thecozykirin

[thecozykirin]

The Island of Shangjin

For those who really liked my Rat and Rabbit story for the Myth portion of the writing challenge, Yuchu and Ting-Ting's island is actually something you can visit in Epsilon!

#world of warcraft #pandaren #warcraft oc #epsilon #private server #Custom Lore

[thecozykirin]

Day 7 Rumor / Discovery

( Had this really cute idea in my brain and I didn't want to go to sleep and lose it by the morning and it is the 24th where I am so it counts! Had so much fun doing the writer challenge, all of your compliments mean a lot to me and my husband and we're so happy you enjoy the stories of our characters <3 )

@daily-writing-challenge

It was one of those days for U-Jinn. Some days were better than others, time had dulled his daughter's absence to a faint ache in his chest but it never truly got better, and like a chronic condition, it would flare to a sharp pang under the right circumstances. For as virtuous and honorable as the monks of the White Tiger Temple liked to claim themselves to be, gossip was poisonous nectar that tempted even the most stalwart of tongues, despite the words of warning of engaging in such activities that rolled off them later to the cubs. Rules for thee and not for me, U-Jinn supposed. He could hear them from where he worked, muttering to each other and shooting an occasional glance his way. "Has he really been here all night?" "Yes, he still doesn't like to go home." "Poor dear, I couldn't even imagine..." "It's been eight years since she's been gone, he can't hold on forever." "You're telling me they never found her, no trace?" "None, but I heard she left on an errand." "Do you think any of the outsiders had something to do with it? They've brought shifty types to our shores before." "Maybe, but /I/ heard that she was hiding something. Yoo-Mi said she was ill quite often and would often excuse herself...then, a week before she left she said she saw her go to the medic." "Oh, dear, you don't think...?" "Well, I don't know who could have done it. She kept to herself often." "Maybe a boy from the village?" "Mayb---" Slam. U-Jinn had unceremoniously slammed the crate of returned books and scrolls that still needed to be sorted upon his workspace, causing both of the Pandarens' heads to jerk up abruptly, ears swiveling. "So sorry." U-Jinn stared, his voice blank and eyes hard. With a nervous smile, the two exchanged an anxious look before bowing their heads and quickly hurrying out, leaving U-Jinn alone to stew in his thoughts. Inhaling sharply through his teeth, the old bear bit back the unkind words on his mind's tongue, pressing his own hard against the back of his fangs as he began to sort through the books and scrolls. Fist of the First Dawn: Rise of the Pandaren Revolution. He marked it down as returned and moved on to the next title. Encyclopedia of Pandaren Herbs U-Jinn's brow lofted, quite a read....next. The Moon Rabbit

U-Jinn paused, breath catching in his throat as his eyes beheld the faded gold lettering of the title. The title itself wasn't strange, had this been a public library. This book was a popular fable for cubs, and it was always a particular favorite of..... His heart leapt in his chest. There had been few articles missing from her room aside from a few clothes. The cover was a navy blue, darker splotches of stains and wear and tear dotting the surface around the indented silver filled figure of a rabbit gazing up at Azeroth's little moon. By the Celestials -- Sucking in a sharp breath, U-Jinn quickly blinked as he collected the book within his paws, undoing a cord of weathered leather that had been wrapped tautly around it to keep it shut. Upon cracking it open, the scent of old parchment filled his nostrils, and a small pile of thin and folded parchment laid inside. With shaking paws, he picked up the first piece of parchment that lay on top, the cleanest and potentially newest looking one...and he opened it. Dear, Baba. It took a lot of convincing, but I've finally managed to convince Yasashi to allow me to send you this. I hope you do not think ill of him for preventing me from doing so earlier, but he wanted to ensure we were secure and safe. In the end, I can tell he is still weary about me doing this, but he knows that my sudden absence in your life has haunted me since and I'm sorry, the last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you. Above all though, I want you to know that I'm alive and am doing fine, the rest of the letters are ones I have written periodically throughout the last eight years, and I hope they're enough to fill you in on what has been going on thus far. Oh! As of yesterday, you've a second granddaughter. She was born 10 pounds, her name is Suzu, below I have secured a drawing of her. I attached an earlier one of your first granddaughter in one of the oldest letters but I'm afraid it is not as good as this one, but practice makes perfect, yes? I hope one day you will be able to meet them, I know you'd love them a lot. Always in your heart, Soo-ha

#pandaren #short story #warcraft oc #world of warcraft #thecozykirin #daily writing challenge

[thecozykirin]

Day 6 - Feelings

( Another piece centered around my husband’s OC! Credit to him for helping me write this little flashback piece )

@daily-writing-challenge

The cub’s tiny chest rose and fell, the silhouette casted by the lantern light over her tiny body made it seem as though the edges of her fur were rising blades of shadow. Yasashi quietly marveled at her ability to sleep, no older than a few hours and already, she slept with her face against the cold plate of his chest just as well as she had been within her mother’s arms during the sparse moments Soo-ha had been able to hold her before succumbing to exhaustion. Soo-ha slept at his side, curled up on the only sleeping roll they had…and would most likely need to dispose as it was soaked from the aftermath of the birth.

For the past few hours, Yasashi felt uneasy to look away from her, as though if he dared to for a moment then the life he had worked into her lungs would suddenly flee and she would fall still and quiet once more. An uneasy feeling crept up his spine at the thought and his brow fell. It was strange. There were many fathers and mothers within the ranks of the Shado-pan, and he had heard idle chatter here and there over matters concerning their cubs. He heard their worries, their fears, their love…. But this girl was not his cub, not his blood and yet…when she first laid in his paws, still and quiet he was gripped with a fear that filled his veins with ice. Now, she lay in his arms content and that ice had long since thawed, giving way to a warmth in his heart he could not quite place.

Sinking back against the wall of the cave, he tucked the edge of his frayed scarf around her body where it had come undone, with the same gentleness of one handling a thin pane of glass….and she did not express discomfort at the action, rather, she cooed and Yasashi was taken aback as tiny digits, no bigger than a clump of rice, curled around his retreating claw.

His paws which had been beaten and broken, stained with the blood of friend and foe alike were now regarded as something of a protective shell by perhaps, the purest thing he had ever beheld. With a slight tremble in his paws now, he gently stroked her little cheek until a small bubble yawn left her, and her face buried itself against his breastplate once more, falling into a deep slumber.

Blinking rapidly, his eyes lifted from the cub and then to Soo-ha and then back down to the cub and there…he came to his decision. Tightening his hold a bit on the infant, he finally found the courage to turn his gaze away and onto the raging storm outside.

#thecozykirin #daily writing challenge #world of warcraft #warcraft oc #short story #pandaren

[thecozykirin]

Day 5 - Altruistic

@daily-writing-challenge It had been several days since the caravan arrived to Boralus and suffice to say, Etheline's stomach had finally settled enough to venture out into the streets. Everyone seemed off doing their own thing at the moment, with Kimiko dragging her parents around, Ozan no doubt trying to find them more trade contracts and Berwin was sleeping off the violent bouts of vomiting from that bad shrimp he had picked up from a street merchant. While her eyes shifted from side to side, bobbing and weaving through the usual busy crowd, she felt something tug at the side of her waist and just before she could investigate, the cord came loose and whatever had snatched it quickly darted back the way they came with a flash of a tattered brown coat. "Oi!" Etheline snapped loudly as she went into immediately pursuit. "Stop!" Whoever the thief was, they were small and knew these streets quite well from how they bobbed and weaved through the tight corners of buildings that a visitor would have passed over. By the time Etheline had finally caught the thief by the coat, she was red faced and panting, ready to tear the pickpocket a new one before -- She paused. Writhing within her iron grip, she had caught a boy no older than eight by the scruff of his coat. A thin layer of grime coated his face and brown hair, and there were circles beneath his eyes. "Okay, okay! I'm sorrih! Don't call t'guards, you can 'av it back!" Etheline took note of the accent, definitely not a boy of noble birth. "Wha' were you 'hinking, boy? I've 'alf 'he mind 'o 'an your 'ide." The boy's face blanched. "Ar didn't mean nowt bih it, onest! tarms are turr these days, y'know!" Etheline narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing him for a moment...before she began to gradually lower him to his feet. "m goin 'o le' you down, bu' you be''er no' go runnin off aw else I'll dangle you by your 'oe nex' 'ime I ca'ch you, understand?" The boy nodded quickly, eyes as wide as saucers and a soft breath of relief left pale and cracked lips as the soles of his shoes met with the uneven surface of the alley dirt. "Now then." Etheline straightened up, arms crossed as she subtly moved between him and his only exit. "Where are your parents?" "Off workin, m'am." The boy responded quickly, a bit too quickly for Etheline's liking. "Workin 'emselves t' t' bones, that's whih i'm doin wahr I'm doin." Etheline's head canted. "They knah you're ou' 'ere 'hievin?" The boy quickly shook his head. "Nah, m'am! it would brairk their eart it would. E-even moreso fah a nice ladih t' gur out o' ah wair t' tell 'um." As the boy spoke, Etheline took note of his features. His clothes looked as though they hadn't been properly washed in weeks, random scraps of fabric no doubt picked up off the street patching a hole here and there. His gloves were frayed, exposing skinny fingers. Etheline frowned at the sight, inhaling slightly through her nose before asking. "Wha's your name?" The boy blinked. "M'nairm. m'am?" "Aye, y'got one, don't you?"

