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“I got here first!” Yu Feng wouldn’t usually be so aggressive but he’d not found a job for weeks and his supply of money was slowly dwindling and he needed to take this contract and he was willing to fight for it. He kept his eyes trained on the other man, watching to see if his hand was going to drop to the pistol at his hip. To his surprise, he was shaking his head, backing away with hands slightly raised.
“Ah then you take it, there’s no need to look so aggressive you know.” Zheng Xuan wasn’t sure why the swordsman was acting so defensive but he wasn’t one to seek out conflict when he didn’t have to. His words didn’t seem to defuse the other man however, his eyes narrowed and his hand dropped to his weapon at his waist.
“Why are you giving up so easily? Do you know something about this that I don’t?” The swordsman’s eyes were dark with mistrust and Zheng Xuan shrugged his shoulders, turning from where he’d begun to walk away.
“I just read the noticeboard, there’s harpies terrorising the village.” He let his gaze travel over the other man again, this time with a more appraising eye. “Isn’t this job too small for someone of your skill?” Yu Feng wasn’t sure if he should take that as a compliment or an insult. He settled for ignoring the comment.
“I was told that they’re having trouble with wolves.” Zheng Xuan frowned at the differing stories they’d been given and he wondered if the other was right and that there was more to this job then they’d been told.
“What’s your name?” The other man startled at the sudden change in topic, eyeing him warily seemingly weighing up his options before giving in.
“Yu Feng,” he stuck out on hand brusquely, “what’s yours?”
“Zheng Xuan. I won’t take your contract; you were here first after all.” The man- Zheng Xuan turned again, clearly planning to leave and even though it was exactly what Yu Feng had wanted, exactly what he’d aimed for, something in his gut told him it was a bad idea.
“Wait!” Zheng Xuan’s head tilted to the side, curiosity in his gaze, “you can stay, if you want, if they told you something else then maybe there’s nothing out here after all.”
“Or there might be something bigger than we were warned about.” Yu Feng nodded in reluctant agreement and Zheng Xuan hummed thoughtfully before he loaded his gun and snapped the chamber shut. “Are you going to take the lead?”
“Of course I am, you’re long-range, just…watch my back.” Yu Feng wasn’t convinced, even when Zheng Xuan nodded in agreement. It didn’t seem like the gunner wanted to stab him in the back but Yu Feng still didn’t trust him he checked his back intermittently.
Zheng Xuan noticed Yu Feng glancing over his shoulder from time to time and he wondered why he was so mistrustful. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind in favour of keeping his focus on what was going on around them. The tree cover was thick enough that he had doubts about the villagers’ claims of harpies. He couldn’t hear any wolves either and apprehension set him on edge, waiting for the trap to be sprung-
“MOVE!” Zheng Xuan’s voice cracked out like a whip, losing all laziness in his inflection and Yu Feng reacted immediately, trusting his instincts as he dove to the left, tucking into a roll and pulling out his sword as he did so. It was a reassuring weight in his hand and he stared up at their opponent, fury already singing in his veins.
It was a troll. A fucking troll. Not wolves, not even harpies that even the least skilled adventurers could take care of alone. A fucking troll and Yu Feng cursed the village with every single word he remembered. He half wished he’d never left Blue Rain, that he had Yu Wenzhou at his back or Huang Shaotian at his side-
Yu Feng grit his teeth at the thoughts, shaking them out of his head, it was stupid to dwell on the past and in this case it might actually kill him if he let himself get swept away by his choices. Their one advantage was that the trolls were slow and as long as they didn’t get hit, they should be alright.
Zheng Xuan watched as Yu Feng went charging forward, anger written across his face, sword slicing across the back of the troll’s knees. Unfortunately, its skin was too tough for that to anything more than irritate it and he raised his pistol, sending a ricochet of bullets against the creature’s back, drawing its attention over to him.
He used the knockback from his own grenade to force himself back, knowing they didn’t affect him and the club missed him by inches. The impact of it against the ground made his teeth rattle and Zheng Xuan came to the same conclusion as Yu Feng had.
Don’t get hit.
He retreated further, knowing he’d be of more use if he kept his distance, and Yu Feng nodded from where he’d just slashed at the troll’s legs again, drawing the creature towards him, exposing the back of its knees once more. Zheng Xuan whistled to catch his attention, waving the grenade in the air briefly and waiting for the swordsman’s acknowledgement.
Once he had it, he hurled the weapon at the troll, aiming for the already damaged skin, Yu Feng already dancing out of the way as it made the creature stumble forward upon impact. His partner capitalised on the distraction perfectly, waiting until the troll was closer to the ground before leaping up and slashing at its chest.
Yu Feng had clearly channelled something into the blow as it left a long red line against its chest but the troll snarled and managed to score a glancing hit against Yu Feng’s side, knocking him to the ground and forcing the air out of his lungs.
