Aaron/Huaisang - Early

[creeksidealtarboy]

He was simply Aaron when his boat landed on the coast. He remained only Aaron when he was pulled from the small boat and taken to a healer, who found him not only alive and breathing but strong and capable. He was taken in by a clan, a strong clan, one of rules and laws and principles, and Aaron began to thrive there. He doesn't talk much, chooses to smile and fake his way through most interactions, but he proves himself to be a diligent student and learner. He spends his time reading or practicing, and they assess that he isn't too far behind his peers. He will catch up eventually.

But there's the matter of his appearance. He's an odd child, fair of skin and hair and eyes. He's been able to prove himself with his own clan, but that doesn't mean that the others will think the same of him.

Comments

[creeksidealtarboy]

Aaron sighs and follows after him. "That isn't the right section," he tells him, reaching out to take his hand.

[threedontknows]

"Mm? Ah." He lets Yalun drag him over to wherever the correct section is - he knew he'd spent a lot of time here! "Are you familiar with Daoist magic? Or are you more proficient in martial arts?"

[creeksidealtarboy]

"Both," he answers with an appropriate amount of time. "I was a fighter before I came here."

[threedontknows]

He picks up a book from the shelf and opens it up, flicking through the pages slowly as Yalun lets slip that interesting piece of information. "You were a fighter before being adopted by the Lan?" he wonders, appropriately awed.

[creeksidealtarboy]

He nods. "I had to be," he answers, which would be odd, considering his age. He doesn't seem to acknowledge that fact.

[threedontknows]

He's not naive, he knows about hardships that some children have. Some lose their parents and don't have a devoted older brother to take care of them.

"You were a street tramp," he says quietly.

He suspected. A foreigner winds up in a strange land getting adopted by a cultivation clan doesn't just happen.

[creeksidealtarboy]

He looks away, too ashamed to agree but unable to lie.

"There are other texts," he says quietly instead.

[threedontknows]

He frowns quietly as Lan Yalun turns away from him. He's embarrassed, and Nie Huaisang understands why that might be, but this isn't the first time a sect has taken on an orphan. He must not know about Wei Wuxian.

"Have you met the Jiang yet?"

[creeksidealtarboy]

"I haven't," he answers, reaching back to take his hand so he will follow.

[threedontknows]

Nie Huaisang looks at the hand skeptically before he places his into Yalun's. "Sect Leader Jiang has three children. Two were sired by him. One, the eldest boy, was not."

He pauses for a second before he continues. "He's their star discipline, but he began life as the son of a servant. Both parents died very tragically. Sect Leader Jiang found him and took him in, and raised him as his own. His name is Wei Wuxian."

[creeksidealtarboy]

"Oh. I've heard that name," he remarks lightly, leading him through the stacks until he reaches up to take another down for him.

"Here."

[threedontknows]

"He's a handful, but the Jiangs love him very much." Well, most of them do. Jiang Furen always looks like she wants to throw Wei Wuxian into the lake, but the others love him! So the Lan must love Yalun too, and it doesn't matter that he was a street tramp.

[creeksidealtarboy]

He swallows hard. "You're supposed to be reading this," he tells him firmly.

[threedontknows]

He can do two things at the same time, but he can tell Yalun is uncomfortable so he shuts his mouth. For now. He starts flipping through the books again, talking to Yalun as he goes about his work.

"Oh, I've read this one - the spell isn't in here. It should be in a text that also has spells to reveal hidden things, like ghosts or curses or monsters." He picks up the next book and walks past Yalun as he opens it and reads as he walks around. "Ooh, this is closer, I think."

[creeksidealtarboy]

He purses his lips a little, but follows after, his hands folded in front of him. He's skeptical about this moment, about this magic, but he wants to stay focused and not let his mind wander.

...he knows that isn't his new friend's (friend?) strength. He presses against his arm so he can try and read over his shoulder.

"What did you find?"

[threedontknows]

Nie Huaisang looks through the book, and yes, the spells are closer to the one he (they?) need, but it isn't quite what he had in mind. He sets the book down and picks up a scroll, not minding one big that Yalun's gotten closer to him.

"This might have it. Have you ever drawn an array before? We'll have to craft one. We'll need cinnabar, probably, incense..." He unfurls the last bit of the scroll and smiles at the illustration he sees - two men, one in the process of turning into the other. "This must be it."

[creeksidealtarboy]

He grips his arm a moment.

"And the way to reverse it?" Aaron is nothing if not pragmatic about these sorts of things. He doesn't want to be Nie Huaisang forever.

The rest of it, though, he knows how to find. With everyone distracted, it would be easy to take and -

He feels a twinge of guilt about doing it, but that doesn't seem to matter as much as the way that Huaisang is looking at him.

[threedontknows]

"Step back into the same array," he says simply, having scanned it only the once. He's exceptionally lazy when it comes to most things, but when Nie Huaisang wants something...well. His enthusiasm is boundless then.

"What do you think?" He closes the scroll and turns to him excitedly. "Should we try it? I can draw the array, I'm really good at those."

[creeksidealtarboy]

He seems unsure for a moment, but his friend's enthusiasm is infectious.

"Well. Alright."

He doesn't sound certain, but there's a resiliency to his tone. He's committed to doing this, so that means that he's going to do it.

"I'll get what we need. We can meet - " He looks over his shoulder. "Do you recall how to get to my home?"

[threedontknows]

He should say that he doesn't remember, but truthfully Nie Huaisang does remember. He doesn't forget a thing, especially the home of someone who had been kind to him.

"That way?" he says, pointing east. "Next to the Blade Hall?"

[creeksidealtarboy]

He tries not to look surprised.

"Yes, that's right. Meet me there and I'll have what you need. The house should be empty right now." And for the rest of the day. And tomorrow. And every day after.