Shen - The Dragon's Mask

[01:57] <Shen> Later on, after talking with Ziulong about his plans and going through some ideas he had for his more Water-based kung fu, Shen found himself approaching the Metal temple. Though unlike when he had originally come before his trip he knew where he was going now, especially with the aid of his seeking mist that lit the path before him.
[01:57] <Shen> He entered the temple, the padded soles of his boots lightly thumping against the different metals making up the floor. He searched the surrounding area with his chi, hunting for its mentor.
[02:09] <~Deedles> He could sense Taishin's chi, located by one of the walls, from his position he was sat with his back to the wall. "... If you're looking for Meilin she's upstairs in the study." he called out to Shen, his tone muted.
[02:12] <Shen> Shen came to a short halt at the mans words, he stood there for a moment in silence as he studied the man.
[02:14] <~Deedles> Shen felt the emotions inside Taishin, they were conflicted and sad. There was a lot of confusion, and yet some certainty, the man obviously deep in thought.
[02:16] <Shen> Shen did not want to disturb his thoughts, though feeling the man so conflicted he could already guess the answer to what he would ask. He returned a simple nod in thanks as he continued onwards towards the study.
[02:18] <~Deedles> The door to the study was open, Meilin sat furthest in at a table by the window, her face currently resting in her hands, her elbows propped onto the table. She was breathing slow and steady.
[02:19] <~Deedles> Her emotions were also conflicted, happiness and relief, mixed with sorrow.
[02:21] <Shen> Shen's footsteps patted against the door as he docked gently against it. "Meilin." he greeted quietly, not wanting to disturb the gentle, reflective silence of the temple too much.
[02:21] <Shen> floor*
[02:24] <~Deedles> Meilin raised her head as she heard Shen's voice "... Shen..." she smiled faintly at him as she rose to her feet, her hands quickly rubbing her eyes.
[02:26] <Shen> "I'm sorry to intrude again." he said quietly as he mirrored her feint smile. "...Especially at a time like this."
[02:28] <~Deedles> Meilin shook her head "It's fine." she assured him "I... didn't expect much else." she confessed before she pushed her hair back. "But you're not here for that, are you?"
[02:32] <Shen> "If you need, it can be... but thats not why I came, no." he blankly gazed at her with a look of regretful understanding as he approached her from the doorway.
[02:35] <~Deedles> "I appreciate the offer, but I'll be fine." Meilin said softly as her smile saddened "I'm more concerned for Taishin, he's rather confused right now after regaining his memories." she explained to him, her hands gently hanging by her sides. "Getting it all back, now when he loves someone else..." she trailed off.
[02:53] <Shen> Shen fell silent as she said that, his stomach prickling with a strange sensation. It was not something he expected from the wall of a man, though he could guess the feeling now that he thought about it. "I can imagine its a lot to go through, even for him." he nodded in a quiet agreement. "Time is the only thing that can really help him now." he mentioned as he thought about the issues he had with his blindness.
[02:58] <~Deedles> "Yeah, he has a lot to process. I would be happier if his new love brought him happiness, but it's unrequited." Meilin said, before she shook her head. "Anyway, you're here for your mask, right?" she said as she gave him a small smile.
[03:04] <Shen> "Of course." Shen bowed his head slightly as he smiled in confirmation, at first he seemed like he wanted to say more but thought it was probably best to leave the topic there. It really wasn't any of his business.
[03:08] <~Deedles> The Metal Mentor headed for the door, gesturing for him to follow as she passed him. "You have a curious mind..." she commented as she glanced back at him. "Is there something else you wish to ask?"
[03:20] <Shen> "Both and blessing and a curse." he admitted with a feint smile. "No, I'll leave that for time as well." he decided as he followed her, the mist sweeping gently across the floor behind her and the back of her feet so he could follow with little problem.
[03:38] <~Deedles> She lead him up another set of stairs, to where the large forge was, though currently it was out. Several pieces of metalwork hung on the walls, weapons, armour, even some masks, but Meilin walked past the anvil, table and forge, heading furthest into the room to take something off the wall. "I put a lot of time into making it. Some of my finest work..." Meilin told Shen as she moved up to him, holding the mask forward.
