'Food, I smell food,' a child walked through the forest, his nose lifting as he sniffed the delicious aroma in the air, his stomach rumbling.
'I've gone the entire day and night without food. It's torture,' the child broke into a clearing, walking over to a small fire.
'I really need food,' a rustle from above put him into full alert, pulling out a small knife and staring up. Another child dropped down from the top, climbing down the branches.
'That uniform... he's from the sect,' the other child turned around, blinking in surprise.
"Brother Feng?" the child asked.
"Who are you?" Brother Feng asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Ah, makes sense that you wouldn't know me. Um, I'm Shen Bo. I entered the sect the same year as you," Shen Bo explained.
"Shen Bo? Oh, the boy who stubbornly uses the bow even though they suck at it?" Brother Feng asked, his guard relaxing.
"Ah, yeah, that's me. The stubborn bow user," Shen Bo confirmed, rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous smile on his face.
"Why do you use a bow anyways? You're obviously better at other weapons like the sword. I've seen your test scores," Brother Feng asked.
"I want to be known as Shen Bo the bow user, that's why!" Shen Bo said in an obvious tone. Brother Feng stared at him before laughing, the silly reason making him laugh.
"That's so stupid that it's hilarious," Brother Feng said, Shen Bo pouting as a red flush covered his cheeks.
"It's not that funny," Shen Bo muttered, poking at the fire.
Growl.
Shen Bo looked at Brother Feng, noticing that he was clutching his stomach.
"Here, have some," Shen Bo said, slicing off a piece of meat and handing it to Brother Feng. Brother Feng hesitantly took it, his apprehension disappearing as he took a bite.
"How long have you gone without food?" Shen Bo asked, pulling Brother Feng closer to the fire.
"Since we were released into the forest," Brother Feng replied, his mouth full with food.
"That long? Here, eat more," Shen Bo fussed, slicing off more pieces and putting them in front of Brother Feng.
"Where'd you even get these?" Brother Feng asked, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Oh, I saw two other sect mates going into the forest the other day and they killed a spirit beast. After they left, I just grabbed a couple of slabs for myself and left,"
"Yesterday? How'd you even store this before it went rotten?"
"One of my benefactors is related to ice. I'm basically a portable ice block,"
"You're not supposed to tell others who your benefactors are," Brother Feng reminded, grabbing another piece. He ate slower this time.
"Well, I trust you," Brother Feng looked at Shen Bo in surprise.
"You trust me? You barely know me," Shen Bo nodded in agreement.
"True, but you're admirable. Annoying, but admirable,"
"I'm annoying?"
"You didn't know?" Brother Feng got quiet at Shen Bo's rebuttal, realizing that he really was a pain. Shen Bo smiled at Brother Feng's silence.
"You really didn't know that you're a pain in the ass, did you?" Shen Bo asked. Brother Feng looked away, finding comfort in his food.
"Once you're done eating, you can rest. I'll keep watch," Shen Bo said, getting up and dusting his robes off. Brother Feng nodded and finished eating, accepting the flask of water from Shen Bo and drinking up. He leaned against the tree and closed his eyes, his tiredness from not sleeping making his eyes heavy. Shen Bo sat next to him, silently studying his face.
'Poor guy. Being him must be really hard,' Shen Bo thought.
For the next couple of days, they had fallen into a simple routine. They'd go hunting together for food or beast cores, Shen Bo would light up a fire to cook the meat, and Brother Feng would patrol the small area they occupied. Brother Feng would give pointers to Shen Bo when he was practicing with the bow, holding back his laughter when Shen Bo spent 50 arrows trying to hit a tree.
"It's not funny! Using a bow is hard," Shen Bo would say when he saw Brother Feng's red face, a hand covering his mouth.
"Of course it's funny! A bow user who can't hit a large and still target is kind of useless, aren't they?"
"Well, I'm sorry, Mr. Perfect. Not everybody could have the training you did, you meanie," Brother Feng was grateful for meeting Shen Bo. For the first time in a long time, he felt accepted. He didn't feel pressured to have to be the best. For Shen Bo, Brother Feng was already enough. Actually, more than enough. All the pain and grief he had felt during the past couple of days didn't feel as bad with Shen Bo around.
