openmisc | Pagan/Huaisang

"I don't know," he says, smiling softly. Of course he's not going to give him a straight answer, he wouldn't be Nie Huaisang if he did.

"Where are we headed now?"

"The top of the mountain, as I said. The valley will stretch below us. I wanted you to see it. Do you need a break?" he wonders. "We can sit a while."

He taps the fan again, this time in his palm, and shakes his head. "No, I think I can keep going, as long as you're still up for it. You're an old man, after all."

Pagan eyes him, but if he gets too close, he's getting slapped on the wrist with the sword again.

"Keep up."

It's the third or fourth smack that finally earns Pagan a Nie Huaisang whine. "Aiya, stop hitting me! I'm not doing anything wrong!"

He huffs and stomps off the path, finding a nice rock to perch himself on top of to have a little rest.

Pagan laughs. "You are the one who is walking off in a huff," he reminds him, leaning against a nearby tree. "So you must suffer the wrath of it."

Nie Huaisang crosses a leg over a knee. He smooths his hands over his trousers and smiles primly. "I don't suffer. I can pay people to do that for me."

He pauses. There's a slight sound that echoes over his shoulder, but he doesn't think anything of it. There could be any manner of beasts in this place.

"I'm certain you - " He hears it, too, and turns, tilting his head. He doesn't hear that sound in this place very often. In fact, he can't remember hearing it at all.

"A-Sang," he mutters, gripping the other man's shirt.

The worry in Min Pagan's expression is worrying, and usually any sort of danger would lead to the typical Nie Huaisang panicked coward act, which typically threw most people off and led to them completely disregarding him. He never really concerned himself with actual danger; either the people around him would step in to save him, or he'd cleverly find a way to stay out of the crossfire.

But he doesn't want to act today. For whatever reason, and maybe it's Pagan's very firm insistence that he sees right through the mask, he decides that maybe a different Nie Huaisang can come out to play.

He hears the noise again, a growl this time, and stands up. He's far shorter than Pagan, but he doesn't try to hide behind him, rather choosing to stand side-by-side. "What is that?"

"Tiger, but - " He cocks his head to the side. "Her cubs, too."

Which means they are well and truly fucked. Pagan can easily defeat the fierce corpses that showed up at his doorstep.

An angry mother tigress and potential mate are far more deadly.

A tiger and her cubs - that's not the most encouraging answer. Nie Huaisang squares his jaw, the nerves finding him, and reaches for Pagan's arm.

"We could run, but she might give chase." And then they'd be even more fucked.

"She will," he answers confidently. "Or her mate will be just out of sight on our way back." He takes a breath. "But if you run, I will defend you."

Nie Huaisang only considers Pagan’s proposed plan for half a second before he’s shaking his head and stepping forward. “That’s not what we’re going to do.”

He glances quickly to his left and right and then begins to draw in the sand and dirt with his foot. The array isn’t complicated, but he does seal it by grabbing onto Pagan’s sword and slicing his hand open. A bright blue glow emanates from his hand as he slams the bloody palm into the center of the array, the lines in the sand glowing and then blasting backwards. He stands up and moves into attack position, waiting to see if the tigers were deterred by the protective array or not.

Pagan doesn't pull away as he grabs the sword, watching the array with raised eyebrows.

"There you are," he mutters, standing back, out of the way of a potential attack, but readying his sword.

The tiger makes herself known, jumping through the bushes, roaring at them both. She might have run, but maternal instinct makes her stay and fight.

The tiger still thinks they’re a threat, and Nie Huaisang quickly realizes they’ll need to think of a safe way to retreat if she won’t back down. He’s not murdering a tiger and leaving her cubs orphans.

There’s a lot of dirt and sand on the path. He eyes it and then stomps his foot forward, knocking a bit of it into the air. He does it again, and again, and again, waving his hands up and then around quickly to direct the dust up into the air in front of them.

“Now we run,” he tells Pagan, grabbing his arm and booking it back down the path while they’re still masked.

He's relieved that he went that route; Pagan also had objections to orphanage those cubs. But he doesn't say it. He runs with him, throwing a mark behind them to slow the dust, to keep it in the air longer.

He leads him down a different path, down to the valley instead of towards the palace. If she pursues, he won't draw her to his people.

He isn’t sure if the tiger is giving chase, he’s just running - it’s what he’s good at. He follows Pagan down that secondary path, hoping that it does lead to a dead end.

Along the way he throws another spell in the path, one that will confuse the tiger (or any other creature) if it passes through it.

Pagan leads him down into the valley, on the other side of the mountains from their home. There's a road that he walks, reaching back to Huaisang to ensure he isn't lagging behind.

"Come. There is a village up ahead. We can wait her out."

Nie Huaisang keeps up easily with Pagan, though his attention is also on the behind them. He's fairly sure they're safe now though, and that the mother tiger was only protecting her home and her babies from intruders. They're out of her territory, so all should b well.

"Does it have an inn?"

He's fairly certain they're safe, but it's been a long day and he wants to make certain of it.

"Not of the sort you know. There is a home I can stay in, though."

"A home? You share a home with one of the village families?" he asks, not quite understanding.

There's a lot he doesn't understand quite yet about Min Pagan and his grip on this area of the world.

"There is no sharing. It's my own little hut. They keep it there empty for me as I'm sometimes traveling this side of the mountain," he explains. "This is a village of a few farming families who live together."

"Of course it's your own little hut," he says with a quiet laugh. He should have known. Pagan, sleeping in a guest room or on the floor of someone's barn? It would be unthinkable!

It does lead him to another question. "Are you on this side of the mountain often?"

"Not too far out, but yes. These people benefit from what we make on the mountain and we benefit from the food they grow," he explains as they start to come across large wooden huts with thatched roofs, domesticated sheep and chickens, and the occasional child who runs back inside upon seeing them.

He can't tell if the children are scared or if they're just shy. Nie Huaisang smiles to himself as they walk through the small village, simple but clearly still thriving. It reminds him of some of the small farming villages outside of Qinghe.

"It's quiet down here."

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