deercountry | Shen Yuan | November Catch-All

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Shen Yuan | November Catch-All

Who: Shen Yuan, CR group, People who actually want to talk to the weird metal faces . Maybe more to be added later, who knows!
What: Thread starters for people who want to get bogus relationship advice from Google translate; Shen Yuan Starts a Group Chat, TBD
When: Throughout November
Where: Deernet and beyond

Content Warnings: TBD

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...Than When Your Eyes Are Shut [Hallucinations + Sleeper Farm Plot, closed to CR]

Part I. All will be well. [Beginning of November]

It takes Shen Yuan longer than most to feel the effects of the November hallucinations. Isn't he already an old at managing his corruption levels, at keeping his mind and meridians clear, at ignoring or side-stepping information that might make him uneasy? Shen Yuan does not consider himself skilled in that final category, but that just goes to show how many skills ranks in it he really has. It's always there, working in the background, protecting his worldview from anything that might force it to change, to re-examine its assumptions.

And the assumption that he is safe here, that despite the city's hazards nothing will permanently harm him, that he'll never ever have to leave this place or return to the world from whence he came, is especially important to Shen Yuan's peace of mind.

So the first time he hears someone anxious whisper those words, "The Tower is weakening..." he sneers and thinks, 'Sounds fake, but okay,' and that settles that. He doesn't stop others from saying it -- though he does remind the other members of Duty's construction crew to focus on their jobs, not hearsay -- but those words will never pass through his lips. It's a lie, clearly; propaganda or a misunderstanding. The Tower is not weakening. It will not fall. And everything is going to be fine.

Part II. And all will be well. [Middle of November]

Taking a leave of absense from the construction crew is annoying, but Shen Yuan decides to look on the bright side. He's wanted to spend more time cultivating, hasn't he? And didn't he, just last month, have the idea to visit the other places of power in Trench, to meditate and try to bolster his qi with theirs? So isn't this really an opportunity, not a setback?

So he goes on a night hunt with Huaisang and the other two (though not even Never Mind's worry is enough to shake his belief that really, the Tower's going to be fine) and he meditates with Lan Xichen, and he explores the city. A few times he takes one or more of the other cultivators with him, but more and more he finds himself wanting to be alone. The hallucinations are...they're sure not getting any better, and it's getting increasingly hard to look his friends in the eye when gore and insects and strange, crawling plants slither out of their pores to peer back, but. It's fine. He won't give in. He just needs to tough it out. Just tough it out...

Part III. And m̵̖̓̚ą̶̖͋n̶̜͗̊͋͝n̵̯͚̥̆̔ẻ̸̟͒̅̾ṛ̸̭̬͆̾̓ͅ ̶̙̯̌͗̆̓o̷̲̟̒́̚f̵͍̞̮̓ ̴̻̖͋̋̊ṫ̴͚͍̐̇h̷̨͂̆̆͗į̵͇͕̃ṉ̷̰̍̋̏g̷̞̹̟̈́̓̀͝s̵͍̥̹̓͌ will be well. [Beginning of the end of November]

user: refined elegance posted to the Sword Wizards and Mike! group chat --

This blade requires assistance in Crenshaw! Shen Yuan sat down to meditate, and now we are being moved by strangers. I cannot wake him! Please, come at once.

[The location of the Pale Sanctuary is attached -- but no matter how much his friends hurry, by the time they arrive Shen Yuan and Xiu Ya will no longer be there.]

[CW for blood and injuries.]

The Zealots saw little reason to torment this one, not when he had already so effectively locked himself up in his own mind. He didn't even twitch when they picked him and moved him, and the silver sword that appeared in his lap was helpless to do more than bite the hand that touched it. They let it be, for it could not stop them from carrying its Sleeper into their domain. They propped him up in a corner where the floor was grated, chained him to the wall by his neck, and slit both of his wrists, leaving him to bleed out where he lay. Still he didn't move; if it weren't for the slow trickle of sparkling Darkblood that seeped from each nostril, from each ear, from his mouth and the corners of his closed eyes, he might have seemed peacefully asleep. From time to time a Zealot came by to collect the blood with an absorbent cloth, but otherwise they left him alone. Even the chain was intended to hinder rescue attempts, not escape.

As for Xiu Ya, she was in despair.

The other cultivators and Duty had promised their aid, but not quickly enough. She could no longer access the network, and with Shen Yuan insensible, so was she blind and deaf, and mute to everyone but other Omens. She could not even tell if her silent calls for help were being ignored, or if she and her Sleeper were truly alone amongst their enemies. She lay on hot metal by Shen Yuan's feet, feeling his blood slowly trickle out of his body, and cried into the dark.

