A Servant's Flame ˒ Jing Ke x Date Masamune ᘛ Idle Huntress 𓇬 Destiny Girl ᘚ

✎⠀ ̼ ̼ ⠀ ⠀꒱⠀⠀𓆩𝟷𓆪 Bleeding Oath

"That's what I'm trying to figure out, actually. Do you know anything about me, perhaps?" I ask while surveying my surroundings. All I could see was an infinity of purple with warped colors swirling around stars and branching deeper into the dark. Its galaxy-like backdrop, oddly enough, made Date's outline glow.

"Unfortunately I couldn't gather anything about you." Date's face goes blank as she pushes a couple flyaway hairs behind her ear.

I naturally bring my gaze down to my hands. Raising them, I scrunch the joints of my fingers into my palms. As I push down harder, I focus on the intricate details of my skin. The lines, the dips, the curvature of my nails. I release the pressure and then examine my lap where my cheongsam lies.

My eyes welled up in tears. Instinctively, I bite my lip and run my fingers across the silky, red fabric. I let the pads of my fingertips take in every gold embellishment along with its respective rhinestones. It has been years since I've seen this dress. I remember...

I remember?

I don't– who helped me put this on?

A flood of memories crash against my forehead and I recoil from the sudden pain. Pale fingers were braiding and pinning up my hair. In the mirror, her blonde hair was beautifully tied up in a ponytail and her top, a pure white, framed her legs perfectly.

"You're safe now Jing. You're okay now."

"...okay?"

Date pokes my cheek.

"...you okay?"

I rapidly blink until Date comes into focus. "Are you okay?" Her voice sounded urgent this time with the prodding getting heavier.

"My apologies. I..." I furrow my brows, unable to explain exactly what I saw. "My name is Jing. That's all that I can remember." I watch Date pull her hand away with a defeated look on her face.

"So..." Her lips shift a couple times. "You really don't remember anything? Like, anything at all?" She presses harder.

"No, nothing. And you still don't know anything?"

"Usually people know how they die before coming here. Of course there's cases like yours where they only remember a little bit, but I've never seen a severe case like this," Date goes on to explain, but my heart sinks.

I take a moment to let it settle. With a chuckle I respond, "first my sight, now my death?" I try to make light of the situation, but my heavy grimace probably gives it away. I want to say that this isn't possible at all, but fighting facts won't solve anything.

An appalling surge of pain threads around my forehead, just like before, this time the pain marinades and orbits around my skull, striking intensely in certain areas.

The pain forces me to bundle over and land on Date's hands, luckily she extended them towards me.

"Oh no! Jing, are you okay?!" She rushes to pull me up and starts to wave my face with her hands. "I'm sorry! I had no idea you didn't know that you didn't know that you were dead! Shit, how can I help?" Date scrambles to find the words as she darts her head around every which way.

Date snaps. "Aha! A subject change!" She points towards the sky with a smug look on her face, but just as quickly as it went up, her fingers rest on her chin as she goes deep in thought. "Uhm...?" She purses her lips as we both fall into a silence.

The only thing that could be heard was the natural hum that resonated with the world, like a slow whir of a ceiling fan in the middle of the night. In an odd sense, it was comforting. The grass felt nice against my hands and the air felt pure.

To try to relieve the headache, I run my hand over my forehead and push against the pressure points on my temples and near my eyes. It wasn't completely effective, but it was enough for me to try to think back to the events that occurred before now. I replay back to the feeling of falling. Then, the thud, just trying to make sense of how and why.

"...is really pretty! Uhm, can you hear me?"

I shake my head slowly. I was so ingrained with my thoughts that I barely noticed Date's attempts to make small talk.

"Has anyone told you how pretty your hair is? Like, your natural brown hair looks amazing through the dark maroon! I don't know anyone who can do ombre colors like that, I always found it really difficult," Date speaks passionately while swirling her hair around her slim finger.

I couldn't help but smile at her efforts to break the awkwardness growing between us. A wave of comfort threads through my nerves. Though the soreness in my body and the headache was still prevalent, I did eventually ease the tension within myself.

"You do? My mistress helped me do it. Her and this lady, I think her name was Carmen, fixed up my hair and even found me this beautiful outfit! I'm beyond grateful for the two of them. They were by my side anytime I needed anything." I glossed over Date's attire once more, but my eyes fell on something rather intriguing. "Your eyepatch. It reminds me of a mask I used to wear. I find yours beautiful, where did you get it?"

Date's complexion widens with a small spread of blush rushing into her cheeks. "Oh! Maybe we're not so different after all!" She gleams. "I don't know where my family got this. It's been in my generation for many generations! I just said generations twice, whoops..."

I begin stretching my arms out. "You're too cute, you know that?" I swallow a build up in my throat and then realize, "oh, I could use a drink about now, actually–"

"I KNOW A TEA PLACE!!!" Date jumps up onto her feet. Sparkles highlight the blue in her eye and her cheeks rise in the biggest smile I've ever seen. "I think you'd love it! Do you love boba?!" She presses her face closer towards mine, our noses only centimeters apart before she gracefully pulls away. "Oh, whoops. I mean, uh. I know a place!" She softens her grin; she was bad at holding back her excitement.

"I don't mind boba at all! I'm only akin to regular black tea though. I wouldn't mind expanding my palate. Besides, I'm curious what this place has to offer." I push myself off from the ground. However, once I bring my head up I wince from the immediate whiplash.

"Oh no!" Date's arms scramble themselves together before finally latching onto me into a secure embrace. "You shouldn't stand up so fast! Take it easy will you?" Her forehead creased in worry.

"Sorry. I'm trying to fight this killer migraine. Is this normal for newcomers?"

Date looks away and thinks for a while before answering, "Traveling to another realm can take a massive toll on anyone, much more on someone who isn't used to it, so. I would assume yes, but since you don't have your memories like everyone else had, that could correlate to your headache being so prolonged." Date's tone shifts up a pitch along with a shrug. "Either way! I'm taking you to a place where you can fully relax and you don't have to worry about a thing!"

I find myself oddly engrossed as she speaks. The way her lips move, the way she stresses certain words and syllables, and how she moves her hand with her facial expressions. It was strangely hypnotic. Only a feeling I've ever experienced with my mistress.

Date breaks this trance by pushing her fingers against mine and then leading into the vast expanse. Her pace kept sharp–focused on the destination rather than the trip. She would switch between skipping to speed-walking sporadically. It was difficult trying to keep up with someone so energetic.