[ haha, so! the next time yin yu comes into the kitchen, he will find that ookurikara has beaten him to it! he's also pulling from the cabinets what is probably an alarming amount of edamame pods.
[ hello! as usual, yin yu is not very obvious about his presence, so it might be a bit surprising when he speaks up, but, it's from a fair enough distance. he came to get a drink of water, and maybe make some food for himself, and...oh. that's something he actually recognizes! ]
....are you making maodou? [ finally... food that isn't weird. ] ...pardon the interruption. [ manners. ]
Ah-- soybeans. [ he gestures at the pile of shucked ones! ] They're quite a common food in my homeland, too. What's a 'zunda mochi', if you don't mind me asking?
I'm not sure if I could in the way you were suggesting: it is not something I've heard of. [ though it seems simple enough... he was thinking he could help shuck the soybeans.
ah! but. ] ...One of those tasks was to teach someone a skill, was it not? I can cook well enough, but a new recipe should suffice for such a thing.
[ meanwhile kara finishing up the mochi! this is so nice, not having tot chatter the whole time. tsuru always hovers, and mitsutada, while more tolerable, still likes to talk through the work. ]
When it's done, take them out of the pods. Then we'll grind them.
Understood. [ he's nothing if not good at following instructions. so! with that confirmation, he proceeds to follow the instructions. logically, it makes sense to allow the beans to cool a bit before touching them, even, so he'll do that quietly, and then take them out with a steady, even precision.
all of this is done with no extra chatter or nonsense, even. he starts to create a decent sized pile of soybeans for kara to grind up, working steadily until the task is completed. ]
[ nod nod! he will do that. his measurements are precise, and he sets each down with the little cups that are marked -- how convenient! -- easily within ookurikara's reach.
in the meantime, he looks on with curiosity, trying to take in all the techniques properly. ]
[ kara keeps grinding until the beans start to form a smooth past. only then he start to add in the sugar, a little bit at a time, stopping to grind it smooth again between additions until it's all mixed in. the salt goes the same way. ]
Now we add it to the mochi.
[ and there is a plate of mochi cakes ready to go, just for this! ]
[ yin yu always seems to turn up when he is expecting no one, kara thinks upon spotting him in the village. it’s a little annoying sometimes? but the masked man is quieter than most, and doesn’t pry, so he supposes he can’t complain. ]
when ookurikara addresses him, he's a bit surprised--before bowing his head properly, fist to hand in greeting. he's masked, today, since he can wear it for short periods of time again. ] Ah, good afternoon, sir. I'm...not, so much as I'm trying to get my bearings. This place is quite large.
[ he gets a mute nod to that. it's a force of habit, at this point.
...ah, right. yin yu looks out to their surroundings. ] It's not so much the village as it is the places it leads. It's a bit familiar... this is the place that you came from, correct?
[ mm. makes sense. yeah... calling it a game sticks with him too, but there's not much else to do. ] I haven't explored them much, just the grounds of the village. I noted the training hall... and a few other places beyond those portals, but I've mostly stayed here.
[ yin yu has done his damndest to avoid just about everyone in camp since this entire memory thing started happening. mask firmly on his face and in full avoidance mode, he is dutifully helping to move supplies for roof fixing with black shadows, hoping to oppress his own presence as much as he always does so nothing happens.
ha ha too bad, though, because kara literally just has to be nearby for a memory to leak out.
--
kara's vision opens to a training ground, where a young kid, maybe thirteen or fourteen, is rushing directly for him, yelling, "DIE!" at the top of his lungs. despite being so small, the child's killing intent is intense, and the training sword he holds in his hands moves with a lot of speed. clearly, he may be young, but he's a natural talent.
kara will recognize the voice that speaks in return --it's yin yu. he's calm, muttering, "Do you have to say die? This is training...", as the child approaches him, but his posture doesn't change, his hands behind his back, holding his own training weapon. just like this, yin yu exudes an aura he hasn't ever in camp. he dodges each of yizhen's attacks, stepping out of the way of his wooden sword like a dance.
effortlessly, he dodges a powerful swipe with the weapon at his chin. "Yizhen. Yesterday, you were acting strange with the other students. Did you get into another fight?"
