The Echo of the Moon (whispers in my ear)

Chapter Two

I'm going to put the honorifics at the start of every chapter just to make it easier so you don't have to scroll every chapter trying to find it y'know
-
Didi - younger brother, literally or affectionately
Gege - older brother, literally or affectionately
Xiansheng - mister or sir
Xiaojie - miss
Meimei - little sister
Jiejie - big sister
'A-' - friendly address, used as a prefix
'-er' - friendly address for someone younger than you, used as a suffix

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Jianyu watched the sun spill in through the fabric of the tent, his eyes just barely rimmed with a darker shade of skin- proof that he hadn't rested himself. Liang barely stirred throughout the night, and it wasn't doing any favors for Jianyu's legs that had fallen asleep hours ago. The old woman had come and gone several times throughout the night, picking up different cards out of their tarot deck, a small crystal sphere, and an hourglass, all at different points in the night. Jianyu hadn't felt at ease, and frankly- didn't harbor enough trust toward the old woman to sleep himself.

However, the night had passed without much of a hitch.

Liang was just barely beginning to wake up, Jianyu ruffling his hair with one hand to ease him awake. The old woman opened the front of the tent, her cards and a now smashed sphere in her hands.
"The Diren are invading-" the old woman started, and Jianyu quickly and gently shook Liang to make sure the heir was awake. Liang made a grumbling noise, but did start to wake up fairly quickly.
"You two are from the capital city, aren't you?" She asked, and Jianyu nodded his head, standing up and helping Liang to his feet as quickly as possible. The sound of shouting outside the tent quickly approaching faster and faster, the scraping sound of the tips of swords onto the dirt roads. The old woman spoke again. "You both should leave. If they are looking for you- I do not doubt they will be on your trail. If you take the path behind the shoemakers toward the well, then follow the river down and across it, the woods thicken up from there. It will make it harder for them to follow you."

"Thank you, Xiaojie." Jianyu said shortly, his tone genuine, but almost seeming lifeless in comparison with the woman's voice. "Mhm- your floor is comfortable." Liang said tiredly, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Of course. Now hurry and go!" She shooed, and Jianyu grabbed the wrist of a still groggy, disorientated Liang, and practically dragged him outside. He nearly whipped the two of them against the fabric of the tent, then crouching to the ground, and finally toward the shoemakers' structure. The Diren had already swarmed the inside of the village, and he could tell the heir was frightened.
"Gege?" He whispered, and Jianyu glanced at him from the side, their backs now flat against the rough brick wall of the shoemakers' store, just barely out of sight of the guards.
"What if we don't make it out of here?" his voice was barely wheezing above audible volume, and Jianyu just looked him in the eyes and gave him a soft smile.
"Do not worry, I will protect you. No matter the cost."

Jianyu waited patiently, the air growing thicker with tension- the sound of the Diren ransacking homes and tents alike was echoing behind them, the quiet shuffling of their footsteps were muffled by the sound of the lush grass underfoot, the two of them moving swiftly- and as silently as possible. The last thing either of them wanted was to be caught by the Diren.
Liang kept up surprisingly well with him, sprinting almost parallel to him, and sliding to a stop once they got to the bottom of the hill, both of their sets of feet scraping to a halt against the grass and dirt. Liang held onto Jianyu's wrist, the two of them running practically in sync against the earth- wind wildly whipping through Liang's short mess of hair, and Jianyu's much longer mess as well, the sound of the air rushing through the branches of the trees echoing around them in almost a tranquility of the river's steady flow coming into sight, and the rush of adrenaline pumping through the two of them.