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 Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 2:32 am
The Festival Of Spirits[ORP] ❀ Complete!Met with Jianyu & Ligiu, Yue, Huang, Ishtar, Eiji & Junichi, Cuiyan, Kiran!
[Recap:]duced to several Lunarians, many who will be important in her future endeavors as a Legionnaire.
Li is introduced to several Lunarians, many who will be important in her future endeavors as a Legionnaire.
A time of reflection is also a time for a taste of her future, finding that despite all she learns and comes to
experience with those she's met, their lives are all divided. It's her first real taste of their segregation.
Li's Thoughts: The tapestry of our people is as beautiful as it is grand; it was an
important learning experience, meeting those I did. I will not forget your faces.
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Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 9:08 pm
Daydreaming[PRP] ❀ Inactive!Met with Mayu![Student & Student]Inactive.
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 3:17 pm
Striking a Deal[PRP] ❀ Inactive!Met with Sakngea![Student & Student]Inactive.
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Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 3:42 pm
One Foot In Front Of The Other
Journal ❀ Complete! On the one hand, it feels like nothing has changed.
I had expected my whole world to change, though how, exactly, I'm not entirely certain. Maybe I thought the ground would crack and the waters would split, but there was no such momentous occasion to mark my passing into the Legion; if there's ever any proof of the normalcy of it all, it's in my own arms, the likes of which are still strained and smudged in the clay of the dock from helping to lead a fisherman's boat safely into the harbor. I'm still in the ocean-side marketplace, helping my dear old friends with bringing in the fish and gutting them on the well worn and rutted table by their booth. I'm still laughing at their corny jokes and sparring with them to keep myself honed on my off days or when I can find none to humor me. My life is still widely encompassed by the time spent with my kinsman, which, while gratifying, is still unusual.
The truth is, I never really gave much thought to what my life would be once I joined a faction - not really, anyway. I once had this romantic notion about living in barracks, getting up at obscene hours of the morning and training, cleaning, embarking on menial tasks and being exposed to grueling endeavors until the moon had long since risen. The reality of it is far less glamorous, feeling more like a normal school days as a child: set times for learning, periods of relaxation and still having enough time before supper to do chores. It's not that I'm ungrateful for the time allotted, I simply feel as though I should be -- no, that I could be doing more. Even if it's not expected of me, even if it seems out of place for a mere Student to be so eager, I cannot help myself; time moves in one direction and I am not a fan of idle hands.
On the other hand, it feels like everything has changed.
While I might be down in my old stomping grounds and visiting my regular haunts, there's an acrid taste of upset in the air, a tension that I feel I can pluck like the string of a lute; not everyone notices it, but I do. Example. What was once a cheery bar full of merriment and debauchery is now slightly less gilded. Nothing has changed by appearances, nor by the assault on the senses, but I notice that which was always there: the hooded drunk in the corner, not actually a drunk, but an informant, watching, perhaps waiting. The worried look on the bartender's face when he thinks no one is looking. The kerchief that sticks out of the performer's pocket, tear-stained. I hear each scrape of metal and drag of wood and I wonder -- is it a clank of a dish and a lazy swipe of a moving chair, or is it a weapon being drawn? Even the marketplace seems heavier, a mantle of worry and misgiving glances that I missed before. I have to notice these things because I need to survive in this world. I have to give these people the peace they sorely desire.
And then there's the nights. Once a source of fear and hearsay by the locals, now a dangerous game of life and death. The sheer amount of hatred as the curtains of night fall is cloying, a suffocating perfume that makes me ill to my stomach. Sometimes, however, I think that illness is eagerness, as sick as that makes me. I don't crave battle, I do not look forward to spilling the blood of my fellow Lunarians, but I know...I know that each moment, each foray, each dance of bladed pass is one step closer to a resolution. It may take a few more steps, or perhaps a few jaunts around the world, but they are necessary steps to reach our destination. It's a small comfort to realize that no matter how many steps are taken, no matter how many strides bring success or failure in passing, I'm not taking them alone. To have those I met at the festival on my side, that I've their back, and they mine -- there are no words to describe that sort of knowledge, that solid reinforcement. I see in them a kindness, a sternness and a great deal of love, traits I hope they will imprint on the land with greater influence than the blood and tears that must come to pass.
