Wen Reian

2005 years after The Long Night

Jingshén

Reian was blushing bright red as he whispered to Yi-jun...

"L-let go! You're hugging me too long-"

The King was the last in a long line of people who had clung on to Wen Reian, some happy and some crying as they said goodbye for the next few weeks. Reian thought it was all a little silly, as he would be back very soon and was only going as far as South Jiezhî.

Now though, with Yi-jun's arms around him, feeling the steady beat of his heart through their clothes, the boy realised that so many days away might actually be more difficult than he'd thought.

"I'm going to miss you, Wen Rei..." Yi-jun said.

Reian smiled, finally being released from the tight hold only to be caught again by the King's forlorn eyes. Reian felt a hint of guilt tug at his heart, but there wasn't anything he could do. As part of his completion of Jingshén's training, he and the other graduates were to travel alone to some place they'd never been. It was their tradition. And if while on this adventure you found a place you were needed for whatever reason, it wasn't uncommon for disciples to end up not coming back.

Reian looked back at his home as he, Xie De, Sun Xieren, and Jin Yu, who was invited eventually after much begging, stood with their belongings at the edge of the trees.

He saw Master Hao waving, a proud smile on his face. The little ones were clinging to each other, sniffling, and Xie Yi-jun was watching Reian with those dark eyes as always, looking inside him.

Reian didn't doubt that he would return. His life was here, and in a few short weeks he would come back to it. For now however...

"Doesn't it feel like we're far too young to be doing this?" Sun Xieren said.

The boy was only a little younger than Reian and had lived in Jingshén since he was three. With an affinity for light magic, he was somewhat of a prodigy among the disciples, yet this fact seemed to only make him kinder.

Pushing a few strands of his dark hair that was streaked with highlights of gold, the boy stared back at Xie De, who was running around like a chicken with his head cut off, back and forth between the trees and then in circles around poor Jin Yu who was glaring at him.

"On the contrary!" Xie De said loudly, "I myself feel as if I've been breathing for a thousand years and have never once experienced real life-"

Reian smiled, "That's because you equate life with love."

Jin Yu seemed to giggle which made Xie De shoot him an angry glance.

"Not true!"

The boy grumbled a few more times but then seemed to give up. The four of them went on like that for several hours, stopping every now and then to drink water and eat. It wasn't until the sun was nearly setting that they finally saw the telltale signs of their border state; Lêung Shãn, through the trees.

"Brrr..." Xie De shivered.

Reian wrapped his arms around himself, aware of the chill in the air as their path gradually led them onto a pebbled road and towards the Transitory Door that led into South Jiezhî.

After being told several times by the Masters that as visitors they'd need to pass through this door and leave offerings to the old Gods, the four boys had come prepared.

As Jin Yu and Reian stopped to admire the intricate carvings on the blue-birch doors, A'Yu likely remembering a time in his life when he'd lived on the other side of them, Xie De and Sun Xieren placed their gifts of food and wine on the altars.

They each said a quick prayer, eyes closed, and once that was done Reian held his breath and pushed the door open. Immediately a gust of cold air hit them, Reian squinting his eyes until the scene before him finally sunk in...

Snow-

It coated the streets, the tall slanted roofs that were two, three, even five stories high! With the pink and yellow sunset on the horizon, everything from the people walking by to the ice crystals dangling from the eaves, it was all tinted with the softest glow. A color that felt like the town itself was blushing at their sudden arrival.

Xie De was obviously the first to express some kind of awe, grabbing Reian and Jin Yu's arms and pulling them further in, toward the bulk of the evening traffic.

Merchants and business owners sold items from within their stores, with little shuddered windows along the streets, unlike the stands they'd seen in Sanlín City.

The people here were also vastly different...

The stereotypical Northerner was never hard to spot; a stone-faced man in elegant dress and appearing to be thinking of nothing at all. These people were so associated with the royal family from The Xuêshan Dynasty, that Reian actually stopped a few times in shock when he saw them on the streets!

Aside from these people, of course there were the townsfolk, which never quite differed no matter where you seemed to go. Busy mothers and their frantic children, young teenagers playing and fooling around...

The more they walked and looked at things in this brand new place, the more Reian and his friends grew enchanted with their similar and yet vastly different ways.

One look at them as well, and it was obvious they were from out of town. This caused a group of young children to become fascinated with the four new cultivators, gathering around them in a tight circle and demanding with the sweetest, most well-meaning emotion-less gazes, everything about where they were from.

"We're visiting from Jingshén!" Xie De exclaimed proudly.

The children clearly knew what it was, for upon hearing the name their eyes grew wide.

"My mother says that's where you go when your parents die, is that true?!"

"Well, not exactly-"

"We've had visitors from there before!" Another piped up, "They usually stay at the Inn down the road. Every couple years there are different ones!"

Wen Reian smiled at the children. He was already beginning to miss those back home, and an ache filled his chest as he thought of them, as well as Xie Yi-jun waiting for him...

"While we're here," Sun Xieren said. "Is there anything noteworthy we should be aware of? Any cultural differences or practices? I wouldn't want us to make fools of ourselves-"

They all laughed, but the children's response was clearly spoken with a sense of humor and curiosity...

"No! Just make sure to be quiet after dark, otherwise the Guardsmen will think you're out making a mess and lock you up!"

Reian and Jin Yu shared a glance that meant they'd need to keep a close eye on Xie De...

"Thank you very much!"

With that, the four of them received directions at once to the aforementioned Inn, Xie De and Sun Xieren going inside to book a room while Reian waited patiently outside with Jin Yu. His friend was staring absentmindedly at the ice crystals hanging from the roof, seeming even more quiet than usual.

"Hey," Reian bumped his shoulder. "What's on your mind?"

