#after they see his high elder vidyadhara form for the first time

[redcallisto]

Danstelle week 2023 Day 1 - Soulmates | Reunion

[sh1-n0bu]

✿ 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙪𝙨<3 ✿

characters: il!dan heng x nb!reader

warnings: fluff, just fluff, also dan heng’s tail holding u hostage, also also reader is shorter than dan heng

notes: dan heng needs more love and appreciation. come on, this mans fine asf

if anyone were to ever tell dan heng that one day he would be purring contently while keeping a struggling familiar tuft of [c] haired person in his hold, he would have simply shrugged them off with a thought of how weird that is. really? keeping someone in his hold? while being content and purring? yeah, that doesn’t exactly sound like dan heng.

if so, then whose teal scaled tail was holding you so tightly? wrapped around your middle, keeping your hands to your side as you try to wiggle out of his grasp? purrs like a cat’s reverberating in his room as he pulls you close over and over to place a peck on your forehead.

the vidyadhara high elder is a respected title. one that causes the people of the luofu to kneel and sing praises to him. in his name.

saying how amazing he is to split the seas, to control the waters and the ocean like it was nothing, to hold the highest title amongst an ancient species of even more ancient beings.

yet here he was. this needy dragon. keeping you tightly in his hold as he peppers your face in kisses.

“dan heng… my love”

“yes, dearest?”

“will you please be willing to let me—“

“not happening”

and there goes your chance of freedom. taken away, cruelly stripped off of you as he wraps his arms around you, keeping you in place. lovely. any other time of the day, any other moment, any other day and this would have been such a lovely occasion for you.

having your usually stoic and a bit reclusive lover turn into a clingy cat. wait no, dragon? cat-dragon? dragon-cat?? in your hold. but right now… nature calls. and his tail wasn’t helping.

long scaled limb wrapped around your shoulder all the way to your stomach. his arms coming around to pull you closer to himself on the mattress that works as his bed in the archives. smushing his face against your collarbone, leaving a trail of kisses on the exposed skin as deep rumbling purrs resound from deep within his chest.

sometimes, due to his current form, his horns would knock up to your chin. each time, he would leave soothing kisses as a means to “kiss the booboo better”.

this was your lover, ladies and gentlemen and everything up and above. this… clingy cat-dragon.

“perfect height for forehead kisses…” dan heng mumbles quietly to himself as he moves to plant soft kisses all over your forehead after moving your bangs to the side.

smooch! smooch! smooch! smooch! smooch!

pulling away with a content smug smile on his face, the vidyadhara looks at the amount of lipgloss stains left all over your face and exposed skin of your neck. you had complained about his lips being a bit harsh and he decided to borrow one of your chapsticks. the colored one specifically. and here you were, eating your very own words.

literally.

especially when the dragon leans in to plant an unusually deep kiss on your lips, almost as if wanting to devour you whole. the more… primal parts of his brain did wanted to do that. just wrap you up in his hold and chomp on your exposed flesh until you look like you were mauled by a wild animal. which… was kinda the truth.

but that was for later on.

for now, the greedy dragon was just content to hold you tightly in his grasp, planting soft kisses on your forehead or cheeks. wherever his lips reach first. the ends of his tail wagging happily like a puppy, a certain flare of possessiveness sparking in him whenever he sees you trying to escape his grasp. a feeling of happiness and sheer adoration blooming instead when he sees the colored chapstick leave another mark on your skin.

thankfully, a certain cheerful pink haired girl knocks on the doors to dan heng’s room. upon entering and seeing your colored face and how your lover’s tail would tighten around you just a little bit, she raises a brow.

placing her hands on her hips, march looks between the two of you. one with a happy smile on his face, if one could squint, they could see imaginary small flowers and bubbles floating around him. and the other… they looked like they wanted to die.

“uhhhh… what happened here?”

“i fell for a trap… i went in for a kiss and now. he’s got me. and he won’t let me go”

“mine”

“i know but nngh!”

“mine”

“mmph!”

“mine”

“i know but mnngh!”

“mine”

“goddammit!”

