[Well here's a familiar person making his way down the road. Whether he's a sight for sore eyes for Diaochan...they'll know soon enough.
If he could be honest, Zhang Liao rarely feels anything anymore. His whole life has been absorbed into training; like a sword that has been hammered into shape by the steady blacksmith, so has his emotions been completely quashed by the back-breaking training he has endured nearly all his life. Those irritating, unnecessary things have been packed tight into a tiny box and locked away somewhere in the back of his heart. The only time he truly feels anymore is when he's in battle. That's when he allows those tightly compressed emotions to let loose, giving his blows a ferocity and an almost sadistic glee as he hacks his way across his opponents. He doesn't seek bloodlust, or rather he hopes not to, but as a man seeking to walk to the path of the warrior he must test his abilities and the battlefield is the only place that he knows off where he can truly embrace his skills and the man he's become.
So now that the laws of this extremely peaceful land require him to feel again, to actively seek out emotion in order to find his way home...he's been having quite a lot of difficulty with accomplishing that. When something has been honed into a habit it is difficult to unlearn, and for Zhang Liao to willingly break his stoic nature is to ask him to completely revamp how he lives his life. It hasn't been easy, and as such he's taken to flushing out and destroying the monsters that hound the villagers as a substitute to his normal way of expressing himself.
The crystal amulet that hangs around his neck remains decidedly empty though, hinting that the monsters don't provide enough of a challenge for the great general. A whole week spent in the wilderness routing the wild beasts has done little to provoke a more passionate and emotive response for him. Which is why he's heading back to town, in the hopes of perhaps finding a worthy warrior to cross blades with.
And that's when he sees her.
It has been a few years since Master Lu Bu and Master Chen Gong perished. He heard a few rumors about Mistress Lingqi and the trouble that she was stirring up further down south, but there was one member of their tiny, close-knit group that had completely vanished without a trace. It's strange that even from so far he can recognize her dancing because he barely said even two words to her when last they served the same lord. But as he nears her he feels his heart beating faster, feels a tightness in his throat and his mouth turning dry.
He grieved. Privately, away from prying eyes and ears. Grieved for those who had died while he had lived. Wondered how he could face them again in the next life. Plagued by nightmares that, while they had ceased in their frequency, have remained seared in his memory. Accusing stares and fingers. Hot and angry words. Tears, unwanted, unbidden tears from his young charge. And she cried in his dreams too, because he knows that she would do that. Prey on man's feelings, twist them to her advantage. That's what she does best.
He had always been so careful with his emotions, so careful to ensure that no one ever figured out how shameful a man he actually is. But to see her again without warning...it's a bit more than his hardened warrior heart can take.
A strong gale comes up from behind him, blowing down hard on the thick green grass and whipping flower petals into a colorful yet chaotic whirlwind. Because that is always, always how he feels, when he sees Diaochan dance.]
FEELS. That's why.
If he could be honest, Zhang Liao rarely feels anything anymore. His whole life has been absorbed into training; like a sword that has been hammered into shape by the steady blacksmith, so has his emotions been completely quashed by the back-breaking training he has endured nearly all his life. Those irritating, unnecessary things have been packed tight into a tiny box and locked away somewhere in the back of his heart. The only time he truly feels anymore is when he's in battle. That's when he allows those tightly compressed emotions to let loose, giving his blows a ferocity and an almost sadistic glee as he hacks his way across his opponents. He doesn't seek bloodlust, or rather he hopes not to, but as a man seeking to walk to the path of the warrior he must test his abilities and the battlefield is the only place that he knows off where he can truly embrace his skills and the man he's become.
So now that the laws of this extremely peaceful land require him to feel again, to actively seek out emotion in order to find his way home...he's been having quite a lot of difficulty with accomplishing that. When something has been honed into a habit it is difficult to unlearn, and for Zhang Liao to willingly break his stoic nature is to ask him to completely revamp how he lives his life. It hasn't been easy, and as such he's taken to flushing out and destroying the monsters that hound the villagers as a substitute to his normal way of expressing himself.
The crystal amulet that hangs around his neck remains decidedly empty though, hinting that the monsters don't provide enough of a challenge for the great general. A whole week spent in the wilderness routing the wild beasts has done little to provoke a more passionate and emotive response for him. Which is why he's heading back to town, in the hopes of perhaps finding a worthy warrior to cross blades with.
And that's when he sees her.
It has been a few years since Master Lu Bu and Master Chen Gong perished. He heard a few rumors about Mistress Lingqi and the trouble that she was stirring up further down south, but there was one member of their tiny, close-knit group that had completely vanished without a trace. It's strange that even from so far he can recognize her dancing because he barely said even two words to her when last they served the same lord. But as he nears her he feels his heart beating faster, feels a tightness in his throat and his mouth turning dry.
He grieved. Privately, away from prying eyes and ears. Grieved for those who had died while he had lived. Wondered how he could face them again in the next life. Plagued by nightmares that, while they had ceased in their frequency, have remained seared in his memory. Accusing stares and fingers. Hot and angry words. Tears, unwanted, unbidden tears from his young charge. And she cried in his dreams too, because he knows that she would do that. Prey on man's feelings, twist them to her advantage. That's what she does best.
He had always been so careful with his emotions, so careful to ensure that no one ever figured out how shameful a man he actually is. But to see her again without warning...it's a bit more than his hardened warrior heart can take.
A strong gale comes up from behind him, blowing down hard on the thick green grass and whipping flower petals into a colorful yet chaotic whirlwind. Because that is always, always how he feels, when he sees Diaochan dance.]
...Lady Diaochan. You live.