Lessons and memories

[thetopofthefoodchain]

Who: Da Qing and open (with a closed prompt for Shen Wei)
Where: Library, around the Far Shore, Shen Wei's temple.
What: Cats are great at research and also spells. Also Da Qing remembers something.
When: 20th and 21st May

20th May: Library

He's been putting this off for a while. Or less putting it off and more he had found more interesting things to do and so had forgotten it. But D2 had suggested he look through different books to see if he spoke any languages other than Japanese.

So on a table there is a mess of books, spread around at various pages. In the middle of all of them is a cat, paw flicking a page over as he sighs. "Not this one either. This is probably a waste of time."

If he inches over just a little... There yes. A good patch of sun for him to lie in. A much better use for library tables than reading books in languages he doesn't even understand.

20th May: Around the far shore

Another thing he has been putting to the back of his to do list for a while is learning spells. So he read a book on that too and he thinks he gets the idea. It's just the shinki name, the spell and then they can't talk for ten minutes. Sounds great.

But he needs to practice and he gets the feeling that he will be in trouble if he practices on Yeye. So he needs a volunteer. So he is hanging around areas that get a lot of foot traffic, in human form this time.

If he spots anyone he thinks is a shinki he will wave at them, "Hello, have you got a moment?"

It's not always easy to spot shinki, especially if their names aren't visible."

21st May, very early morning. Temple. Closed to Shen Wei.

Cats are great at sleeping and his room in Shen Wei's temple was a very comfy one indeed. Full of cushions for cats and humans, so he was comfy at all times. He usually woke up quite late unless he had to be up for a reason.

Not so tonight, it wasn't even light when he woke up the intensity of the memory just clinging to his mind.

Yunlan... It had been Yunlan. He had looked strange, but it was him. No doubt about it. A memory from the time before, when they had been alive...

He got up and padded out of his room, barefoot he moved down the stairs and into one of the smaller rooms, probably meant for studying. Once there he found the drawer where he had hidden his project.

The project was for Shen Wei, he had found all the photographs he could of Yunlan and was in the process of sticking them into a book for him.

He hopped up onto the table and opened the book, staring at the man who had disappeared not all that long ago. His master? Someone he would follow...

His hand came up to hold the bell around his neck, moving it through his fingers as he stared at the photo. "This doesn't mean I forgive you for the supersoaker..."

Comments

[unlucky7]

Ginia's hand snaps into the halberd position and she focuses on a honing her borderline into a blade as she slashes wordlessly at his borderline. It disappears as she destroys it in an effortless attack, attention turning back to typing.

"You are not weak in any regard, but your sense of superiority only goes so far if you can't back it up with your skills."

[thetopofthefoodchain]

He was holding the borderline with all of his might and yet Ginia's knife cut through it like butter, shattering his shield and sending him staggering back.

He looked up at her with angry eyes. So she was better than him? Was that why she had come to 'help' him. To prove this point.

[unlucky7]

Ginia sighs. She can't blame him for being mad and she knows he's coming down hard, but she can't, won't, bend to him either.

"Improve, Da Qing. If you don't want me or anyone else to break your borderlines, get better."

She smiles dryly and pats her left shoulder, scars hidden under her clothes.

"The last time someone broke my borderline, they almost killed me."

[thetopofthefoodchain]

He words make his face twist, she had almost been killed? It seemed like she might be trying to help him, in her own way. It's an annoying way though and Da Qing still doesn't like it.

But he does know he needs to get stronger, he already knew that, even if admitting it outloud wasn't going to happen.

"I will." He pointed at her, "You won't be able to break them soon."

[unlucky7]

A brush with death is a strong lesson and it's not one she wants anyone else to learn through. A shinki shouldn't rely only on borderlines - the forest was a reminder of what could happen without access to borderlines or other abilities - but it's one of the strongest tools at their hand. They rely on them, their gods, the people around them. Like the fight down in the basement, no one has time to worry about someone else not being able to keep a borderline up.

The last thing Ginia wants to see is Da Qing or Shen Wei go down because he didn't put the time needed into training.

Her smile becomes a little warmer as she nods at him.

"Good. You better be right about that. You can keep practicing spells on me if you want, but you better make each attempt count."

[thetopofthefoodchain]

He's still annoyed but he is listening to her words. He needs to get better to help Da Qing. After all Yunlan isn't here anymore, Da Qing is all he has.

And Yeye but he's different. Da Qing was the one who was responsible for keeping Shen Wei safe, even if it wasn't his job as a shinki he had a note from Yunlan telling him to.

So he would try harder and not just because Ginia thought he couldn't even be as good as her.

"Ritsuki, Hatsuki. Silence!"

[unlucky7]

"Miyouki, SILENCE!"

Didn't she say he needed to make each one count? Remembering his name from when Shen Wei called him in the forest, Ginia shrugs off his attempt again as she swiftly signs his name and the spell as a counter. Her strength, her will, her superiority, her desire to protect herself and make sure she never falls in a fight again, Ginia channels all that into the spell.

[thetopofthefoodchain]

Da Qing opened his mouth, and no sound came out. Despite his best attempt at staring her down.

He glared at her, he has no idea how long this spell lasts but the moment he can talk again... She is going down!

[unlucky7]

"I need to get back to work. You keep improving."

Ginia pockets her phone and walks away. She could leave the spell on longer and let it break once she's out of sight, but she drops it immediately. In case he's brash enough to try casting a third time, her left hand curls back into the halberd position.

[thetopofthefoodchain]

Da Qing glared after her as she just walked away from him, adding insult to insult to injury.

"Ritsuki, Hatsuki. Silence!"

Of course he was brash enough, and angry enough to try for a third time.

[unlucky7]

Sigh. Ginia doesn't look back as her hand slashes a borderline down. She could shrug off his third attempt as easily as the last two, but there's a parting lesson she can give him. The borderline stops his spell before it can even try to affect her, fading away as she walks out of range.

Don't die out there, Da Qing. Improve, get stronger, be a force to be reckoned with.

[thetopofthefoodchain]

Well that was insulting. But also informative. Borderlines can stop spells.

Another thing to practice. Because he will beat her, one day.

He transforms and slinks off. Time to go master spells.]