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Shen Wei never learned to swim.
His early childhood had been spent in the mountains, with glacial lakes too cold for adults to want to venture into with a toddler, and swift-running streams which turned abruptly from being deep enough to splash through into torrents, fast and rock-filled and deadly.
Then he'd been orphaned too young, and though he'd left the mountains with his brother there had been no one to teach him such a skill, even if he'd had the time to register its lack. His life had been first survival, than war.
He'd only regretted it once before. When the allied forces were camped by a lowland lake on a drowsy sticky-hot afternoon at the end of a long march, and Kunlun had stripped off and dived in. Shameless. He'd even called for Shen Wei to join him, and Shen Wei's heavy black robes had felt even more of a burden than usual as he'd refused.
This was his second time to regret it. While the current clawed at him and pulled him away, and he was too drained to use his dark energy to save himself, and Zhao Yunlan's face with wide, terrified eyes as he reached desperately for Shen Wei was the last thing Shen Wei saw.
The ground squelched under Shen Wei's feet, loosened by the week of persistent rain. By his side Zhao Yunlan hunched inside his hiking jacket as they trudged up the river valley, treeless and high in the hills. The river beside them was swollen to a brown torrent. Zhao Yunlan paused and tried to scrape some of the mud from his boots off against a tussock of grass.
Shen Wei waited for him. "What?" he asked, as Zhao Yunlan suddenly grinned.
Zhao Yunlan shook his head. "Nothing. Just admiring you in my jacket."
Shen Wei plucked at the sleeve of the black windbreaker in exasperation. "Zhao Yunlan, you insisted I wear this jacket."
"Well, yes," Zhao Yunlan said. "You look really good in it." Shen Wei sighed and turned back to the path. "Hey, I'm up here freezing and getting soggy for your research thing. The least you can do is put up with me appreciating you."
"The applications —" Shen Wei began.
"Yeah, I know," Zhao Yunlan said, cutting him off with a winning smile. "The dark energy resonance of this area is unique, with fascinating implications for our understanding —"
"I'm sorry," Shen Wei said, abashed. "I talked about this all the way here."
Zhao Yunlan slung an arm around Shen Wei's shoulders, although the uneven ground meant that he had to remove it a couple of seconds later. "Don't apologise. I like hearing you being enthusiastic and science-y."
He grinned again, in such a way that Shen Wei knew he was waiting and indeed hoping to be pulled up on the word 'science-y'. Shen Wei kept walking instead, doing his best to keep his face impassive.
Zhao Yunlan made a noise of thwarted disappointment.
The rain picked up again and Shen Wei pulled his hood forwards. The steep hills huddled on either side of the valley, crowns lost in the thick clouds.
Some instinct made Shen Wei look up in time — or some deep-felt rumble from the earth. But he did look up, in time to see the hillside above them shudder. The next moment it split apart and then a slab of the hill began sliding down towards them, the front edge buckling under its own weight as it came, a low roar building fast.
"Oh fuck —" Zhao Yunlan gasped.
Shen Wei flung up a shield, pulling Zhao Yunlan instinctively behind him.
The landslide hit a moment later, soil cascading down like water, thudding into Shen Wei's dark energy shield. Splitting against it. Hammering and thudding and Shen Wei set his teeth and leaned into the effort of maintaining it, straining to hold it against the onslaught, gasping for breath.
He was going to — he wouldn't be able to —
The thick rolling earth finally slowed, stopped. Shen Wei let the shield dissolve, although that was barely a choice rather than an inevitability, because he couldn't have maintained it for more than a few more heartbeats. They stood in a deep hollow within the damp new-piled soil.
Shen Wei began to turn, and staggered. Zhao Yunlan caught him instantly. "Shen Wei?"
Shen Wei took a moment just to lean against Zhao Yunlan and breathe deeply, the world returning over the pounding in his ears. The last settling of stones left an unnatural silence in the wake of the earth's shifting roar.
Then Zhao Yunlan pushed him urgently upright. "Shen Wei — we've got to move!"
Shen Wei wrenched his eyes open and cast about wildly for a moment before realising. The cascade down the hillside had blocked the river, which was now rapidly swelling behind the temporary dam. Pushing, bulging.
