[ since the beginning of this whole mess, yin yu sometimes found it hard to look at yasusada. it's been a while since they first met, and that feeling has mostly faded into a place where it can be boxed up and put away--they're different people, and he knows yasusada as yasusada, now.
...but sometimes, the similarities are too eerie.
this is one of them. when yizhen fights, he fights. there is a reason that quan yizhen is the martial god of the west, because when yin yu knew him as a foolish, kind of stupid, unthinking young man, it was only outside of the fight. so that intense look of yasusada's sends a chill down his spine, but... it's not in a bad way, either.
(he was a martial once, too.)
yin yu meets him, blow for blow. his dagger is small, but he's used to fighting with one nowadays, against swords and monsters alike. the blade clashes into his with no trouble--he's still on the defensive, receiving, parrying, quick footsteps backwards in the snow to let yasusada push him back.
[Maybe Yasusada's noticed the way Yin Yu looks at him, sometimes. Maybe something in his spirit has been able to sense it, even if he wasn't consciously aware of it. Or maybe he simply acts this way with everyone--surprisingly, he hasn't sparred much with the others here. He's upset right now anyway, so even if he had, it might be impossible to tell.
Regardless, if Yin Yu can hold his own, then Yasusada's coming at him with full strength. It's not the sort of fight he's used to, but it's close enough to fighting the tantous that Yasusada's able to adjust accordingly. In a normal spar, on a normal day, he might be a little more wary--but he has too many emotions swirling inside of him, and a good fight always makes his blood boil. Plus, he's injured; he needs to compensate for that however he can.
Eventually, he jumps back again, shoulders relaxing but not fully. He's breathing a little harder, but he's not nearly as out of breath as a normal human would be.]
When did you get that? [His eyes are fixed, still, on the dagger. He wonders if it has a spirit.]
[ for a while the forest is quiet save for the sound of their footsteps and metal clashing against metal. yasusada is incredibly strong-- a skilled swordsman, a skilled sword. the full strength is probably only adjusted by his broken arm, and it is that and yin yu's own instincts that let him keep up. he dodges out of the way of a clean strike that could've taken his arm off, blocks, spins, and when yasusada jumps back, he does too.
he's definitely more out of breath, because he's so much closer to human than anything else, but that's fine. this is familiar. it's years of training, echoes of a life that he has tried so hard to forget.
yin yu glances at the dagger in his hand. ] From the store, two weeks ago. [ after their last particularly violent murder. after guy was falsely accused. it is the truth, and he would give yasusada nothing but that. ]
I have no weapon of my own, short of the Earth Master's shovel. [ which is a weapon, sort of. the back end of it is as sharp as a scythe, but it is bulky, and large, and not the kind of thing that yin yu would turn to in a dangerous situation, if given the choice.
easily, he turns his hand to let yasusada examine the blade. ] If it were to come down to protecting myself or someone I care for, I would rather not do so unarmed.
[Yasusada nods--he looks at it again, but not very closely. He knows what it looks like, after all.]
I was just surprised. I gave one to someone else, earlier this week. [For the same DAMN REASON Y'ALL FOOLS AND YOUR LACK OF WEAPONS!!! He's the one who's gonna get gray hairs, god.] He didn't like it very much, so I thought he might've given it away. I didn't realize there were more.
[He doesn't go in the shop much; he has his sword. What else does he need? His sword, which remains unsheathed for now. He's not sure he's finished.]
Why do you need a shovel? [(yin yu voice) I am burying my feelings]
if yasusada wants to spar more, that's fine. yin yu returns the dagger to his side, but stays relaxed, posture ready to begin again, if he needs to. it's - it's familiar, falling into these old habits, and if he can help, as always, he likes to.
the mention of the earth master shovel is fair enough. no one's actually ever asked him that before...the answer's not particularly complicated, either. ] ...Before I came here, I was using it to dig out a tunnel in a mountain for my master. It is a spiritual weapon for the Earth Master Ming Yi, who recently passed away. My lord obtained it afterwards and brought it to me. It can dig into any surface, as deep and as far as one could imagine, even to the center of the earth, even through the realms of the Heavens, and can be used as a weapon in times of great necessity.
[ ah. well. he pauses. ] ...at least, that was at home. Like many things here, it has no magical qualities any longer.
[They've been around each other for weeks, but only now is Yasusada noticing how tall Yin Yu actually is. Yasusada's human form is a perfect translation of the length of his blade, just as the rest of them--and he is a standard uchigatana, after all. Humans, or those who follow their rules for creation, are bound to no such things.
It doesn't matter much to Yasusada, so of course he only registers it now, when they're standing as opponents. He shifts his arm unintentionally--a slight wince crossing his face--but he listens to Yin Yu's words, tilting his head slightly.]
