The Storyteller

His Eyes

She had no idea how long she had sat at his side bawling her eyes out like a crazy woman, but it was some time, because by the time she raised her head off her knees, her eyes were bloodshot, her body aching and her one and only companion looked to have died all by himself.

Peering at him through her swollen lids, his face was deathly white and his body unmoving yet despite the horrible wounds to his face, she could tell that his features were actually pleasant to look at and had they met in any other circumstances, she might have admired him from afar.  But he was dead and she was all alone in that foul cave with no one to help her.

"Stupid dead man!" she siffled as her foot kicked out at his body.

And she would have kicked him again had he not grunted. His face barely moved, but that grunt suddenly had her on her knees and scuttling towards him.

"You're alive?" she cried out in astonishment and relief as her hands reached down to embrace this soldier who was still stubbornly clinging to life and therefore someone who might know a way out or at the very least, someone to talk to.  She had heard of people being trapped and eventually going insane from the lack of company, and not having a lot of experience with the outside world, she imagined that she would lose her mind quickly.

"Water...." he gasped painfully.   Her embrace may have been gentle, but his body felt it like a thousand heated knives burning into every wound.

""Water.....! Right.... I know where it is!" she gasped back before rising to her feet to stumble towards the left corner of the chamber. The three large vats of water that were collecting an overflow from a nearby stream were not full, as the trickle seemed to be slowing down, but it was enough for the both of them, so long as she made it last and used it wisely and seeing as he had managed to stay alive this long,  it was the least she could give him before he really did up and die.

Rushing back with a small cup of water, she lowered herself back down towards him, then ever so gently she helped him to raise his head so he could drink. It stung the back of his throat, but it felt good all the same and it also gave him a chance to think without her caterwauling in his ears.

 He too had no idea how long he had been there or even where 'there' was, but the young child he assumed had found him, going by all the crying, was not something he needed right now.  He needed to get back to Kunlun Mountain and his men. He needed to know if any of them survived and being stuck with a crying child, had the hopelessness rising especially when she continued to sniffle and hiccup all over him.

Blocking it out, Mo Yuans mind went back to his last memory.  The moment Qing Cangs hand had pulled out the pendant, he knew what it was and what was coming but with his sword already in the air and dragging down towards the mans neck, he couldn't prevent it in time, but he did throw out a barrier in the hope that he could contain whatever was unleashed. Only he had no idea if those directly below him were able to make it out or not. All he knew, was the toxic gas would have killed anyone caught without protection, which had him wondering about this child. She, which he assumed was female, seemed very young, yet she was able to move about quite well, which suggested she was either already in the cave, or she had been saved.

"Are we the only ones here?" he whispered hoarsely as his face turned towards her.

"Yes. I found you in here by yourself." she replied with a frown. The cave was not dim.   Her pin lit up the entire interior enough to be able see most of what it contained.

"How did you manage to find your way in here. It would have been impossible to find." he asked as she lowered his head back down to really look at him.

"I raised a barrier when I fell off my cloud."

"A cloud?" he asked wincing as a barb of pain shot through his head the moment he lowered it.