Standing outside the entrance of a place called the Cloud Recesses is a new experience that Merlin certainly has to chalk up to his books. Spell gone awry. That's just how he's going to explain anything. So he crosses his arms and leans against a tree, waiting for someone, anyone to let him into the place. Maybe they have a means to get him home.
When rumors begin to circulate that there's an unknown person hanging around the entrance to Cloud Recesses, Lan Sizhui doesn't think much of it at first. He continues on with his duties, doing everything he can to ignore the whispers, focusing for as long as possible on his calligraphy until curiosity gets the better of him. Sizhui knows he probably shouldn't, but where's the harm in checking it out? Grandmaster Qiren will handle it and before that, he at least wants to see what the fuss is all about.
The man standing in front of the gate really, truly is a complete stranger, though.
He hesitates initially, worried about revealing himself on the off chance it's some bizarre trap, yet the tiny, inquisitive voice niggling at the back of his mind somehow kicks him into gear and his feet are moving before he can second-guess. With the magical barrier between them, it feels safe enough standing only a few feet from Merlin, though he's still just staring rather than greeting the man properly.
He puffs out a breath. All right, he's been in worse situations. There's
got to be people that live here, right? There's a gate, he's heard people
on the other side of the gate therefore people live there.
Merlin pushes himself off from the tree and rolls his shoulders. Okay,
Merlin, you've got this. He rubs his hands together and rolls his neck,
drawing on the magic from deep within him, feeling it activate and flow
into his hands. He turns to face the gate, hands raised to take down the
barrier, when he sees a young man on the other side.
"Oh."
Intelligent. Surprised. Merlin gives a smile.
"Hello. There. Ah." He lowers his hands. "Are you the master of this place?"
Good thing Sizhui's decided to show himself at this moment. If he hadn't, who knows what could have happened? Some stranger waltzing into Cloud Recesses could've been terrible and honestly, he doesn't want to imagine someone having that sort of power. (He's been taught here, he knows what happened the last time they were invaded in the past and it wasn't good.) Although, to be fair, how does he know this person is here to cause trouble?
He doesn't, that's exactly why he's attempting to have an open mind. Still, it's odd, questionable, and right now, he feels like this is definitely a ‘better safe than sorry’ situation.
‘You shouldn't be here,’ is what he wants to say, but given the fact he didn't understand what the man said, it's likely he won't be understood, either. Sizhui glances toward Merlin's hands, blatantly anxious by the motion and what he'd been planning, then he upturns his attention again, eyes narrowing with skepticism.
“I'm sorry, I don't understand.” Which in and of itself is pretty useless, yet is more than enough of a response to reveal he, too, is speaking a different language.
Suspicion. Always a good thing. Merlin opens and closes his mouth,
listening to what the young man says. Ah. Chinese. Ancient, by the sound of
it. He holds up a finger, as if signalling the young man to wait a moment
then reaches up and tugs on his left ear, then his right, then snaps his
fingers on both hands.
"I suppose it would be much easier if we spoke the same language, now
wouldn't it?" he asks, in what he hopes is the young man's language.
All white. Long robes. A sword by his side. He must be a cultivator.
Something he hadn't encountered just yet. His smile turns a little sad as
he remembers another person in white with a sword always by her side.
It's something that has helped save peoples' lives countless times before, after all, of course he'll continue being suspicious so long as the need for it arises. He tilts his head sideways, patiently waiting to see if the stranger continues speaking despite not being understood, but he stops, holds up a finger instead, prompting Sizhui to tighten his own mouth a little more. Okay, well, that's an odd gesture, followed by another equally peculiar motion with his other ear and then—
Sizhui can't help gasping softly when he's able to understand him all of a sudden. Magic? Is he some kind of foreign cultivator? They've talked about such things, though never once in his life did he think he might encounter one. “Yes...” he lets himself trail off momentarily, raises his own hands, dispelling the barrier long enough to step past it.