[hami-gua]

分离

Basically, a dive into Jing Yuan’s mind and heart. Take note, any and all characters might be ooc. Yes. I am running with the theory that Bailu is reincarnated Baiheng.

Chinese translation not provided (ending is the same as the starting sentence.)

Angst, hurt/no comfort

Of five, only one remembers the time they spent as friends.

            Mara, the bane of Xianzhou’s existence. A price they pay for seeking and achieving immortality.

            Immortality, a curse disguised as a blessing. Where with the ebb and flow of time, even the most precious memories wither. Live short enough, and they’ll be blessed with avoiding mara tainting them. Live long enough, and they’ll witness those around them become mara struck until the inevitable happens to them too.

            It can affect those at varied pace. But all prey that runs will eventually tire out. Not even he can out run such curse that existed long before his birth. He who once was part of a formidable group who called themselves: The High Cloud Quintet. He who is the general of Xianzhou Luofu. He who is known as ‘The Dozing General’.

            The first time he had met her, he only knew her as a sword champion of Luofu. Thinking back on it now, he must have annoyed her to no end with the questions he kept asking. Yet in the end, she still took him in as her student. Along with meeting her, he met the rest as well. The cold, ever steadfast high elder of Luofu. Who wields a spear and commands the form of a Long. Then there was the ever-arrogant blacksmith, who despite the arrogant air, has the best craft known to all. And finally, there was a member of the Nameless. Who feared not a thing and often brought goods from far beyond for them all to share. Together, they journeyed from destination to destination. Helping those who need it. And with each victory brought along more celebrations. Yet it would all come crumbling down when the one from the Nameless chose sacrifice.

            Following her death, Imbibitor Lunae sought her resurrection by means of using magic belonging to Vidyadharas. But the plan failed, causing turmoil at Scalegorge that led to the death of their blacksmith friend. And after his master quelled the backfired plan, the high elder would soon be sentenced to the shackling prison. With the Imbibitor Lunae’s sentencing, all that was left of the group was just him and his master. Thought that too, didn’t last long.

            Not long after, his master fell to a maddened state. A sign of mara. Yet there was no one there but him. Now, it was up to him to do what they all were used to doing. The duel doesn’t end with a victor. She was gone before his lightning lord even struck her. Not a trace left to be found.

            And just like that, the centuries pass by in a blur. The ambrosial arbor awakens once more. But this time, only two would send it to slumber once more. Seeing his friends interact with others sends a sharp pain through is heart. Every time he sees the Astral Express crew, he thinks of his Nameless friend. And seeing them all together makes his heart squeeze in pain, as he is reminded of his friends that he won’t be able to see again.

            His friends all went their separate ways, leaving him alone and remembering. To watch their figures becoming smaller and smaller as they depart for a new dawn. Dan Feng reincarnated into Dan Heng and became a member of the Nameless. Yingxing became tainted with mara and reincarnated into Blade, then joining the Stellaron Hunters. Jing Liu was caught and sent to a shackling prison not of Luofu. As for Baiheng, she reincarnated into a small Vidyadhara known as Bailu — becoming the new high elder of Xianzhou Luofu.

            He almost feels jealous whenever he sees Dan Heng and Blade living a new life. Almost. If it wasn’t the impending sadness overflowing in his heart. He’s resilient he knows. But even then, the most resilient will eventually succumb to mara.

            Hearing the clashes of metal against wood brings him back to the present. Blinking awake, his pale golden irises fall on the light blond haired boy training in the field before him. The longer he watches, the more he sees himself from a very distant past.

            Looks like the mara can wait. Until he’s done what his friends sacrificed themselves to do, he won’t be letting go. All his friends went separate ways. Though he supposes it’s time he went on his too. He’ll just have to glance back to their distant silhouettes every once in a while, until they are but ash drifting amongst the wind. Death is eternal for memories left unrecorded.

            With a sigh and a smile, he stretches before standing and walking towards the boy.

            Before he is a general, he is a native of Xianzhou Luofu.

            A boy named Jing Yuan.