Zhao Yunlan grabbed his hand and tugged him up the side of the depression, pulling them both into a jog. It was hard to move fast over the sticky tumbled soil. Zhao Yunlan stumbled, then Shen Wei, but they kept going. If they could just reach the path, where they could run —
A glance behind told Shen Wei that they weren't going fast enough. The mud holding the water back split, burst open like a rotten fruit. Water poured out in a churning wall.
Shen Wei froze and reached instinctively for another shield. It didn't come. Zhao Yunlan yanked his arm down. "No!" he shouted roughly, "Swim -" and then the water hit them and they were swept away.
Zhao Yunlan had been on many hiking trips throughout his childhood, enough to internalise some golden rules. Such as: if you're caught by a current, don't swim against it. Swim with it, and let it carry you to the bank.
The swollen river tumbled him, pounded him. It took him a few seconds to right himself, and he gasped for air the moment his face broke through the surface of the raging torrent. A few more seconds of treading water before he was stable, and then he started kicking into the current, angling for the shore.
Only then did he realise that Shen Wei wasn't doing the same.
Zhao Yunlan spun himself to try and locate Shen Wei, and his face went under the water again. He fought for stability, spluttering, and finally saw Shen Wei a few metres away by the dark wash of his hair above his pale face. Shen Wei was paddling ineffectively with his arms, head tipped completely back. As if —
Shen Wei didn't know how to swim.
Zhao Yunlan plunged towards him. Shen Wei was fighting against the river, hanging vertically and scrabbling against the surface of the water with his hands as if he kept expecting to find something solid he could cling to. "Shen Wei!" Zhao Yunlan shouted, and as he finally reached him Shen Wei half-lifted his head with a dazed expression of relief and grabbed onto to Zhao Yunlan with both arms, sending both of them back under the water.
Zhao Yunlan kicked them to the surface a moment later, spitting out a mouthful of river, and hoisted Shen Wei higher. "Hang on!" he ordered.
Shen Wei was being hampered by his backpack, which made Zhao Yunlan remember that he was still also wearing his, but he couldn't see how to get either of them off just then. He tried to swim them both in the right direction, but that also was easier said than done. Shen Wei was almost a dead weight around his neck, and he kept alternately trying to kick and then not, neither of which was helpful.
Zhao Yunlan got an arm securely around Shen Wei's body so that he had his other arm free to swim with. Shen Wei continued to cling to him tightly, water splashing against his face, gulping air like he thought each breath might be his last opportunity.
But they would have made it. They would have, except that the initial surge of water which had smashed through the dam was past and the river had begun subsiding to its merely rain-swollen height, without that extra depth to carry them over obstructions. Zhao Yunlan crashed against a hidden rock with such force that it knocked Shen Wei loose from his grip.
Zhao Yunlan reached for him immediately but they were already spinning off from each other. Shen Wei floundered, his face appearing briefly above the water and then gone again, and back up. And then — he was gone. He didn't resurface.
Despite everything he knew, Zhao Yunlan wasted futile seconds in fighting against the current, trying to claw his way back to where he'd last seen Shen Wei. But the river was stronger than he was, and he had already lost ground before he came to his senses. He turned instead and kicked out in the smooth diagonal which should have come to him immediately, letting the current bring him to the bank.
He forced his way up the mud and grit, shoving himself to his feet while his boots were still in the water. His sodden backpack hung heavily from its straps and he dropped it to the ground, stripping off his jacket as well. His boots would take too long to remove. He jogged upstream, sliding on the wet grass, trying desperately to pinpoint where Shen Wei was. It all looked the same, and his viewpoint was different anyway, and the water was all a brown foamy churn.
He looked at the surface instead, and saw where the current split around some large obstruction. Hoping, praying that he was right, Zhao Yunlan plunged in, and dived under the water.
Barely anything was visible. But he had judged his approach correctly, and the current brought him against the pair of rocks midstream. Through the dark blur of the river he could see something else caught against them, something which wasn't a rock, and when he grabbed for it he found fabric. Shen Wei. Limp, pinned there by the current. Zhao Yunlan searched until he found a limb to grab and then got both his arms under Shen Wei's, around his torso. The backpack still in the way but even less able to be removed now. Lungs burning, Zhao Yunlan planted his feet against the rock and pushed them both off.
The current caught them again, but that didn't matter because at least they were moving. Zhao Yunlan broke the surface and gulped in air.
