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a great escape;
[ this planet.. is a tranquil one. lonely, but peaceful. there are no intelligent species here, but that is, perhaps, for the best - dan feng's penance continues, after all. in escaping the luofu he was not attempting to escape general punishment, only the molting rebirth. fear of losing himself, of losing his memories, his sense of self..
perhaps it made him a coward, to flee, but warm memories are all he has now, and he could not bear to part with them just yet.
so here he waits, alone in his own beautiful purgatory, awaiting the end of his days, nursing his ailing mind, existing in torment and in bliss in equal measure. his hatching rebirth will come in time, and only then, perhaps, will he be free of his sin, or at the very least, free of his pain. the crime of the previous life must be atoned for in the next, but.. his memories of the quintet would vanish, save for in dreams, and his reincarnation could live on.
it's a lush, lovely planet, where he has escaped to, slowly orbiting the glowing deep of a black hole, where time, for him, runs more slowly, dragging out like a string of sticky molasses. there are thick forests and vast wetlands, eighty percent of this world is water, and there is no sign that intelligent life has ever existed here. no ruins. no scrawled paintings in caves. no hidden chambers beneath the seas. three hundred years he has spent combing the globe and found nothing to suggest that anyone but he has walked the earth here. only animals. insects. fish. they make decent company, but dan feng still keeps to himself, living out of a modest shelter built near the water's edge.
three hundred years, and he speaks to no one, says nothing, until the day the majestic luofu blots out the light of the diffracting black hole.
the sight of it stills his heart in his breast, and dan feng finds his throat running dry, but when the small starskiff lands he is standing quietly, watchful and calm, the tip of his tail swaying behind him as he watches jing yuan disembark, resplendent in his general's clothing. he takes a deep breath.. releases it. ]
.. you must have been very keen to find me, to brave the dangers of the black hole.
[ for time.. time is a precious thing, every hour he spends here could be a year on the luofu. ]
perhaps it made him a coward, to flee, but warm memories are all he has now, and he could not bear to part with them just yet.
so here he waits, alone in his own beautiful purgatory, awaiting the end of his days, nursing his ailing mind, existing in torment and in bliss in equal measure. his hatching rebirth will come in time, and only then, perhaps, will he be free of his sin, or at the very least, free of his pain. the crime of the previous life must be atoned for in the next, but.. his memories of the quintet would vanish, save for in dreams, and his reincarnation could live on.
it's a lush, lovely planet, where he has escaped to, slowly orbiting the glowing deep of a black hole, where time, for him, runs more slowly, dragging out like a string of sticky molasses. there are thick forests and vast wetlands, eighty percent of this world is water, and there is no sign that intelligent life has ever existed here. no ruins. no scrawled paintings in caves. no hidden chambers beneath the seas. three hundred years he has spent combing the globe and found nothing to suggest that anyone but he has walked the earth here. only animals. insects. fish. they make decent company, but dan feng still keeps to himself, living out of a modest shelter built near the water's edge.
three hundred years, and he speaks to no one, says nothing, until the day the majestic luofu blots out the light of the diffracting black hole.
the sight of it stills his heart in his breast, and dan feng finds his throat running dry, but when the small starskiff lands he is standing quietly, watchful and calm, the tip of his tail swaying behind him as he watches jing yuan disembark, resplendent in his general's clothing. he takes a deep breath.. releases it. ]
.. you must have been very keen to find me, to brave the dangers of the black hole.
[ for time.. time is a precious thing, every hour he spends here could be a year on the luofu. ]
no subject
Three of a kind. Two pair. Ace... They have always meant to be three.
He lets his face be taken, the water sloshing around them and his back being bent to meet the former high elder's gaze. They will be right where he expects him. Old memories churn and slosh, flashing gold and red in his mind as he tries to put the pieces together of where he's meant to be.
When he thinks of Jing Yuan he thinks of the Loufu. He recalls all the scripts and the path they're in danger of taking. Propagation. When he thinks of Dan Feng... it's muddled. He thinks of the train. The Trailblaze. The former companion they're always following and keeping an eye on. But that's not quite right... Because this isn't who he's been tailing the past decades. Not quite, anyway.]
I gave my word to Destiny's Slave...
[Because Dan Feng might not know these important things. How different his life is from before. How its bound to others. New people. New friends. A new family. They are a group both different and similar from what he knew before. He cannot go back on what he swore to Elio. But after these promised conclusions...
His brow furrows, uncertain how they all meet at the end of this. How many years away the finale will be.]
