𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 !!
❤︎
y/n - your name
w/n - weapon's name
c/n - courtesy name
❤︎
LAN Y/N FELT DAZED AS HE STARED BLANKLY AT A ROCK, HIS BRAIN DESPERATELY TRIED TO REMEMBER WHAT HE HAD JUST BEEN DREAMING ABOUT.
it was like he was a third person, watching, or rather, listening to two people converse inside his head. he tried to remember what they were talking about, he felt like it was important somehow, but no matter how hard he tried, he really couldn't remember. he rubbed his eyes.
wangji watched his younger brother with worried eyes. using his fingers, he expertly massaged his younger brother's temples, trying to help him get rid of his headache. but it was no use, as he seemed to be more focused on something else.
meanwhile, the lanling jin clan disciples stared up at the rock wall that blocked their exit. jin zixuan clicked his tongue before stomping away in frustration. "those damned wens!" he cursed, curling his hand into a fist and slamming it against the rock wall. the loud noise seemed to have snapped out lan y/n out of his daze as he had suddenly jolted up, like a cat who was suddenly woken up by its owner. he shook his head.
turning around, he saw his older brother, who seemed surprised for a moment as his hands were raised. "what happened?" lan y/n asked, twisting his upper body to look at his older brother. wangji breathed a sigh of relief, his hands falling to his lap. "you were nearly eaten by the monster." he replied, again with his monotone voice, but lan y/n could hear a hint of warmth and relief in his tone. sighing, lan y/n fell back, his head now resting on wangji's lap.
"and the wens?" he asked, throwing an arm over his eyes. "they fled in fear for the monster, but not before they branded wei wuxian with a branding iron." when he heard those words, lan y/n shot up, an upset look on his face. "they what-" he tried to yell, but someone had placed their hand over his mouth, preventing him from raising his voice. his voice was muffled as he angrily looked back, but his anger faltered when he saw jin zixuan. "quiet. you don't want to wake up that thing, don't you?" he said, referring to the tortoise who had now, presumably, gone to sleep.
lan y/n only rolled his eyes, and jin zixuan raised an elegantly shaped brow. all of a sudden, a disgusted groan left jin zixuan's lips as lan y/n licked the palm of his hand. he quickly pulled his hand away. "you are disgusting." he says, wiping his hand with a handkerchief someone from his clan provided him with.
standing up, lan y/n gave him a cheeky grin. "oh, don't be so dramatic, zizi~" he giggled before standing up. "it's just saliva." he chuckled. the lanling jin disciple rolled his eyes. lan y/n shook his head and turned his attention to the yunmeng jiang disciples. wei wuxian looked to be in pain, but it was obvious he was trying to hide it. he looked back to his older brother, about to ask for his permission when his brother grabbed him by the sleeve while giving him a look.
"don't worry so much, er-ge. i'm just gonna check up on him." lan y/n assures him as he gives his brother's hand a gentle squeeze. "he's my friend." lan y/n smiles. he slowly lets go of his older brother's hand as he stands up. he walks over to the yunmeng jiang disciples, finally deciding that he would just push away the weird conversation he heard in his head. he saw wei wuxian resting against a rock, breathing heavily with his chest exposed, showing the brand of the wen clan's symbol. wei wuxian noticed him looking. "it's not as bad as it looks." he says, trying to reassure lan y/n but the younger only furrows his brows at him.
he walked away, towards the pool. "a-y/n!" jiang cheng whisper-yells, running after him as he was afraid he became all possessed again. but that didn't seem to be the case. when jiang cheng grabbed his wrist, lan y/n immediately reacted. he snapped his head towards jiang cheng and gave him a reassuring smile. "i'll be fine." he said, grabbing jiang cheng's hand, trying to pull it away, but jiang cheng's grip remained firm. "what are you going to do?" jin zixuan asked walking up to him. "don't get yourself in trouble." his brother added, brows furrowed at him.
lan y/n blinked his eyes in disbelief at the three men that stared him down. sighing, he pulled his arm away from jiang cheng. "i'll be fine. i learned from someone how to purify water and turn it into healing water." he walked closer to the water, trying his hardest to ignore the whispers that were causing a commotion inside his head. he kneeled down and watched his reflection in the clear water. it was just his face, beautiful as it always is. he pulled up his sleeve and dipped his hand into the water, watching as the water around his hand glowed while he swirled his hand around.
chanting a few incomprehensible words, he closed his eyes, trying to keep his focus on the task at hand. "why are you trying to save him, child?" came the voice inside his head. "why don't you just shut up and let me do my thing?" he thought, snapping back to the voice in his head. there were times when that same voice inside his head would encourage his bad behavior, but there were times when it acted in reluctance, asking him twice if he was sure he wanted to do something.
