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 Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:00 pm
Ａ ＮＥＷ ＦＬＡＭＥ ✦ PROLOGUE
ＤＵＳＴＹ ＲＥＭＮＡＮＴＳ ✦ SOLO BATTLE
ＴＨＥ ＧＯＬＤＥＮ ＧＩＲＬ ✦ PRP
ＰＵＰＰＥＴ ＳＴＲＩＮＧＳ ＡＮＤ ＳＴＩＣＫＹ ＦＩＮＧＥＲＳ ✦ PRP
ＥＹＥＳ ✦ SOLO
ＪＩＡＮＧＳＨＩ ✦ SOLO
ＤＩＲＧＥ ＯＦ ＴＨＥ ＬＵＴＥ ✦ SOLO
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Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:34 pm
 Ａ ＮＥＷ ＦＬＡＭＥＩＮ ＷＨＩＣＨ ＬＩＮＧ ＧＵＩ ＩＮＨＥＲＩＴＳ Ａ ＷＩＳＥ ＧＩＦＴ
“Ling Gui, don’t be a killjoy for this year’s ritual, do you understand? Your Fuqin and I never understand why it is around this time of year that you suddenly imbibe a rebellious spirit.”
“I am not a killjoy, Muqin, I have explained to you and Fuqin before, and I will continue to explain to you--this entire ‘ritual’ is a needless, waste of time; should I exemplify it through calculus? Do you have any conscious idea of what the Ling family can accomplish with five hours? Six strategy books! It’s been done before by Ling Er alone--”
“That is enough from you. Another word and I will have your hair cut.”
Well. She is renowned for her swordsmanship.
Ling Gui scowled as his mother pulled him by the sleeve to the preparation chambers. Her cheeks were pink from running down the halls searching for him; he could deduce from her expression that she neither enjoyed the task nor had anything to say to him. Truthfully, he didn’t blame her; he’d made extensive effort to enhance his invisibility in the Ling household like he usually did around this particular time of the year. The summer ritual wasn’t albeit a foreign concept. He’d repeatedly rationalized the goal of the ritual only to arrive at the same conclusion: it was meaningless. The transfer of intelligence? How insipid. Members of the Ling family was required to be of intellect at a young age, he didn’t understand why it needed to be transferred. It was unnecessary, like the majority of the Ling traditions. The Ling family’s traditions were irksome to follow, time consuming, and he doubted his own presence was even necessary for the success of the summer ritual. After all, he was simply another number, nobody of notability in his own family’s hierarchy. He didn’t light the candles, he wasn’t required to tell the Ling anecdotes, he wasn’t impressive enough to announce the annual strategy, and he most certainly had no interest in dancing with a beautiful cousin before the entire family. It wasn’t like the Spring ritual or Winter ritual in which his puppet shows took place. He was merely responsible for joining in the incantation for the summer ritual, it was his only “obligation” and he disliked it on a grand scale. It made his mouth dry and he wasn’t allowed to cease his speaking.
It was better when Ling Shi-Liu was still here. Sometimes Ling Shi-Liu snuck in animals inside his pale hanfu, and they’d be the element of surprise during the ritual. Always, his brother would often make funny faces during the incantations, and the innovative game then was “whoever could make the funniest face and make the other burst out laughing wins”. To ease the younger Ling’s pain, the elder Ling would often try to assuage his sibling by convincing him that the ritual was merely another formula to be completed.
It was anything but a formula. It was torture.
His mother roughly pushed him into the preparation chamber where his lovely cousins were slipping into their pearly-white hanfus, hair gathered into low ponytails. Contrary to their somber cousin, they were zealous, overzealous in fact: their excitement was hinted heavily via their giggles. They immediately took notice of him, and he blushed considerably at the sight of their exposed skin. He always felt awkward during the outfitting preparations despite that he mingled with the girls constantly. It was the only time of the year he was required to discard his ghostly costume and don the plain, white hanfu that only emphasized his undead features. He grimaced when his clothing was entirely removed from his body, and he almost cried out when a braver one of the giggling lot brushed his bangs from his face to reveal icy eyes. Yes. Another reason he hated the ritual. The exposure of his eyes. He shut them tight, and when he opened them, he saw his reflection in the water-bowl, dressed and disgruntled.
“You look handsome today, Gui!” his younger cousin laughed. She tugged his collar playfully, earning her a cold stare from her spectre-like cousin. “You should brush your hair back, it’s becoming of you.”
“It upsets me. It fails to represent my character. You only apply red to your lips because you want to represent your fiery character, do you not, Shi-Jiu? I make myself appear as ghostly as possible to convince others that a ghost is what I am.”
