Chapter Text
"Well, no wonder they gave you a whole department, there's no one else here," Zhao Yunlan mutters to himself as he stares at the cluttered, but mostly empty of people space he's walked into. He'd been wondering, because he's far too young to be given a whole damned department, no matter who his dad is, and yet here he is. A whole week after he'd actually been given the job, but well, apparently the place hadn't been empty yet. He can see now that they meant empty of people.
"So I'm nobody?" Da Qing asks, his hearing a little too sharp for Zhao Yunlan's words to go unheard. He waves in the direction of the reception desk. "And what about Lao Li, doesn't he count?" Da Qing adds, sounding far more insulted on Lao Li's behalf than he had on his own.
Zhao Yunlan turns a little, making an apologetic grimace in Lao Li's direction, who only makes a few dismissive gestures in response, looking more embarrassed by the attention than anything. He's Zhao Yunlan's first actual hire, seeing as he'd signed the employment contract and everything. He'd sort of come with the place, or with Da Qing, he's not totally sure which, but Zhao Yunlan did have to hire him, so it definitely counts.
"So is there supposed to be more people?" Zhao Yunlan asks as he wanders a little deeper inside, casting a critical eye over…well, everything. They'll probably have to start with getting rid of some of the clutter. At least the couch is here already, Zhao Yunlan notes with some satisfaction. It's important, it sets the right mood, or something.
He glances at Da Qing who waggles his hand vaguely. "Eh… After what happened with the last Chief, everyone wanted out. But hey, it's not like you wanted the old crew anyway. Now you can hire your own people," Da Qing says a little too cheerfully. He's not wrong exactly, but Zhao Yunlan doesn't actually have any idea how to go about finding and hiring people, you know, aside from Lao Li.
Zhao Yunlan grunts and waves his hand dismissively. Well, that's a future problem. "I guess we need to get this place decent, if we want anyone to work here," he says somewhat defeatedly. He does not particularly enjoy cleaning, but he can't see that he has much choice right now.
Da Qing looks around and grimaces, like he's only now seeing the amount of clutter left behind. "Maybe. It's not that bad, really."
"It looks like no one bothered to pack up before leaving," Zhao Yunlan points out, with an incredulous look at Da Qing.
Da Qing makes a slow, hesitant noise. "That's… kind of what happened," he admits.
Zhao Yunlan sighs heavily and doesn't say anything more about it. What else is there to say, really?
"Well, I guess the sooner we start the sooner it's done," he says.
Cleaning is not Zhao Yunlan's favourite thing. It's not even on the list of favourite things. If it was he'd probably be better at it. If he was better at it, he probably wouldn't just be stuffing things into cardboard boxes randomly right now, but he can try organising things later. Right now he just wants to get some of the stuff put away, so he can get on with the important things, like getting the SID up and running again, before they kick him out for not doing his job.
He picks up an ugly looking lantern from a shelf and shakes his head a little. What's this thing even for? He's about to drop it into the box when he thinks he sees a flicker of light inside it. What the…? He's pretty sure he didn't turn it on, and besides it looks like the kind of thing that has an actual flame and that requires actual fire and not just Zhao Yunlan accidentally pushing a button.
He frowns and lifts it up a bit, squinting a little as he looks through the glass. There's nothing there now. It was probably just a reflection from the glass. He crouches down to put it in the box. Dropping it might break the glass, and then he'd just have more cleaning to do.
He's about to let go, when something inside it flickers again, and this time he feels a jolt through his fingertips, almost like electricity. It travels through his fingers and up his arm, leaving a tingling burning sensation behind all the way up to his elbow. Instead of letting go, his finger spasm, tightening his hold on the thing.
"What the hell?" he mutters, feeling a little alarmed now.
Of course, they'd leave dangerous Dixing stuff just lying around on shelves without so much as a note stuck on them to say they're dangerous, Zhao Yunlan thinks with annoyance and quickly lets go, his fingers thankfully obeying him this time. He pulls his hand back from the lantern, leaving it in the box, but he only manages to move his hand a few centimetres away before it feels like something grabs a hold of him and pulls. Zhao Yunlan tries to scramble back. He tries to kick the box away, but whatever it is it's got hold of more than his arm now and it's pulling and pulling and pulling.
"Fuck," Zhao Yunlan has time to say and then abruptly he's sucked inside darkness. There's an impression of colour and emptiness and—
He's spit out again, before he has time to properly panic. He falls to the ground with a painful jolt, dust rising around him and making him sputter. He spits sand out of his mouth and very quickly realises he's definitely not at SID headquarters anymore.
He looks around. Dusty ground, cliffs, a few scraggly bushes in the distance, not a whole lot else.
"Well… fuck," he says.
His phone is of no use. There's no reception. Of course there isn't because the definitely-not-magic lantern has spit Zhao Yunlan out in the middle of nowhere, and he doesn't even have the lantern with him anymore so trying to make it take him back is not going to work.
What the fuck is he supposed to do now?
"Well, you're not going to just sit here and wait to starve," he mutters under his breath, and then determinedly stands up from the rock he'd sat down on while he despaired of being lost in the middle of nowhere. The determination doesn't get him very far though, once he realises he has no idea how to pick a direction to go in.
He takes out his phone again, but yeah…of course all the stupid apps do nothing. The map thing doesn't work and neither does the compass, and all he can really do with the thing right now it seems is take pictures and that's hardly going to be of much help, now is it? He nearly throws the thing out of sheer frustration, but manages to restrain himself and sticks it back in his pocket. He's going to need it once he gets somewhere that does have reception.
It doesn't really matter which way he's going, he decides. Anything is better than just staying here. So he just picks the way that seems the easiest to walk. Not that there's that much difference, but at least it seems to be vaguely downhill.
The long haired, and robed Da Qing that finds him is kind of a hint that things are not quite as they should be. Also the fact that Da Qing doesn't remember him, but then again Da Qing could have just had a bout of more intense than usual amnesia. That probably wouldn't have made his hair grow long though, or made him suddenly embrace robes as a clothing style.
So yeah, something's definitely wrong, but Zhao Yunlan's choices are pretty limited and going with Da Qing seems a lot better than continuing to wander around without a single clue of where he's going. It's a relief not to be out here alone, even if Da Qing is pretty low on any answers that actually make sense.
They get to where they're going before nightfall, which Zhao Yunlan decides is a good thing, because neither of them have any provisions on them (unless Da Qing is hiding something Zhao Yunlan doesn't know about in those robes) and they continue to find a lot of nothing around them. Zhao Yunlan is starting to feel cranky from all the walking, and probably from the fact that he can't actually remember when he ate last. At least Da Qing had had water on him, so Zhao Yunlan is not actually dying from thirst or anything. He really thinks about asking to stop to eat something before going to see whoever it is that Da Qing is insisting he needs to see. He's pretty sure they'd just passed a campfire where someone was cooking something, and Zhao Yunlan is pretty good with anything at this point.
Maybe he doesn't want to wait that long for answers though. He'd really like to know what's going on, because this whole camp inside a cave they've arrived at is definitely looking a little bit like they're stuck on the set of some kind of period drama and Zhao Yunlan isn't seeing any cameras anywhere.
So, sure, he lets Da Qing show him to the cave, and the two people waiting for him there like they already knew Zhao Yunlan was coming. They introduce themselves as Ma Gui and Fu You.
Zhao Yunlan frowns at them, because one of those names doesn't say much at all to him, but the other one…Zhao Yunlan has just become the Lord Guardian. A fancy title that Zhao Yunlan isn't entirely sure means much in practice, but it did come with an explanation and part of that explanation had definitely been the name of the first Lord Guardian.
Fu You starts to say something, and Zhao Yunlan interrupts her with this wordless noise, pointing at Ma Gui. The Lord Guardian. He shakes his finger a few times.
"You… you're… I'm having some kind of dream. I probably got knocked over the head, and this is something my brain cobbled together," he says, still pointing at Ma Gui. It makes sense. He's been feeling kind of stressed, because of the new job and all, and now his brain is doing…this.
"I assure you, I'm quite real," the supposed Lord Guardian says, apparently not taking offence at how Zhao Yunlan is acting.
Zhao Yunlan lets his hand fall down. Real or not, it still feels a bit rude to just stand there and point at the guy. Especially since he's not even getting upset about it. Not that Zhao Yunlan wants anyone to get upset, he just—
"I'm pretty sure that's what a dream would say," he says, maybe just a touch petulantly. But well, this is his dream, who cares how he's acting. "Da Qing better take me to have some kind of scan. I at least have a concussion," he mutters under his breath.
