15[20:04] This is going almost as badly as the last time Xia Lan was in the Underworld. 15[20:07] Xu Sim can barely make her out as she deflects hobgoblin arrow after hobgoblin arrow, her resolve never waning even as she gets harder to see. [20:12] 13Almost as badly as the last time she was in the Underworld, with the possibility of getting even worse. Sun almighty, this hurts. And -- she's not ready to go yet. She might have been, last time. But getting out of this looks impossible. [20:22] 05With a horrifying shriek, Phanatus falls into the ranks of the fletchers, a whirlwind of green fur and blood and sinewy muscles. He seizes a particularly hapless fletcher and rips it in twain, terrifying the rest from the field - for the moment, at least. [20:41] 5Xu Sim channels his obsidian butterflies once again - but whether through fate, the vagaries of the Underworld, or simple lack of practice, the spell is quite ineffective against the Cataphract and Nephwrack's skill. Still atop his dust devil, he lands next to Xia Lan to, give her an opportunity to escape. He fixes his eyes on the two remaing foes, sizing them up. [20:45] 13Xia Lan keeps blocking with her twin swords, even as others arrive to defend her. She's getting driven back, but tries to angle her way over towards the stormwind rider - it's her best chance at living, facing down a mad ghost and a raksha overlord. 15[20:54] The raksha overlord's glaive rears high. Xu Sim bravely steps in front of Xia Lan, and Phanatus bravely steps in front of Xu Sim! When the flurry of steel and blood resolves into a static image, it's that of a severed green horn-snout on the gray and misty earth. [20:55] 13Xia Lan dodges the spray of blood without even thinking, and only barely stops herself from retching once she realizes what she's missed. Thank you, Phanatus. [20:58] 05Xu Sim watches as a flying piece of fleshy fur bounces off the ground next to his foot. [21:09] 05Orange-furred Grittoth squares its shoulders and bares its teeth before whirling into an attack with its long arms against both foes still arrayed against its master, forcing the Nephwrack back but leaving the Cataphract unphazed. [21:43] 05Xu Sim shatters a phial of reagents at his feet and his eyes flash with sorcerous power, his caste mark glowing brightly with twirling emblems and symbols of arcane might. The wind, which had died down, rapidly begins picking up again, swirling the hair, fur, robes, moustaches, and so on of Xu Sim, Xia Lan, and Grittoth. [21:45] 13Xia Lan gets her blades back up, still bleeding from too-many wounds. Is the battlefield supposed to look hazy? Hopefully. Blood drips down across her eyes as she keeps an eye on her attackers -- she can't die here. Not here, not now. [21:57] 05Xu Sim turns away the point of the cataphract's blade, another deadly attack, with the tip of his pinky finger. [22:13] 13As the rider floats up and is dragged back down by the Cataphract, Xia Lan swipes sweat and blood from her eyes, and turns her paranoid gaze around to block any sort of surprise attack -- we just have to get out of here. We have to get out, and we have to get patched up, and all of this was terrible, and someday we will laugh about this but not today. [22:19] 13She takes a few half-hearted swings as the cataphract wanders close enough to the rider to swipe at, but fails to connect with any of them. So long as none of the attacks are directed at her. [22:31] 05Xu Sim is a flurry of movement, fending off attacks from the nephwrack and the cataphract, fending off attacks directed at the blood ape as efficiently as he can - but imperfectly, and the blood ape loses a lot of ground. [22:52] 05Xu Sim parries the blows and tries to levitate the dust devil so they can escape. He's been in this situation before. He can't escape. 15[22:54] Roaring, Grittoth goes on a mad offensive to try and protect his master. Xu Sim's ears are ringing, or, buzzing...? 15[22:54] Seven: "Where are you? I saw you flying toward us and now you're gone!" [22:57] "We're in the underworld - I think - we ran into a raksha group, some nasty ghosts, and we're in a real bad way. I don't know if -" 05Xu Sim's throat tightens. 15[22:58] "What? What is it?!" [23:00] "I think they've got us," 05he replies. "One Raksha champion and some sort of insane ghost, they've got us cornered." 15[23:01] Seven: "I can't-- I need you! They're going to--" a little louder "Nothing! I'm not talking to anyone!" 15[23:01] Then, sotto voce: "The Governor's about to do something very bad. I don't know what to do." 15[23:02] "I can't do it, but if I do it we can help you. You need our help!" 15[23:02] Weakly: "I can't bear to see you hurt." [23:06] "Seven... I-" 05Xu Sim looks in fear at the looming figures of his enemies, but his face is overtaken by something serene - "I love you." 15[23:06] "!!" 15[23:07] "...and I you." 15[23:07] "We will save you." 15[23:07] "I beg your forgiveness." [23:08] 05Xu Sim, his anima blazing with the power and fury of the setting sun, holds his arms out wide, as if welcoming an embrace. He looks the Raksha in the eye and dares it to strike him down, 05now05. [23:09] 05The sorcerer bares his throat to the Nephwrack, as though inviting its lethal attention. What fear can death hold for Xu Sim, now? 15[23:11] The pressure drops. Xu Sim and Xia Lan's eardrums pop painfully. 15[23:12] Mist, bone-white and achingly cold, crawls languidly up from the dead riverbanks. 15[23:12] The two Solars see their breath. [23:12] 13Good to know she's still breathing. 15[23:13] The nephwrack, sword held high and madness in its eyes, freezes in place. Cold mist pours down from its mouth, its burning eye sockets, from every crack and crevice of its armor. [23:14] 05None beloved by Xu Sim need ever beg forgiveness. 