The morning mist hung over the forest like a foggy cloud, making everything look grey. Jianyu knelt next to a small stream. The moving water in the stream made his image look funny. He looked at the face that was looking back at him. It had haunted eyes, a fresh cut on the cheek, and dirt on the skin. There was no longer the boy who used to fight with wooden swords in the backyard of his family's house. Instead, there was someone stronger and more angry.
He put his hands right into the cold water and scrubbed his face clean. The cold hurt his skin. He put his hands around the water and watched it flow through them before standing up straight. The worn edges of the scroll he had tucked into his belt made him think of the big load he was carrying all the time. He ran his fingers along the torn paper, following the faint lines of ink that looked like the names and symbols were trying to tell him something.
"Are you sure you know what you want?" The silence was broken by Tian's words. It was quiet, but there was something darker in the background.
You didn't turn, Jianyu. He couldn't take his eyes off the distance, where the trees turned into rolling hills. He finally said, "People." "People who thought my dad was good." People who still support what he did.
"What if they don't?" Tian took a step closer, and the frost on the grass made his boots crunch softly.
"They will," Jianyu said, with a quiet resolve in his voice. "They need to."
In silence, they broke camp. As they walked down the path, the morning chill bit at their skin. Jianyu was moving faster and with more purpose. He kept looking at the scroll as if it were guiding him. He said the names out loud, almost like a chant, and ran his fingers over the ink.
"Lin Xia." Zhang Wei. Ren Shuo... He slowed down as he looked more closely at a particularly faint line. "Yao Mingzhe." My dad cared about these names. We'll care about them.
Tian looked at Jianyu out of the corner of his eye. The boy walked with confidence, and his shoulders were straight, but there was something raw about his face that made Tian think of a flame that was too hot. He had seen this before, with a different person and at a different time.
"Your father had faith in people," Tian said, but there was a warning in his voice that wasn't spoken. "He thought that if the cause was right, other people would join."
Jianyu looked at him with a raised brow. "And?"
Tian answered, "And faith alone doesn't win battles." He then looked at the sword that was hanging by Jianyu's side. "It can make you careless." It could leave you open to harm.
Jianyu stopped all of a sudden and turned around to face Tian. "Reckless isn't moving." They need to finish what they started before Vulnerable can attack. I'm not going to do that again.
Tian didn't say anything for a moment, and his face couldn't be read. The fire in Jianyu's eyes had grown. It was a mix of sadness and determination that Tian could not help but respect and fear. He gave a small nod, but his face stayed tight.
As they went deeper into the valley, the fog started to lift, showing a patchwork of farmland that stretched to a village far away. Jianyu slowed down, and his fingers lightly touched the handle of his sword.
He asked out of the blue, "Why didn't you stop them?" Even though his speech was low, you could tell it had an edge to it. "When someone attacked my family. "Why didn't you keep them?"
Tian stumbled as he walked, and his hand went to the knife by his side. His jaw got tight, and he looked straight ahead. He said, "I wasn't enough." His words were short and angry.
Jianyu didn't answer, but the silence between them got thick with facts that weren't being said. Tian's thoughts went back to Lin Zhiwei, the man he had sworn to protect but had broken his word. He saw the same set of goals and fire in Jianyu that he had seen in Zhiwei.
Tian finally spoke after a long pause. "Your father once told me that the only thing that makes life worth living is to fight for what you believe in." He also said, "It's the thing that will probably kill you."
Jianyu made a thin line with his lips. He didn't answer, but his hand got tighter around the scroll, and his white knuckles got red.
They set up camp that night near the edge of the valley. In the distance, they could see the faint glow of a town. The scroll was spread out on the ground in front of Jianyu as he sat away from the fire. The paper shimmered a little in the firelight, and the names and figures that were written on it seemed to have their own life.
He looked at the scroll as if it had all the answers he was looking for. Not just names, these were threads that led back to the things his father had left behind. Each one was a puzzle piece he was determined to find and put together.
He said in a quiet voice, "They thought they could erase us." The words were mostly for himself. He tightened his fists and dug his nails into his hands. "But that's not up to them."
Tian watched him from the other side of the fire. The flickering light cast a shade over his face. The boy was growing up and taking on a part he didn't want but couldn't avoid. Even so, Tian couldn't get rid of the heavy feeling of dread that had fallen over him.
Jianyu stood there as the fire went out. His shape stood out against the glow of the embers. He picked up his sword. The weight of it felt nice and familiar. He looked out into the night, where the hills were no longer visible.