Send me "Some Other You" and I'll introduce you to an AU version of my character!

I probably should have hopped off the Boji angst train a long time ago, but I find I’m enjoying to ride far too much to even consider it.

Anthem of Flames

"No. Even if I were able to get out, there’s the flames blocking off the path forward, and surely this is too organized to just be a random bandit attack." She pointed out and quickly scrambled to tie her hair up as a man would, parting her bangs so none fell in her face, and pulled on an extra helmet from the cart. It was good that she decided to wear riding gear today that made it easier to move, though she did grab an extra layer to hide her form better. There was little she could actually do, but by making it a bit easier for the elder, she could at least help.

"They would not care for this. They are after the cart… they are after me. If I used it, it’s a painted target." She scowled, and still tried to quickly process what was going on. "They believed I was in the carriage. Just trust me on this. When they see it cut and not being protected, they will not have their goal. They do not know what I look like because of how isolated I was!"

Now she kept the blade in her hand and her horse seemed ready to go. “Come now, Lord Guo Huai. We have to get out of the immediate vicinity first before anything. Nobody else is dying. We’ll lose them in the forests back a little ways, then launch a counterattack in their confusion.”

Guo Huai sighed, watching the horse and cart zigzag off into the flames. She had a fair enough point; whoever was planning this, their target was a defenseless girl in the carriage, not the boyish figure who now stood beside him.

"You have your father's stubbornness," he said, shaking his head. "Very well. But I want you to stay beside me - don't try to run off or do anything brave. It's still my duty to protect you."

Digging his heels into the sides of his horse, he nodded to her, arm cannon held close at his side. "Let's go. The faster we do this, the greater our advantage against them will be."

Something Missing //

Ruiling wasn’t a very convincing liar, it seemed. But what could she do? There was no doubt that Guo Jia had the map in question, and it was important to Guo Huai. She couldn’t just out her master, not when she promised her complete loyalty to him. Once she was a bit more composed, she relaxed and looked over toward the older man standing above her.

"Yes, sir. If I did see it, I really would know. But that doesn’t mean I can’t help you look elsewhere!”

"Someone could have taken it and put it in another room! Did you try searching around?”

"I've searched most of the rooms around here, but I know there's a few I haven't touched yet...Would you be willing to come with me and help look? I know you must have a lot to do, but I'd appreciate the extra pair of eyes..."

Now wasn't the best time to drill her for answers, and he knew that much. He'd give it some time; maybe his hunch was wrong. In the meantime, just another person helping him look was enough.

"...I hate to rummage through other peoples' rooms, but I know that Lord Zhong Hui is in the habit of digging into things that don't belong to him, and his study is currently empty. Perhaps we could start there?"

Something Missing //

Ruiling had already started looking through the maps that Guo Huai presumably hadn’t touched, and was searching diligently until he went into greater detail about the map.

She visibly tensed up, but tried her best to keep going through the shelves in front of her. Come to think of it, yes, Ruiling did see something fitting that description… In the hands of her master, that is.

"I… Can’t say I’ve seen that, no. I’d remember something that specific, sir."

Ruiling's strange reaction caught his attention, and her hesitant tone of voice gave him even more reason to pay it notice. While he was no master of determining the truth, Guo Huai had raised enough children of his own to know when someone was lying to him - and something about her behavior didn't seem quite right.

"...You're positive you haven't seen anything, Miss Ruiling? Granted, I understand how busy you must be, but perhaps something caught your eye...?"

Something Missing //

"A… A map of Luoyang? Does it look any different from any other maps of Luoyang?”

Ruiling made her way over towards Guo Huai, nodding her head. She made sure that she wasn’t stepping on her coattails before kneeling down beside him.

"I don’t know how much help I can be, but I can help you look through this whole room, at least! There’s a lot of maps in here, and if this keeps up you’ll be here all night!"

"It's exceptionally well-drawn, for one thing. It was done by a rather famous cartographer- you'd probably notice it on sight just for the quality," he said, sitting upright before starting to climb back to his feet. 

"Additionally, it had a rather prominent detailing of the tombs just outside the city. That in particular-" His speech was interrupted by a groan and a loud pop as his back cracked. "...That in particular caught my attention about it."

He stood, still rubbing his lower back with both hands. "...Oh. And it was sealed in teal wax, with the qilin emblem on it. If nothing else, that's probably the most distinctive thing about it from the outside. Have you seen anything like that?"