[03:51] <Shen> Shen followed her through the temple, when they reached the forge he felt somewhat sad that he couldn't fully appreciate her craftsmanship when it came to those on display, but he had a good enough idea. As she stopped and presented the mask, Shen took it from her hands and rubbed a hand over it, tracing its detail with his fingers.
[04:00] <~Deedles> It was a mask in two parks, joined together by small, but sturdy, joints. He could feel the grooves and crevices of the top part of the mask, the smooth surface of where the eyeholes would usually be, and thick spikes rising from the top of the mask, three on each side, getting smaller as they went further to the side. As he felt lower he got to the point where the two parts of the mask joined, feeling jagged spikes of varying sizes,
[04:00] <~Deedles> that still followed a pattern; fangs. As he had felt it all it became more and more clear in his mind what it was - A dragon's face.
[04:08] <Shen> "It's perfect." he smiled as he constructed the picture in his mind, his mist spilled over it to give him a much more general image to attach it to. He detached the pieces from each other, it was quite intuitive even for his blind self. He first fixed the jawguard onto his face, fitting snuggly and comfortably around his jaw and neck.
[04:08] <Shen> He then donned the face mask, setting it into place with an angled shove and an audible, but soft click. "For you to say such a thing, I am truly honoured." he commended, flexing his jaw as the combined mask flexed seamlessly. "Thank you, Meilin."
[04:10] <~Deedles> "You're welcome, Shen. It was quite an interesting project, and I know how important masks can be to the Storm Dragons." The Metal Mentor said, a small smile curling across her lips as she added "A dragon for a dragon, it felt fitting."
[04:18] <Shen> "It definitely feels fitting." he agreed, emphasizing the pun with a soft laugh. "You're right, this means a lot to me." he stated in reply to her statement as he ran his hand over his newly covered face. "Fear to my enemies, but courage to my allies." he nodded, tugging at the jaw guard a little to test if it shifted.
[04:18] <Shen> He exhaled mist as well, making sure the jaw would work properly, and it did, even better in fact as the mist caught on the fangs and billowed out from the sides of what made up the mouth.
[04:21] <~Deedles> "I'm glad you're happy with it." Meilin told him honestly as she studied him wearing the mask, feeling a special sense of satisfaction at seeing one of her creations in use.
[04:43] <Shen> "I'll be sure to tell others who made it if they ask." he grinned back at her slowly, the odd sight of a dragon grinning looking somewhat odd as he stood there. "I'd best be moving on, I need to get ready for the trip to Jinlong." he bowed sparsely like a man allergic to formality as he turned, heading back towards the door they came through.
[04:43] <Shen> He stopped before leaving and turned back to her. "I hope you haven't forgotten about our talk before though."
[04:47] <~Deedles> "I haven't, and while I love him still that also means that I need to learn when to let go. He's well aware how I feel, to do more than that would be me pushing him... If I truly love him I can't do that to him." Meilin answered as she smiled softly, sadly. "He learnt the same, when he protected the Empress..."
[04:57] <Shen> Shen said nothing as he hung in the doorway, turning fully towards her. He understood now, even if that fact didn't make him feel any better. "Or you could make him realise again why he loved you in the first place." Shen suggested quietly. "Persistence is not pushing when it comes to your feelings... He may know how you feel, but that isn't as good as feeling when it comes to the heart."
[04:57] <Shen> Shen nodded to himself as he thought about it. "If he loved you once, he will love you again. Don't give up." he encouraged.
[04:59] <~Deedles> "I'm not, but I'm being patient. Right now he's confused, and with his heart divided he feels it would be unfair of him to come back to me, because he feels that it would be simply because the Empress never returned his feelings." The Gentle Blade laid a hand on her heart "It aches as it waits, but once he's had time to sort out his mind I hope he'll come back."
[05:07] <Shen> He watched her through his senses as he sighed lightly, almost hopelessly, through the metal teeth of his mask. It wasn't a sigh of frustration though. "Be as patient as you want, Master. Just don't do, or not do, something that you will regret for the rest of your life. You already lost him once." he pointed out honestly with a soft voice.
