Her small body tucked in a makeshift bed of woven straw and blankets, the girl woke up the next morning in the healer's little cottage. From a distance, the healer saw her while his heart weighed questions and doubt. She seemed delicate, but there was an obvious quiet strength about her that defied her early years. Her golden hair caught the sunshine coming in through the window, and her eyes opened to show the same ethereal blend of gold and silver.
Good morning, the healer said gently as she knelt next to her. "How are you feeling?"?
The girl slanted her head to examine him curiously. Who are you?
After a moment of uncertainty, he continued, "I am your father now," the words odd yet strong in his mouth. You might refer to me as Healer Jian.
Her eyebrows wrinkled slightly as though the title confused her, but she nodded. "Father...," she said, the word flowing off her mouth with hesitant approval.
Jian got a twinge in his chest. He had no children until recently, except for his two sons, who were used to their declining heritage. This girl was unique; she was a child born of light whose roots he knew not even now. Looking into her innocent eyes, though, he decided he would do all to guard her.
As the girl adjusted to life in the healer's house, days stretched into weeks. Jian brought her to his sons after naming her Yue for the moonlight-like radiance she bore. While the younger, Liang, had a sharp wit and an unquestionable resolve that reflected Jian's own, the eldest, Tian, was a young man of broad shoulders and an honest attitude.
For their little family, Yue soon took the front stage. Though first startled by her unexpected appearance, Tian and Liang embraced her with elder brother protective instincts. They entertained her curious questions about the world, taught her basic duties, and played with her. Soon, the once quiet hut was full of laughter from Yue, which warmed Jian, who had not realised he had been lacking.
Still, Jian noted something strange about Yue even with her positive attitude. She picked up quickly, her little hands neatly copying his methods for bandaging wounds or grinding herbs. She could spot plants he had taken years to perfect within weeks. Her genius was indisputable, but so was the shadow apparently hovering above her.
Yue was agitated, sharp, and erratic. The first incident started when another rural child teased her for her unique look. Arriving just in time, Jian saw Yue standing over the lad, her tiny fists clenched and her eyes ablaze with rage. The lad had left, his face pallid with terror, but Jian had sensed an inexplicable cold in the air—a brief change that begged him to consider whether Yue's wrath had more weight than words.
That evening as they sat by the hearth, Jian said, "You must learn to control your temper."
Her eyes wide and searching, she gazed up at him. "Why?."
"Because anger can sweep outward, like a stone thrown into a still pond," he said softly, his eyes fixed. "Anger affects everyone it comes into direct contact with, Yue." It can travel and harm people you might never even meet as well as those you know. You have a gift—a light inside you—but, if not treated carefully, light can burn.
She nodded slowly, but Jian saw tension in her look. She seemed to grasp his remarks on one level but felt an irresistible draw towards something else, something outside her control.
Life went on, and Jian tried his best to keep Yue out of sight. Though quiet, the sect members were not immune to rumours. Whispers of an unusual child in Jian's house started to spread, and he knew questions would soon follow. Hoping it would win her over with the community, he taught her the art of healing and guarded her. With her small hands working with accuracy and care, Yue picked up the lessons easily. Still, problems seemed to follow her even after she recovered.
One day, while picking herbs with Liang, Yue came upon several older sect children. What started as a light-hearted conversation swiftly went ugly, and when Jian got there, he discovered Yue standing in the middle of the group with blood-stained hands. One of the lads lay on the ground, gripping his arm and with a sharp cut marring his flesh.
"He tried to hurt Liang," Yue stated angrily, her voice firm in the middle of the turmoil all around. "I paused him."
Jian bent next to the wounded lad, his healing instincts guiding him. He looked at unrepentant Yue while he worked, her golden hair shining in the afternoon sun. Though he knew she had responded out of loyalty, the violence in her answer unsettled him.
When they arrived home, Jian sat Yue down and gazed into her eyes, his expression solemn. He could see the storm building inside her—the wrath flickering like embers just waiting to burst out. "You cannot solve every problem with force," he insisted, his voice level but slightly edged with urgency. Her golden-silver eyes, now ablaze with wordless wrath, met his, blinkered. "Restraint has strength, Yue. Do you get it?
She nodded, but Jian detected the same struggle in her eyes. Two competing forces battled inside her, a healer's soft touch and a warrior's ferocious energy. He could only hope she would come to balance the two with time.
The discomfort in Jian's heart developed alongside Yue's growth. Often he would find himself wondering about the lad he had left behind in the clearing while gazing at the nighttime heavens. What had happened to him? Did his essence really vanish, or did it stay waiting for its own moment to come? Though he buried them far and shared them with no one, the questions tormented him.
Right now, he's mostly focused on Yue and the life they were creating together. Jian couldn't shake the feeling that that fatal day's events were far from over in the peaceful times when the world seemed still. Though he knew all too well that light, no matter how brilliant, could create long shadows, the girl he had spared was a glimmer of hope in his otherwise dismal universe.
Jian could only hope that he had chosen well as the winds of fate started to change—that the darkness would not come to claim them all.