Something Missing //

She waited before taking a step into the room; if needed to, Ruiling would gladly leave, but it seemed like she was welcome enough to enter.

"What is it you’re looking for? Is it something important?"

"If you’d like, maybe I can be of some help!" Ruiling then chirped, her voice full of its usual enthusiasm.

"I lost a map. One of my more prized ones, to be truthful - it was of Luo Yang and the area a few miles around it. Very detailed and very expensive to procure." He knelt, getting on his hands and knees to look under the shelf as he continued to speak.

"I've been looking for it for the better part of the day, and I still can't find it. I'd hate to assume that someone just took it, but I'm starting to feel that-"

"...Wait. You'd help me find it?"

Something Missing //

Walking the hallways was what Ruiling did with the free time she had. The longer she did so, she figured, the quicker she’d get used to the layout of the palace. Voices she heard through open doors often made her curious, however, so the apprentice would stop and listen whenever she could. A habit like that would definitely get her into trouble, but that could wait. She heard a familiar voice! Poking her head through the door, she watched Guo Huai carefully before happily greeting him.

"Hello, Master Guo Huai! I’m just passing through, but I thought I heard you in here!"

Guo Huai looked up in surprise, nearly dropping the scrolls in his hands as he did so. Catching them before they could roll out of his grasp, he turned to face her, smiling sheepishly.

"Ahh...Miss Ruiling! My apologies, you caught me by surprise," he said. "It's a pleasure to see you again though. I'm afraid you caught me at a bad moment...I was just looking for something I misplaced."

He glanced back at the shelf, his smile fading. "...At least, I'm hoping I misplaced it."

In spite of the chaos surrounding them, Guo Huai was surprisingly calm - although it grew clearer with every second just how forced that calmness truly was.

"Lady Cao Meiyan, what on earth do you think you're doing? I told you, leave me. I can-" He was interrupted by a sudden cough. "...I can handle things here."

The bandits were still a good distance from the two of them, but they were closing in almost as fast as the rising flames. Thick black smoke billowed around them, and he gave a worried glance from the fire back to Meiyan. 

"You shouldn't have done that. We can't afford to lose you - what would your lord father think if you were hurt on my watch?"

"Of course you are… with everything you’ve done for my family… you deserve all you receive." She smiled and finally reached into her sleeve in order to pull something out of it, though he couldn’t yet see what it was except for the slight glimpse of red.

"I made it… Father had one, as did Elder Brother, and Lucky-Ba. It’s a good luck charm, and it did both of them very well, I believe." Now she held up the small tassel where a knotted design in the middle of repeating eights in eight parts, and with a coin tied to the bottom of it to keep it all together; A mystic knot. "Good fortune and a happy life… It seems to fit."

He examined the charm in her hand, falling silent for a moment. It was such a small thing, but it was clear that a lot of work and care had been put into making it; between this and the sentiment behind it, Guo Huai found himself unable to respond.

"Lady Cao Meiyan..." he said, his fingers reaching to gently brush the tassel. "That you would care enough to give me something like this...I'm touched."

His smile broadened. "If it's from you, I know that it will bring me all the luck I need. I can't thank you enough for your kindness."

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Guo Huai hung his head, staring at a spot on the floor between his lord's feet. In truth, even he couldn't believe what he had just suggested; he was one of Wei's most loyal, vowing again and again to serve them until his last breath...And now here he was, not just considering the idea of giving up but suggesting it. 

"I mean no offense, my lord," he said, his voice so soft that it was nearly a whisper. "But I beg of you, please listen to me. I've given this a lot of thought, and...I think I realize now how much of a liability I've become to you. Certainly someone with eyes as sharp as yours must have noticed that long before I ever did."

All he could think of was the battle he had taken part in days before this. He'd insisted on fighting - others had told him again and again that he was too ill to do it, too weak, to wait this one out, and he had gone in anyways. And he had collapsed in the middle of the battlefield not long afterwards. Two men, already wounded, had given their lives to save his, and their sacrifice made him feel almost...Unworthy.

"Good men have died on my account. Men with their whole lives ahead of them. You've been kind to keep me after the mistakes I've already made, but I don't think either of us can deny any longer that I've become a burden," he continued. His mouth twisted, and a brief, sudden laugh completely devoid of humor left his lips. "I...I can't even fight properly anymore. If I can no longer repay you that way, isn't the next best choice for me to remove this millstone from around your neck?"