xie lian's expression softens, almost immediately - and, in the same fashion, his daemon finally hops out of hua cheng's lap, and goes to claude's deer, simply coming to stand next to it.
he touches his heart. ] ...I feel the same, Claude. I think I've told you since the beginning - my goal here has always been to save the people, protect who we can, and save the Realm for the good of all of us. There is no one life that has any value over anyone else's - and if there was a way to get around these rules that are in place, I assure you, I would be the first person to find them.
The only reason that I suggest to target those teams is because our Leaders have no way of protecting themselves, like we do. If my team were to lose another person... it... would be bad. Not just for us, but for my Leader, as well.
[ he is so. so worried. about his team right now. so worried. his emotions are as true as ever, compassion in his every spoken word. ] Truly, there is no lack of consequence for any step that we take here. If I had my choice, I would be the first person to volunteer myself for either team to take out instead of any other life here, but... I can't do that, because it will put Brother Goat in danger.
...But, what San Lang says is correct. We are not all aware of it - or, we weren't, until now, but... we have completed this cycle of life and death in the Realm, before, and it is imperative that we complete it correctly this time.
[ here, xie lian glances to hua cheng, to let him explain. ]
[ While he could bully Claude further about this, Hua Cheng knows where to press and when not to. This is a serious exchange, now, especially with the both of them just being like that. Really, it's almost like clockwork, but twice as exhausting when there's two people he cares dearly about that are pulling this kind of stunt - and he can't disrespect it.
Xie Lian's dream has always been to help the common people, and he abides by that dream, to support him in it. The fact that Claude is reaching for a similar mindset, and is sticking to it, is not shocking, and he can only support him in it too.
Reaching his hand up to massage at his forehead, he snorts a little humorlessly. He took no pleasure in killing Alyssa, but he honestly didn't lose any sleep over it, either, approaching it as something that needed to be done and was of no great loss to him. Because to him, death isn't much, either - knowing that a place exists much like the ghost realm dampens the effect even more for him, personally. But to know that both Xie Lian and Claude value all life, to the point that Xie Lian has offered himself, even with the knowledge it would put Goat and the team in danger, is...
Well, it is exhausting.
And he looks at Claude and his conviction, his desire to protect everyone, and he respects it. Even if they don't see quite eye to eye on it, he won't speak ill of it because there's nothing to speak ill of. ]
For Goat to lose another person, it would be detrimental. For Swan, we would be tipping into the same danger if we lost another person, otherwise I would be perfectly fine volunteering - the death would be my choice, and I've died enough times now that I can remember that the concept doesn't faze me, especially knowing that there's information to be found on the other side.
[ But he takes his PHS, and slides it across so that Claude can see it. Hua Cheng isn't much of a note taker, so there are only three specific notes: one that is blank, one that has a brief report, and another that is longer. The redacted sections are marked out in his PHS with dashes instead. ]
The Realm can't support another attempt, so this is our last shot to ensure that we do it right. Because if we don't, none of the dead we want to bring back will be restored, and we could very well face death ourselves - no one will be protected. What accountability that we seek, for the lives we take, will be meaningless if there is no one alive to face it.
(He doesn't mind. He's used to being the center of attention and he can accept their reactions and comments easily. It's strange to be praised by Xie Lian. It's strange to be praised at all and he's still not completely used to it.
It's easy to focus on Hua Cheng's notes instead, for the moment instead. )
Yeah, I tried to scheme a way out of it too... but no luck. Nothing is completely impossible in the Realm but if we're on a deadline, we'll have to stop running and face the problem head on.
(He can accept this.)
I can talk to the others and try to see if we can find a Tiger or Rabbit that we can agree to kill. As for our own team... we'll have to do our best to not get caught. We might be okay if we lose one more but more than that... I don't like it but I'm not completely against offering myself.
(To that, he glances at Hua Cheng briefly before moving on,)
I can try to speak to Fox about this possible eighth member but I can also ask the others if they know anything about it. Fox is... difficult to talk to. They're always telling us to have an open mind and they don't like being misinterpreted so their answers can be hard to read into... if they should be read into at all.
Don't offer yourself if you don't have to. [ he says that immediately, frowning. dislike!!! that's coming from the number one self-sacrificial fool here xie lian. ] But, try to see what you can find out, if you can - I'll let you know what I do, too.
[ there's a beat, and then, xie lian laughs, scratching his cheek. ] ...You have the opposite problem from I. Brother Goat is a wonderful, caring Leader and someone who I truly am glad to be working with, but...
