Grizzly<p>"Another charge. This will be the last." A distant, cold voice echoed in Shen Yuan's mind. The warmth of the hand that had cradled him, tangible yet immaterial, was slowly fading as he took his first breath. It had been a long time since his lungs last filled with air. </p><p>Tis body was different from his last one, taking over the necessary function once he got used to the rhythm of it. His ribcage expanded with every inhale, the malleable bone, cartilege, and flesh a welcome return to a past long turned to ash. The memory of it was frayed at the edges, time having taken its toll.</p><p>Opening his eyes, Shen Yuan adjusted to the dimness of the room slowly. The silhouettes of the furniture were familiar, but only distantly so. As though he only knew them from vague recollections of secondhand sources with hazy pictures. His bleary surroundings were lush, but not over-stated, expensive, but sensible, and the room sang with a natural flow of energy unimpeded by poor Feng Shui.</p><p>On his forehead lay a cool, damp cloth, and his body was sticky with perspiration. Taking stock of his digits and limbs, he found himself in a bipedal hominid, remniscent of only a handful of his previous assignments. The urge to ooze to his feet still lingered from the last one.</p><p>As he pushed himself up a woman entered the room. Her arms were full with a second basin- presumably filled with water- and a handful of spare cloths. She gasped at the sight of him, quickly depositing everything on a nearby low table and hurrying over to him.</p><p>"Master Shen, Sir, don't strain yourself!" she cried. Her unexpectedly strong hands helped him sit up, rearranging his pillows for him to lean against. Newly upright, his world spun on its axis. Shen Yuan waited out the disorientation until he could hold himself aloft without her help. </p><p>He didn't recognize her worn, round face. That wasn't an uncommon occurence for his first few hours in a body. Typically if the previous occupier was particularly unwilling to leave, it would take longer for Shen Yuan to adjust, the body remembering the fight or flight of being unceremoniously wrenched from the home it had known so well, and as such it needed more time to accept him. That was fine; Shen Yuan knew by the aches rippling through him that he'd been in bad shape not even an hour ago. </p><p>Replacing a soul was nasty business. It left behind wounds that could not be seen, but that smarted for long after. It was only fair that things were not as perfect and seamless as they tended to be in stories, he supposed.</p><p>"Where is the boy?" Shen Yuan asked, his voice gruff and alien to his ears.</p><p>The woman turned white, plummeting to her knees with a sickening crack.</p><p>"My Lord, please," she begged. Tears and snot streamed down her face, "he didn't do anything! He was locked up in the storage cupboard all of yesterday! It couldn't have been his fault!"</p><p>Shen Yuan sighed. This was going to be a rough cycle, he could already tell.</p><p><a href="https://blorbo.social/tags/svsss" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>svsss</span></a></p>