Shen Wei hung heavy in his arms, unmoving.
Zhao Yunlan barely recalled the process of reaching the bank this time, too consumed with panic. Shen Wei's eyes were closed and water slapped over his face. He wasn't breathing. He wasn't breathing. Zhao Yunlan dragged him up through the mud using the backpack for purchase — at least it was useful for something. As soon as they were a couple of metres clear of the water he wrestled it off, turning Shen Wei flat on his back. His head lolled loosely as Zhao Yunlan turned him.
Zhao Yunlan took a deep breath and began CPR.
The rhythm consumed him. Thirty fast pushes, then he tipped Shen Wei's head back to force two deep breaths into his mouth. Then compressions again. Again. His brain was a blank whir, with one thought spinning constantly. He couldn't lose Shen Wei. He couldn't. He couldn't.
Midway through the fourth round of compressions, Shen Wei choked.
Zhao Yunlan reacted immediately, pulling Shen Wei onto his side. Shen Wei choked again and convulsed and then vomited river water, retching and coughing it up from the depths of his lungs. He curled around Zhao Yunlan's knees. Zhao Yunlan squeezed his shoulder, still getting his own breath back. "Shen Wei," he gasped. "Shen Wei, you're — That was —"
Shen Wei vomited again, and then groaned, breathing in sharp pants. "Zh— Zh—"
"Shh, shh, it's okay," Zhao Yunlan told him. "You're okay, I'm here, you're okay, don't talk…" He bent over Shen Wei, one arm around his back. For his own comfort as much as Shen Wei's. He felt sick and shaky, shivering as the adrenaline drained away. Drizzle was landing lightly on his bare arms, and he shivered.
He was cold. Once he had noticed then it became impossible to ignore. He was freezing, shivering in sodden clothes. Both of them needed warm dry blankets, and hot drinks, and probably medical attention.
Shame none of those things were to hand.
"Shen Wei," Zhao Yunlan said, "I need to get my backpack. I'll be back in just a minute, okay?"
He thought he saw Shen Wei nod very slightly. With that faint reassurance he stood up, finding himself stiff and awkward. He wrapped his arms around himself and began trudging upstream. His muscles felt sore now from the strain of fighting the water. When he reached where he'd dropped his backpack and jacket his back ached as he bent over. He put the jacket on though its cold wetness sticking to his skin felt horrible, and hung the backpack on one shoulder before returning to Shen Wei.
Shen Wei hadn't moved while Zhao Yunlan had been gone, except maybe to curl up more tightly on his side. Zhao Yunlan sat against him and went through his bag. The contents were all soaked, of course, and he dumped out the sodden sweater and the non-working phone with disgust. He had a first-aid kit with one of the folded foil sheets, which he looked at dubiously without yet taking it out of its packaging. He put that and the packaged food in a "useful" pile. He also had a fire-starter kit, but there was a distinct lack of anything around in the grassy, muddy valley which could be set on fire.
Shen Wei's bag was even less helpful, being now full of soggy clumps of paper. He had the same type of first-aid kit because Zhao Yunlan had been the one who had packed it, which meant that they had two foil sheets in total, and some more food and bottled water.
It would take maybe three hours of hard walking to get back to the car. They'd been relying on Shen Wei transporting them in the return direction. And then it was a couple of hours' drive to the nearest bit of civilisation Zhao Yunlan was aware of.
"Shen Wei," Zhao Yunlan said. He crouched by Shen Wei's head and slipped an arm under his shoulders, lifting him up. "I need you to drink something, okay?" One step at a time. He leaned Shen Wei against him while he unscrewed the cap on one of the water bottles.
Shen Wei drank thirstily when Zhao Yunlan held the bottle to his mouth. After a few seconds his eyes opened. "Yunlan," he croaked.
"Right here," Zhao Yunlan said. He lowered the water bottle. "You look a bit better. How are you feeling?"
There was a pause while Shen Wei thought about it, clearly sorting through and rejecting several answers. "…Okay," he said, finally.
Zhao Yunlan snorted at that blatant lie. "You look like death warmed up," he said. "Maybe skipping the warmed up part."
Shen Wei just blinked at him, grey under his wet and disarrayed hair.
Zhao Yunlan suddenly sat upright, snapping his fingers. "Hei-laoge!" he said. "You can change your clothes."