"You are not dreaming," Fu You tells him gently.
Zhao Yunlan pinches himself, which hurts. He's not sure what that's actually supposed to do, but that's what they do on TV. He doesn't suddenly wake up or anything, so it's probably a load of crap anyway. He looks around, it does all kind of look real.
Well, dream or not, he has to do something.
"So, ah… say I believe you. Why exactly did you want to see me? Da Qing was out there looking for me, after all," Zhao Yunlan says, which by the way, was ridiculously convenient, wasn't it? Da Qing coming to find him like that. Definitely not a point in favour of this being real.
It feels like Zhao Yunlan has been in the ancient past for an eternity. In reality it's been about three months. Time just seems to take a lot longer here somehow, with all the things he has to do all the time.
The explanations that Ma Gui and Fu You had given him had seemed reasonable enough. Well, reasonable if you where ready to accept that time travel was real, that Zhao Yunlan had some ancient lookalike who just conveniently died as he popped out here, and that there's a good reason why no one should know that said ancient lookalike was dead. Oh, and the lantern he'd found was the Guardian Lantern, one of a set of four Hallows that could do…who knows what actually.
Also, all four of them are currently missing.
He's still not entirely convinced he isn't dreaming, but if he is it sure feels way to realistic, and honestly this point he'd have to believe he's in a coma or something, it's been that long. So, yeah, he might as well believe the time travel. It doesn't really make that much of a difference if it's true or not, not to him, not anyone here, and with every day that passes with him stuck here everything feels more real.
There are times he really, desperately wishes it wasn't real.
It was all fine when he was still training, when they gave him a sword and told him he should at least know how to use it. That had been kind of fun actually.
Maybe if he'd had the dark energy gun on him when whatever happened to throw him back here, he wouldn't have needed to learn anything like that, but he'd been cleaning. He wasn't going to have a gun on him when he was cleaning. Or maybe having that gun here with him would have made it worse, because a gun feels… It feels more like a real weapon than a sword does.
The sword feels plenty real when Zhao Yunlan is holding it on a battlefield, when it slashes at someone else and leaves them screaming on the ground. There's no time to think about how he feels about killing someone when he's on the battlefield. He leaves the shaking and the crying and the throwing up for when he's alone, because surely that's not how the great General Kunlun would react. (He barely manages to keep it together until he's on his own and can fall apart without anyone seeing.)
The next time he nearly gets himself killed, freezing in the middle of a battle. He's not sure if anyone notices, because by the time the battle is over, Zhao Yunlan has had to shake it off unless he really does want to die.
If this is a dream, would he wake up when he died? And what if it isn't a dream? What if it is and dying still just means dying?
If it's a dream, does it matter if he kills people?
But there's no choice. Everyone thinks he's Kunlun and people are dying out there and Zhao Yunlan has nowhere else to go anyway. All he can do is just…play along.
He gets better at it. At all of it. He gets better at the fighting, he gets better at the strategies, he gets better at hiding how he still wants to cry himself to sleep every night. At least Da Qing is there. That helps. Having someone he actually gives a fuck about, on a personal level. He can keep Da Qing safe.
And three months turn into four, turn into… He stops counting. Really, who has the time to keep track?
The Black Cloaked Envoy shouldn't be here, the thought keeps repeating in his head. Over and over, even as sword meets sword, and he should be concentrating on the guy trying his best to stick a sword into Zhao Yunlan, but the Black Cloaked Envoy shouldn't be here. According to the last reports he was somewhere else entirely. What is he doing here?
Does it have something to do with the missing Hallows? The stupid things that might get Zhao Yunlan back where he belongs.
He just manages to get his own blade in between himself and painful disembowelment, and silently curses his wandering thoughts. He needs to stay alive for the foreseeable future if he wants to think about anything.
Stay in the game, Zhao Yunlan.
He wasn't meant to end up in a battle with the Black Cloaked Envoy himself. Well, preferably no one is meant to end up in a battle with the Black Cloaked Envoy, because that's like having to face death itself. Sometimes it's just kind of inevitable, they're in a war after all, but Zhao Yunlan personally is too important to risk in a battle that is far too likely to end up with him dead.
Zhao Yunlan is too important to the war effort. What a joke.
No one gives a flying fuck about Zhao Yunlan, how could they when they don't even know Zhao Yunlan exists. No, what's important is the name Zhao Yunlan is hiding behind. Kunlun. He's who the war can't afford to lose, and Zhao Yunlan is so out of his league no matter that he's trained until near collapse, over and over again.
So yeah, the Black Cloaked Envoy shouldn't be here, not when Zhao Yunlan is only out with a small scouting party that wasn't expecting it at all.
Zhao Yunlan parries another blow, and risks a glance around himself. They are not doing well. Sure, reinforcements shouldn't be that far away, but if they're all dead by the time they arrive, it's not like it will matter that much to any of them. The only reason that they're not all dead yet, is that the Black Cloaked Envoy is apparently hanging back, letting his men fight for him. Maybe he doesn't think he needs to get involved.
Just hang in there a little longer, Zhao Yunlan tells himself. Even the Black Cloaked Envoy isn't invincible, no matter what his reputation. He's lost battles before, or at least retreated if their losses were bad enough.
Zhao Yunlan manages to get through his opponent's guard, slashing his sword at the man's thigh. He falls to the ground screaming. (Not dead, incapacitated. The wound will probably kill him.) Zhao Yunlan moves on. There are too many opponents and too few of them.
He's not actually entirely sure what happens next. There's someone dressed in white suddenly there, and one of the Rebels is attacking him and it's more gut reaction than anything else for Zhao Yunlan to step in front of the sword, barely deflecting it with his own. The Rebel looks startled, his eyes wide.
"Didi!" someone yells, and it's enough to distract Zhao Yunlan for just a fraction of a second, but that's too long, because by the time he sees the blade coming towards him it's too late, and no matter how he tries his own arm isn't moving fast enough and there's no way he can manage to block that and—
Suddenly, his opponent is gone. Zhao Yunlan blinks, and heaves in a breath, his heart pounding so hard it seems to momentarily drown out every other sound.
You're alive, you're alive.
He blinks. His opponent is several steps away from him, a look of surprise on his face. There's a sword sticking out of his chest. Zhao Yunlan blinks again.
The Black Cloaked Envoy meets his gaze for a moment, long enough to incline his head slightly. Then he's pulling his blade back, with a sort of wet squelch (it's not that easy to get a sword through someone, Zhao Yunlan knows). As he watches, the sword grows into a glaive, the Black Cloaked Envoy adjusting his grip and then he's moving, turning into a black blur, moving from one man to the next.
One after the other they crumple to the ground. The Black Cloaked Envoy's men. He's killing his own men.
Some of them have time to try to fight back. A few dark energy powers are thrown in the Black Cloaked Envoy's direction. Zhao Yunlan and his—he looks around quickly—apparently two remaining men out of five start backing away. Except Zhao Yunlan only has time to take a few steps, before he remembers the man he'd saved. He's definitely not one of Zhao Yunlan's because he'd remember anyone wearing that amount of white.
He glances back towards the fight. Well, it's not much of one. The Black Cloaked Envoy's men have no chance. Zhao Yunlan could almost admire the brutal efficiency of the Black Cloaked Envoy, if it wasn't absolutely terrifying.
He's going to notice you next, Zhao Yunlan thinks. Maybe they could turn around and run now that the Black Cloaked Envoy is distracted, but he wants to check on his fallen men, he's not sure if they're all dead. He can't just leave them here. Besides, he was going to check on the man he'd saved, no point in saving someone if you're just going to forget about them, right?
The white-clad man is actually down on the ground. How had that happened? Apparently it hasn't been long enough for him to get up. Zhao Yunlan looks him over quickly—if he was injured, or well, bleeding at least, it'd probably be easy to spot on those white robes—before his eyes finally fall on the mask covering his face, the only thing that isn't white. A mask very similar to the one the Black Cloaked Envoy is wearing.
Oh, Zhao Yunlan thinks. Well, that explains some things.
He takes a breath and steps closer, holding out his hand towards the white-clad man, who he's very strongly suspecting is the Black Cloaked Envoy's brother.
"You okay?" he asks. His breaths are still heavy, so at least that explains why his voice is a little shaky.
Fuck, but Zhao Yunlan really just wants to lie down and do nothing, but that's hardly in the books right now. The white-clad man looks up at him, and even with the mask obscuring a large part of his face, Zhao Yunlan is pretty sure he can read the surprise in his eyes. The man's eyes move to Zhao Yunlan's outstretched hand, staring at it. Zhao Yunlan has no idea if he's going to take it or not, but he keeps holding it out regardless.
