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Below the great cloudy peaks of Jueyun Karst sits a lake. And Cloud Retainer has always told her thus:
“Be wary of the water Shenhe. Steel your mind or do not go near, for even the red rope’s protection cannot save you completely from mortal desire.”
The abode of the adepti was dangerous to mortals whether high or low. Climb the mountains and risk the trappings of Mountain Shaper. Venture below, and, well…
Shenhe simply nodded her head with an, “Understood,” for even at her younger age such a command was simple to her. Or perhaps, undisciplined as she was, it was her young age that caused her to listen to such a command.
But Cloud Retainer was waiting for something. Watching Shenhe with a quirked head. She shook her head after a moment with a sigh. Perhaps she was wanting to tell the story anyway.
“An adeptus lays low there, deep in the lake. One shall tell you the story. Her voice weaves an enchanted fabric over one’s mind, causing confusion and hallucination. All born from desire. Desire is a dangerous thing for mortals. While such a tool was invaluable against the enemy long ago, it is now only a danger to those who would approach unprepared.”
There may be risk in climbing the mountains of Jueyun Karst, but descending the valleys will garner no relief. A mortal will find themselves caught in the web of a beautiful voice whispering promises of their deepest desire.
Many a mortal who ventures into the realm of the adepti does so with avarice in their heart. They wander into the water, never to return. The siren’s song beckons them forward with the temptation of greed. Money. Power. Sex. Yun Jin will show you what it is you want most. Pray your will remains strong.
And so Shenhe grows up avoiding the valley in the land of the adepti, only venturing down when training requires her to do so. Only after a day of meditation to calm her mind and remove any desire.
Shenhe is mortal, afterall. Or- something close to mortal, but not quite. Regardless of what she is now, she yet contains within her a shadow of her prior mortality, and even the red ropes cannot hope to hide it all. The bindings cause her mind to forget her emotions, yet her body remembers them. It remembers her fear, and it remembers her desire for destruction.
++++++++++
This is the beginning of the end. The end of the beginning. A crossroads from which her life will forever be changed. Something new to be born in place.
Shenhe is on the hunt. Not for monsters, but for men. She plans not to kill them, but they still need to be ushered sternly back and away from the immortal realm. This place has a vast and quiet beauty, but for weak beings such as them it poses many dangers.
Monsters roam the land in search of the very power that dwells like lifeblood in the ground, and disrespect of the adepti, however accidental, can lead to loss of life.
But these foolish men, brothers. They seek not their death at the hands of monsters, but at the voice of rapture.
Shenhe has learned some things over the decades. Important here is one thing: The current time of day shows the sun already waning from its peak height. It’s the hottest part of the day, and until the sun begins to stain the horizon with its blood, Yun Jin is likely to be at rest.
This is why her hunt is reckless and quick. She must find these two missing mortals before their peril is real. Just because it is likely that the lady of the lake is resting from the harsher warmth of the early afternoon, does not guarantee it.
Any manner of reason could cause her to desire her performance again, and there wasn’t any apparent reason that Shenhe had ever discovered. Perhaps just a whim of Yun Jin herself. The mystical adeptus was always a performance. Her personality was very bright, and even just the sight of her would keep Shenhe on edge.
Yun Jin’s performance is also not necessarily to spell doom for the mortals either, for if they are so unlucky as to simply catch sight of her they may be entranced as well. Every action Yun Jin takes is like the embodiment of her enticing performances and they run the risk of tempting the mind as well.
At least- the disciple felt entranced simply by being in Yun Jin’s presence. She hardly needed to sing to capture the minds of mortals, and Shenhe, even after much meditation, would find herself agreeing to everything the beautiful adeptus said. Because of this, even decades on, she preferred to avoid the lake lest she gets roped into something she didn’t intend. Yun Jin wasn’t prone to mischief but her presence was intoxicating. Master has always told her to avoid mind altering substances.
She did not wish to view what happened to a regular person should they lay eyes on the siren. For if even Shenhe, powerful and learned as she has become, turns stupid with the presence of Yun Jin then a mere mortal won't stand a chance.
++
These men she is tracking are hardly elusive. They aren’t trying to conceal their presence, but they have a significant head start on her. Several days' time, in fact. Shenhe is beginning to think that Cloud Retainer did not inform her of their entry into Jueyun Karst as a test.