Shen Wei continued to stare at him, plainly not tracking. Which was more disturbing than anything else. Zhao Yunlan took his hand. "Shen Wei," he said, more slowly. "Can you switch to your robes?" Did he have enough energy for that? Shen Wei had indicated before that it was a minor use of his power, but Zhao Yunlan had also watched him try to raise a shield and get not a flicker of one.
"Oh," Shen Wei said, finally understanding. "Yes." He made a gesture, and black mist swirled lazily around him. A moment later his head drooped as if that had been a significant effort, but he was wearing his black Envoy robes. His black dry robes. "Oh," he said, as if maybe he hadn't really understood why Zhao Yunlan had told him to do that.
Zhao Yunlan sighed out a breath of relief. One problem partially dealt with — "Why are you taking off your cloak?" he demanded.
Shen Wei couldn't get his fingers to manage the fastening, so just slipped the thing over his head. "For you," he said, like it was obvious.
Zhao Yunlan's first instinct was to refuse. But it would be so stupid as to be actively dangerous, to continue walking around in wet clothes when there was an option to do otherwise. He undid his boots and peeled himself out of his sodden jeans and t-shirt before putting the boots back on and then burrowing into Shen Wei's cloak. It was thick and warm and for a moment it blocked out every bit of cold.
When he looked up, Shen Wei had taken his mask off and was struggling with the next lot of fastenings. "What are you doing?" Zhao Yunlan demanded.
"Sharing," Shen Wei said. "You need —"
"You drowned," Zhao Yunlan snapped at him, and suffered a jolt of remembered horror as he stated it so bluntly. "Please can you just be sensible —"
Shen Wei shook his head stubbornly. "You're freezing," he said. "You can have the underlayer and the cloak."
It did make logical sense. And Zhao Yunlan wasn't particularly happy about walking around in just his boxers under the cloak. With some reluctance he helped Shen Wei undo the thick outerlayer and then take off the black silk that was against his skin, leaving him in the slightly incongruous sight of his modern underwear.
Zhao Yunlan ran a hand comfortingly along Shen Wei's bare arm. His skin was unexpectedly warm. "Aren't you cold?" Zhao Yunlan asked, in some surprise.
"I can alter my body temperature with minimal energy expenditure," Shen Wei said. "I started warming myself up." He looked dubiously at the thin silk as he handed it over. "Maybe you —"
"No, this is what we agreed," Zhao Yunlan said quickly, wrapping himself in it before Shen Wei could start arguing again. The chill air was biting against his skin and he huddled back in the cloak as quickly as he could. He was sure he looked completely ridiculous, but that was way down on his current list of priorities. He helped Shen Wei redress himself in the thicker outer layer of robes, and then his waterproof jacket over the top. Encouraged by how much more alert Shen Wei was now, but still not able to stop worrying. He stuffed their wet clothes into the backpacks and made them both eat an energy bar. "I'm assuming you transporting us isn't in the cards."
Shen Wei shook his head regretfully. "I'm sorry. I need more time to recover enough dark energy."
"How long?" Zhao Yunlan couldn't help asking, even though it made the unhappiness deepen on Shen Wei's face.
"A day, maybe," Shen Wei said. "I used too much, earlier."
"But you can keep yourself warm enough?" Zhao Yunlan asked, before Shen Wei could start apologising for saving both their lives.
Shen Wei nodded. "There's not much more I can do. Only small things."
"Right," Zhao Yunlan said. They'd be walking, then. "Let's go." He was even more stiff getting up this time.
Shen Wei… also got himself to his feet, but something was very off about his movements. "Are you hurt?" Zhao Yunlan demanded.
"Just sore," Shen Wei said, turning to look down the valley.
It seemed like another blatant lie, but Zhao Yunlan didn't see what could be done even if he pulled Shen Wei up on it. He knew that healing was something requiring a large amount of Shen Wei's energy. Not something which could be counted as a small thing.
His feet squelched in his wet boots as they started walking. The rain, which had given them a brief respite as drizzle, began to pick up again as they headed down the valley. Another round of cloud had rolled in and they could see maybe fifty metres in each direction. Just damp sloping grass and the torrid river. At least they couldn't get lost following it.