Zheng Xuan’s eyes widened in concern when the other didn’t get up and he sprinted closer to the fight without really thinking about it, firing as he went. He reloaded instinctively, hands moving to his ammunition without him having to look, there was barely any gap between the rounds of bullets and it served it purpose, infuriating the troll who span around and charged towards him, fury burning in its eyes.
He waited until its fist was swinging down and he threw himself between its legs, slamming another grenade against its leg, eking out another few precious seconds. Zheng Xuan wasn’t sure what he was going to do but he kept himself calm, determined to keep the beast away from Yu Feng for as long as possible, even if it backfired on him.
Yu Feng knew that something had likely cracked from that blow, he was glad he’d managed to avoid the worst of it, as it hurt enough as it was. But the pain was useful for one thing, he could feel the all too familiar red haze clawing in his chest, could see it out of the corners of his eyes and he glanced up to see the gunner- to see Zheng Xuan darting out of reach, goading the troll into keeping its focus on him.
He wasn’t sure why, but that was the last straw, not the pain, not the fury of being careless enough to get hurt, the sight of Zheng Xuan in a bind, that was what made Yu Feng lose his grip on his control and he let his rage encompass him, charging forward with a ground-shaking howl.
Zheng Xuan and the troll’s heads snapped to the side at the sound and Zheng Xuan’s eyes widened at the hazy red aura surrounding the swordsman, realising exactly what kind of swordsman Yu Feng was now. He took advantage of the troll’s distraction to get out of range, unsure of how coherent the other was and unwilling to get involved in the fallout.
Yu Feng went barrelling into the troll, sword coming down in a wide arc, scoring a long cut down the length of its chest, making it roar in pain, landing another glancing blow on Yu Feng. Zheng Xuan winced from where he was stood, still firing bullets into the troll’s back, cutting off his opportunities for escape and forcing it to face Yu Feng’s blade.
But the blow, however glancing, was still packed with force and Zheng Xuan had his doubts as to how much more of this Yu Feng could take and he moved into position, waiting until the troll howled at Yu Feng and the grenade left his hand in a graceful arc, perfectly timed to vanish down the troll’s throat, detonating and blowing its head off its shoulders.
Before the grenade detonated, Zheng Xuan dragged Yu Feng out of range, even as the berserker fought against his grasp. He sensed that he wouldn’t be able to manhandle the other usually but his injuries meant the other lacked leverage and he managed to get them out of the blast radius.
Zheng Xuan eased Yu Feng’s sword out of his hand, even as he snarled and snapped at him, likely aggravating his injuries further and he carefully forced Yu Feng to meet his eyes. His face was calm, unconcerned, people often told him that he’d always been too lazy to let his emotions spread across his face but in this moment, he was glad of it.
“You should calm down, where’s the use in getting wound up like this? So stressful to get as angry as you did, aren’t you tired now, why should you stay angry when your opponent is dead?” Zheng Xuan wasn’t entirely sure what he was saying at this point but he let the words roll off his tongue with ease, and he kept his voice steady and flat throughout.
Yu Feng was used to the haze of rage when he let himself get consumed, setting aside any concerns of his own health in favour of charging into the battle and dealing out as much damage as possible. He was used to the roar of blood in his ears, the way his vision would cloud over and he would know nothing except the swing of his blade and whatever wounds he managed to inflict.
He was also used to the aftermath.
The vicious pain that hit him all at once, the ache in his limbs from absorbing blows he could have avoided, the way his vision would clear slowly, hazed red long after the battle had finished. Perhaps the worst of it was how hard it was to pull himself out of the haze, how he had to force his mind clear of the fury that wanted to settle on his bones and leash it back into something more controllable.
This time though- this time he came back to himself easily, as if he were being guided and when the haze cleared from his eyes, faster than it ever had since he’d left Blue Rain, he met Zheng Xuan’s eyes and he was surprised by what he saw.
Relief.
Pure relief flickered clearly across the gunner’s face, some of the tension leaving his shoulders as he pulled bandages from his bag.
“What do you remember?”
“I got hit because I got careless, you were drawing it away from me and- wait!“ Yu Feng was suddenly struck by something and he would have jostled his ribs if it weren’t for Zheng Xuan’s hold on his shoulders. “What were you doing in a close-range fight?”
“You weren’t getting up, did you expect me to just leave you to get killed?” Yu Feng opened his mouth to answer before he fell silent, unsure of how to answer that. Before he could come up with an answer, Zheng Xuan had already continued. “Besides, if you’d told me you were a berserker I could have prepared better.”
“Prepared how?”
“I would have linked you to my grenades, then I could have used them without worrying about hurting you.”
“Do you want to do that?” Zheng Xuan blinked in surprise at the question as he continued to wind the bandage around Yu Feng’s chest.