“I guess so, but you aren’t bad-looking--besides I like you more like this anyways.”
“Yes. I am not hideous. My mother tells me so. I highly doubt your own mother doesn’t repeat those petty words to you all the same.”
“Don’t be a killjoy, Gui! Come on, we’ll be late if you keep talking to me.”
...Hmph. You started it.
The courtyard was lined with candles of all shapes and sizes, the candle cupped between Ling Gui’s hands trembled with each step he took. The candles were to represent the gathering of knowledge, enlightenment, and the warmth of summer. It was all hilarious in its own way. The sandals he was required to wear for the ritual were discomforting and unstable, he felt the sensation of imminent slipping with each advancement. He saw that the rest of the Ling family had settled comfortably in numerical order starting from the far-right corner. He sat beside his father, his mother was seated with the other Ling concubines. He frowned when she smiled hopefully at him. She seemed happier than usual, and this stirred fear in him more than anything. His mother’s joy was a form of sadistic joy. Even his father knew this well.
”Guai yi dian,” his mother warned. Be on your best behavior.
”I’m not a child mother, I know when to add or subtract myself from mischief,” he snapped. It wasn’t as if Ling Gui could prank any longer, Ling Shi-Liu was gone, after all.
”Only because Shi-Liu is absent.”
”...”
This upset Ling Gui slightly, though he feigned ignorance by shifting himself so that he no longer faced her. His body language was enough to cue his mother’s silence. He didn’t dare to turn back around, otherwise she’d continue until her point was proven better. His mother was almost annoying in her aggressive ways. However, he was the product of her and his father, therefore she must be respected.
Ling Er’s appearance at the courtyard’s center signaled the beginning of the ritual He lifted a white staff into the night sky. At its tip hung a looming, transparent lantern. It represented the wisdom to be passed, and it was Ling-Er’s choice as to who to pass his intelligence to; this was the responsibility of the Ling family’s head during the summer rituals.
The incantations began and all the Lings took part, starting from zero, and transcending towards infinity: “Ling...Shi...Yi Bai...Yi Qian...Shi Qian...Yi Wan...”
Already, Ling Gui felt dry in the mouth. He struggled to continue, and he couldn't’ fathom why everyone was so damn happy about dehydrating themselves for the sake of the passing of intelligence. Mathematics failed him here. The incantations grew louder as the numbers ascended, the moment everyone was waiting for was dawning--the moment when Ling Er would select from the family the successor to his wisdom this year. The head of the house lowered his staff, performing his elaborate dance of choice--his footwork was still, admittedly, incredible. It was almost as if he was the chanted numbers himself. His choreography multiplied until he settled on the name bellowed into the night: “Ling Gui!”
Silence.
Ling Gui blinked back at the Head’s unwavering ice-blue eyes. He turned to his father, who passed him a proud nod. The awkward silence only expanded. He wanted to disappear more than ever, to remove himself entirely from the equation that defined his uncomfort. No wonder his mother was thrilled. He was the “Chosen One” this time around in their family’s nonsense.
”What am I doing--” he muttered to himself almost inaudibly, stricken at his own impulse. "I must be out of myself today, Reason and Decision are cruel in times like this--they leave me when I require them the most..."
He felt his body moving on its own, raising itself and walking slowly towards Ling Er, candle ready to be dipped into the wise lantern. He did so carefully, ensuring that the candle’s flame mixed with the lantern’s before being dropped into the lantern’s center altogether.
”Wonderfully done, Ling Gui,” the Head whispered. He handed the blazing lantern to Ling Gui (who received it awkwardly) then announced: ”I have passed my erudition to Ling Gui! May he evoke it every second he breathes, every moment he wakes!”
Ling Gui bowed slightly, and his hair fell from behind his ears and forwards, covering his brow. He flushed when Ling Er brushed the fallen hair back from where it settled.
"Look clearly now, Ling Gui! The Ling family wishes you to step forwards--to step towards the Emperor, and the Legion."
Suddenly, the summer ritual didn't seem so pointless anymore.
The courtyard was filled with cheer, and Ling Tu almost dropped her candle from her shouting fits. Ling Gui remained rooted to the ground, struggling to remain impassive. He was unhappy that he could see everything for his hair had been pushed from his face, the jubilant expressions, the flashes of white as the Ling maidens danced by, leaving behind spectre-like shadows in their every movement. The lanternlight flickered, causing Ling Er’s shadow to mix into his own when the Head embraced him briefly before releasing him into the arms of his dancing cousins. The courtyard seemed to exploded into a louder pandemonium as children ran to him, pasting their self-invented proverbs on his robes as the ritual’s tradition allowed.
