Work Text:
Scrunch.
Chenle freezes, hand reflexively going to his polearm. His eyes immediately dart around, trying to find the source of the noise, his heart beating a million miles a minute. He spots a white flash --
Rabbit. Of course.
His heartbeat slows and his breath deepens, trying to find oxygen after the startle. It’s been a long hard day for him. In a good way, of course. His uncle seems to believe that physical exhaustion is the best end to a day and works Chenle to the brink. It works, it helps him keep his mind off... things. Unfortunately, everything bothering him just bides its time and comes at him at midnight, when he sits on a flat rock at the foot of Mount Aozang, outside of the waterfall hiding the entrance to the clan residence.
Their mystical martial arts clan hideout. Chenle grins, but its tinged with bitterness.
As a child, he devoured books on martial arts – those heroes with hearts of gold and bodies made of divine steel, who could mow through abyss mages and geovishaps like they were parting water. It didn’t help his imagination to actually be related to one of those heroes in the books. His uncle was well known in Liyue for being the youngest master of an ancient martial arts clan. Chenle practically worshipped him, to the endless annoyance of his father and his older brother.
It brings to mind what Kun said, on the day his older brother left him in his uncle’s care two months past, right here in front of this benighted waterfall.
“I hope you are happy here. You’re going to be living your dream.”
My dream? My dream is to stay in Liyue, with my family. With my friends. With --
Chenle’s lip quivers as the thoughts raze through his mind again. Midnight musings really don’t do him good. But there was nothing to it. If he wants out of here he has to wait, in the dark with the moonlight his only company. He has to wait until he sees the sign he’s looking for.
An arrow wooshes through the air, tinged with ice. Chenle’s eyes widen in excitement – this is it! Through the brush, a form appears – his expression curious, all tall and gangly and ever familiar. The other boy holds a stylized bow, with an arrow hanging on his other hand. A vision peeks out glinting on his side, glowing pale white like the moon. Chenle takes him in all at once, heart filled with an unhealthy amount of glee.
Chenle approaches him slowly, trying to be quiet – and then bonks him on the head.
“Ow!”
“There you are, finally! What took you so long?”
“Are you insane? You left a message on the billboard in Wangshu Inn, you’re lucky we passed by there at all. And in case you forgot, this is a hidden clan residence – it wasn’t easy to find out from my uncle exactly where this place was.”
Chenle rolls his eyes. Details. “Whatever, Jisung. Let’s go.”
“Go? Go where? I just got here Chenle...” says Jisung, his voice rising on a whine.
Chenle huffs, picking up his polearm and settling it on the holder strapped to his back. He’s only had about two months of actual training but traveling in Liyue isn’t for the faint of heart and any weapon is better than nothing. “Did you think this was some vacation? I asked you to fetch me Jisung, of course we’re going back home.”
“Back home?! But what about --”
“Say his name and I will cut you.” says Chenle, his eyes firmly on path before them. The moonlight is enough to light up their way – as long as they stick to the path. The path itself is lined with yellow-gold trees and winding stream, a strangely discernible track to the supposedly secret waterfall entrance. Even at midnight, the environment abounds with noise – an eagle swooping overhead, the snuffs of little rabbits and boars, squirrels looking for apples and sunsettia. The forest is alive and well, full of wonders and possible danger.
He really shouldn’t be just stalking here by himself, unused as he is to life outside the city.
Chenle bites his lip and glances back at Jisung, who is clearly trying to give him space – by repressing his giggles?! Hmph.
“Chenle do you even know where you’re going?” says Jisung, plunking his giant hands on to Chenle’s shoulders. Chenle tenses, unwilling to look the fool.
“Yes?”
Jisung’s eye roll is almost audible. The other boy turns him sideways to the east, facing the forest Chenle wanted to avoid at all cost. “Liyue Harbor is there genius.”
“-- I knew that.”
