Syaoran Li | 李 小狼 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cardcaptured) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
recolle2018-01-14 06:04 pm
cardcaptured) wrote in recolle2018-01-14 06:04 pm
Entry tags:
[OPEN] ☽ Be careful making wishes in the dark
WHO: Xiaolang Li & YOU!
WHERE: Various locations throughout the city! (Subway tunnels, the woods, and Rec U campus library being notable ones, though)
WHEN: All throughout January!
WHAT: JANUARY CATCH-ALL! Sword training, sword sparring, sword researching, proper and improper uses of magic talismansXiaolang please don't set things on fire, trying to explore the subway tunnels (and maybe possibly getting sick near the end of the month)
WARNINGS: None for now? Will update in case anything changes, though!
i
[If you're out near the Retrospec mailboxes some evening shortly after the dome goes up in the city, investigating or picking up your own regained items, you may see a certain boy pulling out a handful of intricately designed paper slips from his mailbox, confusion flitting across his face.]
'Fire'...?
[If in response to his words, one of the slips suddenly bursts into flames, gained a surprised yelp from his end, hastily dropping the bunch of paper to the ground before attempting to put it out. Oddly enough, the paper itself doesn't seem to be getting burned up? Strange.
Unfortunately, this isn't the last incident of this either-- throughout the month, you may find Xiaolang tucked away somewhere, perhaps some alley or secluded area of a park that's not surrounded by flammable things, trying to test the limits and the triggers to these mysterious talismans, succeeding in some areas and failing badly at others. Want to know where that weird bolt of lightning came from? Or why this trash can is suddenly up in flames? YOU CAN BLAME THIS CHILD. (He's trying his best, okay--)
He does manage to get a hang of the fire talisman a little easier than his thunder one, though, so you may also spot him during the darker times of the month, holding aloft a burning bit of paper, brow furrowed in concentration but keeping the flame steady. Maybe it's good to stick near him in case you forgot your own light source? Just don't wind up distracting him too too much, lest you want a flare-up.]
ii
a [Of course, the talismans aren't the only thing he's preoccupied with this month-- outside of the agreed training sessions with a few people, along with the fencing advice from Leon and sparring with Sakura, Xiaolang's been practicing on his own with his sword in the outskirts of the woods, because he's anything but not driven to improve upon things. It's nothing too ambitious or risky-- it's mostly just going through the forms and techniques already shown to him by the others, but applying it to the actual weapon he has on hand. After all, if he was going to eventually fight with it, he had to get used to how the real deal felt in his hands, didn't he? Occasionally, though, he slips and fumbles a move, either from the poor lighting from his electric lantern, or his thoughts momentarily drifting to other things (or other people) and he bites back a (PG-rated) curse because of it. More towards the end of the month, he looks a little more exhausted as he goes through the motions, which begs the question-- has he even rested at all between all of these practices and training sessions? The answer is probably nope. Someone get him to chill, please--]
b [You may also spot Xiaolang during the weekday afternoons (and possibly some evenings) in the Recolle University campus library, surrounded by various books on swords, Chinese weaponry and their respective fighting techniques, jotting down various notes and deeply focused on his work. There's various science and engineering books mixed in there as well, along with his regular homework, and it begs the question-- what's a middle school kid even doing here in the first place? And does he really need all of these books? Maybe he might be hogging one that you might need? He might relinquish it, or he might not, depending on how you ask.]
iii
a [With everything else going on this month, with the sudden lack of daylight and getting accustomed to the new items Retrospec had sent his way, exploring the tunnels had been a little lower on Xiaolang's priority list. But it was certainly on there, though-- after hearing and reading so many accounts of the odd workings and history of the city, he wanted to do a little first-hand research himself for once.
But does he call anyone else to join him on this quest? Nope. No use dragging other people into any danger he may possibly be getting into. Hence why he's using the current darkness to his advantage as he attempts to sneak into the subway entrance, book bag full of supplies on his back-- although attempts is probably the key word here, as trying to move stealthily with a sword shoved down the back of your jacket is pretty much next to impossible. Maaaaybe it's not the best idea to let an actual thirteen year old go in here by himself??]
b [If, by some miracle, he winds up in the fourth subway car with you (and hasn't already called it a day and deemed things too dangerous thanks to the creeping vines and Rodents Of Unusual Size), he's going to be digging through the various vinyls and audio equipment, taking photos of them with his iPad for curiosity's sake-- that is, until one of his memories starts blaring across the screen in the car. Any of them will cause him to drop whatever he's holding with a resounding crash (hopefully not his iPad??probably his iPad) as he gapes at the scene unfolding, although if it's one memory in particular...]