She would not stop trying. Not because she believed anyone would come, but because it was all she could do.

[he can't see this and not go, no matter his condition. which, at the moment is ...fair to middling with an option on worse. this message could be a hallucination - he can't trust his mind - oh, for fuck's sake, when can he truly trust his mind? the directions are a series of numbers, a recipe for---

---no, no, that's not possible. pigeons roasted in shit is not on the menu, not today, and that one, for now, is easily banished - and vanished, now that he looks at it again - it's just a location.

but one that he cannot reach in time to find anything but the absence of shen yuan. and a series of hallucinations that are harder to dismiss. there are whispers, too.]

The message is too old. That kind of message has one obvious suspect. Having already been a guest of the Blood Crazed Zealots, Duty's aware of the caliber of hospitality Yuan's likely experiencing. Despite an agreement with the zealots, Duty doesn't approach via those channels. This goes outside that agreement, so he steps around it.

His omen slinks out from behind his legs to scout ahead. Cinnabar sticks to shadows, as daylight turns to evening; the rising moon makes up for the fading sun's light. After an hour, she spots a cluster of suspicious mutilated figures, with someone unconscious among them.

Duty accelerates to full speed, and Cinnabar lopes to keep up with him, growing with each step. They crash into the group on the other side of a closing portal like a heavy shield. His spear expands to pierce three zealots. Duty leaps, anchoring himself with one hand on the spear, stabs the closest one through the ribs to pierce their heart, and crushes the middle zealot's skull in with a heavy boot. He lands, pulls the dagger back out, and slits the throat of the third zealot. The fourth lays messily on the floor, their throat bitten out.

Amid it all is the unconscious Sleeper. Their luck he's here. Duty frees his spear, tosses the Sleeper over his shoulder, and makes his way deeper into the stronghold. Through Cinnabar, he sends Xiu Ya a message.

Status?

Duty-shifu? Had Xiu Ya lungs or eyes, she would weep with gratitude. This blade is intact, but Shen Yuan is unwell. This one cannot wake him from his cultivational trance. Begging shifu to take us somewhere safe and alert Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao, that they might assist him. This omen has been unable to access the network since shortly after we were set upon by those fiends.

Along with her words come a stream of emotions too powerful to fully suppress: humiliation is the chief of these, along with fear for Shen Yuan and relief at their narrow escape. Beneath the relief, however, is a solid layer of trust and respect for Duty specifically; with him here, Xiu Ya feels that Shen Yuan's mantra for the month has finally been proven true, and that everything will, in fact, be fine.

But first they need to get him somewhere safe and wake him up.

Unsure how to divide responsibility for the trance, Duty doesn't speculate to Xiu Ya. He hasn't even laid eyes on Yuan yet. Given everything else that has happened this month, Duty would not be surprised if Yuan, at minimum, created an opening for the zealots with his meditation.

You're in the Sleeper Farm, Duty sends back, The Tower. I know the way out. He pauses, not one for empty promises. We are getting out. A bad portent for any who stand in his way.

He stalks through the stalls, Sleeper over his shoulder. As he checks the surrounds, Duty cuts and Cinnabar bites through the bonds of those who are conscious. Leaving someone half freed unconscious will do few favors. They move, even as others trickle away, those that listen flowing upward.

When he finds Xiu Ya and Shen Yuan, Duty doesn't bother trying to wake the man. Even with someone else over a shoulder, Duty manages to bow to the sword. "We'll do as you ask," he says, even as he breaks Yuan free of the bonds holding him.

Let it never be said that Xiu Ya is stupid. 'The Sleeper Farm,' shifu says, and Xiu Ya can easily put that together with the horrifying energies surrounding them, the terrible hunger she'd sensed from the fiend that attempted to pick her up before, and the slow dwindling she's sensed of Shen Yuan's energies. How horrible, she thinks, with a non-corporeal shudder that would most likely make Shen Yuan laugh and call her a princess, were he not unconscious. This is the only amusing thing about their present situation.

Take me up, she begs as she senses Duty and Cinnabar finally draw near. Please shifu, allow me to help. This blade was not made to be helpless!

Very well. Duty secures the first Sleeper to Cinnabar's unnaturally large back. It could be much worse, after all. Keep them safe Duty thinks to his omen. Cinnabar's ears flick—as though she'd do any less. They've taken on responsibility for this person too.