Then, suddenly, the man moves, clasping Zhao Yunlan's hand. He nearly pulls Zhao Yunlan down with him, as he pulls himself up, and Zhao Yunlan has to lean back a little, doing his best to heave him up from the ground. He's heavier than he looks, or Zhao Yunlan is just that exhausted. Actually, he is very tired. His arms and legs are trembling. He'd never realised before he got stuck in the past how exhausting fighting for your life is.
The white-clad man lets go of his hand, and Zhao Yunlan takes a small step back. He suddenly realises it's eerily quiet. He turns around, the hair at the back of his neck standing on end. It's because the Black Cloaked Envoy's men are all dead. Because the Black Cloaked Envoy has killed them all.
Zhao Yunlan looks at his own men, two of them still standing. At least the Black Cloaked Envoy hasn't killed them too, which might actually mean they're getting out of this alive. Well, isn't that a surprise.
The Black Cloaked Envoy glances at Zhao Yunlan and then ignores him, striding towards his brother. "Didi, how are you? What are you doing here?"
Zhao Yunlan backs further away.
"I came to deliver a message, but I'm not sure it matters anymore, gege," he says. His voice sounds a little like he's doing his very best to hold it together and sound unaffected. Zhao Yunlan has been doing a lot of that lately, so he thinks he knows what it sounds like.
Well, now is as good a time as any to check on the rest of his men. Zhao Yunlan nods at the two still standing, and then points his chin in the direction they'd come from (where the reinforcements should be). They get the wordless command, and with a nod quickly take their leave. Zhao Yunlan isn't that keen on staying here alone with the two remaining Rebels, but it's pretty clear that two men will do nothing much at all to sway things if the Black Cloaked Envoy decides they should die.
The back of his neck prickles as he turns his back on the Black Cloaked Envoy and his brother, quickly finding his own men among the downed ones. One of them is still breathing it turns out, unconscious, but other than that he doesn't actually look all that injured. The other two however… Well, there's nothing Zhao Yunlan can do about them at this point. However, he also realises that that some of the Black Cloaked Envoy's men are actually still breathing, even though their injuries, at a quick glance anyway, seem really, quite bad, and Zhao Yunlan doesn't think they'll stay breathing for very long, possibly not even if they get immediate help.
There's nothing Zhao Yunlan can do about it, so he just puts it out of his mind, and concentrates on his own comrade. In fact, he's too busy trying to wake up his own man to notice what's going on around him at first, but when he does…
He looks up, and there are already far fewer bodies—dead or dying—on the ground than there had been before. He sits there on the ground and watches in a sort of horrified fascination as the man he'd helped before—the Black Cloaked Envoy's brother—sort of, well inhales, and one more person disintegrates and then all of that is sucked into the Black Cloaked Envoy's brother. Then the man moves on towards the next person, except this time his steps falter a little, and in a flash the Black Cloaked Envoy is there, one hand on a white robed arm, the other around his waist (the Black Cloaked Envoy's blade is nowhere in sight, Zhao Yunlan notes).
"Didi," he says, his voice a little rough and worried enough that there's no mistaking the emotion for anything else. "It's too much for you."
The brother waves his hand a little, but visibly leans into the Black Cloaked Envoy's support. "We shouldn't waste their powers." There's almost a sing-song quality to his tone, before he seems to gather himself and steady his voice. "Besides, no one will know what happened to them if they can't be found, ge."
Oh, he's hiding the evidence, because of course that makes sense. They wouldn't want the rest of the Rebels to find out that the Black Cloaked Envoy had slaughtered his own men. Zhao Yunlan wonders suddenly if this has happened before. If the Black Cloaked Envoy goes around killing his own men and then his brother…
No, Zhao Yunlan, you're being stupid. Think. The Black Cloaked Envoy had clearly done this in reaction to his brother being attacked. It might have been a mistake on the part of the now very dead Rebel, but the Black Cloaked Envoy's reaction does seem to say that he assumes that the other Rebels would intentionally harm his brother. Or the Black Cloaked Envoy is just a psychopath, but Zhao Yunlan is looking at the not even slightly disguised worry he's showing for his brother and… Well, he had saved Zhao Yunlan, and his men aren't dead. Well, mostly, and not by the Black Cloaked Envoy's hand at least.
"You could join me," Zhao Yunlan says, and then has to hold back a flinch as both brothers turn their attention to him. It's just a little bit nerveracking to be looked at by the both of them like that. He stands up, the man he'd been trying to wake apparently is determined to stay unconscious and Zhao Yunlan has done what he can, mainly made sure he's not bleeding to death or too uncomfortable where he's lying. He smiles in what he hopes is a friendly, or at least nonthreatening, way. "My word goes a pretty long way on the Alliance side, so if I say you're good…" He shrugs a little. Okay yeah, so he's not stupid enough to think it'll be that easy, but if they can get the Black Cloaked Envoy over to their side—even if he doesn't even fight for them just getting him off the battlefield would be a pretty big blow to the Rebels. The Alliance would be stupid not to take the chance, and Zhao Yunlan is pretty sure he can convince Ma Gui and Fu You of that. Push comes to shove, he can fake some kind of future knowledge, for all they know the Black Cloaked Envoy is some kind of hero in the future.
Zhao Yunlan frowns at that thought… Actually, why hasn't he thought of that before. Did he actually get concussed when he fell through a hole into the past? There is a Black Cloaked Envoy in the future, at least he thinks so. He's worked with the SID in the past, but Zhao Yunlan hasn't exactly had the time to familiarise himself with any of the SID's operations before being thrown here, so it's not like he knows much of anything. But hey, he might actually be on the right track. He grins a little wider for a moment.
"Ge?" the white-clad man asks.
"He saved you, didi," the Black Cloaked Envoy says, looking rather intently at Zhao Yunlan. Well, points for Zhao Yunlan apparently.
Oh, right. "I'm Kunlun by the way," he introduces himself, far too casually, but who even cares, he's on a roll now. "And there are probably reinforcements coming, so either way, you kind of need to decide soon." Okay yeah, so revealing that might not be the best of ideas if he wants to take them by surprise, but Zhao Yunlan doesn't want to do that.
The Black Cloaked Envoy is still looking at him, and Zhao Yunlan is starting to think he doesn't actually want Zhao Yunlan any harm, weird as that thought seems.
There's silence for what feels like a very long moment, but probably isn't all that long actually, before the white-clad man asks, "And how will you explain this to your…Alliance?"
Zhao Yunlan looks around, hoping for some inspiration to strike. Surprisingly it actually does.
"We'll say they were trying to stop you from escaping, and we kind of got caught in the middle," Zhao Yunlan says. He rocks back on his heels. He's feeling giddy, which honestly might just be aftereffects of…everything. He's probably going to crash any moment now, so better get as far as he can on the energy he has.
"And what about your men?" the Black Cloaked Envoy asks. He means the ones that had been here, Zhao Yunlan is pretty sure.
He waves a hand in the air. "I can swing it," he declares, and then realises that probably didn't make much sense. He grins broadly, for some reason he can't make himself stop. "I mean I can tell them we've been in contact, and we were planning to meet up but things went…a little sideways." No plan survives contact with the enemy or however that saying goes. They probably don't have that saying yet. Well, people know things go sideways sometimes. "It'll be fine," Zhao Yunlan assures them, with another wave of his hand. "Besides, they'll just take my word for it." Because he's Kunlun, isn't he? And who would doubt the great general, at least to his face.
The two brothers look at him, their masks expressionless, but Zhao Yunlan is getting a certain disbelieving vibe anyway. Ah, that might have been…a little overboard, right? Maybe he should just shut up now, even though the silence is getting a little awkward.
"I can help him," the Black Cloaked Envoy says quietly, hesitantly. Zhao Yunlan blinks, and then realises the Black Cloaked Envoy is looking at the man at Zhao Yunlan's feet. "If you would permit…"
"You can? That's good. Because I have no idea what's wrong with him," Zhao Yunlan interrupts him. He realises the Black Cloaked Envoy is expecting him to be suspicious, to maybe even tell him not to touch his comrade, but if the Black Cloaked Envoy was going to do anything to them, why wait this long? Besides, trust has to start somewhere and Zhao Yunlan is committed to this now.
He watches as the Black Cloaked Envoy blinks behind his mask, and then quickly seems to gather himself. "Didi, are you…?" he asks softly.