"Olivah." He squinted up at her. Etheline squinted back. "No surname?" "Mum told m't nevah give m'full nairm t' strangers." He retorted. "Oh? bu' she never 'augh' you no' 'o stick your fingers in 'heir pocke's?" Etheline snipped back, puffing her cheeks out before falling silent in a moment of thought. "Alrigh', off you go 'hen. Jus' don'' le' me ca'ch you do 'ha' again. Some people who pass 'hrough 'ere wouldn'' 'esi'a'e 'o dunk you in 'he sea faw 'ha'." Oliver blinked, looking down at the coin purse still clutched within his brittle fingers. "Y'don't want y'purse back?"

Etheline shook her head. "Keep i'. No' much in 'here anyways bu'…'opefully i''ll be enough faw some'hin faw you." She sidestepped and motioned for him to go. "Go on now, ge'." Oliver stared at Etheline, perplexed. Hadn't she just threatened to hang him by his toes a moment ago? Cautiously, like a stray cat, he edged around her with his head low. "Ta, m'am. Tides blessings 'n arl tha'!" He then took off before Etheline could mutter a proper response. Oliver, she'd remember that name....

#pandaren #warcraft oc #world of warcraft #thecozykirin #daily writing challenge #short story

[thecozykirin]

Day 4 - Satisfaction

( A bit late with this one because I’ve been down since 5:00 am this morning with a stomach bug :( )

( @daily-writing-challenge )

It never ceased to amaze Soo-ha how quickly cubs grew. Kimiko was putting on pounds by the week, if not, by the day. That sweet little bundle that felt weighed no more than a cantaloupe in her arms now twice the size she had been a month ago.

The journey had been long and arduous, but Yasashi was certain that upon arriving to Elwynn they could finally rest. Though her pelt was for cooler climates, Soo-ha found that she enjoyed the idle warmth that came with the afternoon sun. It wasn’t like the sun in Kun-Lai, which hardly gave any respite from the cold.

This made her feel comfortable enough to let Kimiko lay sprawled out in her swaddle blanket in the grass, the cub cooing in delight at the soft embrace of the lush green tufts that poked upwards from around her blanket.

Soo-ha sat a foot away, sitting pretzel style as she doodled at the parchment in her journal with a bit of charcoal she had packed. Occasionally, she’d look up with squinted eyes and a pursed lip, canting her head from side to side until she was certain she got the details down right.

She had been sitting there a good while, sketching away until finally, a satisfied sigh left her and she brought the journal up in front of her face, holding it aloft as she admired the charcoal drawing of her infant.

Perfection. 

#pandaren #short story #world of warcraft #daily writing challenge #thecozykirin #warcraft oc

[thecozykirin]

Day 3 - Myth @daily-writing-challenge

There is a tale in the Valley, as old as the first seed that was planted.

When Pandaria was young and the August Council had just been chosen, Freya walked the soil and admired her work. On her shoulder, she carried a sack full of seeds that she had been scattering throughout the day but it still hung heavy on her shoulder.

However, Freya was not alone on her walk for a pair of small, dark eyes were focused on the burgeoning sack, a hungry rumble in a rib-lined belly spurring the watcher into action. Those focused eyes and rumbling belly belonged to none other than a skinny rat who had one point been white but filth marred his coat to the point where it was nothing but shades of grime.

The hungry rat had trailed Freya during the entirety of her walk, only approaching when she had settled beneath a shady tree to admire her surroundings for a moment and it was within that moment that he made the smallest cut in the linen of the bag, just big enough that bit by bit, a thin trail of seed would fall from it as she walked and the rat gorged himself on what fell from the sack.

Freya had not noticed what the rat had done until the sack felt light enough to catch her attention, she plucked the thief up by his scruff and dropped him within the palm of her hand so she might get a closer look at the culprit.

Rats were typically not very eye-catching creatures to the Titan Keeper, but upon gazing at the defiant rodent in her grasp she realized he had a spark in his eyes that held untold intelligence. The Rat lacked the majesty of Yu'lon, the brightness of Chi-Ji, the claws of Xuen and the strength of Niuzao and yet, he had managed to outwit her and now sat within her palm unblinking where she could easily crush his fragile bones.

"That was a very cunning trick you played on me." Freya smiled though it waned at the sight of his ribcage. "You had to grow clever to survive in your position, mh? Not many creatures know the struggle of one so small…" It then occured to her, that while that was true, a rat would be the one to know the struggle of many creatures.

Freya held the rat aloft and bestowed upon him a name. "I name you Yuchu, the clever and the swift. You shall provide insight where the rest of the council has none and be a voice for the small in these lands."

And it was on that day, the August Council went from four to five.

Xuen represented Strength.

Chi-Ji represented Hope.

Niuzao represented Fortitude.

Yu'lon represented Wisdom.

And Yuchu represented Empathy.

For thousands of years, Yuchu kept to his role as a voice for the little and the bane of the selfish rich. In doing so, he never forgot his mortal roots. As a result, he began to feel rather lonely, for he couldn't help but feel a disconnect between him and the rest of the council. As much as Yu'lon attempted to assuage these thoughts, Yuchu could not help but realize they were all much grander than he..With that grandness came a great deal more of reverance. However, Yuchu cared not to be everyone's favorite, relishing the curses upon his name by wealthy business owners who would not spare a crumb for those beneath them…only to wake up and realize that most of their own crumbs were gone!

One fateful day, when the sun hung high over the Valley, Yuchu paid a visit to the barn of a wealthy rancher with the intent of setting his livestock free as punishment for his cruelty to his workers, when a flash of silver fur caught his eye and the Rat Celestial paused. In one of the hutches sat a rabbit with fur that reminded him of the silver shine of the moon. She sat quietly within her hutch, not seeming to have noticed him until the smitten Celestial approached.

"You there!" Yuchu called out. "What is your name?"

Those soulful gray eyes of hers nearly knocked Yuchu off his paws and the doe canted her head to the side, perplexed by the question. She replied, "Me? Why would a being such as yourself care for the name of such a lowly creature?"

"You, lowly?" Yuchu gaped. "The people who both rejoyce me and curse me would sooner kill me if I were still a regular rat." he continued. "You, my dear, have fur that shine like the moon on a clear night, you are anything but lowly."

The rabbit pondered Yuchu's response before finally, she dipped her head and introduced herself. "Ting-Ting, that is the name my mother gave me, the rancher calls me Bai though."

"Then we will call you by the name your mother gave you." Yuchu looked over his shoulder towards the barn door for a moment. He looked back to her and asked. "Are you happy here?"

Ting-Ting blinked owlishly at the question. "Happy?" She then looked about the spacious hutch. "It is comfortable."

Yuchu scoffed and shook his head. "Comfortable does not equal happy, aren't you ever allowed outside of this box?"

Ting-Ting's ears perked and she nodded rapidly. "Oh, yes. The rancher's daughter will take us all out for an hour or so to silflay in the grass."