The white is present, certainly, there's a distinct lack of a sword at the moment, however. See, he'd assumed it was someone from his home, someone who might've gotten lost and needed directions elsewhere, but this... this is something different entirely. “How did you get here?” Business before pleasure and all.
"A pleasure to meet you, my lord. I'm not quite sure how I got here,
honestly. I was at home for a moment, minding my own business, perusing
through some curated goods that --"
Oh! He smacks his own forehead. Of course! He pats down his coat before
pulling something out, a dark blue handkerchief, to be exact. He unwraps it
and holds it out to the young master of wherever this place is. Broken
pieces of jade that seemingly fit together into some kind of token with
some worn silk strands tied to them.
Sizhui quickly returns the gesture after circling his arms in front of himself, the tips of his ears flaring with embarrassment toward his discourteousness. “The same to you,” he murmurs. “My apologies, I didn't mean to be so rude. My name is Lan Sizhui.” Ordinarily, he would've said so right away, but the arrival of a stranger, especially one he can't understand, is a bit stupefying if he's being frank.
He listens, eyebrows lifting with faint surprise when the man slaps himself in the forehead. Is he missing something here? What's he reaching for? His whole body tenses, readying for a weapon of some sort, but the object Merlin produces isn't anything like that. Sizhui's head tilts sideways, eyebrows drawn together and lips pinched, considering the broken pieces of the jade token before him. This... sort of changes things now.
After offering an outstretched hand, “May I have a closer look?”
How cute. The young lord is blushing. Merlin tilts his head, taking in
Sizhui's robes before looking over his own clothes. It would help if he
blended in.
"Oh of course, my lord."
Merlin carefully hands the handkerchief over to the young man in white. As
soon as he does, he brushes the shoulders of his own clothes, transforming
them to
match the era a bit in dark blues and reds.
"Is the token familiar to you?"
It's then when he notices that a similar pendant hangs from the young man's
belt.
He isn't cute, he's— well, okay, he is, although that's not the point here at this moment in time. There are more important matters to attend to.
“Please, just ‘Sizhui’ is more than fine.” Thank goodness, he hasn't attained such a high title yet.
Taking the item in both hands, Sizhui gingerly handles the pieces back together, lining them up just right until they form an ornament akin to his own. Thoroughly surprised with this revelation, he upturns his attention again, blinking owlishly at the sudden change in this stranger's clothes, though he does manage answering, “Yes.” So, how did he come to have it in his possession?
He offers it back out despite his wariness then continues, “Jade tokens are given to people we trust enough to allow entrance into Cloud Recesses.” Meaning, if this Merlin fellow has one, despite it being broken, he – or someone he knows? – was once given access. (Or this is an extremely elaborate ruse and Sizhui's falling right into a trap.)
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houseofsushi2020-05-22 10:34 pm
no subject
no subject
The man standing in front of the gate really, truly is a complete stranger, though.
He hesitates initially, worried about revealing himself on the off chance it's some bizarre trap, yet the tiny, inquisitive voice niggling at the back of his mind somehow kicks him into gear and his feet are moving before he can second-guess. With the magical barrier between them, it feels safe enough standing only a few feet from Merlin, though he's still just staring rather than greeting the man properly.
no subject
He puffs out a breath. All right, he's been in worse situations. There's got to be people that live here, right? There's a gate, he's heard people on the other side of the gate therefore people live there.
Merlin pushes himself off from the tree and rolls his shoulders. Okay, Merlin, you've got this. He rubs his hands together and rolls his neck, drawing on the magic from deep within him, feeling it activate and flow into his hands. He turns to face the gate, hands raised to take down the barrier, when he sees a young man on the other side.
"Oh."
Intelligent. Surprised. Merlin gives a smile.
"Hello. There. Ah." He lowers his hands. "Are you the master of this place?"
no subject
He doesn't, that's exactly why he's attempting to have an open mind. Still, it's odd, questionable, and right now, he feels like this is definitely a ‘better safe than sorry’ situation.