Would she notice their presence? How would she handle them when she found them? Shenhe is determined to make her master proud. She wont attack them unless provoked, and if she does end up destroying them for insolent behavior then she will wash herself in clean water and atone for the sin through prayer and meditation.
Fortunately for Shenhe, this head start ismostly nothing. The distance those brothers can travel in a day is what she might cross in an hour or two. A week’s journey for them, a day for her. She knows the land well and can move at superhuman speeds which risk causing normal humans to vomit.
It's after only an hour of running that she finds them. Or- rather she's found their most recent campsite. The careless fire they made that morning is still smoldering. With a wave of her hand the still-warm coals grow cold. Too cold to sustain the heat of burning. She kicks some dirt over the extinguished fire just to be safe.
Then she’s off like lightning again, certain that she will find them within the hour. They have to be near the lake now, and she will not save them if Yun Jin finds them first. It might be better to say that she cannot save them. She refuses to interrupt the siren’s due defense of this sacred land.
If they meet their end then she can simply say that it was their fate. The punishment for their foolishness.
Afterall. This is not the first time that she’s found herself tracking these two brothers. They once got themselves caught on Mt. Aocang, and it was only through Mountain Shaper’s generosity that they were able to leave.
If she saves them this time, then there won't be a third strike. Whatever their fate is, Shenhe will not intervene.
She finds them beside the lake. They appear to be looking out over the water. Surveying for what, she does not know. Also she doesn't care. All that matters is that they are ushered away and their foolish lives are saved.
They haven’t noticed her yet, so she decides to make her entrance with a great leap. Shenhe soars through the air like a crane, before landing with a heavy thud into the sand nearby.
Both men jump at her sudden appearance, before falling to their knees in concert.
“Great adeptus,” one of them cries, “you have appeared before us. We seek a blessing.”
Then they both prostrate themselves in the wet sand, grabbing at the earth with clawlike grips.
Shenhe takes a moment to steady herself. A deep breath in, then a heavy sigh. She recites a silent mantra for peace of mind before speaking.
“You are trespassing on sacred land. Silence yourself and leave. Go back from whence you came,” Shenhe says.
“Ma’am adeptus,” the other brother then speaks, “We have traveled far to meet one such as yours-”
But Shenhe has no interest in their words. She knows from their previous excursion that what they seek is not something they have the discipline to obtain.
“You will not receive your frivolous blessing,” she interrupts, pushing the butt of Calamity Queller deep into the sand in her effort to remain civil, “Go now, and do not return.”
Her words and demeanor seem to have frightened them, as they are quick to stand, bow deeply, and leave. Both brothers jog away. She begins to follow them to ensure their escape.
The sound of her approach quickens their pace until they are sprinting away. Their sudden rush excites something wild within her, and before she knows it, she’s squared herself to give violent chase. The air grows frigid around her as her power manifests, lending strength and speed to her limbs. She takes the first step in her chase and stops-
That is- a soft voice from behind her freezes her in place. Her first powerful step forward in her sprint falters and a great shiver runs down her spine. Her heel cracks the ground as the now frozen sand shatters beneath her.
“Shenhe,” the siren calls, “Good afternoon!”
This voice which has captured her allows her a moment to close her eyes and calm her breath.
She’d almost done something drastic and unnecessary. There is much progress yet to be made. Shenhe passes a hand along her body and ensures that her ropes are all in place.
She sees, shrinking in the distance, the two brothers did not react to the powerful voice of Yun Jin, but does not wonder why.
Slowly, Shenhe turns and delivers a respectful bow to the elder adeptus. When she looks up, she sees that Yun Jin is half-submerged within the lake, choosing not to display herself below the waist. Shenhe knows, however, what dwells below in the water beneath them both now.
Shenhe takes a step forward to be right at the shore, and a single pale-purple tentacle slithers out of the water to greet her, quickly sliding over her foot before retreating.
“Greetings,” is all Shenhe says.
She often finds it difficult to speak in front of this particularly beautiful adeptus. The magic of her voice and body surely holds a powerful force over the disciple. Yun Jin’s power is frightening indeed.
Shenhe is not a woman of many words, but even pulling up a single phrase from her throat becomes difficult with the siren nearby. Even now, her heart rate has accelerated beyond even its sprinting pace.
She avoids Yun Jin for this very reason. Being around her is… exciting? Interesting, perhaps? The stories she tells paint vivid images in Shenhe’s mind and the songs she sings force emotion into a body that hasn’t otherwise felt for forty years.