            Farewell, High Cloud Quintet.

人有五名，可只有一个记得他们作为朋友度过的时光。

I didn’t realize until writing this that both Dan Heng and Bailu had their roles reversed. One was a former Nameless, one who journeyed with no bounds while the other was bound to his duty, never once set free.

I want Jing Yuan... But knowing my luck and the amount I have saved up... it's not going to happen... ;;-;;

Edit: I got him!!!

[narwhalandchill]

dhil story leaks/bailu theory situation ramble again, incoherent prolly. do Not take this as an established theory that i fully stand behind bc that 100% clueless in my bio is there for a reason !!!

ok honestly im ngl ive confused myself now after looking at the daniel story leaks again and sleeping on it. bailu theory status is pending its literally schrödingers rn im so torn. does the timeline enable for it or not???? it Would explain some things but hhhhhh i cant make sense of it yet.

at first i was like yeah p sure its not happening bc of the dragon heart fuckery and how baiheng wasnt there for the entire course of events only arriving once shit was going down but. what if. df used the heart partially for resurrecting yx??? and then as baiheng sacrificed herself i do find it curious that they specify only drops of blood and hair remaining of her post-vaporization. which are. classic sources of DNA .

and we know dan feng went berserk with his dragon form so its plausible he temporarily regained the vidyadharas ancient but currently long lost ability to just go fuck all gene splicing manipulate biology and living tissue. that ability + baiheng DNA remains + the dragon heart is just hmm.

another thing i realized that i didnt yesterday is that bailu being recognized as the next imbibitor lunae even if her powers are lacking implies she Has the dragon heart (bc its like. not just A vidyadhara heart its clearly its own thing and a huge deal with a critical role in the continued high elder reincarnation line and longs legacy being passed down). so like its clear dan feng had to pass the dragon heart down to her reincarnation line at some point but as the vidyadhara couldnt get him to budge on the hearts status in the shackling prison i doubt it was anytime after the sedition. the IL position has been passed down its just that it wasnt done properly.

so like im thinking there might actually be two separate resurrections happening consecutively?

first yingxing who is possibly either dead or dying as dan feng initially arrives already but the initial attempt at resurrection goes horribly wrong and an emanator (?) of abundance appears + the arbor activates and leads to things like the toxic mist explosion described by the vidyadhara eggs that kills a lot of vidyadhara and eggs instantly. potential resurgence/triggered plague of people being infected by mara on the luofu? yx potentially becomes marastruck then despite being short-lived? (also if the emanator is literally shuhu then... yeah adds up w blades talent name)

and if yx now marastruck is on a clock for how long he lasts before permanently losing his self i can see that being when df uses the dragon heart to stop the mara from proceeding further through bruteforcing permanence to overpower yaoshis abundance as the core fueling his immortality - which is the basic principle behind the draught of draconic surge and how vidyadhara bone marrow is already confirmed to interact with mara. & this would prolly be when df loses control of his form? both fighting the emanator and trying to desperately help yx in time

n like the thing the storys a bit unclear on is just at what point yx had already acquired that perfected immortality of abundance + permanence. but like he must have by the time baiheng arrives on the starskiff and sacrifices herself right? bc whatever baiheng brought w her (some say lan, some say a stellaron) clearly vaporized everything in the vicinity and was enough to strike down the emanator and/or at least halt the crisis with the arbor and everything. and regular mara struck dont come back from that whereas blades still kicking

so with the like mara/arbor/emanator of yaoshi portion of the seditions initial lead up done i feel like baihengs arrival is when the Actual sedition (in terms of an armed rebellion) begins? with the vidyadhara confused but many who survived the initial stage still choosing to stand with dan feng and fight against the arriving cloud knights and all the abominations of abundance

so would this be when the 2nd resurrection and baiheng possibly becoming that furry-draconic mutant abomination happens?? and also how the position/power of the IL ends up passed down although not properly to then-mutated-baiheng and eventually-bailu by df using the either damaged or outright incomplete dragon heart (if he put most of it in yingxing) in the process.

