Chapter Text
Luka’s already trying to settle in, folding his coat onto the bed and trying to rearrange his bag in a way that makes sense. Then he hears the creak of the door open, the front door by the sounds of it.
He finds himself standing up and taking a peek through the separator door, and sure enough, Lengfeng stands in the hallway. He’s carrying a steaming pot in his hand. Luka’s a bit amazed that he isn’t burning but the Xianzhou people did find a way to harness the elements much earlier than a lot of other countries.
“A-Diē, come eat with us,” Lengfeng says, bowing to Ren who seems to be scribbling new notes.
Ren looks at Luka, before standing up and setting his notes aside. “Let’s eat in the inner room. Wouldn’t want our food to get dirty.”
It feels weird to be treated as a member of someone else’s household, Luka realises. Back home at Belobog, everyone is family so it’s hard to feel out of place. But here the difference is night and day. He follows the other two into the inner room, where a small table sat beyond the three mattresses. Lengfeng places the pot in the middle, and uses his swords to fetch some bowls and utensils from the shelf.
“Lengfeng, what did I tell you about using those swords for everything?” Ren asks him.
Lengfeng smiles guiltily. “Sorry!”
Luka finds himself chuckling. So this is the father who probably made every single one of Lengfeng’s flying swords. He wonders why they’ve been living in this shabby old house if Ren can make one-of-a-kind bladeworks. It’s definitely a far cry from the luxurious business buildings he’s seen in the Central Skiff Haven.
“I hope you’re okay with spicy,” Ren tells him as Lengfeng scoops some soup into their bowls.
It’s full of a lot of different vegetables that Luka doesn’t recognise. He recognises the shape of the mushroom, but that's about it. He has no idea what those green stuff are, or that white disk with holes in it. Oh and there’s meat, at least. He looks at the three - two? - utensils on the table and he picks up the one that looks more familiar, a spoon if he’s not wrong, and slowly starts drinking the beef.
He’s immediately hit with a bunch of different flavours and he doesn’t really know how to process it. He fights his gag reflex, chewing thoroughly before pushing it down. Back in Belobog he’s grown accustomed to more subtle flavours so being hit with that many spices sure is something.
He’s acutely aware of the other two staring at him. “Luka, are you okay?”
Ren puts down his bowl. “It might be a little too new for you. If you want to make something, I can go with you to the market.”
Luka shakes his head. “Thanks but I don’t really know how to cook myself so I’ll probably just shoot myself in the foot here.”
“Just try to finish whatever you can, Yanqing and I can eat whatever you don’t like,” Ren says. It almost reminds him of Natasha back at home, in an odd way. He’s almost motherly.
“We have got to get you taste-testing tomorrow!” Lengfeng says with a smile, holding up the two sticks and somehow balancing a green vegetable before eating it.
“Don’t you remember what you have to do?” Ren says, shooting him a look.
“Oh come on, that can wait until later!”
Ren sighs and Luka giggles. It’s nice of them to converse in the common tongue while he’s there, at least he can follow along. “It’s okay
“Actuaaallyyy,” Lengfeng says, and Ren isn’t reacting but he more or less would be shaking his head. “You can take in Luka as an apprentice! He’s really good with his hands, right?”
“I mean I fight,” Luka says with a smile and a shrug. It’s mostly what he’s been used for, helping to keep the peace in Bouldertown whenever other factions wanted to stir up some trouble.
Ren raises his eyebrow. “If you do then I think it’d do you better to join the Wardance instead.”
Lengfeng’s face falls. “But papa–”
“That way you both can train together,” Ren says, sending him another look. Maybe he’s been trying to get Lengfeng to sign up for a while. The swordsman did say he doesn’t know if he’d be joining.
“I can do both,” Luka offers hopefully. “I can train with Lengfeng and then work for you, Mr. Ren, in my free time. I need to pull my weight around here somehow.”
“I have nothing against that,” Ren says at the same time Lengfeng crosses his arms and says, “Fine…”
–
“Here, you should probably let Luka sample these things.” Ren walks into the room carrying a sack that smells really strongly, probably a lot of ingredients.
“Okie.” Lengfeng stands up from the table where they were just going over his things and takes the sack from the older man, then Ren goes back to the outer room, probably to continue some more work.
–
They’re out in a nearby clearing. This is where Yanqing likes practising whenever a lot of important people show up at the Foresight. He knows he’s more made for the battle than politics so it easily gets overwhelming having visitors over. Listening to a lot of people talking about their own motivations so easily drains the life out of him.
