( the first moon cycle met familiar and master with some trial and error: finding out how far (not very) they could be from each other at any given moment, learning as that distance increased as xie lian adjusted to their awakened bond and the fluxes of magic not his own. in this time, xie lian did manage to acquire clothes that actually fit hua cheng, simple robes in a red that suited him, the black edging a natural accent that fit with his hair. "ah it suits san lang so well!" xie lian had said, hands smoothing the fabric at his shoulders briefly before peering up at him, beaming. and then he'd felt his face flush and he'd looked away, making one last neatening adjustment before stepping back.
throughout it all, xie lian has continued his normal daily life: going around collecting discards from the local and also neighboring towns' people, everything from scrap paper (for spells or even recipes) to wood or too old fruit or vegetables. once or twice, especially at the time closer to hua cheng's awakening, the sick feeling was enormous and even though xie lian didn't show it outwardly, he was reminded each time that hua cheng knew anyway; that's how their bond works, after all.
in a new moon cycle, some of the growing pains of their bond have already smoothed out, and although they can be farther apart without discomfort or even pain, they are most often together. xie lian understands that hua cheng prefers it this way, given both his role and his feelings, and if xie lian lets himself be selfish he can admit it silently to himself: he prefers it too, even if he also does not want to trouble him.
aside from collecting others' trash or discards, xie lian has been slowly taking odd jobs. they sometimes pay in small amounts of money or food or other goods, and xie lian isn't picky. even with his magic sealed and his fortune dispelled, he is yet a magic user. it is a permanent aspect of his make, body and heart. ruoye helped before, and now hua cheng helps a great deal. where xie lian's qi is not enough, he finds himself even more grateful for these two.
but sometimes he thinks it would be better if he had taken a request alone.
today is one of those times.
the request had been to take care of what the local townspeople thought of as a haunting, and they weren't exactly wrong. ghosts, low level but still trouble especially for non magic users, but released in waves that were too specific to be random. for xie lian, having never met the rumored night touring green lantern, he does not even now realize he knows very well who this is. indeed he had not known of him at all until recently. but none of that really registers as xie lian's footfalls come to the briefest pause. the system of caverns used to be mined for some kind of ore and other resources. the walls glow incandescent in a way that might be beautiful if there weren't so much blood staining many surfaces.
at the center, where someone once sat or perhaps still sits sometimes, a statue sits with its wrists bound behind its back.
ascended magic users are as close as this world might come to something like gods, capable of more than ordinary mortals but not inhuman, still living, though in xie lian's case unable to die. a fact he does not actively think about unless pushed to it. but their magic is read as a kind of guiding pillar at its height. it is only natural when such a person is branded and banished, that the misfortune that fell on those who flocked to his image, would then blame him for that misfortune. once regarded as a "prince" among magic users, flower crowned, known for walking barefoot everywhere and people would say that flowers bloomed under his steps, a path paradise bound.
building statues to funnel their disappointment, their hate, their bad luck, anything of ill, into, was an act of desperation.
xie lian doesn't blame them.
but he doesn't want hua cheng to see it.
the second his eyes recognize the stone figure ahead, he grabs hua cheng's sleeve to forcibly swing him around. it's not subtle, and he's not trying to be. even now, as much as xie lian wants to redirect them, he doesn't invoke what he could with hua cheng: the obedience of a familiar to its master. he has no interest in such a thing when instead he could have hua cheng's trust and love given of his own accord. but the hand curled in hua cheng's sleeve trembles slightly as he tugs, smiling only about half as he peers up at him, trying to pull him at the same time. )
( familiar verse | statue of misfortune )
throughout it all, xie lian has continued his normal daily life: going around collecting discards from the local and also neighboring towns' people, everything from scrap paper (for spells or even recipes) to wood or too old fruit or vegetables. once or twice, especially at the time closer to hua cheng's awakening, the sick feeling was enormous and even though xie lian didn't show it outwardly, he was reminded each time that hua cheng knew anyway; that's how their bond works, after all.
in a new moon cycle, some of the growing pains of their bond have already smoothed out, and although they can be farther apart without discomfort or even pain, they are most often together. xie lian understands that hua cheng prefers it this way, given both his role and his feelings, and if xie lian lets himself be selfish he can admit it silently to himself: he prefers it too, even if he also does not want to trouble him.
aside from collecting others' trash or discards, xie lian has been slowly taking odd jobs. they sometimes pay in small amounts of money or food or other goods, and xie lian isn't picky. even with his magic sealed and his fortune dispelled, he is yet a magic user. it is a permanent aspect of his make, body and heart. ruoye helped before, and now hua cheng helps a great deal. where xie lian's qi is not enough, he finds himself even more grateful for these two.
but sometimes he thinks it would be better if he had taken a request alone.
today is one of those times.
the request had been to take care of what the local townspeople thought of as a haunting, and they weren't exactly wrong. ghosts, low level but still trouble especially for non magic users, but released in waves that were too specific to be random. for xie lian, having never met the rumored night touring green lantern, he does not even now realize he knows very well who this is. indeed he had not known of him at all until recently. but none of that really registers as xie lian's footfalls come to the briefest pause. the system of caverns used to be mined for some kind of ore and other resources. the walls glow incandescent in a way that might be beautiful if there weren't so much blood staining many surfaces.
at the center, where someone once sat or perhaps still sits sometimes, a statue sits with its wrists bound behind its back.
ascended magic users are as close as this world might come to something like gods, capable of more than ordinary mortals but not inhuman, still living, though in xie lian's case unable to die. a fact he does not actively think about unless pushed to it. but their magic is read as a kind of guiding pillar at its height. it is only natural when such a person is branded and banished, that the misfortune that fell on those who flocked to his image, would then blame him for that misfortune. once regarded as a "prince" among magic users, flower crowned, known for walking barefoot everywhere and people would say that flowers bloomed under his steps, a path paradise bound.
building statues to funnel their disappointment, their hate, their bad luck, anything of ill, into, was an act of desperation.
xie lian doesn't blame them.
but he doesn't want hua cheng to see it.
the second his eyes recognize the stone figure ahead, he grabs hua cheng's sleeve to forcibly swing him around. it's not subtle, and he's not trying to be. even now, as much as xie lian wants to redirect them, he doesn't invoke what he could with hua cheng: the obedience of a familiar to its master. he has no interest in such a thing when instead he could have hua cheng's trust and love given of his own accord. but the hand curled in hua cheng's sleeve trembles slightly as he tugs, smiling only about half as he peers up at him, trying to pull him at the same time. )
Let's try another direction, San Lang.