Your dreams

Chapter 12

"Sleep well," whispered Lan Wangji more to himself than to Wei Wuxian and, with a heavy heart, followed after Jiang Yanli out of the infirmary.

From the corner of his eye, he had seen Wei Wuxian's shoulders sagging and his expression betraying exhaustion. He knew he was not welcomed here; he worried that if he stayed, the Yunmeng Jiang sect head disciple would only pretend to sleep again and not get any real rest. Which right now was less than optimal solution.

For the whole afternoon, Lan Wangji had been thinking about all of this. He had already concluded that the visions he had been seeing must have in fact been Wei Wuxian's dreams. They only ever happened when he was close to the Yunmeng Jiang sect disciple and, that was the second condition, every time, when the other had been either asleep or unconscious. It did not seem like a far-fetched guess to assume that Wei Wuxian had been dreaming during those moments.

What was however still not sitting quite right with Lan Wangji and the question he could not find an answer to was something different. Sure, those visions could have been only fruits of Wei Wuxian's abundant imagination and could not have to have anything in common with reality. After all, the events that Lan Wangji had seen had been so horrible that he was reluctant to believe them being reality.

However, deep down, he had to admit that he was worried about them being in fact the other's memories. It did not seem possible for them to be dreams foretelling the future, for that, they had been way too precise. Lan Wangji had also felt everything that Wei Wuxian had had and had heard his thoughts. If those were not memories, he did not know what else they could be. No matter how unbelievable or improbable this was.

His heart was hurting at this realization. To live – or even dream about it if his guess was not correct which he truly did not believe to be the case – a war, to fight in it and be hurt so terribly his whole body would be aching all over... That was something which was bringing tears to his eyes. He could still not fully figure out what exactly was happening, but one thing he knew: Wei Wuxian was suffering and he hated it.

When he left the infirmary, he headed to his brother's rooms. He had no intention of going back to his own quarters and pretend like nothing was happening. He needed – yes, needed to, it was a want so urgent and strong that it could not be called differently – to make sure that Wei Wuxian would be alright. He needed to keep an eye on him and if another nightmare popped up, he needed to be by his side to help him. If not during the nightmare as such, then at least in the aftermath. He had no idea how he was going to do this, but the urge to act was stronger than anything he had ever felt.

Lan Xichen had seemed surprised but he did not oppose his request to take the night patrol duties. Lan Wangji could only wonder what his brother had seen in his eyes, but one look had been enough for him to agree. He only reminded him to still go back to his room and get some sleep after he finished the patrol. Lan Wangji only nodded in acknowledgment; he was not able to promise anything.

His permission obtained; he hurried back to the infirmary. He did not enter the building where Wei Wuxian was presumably already sleeping, all the windows were dark even at this time way before the curfew. Just as he had done during the Yunmeng Jiang sect head disciple's first night in the Cloud Recesses, he sat down on a rooftop of another building and watched the dark windows. This time, he hoped to see another vision so he would be able to make more sense of what was happening.

It did not even take a full incense stick of time and Lan Wangji's heart started beating faster as images of a new vision flashed in front of his eyes...

Lan Wangji was running through the Cloud Recesses and was dragging someone behind him. He was feeling ecstatic and in anticipation. He could feel his lips shifting into a wide grin when he finally saw the people he had been trying to catch up to. He slowed his pace and waved his hand at Lan Xichen and another Lan Wangji, a young one this time.

"Young Master Wei, Young Master Jiang, here you are. Are you ready? Should we go now?"

Lan Wangji nodded enthusiastically: "Of course, Zewu-Jun, we cannot wait! But still..." he became more pensive and intrigued, "receiving reports about water ghouls in Caiyi Town, how peculiar... I would have thought that people living near a great lake like that would be good swimmers."

Lan Wangji opened his eyes and was trying to catch his scattered thoughts. This vision was so different from all his previous ones. It was vivid and he really felt like he had lived through it, as Wei Wuxian, that was. Moreover, this particular scene must had been set in not a very distant future. The dream Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen were young, perhaps even as young as right now. Could the vision had been referring to an event which would take – had taken? – place during the guest lectures?

Lan Wangji's heart was racing and his stomach was knotted, his mind was hazy with adrenalin and fear for his life. He was balancing himself on his sword with the last of his strength and he was afraid that if Su She would not finally stop squirming around, he would drop both him and Wen Ning into the bubbling black water below. He had finally figured out what lurked beneath the surface of Biling lake. Those were not normal water ghouls, but rather a Waterborne Abyss.

With heart overflowing with gratitude, he was finally able to pass Wen Ning to Jiang Cheng. However, at the same time, something grabbed his left ankle. He looked down with a terrible dreadful feeling. It was the Waterborne Abyss. Then, he was yanked from his sword and he was falling.

The impact did not hurt as much as he had imagined, although his back sore from previous punishments assigned by Lan Qiren did not make the experience much desirable. What was worse was the omnipresent resentment in the water. It immediately surrounded him and crushed and pushed from all sides. It was suffocating and scary.

Lan Wangji's visions was slowly giving up as he was fighting the instinct to breathe in the murky water. His mind was hazy and he could not move his body even if he had somehow been able to figure out what exactly he should be doing. The resentful energy was probing at him and whispering incoherent and undecipherable promises. He raised his hand to meet it half way. It touched him tentatively...

Lan Wangji woke up from his vision so abruptly he almost fell down from the rooftop. Only his years of rigorous training had helped him to keep holding on. He was utterly horrified. Wei Wuxian had almost died just now. Be if not for the dream version of Lan Wangji who had pulled him out of the water, he would have been taken over by the resentful energy and become a part of the Waterborne Abyss.

That definitely cannot happen, not in reality! Lan Wangji had felt all the fear that Wei Wuxian had had and he was determined to not let this particular future occur if it even should. Not if he would have any say in it. And even if it would happen despite all his efforts, he would make sure to pull the Yunmeng Jiang sect head disciple out faster.

Merry Christmas to all :)