[img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/873323135649320971/1003400578132623420/huiyin_banner.png[/img][indent][indent][right][h3]g a t e h o u s e s[/h3][/right][/indent][/indent][hr][indent][indent][indent][indent][color=silver]	Never before had Yan Huiyin found herself for a loss of words. 

	Today, that changed. From her mouth, came a sole [color=white]'uh!'[/color] sound, escaping her jaw that had dropped from pure shock. Her usually sharp mind blanked, not able to offer her any sort of retort to save face. Was she really being spoken to like this? Was this karma for even attempting small talk with this lout? Or had she perhaps truly offended him from throwing that plum? 
	Whatever it was, she wouldn't stick around to find out. Not where she so clearly wasn't welcomed. At a moment like this, she wished she'd studied a bit harder to have been able to take him up on that offer of showing him up in a match.
	She jerked her chin away from his direction, not wanting to spare him a glance. If she had billowing sleeves, she surely would've shook them out in indignance. Instead, came the next best thing & so she flipped her hair with a [color=white]'hmph!'[/color] as she took her leave. What an awful day to have woken up for.

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	Yan Huiyin found herself lingering aimlessly in the plaza. Few crossed her path & she greeted them nicely enough, but ultimately, she was a hostage to her thoughts again. 

	How could that girl earlier have so thoughtlessly almost gone to the forest right after the address? Was she perhaps in there now? The thought to check did cross Yan Huiyin's mind, but... Truthfully, she was scared. 

	And then what? Would she follow along with a group, finding strength in numbers as she always had? What would happen when they finally came across a fruit? There was only one pit within each to present & surely they couldn't split it up; would she even have contributed enough at that point to warrant a piece? 

	However, the thought of going alone... It immobilized her. Every so often, she'd look toward the gatehouses & stagger. Surely, this was the true test, she thought. Finding the courage within oneself to venture into that forest. Still, couldn't she take a damn written exam? What of all the stress put onto the four arts throughout her childhood? What of the stories of those who found immortality through painting one damn picture in the mountains for over a century? What of them?!

	Yan Huiyin, at this point, took to sitting on a ledge near the gatehouses. The darker it got, the more she tended to misstep on the uneven stone floor of the training grounds. To an onlooker, she was sulking, frankly. She held her cheeks with her palms, her collar up to her ears. A desolate sight, really. 

	"Yan Huiyin?" Speak of the damn devil, "A-Yan! Oh, it [i]is[/i] you. Why do I keep running into you? You're gonna stop me again, huh? I-I'm gonna face you too, then..!" What was it with her sect siblings & challenging her to duels today? Just what had that elder inspired in her peers today?

	Like a switch, Yan Huiyin straightened her back & breathed in deeply, feigning an appearance of having been meditating rather than moping. A faint roar echoed through the mountains. With a clear voice, she said out to the valley below, [color=white]"Alright,"[/color] & rose to her feet. Gently, she took the girl's hand & lead her to the gateway. Behind her was a dark, dimly-lit road to the forest & in front of her the girl.

	Not a single other word left Yan Huiyin, but the meaning couldn't have been clearer. 

	"I, Na Jiayi, will get that fruit..!" This affirmation seemed more towards the little girl herself than for Yan Huiyin. Wordlessly, they took their formations. [color=white][i]So that's her name[/i][/color], Yan Huiyin thought idly. No motion was made on Huiyin's behalf, so the smaller girl took to charging at her.

	If someone else didn’t step in, surely things were going to get real ugly, real — Oh, never mind. As soon as Na Jiayi extended an arm, Yan Huiyin yanked it towards herself & twirled her into a light armlock, mindful of not letting the girl's face touch the ground. Effectively, their little spar was over. Minutely, Yan Huiyin felt herself deflate at the thought. Compared to the little match between those boys from earlier, this was nothing. Of course, that was to be expected; this girl was easily her junior. Yan Huiyan's mind immediately went the forest; would her ability be enough to face a beast on her own? Her form was clean, sufficiently practiced, but ultimately meant nothing if her opponent was severely under her own ability. 
	A sigh escaped her. "A-Yan..." The girl, whose face was mere knuckle's length away from the ground, whined miserably.[/color][hr][hr][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent]