Of ink and Hope

Two women were facing each other on the verdant hills. The starry night sky and crescent moon hanging high up gave just enough light for them to discern the other’s features.

Lu Huan was towering above the unknown girl. Compared to her she was small, delicate even: sunkissed skin with cream undertone, unblemished and smooth too. The bridge of her nose was rather pronounced, much like her own. yet it blended seamlessly with the rest of her visage, giving it depth and contrast to her otherwise triangular face.

This made Lu Huan selfaware of her own face: of deathly pale skin, roughed up with badly healed scars, of her broken nose and burnt neck.

Lu Huan grew uncomfortable, weird sensations welling up inside of her as they stared down at each other.

“What do you mean ‘what am I’? Can't you see? Wait. Don't tell me you’re blind? Fuck, eyes are a pain to heal.” Iulia sighs, struggling to even keep standing on her feet. It was only because of the adrenaline she is manually pumping in her body that she was still awake. Or at least: was, the sight of a wounded person prompted her body to do it on its own.

“What? No, i am not blind. Just-” The words caught in her throat as the mounting energy from before became a warm orange. Small tendrils protruded from the now spilt gray cloud, slithering their way over to her, making her blood run cold. She tries to move, to get away from them only for her desensitized feet to slip on the incline and make her trip.

Yet as she saw the world around her starting to shift, she felt something, or rather someone catching her. The lith woman was there, her arm wrapped around her, her face filled with worry as her eyes started to glow the same soft hue as the tendrils.

“Broken ribs, left arm is still holding by some kind of miracle but the collarbone is fractured. Oh. Oh hells! However you’re doing that, that ongoing regenerative effect, I need you to keep it going and stop it when I tell you to. Mending bones is not my specialty, so if you keep it up it will be even more itchy than usual.” The voice is stern and yet somehow caring, two values that conflicted in Lu Huan’s head.

‘Mending bones? Wait, what does she mean by itc-!?’

“BY THE ANCESTORS’ SPIRITS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!” She screams as her body seizes, only now seeing the remnant of the energy cloud descending upon her, looking darker than the night sky. She could feel her bones moving on their own inside her body, floating back in place as something was manipulating them.

“Alright, cut the regenerative effect please.” But she couldn’t do it. No, she didn’t want to, this unknown woman spouting nonsense was making her more and more confused and uncomfortable.

“LET GO OF ME!”

“ Silence. One of your ribs was lodged in your gall-bladder, piercing through your organ. It is a wonder you are still alive, so stay still and let me fix you up. Can’t have the first person I meet die in my arms.” The gradual tone shift of the would be physician’s voice affected her as she kept doing whatever she was.

“Is this really how it should be feeling?” She asks, uncertain of what was going on anymore. Her body still in the other’s arms, laying there in her thin arms as she closed her eyes, grunting in pain. The previous discomfort surging back.

“Healing always involves pain and discomfort in some way. I will cut all sensation from the neck down if it makes you stop squirming like a big baby.” The harshness of her words was soon subdued by the wry smile that tugged at her lips.

‘Did I get taunted by a girl half my size? Who doesn’t even have a drop of…’ her heart sank as she froze, her unease turning to frustration and annoyance.

“There, mended your gall-bladder. And also converted most of the blood that was pooling up into healing agents. At least you shouldn’t drop dead anymore or shiver out of your skin.” Iulia let go of the now stabilized woman.

‘How could someone end up in such a state? And keep going for so long?' Looking around, there was no sign of battle or struggle that could indicate any time frame, plus the diagnosis spell she had drawn had informed her as much.

“So, now that you aren’t about to keel over, do you want me to fix your broken nose, and perhaps those scars?” The healer drops her bags to the ground as she speaks, before rolling her shoulder with a satisfied hum.

“ You can do that too?” the tall woman asks, puzzled.

'Nobody ever bothers to learn that type of treatment, what is wrong with this girl’s head? how much time does she have on her hand to learn that.' Shaking her thought aside, she rose to her full height, her shoulder no longer cracking, the soreness in her side gone, and most of all, she was no longer cold. But as well as she felt like her arm is as good as new, there was something missing.

Channeling her Ki at the location where her arm was nearly blown off, she understood what was wrong. The spiritual veins were still frayed, whatever healing formation the woman had used didn’t do anything for them, or maybe it wasn't even intended to.

She could see the woman's gaze losing focus as she was looking up at her, so she took her chance and started asking, getting closer to her.

"Alright small-stuff, you've been nice and all, but I need answers: Who and what are you, as well as how did you do all that? I don't even feel an lick of Ki inside you yet you somehow healed me like the divine physician would. No, even better than him."

"Is now the time for that?" The hard look she got in response made her sigh. "Fine, if it makes you feel better: I am Iulia, a painter. I painted your broken body as if it was not about to fall apart. That, and I have no idea what this Ki thing you are speaking of is." Despite being as truthful as she could, somehow her answer left the other unsatisfied as she grabbed Iulia's collar, pulling her up.

"Please let me down before something bad happens." She swallows hard, her mind warning her to de-escalated the situation as she is brought close to the 2 meter or so ungrateful patient, face to face.

"Not until I have my answers." Lu Huan demands, her voice cold as she focuses her eyes on the small waif of a girl. She could observe her closer now, she found the meter and a half of a woman to be quite pleasing for her eyes to look at. Yet the memory of HER crept back in the back of her mind, her repressed disgust and anger surging once more.

'I am too tired for this stubborn woman's bullshit.' Iulia thought, her patience approaching nil at an astounding pace.

“I will, but I will have you put me down first.” Iulia was defiant, exhausted mentally, her emotions and heart wrung and painful from being forced to leave her teacher behind. She held the woman’s stare, ire gradually manifesting in and around her.

Yet, none of them moved, green eyes filled with mistrust stared into blue ones whose annoyance and anger grew with each passing second.

"Spe-!" Iulia waved her hand, making Lu Huan drop, her whole body falling into a heap as her hands let go of the soft, pristine robes.

"You forced my hand. Know that I despise being man-handled, or rather woman-handled in this case, I guess." Iulia sighs, straightening her collar, before kneeling down to the other's immobile figure on the ground.

"Let's get you comfortable first, alright?" She grabbed the cultivator's limbs and aligned her body, then she grabed her knee and hand from the opposite side and brought them over in an orderly fashion with practiced gestures.

"There. Did anyone ever tell you that you are too damn tall? At least like this you shouldn't bite your tongue like this. Let me arrange a few other things too first."

"HHHMMMMMM!"

"Yeah yeah, i wouldn't try speaking as you are, some of the restraining spell side effects could be rather nasty if you try to fight back so cool off. Give me a minute or two to make us a shelter." Iulia then grabbed something from her bag: a long wooden staff adorned with a series of bizarre symbols. Closing her eyes, she used it to channel the still existing anger in her mind as fuel for yet another spell.

Stabbing the staff into the earth, she pictures the hollowed out hill they are in, and imagined the surrounding earth wrapping around like a bubble. Making the exterior appear natural, she then started to add other details, increasing the complexity of the drawing. First: a smooth and even floor, two bed frames with soft sand as mattresses, a large table for her bags and air conduits to not suffocate during the night. As the surrounding earth and stones warps and shifts, she decreases and pulls back on the dense red torrent of ink that surged through the staff. The spell ends as what rocks remained from having been turned into sand clumps together like clay, its form shifting like water as it takes on the appearance of a solid door.

Opening back her eyes. She noticed How dark the interior was, the air ducts were too thin and warped to properly let the moonlight in as she had imagined. Catching herself on the staff, she breathed hard, tired. Spent. She was already on her last dregs when she healed the woman, but now she was digging deeper, her body and brain strained from the overload. After recovering some more, she grabs a small pouch from her belt, pulling a hand of glowing crystals: each of a different intensity and hue, giving the once somber earthen construct a sort of jovial atmosphere.

