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The group of eight–Yuelin, Rin, Venka, Kitay, Nezha, Ramsa, Baji, and Suni–sat unusually calm within the empty open barracks. Each of them had their own chattermate. Some were conversing like normal people, some were talking about the recent strategies, while some were being, well, being.
“Hey! It’s not my fault you were being a brat while I was talking to someone!” Baji had exclaimed, Ramsa rushing to the side to dodge the shaman’s smack.
Ramsa laughed in Baji’s face, “I was saving that poor girl from your presence. She even thanked me on her way out.” He had his head high, lips curled in a boyish grin.
A loud scowl erupted from the group of three women, Yuelin’s eyebrows knitted together as she called their names with a harsh tone. Baji and Ramsa pursing their lips out of pure worry, a wordless truce forming between them.
The three women were talking about the randomest things in the world. It was such an eccentric combination too. Yuelin was a decorated assassin, a few years their senior in Sinegard Academy. Rin and Venka spent their years in Sinegard Academy in the same dormitory, though they never really formed a solid friendship until the start of the Third Poppy War, where they fought for the empire.
Now, the three of them fight for the Republic of Nikara now, though, under Yin Vaisra’s banner.
Rin was currently the one speaking in the small circle, sharing something about the best meal she ever ate in her whole life. Venka usually listens–she always does for Rin–but this was one of the only times she could see Yuelin up close, without the usual terror she normally exudes.
Yuelin could feel it. She’s listening to Rin, but she could feel the intensity of Venka’s stare. She wasn’t even hiding it, she’s staring directly and silently at Yuelin’s face like she was a revered painting.
“Problem, Sring?” Yuelin chimed, turning her eyes to Venka.
A wave of surprise washed over Venka, though she clearly tried to hide it underneath her sharp features. Yuelin’d admit, Venka’s beautiful. She was the epitome of Sinegardian Beauty, if not for the evident stretch and wrinkle in her skin from the stress of war.
She had heard of what Venka’s been through, what horrors the Sinegardian princess personally witnessed, and honestly, Yuelin thinks it only made her even more beautiful.
Under the right light, Yuelin would even say she looks like Lien.
“Sorry,” Venka looked away, flushing a light color as she locked eyes with a confused Rin. “It’s just… Well, I’ve always only heard about you in Sinegard. The upperclassmen, they only ever talk about you when the pit fights happen and you appear.”
“The pit fights… Fuck, that’s so long ago,” Yuelin snorted, the others did too.
Venka continued, “They always say how you did only one match in the pits when you were in your second year and you never did it again. They say it was a pity.”
“Of course they do. People in the academy crave brutality,” replied Yuelin.
“Altan’s the number one bet for fights, but I like to think you held more than enough skills to rival his own. Why didn’t you take advantage of it? You could have been the number one bet, beat Altan and all.” Venka questioned, her tone sharp and prying but Yuelin could see there was nothing but genuine adoration in her eyes. Rin seemed to have been pondering about the same idea, simply distracted by their prior conversation about sweet potatoes.
It took Yuelin a second to answer. Not for anything, really, just to dramatize it all. It would be underwhelming to simply answer–
“I didn’t care,” she shrugged. “There was no point in proving my skills to the academy. I already know I am the best,” there was no undertone of arrogance in her tone. No raised chins and overconfident smirks. Yuelin simply stated a fact. The others knew it too.
“I thought it was because neither of you wanted to mess up each other’s face,” Rin joked.
Yuelin laughed with the two, her eyes finally turning into crescent moons after weeks of it constantly slithered into intimidating narrow lines. “Please, every morning I had to tend to the contestants’ injuries–Altan’s too–and it was–” she did a gesture of exhaustion, “I had to tell him to stop giving them hits that resulted in wounds. It was fucking hard to stitch everytime.”
“So… you and Altan have really been together since second year, huh?” Rin asked cautiously, her eyes locked with Venka’s.
“She was waiting to ask that,” Kitay suddenly interjects from the side. Him and Nezha now enter the small circle of three to join in on their conversation. Venka and Rin had rolled their eyes, the former making her irritation obvious at the suddenness.
“Women are talking over here, Kitay. You two can mingle with those,” Venka threw a look at the three Cike members who seemed busy playing cards with each other.
Nezha rolled his eyes, “Oh lay off, Venka.” Both men scoot closer, fully integrating themselves in the circle. “What’re you guys talking about?”
The side of Yuelin’s lip curled upward, finding the quad’s dynamic fairly entertaining. It reminded her much of her circle with Lien, Hao, and Kaiwen. Such bitter memories.
“None that concerns you,” Rin retorted. She snaps her head back to Yuelin, eyes sparkling like how one would look up to an older sister. “So, were you two?”
Yuelin was careful with her words. “We’ve known each other since first year. It’s been… enough from there.”
“So you two aren’t together, really?” Venka gasped. Rin had the same shock. “But everyone knew you, the two of you!”
“They knew Altan, not me. Even still, whatever they dabbled on about, they’re all pretty much hearsay. Gossip’s so big in Sinegard if only you guys knew,” Yuelin began. “Nezha’s brother started most of them.”