For all that has stayed the same, has anything changed? The more I write, the more I realize that perhaps nothing has changed -- but perhaps, I am changing.
Lunaria guide my steps.
Faithfully,
Li
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Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 4:04 pm
Night Shift[PRP] ❀ Inactive!Met with Enlei![Student & Student]Inactive.
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Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 4:05 pm
Like Drawing in Sand
Journal ❀ Incomplete! It is hard for to imagine when that moment came, that horrible crack of division between us as a people. Even worse is when it was accepted, adopted as a credence, a law and not something to be eradicated. I'm not sure it's something I'll ever be able to see beyond, but I believe that may be a blessing more than a hurdle to overcome. We were all created to exist in peace beneath Her ever-watchful gaze, and yet...and yet. Have we failed Her, I wonder, short-sighted as we've become...?
The Legion see this line as a boundary to hold. To honor the traditions, the very foundation that we were built upon. I can respect this above everything and it is why I bear the insignia, but it isn't an excuse to spill the blood of those who do not agree. The beautiful thing about each of us is that Lunaria saw it fit in Her wisdom to give us creative minds, inquisitive minds, so that we may evolve, that we might grow and learn and expand upon all we've experienced. We cannot stay in a rut that offers no advancement; even our ranks show us this. There are great means of training and experience needed to evolve into more than we are today, tomorrow -- but the Legion believes this does not mean we should forget who we were yesterday. To this, I am loyal.
The Noble see this line as a boundary to break. I believe that fear has born this mentality and thus it is the weaker of the two options. The Nobles, bedecked in their finery built by the hands of the people, lavishing in their money, feel that their wealth should have sway in the fate of our land. I will never understand how something so material and meaningless, how a thought so frivolous can determine anything -- but I digress. The fear that took those of wealth was a threat to their material gain. If the Outsiders were to return, were to raze our land, what would they have left but ashes? Their fear prompted instigation and that...while the wrong basis to do anything on, is not entirely the wrong idea. We cannot sit idle while the Outsiders become aware of us. I do not pretend to know why Lunaria saw it fit to part the Veil, but She did. It is a sign, but I do not believe that seeking the eradication of all we've built upon is the right way to go. If we forget where we've come from, we lose ourselves completely.
So why, then, has this line even been born? I wish I had the wisdom to understand, but I am no Priestess. I have perfect faith in Lunaria and Her ways, I know better than to question Her whim, I simply wish I could erase this invisible line and make everyone see! We are all Lunarians! It is not okay to strike out at our own just because we can't get our way. This war, this whole means and grounds for battle is a farce, an excuse to be violent -- and yet, violence begets violence. Who will stand when we've all murdered each other in the name of an ideal and not Her Grace? When all the children have died in this war and the elderly cannot partake, what will we have left but a ruined land and no more ideals to cling to? When sense has left us in favor of blood and dominance...will we both have lost this war?
I can only bear witness to what will come in the following days -- survive to see what our people become, where these paths take us. Such tangled webs we weave.
Lunaria guide my hand.
Faithfully,
Li
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Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 5:01 pm
The Cardinal Rule
Journal ❀ Complete! There's always been an accepted grounds for battle. It's odd and unusual to say the least, but there's always been a history of using violence against others to get what one wants, to make a point, or to learn a lesson. Romantic stories always tell of using violence against a singular individual to change the whole of a country; suspense tells of multiple deaths, all long-winded, all necessary; even comedy has place in battle, over misunderstandings or accidental brandishing of weapons. My father, being who he i...w... a bard, has told all manner of stories, and yet none seem quite as dull or weighted as reality. The stories always filled me with a sense of wonder, of hope that good things could come of these dangerous but necessary actions, but here...when I see a wounded Lunarian, irregardless of what banner he heralds, all I can taste is the metallic tinge of blood in the air and no resolution granted.
