inorisartcorner

[inorisartcorner]

Nothing moved. In the darkest night sky he’d ever seen settle, not even a star would glisten.

Pieces of metal and wood were scattered on the soil beneath his feet, bearing the reminder of once having been deadly weapons, brandished by some of the most powerful warriors.

The fight was over, Nanook knows how.

And it wasn’t thanks to him; if anything, he was the reason why it even started in the first place.

No one was around; Jing Yuan and Welt Yang had rushed to see the wounded Stelle, Caelus, March 7th and Dan Heng to the hospital. Oddly enough, Welt asked for Luocha’s help to keep them safe and alive; for once, the outsider healer didn’t seem too suspicious to him, at least not enough that he couldn’t trust him with his… family.

They had to run. Blade was actually pretty sure he had close to killed them all in his rampage.

He took his shirt off, looking at his own reflection in Scalegorge Waterscape; somehow he was still alive, not out of his own volition.

Yet he would’ve rather just put an end to his own, as he saw, selfish suffering.

His black hair grazed his shoulders and back; a hiss of pain left his lungs when he realized how some of it had accidentally ended up in his open wounds.

“Here, let me help.”

He suddenly turned around, brandishing his sword, just to immediately retract it; a pair of yellow eyes and a phony, yet comforting, smile enclosed by long, white hair in a small ponytail were looking at him, a hand shot forward as a help.

“No need for violence, Blade.”

“Done enough of that.”

The general laughed, looking at him.

“You’re badly wounded. We should get you a doctor.”

“Unnecessary.”

Blade sat down, his feet tapping lightly in the water, almost in a childish pretense of actually having everything under control.

Truth be told, he was probably trying to fool himself more than Jing Yuan.

A metallic clang shot through his ears; in a few seconds, he wasn’t the only one sitting down anymore.

“Dan Heng is worried about you. Actually, everyone is.”

Blade rolled his eyes, skeptical.

“Hmpf. He should care more about his own wounds.”

“Yingxing.”

Blade’s eyes widened; he hadn’t heard that name in so long.

Another metallic clang echoed in the waterscape; the general’s arm moved around his shoulders, his kind stare watching over him.

He didn’t dare to look back at him. He could feel it, however.

And, truth be told, he didn’t mind it.

“You don’t need to do everything on your own, Yingxing.”

“I’ve been doing this for centuries.”

“And you don’t need to do that any longer.”

Blade’s stare wandered; he felt helpless, not that he could do much. The Mara was still there, right inside him, running through his veins a million miles an hour.

And lord knows what, now that their debt was at least somewhat settled, he could make of himself moving forward.

“We can keep it under control” Jing Yuan said, almost reading his mind, “at least for now. I’ll revoke the warrant, we’ll be keeping you safe.”

‘Safe? Of course’, he thought, a wave of sarcasm gushing through him.

“Even if I was to agree, why would this make sense? I don’t wanna die in a jail cell crazy from this curse. I’d much rather drown here.”

Shaking his head, the general traced the edge of one of his wounds with a finger; Blade’s whole body flinched, a spike of pain so intense that he suffocated a cry in his fist.

“You’ve been through enough. Time to rest.”

A silence that felt interminable dropped dead on the two; like he had done so many years prior, Jing Yuan circled his arms around his long lost friend, holding him close to his chest.

Blade didn’t speak. Truth be told, he probably didn’t even breathe. His eyes were sealed shut; nonetheless, like he was relishing in that affection that he didn’t even remember the feeling of, he rested his head on the general’s chest.

For once, he felt so comfortable that he could fall asleep.

“You’ll be fine. That much I can promise.”

Jing Yuan smiled, a smile of comfort, of understanding, that Blade had only seen all that time ago; he then softly traced a scar on his skin, giving Blade something closer to an itch than an actual fit of pain.

“You haven’t forgotten that I’m ticklish, did you?” Blade said, with a soft chuckle.

“Nope, I sure haven’t”, the general replied. “I could never.”

He then sighed, still holding his friend close to him; never did he think he’d see him again, much less hold him again.

“You’ll heal. And you’ll be a new version of yourself.”

“And my scars? They’ll be there to remind me of who I was.”

“For sure. But it doesn’t need to be a negative thing.”

Blade scoffed, breaking the hug to look at Jing Yuan straight in the eyes.

“And why in the world would that be positive?”

The general looked at his long lost friend, not backing down an inch; he then softly touched his chin, to make him face his own reflection in the water.

“You don’t realize it yet, but it’s because of them that you’re here today. That pain will one day prove useful.”

Blade’s eyes started to water at Jing Yuan’s words; he then felt the general’s arm around his shoulders once more and, almost out of an old yet undead reflex, he leaned his head in the crevice of his neck.

He felt… welcome. Safe. Warm.

The Mara felt at bay.

And he didn’t feel alone.

No, he wasn’t alone. Not anymore.

“Welcome home, my dear friend.”