fracturarpg | intro log.

Entry tags:

! intro

intro log.

welcome mingle

( AND SO IT BEGINS. )

There's nothing but the clatter of train tracks, and the odd feeling of almost floating.

When you wake, it's hard to tell exactly what it is that you're missing - only that you are. There are pieces that aren't quite right, even if you're not sure where those pieces would normally be. Pieces of what, exactly....? Well, if you had to put a word to it, it would be - yourself, probably.

The place you've found yourself in is strange, certainly. It's probably worth exploring a bit. Though it just as easily seems that the only form of welcome or explanation that you have, comes from nothing more than a slab of marble.

Well - that, and all the people who seem to have woken up alongside you, lost and also probably Doing Their Best™.

There's no need to fret that much though. It's hard to say exactly where you're going next, even though some places might feel a little bit more like a clue, but what you do know is one unshakeable thing:

There's still much more ahead of you.

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[Wei Wuxian rushes to catch up and, after a few seconds of realizing he won't be allowed to escape so easy, he slows down to a stop. A curt look is given to the flute and then up at Wei Wuxian.]

I'm supposed to trust someone who doesn't respect the boundaries of this place with my own boundaries?

[It's so obvious he is not a simple young boy, but he won't ever commit to admitting it.]

[Why won't he just admit it, good lord!! Anyway, shamelessly and without any hesitation:]

Yes! [He didn't even try to deny that he tramples all over boundaries... But he'll sigh somewhat sulkily, pulling back a little to give Haku some space.]

I haven't been able to play a proper dizi in a while, is all - but if you really don't want to listen, that's fine. I'll just ask for your audience later when we've become proper friends!

[He has Decided this now.]

[Is this how Jiang Cheng has felt all the days of his life?

Again, he regards Wei Wuxian and then the flute, looking dubious. For gods' sakes. He wonders how Lan Wangji puts up with this man really. (Don't answer that.)]

Fine. Play. But I'm going to continue looking around. [A pause. His eyes narrow.] Do not play anything out of the ordinary.

[He has a feeling it might still be a bad time--for him.]

[yeah welcome to Jiang Cheng's specific hell. i'd say Lan Wangji's too but he enjoys being subjected to Wei Wuxian's wildass whims and doesn't count.

In any case, being 3 years old at heart, he's also very easily mollified!]

I won't, I promise! You can tell me to stop whenever and I will, too! Haha, indulging me now isn't going to get you out of being my friend, though.

[In case he thought he was being SLY... Anyway apparently Haku's just going to have a traveling bard accompanying him while he shops, playing a theme song for him. He does keep any energy out of the song itself, true to his word! And he's quite good at playing because gremlin as he is, Wei Wuxian is unfairly talented. He plays a light, jaunty, folksy tune - something he'd probably picked up by ear listening to other musicians by the lake on those lazy summer days in Yunmeng.]

I don't understand why two of you have already insisted on being friends.

[This is the worst traveling bard. Well, not in the ability to play, just in being Wei Wuxian. Irritatingly, the man is very good at the flute, and Haku is lacking in what he thought was going to be an excuse to yell for Wei Wuxian to stop. Ugh. The initial worry of whether or not he was going to bust out in dragon form dissipates.

He carries on like he said--first, placing the basket down so he can squirrel things back to it if he finds anything; second, wandering. Occasionally, he keeps giving sort of sour glances in Wei Wuxian's direction. He still wants to be annoyed by the flute, but there's...

Honestly, the tunes are pretty good, and he hates that. Anyway, there's one way he knows already to get Wei Wuxian to stop playing, and that's to give Wei Wuxian an opportunity to talk.]

Does every cultivator learn to play an instrument?

[Because FRIENDSHIP. Not that he responds to the statement with more than a grin. He's too busy toot tooting the (not so magic right now) flute!!

Though wow yeah Haku's got his number already. He pulls Chenqing away at the question, twirling it lazily between his fingers.]

Not every one, but it's common. Instruments are one of the spiritual tools that are easiest to use. There are entire sects who base their cultivation around music! The Lan, for one.

[Also the knock-off Lans, who we don't talk about.]

[Hmm. In the moment of reprieve afforded to him, he gives Wei Wuxian a sort of long, studying look. It's not really questioning, just... thoughtful.]

Spirits can feel the sounds. Some are attracted to it. Even where I'm from. Bells supposedly, like the ones found at shrines.

Most humans have forgotten how to see spirits, but some of them use music to communicate.

Huh! Is that so? Makes sense, makes sense. We have a lot of bells in our range of tools, too.