Shen Wei kept to his pace for only a few minutes. Then he began slowing. Zhao Yunlan slowed along with him, and then Shen Wei stopped being able to maintain that pace either. The rain fell more heavily as the amount of ground they were covering dwindled. Shen Wei had his jaw clenched, looking determinedly ahead, while Zhao Yunlan was nearly biting through his tongue with the effort of not commenting.
He eventually broke. "You are hurt," he said.
"I can manage it," Shen Wei said, tightly.
"Baby," Zhao Yunlan said, and watched the endearment knock the breath out of Shen Wei. He stilled, and swayed on his feet. Zhao Yunlan waited.
"My ribs," Shen Wei finally said. He put a hand to his chest, his palm hovering for a moment without touching. "I — I don't think more than a couple are broken."
The sense-memory surged up, viscerally, of pushing down against Shen Wei's ribcage, over and over. "You should have said," Zhao Yunlan said, immediately appalled.
"We can't do anything about it," Shen Wei said.
It was true, and Zhao Yunlan hated it. Certainly there was nothing to be done while Shen Wei was this exhausted. "Let me help, at least," Zhao Yunlan pleaded.
There were some awkward moments as they tried to work out how he could support Shen Wei without causing him more pain. Eventually Shen Wei just took his hand, leaning on that, seeming to get at least something out of it.
They walked again. Slower and slower, and Shen Wei's face had gone from pale to grey, his breathing becoming loud and laboured. He shook his head stubbornly when Zhao Yunlan suggested they rest.
Then Zhao Yunlan slipped, jerking on Shen Wei's arm as he caught himself. Shen Wei made a choked-off wheeze of pain, and then his face went slack and he crumpled. Zhao Yunlan barely managed to slow his fall to the ground.
He rolled Shen Wei onto his back, heart hammering. "Shen Wei?" he said, and tapped his face. Gently at first, then harder. "Baby. Wake up!"
Shen Wei's eyes opened, unfocused. "Sorry," he mumbled.
"Don't," Zhao Yunlan said, more sharply than he'd meant. He wanted to ask Shen Wei if he could keep going, but the answer was clearly no. "We're going to rest for a while," he said. His watch wasn't working — he didn't know what time it was. If they weren't back by dark Da Qing might realise something was wrong, if he happened to be at home. And didn't just assume they'd stopped off somewhere overnight. The odds of rescue being on the way weren't good.
Shen Wei didn't protest, which spoke volumes. Zhao Yunlan found the emergency foils and spread one out, shifting it and then Shen Wei until half of it was under him. Then he took off the cloak and lay next to Shen Wei with the other foil spread over them and the cloak on top of that. He burrowed as close to Shen Wei as he could, but didn't put an arm over him, afraid of hurting him more than he already had.
He didn't think he was even tired. But as soon as he stopped moving the shock and adrenaline drop which he had been holding off caught up to him all at once. He fell asleep without realising.
Shen Wei let himself be taken by unconsciousness. Hoping that when he woke he would feel… less blurry, and without so much of the raging fire in his chest.
It wasn't much of a hope, and he wasn't surprised when it didn't turn out to be the case. He was woken by a stab of pain, sharp enough that he held his breath for several seconds before letting it out slowly. When he opened his eyes their surroundings were mostly dark.
Zhao Yunlan was curled against him. His presence automatically relaxed Shen Wei, and so it took him several seconds to realise that Zhao Yunlan was shivering with deep tremors. His skin was freezing cold. Foil crackled when Shen Wei moved and Zhao Yunlan was just in a thin layer of silk, damp from the rain and the wet grass under their legs. Shen Wei's thick cloak was covering them both, rather than protecting Zhao Yunlan properly.
"Zhao Yunlan," Shen Wei said. Then, louder, "Zhao Yunlan!"
Zhao Yunlan gave a quiet moan, but Shen Wei couldn't get him to stir more than that. A quick brush of dark energy confirmed that he was slipping into hypothermia.
Shen Wei tried to summon warmth to pour into Zhao Yunlan but he was too unfocused to keep it anchored. He didn't have enough reserves to dry out the ground or even Zhao Yunlan's clothing. The only thing he could keep at a constant temperature while this depleted was himself. Which could still help Zhao Yunlan, if he could manage — With stiff fingers he unfastened his robes, pushing them back, and then very carefully he rolled himself onto his side, holding his breath again through the pain. He put an arm over Zhao Yunlan, pulling him against his chest, and ordered his own body to heat up, drawing on the dregs of his dark energy. He pulled his opened robe over Zhao Yunlan, another layer to keep him warm.
