Resonance

It’s a bright and sunny day in Liyue harbor – a good day to have a stroll and partake on the daily goings-on of the place.  The children are out and about, the traders are brimming with energy, and the ships come and go with their passengers or goods.

Keqing bears witness to all this as she goes on her unofficial patrol.  She’s the Yuheng, sure, but it’s always good to have firsthand knowledge of the condition of things.  This is something Ningguang also does, unbeknownst to most.

‘She’s probably doing it now,’ Keqing thinks, picturing the Tianquan clandestinely walking about the area.  A quick thought of wanting to come across the latter flashes in Keqing’s mind.  She’s quick to reject the unvoiced idea, resolving instead to acquire a cool drink to sate her thirst and allay some of the heat from the day’s temperature.  She sees a nearby street food stall and beelines for it.

Once refreshed, Keqing continues her walk around the harbor.  She notes the varying situations of everything she passes by.  She also notes the different people, some of whom she recognizes, and even stops to have a small talk with a select few.  This she does to stay informed, but today also to ascertain if her eerie feeling of having two shadows – one really her own, the other she’s to find out soon whose – is true.  After her fourth stop, she determines her hunch completely founded.

She carries on with her walk, pace unchanged.  It’s much easier to surprise that way, after all – lulling a person into a sense of comfort before lunging towards them.

A clash of blades.  Keqing is surprised but ultimately thrilled at the proof of skill.  ‘They’re good, whoever they-’

“Beidou!?”

“Yuheng,” the other says back as greeting.  “Fine day for a spar, don’t you think?” she asks with a toothy grin before she puts her weight forward to push on Keqing.  The latter jumps back, fully aware of the disparity between her and Beidou’s raw physical strengths.  Good thing fights don’t solely rely on that.

“Are you sure you want to do this here?  Lots of witnesses around.  That’s sure to kill your reputation.”

“Hah!  You talking about yourself there, Yuheng?”

The said woman scowls at the utterance of her title.  She mentally checks herself for letting the other woman get to her that way.  It’s one way to lose a contest, when one gets right down to it.  Keqing doesn’t know Beidou that well, but she won’t put it past anyone to use any and all tactic to gain advantage.

What the smaller woman does know about the taller one is her power.  She is wielding a claymore, after all.  So, with her grip on her sword tightening, Keqing braces herself for what will surely be a vigorous onslaught by the raring Captain of the Crux.  ‘Speed versus strength.  This will come down to strategy then.’

And the two go for each other at the same time, their bellows drowning out the different sounds of cheering, scurrying, and panicking in the area.

They swing their respective weapons.

…but their blades meet a different solid thing.  It makes them stop and survey what happened.  And right there, before them, is a screen intricate in its design yet sturdy in its stand.

“How irresponsible,” the two hear a woman say.  It’s spoken evenly, but they know the woman enough to register the irritation there.  They turn towards her and see cold red eyes look from a pipe being twirled then up to them.  The woman gets up from her perch and walks up to and then past them.  She doesn’t say anything, but the two follow her nonetheless.

The woman leads them to Liuli Pavilion, where they are welcomed enthusiastically and accommodated in one of their rooms instantly.

Neither Beidou nor Keqing dare speak until the woman has finished placing orders and they’ve been left alone.  They don’t get to mount their defenses so easily, however.

“So,” the woman starts, “would you mind filling me in on why you two were so keenly setting to cause substantial damage?”

“Oh, come on, Ningguang.  Have a little faith, won’t you?  There wasn’t going to be any damage.  It was a wide-open area.”  Beidou says, getting to speak up first.

To be fair on her end, Keqing doesn’t really want to answer.  She doesn’t know how or why she was so easily suckered in to a fight in the middle of a square populated with innocents.  She’s sure she has more sense than that.

Ningguang notices the stubborn determination not to answer behind the Yuheng’s total silence.  ‘It’s sinking into her.  Good.’ the Tianquan thinks.  She lets Keqing mull things over more and directs her attention back to the more problematic of the two.