I'm not afraid to fight. I know it's a necessary evil but I can't help to wonder why. How anyone decided attacking someone else was an acceptable means of barter and betterment is beyond me, but...if I am to tackle these lines of boundary and cut-throat believers, then perhaps I can yet again make some sort of change in this as well. I need to practice - to train, to better myself so I can take this on appropriately. There's a physical means of pressure-points and incapacitation, but the psychological effects could be great.
If one were to come face to face with whom they perceived to be their enemy, if they were to battle, to lose -- and then to be spared, what would go through their minds? How would they feel to know that the bitter wrong-doer to their vision values their life over their personal ideals? In most of the opposition, it may not matter. They might see it as a weakness on the head of their foe or perhaps see it as a second chance. But those it could potentially reach, those it could influence, would that be worth it? The minds willing to find peace of acceptance might find such a battle to be eye-opening, if not enlightening...
This is nonsense, isn't it? Trying to control the flow of battle, the minds of my opponents -- it's a romantic notion. Maybe in the future, but now...
Ah, this is all mindless prattling. I have to steel myself for the truth that blood will be spilled...and that my hand will be the one to let loose the vitae. I am going to hurt my people. I am going to kill some of them. I'm going to be what I don't want to in order to do what I must, and no amount of running or hoping for anything better is going to change this fact.
But I must train. I must improve. If I'm to serve my people at all, I have to be willing to take the darkness into myself.
Lunaria save us all.
Faithfully,
Li
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Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 5:02 pm
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Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 5:03 pm
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Chrystali generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
1!
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Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 11:07 pm
в x α x т x т x ʟ x є
First Blood
[WIN] ❀ Complete!
Straying into Noble 'territory,' Li engages in her first battle. The training had gone well. Her meeting with Huang had also been fortuitous, granting her the greater ability to face someone she was familiar with and trusted and still come at him with intent to come out on top. She hadn't -- Li had lost that battle -- but she'd come away with something far more valuable: confidence.
Li had been cautious up until then with the night-time excursions, being quick, a shadow, a fleeting glimmer of something in the corner of one's eye. Her steps now were more self-assured, no longer uncertain about walking in the clear moonlight. She understood that it was okay if her face was seen, if she was marked for the faction she followed. She wasn't entirely sure she liked to be branded but the battle wasn't about her and her self-righteous ground; it was bigger than her.
The light-haired woman glanced behind herself only briefly, still uneasy with being as far from the clearly marked Noble boundary -- and not away from it. She was approximately two hundred and fifty one paces into the 'enemy' territory, racing heart making her chest rise and fall just a little faster than normal, her constantly readjusted grip on her eku making her palms feel slick and unreliable. Li took longer, even breaths, forcing herself to breathe more easily, to calm the din of blood rushing through her ears. She was only there to gather intelligence, but she knew she was also tempting fate -- asking for confrontation, as it were. Daring the Nobles to spot her in their midst.
And one did.
Li thought this moment would be different. As her amethyst eyes turned to the male that was running towards her, she thought that it didn't feel right. It was surreal, like she was watching it unfold rather than being a part of it. She wanted to know his name, why he was fighting in the name of the Retainers, if he had family who knew what he was doing -- she wanted to humanize her opponent and it almost cost her. He clearly did not have the mind for pleasantries as she did, his polearm coming down fast and hard to her shoulder without warning or inquiry. Li barely had time to deflect the slender pole with her oar, her arm jarred as she sidestepped, looking at him with wide eyes. He'd just attacked, how could he have possibly known where her loyalty was--? But it didn't matter. It was battle, it was the taste of righteous indignation and she had to partake or fall prey to the other.
