What an Immortal Dreams of in Spring
- Thread starter BlackHadou
- Start date
- Original
Nanimani
Probably listening to music
- Pronouns
- She/Her
You know, I'm a bit worried about that write in, because. You know. It's a write in. Might not be intended to write. Not completely against it, but figured I may as well boost a non writein higher.
As to which, what would even be the point if we attacked them? There is a reason we stepped up in the first place.
[X] Call out. Scream. Stop. Don't become like them.
As to which, what would even be the point if we attacked them? There is a reason we stepped up in the first place.
[X] Call out. Scream. Stop. Don't become like them.
I wasn't saying you were being subtle with your implications. I just meant that you didn't outright say "this is not a cultivation quest" beforehand.
Welllllll the OP did outright list "write in" as one of the options and this quest is tagged "bad-decisons" so it should probably be fine.
Spectral Waltz
Scatterbrained Writer
- Location
- Walking the Endless Corridors
[X] Call out. Scream. Stop. Don't become like them.
Can we even move?
Can we even move?
I feel like 'allowed' and 'fine' don't necessarily intersect here...
Last edited:
We can "fight" so we should have enough power to crawl over him.
That option is basically first option of asking them to stop with addition of going over him so we can show our resolve. Or something like that. If we are weak they can still just lift us and mob the guy if they want to, so I'm not super worried about dying here. We do have some goodwill to burn.
That option is basically first option of asking them to stop with addition of going over him so we can show our resolve. Or something like that. If we are weak they can still just lift us and mob the guy if they want to, so I'm not super worried about dying here. We do have some goodwill to burn.
Theaxofwar
Definitely not a Bunny Cat in disguise.
- Location
- Standing right behind you
[X] Call out. Scream. Stop. Don't become like them.
- Location
- France
[X] Call out. Scream. Stop. Don't become like them.
AnonymousRabbit
Rabbit Faced
[x] The only way to stop Wufei's death was to attack.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Call out. Scream. Stop. Don't become like them.
BlackHadou
Bunny-Sensei
You have a maimed arm, a pretty sizeable gash in your side, and cracked ribs. Not exactly good shape, but considering your opposition is the young and the infirm, you can probably make your will known. Every able bodied man and woman is dead, after all. Do you think an eight year old can really stop you?
EnderofWorlds
Kneel, mongrel
- Location
- My Ship of Light in the Cosmos
[X] Put your body between his and the knife.
The Out Of World
Lichte's Brain
- Location
- -
[X] The only way to stop Wufei's death was to attack.
Attack, attack.
Attack, attack.
BlackHadou
Bunny-Sensei
3. The Nightmare that began Spring
BlackHadou
Bunny-Sensei
They said that those who ate the flesh of an immortal were granted the abilities of that immortal. It was an old wives tale passed down through the generations, one with little to indicate whether or not it was true. While there were, of course, stories of it happening, no one could point to one of the current great immortals and say 'that immortal ate the flesh of another'.
"The best target would be the heart."
"S-should I get a bigger knife?"
"Let me. I'm stronger."
The villagers had already started to gather around Wufei's body. The discussion of which organ of his flesh to eat had already come up. It seemed they had settled on the heart.
It all seemed ludicrous. So very, very ludicrous.
Why was Qianyun alive, when all her friends were not? Wufei was the one who had killed them, after all. Just doing nothing would see Wufei die at the villagers hands. They would act, he would die, and her hands would be clean. So very, very clean.
Peering out of half open eyes, her hands were not clean at all. They were covered in blood. Her blood, some part of her brain noted, but to her, it might as well have been the blood of her friends. If she had stepped forward earlier, would they have lived? Would everything have ended for the better?
Did killing Wufei even have any meaning?
"Then perhaps you should understand mortals a little more. Seek me when you have an answer."
Those were the words of Master and Immortal Zhou Seifong. The words turned over in Qianyun's head for only a moment. Then her eyes widened. Wufei wasn't dead. He wasn't even close.
After all. She wasn't dead. Wufei was an immortal, and made of much sterner stuff. If they attacked him with a knife, he would probably kill them all. Easily.
It was a terrible rationality. After all, Immortals did not dwell entirely in the realm of humans. They also resided in the twilit realm where their Qi took the form of mighty animals. Sometimes that realm crossed between this one and that one, but fundamentally, they were meant to be separate.
That didn't mean it was always so. Qianyun blinked, and she caught sight of it. The blue wisps of Qi, that heralded the great tiger.
That tiger would tear them apart if it perceived a threat.
