"Yun."
"Yes?" She looked up, shaking out from her daze. A sizzling sound came to her attention immediately. She gasped, and immediately sprang up, reaching for the cauldron.
Her fingers immediately pulled back, scalded due to her heat. "Hot." She hissed under her breath. She waved her hands, and a gust of wind blew out the fire burning underneath. She then used a cloth to move it on the desk and peered into it.
The scent made her gag, and the herbs were singed at the bottom, the concoction completely dried up.
"That was the second time this week." A girl knelt down in front of her. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Yun answered, albeit much too quickly. "Really, it's nothing, Sister Su."
"Yun, you can't expect me to believe that. You never make mistakes like this before, especially not before the Inner Tournaments."
Yun scraped out the contents of the pot, and refilled it. She wordlessly placed it back on the stove to begin boiling it from scratch.
"Just promise me that no matter what it is, if it is something that you cannot handle, you will ask for help." Su sighed finally as she stood up. She pointed at the stove, and a wisp fire flickered back into existence.
"I will."
═════════════════
Yun laid back on the window seat as she read through the letter, the handwriting style slowly becoming familiar to her.
It had been almost a month now that Yufan had left the Viridescent Isle. But almost every week, or maybe more often, she had received letters from him. Each one spoke simply of his daily life. There were no "I wish you were here"s or "I miss you"s. He just shared his day, talked about the things he liked and his thoughts. And even peculiarly, was the fact that he never asked Yun to write back. It was as if he just enjoyed sharing about his day with her.
Her gaze dropped to the parchment lying on the table. The ink was already prepared, and all she had to do was to pick up a brush to start writing.
Her fingers pinched the letter as she contemplated it. For so many years, she had never ever had contact with the outside world before. All the friends that she had, they were all Healers from the Isle. She had never met anyone from beyond, nor ever ventured away from the Isle. It was as if Shifu Nalan wanted to kept her hidden from the world. Most of the time, she was not even allowed to be seen in public in the Viridescent Isle.
Therefore, the only ones that she had direct contact with were only Shifu Nalan, and his direct disciples. Any additional contact was forbidden.
She turned towards the parchment again, pursuing her lips. I should. She thought to herself. She took a seat at the pouf, and placed the letter next to the parchment. Reaching for the brush, she began to write about her day as well. A simple greeting, but no other acknowledgements, and no other requests for him to write back. She let the letter air-dry once she was done, and folded it, tracing her fingers gently along the lines.
This will not take too long to arrive. She thought, observing the breeze. Her hand held out the envelope in the window, and waited for a particularly strong gust of wind. She then released it, and it folded into the breeze, sent off to the receiver.
Looking out into the distance, she folded her arms and rested her head on them. It was not like her to admit, but she was really looking forward to a reply to the letter, although she had just sent it.
What is happening to me?
• ───────────────── •
"Have you been crying?"
Yun just shook her head as she stepped out of her room, sliding the door shut.
"Are you sure? Your eyes look really puffy and red."
"Thank you for your concern. But I really am just fine." Yun croaked. "I don't cry."
"If you say so." Ying gave her another glance, but said nothing else as they headed back downstairs to Lord Xu's study.
This time, the scenery was of the sea. Sand, stretching out for miles, and the horizon were the sea and sky joined could be seen through the windows. Yun's eyes widened. She could taste the salt on her lips, the stickiness of the breeze matting her hair down.
"What-?" She murmured in awe.
"Yun." She turned her head over to see Ying already sitting down on the mat. Lord Xu was seated opposite her, looking at Yun as well.
She walked across the room, and sat down as well, tucking the folds of her robes.
"Good morning Yun, Ying." He said. The loose robes he wore billowed in the wind, as did a few strands of his hair.
Yun nodded her greeting back, while Ying chirped hers.
"I was going to start your training immediately today, but it seems that we have more trouble on our hands than we thought." He pulled out his fan, and tapped it slowly in his palms. "Does anyone else in this palace know you? Anyone at all?"
Yun immediately thought of Jin, and then Qi Die with Ling.
"I know a few."
"And would any of them, perchance, be a war general or a consort in the harem?"
"I know them both."
"I see." The tapping of the fan paused.
Yun looked up at him, and again, saw that he was trying to play a game of Go chess, with Yun as a pawn.
"If I may, what trouble are they giving you?"
"Both of them are looking for you. The major problem here is not them however, but rather, Imperial Consort Hua Ji."