"watch your mouth, child." the voice snarled inside his head, but he only ignored it.
when he stopped chanting, he opened his eyes and raised his hand out of the water. a smile formed on his lips, unlike the smiles he showed before, this one was bright, almost childish. water clung to his hand, with glowing symbols swimming around it. "hey, it worked!" he smiled. "that technique..." wangji muttered, staring at the water that wrapped around lan y/n's forearm. but he couldn't get a closer look at it as lan y/n had already walked away.
he walked over to wei wuxian, who still had enough strength to flirt with a certain pink-wearing lady. when he was close enough, wei wuxian's face lit up when he saw lan y/n approaching him. the younger kneeled beside him and stayed still for a minute as he glanced from the water that wrapped around his forearm and to the injured wei wuxian. "ehe, what's with that look, a-y/n?" wei wuxian asked, slightly worried by the look lan y/n gave him.
with one swift motion, he pressed his hand against the brand, and out of surprise, wei wuxian shrieked. but he immediately calmed down when he realized it didn't hurt, rather, it felt nice against his skin. "oh." he said with a pleasant smile. lan y/n rolled his eyes as the water dripped down onto the burn. "it won't get rid of the mark, but it'll heal everything else." he explained briefly, focusing his attention on the brand. "woah, i didn't know the lan clan had a technique like this." he praised.
lan y/n was quiet for a moment before he whispers. "it's not a lan clan technique." wei wuxian raised a brow when he heard his words. "really?" he asked, trying to move so he could get into a more comfortable position. lan y/n shook his head and smiled. "it's not, so- hold still!" he reprimands, lightly slapping wei wuxian with his free hand. wei wuxian giggled childishly before he bit his lip as lan y/n pressed his hand against his burn. "a-y/n, that hurts." he whined. lan y/n laughs, "i literally just told you to hold still."
"what a fascinating technique." jin zixuan hummed from above him, as he watched lan y/n work. "oh, hey zizi." he grinned, looking up at him with a cheeky grin. "zizi?" jin zixuan asked in disbelief, but lan y/n ignored his question. "know what's even better?" he asked with a smile. "this technique doesn't require any spiritual energy. you only need a few certain words to encourage mother nature to purify herself." he said with a smile. "so it's like communicating with nature?" lan y/n shrugged. "yes? this is the first time i'm using it, so don't expect too much."
"take notes." jin zixuan whispered to his disciples.
"so what exactly are the words you say?"
"is there a specific way you do this so-called, encouraging?"
"a-"
"please, give them some space." jiang cheng immediately stopped the rest of the lanling jin clan from asking any more questions. he stood in between lan y/n and wei wuxian, and the lanling jin disciples. jin zixuan facepalmed. "i said, take notes, not bombard him questions!" as jin zixuan reprimanded his disciples for their behavior, lan y/n took notice of the girl in pink, mianmian. she was sitting there with tears in her eyes as she watched lan y/n heal wei wuxian. "don't cry for him, guniang." lan y/n said to her. "he still had enough energy to flirt with you, so he'll live." he chuckles.
hearing this, wei wuxian whines. "that's so mean of you to say, a-y/n." the young lan only stuck his tongue out. he pulled away his hand when the last drop of water was gone from his hand. "there you go. i suggest you move a lot, it'll help the water move faster around your body." wei wuxian looked down at the branding, staring at it in suspicion. he carefully poked it with one finger, when he felt no pain, he poked it again, and again, until lan y/n slapped his hand away. "don't poke it, you idiot." wei wuxian only laughs as lan y/n stands up.
jiang cheng helps wei wuxian stand. "well, now that that's been dealt with, what do we do next? the exit has been sealed." lan y/n wiped his moist hand on his robe as he walked towards his older brother.
tossing his head to the side, he looked at his brother's eyes, then followed his gaze. "you found something, er-ge?" he asked. "there were no maple leaves by the entrance, but the maple leaves in the pool are fresh." he said, earning the attention of the other disciples. wangji added, "below the cliff, there were maple leaves near the river." lan y/n's face brightened. "that means there's another exit down the pool?" he asked. his brother looked at him and nodded his head. "mn."
he turned back towards the other disciples, smiling as he saw their faces light up with hope. "you heard that everyone? we're getting out!" one of them said in relief. the crowd began murmuring as well, excited that they could all finally leave and return to their homes. lan y/n turned back towards the pool and watched the water. the ripples, the water droplets that dripped from the ceiling. the cave would've been an ideal place to meditate in isolation if it weren't for the monster that lived inside it.
the longer he stared at the rippling water, the more he felt as if, he was being pulled into another world. his vision went blurry as he heard a roar echo in his head.