"I'm fine, ge," his brother answers, and pulls himself away from the Black Cloaked Envoy's hold. The Black Cloaked Envoy hesitates for a split second, then nods and walks closer to Zhao Yunlan with a few, brisk, steps.
Zhao Yunlan's chest tightens a little at seeing him come towards him like that, a nervous little tingle shooting up his back. His mouth dries out a little. Okay, so maybe he's not just nervous, but that, he tells himself, is just because he hasn't gotten laid since he was thrown into the past and all the fighting and stuff has gotten a few wires crossed in his head and the Black Cloaked Envoy had been very impressive to watch even when he was being brutal, and scary as fuck.
He smiles brightly at the Black Cloaked Envoy and gestures down at the still unconscious man. "Too bad—" he starts to say and then quickly bites off his own words. Too bad you can't do anything for the dead ones, he almost said, but that would be— It probably wouldn't be good to accuse the Black Cloaked Envoy of anything at this point. Besides, it's not his fault really, or well, it's his fault the same way it's Zhao Yunlan's fault for leading his men here, today.
"Oh, why where you here today?" Zhao Yunlan asks as the Black Cloaked Envoy crouches down. He might as well ask now, it's important information, and the Black Cloaked Envoy might actually answer him. "According to all reports you, Hei-laoge, were supposed to be somewhere else entirely," Zhao Yunlan says, with a deliberate bit of familiarity. The Black Cloaked Envoy doesn't react at all to the address, but then Zhao Yunlan can't exactly see his face at all from where he's standing.
"The Alliance would suffer a significant blow at the loss of General Kunlun," the Black Cloaked Envoy says, quite calmly, as Zhao Yunlan watches him lay a hand on the downed man's chest.
"Ah," Zhao Yunlan says. Well, okay, so maybe it is a little bit the Black Cloaked Envoy's fault that they're all here today, then.
There's a frustrated yell from somewhere behind Zhao Yunlan, he startles and spins around, only to see the Black Cloaked Envoy's brother kick one of the bodies on the ground. After a little, surprised, moment Zhao Yunlan recognises it as the man who'd attacked both of them.
Fuck, Zhao Yunlan really wants to be away from all these bodies. Not that there are as many left as there were before, but there's still that distinct smell of death in the air (blood and shit, that's what death smells like, Zhao Yunlan has come to learn). He's trying so hard not to think about it, but at this moment, the reality of it all suddenly seems far too unavoidable. For a moment, Zhao Yunlan can taste bile at the back of his throat. He swallows.
"He's been dead for too long," the Black Cloaked Envoy's brother complains, like Zhao Yunlan had asked for an explanation, and then kicks the corpse one more time. And really, Zhao Yunlan should ask for something to call the man by, he's a person in his own right and not just the Black Cloaked Envoy's brother.
"So, do you have a name? I mean, I'd like to call you something," Zhao Yunlan says, like none of the other things around them are there.
In response the man just stares at Zhao Yunlan, until Zhao Yunlan kind of feels like squirming.
"Ye Zun," he says finally.
"Didi," a voice says very softly, from right behind Zhao Yunlan and it's definitely not Zhao Yunlan's fault that he startles hard enough to actually jump a little.
"I'm going to put bells on you," he mutters under his breath, hand pressed against his chest.
"I apologise…" the Black Cloaked Envoy starts to say and Zhao Yunlan waves him off.
"It's fine. I should be paying more attention," he says, which he should.
"It's my decision, gege," Ye Zun says, and Zhao Yunlan thinks he detects a little hint of defiance there. And okay, so he's missing something, but hell, these days when isn't he missing something. Like maybe his sanity.
"Ye Zun it is," Zhao Yunlan says with a firm nod, and then turns to look at the Black Cloaked Envoy, before glancing down at the still unconscious man. "How is he?" he asks.
"He should wake up soon, but you should take him to a more…practiced healer," the Black Cloaked Envoy says.
"You're practiced enough, ge," Ye Zun, who seems to have taken the opportunity to walk closer to them (bells, Zhao Yunlan swears he's going to make them wear bells), says.
"Not for these kinds of injuries," the Black Cloaked Envoy answers. Ye Zun makes a little displeased noise, but doesn't argue further.
Honestly, Zhao Yunlan didn't expect the Black Cloaked Envoy to know how to heal anyone at all. He doesn't exactly have the reputation of healing anyone. At least, the rumours that he has more than one power seem to be confirmed though, Zhao Yunlan thinks to himself.
There's a small cough from the ground, and Zhao Yunlan quickly crouches down, concentrating on making sure his remaining comrade is actually going to survive. The rest of it can wait for later.
Later arrives far too soon in the form of the reinforcements he had kind of been waiting for. There are a few tense moments, before Zhao Yunlan manages to calm everyone down, and by the end of it all he really just wants to collapse down somewhere and sleep for the next twenty four hours, but of course there's no time for that. There's never time for that.
Well, at least he doesn't mind getting away from what remains of the battle. Anywhere else will be better, than right there with all the death. They're not camped all that far away actually, but it feels pretty far when he has to walk all the way there on his own far too tired feet.
The Black Cloaked Envoy is walking right next to him, his hand on Ye Zun's arm, like he expects Ye Zun to need support any moment. Ye Zun hasn't faltered once though, from what Zhao Yunlan has seen, so whatever the thing earlier had been about he seems to be over it now. Zhao Yunlan's legs though, feel like someone has strapped led weights to them, and he has to concentrate on lifting his feet enough to not stumble over them. He almost fails a few times.
He feels like the Black Cloaked Envoy is watching him. The great general is going to seem a lot less impressive when he falls flat on his face in front of the Black Cloaked Envoy. Maybe it's a good thing that Zhao Yunlan is too tired to talk, because with the way his thoughts seem to be going he would probably be saying more stupid shit.
Fucking Kunlun, he could have damned well made sure not to get skewered and leave Zhao Yunlan in charge of all this mess.
A step. Another. Somehow, Zhao Yunlan's foot seems to get caught against the ground and— Fuck, he just about has time to think and then—
There's an arm around his waist. Zhao Yunlan blinks, and glances at the black robed presence next to him, as he's rather gently righted and then let go of. He takes another step, concentrating very hard on lifting his foot. He thinks he can still feel the ghost of a touch against his waist. The Black Cloaked Envoy felt very…steady.
"Thanks," Zhao Yunlan says, deciding at the last moment to speak up in a normal volume, instead of whispering his thanks. He wonders if any of his men noticed what the Black Cloaked Envoy did. He wonders if maybe it'd be a good thing if they did. He keeps his eyes on his feet though, because he's pretty sure if he doesn't he's going to stumble again.
It takes a heartbeat before the Black Cloaked Envoy says anything. Zhao Yunlan kind of wants to look at him, but then he'd probably have to catch Zhao Yunlan again. Maybe that's not a risk worth taking.
"Are you alright, General Kunlun?" the Black Cloaked Envoy asks, softly enough that he's probably trying not to be overheard by everyone else.
It's just…just Kunlun, Zhao Yunlan thinks and then can't actually summon the energy to get words out of his mouth. Just thinking about it seems exhausting. Thinking about all of this is exhausting. Taking the next step feels exhausting.
"Tired," he says, as he keeps walking, his legs far, far too heavy. That'll just have to be enough of an answer.
There's no answer from the Black Cloaked Envoy, but he moves a little closer to Zhao Yunlan, close enough that their shoulders are nearly brushing together, and then holds his arm out just a little. If he was feeling less like falling flat on his face, Zhao Yunlan might have more thoughts about it. Right now, he barely manages surprise at the implicit offer of support.
Fuck it, Zhao Yunlan thinks and grabs the Black Cloaked Envoy's arm. Holding onto him is better than falling. The Black Cloaked Envoy doesn't say anything, just shifts Zhao Yunlan's grip a little, so that he can better help support him.
Zhao Yunlan would say something, but he really needs to keep thinking about how to get one foot in front of the other.
Zhao Yunlan should do lots of things when they get to camp, what he mainly does is fall asleep. He doesn't mean to, he's still sitting, still trying to get things done, but…
He wakes up on a bed roll, his own it turns out. He blinks. It's dark. For a moment, his head feels blissfully empty. He thinks he might have been too tired for dreams, or at least there's nothing in his head now. He stretches a little tentatively, and the soreness of his body sends a very clear message that something had definitely been going on before he fell asleep. It doesn't actually take long for the specifics to come back to him.