"Don't you ever wish you could go out when you want for as long as you wanted? Run through the grass unrestrained and free while tasting the sweet dww off of wild clover?"

Ting-Ting tilted her head back as she imagined such a life. "It does sound very nice…" her voice drew off and for a moment, a look of sadness crossed her face and she shook her head. "But it is not a life for me."

Yuchu canted his head. "And may I ask why not?"

Ting-Ting smiled ruefully at the Celestial. "Because I am a hutch rabbit and my fur and meat will be stripped from my bones soon enough."

Yuchu gasped, horrified! "That's…that's horrible!"

Ting-Ting could only shrug. "It is the way of things."

"But it does not have to be!" Yuchu pointed out. "The way of things of rats is for them to chew and burrow and fall to any of their thousand enemies but look at me? I have stepped outside the way of things." He reached through the wire of the hutch and took her paws in his own. "Everything I told you could be yours." his voice softened. "I have no cage and I can see to it that you don't either."

Ting-Ting sat back on her haunches and thought…the decision was not one to be made lightly but the answer found Ting-Ting swiftly. The next night, her own would lament his prized doe was stolen. Indeed, Ting-Ting was hailed as Yuchu's greatest treasure and she was treated as such. With him, she birthed the Virmen into existence and loved each and every one of them.

From afar, the rest of the August council took note of Yuchu's newly acquired mate.

"He looks so happy…." Yu'lon mused one day, after a small meeting between the five of them was over.

"Indeed." Chi-ji hummed.

"And yet, rabbits are so short lived." Yu'lon frowned, worry seeping into her tone.

"As are all mortals, in one way or another." Xuen added.

"It is important he learns loss." Niuzao added. "Delaying it helps no one, least of all himself."

Yu'lon remained silent, for she knew they were right. The life of an immortal, for all the benefits it held, stood just outside the shadow of death. Never to be touched by it, but doomed to watch all beneath it wither.

Year after year, their love never waned and only grew stronger even as her bones began to ache and her fur began to dull. Eventually it came to the point where Ting-Ting hardly left the warmth of their warren to run with Yuchu, only occasionally leaving to take a leisurely stroll with him.

Yuchu, of course, took note and quipped: "You are growing quite lazy, my love!"

With a chuckle, Ting-Ting replied with a playful nip to his ear. "Not lazy, my dear, old."

Yes, old." Ting-Ting affirmed. "Time catches us all, I'm afraid." Time. A cold chill crept up Yuchu's spine as he came to realize just how drained his mate looked, as though the vitality was seeping from her body bit by bit. That ever looming shadow he lived in fear of before his ascension was mocking him, content to let him watch from its fridges as it took the only thing he had ever loved. But no one had ever taken anything from Yuchu, and he was keen to keep it that way.

Driven by a newfound resolve, Yuchu threw himself into the many tomes he had stole throughout the years, some as old as the founding of Pandaria itself before the reign of the Mogu. Surely, one of them would have a way for him to pluck his mate from the shadow…and indeed, one of them did.

A memory stirred in Yuchu's head, one he had not thought of for quite some time when Zhao Sunseeker was rewarded an elixir of immortality by the August council for shooting down four of Pandaria's five blistering suns. Much to Yuchu's delight, he found he still had the recipe attached to the tome, he need only one ingredient from each of his fellow Celestials. Yuchu called a frantic meeting, where his four seniors listened to him plea with them to save his mate's life. They listened as he spoke of how her fur had grown dull and her bones ached and lungs wheezed whenever she tried to breathe, how all he needed was this elixir to ensure she could stay by his side forever. Though their hearts hurt, their answers cut him like a hot knife through the tail.

"Many of us have taken mortal mates in the past." Xuen began, his voice a low and sympathetic rumble. "Each parting brings such sorrow, but take joy in the fact that the union happened at all. Few mortals are lucky enough to know true love." Yuchu's fur bristled. "None of you have ever wanted to save your mates?! Any of them?!" he shouted.

"Of course we have, Yuchu." Yu'lon spoke up, her voice heavy with sadness and sympathy for the creature she had come to regard as a younger brother. "But death is a shadow that all mortals must walk through. We must let them go when their time comes, as they do with their own loved ones."

"You will have your children to remember her by." Chi-Ji gently added. "And in them, you will find her."

Yuchu, as much as he tried to argue further, was firmly shut down and told that their choice had been made and Ting-Ting's fate decided.

But Yuchu was not content with his mate's fate and sought to change it. If Freya could see potential in a starving rat, who were they to say he could not find potential in a hutch rabbit?

It took many weeks, but Yuchu eventually gathered the ingredients he needed. A chipped claw from Xuen, a scale from Yu'lon, a feather from Chi-Ji, and a tuft of fur from himself and Niuzao. This was all topped off with a bit of water gathered from the sacred pools of the Vale.

Upon completing the potion, Yuchu hurried to where his mate lay. Ting-Ting had managed to find the strength to drag her withered body to the entrance of their burrow, where she had a nice view of the full moon that hung over the Valley and bathed it in soft silver. "My silver!" Yuchu called out as he approached her, potion in his paws. "I've brought something for you." Ting-Ting lifted her head with a tired smile. "Is this what you've been working on so much lately? Your special project?" "A surprise, for you!" Yuchu affirmed. "A surprise for me?" Ting-Ting chuckled. "My dear, you've given me all a doe could ask for. What more is there?" Yuchu settled down next to her and working the cork off. "Something to put the thump back in your back legs, the strength in your paws and the air in your lungs without pain." "Ah, you and your honeyed words..." Ting-Ting rested her head against him, eyes drooped from sleepiness...or was it something else? "Just drink it." Yuchu's shoulders slumped a s he lowered his head to nuzzle it against hers. "I'm sorry it has taken so much of my attention, but I promise…it'll be worth it." Ting-Ting struggled to lift her head. "Would you help me, my love? My neck is so tired…" With gentle paws, Yuchu helped Ting-Ting drink the elixir, quietly praying inside of his head to whoever might be listening that it would work…and his prayers would be answered as his mate was revitalized in a brilliant flash of pure Celestial energy. The color that the years had drained from Ting-Ting's fur was returned, even brighter and more brilliant than the silvery moon that gazed upon them. "I can breathe…" Ting-Ting drew in a long gulp of night air into lungs that no longer wheezed and coughed. Ting-Ting then thumped her foot, bones strong. "I can thump!" And finally, she playfully bumped the side of Yuchu's rear with her own as she took off, shouting out in glee with joints that no longer ached. "I can run!"

Yuchu laughed and joined his mate on her run, and the two raced the entirety of the Valley not once, not twice, but three times over that night!

However, their newfound joy and peace would not remain for long, as the August Council was infuriated by Yuchu's blatant lack of respect for their decisions and with a vote of three to two, Yuchu and his mate were banished not only from the Valley, but all of Pandaria. "The integrity of the council and the protection of Pandaria cannot be compromised by a wayward Celestial who thinks of only his own desires." Niuzao had said.

Yuchu, however, remained obstinate. "I would do it again." he had told the bristling Chi-Ji, Xuen, and Niuzao. "And ten times over too!" Though he meant every word he said and stood by his actions, parting with his admirers and followers were difficult and he and Ting-Ting came to the realization that they could not carry all of their children with them. Some would have to be left behind.

Yu'lon had escorted them to the shore of Turtle Beach, the two wayward wild gods carrying as many of their children as they could upon their bodies as the Jade serpent bid them both a tearful farewell. "Your children will be safe in the Valley." she reassured them before casting her gaze to the mists. "Liu Lang speaks of islands that dot the sea, perhaps you can make a home on one of those?"

Yu'lon had watched the two of them bounce upon the surface of the water until they were but dots on the horizon, and that was the last she ever saw of them.

It was the last any had saw of them.

Not even a year later, Niuzao, Xuen and Chi-Ji came to regret their decision and thus, tried to call Yuchu and his mate back to the mainland but they never answered. Over time, the Virmen in the Valley were driven mad by the loss of their parents, and turned into a nuisance, a blight. Though little evidence is leftover of Yuchu's existence outside of a few stories and shrines that had rotted with age, drunk Anglers often speak of an island tucked away, where Virmen live alongside those cast out from society. Where they revere a silver furred Den-mother and a mischievous flying rat.