Eventually, Zhao Yunlan stopped shivering.
Shen Wei kept holding him close. Everything outside them was cold and getting colder. If he could just get them through the night…
The next time he woke up it was because of pain again. Zhao Yunlan had shifted against him and it reverberated through Shen Wei's broken ribs. He rigidly restrained himself from crying out. Confused for a moment — lying outside on the damp ground pressed against Kunlun for warmth — and it was only after several heartbeats that he was able to realign himself in time. With Zhao Yunlan, not Kunlun.
"Shen Wei?" Zhao Yunlan asked, groggily, and his arm moved again and this time Shen Wei did cry out, a little, unable to keep it back. "Shit — Shen Wei —"
Zhao Yunlan rolled away, and then turned cautiously towards Shen Wei without touching him. "Sorry, sorry," he said. "Are you —" His fingers brushed Shen Wei's face and his voice sharpened. "Shen Wei, say something. Can you hear me?"
"Yes," Shen Wei said, although his voice came out scratchy. He tried not to take too deep breaths.
The back of Zhao Yunlan's knuckles caressed his forehead. "Baby, you're running one hell of a fever. We need to —"
"It's fine," Shen Wei said. "It's… on purpose." He was finding it a struggle to locate the words.
Zhao Yunlan went very still. "Why?" he asked.
"It's cold," Shen Wei said. Even more now. "You were — You needed —"
Zhao Yunlan inhaled sharply. "You didn't need to do that," he said.
"I did," Shen Wei insisted. He knew he was barely giving out enough warmth to hold back the night.
Zhao Yunlan was quiet for a minute. "Is this dangerous for you?" he asked, finally.
"I don't think so," Shen Wei said. It was hard to think of answers. He felt unsteady, like he was floating.
Zhao Yunlan sighed, deep and resigned, and Shen Wei was finally able to relax. "How are your ribs?" Zhao Yunlan asked, after a while.
"Sore," Shen Wei admitted. He wasn't exactly managing to hide it.
"I'm sorry," Zhao Yunlan said.
"Why?" Shen Wei asked, surprised.
"It was probably me who broke them," Zhao Yunlan said. "During CPR."
"Oh." It hadn't actually occurred to Shen Wei to wonder. He'd vaguely assumed he'd crashed against something in the river. He could remember some of it, although his memories were mostly glazed with panic. Fighting against the water, reaching for the surface, Zhao Yunlan there and then not, and then the terror of being pinned underwater. Unable to see more than a blur. He'd breathed in and the memory of that pain mixed with the pain of his ribs now, stabbing knives and broken glass and fire all at once, overwhelming.
"Shen Wei? Baby, are you okay?" Zhao Yunlan's hand cradling his face.
Shen Wei's breaths were coming in little gasps. He tried to calm himself. "I — Yes. Yes."
Zhao Yunlan kissed his forehead, and then rested his brow against Shen Wei's. "I don't like you doing this to yourself," he said.
"It's necessary," Shen Wei said. That was a certainty, however unreal he felt.
"I know," Zhao Yunlan said, unhappily. "But I don't like it." He very carefully moved until he was nearer Shen Wei again. Not quite touching him.
The rain continued to drip down, thudding against the shielding layer of the cloak. The cold kept seeping up from the ground.
"Do you remember sleeping like this?" Zhao Yunlan asked, very quietly. "During the alliance."
"Yes," Shen Wei said. He closed his eyes. His memories seemed oddly mutable, and that one slid easily into place, vivid as yesterday. "On a mission."
"It wasn't raining," Zhao Yunlan said. "Was it as cold as this?"
"I don't know," Shen Wei said. He could only remember the heat which had been within himself, lying next to Zhao Yunlan. Barely sleeping all night, feeling like he barely breathed. Alight with Zhao Yunlan's attention, with his nearness.
"It can't have been," Zhao Yunlan said. He kissed Shen Wei's lips, very gently and carefully.
"Kunlun," Shen Wei whispered. His head ached.
Zhao Yunlan paused. "Shen Wei?" he said, carefully. "It's me."