You have a master too, then. [Because of course that's what he focuses on. Why would it be anything else?]
[ yasusada, please. for that to be what he got out of that... he huffs a little laugh. ]
I do, yes. [ he's not a sentient sword or anything... but. he and yasusada have a bit more in common than you might initially think. after all, the want and need to be useful... does that not make him a tool to be utilized, too? ]
[Yasusada stares at him for a little while, after that. It's an intense gaze, definitely far too rude for human standards. But for once, it's difficult to tell what he's thinking.]
Are they a good master? [He asks, finally. His voice is--not soft, exactly, but small.] Do you miss them?
[ yeah, it's nothing he's not used to. it's amazing how simple it is to fall into this old routine, and if yin yu looks at all uncomfortable, it's not because of yasusada staring... it's because it's just too familiar.
still, without the baggage attached, it's a little easier to ease it away, and the question he asks takes him a little more off guard. ]
He is, and... [ ... hm... ] ...Our relationship isn't quite like that, really. We aren't that close.
[ (hua cheng, with a knife: i have NO friends only dianxia) ] Do you miss yours, Yasusada?
[I think about how Yasusada would literally just chat with E-ming and I get tired
That's... hm. He knows there are swords like this, who aren't devoted to their former masters (and hell, even amongst the ones who are, Yasusada's fervent admiration is unmatched). It's still a difficult concept for him to grasp.
The question, posed to him in return, makes him tilt his head a little.]
but...well, it's not that he's not devoted. it's...a business relationship, but yin yu would die for hua cheng if he asked in a heartbeat. he did, after all, save his life. to say he respects and wants to serve his master is an understatement.
this isn't about him! thank gods. so. ]
Do you miss one more than the other? [ he asks, instead. okita-kun is a name he's heard before from yasusada, though he hadn't really asked or assumed much beyond it. it's not in his business to pry, but... he seems like he needs to talk. ]
Of course. [There's lots of ways he could explain this, but he isn't sure any of them will make sense to anyone who isn't a sword. So he goes for the easy answer, instead.] Master isn't trapped here like Okita-kun.
[Okita, who'd thought he was walking away from history towards a truly happy ending. Okita, who deserves so much more than the cruel fate of choking on his own blood, utterly alone save for the sword in his hand--whose desperate tears and frantic screams went unseen and unheard.]
We were together, at the castle. Before that, it was... 300 years, I think. Maybe more.
[It's hard to tell the passage of time, when you've nothing but the clouds and the stars and dull, aching loneliness to go by. He's been with the saniwa, in this body, for less than the span of a human year. How could there be any comparison?]
[ rereading this thread is making me scream now thank you ]
That is as long as my lifespan, nearly. [ yin yu says, quietly, his expression softening for yasusada. he must have missed him terribly. ] Your master was in your other game with you...? Were you able to protect him?
[ it's odd to think of hua cheng being here. it just--it doesn't even compute. if hua cheng was here, he would've torn this place apart piece by piece, by now, if it kept him away from taizi dianxia. he was always like that, able to solve problems that were fantastically impossible for anyone else, built out of sheer determination, sometimes out of spite.
yin yu has always been one to recognize his own capabilities. compared to his master, him being here does not so much contribute to solving the problem. ]
It's more than half of mine. [And even at 550 years old, Yasusada's one of the younger swords in the Citadel. The youngest among them, to his knowledge, is one of his closest comrades.
How can he explain how proud he is, to have belonged to some of the last true samurai? He's one of the last swords to have been wielded in true battle; the guns, those cold, soulless weapons, had replaced them all after that. How can he describe the certainty he feels--the fact that he knows, more surely than he knows his own heart, that if Okita hadn't been consumed by his sickness, he would've held his sword with sure, warm hands until the very end?
Were you able to protect him?, Yin Yu asks, and it hurts, though Yin Yu can't possibly know that. But before Yasusada can answer, a memory does it for him, one that Yin Yu gets to experience straight from Yasusada's perspective. The anguish at his master's pain, the regret--and the relief, when Okita agrees (if not in so many words) to end his life himself.
Ah... perhaps he doesn't need to say it out loud, then. He presses his lips together, grip tightening on his sword, and looks down at the snow beneath their feet.]
...Executing me helped him complete one of his objectives. [He says, quietly, when he can speak again.] And all of us were brought back to life, in the castle. We got a happy ending, but it wasn't because of me.
he's silent for a long moment as the memory plays, processing it properly. yasusada...]