The boy had begged quite intently to accompany the three graduates on their journey, and Master Hao wasn't one to break Jin Yu, Reian, and Xie De up...

A'Yu shrugged and Reian was about to drop the subject, when suddenly an impish grin spread across the younger boy's face as he reached out and broke off one of the icicles!

Reian was startled at first, but then he smiled when he saw the stance of the other boy's feet.

He wants to battle!

Reaching up and grabbing his own weapon, Reian assumed a typical fighting position, placing his "sword" horizontal in front of his eyes.

The cold of the ice burned his hand and from his palm, water was slowly dripping, but then Jin Yu was giggling, striking out with his "sword" and touching it ever so lightly to Reian's.

Like that, they practiced a very simple fighting match for the millionth time, one that was taught to the younger boys when they got old enough to want to learn...

The memory of playing in the dorms with A'Yu and Xie De hit Reian hard and he felt himself return to his twelve year old self, desperate to work diligently and prove himself to his masters and friends.

"Hey!" Jin Yu called, still laughing when Reian bent down and grabbed a handful of snow, throwing it up into his friend's face.

"That's cheating-"

"What are you two kids flapping around about?"

Xie De's voice from inside the Inn drew their attention, and when Reian and Jin Yu saw what their older brother held in both hands their mouths nearly dropped open.

Xie De grinned, shaking the two bottles vigorously.

"Come inside, if you dare, and we'll see which of you are real men!"

Some reluctance and hidden excitement later, the four of them were seated around a low table of food and various alcohols that Xie De had purchased for... scientific purposes?

Jin Yu, as the youngest, was offered to go first. He swallowed an entire cup of the strong smelling liquid with a straight face, claiming to feel no effect. This of course prompted the others to do the same, however Reian was certain that after two cups he was already getting a little blurry.

What began as a curious exploration of their new-found adulthood, escalated to the point that all four boys were now in various states of chaos...

Reian was having trouble keeping his eyes open, leaning his head in his hand and every few moments smiling. Because, well... to him everything seemed funny.

Xie De was the loudest, which was expected, though he kept alternating between ecstatic excitement, and uncharacteristic melancholy, grabbing his companions faces and demanding to know "what was wrong with them-"

Sun Xieren was similarly laughing at everything with Reian, while Jin Yu appeared to feel no different, watching the others with innocent curiosity.

"Are you... okay????" Xie De was currently in a downward spiral, holding Wen Reian by the shoulders and looking quite alarmed.

Xieren giggled, staring at them with glazed over eyes as Reian tried to push his friend away to no effect...

"NO!" Xie De suddenly exclaimed, raising a finger.

"SHHHHHHH!"

He seemed to be shushing himself then after a moment he frowned, staring deep into Reian's tired eyes as if he was trying to look inside his soul.

"You're not my friend anymore," Xie De pouted.

Reian's intoxicated brain found that very funny and he grinned, reaching up to pinch Xie De's nose between his fingers, something the older boy found very annoying.

Xie De let him do it now, saying in a muffled nasally tone;

"You have a NEW friend-"

Reian tried to think but when Xieren laughed again, appearing to be examining a pear that was on the table, Wen Rei couldn't help but do the same.

"No..." he giggled, lowering his hand.

Xie De glared at him.

"Tell me honestly... Ren Weian! Ren... Wen... who are you?! You're not my friend!"

Reian grinned, "I am your friend!"

When he reached out for Xie De, the boy suddenly launched himself into Reian's arms, tackling him to the ground and smiling.

"Then who is Xie Yi-jun to you?!"

Once again flying high, now it was Reian's turn to feel upset and frustrated. Trying to push the boy off of him was useless, as he was having trouble breathing with him sitting on top of his chest.

Sun Xieren and Jin Yu were of no help, as the younger was currently struggling to keep Xieren from drinking even more-

"Weian... hmm?!" Xie De was begging. "Just say it-"

Reian was too confused and exhausted to remember what he should definitely keep a secret versus what was common knowledge. From his point of view, Xie De should already know how Reian felt about the King, and asking him now like this was more annoying than anything else.

Managing somehow to roll to the side and push Xie De off him, Reian laid there, blinking into his friend's glassy eyes as they stared at each other.

Why is he asking me this? He's so silly...

Reian and Xie De were nose to nose, on the brink of falling asleep, but Xie De was still pestering Reian, tickling him like he used to do when they were kids-

"Xie Ge!" Reian huffed, feeling his irritation grow.

Xie De sighed, "Then just tell me..."

Reian pouted. He didn't understand now why his friend couldn't already guess. Jin Yu certainly had.

"Fine," he glowered.

Xie De smiled and closed his eyes, wrapping his arm around Reian's back and clearly about to fall asleep. From somewhere in the room Wen Rei could hear A'Yu muttering something about how the three of them would definitely be needing a hangover remedy in the morning...

Reian just blurted out whatever he could think of, whatever he imagined Xie De wanted to know, probably far too much-

"I'm not Songcai, but I love Yi-jun. He loves me too, in the ways that he can. My heart hurts when he hurts, and it's happy when he smiles. I want him to be mine, but if he could go home and be happy, even if it meant I could never know him, I'd want him to go. I would still love him even if he'd died back then. I still love him, even though he still loves someone else..."

Through the haze of exhaustion, Reian thought he could hear Xie De say something in return, but he wasn't sure what it was. Maybe; it's okay-

Reian realised as he drifted off like that on the floor, with his friend wrapped around him like ivy, that it was okay. He was okay, and Xie Yi-jun was okay. And in a few weeks he would see him again, and maybe eventually Yi-jun would decide that he was okay, maybe even happy.

That was what I wished for after all, wasn't it?

That's what I wish for...