Trust me, I'm not doing anything I don't have to do.
(That includes dying. Like a bug that doesn't die whe you step on it, Claude von Riegan has no intention of dying as long as he has a choice.)
All the more reason everyone should try to reach out to other teams and see what we can find out. Depending on how our next couple of removals go though? Someone might be remembering something useful.
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xie lian's expression softens, almost immediately - and, in the same fashion, his daemon finally hops out of hua cheng's lap, and goes to claude's deer, simply coming to stand next to it.
he touches his heart. ] ...I feel the same, Claude. I think I've told you since the beginning - my goal here has always been to save the people, protect who we can, and save the Realm for the good of all of us. There is no one life that has any value over anyone else's - and if there was a way to get around these rules that are in place, I assure you, I would be the first person to find them.
The only reason that I suggest to target those teams is because our Leaders have no way of protecting themselves, like we do. If my team were to lose another person... it... would be bad. Not just for us, but for my Leader, as well.
[ he is so. so worried. about his team right now. so worried. his emotions are as true as ever, compassion in his every spoken word. ] Truly, there is no lack of consequence for any step that we take here. If I had my choice, I would be the first person to volunteer myself for either team to take out instead of any other life here, but... I can't do that, because it will put Brother Goat in danger.
...But, what San Lang says is correct. We are not all aware of it - or, we weren't, until now, but... we have completed this cycle of life and death in the Realm, before, and it is imperative that we complete it correctly this time.
[ here, xie lian glances to hua cheng, to let him explain. ]
no subject
Xie Lian's dream has always been to help the common people, and he abides by that dream, to support him in it. The fact that Claude is reaching for a similar mindset, and is sticking to it, is not shocking, and he can only support him in it too.
Reaching his hand up to massage at his forehead, he snorts a little humorlessly. He took no pleasure in killing Alyssa, but he honestly didn't lose any sleep over it, either, approaching it as something that needed to be done and was of no great loss to him. Because to him, death isn't much, either - knowing that a place exists much like the ghost realm dampens the effect even more for him, personally. But to know that both Xie Lian and Claude value all life, to the point that Xie Lian has offered himself, even with the knowledge it would put Goat and the team in danger, is...
Well, it is exhausting.
And he looks at Claude and his conviction, his desire to protect everyone, and he respects it. Even if they don't see quite eye to eye on it, he won't speak ill of it because there's nothing to speak ill of. ]
For Goat to lose another person, it would be detrimental. For Swan, we would be tipping into the same danger if we lost another person, otherwise I would be perfectly fine volunteering - the death would be my choice, and I've died enough times now that I can remember that the concept doesn't faze me, especially knowing that there's information to be found on the other side.
[ But he takes his PHS, and slides it across so that Claude can see it. Hua Cheng isn't much of a note taker, so there are only three specific notes: one that is blank, one that has a brief report, and another that is longer. The redacted sections are marked out in his PHS with dashes instead. ]
The Realm can't support another attempt, so this is our last shot to ensure that we do it right. Because if we don't, none of the dead we want to bring back will be restored, and we could very well face death ourselves - no one will be protected. What accountability that we seek, for the lives we take, will be meaningless if there is no one alive to face it.
no subject
It's easy to focus on Hua Cheng's notes instead, for the moment instead. )
Yeah, I tried to scheme a way out of it too... but no luck. Nothing is completely impossible in the Realm but if we're on a deadline, we'll have to stop running and face the problem head on.
(He can accept this.)
I can talk to the others and try to see if we can find a Tiger or Rabbit that we can agree to kill. As for our own team... we'll have to do our best to not get caught. We might be okay if we lose one more but more than that... I don't like it but I'm not completely against offering myself.
(To that, he glances at Hua Cheng briefly before moving on,)
I can try to speak to Fox about this possible eighth member but I can also ask the others if they know anything about it. Fox is... difficult to talk to. They're always telling us to have an open mind and they don't like being misinterpreted so their answers can be hard to read into... if they should be read into at all.
no subject
[ there's a beat, and then, xie lian laughs, scratching his cheek. ] ...You have the opposite problem from I. Brother Goat is a wonderful, caring Leader and someone who I truly am glad to be working with, but...
...well, he doesn't really know anything...
[ team goat's theme song is mii.music.mp3 ]
no subject
(That includes dying. Like a bug that doesn't die whe you step on it, Claude von Riegan has no intention of dying as long as he has a choice.)
All the more reason everyone should try to reach out to other teams and see what we can find out. Depending on how our next couple of removals go though? Someone might be remembering something useful.