"I know," Shen Wei said, confused. "I — We're scouting."
"No, we're not," Zhao Yunlan said. "We're on your research trip, remember?"
"Yes," Shen Wei said. Dark energy. Resonance. He pushed his senses out into the ground, and felt the echoes return. "We have to go further up the valley."
"Not right now," Zhao Yunlan said, slowly. "Shen Wei… You know how you said this wasn't dangerous for you?"
Shen Wei couldn't remember what he meant. He remained silent, hoping Zhao Yunlan would give him a clue.
Zhao Yunlan sighed. "Does your body know the difference between a real fever and one you're inducing on purpose?"
Shen Wei frowned at being given such an academic question. "Is this for a class?" he asked.
"Yes," Zhao Yunlan said.
Shen Wei tried hard to think. "I don't see why it would," he said. "You'd get the same purely physical secondary effects triggered by hyperthermia. Enzyme denaturation, tachycardia, delirium."
"Yes," Zhao Yunlan said. "That's what I suspected."
Shen Wei hummed agreement. He listened again to the dark energy resonance which came back from the ground when he pushed into it. It rang like a rusted bell. "We fought here," he said.
"We haven't been fighting," Zhao Yunlan said. "Not that I've noticed."
"No," Shen Wei said. He started to shake his head but that made it ache. "Kunlun. We fought together. Up the valley. The night attack, and Su Chen sent lines of fire running over the ground ahead of us."
"Oh," Zhao Yunlan breathed. "Yes, I remember. That was here?"
"Yes," Shen Wei said. Ten thousand years ago, and there had been such a spill of dark energies that the hills still remembered in their bones. "Kunlun — the rebel — she came at you with a spear and —"
"Shh, it's okay," Zhao Yunlan said. "You stopped her, remember? You blocked the spear, and got stabbed with someone else's dagger for it."
"You would have been hurt," Shen Wei said. Unacceptable. It caught in his throat.
"Yeah, and you were hurt," Zhao Yunlan said, chidingly. Then he groaned. "I don't know why I bother."
"What?" Shen Wei asked.
"Never mind," Zhao Yunlan said.
"I'm sorry," Shen Wei said, not knowing what he was apologising for, only that he wanted Zhao Yunlan to sound happier.
"Oh, Xiao-Wei," Zhao Yunlan said. He found Shen Wei's hand, and interlaced their fingers. "Try and sleep."
"We can't," Shen Wei reminded him. "We're on watch…"
"I'll take watch," Zhao Yunlan said. "You sleep."
He had been struggling in any case to stay awake, feeling strange and heavy. Shen Wei let himself drift with a sigh.
He didn't dream, usually, but now he slid into memories and they tangled around him. Kunlun. Zhao Yunlan. The battle, and the river washing him away. Ancient dark energies sunk into the ground along fault-lines and through veins of rock. They rose up and he opened his hands to them.
Zhao Yunlan woke cold and stiff. He tried to move and caught his breath. Every muscle in his body felt like it had been wrenched and battered. He pushed the cover off him, and shockingly cold air flooded into the warm space.
It snapped him awake. He opened his eyes, rubbing at them. Shen Wei lay next to him, face pale and still, robes unfastened and tucked over Zhao Yunlan. He had been heating up the little cloth tent with his body heat, Zhao Yunlan remembered with a jolt, burning himself up with fever to keep Zhao Yunlan warm.
He touched Shen Wei's forehead gently, and sighed with relief. He felt warmer than usual, but the terrifying heat was gone.
Shen Wei opened his eyes at that touch. He blinked, disorientated. "Zhao Yunlan?" he mumbled.
"Yes," Zhao Yunlan said. "It's morning. We got through the night."
Shen Wei stared at him vaguely, and then sat up. He grunted with pain, but he definitely wasn't moving like someone with broken ribs.
"You're better?" Zhao Yunlan asked, hopefully. "You healed yourself?"
"I —" Shen Wei looked down at himself, confused, then touched his fingers gently to his chest. "I must have done. I didn't think I'd be able to yet." He pressed harder, and winced. Clearly not completely fixed.