#short story #world of warcraft #thecozykirin #daily writing challenge

[thecozykirin]

Day 2 - Suppress

( Trigger Warning for a PTSD attack in this one )

( Another piece from my husband and roleplay partner <3 )

( @daily-writing-challenge

Boom, boom, bang!

The uproarious crowd rose their voices in sync with the vibrant pops of colors that lit up the night sky. The sudden eruption sent the night wildlife into a frenzy to get away, including the insects that sprang from the brush and whizzed past Yasashi’s ear with the buzzing of wings.

Amber wings.

The world fell away from him in that moment and the sound of the others muffled as though someone had taken his head and dunked it under water. With each pop of color, Yasashi felt his heart thud heavy in his chest as his mind reeled from the sudden break in reality as adrenaline surged through his veins. The loud pop of fireworks were no longer fireworks, but the boom of canons and the cries of what had once been delight were now screams of his ill-prepared comrades and the orders from his commanders. 

Yasashi clenched his teeth squeezing his eyes shut as he struggled to find his bearings. Normally he was able to swallow these memories, keep them as shadows in the back of his mind. Those times had passed. He was no longer on the wall, he was in Elwynn, far away from the wall, far away from —

A grasshopper had spread its wings and buzzed past his ear and his entire body jolted upwards.

Mantid.

His ears were now perked and pupils shrunk in panic as his eyes darted about in his skull like that of a trapped animal. Each pop of color another round of canon fire, each shout belonging another comrade, and the smoke that crept into his nostrils from the display only sought to pull him deeper into his memories.

Suddenly, the Pandaren was staggering, the behemoth no doubt bumping into bodies on his way out, bodies his eyes no longer recognized as strangers but blurred faces he had once known, kin he had served with.

Why was this happening?

It had never been this bad before

Where was he?

He thought he was safe

He was safe, wasn’t he?

Were Soo-ha and Kimiko safe?

He didn’t understand

It wasn’t until the popping of color had faded and the shouts a dull ache in the background of his ears did Yasashi collapse to his knees and vomit. In reality, he was tucked safely against a large tree, but in his mind he was huddled within one of the guard towers, dirt now cold stone.

A pair of gentle paws pulling his head up into a welcoming lap caused Yasashi to flinch and his eyes darted up to the worried visage of Soo-ha.

Wait, Soo-ha couldn’t be here. She wasn’t there when the Mantid swarmed, right?

Yasashi’s brain struggled to juggle the conflicting information as he trembled in the much smaller Pandaren’s embrace. “S…Soo-ha, I…..” he gaped like a suffocating fish, fresh air burning in his lungs like the ashes had done that night. “I don’t….I don’t k-know where I am….”

Soo-ha stared at the male and as gently as she could, she cradled his face in her paws, touching their foreheads together as her eyes conveyed the words her occupied digits couldn’t. ‘You’re here with me.’

Gradually, the horrors of the past began to fall away from him like a melting shroud. The distant screams no longer his comrades, but those celebrating the summer holidays, accompanied by cricket song.

While he settled back into reality, a new emotion rose within Yasashi. Shame. He opened his muzzle as though to apologise, but Soo-ha would not hear of it and instead she pulled him into herself fully, embracing him.

It felt odd being on the receiving end of comfort, usually it was him helping her through periods like this or the looming terrors that sought to pursue her in her dreams. The next breath Yasashi took in was not smoke or blood, but the rich scent of aged parchment she carried and this was the smell he hung onto, the scent that he used to anchor himself.

And for the first time Soo-ha had seen, he wept.

#pandaren #short story #world of warcraft #thecozykirin #daily writing challenge #warcraft oc #@daily-writing-challenge

[thecozykirin]

Day 1 - Casualty

( Husband felt super inspired and decided to lend him my account to write one himself ) ( Trigger Warning for Violence and Death of a child )

@daily-writing-challenge Do you blame yourself?

Yasashi's teeth clenched, fangs bared and reflecting the warm glow of the fire that rose on either side as his hammer caved in the torso of the swarm-born with a crunch that he'd have described as satisfying if he were in a different place. "Hold the line!" His commander yelled from his position. "Protect the archers!" It's just quite common in these situations for someone to feel a kind of guilt...he was your responsibility, wasn't he?

"Yasashi..." Yong Shi Jadespirit, a Pandaren woman of a gentle but stern disposition stumbled towards the armor clad behemoth as he quickly closed the door to the guard tower behind him. They had moved the injured and the acolytes into here, white scarves adorning the necks of cubs no older than thirteen and no younger than nine sat huddled in a corner. Yasashi's eyes swept over them and he froze. "Where's Yuz?" His acolyte was not among them, the brown and cream furred boy's absence immediately sending another spike of adrenaline through his body. "I'm...I'm not sure." Yong Shi bowed her head. "I think he may have slipped out, h-he was here one moment and gone the next." "Slipped out?!" Yasashi's head snapped towards his comrade. "Woman, how does he just slip ou--" Something heavy slammed into the side of the wall and the acolytes lost their nerve, their screams rising into the air. He was a bit on the young side too, wasn't he? Eight when he passed and twelve when he accompanied you to the wall. Such a tragedy, no one could have known they'd swarm so early.

The Mantid that stood over the boy was one of the tallest he had seen. This wasn't one who had been sent here to prove itself to the hive, but rather, some sort of overseer who must have gotten a bit too wistful of the days of its own trial to abstain. Yuz was pinned against the side of the wall by his arm, the pointed tip of one of the mantid's forelimbs cutting through the meat to hold him there while the overseer busied itself eviscerating one of Yasashi's comrades who had attempted to intercept it with its free limbs. Yasashi's eyes darted about, there were too many between himself and Yuz to reach him, but he could see through them just enough that his eyes met with that of his acolyte. And Yuz cried out for him with the same energy of a cub crying out for his father.

I imagine it must have been horrible for you. I've only heard stories of your family's brew. Is it true that the animal blood sends you into a blind rage? I couldn't imagine --

Paternal instinct had won out over logic and Yasashi fumbled for the metal flask that was looped to his belt. It hung heavy in his paw, and once he popped off the cap the scent of thick copper filled the air. Blood surged into his ears as raw and sweet rage filled his veins, leaving a syrupy sweet taste on the back of his tongue that mingled with the flavor of black blood and chitin as he abandoned his civilized weapons in favor of his fangs and claws. The world was red and black, and so too were his paws when he came to, the haze lifting from his eyes like a light shroud, and replaced with cold horror.

Mantid don't bleed red.

But it was just an accident.

Had he done this?

Yasashi?

He hadn't meant to.

Yasashi!

He gathered the broken body of the boy up from the heap that had once been the overseer, shaking him lightly, voice cracking from desperatio-- ----------------------------------- "Yasashi!" Yasashi snapped free from his thoughts with a sharp inhale through his teeth, and his eyes darted to that of his comrade, Kenichi, who had been patching up his knuckles and clipping the split edges of his claws. "Are you okay?" The question was a careful one, Kenichi leaning back in his seat slightly.

Yasashi blinked once, twice, three times before looking away. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine." he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "It was...it was just an accident."

#pandaren #short story #thecozykirin #daily writing challenge #warcraft oc #world of warcraft

[thecozykirin]

Day 1 - Flirt

( This one was a collaboration between my husband and I! <3 ) @daily-writing-challenge

You can do this.

Throughout his life, Yasashi had faced every challenge head on. He clawed his way through the Trial of the Red Blossom, cold and shivering at the age of ten.

There’s nothing to it.

He cut through the chitin of Mantid and tasted their blood on his tongue.

You got this.

He survived the sweltering heat and stench of Orgrimmar and fought his way out of it with the rest of his brothers and sisters in arms once the city had been rocked by the siege.

It’s simple, really.

So why, after all of these feats he had accomplished…was the art of flirting so damn hard for him? The closer he drew to Soo-ha, the more the male felt his legs gradually lock up, as though he were a cub that was far too bashful to approach the girl he liked. But he was not a cub, he was an adult and yet, the heaviness of the task weighed on his shoulders as though he were one.