so like in this scenario the 'sin' that yingxing and dan feng share might also be the decision to go fuck it we ball mess with life and death and biology even further (as if the mass casualties so far werent enough) and resurrect their fallen comrade as the new high elder line except it comes out wrong and horrible and jingliu has to put that beast down.

this would also explain part of where the somber tone in blades voiceline about dan heng comes from - if he still understands that the motivation behind that 2nd resurrection was at least to make amends in some desperate way when all they had available was baihengs DNA, a damaged dragon heart with dan fengs hidden DLC cas9 crispr vidyadhara powers still accessible to him. like theres nowhere near the pained sympathy and shared guilt that the tone in the dh line conveys when he talks about jingliu or jing yuan in comparison. it has to be more complicated than "he made me immortal. NOT a fan 0/5"

anyway dunno if its just me but this just makes the beloved thing even more confusing. on one hand "turning the beloved into a monstrosity" really lines up with how the xianzhou views the mara-struck and blade views himself as like. a bass boosted mara-struck on steroids who literally cannot die unlike normal mara victims. and "the one who buried the beloved is you" doesnt kinda sound right for baiheng when all she left behind was just enough genetic material for dan fengs terrible horrible awful no-good cooking class - not a lot to bury. also burying the beloved fits blades melodramatic inner dialogue style and tone with how he considers yingxing already dead and strictly uses 3rd person towards his past self. but also its hard to argue that what happened to baiheng IF the transmutation resurrection theory is real doesnt also warrant a match for "monstrosity". like bailus cool now but that first mutation sure wasnt. she got changed species with no say on the matter

the ambiguity is strong enough that a part of me wonders if its on purpose for censorship reasons tbh. (not an expert on this and by no means want to imply any proper familiarity with the subject. so like if this is wildly unrealistic or inaccurate its fully on me, lmk and ill delete) setting up a scenario where all the homoerotic subtext is clearly intentional and solidified around yingxing and dan feng but this specifically explicit romantic word used Could be twisted to apply to baiheng too for plausible deniability. this assuming they dont actually end up pulling a secret het love triangle reveal in the end at us hhhh im still kinda paranoid - ill be sad but also honestly assume their hands were forced if that rly is the case :/

also at this point it should be expected (thanks hoyo) but EN tl has inaccuracies and if sth i say here doesnt add up with what EN text suggests its prolly bc ive taken into account some of the commentary on the accuracy on reddit. too lazy to list all specifics but ask if sth pops out at u

anyway im so drained this is all killing me . What happened. yingxing. dan feng. what did you Do.

[coruscqte]

a brief late night drabble about xiayu / stelle swapping places in their respective timelines — and some reflection

@lesbianbootheng

-

“I wasn’t raised as a Vidyadhara,” Difficult to explain, in that sense, the question already forming in Dan Heng’s eyes. Xiayu smiles a little, watching the stars twinkle in that artificial sky, “I was raised by short-lifers.”

“Short lifers?” Dan Heng echoes her words, following a few steps behind with March as they walk through the Divination Commission, “A new Vidyadhara, the first in centuries, and they allowed you to be raised by short-lifers?”

She hums, thinking of the best way to explain it to him. It’s difficult, how best to obey Fu Xuan and not reveal the future, lest it affect their past, “I was a special case. A Vidyadhara mated with a short lifer unknowingly, and in, you know, six months, I appeared.”

“I guess it was unusual, but I’ve never felt like a full Vidyadhara. Guess I never really wanted to be one, anyway.”

The video flickers to life when Stelle ghosts her finger over the projector. A small screen, as big as the few photos that sit on the edge of the high elder’s desk. It’s clearly a child in the video, his daughter, if she had to guess by the fluffy dark hair and aquamarine horns.

She sits, in front of three objects. A baseball. A charm, jade by the color, and a camera on the floor. There’s also what she thinks is a pen and a book included on the floor, as well as an Express ticket completing the semi circle.

“Guess it never really mattered. I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything by not being raised by a pearlkeeper.”