But her limbs did not wish to cooperate. Attempting to push herself off the ground earned Qianyun a yelp of pain. Her ribs ached and her side burned. In comparison to that, her arm was just numb. In truth, the arm was probably the most troublesome injury, but it was also the only one not actually bothering her.
She had to move. Failing that, she could only speak up.
"Stop!" It ripped from her lips like a scream. "Gua Fong. That's enough." Forcing herself even to her knees was a struggle. The boy paused for only a moment, the elderly gathering to help him in his task.
"He killed everyone. I'm going to kill him." Gua Fong's answer was resolute. Too resolute for one of eight winters. Too naive. He raised the knife. "Gramps, help me."
"If you do it, you'll become like him! Do you want that?"
"I don't care! The only way to do anything is to be as strong as them!" The rationality of an eight year old was impossible to pierce, Qianyun realised. It wasn't a matter of Gua Fong's understanding, but rather, that he did not understand that being immortal and being strong were not necessarily the same thing. Alas, that was also the key of all the fairy tales of immortality.
The curse that it was. Like all children, Gua Fong had heard of the immense strength of the immortal masters and assumed that the immortality they shared was the source of such strength. Gua Fong and two elderly men joined their hands, aiming the knife directly at Wufei's heart.
And there was nothing Qianyun could do but watch. After all, they would not survive any retaliation. The immense pressure of Zhou Seifong's presence before had been enough for her to consider taking her own life to be away from it. There was little doubt Wufei was not capable of similar.
In the end…
"Please. Wufei. Show mercy. They know not what they do." It was a prayer thrown on non-existent mercy. The knife plunged down with a trio of cries. Blood exploded from Wufei's chest.
Then his Qi roared, and the tiger formed. A howling beast of blue and white, who lunged forth immediately. Gua Fong screamed.
Blood streaked across the ground. It was immediately clear the arm that had held the knife had been the first thing the tiger had claimed as it pounced, stalking around again to bring forth the ruin of mortal life. The beast's limbs were taught and powerful, and it was only now that Qianyun really appreciated its size; the thing was easily the size of an ox.
Gua Fong's screams rang in her ears. Of pain, and torment, and despair. She could hear cries of terror and alarm, as she forced herself to stand, hand gripping at her side. Pressing her wound got the adrenaline flowing, made her feel alive.
Of the two older men, one might as well have been a smear on the ground. The tiger had bowled him over in its movement, grinding him underfoot. The other was scrambling backwards, a wet trail beneath him.
No one would save Gua Fong, who's only crime had been being young and stupid. It was a terrible truth, that Wufei could have killed them all, easily, without even being conscious.
What a farce this all had been.
The tiger roared, rearing down, ready to pounce. Qianyun let out a hiss, as she threw herself on top of Gua Fong's screaming body.
"Enough! No more death, Wufei!" She screamed. There was only one fact that she could gamble on. One small hope that might yet save her and the young of the village, for she'd already written off the old as set in their ways and about to do something stupid.
Wufei had spared her once. Maybe he would do so again.
The tiger let out a growl, slowly stretching to its full height. Its glare was clear. It had a single desire, wished for a single kill. Perhaps it would add more lives to the list later, but Qianyun was already over it. There were too many bodies that needed to be buried. Too many lives had already been lost, the ground painted in blood and gore.
"Please. No more." Qianyun whispered. "No more killing. Enough people have died." The tiger growled again in response, slowly stalking forward. Qianyun's eyes scrunched shut, anticipating the vicious and violent end of her life.
Nothing happened.
Nothing happened at all. Her eyes snapped back open, and the tiger was gone. Those who survived the vicious slaughter had already fled when it became clear that the immortal was able to fight back while unconscious. The stench of blood and death was all that greeted her.
The streets had turned silent, and the sun was rapidly setting. A day of harvest, lost, and Qianyun knew already that help would be fleeting.
"Someone!? Anyone!? Help!"
There was no help forthcoming. Gua Fong was bleeding to death, and the village had given up on him. Who knew how injured Wufei was, and the village wanted nothing to do with him.
It would be so easy to just discard them. It would keep Qianyun in the graces of what little remained, yet the village of Yi Li had no future right now. There was no future at all.
The only choice, in the end, would be to leave, and soon. The coming summer would not be plentiful of food, and winter would almost certainly be the end.
It was a sobering thought, and all Qianyun could think of, was that Wufei was perhaps the only key.
"Bastard tiger. You could at least help." She hissed, pulling Gua Fong over her back. He was heavy. Maybe too heavy. It was so very difficult to get on her feet, panting at almost every step. Blood left her mouth in a coughing fit. Maybe she wouldn't make it after all.
