"Ha..." The moment Jun had such a thought, he felt foolish. He knew such a thing would never happen.
His eyes instantly looked down, wide and dark. Yes, these were his true feelings, one's that he had tried hard to bury deep in the pit of his heart for the past few years.
Even though he hated the woman, an equally strong feeling of love had long ago begun to develop.
No matter how much she abused him, how much she hated him, how much she mistreated him, he found himself desperately wanting to be acknowledged by the woman, for the woman to care for him...
He was called weak his entire life, a waste, useless, unneeded.
Two and half years ago he thought he would have wasted away while no one cared, however when he met his Sensei everything changed. Although she was cruel and taunted him, she never once disregarded his existence.
Her eyes, although they gazed at him with hate they were somehow different...
It was as if she didn't hate his entire being, as if he wasn't surrounded by darkness, as if she didn't hate his entire being like everyone else.
Ever since he had met the woman, he had garnered a will to fight, a will to survive.
She filled him with a sense of life.
Her hatred towards him was enough to stir his soul to live.
Although he still hated the woman, he desperately wanted to surpass her expectations. He refused to be used and simply tossed away by the woman, he wouldn't let her. Instead he wanted to one day overpower her and prove that he wasn't simply a "mutt."
All his strange emotions seemed to begin two and a half years ago, the first and only time he gazed at his Sensei's sleeping form.
In that moment a strong desire overtook him, he had felt the urge of want, an unobtainable want, and a deep urge to protect.
It was quite laughable really, although he was so weak at the time and the woman tormented him, he still couldn't stop the urge that bubbled up that day. (AN: This is referring to chapter 7)
His strange feelings, it was almost similar to love at first sight, something as simple as that.... however no matter how hard he tried to discard such "simple" feelings he could never be rid of them.
Even though he tried to fill his mind with hate, the feelings for the woman could not be fully repressed.
He knew he was strange for liking someone who despised him, yet he couldn't stop the feelings that had already spread too deep...
It was like a sickness, it continued to spread deeper and deeper with no clear end, no matter how much he hated the woman he couldn't stop the lingering feelings.
However even though he felt such strong things he was certain that it had to be an illusion, no matter what, the woman would never come to love him, so in turn he simply had to never give in to his unobtainable feelings.
One day he would win against the woman and make her pay, but he would never succumb to his emotions! The world was cruel and he knew it, if he couldn't be loved then he wouldn't love back.
Yes, his feelings were simply an illusion... nothing more.
They were the same as him dreams...
'Ah!'
As Jun stood on the back of the sword looking towards his Sensei's back, he suddenly remembered something important!
The scent he had recognized before, the faint fragrance of florals mixed with spice that he only noticed in his dreams, was it still there?
On the way towards the city he was sure he had sensed it, whether it was his imagination or not he was unsure.
However he needed to know, he had to know, and now was the perfect opportunity to prove that he was wrong. That such a scent couldn't belong to his Sensei...
Previously he had seemingly been able to smell the lingering fragrance only when his Sensei's body was directly leaning against him.
Even then the scent was faint.
If he was to verify whether or not the woman had the same scent, then he needed to be extra close to her for a minimum of ten to twenty seconds, even then it would be hard to discern. It was rare that he was ever allowed to be so close to his Sensei, even in sparring he could never maintain such a close distance for that long.
If he was going to verify the scent, then it had to be now!
He simply needed to get close, close enough to concentrate on her scent, he needed to know if the scent was the same...
Silently Jun resolved himself to get closer.
As he stood on the back of the sword he silently prepared himself, it was at that exact moment that Jun was tossed from the sword...
"...Huh?"
"Goodluck."
"What...?" Jun's eyes grew wide as he now seemed to be on the grassy ground, with confusion he looked up towards his Sensei still floating on her sword.
S coldly looked down "I told you when we came down the mountain I'd only allow you to ride on my sword once. I was gracious enough to fly you this far, now that we are once again at the mountain's base what makes you think I'll give you a ride up?"
The young man didn't know what to say as his eyes widened with disbelief.
"Ha, you better come up by nightfall or you will be severely punished, and don't even think of getting the new robes dirty! See you at the top of the mountain." Before Jun could even respond S sped away on the sword, leaving a stunned young man with an arm full of robes to silently stare at her fleeting figure.
S quickly flew up the mountain side alone passing over trees and shrubbery, she knew she needed to hurry.
