her throat as she sighed. “i worked my ass off after that to not think about that.” her lips pursed as she turned her eyes towards astrea, allowing the other woman’s words to wash over her.

“i think you’re doing a great job of protecting those you love. healing--is a matter that’s more important than most of us really think. healing is--” she squinted slightly, trying to find the right words to properly articulate her thought process. “healing is great.” the words end lamely, making her feel slightly worse than before about her failed attempt to encourage astrea. “ugh, one thing definitely hasn’t changed. i still suck at encouraging people.” she groaned lightly, tilting her head back as she shifted her position, laying down upon the couch as she watched her friend bustle about with the drinks. 

ZIYU has received a 1 STAT level up and is now LEVEL 21.

you will gain levels by being active throughout the roleplay and meeting certain requirements. these requirements are a secret, but consider every ic post as something that gains you experience and puts you one step closer to your next level up.

remember, the stats you can add have been randomized, and even though you were on the unlucky end of the rng and only earned one stat point this time, you must add that point to one of the three strengths listed on your application. (MAGIC, DEXTERITY and SPEED.)

everything has changed.

what she does want, is to escape from this situation as soon as possible, to avoid any further discomfort. but as she opens her mouth, it’s as if her own brain betrays her, because instead of making an excuse for a quick escape, her words do quite the opposite. 

“i’m headed into town. do you want to come with? well, i mean, uh… you probably already were going, since you were headed in this direction, but… we could look for a healer together. i think we both need to take care of our wounds.”

the battle is over before it even begins, even with ziyu’s injuries making for a rather major, yet continuous blood loss from the wound in her shoulder. 

the faint scratches of azura’s feet against the ground as the other girl shot off towards the dazed bandit made ziyu’s lips twist upwards in a ghost of a smile--a familiar remembrance of a few rather rowdy battles that they had likely fought in their youth, with her as a student, and half dragged along to whatever adventure her fiancee and azura desired somewhere along the road. 

ziyu gripped her sword, drawing it with precision, the sword flashing from the scabbard in a sharp arc as she sped towards the other bandit with a wild dash, attempting to cleave the last bandit almost cleanly in half as she swung her blade from the bottom right to the top left in a wide strike.

perhaps it was due to the slightly more muscular body of the last bandit, but ziyu’s strike landed in a slight miss, wavering from its target ever so slightly. ziyu frowned as her blade sank into the side of the bandit, the blade slicing shallowly as the man howled in pain, lashing out with his axe with bloodshot eyes as she drew close. 

it was either dodge and strike another time, or suffer an axe once more to her shoulder and hit the bandit properly in a close ranged combat move. as quick as the thought flashed in her head, she deferred to the worse option of the two decisively, muffling her cry of pain and gritting her teeth as the axe sank once more, in the exact same spot--right into her shoulder wound.

she finishes the bandit before his strike manages to cleave off more of her shoulder, gasping as she yanked herself free from his axe as the bandit collapsed to the ground, studying her trembling left arm with a frown as she turned towards azura once more.

hopefully, her old friend hadn’t detected anything different from how she had fought as compared to the last time they had ever fought together. there was no way that her younger self would disregard defense and go straight in for the offence like that--ziyu winced slightly at the thought, keeping her fingers crossed as she straightened up, staring at azura impassively once more, before allowing a faint smile twitch her lips at her mention of them finding a healer for their wounds. 

“what exactly will the job entail?” he questions, even though he knows he’ll probably accept it regardless of her answer. it’s better to know what to expect either way. “protection for…what, you?” his eyes drift to the sword at her hip, and her stance. he has a feeling she can defend herself, but apparently not well enough, if the offer is a genuine one.

handsome pay…oh, how easy he is to win. maybe he could afford better than shitty ale at his favorite tavern in noyillai, and a better room at the inns he stays at during future travels, if he manages to save enough longterm. maybe he could fix the leaky roof on his small house on the outskirts of xakar. ugh. he doesn’t even have to ask. this woman looks like she’s probably rich. the price of his entire house is probably pocket change to her. if she says it’s handsome pay…

“handsome pay,” he agrees with a nod. and a good adventure, ideally.

“yes. protection. for me.” she wonders if it would have been good of her to tell her that it was for her to alleviate her boredom. 

probably not. nobility or human, whether disgraced or not, never liked being treated as a sport. 

“ it’s...just...protection. that’s all. i’ll let you know if there are any other things that i require of you, but rest assured that they’re within your means.” the offer she throws him like a bait is not enticing--that much she knows. 

ziyu’s eyes fell towards him once more, studying finn with a quiet assessment in her eyes, before nodding slightly. 

“if that’s not enough, perhaps the ganggyn sights would be enticing for you? a trip perhaps, that’s not very taxing, with a handsome pay.” she folds her hands over each other behind her back, an almost audible sigh of relief parting her lips as soon as he nods with agreement. “i need protection for a lot of things, even as well prepared as i seem to be.” her lips twitch at the thought of introducing finn to her cousins, knowing that the younger generation of her household were somewhat of a...difficult bunch to tolerate. “ also, that does remind me. i sought you out too because i wanted someone who’s familiar with this area to show me around.” 

a light frown knotted her brows as she chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. 

