Of Forgotten Dreams (Book 1) [NANOWRIMO 2022]

Chapter 21

"Yun."

"Yes?" She looked up, shaking out from her daze. A sizzling sound came to her attention immediately. She gasped, and immediately sprang up, reaching for the cauldron.

Her fingers immediately pulled back, scalded due to her heat. "Hot." She hissed under her breath. She waved her hands, and a gust of wind blew out the fire burning underneath. She then used a cloth to move it on the desk and peered into it.

The scent made her gag, and the herbs were singed at the bottom, the concoction completely dried up.

"That was the second time this week." A girl knelt down in front of her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Yun answered, albeit much too quickly. "Really, it's nothing, Sister Su."

"Yun, you can't expect me to believe that. You never make mistakes like this before, especially not before the Inner Tournaments."

Yun scraped out the contents of the pot, and refilled it. She wordlessly placed it back on the stove to begin boiling it from scratch.

"Just promise me that no matter what it is, if it is something that you cannot handle, you will ask for help." Su sighed finally as she stood up. She pointed at the stove, and a wisp fire flickered back into existence.

"I will."

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Yun laid back on the window seat as she read through the letter, the handwriting style slowly becoming familiar to her.

It had been almost a month now that Yufan had left the Viridescent Isle. But almost every week, or maybe more often, she had received letters from him. Each one spoke simply of his daily life. There were no "I wish you were here"s or "I miss you"s. He just shared his day, talked about the things he liked and his thoughts. And even peculiarly, was the fact that he never asked Yun to write back. It was as if he just enjoyed sharing about his day with her.

Her gaze dropped to the parchment lying on the table. The ink was already prepared, and all she had to do was to pick up a brush to start writing.

Her fingers pinched the letter as she contemplated it. For so many years, she had never ever had contact with the outside world before. All the friends that she had, they were all Healers from the Isle. She had never met anyone from beyond, nor ever ventured away from the Isle. It was as if Shifu Nalan wanted to kept her hidden from the world. Most of the time, she was not even allowed to be seen in public in the Viridescent Isle.

Therefore, the only ones that she had direct contact with were only Shifu Nalan, and his direct disciples. Any additional contact was forbidden.

She turned towards the parchment again, pursuing her lips. I should. She thought to herself. She took a seat at the pouf, and placed the letter next to the parchment. Reaching for the brush, she began to write about her day as well. A simple greeting, but no other acknowledgements, and no other requests for him to write back. She let the letter air-dry once she was done, and folded it, tracing her fingers gently along the lines.

This will not take too long to arrive. She thought, observing the breeze. Her hand held out the envelope in the window, and waited for a particularly strong gust of wind. She then released it, and it folded into the breeze, sent off to the receiver.

Looking out into the distance, she folded her arms and rested her head on them. It was not like her to admit, but she was really looking forward to a reply to the letter, although she had just sent it.