A growl rang out, and the tiger of Qi formed beside her, offering her it's back. She took a moment, just one moment, before letting out a breath, and draping Gua Fong across it's fur. She had no choice; even if the tiger intended to murder him, she couldn't carry him home on her own. A moment of struggle later, she'd managed to drape Wufei over its back in the same fashion.
Pain. It was painful. She coughed again, blood splattering on the ground. Was she going to die?
The tiger growled gently, rubbing her side with his nose. The pain didn't fade, but the next cough merely was full of snot, not blood.
"Thank you." She whispered. "Come on." Home. That was the only place she could go now. Even so, there wasn't exactly a lot of filled houses left. Half the village, easily, would be empty.
What a miserable realisation.
Qianyun's house was small, made of wood and covered in thatch and straw. There was a small sand hearth in the corner, left unlit, and a few candles she could use for light. She ignored those.
Normally the lamp was saved for special occasions, but she needed it now. The girls she'd lived with were all dead. Raiding their clothes for makeshift bandages was easy. Gua Fong's face was pale, and he'd clearly lost coherence.
Binding the wound was hard, but the blood flow had stopped. The wound was seared, as if by acid. As if his spirit had rotted away and the flesh had burned away with it.
"Jiu. Jiu. Damn it, where is it?" Clearly no one put anything back in its place. It took entirely too long to find the alcohol, and even longer to find the willow bark. She tore off a strip with her teeth, making her way back to Gua Fong's body, pale and still like a corpse. His breaths were short, small, ragged.
His tunic was stripped away immediately, as she covered the bandages in alcohol and started wrapping. The boy screamed, but she just shoved the bark in his mouth, the piece too big to actually fit in.
"Chew." Qianyun ordered. Gua Fong kept screaming. "Chew, Gua Fong. It'll take the edge off."
It took so very long for him to obey. So very, very long. In comparison, when she finally got to Wufei, it was so very easy to dress his wounds. There were only two, after all, a sharp stab wound on his breast that had already thinned to a small, red line, and a huge gash along his back.
He hissed at the touch of alcohol, but otherwise didn't stir. In the end, he was so much easier to deal with then the brat of a boy that'd almost got himself killed.
Not that she could talk. Qianyun was well aware she was injured. Her arm barely obeyed her commands. The attempt to flex her fingers left her hissing in pain. All she could do was wrap the wounded limbs and pray.
Pray. It felt like she was doing a lot of that lately.
The red moon greeted her, and she knew tomorrow was going to be miserable.
In the morning…
[ ] Food was the first order of business. There was no one else to attend to the harvest. You would have to try.
[ ] Seek help from the town folk. One of them had to be willing. You hoped.
[ ] Rest. Wait. It was painful and miserable, but someone had to keep an eye on Gua Fong.
[ ] The woods nearby were home to many medicines. Hopefully one would help. If only you could remember which you needed.
[ ] Write in.
"The best target would be the heart."
"S-should I get a bigger knife?"
"Let me. I'm stronger."
The villagers had already started to gather around Wufei's body. The discussion of which organ of his flesh to eat had already come up. It seemed they had settled on the heart.
It all seemed ludicrous. So very, very ludicrous.
Why was Qianyun alive, when all her friends were not? Wufei was the one who had killed them, after all. Just doing nothing would see Wufei die at the villagers hands. They would act, he would die, and her hands would be clean. So very, very clean.
Peering out of half open eyes, her hands were not clean at all. They were covered in blood. Her blood, some part of her brain noted, but to her, it might as well have been the blood of her friends. If she had stepped forward earlier, would they have lived? Would everything have ended for the better?
Did killing Wufei even have any meaning?
"Then perhaps you should understand mortals a little more. Seek me when you have an answer."
Those were the words of Master and Immortal Zhou Seifong. The words turned over in Qianyun's head for only a moment. Then her eyes widened. Wufei wasn't dead. He wasn't even close.
After all. She wasn't dead. Wufei was an immortal, and made of much sterner stuff. If they attacked him with a knife, he would probably kill them all. Easily.
It was a terrible rationality. After all, Immortals did not dwell entirely in the realm of humans. They also resided in the twilit realm where their Qi took the form of mighty animals. Sometimes that realm crossed between this one and that one, but fundamentally, they were meant to be separate.
That didn't mean it was always so. Qianyun blinked, and she caught sight of it. The blue wisps of Qi, that heralded the great tiger.
That tiger would tear them apart if it perceived a threat.
But her limbs did not wish to cooperate. Attempting to push herself off the ground earned Qianyun a yelp of pain. Her ribs ached and her side burned. In comparison to that, her arm was just numb. In truth, the arm was probably the most troublesome injury, but it was also the only one not actually bothering her.
