eggshell | Lizard House / OTA

[ The Preceptors, she doesn't say. A lifetime of loneliness, of being locked up and isolated outside of her healing duties. ]

It's just something I picked up somewhere. Don't you agree?

That is not your due. It should not be.

[There’s the sound of soft footsteps, stopping just behind her right shoulder.]

Are you acquainted with Taoran?

[ If he can see her face, then he can probably see how it twists in disgust. ]

We've met. And I wouldn't mind never doing it again.

[He laughs softly. She's probably heard that in her dreams, fragments of the High Elder whose identity she bore.]

Better the snake you know, my dear.

[There's a pause, and then a hand tries to pet the top of her head.]

[ There's something about that laugh, warm and familiar, but she could swear she's never heard it before. In... this... life?

That's something to think about, along with the fragmented dreams she has on rare occasion. ]

That's an insult to snakes.

[ There is a small start when she feels his hand, but she doesn't immediately swat it away. ]

You are right. Snake venom, at least, is useful, especially to stimulate the humors, when taken a hundredth part with rice wine.

[One of the more basic medical prescriptions, really, but it needs a dose of cloudhymn to activate. The hand starts stroking her hair, carefully avoiding her horns.]

What is your given name, Imbibitor Lunae?

That and a touch of cloudhymn...

[ She hums thoughtfully, contemplating as she continues to accept the pettings. ]

My name is Bailu. What's yours, Mystery Man?

[That hand in her hair tightens, violent and immediate, and the man- thing(?)- behind her takes a breath. A rasp? It doesn't sound like anything familiar. It sounds wrong.]

Hey, you're pulling--!

[ She's twisting, trying to turn and look, but the grip on her hair makes that more difficult. ]

Who named you? Was it us? It wasn't us, it couldn't be--

I don't know, the preceptors, probably? What's it to you, anyway?

[ Yeah he sounds familiar, but she's absolutely positive it's not the voice of any of the preceptors. ]

[Fortunately, that hand is letting go of her hair.

Unfortunately, this is so whoever it is can try and pick her up to physically throw her into the pond.

This is enough for her to squirm in that grip, though- so she can see exactly who is trying to dunk her into the (admittedly shallow) pond- someone who has Dan Heng's face, one horn broken, and Dan Heng has never looked so hateful.]

[ She is indeed squirming for all she's worth, trying very hard to make herself hard to hold onto even as she finally gets a glimpse of him. ]

Hey, wait a minute, you--

[ And then she's being dunked and she gasps, more surprised than anything else (it's not like she'd drown). ]

[He's already walking on the water towards her, two fingers together as his wrist twists, spears of cloudhymn floating behind him.]

Call your cloudhymn, successor.

[ She stands up, her eyes fiercely defiant. ]

That's not--

[ But even if offensive cloudhymn is decidedly her weakness, she's not going to stand around and try and do nothing. She spreads her arms above her head and calls forth a wall of water-- well, at least it peeks above her own head? It's something! As she points towards Dan Feng, it rushes towards him and...

...well, honestly, it hits with about the force of a child's slap, at best. It certainly wouldn't cause anyone any real harm. ]

I was half your age when I destroyed one of the medical bays, try again.

[ She remembers, briefly, the name that Valencia mentioned earlier-- Dan Feng --and wonders...

But this isn't the time for that now. ]

Oooooooh!

[ She's not good at this but she really, really wants to prove herself. That being said, her strongest attack isn't really hitting people with water.

So she focuses enough electricity to her tail to focus her strongest lightning charge....

and runs at him, jumping up to hit him in the face with a fat, electrified dragon tail. ]

[Dan Feng was too distracted by the electricity gathering somewhere he'd never quite thought to do so before, so he doesn't dodge the incoming tail, which smacks him wetly with full force.]

You-

[He stumbles backwards and falls into the water, and he looks up at Bailu, wide-eyed, jaw bruised.]

In your tail?! [He sounds more scandalized than hurt actually.]

[ She crosses her arms over her chest. ]

No one's gonna expect it!

[ She actually sounds proud of herself. ]

[He leans back on his hands and then sort of oozes into lying down completely, while giggling. It's a little unsettling, especially when those water spears are still floating above them.]

How charming. Did Yuan'er teach you?

Do you mean the general? I was kind of inspired by him, but no one's taught me anything about how to fight. All I've really been taught about is healing arts.

[He doesn't answer, but there's an ominous lull, before the spears start coming down, hard, stabbing into the water and barely missing her. Like a test of her reflexes, and Dan Feng isn't even watching.]

Uwah!

[ She does see the spears and jumps backwards, flailing a little bit but managing to get some distance. She nearly unbalances, but by wheeling her arms in circles, manages to recover without falling over. ]

Hey!

[ She is very deliberately splashing him using her own cloudhymn. Not only does it not hurt, it doesn't even have the force of trying to hurt him. She is just making him soggy. ]

[He floats himself into a sitting position and manages to project disappointed grandfather.]

You are a useless little thing. [His cloudhymn collides with hers, and it starts raining, localized over them.] What can you even do?

Lizard House / OTA

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