(5678 words 💀)

"Y/nnn, open up! We're about to make the jump!"

"No, no, I'm good."

In the end, the Astral Express crew decided to head for the Xianzhou. Y/n snuggled into the pile of blankets in her reading nook and gazed out the window at the stars.

The Xianzhou Luofu... it definitely had something to do with y/n's past. She was certain of it, and that certainty was further solidified as the stars seemed to blur, a sign that the jump had begun.

It was over just as quickly as it began, March's yelp followed by a loud crash in the hall being a sign, the train slowing as it arrived at the Xianzhou Luofu. This... gorgeous sight before her, she knew what it was called

The Jade Gate. That was the Jade Gate.

She let out a quiet breath of amazement, eyes wide.

Y/n wrapped her blanket around herself, watching in silence as they slowly approached the Jade Gate to dock.

She blindly pat the space beside her before her hand finally found Mimi, and she brought the little plush close to hold it against her chest.

What was this odd feeling in her chest?

Y/n sighed, getting up from her spot and wandering towards the door to go check on March. After packing a little bag, making sure Mimi was safely tucked in there along with some pain killers, she retrieved her broken sword from the wall.

She returned it to its scabbard, feeling really bad about the fact that she broke it somehow, but headed on out to the hall where she found March sprawled across the floor.

"I see you failed. Again."

"Shut up!"

The two headed out to the Parlor Car together, y/n tentatively adjusting her little eye patch before giving Dan Heng's room a glance as they passed it.

"Is Dan Heng not coming?" y/n inquired.

"Nope, it's just you, myself, Caelus, and Mr. Yang this time!" March replied before giving y/n a sharp glare, "Don't. Even. Start."

"I wasn't going to." a bold faced lie.

The two young woman joined Welt where him and Caelus stood at the edge of the Parlor Car, y/n's eyes still gravitating towards the Jade Gate outside the window.

"Before we set off, I need to clarify the purpose of this journey with you all." Welt began carefully, "The Stellaron Hunters have given us a lot to consider and a lot to doubt. But, the most important part of this mission is—"

"The Stellaron." Caelus finished for him.

The fine 🍑 man nodded, "Precisely. The Stellaron Hunters clearly have ulterior motives. However, knowing what they're all about and given the focus of Kafka's words, I have no doubt that the Xianzhou is dealing with a Stellaron."

"The Alliance and the Express haven't had any previous dealings, so our arrival might not receive the warmest welcome." Welt continued as y/n began to fidget a little, shifting from leg to leg, "But, as Trailblazers, we're not in this to gain anything. We just need to do everything in our power to assist the Xianzhou and eliminate the source of disaster. Always remember that, and don't forget the way of the Trailblaze."

"Can we..." y/n cleared her throat, "Can we go now?"

Welt shook his head with a small sigh, "Yes, we can go. Just remember to remain cautious and—"

Y/n was already hurrying away, bubbling with excitement over the thought of exploring her potential planet *or rather ship* of origin.

"There she goes..." March mumbled before strolling on after her, "We shouldn't let her get too far."

Upon stepping foot on the Xianzhou Luofu, she found herself in... a cargo port? How odd. But still, it looked familiar.

She hurried along, leaving Caelus to run after her while Welt and March took a moment to silently hope that nothing would go wrong on this trip.

"Y/n, don't go too far ahead!" Caelus called as y/n stopped at the edge of a long line of massive cargo containers.

Her eyes were focused on something out of Caelus's line of sight, so he walked over to investigate.

There was a person wearing armor lying on the ground, supposedly knocked out. Had there been a fight? Ah, that didn't matter. What mattered was that y/n instantaneously knew exactly what this person was.

A Cloud Knight.

From the armor which was in much better condition than the armor Himeko had kept for y/n, the armor they'd found her in, to the pole arm lying on the ground beside him which matched the one she had in her room.

He was a Cloud Knight, y/n was sure. Just like her.

"Mr. Yang, someone's hurt." March murmured as she gave the wounded person on the ground a wary look.

"I smell something..." y/n said quietly before leaning down beside the wounded Cloud Knight, "Hey, can you speak?"

"Up... up ahead..." the Cloud Knight said weakly.

Y/n didn't have to be told twice, hurrying on ahead with a quiet, "Thank you." as Welt instructed the injured man to rest and try not to speak.