“Really?” Nezha’s eyes widened.
Yuelin shrugs, “Yeah, he’s a fucking bitch.”
Rin and Kitay bursted out laughing, Yuelin’s words feeling like a breeze of fresh air after months of serving under Jinzha. They really hated him. Maybe a little more than Yuelin did—well, no, Yuelin absolutely despised him. Venka was a little more subtle with her laugh out of respect. She knew Jinzha, and their families were friends.
“Anyway, everyone’s story is different. Me and Altan got used to them after a few months,” Yuelin yawned, leaning on the wall behind her while Venka only used that to pry even more.
“Wait, so, yes or no, are you two together?” Oh, Yuelin loved this girl. Yuelin loved everything straight to the point.
“Yes.” She didn’t fail to notice the slight tense in Rin and Nezha’s face.
Cute. They’re both bothered, Yuelin thought. They’d be a cute couple.
With Venka’s words again, Yuelin could see the mischief spinning behind her ink-colored eyes. The sly raise in Venka’s lips telling Yuelin everything she needed to know about what she’s thinking about.
“So then,” Venka leaned closer. “You two’ve gone through the bases, yeah?”
“Venka,” all three of her friends called loudly. A faint blush was already blooming in Rin and Kitay’s cheeks, all the while Nezha looked equally as interested.
The woman disregarded her friends’ warning. “Oh please, as if you guys weren’t thinking about it too.”
“We weren’t thinking about it,” Kitay confirmed. Venka only rolled her eyes in response, looking back at Yuelin with much curiosity. “So, have you guys? How did it feel? Is it… well, I agree this is vulgar but—was it good?”
By this time, her friends had already looked away. They covered their faces, though Yuelin could see Rin peeking through her fingers.
“Yes,” Yuelin finally answered. Her face held the same amusement and Venka did, that made the latter even more connected with her. “It was… okay.”
Venka’s lips moved to speak, probably to pry even more about what okay meant, however a deeper voice beat her to it. The voice rumbling through the barracks like thunder, immediately catching everybody’s attention.
“Okay?” Altan slipped into the doorway, arms folded, his face pulled to a taut expression that could make one cower in fear, thinking they’ve made the Cike commander angry.
Well, he seemed so.
Unlike the others’ pale and surprised looks, Yuelin looked completely oblivious.
“Really—okay? Just okay?” Altan leaned on the wall, arching an eyebrow at Yuelin. He glanced at the others. Then, he kept his eyes glued on her. Yuelin thought he’d throw a faux fit just to make the others uncomfortable but apparently, he had more creative ideas for that. “The sounds from last night, and the night before that, begs to differ.”
The implications of her and Altan’s nightly extracurriculars coming directly from Altan himself successfully made the four others look down awkwardly. Their ears now pink at the tip, cheeks colored.
“What!?”
Actually, make that seven others. Ramsa had exceptional hearing for someone that is always near bombs.
Yuelin stood up from her place, smirking wide enough to make up for her and Altan as the latter had to keep a straight face to maintain their little act.
“Altan, there’s other people around,” Yuelin cooed, fighting the smile coming on her lips.
It was incredibly childish, really how they’re both acting right now. And Yuelin couldn’t distinguish whether or not Altam actually got offended by her calling their activities just okay either. She’d just hoped they’re both on the same page.
Altan’s eyes flicked down to her lips, not subtle enough for any of the others to miss. His jaw clenches. She was too close, way too close for such a crowded setting where he can’t even pull her close. His arm’s practically itching to hold her.
“Hey, they’re getting ready to set out,” Zihan strolls in as well, beads of sweat on his temple. He casually taps Yuelin’s shoulder, shooting a look over at Altan too. “We gotta move, Ling, Altan.” Then he left.
“We gotta move,” Yuelin echoed, grinning.
Altan glanced at the lowered heads of the others, all of them refusing to meet his gaze. It was only Baji and Suni that seemed equally mischievous enough to look back at him.
“Of course we do,” Altan grumbled.
The next moments happened quickly, he had grabbed the fabric of her tunic with enough force to pull her close to him, their sides bumping into each other. Altan had wrapped his arm behind her, resting it on her waist like routine.
Altan could care less what the others saw, Yuelin inferred that much. What she didn’t get was why Altan still looked sulky.
“The generals at Ox Province will be waiting,” Altan said, raking his eyes over the squad of shoulders that will be coming with Yuelin and Zihan to the said province. “You two must be safe.”
Yuelin could see the subtle worry in Altan’s eyes. He wasn’t expecting for Yuelin and Zihan to depart this early into the campaign. He thought he’d have at least a week or two to spend with his lover.
They’ve been separated numerous times, they’ve gone on weeks and months without physically being near each other and merely resorting to writing letters sent through Qara’s birds, but still, every time they separate feels like the first.
It wasn’t easy, especially when they can’t even spend their counted moments together because of their respective responsibilities. The gods could only know just how much the two shamans longed to be together.