...Nevertheless, you truly served him to the very end. [ yin yu says, quietly, reflecting on the memory itself. yasusada did everything in his power for his master.
he wonders, briefly, if that will be the fate that awaits him too. he knows, logically, that if he were to leave this place, if he is to die at home, it will be for hua cheng. he cannot die yet because he has jobs to complete for him, tasks to manage, and... taizi dianxia, to protect. if taizi dianxia needed him to die for him, he would die for him in a heartbeat, with no hesitation.
in the end, yin yu is a replaceable tool, though. it's not about the bond he has with chengzhu. it's about the fact that he is no one; that his honed capabilities are useful to hua cheng, and will be useful to him until his death. so he understands... to a point, but yasusada has been cherished, well loved and well honored, and that is not something that yin yu has ever had. ] That still must have meant the world to you.
[ a beat, and then. ] The same thing happened at the island. To return us to those happier endings is paramount. [ even if he had no close connections like that--well, he had one, and that person still lives, walks among them at the camp, and the idea of something happening to her (again) terrifies him more than he'll ever admit--it is still the same. ] ...There is a long road ahead of us yet, Yasusada. This game that we play will have to be defeated for the good of us all.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
...but sometimes, the similarities are too eerie.
this is one of them. when yizhen fights, he fights. there is a reason that quan yizhen is the martial god of the west, because when yin yu knew him as a foolish, kind of stupid, unthinking young man, it was only outside of the fight. so that intense look of yasusada's sends a chill down his spine, but... it's not in a bad way, either.
(he was a martial once, too.)
yin yu meets him, blow for blow. his dagger is small, but he's used to fighting with one nowadays, against swords and monsters alike. the blade clashes into his with no trouble--he's still on the defensive, receiving, parrying, quick footsteps backwards in the snow to let yasusada push him back.
i know it replies. i know. i'm sorry. ]
no subject
Regardless, if Yin Yu can hold his own, then Yasusada's coming at him with full strength. It's not the sort of fight he's used to, but it's close enough to fighting the tantous that Yasusada's able to adjust accordingly. In a normal spar, on a normal day, he might be a little more wary--but he has too many emotions swirling inside of him, and a good fight always makes his blood boil. Plus, he's injured; he needs to compensate for that however he can.
Eventually, he jumps back again, shoulders relaxing but not fully. He's breathing a little harder, but he's not nearly as out of breath as a normal human would be.]
When did you get that? [His eyes are fixed, still, on the dagger. He wonders if it has a spirit.]
no subject
he's definitely more out of breath, because he's so much closer to human than anything else, but that's fine. this is familiar. it's years of training, echoes of a life that he has tried so hard to forget.
yin yu glances at the dagger in his hand. ] From the store, two weeks ago. [ after their last particularly violent murder. after guy was falsely accused. it is the truth, and he would give yasusada nothing but that. ]
I have no weapon of my own, short of the Earth Master's shovel. [ which is a weapon, sort of. the back end of it is as sharp as a scythe, but it is bulky, and large, and not the kind of thing that yin yu would turn to in a dangerous situation, if given the choice.
easily, he turns his hand to let yasusada examine the blade. ] If it were to come down to protecting myself or someone I care for, I would rather not do so unarmed.
no subject
I was just surprised. I gave one to someone else, earlier this week. [For the same DAMN REASON Y'ALL FOOLS AND YOUR LACK OF WEAPONS!!! He's the one who's gonna get gray hairs, god.] He didn't like it very much, so I thought he might've given it away. I didn't realize there were more.
[He doesn't go in the shop much; he has his sword. What else does he need? His sword, which remains unsheathed for now. He's not sure he's finished.]
Why do you need a shovel? [(yin yu voice) I am burying my feelings]
no subject
if yasusada wants to spar more, that's fine. yin yu returns the dagger to his side, but stays relaxed, posture ready to begin again, if he needs to. it's - it's familiar, falling into these old habits, and if he can help, as always, he likes to.
the mention of the earth master shovel is fair enough. no one's actually ever asked him that before...the answer's not particularly complicated, either. ] ...Before I came here, I was using it to dig out a tunnel in a mountain for my master. It is a spiritual weapon for the Earth Master Ming Yi, who recently passed away. My lord obtained it afterwards and brought it to me. It can dig into any surface, as deep and as far as one could imagine, even to the center of the earth, even through the realms of the Heavens, and can be used as a weapon in times of great necessity.
[ ah. well. he pauses. ] ...at least, that was at home. Like many things here, it has no magical qualities any longer.
no subject
It doesn't matter much to Yasusada, so of course he only registers it now, when they're standing as opponents. He shifts his arm unintentionally--a slight wince crossing his face--but he listens to Yin Yu's words, tilting his head slightly.]