“Right. Ok, stop stop stop, Chenle, stop – I’m sorry! I’m sorry for correcting you!” says Jisung hurriedly as Chenle stomps to the tree line and hesitates before plunging in. Jisung hisses in alarm, trying to pull him back to the path. “We don’t know what’s there – Chenle!”
Chenle’s stubborn but not stupid. Sometimes. So he lets Jisung drag him back and settle them both on a flat rock underneath a sunsettia tree, heavy with red orange sunsettia. Chenle wants to scream back at him but he doesn’t want to attract any unwanted hilichurls that may be lurking around. He’s only ever seen them from afar, while he they were traveling to here from Liyue Harbor.
Thinking about two-week slow torture by sedan chair, trapped in a small space while Kun described how much fun Chenle was going to have in the clan residence away from the burdens and expectations of being the second son of the Feiyun Commerce Guild and extolled the virtues of learning martial arts from their grandmaster uncle, was all kinds of annoying. Said uncle cheerfully appeared and disappeared beside their sedan chair, occasionally bringing Chenle things from their surroundings – an apple, a ley line branch from an easily defeated abyss mage, a hilichurl’s mask. Chenle refuses to think of how much his heart sparked with interest at the things he was given, still rooted in his bitterness.
Kun was giving him away.
Chenle shakes his head sharply, trying to dislodge the memories from his mind. Jisung looks at him, eyes rounding with concern. This best friend of his, always too caring for his own good. And ... feeling guilty, if Chenle didn’t miss his guess.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine. You’re probably hungry.” Jisung turns to his side, digging into his little bag. Chenle’s eyes are drawn to his vision, a visual match to his own glinting blue gem, pinned as a broach on his neck. He’s about to touch it, but suddenly --
“Eat this.” Chenle’s jaw drops at the bowl sat in his lap, his voice going up an octave. “Woah, is this cold noodles with mountain delicacies?”
Jisung smirks, sitting beside Chenle with a sandwich for himself. “Grabbed it just for you. I know how much you like my uncle’s special dish.”
Chenle refuses to stare at Jisung, knowing his eyes would give him away. Jisung knows him too well sometimes. His heart skips one beat, then two – and then he firmly shoves shut his thoughts behind a door labelled forbidden. He tries to bring his tone back to joking, refusing to sound as touched as he is. “Missed me, huh?”
And now its Jisung who doesn’t want to meet his eyes. “No. Liyue Harbor was so much more peaceful and quiet without you. It was very refreshing.”
“Hmph.”
They sit in silence for a while, Chenle enjoying his noodle dish with fervor. Jisung’s uncle made the best noodles, having harvested his ingredients fresh due to his travels all over Liyue. After the... incident that led to them both getting blessed with a vision, Jisung’s uncle took him out to travel with him and to train.
Chenle missed him so much. But he’d never admit it, either out loud or to himself. There were just some things one didn’t say, to preserve friendships that have been there since time immemorial. Chenle remembers Jisung as a tiny little peanut of a boy, following him around in little totters all over the living room floor. He remembers afternoons spent not studying in Jisung’s home – less grand than Chenle’s, but warmer and closer than his for all that they were a clan of exorcists. Chenle’s uncle and Jisung’s uncle were close, so their families met often. It was a surprise to no one that Chenle and Jisung got along like duck to water.
It is just their fate, they said.
“Chenle?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there. Afterwards.” Jisung’s voice is low, his baritone deeper than usual. Chenle wants to crack a joke, but it is the dead of night and he’s feeling sentimental. The feelings welling up inside him kept battering at his little mind door labelled forbidden, wanting to be set free. Chenle just hits him with his shoulder, careful to not drop his noodle bowl.
“You’re being an idiot. It’s not your fault, Jisungie.” he says, the nickname coloring his voice warm like Jisung’s favorite hot chocolate. “Your vision is a gift, you shouldn’t waste it just hanging around me. Just because --”
He chokes and stops, the words caught in his throat. Chenle swallows around the block, forcing it out. “-- just because my father died doesn’t mean I’m sad all the time. I’m not a kid anymore. Neither are you.”
