Needed to get into the character's head. I've written enough that it only made sense to post it here.
Antonius Emmanuel Eleanora 44
[Omake]
[The Many Faces of Yahwen]
Yahwen picked up her small blade the way she had seen her father do. Her father had taught her how to make it herself and was even teaching her how to swing it! But the way he taught her and the way he actually moved was different. Hers was all swish and he was all zwing! But everytime she asked him, he told her he'd teach her when she was older.
But she wanted it now! She held her blade up and stood as he stood, then breathed as he breathed. Then she swung at the training post. Zwing! She did it! She couldn't help but laugh out loud. Then the training post split in half and her eyes widened as her father entered the room at the same moment. "Daddy! I didn't mean to cut it, I swear!"
Her father looked at her blade and then at the training post with wide eyes. He turned around and left, to her panic. "Dear! Come quick!" Yahwen's eyes widened.
Oh no, he was calling mother.
| | | | | | | | | |
"Are you certain she performed the technique?" The old man asked. Yahwen wasn't sure what to think of him. He felt weird and made her parents act weird around him. "Many parents misjudge their children's potential. Not everyone has the eye of a master."
"Yes, sir." Her mother replied with a bow. "My husband was in the army and I was part of the sect's serving staff in my youth. We have both seen the young masters perform with our own eyes."
The old man sniffed and turned to her. "Well, let's see it then."
Yahwen frowned. She didn't like him but when her mother gave her The Look, she quietly turned to the training post and swung. Zwing! The training post got cut in half just like it had last time. She looked up carefully. She really wasn't going to be punished…?
The old man's eyes had widened and her mother looked proud which made her happy. "She's the real thing," He whispered as he looked at her and then at the training post with a strange look. Then he turned to her mother. "Let me present her to the Duke. I will train her as befits her talent."
Her mother frowned but yahwen tell that she was faking it. "I couldn't possibly give away my daughter like that..."
"Your husband will be accepted into the royal guard," The old man immediately replied. "And I will ensure that there is a spot open for you among the Duchess' ladies."
"Ah! I thank the great master for his generosity," She replied, bowing quickly. Too quickly. "That is far more than my humble self deserves."
Something about the old man's demeanour changed at that. "Perhaps," He mused with a frown and then looked at Yahwen with a pitying look.
She didn't like him, she decided.
| | | | | | | | | |
"Yahwen," Her mother asked, face thick with concern. "What have you done?"
"He insulted you." She replied, as she sharpened her blade. It was just a bit dull and she needed every advantage she needed for her duel. "Said that you were just a scullery maid who used me to reach above her station."
Her mother flinched. "But the duke's heir?" She asked, her face white. "Why did you have to start this?"
Yahwen turned to her with a frown. "I couldn't let his insult go unanswered." She explained slowly. "How dare he say something like that about my mother?"
Her mother turned to look at her father and they communicated quietly as they often did these days before she turned back to her. "You have to go apologise." She began matter-of-factly. "What's done is done, but if we're lucky maybe the mistress will forgive us and let us keep our new work."
Yahwen looked at her for a moment, and then turned to her father who avoided her gaze. "No," She finally replied and lifted up her blade. Sharper, with some of the dull metal removed. It would work well enough.
"What do you mean no?" The woman next to her screeched. She ignored her and simply sheathed her blade, standing up to attend her duel. Yahwen felt the woman stand and she turned to see her lift up her hand as if to strike her.
Yahwen gave her a look. The woman froze and Yahwen walked past her. "You are going to lose!" She heard the woman cry out. "You are going to lose and ruin
everything!"
Yahwen didn't look back, but she decided at that moment. She would
never,
ever lose.
| | | | | | | | | |
"Are you certain you want to go through with this?" Her master asked. In that moment, he was just as inscrutable as he had been when he first came to her home so long ago. "Just because you won against the young master doesn't mean you are prepared to face the world."
"Just fight me," She replied, keeping her blade steady in case he attacked. "So we can get this over with."
He looked at her with a stern expression before his eyes brightened and he switched his stance to his personal technique. "You have grown tremendously, Yahwen." He told her, face resolute. "You have mastered all of the orthodox arts to a level I doubt I had even when I was thrice your age but you aren't ready to face the world."
"Even if you say that, I have no challenge here." Yahwen replied, angling her blade to intercept. "This is the only way I can keep going."
"
I am the challenge here." He proclaimed, stepping forward with the speed and deadly precision of a scorpion tail. She could tell that he expected her to be beaten by his personal style.
"No," She whispered back. "You are not."
All things are laid low by heaven's wrath. "
Lightning."
Zwing!
