"Y'know, the least she could do is show up to her own stupid conquest. Nobody in the stories ever had to walk across an entire city after they start a fight just to get to the person they're supposed to be... well, I guess I'm not really. I mean. I dunno. I'm. It's just... rude, is all. [i]I[/i] think, if you're gonna take somethin' from someone, it's only fair that you show up and do it yourself. Like, I know assault ribbons are, like, her thing or whatever, but this is like, she's not even, it's almost like she's, y'know? Right, Kat?" "Arf!" "Haha, yeah. When we get there I'm gonna tell her that." "Yip!" "Do you [i]not[/i] want credit? I thought it was funny!" "Mew..." "Ok, ok, fine! I won't tell her it's from you! Sheesh. Foxes, I swear." A pat on the head, a bit of foxnip, and that's that. Argument ended. Yue thinks she's in charge, but she's never won one of these even once. That's why she's the one walking through Ys on her way to do... whatever the heck it is she thinks she's going to manage with Qiu while [i]I'm[/i] sittin' pretty in a luxury handbag doing none of the work. Yue fumbles through her flight spell again, but it's not 'cause she's flustered or upset or worried or any of the stuff you might be thinkin' she is. No it's just, funnily enough, my girl learned to fight before she could jump and now she's gotta improvise. When she goes to leap off the wall she hesitates for a moment and shifts her weight like she's gonna back off for another loop, when outta nowhere she just-- "Woooooo!" Aaaaaaah oh goshies goshies gosh! Falling, falling, help me help me help me I-- oh hey! What a beautiful three point landing, good work girl! I, uh, knew you had it in you the whole time. Sheesh. Girls, I swear. But! Oh!! When they see her, the looks on their faces! Looking up at the walls, stepping out into the streets, in their colorful silks, the people of Ys! They look at her. They look at plain ol' Yue from the Terraced Lake, and they look at her dress and her hair swept up in the hot wind, and they look at the glinting edge of the sword in her hand, and they look at the steely flash of determination in her eyes, and they gawk like... well honestly, like Chen did. Way back when they first met, remember? Yue had this... look about her, and Chen thought she was some kinda legendary warrior and seemed like she was half about to get on one knee and worship her. It was kinda amazin', and these people look just like she did right now. But, like then, it'll be over the instant she opens her mouth. When she smiles her sillyhead smile at that little boy over by that doorframe, they'll realize their mistake. See, there she goes, beaming like a tiny sun and givin' everyone that goofy little wave. There's no heroic entrance on this earth that could survive Yue's personality. "Hiya! Nice to meet everyone! My name's Yue and I'm... oh, well I guess it's complicated? See I'm tryin' to make it waaaaaay over yonder where Princess Qiu's at? She and I've got, mmf, words to. Or maybe she doesn't, iono, but I sure as sunshine do. And anyway it's also kinda my first time in the big city like this and I was just kinda wonderin' if anyone's got, like, directions on the fastest way through? But also stuff around here that I don't wanna miss? I just, kinda, dunno if I'm gonna make it back this way and I'm tryin' to make the most of the one pass through, y'know?" This is where the miracle happens. All those hero worshipping faces? They stay just the way they were. If anything they light up even more. Nobody bats an eye at her silly accent or her soft, sweetie voice or the way she's comboing the heroism and the tourism parts of her trip right to their faces. Nobody flicks their eyes up at her hair and notices the way it's actually frizzy and unkempt instead of flowing like heroic mercury and beautiful the way a battle goddess should be. They wave back! "Oh! Well if you want to go to the far gate it's a bit of a maze through this way so you'll need to make sure you keep your bearings, Miss." "I recommend keeping your sword hand to the Sunset Wall here!" "Oh and keep an eye on it when you pass the Mirror Pool, Miss! The colors that pop up around there when the light's just right are almost as pretty as your dress! Perfect for painting, if that's your thing." "Or a selfie, which is way quicker!" "Yeah, and passing that way you'll hit the Bazaar, which..." "You mean the one in the thatched hut district with the fried noodle bar you'd kill a friend for?" "No no no, other side of the street! With the lapis gate where they've got the dancing square set up!" "Oh, right! I think they sell refurbished phones over that way. Dahlia picked one up for herself the other week and she's been over the moon about it since!" "Yeah, 'cause the tinkers