[♪♫♬]

[one_note]

[after Yi City and the second time Wei Wuxian gets Lan Wangji drunk, it takes about a day for them to reach the Garden of Annual blossoms. this curious incident takes place in the space of that day.

outside of appeasing the corpse pieces they've been collecting each night, it's not uncommon for Lan Wangji to take the time to practice on the guqin. he doesn't play entire songs, since he's not trying to interact with any spirits at the moment, but safely broken-up sections of Inquiry and Empathy (was Empathy always a musical technique? it is in this timeline, shut up) and the other songs he uses for battle hum through the walls of the rest stop they've paused at on the road.

it's partway through a passage of Empathy that there's a notable shriek of strings, and then silence; when Wei Wuxian goes to check, he'll find Lan Wangji half-collapsed over the instrument, his breathing harsh and a strange fluctuation of energy around him.

a qi deviation...? oh no.]

Comments

[one_note]

[it's actually fairly obvious when he transitions into a different stage of grief: the landscape, which was already sparse and stark, nevertheless begins to lose colour, fading around him to greys and blacks and whites. the grief too becomes softer-edged, still present but not so keen. old mourning, indeed.

it's rockier here, and trees and plants start to appear again, which would be nice if they weren't horribly monochromatic...it's shifting into something that looks like part of the Cloud Recesses again, actually]

[weiyingdown]

[at least it's still familiar landscape, more or least. he roughly knows where things are in the Cloud Recesses--not that he's seen all of it, but he explored plenty when he was younger.

and he doesn't know what he's looking for, so he doesn't know where to go, exactly. so he meanders and keeps his eyes and ears open for anything that might point him the right way]

[one_note]

[the rabbit suddenly veers sideways, moving towards a cluster of rocks]

[weiyingdown]

--Hey! Who said you could wander off?

[chasing after it!!!!]

[one_note]

[there's a narrow cavemouth there, hidden until you get in close...

the rabbit leaps directly inside]

[weiyingdown]

[of course it does

there's nothing for it; he can't let Lan Wangji's rabbit get lost, so of course he follows it into the cave]

[one_note]

[it's dim and grey, a wet smell to the air, strangely familiar though he's never seen anything like this in the Cloud Recesses before. the tunnel winds, long. the faint strum of a guqin carries to your ears...]

[weiyingdown]

[this feels familiar, but he can't place it; it's a memory that's just out of reach. the sound of the guqin is enough to make him head towards it though, putting his pursuit of the rabbit on hold]

[one_note]

[there aren't really any branches so catching up with the rabbit at some point seems hopeful, anyway

he emerges into a larger cave. the light is brighter here, and there is a lake in the middle...it's very like the Tortoise of Slaughter's cave, but strangely compressed. the beast itself isn't here, but there's a stone platformin the middle of the water with a body laid out upon it, covered with a white sheet. Lan Wangji -- a fifteen-year-old Lan Wangji -- is knelt on the shore, playing the guqin softly.]

[weiyingdown]

[Tiny! Lan! Zhan!]

[weiyingdown]

[he's...concerned and curious about the body, too, but between the body and fifteen-year-old Lan Wangji, only one can have a conversation with him. so he approaches the teenager on the shore, being careful not to startle him]

[one_note]

[he keeps playing, but]

Wei Ying.

[weiyingdown]

[taking a seat next to him on the shore]

What are you doing in this cave all by yourself, Lan Zhan?

[one_note]

My father is dead.

[weiyingdown]

[his eyes wander to the body covered by the sheet]

...I'm sorry.

Are you keeping him company, then?

[one_note]

Mn.

[the body's just a body. that soft, time-dulled grief permeates the air here, too.]

[weiyingdown]

[there's a fuzzy memory in his mind, of a similar cave and a mention of a dying father. back then, Lan Wangji told him to stop talking. there's a moment when he contemplates just not talking and being nothing more than a quiet presence beside him.

and then that moment passes and he figures he'll stop talking when Lan Wangji tells him to stop]

You don't want to bring his body up?--I know, I know, you don't need to answer that. It seems like everything here has a place that it's supposed to be. That's fine, I won't tell you to move. But if you keep sitting here your feet will fall asleep.

[one_note]

[he looks...slightly discomfited...but doesn't tell him to stop...?]

[weiyingdown]

I doubt your father would want you cooped up in here for too long either.

[a pause, a little less flippant with his words when he goes on]

Not that I know what he'd want for you. I'm sure in that regard, you would know better than me. It just seems like the obvious thing to say about a parent who loves their child, that's all.

[one_note]

[there's a faint rough edge to his words this time]

...who will keep vigil for him...if I leave?

[weiyingdown]

You can still keep vigil for him if we bring him up. That was the Cloud Recesses outside, wasn't it? Don't you have a place for him there?

[one_note]

...I do not know.

[weiyingdown]

Hmm...

[it would be bad, probably, to climb out of a cave with a dead body and not know where to put it]

If you're actually interested, do you want me to go and take a look?

[one_note]

[he's quiet for a long time, picking out the notes on his guqin, before finally jerking out a single nod]

[weiyingdown]

[a smile breaks onto his face as he leaps back onto his feet, pleased with what he feels like is his impending success]

I promise you won't regret it. Don't move, okay?

[he heads back to the cave entrance to look for a nice, non-cave place to put a body]