“I’ll keep the princess safe,” Zihan says, throwing a dirty look over at Yuelin before heading over to his horse. “Be quick, lovebirds! I’ll make my horse shit on you both if you take too long.”
Yuelin raises a bad finger to him, turning back to Altan with a solemn look.
“I will miss you, general,” Yuelin whispers, swallowing down the urge to jump in his arms like how she does every night they spend.
“I’m already missing you,” Altan responds, not as hushed. “Don’t be stupid, okay? You and Zee stay alive until we catch up, hm?”
Yuelin glares at him, “I should be the one telling you that. You and Rin together are just as reckless as me and Zee.”
“Nah,” Altan shakes his head, “We don’t threaten to strangle each other with our intestines so we’re good.”
When Yuelin rolls her eyes, his lips curl into a lovesick smile, pupils dilating the longer he looks at her. He was utterly, completely, irrevocably in love with her.
It was sickening.
“We’ll see you guys there,” Rin had walked over to them.
The others walk past the three of them, soldiers loading on their resources for the next few weeks. Everyone had to pack light, after all, it was just Yuelin, Zinha, and a squad of seven. They had no men to carry a company’s worth of supplies.
“Watch after your commander for me, Runin,” Yuelin says with a sly smile, her hand ghosting over the other’s elbow in a silent gesture of trust.
Yuelin’s gaze suddenly hardened at Altan. Rin shifted uncomfortably upon noticing how Altan stiffened like a husband awaiting his wife’s scolding.
“Write to me, okay? Qara’s keeping me informed if you’re not being yourself,” she reminded him. Her hand drifted from Rin’s arm to Altan’s, sliding down to his hand where she intertwined her hand with his.
“I will.” Altan promised. His hand tightened around hers.
They were oblivious of everything else. Nothing else mattered but the two of them.
There was no civil war, no campaign, no fights—just them. That, alone, was enough.
“Ling!” Yuelin could hear Zihan’s impatient call from far away. She took another second longer just to stare at Altan’s face. Memorizing every feature, engraving every scar in that beautiful face of his, in fear that her memories might give out on her.
Altan understood her. With his eyes boring into hers, he brought their hands up, brushing his lips across her rough knuckles, muttering something incomprehensible before pressing a kiss. When he lets go, Yuelin boosts herself up onto her tiptoes, about to go in for a kiss when Altan suddenly turns his head. Yuelin’s lips landed on his cheek like how a little schoolgirl’s would with her crush.
“What the fuck?” She complained, pulling away with a scowl.
Rin, now joined with her three friends, was surprised as well. Considering how intimate everything was just a few seconds ago, Yuelin was surprised as well. More fucking irritated than surprised.
His lips rose into a teasing grin, “Hopefully that was okay enough for you.”
This wasn’t the peoples’ Altan. Not the commander of the Cike—the infamous group of people with shamanic powers, the Bizarre Children.
This is her Altan Trengsin.
The Altan that always kept a straight face in front of everyone but bursted out laughing when they were alone. The Altan that spent a string of silver just to win her a stuffed toy that was full of pulled-apart rope. The Altan that never let her forget whenever she got a wrong answer in Strategy class.
Gods, she didn’t know whether to smack him flat across his handsome, smirking face, or jump on his bones. In front of everyone.
“You’re an asshole,” Yuelin sneers.
He didn’t look the least bit worried. “So I am.”
With a huff, Yuelin turns around and makes an effort to get to her horse. It didn’t go so well, though, because not even a three steps in and someone’s pulling her back by her wrist.
A pair of lips land on hers, molding perfectly as he slips his tongue inside without a fight. Exploring her own mouth as shamelessly as he could, as obvious as he could, for the last time that day. Yuelin’s eyes close on instinct, melting in his arms, fully trusting her whole body in him.
Wolf-whistles entered their ears, a specific one prompting them to pull away. A crude string of saliva stretched between the two of them, their lips stretching into a dazed smile after the unplanned liplock.
“I’ll actually come down there and shit on you two myself,” Zihan threatened.
He was the only one with a very obvious grimace, the others were all looking away while some were watching in amusement. Yuelin expected no less from her number one detester.
“I love you,” Altan said, pulling her close and nuzzling himself into the crook of her neck.
Yuelin placed a gentle hand on the back of Altan’s head. “Always, my love. Always.”
Then, Yuelin began walking to her horse, meeting Zihan’s indifferent eyes as their horses stood beside each other. “Don’t do anything stupid, you two!” Altan yelled from a far, the nudge of his brow in Yuelin’s direction prompting Zihan to raise an unwilling hand. The ground beneath Yuelin lifted, letting her mount the horse with no difficulty whatsoever.
“I don’t know why I even bother with you two,” Zihan huffed, “I already said don’t get mushy. What do you two do? Make out like rabbits in the middle of camp. Great Tortoise.”
“You can shut up now, Zee,” Yuelin shuts him down.
Final checks were done and soon enough, the two are now riding out of camp, giving the others one more salute as they head over to Ox Province.