The camera’s angle shifts, stabilizes again. Dan Heng appears in frame, a little closer to how Stelle remembers him in her timeline. He sits behind the objects, a tired but soft smile on his expression. She’s hit with a pang of longing, missing her partner after the last few days’ events, and watches as he attempts to get the toddler’s attention from where she’s turned to grin at the camera, “Xiayu, little star, look here.”

His voice is so kind, sweet when she finally looks to him. A father. So different from the cold man that’d greeted her earlier today. Suddenly she feels exposed, feeling as if she’s trespassing into the office. Perhaps she is. But her curiosity wins out, and she settles gingerly into the chair behind the desk.

March catches up to her, swinging her arms along her sides, “They must’ve really loved you then, to take on that kind of responsibility. The first of your kind in so long … isn’t that kind of scary?”

What is there even to say to that? Xiayu’s heart catches in her throat. March being here still stuns her in such a terrible way, that makes it harder to breathe. So bright, excited, happy — alive. It’s near foreign to have her so close.

“I don’t think they ever thought it was.”

“What’s this for again?” It’s March’s voice that echoes in the office. Not a surprise, that means that the three of them remained friends into this future of their’s. That was nice to know, “Seems like a lot of options for one baby.”

“It is an old tradition on the Xianzhou. A choosing ceremony, where on their first birthday, a child is given many options to give a little … insight, into their future,” Dan Heng responds, “What she grabs is what she may do in the future.”

March hums audibly, and the camera shifts again, “I guess that could be interesting. Why’s the jade in the middle though and not the camera? This isn’t a fair set up, Dan Heng.”

The man shakes his head lightly. His expression swings towards smug, “Do you not think she can choose for herself? Should she like the jade piece, she has a future with the Xianzhou.”

“And if she likes the camera, then she’s definitely going to love seeing the universe, right?”

“If that’s the meaning you assign it.”

The silence is deafening. They keep walking until they reach the starskiff port, waiting on the next one to arrive, “Besides. I enjoyed what time I had with them, they loved me. I loved them. Every second spent with them meant everything to me.”

Xiayu smiles again, though it’s strained when she faces March. She swallows thickly, “The Vidyadhara think in centuries. I think in years. I think it makes me more … down to earth.”

The other woman nods, “You really know how to live in the moment then, huh?”

So many photos snapped over those fifty years. A beautiful camera, preserved on her night stand. She hadn’t used it since its owner had passed, and yet, the same camera hangs off her belt. Carefree. Smudged and scratched in the same way.

“You could say that.”

The child giggles in response, babbling near nonsense. March seems to respond in kind, “You think your dad is being biased too, huh?”

A louder giggle from the baby. Agreement, in March’s opinion, “I know! Totally unfair to your mummy.”

“Don’t give her any extra ideas, March.” Dan Heng says, looking for Xiayu’s attention again. Once he has it, he beckons her forward, speaking to her directly again in that kind tone, “Which is it that you like more, my child?”

It takes her a moment, maybe more to process as the video crackles. Stelle finds herself invested, almost excited to see what the child chooses. A beat, two, three, four. Then, she crawls forward. Looks at the items as she swings her head back and forth, sticking one of her small hands in her mouth.

“Your parents must be gone by now,” Dan Heng says, from where he stands to her left. It isn’t rude, rather more matter of fact. He sounds almost apologetic, “With how old you are, I am sorry for your loss.”

Loss. It seems like all she does these days is lose. But what can really be done about it? Time keeps marching on and forward. As much as she wishes she could freeze frame twenty years ago, relive it again and again outside her dreams, she can’t. While the man before her has barely aged, the woman to her side has. Multiple times over until she was laid to rest finally. Allowed to sleep as long as she liked without being disturbed on a weekend.

She wills back tears.

The baby crawls forward again. March follows with the camera as Dan Heng scoots back to allow her space. Away from the pen and navigational device, even away from the book. An interesting selection. Every person the video seems to hold their breath, as not to influence her as she sits finally before the first three objects.

Its unceremonious, or perhaps ceremonious, when the baby grabs at the baseball with a slightly underdeveloped grip. But that’s decisive enough for someone to cheer rather loudly from just behind the camera as the baby laughs, turning to look at whoever it was.

