Spiritual Weapon: Serpent's Shadow
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chenqing_100Title: Serpent's Shadow
Author: Rana Eros
Drabble Type: Triple Drabble
Character: Jiang Yanli, Jiang Cheng
Rating/Warnings: General audiences, vague reference to major character injury, chronic illness, and genocide
Summary: Jiang Yanli's core isn't powerful, but it's her self-control that will bring back Yunmeng Jiang.
Author's Notes: I have a lot of epic AU ideas about Jiang Yanli as Jiang-zongzhu, taking the cultivation world by storm. I'm terrible at finishing epics, though. At least I managed to get this little glimpse of an AU written. Eliza went above and beyond, including wrangling a title for nearly an hour.
~~~~
Jiang Yanli breathes deeply of the unfamiliar night air of Yiling, strongly scented with the medicinal herbs in Wen-guniang's garden. In the building at her back, both of her brothers lie sleeping, one out of sheer exhaustion, the other under the influence of Wen-guniang's needles. She still feels the bone-deep fatigue of her recent fever. But there is a snake stretched along the back of her hand, coiled around her finger and wrist, and sleep feels farther than Lanling.
"Power is pointless without discipline," she recalls Lan-shifu stating. Until that moment, she thought Yunmeng Jiang's teaching disciples were just being kind when they told her she had as much potential as her brothers. Much as she loves them, however, there's no denying she is more disciplined than either. Nor has she ever shirked her duty.
"We need to start rebuilding as soon as we get to safety," A-Cheng said, pressing Zidian into her hands before Wen-guniang emptied the room. "Wen-guniang might fix the damage, but I'll still need time to form another core. Nobody will respect the Jiang sect leader without one."
It's the sort of thing a sect leader would consider; Jiang Yanli will point that out when he wakes up. Not that it will make him any more able to wield Zidian.
It's a spiritual as well as physical presence, its energy coiled into hers. Bottled lightning. A snake waiting to strike. She's amazed she ever thought it a whip. She focuses on a single goldthread leaf, directs the flow of that energy into a mere flick of the wrist, and the night briefly flickers with purple light. Then, the singed pieces of the leaf flutter to the ground in the breeze of Zidian's wake.
Discipline over power. Jiang Yanli's duty is clear.
Author: Rana Eros
Drabble Type: Triple Drabble
Character: Jiang Yanli, Jiang Cheng
Rating/Warnings: General audiences, vague reference to major character injury, chronic illness, and genocide
Summary: Jiang Yanli's core isn't powerful, but it's her self-control that will bring back Yunmeng Jiang.
Author's Notes: I have a lot of epic AU ideas about Jiang Yanli as Jiang-zongzhu, taking the cultivation world by storm. I'm terrible at finishing epics, though. At least I managed to get this little glimpse of an AU written. Eliza went above and beyond, including wrangling a title for nearly an hour.
~~~~
Jiang Yanli breathes deeply of the unfamiliar night air of Yiling, strongly scented with the medicinal herbs in Wen-guniang's garden. In the building at her back, both of her brothers lie sleeping, one out of sheer exhaustion, the other under the influence of Wen-guniang's needles. She still feels the bone-deep fatigue of her recent fever. But there is a snake stretched along the back of her hand, coiled around her finger and wrist, and sleep feels farther than Lanling.
"Power is pointless without discipline," she recalls Lan-shifu stating. Until that moment, she thought Yunmeng Jiang's teaching disciples were just being kind when they told her she had as much potential as her brothers. Much as she loves them, however, there's no denying she is more disciplined than either. Nor has she ever shirked her duty.
"We need to start rebuilding as soon as we get to safety," A-Cheng said, pressing Zidian into her hands before Wen-guniang emptied the room. "Wen-guniang might fix the damage, but I'll still need time to form another core. Nobody will respect the Jiang sect leader without one."
It's the sort of thing a sect leader would consider; Jiang Yanli will point that out when he wakes up. Not that it will make him any more able to wield Zidian.
It's a spiritual as well as physical presence, its energy coiled into hers. Bottled lightning. A snake waiting to strike. She's amazed she ever thought it a whip. She focuses on a single goldthread leaf, directs the flow of that energy into a mere flick of the wrist, and the night briefly flickers with purple light. Then, the singed pieces of the leaf flutter to the ground in the breeze of Zidian's wake.
Discipline over power. Jiang Yanli's duty is clear.