15[23:14] The mad old ghost dissolves into white light, its plasm ripped to wicked shreds each one flying like a knife into the cataphract's torso. 15[23:15] Eyes filming over with cataracts, the raksha's last gasp is unintelligible as it collapses to the ground, stone dead. 15[23:19] At least! Sweet respite! Xu Sim's heart soars, and the air's cold clarity lets him see through the river and beyond the river, where the armies of Thorns stand mustered in the southern bank of the Yellow. He sees them all as he flies toward them - the Governor looking smug, the Hunter looking mysterious, and Seven looking defiant. All are dwarfed by the towering figure wreathed in 15[23:19] violet light, icy mist trailing out from the hem of his fluttering void-black cloak. One pitiless eye, rendered in forged souls, looks down on the magician, the idol, and the whirlwind. 15[23:19] The mask depicts a smiling face. 15[23:23] Crossing the rift back into Creation, the Yellow's all but frozen over. Hobgoblins and thralls drown beneath the ice, inevitably adding to the ranks of Thorns. 15[23:23] The air, thoguh, is clean of arrows and screaming spirits... [23:23] 05Xu Sim urges the dust devil south, heedless of the fuligin figure. His face is a mask of relief and gratitude. [23:24] 13Sun almighty. [23:25] 13Xia Lan spends the entire journey babbling in Flametongue. She's exhausted. 15[23:28] Where is Xu Sim flying? [23:31] 05Where else? Among the peerless ranks of the Chosen of the Sun, Xu Sim is unlikely to contest the record for the fastest someone's ever going when they embrace their freshly-acknowledged-beloved, but surely it's the fastest anyone's gone in for something like that in the River Provinces anytime recently. [23:33] 13Xia Lan's mumbling, translated: "Can't fucking believe this, laid out on my fucking ass, damned near begging for a reprieve... fuck the Underworld, never going back, this was just as bad as the first time..." 15[23:35] The whirlwind streaks across the river, slowing as it approaches the far bank, sinking lower and lower until it dissolves beneath Xu Sim's feat and Seven catches him in a running embrace. 15[23:36] A pair of skeletons lend Xia Lan a pair of arms to support herself, unless she recoils. [23:37] 13Too tired. Too bloodied. [23:37] 05He's not actually wounded, and thank goodness for it. He is completely filthy. "Are you alright," 05he manages to hoarsely whisper. [23:37] 13...she's going to regret that later, probably. [23:37] 14A buzzing at the base of Xu Sim and Xia Lan's necks. 15[23:38] Seven answers by kissing him. Her lips are cold. Everything is cold, right now. Not all of the chills running up Xu Sim's spine are romantic. [23:38] 13Xia Lan murmurs something incomprehensible in reply. [23:39] 14Stranger, to Xu Sim: [23:40] 13She repeats her first phrase, but more strenuously. [23:40] "Tsuka?" 13Incomprehensible. "Tsuka? Where is he." [23:40] 14To Xia Lan, in Low Realm: [23:41] 14To Xia Lan, in Low Realm: [23:41] [23:41] 05Is the Codex on or not? Xu Sim doesn't care as he returns the kiss with interest. A moment later: "I was so worried -" 05here he spares an eye for the Mask, in case the beast is about to try to pluck his head off or something - "I couldn't stand the thought of something happening to you. Thought I'd help out. Didn't go to plan." 15[23:42] Seven: "My story is much the same." [23:42] 13Hazily: "Fuck off." 13She repeats in Flametongue, carefully pronouncing each consonant. 15[23:42] Stranger catches their voices through static, a problem he's never had with the Codex before. [23:43] 14Intri---ahhhhhhhp! Hummm. Intriguing. [23:44] "A moment, darling -" 05Xu Sim starts rummaging in one of his pouches, not quite breaking the embrace as he hunts for an acupuncture needle and some salves. [23:44] 13Where have the skeletons delivered Xia Lan? She can't exactly object, so. 15[23:46] There aren't any medical tents on this side of the river since none of the combatants on this side of the river are alive, so Xia Lan is sat down on a crate labeled, in bold Riverspeak characters, SKULLS, etc. [23:47] 13Wonderful. [23:48] 13...none of the crates are half-opened, right? Being on a crate that purports to be full of skulls is one thing, but seeing them is entirely another. [23:48] 14Well, Xu Sim sounds like he's found his woman, at least. 15[23:49] None of the ones Xia Lan can see, anyway! [23:50] 13Comforting and yet disgusting at the same time. Time to lay down and hope for an actual medic to see to her -- there's still a war going on, after all. [23:50] "You must never apologize to me again, Scion of the Sevenfold," 05Xu Sim adds. "But I must beg a moment of your patience, to see to my friend Xia Lan's wounds." 15[23:52] "Of c-" The sky cracks open when a screaming wind collides with a coruscating expanse over the heart of the river. Air rushes out and upward as above the Yellow Xu Sim can see the foreign skies of the Underworld. 15[23:53] The rest of Seven's words are lost, but she releases Xu Sim to his work. [00:00] 05Xu Sim sighs deeply as he sets to mending Xia Lan's wounds - she came dreadfully close. But at least she was able to get away, unlike the Dragonlord, thanks to - well, thanks to what? Xu Sim chooses to believe, the power of love. As he works, he can answer a question or two if Stranger-Visits-Heaven isn't too busy working political angles among the Lookshyans. [00:04] 05Once the treatment is complete, Xu Sim will call for a litter or palanquin to take her to the Undercity to convalesce the rest of the day. He then returns to the Thorns camp at large, to see what is going on. 15[00:10] NEXT TIME: The dreamer, the Tower, the song