This shouldn’t be so hard, why was it so damn hard? Drawing in a breath, Yasashi forced down his bubbling frustration, lips idly moving as the large Pandaren wracked his brain trying to remember the sweet and poetic words he had observed in passing to woo the smaller one. All you need to do is go talk to her. It really was such a simple step. He talked to her daily and yet, at the moment, he suddenly found it to be the hardest task in the world.

A soft coo broke Yasashi from his crisis and his gaze dropped down to the cub who had crawled up to him, idly gumming on the leather straps of his boot. “Kimiko —“ the little cub squealed in delight as the male hefted her up in his paws, balancing her belly first in his palm. The two shared a look for a moment, and Yasashi released a heavy sigh. “It shouldn’t be this difficult, you know. Pray you grow up with a tongue more nimble than mine, it’ll make these tasks so much easier.” Yasashi plopped down, placing the cub on his knee so she may sit up on it. “Do you’ve any idea on what I should say?” Kimiko cooed in response, reaching out and bapping his nose with a little chubby paw. “Mh, not sure how to work with that…” The large male hummed, head tilting to the side. Ancestors, I’m seeking counsel from a toddler. His ears flicked back slightly at the realization. Am I so pathetic? Kimiko brought her paws to her face, rubbing her eyes with a soft yawn before she tilted her head up to the sky. Yasashi’s gaze followed the cub’s, and his eyes rested on the sun that hung high. “The spring sun has more of a gold tint to it, you know.” Yasashi mused. “It reminds me of your mother’s eyes, except the warmth and brightness they carry outshines it anytime, any day.” The words fell from his lips without so much as a second thought.

Kimiko chirped, her attention back on Yasashi and reaching out to him with little grabby paws.

With a snort, he collected her in his arms and chuffed. “You can’t appreciate this quite yet, but she does a lot for you. If I had been in her position, I don’t think I’d have been able to do what she did…” his voice drew off, brow furrowed slightly. “She has more courage than a hundred Shado-pan and twice the strength in spirit, though, if you told her as much she’d disagree.” He chuckled lightly. “Humbleness is quite the virtue.” Yasashi’s expression then fell. “I only wish I had a fraction of that to tell her this to her fac—“ Kimiko cut him off with a loud and delighted squeal, she had wiggled onto the male’s shoulder and spotted her mother long before the male even knew she was there.

Soo-ha stood, her paws clasped in front of her muzzle as she gazed at Yasashi with an indiscernible expression.

“Shi-“ Kimiko’s presence quickly led him to correct himself. “Shoot.” Yasashi scrambled up. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were there. N-not that I didn’t want you to hear what I said, I did…do! I’m just —“

Soo-ha cut him off with a chuff, walking up to the much larger Pandaren with a look of warmth in her eyes as she held up her paws.

“Ah, r-right…” Yasashi pried Kimiko off his shoulder and tucked her snug within her mother’s arms.

Soo-ha bowed her head and smiled, waiting until Kimiko had latched herself on her shoulder before signing. ‘Would you like to go on a walk with me later when she is down for a nap? Just around the border of camp. It is supposed to be nice tonight.’

The request took Yasashi aback and his muzzle fell open. The tables were suddenly flipped. Traditionally, he was supposed to be the one to ask her on such ventures, wasn’t he? Incomprehensible noises rumbles from his throat at first before Yasashi straightened his back and answered with a very firm sounding. “Yes.”

Soo-ha smiled, bowing her head once more and walking towards her tent and Kimiko, lifted her head and cooed at Yasashi from over her mother's shoulder.

Yasashi couldn’t help but smile at the cub. The expression was warm and genuine. It felt...unfamiliar on his face and yet, he wished to do it more. Nailed it.

#pandaren #warcraft oc #short story #world of warcraft #thecozykirin #daily writing challenge

[thecozykirin]

Gift of the Forge

There were many aspects of Kimiko's life that both Yasashi and Soo-ha knew would be considered unorthodox. From the fact that she had only breathed Pandaria's air for a short time during the beginning of her life to the fact she lived in a wagon with books and stories as her schooling.

Perhaps, that was why they were so determined to give her a normal Winter's Veil...and this year, they liked to think that they did well.

This year had been particularly difficult on Kimiko, that much they both knew. For eight years, she had been the twinkle of their eye, the core of their hearts...such a throne was not easy to share with a baby sister when it had been hers all her life and so, this further pushed Yasashi to reinforce her position as his eldest.

The burly male sat before his forge, wisps of smoke streaming out the top in long curlicues that coiled about his frame like a slithering serpent. Though, he did not like to think of himself as an Ironbrew any longer, there were some traditions that he hadn't the heart to drop...

One of which, being the gift of the forge.

Soo-ha had been concerned, as she was a Pandaren of gentle words and diplomacy, her own paws barely having handled the dagger he crafted for her for her protection, but even Soo-ha knew the weight of the symbolism behind the gesture.

Come morning, Kimiko would find an oddly wrapped present beneath the little tree they had dolled up. To any other cub, a hunk of hardened mixed metal would be something akin to coal...but to Kimiko, this would mean spending a whole day with her baba by the forge..and from that day onward, no one would dare question her position as his daughter.

#warcraft oc #pandaren #world of warcraft #thecozykirin #short story

[thecozykirin]

Daily Writing Challenge Day 7 - Sting

"Na, wot did we learn today?" Etheline asked as she idly peeled a clove of garlic. Behind her, sat Kimiko with a rather swollen looking bottom lip.

"Don shtich your mhuzzle in huh beeh-hive."

Etheline pursed her bottom lip out, nodding in agreement as she crushed one of the gloves into a rag, soaking up its juices. "Very good." Turning around, she balled the rag up and gently placed the wettest side against Kimiko's lip.

The cub's face immediately crinkled in disgust, nose flaring as the scent of garlic filled her nostrils.

Etheline took notice of the expression but said nothing, shifting her gaze to the behemoth of a Pandaren who sat next to his daughter. "And wot did ya learn from this, Mr. Kumatani?"

Yasashi's jaw shifted, avoiding Etheline's gaze like a guilty dog; he replied through gritted teeth. "Punching the beehive was not an appropriate response." The digits of his left paw twitched slightly from the swelling brought on by the various stings that lined the bare flesh of the surface. Had he used his other paw, the fur may have protected him a bit...but it was too late for that now.

"Very good."

@daily-writing-challenge

#warcraft oc #pandaren #short story #daily writing challenge #thecozykirin

[thecozykirin]

Daily Writing Challenge Day 6 - Expectation

( This story was a collaborative piece between me and my husband! About our mains pre-caravan days )

( Trigger warning for: Child abuse and grievous injury )

@daily-writing-challenge

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When it rains, earth hardens

It was a popular proverb within the Snowblossom Colony, one Yasashi had heard regularly growing up. His father in particular favored it, especially when he'd drag him from bed before the light of dawn had lit up the snow capped peaks of the mountains. There, as a young cub, Yasashi's father would take him to the coldest peak near their home, where a thick snowblossom tree stood.

Unbreaking, unbending, unyielding…an Ironbrew was expected to serve family and community as the embodiment of the weapons they crafted.

A pine does not withstand the blizzard if it has not grown within the embrace of its winds.

“Again.”

The male’s gruff voice called out from over the panting cub’s shoulder. The morning sun had yet to graze the sides of the mountains, causing a blanket of gloomy darkness to enshroud the pair. The chilled morning air sunk into the cub’s aching bones as he thumped his curled fist against the battered bark of the tree, the chattering of his teeth and shaking of his little body causing him to miss his prior mark by about an inch.

“You’re off.”

The cub’s ears lowered at the disapproval in his sire’s voice.

“Look at that. Your force is off too, were you looking to seduce your enemy with a cheek caress?!”

The sound of the older male’s paw slapping onto the tree caused the cub to flinch, tucking his chin down against his chest as he dropped his gaze to the snow. “I’m sorry.” The cub’s voice caught in his throat like sticky rice, hoarse from exhaustion.

“What was that? Speak up, boy. You’re not a mouse!”