"Let me see," Zhao Yunlan demanded, since Shen Wei hadn't refastened his black robes yet. He pushed them out of the way and lifted Shen Wei's cotton undershirt. He bit his lip. Shen Wei's chest was a mess of dark bruises, focused on the centre of his sternum. Shen Wei looked briefly, and then pushed Zhao Yunlan's hand out of the way and replaced his clothes.
The sun wasn't up yet, but the sky was clear. Zhao Yunlan's toes felt frozen in his wet boots. "Do you feel up to walking?" he asked. He searched through their packs first for some water and food, taking some himself and making sure that Shen Wei did the same. Each muscle he had to move complained as he did so, but he hoped that would wear off soon.
Shen Wei nodded. Zhao Yunlan helped brace him as he stood, very pale but controlling his breathing. "I might be able to transport us to the car instead," he said.
Zhao Yunlan had crouched down to pack the foils. He looked up. "Might," he said, flatly. "What does that mean?"
"I can," Shen Wei amended.
"Will you be conscious afterwards?"
"Almost definitely," Shen Wei said, in a manner suggesting that Zhao Yunlan should be reassured instead of the opposite. He paused. "While I slept. I accessed the ebb of the dark energy running though the ground, I think. That's what I used to heal my ribs."
"And you can use that to get us back to the car?" Zhao Yunlan considered. He wasn't sure it sounded advisable, but Shen Wei was clearly still in a lot of pain. And it was going to be a long walk. "What would you prefer?"
Shen Wei looked down the steep slope of the damp valley, where it twisted away ahead of them. "I'd prefer to call up a portal," he said.
Zhao Yunlan finished packing everything. He didn't put Shen Wei's cloak back on — it was absolutely sodden after keeping the rain off them all night, and he strapped it under the lid of his pack instead. "Okay," he said. He put his arms into the straps of his own backpack and lifted Shen Wei's in his hand. Then he paused and looked back up the valley. "We were really here before?" he asked. "In the past?"
Shen Wei nodded. "It looked different then. But the land remembers."
And had saved their lives, if Shen Wei was right about having called on the remnants of dark energy still lingering from that long-ago battle. But then, that strange dark energy echo was also the reason they were there at all. Zhao Yunlan shook his head, and took a last look around. "Let's go."
Shen Wei opened his hands. And breathed deeply, and then a portal opened for them and deposited them neatly by the jeep. Shen Wei staggered, but Zhao Yunlan was ready to catch him. "Are you okay?" he demanded.
"Yes," Shen Wei said, a little dazedly. Zhao Yunlan unlocked the jeep — at least the key still worked after being dunked in the river — and walked Shen Wei around to the passenger seat. He boosted him up into it, and tipped the seat back so that Shen Wei could rest. Then he found with relief the emergency change of clothing he always kept in the boot and stripped out of the damp silk, replacing it with denim and cotton and a thick wool sweater. He loaded the soggy backpacks.
By the time he got into the driver's seat, Shen Wei was asleep. Breathing deeply, his Envoy robes muddy and disarrayed. They weren't too wet, though, so Zhao Yunlan just turned the heating up instead of disturbing him.
The engine, however, woke him. Half-woke him, anyway — Shen Wei looked distinctly bleary as he turned his head. "Go back to sleep," Zhao Yunlan told him. "You need the rest."
Shen Wei smiled at him, but didn't close his eyes. Zhao Yunlan started driving.
"Thank you," Shen Wei said, after Zhao Yunlan had turned the jeep around and started bouncing their way down the uneven trail.
"For what?" Zhao Yunlan asked.
"For the river," Shen Wei said. "I… I was afraid…"
Zhao Yunlan caught his breath, and then a moment later braked to a stop, not able to deal with this while driving. The idea that he might not have found Shen Wei under the water in time — that he might not have been able to start him breathing again — was a physical pain in his chest. "Always," he said. He fumbled for Shen Wei's hand, and squeezed it tight. "I'll always come for you."
"I know," Shen Wei said, and smiled again.
"And we're going to teach you to swim," Zhao Yunlan added.
Shen Wei's eyes half-closed. "The lake…" he murmured.
"It's far too cold to go to a lake," Zhao Yunlan said. "This is the modern world. We have public swimming pools." But he read disappointment on Shen Wei's face, and added, "We could go to a lake in the summer, though. If you'd like that."
"Yes," Shen Wei said. "Yes, I'd like that." And he slept the whole way back to the city.