firstlight (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
firstlight) wrote2007-01-18 11:59 am
firstlight) wrote2007-01-18 11:59 am
[WIP] More untitled fantasy-thing.
So there I was, writing my fantasy AU, showed a bit to Syl - "Hey, for a moment this made me think of Gormenghast," she says.
My brain has just shattered.
Mostly because it makes me really want to include Hiyoshi as a Steerpike-esque figure and then do horrible, horrible things to him.
Anyway, here's a bit more of aforementioned fantasy-thing. Without Hiyoshi. But with Yukimura. And a lot of vagueness... -_-
Yagyuu waits until he is alone and then, quietly and carefully, puts his head in his hands and lets everything come back to him, thought after thought. Good memories overshadowed by bad ones and layer upon layer of guilt, until he can hardly stand it.
When he’s done, he stands up again, outwardly composed and regaining inward control. He needs to talk to Yukimura. Any other duties he has can, just this once, go hang.
He stops by his chamber first, though. There are certain things he will need.
Yukimura is something of a mystery to Yagyuu, and if he does not understand the man then he can only imagine what others must think. Only a handful can claim to really know him properly, but - titles and ranks aside - he has to be the single most influential person in the stronghold. He... advises, assists. People say he is a great warrior, but no-one recalls seeing him fight. People say he is a sorcerer, too, but that is said more quietly, when they think he will not overhear.
Yagyuu does not know about the first claim, but the second is a matter of fact to him. He still disapproves when he hears it spoken; the stronghold relies on witchcraft of various kinds, but people remain superstitious and paranoid. Ignorant, too. Regrettable, unavoidable. In any case he has no reason to actively mistrust Yukimura, and right now his help may be of considerable value.
He follows the winding passages which will lead him to his destination with unfaltering, certain steps, feet tapping on flagstones and shadow shifting, growing and shrinking as he moves in and out of the torchlight. There are many passages, but he knows them. This is... not his territory, no, but his family’s. He has lived all of his life within these walls. Other people get lost; he does not. It would be unthinkable.
Yukimura seems to be waiting for him. Once upon a time this might have surprised him.
“Yagyuu,” Yukimura greets him. “I trust Masaharu is well.”
Only one person in the entire castle calls Yagyuu’s son by his full given name. A reinforcement of the reminder Yagyuu was determined to give himself when he named the boy in the first place, or some other purpose. He can never quite decide what Yukimura’s motivation is.
“He is,” he agrees. “Temperamental and overly curious, but that is not unexpected. I did not come to--”
“I know,” Yukimura waves a hand, dismissing Yagyuu’s words. “Although you did come to speak with me about someone by that name, I think.”
He might as well get to the point, in other words.
“You know what Haru saw outside the walls, then.” So hard, oh so hard to keep his voice level, to speak about this with his usual dispassionate tones. “I do not know how-- that is to say--”
Yukimura nods understanding. Yagyuu finds himself wondering if conversation is actually required or if he should just sit here and let Yukimura read his mind, as it sometimes seems he can. No wonder people are unnerved by this man.
“Do you have what I need, then?”
Whole sentences, paragraphs, assumed without being spoken. Yukimura believes in efficiency. No drawn out negotiation, few pleasantries.
“Yes.”
He deposits his bundle on the desk. The latest reports, written out neatly and painstakingly on parchment (no magic to Yukimura’s knowledge of what goes on in the castle; only connections, and close attention). The goods Yukimura ordered from him - luxuries and essentials, but all small items. And a silver ring, oddly twisted. Yukimura’s eyes pass over the usual objects and settle on the last, obviously recognising it. Well, he was close to Niou too, if not... in the way Yagyuu was.
“That will do well enough,” Yukimura says, perfectly matter-of-fact. Yagyuu knows it will, made sure. A perfectly ordinary object, not powerful, but intimately linked with its owner. “but it may still take some time.”
The strength of the link between a person and an object lessens over time. It has been far too long. Yagyuu knows this, but he also knows that Yukimura is capable of a great many things. If anyone can find out much about Niou from the little fragments, small possessions, which remain... well.
“I will return later, then,” he says, bows politely, departs.