He can hear some of the men talking quietly further away. There's a faint flickering light, that he thinks must come from a campfire. So, they must not be expecting an attack. He hopes they set up guards in any case. He was going to mention it before… Well, before he apparently fell asleep.
Well, most of his men have a lot more experience than Zhao Yunlan at all of this, so they probably did take care of it. After what had happened, they would still be on alert, regardless of the fact that the Black Cloaked Envoy is with them now. There's still plenty of other Rebels around.
Speaking of—
Zhao Yunlan pushes himself up. His arms protest, but he ignores them, he's just sore, not actually injured. He's gotten pretty good at telling the difference, unfortunately. He probably needs more rest, and likely food, but he isn't sure he can stomach anything, even if there might be some on offer. Food and sleep, Zhao Yunlan never thought he'd think about those things as luxuries he isn't all that certain to get.
As soon as he manages to lever himself up into a sitting position, he startles as he notices the Black Cloaked Envoy sitting right there, looking at him. Well, no, that's not quite true, even in the faint, flickering light of the campfire, there are too many shadows to instantly tell who the dark shape is. The fact that there is a person clad entirely in white leaning against them, apparently asleep, is a lot more easy to recognise, and there's definitely no one else's shoulder Ye Zun would be sleeping against.
"Hei-laoge," Zhao Yunlan says quietly, because honestly what else is he supposed to say? He doesn't know how he even ended up sleeping on his bedroll—and he's not going to think about it too much, because if he didn't move someone must have moved him—but the fact that the Black Cloaked Envoy stayed close to him regardless of Zhao Yunlan's state of consciousness is probably not that surprising. What else was he supposed to do? Zhao Yunlan is just grateful that nothing too bad seems to have happened while he was passed out. "Actually, you must have a name too, right? Is there something else I should be calling you?" he asks, still keeping his voice low. They don't seem to be that close to the rest of the men, which is probably a good thing, because maybe that's a question Zhao Yunlan shouldn't be asking in front of other people.
"My…" the Black Cloaked Envoy says so softly, that Zhao Yunlan isn't quite sure he actually said anything. "I was called Shen Wei."
Zhao Yunlan frowns, like how you answer the phone? Well, probably not that. "Well, that doesn't seem quite right," he says for some incredibly stupid reason. He's probably not woken up all the way yet. Maybe if he just hits himself in the head a few times it'll help—wake him up or jolt some sense into it, he'll take either. Fuck, Zhao Yunlan, think before you open your mouth.
"He's right, gege. You're not a mountain ghost," Ye Zun speaks up unexpectedly. Okay, so definitely not 'hello' then, and that makes a little more sense. Ye Zun hasn't moved at all and Zhao Yunlan honestly hadn't realised he was awake. Maybe their talking woke him up. Maybe he's a light sleeper. Maybe he has reason to be.
Zhao Yunlan isn't sure at all if the picture he's starting to put together somewhere at the back of his mind about the brothers' life with the Rebels is right, but if it is, he doesn't think he likes it at all. He needs to remember to be careful around them. Well, he needs to remember that in any case. This is the Black Cloaked Envoy after all, he's pretty sure the reputation that goes with the name is well earned.
"How about Shen Wei?" Zhao Yunlan asks, making sure to speak clearly, his intonation a little exaggerated.
And he's an idiot, but what else is new? Wasn't he just telling himself to be careful? Giving the Black Cloaked Envoy a new name is hardly that. Well…whatever, it's too late now, he thinks and then quickly explains the change he was suggesting.
"Hmm," Ye Zun hums, which might be approval. Shen Wei just ducks his head a little, saying nothing. Well, okay then. Zhao Yunlan just gave the Black Cloaked Envoy a name. That's a totally normal thing to do.
"So…uh…what's been going on while I was sleeping? Are you guys doing okay?" Zhao Yunlan asks, once the silence starts feeling a little bit awkward.
"There have been no problems, General Kunlun," Shen Wei says after a moment of apparent thought. Well, that really doesn't tell Zhao Yunlan much.
"Your men don't wish to share information with us," Ye Zun says quietly, not moving from where he's resting against his brother. There's a certain sharpness to his tone that makes Zhao Yunlan cringe a little.
"We can't expect them to, didi," Shen Wei answers him, and then pats Ye Zun on the shoulder. Ye Zun hums a little, a sound that could mean anything. He's just not going to move away from where he's resting against Shen Wei unless he has to, is he? Zhao Yunlan kind of gets the sentiment, he wouldn't mind laying back down and going to sleep either, unfortunately he's got no time for that.
"Just… Kunlun is fine," he says, nearly stumbling over the name. One of these days he'll manage to say it and just sound normal. A frustrated sort of annoyance scrapes at the insides of his skull. He just really wants all of this to end. He doesn't want to be here dealing with any of this.
"Well, let's fix that. They'll share if I'm there," Zhao Yunlan says, clapping his hands together and making a sound that turns out a little louder than he meant to. He holds back a grimace, and plasters a smile on his face, even though it feels like he wants to do anything but. Just because it's too dark for Zhao Yunlan to make out too many details, doesn't mean that's true for everyone here. There are plenty enough of Dixingren in the Alliance too, he knows all of them see better in the dark than he does. Besides, fake it till you make it, right? If he just keeps pretending to be in a better mood, maybe he'll actually start feeling it.
His jaws clench for a moment, before he manages to loosen them again, and drags the smile back into place. He stands up, doing his best to ignore how heavy and achy his limbs feel, but a small pained groan slips out from between his lips anyway. He presses a hand against his twinging lower back. He feels like an old man, with achy joints and muscles. No part of his body isn't sore, and he's only in his twenties. He's going to start complaining about his hips next, he thinks and feels his jaws want to clench again, the frustration clawing harder at the inside of his skull, like it's trying to get out any way it can.
His belly makes a somewhat distressed noise. Maybe he really can't put off eating for longer. It will probably help with his mood too.
He holds out a hand towards the still sitting brothers in invitation. "So, have you had anything to eat yet?"
Ma Gui and Fu You are not quite as enthused at having Shen Wei and Ye Zun around as Zhao Yunlan might have hoped. The journey back to the Alliance's headquarters had been pretty uneventful. His men had gotten more or less used to having the two masked brothers around, while Zhao Yunlan kept being almost aggressively friendly towards them. At least the Alliance leaders conceded that not having the Black Cloaked Envoy fighting for their enemy is a definite win for them, even though Zhao Yunlan is, gently, berated for taking them to the headquarters without any warning. What if they go back the Rebels?
Zhao Yunlan refrains from pointing out that if they were going to do that, he's pretty sure he and the rest of the Alliance leadership would be dead, and wouldn't actually need to worry about it. He doesn't think mentioning it would help.
Zhao Yunlan waves a hand at Ma Gui, in response to his latest objection to the twins. Zhao Yunlan has had more than one conversation about them by now. "Of course we can't take any information they might share with us at face value," he says and both of the Alliance leaders look mildly surprised at him. What do they take Zhao Yunlan for? True, he's been defending the brothers about as much as he can, but that doesn't make him stupid. Actually, he kind of wants to get back to them, instead of being here and talking to Ma Gui and Fu You again. He'd left Da Qing watching over them, but he's still kind of worried.
He doesn't think anything will escalate into a fight, if only because everyone is a little bit too afraid of Shen Wei for that, even though in Zhao Yunlan's not so humble opinion they should probably be more worried about Ye Zun actually. He's more likely to devour people for annoying him, Shen Wei, from what Zhao Yunlan has figured out so far, would only actually harm anyone here to defend his younger brother. Still, they haven't had the warmest welcome possible, and while that's understandable, Zhao Yunlan is still kind of hoping to have them stick around.
"Still, it's worth it to ask them about information they might be willing to share," he points out. Heck, the two of them might be the best lead they're ever going to get on the Hallows, and on Zhao Yunlan's way back home. "It's not like I'm telling you to ask Heipaoshi to go out and fight for you," he says with a small shrug.
"That might actually be easier," Fu You says with a small sigh. "People would be more willing to trust him if he proves himself."
"Other Dixingren have joined us before," Ma Gui agrees.
Okay, Zhao Yunlan might not have thought of that. He's still just not used to thinking in terms of…all of this. Also, he's pretty sure right at this moment, there's just no way that Shen Wei would leave Ye Zun alone in an Alliance camp, and now that Zhao Yunlan's brain has been nudged onto the right track he can almost see that suggestion coming. Keep the Black Cloaked Envoy in line by keeping his brother hostage. Oh, no one is going to put it like that, it's going to sound a lot more benign, but that's what it'll come down to.