“If we aren’t fighting together again then there’s not much point, besides, you’re too injured to do it now.”
“I was thinking about heading south after this. I’ve been up here for a long time and there doesn’t seem to be many contracts. I’m sure you’ve noticed.”
“It would be easier to make a living further south…” Zheng Xuan seemed to be speaking more to himself than to Yu Feng.
“You could come with me. If you wanted.” Yu Feng glanced up to see Zheng Xuan’s head tilted to the side thoughtfully.
“It was easy fighting beside you.” Zheng Xuan waved one hand agreeably, somehow managing to make the action look decisive and causal all at once. “When you’ve recovered from today, we can make plans.” Yu Feng wasn’t sure why Zheng Xuan’s agreement made something in his chest warm but he was pleased by the decision.
Making their way back to the village was just as difficult as Yu Feng had expected, though Zheng Xuan was in fairly good shape, taking the entirety of Yu Feng’s weight over his shoulders was tiring and they had to stop frequently.
By the time they’d made it back the village, they were dotted with sweat and Yu Feng felt as if his ribs were on fire. The head of the little community came running up to them, eyes raking over them appraisingly.
“Did you defeat the troll- the harpies?” The man’s jaw snapped shut as he realised his mistake and Yu Feng narrowed his eyes at him.
“You knew.” It wasn’t a question and the other man nodded nervously. “You knew and you didn’t bother to tell us-!”
“We require a healer,” Zheng Xuan cut in as Yu Feng’s rage was cut off by his ribs reminding him that he wasn’t in any shape to be starting another fight. “And a fair wage for each of us.” The unbothered, flat tone that Zheng Xuan used made it seem like this was inevitable and the village head nodded, hurrying off, likely grateful neither seemed particularly murderous.
“Your ribs are cracked, lie back and let me remove these bandages.” The healer’s touch was gentle but Yu Feng still grit his teeth against the pain. “I can mend the breaks but you’ll have to be careful for at least a week, nothing that might aggravate the area and reinjure yourself.”
“Will I still be able to use my sword?” Yu Feng yelped as she swatted him lightly around the head before moving to gather her ingredients.
“Thinking you can fight with your sword, aggravating your ribs even though I just told you not to reinjure yourself, ahh you youth are so impulsive and foolish, don’t come crying back to me if you get hurt again.” Yu Feng glared at Zheng Xuan who seemed to be hiding a laugh behind his hand, wiping the smile off his face before the healer turned around and spotted it.
“Drink this, it will dull the pain and your young man can hold your hand while I fix your ribs, aiyah you berserkers, my only customers when everyone else is being careful-“ Yu Feng wasn’t sure what else the woman saying, choking on the drink at the implication that Zheng Xuan was his anything.
“He’s not my young man!” The healer seemed unmoved by this, pushing the cup back up to his lips as her hands began to glow with a soft blue light.
“He should hold your hand anyway, bite down on this.” Yu Feng wasn’t sure what he expected but the sudden sharp, burning pain in his chest wasn’t it and he grunted, clutching at Zheng Xuan’s hand tightly throughout. He ended up panting while the healer ran her hands carefully around his sides.
“Is he alright?” Zheng Xuan asked, shaking out his hand as he did so.
“He’ll be fine, make sure he doesn’t crack his ribs again, rest and recovery for at least a week, now go on, off you go.”
“Thank you.” Yu Feng inclined his head, grateful that he was able to walk without the ache of his ribs and the healer rolled her eyes, waving one hand to shoo them on their way.
Their coin purses were far fuller than Yu Feng had expected upon leaving the town and they set up camp a few miles down the road, lighting a small fire for warmth.
“So what do I do to make sure you can support me properly in a fight?” Zheng Xuan startled out of his thoughts and he sighed, as if it were too much effort to stand and retrieve his weapons. Yu Feng rolled his eyes at the other’s theatrics and he startled as a grenade was pressed into his hand.
“You draw this rune onto it with your blood.”
“My blood.” Yu Feng’s voice was flat and unimpressed, suspicion creeping back into his eyes.
“It’s so they can recognise your signature.”
“I have to do this to all of them?!”
“No! Just one! Ahh imagine having to do it more than once, imagine how much trouble that would be, so much effort, far too stressful, no one would train with us again.” Yu Feng eyed the grenade again, still wary but he made a small cut along his arm, tracing the rune onto the weapon. Zheng Xuan shuddered as it glowed, the cut on his arm healing and the grenade vanished into thin air.
“Was that it?” Yu Feng was still unconvinced it had worked and he trained his gaze on the spitfire before him. To his annoyance, he found himself distracted by how the firelight played across Zheng Xuan’s cheekbones.
“It was just that you were too weak before,” Zheng Xuan seemed pale, even with the flush from the heat of the fire, “the ritual isn’t complicated, do you want to test it out?”