In the end, though, he doesn’t have to. Yukimura finds him, several hours later, when he has only just begun to wonder how much time he should leave.
My brain has just shattered.
Mostly because it makes me really want to include Hiyoshi as a Steerpike-esque figure and then do horrible, horrible things to him.
Anyway, here's a bit more of aforementioned fantasy-thing. Without Hiyoshi. But with Yukimura. And a lot of vagueness... -_-
Yagyuu waits until he is alone and then, quietly and carefully, puts his head in his hands and lets everything come back to him, thought after thought. Good memories overshadowed by bad ones and layer upon layer of guilt, until he can hardly stand it.
When he’s done, he stands up again, outwardly composed and regaining inward control. He needs to talk to Yukimura. Any other duties he has can, just this once, go hang.
He stops by his chamber first, though. There are certain things he will need.
Yukimura is something of a mystery to Yagyuu, and if he does not understand the man then he can only imagine what others must think. Only a handful can claim to really know him properly, but - titles and ranks aside - he has to be the single most influential person in the stronghold. He... advises, assists. People say he is a great warrior, but no-one recalls seeing him fight. People say he is a sorcerer, too, but that is said more quietly, when they think he will not overhear.
Yagyuu does not know about the first claim, but the second is a matter of fact to him. He still disapproves when he hears it spoken; the stronghold relies on witchcraft of various kinds, but people remain superstitious and paranoid. Ignorant, too. Regrettable, unavoidable. In any case he has no reason to actively mistrust Yukimura, and right now his help may be of considerable value.
He follows the winding passages which will lead him to his destination with unfaltering, certain steps, feet tapping on flagstones and shadow shifting, growing and shrinking as he moves in and out of the torchlight. There are many passages, but he knows them. This is... not his territory, no, but his family’s. He has lived all of his life within these walls. Other people get lost; he does not. It would be unthinkable.
Yukimura seems to be waiting for him. Once upon a time this might have surprised him.
“Yagyuu,” Yukimura greets him. “I trust Masaharu is well.”
Only one person in the entire castle calls Yagyuu’s son by his full given name. A reinforcement of the reminder Yagyuu was determined to give himself when he named the boy in the first place, or some other purpose. He can never quite decide what Yukimura’s motivation is.
“He is,” he agrees. “Temperamental and overly curious, but that is not unexpected. I did not come to--”
“I know,” Yukimura waves a hand, dismissing Yagyuu’s words. “Although you did come to speak with me about someone by that name, I think.”
He might as well get to the point, in other words.
“You know what Haru saw outside the walls, then.” So hard, oh so hard to keep his voice level, to speak about this with his usual dispassionate tones. “I do not know how-- that is to say--”
Yukimura nods understanding. Yagyuu finds himself wondering if conversation is actually required or if he should just sit here and let Yukimura read his mind, as it sometimes seems he can. No wonder people are unnerved by this man.
“Do you have what I need, then?”
Whole sentences, paragraphs, assumed without being spoken. Yukimura believes in efficiency. No drawn out negotiation, few pleasantries.
“Yes.”
He deposits his bundle on the desk. The latest reports, written out neatly and painstakingly on parchment (no magic to Yukimura’s knowledge of what goes on in the castle; only connections, and close attention). The goods Yukimura ordered from him - luxuries and essentials, but all small items. And a silver ring, oddly twisted. Yukimura’s eyes pass over the usual objects and settle on the last, obviously recognising it. Well, he was close to Niou too, if not... in the way Yagyuu was.
“That will do well enough,” Yukimura says, perfectly matter-of-fact. Yagyuu knows it will, made sure. A perfectly ordinary object, not powerful, but intimately linked with its owner. “but it may still take some time.”
The strength of the link between a person and an object lessens over time. It has been far too long. Yagyuu knows this, but he also knows that Yukimura is capable of a great many things. If anyone can find out much about Niou from the little fragments, small possessions, which remain... well.
“I will return later, then,” he says, bows politely, departs.
In the end, though, he doesn’t have to. Yukimura finds him, several hours later, when he has only just begun to wonder how much time he should leave.
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*grins* That really just encapsulates both of them, for me.
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Thanks!