v8c12: Hope and Fear (Patreon)

“We beg your forgiveness, Great Ancestor!” The two children were on their knees before Gaolan once more… though this time at least, their heads were raised. Both had red lumps on their foreheads, and both looked suitably chastised.

If her other half had been here she would surely be laughing at Gaolan… but Tianlan had simply given her some privacy, as much as there could be privacy when two beings were connected like they were. She had simply wandered off to the edge of her domain, and if Gaolan needed her, she would be right there.

And now she was wondering if this whole idea had been a mistake. She had felt the Qi, the streams of thought, emotion, devotion… and had wanted to reach out so badly. Part of her said she shouldn’t; that she was already contracted, and with their desire for immortality they were not worthy to meet her.

But Tianlan had simply said, “You can talk to them if you want”.

Such permissiveness ground against something deep yet faint in her soul… but it was not forbidden.

And so, out of curiosity, Gaolan reached up and gently escorted the two devoted children into Tianlan’s domain.

Now they were before her, and she could feel them all the more intensely. Their awe of her, the love they had for her and the Grand Ravine, their internal recriminations for upsetting her… it all blended together into something quite endearing.

“You have my forgiveness,” she said, and the siblings relaxed, their shoulders loosening. “Tarkhan. Sarnai.”

Their eyes widened as she said their names. Most of it was knowledge from her Connected Ones, but there were other things that just popped into her head, gathered from the hopes and dreams of the people of the Ravine.

Tarkhan, the shining son. The man who would one day lead the Ravine, it was whispered. Powerful. He had dominated every tournament since he had begun appearing in them, his only loss to the now Grand Marshal, where he had still acquitted himself well.

Dutiful. He had ranged the Ravine, answering pleas for aid, and often just checked in to see if villages were all right, having a meal with those who lived there. He was beloved from the north to the south, and from the east to the west, through the deepest drops to the highest spires.

An heir who would do them all justice.

Jin liked him, for his help during the Dueling Peaks incident, and found the young man an honest and earnest sort. He enjoyed how open and eager to share Tarkhan was to share his culture.

Sarnai, the Rose of the Ravine. Beautiful. Elegant. Fierce. The champion of hawking competitions and hunts. She could ride like she was born in the saddle. 

Where Tarkhan was blatant in his heroism, Sarnai was quieter—it was she who gathered the reports that let him take on threats in the first place, taking the responsibility over from her mother. It was she who arranged the aid caravans that came after. Skills she put to use, rising to become the assistant to the Grand Marshal.

There were whispers that thought she would be offered to the Herald of the Earth, as proof of their bond… but that plan had quietly fizzled out. Master Rou’s devotion to his wife was plain to the Patriarch, and making such an offer might be considered an insult.

Meiling thought her obvious crush on Jin was amusing. Cute, even, with how red Sarnai’s face got when Jin addressed her directly. 

Gaolan smiled at them. They were good children, weren’t they?

Both of them perked up at the small smile.

“How may we serve you, Great Ancestor?” Tarkhan asked, right to the point, and Gaolan paused at their expectant gaze. Both of them thought she had brought them here for some grand purpose… when she had just been amazed by their offering.

But if they were offering to serve her… she did actually have some questions, especially about the undercurrent of fear she felt.

“It has been long since I was last awake, dear children of the Grand Ravine. I wished to see those who followed the direction of mine Herald with such vigour,” she replied, “But if you wish to aid me, I do have a request.”

Both of them locked onto her with the intensity of hunting hawks. Gaolan waved her hand, and a rock rose. She sat primly upon it… and then tapped beside her, where two more places were available to sit.

The children startled, staying on their knees for a moment, hesitating at how close they were about to get, sitting right beside her.

Gaolan’s eyes narrowed.

The children obliged her, scampering over to sit on the rock at her knees. Gaolan smiled at Sarnai, then Tarkhan, amused at the just slightly wary glances they gave her.

“My dreams were murky while I slumbered,” she shared, and cups of butter tea appeared in their hands. “I would know, directly from my children, what they think of these current times.”

They blinked at the request, and again hesitated, before Tarkhan’s back straightened. “It has been a time of great change since your Herald has returned to us, along with your Voice—and a time of great joy…”

Tarkhan started speaking in a stilted, formal tone, but that soon softened, as he got more into things, Sarnai occasionally chiming in. Speaking of how they had marched out in force, the revelations Cai Xiulan had given to them, confirming everything they knew… and then they started speaking of the Azure Alliance.