A MOMENT’S REST

while astrea and ziyu have been known to stop by the nearby tavern together, astrea likes to tuck the other woman away in her private study at the back of the calendula, with their own supply of very delicious drinks. it was where she was able to crack some of ziyu’s tough shell for the first time, and has been chipping away since.

“would’ve been nice to return from a totally stupid shit day at work to some free alcohol.” and a dad. astrea blushes, then tries another sip to shake off her tipsiness. “wait no i love every day at work. praise the heavens and the suns and the moons. every customer and all patients are a gift. bless them all.”

ziyu is never good at holding her alcohol.

never. 

it always takes less than two cups of any kind of alcohol to render her completely useless in whatever she has to do, a flush on her cheeks and a pout contradicting her usually icy demeanor--and yet today, somehow, some way, she managed to down five shots of the alcohol that astrea had poured her whilst still teetering on the edge of sanity.

she sways slightly, the world swimming before her eyes as astrea’s words warm her flushed ears. 

“if your propensity and love for alcohol would be of any indication to perhaps a...a hereditary gift of..liking alcohol, maybe we should take it that your dad might just be great at owning his own distillery.” she blinked, staring at the empty shot of her glass like it was a lover and not an inanimate object, slowly slumping towards the table as she hiccupped, then swooned once more. 

“did you know,”  ziyu paused as her shot glass filled up once more at astrea’s behest, the clear liquid poured into the glass shimmering in the dim light as it brimmed right to the rim of the cup, a little dash of alcohol spilling over the rim as her hand lightly swayed. “my fiancee and i wanted to just retired somewhere in a fucking cherry field, and live the rest of our lives in what people would say as a mundane life filled with peace.” she took a swig of the alcohol shot once more, nose scrunched as the liquid burned its way down her throat as a faint sob rose in her throat at the mention of her fiancee. “and then he fucking died. and i was left behind to pick up the goddamn pieces.” the glass slams back down onto the table, a little too hard in her drunken state.

the shot glass shatters, piercing her palms as ziyu stared at the pockets of blood slowly welling on her hand.

everything has changed.

she lands another hit, this one critical, on one of the bandits, causing him to fall to the ground, when she spots a woman walking towards them. azura only catches a glimpse of her, not nearly enough time to properly see who it is, as she has to stay focused on the situation in front of her. though that one glance was enough to tell it’s not another bandit — she’s dressed far too nicely for that, thank the goddess. 

“hey, some help here?” she calls out, risking another glance behind her to confirm the woman is still there. that’s when she sees it. who the woman is. the surprise is enough to throw her off balance, almost tripping over her own feet in the process. thankfully she trips away from the bandits, accidentally evading what looked like would be a very painful blow. 

azura is quick to force her focus back on the fight, but the feeling of surprise is still there in the back of her mind, not fully letting go of her. and understandably so, because walking up behind her is none other than her old friend, shangguan ziyu. 

podakko is not a place that ziyu confesses that she’s familiar with. it is full of strange uncouth sights that she never expects to see in ganggyn--where the code of honour for most is far more important than that of fighting.

here, things are different. ziyu is almost positive that fighting is such a norm here that it wouldn’t be abnormal to see someone suddenly whipping out their weapons every now and then, yelling on top of their voices and charging at their opponents, whether big or small. 

so when she sees a group of individuals (four, possibly) fighting a lady in the middle, the first instinct she has is to click her tongue and frown...but move on.

good things never came out of caring too much for one’s own good.

that was--until the lady called out towards her, drawing everyone’s attention--including that of the bandits.

damn it. her hand went to the pommel of her sword instinctively. if only the lady hadn’t spoken aloud and called for her help.

well, what was done had already been done. there was no way of getting out of this save for fighting.

and in fighting, the upper hand usually lay with those who struck hard, fast and true.

the sword flashes in a quick draw from her waist--and the blade practically sung as it swung through the air, ripping past in a flash of blue steel as it detached the first bandit’s head from it’s neck, the lightest crackle of thunder in the blue skies the only signal of the flash of lightning that struck down next, searing the ground as it haphazardly struck down towards the second.

it takes a moment for ziyu to register the familiarity of the girl’s face that she had just saved, a sudden wrench in her gut as the familiar laugh of her fiance’s voice tittered in memory as azura’s face swam into view.

the sword in her hand nearly clattered to the ground, if not for the third bandit swinging his axe right at her with a loud scream. 

ziyu frowned, eyes flickering as she noted the bleeding cut upon azura’s calf, a hand flashing out to shove her friend aside as she took the brunt of the attack with her shoulder, twisting just enough to hopefully avoid any serious injury. the axe grazed in a diagonal arc towards her left shoulder as she twisted herself quickly, sinking about three inches into flesh before her sword finds its purchase in the bandit’s gut, the flesh of her shoulder tearing slightly as the swing of her sword caused her body to lean right viciously. 

ziyu watched impassively as the third bandit paled, collapsing to the ground as he tried to gather his guts back into his body, the slice of her sword across his stomach biting deep enough to wound fatally.