The sound of blood ceased and her breathing evened out, falling into a comfortable stance with her legs slightly bent, her weight mostly in her toes. Settling into what was familiar and known to her, it was easier to slip into auto-pilot, to do what she knew rather than to over-complicate anything with thinking. He struck out towards her head, clearly testing to see what she was capable of, though she wasn't so new that she would pull out all the big stops immediately. Even so - perhaps a little too up-tight at the prospect of fighting - her weapon lifted swiftly to catch the sharp tip against the flat of her eku, tossing the weight of the thing aside. Maybe she shouldn't have deflected, maybe she should have ducked, but she wasn't thinking, just reacting. If she wanted to survive, she had to depend on her training and what she knew rather than being over-analytic. That would come with time and experience.
The slender pole of her opponent whistled through the air as it spun about to aim for her legs, his strikes speaking of skill and an impressive knowledge of not only the weapon, but anatomy. The butt of her oar slammed into the ground next to her legs, forcing the opponent's weapon to vibrate against the solid wood, but she didn't stop there; putting her weight into the paddle, she leaped over the long shaft and slammed her feet against the flat of the bladed edge. The metal tip pressed against her heel but didn't puncture the material, her weight instead snapping it clean off the slender pole. The Noble cried out in dismay, even managing to look a little shocked before lifting it from the floor and ignoring the broken tip. Stabbing towards her with the now splintered edge, rage in his facial features, he put the Legionnaire on the defensive once more.
Though Li could see him clearly, it was like he wasn't there at all; he was faceless marionette, going through the motions of practiced battle and she was the one being tested. Details were harder to focus on, features little more than the blur of battle. Feinting to the right of the joust and to the left as he reciprocated, she deflected a third thrust and parried the broken but no-less-dangerous polearm to the side, throwing off his momentum. The pole smacked into one of the piles of crates near by, knocking some over but it didn't seem to slow either of the combatants, the Noble hoisting the pole back and aiming for her middle. Li waited until the last second to push her eku against the pole with all her might, changing the course so that it slid just against her bodysuit and instead connected with the stone wall behind her. There was a distant, dull sting where the blade had caught her, and though she could feel the trickle of blood that spoke of a shallow cut, she didn't stop moving. She continued to push, hearing the weapon grind down against the unforgiving masonry until it got stuck in a weak portion of mortar, lodging deep enough that he couldn't immediately pull it out and she jerked against the sudden stop.
Fine. She could improvise! Flipping her oar and pressing the paddle against the stuck weapon, both hands gripped the weapon, allowing her to balance and spin her weight over it in a flip, heaving herself over the pole and connecting a foot solidly at the part of the Noble's neck that lead into his jaw. There was a sickening sound like when someone cracked their knuckles, and as soon as her feet hit the ground opposite of the vaulted polearm, so too did the Noble fall to the road in a rather graceful circle. The weapon was released, bobbing uselessly from the wall where it had been thoroughly stuck, the Noble having been spun until he landed on his stomach, his face obscured by the more elaborate tails of his shirt. Once on the ground, the fine silks of his outfit settled in the dust and he moved no further.
Li sucked in a short breath and kneeled, pressing her fingers to his neck to feel for a pulse -- finding it there, strong, still high on the adrenaline of the fight and not yet caught up with his momentarily blank mind. He wasn't dead, he probably wasn't even all that injured, just knocked unconscious by her well placed kick to a pressure point. Before she could think on it and the implications, she could hear the sharp sound of footfalls approaching their position. Li cast a quick glance around to see what could have alerted anyone to the fight at all, belatedly realizing that the crates that had been knocked over had likely drawn attention to their skirmish. Casting a quick glance to the male whose face she had already forgotten in the heat of the moment, she gripped her weapon and jumped onto the rest of the crates, kicking them over purposely on her ascention to the top of the wall. When she was sure none could follow to her high perch, she ran down the length of the stone divider and jumped off once she was out of the immediate camp, returning to safety without so much as a shout of alarm to her presence.
