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Entry tags:

xue yang | the untamed

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WHO: Lan WangJi + Open
WHEN: Feb
WHAT: Around Town, After the Night Hunt
WHERE: Gazin, possibly out in Vasari Forest, others by request!
WARNINGS: None at the moment

Around Town
Now that things had settled down after arriving here in Gazin, WangJi was trying to get things in order. He and WuXian at least temporarily had a place to stay so he was trying to about the options for earning some money so that the two of them would be able to have to live off the kindness of strangers. WuXian was notoriously bad at finances so it would have to be him.

So he happened to be exploring the market, both to see the products that were available, but also to see what services he might be able to offer. With such a small range and so many, night hunts could only go so far.

There were those giving him strange looks for the fact that he was wearing all white and somehow managing to keep it clean, but like the rest of his life, he was able to ignore the stares. Standing by a vendor, looking at the wares, he stepped slightly to the side, accidentally bumping into someone.

"My apologies."

After the Night Hunt
WangJi had slept after the night hunt, but he realized that he needed to practice with his guqin, perhaps see if there was something better he could do to fight the creatures outside the village with the guqin. His sword was all well and good, but he could have distance with his music.

So once he was sure most people would have been awake on the off chance of disturbing someone, he found what he thought was a less-traveled area, taking out his guqin and practicing some of his songs.

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Xiao Xingchen...agreed to come back, even knowing who he is. Xue Yang hadn't expected that, had thought he'd be told to never be near the blind man again. Those words weren't spoken.

He's still doing his job, guarding the merchant's stores and prowling around the edges of town. It's one such patrol that the sound of a guqin draws him to find the source. Even when he suspects who the user is. Maybe even because of that suspicion. He only has his small dagger to work with, Xingchen still has Jiangzai. But it doesn't matter, he tucks the small blade back in at his belt as he approaches.

He stops at the edge of where Lan WangJi plays and just leans against the nearest building, arms folding across his chest, and listens.

WangJi heard the sound of someone approaching as he played, his hearing picking that up even around the notes and vibrations of the strings. He glanced up out from under his lashes, keeping his head perfectly lowered as he played, to see who had approached. A familiar face and not one he would consider a friend at least in this incarnation of his life. But they did have a truce. As long as he didn't tell Daozhang how Song Lan had died... which he hadn't.

Finally...

"I was not aware you had an interest in music."

Not an unfavorable greeting. Especially from Lan WangJi. Xue Yang smirks, rolling his eyes a little.

"Are you an expert on what I'm interested in?" A mild challenge, for this hooligan. He shrugs though.

"It's been a while since I've heard those songs."

As opposed to Jin GuangYao's edited version of the Song of Clarity.

"Not particularly."

No, he was not an expert in what Xue Yang was interested in but considering what he had heard about him and been told, music was never something that had come up. Which meant nothing, considering he didn't often tell people about his warren of rabbits, but they were still there.

"Hmm... We take pride in our music so we practice often."

And practiced the proper version of songs.

Xue Yang doesn't tell just anyone certain things about himself. His love of sweets being one.

...But he is distantly aware that the simple fact of WangJi not drawing Bichen is the other man giving him this chance to hold his side of their truce, and that it probably isn't easy for him.

"Don't let me interrupt," he quips, but doesn't budge. Practically asking the other to play again. That maybe he's another of those who enjoyed the music.

He wouldn't guess that either about him. He certainly wasn't an expert on him and didn't claim to be other than being surprised that he took an interest in music.

It was true. Bichen remained at his side, within reach, untouched. He had agreed to the truce that as long as Song Lan's death was not revealed to Xiao Xingchen, Xue Yang would, in turn, behave himself. As such, there was no reason for WangJi to draw his sword.

WangJi didn't acknowledge his statement except for the fact that he started playing again. This time it was a song for music's sake rather than something that had the ability to do something. Not because he was trying to prevent Xue Yang from hearing. Nothing he was playing could do anything dangerous as they were written. It was just nice to play something musical for a change.