a sharp pang of pain swells in her left shoulder as ziyu flinched, a light hiss escaping from her lips as she noted the ugly wound with a mild frown.

she’ll get a healer to tend to her wounds later--the tight purse of her lips told of her thoughts as she eyed azura next to her lightly, the second bandit that had been dazed and barely grazed by her lightning attack finally getting to his feet and gripping his sword. 

it’s not stealing if you don't get caught

he’s walking, home from work, when he catches something, a sleeping person. he looks around, nobody seems to be around, so he walks up to her. “isn’t it cold sleeping like this?” he shakes his head, a low chuckle escaping his lips. he looks around one more time, nobody there, so, what does the man do? his fingers slowly approaches her pockets, there must be something good there.

( aim then shoot -> @ufziyu )

a lifetime of being in a family that was more competitive than it should ever be had honed ziyu’s instincts more than it should have been--but then again, she should have known better than to let her guard down and fall asleep, content, in the embrace of a slightly darkened alleyway.

her clothing was even more conspicuous than most, considering how proud most ganggyn nobility were in making themselves known, both in achievements and in clothing respectively, of their heritage. 

and so, the last place that she should have been in was a darkened alleyway, sleeping on an abandoned couch that had looked like a minimally good resting place. 

ziyu exhaled lightly, tossing slightly as though in fitful sleep as she sensed the man draw closer, his hands reaching forward for pockets that weren’t present in her current dress.

a pervert? she thought to herself, careful to remain seemingly unsconscious as she was. or just a normal pickpocket?

she cracked her eyes open just a teeny bit, watching relaxedly as the male drew closer and closer, as though tempted by the possibility of treasure in her pocket. there was no cause for concern. she reasoned with herself. even without her sword, she would still be able to take the man down, especially if he was like a perv that she thought he was.

a simple kick to his knee joint would send one of his legs right down to the ground with just the right amount of force...or even grabbing his shirt and tossing him over her shoulder would be another nice option if he proved a little less honourable than he thought he would be.

pickpocketing...she could forgive. perhaps he had some circumstance that she didn’t know about. besides, she had no pockets. so there was literally nothing to steal. 

being a perv though...she barely flinched as his hands made light contact with her side, lightly patting round as though to find where exactly her pockets were--and a evil thought popped into her mind.

how would he react if she suddenly opened her eyes? a slight twitch of her lips nearly betrayed her amusement as her eyes flew open, a light hand pressed onto where his hand currently was, anchored around her waist.

she wants to employ him, huh? for his skills? in that case, he can almost forgive her for using his full name. how the hell does she know it, anyway?

he doesn’t recognize her when he sees her, but he can pin her as being from ganggyn fairly quickly. likely nobility. she carries herself with that air of elegance and formality he’s seen from most ganggyn nobility, even in a place like this, and her dress is different from that of gleerium, at least.

“it’s finn,” he corrects her. if she wants to employ him, he figures he’ll have plenty of time to ask her why she knows his full name later, hopefully in a place less crowded than this. “what do you need from me?”

this was one of the reasons as to why she hated in being in battle arenas like this, ziyu thought to herself, her brows knitted together in a mild frown that told of her subtle displeasure as the leering and eyeing from the rowdy men slowly increased.

every battle arena, no matter where she went, smelt of blood and death.

even after years of experience, her trauma of the massacre still resulted in her faltering ever so slightly in face of its scent. and a large amount of it...she stalled for a moment, her hand back against the pommel of her sword in a self-comforting gesture.

god.

she hated places like these.

ziyu’s eyes flicked once more over the crowd, worry at the edges of her lips as she shifted her foot from one to the other--and she notices finn before he even speaks. perhaps it’s the unique ability from mingling around with too many nobles to account for having made her a little more observational than others, but the heaviness of his shoulders is familiar. as is the way that he looks--with a boyish, young face, handsome with youth and green with misery.

a familiar look belonging to those who had lost more than they wished for.

a look--that she once saw from herself in the mirror, months after the massacre when she finally dared to glance in her mirror, almost terrified of the thought of seeing dried blood caked upon her skin once more. 

“protection.” she murmurs softly, brows released from its frown as she flicks her eyes up towards him, meeting finn’s eyes with a steely gaze. “i heard you were one of the best.” the lie falls through her teeth smoothly, as though she was just commenting upon a simple scenery in the distance, with her head lightly tilted to the side and a stance that left little to no openings.

it wasn’t true, of course. 

she had searched out for his profile amidst the leagues and leagues of mercenaries, trying to temper her guilt at the thought of knowing of etila’s living nobility that she had failed to help out of consideration for her own family. 

compensation, one could call it. guilt-- was the more accurate word. it ate her slightly from the inside, ever since word came of etila’s collapse (and the fact that her small apartment in dromare still, despite all the fighting, stands. an apartment for the lives of many. what a joke she was.) 

but she did need a fighting partner that wouldn’t annoy her to death. ziyu hummed thoughtfully, thoughts drifting to those haughty cousins of hers that had accompanied her in her trip, quietly awaiting his reply.