[05:07] <Shen> "He will come back to you though... The Empress is already spoken for." his words a mixture of certainty and reluctance.
[05:12] <~Deedles> Meilin's eyes widened faintly as Shen said that, a thoughtful look flickering across her face before she tilted her head to the side "Is that so?" the edges of her lips quirked, but she noticed his expression and nodded. "I won't pry." she concluded.
[05:22] <Shen> Shen shook his head in dismissal as stray mist escaped his jaw, he leant up against the doorframe and crossed his arms. "I'm not afraid of how I feel about her or who knows it. I worry for Taishin, of course, but my path is intwined with hers. It is not a path I plan to give up." he stated plainly, honestly. "Selfish as it may be, I truly love her."
[05:26] <~Deedles> She nodded as she took a couple of steps close, her hand resting on the opposite side of the doorframe. "He knows that she isn't for him, he realized that long ago. He said that he was a brother in her eyes and while it made his heart ache it meant little if he could keep ensuring she was safe." she gazed across at Shen, emiting a subtle laugh "The only thing I would worry about is what he'd do to you
[05:26] <~Deedles> if you broke her heart, but, considering what you said, I suspect that is something you would never let happen."
[05:31] <Shen> "It would only be breaking my own heart in the process. I'd rather die first." he admitted with a faint sigh and a smile as he thought of her hopeless seduction attempt. He lifted his head to look right at her eyes with his hidden ones. "He no longer has to worry about her, the task is on me now..."
[05:33] <~Deedles> "For what it's worth, I think she is in good hands." Meilin told him as she smiled faintly.
[05:50] <Shen> "Thank you, Meilin." he replied a little awkwardly at the compliment. "If I can't protect her with these hands then I have no right to love her. Empress or not." he nodded slowly as he pushed himself off of the doorframe and continued walking. "Just as Taishin would be a fool if he didn't return to you. I only know one fool and it isn't him." he chuckled.
[05:52] <~Deedles> "Thank you, Shen." Meilin replied, her voice quiet as she turned back to look at the objects hanging along the walls in the forge. "Take care of yourself."
[05:54] <Shen> "And you." he returned with a sigh as he walked off.
[05:56] <~Deedles> As Shen was heading down the stairs to the entrance hall he met Taishin around the middle of the way "Hey." He greeted him calmly, seeming more back his normal self. "Nice mask, Shen." he complimented as he came to a brief stop by the Storm Dragon.
[05:58] <Shen> He had almost forgotten that he was wearing it and that Taishin was there until the mans words brought him out of his thoughts. "It's good to see you again." he chuckled back to him, still very glad to see him. "Thanks, I had Meilin forge it pretty specifically."
[06:00] <~Deedles> "She did a good job... As usual." Shin said as he tilted his head to the side before he patted Shen on the shoulder. "And it's good to see you too, but ..." he trailed off with a dramatic sigh "Though our love runs deep and strong, Shen my love, I need to go speak to Meilin." he jested with a grin.
[06:04] <Shen> He nodded in agreement. "She did." he admitted quite happily, looking back at him. "I think you're confused though, my friend." he grinned slowly, the twisted expression of the dragon as he continued walking past him. "I'm not the one who loves you."
[06:05] <~Deedles> Taishin uttered a silent sigh, his playful demeanor melting away "Yeah... You're right about that." he agreed as he continued in the opposite direction, walking further up the stairs.
[06:06] <Shen> "Taishin." Shen called back to him on the stairs as he stopped.
[06:07] <~Deedles> The tall man stopped as he turned around to look at Shen "Yeah?" he asked
[06:09] <Shen> "For both your sakes... Don't make her wait too long." he finished calmly as he continued walking. "That's a fight you can't run off on a horse from." he replied, his meaning strong, however jestful.
[06:12] <~Deedles> Taishin was silent for a bit after Shen said that, looking up the stairs that he was on as he nodded "I know... and once we leave, probably tomorrow, I won't see her again for a long time..." he agreed quietly.
[06:15] <Shen> Shen remained quiet as he left, he had nothing else to say to the man... for now.