[color=#BDBDBD][center][h2]【[u][b]Narrow Paths[/b][/u]】[/h2][h3]【[u] [b][color=#D3844B]Valerian[/color] [color=silver]/|\[/color] [color=ed1c24]Wu Long[/color][/b][/u]】[/h3]
[i]~[/i][b]A Collab by [@Force and Fury] & [@yoshua171][/b][i]~[/i][/center][hr]
Beyond the cave he’d entered and somewhere behind the man with which he shared its space lay a power so vast that it was hard to comprehend. In some ways, that made it hard to detect. It almost faded into an energy-rich background like some great distant rumble. Yet, it was there and it was very much detectable for one as attuned to all of the little fluctuations of manas as Vel was. 

Glancing over the man and the environment within the cave he had entered, Valerian was relieved to find that he hadn’t walked himself straight into peril right out the gate. Relaxing as he heard the name ‘Wu Long,’ Vel nonetheless kept his wits about him. After all, he had no idea what the power he was sensing correlated to, nor could he assume that Wu Long was entirely to be trusted.

Nonetheless, he bowed his head respectfully and flashed the burly man a smile as he closed more of the distance between them. [color=#D3844B][b]“The pleasure is mine. I’m Valerian, but please, call me Vel,”[/b][/color] he said, introducing himself in short order and establishing a baseline of rapport between himself and the relative stranger before him. For the moment—knowing as little as he did in reality—Vel decided to allow Jocasta’s tentative ally to lead. If he felt the need to redirect he could certainly do so.
 m. 
[color=#D3844B][b]“I do appreciate you meeting with me on such short notice,”[/b][/color] Vel said, his smile waning slightly as he cut to business. [color=#D3844B][b]“What shall we cover first?”[/b][/color]

[color=ed1c24]“Straight to the chase,”[/color] the well-dressed Retanese man replied. [color=ed1c24]“Simply put, you’re here because you volunteered to be, and life is about choices, after all.”[/color] He gestured at their surroundings. It was no longer a cave once one had taken more than a few steps in, but a temple of sorts. [color=ed1c24]“Take this place, for example.”[/color] He smiled. [color=ed1c24]“I choose to serve the Great White Dragon, when I do not have to. That is his power you sense in the backdrop, by the way, and he is at rest.”[/color]

Vel nodded, as if understanding the greater truth of what the man was intending to communicate. In reality it was all rather obscure. Wu Long was being deliberately vague it seemed, or at least he was avoiding the question. [color=#D3844B][b]“The White Dragon, huh? I see…and what does that service entail?”[/b][/color] Vel began to walk slowly around the room, glancing about slowly as if admiring the cavernous space and its furnishings–as it were.

[color=ed1c24]“Hiding,”[/color] the exemplar said simply, [color=ed1c24]”and Making decisions that others would find difficult.”[/color] He unclasped his hands. [color=ed1c24]“Being loyal to two masters and yearning to be one’s own.”[/color] He reclapsed them in front of himself. [color=ed1c24]“Seeing two perspectives and synthesizing one’s own.”[/color] The large man smiled tightly and knowingly. [color=ed1c24]“I am speaking in riddles, I know. It is tiresome, but my people - Retanese people - are quite fond of it. To speak in such a way that others will infer your meaning of their own desires is a much coveted and admired skill in this land.”[/color] He shook his head. [color=ed1c24]“Yet, I do not like it.”[/color] He glanced out towards the entrance of the cavern. [color=ed1c24]“There was a time when we were honest. When there was no need to hide…”[/color] He trailed off, turning to face the entrance for an extended moment. [color=ed1c24]“Or to look for allies among radicals who do not understand this place.”[/color] All at once, he turned back to Valerian. [color=ed1c24]“Do you know of what I speak?”[/color]

Almost circling the man given the path his pacing took him on, Vel considered Wu Long’s words as they reached him. He was not sure if they were meant to confound him, but he’d grown up dealing with both the violent bluntness of his father and the serpentine guile of the Perrench Court, as it were. Though this was something different, hailing from another culture, it was not altogether alien to him. Slowly, Valerian began to nod, a thoughtful expression on his features as he idly drew upon the energies around them before releasing them in short order. As the man’s query settled in his mind, Vel spoke and ruefully found himself smiling.

[color=#D3844B][b]“I know something of what it is to be pulled between two things. Two worlds, Two times. Two natures…”[/b][/color] his gaze darkened for a moment as an image of his father flashed through his mind. [color=#D3844B][b]“I can understand the desire for something simpler…or failing that, at least more honest.”[/b][/color] His smile returned and it was sympathetic now as he tried to meet the Retanese man’s gaze–if only for a moment.

Vel turned his back to the man, clasping his hands behind his waist, two fingers around one wrist. He stopped pacing. [color=#D3844B][b]“I wager I’ll have to make some difficult decisions of my own,”[/b][/color] he said, somehow alluding to understanding even as he spoke little of it. Perhaps it was in the fact that he hadn’t asked Wu Long to clarify his meaning. Perhaps it was something else.

An act? A lie? A farce?

Who was to say.

If he knew or cared, the exemplar gave little indication. Instead, he walked to the cavern entrance, forcing Vel to follow or be left behind. [color=ed1c24]“Down there -”[/color] he gestured [color=ed1c24]“You will find the others who came from your school, or [i]some[/i] of them, at least.”[/color] He twisted to look at the youth and left a quick smile behind for him. [color=ed1c24]“They are on the path that leads to the Snake Tree - you will recognize it for its shape. You should go to them, I think. Tell them what you will, listen to what you will, but lead them here, if you please. It is time that some truths are told.”[/color]

Detecting the subtle shift in kinetic energy as Wu Long moved, Vel turned and followed, arriving at the man’s shoulder after a moment. Nodding, Vel–for an interval–did not return the exemplar’s smile. However, after a moment’s thought he flashed Wu Long his own grin, though his was far more boyish. [color=#D3844B][b]“Very well. I’ll see what I can do.”[/b][/color]

That said, Vel bowed his head to Wu Long, the gesture far more formal than those prior, before heading out.

However, he paused before he’d gotten far, but rather than turn, he spoke while standing in place. [color=#D3844B][b]“To a more honest world,”[/b][/color] he said, then he departed.

Faintly, behind him, he could hear a refrain. [color=ed1c24]“And a more just one.”[/color][/color]