Jing Yuan is old now. And you must be too. [The blunt truth must be said.] And the fate of the Xianzhou alliance rests on the edge of a knife... You don't know what I know.
[And Dan Feng should know if he intends to return there... Perhaps the script will know what to do with this new element that is the former High Elder.]
no subject
[ and then, find them. dan feng is a selfish creature, he would have blade with him now if he could, but he is no fool - making demands would only shatter this moment, and drive this man further away, even if dan feng would damn the universe to keep all of them together, if it came to it. so he believes. ]
.. we will wait for you. For the right time.
[ blade carries a weight now, a new heart, a new reality that he cannot be forcibly separated from. it is tempting to simply.. join him. to take up arms with this elio as well, if it meant staying close to him, for he knows that their parting will tear up his heart.
but he could not do that to jing yuan. he loves them both so fully, so completely, and he cannot abandon one to chase another. his thumb smooths over blade's cheekbone, over his lower lip. ]
no subject
[Blade puts a hand to his head, uncertain how much of the script should be said. Kafka wouldn't have left him here with Dan Feng for no reason. This isn't just some romp. Everything she has them do is with purpose and intent...
Keeping the Loufu from it's original path is paramount. He tries not to think about that conclusion and what it means. It spikes the mara... Memories of the past overwhelming and the people that mean something to him within it.]
Are you going back to the Xianzhou? [That first before revealing any more.] To Jing Yuan?
no subject
[ he had come out here to find blade, to deliver their message, their plea, and now that it has been relayed.. there is little to do but to wait.
dan feng can sense the mara curling in blade's bones, and so he reaches to gently place his fingertips to blade's eyelids, closing them. right now, the sight of dan feng will only hasten the mara's approach. best that he keep his eyes shut. oh, but how dan feng misses that beautiful violet shade.. ]
Jing Yuan will need to hasten his retirement, if the three of us are to find one another again, but it will still take time. What is it that you wish to say?
no subject
He probably hasn't told you... But Jingliu lives still. Marastruck and mad with revenge for the Abundance. And there is no cost does she will not pay to the see the Plague Authors downfall. With the help of a merchant they have procured the remains of the Propagation.
Kafka has worked hard to make sure the Xianzhou is on its current course. But it can easily stray to its original end. With Cloud Knights infected with Propagation and nothing more than mindless drones. And Jing Yuan will...
[When he first heard this future it was easy to feel nothing. Jing Yuan was a faint memory and their time together often erased from his mind due to Kafka's threads. But the Xianzhou is more prominent in his mind these days. They shift further to the surface and linger. It's harder not to feel blinding anger this time.]
Jing Yuan was nearly turned into a Void Ranger in one of the Loufu's recent struggles, pierced by three different paths. Destruction, the Hunt and Permanence... The script implies that with the taint of Destruction being inflicted with Propagation would turn him into the Eight Lord Raveger that Jingliu seeks to control in order to purge the world of Abundance.
That future cannot come to pass.
no subject
No, it cannot.
[ he says sharply, his expression harder than it had been before, luminous eyes bright with focus. ]
I will not allow that to happen. Not while I still live.
[ his jing yuan. their jing yuan. dan feng would tear apart the stars themselves to keep him safe, even if it means being at odds with jingliu. to think that she would have designs on jing yuan, the boy that she all but raised.. truly, she is lost to them entirely, a thought that pains him deeply. ]
What must I do?
no subject
His eyes flutter, trying to think, but the look in Dan Feng's eyes helps ground him, curiously. The protective dragon that will do everything in his power to protect that which both of them cherish.]
The Xianzhou cannot stray from the Trailblaze. And there are forces determined to make them do just that... Dan Feng, none of us are as we were. You cannot hesitate in the face of Destruction. I don't know the details or the situation on the Loufu... But you at least can go there and observe. Make him be honest about the situation and guide him as you once did all those years ago.
[The old dragon would be a fine safety net should things go awry. If the Trailblaze makes a misstep leaving ample opportunity for the Xianzhou Alliance to become lost to their ends.]
If he's not alone I do not think he will make such foolish self sacrificing choices.
[That's the hope, anyway.]
no subject
I understand.
[ he will not allow jing yuan to stray. he will not allow jing yuan to lose himself, and become something terrible, even if it means having to go up against jingliu. sacrificing one another cannot be permitted. dan feng nods, laying a hand over one of blade's. ]
You have my word, I will watch over him.
[ and of that, blade should have no doubt. dan feng may have sinned terribly, but he did it for someone that he loved, and there's no denying that he would move heaven and earth to protect those dear to him. blade, too, is included in this. ]
I will go, then, before the mara consumes you once more.