“Is that why you’re running back home with your tail between your legs?”
Chenle hisses, eyes sparking to meet Jisung’s raised eyebrow. I ran right into that one. “I hate you.”
“No you don’t.” Jisung says, his tone smug. “Your vision is a gift – my ass. If my vision is a gift, is yours trash? How come I should train but you should stay home? You don’t even like doing stuff for the commerce guild.”
If it were any other person delivering these truths, Chenle would’ve cut them off where they stood. But this is Jisung and hurting him deeply was – difficult, for Chenle.
Chenle stands and stalks off, belying his earlier claims of adulthood. He can’t hurt Jisung deeply, but he also dislikes the thoughts running around his mind over and over, can’t sustain the fraying hinges of the door labelled forbidden, can’t manage the feelings of abandonment he’s been ignoring since the day Kun ge dumped him at the foot of Mount Aozang in his uncle’s care.
His father dies, he receives a vision and suddenly he’s not Kun’s problem anymore. Suddenly Jisung has to travel with his uncle, to train his own vision – suddenly Chenle’s world is overturned and completely changed and all he wants is for things to go back to how it used to be --
“Chenle!! Chenle look out!!”
The warning comes a second too late. Chenle looks up and locks eyes with a brown form sitting in dust-filled heap in front of him. The dusty heap creaks into action, mechanical beeping filling the air as it clicks into life.
Rex Lapis preserve them.
A Ruin Hunter.
The world returns in sharp relief as Chenle goes flying into the air. He remembers his two-month-old training just in time to properly break his fall, landing roughly in the middle of the stream. He vaguely hears Jisung screaming his name, ice-tipped arrows flying in the air as Jisung shoots from the tree-line. Chenle shakes his head to clear it, his heart beating in double time as he tries to assess. Everything else fades into the background – it was only him, Jisung and the Ruin Hunter.
The ruin hunter flies low to the ground, the weak point in its chest area dimmed and hidden. Chenle remembers that much of his reading, at least. The mechanical monster aims a sharp drill point arm that Chenle cleanly dodges – Chenle swings his polearm to hit the low arch at the bottom of the monster’s body.
He misses. The ruin hunter flies high.
Chenle gasps, the rest of the information filling his brain. This is the ruin hunter’s second form – his weak point shines bright gold, a dead center bullseye but only for the experienced.
“Chenle, it’s transforming! Move away, move away!”
He springs into action even before Jisung shouts, trying to run towards Jisung’s voice. Chenle is blind and deaf to the world, his mind consumed with only one thing – get to Jisung, get them to safety. Pray to Rex Lapis that they reach the waterfall entrance in time.
“Jisung, go back! Go back to the waterfall!”
“I’m not leaving without you!”
“TAKE COVER, THE BOTH OF YOU!”
Chenle startles – he sees Jisung’s eyes widen as high above them, two people plunge straight at the transforming ruin hunter. A white robed form aims his claymore down at the flying monster, white blanketing the moon-lit landscape. Jisung’s uncle, Chongyun.
The other person is garbed in dark blue, the rain swords swirling around him taking aim at the downed ruin hunter. Chenle’s uncle, Xingqiu.
Chenle grabs Jisung’s arm, still outstretched to notch his bow and drags him behind the tree line. They watch with bated breath as their uncles run around the ruin hunter – Chongyun slams his claymore to the ground causing an explosion that crystallizes the soil into white-tipped frost. Xingqiu swings into action, his sword almost an extension of his body as he slashes at the ruin hunter with quick flicks of his arm, the rain swords materializing from thin air hitting the monster in quick succession. The ruin hunter stills with the power of both hydro and cryo, freezing in place as the two experienced heroes make short work of the monster.
