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[bringingdowndisaster]

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[bringingdowndisaster]

"I know you will not," she responds. She has full faith in her best student.

Xue Yang sticks close to Xiao Xingchen as they walk. They're given curious glances and friendly greetings from the other disciples, but Xue Yang responds to neither. He's wary by nature, and this situation is too new and different for him to know how to handle.

[gentledawn]

Xingchen gives his Master a parting smile before leading Xue Yang to the building where he rests with some of the older disciples. He opens the door and ushers his friend inside.

"Let's get you warmed up." he chuckles at the wariness, "No one here means you harm. They're all good people, I promise."

[bringingdowndisaster]

Xue Yang scoffs. "Sounds like something a bad person would say to trick someone." But there's a playful edge to his voice.

At least it's warmer and nicer inside.

[gentledawn]

"I didn't mean for it to..." Xingchen frowns and reconsiders his words, "You really are safe. Anyone here will help you if you ask it of them." he hurries to build up the fire, nodding at the unused bed.

"That one is yours." and it is near his.

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Xue Yang snickers a little. "Don't take it so seriously, gege. I was joking." Mostly.

He slumps down on the bed Xiao Xingchen points out. It's definitely an improvement from sleeping on the streets. "Now what?" he asks, looking expectantly at Xiao Xingchen.

[gentledawn]

It's the mostly that worries him. Xingchen makes them tea and holds out a steaming cup to his friend.

"Now we decide your strengths and your weaknesses." he shifts Shuanghua so he can sit on a cushion on the floor, "Your mind is sharp. Quick, I would say. You are cautious and don't trust easily. I think strengthening your defenses would be productive."

[bringingdowndisaster]

Xue Yang takes a sip of the tea and immediately makes a face. Too bitter! He puts it on the bedside table for now.

"How would I do that?" he asks.

[gentledawn]

This boy lives on sugar, doesn't he. Xingchen hides a smile behind his tea cup and drinks the hot brew carefully.

"We need to focus on your Golden Core. I can help you sense it."

[bringingdowndisaster]

Pretty much!

Xue Yang nods, eager to learn. "Show me."

[gentledawn]

Setting his cup aside, Xingchen brings Xue Yang's hand to his chest, calling his core to the surface. Light and warmth will encircle the other boy's hand, healing and full of life.

"This is mine."

[bringingdowndisaster]

Xue Yang's eyes go a little wide feeling the warmth encircling his hand. Oh, he's definitely feeling it. The warmth is strong and strangely comforting.

"Yeah... I feel it."

[gentledawn]

"I want you to close your eyes and concentrate on your heartbeat." Xingchen holds Xue Yang's hand against his chest, "Your core exists alongside that beat, traveling through your veins and giving you life and energy."

[bringingdowndisaster]

Xue Yang follows Xiao Xingchen's instructions and closes his eyes. He tries to focus on his heartbeat, but he's never been very good at sitting still and focusing on something like this. It goes against all of his instincts. Makes him anxious.

He ends up clutching at Xingchen's hand before opening his eyes and letting out a frustrated noise. "I can't do it!"

[gentledawn]

The frustration and clutching encourage him to leave his pillow and sit on the bed beside Xue Yang. He cups the boy's face between his hands and smiles soothingly.

"You're too aware of the outside world. I won't let anything or anyone hurt you. I give you my word." Xingchen gently covers the boy's ears - but not hard enough that Xue Yang can't hear him, "Block out the world. I'll guide you this time."

One of his hands lowers to Xue Yang's chest and he slowly calls forth that wild Golden Core.

[bringingdowndisaster]

Xue Yang tenses a little when Xiao Xingchen touches him, but those hands are so warm and his expression so painfully sincere that it's hard not to trust him. He'll never forget what happened the last time he trusted a cultivator, but so far Xiao Xingchen has been nothing but kind.

Slowly, hesitantly, he wills himself to relax a little. Eyes close, and then he lets himself follow Xiao Xingchen's guidance.

It's easier this time. He starts to feel something bloom in his chest, something warm and almost soothing. So, he really does have one... He'd been afraid to actually believe it.

[gentledawn]

That won't happen again. Not with Xingchen and not on his watch. His hands are gentle when he touches Xue Yang, barely making any contact. When the other boy gives him his tentative trust, Xingchen smiles and does what he can to draw out Xue Yang's Golden Core.

Oh it exists. It just hasn't been Cultivated yet.

"This is yours. With practice, it can become as strong as - or even stronger than mine."

[bringingdowndisaster]

Xue Yang's eyes have gone rather wide with wonder. He can feel the core inside of him like a living thing. That such warmth could exist within him...

"How? I mean... how do I practice?" he asks, maybe a little too eagerly.

[gentledawn]

"We harness its power and use it for spells." Xingchen is utterly charmed by those wide eyes, "It's like a muscle. The more we use it, the stronger it will be."

[bringingdowndisaster]

"You're gonna have to show me how," Xue Yang insists. He's feeling very eager to learn. Actually being able to feel his own core like this... it's given him a boost of enthusiasm and hope that hadn't been there before.

[gentledawn]

"Of course." Xingchen grins at the insistence, "Let's start simple. Do you see that candle on the bedside table?" he moves to guide Xue Yang, first, through the motions, "Use the heat you feel from your core to start a fire."

He whispers the incantation into his ear so the candle isn't lit accidentally by him.

[bringingdowndisaster]

Xue Yang stares at the candle and focuses on the warmth inside of him, trying to imagine the candle lighting up. He then says the incantation, and... the candle lights up. Xue Yang's eyes widen in surprise and awe. "Holy shit. Gege, it worked!"

[gentledawn]

"Of course it did." Xingchen smiles warmly, proud and touched by Xue Yang's enthusiasm, "Your core is good. It just needs time and practice to be great." he stretches out a hand and snuffs the candle, "In the same way you lit the candle, you can heal another and yourself. It's about energy transference."

[bringingdowndisaster]

"Healing...?" Xue Yang frowns a little as something occurs to him. "I think I've done that... before. Healed myself. But I didn't realize." He's been injured a lot in his life, but no matter how bad his injuries, he's never had a wound get infected. He had figured himself to just be lucky, but maybe his golden core had prevented it.

[gentledawn]

"You have?" Xingchen is worried that injuries have occurred, but considering the life Xue Yang had been living, they are likely a given, "Were you badly hurt?"

Golden Cores are good at staving off infection and speeding wound recovery. Even stab wounds can be healed in a remarkably short amount of time.

[bringingdowndisaster]

Xue Yang shrugs. "Yeah, sometimes. But I never got an infection and sometimes injuries healed really fast." He probably would've died long ago if not for that, honestly.