At least in duels there’s usually very few things that manner, way easier and more respectable. Life and death, pride and shame. No hidden agendas when they let the blades and hands do all the talking. So whenever there are big meetings, Yanqing excuses himself and heads towards their house that’s under Ren’s name.
When that happens Fu Xuan or Yunli usually would chew him out for it next time they see him, but Jingyuan always chuckles. He doesn’t hold it against him, which he loves. Jingyuan knows he doesn’t feel at home dealing with politics, but he does wish that his father would think he’s fit for being on the battlefield. Both Jingyuan and Ren have expressed how he may not be ready, though the latter does trust him more. ‘He needs more exposure,’ Ren had said.
He supposes Jingyuan does agree with how he allows him to tag along some high-scale missions. Yanqing was there when they caught Ren. But whispers still spread and eventually reach his ears.
‘He’s too defensive.’ ‘He doesn’t know what’s at stake.’ ‘The kid needs to stop his sympathy.’ ‘Does the General really think he can help stop threats?’ ‘He dotes on the kid too much.’
Which he doesn’t quite understand. Jingyuan has personally praised him for being more mature than some of his peers, always aiming to bring back their enemies and targets alive. And he’s personally grateful for that fact. He wouldn’t have the family he has now otherwise.
Yanqing is brought back to the present by the sound of Luka’s claps.
Ah, he subconsciously executes ‘Amidst the Raining Bliss’ now. It’s fondly his signature move but after Luofu’s recent attack, he’s realised he’s capable of a bit more and has had the burning itch to replace it with something with more finesse.
“Is everyone on the Luofu this good?” Luka asks, shaking his head. He chuckles. “Wow, if you can do this, I wonder what the Wardance ringmaster can do.”
“Hah, yeah. Same here.” I wonder what I can do, too. Too bad they won’t let me explore that, Yanqing thinks. “Are you scared?”
“A bit,” Luka admits, pleasantly honest. He scratches the back of his head. “Belobog has been behind on so much stuff and most of our fighting is just to survive and win over petty little territory. It’s a bit wild to think other countries out there are already doing more with their combat than us… it’s a little scary, not gonna lie.
“I’m glad I met someone like you though. You’re less intimidating than if I ran into the other people on your guards.” Luka looks down. “I could’ve been arrested for trespassing or entering the wrong entrance so fast. That happened to me in another city. And I really don’t think I would be able to stand my ground against anyone higher up.”
Yanqing bites his lip. He knows Jingyuan is compassionate enough to hear him out. But then he thinks of the sterner leaders like his aunt. And there are some Cloudknights who are only out for blood. He looks at Luka. He still doesn’t know anything about his fighting style. “I think you underestimate yourself. Let’s spar.”
Luka’s eyes immediately widen and he shakes his head. “Nonono, I’d rather not get beat up so fast. Plus I’m still getting used to this new prosthetic.”
Yanqing holds his tongue and nods, returning back to his practice.
–
Later that evening as things settle down, Lengfeng hops into the mat beside Luka’s, untying his hair and shedding off some layers of clothing. He folds them off neatly at the foot of the bed and buries himself under the thin blanket on top.
“You sleep early?” Luka asks. He doesn’t really know how they tell the time here but based on when the sun set, he feels like it isn’t that much past the 7th hour.
“Ren will force me to,” Lengfeng pouts under the blanket. “He’s the most productive one out of all of us.”
“Ah.” Luka can’t help but chuckle. It does seem nice to have a father that cares about you. He loves Oleg with all his heart but sometimes his old man gets too busy to check on him sometimes. “Good night, Lengfeng.”
“好睡...” he replies sleepily. “I mean good night.”
The swordsman almost collapses sound asleep, immediately beginning to snore. Luka fights the urge to chuckle some more. He’s a light sleeper so being able to get a sleep that deep so quickly is a talent that eludes him.
Luka sits there silently for a few more minutes, watching Lengfeng as he sleeps. There’s a faint light provided by a lamp hanging on the wall and the windows show nothing but dark outlines of weeds and the light of a thousand stars. It’s really pretty. He’s heard the stars in Belobog are some of the best in the world, but he’s never gotten to see them that much after living underground for so long.
Eventually the sounds from the outer room begin to tone down as well and Ren walks into the room, carrying something covered in cloth inside.
「晚安, Luka,」 Ren says as he sits down in front of his mat. “That’s ‘good evening’ in our language.”
“Oh, uh, wanan.” From the look on his face, Luka can tell he butchered the pronunciation a bit.