Once more her blade was sharpened.
| | | | | | | | | |
The Young Master of the Viridescent Blade Duchy drew his sword at her. "Yahwen, despite our rocky start I consider you a friend." He replied. "But you need to be stopped. You can't keep going on like this."
"Please." She scoffed. "You are just envious that your father chose me over you."
His face hardened. "He only cares for you as a way to increase his own power." He answered, blade held high. "I need to defeat you, for your own sake."
She sighed. "You can't beat me." She told him, grinning confidently. "You know that better than anyone."
His blade wavered.
She swung.
| | | | | | | | | |
"You would dare besmirch our gathering?" Asked the Cerulean Blade, so much like the heir from her own duchy. His form was so like that of her own clan, with innovations stolen by both sides until there was no difference between their orthodoxy. "I will not tolerate your presence here."
"Speak with blades not with mouths," She replied, flashing a cocky grin. This would be a good opportunity to test her newly completed personal style. "Or is your blade as lacking as your mouth?"
His face turned white.
As rain began to fall, they both charged.
| | | | | | | | | |
"You defeated my son," The Cerulean Duke said, looking down at her with barely restrained fury. "You defeated all of my retainers. Do you think I will let you cross the border after all of that?"
Yahwen felt the pressure from his aura but she held strong. "I challenge you to a duel!" She said, angling her blade towards him. "Let's settle it in the traditional manner."
His eyes widened in the sheer outrage. "You would dare challenge me?"
She smirked to hide her fear. "Would you dare deny my right?" She felt a few presences land behind her, her own duke and various members from both their courts. He couldn't deny her in front of all of them and in a duel she would never lose.
He drew his sword.
She gave him a smug smile.
| | | | | | | | | |
"Damn, you're a good fight." The Axe Fighter said, as he grabbed her hand to pull himself up. "The guys will love you. Up for a drink? I'll pay and we can have another go afterwards."
Yahwen hesitated. "Sure," She replied. "Teach me a few moves as well?"
The man's grin widened. "We'll make a proper axe-user out of you yet!"
She blinked before hefting her sword. "I'll be using my sword."
He blinked before smirking. "You're going to do axe moves with that tiny thing? I've gotta see this. If you can't, you have to buy
me drinks."
Yahwen mentally tallied the money she had on hand which amounted to none. "I'll just have to make that bet," She replied with a grin.
| | | | | | | | | |
"Yo, Yahwen. Are you sure you want to go into Scorpion Territory?" Many-Axe-Smasher asked. "They aren't like your folk or my folk. They can really screw you up."
"It's the only way forward for me." She replied, shrugging at him. "I need a new challenge."
He frowned at her. "Girl, you are absolutely fucked up." He said, before grinning widely. "I guess I'll just have to come with you."
Yahwen froze before giving him a warm smile. "You think you can keep up lugging that heavy piece of metal?"
Many-Axe-Smasher held his axe possessively. "Oi, Barda's sensitive about her weight. Don't talk about that in front of her."
"What happened to Esmerelda?"
"Ah it was heartbreaking, but we had to part ways…."
| | | | | | | | | |
"Smasher!" She shouted, dragging his poisoned body through the desert sand. "Keep it together! We'll be in the Green Dragon Empire soon and we should be able to find an antidote there!"
Scorpion raiders chased them, their stingers moving sinisterly and their feet having no issues in moving through the sand. One caught up to them and stung. Drawing on the experiences from facing her master, she struck his stinger with Lightning cutting it off and leaving him bleeding in the sands.
Unfortunately, it was enough time for them to surround her and Many-Axe-Smasher. She quickly deposited his body on the ground, making sure that Wilhelmina was safe in his arms before turning towards her opponents.
She needed have to kill them quickly. Why didn't she have a technique that let her do that? She glanced at Many-Axe-Smasher and took a deep breath. She'd just need to do the best she could. She absolutely couldn't let him die.
| | | | | | | | | |
"Can you heal him?" She asked the Blue Dragon Physician as she dragged the unconscious axe warrior on to the patient's bed.
The physician looked at her in concern. "Are you sure you don't need any help? You look worse-"
"Can you heal him or not?" She asked, ignoring her shuddering muscles and the way her qi hurt as it flowed.
The woman nodded rapidly. "Good," Yahwen replied, leaning against the wall. "When he wakes up, tell him to go home. I'm out of the scorpion lands and I don't need his help anymore."
"What happened out there?" The physician asked with a frown.
Yahwen glanced at her for a moment. "I
won."
| | | | | | | | | |
The townspeople retreated from her when she came into view. None of the shopkeepers took her money. None of the warriors accepted her challenges. And if she focused, she could sense someone watching her just at the edges of her senses.
She wasn't going to get any food here. Her stomach growled and she suppressed it with a slow breath. She glanced at the road. The next town was supposed to be a day away. Could she make it?