"What does she want now?" Ying asked, looking solemn.
"Yun." He said simply. "She's worth far too much to either side at war."
Yun looked down, and slowly, released her hands that had tightened around her white robes. Slowly smoothing out the creases, she tried to collect her thoughts as well. It was only how she realised she was so out of her element that she appreciated the small amount of control and predictability that she had in her life.
"Yun, if it were up to you, would you want to help them, or would you want to keep to yourself? Here, I can guarantee that you are safe, but outside the Palace of Gathering Excellence, you are prone to attacks." Lord Xu directed the question towards her.
"I'd go to help." Yun answered immediately without a second thought. "I do not want anyone to be harmed because of me."
Ying bobbed her head vigorously in agreement. "I think I'm starting to like you."
"Lord Xu, if you allow, I will stay by her and keep her safe." Ying promised.
He nodded, his forehead creased however. "No matter what happens, I don't want anything bad to happen to y- my students."
"Yes, Lord Xu." Both Yun and Ying chorused in agreement, and Yun watched as Ying tried to press her lips together to suppress a smile.
"I'll see you again, hopefully, without much interruption, after dinner tonight so that we can finally begin our training. Ying, remember to teach her the rules here." He said, standing up. "You'll do best by talking to the consort first, then High General Jin."
Yun followed suit, and smoothened out her robes. "Thank you for your guidance, Lord Xu."
"Anything for my students."
═════════════════
"So, where exactly is the Pavilion of Butterflies?" Ying asked, turning around. The gold in her hair caught her eyes as the sunlight shone overhead.
Barely a few minutes out of the Palace of Excellence, and Yun had already found herself being the one to search for directions. Which she did not mind, to be completely honest, but Ying was totally clueless when it came to finding her way around an unfamiliar area.
"Excuse me." Yun curtsied to a eunuch whom was walking by. "Could you tell me where the Pavilion of Butterflies is?"
He immediately did a double take at the question, and looked at Yun up and down. "Young lady, it wouldn't be wise to go there at this time. For your own good, please leave and forget that you ever asked the question."
Yun was confused for a split second, her mouth falling open incredulously.
"Move along now young lady." He ushered, flicking his horsetail whisk at her before he hurried off himself, looking nervous.
Yun turned over, and saw that Ying looked grim. "We have got to hurry. He didn't say where the pavilion was, did he?"
Yun shook her head. "You think that the Imperial Consort has already planned something?"
"Based on how well I know her, I think that this is a bit rushed, even though she acts fast. Something must be going on." She held out her hand, and Yun stepped forwards, clutching her arm tightly. "There's no one around, right?"
Yun shook her head, and she felt the both of them rise into the air soon after. This time, unlike the leisurely way that they flew the first time, they flew at high speed, soaring past the clouds as they ascended.
"Where are you going?" Yun yelled, the wind roaring in her ears.
"I don't know yet." Ying called back. "But we're definitely going to notice it. The fox likes extravagance in everything that she does."
Extravagance... Something that we're going to notice easily. Yun thought as she squinted below.
Something did catch her attention immediately.
"Ying, is that smoke?" Her eyes widened as she saw a huge billow of grey rising from one corner of the palace, to their right. Sure enough, she coughed, the piercing smell quickly irritating her throat.
"Hold on." Yun felt Ying's hand tightened around her shoulder as she took off into a sprint, the speed they were flying at increased without notice. Soon, her eyes watered as they landed in the middle of the smoke. It choked her, and she found herself landing on her knees with Ying to hold herself up on the grass.
A sudden gust of wind burst open with them at the centre, and Yun was able to open her eyes again. Around her, the air was clean, but beyond that, everything was on fire. The grass, the plants, and the trees. Smoke rose from them, and the heat was scorching even from the distance that they were at.
Ash blanketed all the colour around them, and Yun looked on their surroundings with a mixture of shock and awe. No life could have survived this, but her throat constricted whenever she thought about Ling and Qi Die, lying limp and lifeless somewhere in the middle of the blaze.
"Dragon fire." Ying hissed, her eyes darted around. Her fingers curled around the air, as if there was an invisible weapon there. "Yun, you have to stay close to me no matter what."
Yun's head bobbed rapidly, her hair coming loose, hanging from the sides of her face. She took a deep breath and pushed herself up, standing next to Ying, and slowly, the two made their way through to the silhouette of the building ahead of them.