Or perhaps it's because the details are murky based on what Yingxing knew at the time.
[He hums in acknowledgment at that.]
I suppose that makes sense based on what I know.
[By accepting the horns atop his head, Dan Heng takes on the title, the merits, and the faults of every life that came before his own. It's the way of the Vidyadhara high elder, even former ones like him.
Even though he expects the question, he glances away.]
He was taken to The Shackling Prison. [Absently, Dan Heng starts to rub at his wrists as if they're bothering him.] The elders wanted to interrogate him about the Arcanum and the location of the dragon heart. Then, the Judges read their decision to sentence him to death to him. Then... a white-haired Cloud Knight Lieutenant visited him to tell Dan Feng about the negotiations he was conducting on his behalf. The Vidyadhara didn't want him to die, but neither did they want him to leave. Throughout it all, Dan Feng was completely silent. His last thought was of drinking with his friends.
[He pauses, and then looks to the porcelain cup. Dan Heng picks it up, staring at the rice wine for a moment.]
They had sentenced him to undergo hatching rebirth and then exile. [A breath.] My first memory of Dan Heng is being chained in The Shackling Prison. I was reborn in that darkness, and I wasn't let out for a very long time. All I had then were books to keep the shadows at bay.
[Dan Heng stops there and looks over to Blade. His expression is carefully neutral. This is his armor and shield.]
... I'm sorry.
[He doesn't know how else to say it. There's a certain guilt he can't help feeling. Dan Heng isn't that person. He's not Dan Feng, and he's not that Dan Heng, either. Yet... Yingxing lost someone so close to him and had no idea of his fate, nor did he knew of Dan Feng's final thoughts. He's sorry that it had to come from Dan Heng, two reincarnations removed.]
no subject
Or perhaps it's because the details are murky based on what Yingxing knew at the time.
[He hums in acknowledgment at that.]
I suppose that makes sense based on what I know.
[By accepting the horns atop his head, Dan Heng takes on the title, the merits, and the faults of every life that came before his own. It's the way of the Vidyadhara high elder, even former ones like him.
Even though he expects the question, he glances away.]
He was taken to The Shackling Prison. [Absently, Dan Heng starts to rub at his wrists as if they're bothering him.] The elders wanted to interrogate him about the Arcanum and the location of the dragon heart. Then, the Judges read their decision to sentence him to death to him. Then... a white-haired Cloud Knight Lieutenant visited him to tell Dan Feng about the negotiations he was conducting on his behalf. The Vidyadhara didn't want him to die, but neither did they want him to leave. Throughout it all, Dan Feng was completely silent. His last thought was of drinking with his friends.
[He pauses, and then looks to the porcelain cup. Dan Heng picks it up, staring at the rice wine for a moment.]
They had sentenced him to undergo hatching rebirth and then exile. [A breath.] My first memory of Dan Heng is being chained in The Shackling Prison. I was reborn in that darkness, and I wasn't let out for a very long time. All I had then were books to keep the shadows at bay.
[Dan Heng stops there and looks over to Blade. His expression is carefully neutral. This is his armor and shield.]
... I'm sorry.
[He doesn't know how else to say it. There's a certain guilt he can't help feeling. Dan Heng isn't that person. He's not Dan Feng, and he's not that Dan Heng, either. Yet... Yingxing lost someone so close to him and had no idea of his fate, nor did he knew of Dan Feng's final thoughts. He's sorry that it had to come from Dan Heng, two reincarnations removed.]