Pagan/Huaisang

[crab_rangoon]

"Ah! No, no. I don't need to send the messenger. Just let me go," he tells the guards at the gates, waving them away as he walks straight through with his sword at his side, his entourage behind him. They walks in with their white robes, though Pagan is in red and black, and he breathes in the Impure Realm. He hasn't been here since the death of the Nie clan leader, but he's been aiming to check on their newest leader. It's been a dark time for them, for all of them, but he still feels more than a twinge of affection for the boy.

Well, man. He's been a man for several years now, but it doesn't seem like anything has changed.

Still, he promised he'd continue to offer support, so he walks on, ignoring the protests of the guards.

Comments

[crab_rangoon]

He smiles, letting them slip into silence before he stands, mounting the horse again and waiting for Huaisang to do the same.

It's his turn for a story, so this one involves candles, involves a deranged man who was going around lighting candles throughout the realm and leaving them there with no indication as to why.

"We never found him!" he laughs as the afternoon turns to evening.

[threedontknows]

The story is entertaining and mysterious enough - like the storyteller himself - that Nie Huaisang is properly distracted as they leave the region under the control of the Qinghe Nie. There are smaller clans here and there that call this place home, but none with the kind of influence of the Nie or the Min.

He raises his head a little as he surveys the path ahead of him, still smiling from the story. “I think you make these stories up, Gan-ge.”

[crab_rangoon]

He shakes his head. "Of course I am not making any of this up!" he protests. "In fact, I am more truthful than I have ever been! Now, let me tell you of the doctors that I sent from my lands for being far too loyal to someone else!"

He laughs as they walk, taking the trail slowly not because he's worried about Huaisang, but because he's enjoying his company. But night soon comes.

"We can press on here and be there by morning," he tells him. "Or we can stop."

[threedontknows]

Nie Huaisang wouldn't mind pressing forward, but he can feel that his body is growing tired. It won't make for a pleasant arrival if he makes it to the Min home and hasn't had any sleep.

"We can make camp," he says quietly. "This isn't an area known for trouble."

[crab_rangoon]

"Not in a while," he mutters, remembering when he and Huaisang's father had been here in this spot, young and wild together, and faced off against three fierce corpses side by side. Pagan had been surprised at his companion's ruthlessness, but it cemented them as friends once upon a time.

He nods. "I will let you choose our spot."

[threedontknows]

The spot just needs to be far away enough from the road and under the cover of trees in case it rains. He gestures to the vague area he thinks might be a decent spot and gets off his horse to guide it off the road.

Out in the wild they'll need to set up arrays; it's not smart to sit without certain protections this far away from a village.

[crab_rangoon]

He doesn't have to worry about that with Pagan. He's already scanning the ground for the easiest protection, the best way to keep an eye out just in case. He forms the first array towards the north, where the road was.

"Take the south, if you please," he sings out to Huaisang.

[threedontknows]

“Yes, Sect Leader Min,” he replies cheekily, looking at the stars to guide him into proper formation. He finds the right alignment and then draws the array, connecting it with Pagan’s to the north.

He heads back to their campsite and takes care of feeding and watering the horses.

[crab_rangoon]

He snorts, muttering swears under his breath. Kids these days...

Pagan makes a fire, boiling some of the water.

"Do you want to try something new?"

[threedontknows]

"Not usually," he teases, sitting down by the fire after hitching the horses to a tree for the evening. "What kind of something new?"

[crab_rangoon]

"Mm, you're better than that," he laughs. "It's called chikki." He takes a pouch from inside of his pocket and holds it out to him. Inside is a brittle, made of sweet syrup and peanuts.

[threedontknows]

He laughs along with him. They both know he enjoys new things, even if he makes a fuss about sticking to the old. He's not his father or his Da-ge, blind to everything but their own traditions.

He takes the sweet and carefully takes a bite. "It's like tanghulu," he says, or at least the crunch of the sugar is. He smiles and has a bigger bite, chewing thoughtfully. "You've been keeping these good things to yourself."

[crab_rangoon]

"It is, but you use nuts instead of fruit," he agrees. "And I keep nothing for myself. If the world deserved it, then perhaps I would share it."

But he likes seeing him light up. Delighting in it.

"There are plenty of other surprises along the way."

[threedontknows]

They both know the world doesn't deserve anything as good as this delicious peanut candy. It's fickle and cruel and destroys anything remotely lovely in it.

"Hopefully the surprises are as good as this," he says, sucking on his thumb and forefinger. "I don't think I've had something that delicious in a while."

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan nods once, quickly averting his eyes from Huaisang and off into the woods. "That is only what would travel with me. There is plenty more to behold. But you should sleep."

[threedontknows]

"Are you going to actually sleep this time?" he asks, bringing his arms up over his head in a slow stretch. He waits until his joints pop and then sighs, lying back onto the grass with his arm underneath his head. "We're safe - unless you're not confident in your array, Gan-ge."

[crab_rangoon]

"Ah, such biting words," he scoffs with a smile. "But yes, I do plan on sleeping. Close your eyes and it will be morning yet again."

[threedontknows]

"Yes, yes," Nie Huaisang laughs. "I'll be happy to be in a bed again. I hope you have feather pillows, I'm very particular."

He rolls onto his side, watching Pagan's face from his position on the other side of the fire. He smiles a little and closes his eyes. "Go to sleep, old man."

[crab_rangoon]

So bossy. But Pagan does lean back and relax, one arm behind his head, staring up at the stars until his eyes close and he finally falls asleep.

He doesn't think that he's going to be able to rest, but he does, eventually blinking at the early sun.

[threedontknows]

He doesn’t fall asleep immediately, instead listening to the crackling of the fire and the chirping of the insects. He drifts off with the smallest of sighs, and wakes long before Pagan does at the sound of an exotic-sounding bird. He leaves the camp to hunt down said bird, wanting to at least lay eyes on it before they go. He knows it would be impractical to try to catch it.

The bird’s nest is in a nearby tree, and Nie Huaisang moves quietly through the brush until he’s at the base of the trunk, listening with a smile to a chatter.

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan wakes in the cool air, turning to find Huaisang gone, out of the influence of the arrays.

He grumbles, pushing himself up, and picks up his sword before trekking through the forest to find him.

[threedontknows]

He thinks he understands the tone of the bird’s calls, and attempts a soft whistle to mimic it. He waits a beat, then attempts again when the bird doesn’t immediately flee. It responds with a quiet whistle and Nie Huaisang grins.

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan can hear birdsong among the forest and he sighs, indulgent, slowing down as he smiles. He lets him be, lets him do what he wants, enjoying the sound of it.

But something stops him short. A whisper of cold, of death, the stink of decay and despair and resentment.

Pagan draws his sword and runs.

[threedontknows]

Nie Huaisang goes back and forth with the little songbird, whistling and chirping along with it until things grow oddly silent and still. The slow roll of yang energy, dark and twisted, hits him like a breeze. He can feel it in the air, but his golden core isn't strong and his senses are slow. He realizes it too late that something evil is near.

[crab_rangoon]

Pagan, on the other hand, is honed and strong and fierce. He rushes past Huaisang in a blur of red and black, his sword going through the corpse heading for him and pinning the creature to the tree. He leaves the sword there and lands a kick on another, landing gracefully on the grass as he surveys their ambush.

"Back to the camp, A-Sang," he says firmly, his fingers drawing in the air to repel the monsters with magic.