"Done. Now let me rid you of that nasty muting effect. Better?" She asks as a small dollop of red energy floats to the incapacitated woman, entering her body.

"So, in order: a painter is someone who taps into the Everflow, the fathomless energy that encompasses everything to do magic. Personally, I am more adept at fear and anger based magic, those are, in order: the black smog that healed you, and the red one that made this shelter. But shouldn't you already know this? Especially with all that ink inside your body, how did you manage to do that by the way? it looks rather compact and dense too." Iulia spoke as she started moving about, or rather: limping, she dropped her bags on the floor and on the earthen table and then sat on the other bed.

Lu Huan, on the other hand, was starting to feel sensation returning to her jaw as it no longer cramped shut. She was too fatigued and sore dealing with this: having spent days running like a fugitive had really worn her mind and patience thin, having made her act on impulses.

"My apologies. I wasn't. And I guess I still am not in the right state of mind at the moment. I shouldn't have acted that way towards my benefactor. Your defenseless appearance and bold attitude made me think you were some kind of snotty young lady, yet despite having eyes I couldn't see Mount Tai as it stood before me." Iulia rolled her eyes, she hadn't heard such verbal ass kissing in a long while and found herself not having missed it in the least.

"Please stop, just stop whatever this Mount Tai thing is.." she waves her head in the woman's general direction. "Whatever you're doing, stop. In all honesty it annoys me, go back to how you talked earlier so we can move on, please?" She scrunched up her face, her arms crossing in front of her.

"But you are my benefactor, i can'-"

"Listen, I don't care. You feel indebted to me? Then get your shit together."

"Y-yes!" she stutters and swallows, her face dyeing red.

"Heh, Cute.” Iulia murmurs before clearing her throat. “What's your name?"

"Lu Huan, benefactor. If you could lift off the rest of this restraining formation you put me under, I swear to keep watch and guard over this place as you rest." 'Did she just call me cute?!'

"Look, I don't know you, you don't know me. So I will keep it on, at least until tomorrow morning when we are both rested in mind and spirit. I can send you out on your way if you want. And as much as i want to do it to spare myself any potential trouble, i can't find it within me to throw out someone that nearly died. What do you say?"

"I am fine with staying by your side, benefactor, thank you for your boundless generosity." Her lips flapped before she could think again. 'What is wrong with me?'

"Alright, so if you are comfortable like that, I will pass out for the night." Iulia's head hits the soft sand as she falls unconscious.

Waking up with a start, she stared at the ceiling above her, It wasn’t the one she was accustomed with.

'Right. So it wasn’t a nightmare, this is… real. I hope she made it out' The apprentice painter holds back her tears as her body trembles.

She stares at the ceiling for a while, zoning out of her mind as the heavy memories of yesterday plays back.

Looking to her right, she is about to jump out of her skin before she remembers.

'That's. Lu Huan..? Yeah, that's her name.' she doesn't have much thought about this woman. She was a tall, black haired warrior, covered with battle scars; a bit rude too but considering the state she found her in, it was understandable. Yet, she has had an effect on her last night, an effect that she is now painfully aware due to her training as a painter, of the mastery over her own mind.

'No. Maybe, but not now. Perhaps later, under different circumstances?' Looking at the woman's face and body, she started feeling her cheeks heat up.

"It is rude to stare, you know?" the voice startled her, Lu Huan was awake and staring back at her.

"I. Sorry, I forgot you were here and got surprised." Iulia looks away as she can't stop herself from blushing even more.

"Quite the intense stare you had there, benefactor." The tone was so detached, Iulia felt it like a basin of cold water was thrown at her.

"S-Sorry"

"Don't mind it, It would be hypocritical of me if I blamed you for doing that. I think we both are rather curious about each other's... incongruity?"

'What? what does she mean by that?' Iulia's heart tightens at the retort.

"So. Why is a woman like you appearing out of nowhere? In such a remote place too?”

