[X] Be prepared to take Xiulan out for some fun, whether in commiseration or celebration
[X] Mother has had some time to settle, so you should spend some more time with her, and see if she needs anything
[X] Sixiang will be casting off their physical form soon enough, and you have had some fun. See if there is something the spirit would like to do before they go?
[X] Plan Music & Darkness Tutors SLP Weeks
Hanyi will never grow up while she's with her mother. Ever.
She must be cast out, or given to someone else's care.
[X] Mother has had some time to settle, so you should spend some more time with her, and see if she needs anything
[X] Sixiang will be casting off their physical form soon enough, and you have had some fun. See if there is something the spirit would like to do before they go?
[X] Plan Music & Darkness Tutors SLP Weeks
Well, the Sun is constant and dominant after all."Well of course," he replied, sticking out his tongue childishly. "If I was direct, I'd be one of those hard nosed, pushy sun spirits, you know?"
At this rate Xiulan and Meizhen might stage an intervention after the tournament lolLing Qi huffed and didn't respond, so what if she wore somewhat somber colors, that didn't make her gloomy. Besides, there was no point in wearing anything else given the quality of her gown.
...She resolved not to express that to Xiulan, lest the other girl drag her out for emergency shopping. Then again, that too was something that had faded, it was difficult to match the almost fanatically driven Xiulan of today to the one who would spend time frivolously poking around a tailor's shop.
People want ventilation! Especially in the kitchen!While she did have the key, Ling Qi did not want to alert the spirit, and so instead of the door, she crept around the perimeter until she found an open window, leading into the kitchen. Such things could usually be relied upon, it seemed, even in a cultivator house.
This house needs hugs.From the moment that she entered the building, the faint sound of sobbing had reached her ears, unending and uninterrupted, save by an occasional snippet of feeling-that-became-words.
Where have you gone…
Ling Qi simply grit her teeth though, doing her best to ignore the grief pressing down on her like the cold pressure of a lake in winter.
Come back, please!
It was hard though, as the visions in the corner of her eye grew more numerous, the indistinct figures of people going through the motions of daily life, happy and sad. It made it difficult to not jump when one of the sightless wraiths would pass right by or through her. A child chasing a ball, a proud woman sweeping down the hall, trailed by the images of handmaidens, men deep in arguments, their words garbled beyond recognition.
Please do not leave me…
Hmm, looks like FSS is how Yukionna feed?The mouse let out a strangled squeak and twitched violently then, frost spreading across its fur and skin as it visibly withered and blackened in the little spirits grasp, like a corpse left to freeze on a mountaintop. Hanyi let out a delighted sound, and Ling Qi caught the slight shimmer in the air as she breathed in the stream of heat that arose from the beasts remains. "Hehe, don't tell Momma I was snacking before dinner, okay Big Sister?" Hanyi said, looking up at her as she tossed the remains aside carelessly. The carcass landed in a heap of snow with a soft sound, disappearing from sight.
Zhengui is being far too much like Ling Qi. Heh"...Sure," Ling Qi said, she supposed it wasn't the weirdest thing she had ever seen. "Have you been getting along with Zhengui?" She asked, in an effort to change the subject.
Hanyi pouted, crossing her arms. "He's being a big jerk-y head," she huffed. "He keeps saying he's too busy to play. 'Cause he has to beat up an eel. I don't get it. I'm way more fun to play with than some doofy eel."
Ah, it looked like Zhengui might have taken to training with Heizui a little too well. "I'll have a chat with him," Ling Qi said. "About not neglecting his friends."
Tsun~"He's a big jerk," Hanyi sniffed, eyeing her suspiciously. "I just want my sled back, it's not cause I miss him or something."
Ooo, yeah that sounds like her nature to be forever alone would have forced her to eat even her own child eventually.She flicked her sleeve in dismissal of the words. "Once I might have scoured the mountain clean to remove the presence of a beast like him, but it no longer bothers me," she replied. "But… I cannot say that seeing my daughter with so joyful in the presence of another does not… vex me in some ways," she added, her voice growing dark.
Ling Qi shifted uncomfortably as the temperature dropped. "...Will it be a problem?"
"I will not let it be," Zeqing replied, her blood red lips curving down in a frown. "I am not as I was. The same instinct which demands that her joy be in me alone are the ones which would cause me to devour her as well. Humanity is a vexing thing, bringing such uncertainty."
And that sounds like the hook has been established and the speculation proven right."I do not," Zeqing replied. "Yet… I know one day I will need let her go," Ling Qi flinched at the icy wind that cut through her defenses, chilling her to the bone the moment those words left the spirits mouth. "That is the human thing to do, is it not?"
Ling Qi shivered as the snow and ice slashed through the air around her, leaving only the mother and daughter spirits untouched. "...Maybe," she admitted. "Do you think that would help her?"
"She will not ever be more than she is, if she remains," Zeqing replied, her soft voice audible over the shrieking wind. "And that no longer seems as acceptable as it was. Did you know, that before I began teaching you, the thought of teaching my daughter never crossed my mind as more than an idle fancy, to pass the nights?"
The wind was quieting down, thankfully enough, the snowfall growing slower and gentler. "You seem very proud of her progress though," Ling Qi said, looking over at them.
"I am," Zeqing replied. "And such is my conflict. I wish to see my daughter mature, but she cannot do so with me," the spirit sounded as if those words physically pained her, and well… perhaps they did. "Do you understand my meaning, Disciple Ling Qi?"
Hanyi will never grow up while she's with her mother. Ever.
She must be cast out, or given to someone else's care.
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