Yeah, so Zhao Yunlan might not have shared his knowledge of Ye Zun's power of eating people with anyone. It didn't seem very conducive to the whole trying to get people to act normal around Shen Wei and Ye Zun agenda, and apparently, as long as Zhao Yunlan isn't saying anything the brothers both seem pretty set on pretending like Ye Zun doesn't have a dark energy power. One of these days, he really should talk to them about that too.
"Let me talk to them," Zhao Yunlan says, before anyone says something Zhao Yunlan will regret.
Zhao Yunlan goes back to his chambers and there they all are, Shen Wei, Ye Zun, and his cat, waiting for him. He bites back a sigh, wishing for just one moment that there was no one there and he could just throw himself on his furs (because who's ever heard of a bed?) and forget about everything for a while. It's fine though, Shen Wei and Ye Zun are only there because Zhao Yunlan had said they could hang out there if they want to since people get suspicious if they wander off anywhere, and how else are they going to get any privacy?
"Kunlun," Shen Wei greets politely. He isn't wearing his mask. Neither is Ye Zun. He finds his breath hitching a little in his throat, just as unprepared as the first time he'd seen it for how damned beautiful they look.
A small, but genuine enough, smile makes it to his lips. He doesn't actually mind having the twins around all that much. He likes them better than most of the people he's met here, in fact. Maybe that's just because they don't really expect much of anything from Zhao Yunlan, and seem almost heartbreakingly surprised at every kindness he offers. Ye Zun makes a good enough job of hiding it behind a slightly superior attitude, but Zhao Yunlan can still tell. It kind of goes to your head a little. Who knew saving people—if that's what Zhao Yunlan had done—can be so addictive?
And he does appreciate the trust implied by the lack of masks. After they'd gotten here, and with how twitchy the brothers had seemed around everyone—it might have been subtle, but Zhao Yunlan had been paying attention—he'd taken them out that night, to sit on the cliffside, ostensibly because Zhao Yunlan was keeping watch, but mostly just to give the two some breathing room what with all the chaos that having them suddenly show up had led to.
(Zhao Yunlan had, at one point, rather strongly needed to put his foot down to any talk about imprisoning the brothers. Because even attempting to would be incredibly stupid. Maybe they'd manage, but they sure would loose a lot of people in the process.)
He'd asked them then, alone, away from everyone, what was up with the masks. He was curious, but mostly, he just needed something to talk about.
Shen Wei had hesitated for a long, long moment—long enough that Zhao Yunlan almost apologised for asking at all—but then Shen Wei had simply lifted a hand to his face and pulled the mask down and pretty much made Zhao Yunlan incapable of saying anything. The stars had been bright enough that night to see by (he'd always thought the stars were supposed to be so much brighter in the past, but he hadn't realised that the dust from the meteor impact would be everywhere) and Zhao Yunlan had been able see that face clearly enough, and it was breathtaking.
"It's easier. To hide how I feel behind a mask," Shen Wei had said, meeting his eyes briefly before turning his head down, like he's not used at all to anyone looking at him.
For a moment, Zhao Yunlan had really wanted to lean closer and tilt his head back up. Of course, he hadn't. He might be a little too impulsive sometimes, but he's not entirely stupid. Despite his pretty face, and his surprisingly gentle demeanour, Shen Wei is still the Black Cloaked Envoy, and Zhao Yunlan had seen with his own eyes what the Black Cloaked Envoy could do when pushed.
"They're afraid of Heipaoshi. It's better if everyone forgets what gege's face looks like," Ye Zun had said, and when Zhao Yunlan had turned to look at him, his mask had been gone as well. Zhao Yunlan had blinked and stared, because well, it was the same face. Huh.
So yeah, Zhao Yunlan feels pretty privileged when both of them choose to not wear the masks around him.
"Shen Wei, Ye Zun," he says with a nod. "Anything happen while I was away?" he asks. He kind of asks the same thing every time he sees them, because well, he wants to be sure he can get to any issues before they become too big to handle.
He walks over to his furs, nudges the black kitten aside—Da Qing makes an undignified little mrph sound—and then sits down, resisting the urge to lay back. He picks up the kitten and puts him in his lap. Da Qing makes another little sound of protest at being moved, but then very quickly settles down, like he's actually quite happy where he is. Zhao Yunlan pets him between the ears gently. The gangly black kitten is so cute that sometimes Zhao Yunlan almost wants to cry about it.
"Everything is well, Kunlun," Shen Wei says, to no one's particular surprise. He never wants to bother Zhao Yunlan with anything, even when Zhao Yunlan specifically asks him to. Ye Zun on the other hand…well, at least he'll tell Zhao Yunlan, even though he'll make everything sound like a demand somehow.
Zhao Yunlan looks at Ye Zun with a raised brow, and Ye Zun inclines his head ever so slightly, saying nothing. Well, good then. Zhao Yunlan didn't need anything else to deal with today. He almost asks them what they've been up to. None of them had been in the chamber when Zhao Yunlan had left for his little meeting, but then he bites back the question. He's not trying to make them feel like they're under surveillance. They're not prisoners, and they're not going to be.
"How…" Shen Wei asks, and then hesitates, looking away, like he shouldn't have asked. Zhao Yunlan can guess what he's asking about though. The meeting with Ma Gui and Fu You. It's not exactly a stretch of the imagination to think that they might have discussed the twins during it. To be fair, it hadn't just been about that.
"None of this is turning out quite as easy as I made it sound like, huh?" Zhao Yunlan says, grimacing. "Sorry about that."
Shen Wei looks back at him, and without the mask the surprise on his face is easy to read. Without the mask, Shen Wei seems so young. The same way Da Qing seems young. The same way Ye Zun does, young and fragile. Zhao Yunlan feels like he might choke on the sudden urge to keep all three of them safe.
"We never expected it to be easy," Shen Wei tells him sincerely. Well, that's something at least, he supposes. He didn't give them any false expectations. "This has been far better than anything we might have expected," Shen Wei continues and now he's just making Zhao Yunlan's heart ache a little.
This is a stupid, harsh world where people suffer and Zhao Yunlan doesn't like it, but somehow it seems worse when it's… Well, when it's the twins. Or Da Qing.
Suddenly, he doesn't want to talk to them about any of the things he should. He doesn't want to tell them about what Ma Gui and Fu You had had to say. He doesn't want to ask about the war or the Hallows or about anything.
"What do you want to do?" Zhao Yunlan asks, and immediately realises that's far too vague of a question and lifts a hand to gesture vaguely, in a way that he quickly realises clarifies exactly nothing. "I mean… with everything. Do you want to stay here, or… Just you know, what do you want?" He doesn't know if he's making any sense anymore, but he just… he wants to know. Maybe he can't even do anything about it, because Zhao Yunlan still needs to find the Hallows, and the Alliance—well, maybe if Zhao Yunlan is supposed to be here (in some weird cosmic, larger picture sort of way) then maybe he's supposed to help the Alliance achieve their goals, but someone should at least ask what the twins want. They deserve that much, don't they?
Maybe Zhao Yunlan really wishes someone would have taken into consideration what he wanted too, but then all he's wanted so far really, is to get the fuck home already.
They're both looking at him, with that same slightly confused look that they get when he does anything at all helpful. Zhao Yunlan wants to hit something. (Shen Wei had told him, that night, out on the cliff, that they'd been with the Rebels since they were children. He'd also said they don't have any family beside each other and Zhao Yunlan does not want to think about any of the implications of any of that.)
The confusion on Shen Wei's face clears up pretty quickly at least, replaced by quiet conviction. "I want didi to be safe," he says, like that is all that matters. Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise at all, all things considered. Zhao Yunlan notes the way it makes Ye Zun's whole face soften, as he turns to look at Shen Wei.
"You want other things as well, gege," Ye Zun says softly, reaching out to take Shen Wei's hand. Shen Wei looks at him, and then turns his head down, looking down at their joined hands. Honestly, Zhao Yunlan thinks that if he has to be stuck here in the past, then if he could just stay here and watch the twins in this one moment, he might be okay with it.
Shen Wei's head rises slowly, as he turns to look at Zhao Yunlan, and then almost instantly his gaze darts to the side, like he can't bear to look at Zhao Yunlan for long. Zhao Yunlan thinks there's a faint hint of a blush on Shen Wei's cheeks, and it's so damned adorable that Zhao Yunlan doesn't know what to do with himself. He pets Da Qing slowly.