"Tell me about the grand birthday parties I hear you would have," Shen Bo would pester, looking up at Brother Feng with large and curious eyes.
"What grand birthday parties?"
"Oh come on. You're the son of the city ruler, you've had to have some grand parties," Brother Feng sighed, turning to Shen Bo.
"Okay, I'll tell you what happened at my birthday party when I got old enough to start cultivation," Shen Bo sat at full attention.
"On the day that I turned 8, my father brought me over to the benefactor's stone early in the morning. He had closed down the area just for my birthday. That day, I got to talk to my benefactor. I learned many things about my heritage, I think I spent nearly 2 hours that morning just talking,"
"That's kinda different than you are now. You don't really talk to anyone at the sect or in the city,"
"I don't?" Shen Bo nodded his head.
"Usually you just drift between classes. You only recently started to be around with Brother Gong and Brother Mo. At the end of the day, you go back to your room and you rarely ever go back home,"
"Ah, well. Anyways, after I left the stone, my father brought me back home where a small party was being held. My mother, Aunt Rong, my father, and a couple of my friends from other cities were there,"
"Hey, I said grand parties. Why are you telling me about a small party?" Shen Bo interrupted.
"For me, it was a grand party. For most of my birthday parties, I was very young and only really had to stick with my mom for the party. The parties were instead made to connect to other city rulers and create alliances," Brother Feng looked over at Shen Bo, pursing his lips at the sadness in Shen Bo's eyes.
"My dad refused to do that for my 8th birthday. He said it was a special day and that I should only have people that I wanted to be there,"
"Your dad can be really nice sometimes," Shen Bo commented.
"Sometimes?"
"Sorry if this is very straightforward, but everyone's already heard about your mom and that your dad told you to go back to the sect. I just thought it was a pretty messed up thing to do," Shen Bo said, shrugging.
"You do? You don't think that maybe I'm being a bit harsh on my dad for acting like this?" Shen Bo shook his head.
"Honestly, I think you're in the right. You have all the rights to be angry at him for hiding things from you. Actually, I'd say that you could even punch him in the face for being like that," Brother Feng was quiet for a couple of seconds.
"Thank you," he muttered. Shen Bo looked surprised before his face melted into something softer.
"But how do you know so much about me? Are you a stalker or something?" Brother Feng asked, quickly covering up his vulnerability. Shen Bo shook his head rapidly.
"No, I'm not a stalker! How can you say that? I just..." Shen Bo trailed off.
"You just what?" Brother Feng pressed on, trying to get an answer from Shen Bo.
"I just really admire you, okay?" Shen Bo cried out, covering his face with his hands, the tips of his ears a soft pink. Brother Feng paused, his heart beating harshly against his ribcage.
"You... you admire me?" he asked. Shen Bo nodded, peeking at Brother Feng through his fingers.
"But... why?" Shen Bo dropped his hands and played with a strand of his hair, looking away.
"You're super strong, have good grades, and you go through so much but you're still going, how could I not admire you?" Shen Bo asked. Brother Feng blushed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"That's the first time someone complimented me like that," he muttered.
"Really? I thought you'd be getting compliments left and right!" Shen Bo stopped, thinking over his word. "Actually, with your attitude, maybe not,"
"But that's aside from the point! You're an amazing person! Even if you have your flaws, hell, doesn't everybody? To me, you're handsome, powerful, smart, and you can do so much good in this world!" Shen Bo declared, standing up and placing his hands on his hips. Brother Feng couldn't stop a grin from crawling its way onto his face.
"You really think so?" Brother Feng asked.
"I know so," Shen Bo replied, a huge smile on his face.
'Yeah, he has a warm smile. I'd like to see this smile for the rest of my life,' Brother Feng subconsciously thought, staring up at Shen Bo with adoration.
In the next second, Shen Bo's eyes widened.
A tusk appeared from Shen Bo's chest.
Blood splattered everywhere.
A single, crystalline tear fell from his eye.