[He thinks very briefly of one in specific, and moves on just as fast.]

What about you? Do you like music, bells, things like that? We usually play with a purpose in mind - to guide a spirit home or ask questions or whatever else, but it would be nice if some of them just enjoyed listening to a good song now and then.

[Stop, don't regale him with your good cultivating deeds. Let him steep in his suspicion!!]

Have you ever asked? The spirits who come to the bathhouse usually enjoy song and dance. The workers sometimes have to provide it at the spirit's request--if they pay. [Haku, this is not answering Wei Wuxian's question at all. Or doing any more than teasing about being a spirit.] Across the river is a small town with food vendors and other things.

If they aren't eating at the bathhouse, they eat there, and then they take the ferry over to relax.

[LOOK!! CULTIVATORS ARE FINE NORMAL PEOPLE except for the demonic ones.]

I haven't, nope. Unfortunately I'm not very well-versed in the language they speak. [Certain ones anyway?? He can't Inquiry for shit he can only talk to the undead.] I'll have Lan Zhan ask them the next time he plays!

[Despite the fact that Haku is dancing around all of his questions like a wee footed punk, Wei Wuxian doesn't seem all that bothered by it, either.]

It sounds lively! Reminds me of Lotus Pier! There really is nothing better than a good street vendor and some nice music in this life or the next, haha.

[Lan Wangji would die before summoning spirits for inquiry and off-handedly asking them if they liked and enjoyed music, wtf. Haku will simply never know the answer, it's fine.]

Lotus Pier?

[They haven't even exchanged names yet?? and here they are, holding a handful of random information about each other. Unfortunately, Wei Wuxian is stuck never knowing any names of Haku's land because Miyazaki doesn't believe in real life.]

[CONSIDER ALSO THOUGH, Lan Wangji has a very hard time telling him no.

Tragic that Wei Wuxian will never know this mystical bathhouse by its name, he's just gonna call it Yubaba's Mystical Bathhouse now. But like the stupid scrub he is, he definitely sounds a little softer, a little fonder, when talking about his old home. It helps that he was just yoinked from his favorite tree in Lotus Pier...]

Mm, in Yunmeng! It's where I grew up. Lakes and rivers as far as you can see! The entire city was surrounded by water, so we would get all of the best foods from the other cities. We also had our fair share - fresh watermelons and the fattest pheasants you've ever seen! Almost every lake was full to bursting with lotuses, too, of course.

[Haku is already mostly "stopped," but he really does stop at that. It's not a very sudden motion. The usual straight-faced or sometimes sour expression is replaced by--amazing--gentle surprise. He stares in Wei Wuxian's direction, but through the man at something else.

Wow, for a moment there, it felt like the pinprick of something he can't recall was there. Almost like when a word is on the tip of your tongue. Must be indigestion.

He blinks it away a few times and then again keeps going as if he hadn't stopped at all.]

The land near the bathhouse is covered by water, and it stretches on forever. Taking the train is the only way to travel unless you know how to swim or fly. At night, the only dry land between the town and the bathhouse fills with water. You can only be cross by ferry. Anyone human who doesn't leave before nightfall will disappear.

[He watches Haku experience memory indigestion in quiet curiosity, but doesn't pry, perhaps surprisingly. Sometimes you gotta know what things to be an irritant about and what things to just let go... for the time being.]

Hm! So even the spirits in your world have a train... We really are a bit behind, haha. [He's gonna go home and invent trains, no one can stop him.] Pity for the humans who get tangled up in that, though. Imagine going to a bathhouse only to disappear! Not very relaxing.

[He hop-skips a step, sliding Chenqing back into place. Conversation is more fun, even if he does love a receptive audience...]

What about the spirits at the bathhouse? Do you ever get to go into town? Is it fun on that side? Humans can be tedious, so maybe not - especially if you already have your own night markets and food stands!

[Well, the look of indigestion is a thousand times better than the look of emotional constipation he gets shortly after. This time, he doesn't stop walking along, but he glares ahead of him like he can't recall something important. He murmurs, "Someone..." but then that's it.

Hm!]

No. The stairs leading to the river is as far as I can go as Yubaba's apprentice. [Suspicious.] I'm allowed to travel to other places on the bathhouse side. The places the train can go, all the way down to Zeniba's swamp.

[Hm indeed! This time he does speak up, if only by canting his head curiously to the side and parroting the word back.]

Someone...? [HM. Also yeah that's sketch as hell and his nose wrinkles a little.]

You really can't go past that point? I've heard some apprenticeships are strict, but that sounds terrible. I'd feel like a prisoner if I were so limited!