You have a master too, then. [Because of course that's what he focuses on. Why would it be anything else?]
no subject
I do, yes. [ he's not a sentient sword or anything... but. he and yasusada have a bit more in common than you might initially think. after all, the want and need to be useful... does that not make him a tool to be utilized, too? ]
no subject
Are they a good master? [He asks, finally. His voice is--not soft, exactly, but small.] Do you miss them?
no subject
still, without the baggage attached, it's a little easier to ease it away, and the question he asks takes him a little more off guard. ]
He is, and... [ ... hm... ] ...Our relationship isn't quite like that, really. We aren't that close.
[ (hua cheng, with a knife: i have NO friends only dianxia) ] Do you miss yours, Yasusada?
no subject
That's... hm. He knows there are swords like this, who aren't devoted to their former masters (and hell, even amongst the ones who are, Yasusada's fervent admiration is unmatched). It's still a difficult concept for him to grasp.
The question, posed to him in return, makes him tilt his head a little.]
Do you mean Okita-kun? Or the saniwa?
no subject
but...well, it's not that he's not devoted. it's...a business relationship, but yin yu would die for hua cheng if he asked in a heartbeat. he did, after all, save his life. to say he respects and wants to serve his master is an understatement.
this isn't about him! thank gods. so. ]
Do you miss one more than the other? [ he asks, instead. okita-kun is a name he's heard before from yasusada, though he hadn't really asked or assumed much beyond it. it's not in his business to pry, but... he seems like he needs to talk. ]
no subject
[Okita, who'd thought he was walking away from history towards a truly happy ending. Okita, who deserves so much more than the cruel fate of choking on his own blood, utterly alone save for the sword in his hand--whose desperate tears and frantic screams went unseen and unheard.]
We were together, at the castle. Before that, it was... 300 years, I think. Maybe more.
[It's hard to tell the passage of time, when you've nothing but the clouds and the stars and dull, aching loneliness to go by. He's been with the saniwa, in this body, for less than the span of a human year. How could there be any comparison?]
no subject
That is as long as my lifespan, nearly. [ yin yu says, quietly, his expression softening for yasusada. he must have missed him terribly. ] Your master was in your other game with you...? Were you able to protect him?
[ it's odd to think of hua cheng being here. it just--it doesn't even compute. if hua cheng was here, he would've torn this place apart piece by piece, by now, if it kept him away from taizi dianxia. he was always like that, able to solve problems that were fantastically impossible for anyone else, built out of sheer determination, sometimes out of spite.
yin yu has always been one to recognize his own capabilities. compared to his master, him being here does not so much contribute to solving the problem. ]
no subject
It's more than half of mine. [And even at 550 years old, Yasusada's one of the younger swords in the Citadel. The youngest among them, to his knowledge, is one of his closest comrades.
How can he explain how proud he is, to have belonged to some of the last true samurai? He's one of the last swords to have been wielded in true battle; the guns, those cold, soulless weapons, had replaced them all after that. How can he describe the certainty he feels--the fact that he knows, more surely than he knows his own heart, that if Okita hadn't been consumed by his sickness, he would've held his sword with sure, warm hands until the very end?
Were you able to protect him?, Yin Yu asks, and it hurts, though Yin Yu can't possibly know that. But before Yasusada can answer, a memory does it for him, one that Yin Yu gets to experience straight from Yasusada's perspective. The anguish at his master's pain, the regret--and the relief, when Okita agrees (if not in so many words) to end his life himself.
Ah... perhaps he doesn't need to say it out loud, then. He presses his lips together, grip tightening on his sword, and looks down at the snow beneath their feet.]
...Executing me helped him complete one of his objectives. [He says, quietly, when he can speak again.] And all of us were brought back to life, in the castle. We got a happy ending, but it wasn't because of me.
no subject
he's silent for a long moment as the memory plays, processing it properly. yasusada...]
...Nevertheless, you truly served him to the very end. [ yin yu says, quietly, reflecting on the memory itself. yasusada did everything in his power for his master.
he wonders, briefly, if that will be the fate that awaits him too. he knows, logically, that if he were to leave this place, if he is to die at home, it will be for hua cheng. he cannot die yet because he has jobs to complete for him, tasks to manage, and... taizi dianxia, to protect. if taizi dianxia needed him to die for him, he would die for him in a heartbeat, with no hesitation.
in the end, yin yu is a replaceable tool, though. it's not about the bond he has with chengzhu. it's about the fact that he is no one; that his honed capabilities are useful to hua cheng, and will be useful to him until his death. so he understands... to a point, but yasusada has been cherished, well loved and well honored, and that is not something that yin yu has ever had. ] That still must have meant the world to you.
[ a beat, and then. ] The same thing happened at the island. To return us to those happier endings is paramount. [ even if he had no close connections like that--well, he had one, and that person still lives, walks among them at the camp, and the idea of something happening to her (again) terrifies him more than he'll ever admit--it is still the same. ] ...There is a long road ahead of us yet, Yasusada. This game that we play will have to be defeated for the good of us all.