a tiger descended upon the mouth of a secluded cave. it looked bigger and meaner than any tiger ever been seen, with a thirst for blood mirrored in its eyes. it had pitch-black wings sprouting from its back, and horns that were jagged and stood upright from its head. as it landed on the floor of the caves, its gigantic stature scattered in a cloud of black smoke. from the black smoke, a figure walked out. a young man, probably in his twenties, walked with powerful and elegant strides and wore robes that were as black as the night sky, with the silver lining in his robes and boots twinkling like stars. he smirked as he heard a crunching noise echoing all around him.
he continued walking forward in the darkness, letting only the sound guide him to the throne of someone he considered dear to him. when he reached the end of the long hallway, there was but a single light source, a dim light, that allowed him to see the short figure of a young man, sitting on a pool of red. his jaws snapped and crunched, and the color red splattered all around him.
the young man in black chuckled, earning the attention of the other figure in the dark room. "you're a messy eater as always, tulu xuanwu." the figure turned around to look at him. "qiong qi!" the male looked at him, his crimson-stained white robes slipping off his shoulders while blood dripped down the sides of his mouth.
the qiong qi chuckled heartily as he walked towards the male. he crouched down in front of the other, and using his sleeve, he wiped away the blood that stained the xuanwu's mouth. "my goodness, how old are you? you eat like a child." the xuanwu only smiled brightly as he allowed the other male to clean his lips.
"how did the new children fare in your rigorous training? i hope you didn't kill any of them."
a chuckle escaped the qiong qi's lips, "if i wanted to kill them, i'd just feed them to you."
"that's true."
"a-y/n." lan y/n was quickly snapped back to reality, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. he looked up and he was met with the worried gaze of his older brother. lan y/n shook his head. "did something happen?" lan y/n asked. "the yunmeng jiang disciples jumped into the pool. they will find an exit." wangji explains. "come on, we must hide." he grabbed his younger brother's hand and drags him to hide behind a rock pillar as two splashes were heard.
"wait- did you just call me..." lan y/n smiled brightly when he saw his older brother's ears slowly turn red. "you called me a-y/n!" lan y/n quietly squeals as he wraps his arms around his older brother. wangji turned his face away out of embarrassment.
after a few minutes of waiting, anxiousness began appearing in the faces of the disciples as they intently watched the deathly calm glowing pool. "where are they? why haven't they surfaced yet?" huaisang asked, looking towards lan y/n who was beside him. "i wouldn't worry too much." lan y/n replied, trying to keep the other disciples calm. "if even the disciples of yunmeng can't make it-" lan y/n flicked huaisang on the forehead, earning him a pained whine from the older. "worrying won't help them." he hissed.
"one of them came back!" wangji whispered, looking towards a splash in the water, revealing wei wuxian. he took a deep breath of air as he hauled himself up into the shore. the water behind him began to move as well. it was the tortoise. "wei ying!" lan y/n exclaimed. the tortoise raised its tail and slammed it on where wei wuxian had risen. he scurried to get up, and he managed to dodge, only barely. the tortoise turned its neck and tried to chase after wei wuxian.
lan y/n instinctively reached inside his large sleeves, expecting one of his talismans to be tucked inside of it, but to no avail. he forgot he wasn't wearing his original robes. he looked towards his older brother, but he wasn't there. "er-ge?" he asked. frantically, his eyes darted all over the cave as he tried searching for his brother. he was ultimately relieved when he found him, standing there, poised and ready to shoot an arrow.
"don't let him hurt him!"
before wangji could aim for the tortoise's eye, lan y/n called for him. wangji, reacting to his brother's voice, turned to him for a brief moment before he released the arrow. it barely managed to touch the eye. but the arrow got the tortoise's attention and bought enough time for wei wuxian to hide with the other disciples. "a-y/n?" wangji looked to his younger brother, expecting him to be waving at him while calling him over, but instead, all he got was a hug. he looked down, and saw his younger brother, holding onto him tightly. "please don't disappear like that." he whispered. wangji relaxed. he reached a hand out and softly patted his younger brother's head, smoothing down his hair.
"i won't be leaving you anytime soon." he promised. "come on." he tenderly held lan y/n's arm, trying to pry himself loose. lan y/n reluctantly let go, as he allowed wangji to drag him back to their hiding spot. "did you find an exit?" lan y/n asked as he crouched beside wei wuxian, who was now between lan y/n and nie huaisang. "no." he said. "everything depends on jiang cheng now."
the tortoise roared, making the cave rumble with its powerful voice. from the water, jiang cheng quickly rose up. he pulled himself over the water and ran as fast as he could. the tortoise used its long neck to try and grab jiang cheng with its jaws. "a-cheng!" lan y/n called. using the water flask he snatched from a certain lan disciple, he poured the water into his hand, repeating the words a certain voice inside his head told him. the water swirled upwards before it started hovering above lan y/n's hand.
when he chanted the final word, the water swirled all around him before he manipulated it to form into a ball of water. it flew towards the tortoise, and the head came to a harsh stop when the ball of water flew to its nose. it was as if it was a sack of bricks and not a ball of water. as lan y/n maneuvered the ball around the cave, the tortoise's chased after it with its long neck. "please tell me you found an exit." lan y/n said to jiang cheng. "i did. we can all pass through." he said. "all right. the rest of you guys should follow after jiang cheng." wei wuxian said. "i'll keep the tortoise busy."
