heaven / jiaoqiu

[midway]

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weekend 0, saturday, cafe

[midway]

[ There's... so much food! ]

Looks like you really don't have to worry about going hungry, my friend. I hope you haven't already gone and eaten your egg.

[fried]

[ imagine he did eat the egg

no, he hasn't. he's nosily sniffing his way through all the things in this cafe. yes, sniffing. he is a fox. ]

I find myself spoiled with the amount of ingredients available, so it won't be necessary. [ he says, amused. ] Hello again. Have you eaten anything?

[midway]

[ Watches him sniff in fascination. ]

I may have sampled a pastry or two. They're not bad. Certainly richer than I'm used to nowadays.

w0, MONDAY

[fried]

[ good morning, jiaoqiu is day drinking.

that is to say, he's out on the beach, sitting under a big umbrella dressed like this. he looks pretty cozy, ears flopped back lazily on his head as he stares out at the waves. he's got a spicy drink in hand and he's sipping it every so often, tail wagging gently behind him on the towel. his hair looks really nice today, it's all brushed and sleek looking.

tell me, how loud are you when you approach... ]

[midway]

[ The way I had to specify that Claude is NOT day drinking in another tag.

He will wander over at a normal volume? He's not trying to hide his presence or anything.

Well, actually, he is being sneaky, but not seriously. ]

w1, THURSDAY

[fried]

[ WHEREVER YOU ARE JIAOQIU IS HERE

he's checking on your injuries, and he's being really gentle about it, honestly - he's a good doctor. he doesn't have a lot, but he's doing his best with supplies. if at any point you are awake during this process: ]

... I'm sorry.

[midway]

[ HE'S IN HIS BED hello

He does appreciate being patched up though. ]

What for?

week 1, saturday

[midway]

[ MAN HE HATED THAT A LOT, puts them at the beach...

He seems a little unsure as he approaches Jiaoqiu. ]

Hey, Jiaoqiu. I'm sorry about Brimstone.

[ He didn't know they were tight like that. ]

[fried]

[ his ear does a little flick, as he glances over at claude. ]

Mm. Thank you. [ ... ] Troublesome child.

w2, MONDAY

[fried]

[ this is a nonstarter but tell me if you want baby jiaoqiu (of various ages), random backstory changes jiaoqiu, or unaffected jiaoqiu for your straight man needs and i will give you this thing ]

[midway]

[ let him be BABY ]

w3, MONDAY

[fried]

[ we're just jumping into it, here - somehow, you're in the memory fuckhouse, and there's a memory playing over the glass, vibrant and loud. if you can, watch the video clips to go with it because the voice acting does really make it so much better.

The ship is deathly quiet.

You have good hearing - so much that sometimes it hurts to stand in the middle of a crowd of people. You have never heard this ship, or any of the Xianzhou ships, fall this silent. A bad omen.

You have a good sense of smell, too. You could smell the borisin that crept their way onto the ship like vermin, digging their claws into the metal and peeling it away to release their leader. There was not much you could do. You told Feixiao. You led the young ones, too young, the children with swords and no dreams of anything but serving in battle - you led them to the right conclusion, and you hate yourself for it, but what don't you hate yourself for? That doesn't matter. What does matter is you've laid the groundwork. They will do the rest. Your General, and the future you both want.

Ah, right. Your good sense of smell. You can't smell anything other than blood. It's a good thing you lost most of your taste a long time ago. You imagine the taste of iron would be unbearable, here on the ground in this back alley.

You can't breathe right. It hurts so badly - you've never been very good at suppressing pain, and it blares like the loudest of alarms in your heart. You're a healer, you know what the body's limits are, and you know you're stretching them. You know you don't have long.

You look up at the hulking beast in front of you. He looks a little like you - not you, but your species. He's not. Hoolay is a borisin, but somehow, they've managed to all hide their true visages. He grins down at you, teeth and claws stained red with blood. The blood on his claws is yours, but you don't want to think about why his teeth are stained.

"Secrets are a weapon that a hunter cannot live without," Hoolay is saying. "Those who have no secrets are no more than prey, cut open and waiting for death."

You drag in a breath. Choke on it a little.

"What you’re saying is, in your eyes, I am not more than prey that has exhausted all of its secrets, and is simply awaiting its death?" You ask, staring down at the floor rather than Hoolay. Already, there's darkness curling at the edges of your sight, and you know that isn't because you're dying. A side effect.

"Do you think you have some other escape route? Jiaoqiu, I have already peeled back your disguises and defenses layer by layer. I know all the secrets that you and your general have buried so deep," Hoolay growls, voice amused. He thinks he knows. You told him nothing that would hurt your people. You told him things that could sound like secrets, but weren't. That is what you're good for - a clever tongue, quick to lie and persuade. It's all you're good for.

Well. There's one other thing.

"But you have told me all of your secrets too, Warhead," You murmur, eyes still on the floor. Not out of any sense of submissiveness. You simply don't want the borisin to be the last thing you see.

Hoolay laughs. "But you will never have a chance to use them. You will be buried with them right here. Although, you are a fortunate one... After all, you will avoid having to see the tragic future that awaits your general. I'm sure she understands her fate far better than you ever will. One day on the battlefield, she will be overpowered by her ever-intensifying Moon Rage, and finally be torn apart by her own fury and transformation."

He talks too much, you think. But that's alright. That's what you want. You want time. The longer he is here, gloating over you, the longer your General has time to come up with a plan.

"Not even your God can save her from this fate. Although... THEY can lead her to liberation. And the only way to save her is here, in my hands."

Another bloody grin. You huff, and cough, just a little.

