this all seems very familiar

[hatejakku]

WHO: Wen Fen & Po Daxiang
WHERE: The Nightless City
WHEN: During the Campaign at some point
WHAT: Wen Fen heard that they were keeping a prisoner
WARNINGS: POW, probably torture, that sort of thing. will update as needed.



It wasn't news to Wen Fen that his clan was on the wrong side of this war. He'd seen their horrors since he was young, never completely fooled about their intentions. He just wasn't ruthless like many of the others but he also wasn't good at hiding how compassionate he really was. It had gotten him in trouble a fair few times...

And it was about to get him in trouble again, but this was worth it.

They had just been through a pointless battle and had captured a cultivator from the other side. The Jiang Sect? He hadn't really seen the other man. But if Wen Fen could get the prisoner out, could send crucial information to the other side, then maybe these horrors could stop. Even if he lost, maybe the good could still win. If there was any good left, anyway.

Being a ranking clan member, he hadn't been in many of the worst parts of their city before. He wasn't sure where to begin looking and outright ordering someone to take him wouldn't be the best idea. He was debating the merits of it anyway when there was a tug, something pulling at him but as if it pushed from the depths of his chest. Fen turned-

... He had been wishing for this day for a very long time. Dreaming of the possibility that his red string would finally come to life and lead him to someone who cared, someone who stood for the better parts of this world, someone he could just connect with and not be afraid. But now was a terrible time.

"No, no, no-" He had to get the prisoner out, but his partner was nearby and-

The prisoner was going nowhere. His partner could vanish in an instant... Dammit. He gripped his sword tight and quickly started following the string, wondering if maybe the prisoner could smuggle his partner away from this city, too, along with the information. This was no place for someone Fen loved.

But the thread lead him down and down until he was in the dungeons. Suddenly, with a lurch in his stomach, he already knew who his partner was. This made the escape easier but- He bit his lip and started forward, knocking on the iron door to rescue his partner... and aid the Sunshot Campaign. That, too.

Comments

[flightforfreedom]

Po Daxiang was barely conscious, roused back to lucidity by the sharp knock on iron.

He groaned, spitting out blood, the restraints around him keeping him tied securely to the makeshift table below him.

Well, at least he wasn’t dead.

He heard the knock again and groaned a little louder.

“Occupied,” he called with an ironic tone to the door, but his throat was so wretched it came out scratched and broken. He coughed again, trying to centre himself. He atull has his golden core - even if it was faint, thanks to being locked. But he was alive and Wen Zhuliu hadn’t taken it from him, yet, so he was taking this as a win.

The rest of him?

... Well, he was pretty fucked up.

[hatejakku]

Fen's heart skipped several beats when the voice spoke up on the other side. That was his partner, it had to be, and it sounded like he was alone. With one more glance up and down the halls, he opened the heavy door and slipped inside, letting it fall closed behind him.

But he stopped short in the doorway, finally seeing the other man. He was handsome, very much so, but Fen was far more worried with his injuries. Why had they hurt him so badly? What could they have gotten out of it?

He shook himself, rallying together, and quickly moved forward to start trying to release him. "This is a rescue," Fen spoke quietly. "You think you can walk?"

[flightforfreedom]

He had been about to make a snarky comment - something about coming back for more, or maybe close the door you're letting the breeze in - but then suddenly the man was at his side and pulling the chains free and all snark died on Daxiang's tongue. He blinked, turning his head to look incredulously at the man.

"Uh - Thanks?" He said, sounding confused, but with a grunt he tried to help him get the chains off and then stumble off the side of the ledge. His legs wobbled under him but he caught his weight by grabbing hold of his rescuer.

"Woah, sorry there. Just need to, uh... get my balance back a little..."

[hatejakku]

Wen Fen caught the stranger, trying to steady him. Damn, he should have thought to bring medicine and food for him on his journey home, but at least he could secure silver and a horse.

He was trying to focus on the logistics of getting him out while ignoring the panic in his mind. This is his partner, there was no doubt. And somehow, the other hadn't noticed yet. Or at least decided not to mention it.

He could work with that. It was for the better, anyway.

"You're all right. I've got you." If someone found them during the escape, Wen Fen carrying the prisoner's weight would immediately give him away. Maybe. Or maybe he could really pull this off. "We need to start moving, find your sword. You'll have to ride a horse out of here, though. Can you-"

Probably not.

Why had they hurt him so badly? This was pointless.

[flightforfreedom]

Daxiang hadn't noticed. When the thread had flared between them, originally, he had been mid torture session, and had other things on his mind. It had faded, since, to a pale barely-there glow, since his own spiritual energy had been locked down so securely there was little of it to bleed out into his thread. Around Wen Fen's wrist it was obvious, if Poe looked for it, but they were a little busy and it didn't stand out as sharply against Fen's red Wen robes.

So for now, he was completely oblivious.

"Thanks," he said, with full sincerity, as he let the other man brace him up.

"Don't - don't worry about my sword. Baobei's got it. I think. I hope. But uh -- " He glanced at the other man.

"Why are you doing this?"

[hatejakku]

Baobei? Whatever. The missing sword meant one less deadly step in all this.

But the question was difficult. His reasons had shifted from wanting to help to just wanting to help him. Wen Fen swallowed but- "It's the right thing to do." It was the only answer he could give.

However, there was another flaw in his plan. Whether they noticed during the escape or after, Wen Fen's red thread was a mark of his guilt. They would know what he had done and why, maybe even put this man in greater danger.

Could he leave with him? Would that work? How far would he even get? The Wen clan was hated beyond the city. There was nowhere for him.

This wasn't about him. Wen Fen straightened them both out, looking back to the door, weighing the merits of leaving the cell like this. "I have information you bring to the Campaign, maybe enough to end the war. I need you to do that."