“I do have faith in you, Captain,” she finally responds.  “I have faith that you’ll cross every sea if you must in order to fund the reparations you yourself would have gotten into had I not interfered.”

“Such devotion,” the Captain says dryly.

“As one is wont to get for always starting a fight,” Ningguang responds as dryly.

“Hey! I wasn’t the one who just suddenly jumped to attack this time.  I was only defending myself.”  Beidou counters, holding her hands up and glancing from one company to the other.

“Mm, you certainly didn’t stop its escalation, though.  What was it?  Ah.  ‘Fine day for a spar, don’t you think?’”

“Ah, you know me, I always respond accordingly.”  Beidou grins.  Ningguang levels her with an unamused look.  A look that too quickly shifts upon hearing an up-to-now repressed voice.

“I apologize… for my behavior.”

Red eyes turn towards the source of sound.

“I don’t know what came over me, but that doesn’t excuse what I’ve done.  So, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go and sort this out.”

Of course, she will.  She won’t be Keqing if she doesn’t do the morally right thing.  Ningguang expected this response as much.  So did Beidou.  Synchronously, they heave a sigh.

“There’s no need,” Ningguang tells Keqing.  “My secretary is already there tending to matters.  ‘A show of strength, to scare those who are lurking in the shadows,’ was the suggestion.  It’s a good one, considering it’s on the fly.”

Keqing stares at the white-haired woman, who’s currently busying herself with pouring tea for them.  There’s a line about constant scheming in the back of her head that Keqing squashes immediately.  She’s not going to be ungracious right now, and so says, “You have my gratitude.”

“I humbly accept,” Ningguang tells her, eyes snapping up to hold hers in a soft gaze.  “But I find that there must be something more, don’t you think?  Considering what happened…”

The shorter woman takes an involuntary gulp, memories rushing back to encounters past where Ningguang laid down terms of exchange proclaimed as “options.”

‘They are options.  You can always choose not to take them.  There’s no such thing as having “no choice” – it’s just a matter of not having a good one.’  Keqing recalls with alarming clarity.  It stings how the Tianquan is right.

“So, what would you have us do then?” is the sudden query made by the then spectating Beidou.  Keqing turns to her and sees the latter’s arms crossed in front of her chest.  There’s an odd look of disinterest at first glance, which then turns to annoyance as the Captain keeps her eye at the Tianquan.  Curiosity piqued, Keqing glances at Ningguang.

It’s then she sees: the Tianquan’s fan spread open in front of the lower half of her face, obscuring from view what Keqing, and Beidou also, knows is a predatory grin in full bloom on her features.

“Oh, just off with it, Ning!  The sooner you tell, the sooner it can be done.”  Beidou demands impatiently.

“I believe I’ve already said so.” Is the coy response.  “But, let me say again, just so we’re all on the same page.”

Ningguang makes a show of closing her fan, tapping it on one palm after doing so.  “The ‘show of strength’ earlier serves both as a preview and a warning of the united front of the Qixing, along with its trusted partner in the Crux Fleet.  But such display is merely a taste, an appetizer.  And in order to gain the full trust and confidence of the people, the main course must be served.”

Keqing goes wide-eyed.  “You- surely you don’t mean to-”

“Oh, but she does surely mean to: make a spectacle of us, that is.”  Beidou pipes up, glaring at the white-haired woman who’s sipping on her tea.

The said woman calmly puts her cup down after and regards her companions in like manner.  “Who better to reassure our people and strike fear in our enemies’ hearts other than the Vanguards of Liyue standing side-by-side?”

A string of expletives that would put even a sailor into a deep blush gush out of Beidou’s mouth.  Keqing is shooting daggers with her glare.  But Ningguang takes it all in stride, merely keeping that maddening smirk she has, as she moves to stand from her seat.

“Don’t you fucking dare move!  We are not done here!” Beidou warns the Tianquan, aware the latter means to leave her and the Yuheng alone in their misery.

Ningguang takes intentionally slow steps towards the door leading out of the room.  She turns to look at the two once more.  “Looking forward to the full show,” she says with a sly smirk before finally leaving the visibly fuming duo.