*WARNING: The following content may contain mildly mature content that may not be suitable for younger audiences.
The sky above the wall remained gray, but it had lost its mercurial wintry gleam, and the cold wind sighing through the air above the ravaged land held the scent of healing. The air was full of ash and ice crystals.
Almost everything had burned down to smoking cinders by then, but the fire still raged along the wall, climbing like a burning vine. Every so often, they would hear a groan and then a crack as another chunk would come crashing off the wall.
"Gather the dead to prepare a burial. As for the other bastards, let them burn in hell." General Donghai ordered.
Rin walked around the dead. Some were their men, others of the enemy. Soldiers picked them up, others weeping over a corpse that was now unrecognizable. They lost far too many men in this battle.
From behind, the sound of horse hooves on stone approached. She turned to see the commander of Jinping and his men. He jumped smoothly off his horse and walked toward An Sun.
"Captain Sun, it's a pleasure to see that you are well." Helmet in the crook of his right arm, Bo Guozhi walked over with a smile. "After you suddenly had fled in the middle of the night with your men, I didn't think I would see any of you again alive." Although one could tell from the twitch on his lips, he was angry.
An Sun could sense the rage radiating from the older man. He raised a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat, his head lowering a bit.
"Commander Bo."
"Hmm..." Bo Guozhi raised an eyebrow. His eyes scanned his appearance up and down. "Looks like you've been through a lot these past few months."
An Sun laughed awkwardly. "Yeah..."
Glancing at him one last time, Bo Guozhi turned to General Donghai. He inclined his head.
"Old friend, it's been a while." He smiled.
General Donghai grunted. "Not that I mind your company considering you saved our asses, but why are you here? Last I remember the west was not fortunate enough to receive help from those in the north."
While his language surprised the other Jinping troops, Bo Guozhi just chuckled.
"A friend of mine in the north pleaded for my help in assisting his nephew." His gaze shifted to a particular youth with emerald eyes. "He was quite worried for his safety."
Following his gaze, General Donghai's eyebrow raised. Seeing the men were staring at her, Rin helplessly cleared her throat.
"You are one lucky bastard," General Donghai roughly patted her shoulder. His lips curled into a sneer. "Thank your uncle and grandfather for me, will you? If your family didn't coddle you so much, we'd all be burned alive."
The corner of her lips twitched. "I'll be sure to tell them..."
He cackled and patted her shoulder a second time. Rin winced from his strength, but could only smile through the pain.
"Now, let's gather all the wounded and fix this mess."
"Right." She nodded her head with a sigh.
...
Limping and exhausted, they spent the entire night dragging the wounded and dead. With the help of the Jinping soldiers, the load lessened.
The room's interior was dim, the air dark and sweet and musky, heavy with the metallic scent of blood. Rin looked up from a wounded man's leg to see Aiguo standing at the doorway. His eyes wandered around the wounded with an unreadable expression. She frowned and walked over.
"Aiguo," She rested her hand on his shoulder. "What are you doing here? You should go back and rest."
He stared at her with pursed lips before firming up his expression.
"No...I can help." He paused. "I can help aid the men."
Rin's eyes widened in surprise. He saw her watching and rubbed self-consciously at his calloused hands.
"General Guo taught me...Even if I am not allowed to fight, I want to help still."
Regarding him for a moment, Rin sighed and stepped aside for him to enter. Stunned, he looked up, and there was bright pleasure in his eyes. He walked past her and to a man with an arrow in his shoulder. The old physician beside him seemed surprised but still kindly offered to instruct him.
Observing on the side, Rin watched and listened to Aiguo usher orders with brisk authority in his voice, quickly gaining the obedience of those around him. To everyone's surprise, he skillfully removed the arrow from the man's leg with a knife, sawing and cutting through the wood flakes. Everyone looked at him expectantly.
Immersed in the boy's actions, Rin unconsciously smiled, bending her eyes. She quietly slipped out of the room, leaving the boy to the praising eyes of physicians.
...
Bandaging himself by the flickering light of a candle, there came a soft knock on An Sun's door.
"Enter," He said, not looking up from unraveling the bandages.
The door opened, and Rin stepped in, a basket of aid supplies. An Sun lifted his head, surprised.
"I thought you might need help with your wounds." She said softly and sat beside him on the bed.
The man's gray eyes darkened, but he concealed it very well. When he raised his gaze once again, they were shining with a calm expression.
"Go ahead." He sighed heavily and handed her the gauze. "I was having trouble unwrapping that thing anyway."
Rin stifled a laugh. She took out a cloth from her basket along with a bottle of alcohol. Carefully, she poured drops onto the fabric.
"This might sting a little." She warned before setting the wet cloth on his shoulder. He winced but didn't make a sound. She continued to clean and wash his wounds before bandaging them with the gauze.
While binding his shoulder, her eyes shifted to the deep, pink scars on his broad back. She forced herself to remove her gaze, but she couldn't. Her eyes were entrapped. She touched his back with her right hand, drawing her fingertips along the scars.
"How did you get these?"