Still he doesn’t get chewed out for it and Ren just rests the cloth down in front of him. “Can I see your right hand?”
Ah. That’s his prosthetic one. He remembers Lengfeng saying a little something about getting him a new one, and he can’t help but feel a little excited at guessing what’s under the cloth. Maybe he can finally grip something. Luka holds his arm out obediently.
“Okay, at least I have that size,” Ren says, reaching into a pocket and bringing out a metal clasp. He takes his arm and inspects the joint where his body ends and the metal begins. “Is there a specific way to take this off?”
“Uh I don’t know. I’ve always had it on me even when I sleep,” Luka admits, but it doesn’t break Ren’s concentration. The seasoned forger studies his prosthetic for a few seconds, before pressing on some clasps and releasing it. A small sting made its way through Luka’s body, but it isn’t anything that bad.
“That was attached quite tightly,” Ren mutters, comparing the lil stub of skin on his shoulder with one of the clasps. “This should fit better, it’s gentler on the skin.”
It feels like being sent to a metal doctor, Luka thinks. Natasha except she knows how to deal with the metal parts of him a little better. He feels the familiar touch of metal on skin as Ren places the prosthetic back in his arm, and one glance at the hand shows him joints. A smile immediately makes its way onto his face. “Thank you so much…”
“Try it out,” Ren says, almost not reacting to it, but the corners of his mouth do turn the slightest bit upwards.
Luka moves his torso back and forth and it surprisingly swings around a bit, but not so much that it messes with his sense of balance. “This is so cool.”
“You can also bend it at the joints. From the soldiers I’ve worked with, it takes a while for them to get the right angles to do their work so just keep readjusting until you’re comfortable,” Ren says, demonstrating by making his hand clasp around the cloth that covers the arm.
Luka moves his arm around, and it doesn’t fall off. “Woah. Thank you- how do you say that in your language?”
「謝謝」Ren says.
“Shieshie.”
“No, xiè. Pronounce it like a normal ‘sss’ then stress it going down,” Ren instructs him patiently.
“Xiėxie.” He still can’t get the intonation and wording quite right, but Ren nods anyway.
“Where did you lose your arm, if you mind me asking?” It’s then Luka notices the bandages over Ren’s own left arm.
“Oh uh there was a little fight that broke out at home and I was sent to help evacuate the kids. I had nothing else to block the strike so I just, yeah.” Luka shrugs. It’s nothing particularly epic, but it bought them a few seconds enough of time for the other kids to run to safety.
“It’s a tough time to be at the front of the battlefield,” Ren says grimly. “You know my son’s name 鋒? We usually use that to refer to the vanguard.”
“Oh I didn’t know that.” Luka’s eyes drift over to the sleeping young man. Are both his fathers in the military? Must be a little rough, and why he was training so far from the main city. Was he sent on patrol? “Has he ever been?”
“Not as much.” Ren sighs. “He’s a kid with a strong sense of justice but his father’s always been protective of him.”
“How about you?”
“Let him do what he wants. He’s old enough for it, and everyone’s expecting him to join the military anyway. If that’s what he wants to do, I won’t stop him, but if it isn’t, I won’t force him.” Ren sounds tired, and Luka doesn’t know whether that’s from working all day or from his years on the front lines. He sighs and cleans up his old prosthetic. “Go to sleep now. If you want to work under me, I wake up two hours before dawn.”
That’s insane, Luka thinks. His body clock isn’t even adjusted that well. Hard to tell the time when he couldn’t even see changes in the sky. Still he nods and lays down on his mat, pulling the thin fabric over him as well. He stares at the wooden ceiling as he wills sleep to come. Amidst some footsteps and gentle banging of metal on wood, the world finally falls silent.
–
By the time Luka opens his eyes again, Lengfeng is already up and about, sitting by the table where the sun illuminates the parchment he’s writing on.
Luka sits up quietly, bending his new prosthetic. It’s silent. He has no idea what magic Ren uses to get it this good. He stands up and walks over to Lengfeng, lurking behind his back until he finally realises he’s there.
“Ack–” Lengfeng jerks back a bit, messing up a stroke before he calms down. “早上好. Morning, Luka.”
“Thank you so much!” Luka all of a sudden jumps forward and knocks Lengfeng down into a hug. As soon as he hits the ground, he hopes that his arm will be fine. “Thank you, the new one’s amazing!”
