Exalted: Episode 4: Reflections of Summer Love (Part I)
I am so behind on keeping this up! So to inspire me to get the next three episodes finished (I've been distracted a lot lately...), here's the first part of the missing Episode 4! (Putting in the Episode 4 slot made the most sense for the story flow, I think...).
Previous Episodes:
House Nellens does not have its own wing at the Imperial Jade Palace--instead, the descendents of the Empress' most favored consort must make do with a separate mansion on the other side of the city....
Genshaku: "Uhhhhggg… My head."
Genshaku: "And it wasn't even that great a party… couldn't have been, not if I'm waking up alone. Dammit. "
Genshaku: "Why do I smell linden blossoms…? Citan isn't….. Oh. That's why."
Genshaku: "Oh, Citan, Citan, Citan…. You just never give up, do you…"
Genshaku: (inhaling deeply) "That scent… it clings to everything he touches."
Later that same day....Citan's apartment in the House V'neef wing of the Imperial Jade Palace...
Ren: "This just arrived, by private messenger. I'm sorry, my lord."
Citan: "He didn't even crack the seal. Thank you, Ren."
Citan: (Speaking to the letter, as if by some means he can make its intended recipient listen) "Oh, Genshaku. Why do you insist on acting like such an absolute ass?"
Citan: "Why do I even keep on writing to him...."
Citan: "It's not like I don't know where he lives, or whose parties he is most likely to attend, or which brothels and gambling dens he tends to favor."
Citan: "Might as well admit it... I'm a coward, that's why. All he does with my letters is return them unopened... I think I'm afraid to find out what would happen... what he might say.... if I confronted him face to face."
Citan: "Maybe what we shared that summer doesn't mean anything to him… not like it did for me."
Citan: "Maybe he doesn't remember.... but I do."
Citan: "I remember.... "
Citan: (narration) "My parents had decided that their plans for my future required me to have a military education, so I was going to go with Taran and Tchiat to become a cadet at the House of Bells."
Citan: (narration) "Genshaku, much to his annoyance, was being sent to study with the Immaculate monks at the Cloister of Wisdom-apparently his family thought he needed to develop some humility. "
Citan: (narration) "Given that he'd not only become the youth Gateway champion of the most prestigious prefecture in the Realm at age eleven, but also managed to hold on to that title until he Exalted at age fourteen… Well, to be fair, humility never was his strongest virtue. "
Citan: (narration) "I had invited him to spend those few weeks of summer with me at our family estates in Ventus prefecture, a journey of several days by river barge.
"It was the best summer I can ever remember. We were no longer considered children, by virtue of our own Exaltations, but due to our youth, were not quite adults either-as a consequence, we had a lot of freedom and very little responsibility, and we made the most of it...."
Citan: (narration) We went for long rides in the country, watching the peasants working in my family's vineyards and attempting to lose our bodyguards at every opportunity.
Citan: (narration) And of course, testing various vintages to see which ones went best with our favorite foods….
Citan: (narration) We practiced using the gifts the Dragons had bequeathed us, especially when one of us could catch the other off guard....
Citan: (narration) On the hottest days, we took refuge in the library, pretending to study, or went swimming at the lake.
Citan: (narration) We played Gateway with my cousin Vespa Genshaku even helped her win once in a while, as well as flirting with her outrageously…
Citan: (narration) And we stayed up late every night, just talking… or plotting on how we could rescue Zihan from his lonely archivist post....
Citan: (narration) ...Or how the five of us could meet up again after our schooling was done, and go adventuring in the Threshold, fighting Anathema or looking for lost magical treasures from the First Age…
Citan: (narration) We snuck out at night to watch for falling stars-a sure sign of blessed souls returning to Creation for their next life as Dragon-blooded heroes.
Citan: (narration) All too soon, it was the week of the Calibration Festival… which meant our summer vacation was almost over. We had new kimonos in our elemental colors and were allowed to attend the festivities with the other Exalted adults for the first time. Though I should have known Genshaku was up to something when he suggested we leave the wine-tasting party early and go back to our room.
That was the night my summer really started to get interesting….
TO BE CONTINUED....
