A Means to an End (WangXian)

Don't Drop Me!

He may be too terrified to fly on his sword, but he wasn't going to let this disciple get hurt in the process.

The disciple was pulled under by the maelstrom and he quickly started drowning. Wei Wuxian hurried towards him.

"Wei Wuxian!" his brother cried. It got the attention of both the Lan brothers and they turned to check on the situation.

Wei Wuxian ducked under and quickly grabbed hold of the disciple. He used his core to form a small protective barrier around himself, something he had learned to do with resentful energy, but it wouldn't last long, not with the waterborne abyss attacking him so viciously. His head breached the surface of the water. "Jiang Cheng!" he called. His brother quickly came to his aid. He passed the unconscious disciple to his brother, but before he could get out himself, the barrier broke and the creature wrapped itself around him and dragged him under.

"Wei Wuxian!"

"Wei Ying!" The two called in unison.

There was not much Jiang Cheng could do. The disciple in his arms was unconscious, he couldn't simply dive in after him without making the situation worse.

Luckily, he didn't have to.

Wei Wuxian felt the familiar pulse of resentful energy. He could never forget the way that it had felt. It was dark and cold. It felt like a million insects were crawling all over his skin. It pricked him and made him feel like the insects were devouring his blood with no intent of stopping. He stared with blurry vision at the greenish-black tendrils that wrapped thickly around him. He wondered if he could still control the energy. It was a skill perhaps he couldn't forget so easily.

He reached out to the swirls of resentful energy, partly reminiscing and partly wanting it to take him over, like he should have let it do in the burial mounds before the war.

The pain he suffered was innumerable, and the acts he committed left an even deeper scar.

A hard yank on his collar choked him, and he quickly got pulled out of the water and into the air.

He gasped for breath, but the moment he saw he was in the air, he panicked. "Don't drop me!" he cried. He reached behind him and unintentionally dug his nails into the hand that held his collar. "Lan Zhan, please!"

Lan Wangji could feel him tremble. His body jerked and his voice was raspy as he spoke, coughing up the remaining water. "Lan Zhan!" he kept crying out, and it sent a wave of panic over Lan Wangji. He quickly adjusted his grip on Wei Wuxian. He pulled him up, so he could stand on the sword in front of him. Wei Wuxian quickly gripped Lan Wangji tightly. It partly stole the breath out of Lan Wangji, and he hesitated on what to do.

He could feel the racing heart rate of the boy clutching him so tightly. He knew he needed to get him to land as soon as possible. With that in mind, Lan Wangji gripped him tightly around the waist to help keep him steady and quickly rushed back to the shore. The others were close behind.

"Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan! D-Don't drop me!" he kept repeating himself over and over again.

"I won't," Lan Wangji reassured. He would never drop him.

Wei Wuxian sobbed and buried himself further into Lan Wangji's chest, if that was even remotely possible.

Lan Wangji's own heart was racing, but for a different reason. He had never been held so tightly before, not in a long time. The feeling felt foreign and he usually hated any physical contact, but he found he did not mind his.

Lan Wangji landed on the ground. He tried setting Wei Wuxian down, but it was like all the strength left Wei Wuxian's body, and he began falling. Lan Wangji quickly wrapped his arms around him again and kept him steady. Everyone else landed beside them.

"Wei Wuxian! What the hell was that?!"

Lan Wangji felt Wei Wuxian flinch in his arms. He refused to lift his head from Lan Wangji's chest and look his brother in the eyes. His breathing was still settling, and Lan Wangji felt certain he was still crying.

"Jiang-gongzi, let's give your brother a moment. He nearly drowned just now," Lan Xichen intervened, but he heard Wei Wuxian's cry the whole way to land and knew there was something more major going on than him getting dragged under water.

He got the strange feeling Wei Wuxian would prefer being back in the water than being in the air again.

"I-I slipped, trying to get on my sword," he muttered, but still did not look up.

"You liar! You didn't even attempt to get on your sword!" his brother called him out. The passed out disciple had been passed to someone else and they took care of his injuries as the conversation continued. "You're a great flyer! Probably the best within Yunmeng! Why didn't you get on your sword? Why did you jump into the water instead?"

A whimper escaped Wei Wuxian, but it was quiet. Only Lan Wangji had heard.

"Enough," he glared at Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Wanyin's face turned red, but he knew better than to speak against the Second Jade of Lan, especially when his brother stood right beside him.

"Wei Ying." Lan Wangji turned back to the boy that still trembled in his arms.

"I-I'm sorry," his voice cracked.

Lan Wangji shook his head. "No apologies necessary."

Lan Xichen felt uneasy after what happened. "I think it's best if we find an Inn and allow everyone to rest. The both of you could go for a change of clothes as well," Lan Xichen suggested.

Everyone in the group nodded and began moving more towards the town.

"Wei Ying. We need to go."

"R-Right."

Lan Wangji kept a firm grip around him, but they stood more side to side as they walked through the city. Both Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng kept glancing at the two of them throughout the journey.