Putting a hand over her side, she quickly retreated to an abandoned stall in the marketplace where she could tend to her shallow wound. As she rapidly removed the clotting blood, she took a brief moment to reflect on the encounter, counting her impromptu meeting as a win -- and a loss. She'd fought! She'd come out with little more than a scratch on her side and need for a stitch in her garments; she'd even managed to simply knock the male out than do any lasting damage. However, she'd also lost some of her innocence, feeling she hadn't done her opponent any favors in respect by not being able to recall his face to memory, or by acting so automatically and without feeling.
Li had no idea if she'd see the Noble again. He'd gotten a good look at her, but she hadn't known who she was dealing with. Hoping for some sort of short-term memory loss with her opponent, she tended to her minor wound, sending a prayer to Lunaria in thanks.
She could do this.
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Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 11:09 pm
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Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 11:11 pm
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Chrystali generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
2!
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Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 11:17 pm
в x α x т x т x ʟ x є
Lucky Break
[DRAW] ❀ Complete!
Li's first combatant catches up to exact a little revenge. "You, Legion trash. Don't you walk away."
Li had never heard the voice before, the calmness of it catching her attention more than the words spoken. Turning around slowly to look at the male - a Noble, obviously by the greeting - but not registering who he was. The eku slid further from her fingers until she was holding it at a better position to spin with weight, her body tense, waiting. She wasn't stupid enough to speak back, especially when it would acknowledge his insult, simply staring at him dully with her light purple gaze. Her pose clearly indicated she was awaiting some form of introduction - explanation - anything that would clear the air as to why she was being addressed as such. Naturally, there was none given, the two simply staring at each other in the wide mouth of the abandoned night-time marketplace. There were no other establishments near by - the main tavern was a mile off yet, even the temple not in sight - making the ground they stood on to be the ideal arena for uninterrupted battle.
He simply returned her stare with cool indifference of his own, save for the annoyance in his eyes at her lack of expression. It didn't take long for her to fit the pieces together -- he, addressing her by her faction, meant he had met her in a capacity that said she was not a Noble. The only altercation she'd had with that had been when she'd been on the intelligence run and had been caught. Li felt sick to her stomach, realizing that she didn't recognize him as the young Noble she'd felled not that long ago. He had the prestigious memory of being her first real opponent, her first taste of malicious battle; and yet, she had no recollection of what he had looked like, so hopped up on adrenaline and disbelief as she'd been. She was disappointed with herself, more than anything, but it was clear the Nobleman wasn't there to nurse her wounded ego on the matter when he was still sporting the creeping blotches of partially healed plum and yellow bruising on his neck.
The self-pity served to be a bad thing, as the Noble lunged at her without any other words. She brought up her oar to deflect the incoming polearm -- except there was none. Instead, she was struck at with some sort of weapon that he held in his fists but that ran down his forearms in wooden slats, the likes of which collided jarringly with her weapon. The strange weapons slid up the eku and braised her fingers, ending with a sound knock to her jaw and making her stumble back. She could already tell that her knuckles would bruise and swell from the quick, well-placed strike, her jaw throbbing in a dull ache that promised a mottled discoloration the following day as well. The blow made her bite her tongue, tasting the bloodied result and swallowing it to ground herself and remind herself that now was not the time to evaluate her starting injuries. Li didn't have time to blink through the stinging pain before he was at her again, forcing her on the defensive.
There was a slight tug on her hair as one of the slats whizzed by her head, catching her ear-fin in a surprising blossom of pain. The fine webbing didn't tear, but it still stung enough for her to jerk her head to the opposite side, the motion helping her to narrowly miss the second swing that grazed her cheek. He was good in close quarters, alerting Li that she had to put space between them and figure out where his open spots were or she was going to get trampled. With his speed, it was hard to find any room to put inches between them, let alone enough to see what he was doing! Pursing her lips, she turned to the side abruptly and threw her weight towards him in a bluff; it worked, the Noble heaving himself backwards to avoid the damage he knew she could provide if she was on the offensive in such close quarters.