“I-I’m sorry!” The cub managed to force the words out this time despite his frayed nerves. “I-I’m sorry, Baba, it’s j—“

Thwack.

The cub was slugged in the face by the back of his father’s paw, causing him to fall back into the snow that nearly swallowed him up once he fell. A dull ache exploded from the side of his face, an ache that was only slightly numb on the surface thanks to the snow but crept far deeper than just his flesh.

“You’re not a weanling anymore.” His father’s voice was terse and cold. “And when we are out here, you will address me properly or there will be consequences, do you understand?” Before the cub could answer, his patriarch came marching over to yank him out of the snow pile by the scruff, giving him a little shake as he reiterated. “Do-you-understand?”

“I-I understand, s-sir. I-I’m sorry!”

The older male snorted, dropping his son where the snow was thinner. “You’d think with all that whining I had a daughter.” Folding his arms behind his back, he took a step back. “Again. We will stay out here until the cold sinks into our bones if we must.”

Pushing himself to his feet, the cub wiped his running nose with a soft sniffle as he got into stance and punched the tree.

“Again.”

The cub punched again.

“Again.”

The flesh on his knuckles bruised and split open.

“Again.”

His blood stuck to the tree, coalescing quickly on the bark thanks to the cold and adding a red sheen.

“Again!”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The ache of his gouged eye brought Yasashi back to the present. The pain built within his head like churning thunder and released with a vicious boom that threatened to make his teeth chatter, he knew there would not be a break in this storm for quite a while. Soft and quick footfalls caught the veteran's ear, and upon inhaling through his nose, the warm scent of lavender and parchment filled his senses. "Soo-ha…"

The petite Pandaren did not reply as she pressed a rag full of ice against where his left eye had been, Yasashi could feel that her paw was trembling slightly.

Her silence was deafening to him. "Little Be--"

A hard chuff cut him off; through his remaining eye, Yasashi could see a deep frown was set firmly on her muzzle, eyes red as though she had been crying. "Little Bell, I'm fi--"

A sound resembling a bark left her next, and the mute woman fell back to her knees, signing rapidly. 'You are not fine!' the movements of her paws were quick, curt. Though she lacked a voice, how it would sound right now would be clear in his head.

Yasashi paused. Ever since fleeing from Pandaria, the two hardly had a tense moment between them. Drawing in a breath, his eye searched the confines of their dingy Inn room. Gadgetzan was an ever expanding, ever growing town in terms of trade, but comfort and hospitality was still leagues behind it. "Where's Kimiko?"

Soo-ha exhaled, removing a round container from a leather bag that laid at the foot of the bed, popping open the top and applying what looked to be some sort of cream to the underside of the iced cloth. 'In the closet taking a nap. It was bad enough she had to watch it happen, Yasashi. I didn't want her to see anymore than she had to.'

Ah, she used his name…that was all the confirmation he needed to know how angry she was with him. "Is she alright?"

Pursing her bottom lip out, she nodded faintly in response. 'As well as you can be after watching your father get his eye torn out in a blood ring.'

"It was a dirty trick, Little bell. These matches don't allow for weapons." Then again, from what he had observed in Pandaria, it didn't surprise him an Orc had not fought with honor. He should have known.

'Oh, yes. Because having it ripped out with fingers would've made it so much better, yes?' Soo-ha's face deadpanned as she scooted forward, signing. 'This ointment is supposed to help keep the area clean, I will bandage it afterwards.' She paused, as though debating something before giving into her conscious and signed. 'It may burn a bit.'

And burn it did.

The fact that she debated leaving out this fact amused Yasashi; as small as she was, her fire could burn just as bright and hot as his and perhaps, even hotter. The male grunted in response as the placating burn of the oitment was smeared across his socket. "Well, I suppose it's good he at least took out the eye on the ugly side, mh?" Truth be told, the left side of his face was a charred fleshy mess anyhow. What was one more wound to it?

Soo-ha's jaw tensed as she worked, only replying once her task was done and her paws were free. 'I would rather you have both of your eyes…' her frown tightened in disapproval, but her eyes did soften. 'And no part of you is ugly, just a bit marred.'

Yasashi let out a soft snort. "Suppose I'll take your word for it. Ugly makes the gold though, this town will pay anything to see two grizzled bodies tear each other apart."

'There are other ways to make gold.'

"I don't have access to what I need to do blacksmithing out here, Little bell. Nor, will I waste the funds to acquire it."

'I could try to help, I could --'

"No." Yasashi cut her off because she could even finish. "I don't want you working in this town."

'And why not?' Soo-ha huffed. 'I've two working paws, I can contribute.'

"You're also barely a head taller than a Goblin and with the type of people you see walking into this town, I don't like the sound of that. Anyone could walk through that port or those gates, Soo-ha. Even a Shado-pan."

The mention of the Shado-pan caused Soo-ha to pause, and her ears fell against the back of her head as if deflating. 'So, what am I to do, Yasashi?'

"You're to let me handle this."

'I am to watch you tear yourself apart?'

"If that is required to get by, then yes." Yasashi's voice grew terse.

'And when those blood matches have taken both of your eyes and all of your limbs, how do you plan on defending us then? Will we throw the gold paid with your body at them and hope one piece hits them between the eyes?'

"I would have hoped you'd have a little more faith in me, Little bell. I've gotten us this far just fi--"

Soo-ha slammed a small fist down onto the end table, cutting him off as her paws rose barely a moment later to retort. 'I do have faith in you, Yasashi. I have all the faith in the world in you. But it hurts. It hurts to see you rip yourself apart for money and it hurts knowing that I have had a paw in putting you into that position.'

The bristle that had built up in his pelt fell, fur relaxing as a gentle chuff left the behemoth's muzzle. "Soo-ha, you've put me in no such position." he reached out to gently grab hold of her paws and she left him, frowning as he felt the tremble in them. "I ripped myself apart body and soul for Pandaria in a thankless position, I've had that sacrifice spat in my eye." Bitterness crept into his tone, memories of the trial still fresh in his mind. "I chose to abandon my mission to bring you home, I chose to protect you, to serve you--"

Soo-ha flinched, gently pulling her paws from his grasp and signing. 'I don't want you to serve me, Yasashi. I've never wanted that.'

"It is my bound duty as your protector."

'You are also a husband and a father, even if unofficial.' Soo-ha's eyes softened once more, sadness creeping into them like water beneath a door. 'Kimiko looks up to you so much, you know. She wants to be just like you.'

She wants to be just like you.

While those words would've stirred pride in any other father, it caused his heart to clench in fear; he was nothing to aspire for. "That is not expected of her."

'And it is of you?'

"Of course!" Yasashi's voice rose. "I'm an Ironbrew. Unbreakable, unyielding, unbending."

Soo-ha's brow furrowed, but she did not withdraw. Instead, she brought her paws up to gently cradle his face, touching her nose against his and drawing her paws away to sign. 'You were always that and more, my Mountain. A name has nothing to do with that…and a name does not make you unending. Even the finest swords break under the right pressure.' With their gazes met, Soo-ha added. 'What has that name ever brought you other than pain?'

Yasashi paused, maw growing slack. He had no rebuttal for that…because there was none. "What am I without my name, Soo-ha?"

'You are our mountain.' The edges of Soo-ha's muzzle twitched upwards weakly. 'You are a fighter, protector, a husband and father…and the most noble man I know.' She paused and in an act of tenderness, she gently rasped her tongue against the side of his cheek. 'And I love you.'

A warm rumble rolled within the pit of his chest, and Yasashi brought both of his arms around the small Pandaren, hugging her close to the fur of his chest. As they laid together, Yasashi's eye fixed on the ceiling, his thoughts somewhat dulling the pain of his empty socket. "I think…it's time for a new name then."

#warcraft oc #pandaren #collaboration #short story #world of warcraft #thecozykirin #daily writing challenge

[thecozykirin]

Daily Writing Challenge Day 5 - Strange

‘Baba, am I strange?’

U-Jinn blinked and squinted at the calligraphy on his daughter’s notepad, trying to see if he had read that right. “Strange..?” The graying Pandaren reiterated carefully. Soo-ha hugged the notepad to her chest, nodding in clarification. U-Jinn’s brow immediately furrowed. “Not at all, Inkspot.” He set aside his work tools and gestured for her to come closer. “Why would you ask such a thing?”

