Moth and Moon

Pine

Xie Lian blearily woke up when Ruoye slithered over his face. His eyes fluttered open and focused on the sunlight angling in from the window, the rays catching little motes of dust suspended in the air. Xie Lian held up his hand to shade his face, then sat up. He was shocked when he saw scarlet splayed out before him like fresh blood, but quickly realized that he was looking at San Lang's red woolen cloak. The events of the previous day came flooding back to him.

Sometime before Xie Lian had woken up, San Lang had gently laid the cloak over him on top of his blanket for extra warmth. Xie Lian squeezed the cloak in his hands, then held it close to his chest. San Lang's gesture of kindness had touched something deep inside of him. He blinked. Where was San Lang anyways?

He stood, and Ruoye curled comfortably around his arm. Xie Lian's eyes flickered over the cottage and landed on the table, where there were some unfamiliar objects. He crossed the room to find a bowl full of shiny black mulberries and a note that said... Xie Lian picked up the piece of paper and held it up to the light; he recognized character fragments here and there, but nothing that resembled coherent words.

Leaving that mystery for later, Xie Lian got dressed for the day. He noticed that the clothes San Lang had borrowed were in a neatly folded stack on the rocking chair. 'Did San Lang leave?' Xie Lian wondered. He wouldn't have purposefully left his cloak behind, though, would he?

Anxiety and sadness crumpled in his chest. He hoped that San Lang had not left him, at least not without saying a proper goodbye, but he supposed that he had more important things to do, like finding his beloved... There was a tinge of jealousy in Xie Lian's heart, but mostly he felt loss. It was like he'd had something in his grasp for a moment, but it had slipped through his fingers like water.

Xie Lian repressed his feelings of disappointment and tied his hair up into a bun, not bothering to untangle it. He didn't feel motivated to deal with that mess. He put on his bamboo hat and went outside to check on his plants and feed his chickens. To his shock and relief, both had miraculously survived the rainstorm. Even if Xie Lian wasn't the unluckiest person alive, the torrential downpour probably should have done some damage.

Xie Lian let his chickens out of their coop and scattered grain for them. He sighed, and it carried a touch of unintended melancholy.

"What's troubling you, Gege?"

Xie Lian's eyes widened, and his heartbeat grew frantic. He whirled around, and San Lang was standing there with his arms folded and a lopsided grin on his face. Xie Lian's elation soared. He wanted to run over and hug him, but instead stayed put and said,

"San Lang! I thought you had left." He could barely hide the joy in his voice.

San Lang laughed. "I left a note for Gege saying where I was going."

Ah, so that's what the note had said?

"Oh, I see."

"I'm sorry, I should have put the note in a better place."

"No, it's fine!" The note's location certainly hadn't been the issue... "I'm just... glad you didn't leave," Xie Lian admitted.

San Lang was absolutely glowing with happiness. "Gege shouldn't worry." His voice trembled ever-so-slightly.

"Where did San Lang go anyways?" Xie Lian curiously asked.

San Lang's lips curled into a smile.

"I followed the river upstream to the spring. It's at a slightly lower elevation than your cottage, so I figured that the water table is high here. So, this would be a great place to build a well." He seemed kind of proud of his discovery, which Xie Lian found endearing. He was shocked that anybody would go to so much effort for him with no apparent ulterior motive.