“They are. Or, my mother is. She’s been dead a long time now.” So long, its felt like. What is she to say to that? To do about it? To be here now, knowing by some cruel twist of fate that she can be here with her mum but not her mom is killing her on the inside. Xiayu shrugs at Dan Heng, watching the starskiffs go by, “But … thanks for that.”

The camera swings over in a mess of gold and white when someone picks up the baby and spins around with them, “That’s my girl!”

“You don’t have to gloat about it, you know!” March whines, playful while the camera focuses in on the presumed birthday girl, “It’s just a prediction anyway.”

“But it’s a good one!” She realizes, there in that office, that it’s her voice on the audio. That it’s her in the video, her hair cropped short around the ears while she dances with Xiayu in her arms, “My daughter’s going to be the next galactic baseballer, nothing you can do about it, darling.”

Her … daughter?

She had a daughter. With Dan Heng. With March, if Xiayu’s appearance was anything to go by. It … stuns her, while the video loops around.

“A preview,” Dan Heng again, when March turns the camera around. He quirks an eyebrow, “Of the next at least twenty years. Are we truly surprised of our child choosing their mother?”

“No … I guess not.” They share a laugh, before the video cuts.

“I am sure she’s watching you now,” Dan Heng offers her as they climb into the starskiff, March rattling off their destination. Was Stelle still watching her? What would she think, of all of this? Her troubles with her lineage, with her father, with everything? She’d know what to do, “A comfort. Perhaps.”

Xiayu smiles, chuckling a little as she rubs the corner of her eyes, “Yeah. She would be. Think she’s always looking out for me.”

Stelle places her hand closer to the projection, hand almost eclipsing the machine as if to reach out to the baby on it. Her baby. Her daughter. Technically.

What ��� happened here, she wonders, while she glances around the office.

What happened to her?

[underratedbananawerewolf]

Fictober Day 13

Prompt 13: “Come with me, hurry” 

Fandom: Honkai Star Rail 

Rating: G 

Warnings: None 

The battle with the Lord Ravager had been brutal; a fight that had had no certain victory written beforehand. If Stelle had had the time before the battle she might have had to question what seemed to be the reckless insanity of the Xianzhou general. His entire scheme to get to the Arbor relied entirely on Dan Heng remembering enough of a past life to actually split the sea. 

The surprises kept coming; one right after another. First was Dan Heng’s true identity, and then his true power as the Lufou’s Vidyadhara High Elder and then finally Phantylia herself. Looking into her large eyes, Stelle felt that flicker of recognition. It was the gaze of the Destruction; one that had already fallen on herself once before.  

And it was one she knew she would have to face again eventually.  

“Out of ideas, Phantylia?”  

What was Jing Yuan doing? Stelle wasn’t familiar with the needling jabs against an enemy. Most of the time she was there to dispatch them as soon as she could. And if there was one emotion linked to the power of destruction, it was anger. Why the hell was the general provoking the Emanator? All he was doing was increasing her strength and they were just barely managing to stand against her.  

Or perhaps his plan had far more facets than just a way to get to the tree. 

“I’m going to turn each one of you into one of my void rangers.” Phantylia’s voice crooned in smug satisfaction. “Starting with the arrogant Xianzhou general.”  

Trapped in the Ravager’s grasp, Jing Yuan couldn’t help a grim sense of satisfaction. It was a risk he had to take, one that could end in victory or his destruction. He hoped that his carefully laid alternative plans would hold if this gamble failed. He could feel the weight of Phantylia’s will chipping away at his very being, the connection he gambled for bridging the gap between them. He didn’t have long to act. With a growl he wrenched one arm free. It was all he needed with the Lightning Lord looming up behind his enemy and shattering the initial defense. 

“Dan Heng, do it!” Agony arced through him as a spear ripped through his side, the general gritting his teeth through the pain to strike the final blow. As Phantylia’s form shattered, the hold she had vanished. At least it worked.  

