[ A laugh, and Hua Cheng waves his hand for him to continue as he reaches for the tea. He can keep going, and he'll keep listening to the story. Commit it to memory. If this is a story that Claude has chosen to tell, then, well, clearly it's important, isn't it? They're cut from the same cloth, keeping private.
And what a terrible ending, many would say. No place to belong? No world for a beast?
Hey, ugly monster!
The amusement is still there, but dark, bitter, and he takes a sip of his tea as the story settles into place. Even without that tinge of hope that he can feel, it's obvious there's more to this particular tale. How could there not be, if the storyteller is still here to tell it? And mortals still have so much time to change their fates, for better or worse, against what odds they think are stacked against them. ]
This boy doesn't sound like the type to just sit down and let this sort of thing pass. If no world would accept him, then... what was his next step?
[ Hua Cheng can guess, thinking of the walls he built, the foundations planned, the city that he made with his own two hands. ]
He became someone else. He took up a new name and created a new identity. He showed everyone his gift and claimed his birthright. Even though there were people who doubted who he was and tried to find out more, they never thought to look in the right places. They thought so highly of their own kind, they never considered the boy could be from anywhere else but within their own lines.
(He still isn't sure if he should be flattered or insulted by that oversight. Even if they doubted who he really was, he'd impressed them enough to the point they would have never considered him to be anything but another Fodlander. Maybe it's a bit of both. Either way, it worked out in his favor. )
The boy studied their culture, learned their traditions, and embraced their beliefs. He fell more in love with his new home each day. He embraced the people in that land, the good and bad. One would think he was truly one of them! But the boy never forgot who he was or where he came from. When he praised their heavens, he still whispered to the earth and when they told him their truths, he held onto his own.
In time, he came to realize if he wanted to truly be himself, he would have to change the world and he came up with a plan...
(His voice trails towards the end, and he takes a sip from his tea,)
And, well, that's it for now. What happens after is another story.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
And what a terrible ending, many would say. No place to belong? No world for a beast?
Hey, ugly monster!
The amusement is still there, but dark, bitter, and he takes a sip of his tea as the story settles into place. Even without that tinge of hope that he can feel, it's obvious there's more to this particular tale. How could there not be, if the storyteller is still here to tell it? And mortals still have so much time to change their fates, for better or worse, against what odds they think are stacked against them. ]
This boy doesn't sound like the type to just sit down and let this sort of thing pass. If no world would accept him, then... what was his next step?
[ Hua Cheng can guess, thinking of the walls he built, the foundations planned, the city that he made with his own two hands. ]
no subject
(He still isn't sure if he should be flattered or insulted by that oversight. Even if they doubted who he really was, he'd impressed them enough to the point they would have never considered him to be anything but another Fodlander. Maybe it's a bit of both. Either way, it worked out in his favor. )
The boy studied their culture, learned their traditions, and embraced their beliefs. He fell more in love with his new home each day. He embraced the people in that land, the good and bad. One would think he was truly one of them! But the boy never forgot who he was or where he came from. When he praised their heavens, he still whispered to the earth and when they told him their truths, he held onto his own.
In time, he came to realize if he wanted to truly be himself, he would have to change the world and he came up with a plan...
(His voice trails towards the end, and he takes a sip from his tea,)
And, well, that's it for now. What happens after is another story.