T... THAT WASN'T A DREAM?!
[... maybe that wasn't something you wanted to say out loud, Xiaolang???]
c [Should he manage to avoid any other danger while in tunnels (or at least, successfully wield it off thanks to his baby sword skills and talismans) and wind up in the grand hub, he's just-- going to be taking photos of everything. If not with his iPad (which may or may not be cracked thanks to his clumsiness back in the fourth car), then with his phone, capturing every store front and wall and ceiling, although if you're with him and try to enter one of the establishments, he's just going to grab your sleeve with a shake of his head.]
Don't. We don't know what could be hiding in there.
[The Retrospec shop, however, remains an exception, as Xiaolang all but bounds into the store, hands on whatever papers or books that may hold the most information. He had only received the app once the Retrospec building had closed down, so he never had the opportunity to properly look into it, but now that there was all this material here to research...
By the time the chime rings out for the last train, Xiaolang's about three-quarters of the way through the guide, taking photos of each and every page to look into for later, and he murmurs--]
That's... crazy. Did they really have the technology to manage this sort of thing?
[... what's crazier is if he can make it to the train before it leaves the station, with how laser focused he is on the book.]
iv - WILDCARD
[If there's anything else you want to do for January with Xiaolang, hit me up over @![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
Urameshi to plot things out!! I am down for anything and everything so don't be afraid to ask :9b]
WHERE: Various locations throughout the city! (Subway tunnels, the woods, and Rec U campus library being notable ones, though)
WHEN: All throughout January!
WHAT: JANUARY CATCH-ALL! Sword training, sword sparring, sword researching, proper and improper uses of magic talismans
WARNINGS: None for now? Will update in case anything changes, though!
i
[If you're out near the Retrospec mailboxes some evening shortly after the dome goes up in the city, investigating or picking up your own regained items, you may see a certain boy pulling out a handful of intricately designed paper slips from his mailbox, confusion flitting across his face.]
'Fire'...?
[If in response to his words, one of the slips suddenly bursts into flames, gained a surprised yelp from his end, hastily dropping the bunch of paper to the ground before attempting to put it out. Oddly enough, the paper itself doesn't seem to be getting burned up? Strange.
Unfortunately, this isn't the last incident of this either-- throughout the month, you may find Xiaolang tucked away somewhere, perhaps some alley or secluded area of a park that's not surrounded by flammable things, trying to test the limits and the triggers to these mysterious talismans, succeeding in some areas and failing badly at others. Want to know where that weird bolt of lightning came from? Or why this trash can is suddenly up in flames? YOU CAN BLAME THIS CHILD. (He's trying his best, okay--)
He does manage to get a hang of the fire talisman a little easier than his thunder one, though, so you may also spot him during the darker times of the month, holding aloft a burning bit of paper, brow furrowed in concentration but keeping the flame steady. Maybe it's good to stick near him in case you forgot your own light source? Just don't wind up distracting him too too much, lest you want a flare-up.]
ii
b [You may also spot Xiaolang during the weekday afternoons (and possibly some evenings) in the Recolle University campus library, surrounded by various books on swords, Chinese weaponry and their respective fighting techniques, jotting down various notes and deeply focused on his work. There's various science and engineering books mixed in there as well, along with his regular homework, and it begs the question-- what's a middle school kid even doing here in the first place? And does he really need all of these books? Maybe he might be hogging one that you might need? He might relinquish it, or he might not, depending on how you ask.]
iii
But does he call anyone else to join him on this quest? Nope. No use dragging other people into any danger he may possibly be getting into. Hence why he's using the current darkness to his advantage as he attempts to sneak into the subway entrance, book bag full of supplies on his back-- although attempts is probably the key word here, as trying to move stealthily with a sword shoved down the back of your jacket is pretty much next to impossible. Maaaaybe it's not the best idea to let an actual thirteen year old go in here by himself??]
b [If, by some miracle, he winds up in the fourth subway car with you (and hasn't already called it a day and deemed things too dangerous thanks to the creeping vines and Rodents Of Unusual Size), he's going to be digging through the various vinyls and audio equipment, taking photos of them with his iPad for curiosity's sake-- that is, until one of his memories starts blaring across the screen in the car. Any of them will cause him to drop whatever he's holding with a resounding crash (hopefully not his iPad??