Wen Qing never misses market day; if she isn't here to sell the wares of the apothecary in the stead of the old pharmacist, she is out buying groceries and of course looking for maps or books or magical trinkets which might provide clues for finding a way home.

She carries a basket already half-filled with her groceries when she bumps into someone. She turns, registering familiar white robes.

"Forgive me," she says, head bowed. "I wasn't looking where I was going. I was lost in thought."

Ah. It was Wen Qing. He gave her a nod in greeting.

"No harm done."

He was more resilient than that. Even if it had hurt, he probably wouldn't have mentioned it. It just wasn't his way.

"Are you well after the night hunt?"

"I am, yes, no lasting harm done. It was just a little bit more trouble than we had expected to run into that night. We were lucky there was a great number of fighters to handle the creature."

Too many, maybe, considering how it had led to old enemies running into another who should have better remained unaware of another. Nothing to be done about that now. Remembering the mess with Xue Yang, she fiddled with the sleeve of her dress, self-consciously tugging it lower to hide Zidian on her hand.

"Are you and Wei Wuxian well?"

"Yes. It was a learning experience. We are not used to the creatures that are here."

Back home, they had information that had been passed down from generation to generation. Here, they had information from those unfamiliar with the concept of cultivation which made it difficult at least to start as they figured out the creatures' weaknesses.

"We are well. He is likely still sleeping."

He noticed that she fiddled with her dress sleeve, but he missed spotting that she was trying to hide Zidian, which would have told him so much without having to ask.

"He looked well when I saw him fight during the hunt. That was a relief. It is... difficult here. These different creatures with different traits and strengths." She let some of her frustration bleed through in her voice. "I don't involve myself much with night hunts but I run into similar problems in medicine. It's frustrating. In some ways, it feels like you have to learn things from scratch all over again."

Which must be worse for the fighters; at least she could rely on the medical literature and the experience of the old pharmacist she was working for. Underlying principles based on the four humors rather than yin and yang may have been different but mixing concoctions following a recipe remained the same. There were hardly going to be any wizened cultivators around to school them on how to best use their powers against the local threats.

"I suppose it doesn't matter. I assume most of us won't be staying for long, it will be just a passing frustration."

Edited 2020-03-17 16:59 (UTC)

"Yes, he was doing well. It is good." It was something that he had been worried about, of course, making sure that his friend - his lover - was well-taken care of. He had been keeping an eye on him during the night hunt to make sure that he was doing well. Aside from his method of fighting not doing much, he had been physically been well.

"There are many things to relearn. For all of us. The creatures are different. The herbs might be different or they have a different way of handling them."

"That's true. We can't rely on anything we believe to know about the world... or our own powers, even, as the night hunt last night has proven."

She leads Lan Wangji to another stall, keeping an eye on him while she inspects the apples. They're rather wrinkled, being from the harvest last fall, but she decides they will do and buys some.

"How are you and Wei Wuxian settling in? Do you still live in the tavern?"

"Of course." Their effectiveness at the night hunt had been better than juniors new to being allowed to fight to their own battles, but far below the expected level for a sect leader, the second master of a sect, two other swordsmen of note for different reasons, the former bane of the cultivation world, and a well-known healer. It was expected with new creatures, but still.

He followed after her, watching as she inspected the apples. They did seem to be a bit old, but one couldn't be picky about food. He selected a few to buy as well.

"We are settling in. We have found other accommodations. You?"

Edited 2020-03-27 01:55 (UTC)

"I moved out of the tavern very quickly, I didn't like it there," she says, then admits a little sheepishly, "the innkeeper and I didn't have the best start. I was eager to get out of there."

She gives a little nod, more to herself. "It's good that you have found a place of your own. My employer kindly rented me his guest room above the apothecary. I saw no need to get a house of my own since I planned on staying no longer than a few weeks."

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After night hunt

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around town

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