Shenhe is dangerous. Perhaps the most dangerous thing in these mountains, but she knows that she can be laid low by the siren with her sweet voice and soulful eyes.
But Yun Jin would never harm her- has said as much upon their first meeting. Shenhe was twenty something at the time, and Cloud Retainer had deemed her ready enough to venture down to the water herself. She spent a week meditating beforehand.
Something else about Yun JIn captured Shenhe on that fateful day, for she did not hallucinate a vision of her desire for death and destruction. She felt only a deep want . A thirst only Yun Jin’s presence could quench.
Desire was her enemy, so she sought to avoid the lake unless necessary.
“Will you keep me company for dinner?” Yun Jin asks.
“Yes,” Shenhe says.
++++++++++
Shenhe steps out of the water, and into the cave that marks the entrance to Yun Jin’s adeptal abode. Her body is dry, with barely a drop of water having touched her. It is only through the protection of Yun Jin’s adeptal magic that such a thing is possible.
The cave is on the bottom of the lake, with several hundred feet of water between it and the surface. The pressure would pop her eardrums, let alone being able to hold her breath long enough to reach this place. Perhaps, if she was desperate to go to the surface she’d be able to ascend before she ran out of air, but swimming down was impossible.
Yun Jin pulled herself into the cave and she fairs much differently than Shenhe. While the disciple is almost as dry as if she were on land, Yun Jin is sleek and dripping. However for her, such a state of being is preferable. Being dry for too long is uncomfortable for Yun Jin, Shenhe’s been told. Water is as much her element as the Geo vision around her neck.
The siren uses her hands and many tentacles to hoist herself up from the water, making a small noise of effort. And before Shenhe is able to make protest, Yun Jin’s body fades into a much more humanoid shape. It’s as if an illusion was sloughing off, leaving her with human legs and human feet.
Shenhe soon finds her words, “You don’t need to do that for me. You do not make me uncomfortable.”
But Yun Jin waves her off.
“These legs of mine are as natural as my other form. It is not a bad thing to embrace my mother’s half every now and again.”
Of course it is not just that Shenhe does not have a need for Yun Jin to accommodate her with a human appearance (Shenhe actually rather likes the half of Yun Jin that is an illuminated beast. She’d never say so aloud though), rather the difficult part about this situation now, is that there is much more of Yun Jin’s nudity that Shenhe must avoid.
It’s okay, She tells herself.
She can just treat this as practice. It’s not so hard really, when going to touch someone else's body in such a way requires consent, and Shenhe has no idea how she might go about asking for such a thing.
It will simply be another desire of the flesh that Shenhe must meditate on and expel. A meeting with Yun Jin always requires mediation afterwards. So strong is her influence.
Shenhe remains silent after that, the appearance of Yun Jin’s body having stolen her voice. She looks away, studying the walls of the cave while she waits for Yun Jin to adjust to her lesser-used form.
Out of the corner of her eye, she views as Yun Jin finger combs her hair, and hears the splash of water as whatever magic imbued in her fingers pulls the heavy water from her locks.
Once the adeptus is no longer dripping, she takes Shenhe by the hand, and the disciple must remind herself not to grip too tight, for Yun Jin’s slim hand is at least half the size of hers.
“Come along now,” Jin says, pulling like Shenhe is going to jump back into the water and escape.
She contemplates it for a moment now, before deciding that Jin’s hand is nice and warm in her own despite having been in the cool water all day.
Shenhe follows behind Jin quietly now, captured as she is. She’s content to remain quiet and enjoy the woman’s dangerous presence. It’s too late now afterall. She’s already been enthralled again.
But Jin enjoys talking much more than Shenhe does, and so speaks up.
“What were those two doing so far from Liyue?” the siren asks.
While Shenhe herself often finds words unnecessary, she knows it’s rude to simply ignore when an acquaintance is attempting to speak with you. And it’s not like she’d ever be able to deny Jin much anything anyway.
Even though she’d rather not talk about the foolish brothers.
“They have been around here for some time. I got them a few months ago and saved them from Mountain Shaper’s sap. It was arrogant of them to attempt another approach.”
And Jin hums appropriately, “Ah. the ones who were looking to be blessed with long life?”
