I'm Not Calling You a Liar (March Catch All)

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Characters: Valdis and Open
Date: The Month of March
Location: Keeliai and Hatal
Situation:Various
Warnings/Rating: Plot Stuff and In Headers


February found Valdis recovering from her untimely, and inconvenient, death. The month was mostly uneventful, except for the Truth Compulsion caused by the small crystals. The lucky, or unlucky in the opinion of some, event led to some fascinating new information concerning the man called Dardul and his relation to Tu Yunxu. Valdis used the opportunity to glean as much information as she could from both the leader of the Snakes and Xuiyu of the Metalworkers.

As for March, the Jagaiz rings were soon avoided by the Hellhound, the arrival of the Chihuahuas spoiling her ability to enjoy the battles. Thus she was led to other pursuits and has been spending time speaking with many of the gang leaders and can be seen training late at the dojo with several of her more advanced students. Piquing interest in the Xuntane, was the odd party thrown by the Sabonile. Though she didn’t attend the party, she had heard plenty and decided to investigate further when she had time. Valdis also spent time caring for Dardul, sometimes fussing over her somewhat nervous charge, bringing him food from various places and making sure that he had plenty of books and things to do.

Comments

Tu Yunxu | March 13th | Sky Sector Gardens | CW: None

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The morning of the 13th, a letter will be delivered to Yunxu’s mansion by a confident, but polite, Kedan male who requests that the letter be taken straight to the Slangen Konge. When opened, the letter reads, in near perfect kedanese:

Dear Tu Yunxu,

I have come across some information that may interest you greatly. I would have come in person, but I felt it best to avoid another potential scene and this information is best shared in private to remove the potential of being overheard. You are in no way obligated to meet with me, but it would be in both our interests to discuss this matter before it gets out of hand. If you are so inclined, I will be in the Sky Sector Gardens around sundown. I will wait for precisely an hour. If you do not come, I will assume you are uninterested and shall take my information elsewhere.

Sincerely,
Valdis

True to her word, Valdis will be waiting on a bench, seated cross legged with her eyes closed, her sword laying on the empty spot next to her, not particularly concerned about the world around her at the moment. She had given Milyn her three days, now she would make her move.

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If there was thing Yunxu detested, it was ultimatums. He rarely gave them, and he certainly didn't enjoy receiving them. Removing the element of choice from the other party was a sure sign all other options had been exhausted - and that, in turn, was a sure sign someone was sloppy, disorganised, and losing control.

But there were exceptions. And if the information Valdis claimed to have was what Yunxu thought it was, then he was in the unenviable position of having no other choice but to accept her ultimatum. It grated, but not nearly enough to stop him from heading towards the Sky Sector gardens around sundown.

She was waiting for him, utterly relaxed. That grated too. But when Yunxu stopped a few feet away from the bench, Valdis wouldn't be able to read his thoughts or his soul, and the knowledge of that put him a little more at ease.

"What is it?" he said, bypassing the pleasantries and going straight to the point.

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Valdis didn't open her eyes, she smelled him coming even if he didn't register on the soul plane. She didn't like that, but a small, brief frown was the only immediate reaction that indicated she had noticed. Her sword flashed brightly beside her and she moved a hand to touch it, knowing that it would blaze even brighter.

"Emulating Evandau, are we?"

It wasn't so much a question as a statement. She opened her eyes to look at him, still perfectly calm in all appearances.

"I have a way for you to get to the cultists."

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Valdis's question, Yunxu ignored. It wasn't the purpose of the conversation, nor would it gain anything for either of them.

Instead, he watched Valdis, silent for nearly a full minute. Only when the silence became almost creepy did he speak, and his tone was cold - the voice of a man who was at the very end of his patience, and whose future actions depended entirely upon how thin the ice beneath Valdis's feet was. "I'm listening."

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He was angry, she didn't need her empathy to tell her that. It would have been more amusing except for the fact that he was still an empty spot on the spirit plane. That little detail definitely put a bit of a damper on her sense of humor. She met his gaze steadily with her deep emerald eyes, patiently waiting for him to give her leave to continue. The silence stretched between them and she began to wonder what was going through his head when he finally spoke, indicating that she could continue.

"Daseng, the leader of the Cultists, is looking for his former apprentice." She said, her voice even and lacking any sign of emotion, "I have recently learned that this particular person created the drug known as Dust and also the base for Lucid."

A short pause as she let that information sink in. "I am certain that you know we suspect that Daseng is experimenting with souls and I am quite certain that he wants his former apprentice to help him with his experiments."

Her gaze sharpened slightly, "I believe it was Daseng who broke the man I know as Dardul, the one who holds Enon's soul."

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"Daseng," Yunxu repeated. His tone hadn't changed, but it was no longer focused solely on Valdis, no longer quite so unshakeably frigid. "Zanru's former husband. You believe he - ?"

An abrupt silence, but this one was much shorter before Yunxu shook his head. "Enon never mentioned him. He never mentioned anyone but Milyn. How did you learn all of this?"

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Valdis inclined her head, acknowedging his confusion and quite willing to explain her theory.

"I walked on the spirit plane," she said simply, "And Enon showed me many things. Memories of his family, of his time spent with you..."

She went on to describe a particular memory to provide proof that she wasn't lying, purposefully choosing a happier one for the impact she knew it would have.

"And he shared with me that Milyn once had some questionable ethics when it came to her experiments. He disapproved and they had an argument, but," her voice became firm and certain, " Milyn did not kill him."

Then she softened again, sighing, "I didn't get much else before his memories splintered and became unintelligible."