There, the formality truly broke down.. They gesticulated, the raw passion in their voices utterly endearing.

Sarnai lamented the amount of work Xiulan had to do, while admiring the poise and grace she had while handling each incident. 

Tarkhan spoke of days with the Restoration Commission, watching his people work side by side with Tie Delun and the monkeys of Crystal Hill, repairing the massive systems of the Dueling Peaks built by their ancestors, returning the landmark to its former glory.

They spoke of joint training exercises, they spoke of trading pointers, they spoke of the feeling of camaraderie they had with the Young Masters and Mistresses of other sects.

How they were building something, something where the Ravine was included.

She could feel their devotion to it, no lesser than their devotion to succeed. They were happy with what was happening. The entire leadership of the Ravine was. To hear Tarkhan and Sarnai speak it, these past two years were some of the most optimistic the people in the Ravine had felt.

“We are very glad your Herald has returned to us, Great Ancestor,” Sarnai finished for them, her eyes turning sparkling. “He's  just… so much larger than life. When he smiles, it's like a second sun, and he feels so warm. Like a morning sunbeam on a cold day.”

She sighed dreamily.

“And Lady Meiling, oh, Lady Meiling! She's so elegant! She acts quiet, but she's watching! You can see it in her eyes, they’re sharp like daggers! I think I realise what the Imperials mean when they say an  “Icy Beauty”. She would definitely be able to kill anybody attacking your home!” Sarnai said, and Gaolan nearly spat out her tea. She would absolutely be telling Meiling what Sarnai thought of her. The look on her face when she heard somebody thought of her as an “Icy Beauty.”

Tarkhan nodded sagely. “My sister has the right of it, I think. I never got why the Imperials were so adamant that was womanly perfection, but if Lady Hong is the template, I can see it.”

Gaolan carefully kept herself from laughing. Meiling’s mask was better than she thought if this was what people thought of her.

"It gladdens me to hear that,” Gaolan said softly, finally getting around to what she had wanted in the first place, now that their guards were down. “But still, I do feel a tension, underneath it all…”

Tarkhan paused. His smile dimmed, and he looked to be internally debating something, before steeling himself. “It is the shame of us all, Great Ancestor, but it is a thought even I have had. These past years have been all we dreamed of… but what if the Earth’s voice goes quiet again? What shall happen? Or worse, what if your voice resounds, and things still fall through? Will we be one people, as in the time of Lord Xiaoshi, or will we always be… the other. Barbarians, tolerated because of our strength, but still looked down upon for our differences. We fear opening the gates, for we do not know if what approaches is friend or foe.”

“We pray that we shall be whole again. All of us. But only time can tell if that golden age can come again,” Sarnai whispered.

Tarkhan swallowed. “We do not mean to doubt you or your Herald, of course. We shall be more optimistic, we shall banish these unworthy thoughts—”

Gaolan’s arm wrapped around his shoulders, and she pulled him into her side. Tarkhan instantly went silent, looking torn between glee and shock at what Gaolan was doing. On her other side, she pulled Sarnai in, too.

“You are not wrong to feel fear,” Gaolan whispered. “You are not wrong, to be uncertain of what the future brings. Not even I can know the outcome—but is the future you dream of worth walking towards anyway, even if you might fail?”

“Yes,” Tarkhan said, without a second of hesitation.

“Yes,” Sarnai agreed, not a moment later.

Gaolan smiled at the resolve. “Then… I think it is time for you to return to the world of the waking, children of Chengis Altan. Thank you for indulging me.”

Brother and sister rose and bowed deeply. “Whenever you need us, Great Ancestor,” Sarnai agreed, their bodies becoming indistinct.

“We’ll do our best to make the Azure Hills one ” Tarkhan said.

Gaolan waved her hand in goodbye, watching as they faded away, awakening in the world above. Her hand remained raised even after they disappeared, her eyes focused on the tattoo that was upon it. The black bands around her fingers, and the sunburst on the back of her hand.

Eventually, she lowered it, and considered their words.

“Have a good visit?” Tianlan asked, when she returned not long after.

“It was enlightening,” Gaolan agreed. “They’re good eggs.” 

She glanced down at Tianlan’s hand. The tattoos that should have been there were only barely faded markings.

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Tol-Lan can pull of mom mode. Also Meiling getting called an Icy beauty.

Edited by:  BargleNawdleZouss,