westwhere | open | the march of drums

Entry tags:

open | the march of drums

WHO: Wei Wuxian & ( you! )
WHEN: Over June
WHERE: Various locations around Sa-Hareth and the farmhouse and the woods
WHAT: Catchall but knowingly will deal with Anurr trail shenanigans.
WARNINGS: None so far! Individual starters will be in comments.

Before Leaving

Wei Wuxian settled down by the door for the evening, back on the door, his wards set for the night. Chenqing rests in hand, and he lifts his gaze to smile in brief at whomever passes by.

"If the voices get to be too much, you're welcome to come down here and listen to the music. It can help."

He lifts his flute, then settles it back into his lap, just as he's settling in for another long night.

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Anurr is far older than most legend even gives credence to, but far younger in the same claims. He wonders if Anurr isn't more of a name than a person, passed along over generations as part of a legacy that has its own weight. The person in each instance less important than the shared thread through all of them, a loyalty to a concept and cause, tied to the lands, rather than to one man, or woman, or many.

However, figuring out what that meant when the young people flocked to the wood's call was part of figuring out the rest. What it did not prepare him for, however, was a giant riddling carp.

He's still smiling when he turns to the woman to his side, shaking his head. The carp is currently riddling with someone else, and so he pitches his voice low when he speaks. "Riddle me why we're freezing out here riddling with a koi, again?"

While the giant riddling carp was deeply weird, it was no weirder than anything else that had happened to Lily in the days leading up to the trial. In truth, she rather liked the idea of a test of wits - it was the sort of thing one might find between the covers of the mountains of fantasy novels piled haphazardly in her bedroom back home - even if getting through one was another matter entirely.

Still, she met Wei's smile with a friendly sort of politeness all British people have ingrained into them at a very young age, raising her eyebrows at the question.

"Because," she began, matching the quiet he spoke to her with. "We're confident that we'll succeed." Even if it took hours. Lily Evans was not the sort of person who took well to being bested by a fish when it came to a battle of wits - however magical and lovely in its little pool it might have been.

Casting a precursory glance around them Lily took a step backward, pursing her lips as she fished through her pockets, retrieving a small scrap of paper folded tidily into a square that she kept close and concealed in her palm from any onlookers. "How do we decide which to use? I've got three, it took me a while, but I think they might be fairly good contenders. How many have you got?"

Wei Wuxian rubbed the side of his nose with a mittened hand, which looked more like he was brushing something off his face, possibly stray tendrils of hair that'd worked out from under his half back hood.

"A number, but an equal number that are written riddles in my language, relying on words that sound the same to lead you to a correct answer in... stacking the characters?" He used both hands to illustrate stacking one over the other, then superimposing them, both "open" mittens coming to hover at the same level, open handed. "Five or so offhand? I don't know how good or not good they are, but they probably aren't familiar to this area, the ones I'm thinking about. Do you think the carp will care?"

If it's unfamiliar to this area will the carp take offense or decide not to like a riddle because it makes no sense to the creature?

... Why did a carp, he wondered, understand riddles at all? He had to admit his finger on the pulse of what was normal had gone entirely awry the moment he was surrounded by strong death-controlling energies that had nothing to do with the ones he himself knew from home.

The sort of riddle he described was unknown to Lily and so she hung on his every word, fascinated by the concept. "Brilliant, completely brilliant." Sort of a puzzle and a riddle all in one - she made a mental note to learn more under different circumstances.

"And if the carp isn't familiar with them, then it's to our advantage, isn't it? It might knock the fish off its guard." Pulling back Lily looked past Wei Wuxian and back towards the carp's pool, where the stranger ahead of them was still conversing with the fish.

"I think we should start by asking one of yours." The riddles she had chosen followed a more traditional format, and if they could complete the trial by playing into the element of surprise all the better. Carefully she unfolded the bit of paper she'd been holding, offering it to Wei Wuxian so that he could look over her riddles.

"That's the of-fish-al idea, at least." He accepted the paper when offered, giving a scan over to see if he can actually read it. Some of the thrallings work better for that purpose than others, and he has to admit...

"... Can you whisper into my ear?"

He offers a twist of a smile, lifting his hands up after handing back the paper. "Can't read the language, I'm sorry." If it were on the quartz, then he could; he's noticed the difference.

Shaking her head when he handed back the paper she frowned apologetically, realizing she ought to have considered that.

"Of course, apologies," leaning in she cupped her hand around his ear to whisper one of the riddles she'd brought with her.

"I have roots but no branches, I illuminate without light, I roll off your tongue, I'm a man's peace of mind."

He leaned in, cooperating, then smiles when she was done sharing. "Oh," he said, "That's fun. I don't know if the carp will catch that one, but perhaps, if it shares any correlation with what's in your hand."

Words, more or less. Either way, he clapped his hands together, then chuckled. "Though now you make me curious. What's a woman's peace of mind?"

In order to go entirely off track while the riddle offered by another person standing around the pond is met with a gentle acceptance of an answer already known.

Blinking at the question Lily shook her head at Wei Wuxian, rather amused at the question.

"The opposite of course," at least as far as she was concerned peace of mind was fully captured in a nice cup of tea and a good book.

Looking over to confirm that their time to riddle the carp hadn't come she turned back to him, raising her eyebrows. "What about yours? Can I hear it?"

He smiled, lifting his shoulders before he glances again to the fish, then leans in, one hand up to make it difficult to read his lips. Or more presently, difficult to hear him when there are others challenging Anurr's wit.

"The pluck of devils to repress in influence it abounds, like bound silk is its frame, and like thunder its breath resounds. But one report rattles, and men are lost in fear and dread; transformed to ashes, it’s what time to see you turn the head."

He leans back again, eyes alight with personal amusement. When was the last time anyone had seen fireworks, instead of the flares sending out alerts for necessary help and movement?

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open | the march of drums

playing koi | for lily evans

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