What choice did she have?
| | | | | | | | | |
Once more, the town was avoiding her. She could feel her body weakening despite her best efforts. She glanced at the wilderness. Maybe she could hunt? But she'd never hunted before. Yu had managed that for her or she had just won a meal through a duel. Wouldn't she just become prey to wildlife?
She just had to keep going. The Emerald Blade Duchy was on the path. Home. She could make it. She had to.
She forced herself to move.
If she could just make it to the end.
| | | | | | | | | |
She awoke to a heavenly odor. She jumped up, reaching for her sword before realising that the man in front of her had the aura of one in the Core Formation.
What happened? Who is he?
"I found you fallen on the side of the road," The man explained with a genial smile. He held up a bowl of food. Her stomach growled. "I had been meaning to test a new recipe and you came at the perfect time. Hungry?"
She nodded and nearly jumped on the bowl, a motion he dodged with a quick motion letting her grab it and the chopsticks in his hand. "Glad you liked it," He replied, laughing heartily. "I'm glad you can appreciate it, unlike those Soup fools but you should slurp to show your appreciation! That's just good manners!"
She glanced up at him while eating and began slurping as loud as she could, causing him to laugh. "Let me tell you the story of my enlightenment! 'Our soup is the seas that once nourished the turtle and the heat is the lightning that brings us closer to heaven.' Those soup fools taught me. "But that doesn't make sense! We get nourished by the earth not the sea! You need noodles in there, I told them. Noodles will be the earth! That's when they threw me out and I was forced to study on my own." He shook his head. "Look at me now! As worthy as any of their Soup Lords. You recognise the true beauty of noodles do you not?"
Yahwen nodded, realising that she was crying. "These are the best things that I have ever had."
| | | | | | | | | |
"Will you be alright?" The Noodle Lord asked, as they sat around the fire. She nodded, glanced at the sandy road and flinched. "You don't look like you'll be alright. Can you really make it through?"
She shook her head reluctantly. "I'll guide you." He said, giving her his hand and she gingerly took it. "Come on, don't be scared. One step at a time. Can you make your own tent?"
She shook her head again and looked away. "I'll help you then." He replied. "We'll have to stay here for a while until you are healthy enough to walk."
She nodded. "Thank you."
"Can you cook?" He asked her, causing her to shake her head again.
He grinned. "Let me enlighten you with the secrets of noodles…."
| | | | | | | | | |
Returning home was strange. The Viridescent Blade Duchy felt completely different from what she remembered. She walked up past the road to the Ducal Palace, a crowd forming in her wake and filled with whispers.
"It's Yahwen."
"Is she really back?"
"I heard that she went missing near the end of her journey. I wonder what happened?"
"I heard she duelled a troll."
When she arrived at the palace gates, one of the guards of the old guards looked at her with a strange look. He looked incredibly familiar but she couldn't recognise him. She walked past and bowed to the duke.
Her old master stepped in front of her and drew his sword. "Yahwen, you have returned." He said, his voice strange. "Fight me."
Her hands went to her blade, and as she held it's hilt she found herself unable to draw it. The very thought filled her with dread.
If she'd journeyed throughout the Divided Kingdoms, would proving herself more capable mean she'd have to travel farther still?
She hesitated and her master saw through her as he almost always did. "Yahwen the Bladeless," There was a gasp across the court. "You are hereby banished. Should you attempt to return, you must face my blade."
As whispers began to fill the court, her face turned to the duke who frowned but nodded reluctantly. Her heart sank.
She turned around and left.
| | | | | | | | | |
"Take me as your apprentice."
"No," Said the Noodle Lord as they crossed the borders of the Blade Duchy. He glanced at her belt. "Where is your sword?"
"I - I left it, since I didn't need it anymore." She replied quickly, looking away from him. She turned back to him with a sudden fervor in her eyes. "I wanted to focus on my new love for noodles!"
"Hmmm." The man considered her and sighed. "The answer is still no."
| | | | | | | | | |
"Please, teach me!" She asked him and the Noodle Lord sighed. He paused in his usual reply as he felt a presence he hadn't in a while.
"Soup Lord," He greeted politely and a figure with the aura of a Core Formation Elder appeared out of thin air. "What do you want?"
"You've gotten better, Heathen." The Soup Lord replied. "I require those demon apples you have procured. They are the final ingredient for my new soup recipe."
"They are fit for a noodle!" The Noodle Lord replied. "They will not grace that noodleless disaster you call a soup."
"Then let us duel for it." His eyes flickered to Yahwen. "I can arrange transportation to Qiguai for your apprentice. Surely that would be worth something to you?"