Soo-ha’s eyes dipped down to the floor, claws gripping the side of her notepad for a moment before she flipped it to a new page, writing. ‘I’m much shorter than the others…’

U-Jinn replied as soon as she had finished writing. “So? Different cuts of the same cloth are not always the same length. Some strips are shorter, some are longer.”

Soo-ha pouted, writing: ‘But I am not cloth, I’m a Pandaren.’

U-Jinn chuckled, reaching out to ruffle her hair which earned a disgruntled little rumble from the cub as her bangs were mussed up. “Figure of speech, Inkspot. You’re not strange just because you’re short.” With the tip of his claw. He gently fixed her bangs. “Is there anything else?” The smile that crossed his daughter’s muzzle vanished nearly as quickly as it came at his question. Flipping to a new page, she wrote: ‘The other cubs here say I look weird…the masters too. They whisper but I can hear it sometimes.’ U-Jinn’s expression fell. “Weird? Come now, Inkspot. Cubs have a silly idea on what’s normal. Besides, I doubt the masters mean anything by i—“ Soo-ha stamped her little foot, cutting him off as she flipped to a new page in her notepad, writing furiously: ‘Don’t pretend that you don’t see it too! I’m short and I’m skinny like a dog and my fur and hair are the color of an eggplant!’ U-Jinn reached out and gently took her little white paws in his own, pulling her to his chest. “First of all, don’t compare yourself to a dog, Inkspot. Just as each cut of cloth may not be the same length, they are not all the same width either.” Gently slipping his claw beneath her chin, he tilted her head upwards so their eyes would meet, an amused smile on his muzzle. “And only partly. Purple and white are colors that complement each other quite nicely. Soo-ha huffed, flipping to a new page as she settled on her father’s lap and wrote: ‘A moldy eggplant then :(‘ With a chuckle, U-Jinn gently took hold of the notepad and guided it away, placing it with the rest of his tools. “You really should be practicing your sign.” Soo-ha huffed as her notebook was taken away, but she relented. ‘The adults don’t seem to think I need to…’ U-Jinn paused, head tilting. “Really? Why is that?” Soo-ha frowned. ‘Because they tell me my ears work fine.’

U-Jinn scoffed. “Well, that may be…but there will be times when you may not have parchment available to you. Next time they tell you that, you tell them that I told you that you need to practice, mh?”

The cub meekly nodded, moving to slip off her father’s lap when he chuffed, causing her to pause.

“And Inkspot —“ Once U-Jinn saw he had her attention, he continued. “Only things we do not understand are strange…but we all learn to understand things in time, then they become normal to us.”

Soo-ha reached instinctively for her notepad…before she paused and corrected herself, signing: ‘But why am I the way that I am, baba? No one else here seems so…different.’

U-Jinn smiled gently. “Why is the sky blue or the snow in Kun-Lai white? They are because they are, there need not be any further explanation for it.” He took hold of her little paws once more, giving them a squeeze. “You will be understood in time, Inkspot…as we all are.”

Soo-ha gazed at her father’s face, searching his expression and finding nothing but sincerity…only then, did she smile and lean in to hug him, a soft rumble leaving her throat in the form of a thank you.

“Any time, Inkspot.” U-Jinn returned the embrace. “Any time.”

@daily-writing-challenge

#pandaren #warcraft oc #world of warcraft #short story #daily writing challenge

[thecozykirin]

Daily Writing Challenge Day 4: Grief

Life was a series of greetings and partings, that was the way of things. U-Jinn knew this better than anyone.

The life of a Shado-pan was not easy, he had known many painful partings over the years and with time, each of them turned into a dull ache that eventually dissipated into a soft pang when he'd sit and reminisce. But this ache was not going away.

When U-Jinn was brave enough ( Or when he was forced ) to return to his private dwelling, he'd still feel inclined to gently knock the back of his knuckles against the surface of the sliding door that had remained shut and silent for nearly a decade at this point.

And yet, each time he approached it, it felt like only yesterday that she had been gone.

Her room itself was perfectly preserved. Not one thing had been moved out of place, he wouldn't allow it to be. Doing so would introduce change and change would disrupt the lie he'd tell himself sometimes that when he opened the door at the end of the night, he'd see her tucked in safe.

It was a lie, yes...but it was one that made him feel better.

On this particular night, he sat and stared at the chair, remembering so many years earlier on that day when Soo-ha stood in front of it with her bag draped around herself.

'Don't worry, baba.' she had signed to him. 'It will only be a short walk.'

She hadn't been feeling well that day...and she was so small compared to the rest of their kin, that he had worried for her.

'I'll be fine.' Soo-ha had signed. 'I promise.'

"Alright, Inkspot." U-Jinn had smiled. "Just be careful, I love you."

The ending of that exchange hadn't struck U-Jinn as odd at the time, but the more he thought on it, the more he wondered...the expression on his daughter's face twitched ever so slightly, a flicker of what he now saw as grief dancing behind her eyes but she pushed it all down with a smile and as quickly as she could, she had slipped out. Was there something bothering her? Why hadn't he noticed sooner? Why didn't she tell him?

U-Jinn found himself outside by the time he had pulled himself from his thoughts, seated on the snow swept steps as he fixed his eyes upon the path. Like many years before, he knew nothing would come out of it...but he told himself that perhaps, this year, she would come home. He'd see her again, as she was the day she had left.

'I'm sorry, baba!' she'd sign. 'I don't know where the time had gone, I hope you didn't worry much.'

And in response, he would hug her and tell her to come in and warm up by the fire.

It was a lie, yes.

But it was one that made him feel better. If only, for a moment.

@daily-writing-challenge

#@daily-writing-challenge #TheCozyKirin #Short story #World of Warcraft #Pandaren #warcraft oc #daily-writing-challenge

[thecozykirin]

November DWC 3 - Unresolved

Composure

Etheline was nothing if not composed.

Composure was something of a pinnacle of her character. ( Save for all the times she had broken it, but what could you do when you were the only doctor in a group of people who seemed to have particularly punchable faces in the eyes of fate. ) Despite these small setbacks, composure was something she treasured. The more she believed her facade was impenetrable, the more she hoped one day she'd trick herself into believing it truly was.

Perhaps, only then would the beast finally silence itself.

It was on quiet nights such as this that it liked to talk to her, a low growl in the back of her ear as the Gilnean woman sat at her work desk, wrist held out and a makeup brush brushing a fine layer of concealer atop a rather grizzly looking bite wound. Etheline had never been much of a fan of makeup, but it certainly had its perks and soon, it would once more be out of sight, out of mind.

But for how long?

Knitting her brow at the comment, Etheline continued with her work.

You were rather rude today, don't you think? The beast hummed. I wonder…what do you stand to gain shunning your kin?

They ain't me kin. Etheline's frown deepened as her own inner voice snapped back.

The beast chortled. Aren't they? You all share the same mark, don't you? Or does the fact they choose to embrace their beast bother you so? Or perhaps…is it the peace they've achieved in doing so?

Etheline paused.

How long are we going to do this? There's no getting rid of me, you know. I'm as much part of you as you are part of me.

The makeup brush in her fingers started to tremble.

We were one at one point, you and I…we devoured them with such ravenous delight. Yet you deprive yourself the pleasure of--

"Enough!" The stool she had been sititng on clattered to the floor as Etheline pushed herself up straight, palms down on her desk and makeup brush discarded as she glared at her reflection in the mirror and within hazel eyes, something glared back. "We will never be wahn. Ya 're an unfortunate mistake! an abomination! A curse!" With each word, her voice grew in volume and she scarcely noticed the glow that crept into her eyes and the slight elongation of her canines, or how the desk creaked as her nails grew and gripped at the wood.

Careful, girl. The beast cooed. You're slipping.

All at once, Etheline's attention returned to herself and she pushed herself away from the mirror, sucking in deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself.

A knock sounded at her door. "Ethel? Soup's on!"