"but-" lan y/n was about to argue with him if it wasn't for his older brother. "we need to return home." he said, grabbing him by the shoulders and pushing him to follow along with the other disciples. lan y/n knitted his brows at him before frowning. jiang cheng paused in his steps as he looked back at lan y/n. "he'll follow us soon, don't worry." he said, trying to ease lan y/n. "how long can you hold your breath?" he asked as they sneaked towards the back, where the exit in the pool was. "five minutes at best..." lan y/n replied shakily. as the two hung around the back of the line of disciples, jiang cheng held lan y/n's hand. "i promise, i'll get you out of this place."
unbeknownst to any of the disciples, a certain lan disciple had already picked up a bow and arrow. lan y/n's ears perked up when he stepped into the freezing pool of water. jiang cheng made sure to hold his hand, just to make sure he wouldn't get hypnotized by the water again. "it smells like rotting corpses." lan y/n complained as he allowed himself to be guided by jiang cheng.
then, the sound of an arrow echoed in the cave, followed by a pained yell. the disciples looked back. a lan disciple, rather, the same lan disciple who tried to give mianmian to the wens, trembled as he held a bow. "you!" lan y/n seethed, trying to get up from the pool of water if it wasn't for jiang cheng's hand that kept him still. "let me go-!" lan y/n tried to tug himself free, but jiang cheng's hold remained firm.
when lan y/n looked back at him, he saw jiang cheng looked unsure of what to say. "leave!" wei wuxian roared. "don't you dare get in my way!" he said, glaring at the tortoise that roared. the tortoise snapped its jaws at him, trying to devour him, but wei wuxian managed to dodge. he managed to keep dodging its attacks until he was pinned against a wall. the tortoise slammed its head on the wall, allowing smoke and debris to fly all over the place. "wei ying!"
when the smoke cleared, wei wuxian was still standing in one piece, despite his heavily bleeding arm. "just go!" he exclaimed. "get the disciples out of here!" he said. "i'll follow after you soon." he said, just loud enough to be heard. "a-cheng, you can't seriously be thinking of leaving him!" lan y/n cried, grabbing jiang cheng's sleeve. "trust me! just go!"
the group managed to escape the cave through the tunnels, and the whole time, jiang cheng had to be holding on tight to lan y/n, who was still bitter about leaving wei wuxian behind, especially when he watched the exit collapse behind them.
when they reached the shore of the outside, jiang cheng hauled lan y/n to land. he breathed heavily, coughing out any water that got into his lungs. while lan y/n just laid there, his body sprawled out into the hard earth as he closed his eyes, trying his hardest to contain his growing anger. he heard a hard punch and a pained grunt.
"jiang-shixiong, what's the use in punching him now? what matters is getting wei-shixiong out, right?" nie huaisang's shaky voice was heard. lan y/n groaned as he slowly stood up. "i... i was really trying to help!" the lan disciple cried, trying to explain himself as he held his bruising cheek. lan y/n stepped in front of him.
without another word, he dealt a swift kick across the disciple's face. it was hard enough to throw him a couple of feet away. "lan y/n! calm down!" jin zixuan tried to say, but lan y/n wasn't listening. he paused in front of the disciple before his hand gripped his neck, easily lifting him up with one hand. "wangji is the only family i have left. you better hope and pray on your knees to whatever god is out there that he comes back to me, or i will. hunt. you. down." he threatened, his voice dripping with venom. his eyes were turning red with anger as his hold on the disciple's neck tightened.
"that's it child, tighter. make that his last breath."
"enough!" jin zixuan interjects, gripping lan y/n's shoulder as a silent plea for him to stop. fortunately for the disciple, lan y/n listened. he threw him to the ground and scoffed. "what should we do?" mianmian shakily asked. "the hole is blocked and that dreadful beast is still inside." she continued. jiang cheng looked back at her. "we should ask for help, separately." jiang cheng says. in the blink of an eye, two disciples suddenly dropped to the ground, arrows sticking on their chest. "ask for help?" lan y/n snapped his head to the source of the voice.
"none of you are leaving." wen chao smirks. "kill them!" he roared. arrows flew in the sky, but they were quickly blown away by a harsh gust of wind. down below, lan y/n was smiling wickedly up at wen chao. he was holding up his hand as it glowed in an eerie red color. "i see now that you're ready to accept your punishment."
( 𝖾𝖽𝗂𝗍𝖾𝖽 | ✓ )
( words: 3000+ )