T... THAT WASN'T A DREAM?!
[... maybe that wasn't something you wanted to say out loud, Xiaolang???]
c [Should he manage to avoid any other danger while in tunnels (or at least, successfully wield it off thanks to his baby sword skills and talismans) and wind up in the grand hub, he's just-- going to be taking photos of everything. If not with his iPad (which may or may not be cracked thanks to his clumsiness back in the fourth car), then with his phone, capturing every store front and wall and ceiling, although if you're with him and try to enter one of the establishments, he's just going to grab your sleeve with a shake of his head.]
Don't. We don't know what could be hiding in there.
[The Retrospec shop, however, remains an exception, as Xiaolang all but bounds into the store, hands on whatever papers or books that may hold the most information. He had only received the app once the Retrospec building had closed down, so he never had the opportunity to properly look into it, but now that there was all this material here to research...
By the time the chime rings out for the last train, Xiaolang's about three-quarters of the way through the guide, taking photos of each and every page to look into for later, and he murmurs--]
That's... crazy. Did they really have the technology to manage this sort of thing?
[... what's crazier is if he can make it to the train before it leaves the station, with how laser focused he is on the book.]
iv - WILDCARD
[If there's anything else you want to do for January with Xiaolang, hit me up over @
no subject
Hey!
[ Concern traces her words as she quickly runs to catch him; if there's one thing that she'll do, she'll act like the responsible older sister for once. And thankfully she's gotten a little more athletic in the past few weeks - not like she wasn't already, honestly - as she does so, letting out a deep sigh of relief when she manages to have him in her arms.
But now that she thinks about it, just. Let her check his temperature by comparing it to her own, placing one hand on his forehead real quickly. ]
Geez... even if you're not a little kid, you're pushing yourself too hard, you know.
[ At least her voice is a lot calmer now, however. The softer tones of what seems to be an obvious older sister. Someone who is definitely chiding him for doing such a thing, but at least she understands him. Just a little bit. ]
Maybe we should take you back home.
no subject
I can't slack off, though. I need to get better at this, if I'm going to--
[But what he's going to do will have to be left unsaid, as her suggestion to return home sends a flicker of panic in his eyes. He looks up at her, stricken, and his grip on her arms tighten just a little.]
... please. Please don't tell Leon about this. If I'm sick, just... let him assume it's a normal cold or something. I-- I don't want him to think I can't handle myself. I can. [... this whole situation isn't exactly proving your point though, Xiaolang]
no subject
Maybe, just this once... ]
Okay. I won't tell him, but I'm still bringing you back home right now. If you argue with me any further than that, the deal's off. [ Even though it sounds like blackmail, her tone is more like a chiding older sister. ] And I'm going to borrow the kitchen, too. Anyway, can you get up or am I going to have to carry you back?
[ She's not asking in a way that sounds rude as she's keeping her tone polite, but. It might end up coming off that way. ]
no subject
As Mio sighes and agrees, however, he feels his body slump in relief, unaware he was even tensed up to begin with. He nods weakly at her request, not even caring at the moment that he was falling into some sort of bargain with her, just glad to be able to dodge the (well-deserved) lecturing he may have gotten otherwise.]
Ngh... fine. Do whatever you wish. Just as long as he doesn't know.
[Mio's last question, however, gives him pause, and it takes him a minute or so to weigh his options. She wasn't all that taller than he was (even at his scant, barely five foot height), and Xiaolang wasn't entirely sure how strong she was, either. He wasn't exactly heavy, but he was more... compact, in a way, being a boy and all. But the thought of walking home in this state was...]
I can manage. [He attempts to make his voice firm, unwavering, but his hold, tightening even further to steady his legs as he pulls away, betrays his true state.] I need to grab my sword and the rest of my stuff before we go, though.
[If he can... zombie-shuffle his way over there to collect them without falling again, anyway.]
no subject
Then again, the whole thing is that she's more or less wanting to get this over with and get him to bed with something to eat over arguing any longer than she had to. She'd hate having to go further than this. ]
Okay...
[ Does she actually believe him though? That's a little debatable especially since she can actually feel just how bad it is. And honestly, she knows and understands, but she doesn't want him to force it too much. But she'll at least let him go grab his stuff, keeping a close eye on him just in case he finds himself failing. ]