The Noodle Lord scoffed. "She's not my apprentice," He replied. "But I hardly need an excuse to show you the superiority of the Noodle over the Soup, do I?"
Yahwen watched as they dueled, realising that soup and noodles didn't hold enough passion for her as the blade once had. Not enough to duel over ideology like this.
Did anything have that for her anymore?
| | | | | | | | | |
"Are you certain you wish to remain within Pleuron?" The Noodle Lord asked her. "I have to work as a mercenary for the golden devil clan but you can still accompany me if you like."
Yahwen shook her head. "I wish to remain here."
He nodded in understanding. "So be it." He replied. "I have heard from a friend that a skilled warrior of the clan is seeking passage into Qiguai. Perhaps you can meet him and see if you wish to travel with him?"
She nodded. "I'll see."
She doubted she would.
| | | | | | | | | |
"You can cook?" The gruff legionnaire of the thermopylae asked her. She nodded in reply. "Hmm. It's too bad you're an auxiliary. Can't let you go around in the back where the customers can't see you."
Yahwen frowned. "Isn't there any other way I can help?"
He gave her a once over. "You are pretty enough." He replied. "Up for a waitressing job? Five contribution points per hour."
She wasn't really sure how much that was, but she nodded anyway. "Yes, I'll do it."
"Then I'll see you in the morning." The man replied, with a grin she didn't quite like. "Looking forward to working with you."
| | | | | | | | | |
The meeting the Noodle Lord set up for her was hard to make time for between her waitressing and the various jobs she had been taking to fill up her time. Eventually, she just called the person - Antonius - to her work. If he didn't like that, well no huge loss.
When he arrived, he took a seat outside the establishment and began to eat something that made her curious. As she made her way to him she realised what he was eating. "Is that noodles?" She asked him eagerly, despite herself.
He looked up from his meal and smiled. He was young and bronze but something about his size reminded her of Many-Axe-Smasher. "Yahwen?" He guessed. She gave him a grinning nod. He raised an eyebrow. "You work here as a waitress?"
Yahwen glanced down at her outfit. "Yeah." She replied, smile turning sheepish. "I'm trying to get a job as a chef but I don't really have the skills." Or at least, my skills aren't good enough for the owner to hire me.
Antonius shrugged, catching her thoughts. "Sorry, it's not a problem. I've done some waitering myself as an aspirant." He replied, gesturing for her to take a seat. "I just didn't think you would have any trouble getting work as a chef since you're a noodle cultivator of the ninth heavenstage."
Is that what he thought? "I was originally a sword cultivator of the Viridescent Blade Duchy," She explained while pulling up a chair. "I only recently decided to try and learn noodle-making."
"How did that happen?" He asked curiously. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the Blade Duchy wasn't one to let cultivators go - especially if you reached the ninth heavenstage."
"I was supposed to go on a journey to hone my swordsmanship," She replied before pausing.
They left me easily enough, she thought. Though perhaps she can't blame them. You have to abandon a blade that's been broken. Antonius raised an eyebrow again and she blushed. Why did it seem like he was reading her mind? "Since I didn't know how to work or hunt, I ended up basically starving." She admitted.
"And then your master gave you noodles to eat and you liked it so much that you decided to become his disciple?" He finished for her. "It's what always happens in these stories."
"Well, you're mostly right." She admitted wryly,
except for the most important part. "He didn't exactly accept."
Antonius blinked. "Which is why you are having trouble actually working as a chef." He realised. "Why did he refuse, by the way?"
Yahwen sighed. "I was born with Blade Qi, I've always honed Blade Qi and I was even going to pursue the Dao of the Blade. I think that perhaps he doesn't believe I have the dedication to pursue his arts after abandoning mine?"
The brutal honesty seemed to finally throw him off and she wondered if the meeting was over. Then he glanced at the noodles at his table and then back to her. "Noodles?" He asked, pushing his own cup towards her.
She blinked. It was so adorable she couldn't say no. Plus, it interested her.. "I can try it?" She asked hesitantly. When he nodded, she took his chopsticks and took it in with a loud slurp. It was tasty as tasty as the soup lord's own noodles.
As she ate what had been offered to her, she realised that she didn't want this meeting to be over. She might have even made a friend.
She smiled. Maybe this place wouldn't be so bad.
| | | | | | | | | |
Qiguai. It had been years since the plans were made but somehow, they hadn't really seemed all that real to her. Did she really want to go?
She thought of her new friends. Of Corvina, of Xiao Yingzi, of Antonius. They are all such strong people. She wanted to be a part of their lives and ensure that their journey succeeded.
Her eyes went to the sword that she had kept hidden away and she tried to reach for it.
Her hands shook.
She removed it, instead hand going towards the staff she had won in a duel long ago.
She would do what she could.