She had to move. Failing that, she could only speak up.
"Stop!" It ripped from her lips like a scream. "Gua Fong. That's enough." Forcing herself even to her knees was a struggle. The boy paused for only a moment, the elderly gathering to help him in his task.
"He killed everyone. I'm going to kill him." Gua Fong's answer was resolute. Too resolute for one of eight winters. Too naive. He raised the knife. "Gramps, help me."
"If you do it, you'll become like him! Do you want that?"
"I don't care! The only way to do anything is to be as strong as them!" The rationality of an eight year old was impossible to pierce, Qianyun realised. It wasn't a matter of Gua Fong's understanding, but rather, that he did not understand that being immortal and being strong were not necessarily the same thing. Alas, that was also the key of all the fairy tales of immortality.
The curse that it was. Like all children, Gua Fong had heard of the immense strength of the immortal masters and assumed that the immortality they shared was the source of such strength. Gua Fong and two elderly men joined their hands, aiming the knife directly at Wufei's heart.
And there was nothing Qianyun could do but watch. After all, they would not survive any retaliation. The immense pressure of Zhou Seifong's presence before had been enough for her to consider taking her own life to be away from it. There was little doubt Wufei was not capable of similar.
In the end…
"Please. Wufei. Show mercy. They know not what they do." It was a prayer thrown on non-existent mercy. The knife plunged down with a trio of cries. Blood exploded from Wufei's chest.
Then his Qi roared, and the tiger formed. A howling beast of blue and white, who lunged forth immediately. Gua Fong screamed.
Blood streaked across the ground. It was immediately clear the arm that had held the knife had been the first thing the tiger had claimed as it pounced, stalking around again to bring forth the ruin of mortal life. The beast's limbs were taught and powerful, and it was only now that Qianyun really appreciated its size; the thing was easily the size of an ox.
Gua Fong's screams rang in her ears. Of pain, and torment, and despair. She could hear cries of terror and alarm, as she forced herself to stand, hand gripping at her side. Pressing her wound got the adrenaline flowing, made her feel alive.
Of the two older men, one might as well have been a smear on the ground. The tiger had bowled him over in its movement, grinding him underfoot. The other was scrambling backwards, a wet trail beneath him.
No one would save Gua Fong, who's only crime had been being young and stupid. It was a terrible truth, that Wufei could have killed them all, easily, without even being conscious.
What a farce this all had been.
The tiger roared, rearing down, ready to pounce. Qianyun let out a hiss, as she threw herself on top of Gua Fong's screaming body.
"Enough! No more death, Wufei!" She screamed. There was only one fact that she could gamble on. One small hope that might yet save her and the young of the village, for she'd already written off the old as set in their ways and about to do something stupid.
Wufei had spared her once. Maybe he would do so again.
The tiger let out a growl, slowly stretching to its full height. Its glare was clear. It had a single desire, wished for a single kill. Perhaps it would add more lives to the list later, but Qianyun was already over it. There were too many bodies that needed to be buried. Too many lives had already been lost, the ground painted in blood and gore.
"Please. No more." Qianyun whispered. "No more killing. Enough people have died." The tiger growled again in response, slowly stalking forward. Qianyun's eyes scrunched shut, anticipating the vicious and violent end of her life.
Nothing happened.
Nothing happened at all. Her eyes snapped back open, and the tiger was gone. Those who survived the vicious slaughter had already fled when it became clear that the immortal was able to fight back while unconscious. The stench of blood and death was all that greeted her.
The streets had turned silent, and the sun was rapidly setting. A day of harvest, lost, and Qianyun knew already that help would be fleeting.
"Someone!? Anyone!? Help!"
There was no help forthcoming. Gua Fong was bleeding to death, and the village had given up on him. Who knew how injured Wufei was, and the village wanted nothing to do with him.
It would be so easy to just discard them. It would keep Qianyun in the graces of what little remained, yet the village of Yi Li had no future right now. There was no future at all.
The only choice, in the end, would be to leave, and soon. The coming summer would not be plentiful of food, and winter would almost certainly be the end.
It was a sobering thought, and all Qianyun could think of, was that Wufei was perhaps the only key.
"Bastard tiger. You could at least help." She hissed, pulling Gua Fong over her back. He was heavy. Maybe too heavy. It was so very difficult to get on her feet, panting at almost every step. Blood left her mouth in a coughing fit. Maybe she wouldn't make it after all.
A growl rang out, and the tiger of Qi formed beside her, offering her it's back. She took a moment, just one moment, before letting out a breath, and draping Gua Fong across it's fur. She had no choice; even if the tiger intended to murder him, she couldn't carry him home on her own. A moment of struggle later, she'd managed to drape Wufei over its back in the same fashion.