Yes, this was how the Summer Rituals usually prolonged--in pain and suffering, and ultimately, nonsense. Nonsense to the equation, everything was a blur. He was tossed, grabbed, passed--covered with the germs and disease of every single member of the Ling family.
He felt disgusting and unclean, but admittedly, something about bearing the Lantern of Wisdom made the “excitement” less painful.
Ling Er’s wisdom.
It’s mine now.
And around him, the undying embers of the Ling candles told him that they agreed.
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Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:40 pm
ＤＵＳＴＹ ＲＥＭＮＡＮＴＳＲＥＭＮＡＮＴＳ ＣＡＲＩＮＧ ＦＯＲ ＴＨＥ ＲＥＭＮＡＮＴＳ
B A T T L E S O L O
Ling Gui watched as the Ling family finished dusting away what was left of the previous night's festival. Shi-Jiu held his hand, a pleasant expression over her face. She seemed very pleased with herself, for some reason or another, and beamed at him from time to time. She was always one of his more favored cousins, and the feeling was very mutual. Shi-Jiu could do what the other Ling women could not, that was, to think like a man. He could see no traces of the make-up on her face and thus figured that she'd done a good job in ridding herself of it. She looked better without the powder, though she argued with him before he wiped off his makeup himself that he should've kept his hair pulled back for the entire night. Ling Gui simply couldn't find in himself to hide any of it. He felt that it was necessary of himself to stay true to his origins and specterhood, and this, Shi-Jiu could never understand. He wondered when she would choose to let go of his hand, and it became obvious to him after the passage of five good minutes that she would not. Though he liked her, he could never cohere why the feeling was mutual. He eyed his cousin wearily.
"You going to let go soon?"
She made a face and shook her head. "I like holding your hand, Gui!"
His lips did something close to a faint smile, and he answered: "I don't even understand why you enjoy my company at all, Shi-Jiu. Ghosts aren't much fun."
Ling Shi-Jiu displayed a look of slight hurt, her pale features tinged with unexpected remorse. She still looked at him though, and her fingers dug into his palm. She always insisted that Ling-Gui was wise, Ling-Gui was thoughtful, and ultimately how he was a perfected Ling in every way. Though he did enjoy Shi-Jiu's company very much, he still found the younger Ling to be arcane in how she spoke to him and her muddled intentions towards her peers.
"Of course they are! You have many wise things to say, Gui!"
There. She did it again.
He truthfully didn't and he felt that Shi-Gui often misquoted him on many accounts. The female Ling insisted on acting as his shadow these days, and for some odd reason she developed a stronger liking towards him. It was true that Shi-Jiu always wanted an elder brother to act upon, not as a role model, but for the sake of having one. She wasn't a boyish girl, quite the opposite, a bit of a hopeless romantic with the tongue for tragedy. The age gap they shared wasn't large at all. He was born a month before she was.
She noticed that he was lost in thought and decided to speak for him.
"Come on, Gui, what's the matter?"
Ling Gui handed her the broom she'd dropped (in the process of reaching for his hand) and she took it willingly, though her features exhibited quite the opposite. He shook his occupied hand free of her, and he continued to sweep at the dust nearby him, his focus insisting upon it.
"Er, nothing really, though, you didn't answer my question, Shi-Jiu. Why is it that you like me so much?" Ling-Gui inquired, fearful that he was too straightforwards. He never asked her before, mainly because he never found the right moment where the two of them were alone or whatnot. He doubted that Ling Shi-Jiu liked him for conventional reasons, because she was insistent.
Shi-Jiu pondered this for a bit, her smile widening. She swept her own area absentmindedly before she found an answer she truly liked, one that was good to her and hopefully good to him as well. "Because you're really weird! And because I don't really talk to boys so much. I like talking to you, though, Gui! I like you a lot!"
It was a reassuring thing for her to say, but the genuineness of it was what startled the elder Ling. His broom paused in its sweep, and he gazed at her through his veil of bangs. It was difficult for him to believe that Shi-Jiu didn't regularly talk to boys. She must have. Boys must have liked her, very much so. She was a bright spirit, a kindred one, a pretty one. Strangely enough, she didn't leave the Ling house much, and Ling-Gui wondered what she did on her free time or what she spoke to the Ling girls about. She, too, was an Academy student, but he never saw her around at the Academy much, but he saw aplenty of her at home.
"You...really should," Ling-Gui offered awkwardly. "You're nice and pretty. Hanging around the company of a ghost will wear you thin."