Looking over her shoulder, Etheline found her throat had gone dry, clearing it and swallowing before she called out. "I-I'll be aahhht in a moment!" She stood still until she heard the creaking of steps, signaling that her fetcher had departed, satisfied with her answer. Only then, did Etheline turn to face the mirror, eyes locking onto her own where the beast lurked. " Wahn of these days, i'll be rid of ya. and I will relish the silence that will folla." With that, she quickly collected herself, turning to leave but as her hand touched the handle, the beast replied.

For a time, perhaps. But silence is a lonely thing, girl.

Etheline frowned, and with one deep inhale she opened the door and joined the rest of the caravan outside. @daily-writing-challenge

#daily-writing-challenge #TheCozyKirin #gilnean #short story #@daily-writing-challenge

[thecozykirin]

The Recipe to Success

( Daily Writing Challenge Day 2 ) Ethel Translations: Babblin Brook: Cook Grasshopper: Copper - - - - - - - - -

"The issue is that ya fin' too 'ard." Etheline's voice barely stirred Soo-ha from her despair. The Gilnean woman scrubbed hard at the burnt...whatever Soo-ha had been trying to make in hopes of salvaging the pot as the small Pandaren herself looked on in sadness at her charred failure.

There were few times in her life where Soo-ha had felt the sting of inadequacy, but this felt like the sharp twist of a knife. / After all, what Pandaren doesn't know how tah cook? / The words from the Countrypaw she had met during one of her city strolls whispered in her ear with far more venom than had been present when it was said. Soo-ha knew that she hadn't meant anything by it, but that did not make the truth sting any less. Soo-ha didn't know how to cook, nothing above heating up a simple bowl of broth.

"Ey." Soo-ha jumped a bit at the small woman's sharp tone and golden eyes lifted meekly to meet stern hazel.

"Ya kna, there's nah shame in not bein' able ter babblin' brook." Etheline tapped the scrubbing sponge several times against herself. "Sum people fin' Gilneans can't babblin' brook worf a grasshopper but we've seen that's not true, ah? so why assume every Pandaren can? I doubt you're th' hirst 'oo can't."

The edges of Soo-ha's lips twitched upwards briefly as she deciphered Etheline's accent; doing so was far easier than it had been the first time she met her. 'I'd feel better about it if we've met others who couldn't.' Soo-ha's ears fell back against the sides of her head as she signed in response. 'Even still, I can't help how it makes me feel...Even the others at the monastery could manage dumplings and I'm sure Yasashi ate better than gruel in the Shado-pan.' Soo-ha bit down on her bottom lip. 'What kind of homemaker can't even do that?'

Etheline pursed her lips out in thought, hip bouncing slightly against the side of the stove. "I'm sure there's summit ya can manage. loike I said, you're thinkin' abaht this too 'ard. ya should stop thinkin' of cookin' loike a pandaren and start tryin' ter do things loike yourself, your way." From behind the glint of her glasses, Soo-ha watched those hazel eyes soften. "Wifaht murderin' more of our pots and pans, mind ya."

There was wisdom in the other woman's words, Soo-ha knew that much. That evening, while Kimiko was frolicking about the camp and Yasashi was helping patrol, she rolled up her sleeves and got to work. Soo-ha stopped trying to mimic the expertise she had admired from her kin and took on a slower pace. Quick chopping turned into steady and rhythmic thumps, and perfection was made sloppy but it was a special kind of sloppy; a her kind of sloppy.

By the end of the night, Kimiko was delighted by the scent that wafted from the wagon and the cub devoured two whole bowls of the stew Soo-ha had made. Yasashi, who had always stomached his wife's attempts at cooking, tried to hid his pleasant surprise but she could tell, his eye did not twitch when he ate this time.

As Kimiko drifted to sleep in the loft, her parents worked on washing the dishes. Looking over to his wife, Yasashi noted the smile on his wife's lips and inquired with a gentle bump of his hip against her. "The stew was very good tonight, Little bell. What do you call it?"

Soo-ha looked up at her husband and with a mischievous blep of her tongue, she lifted her paws and signed: 'Success.' wide a wide smile.

#daily-writing-challenge #novemberday22023 #world of warcraft #pandaren #warcraft oc #TheCozyKirin.tumblr.com #short story #novemberdwc2023 #@daily-writing-challenge

[thecozykirin]

Mid Autumn Chills

( Daily Writing Challenge Day 1 ) Soo-ha had always loved the Mid Autumn festival growing up. The monastery had not done much in terms of decoration or celebration, but her papa had always taken the time to take her on a trip down to the closest village where she'd stuff her cheeks full of moon cakes until her little cheeks popped out.

She remembered sitting cross-legged, listening to her papa retell the story of Zao Sunseeker and his wife, Cheng'e with the rest of the village cubs, the stars in her eyes growing brighter and brighter each year as the thought of a love that could transcend the distance between Azeroth's little moon and Pandaria grew more and more appealing to her young heart. It was these times she preferred to focus on, before the joy of the holiday was tainted and in one night, those stars in her eyes were snuffed out like an opposing thumb over a dying candle.

"Little bell?" Her husband's words caused her to snap from her rumination, and her head turned just in time to catch the behemoth of a Pandaren slip within the warm confines of their caravan. "Are you alright?" Soo-ha quickly wiped her eyes, nodding her head and bringing her paws up to sign. 'Oh, yes! I'm just...a bit tired this evening.' Yasashi's eye swept over his wife, gaze narrowed only slightly in thought. He would not pry, he already knew. "Is Kimiko asleep?" Yasashi shot an up nod towards the loft in the wagon. The edges of Soo-ha's lips twitched upwards briefly, and she nodded. 'Yes...she went down easy tonight.' A soft, ursine chuff left her husband and his gaze dropped down to her. A single gray eye who held the coldness of wintry steel always softened like fresh fowl down when it rested on her. "How tired are you?" Soo-ha pursed her bottom lip out at the question. 'Just a bit, why do you ask?'

Yasashi let out a soft chuff, extending a large paw that so easily dwarfed her own. "I'd like to show you something." Soo-ha quirked her brow, instinctively placing her paw in his, her gaze conveyed her interest, quietly ushering him to continue.

With a grin, he pulled the smaller Pandaren gently onto her feet and brought her outside. "Careful." he warned her gently. "The snow is still soft and the bottom step is slippery." Helping her where she needed it, Yasashi ushered her behind the caravan, but not before he slipped a paw over her eyes until he led her to the right spot. "Alright, ready?" Soo-ha let out a soft snort in response. Had she the voice, she would've tried to reply with a witty response before he removed his paw...and her breath left her in a quiet squeak and a puff of hot air.

The moon was nice and round and the surrounding snow drank in her light, producing an ethereal glow. In the center, was a round thick blanket placed within a spot where a circle had been scorched into the snow and upon this blanket was a tray with two glasses, a bottle of some sort and a plate of golden brown moon cakes.

"I...." Yasashi's voice drew off and while Soo-ha was transfixed on the sight, she heard him sigh. "I know that this time of year is hard for you, but I also know how much you used to enjoy it...I was hoping that I could help make this time different, start making some new good memories from here on out."

Soo-ha didn't respond.

"But...if you don't like it, I understand." Soo-ha looked up at Yasashi, and the sight of the tears in her eyes sent him into a panic. Lowering himself onto his knees, he cradled her face between his paws. "I-I'm sorry, Little bell. I hadn't meant to upset you! I just...I know how much you used to enjoy the festival and I --" Soo-ha halted the large male's rambling by gently pressing both of her paws against his muzzle, a smile on her own. Removing her paws from her lips to sign, she flicked her head towards the direction of the blanket. 'Will you sit with me?'

Yasashi's panic washed free from him with a sag of his shoulders. Craning his neck down, he pressed a kiss to the center of her forehead. "Of course." The chill in the air was biting but it could hardly nip through the thick pelt both of them were blessed with. Even as it made her nose run, Soo-ha relished in it because it dimmed the chill she felt in her soul year after year. Side by side with her mate, she stuffed her cheeks full of moon cakes and for the first time in a while, those stars returned to her eyes...full and whole.

#novemberdwc2023 #novemberdayX202 #TheCozyKirin.tumblr.com #novemberday12023 #world of warcraft #warcraft rp #warcraft oc #pandaren #daily-writing-challenge