Chapter Text
‘What a peaceful day.’ Sushang thinks to herself, walking through the colorfully decorated streets of Aurum Alley.
She’s on one of her routine patrols through the area, one of the many tasks on the extensive list of the duties of a cloud knight. Though it’s boring to some, she finds it relaxing as she strolls down lanes and roads, sword propped against her shoulder, thinking about the day’s events and what the future may hold. After all, self reflection exercises are essential for any good cloud knight.
Of course, something just had to ruin her quiet time.
Or rather, someone.
Sushang catches the first whiffs of it when she hears a faint explosion in the distance. Immediately, she’s off and running towards the source of the noise, tip of her sword dragging a trail through the ground, preparing to confront…she doesn’t know, mara-struck? Lady Bailu stealing another meat bun? Or, Aeons forbid, the trailblazer rummaging through another set of dumpsters?
As she gets closer and closer to the commotion, she picks up another sound. Is that…clapping? With a final dash and a triumphant shout, she bursts onto the main square of Aurum Alley, sword held high and definitely not out of breath at all. Immediately, she takes note of several things.
First off, there is a crowd gathered here, and by Lan it is a crowd . People of all shapes and sizes, dressed in all manners of clothing are standing around…something, and hardly quietly. Waves of raucous applause echo through the square as Sushang tries to get a glimpse of the center. There’s hardly enough space for her to maneuver her sword around without having it stab some poor citizen in the back.
Secondly, there’s a faint smell of gunpowder lingering in the air, as if someone had detonated explosives in the area just seconds before Sushang arrived on scene. She glances this way and that, trying to look for any signs of damage to buildings or any injured civilians, but despite the suspicious smell, she can’t find anything.
And finally, there’s-
A clear voice cheerily cuts through the hubbub of the crowd and Sushang’s thoughts. “And remember everyone: for more sword-swallowing, bomb juggling, and fire-breathing performances, don’t forget to follow LittleGuiGuinevere on your favorite streaming website!”
That.
Wait.
Sushang runs the words through her mind once more, turning them over. Sword-swallowing? Fire-breathing? She isn’t sure if there’s some sort of permit that allows this nonsense, but she doesn’t suppose it matters. Someone has to apprehend this…what even is a ‘LittleGuiGuinevere’?
Sushang spots her chance as the crowd begins to thin out and filter away, slipping through the many roads that connect to Aurum Alley’s main square. She shoulders her way past Vidyadharans and Foxians alike, each time with an apologetic smile and a muttered “sorry!”. Finally, she manages to make it past the horde of onlookers to come face-to-face with a woman.
She’s clothed in a bright red dress, in a style Sushang is wholly unfamiliar with. The shade matches that of her hair, tied into a high ponytail adorned with an intricate ruby flower ornament. She wears a shining, energetic smile as she throws red sticks (which look suspiciously like dynamite) into a large duffel bag.
Sushang takes a deep breath. “Hey!” She calls out, slamming her sword into the ground. She winces internally as she realizes it’ll leave a dent in the ground, but at least it looks cool and gets the woman to swivel her head at the sound of metal crashing through stone.
Then the woman turns to face her, and Sushang loses her breath for a moment. Her eyes are bright orange, filled with the spark of life, skin coated in a thin layer of sweat. Her face has the look of someone who’s never been more present, living life to the fullest at any given moment. It’s enchanting, and demands every bit of Sushang’s attention as she tries to find her next words.
“U-uh, you!” Sushang stammers out, hands on her hips. “Stop there!”
“Hm?” The woman’s voice is high and filled with cheer as she tucks a stray strand of hair behind an ear. “Oh, hey! You must be one of those Cloud Knights I keep hearing so much about!” The twinkle in her eyes grows brighter by the second. “It’s amazing to finally see one in person! Oh, I just have to get a photo. Say cheese!”
Without warning, her phone is in her hand, camera pointed right at Sushang. The cloud knight is still trying to process the incredible speed at which she said those words, and so she barely has time to raise a hand to cover her eyes as a flash of light bursts from the camera. Still, it isn’t enough to stop her yelp of surprise.
The stranger giggles as she peers at the result of the photo. “Oh, I have got to post that.” she mutters under her breath, fingers flying over her screen. Sushang can barely see her as she tries to ineffectively wave away the floaty things in her eye from the aftershock of the flash. “Hey miss cloud knight, what was your name again?”
“Er, Sushang?” She finally manages to blink away the aftereffects of the photo, and the woman’s question gets Sushang’s brain moving. “H-hey, stop it!”
