My eventual contribution to Yangvik Week - sneak peek

Yangchen is no stranger to trouble with sleeping. Recurring dips into one past life or another, often consisting of reliving the worst moments of their life, made her dread the nighttime ever since she was a little girl.

(“Jetsun, stay with me! I don’t want to have a nightmare again!” she begged, tugging on the yellow fabric.

Her sister let out a long suffering sigh, wincing at the loud volume of Yangchen’s pleas.

“This is the last time. I can’t stand you kicking me all night.”)

If it was possible in any way, she’d forgo sleeping altogether to get more things done - not even to add more to her name and legacy, but to eliminate the potential of failure or regrets for not doing a certain step while she still had the time.

Her ancient spirit may be eternal regardless of what horrors it witnesses, but Yangchen’s body, however well accustomed to discipline and her demands, is still just as fallible as that of all her predecessors. She can’t break its limits, not if she still wants to have a functioning vessel of her will.

Thinking of herself in terms of sheer practicality is a habit she should leave behind, Yangchen knows that. However many people seem to regard her as some untouchable, omnipotent entity, even more so after her involvement in all of shang cities became more extensive, she’s still a human being, needing food, sleep and company.

An interesting detail about it is that gaining the last part greatly improved how well she is able to take care of the rest.

“I brought some of your favorite,” Akuudan passes her a bowl of warm soup.

“You look absolutely awful. Are you running for the ‘Avatar who died the youngest’ prize?” Yingsu remarks dryly.

“How about switching to a tea that lets you actually sleep more than a blink?” Kavik scoffs when he notices Yangchen carefully taking small, measured sips from her special brew.

She ignores his recommendation, of course. There’s too much to do and she needs all the focus she can muster.

Perhaps it’s to be expected that her body does occasionally give out and, as she’s already used to, Yangchen will wake up with no recollection of what happened earlier. Thanks to abbess Dagmola, she knows all about the abnormalities of her sleep patterns; sleepwalking has never been one of them.

However, if the last thing she remembers is working above the paperwork past midnight, it’s quite unlikely that she should find herself in her bed, carefully - affectionately, even - wrapped in blankets.