Previous Episodes:
- Episode 1: On the Shadow Road (Part 1)
- Episode 1: On the Shadow Road (Part 2)
- Episode 1: On the Shadow Road (Part 3)
- Episode 2: Bad News Travels Furthest and Fast
- Episode 3: Thicker than Water
- Episode 4: Reflections on Summer Love (Part 1)
- Episode 4: Reflections on Summer Love (Part 2)
- Episode 5: The Games of Court (Part I)
- Episode 5: The Games of Court (Part 2)
- Episode 6: The Eyes of the Dragon
- Episode 7: The Road Not Traveled (Part I: Ayame's Remedy)
- Episode 7: The Road Not Traveled (Part II: Ayame's Reflections)
- Episode 7: The Road Not Traveled (Part III: Ayame's Regrets)
House Nellens does not have its own wing at the Imperial Jade Palace--instead, the descendents of the Empress' most favored consort must make do with a separate mansion on the other side of the city....
Genshaku: "Uhhhhggg… My head."
Genshaku: "And it wasn't even that great a party… couldn't have been, not if I'm waking up alone. Dammit. "
Genshaku: "Why do I smell linden blossoms…? Citan isn't….. Oh. That's why."
Genshaku: "Oh, Citan, Citan, Citan…. You just never give up, do you…"
Genshaku: (inhaling deeply) "That scent… it clings to everything he touches."
Later that same day....Citan's apartment in the House V'neef wing of the Imperial Jade Palace...
Ren: "This just arrived, by private messenger. I'm sorry, my lord."
Citan: "He didn't even crack the seal. Thank you, Ren."
Citan: (Speaking to the letter, as if by some means he can make its intended recipient listen) "Oh, Genshaku. Why do you insist on acting like such an absolute ass?"
Citan: "Why do I even keep on writing to him...."
Citan: "It's not like I don't know where he lives, or whose parties he is most likely to attend, or which brothels and gambling dens he tends to favor."
Citan: "Might as well admit it... I'm a coward, that's why. All he does with my letters is return them unopened... I think I'm afraid to find out what would happen... what he might say.... if I confronted him face to face."
Citan: "Maybe what we shared that summer doesn't mean anything to him… not like it did for me."
Citan: "Maybe he doesn't remember.... but I do."
Citan: "I remember.... "
Citan: (narration) "My parents had decided that their plans for my future required me to have a military education, so I was going to go with Taran and Tchiat to become a cadet at the House of Bells."
Citan: (narration) "Genshaku, much to his annoyance, was being sent to study with the Immaculate monks at the Cloister of Wisdom-apparently his family thought he needed to develop some humility. "
Citan: (narration) "Given that he'd not only become the youth Gateway champion of the most prestigious prefecture in the Realm at age eleven, but also managed to hold on to that title until he Exalted at age fourteen… Well, to be fair, humility never was his strongest virtue. "
Citan: (narration) "I had invited him to spend those few weeks of summer with me at our family estates in Ventus prefecture, a journey of several days by river barge.
"It was the best summer I can ever remember. We were no longer considered children, by virtue of our own Exaltations, but due to our youth, were not quite adults either-as a consequence, we had a lot of freedom and very little responsibility, and we made the most of it...."
Citan: (narration) We went for long rides in the country, watching the peasants working in my family's vineyards and attempting to lose our bodyguards at every opportunity.
Citan: (narration) And of course, testing various vintages to see which ones went best with our favorite foods….
Citan: (narration) We practiced using the gifts the Dragons had bequeathed us, especially when one of us could catch the other off guard....
Citan: (narration) On the hottest days, we took refuge in the library, pretending to study, or went swimming at the lake.
Citan: (narration) We played Gateway with my cousin Vespa Genshaku even helped her win once in a while, as well as flirting with her outrageously…
Citan: (narration) And we stayed up late every night, just talking… or plotting on how we could rescue Zihan from his lonely archivist post....
Citan: (narration) ...Or how the five of us could meet up again after our schooling was done, and go adventuring in the Threshold, fighting Anathema or looking for lost magical treasures from the First Age…
Citan: (narration) We snuck out at night to watch for falling stars-a sure sign of blessed souls returning to Creation for their next life as Dragon-blooded heroes.
Citan: (narration) All too soon, it was the week of the Calibration Festival… which meant our summer vacation was almost over. We had new kimonos in our elemental colors and were allowed to attend the festivities with the other Exalted adults for the first time. Though I should have known Genshaku was up to something when he suggested we leave the wine-tasting party early and go back to our room.
That was the night my summer really started to get interesting….
TO BE CONTINUED....