The performer (is that what she is?) glances up at her, but even without looking at her phone her fingers are still darting here and there. “What’s up? Did I do something wrong?”
Sushang squints at the woman like she’s seeing her for the first time. “Are you kidding me? No offense, but bomb-juggling and fire-breathing don’t exactly sound like activities that law-abiding citizens partake in, and definitely not in public spaces.”
The woman pouts. “Wait, for real? You’re telling me people in this place don’t juggle fireworks?” Then she pauses and looks up as something hits her. “I’m not even from here! Aren't there special rules for outworlders?”
Sushang blinks as she processes the words. “You...aren’t from the Xianzhou?” She furrows her brows. That makes surprising sense, though it makes the situation significantly more complicated…and embarrassingly, Sushang hasn’t read the regulations for outsiders, especially pertaining to performances and the like. Look, she was going to read it, but it’s not like she was expecting to run into an outworlder any time soon. Besides, it’s not her fault whoever wrote those laws sounded like the most boring person on the entire fleet.
“Right…well, I’m just going to go out on a limb and say that your shows aren’t legal and they most certainly are dangerous, but I can’t exactly arrest you without a law to refer to.” She points at the woman. “So I better not catch you doing any of this again, Miss…”
Crap. What was her name?
“Uh, Miss…Little? Gui??” She tries out all the names she can remember that have a G and an I, before she realizes the stranger is doubled over laughing. Sushang blushes and stammers out her next words. “H-hey, cut it out!”
The red-haired woman manages to straighten back up, but she’s still giggling as she brushes a tear from the corner of her eye. “Ah, sorry, sorry. You’re so funny, Miss cloud knight.” She finally stops chuckling, but a smile is still on her face as she reaches a hand out. “Guinevere, at your service.”
The outworlder pauses, an unsure look on her face as she watches Sushang completely ignore her hand and instead fish a notepad out of her pocket. “Guine-? What now?” The cloud knight holds the pad of paper in her left hand, a quill in her right, sword wedged deep into rock and totally forgotten by her side. “One more time for me, please.”
The grin on the stranger’s face widens again. “Gui-ne-vere,” she says matter-of-factly, clearly pronouncing every syllable. She smirks as Sushang dutifully scribbles down the characters, a smile leaking into her voice as she visibly struggles to jot down the letters. “You got that? Gui-ne-vere.” As she finishes the sentence, she’s entirely unable to restrain the giggle that erupts from her mouth, the sight of the cloud knight frowning at her notepad too amusing to handle.
Sushang tilts her head at the paper, trying to figure out what she just wrote. “Gui…nai…fen.” She looks up from the pad. “Is that it? Gui-nai-fen?”
Gui-whatever-her-name-is’s eyes sparkle. “Guinaifen, Guinaifen…” she muses aloud, rolling the name off her tongue. “Yeah, Guinaifen, pleased to meet you.”
“Right then.” Sushang stuffs the note into her pocket, a pleased smile on her face. “Look here, Miss Guinaifen. You best hope you don’t run into me again during one of these shows of yours, because by then I’ll definitely have read up on the law.” She points stiffly at Guinaifen. “So watch out!”
Some of the shine in Guinaifen’s eyes winks out. “Aw, and it was just getting fun…” The sparkle returns a moment later, and she’s looking right at Sushang. “Nice meeting you though! I hope we meet again, preferably not with me in handcuffs.” She winks at the cloud knight.
For some Aeon-given reason, the words and action in combination makes Sushang blush a little. It’s enough for her to lose focus for a second, only brought back to reality when Guinaifen’s voice calls out to her.
She’s already strolling away, pushing into the crowd, her duffel bag thrown over one shoulder and a massive sword (where did she get that?) braced against the other. “We should meet up sometime! Outside of business, of course.” She flashes a wide grin over her shoulder, fiery eyes meeting Sushang’s own. “You’re really cute.”
As the woman happily trots away, Sushang is left in the dust trying to formulate a response, staring blankly in the direction she disappeared, warmth gently spreading through her body. After too long, she finally shakes it off and gets a hold of herself.
“Forget about her.” Sushang mutters to herself. “Remember Sushang, you’re a cloud knight. Stay focused and steadfast, and all will be well.” One deep breath later, and she’s ready to resume patrol, head high and sword ready. She reaches out, and-
Wait a minute.
Where’s her sword?
Again, the image of the woman flashes through her mind, slipping into the crowd with a duffel bag thrown over her left shoulder…and Sushang’s blade propped against her right. Sushang facepalms and groans into her hands. She wants to scream to the heavens, but her words instead come out in a deadpan.
“Not again…”