"March, use your six-phased ice to stop the bleeding. Just... go easy with it, we don't want to add frostbite to his list of complaints." Welt advised as y/n hurried off around the corner, "Caelus—"

"Already on it!" the hydrogen bomb confirmed as he ran after y/n who'd already disappeared. He followed her over to where there were many other injured Cloud Knights, but she paid them no mind.

Only hurried down a little slope as her light jogging quickly turned into a full on sprint.

"Y/n!" Caelus shouted after her.

He ran after her only to spot a weird creature with scythes along its arms and branches growing out of its body. Brightly glowing leaves were sprouting from them, the color of vibrant gold.

"Y/n, be careful!" Caelus warned her as the creature spotted her, "We've never seen that type of creature before!"

Y/n paid him no mind as the creature charged towards her, punching the thing's head off right before it could cut her.

It teetered, fell to the ground on its face, only to rise again— just for y/n to punch its head off again.

The creature dropped to its knees, flopping on the ground while y/n continued on her way once more.

Caelus, however, stood there idly while staring at the creature laying on the ground. The Astral Express had never seen such a life form before, but y/n most definitely had.

"Caelus, we heard fighting!" March called and her and Welt finally caught up, "Did something— WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"

Caelus didn't answer her question, turning his head to look at Welt instead, "Mr. Yang... I think that we should let y/n take the lead again. We don't know much about these creatures, but," he gestured to the headless creature, "Y/n clearly does."

Welt and March exchanged a look before the older man nodded, "We should aim to stay close, then."

"Did you see which way she went?" March inquired only for a distant screech of some creature to answer her, "... never mind."

They went to investigate only to find more creatures laid out on the ground, lifeless. There was a trail of blood, but they found that it belonged to y/n who had been cut across the cheek.

She was standing with two other Cloud Knights and a woman with fox ears and a tail, but she didn't seem to be listening to them. Her eyes were on one of the creatures, distant and unfocused.

"Y/n! You did it again!" March exclaimed, snapping the young woman out of her daze as she gave her a smack on the arm, "Don't go running off, it's dangerous!"

"Ah... that's..." y/n blinked as if trying to clear her head, still seeming unfocused and confused, "I'm sorry, March."

March recoiled, "Ew, she apologized..."

Y/n scowled, "Shut the hell up..."

"Miss Tingyun, the mara-struck have been repelled, b-but there could be other dangers nearby." one of the Cloud Knights told the fox lady, "The situation is serious. Allow us to escort you back to the Sky-Faring Commission immediately."

"Calm down, I heard you. It'd be rude if me to depart without thanking our benefactor here." the fox lady's green eyes landed on y/n, "My name is Tingyun. I'm the Amicassador for the Luofu Sky-Faring Commission merchant guild. May I venture to know the illustrious names of my hero and her companions?"

"...it's y/n. My name is y/n." she replied, her voice hushed and barely above a whisper. Almost as though she were afraid for her name to be known.

March blushed a little, "Illustrious names, huh? Well, I'm March 7th, this is Mr. Yang, and this is." the young man crossed his arms with a little smile, "My name is a secret."

"Oh... hehe..." Tingyun giggled, "Mr. Secret."

"Don't mind him, he likes to get creative with his introductions." March sighed with a little shake of her head.

"Just trying not to end up as a wrongly accused wanted criminal..." Caelus muttered and March froze.

She gave him a sidelong glare, "I wish you would've told me that before I gave away my name...!"

Tingyun no longer seemed interested in them, giving y/n a little smile, "You said your name is... y/n, right? Thank you for coming to our aid, I just don't understand one thing: Starskiff  Haven is under lockdown. Since none of you are Xianzhou residents, how exactly did you get here?"

Oh boy, the fox lady didn't seem happy.

"If you can't offer an explanation, I'm afraid these Cloud Knights will have to escort you out."
(Toe script 💀)

Y/n's gaze darkened a bit and her hand began to ball up into a fist, but March quickly grabbed her hand and held onto it tight.

"Don't do anything stupid-!" she hissed.

"So long as they keep their hands off of you all, I'll stay right where I am." y/n replied through clenched teeth, though her body language stated otherwise.

Welt, so reliable, remained as calm as ever as he explained the situation, "We called for port transfer but received no response. Shortly after, someone opened the Jade Gate for us. When we arrived, there was no one to be found, so we decided to make our way through on our own."