At this, Shi-Jiu made a face.
"Nope! I'm fine! The other boys are boring anyways."
He wondered about that, but he continued to sweep.
"Of course they don't like you. Nobody likes a whore." came a husky taunt, and Ling-Gui's fingers tightened around his broom. Shen Dao smirked at the duo from the courtyard entry, his arms crossed as they usually were. His neat, plated hair was gathered behind his neck in an intricate knot, and there was an all too familiar glint in his eye that communicated a challenge. Ling-Gui didn't expect any less from the tax collector's son, but aside from the latter's rudeness, he also didn't expect the man to actually walk into his home. Shen Dao and his father had always been distant figures to most Lunarians, and whereas Ling-Gui was naturally pale-skinned, he noticed Shi-Jiu's face whiten.
"Don't the Lings prefer inbreeding?" Shen continued, his eyes traveling lazily from the female Ling to the male one. "Helps keep others away from the Emperor's favors."
At this, Ling snapped, and promptly dropped his broom.
"What business do you have with us Lings, Shen?" came his demand, his usual, aloof demeanor gaining a dangerous edge.
Shen feigned nonchalance.
"Visiting. No imperial business in particular."
"Good. Then nothing will come of it if I do this--" Ling-Gui hissed, and produced a handful of bladed Suan Chou from within the folds of his sleeves. With a swift gesture, he knocked the noble down onto his back, Suan Chou pressed to the Shen scion's neck. He added more weight into the pressure, causing droplets of blood to dye Shen's collar. "--because I don't quite understand why you would say such terrible things without thinking of how others would feel."
Shen Dao snorted, unperturbed. With a deft kick, he shoved Ling-Gui off his body while whipping out a dagger of his own. He narrowed his eyes, and Ling Shi-Jiu glared back.
"Are you really going to fight me, Ling?" he dully questioned, bemused, and flexed a bruised arm. "It's not worth the humility. One should always disapprove of the message, not the messenger."
"One should naturally disapprove of terribleness."
"Gui, I think he might be here for a message delivery--"
"It doesn't matter, Shi-Jiu. He called you something unkind, and he mocked our ancestors."
"Gui! What's gotten into you!? Violence won't--"
He pushed back his bangs, and Shi-Jiu went silent. His eyes were frenzied with whatever it was that he had kept hidden within him since his brother's departure, and regardless of what message Shen Dao had to deliver, Ling-Gui felt as if he just needed to project his displeasure with himself on someone that was "bad". It didn't matter if Shen Dao was truly lacking in malignant intentions, what mattered was that Ling-Gui was overwhelmed with the obligation to protect his family pride. He didn't know if his soft-spoken brother would have done the same, but at least he could say that he did.
He charged at Shen Dao, who began blocking his slashes with clever dagger technique, and Ling-Gui discovered that the two were evenly matched. It wasn't too early for this, it wasn't too early for any of this, right after the Summer Ritual. As he returned blows, he realized that it was almost fitting that Shen Dao would show his serpent face the day after Ling-Gui had inherited wisdom. He never liked Shen much growing up, and he finally was living the opportunity of beating the living s**t out of him. The latter quite frankly never thought that grave markers could bruise his veins, but he tried nevertheless to defend. Shi-Liu's absence had only sharpened Ling-Gui's skill, and Shen found himself near the edge of defeat.
"I'm only here for his money, Your brother pays his own separate debt." Shen gasped, and Ling-Gui kicked him across the throat.
"My brother would have paid it."
He took Shi-Jiu briskly by the hand, and strode angrily towards the direction of the Heron Estate.
It was irrelevant to him that Shen Dao slipped into unconsciousness.
Robed servants brushed by.
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Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:43 pm
 ＴＨＥ ＧＯＬＤＥＮ ＧＩＲＬＴＨＥ ＺＥＲＯ ＧＨＯＳＴ ＭＡＫＥＳ Ａ ＳＯＬＡＲ ＦＲＩＥＮＤ
P R P ｗｉｔｈ ｂａｏ
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 3:49 pm
ＰＵＰＰＥＴ ＳＴＲＩＮＧＳ ＡＮＤ ＳＴＩＣＫＹ ＦＩＮＧＥＲＳＴＷＯ ＳＴＲＥＥＴ ＲＡＴＳ ＡＮＤ Ａ ＤＩＬＥＭＭＡ
P R P ｗｉｔｈ ｋｉｒａｎ
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 10:57 pm
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 12:30 am
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Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 6:13 pm
ｒｅｓｅｒｖｅｄ ｆｏｒ ｄｉｒｇｅ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ ｌｕｔｅ
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