Lengfeng giggles as he fights to sit back down, trying to push him off him. It takes a few seconds but this time he’s the one pushed back. Despite his short stature, he’s not pulling in any punches. “I told you my papa’s amazing!”
The door opens and the man in question walks into the room, carrying another clay pot. He kneels down and places it on the table. 「早安家族」
“Congeee!!” Lengfeng cheers, throwing his hands in the air as Luka catches a whiff of the breakfast.
“I asked them to make it milder so you can adjust to our tastes,” Ren says, then he stands up. “You can get to work in half an hour. I’ll be in front. Lengfeng, please this once attend that meeting so your aunt doesn’t chew me out.”
–
Yanqing knows he should probably leave them alone and stay in the vicinity of the Divine Foresight’s courtyard during his break time, but he can’t help it. Hopping on his sword, he flies past the various secretaries and right back to their little hamlet near their Navalia.
He makes a turn towards their street so fast that he misses a hand that reaches out to grab him.
“You were out yesterday, y’know? The Master Diviner got so angry,” Yunli says, crossing her arms as she watches him tumble to the ground. Her face showed no remorse, just smiling triumphantly.
“Yeah, yeah, she chewed me out today for that. Someone tell auntie that it’s not her responsibility.” Yanqing stands back up, dusting off his robes as Wenxue retreats back into four of the sheathes he has behind him.
“Hah, she’s gonna say the general can’t even raise you right.” Yunli shakes her head. “At least General Huaiyan doesn’t slack off on his duties.”
“You’re on my turf, and I can kick you out any time,” Yanqing says, trying to stop his hand from going behind him and unsheathing his sword again. He has a sort of protectiveness over his father, and that is one line he won’t allow Yunli to cross even if she is his friend.
“Yeah, and spark an intercity spectacle. Wow, who knew the general raised such an intellectual.” He wants to wipe that shit-eating grin off her face, but he stops himself. He’s had strong principles regarding his use of violence, but he wouldn’t mind it if she continues to pester him.
“You’re taunting me, aren’t you?” Yanqing mutters, trying to not let it get to his head. He came to this village to relax, for Lan’s sake. He isn’t going to stress too much about it, or at least that’s what he hopes.
“Deserved, to be honest. The General’s name does ride on your performance, and look who’s been slacking off the whole time.”
Yanqing reaches for his sword before he even notices. Now he looms over Yunli, awkwardly holding it in a fighting stance as she stands there, knowing it would make him an idiot to attack her right then and there.
He finally puts it down and sighs, but still sends her a glare hoping it communicates all the profanities he wants to shout at her. “You need to mature some more. I know all that already, repeating it isn’t going to help me.”
“Why’d you come here anyway? To bother Ren-xiansheng?” Yunli asks him. She’s like a relentless fly, trying to agitate him and never quite getting hit. “I heard he got a lot of orders to make new Cloudknight swords for the coming Wardance, you really want to be a burden right now huh?”
He’s glad that he had introduced himself to Luka as Lengfeng instead of Yanqing. His name is known way too broadly in the Luofu, and he’s grateful that the burden wouldn’t be attached to him whenever he hangs out with the Belobogian. It’s a bit of relief between the grave responsibilities during the Borisin attack and the Wardance. His one bit of break.
“Shut up.” Yanqing looks away. “I’m- I’m here to see a friend.”
“A friend, huh?” Yunli says, her voice immediately going from teasing to a more lighthearted tone. But still very much aiming to annoy him. “Yanqing never told me he had a friend living here.”
“He just came recently.” He doesn’t know why but he can feel his ears heating up.
“So instead of the friends Uncle Jingyuan suggested, he found another friend.”
“It’s getting so hard not to slap you.” She’s teased him about the various people Jingyuan had tried to set him up with before, and he thought he made it clear that he isn’t interested in that sort of thing yet. Turns out maaaybe he was wrong.
“So who’s this friend?”
“Stop saying it like that. You can- you can meet him yourself,” Yanqing says, deciding that he’d rather Luka meet Yunli with him around. He wants to believe the best of his friend but she does have a subtle prejudice with those who fight without weapons. At least here, she has no choice but to contain herself.
“Oh I’m very much intrigued.” Yunli claps as they go towards his house.
Before he opens the door, he turns to warn her. “He- He doesn’t know who I am though. I don’t want him to know I’m the General’s son just yet.”
“Mr. Yanqing’s got a secret going on, I see,” Yunli says. “I’m sure you’re nerdy enough to have thought of an alias.”
Yanqing fights the urge to slap her again and ignores her question. “Behave, alright?”