Okay, so, Shen Wei might have—
"I want children to have food. I want people who have done nothing at all to be left alone, I want—" Shen Wei says interrupting Zhao Yunlan's thoughts. His voice is whisper soft, and then he falters, like it's too much.
Zhao Yunlan's chest feels too full.
Ye Zun huffs. "Gege wants peace," he says, looking at Shen Wei with a small roll of his eyes.
Shen Wei nods a little, his gaze moving back to meet Zhao Yunlan's gaze, before he ducks his head, like he still can't look at Zhao Yunlan. "I also wish…for you to stay…safe, Kunlun," he whispers a little haltingly, so quietly that Zhao Yunlan doesn't know if he heard him right.
Zhao Yunlan's insides feel a little funny, his breath a little shaky. Never, in a million years, would he have thought that the Black Cloaked Envoy would turn out to be shy, or that he'd, that—
It's just because I've been helping you. You'll get over it, he wants to say—well, no he doesn't want to say it but he should. Because as soon as Zhao Yunlan finds those Hallows everyone keeps telling him about (and especially that stupid Lantern that had gotten him into this whole mess) he's going to leave, and Shen Wei deserves better than that, deserves so much more than Zhao Yunlan.
He doesn't say it, because—he's not even sure why. Because he doesn't want to upset Shen Wei—the Black Cloaked Envoy who is still terrifying—or because Zhao Yunlan too wants. Because he does, even if he shouldn't. Shen Wei is sweet and shy, and so breathtakingly beautiful and Zhao Yunlan hasn't had anything but his own hand for company in months. It doesn't matter, because he doesn't say any of it and the moment passes.
Zhao Yunlan takes a breath, and then another.
Shen Wei looks at him. "I didn't think there was anywhere for us to go, anyone who would welcome us, but now the Alliance has. If they desire an end to the fighting, I will help." Well, the Alliance hasn't exactly been that welcoming, but Zhao Yunlan gets the point, he supposes.
And maybe what he actually thinks is that the twins deserve to leave all of this behind and go live somewhere in peace. Maybe set up a farm or something. Except those don't exist yet, Zhao Yunlan thinks, and a laugh almost escapes him before he manages to swallow it. Maybe that would fix everything, if they'd get a move on with agriculture already. There'd be food at least, right? But well, it doesn't work like that, he thinks, no matter what Zhao Yunlan might say, he's pretty sure crops don't get domesticated overnight.
"Did Dixing grow it's own food?" he asks.
The sudden baffled looks let him now that his thoughts have jumped way ahead, or maybe very sideways, from the conversation they were having. Even Da Qing lifts his head, making a small mew of confusion as he looks up at Zhao Yunlan. Zhao Yunlan pets him between the ears, and Da Qing lays his head down again.
But well, the question makes sense, right? They're aliens, and all. Dixingren could have come with all kinds of new technology from wherever they came from. Well, so are the Yashou, and it doesn't seem like they've been spreading around agriculture, but Dixing is under ground where resources had to be pretty limited to start with, and he doesn't see how the whole hunter-gatherer lifestyle would have worked there. Besides, this is around when there was a whole technological boom, which Zhao Yunlan has never been entirely sure what that meant, but it says so in all the history school books. So…yeah?
Maybe Zhao Yunlan should have read up a lot more on ancient history when he had the chance. It's not exactly a topic covered extensively in school, and also, Dixing doesn't actually exist officially, and teaching anything about that is absolutely forbidden. Maybe if he'd had a little more time as Chief of the SID he'd know something, but it's entirely useless on dwelling on the what ifs, so Zhao Yunlan does his best to push it out of his mind.
"Why do you ask?" Shen Wei finally asks a little hesitantly, and Zhao Yunlan could hug him for cutting off his thoughts before they spiral into who knows what. God, he's too tired and his brain has been working over time and he just wants to rest. He rubs his hand over his face, and then pets Da Qing and neither of those things help all that much, but maybe a little goes a long way right now.
"Because, I don't know, don't you think it'd help if people could just…grow their own food where they want to?" Zhao Yunlan says, which is…not a great description of agriculture, but what the hell is anyone expecting of him? His rising irritation melts away as he sees the way Shen Wei is looking at him. No one should look that taken by Zhao Yunlan's ramblings.
He sighs. "I should be asking you about information on the Rebels," he says, because trying to be circumspect about it would make no sense anyway.
"Is that what they want from us?" Ye Zun asks, and Zhao Yunlan is reasonably sure that he means Ma Gui and Fu You, or at least the Alliance in general.
"Yes, well…not really," Zhao Yunlan says, and then almost instantly regrets just telling the truth like that, but he's not sure lying is all that much better of an option. What would he even say to them? Especially since it's going to come up sooner or later, since he did sort of promise to talk to them about it. "They want Shen Wei to fight for the Alliance."
"That is to be expected," Shen Wei says calmly. Maybe Shen Wei is right, but Zhao Yunlan still hadn't expected it.
"I thought it would take a while. You know, give you some more time to settle in before anyone would…" He trails off, not sure if he should actually say that he'd thought it would take time before anyone trusted them enough to actually let him fight at their side. It's not really an insult, since it's just the plain truth, there's no way they can fully trust the twins. It still seems bad form to just say it out loud like that.
Suddenly, Ye Zun huffs out a mirthless laugh. He turns his head to the side when Shen Wei looks at him, but there is a dawning realisation on Shen Wei's face, and Zhao Yunlan is afraid he doesn't actually need to tell either of the twins about what the Alliance expects of them. Maybe that's obvious too and just another thing that Zhao Yunlan's far too modern way of thinking had made him miss.
"They're not so different from the…Rebels, then," Ye Zun says, and Zhao Yunlan thinks he might detect a hint of bitterness in his voice.
"No one said anything about…" Zhao Yunlan quickly protests, and then doesn't quite know how to continue. He wishes he could tell them that the Alliance is better than that. He waves it away with one hand. "I just told them I'd talk to you about it."
A subtle tension seems to bleed away from the atmosphere. Yeah, Zhao Yunlan knew trying to force the issue in any way would have been a bad idea, which is why no one is going to do that. The twins are here of their own free will, and it's going to keep staying like that.
"If you want to leave and go somewhere—" Zhao Yunlan's mouth says before his brain catches up and he shuts his mouth. He still wants to say it, but he can't. He still needs to know what the twins know. He needs to find those Hallows.
"We will stay," Shen Wei thankfully says, digging Zhao Yunlan out of the hole he's put himself in.
"For now," Ye Zun adds.
Somehow Zhao Yunlan doesn't expect them to ask that Ye Zun stay with him, while Shen Wei is sent out to…well, not the battlefield exactly, as it's mostly a scouting mission, but there's likely to be at least some minor skirmish involved. He's not entirely sure who he means by them either, because he's pretty sure that it's both the Alliance leaders and the twins asking him. He didn't really expect them all to agree on the issue.
Zhao Yunlan was also supposed to go out with his men soon, but Ma Gui and Fu You had told him that the men would go without Zhao Yunlan this time. Well, not that him personally out there is all that much of a contribution, he's really just a figurehead after all, so keeping him in camp doesn't really do all that much harm.
"I know you'll keep didi safe," Shen Wei had told him just before he'd left, his voice solemn, like the mask on his face had actually leeched all the emotions from him, or maybe that's just the fact that they were around other people, who were rather impatiently waiting to leave with Shen Wei.
"Of course," Zhao Yunlan had agreed. He'd hesitated for a moment then, wanting to reach out and touch, and suddenly caught wondering if that would hurt or help the image of the Black Cloaked Envoy, and then finally thought fuck it, and reached out to settle his hand on Shen Wei's shoulder. He'd shown no outward reaction at all, but Zhao Yunlan had felt the minute flinch under his hand, but Shen Wei hadn't pulled away, so Zhao Yunlan hoped it was just surprise. He'd just squeezed Shen Wei's shoulder a little and said, "Good luck out there," before pulling his hand away. He'd gotten a small nod in return.
The twins had already said their goodbyes in private, understandably enough, and even though Ye Zun had been there at Zhao Yunlan's side, he'd said nothing as Shen Wei turned away to leave.
Zhao Yunlan shakes the thoughts away, as he looks at Ye Zun. He's not wearing the mask inside Zhao Yunlan's chamber, but his face still reveals nothing. Zhao Yunlan doesn't think he's seen any emotion on his face since Shen Wei left two days ago.
"Are you planning on sleeping at all this night?" Zhao Yunlan asks, trying not to sound like much of anything. He's pretty sure Ye Zun hadn't slept at all last night. He should know, since Ye Zun had spent the night here.