"Are you the healer or am I? Are you really that certain of your own judgement?" You ask, idly. Your voice is starting to fail you. It feels like gravel, like trying to enunciate around marbles in your mouth. Gingerly, you rest a hand on your torso, where the worst of the claw wounds are, and turn your head a little, looking out over the wall. Past Hoolay. To the sky, to the world outside this alley, to the sister-ship of your people. You look at the sky.

"I must leave, foxian," Hoolay says, shifting his weight. "But before I go, you know what I must do, don't you?"

And weakly, you reply: "Drink bloodwine... I hear it is a borisin custom to kill prisoners and drink their blood before battle to stir up their madness."

"You really did put hard work into researching us. It is a shame that this is where your journey ends."

And he moves forward. You flinch, knowing what's coming, but it's okay, it's alright, this is your plan. He's right, you did do your research. You knew, since telling Moze to run in the prison, that this might be the outcome, and you are at peace. It's going to hurt, though.

And it does. Hoolay rips into you. Tears flesh from your neck, your torso, like a wild animal. Frenzied, with razor sharp teeth and claws that dig into your arms to keep you still, to stop you from reflexively trying to get away. You can't help yourself - it hurts, you're being mauled, and you cry out, voice ragged and raw, breaking on your screams. Nobody can hear you. Nobody comes to help you.

Hoolay eats and drinks his fill, and tosses you to the ground, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve. He must figure there's no point to killing you outright, or perhaps he doesn't even realize you're still alive. He's driven mad by the smell of blood, the taste of blood, and he lets out a roar of laughter before bounding off towards battle - towards Feixiao, your General.

You are left alone, in an alleyway full of bodies.

Clinically, you know you're seconds from death. You can almost see the autopsy report. Bite wounds that extend over a large area, from the patient's neck to his chest. Fractured clavicle. Toxins in the wounds caused flesh to decay and atrophy. Disturbed blood circulation, massive internal bleeding, neurological atrophy, optic neuropathy. Damage to the liver and kidney, impaired lymphatic and immune system. The only part of that report that was Hoolay's fault are the bites, though. The rest was your own doing.

You smile, weakly, opening your eyes to look at the sky one more time.

Enjoy the taste of my fresh blood... Hoolay. Unfortunately, I am not a man without secrets. I still have one little secret hidden up my sleeve.

Your vision is nearly gone. The sky is a smear of pristine blue.

Tumbledust... I drank it a while ago, and the poison is already flowing through my veins. Sooner or later, you will begin to feel the effects. If the most lethal poison known to this world is able to save innocent lives... then it can also be called a great medicine.

You close your eyes for the last time.

I will do my best to cure you... Feixiao, I kept my promise. At the cost of this insignificant life. Bring victory to the Yaoqing.

and then the room is silent. ]

[midway]

[ He doesn't miss the sensation of being bitten into. It's nauseating. Seeing Jiaoqiu so close to death, the conversation with Hoolay.

Even the lengths he was forced to take to help his people. ]

... Sorry for intruding again.

week 3, thursday

[midway]

[ my god is he even conscious ]

[fried]

[ probably not but he can wake up for you sweet claude

gives you a general wound overview: he has like, stab wounds everywhere. it's his shoulder, his legs, and in his stomach. they look like someone was trying to run him through with a sword with the shoulder and stomach, but the legs are more shallow, thinner. one of his arms is just absolutely useless - a gouge near the inner elbow/forearm, something that looks like it was made with some sort of sharp teeth. it's messy. there's also some sort of gouge-y bite wound on his shoulder, too.

he's got slash marks across his face, too. kind of claw like. and his left ear is ripped in half - it's missing the top half of it, so he's just got half an ear. it's all bandaged as much as it can be.

he's on a hospital bed just chilling, half passed out. ]

week 3, saturday

[midway]

[ Hi Jiaoqiu! Approaching him, slightly concerned. ]

Hey. How're you feeling?

[fried]

Tired.

[ he replies, from where he's curled up. he's holding zhongli's vision, tail wrapped around his ankles. ]

... And you?

week 4, monday, graveyard

[midway]

[ This definitely feels out of place in the bright, sugary kingdom, but it makes sense... He guesses.

Looking around with Jiaoqiu who is also forced to be here, the vibes are a little sad, but oddly peaceful. ]

This might be a morose question, but do you visit graveyards often?

[fried]

[ he wanders, running his fingers over things like he's getting accustomed to them. his emotions right now are serene, mostly - kind of numb, a little dead. maybe some faint curiosity. ]

Haha, it is a morose question. [ ... ] It isn't a hobby of mine, but I have visited them more times than I can count, yes.

I assume it may be the same for you.

w4, WEDNESDAY

[fried]

[ post party he is A Little Drunk and wandering back to his room

and clipping the walls a bit it's fine. his eyeballs. help. ]

[midway]

[ HELP

puts a hand to his shoulder ]

Need a little help there, my friend?

week 7, monday, morning

[midway]

[ Okay... It's not morning, and there are no festivities...

Glancing at Jiaoqiu, vibes are a little unsettled. ]

It's strange to be back and see everything like this.

[fried]

[ a hum. he seems... pretty okay? it's hard not to feel a lot better now that the lost are back. ]

Do you mean the location changes? I suppose so. The angels mentioned that the entity is merely throwing a fit. I could see it.

w7, SATURDAY

[fried]

[ he's curled up in the tavern tonight with booze and a blanket, staring out... a window, i suppose. idk if there are windows. there are now for the sake of this thread. his ear flicks at the sound of someone approaching, and he glances over, with a smile. ]

[midway]

Jiaoqiu. You look cozy.

[ smiling ]