He opens the door and there is Luka and Ren, working over the fire and anvils. Luka seems to be helping Ren hammer them into shape. He knows Ren would rather have the finer details be left to him. Luka’s hunched over the anvil, beads of sweat forming on his forehead as his right arm methodically slams against the iron. He looks so ethereal, the flame roaring behind him. A gentle face working with such finesse. They’re both so deep in concentration they barely notice the two outsiders entering.
Yunli waves her hand in front of him and only then does he notice he maybe was a bit too busy staring. Yanqing clears his throat.
Luka’s the first to look up, his eyes brightening. “Lěngfēng!”
Yanqing’s pleasantly surprised to hear his alias name pronounced correctly. He smiles a bit, knowing Ren’s probably taught him. “Hi, Luka.”
Ren looks up finally and acknowledges them with a nod before returning back to his work. He’s quite methodological in the forge, and Yanqing’s learned not to interrupt him. Doesn’t mean they can’t interrupt Luka though.
“What are you doing here?” Luka asks.
“So you’re the infamous friend,” Yunli says, not bothering to answer his question.
“Hey don’t be rude.” Yanqing rolls his eyes before looking at Luka. “Sorry, this is my cousin, Yunli. She’s from the nearby city, Zhuming. If you wanna visit there, I’ll force her to treat you well.”
“I don’t owe anyone anything.”
Luka laughs heartily as he shakes his head. “Don’t worry, it might be a little too many cities for me.”
Yanqing smiles. “That sounds good, I wanna keep you here.”
“Anyway, Lengfeng-” Yunli raises an eyebrow, for sure judging his alias. “-here is skipping his practices to visit you.”
“It’s our break, Yunli!” Yanqing’s cheeks puff up at the accusation. He walks closer to them, standing beside the anvil he was working on. “These are for the Cloudknights?”
“The military guys? Yeah,” Luka says, holding up the sword. “Though I’m not as good as your dad. My hands are kinda rough and untrained.”
“So were mine when I first trained with the sword,” Yanqing says, trying to pry his eyes away from how Luka holds the hilt. He knows people need muscle for this sort of thing and he’s watched his father and cousin make a few blades before, but he can’t really explain what makes Luka’s technique so captivating. Maybe it’s the total lack of one. “Just- just practice enough and trust the blade, and it’ll come naturally to you.”
Yunli snorts. “That’s the most pretentious thing you said yet.”
Yanqing promptly ignores her.
Luka looks back and forth between them, the tension a bit palpable in the air. He tries to break the ice. “You must be really good friends huh?”
“Sure, whatever you say,” Yunli says, looking around their home and all the metal that’s scattered around or weapons hanging on the wall and blueprints on Ren’s table, which he already covered with a cloth. Yanqing can’t help but smirk at that. Good on him for continuing to hide family secrets from her.
“Your technique’s wrong, by the way,” Yunli says, crossing her arms. “That blade’s gonna hate itself.”
Yanqing kicks her hard on her heel, making her stumble a bit.
“You little–”
Luka puts his arm between them just in time, testing out his prosthetic. “Looks like your form, Madame Yoonli, also needs some work.”
Yunli looks like she wants to correct his pronunciation this time, but Yanqing clears his throat. She looks at him before staying silent. “We’re settling this over the Wardance. Both of you.”
“Hell nah, Yunli, keep your complaints to yourself,” Yanqing says, trying his best to ignore his taunts as he goes back to watching Luka work.
–
“I have an idea,” Yunli says.
“I don’t want your idea.”
“Oh come on, you haven’t even heard it yet.”
Yanqing raises an eyebrow.
“Okay, so you’re kinda borderline crushing-”
“I am not.”
“-on that Luka guy and will probably skip some more lessons just to hang out with him, so I was thinking. Why not train with him for the Wardance? Two swallows, one stone.”
“You really had to use that bird huh,” Yanqing mutters. But he considers it. Training with Luka would be fun, and it could also be useful for him to learn how to use their weapons and bring the skills back to Belobog. “But I don’t want him to find out that I’m Yanqing, and that’s kinda gonna be a given if he trains with us in the Divine Foresight.”
“Why not?”
“I mean it’s gonna be a bit overwhelming realising the person you’ve been hanging out with is a lieutenant and the General’s son, right?”
“You’re giving yourself too much credit,” Yunli deadpans. “Besides, isn't that going to reassure him more? Or is this a matter of your pride?”
Yunli gets her answer with the incredulous look on his face.