Ye Zun gives him a belligerent look, and says nothing. He hasn't been particularly talkative after Shen Wei left. Zhao Yunlan can't stop thinking about what things might have been like for Ye Zun, with the Rebels, when Shen Wei wasn't around. The thing is, he's very aware of the fact that Ye Zun is far from helpless. He doesn't know exactly what he's capable of, but he's seen some of it. He doesn't quite understand why he'd have let them—he's not sure how to end that thought, he's not sure he wants to. Zhao Yunlan isn't sure how the Rebels had treated him, but clearly not well.
"Well, I'm going out to…keep watch for a while," Zhao Yunlan says. It's a good enough reason to get away from everyone for a bit, especially since despite what feels like his constant exhaustion some nights Zhao Yunlan just doesn't seem able to sleep. "You're free to join me if you want," he says with a shrug.
Ye Zun looks at him briefly, and doesn't so much as acknowledge Zhao Yunlan's words.
He'll be fine. It's not like anything out there will be able to hurt Shen Wei, he wants to say, or maybe he wants Ye Zun to tell him that. He knows what Shen Wei is capable of far better than Zhao Yunlan. Maybe that isn't even what has Ye Zun in such a mood.
Zhao Yunlan sighs, and gestures to the entrance. "I'll just…" he says before just letting the sentence trail off and walking out. Ye Zun will do what he wants. Maybe he can get some sleep if Zhao Yunlan isn't there.
There's a black kitten waiting outside the chamber. Their eyes meet for a moment, and Zhao Yunlan nods a little, and sighs. He wishes he didn't feel like someone needs to keep an eye on Ye Zun. He crouches down and pets the cat briefly. "Let me know if someone makes any trouble," he whispers.
He gets a little huff in return. Of course, Da Qing knows what to do.
Zhao Yunlan doesn't think anyone would do anything, but better safe than sorry and all that. He did promise Shen Wei.
The tide of the war does seem to shift somewhat with the twins' defection. Shen Wei doesn't participate in any big battles or anything, but the word gets around that he's fighting for the Alliance now and it does seem to have a demoralising effect on the Rebel side, at least from the reports they get. It's not like they have any spies in the Rebel camp or anything, so it's hard to tell exactly what they might think about it. Still, it seems like there's a bit of an overall lull in the fighting.
The Alliance regains some ground.
Still, there's no word of the Hallows, but also no sign of their use. If the Rebels were going to use them, it seems like this would be the time, to bolster morale and gain back whatever momentum they've lost. Maybe they don't know how to use them, but Zhao Yunlan is starting to wonder if they have them at all. The Hallows had already been gone by the time he got here, and no one has ever exactly detailed how they were stolen.
He'd asked the twins about it directly in the end, and they—actually, Shen Wei hadn't said much at all, and Ye Zun had told him that if the Rebel leader did have the Hallows in his possession he wouldn't hesitate to use them.
Ma Gui and Fu You, so far, just seem relieved that no one has used them. Maybe Zhao Yunlan is too, because if one of them can throw Zhao Yunlan back ten thousand years into the past, who knows what all four of them together can do. Actually, even Ma Gui and Fu You seem a little vague on that point, which is not particularly reassuring. Well, they might just not want to tell Zhao Yunlan; that's pretty understandable, there's a lot of things Zhao Yunlan wouldn't tell some random guy from the future either, even if he had been made to pretend to be some great general.
Well, hopefully, what the four of them together can do is send Zhao Yunlan back where he belongs. Zhao Yunlan is getting increasingly resigned to the fact that they might have to actually win this damned war before they ever get around to finding the Hallows though. For all that things are going a bit better for the Alliance now, they don't exactly seem close to that happening.
Ma Gui and Fu You have been drafting some kind of treaty, Zhao Yunlan has seen some of it. It talks about peace between Haixingren, Yashou and Dixingren, but Zhao Yunlan isn't sure what exactly they're hoping it'll do. If it was a question of just getting any Dixingren to sign it… They have plenty enough around.
Ye Zun tells him the Rebel leader is never going to sign anything like that. Ye Zun is pretty much getting to be Zhao Yunlan's go to authority on anything relating to the Rebel leader. Ye Zun doesn't volunteer information, but he does answer if Zhao Yunlan asks.
"Didi could help," Shen Wei says softly, and Zhao Yunlan blinks, turning to look at him, wondering if his thoughts were somehow written all over his face. For all his myriad powers, Shen Wei probably can't actually read minds, or Zhao Yunlan would definitely know about it already, what with the direction his own thoughts seem to take whenever he looks at Shen Wei for too long (like you know, two seconds or so).
Shen Wei really is very nice to look at though, and Zhao Yunlan kind of wants to touch that hair. It's so long and nice and—
"With strategy. Planning," Shen Wei specifies, like Zhao Yunlan had actually asked the question he meant to ask instead of just getting distracted and staring at Shen Wei.
It's just the two of them sitting at a by now rather familiar cliffside. It's actually Shen Wei who's keeping watch this time, which is probably far more effective than Zhao Yunlan doing it. Shen Wei can see in the dark after all, and he supposes it means people are trusting Shen Wei. Not that there aren't more people scattered about, keeping watch.
"Oh. Is that what he used to do?" Zhao Yunlan asks gently. He supposes he can see that.
Shen Wei nods a little, and then looks down at his lap like he can't keep looking at Zhao Yunlan. Yeah, okay so, at least Zhao Yunlan isn't the only one who's having that issue. It really doesn't help knowing that.
"Does he want to do that?" Zhao Yunlan asks.
Shen Wei looks up. Zhao Yunlan doesn't think he's imagining the shadow over his face, the small crease to his brow. There's a nearly full moon out this night, and it's not that dark. Shen Wei looks…worried, Zhao Yunlan thinks. Concerned about Ye Zun? At least it seems to distract him from whatever thoughts he might have when looking at Zhao Yunlan, because this time he meets Zhao Yunlan's gaze steadily. "Didi needs something to do," Shen Wei tells him, and Zhao Yunlan thinks that crease on his forehead deepens slightly, or maybe it's just the tone of his voice that makes Zhao Yunlan think so.
"Ah," Zhao Yunlan says softly. He can see that too. He doesn't think Ye Zun particularly enjoys staying at Alliance headquarters, and maybe that's mostly because he gets grumpy whenever Shen Wei leaves, but maybe having something actually meaningful to do might help with that.
Do either of you want to be here? Zhao Yunlan suddenly wants to ask, but he swallows the words, because they're not particularly helpful for anything. The twins get along with him, obviously, and Da Qing sort of, and Shen Wei doesn't seem to have any issues talking with Ma Gui and Fu You these days when he has to. There's the men Shen Wei goes out with, they seem to at least respect him now, even if they quite possibly fear him more now than they did before they knew him. Outside of Zhao Yunlan, however, neither of the twins spends time with anyone aside each other, not if it isn't necessary. If it wasn't for Zhao Yunlan being here, would they actually stay? Do they—or well, Shen Wei maybe—actually believe in the Alliance's goals, or how they go about achieving them?
If I left, would you come with me? he doesn't ask because the only place Zhao Yunlan will be going is back to the future. It doesn't stop him from wanting to take them both away from here, to somewhere where they can just—
"If I—leave, one day," Zhao Yunlan says abruptly, awkwardly, before he can start thinking about things he shouldn't. Except, then he isn't entirely sure where he's going with that. What? Is he going to ask what Shen Wei will do when Zhao Yunlan isn't here? "I mean… I might have to go back where I came from," he says, still sounding awkward.
Shen Wei is looking at him with round eyes, and Zhao Yunlan is probably imagining the hurt in them. Moonlight or not, it's still dark outside. See, this is why he can't touch Shen Wei. Zhao Yunlan might be used to one night stands, but Shen Wei certainly isn't and he doesn't want to hurt Shen Wei.
He grins faintly, despite not exactly feeling it. "Please don't hold it against me, Xiao Wei. I don't really have a choice," he says, his voice coming out quiet and a little unsteady in places.
Ah. Damn it. He should probably not have called Shen Wei that, but he blames the eyes. He swallows and looks away. It feels a little like he's lying, even though he isn't. It's not like he can stay here. He doesn't want to stay here.
"Of course, Kunlun. I understand," Shen Wei says quietly, reassuringly. His eyes still look hurt, Zhao Yunlan thinks, and looks away.
Shen Wei doesn't understand, he can't understand, but he supposes if anything, Shen Wei does know a lot about having very little choice in things.