"How can that be? My ship was the last one into port before the Jade Gate was shut..." Tingyun questioned as she crossed her arms, "The Sky-Faring Commission has already locked down Starskiff Haven entirely..."

"We're telling the truth." Welt insisted, "You could verify it yourself by checking the access history of the Jade Gate. We found it rather strange ourselves when nobody came to greet us."

"Hm..." Tingyun looked thoughtful for a long moment before blinking once, "You're with... the Astral Express?"

March nodded while y/n tilted her head.

"Indeed I have, but..." the fox lady sighed, "You've arrived at a bad time. The Xianzhou has suffered an incident. Whether you're here for leisure, treatment, or trade, I'm afraid you won't be able to go through with it at this time. For your safety, you hurry to Central Starskiff Haven and take refuge. I'll take you to Madam Yukong if the Sky-Faring commission..."

White noise began to fill y/n's mind as she stopped paying attention, spacing out a little. Those Cloud Knights... they were staring at her a bit too intently. If they had a question, why didn't they just ask?

Y/n let out a quiet breath of exasperation, crossing her arms and giving one of the knights a cold glare, "If you have a problem with me, spit it out. I don't like it when people stare."

Caelus and March gave her round eyed look.
'A bit prickly today, isn't she?'

"Ah, apologies if I offended you-!" the Cloud Knight said quickly, "It's just that... your way of fighting, hand to hand, it resembles Cloud Knight spearmanship techniques. And the way you put those mara-struck to rest... were you perhaps a Cloud Knight belonging to another Xianzhou ship at some point?"

Y/n grimaced, "I know I am, I just can't recall which one. Memories come back slowly, but none with clues as to where I came from."

"Oh... I see." the Cloud Knight murmured, "I apologize if I offended you, it wasn't my intention."

"No worries." y/n assured him with a small smile.

"If you wish, I could take you to Madam Yukong." Tingyun offered with a smile of her own, "I'll lead the way, and if y/n doesn't mind, she could be up front with me."

Ah. She was being demoted to attack dog again.

"Fine with me..." y/n sighed.

Y/n stayed ahead, quickly neutralizing all enemies that they ran into as they headed for the center of Starskiff Haven.

Tingyun was awfully chatty...

"You wouldn't happen to be a Foxian would you? While I don't see a pair of ears on you, I've noticed that your senses are quite sharp!"

"Erm... I'm not sure, maybe?"

"Hehe, perhaps after you've all met with Madam Yukong, we could get you a DNA test and take a look!"

"Another blood draw?"

"Hm? Another?"

Chatty. Awfully chatty, that lady was.
Y/n quite liked her energy.

"Those... monsters, back there..." Welt began to say.

"They were no monsters!" one of the Cloud Knights said sharply before Welt could even finish.

'How dare you interrupt Mr. Yang! I'll throw you right off of this port!' y/n thought irritably but didn't voice or act upon her thoughts.

"Those were not to be confused with monsters," Tingyun explained carefully, "We call them mara-struck."

"Those stricken with the long-life curse..." y/n murmured and the two Cloud Knights as well as Tingyun gave her looks of surprise, "They aren't monsters, rather friends, family, and comrades who succumbed to said curse."

Y/n took a deep breath, standing a little taller, "There's more up ahead. Everyone, be careful." she warned.

Caelus definitely had some questions for y/n, but perhaps now wasn't the best time to ask them. He'd wait for a more appropriate time to inquire further.

Soon, they reached a path blocked off by many large shipping containers. They wouldn't be able to get past without moving them or taking another direction.

Y/n scanned the area carefully, but glanced at Tingyun who had turned to the group following them around.

"Why have we stopped?" March questioned.

"Don't worry, Miss, I just have a favor to ask. That's all." Tingyun assured them and the group visibly did not look very happy about that, "No need to give me that look, it's about our barricaded path."

The fox lady gestured to this barricaded path in question, "The soldiers here likely moved these into a roadblock."

"Could we try pushing them together?" Caelus suggested and the fox woman shook her head.

"Haha, not unless my dear hero here is as strong as a hundred men." Tingyun chuckled as y/n wandered down the stairs, "Sven if we all tried, we wouldn't be able to make it budge. Not that I'm doubting your skills, but I'd hate for you all to get hurt."

Caelus caught movement and peered past Tingyun as y/n stood by one of the giant cases blocking their path, a little frown on her face. She gave it a knock with her hand, looking thoughtful when she did so.