across the street makes all of these glassworks and music boxes and stuff, and it's all bluetooth enabled. Can't imagine what you're missing until you see the light and music shows those things can do with a little help from a nice phone." "Honestly, Miss, you can make a whole afternoon out of bartering your way across the districts if you've got anything fun to get you started!" "But make sure you finish at the phone shop, ok? That's the last place that's actually on your way." "And when you're done you can take some lovely photos of the Cathedral as you pass." "Oh yeah! With your jumping skills, Miss, I bet you could snag a really great one from the top of the wall! Just, uh, mind the assault ribbons while you're out." "They're not normally about! Don't judge our city by them please!" "Have a wonderful trip, Miss!" "Welcome to Ys, Miss!" It's enough to make a girl cry. Or sniffle through her smile, at least. And even that doesn't turn these faces against her. You wanna know why? Because they've seen her in action. Yue's not the Demon Swordswoman, she's the Girl From the TV just now. She's a stranger in strange fashions who showed up to the party and danced with the Radiant Knights atop the city walls. When [i]that's[/i] your first impression, you don't unmake that with a bit of sillyhead talk and askin' for directions, no you do not. Yue's in the big city. Yue's in the Big City! The biggest city of 'em all, in fact! She's so beside herself with glee she has to bargain with herself just to stop herself from gawking like the awkward village girl she is and actually get goin'. Spend an afternoon? She could take a week! Every time she thinks she's seen the prettiest thing ever she rounds a corner and the whole look of the streets changes before her eyes. Ys: a shimmering collection of beautiful mirages that came together so they could become a real story together. She fights as she walks. She stops for noodles as she fights. She duels a knight, tricks a column of water demons out of the Mirror Pool and dives her way through the center of 'em with her sword held out bravely and beautifully in front of her like a certain Special Someone showed her what feels like a lifetime ago. She frowns when she finds out they make tanghulu with strawberries at what [i]claimed[/i] it was a Terraced Lake style food truck, but her frown turns to a smile when she crunches down into what turns out to be surprisingly tart sugar glass around the sweet fruit. Huh! Woulda never thought to do it that way! She zips about a trio of assault ribbons carrying a hot cup of lapsang in her palm, blowing away the steam while she casually flips over a stall selling watches and novelty umbrellas. It's funny, because she's got no idea how amazing she is just now. If she did, she probably couldn't be. She's simply too caught up in admiring the city and all of its pretty silk garbed people (and imagining Hyra dressed up for her like this, rawr~!) to think about how impossible her beyond her skill level any of her acts of swordsmanship are supposed to be. She disarms a knight in front of the phone shop with a river-quick flourish of her sword into a sweeping dragon kick, and the show's good enough to get her in the door on a deal for her very first phone just off the back of her jars of sunlight, which back home nobody ever really had the time of day for short of an aching back or some kinda impossible hangover. She works her way up to a glass wolf figurine that plugs into the top of it and glows all the colors of the aurora when you play it music, and she just knows she's gonna lose entire evenings watchin' it do its thing. She's saved from an ambush by a pair of scrawny looking pre-teens in matching tight-wrapped silks holding sticks instead of swords to protect their neighborhood. She gives them both a hug and hops up, up, up to carry them to the top of the wall so they can all three get a picture together (can you show her how real quick, please?) with the Cathedral underneath them. ...She's gotta remind herself to be mad again as she nears the far gate. She has to remind herself what she's really here for. But then she twirls as she passes and she ruins it all with a song that won't stop bursting its way out of her heart. 'Cause this is Ys. This is a place where she can be a hero without ever tripping over her own feet, or even if she does, 'cause right now this place is a battleground and a show and everyone's invited. Everyone means her too. Everyone means that anyone can be a hero, at any moment. And the further she goes, the more TVs along the street she pops up on. Her. Her. Her! Yue!! She can do it all, if only for this one fleeting moment longer, because she's lifted on the wind kicked up by every amazing person she's ever met.