The painter tenses up a bit, before her face goes slack. The events of the day prior are still fresh in her mind.

“That’s… That's not something I want to talk about right now… at the moment, I am sorry but… no”

“...Sure, then where do you come from?” ‘It may be why sobbed when she arrived. As well as why she tossed around so much during the night… I am stupid, aren't I.’ Lu Huan felt her chest tightens. An uncomfortable weight shifting in her stomach as she sees the distraught face of her savior.

"A bit insensitive, aren't you? At least you are direct. Let's just say I come from far away, far enough to not be able to return on my own. As we are on the heavy hitting question, how'd you end up like that? Had I not arrived in time you'd be long dead by now."

It is Lu Huan's turn to grimace, she doesn't want to speak of it, but she felt that at least her benefactor deserved to know what she got herself into.

"I. I was once a slave, a slave meant for experimental testing in an unorthodox sect. I had to step on a lot of toes to earn my freedom. Yet once I had done so, I fell victim to a ploy aiming to force my compliance to a presumed loyal elder of the sect. But I didn't want to be a slave again, so I fought back. Killing my way out of there, running for days with news wounds pilling up as they sent pursuers to dispose of me. My apologies benefactor, but you might face some consequences by having saved me."

'Chang’er. she didn’t even say anything when i called out to her. She didn’t even look at me as they dragged me away... ’ Lu Huan wasn't aware she knuckled her fists before shaking her head. Focusing on the person in front of her.

“Thank you, painter Iulia. You’ve saved me from certain death, thus I owe you a life debt. I will follow you up burning mountains and through seas of blades or my name isn't Huan of the Lu family.” She tried to bow, yet her body was still restrained.

"What I did is normal, and something everyone would and should have done. Please, there is no need for that.” Iulia contorted with both surprise and annoyance, batting away the woman's gratitude. Standing to her feet, she freed Lu Huan's body from the spell before sitting back down. Still sore and tired from everything.

‘ 'Something everyone would and should have done?' she says?' Lu Huan's eyes narrow as she looks at the woman, perplexed.

‘Her hands were smooth and without calluses, as if she had never held a weapon or worked with her hands. Her clothes are clean and of good quality.’ These were all clues that pointed back at her previous idea, that she was either a naive sheltered young lady or some kind of religious saint. ‘And yet she disabled me with a wave of her hand…”

“Still, I insist. You are my benefactor, and I should treat you as such. Please, let me assist you until you no longer need me. This is the least I could do to not disgrace my family.” She was conflicted, on one hand: this type of behavior should have made her take advantage of the girl as kindness and generosity were seen as weakness in the cult’s eyes. But on the other hand she always felt disgusted with herself for doing it, even if it assured her survival. ‘ Perhaps I could give her a chance, and see where this goes. who knows what could end up happening.’

With a roll of her eyes, Iulia agreed. "You'll be my guide then. These lands are unknown to me and so are its people. Show me around, help me understand the traditions and customs of this land and ensure that I am not taken advantage of. Perhaps you could even teach me how people use ink around here, that would be great. And in return, if you need something I can do, please tell me. It will be with pleasure to help"

"Benefactor. That's-. That's not how a life debt works." Lu Huan's face drops as the woman trample on her dedication.

"And I don't care. I didn't save you expecting something in return. I am not some craven knave like that. You help me, I help you, no life debt involved whatsoever. And who knows, one day we might even be friends." Iulia's smiles as she puts her hands on her hips

"...Fine, you are one strange woman, benefactor." The black haired cultivator sighs, before a rare smile graces her lips as she takes in the other woman's blunt and unabashed kindness.

"Great! Then please call me Iulia, being called ‘Benefactor’ feels weird. Happy to meet you, and I am looking forward to getting to know you better. " The petite painter extends her hand.

"Then please call me Huan, I am glad we've met." Looking at the offered hand, she extends her own, only for Iulia to grab it and vigorously shake it up and down.

'Strange indeed'