An Sun froze. His head lowered slightly. "When I was a slave... I was punished often." He said as if his words had nothing to do with him.
RIn's finger touched, gently, the trail along his back. "Did it hurt?"
An Sun reached for her hand and brought it to his chest. He turned his head a little and smiled.
"It doesn't hurt anymore."
Her gaze went to An Sun's, searching his eyes, then set off his mouth. She saw nothing but perhaps a touch of tiredness. With a soft sigh, she kissed him lightly on the cheek. It heartened her to see him smile.
She pressed her cheek against his large back. The whole gesture seemed oddly familiar and right. A sense of peace filled her heart.
"Even if it doesn't hurt anymore, they present marks of your past. If I can, I want to help lessen the pain." She said softly. Her hand slid lightly over his chest, stroking the muscles beneath. He shivered beneath her hand, and something passed through her eyes.
At that moment, her lips touched the old, deep scars on his back. Replacing the painful marks with something sweeter. An Sun was surprised. He did not move.
A moment passed like this, the silence between them, the flickering of a single candle. After another moment, he twisted his body a little to face her.
"Rin," He said, hesitating a little before each word. "Do you trust me?"
The question surprised her. Regardless of its oddity, she nodded her head.
"I trust you." Her words were sincere.
An Sun's eyes dug into hers, sifting them for answers. She looked at him in the light of the candle, at the strong planes of his face, the wide gray eyes. She saw the struggle on his face. A foreign emotion seeming to dwell in his expression.
"Sun? What's—" Rin was startled when she felt him cup her cheek. Confused, she sat there quietly while his finger slid up and down her cheek.
He drew his face close, his thumb brushed lightly over her full lips. When she leaned in, he thrust his tongue inside, she gasped. His hand wrapped behind the back of her neck, pulling her forward. She fell onto the bed, and An Sun went down with her. Holding his stronger body above hers, his hot, wet lips suckled her. With his tongue tangling with her own, she could hardly catch her breath.
Suddenly feeling dizzy, Rin pushed at his stone-like chest.
"Rin," An Sun said huskily and kissed her on her ear. "I won't do anything you don't want, but... just a little longer. Stay with me a little longer."
His words again surprised her. Before she could open her mouth to speak, his lips sealed fiercely over hers once more. She was trembling, her body heated from his touch. She could feel him stroking the top of her head, comforting her while his tongue melted inside her mouth. It was all so intense. So fierce. But gentle. Not frightening. There was a careful awareness of what he was doing.
"Sun..." Rin reached out to stroke his cheek.
He pulled back slightly and kissed the inside of her palm before kissing each finger individually as if it were precious. He moved down to plant the lightest kisses on her cheek, then lowered to suckle her lightly on the nape of her neck. Rin shuddered. Staring deeply into her eyes, he smiled.
"Rin," His voice was thick and hot. "I love you."
Rin looked back up at his face while he stared at her lovingly. Her lips curved upwards and a warm smile blossomed on her face.
"I love you, too." She said at last, her voice breaking. Tears welled in her eyes.
His expression looked so happy and pleased. It was as if he wanted to imprint this moment for as long as he could. He gently kissed her forehead, eyes, and lips before moving away to hold her in his embrace.
The candle flickered one last time before it died, drowned in its wax. Darkness swallowed the small bed and the two figures, filling every corner of the room.
Rin bound her arms around An Sun and pressed herself into his chest. She drank in the scent of him, savoring the warmth of his flesh, the feel of his skin against her cheek. His hands, which were slowly sweeping up and down her back, gave her silent comfort. Gradually, she drifted into a deep sleep.
...
The morning air was hazy with the smoke of the previous night. Rin woke up cold, her right shoulder exposed to the breeze of the window. The birds were up, and the soldiers. She heard their voices from the wall and the practice hall, the rattle, and the bang of chores. She sat up.
The space beside her on the bed was empty, but the pillow still held the shape of him, and the sheets smelled of them both. She touched his side. It was cold. Perhaps he had left early for breakfast or to train, she guessed. Rin pulled her robe and smoothed out her bed hair before vacating the room to find An Sun.
But she could not find him. He was not in the hall where the men ate their breakfast. He was not in the practice field, nor out helping fix the damage by the wall.
It was only then that the panic within her swelled. That reality began to slowly sink in. Her steps grew hurried as she searched room to room. An Sun was nowhere to be found.
Leaning against a wall, Rin closed her eyes to get rid of the sudden nausea. Her mind twisted desperately from thought to thought.
[Do you trust me?]
His words linger in her mind like a haunting spirit. She gritted her teeth until they ached and the tears came unbidden to her eyes.
[Stay with me a little longer]
Even as she felt a hand touch her shoulder, a voice calling her name, she did not move. A gust of wind brushed past as the silence engulfed her.
"He's gone..." Her tongue was like a stone in her mouth. She could barely speak around it.
Standing in front of her, Manchu frowned. "Who's gone?"
Lifting her head, unshed tears shown in her eyes. Rin clutched the man's shirt with a trembling grip.
"Sun...he's gone."