‘You shouldn't be here,’ is what he wants to say, but given the fact he didn't understand what the man said, it's likely he won't be understood, either. Sizhui glances toward Merlin's hands, blatantly anxious by the motion and what he'd been planning, then he upturns his attention again, eyes narrowing with skepticism.
“I'm sorry, I don't understand.” Which in and of itself is pretty useless, yet is more than enough of a response to reveal he, too, is speaking a different language.
no subject
Suspicion. Always a good thing. Merlin opens and closes his mouth, listening to what the young man says. Ah. Chinese. Ancient, by the sound of it. He holds up a finger, as if signalling the young man to wait a moment then reaches up and tugs on his left ear, then his right, then snaps his fingers on both hands.
"I suppose it would be much easier if we spoke the same language, now wouldn't it?" he asks, in what he hopes is the young man's language.
All white. Long robes. A sword by his side. He must be a cultivator. Something he hadn't encountered just yet. His smile turns a little sad as he remembers another person in white with a sword always by her side.
no subject
Sizhui can't help gasping softly when he's able to understand him all of a sudden. Magic? Is he some kind of foreign cultivator? They've talked about such things, though never once in his life did he think he might encounter one. “Yes...” he lets himself trail off momentarily, raises his own hands, dispelling the barrier long enough to step past it.
The white is present, certainly, there's a distinct lack of a sword at the moment, however. See, he'd assumed it was someone from his home, someone who might've gotten lost and needed directions elsewhere, but this... this is something different entirely. “How did you get here?” Business before pleasure and all.
no subject
Merlin bows at the waist, formal as he could be.
"A pleasure to meet you, my lord. I'm not quite sure how I got here, honestly. I was at home for a moment, minding my own business, perusing through some curated goods that --"
Oh! He smacks his own forehead. Of course! He pats down his coat before pulling something out, a dark blue handkerchief, to be exact. He unwraps it and holds it out to the young master of wherever this place is. Broken pieces of jade that seemingly fit together into some kind of token with some worn silk strands tied to them.
"I was inspecting this when it brought me here."
no subject
Sizhui quickly returns the gesture after circling his arms in front of himself, the tips of his ears flaring with embarrassment toward his discourteousness. “The same to you,” he murmurs. “My apologies, I didn't mean to be so rude. My name is Lan Sizhui.” Ordinarily, he would've said so right away, but the arrival of a stranger, especially one he can't understand, is a bit stupefying if he's being frank.
He listens, eyebrows lifting with faint surprise when the man slaps himself in the forehead. Is he missing something here? What's he reaching for? His whole body tenses, readying for a weapon of some sort, but the object Merlin produces isn't anything like that. Sizhui's head tilts sideways, eyebrows drawn together and lips pinched, considering the broken pieces of the jade token before him. This... sort of changes things now.
After offering an outstretched hand, “May I have a closer look?”
no subject
How cute. The young lord is blushing. Merlin tilts his head, taking in Sizhui's robes before looking over his own clothes. It would help if he blended in.
"Oh of course, my lord."
Merlin carefully hands the handkerchief over to the young man in white. As soon as he does, he brushes the shoulders of his own clothes, transforming them to match the era a bit in dark blues and reds.
"Is the token familiar to you?"
It's then when he notices that a similar pendant hangs from the young man's belt.
"Seems like it is."
no subject
“Please, just ‘Sizhui’ is more than fine.” Thank goodness, he hasn't attained such a high title yet.
Taking the item in both hands, Sizhui gingerly handles the pieces back together, lining them up just right until they form an ornament akin to his own. Thoroughly surprised with this revelation, he upturns his attention again, blinking owlishly at the sudden change in this stranger's clothes, though he does manage answering, “Yes.” So, how did he come to have it in his possession?
He offers it back out despite his wariness then continues, “Jade tokens are given to people we trust enough to allow entrance into Cloud Recesses.” Meaning, if this Merlin fellow has one, despite it being broken, he – or someone he knows? – was once given access. (Or this is an extremely elaborate ruse and Sizhui's falling right into a trap.)