Jin isn’t looking at her, but Shenhe shakes her head anyway, “Indeed. Thank you for appearing when you did. I’m ashamed to say that even now, so many years later, my training is not perfect. I was about to do something regretful to them. Thank you for your voice and your power to stop me.”
They would have deserved it for trespassing on sacred land, but it would be preferable for Shenhe’s weakness for violence to not grow.
Jin turns and quarks and eyebrow at her. She has a faintly amused smirk, though Shenhe can hardly tell such a thing.
“Is that so,” is what Jin says, “good timing indeed. I didn’t know my normal speaking voice was so powerful though, that I could stop you.”
Jin is looking at her this time, so she sees when Shenhe nods again. Jin lets out an short chuckle and pulls Shenhe around a corner and into her living space.
The siren speaks again, “It is a bit early for dinner though, is it not? The stove will keep my stew warm if you’d like to pass the time a while. It was a gift from Cloud Retainer, so no need to worry about a fire.”
Shenhe doesn’t say anything, but there is a silent question up in the air.
What should we do while we wait?
It seems like Jin already has the answer to that question. She lets go of Shenhe’s hand and steps away to a corner of the room. The ground is covered in plush cushions there, and Jin simply lets herself fall backwards onto the bed of soft things. She gives Shenhe a look that burns and her naked body is splayed in such a way that causes Shenhe’s throat to lose all moisture. She swallows raw and notes that her body is on fire.
Jin smiles up at Shenhe, for she knows that she has all the power here.
“Lay with me?” She asks, “I’ll tell you a story.”
Shenhe opens her mouth to try to say something. Say anything. But she is trapped by Jin, unable to look away from her. Something like a squeak or stutter is all that she is able to utter.
Jin’s grin only grows, “If you would be more comfortable, I wouldn’t mind sharing your nudity. You can remove those clothes and those ropes if you’d like.”
Shenhe finally finds the power to look away. And she looks down at her own body. At her body suit. At the ropes that cage her in and protect the world.
Shenhe doesn’t like to disappoint Jin.
She hooks a thumb under one rope and feels a sudden sense of fear and nausea. The edges of her vision darken until all she sees is her hand gripping the rope. Her knuckles have gone white with the force of her grip and the threads of the rope are beginning to creak.
But then a pair of warm hands cover her own and she sucks in a deep breath. She vaguely hears someone counting. She continues breathing. Soon, h er vision clears.
Shenhe looks down at Jin, who bears a relieved smile.
“Good. You’re back,” the siren says, “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” Jin runs her thumb back and forth over Shenhe’s hand in soothing strokes.
Shenhe slumps down, putting too much of her weight on Jin.
The disciple lets out her big gasping breath, “Thank you,” she says, “I’m not sure I could have come out of that so quickly without you.”
The meaning behind her statement is clear to Jin, for she has helped to perpetuate this lie in small ways. She hides a frown.
“Shenhe,” Jin says. She’s dead serious.
“Yun JIn.”
“Shenhe,” Jin says again, “The only magic I have ever used on you is the kind that lets me take you to my home unscathed.”
“Oh,” Shenhe says, and brings her free hand to her breast, “Are you sure?”
Jin smiles at that, “I am very sure.”
“But Cloud Retainer-” Shenhe starts.
And Jin laughs then, “Cloud Retainer loves to tell stories.”
“Oh,” Shenhe says again, “Then why am I…” but she trails off.
Jin waits a moment to see if Shenhe will start back up again.
Shenhe has become distracted though, slightly. She realizes her closeness to Jin then. That Jin is still without any clothing. That Jin is really, truly, so very pretty. That everything Jin has been doing to tempt her has, perhaps, been just her. Just Jin. Just trying to get close to her.
And it’s been all Shenhe the entire time. That Jin is… that she is attracted to Jin? Maybe as attracted to Jin as Jin is her?
It’s all rather silly, isn’t it? Shenhe thinks.
“I…” Shenhe starts again. Jin’s eyes are on her now. Big and beautiful and patient, “Don’t think I can take the ropes off today. Some day, though, I hope you will do it for me.”
Jin smiles, “Whenever you’re ready. For now, how about we sit down and I tell you that story. It’s about my favorite person. A woman who overcomes all adversity with fierce determination. She killed the remnants of an evil god, I’ll have you know…”
Shenhe follows Jin down into the corner with the cushions. The ropes dampen her ability to feel, but there is still the faintest ghost of a smile upon her lips.