#jai chen

[yerinarelius]

some cradle doods(les)

[kingsonne-zedecks]

Thirty Years too Early, Seven Years too Late

Wei Shi Lindon was twenty-three years old when the mountains fell.

They did not fall without warning, though none had been equipped to understand what was coming. The shaking of the earth was the first sign, each quake coming stronger and more frequent than the last, but the Clan Elders had suspected foul play on the part the Kazan, the host for this Seven Year Festival. Debates had been held as to whether or not the Wei should even attend the Festival given the obvious posturing of their enemy, but in the end it was decided that to refrain would be to show weakness. Instead they had brought their Clan out in force to attend the Festival, and not merely as a show of strength.

Tensions were high as the competition matches went on, everyone could feel it, everyone was on edge. For his part, Lindon had been more grateful that he hadn't been expected to fight, than focused on the potential for an attack. The previous Festival had been an exercise in humiliation, for both him and the clan, and neither desired a repeat.

It had been worth it though, he had thought, with his hand clasped tight around the copper badge he now wore. Disgraceful as his actions may have been, they had gotten him his path at last, even if his badge didn't show the hammer he had always longed for. More than the badge, was the freedom from his status as Unsouled, and all that such change brought with it. His other hand fell to his side and clasped the gentle fingers of the woman that stood by his side.

Unsouled were forbidden to court, let alone to marry, but Lindon had found companionship with an outsider, a woman from beyond Sacred Valley. Jai Chen had understood his struggles, reflected as they were in her own. She too was now free. Her brother had acquired her a vial of Grandfather's Tears nearly two years past, and the sacred elixir had repaired her ravaged channels. Chen had walked with Lindon to the festival under her own power, and Lindon could not have been more proud.

When the sky turned yellow with the overwhelming power of Earth Aura, chaos unfurled. The Wei, determined to counter the plans of their ancestral enemy before they could come to fruition, attacked with all their forces. It was a bloodbath. Despite the assumptions of the Wei Elders, the Kazan were as caught off guard by the changing sky as they were by the attack, and suffered massive casualties before rallying.

Though the sky may have not been their doing, the aura was still to their strength. Kazan rulers harnessed that power and massacred the Wei in their counter offensive. Even the Li were not content to remain bystanders, striking at backs of Wei and Kazan alike, determined to come out on top, as had been the way of Sacred Valley for a thousand generations.

In the moment, Lindon would have described it as feeling like the end of the world. His Foxtail wreathed blade flashed over and over again as he fought back to back with his sister Kelsa. They fought not for the honor of the clan, but for survival alone.

When the Beast stepped through the hills between Mount Samara and Mount Venture, Lindon learned what the end of the world truly meant. The tidal wave of earth displaced by the giant swept across the Valley with the sound of a billion tons of crashing earth. In an instant, the territory of the Wei clan was simply gone, buried beneath a hundred of feet of dirt and stone.

The chaos of battle was nothing compared to the pandemonium that followed. Lindon couldn't even bring himself to feel shame when his sister tossed both him and Chen over her shoulders and ran. The speed of her Iron Body far beyond what Lindon could have matched, even with his abilities as an enforcer.

They and a crowd composed of panicked Sacred Artists of every rank and every clan stormed the halls of the Golden Sword School, seeking shelter. Jade guardians attempted to block their path inward into the mountain and were torn to shreds for their efforts, letting the mass of humanity pour into the ancient passages beneath the earth.

Dust and rock fell from the ceiling as the walls and the very mountain above them shook beyond what it felt the world should be capable of bearing. It felt as if the great beast was clawing its way through the stone, determined to reach them. Wei, Li, and Kazan alike had spread through the rooms and halls, scattering away from their rivals seeking a place just for themselves to hole up in and defend. Lindon never knew what became of the others. He, Kelsa, and Chen had been running down a hall when the walls came alive with scripts flaring and flashing. The door before them vanished, and so did the shaking of the world.

Silence fell in an instant, and moments later a new door had opened. For hours they had wandered, before they found an exit.

Wei Shi Lindon was twenty-three years old when the mountains fell, but he did not perish. He and his family exited the halls at the depths of the world into a city of dragon bones, and lived.

In which The Wandering Titan showed up early, and Li Markuth late (or not at all rather)

[the--grin--reaper]

Lindon's pull is actually crazy. Also why is it mostly Akuras.

[atlasaurelius]

Minor Spoiler for Cradle but its not that big so

GUYS GUYS GUYS I JUST REALISED SMTHN

SO IN UNSOULED WHEN SURIEL SHOWS LINDON THE VISION OF HIS MOST LIKELY FATE:

"More years silently slid by, and Lindon saw himself sitting on the edge of a roof under the stars, side - by - side with a girl he’d never met. She had a wide, open smile. He passed her a bottle, and she drank. Now they stood together in the Hall of Elders, both wearing red, with a white ribbon tying their clasped hands together. The First Elder said something and everyone laughed, but the vision - Lindon gazed only at his new wife."

tHEN WE GET TO BLACKFLAME:

“We could…go west,” she suggested hopefully. (as in, Sacred Valley) He started to tell her no, but hesitated. She was referring to a legend. In the mountains to the west of the Desolate Wilds, there was supposed to be a hidden valley that occasionally emerged to trade with the outside. The inhabitants were weak, but protected by a curse. Jai Chen had been obsessed with the legend since she was a girl."

THEN WHEN LINDON MEETS JAI CHEN, HE THINKS HE RECOGNISES HER:

"Lindon was staring at her again, but at least it was at her face this time. “This may sound terrible, but have we met before? If I’ve forgotten you, I apologize, but you seem familiar to me.” Jai Chen had heard about him from her brother, but she’d never seen him in her life."

THEN WHEN SURIEL IS OBSERVING WHAT LINDON'S DOING:

"Lindon killed a Highgold, initiating a rivalry with a young man named Jai Long. Good. Pressure would help him grow. His sister was more interesting: she would have met Lindon in a few more years, if not for Suriel’s interference."

AND IT'S CANON THAT JAI LONG AND JAI CHEN GO TO SACRED VALLEY EVENTUALLY, SO EVEN WITHOUT SURIEL'S DISRUPTION THEY WOULD HAVE GONE THERE

TO FIND THE WEI CLAN

AND LINDON

JAI CHEN AND LINDON WERE SUPPOSED TO FALL IN LOVE AND GET MARRIED BEFORE SURIEL INTERRUPTED

[theav0cadobaby]

Anyone cry during this scene.

[the--grin--reaper]

Ship Names !! (Symbolic edition)

Voidblade - Lindon/Yerin (Canon)

Dreamlight - Kelsa/Jai Long (Canon)

Soulcane - Seisha/Jaran (Canon)

Frostedge (MINTIM) - Min Shuei/Timias Adama (Canon)

Swordwing - Cassias/Jing (Canon)

Puredragon - Lindon/Chen (Uh? Partially canon? Alternatively thread of fate canon? I guess?)

Lifearmour - Meira/Kiro (Canon? Idk?)

Graceflame - Grace/Lindon (One sided/Unrequited)

Ghostmalice - Lindon/Malice (Malice has canonically flirted with Lindon multiple times but he rightfully finds it yucky)

Puremercy - Lindon/Mercy (Pride thinks this one is canon but also one sided/unrequited on Mercy's side. I think)

Prideflame - Pride/Lindon (I find gay pride jokes funny)

Mindice - Min Shuei/Charity (Old lady yuri)

Thundereyes - Yushi/Cladia (Idk anymore. Lovers to enemies yuri)