[A little on the nose but, y'know.]

Studying at Gusu was a little like that. No going past the wall, no walking around after 9 o'clock, no fighting, no this, no that. Three thousand rules, that's how many they had there! I hope you don't have to deal with that, at least.

[The initial nosy question only gets him to shake his head dismissively. It's less he is guarded enough to not talk about it and more... he just... he can't put his finger on it. There's someone...? Who? Anyway.

A bit on the nose.

Glancing up, he sort of gives Wei Wuxian a look. There's definitely differences he doesn't think Wei Wuxian would understand, but it's... similar.] Yubaba has rules like anyone else. As the owner of the bathhouse, she makes them, and they have to be followed. [So follow the rules, WEI WUXIAN.]

Hopefully you followed all those rules.

[He arches a gentle brow but lets the topic slide. Alright dragon, keep your secrets.

BOY THOUGH Haku... Boy. He's immediately laughing like the terrible gremlin he is, waving a dismissive hand.]

Of course not! Three thousand wasn't an exaggeration, you know. Broke a bunch my first night there when I went into town for a drink!

[THE MAN CAN'T KEEP WEI WUXIAN DOWN.]

That was how I met Lan Zhan, actually - he was in charge of disciplining rule-breakers. We got into a fight when he caught me sneaking back in, haha. But you know, some rules are just pointless! How does anyone even have the time to sit down and come up with three thousand of them? I think they added an extra thousand since the last time I was there, too...

[Shaking his head!!]

Surely even that bathhouse isn't so strict. I think I would die on the spot knowing there are two places like the Cloud Recesses out there!

That sounds about what I gathered from you.

[Yeah, that's about what he expected out of Wei Wuxian. A nasty goblin rule breaker. Good thing he's not a nasty goblin rule breaker either.............]

Sometimes, you have little choice but to follow the rules.

[His voice sounds a bit softer, a whisper rather than gentleness. He doesn't look at Wei Wuxian when he says it, like before when pointedly calling Wei Wuxian out about something. Which is telling within itself.]

[Yeah he gives off the exact impression of someone people who care about the rules would find nightmarish. IT HAPPENS.

But that really is different, huh. It's enough to get Wei Wuxian to give him a considering look, quiet and thoughtful. Then, folding his hands behind his head and looking toward the ceiling a million miles overhead:]

Yes, that's true. [Sometimes the consequences for not following the rules are rough as hell!] Though I can't say I know many people who are happy when they're in those kinds of situations! Can't blame them.

[Briefly, he glances back over one shoulder, not expecting Wei Wuxian to agree with him so easily. It sounds like experience maybe, but Haku doesn't pry even if he's curious, even if he knows Wei Wuxian will probably talk.]

Following rules is a small price to pay. [It's fine not being somewhat happy if there's nothing left for you?] Yubaba makes sure no one breaks any of her rules.

If she takes your name, you're under her control. It's a contract.

[Is that fine! Is it!!

In any case, he just shakes his head, sighing a little.]

People like that are just the worst! I don't doubt she has to twist everyone's arms and take names to get them to stay in line, she probably has a terrible personality. [Wei Wuxian, looking deadass in the eyes of a powerful sorcerer: ur bad and have no friends.]

—Does she have yours too, then?

[Though he doesn't laugh outright, there's a bit of a smirk on his face Wei Wuxian can see as he turns the corner to go down another aisle slowly. Yeah, Yubaba is pretty worst.]

She's a powerful, greedy sorceress who can have a temper when things don't go her way.

[His eyes glance back at Wei Wuxian for a second, but that's all. Listen, if dancing around the subject is as much give as he can have to annoying Wei Wuxian back, he'll take it.]

She has the names of everyone in the bathhouse.

Not surprising, not surprising at all! Terrible.

[JUST TERRIBLE. Also attempting to annoy Wei Wuxian is like trying to fill a bucket with a hole in it DON'T WASTE YOUR ENERGY HAKU. He just hums a little aimless note, soft and lilting. Then, curious:]

Is it something you want back?

[Look, he ain't gonna stop trying because Wei Wuxian deserves it. Being nosy and awful. And, later no doubt, all in his personal space.]

She can be sometimes. Like I said, she also gives demons a place to stay and work that earns money. Her bathhouse offers spirits a reprieve.

[He's not stanning Yubaba, but!! There's more to her than simply being an evil bwitch.]

The only way to get your name back is to not forget it in the first place. You have to remember it and protect it. If you forget who you use to be, you won't ever have any chance of breaking the contract.

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givethemhell - 2019-12-07 01:57 (UTC) - Expand

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