Truthfully the Villain had intended to take Jun back up the mountain on her sword, but due to using too much Qi earlier to scare Liu Wei and Li Mei in Fay city, she needed to instantly recuperate.
Her body was deeply pained from the Qi she had exerted, even her meridians were inflamed, not wanting to draw attention to herself she had decided to go up the mountain alone and as fast as possible.
She needed to recuperate her weary body, and the best way she knew how was by going to the northern top side of the mountain and eating medicinal herbs that grew at the base of a cool waterfall.
It wasn't a fix, but if she ate a few it would at least calm down the chaotic Qi circulating her meridians and heal them for the meantime.
Moreover although the summit was steep and hard to climb, she had filled Jun with her Qi for the last few years, he was no longer a weak and powerless youth.
The Villain surmised that it would only take him a couple of hours to be back up at to the top of the mountain.
With that in mind she used her remaining strength and flew her sword towards the familiar waterfall close to the top of the summit.
Arriving at the area she landed her sword close to the flowing water.
Looking around the cooling water's edge, it didn't take her long before she found and picked the right herbs.
"These should do the trick." The Villain thought as she began to eat the herbs while securing a few for later in her side pouch on her waist.
After eating a few she concentrated on her inner body, already her inflamed meridians had begun to calm down as her body felt slightly eased.
"Good." She silently thought.
Although her body was still in pain, it wasn't anything the Villain couldn't handle as long ago she had already become immune to such things.
Calmly she sat down to meditate, this would help the remaining Qi to settle.
Just as she sat her gaze fell onto the cooling waters edge, the calm water at the far edge of the waterfall truly looked peaceful and refreshing.
More so then mediating, it looked even better to relax in.
"It should still be a few hours before he makes his way up the mountain, and I haven't been able to bathe for a few days now."
Feeling her robes slightly stick to her body, she decided now would be a good time to bathe.
With that in mind she stripped herself of her robe and began basking in the cool flowing water.
Unfortunately for her she had greatly underestimated the power of the young man...
............
As Jun ran up the mountain he was fueled by the complicated emotions that stirred deep inside of him.
He still wished he could completely hate his Sensei.
Yet even though she was always cruel to him, his soul still somehow felt unsettled not staying by her side!
He knew he had long ago turned weird. Did he actually like the abuse and constant beatings!?
Had something gone wrong in his brain, was he simply growing accustom to such things!?
As he continued to run he calmed his emotions. "I hate her! I hate her! I hate her!" He continually chanted the phrase in his mind forming his resolve.
"I hate her cruelty, I hate her abuse, I hate her tea... I hate the way she gracefully moves, I hate being too far away from her-" Jun instantly stiffened as his thoughts had turned bizarre.
"What am I thinking? Have I turned insane?! I need to start over!" Jun took in a deep breath as he tried hard to recall all the things he hated about his Sensei.
It was as if not doing so would truly signify how messed up in the head he was.
"I hate her terrifying presence, I hate the way she looks at me, I hate her beauty, I hate her calming presence, I hate her wonderful scent-" Jun already realized how bizarre his thoughts were becoming but it was too late.
To top it off he was reminded of the familiar scent that he subconsciously felt must belong to his Sensei. Although he knew such a thing was impossible, his body instantly heated up as his face grew red from impure thoughts.
Angrily he clenched his fists.
"Why is it suddenly so hot... when did the sun become unbearable to withstand? Yes, it's all the sun's fault!"
Jun swiftly shook his head as he tried to recollect his thoughts.
"I need something refreshing to cool my head!"
Although he was almost near the top of the summit, Jun chose to divert his path towards the familiar waterfall on the north side of the mountain.
He felt like he needed to cleanse his impure thoughts in the cool springs before he faced his Sensei again.
Swiftly he headed towards the direction of the mountain waterfall.
Desert Note: I thought I should mention, I made an Instagram account! It's nothing too important, just thought I'd post any art I do for the story, like covers and possibly extra art concerning the characters.
Also some people have been asking about doing fan art, so I thought if anyone wanted to I could somehow link it on my Instagram for everyone to see. I'll be honest, I'm not that familiar with the app since I haven't used it in a long time, so I'm not sure how much I'll post, but I'll try to post important things there, and things I think you guys will like. Also it's just another way to get in touch with me :D
Anyways that's all I wanted to say, no pressure to follow me or anything, just thought I should mention it if anyone wanted to do fan art. The link is on my Wattpad profile.