She took several bounding steps backwards to finally put some space between them, getting a better visual of what he was wielding and the reach it allowed for. He tried to close the gap once he realized he'd been duped but she was quick, evaluating as she bounded down the wide road another step or two. He was quick, mostly matching her steps but unable to predict which way she'd move, having no distinct pattern and simply moving as a deer might to throw off a pursuer. As he dove in again, it was enough for her to know what she was up against, and this time she not only deflected, but counter-attacked. Li caught one of his arms with the thick of her eku and jerked the skinnier hilt towards his face, smashing his nose with the butt of it. The flow of blood was immediate, splattering the both of them but not stopping either of them for even a moment. His free hand swung around to connect the slat again, this time against her right tricep. The pain was jarring and made her muscles tighten; even without looking, she could feel that there would be a bruise from her elbow to her shoulder. She was getting careless, and if she wasn't careful, it was going to cost her more than a sore morning.
Hissing, she abruptly dropped her eku from it's position against his arm and caught the bloodied top of it, jerking it with her wrists and allowing the paddle to swipe at his legs. He wasn't off-balance, however, and it did little more than knock him backwards, slapping against his shins hard enough to return the bruised favor. The Noble had two weapons to her one, and hooking the slats beneath the lowered grip of the oar, he was able to catch it and heave it out of her less-than-tight grasp and across the road. It was far enough she wouldn't be able to dive without being hit in mid-leap, but close enough that one misplaced step would put the battle to her advantage. She was disarmed and, it seemed, at his mercy.
The Noble started to smirk then, hubris being his sin and it was his unfortunate mistake. Li was no less a threat without a weapon in her hands, as she used her empty hands to her credit; as soon as his lips curved and parted to speak some sort of insult of instigation, she swung at him with a closed fist, the feel of his flesh splitting against his chin unmistakable, the crack of the bone unfamiliar but not unwelcome in this instance. He was as careless as she'd been but his negligence was going to cost him. The male stumbled back, affording her the time she needed to slide back and pick up her weapon, spinning in a low circle and brandishing it towards him once more. The exchange took mere seconds, it seemed, their conditions less than stellar for a win: she, winded and her hold brittle; he, bleeding from the nose and tucking his jaw against his sleeve. Staring intently at each other for twice as long as the battle had spanned, Li was almost ready to start anew, sliding the wood between her injured hands and tightening despite the scrapes on her knuckles bleeding. Without any warning, however, he turned and ran down the road and off to his safe haven, leaving the bewildered Legionnaire to watch after him.
Li was so stunned that it didn't occur to her that the Noble might be getting reinforcements or that he'd try for a sneak attack, as she would have been in deeper trouble than being seen just standing there and gawking at his disappearing form. Lifting her eku, she released it with one hand and extended her fingers enough to rub her knuckles, frowning. There was no sense in concerning herself with his logic or reason for escape, the battle over and neither having any permanent blood to lend to the war. With a shrug, she turned on her heel and continued on her way to deal with her rounds as though the exchange had never happened. What else could she do? The scuffle had ceased, no denizens were in danger; she had minor bleeding but nothing that would stop her from doing her job. If he wanted to live to fight another day, she wasn't going to brand him a coward for choosing life over pride. In a way, she had a bit to be thankful to him for, teaching her valuable skills, chief amongst them being keeping her cool and objectivity firmly in place.
It was, in the end of the whole ordeal, a lesson well learned: do unto others as one would have done unto them. Mutual respect would be a necessity if she wanted to survive and not just be another body found when the sun rose on a new day. She liked to think the Legion could use more living amongst their ranks, after all.
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 12:00 am
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 12:00 am
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