Pain. It was painful. She coughed again, blood splattering on the ground. Was she going to die?
The tiger growled gently, rubbing her side with his nose. The pain didn't fade, but the next cough merely was full of snot, not blood.
"Thank you." She whispered. "Come on." Home. That was the only place she could go now. Even so, there wasn't exactly a lot of filled houses left. Half the village, easily, would be empty.
What a miserable realisation.
Qianyun's house was small, made of wood and covered in thatch and straw. There was a small sand hearth in the corner, left unlit, and a few candles she could use for light. She ignored those.
Normally the lamp was saved for special occasions, but she needed it now. The girls she'd lived with were all dead. Raiding their clothes for makeshift bandages was easy. Gua Fong's face was pale, and he'd clearly lost coherence.
Binding the wound was hard, but the blood flow had stopped. The wound was seared, as if by acid. As if his spirit had rotted away and the flesh had burned away with it.
"Jiu. Jiu. Damn it, where is it?" Clearly no one put anything back in its place. It took entirely too long to find the alcohol, and even longer to find the willow bark. She tore off a strip with her teeth, making her way back to Gua Fong's body, pale and still like a corpse. His breaths were short, small, ragged.
His tunic was stripped away immediately, as she covered the bandages in alcohol and started wrapping. The boy screamed, but she just shoved the bark in his mouth, the piece too big to actually fit in.
"Chew." Qianyun ordered. Gua Fong kept screaming. "Chew, Gua Fong. It'll take the edge off."
It took so very long for him to obey. So very, very long. In comparison, when she finally got to Wufei, it was so very easy to dress his wounds. There were only two, after all, a sharp stab wound on his breast that had already thinned to a small, red line, and a huge gash along his back.
He hissed at the touch of alcohol, but otherwise didn't stir. In the end, he was so much easier to deal with then the brat of a boy that'd almost got himself killed.
Not that she could talk. Qianyun was well aware she was injured. Her arm barely obeyed her commands. The attempt to flex her fingers left her hissing in pain. All she could do was wrap the wounded limbs and pray.
Pray. It felt like she was doing a lot of that lately.
The red moon greeted her, and she knew tomorrow was going to be miserable.
In the morning…
[ ] Food was the first order of business. There was no one else to attend to the harvest. You would have to try.
[ ] Seek help from the town folk. One of them had to be willing. You hoped.
[ ] Rest. Wait. It was painful and miserable, but someone had to keep an eye on Gua Fong.
[ ] The woods nearby were home to many medicines. Hopefully one would help. If only you could remember which you needed.
[ ] Write in.
AnonymousRabbit
Rabbit Faced
[x] Rest. Wait. It was painful and miserable, but someone had to keep an eye on Gua Fong.
Recuperate then move.
Recuperate then move.
ApocalypticFish
Been reflecting lately.
[X] Seek help from the town folk. One of them had to be willing. You hoped.
I may change my vote later, I'm a bit out of it, but I feel like this could be informative, if nothing else.
But then again they didn't help us with Gua Fong earlier so, well. Might decide that this isn't actually as useful as I thought it was.
I may change my vote later, I'm a bit out of it, but I feel like this could be informative, if nothing else.
But then again they didn't help us with Gua Fong earlier so, well. Might decide that this isn't actually as useful as I thought it was.
Spectral Waltz
Scatterbrained Writer
- Location
- Walking the Endless Corridors
Oh man I totally misread the situation at the end of the last post. Not that I think I would have necessarily changed my vote...
[X] The woods nearby were home to many medicines. Hopefully one would help. If only you could remember which you needed.
The harvest will keep for a day or two at least, these concerns are more immediate.
They kinda ran away because of the tiger, they may have stayed away out of fear.
[X] The woods nearby were home to many medicines. Hopefully one would help. If only you could remember which you needed.
The harvest will keep for a day or two at least, these concerns are more immediate.
Nanimani
Probably listening to music
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Food was the first order of business. There was no one else to attend to the harvest. You would have to try.
Obligatory harvest vote
Also, the vote looking for medicine seems to... not know what it's looking for? Which seems unhelpful. I suppose it's "Which you needed" that she doesn't remember, so at least she's not gonna pick up something that isn't medicine at all, but whether it's helpful would be... Hm.
Obligatory harvest vote
Also, the vote looking for medicine seems to... not know what it's looking for? Which seems unhelpful. I suppose it's "Which you needed" that she doesn't remember, so at least she's not gonna pick up something that isn't medicine at all, but whether it's helpful would be... Hm.