Taken

Xiao Xingchen

     It was early in the morning when he heard it. The whispering, it was getting louder and he caught a few words.
    "..is he?"
    "....know....room."
     He moved his lover's arm from his waist gently and walked outside to the voices. He walked around the house and found nothing, he was about to walk inside when someone grabbed him from behind and placed a cloth over his mouth and nose. He gasped and breathed in the fragrance, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell into the arms of the intruder.
    "I finally have you....Xiao Xingchen."

      Xue Yang woke up to the sun hitting his face, he moved his arm and felt for his lover but found nothing. He sat up alarmed and looked around, he searched the house and found nobody.
     He dressed quickly and ran to Wei Ying and Lan Wangji's house. He knocked frantically and the door opened to a tired Wei Ying, "What is it?" He asked yawning.
    "Xingchen's gone!" Xue Yang exclaimed.
    "What do you mean gone?!" Wei Ying was wide awake now, his eyes wide he ran inside and woke Lan Wangji up. "Lan Zhan! Wake up we need to find Uncle!" The moment the words came out of his mouth the man woke up.
   "What do you mean gone?" He asked sitting up.
   "I don't know, Xue Yang is at the door and he said Uncle is gone," Wei Ying was starting to get worried, he sat and thought for a while before sitting up, "Xue Yang! Go get a-Qing and bring her here!"
    Xue Yang nodded and ran back to get his daughter. He brought her back and sat her down, "We need to go find him, who's going to take care of her?"
   "I can call Wen Ning," Wei Ying suggested, "he'll take care of her very well and protect her with his life."
    Xue Yang was hesitant but nodded anyways, "Alright," he turned to his daughter, "a-Qing, honey you need to stay with Uncle Ning ok? Baba and your other uncles need to find Mama."
     The little girl nodded and asked, "Baba, I heard someone talking last night." Xue Yang tensed.
     "Who was it? Did you see?" Xue Yang asked frantically. A-Qing shook her head.
    "I didn't see but I heard Mama get out of bed and go outside, he didn't come back inside. I was going to wait but I fell asleep before anything else happened." She explained shaking slightly.
     Xue Yang pulled her into a tight hug, "It's going to be alright darling, Baba will find Mama," he moved away and kissed her forehead gently. The young girl nodded and smiled, causing her father to smile back.
    He turns to Wei Ying, "We should wait for Wen Ning first then we can leave." Wei Ying nodded and they waited for a while until Wen Ning came.
    "Master Wei, what happened?" Wen Ning asked.
    "Uncle Xingchen is missing, me Lan Zhan and Xue Yang are going to look for him. You stay here and take care of a-Qing, if you want you can take her to Cloud Recesses so that it's safer," Wei Ying explained quickly and grabbed his sword and flute. Wen Ning nodded solemnly.
    "Don't worry Master Wei, I'll take good care of her," he said. He watched as they all got ready and set off.

      The three men were walking along a trail in the forest when an eagle suddenly flew over them and landed on a tree. The eagle had something tied around it's foot, Xue Yang stuck his arm out and motioned the eagle to fly forward.
     It flew down and landed on his arm where he took off the note before sending the eagle back. He looked down at the note with wide eyes and he read out loud, "Xingchen is with me, you can come and find him or you can hand over your ring. You choose, Xue Hui."
      "Damn it!" Wei Ying said, "That bastard is at it again."
       Xue Yang's hand curled into a fist and tightened until his knuckles turned white. Why does my damn brother always get in the way, he looked down and thought. He then turned to couple, "I know what's going to happen."
     "What do you mean?" Lan Zhan asked.
      "Xingchen had a dream before we got married, don't you remember?" Xue Yang said.
     The two men nodded. They remembered watching the poor man cry and tremble in fear, he grew traumatized and always had trouble falling asleep. "Well, he had dreams about my brother taking him and hurting him. Then he had a dream of him hurting me because he wouldn't give Hui his necklace," Xue Yang said.
     "Are thinking that the dream will come true?" Wei Ying asked.
     "Yes, that's exactly what I'm thinking," Xue Yang said, "he said that it was in a cave near a pond."
     Lan Zhan looked up, "There is a mountain with a hidden cave in Lanling. Maybe they are there," he suggested.
     "You're right, we should go there first," Wei Ying said. They walked together towards Lanling in hopes of finding their beloved Xingchen.