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For Yuè <3

Back dated to take place during the Ravorn Festival!

Stirred she did within her sleep, until Izumi realizes she could not win this battle. It pained her to even close her eyes that night — the cougar with the terrible grin had forbid a restless night when she needed it the most. The feeling of their claws embedded into her flank as she fled still felt far too fresh; worse than when her feet had left the cliff.

It already happened far too many moon cycles ago to count — yet why did the memory haunt her dreams so? It was not the first of times that the crane had almost lost her life, this should be nothing! Her clan grew and the samurai her heart burned for were both returned to her. Izumi had everything she could've wanted within her paws once more — and yet,

The nagging feeling that she could risk losing it all again haunted her most of all. The cat that wished her death that day being a symbol of that while it stalked her dreams and kept her awake.

Leaves rustled as she left Osamu's side — who seemed to have fallen asleep himself near her. Yet she was carful as her dainty steps led her towards the outskirts of the territory to sit near the boarder's edges. Drained of rest and irritable as can be.

Yet the moon's soft glow seemed to calm her, and so did the serenity of the quiet night…

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Nor could Yue sleep, but it was not nightmares that plagued her.

Once in her life, grand festivals were commonplace. They seemed to be the way to celebrate anyone who had come to visit – a banquet, gifts, dances, performances – and to be so suddenly submerged in all of the things she had once held so dear, had nearly put her under a spell.

It was like being home once more, and not in Verdant’s Grace, and not Tianlong of old. It was like home-home, the Liangqiu palace, where she was raised. It was all so different, of course, but in so many ways it was the same.

No, Yue could not sleep when all was so thrilling!

She tried not to be open about how amazed she was, wondering if it would make her seem too inexperienced and virginal in the ways of the world. And, in many ways, yes it was true! She knew her court and she knew the ways of Tianlong, but anything beyond the threshold of her palace was unfamiliar.

The woman broadened her worldview with every step she took.

The Eastern Empress walked the grounds, having missed her communion with the moon. It was dreadful that so much endless travel could afford the nighttime to be spent sleeping; and those nights she could not find sleep, she knew that she must at least feign rest, knowing it would be all that fueled the next day of walking.

But with their stay with Ravorn, came several days and nights of rest and gaiety. The prey and other foods were all but chewed for her, and there were many others to take the attention off of her own gravid self.

On this night, when sleep evaded her, she knew she could do far more than lay in bed, inert and eyes closed, hoping that meditation could be a good replacement for dreams. She had so much to tell the moon; and the moon was waiting for her.

Near the outskirts of the territory, she found someone else – she called herself Empress, and adorned herself in wisteria. It was all she knew of the woman, the most surface details; but it seemed that their surface details reflected one another so clearly. It was most intriguing. Probably part of the spell of this place...

“Salutations, Empress," the orchid greeted, believing she had heard notes of Lady Kaede's own language passed amongst others at the formal celebration. Fur gleaming bright, her head dipped in deference; this was not the first time she had greeted one who led another dynasty, and it would not be the last.

“What a pleasure it is to know you. I am Téng Yuè, Empress of Tianlong Dynasty."

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Within the quiet night, a voice broke the song of serene silence which surrounded her. Yet it was not a harsh interruption in the slightest — rather, it seemed to blend in with the blissful serenity quite nicely. Gentle and feminine. As if the moon itself spoke to her in hushed whispers; with her own tongue, no less. Though it was no voice that belonged to one of her own people, as the cranebird did not recognize this lith at all.

Izumi turned to face the stranger who’d approached her and seemed to already know of her status. It was a woman of similar stature — adorned in moonlit silvers and greys that appeared to glow within the sky’s light. Eyes of frosted lilac met those of a similar hue, and she carried herself with a high-borne elegance that made Izumi assume her status — and she was correct. あなたは私の故郷の言葉を話しますが、その名はあの土地の響きを持っていませんね。その発音は見事なものです、女帝よ。 (You speak my hearth’s tongue, yet your name isn’t of it’s cadence. I praise you for your pronunciation, Empress.) Izumi says, lowering her crown to dip her head in the similar respect she had shown her.

Empress Yue — so this was one of Tianlong’s rulers…

Gekirin had told the cranebird of their home within the southern parts of Mythiris. Admittedly, she was not expecting a group who she assumed lived quite a distance away to be within the heart of the woodlands, but this would do, too. The Empress had been curious of the southern dynasty for quite some time ever since her grand councilor had made mention of them. 私は藤原王朝の女帝、藤原泉――もっとも、あなたにはすでにその見当がついていたようですが。 (I am Izumi Fujiwara — Empress of the Fujiwara Dynasty, though something tells me you already had an idea of that.) She quips, offering a gentle smile within the woman’s direction. こちらこそ、喜びです、月（ユエ）女帝。 (The pleasure is returned, Empress Yué.)

Izumi smelled something off of the woman’s fur, too. A strong surge of hormones — though she could be wrong. For now, she does not address it. Instead, turning to cast her gaze back towards the moon.

ローナン卿の催しを、これまでは楽しんでいらっしゃいますか？遠路はるばる、よくぞお越しくださいました……。 (Are you enjoying sir Ronan’s festivities thus far? Surely you have come a long way…)

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The Empress was a stunning beauty. In these moments, Yue found it necessary to reckon with her oh-so-haughty preference for those of royal birth. Yes, commoners were similarly lovely in their dazzling variety – Batu, for instance, had become one of her most valued constituents – she felt seen and understood by other Royals, even if they did not hail from the same culture as she.

Was that true though, Yue wondered placidly as she looked upon the woman’s white face, with stark black features that were expressive and interesting to watch. Immediately, the orchid was struck with a feeling that Empress Izumi likely had an education similar to hers. Needed to put her dynasty before her own wants. Must marry for political advantage, rather than love.

It put Yue at ease, to think that both she and Empress Izumi were kept awake late at night, and likely not because they had feted until the wee hours. No, their minds were busy ones, shouldering so much weight of their family’s pride.

No, she and Izumi were not so different. Even their languages, though not similar, held the same lilting qualities that were disparate between Mandarin and Common. Yue knew it well, almost as well as Mandarin. “I have practiced it since I was a child,” she accepted the compliment with grace, returning a beaming smile that could only result from a fine mind being recognized by another.

“Now, it is the native tongue of one of the most learned ladies of my court.” Yue had always been fascinated by Lady Kaede, who had become one of her closest confidants over time. She then wondered how difficult it was for the woman to abandon her language for that of another, and thought that she should introduce these two.

Kaede had traveled across the continent, and deserved to reap the rewards as well.

In truth, Yue assumed that Izumi had close to no idea of Tianlong. Yue, however – Yue knew. Besides what Teng Yue had seen at the celebration, there were latent memories that were clouding her awareness, providing more familiarity with that wisteria-adorned woman than was rightly deserved.

“Empress Izumi, please… allow me a moment…”

And her eyes closed, to permit such information to rise to the surface of her cognition; memories willing to fill the sudden, small void. It came to her after a matter of moments. “You have a brother, named Taro? A prince, yes?” Yes! The one who had befriended the gruff Keshan as well as the lovely Lian, and had even stewarded the wayward Princess home safely.

If this was a true blood relation, then Yue could not have enough compliments for the Fujiwara bloodline.

The empress from Tianlong too glanced towards the moon, knowing from its high position that it was near midnight, and wondered if Yuèzhuō 's eye was upon it, too.

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