"They started it by teasing me," the child - 'yizhen' starts to explain, interrupting himself with a "ha!" noise as he tries for another slice at yin yu, who dodges out of the way with no trouble. the feeling of his thoughts are utterly at peace, calm, and yin yu's foot plants on the ground when yizhen moves forward. with one effortless turn, he's suddenly behind yizhen, and gives him a poke right between the shoulders with the training weapon, dropping him to the ground. yizhen yelps, surprised, and yin yu speaks again.
he gives off an aura of easy authority, a presence, as he lightly scolds the training young man. "You are my disciple, Yizhen. That sort of reckless violence isn't allowed here."
"...I didn't want him to go after me first," yizhen repeats, now a little petulant, as he rises and wipes his mouth.
"In a nearly inevitable situation like that, if you just exercise violence, you're no better than a street brawler. The definition of justice is not always to swing your fist, first, but to do so when the time is right." yin yu looks over his student, and you can feel the exasperated fondness in his voice as he makes his way over to gently right yizhen, helping him stand properly and fixing his robes. as he bends down, kara can see yin yu's arms-- both master and disciple are clothed in the same colors, blue and gold.
"Why?" Yizhen asks.
"That is one of the reasons that I brought you here." he says, quietly, brushing the dirt off of his robes, fussing a bit over them to make sure he's alright. "You have so much potential, if you'll just listen and learn."
...ah. yin yu pauses, as he rights himself, catching himself letting out a little more than necessary. he shakes his head, putting his hand on his thigh to move to standing again. "...well, preaching aside. Take up your wooden sword, Yizhen. Again. "
he turns to his disciple, and this time, he smiles, projecting that air of easy warmth and confidence. "Will you stay a simple target, for those guys to bully you? Or will you grow your stamina, so you'll never lose again?"
the young disciple looks up to yin yu, his eyes shining. he's staring at him like he hung the very stars and moon in the sky, stunned by his shixiong's belief, or lesson, or both. there's a long moment before he responds. "...I'm going to keep learning." he says, "Until I get good enough to beat you."
"Ah?" yin yu repeats -- he sounds amused, and he is.
"I'm not as interested in my swordsmanship!" the child proclaims, foolishly, loudly, as he takes the proper stance of the yin sect and tosses the wooden sword to the side, "Let's fight with our fists!"
yin yu's mouth twitches, and for a moment, he's overwhelmed with pride. the fondness on his face grows for this young man, who doesn't want to train with swords, because he wants to defend himself--because he truly wants to grow stronger. "Good."
...of course, that's impossible in a sect of sword fighting, so yin yu adds, warmly, "And if you lose to me, then we'll spend double time on sword form training, tomorrow."
from there, the two begin to spar. yin yu sets aside his wooden sword as yizhen does, and proceeds to dispatch him handily, his martial moves just as crisp as the ones with the wooden sword have been. needless to say, yizhen will be doing double sword training tomorrow.
--
when yin yu comes back to reality, he's not moving anymore. the memory stunned him, and he blinks, slowly, feeling a low tide of emotions in his stomach. something bitter. if kara doesn't stop him, he probably will cut and run; but for the moment he just stands there, letting out a slow exhale. ]
[ yin yu, for his part, will see something much more somber (11:46-15:40). kara goes quiet after all of this, processing it, until finally he asks, voice soft - ]
[ of all of the memories that ookurikara could have picked up, this one isn't so bad. it's painful, in that a bitter part of him recognizes the echoes of what was lost, in that the student in front of him became someone...
...well. luckily, he doesn't get that much time to process it, because ookurikara's memory comes right after. yin yu blinks back to reality when it returns to him, surprised. there were a lot of things going on in that (.... time travel?) but, the sense of determination that ookurikara must have been feeling was hard to miss.
he nearly doesn't answer the question, coming back to it with a pause. ]
...If... I have a useful skill that can protect others, then I would like to teach it. It has been many, many years since I had any sort of disciple or shidi of my own. [ but, with that memory, it should be obvious that he loved doing it. yin yu really, really loved it. he had earned his title, back then, as head disciple. as-- as someone. ] ...but I am happy to help teach her, and others, yes.