With a last shatter of Chongyun’s claymore, the ruin hunter powers down and disintegrates, coming off in small pieces that drift in the blowing wind.
Jisung grasps his right hand and Chenle becomes slowly aware of both their breaths, audible in the silence.
Chenle threads his fingers into Jisung’s, holding on for dear life.
--
“Chenle, what were you thinking?” asked his uncle Xingqiu, his tone solicitous and kind while handing him a cup of tea.
Okay, he might have exaggerated in his head a little when he thought of what their uncles reactions may be. Xingqiu and Chongyun had immediately herded their two charges into the Guhua Clan Residence, bundling them both into thick blankets and brewing them all tea. Both of them looked composed, not a hair out of place – as if destroying ruin hunters were a daily occurrence.
Then again, given their line of work – Xingqiu as Guhua Clan Grandmaster and Chongyun as Liyue’s most famed exorcist – it probably is.
Chenle sighs, shaking his head. He really doesn’t want a post-mortem investigation on his actions and as a rule, he much prefers ignoring his issues entirely in favor of just doing what he wants.
But Jisung’s hand is still in his, their fingers locked in an unbreakable grip. Chongyun just watches them both calmly, sipping at his ice-filled water cup. He already had words with Jisung, while the two younger ones were being rushed into the residence. Chenle wouldn’t be surprised if they were congratulatory on Chongyun’s part – as young children, whenever there was trouble it was invariably started by Chenle with Jisung taking a supporting role.
Jisung stares at Chenle now, prompting him without words to tell the truth. He’s always been there for Chenle and now he’s saying... now he’s saying, with his eyes, with his hand, with just his presence – he’s saying he’ll be with Chenle whatever happens. And everything will be okay.
“I... I’m just scared. Everything’s changed. And I’m... I’m not okay.”
His voice breaks at that last syllable. Chenle bows his head, unable to let the others see the storm of emotions on his face. Sentimentality. Feelings.
The door in his mind labelled forbidden, freed from its hinges – feelings rushing into him, storming out of him in a blur. It’s not even all about Jisung. He’s been repressing so many things, it seems.
A gentle hand strokes his hair. He looks up to see his uncle smiling, his eyes kind half moons. For all that he was a hard taskmaster, when there was work to be done, Chenle’s forgotten that he’s also his fun-loving prankster Uncle Xingqiu. Deeply intelligent but also deeply human.
“It’s okay to not be okay. No one’s expecting you to be fine, Chenle. We just want you to be safe and healthy.” Perceptive eyes capture his. “All of us. Me. Your uncle Chongyun. Jisung. Even your brother.”
Chenle’s stomach twists. Kun isn’t something he wants to think about, not yet. But in a way, he understands. “I’m sorry. I’ve been a handful the past few months, haven’t I?” Chenle says ruefully.
He sees Jisung’s sympathetic grin – while Jisung had been in and out of Liyue Harbor, when he was in the city he was always with Chenle. Even when Chenle didn’t want him to be and tried to push him away. But when Kun told Chenle about the plan to send him to train with Uncle Xingqiu in the mountains, Chenle’s only thought was to ask Jisung for help.
“You have, but it is nothing we can’t all handle.” says Uncle Chongyun, his voice piercing the silence. He rarely spoke, his controlled demeanor often intimidating. But within their family, he lets down his guard.
“We’re here for you Chenle. Whatever you need.”
“Can... can you stay a while? Here, in the clan residence?” asks Chenle. His usually rambunctious tone is small, his pride wrinkling at the thought of having to ask others for help. But he wasn’t a kid anymore, as he told Jisung in what seems like a millenia ago. Pre-ruin hunter.
He’s an adult and he can ask for help when needed.
Jisung nods, shifting to pull Chenle into an exuberant hug. “We’ll stay as long as you need us. Right uncle?” Both uncles grin at the two of them, eyes shining bright.
For the moment, Chenle is home.