“If you want.” Yu Feng refused to show his fear, pushing it deep within himself as Zheng Xuan pulled a grenade from his belt, tossing it between them and Yu Feng braced himself.
When it went off and nothing happened he laughed, partly in relief and partially with delight at how many more battle tactics this opened up for them. Zheng Xuan took in how nice the berserker looked when he wasn’t scowling in suspicion and he let his own smile creep across his lips, hiding it by ducking his head.
The two quickly found that they worked well together, coordinating with ease, Yu Feng charging in, sword swinging while Zheng Xuan provided long-range support, darting all over the battlefield in order to be effective. As much as Zheng Xuan thought privately that Yu Feng’s fighting style was reckless, the other wouldn’t be convinced and Zheng Xuan trained himself to respond effectively to the rhythm that Yu Feng set.
He was also used to drawing his partner out of the red fog that consumed him, easing him down from his fury and leaving him feeling more refreshed than when he waited for the fog to dissipate on his own. Yu Feng realised one night, when they were settling down to sleep, that he’d become dependant on Zheng Xuan, that he didn’t want to spitfire to leave, that he wanted to keep fighting beside him. But he didn’t know how to articulate it and so he pushed the thought to the back of his mind.
Meanwhile, Zheng Xuan’s gaze was fixed on the back of Yu Feng’s neck as they lay down, wondering what he’d have to do to be allowed to remain by the berserker’s side. But he didn’t have the right words to ask and so he let his eyes slip shut, the all too familiar desire thick and heavy in his chest even as he tried to forget it.
It hadn’t been a good fight, their formation falling apart soon into the fight when more goblins appeared than usual. Zheng Xuan had been forced to wade into the thick of the battle and his left arm was still aching long after the battle ended.
But as much as Zheng Xuan wanted to collapse, wanted to tend to his wounds and pass out, he still had a job to do and he stood on unsteady legs to stumble over to his partner.
Yu Feng was deeper in the fog than Zheng Xuan had ever seen him, suddenly snarling in rage and throwing himself into the fray, even more reckless than he’d ever been. His gaze was hazy with fury and Zheng Xuan eased his sword out of tightly clenched fingers, laying it carefully to one side, cupping Yu Feng’s face with his uninjured arm.
“Yu Feng you have to calm down now, it’s so draining to do this to yourself especially when we’re not in danger, makes you tired and sleepy. Then I have to carry you all the way back to town and then you tell me I’m too lazy and that I should train more and those conversations are too stressful.”
Unlike every battle before, Yu Feng’s eyes didn’t blink and begin to clear the fog, he still seemed keyed up, letting himself be consumed by the rage and Zheng Xuan found himself at a loss of what to do. It had never taken more than a few sentences to wake Yu Feng and he felt a curl of worry in his stomach. Yu Feng was trusting him with this and Zheng Xuan didn’t want to fail him.
“Ahh, don’t worry me like this.” And Zheng Xuan didn’t know what made him think it was a good idea, but he leant down to press a soft kiss against Yu Feng’s forehead, a brief touch.
To his surprise, when he sat back up, Yu Feng’s eyes were clear of the red haze and sharp with confusion, mouth opened in a small O. Zheng Xuan felt his cheeks heat under the scrutiny and Yu Feng was the first to break the silence.
“You kissed me.” Zheng Xuan tried to explain but Yu Feng didn’t pause, “does that mean, does that mean you want to stay?”
“Of course I want to stay.” The words slipped out before Zheng Xuan realised it, and he nearly took them back before he caught the blooming delight spreading over Yu Feng’s face.
“You mean it? You want to stay and fight by my side?” Zheng Xuan laced his fingers through Yu Feng’s, gentle smile creeping across his face.
“I’ve stayed for nearly a year, why would you think I’d want to leave?”
“Because you don’t- you aren’t searching for glory, I am.”
“I can follow you and that is enough glory for me.” Yu Feng flushed red at Zheng Xuan’s blunt words, even as they warmed something in his chest and his grip on Zheng Xuan’s hand tightened.
“I’m glad you want to stay.” Zheng Xuan’s lips brushed against his, touch fleeting and yet heart achingly sweet.
“I’m glad you want me to stay.” They stayed like that for a long time, fingers laced together, leaning against one another as they basked in each other’s company.
Yu Feng smiled at the thought that he’d found someone to watch his back, to stand beside him and make up for all the parts that his fighting style was missing, a partner and more. Zheng Xuan, always accused of floating through life without any kind of direction, someone who just followed others without any kind of ambition of his own had found someone he trusted enough to lead him somewhere truly great.
Both finding something in each other that they were missing, something that they needed, a partner they could support without changing the core of themselves. Yu Feng could charge headlong into battle knowing Zheng Xuan had his back and Zheng Xuan trusted in Yu Feng to create the best opportunities to support.
It just worked.