[ there's a pause, and a hint of fondness enters his voice. for as much as lili says that he isn't her retainer, yin yu has become something of the sort, and.
well, he doesn't mind it so much. he would not put his faith in someone blindly. ] ...Lady Lili is someone with an incredible amount of potential, in many ways.
[ and ookurikara is right. he does like to have a disciple, maybe. there are many things he hopes he can teach lili, before their time in this place is up. she will be quite the leader. quite the force of nature. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
week 1, monday.
hello. ]
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....are you making maodou? [ finally... food that isn't weird. ] ...pardon the interruption. [ manners. ]
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...Zunda mochi. What is "maodau?"
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Ah-- soybeans. [ he gestures at the pile of shucked ones! ] They're quite a common food in my homeland, too. What's a 'zunda mochi', if you don't mind me asking?
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[ but he needs a pot to start it, so. time to go get that! ]
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...Would you like some help? [ gestures to the pile of soybeans. ]
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the question does make him pause, though. ]
...Do you know how to cook them?
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ah! but. ] ...One of those tasks was to teach someone a skill, was it not? I can cook well enough, but a new recipe should suffice for such a thing.
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The edamame is the most important part, so we'll start with that. [ he'll slide the pot over to yin yu, then! ] Boil the edamame first, in the pods.
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and unlike xie lian, he will do it perfectly. also unlike xie lian, he will do it quietly, without trying to make awkward small talk. ]
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When it's done, take them out of the pods. Then we'll grind them.
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all of this is done with no extra chatter or nonsense, even. he starts to create a decent sized pile of soybeans for kara to grind up, working steadily until the task is completed. ]
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We'll need about fifty grams of sugar, and a little salt.
[ please measure while he mashes. ]
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in the meantime, he looks on with curiosity, trying to take in all the techniques properly. ]
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Now we add it to the mochi.
[ and there is a plate of mochi cakes ready to go, just for this! ]
week 2, wednesday.
Are you lost?
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when ookurikara addresses him, he's a bit surprised--before bowing his head properly, fist to hand in greeting. he's masked, today, since he can wear it for short periods of time again. ] Ah, good afternoon, sir. I'm...not, so much as I'm trying to get my bearings. This place is quite large.
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[ it's weird? ]
It's not that bad. The village itself isn't that big.
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...ah, right. yin yu looks out to their surroundings. ] It's not so much the village as it is the places it leads. It's a bit familiar... this is the place that you came from, correct?
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[ he hates calling them games. ]
They weren't all open at once, before. It was only one a week, until we won.
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[ mm. makes sense. yeah... calling it a game sticks with him too, but there's not much else to do. ] I haven't explored them much, just the grounds of the village. I noted the training hall... and a few other places beyond those portals, but I've mostly stayed here.
It's a bit more familiar than the camp.
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I get it. This place... it's a lot closer to home than that camp will ever be.
w3 memshares! probably tuesdayish
ha ha too bad, though, because kara literally just has to be nearby for a memory to leak out.
--
kara's vision opens to a training ground, where a young kid, maybe thirteen or fourteen, is rushing directly for him, yelling, "DIE!" at the top of his lungs. despite being so small, the child's killing intent is intense, and the training sword he holds in his hands moves with a lot of speed. clearly, he may be young, but he's a natural talent.
kara will recognize the voice that speaks in return --it's yin yu. he's calm, muttering, "Do you have to say die? This is training...", as the child approaches him, but his posture doesn't change, his hands behind his back, holding his own training weapon. just like this, yin yu exudes an aura he hasn't ever in camp. he dodges each of yizhen's attacks, stepping out of the way of his wooden sword like a dance.
effortlessly, he dodges a powerful swipe with the weapon at his chin. "Yizhen. Yesterday, you were acting strange with the other students. Did you get into another fight?"
"They started it by teasing me," the child - 'yizhen' starts to explain, interrupting himself with a "ha!" noise as he tries for another slice at yin yu, who dodges out of the way with no trouble. the feeling of his thoughts are utterly at peace, calm, and yin yu's foot plants on the ground when yizhen moves forward. with one effortless turn, he's suddenly behind yizhen, and gives him a poke right between the shoulders with the training weapon, dropping him to the ground. yizhen yelps, surprised, and yin yu speaks again.
he gives off an aura of easy authority, a presence, as he lightly scolds the training young man. "You are my disciple, Yizhen. That sort of reckless violence isn't allowed here."