A set of leanly muscular arms caught him before he hit the ground bringing out a grunt of pain from him as the gash in his side was pressed. He knew the one that had caught him, the same hands that he had ordered to stab him. Dan Heng was no longer Dan Feng but sometimes even the most subconscious memory held more power than anything out in the open.  

“Sealing the Stellaron is what’s going to take time now.” Welt Yang spoke up gravely, his eyes like all the others still on Jing Yuan. Who still insisted on standing, of course.  

“I’ll leave that to Diviner Fu.” He sighed, feeling an uncomfortable lethargy overtaking him. It was darker and colder than his usual drowsiness. Blood loss. “I’m afraid I am... spent.”  

Stelle could see his imminent collapse, baffled as to how he was still standing in the first place. Sheer stubbornness more than likely.  Being the nearest she only barely managed to catch his taller form as his eyes closed and his knees buckled.  

The starskiff ride out of Scalegorge Waterscape held a tense silence, the primary focus being aimed at keeping the Loufu’s general alive. Given his condition Stelle knew he lingered at death’s door. “I’ll go get Bailu.” She volunteered. Before anybody could argue with her, she jumped over the edge of the skiff onto the platform and took off.  

She knew she could get to the Alchemy Commission and back again far faster than any machine and the general needed a healer as fast as possible. The space anchors, seemingly a trailblazer exclusive thing, let her into the delve without having to deal with any troublesome guards. Quick eyes glanced around the plaza, noting the captured cultists, injured knights and then finally a small purple form. “Bailu.”  

The Vidyadhara raised her head at the sound of her name, her eyes widening at the sight of blood streaking down the side of Stelle’s jacket and shirt. “Stelle, are you hurt? Let me tend to you.”  

Stelle shook her head and held out a hand to the girl. “It’s not me. It’s the general. He’s the one who needs your help. “  

“The General.” Bailu whispered, fear glinting in her large eyes. Despite that she immediately reached for Stelle’s hand. None of her attendants were near, all hands being required to deal with the peculiar situation and so she didn’t have to argue with any of them.  

“Come on. We need to hurry.”  

“I’ve got my medicines.” Bailu tugged on Stelle hand as she broke out into a run. Stelle didn’t bother to explain as she suddenly reached down and hefted the girl into her arms.  

“This way is faster.” And any healer knew that timing was of the essence when it came to dying patients.  

[acr3ss-the-cosmos]

Eros was never late when it came to seeing his sister. When it came to visiting the Luofu in general. Even if he liked to surprise her, his schedule was almost always the same. And he'd always go to see her first. She was the one that came to greet him and pick him up, after all.

But this time, he wasn't on one of the star skiffs that arrived. Not among the crowds that came into the Luofu. And if she tried to call him there would be no answer. No text returned beside an automated 'out of the clinic' message that popped up when he was in between his runs. When service wasn't available.

And it would remain this way. No answer. No former high elder coming in on a star skiff.

Nothing.

Unprompted. Always accepting! @draconicfool

...Where is he?

This was but one of many questions that swirled around in Chenhua's mind like a raging cyclone as she sat alone on her living room sofa, her knees tightly drawn to her chest and her tail wrapped close around her body. All of her messages and calls to Eros had been left unanswered, and he hadn't stopped by for a visit in many, many months. It was completely unlike the Vidyadhara to be so silent.

It was as if he just vanished off the face of the universe without a single trace.

"I... I don't know what happened to him, Cosmo." Chenhua choked out as her faithful Diting whined beside her, her hand stroking his back as a form of comfort for him as well as herself. "He could be hurt somewhere and can't answer me, or--" She stopped, gasping sharply. She couldn't continue, refusing to even say the words out loud, for fear that it just might be the truth. The horrible, ugly truth.

A soft sob left her lips, then another, as tears began to freely roll down her cheeks in waves. Hiding her weeping face behind her knees, her mind continued to roil in its turmoil, the total uncertainty of Eros' condition leaving a heavy weight on Chenhua's heart. She didn't know. She just. didn't. know.

"Didi... please be ok. Just please... be ok..."