First, Duty tosses Yuan over his shoulder, much as he had the Sleeper before. Then he takes up Xiu Ya, leaving his spear, compressed, at his waist along with his other weapons. "You are far from helpless, Xiu Ya," Duty says respectfully. "You are saving him when he could not save himself, when he could not even ask for aid."

Duty leads the way, maned wolf behind them, back the way they came. Sounds of fighting come from ahead, heavy blunt weapons slamming into bodies, cries of pain and anger, metal ringing against metal... Some of the escaping Sleepers melt to the sides to let them through. This fight isn't like the last, when Shen Yuan forgot himself and Duty and Xiu Ya fought side by side. They don't need to kill every zealot in their way. They only need to get through.

He uses Xiu Ya to force the zealots aside while also shielding Yuan from damage. Some, they block together. Some... he takes a slash across his forearm, a spear to his side, and a punch to his face. It hardly slows him down. The last zealot he sees he smashes unconscious with Xiu Ya's pommel and drags along with them.

"You may guess the requirement to leave," Duty comments as they climb to the final story, the sounds of combat still behind them. It's feeding itself down there. Sleepers freeing Sleepers. Zealots calling zealots. The end, uncertain. He gave them a chance and a choice.

Requirements? Ah. Though she cannot and would not take control of his body as she took control of Shen Yuan's, Xiu Ya has shared in the use of Duty's senses since the moment he took her up and began to wield her. She sees through his eyes, smells blood and scorched metal through his nose. But more than that she can sense the strangely-shaped yet undeniable power that flows through his body, feels his wounds as they begin to knit themselves closed. It warms Xiu Ya to know how fortunate she and Shen Yuan are, to have found such a strong and capable person willing to be their mentor, makes it easier for her to accept what must be done.

It seems self-evident to Xiu Ya that, no matter how strange or even repulsive his methods, knowledge, or company might seem, Duty is an exceptionally powerful, exceptionally righteous cultivator. The kind of person spiritual swords are forged to serve. And so she metaphorically bows her head and says, Shifu should do as he must. This blade is his to wield until my cultivator is safe again.

Duty inclines his head, mentally doing the same, and hums a short note of understanding. Even with her permission to wield her, Duty would not force Xiu Ya to participate in the ritual requirements for freedom. Silently, as they approach the sacrificial chamber, the ritual zenith of the Sleeper Farm, Duty sends through Cinnabar, Only what is required. Only what the zealots give freely.

This zealot does not consent now, but Duty will only use them to pay for passage of Shen Yuan (and Xiu Ya) and the other unknown Sleeper. The zealots are responsible for their presence, so one of their number may pay for their release. For himself?

Duty rests the unconscious zealot on the floor. Though swords are not meant for the greatest precision in these matters, Duty wields Xiu Ya to cut free the appendix and the spleen. Once those organs are removed, he wields flame to cauterize the wounds. These he rests in small bowls not yet placed at the Tower's feet, the central location of his statue surrounded by other similar offerings (unblemished and fresh as when they left their bodies).

Duty then turns Xiu Ya inward. He chose to come, knowing the price, so he pays it. Gritting his teeth, he cuts free one kidney. The wound does not instantly disappear, but it closes itself off. It begins the slow process, one someone he lives with can accelerate. With great balance, Duty hold Xiu Ya parallel to the floor, resting the three bowls—one per Sleeper— on the flat of her blade. When he comes close to the Tower, Cinnabar steps close, her foot stepping on his foot, her tail wrapping around his leg. He offers all three bowls, all three organs, to the Tower.

Space warps around them, and they appear—how fitting—on the Farther Shores themselves. Thankfully, together. "Where can I find the cultivators who can help him?" Duty asks. "Where does Lan Xichen live?"

As Duty carried Shen Yuan and Xiu Ya over the threshold and out of the Sleeper Farm, Xiu Ya discovers with considerable relief that her connection to the network has been restored. She immediately signs into the group chat and makes the following post --

This is Xiu Ya. The situation has somewhat improved; through Duty's valorous actions, Shen Yuan and I have been brought out of the abattoir where we were imprisoned. However, Shen Yuan remains entranced, and this blade still cannot wake him. This one would most humbly beg Masters Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao to come to his quarters within Outpost Haven and lend their aid. This blade suspects they are the only ones in Trench who possess the skill to assist him.

[Xiu Ya is freaking out, you guys. You can tell because she actually used a first-person pronoun, gasp, shock, alarm!]

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Shen Yuan | November Catch-All

No Path is Darker...

Part IV. zalgo.txt

III lateish november

III. Will be Well

Re: III. Will be Well

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Part V. The Lady's Cry