"...I didn't want him to go after me first," yizhen repeats, now a little petulant, as he rises and wipes his mouth.
"In a nearly inevitable situation like that, if you just exercise violence, you're no better than a street brawler. The definition of justice is not always to swing your fist, first, but to do so when the time is right." yin yu looks over his student, and you can feel the exasperated fondness in his voice as he makes his way over to gently right yizhen, helping him stand properly and fixing his robes. as he bends down, kara can see yin yu's arms-- both master and disciple are clothed in the same colors, blue and gold.
"Why?" Yizhen asks.
"That is one of the reasons that I brought you here." he says, quietly, brushing the dirt off of his robes, fussing a bit over them to make sure he's alright. "You have so much potential, if you'll just listen and learn."
...ah. yin yu pauses, as he rights himself, catching himself letting out a little more than necessary. he shakes his head, putting his hand on his thigh to move to standing again. "...well, preaching aside. Take up your wooden sword, Yizhen. Again. "
he turns to his disciple, and this time, he smiles, projecting that air of easy warmth and confidence. "Will you stay a simple target, for those guys to bully you? Or will you grow your stamina, so you'll never lose again?"
the young disciple looks up to yin yu, his eyes shining. he's staring at him like he hung the very stars and moon in the sky, stunned by his shixiong's belief, or lesson, or both. there's a long moment before he responds. "...I'm going to keep learning." he says, "Until I get good enough to beat you."
"Ah?" yin yu repeats -- he sounds amused, and he is.
"I'm not as interested in my swordsmanship!" the child proclaims, foolishly, loudly, as he takes the proper stance of the yin sect and tosses the wooden sword to the side, "Let's fight with our fists!"
yin yu's mouth twitches, and for a moment, he's overwhelmed with pride. the fondness on his face grows for this young man, who doesn't want to train with swords, because he wants to defend himself--because he truly wants to grow stronger. "Good."
...of course, that's impossible in a sect of sword fighting, so yin yu adds, warmly, "And if you lose to me, then we'll spend double time on sword form training, tomorrow."
from there, the two begin to spar. yin yu sets aside his wooden sword as yizhen does, and proceeds to dispatch him handily, his martial moves just as crisp as the ones with the wooden sword have been. needless to say, yizhen will be doing double sword training tomorrow.
--
when yin yu comes back to reality, he's not moving anymore. the memory stunned him, and he blinks, slowly, feeling a low tide of emotions in his stomach. something bitter. if kara doesn't stop him, he probably will cut and run; but for the moment he just stands there, letting out a slow exhale. ]
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Is that why you like teaching Lili...?
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...well. luckily, he doesn't get that much time to process it, because ookurikara's memory comes right after. yin yu blinks back to reality when it returns to him, surprised. there were a lot of things going on in that (.... time travel?) but, the sense of determination that ookurikara must have been feeling was hard to miss.
he nearly doesn't answer the question, coming back to it with a pause. ]
...If... I have a useful skill that can protect others, then I would like to teach it. It has been many, many years since I had any sort of disciple or shidi of my own. [ but, with that memory, it should be obvious that he loved doing it. yin yu really, really loved it. he had earned his title, back then, as head disciple. as-- as someone. ] ...but I am happy to help teach her, and others, yes.
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[ it's easier to talk about that than anything else, kara thinks. ]
Lili is a good student, when she wants to be.
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[ there's a pause, and a hint of fondness enters his voice. for as much as lili says that he isn't her retainer, yin yu has become something of the sort, and.
well, he doesn't mind it so much. he would not put his faith in someone blindly. ] ...Lady Lili is someone with an incredible amount of potential, in many ways.
[ and ookurikara is right. he does like to have a disciple, maybe. there are many things he hopes he can teach lili, before their time in this place is up. she will be quite the leader. quite the force of nature. ]
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She reminds me of my old master, in some ways. She's going to make a good leader.