"What's she doing...?" Caelus mumbled.

"If I'm not mistaken, the containers in the Trove of Verdure can be moved around using a control panel." Tingyun was saying, "Do you think you'll be able to—"

There was a loud BAM followed by a few others as some things went tumbling, clearly heavy items. Everyone turned to look and found y/n setting her leg down again after kicking the containers. They'd gone flying, skidding across the pathway, but their path was no longer obstructed.

She glanced back at the group, "All clear."

"Oh my...!" Tingyun's eyes seemed to sparkle and Caelus's own eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw her tail swishing from side to side, "It seems as though I greatly underestimated you! Perhaps you truly do have the strength of a hundred men, my dear hero!"

Y/n smiled warily, "Haha... erm, sure, let's go."

The group continued on, Tingyun eagerly asking about y/n's travels as a trailblazers while the young woman doubletasked with keeping a lookout for more enemies and awkwardly answering the suddenly very friendly Tingyun's questions.

Lots of walking and vase shattering *Caelus's doing* later, they finally made it to the Starskiff Jetty where a rather large mara-struck soldier was waiting for them.

Once more, y/n made quick work of it.

A strike to the head, a spear just grazing her leg, another strike to the chest and a little struggle before the mara-struck finally died for good.

Y/n dusted herself off afterwards, an uncharacteristically solemn look on her face for someone who loved fighting,

Upon reaching the starskiff, Tingyun let out a long sigh of relief, "Finally... look how many tail hairs I lost on the way! Aww... my beautiful tail. We had a bit of a rough start, but things got easier! Look, that's the barge I spoke to you all about!"

"Sweet! I'll drive!" Caelus cheered.

"Uh-uh, just sit back, relax, enjoy a snack. All Amicassadors know their way around a starskiff." Tingyun hummed, "Please take your seats, everyone! We'll be right on our way!"

"Ugh... I was perfectly calm until she volunteered to help." March muttered before nudging y/n, "Hey, y/n, can you drive one of these."

Y/n didn't reply, still silently fidgeting with her hands.

March let out a quiet breath, "Oh boy... that can't be good. Quiet y/n is never a good y/n..."

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⋆　　　。　　 ⋆。　 ඞ 。　 . • . . ⁎ 。　. 　。　.　　⋆. 　　。 .　 .　　 . ⋆. 。. ⁎ 。•　 　ﾟ　　。

After reaching Starskiff Haven, the Cloud Knights who had been escorting Tingyun had to leave. Although, they were sure to thank y/n for her help and even invited her to a little restaurant Cloud Knights would go to regularly.

"If you're a Cloud Knight, there's bound to be something about you there. No matter what Xianzhou Ship you served on!"

Y/n would most definitely go there!

If she hadn't been sulking and completely missed the name, she would've headed right there immediately.

Eh, she'd find it eventually.

None of Tingyun's words reached y/n as she stared at Starskiff Haven in silence, taking it all in. The scents, the sights, the sounds, the taste of the air, the feeling of the breeze and the path beneath her feet.

Familiar, very familiar.

When she closed her eyes, she could feel a larger hand  holding hers, the two of them running and it a bit of a hurry. Not because of danger— well, typical danger.

Rather the danger of an angry mother who was not informed that they'd be out just enjoying the sights when y/n was supposed to be studying, and her older brother was meant to be resting before his training began once more.

Y/n heaved a sigh, 'Oh... I remember that...'

"We need to make a few preparations before laying a visit to any of the six commissions." Welt was saying, as y/n forced herself to start paying attention again, "Rest assured, Miss Tingyun, we won't go anywhere. I'd you could inform Madam Yukong of our arrival beforehand. We'll meet you at the palace entrance later."

Meet who at the where when what now?

"Mm... very well..." Tingyun murmured after a long moment of thinking, "Farewell, my dear hero, and her companions."

With that, Tingyun walked off.

Y/n watched the fox lady go before giving Welt a look, "You're tired, Mr. Yang. Is it the sudden wave of new information, or the fact that you haven't been on a trailblazing mission in a while."

"Heh, you noticed... a little bit both, let's all catch our breath for a while." Welt replied with a warm smile, "We should rest while we can, since we can expected a packed schedule ahead of us."

"Bet! Let's look around the city!" Caelus chirped with a little excited hop, "I wanna try