The Stairway to the Stars

Goodbye

"Hey, wake up."

Yingxue blearily opened an eye. She was greeted with a gruff ox's grunt.

The ox god stomped the floorboards, startling Yingxue. "This is no time to lay around. Wake up or die."

"What's going on?" The cowherd forcefully rubbed her eyes to help herself wake up.

"The humans—they are out for blood. Yours." The ox pushed the bewildered Yingxue out the door, barely giving her the chance to grab a cloth as a cover from the cold. "No time to pack—just run!"

"But my cattle!"

"They will be fine under my watch. Now go!" The ox jerked his head back in the opposite direction of the village. Then, he grit his teeth, bracing himself for the oncoming assault.

Yingxue looked. Lights danced across the hill as people waved their torches in the air. Roars of anger were answered with shouts and chants: "Kill the wu! Kill the wu!"

One caught sight of her. He pointed, yelled something incomprehensible.

They charged. Yingxue ran.

~

"I've decided, Mother. I will not see that human again."

The goddess shifted her eyes to view her daughter's current project. "Yet you weave another portrait of her."

Xiaoxin burst into tears, already on edge from her first declaration. "I can't help it! I already miss her so much; I want to see her again..."

Before her mother could respond, shouts caught their attention. "Xiaoxin! Xiaoxin!" The sisters clambered up the stairs, all heaving loudly from exertion.

Xiaoxin, wiping away her tears, quickly approached them, offering herself to help the more tired sisters stay upright. "What's wrong, sisters? Why so hurried?"

"Yingxue," Aijing blurted out. "She's in danger!"

Xiaoxin's heart stopped. "What?! What's going on?" She looked wildly around at each of her sisters.

"No time," Aixi said.

"We have to—" Lanxin gulped in a deep breath of air. "Help her."

Xiaoxin vigorously shook her head, clearing her mind. She could not panic now: Yingxue needed her. "Of course!" She held out a hand to her sisters. "Take me to her."

As her two eldest sisters took her hands, Xiaoxin looked back at her mother. The goddess smirked. "Seems your wish has come true."

"In the cruelest possible way." Xiaoxin turned away, a determined glint in her eyes. With her sisters, she hurried down the steps, praying they would reach Yingxue in time.

~

Yingxue sprinted across the plains, the sounds of her frantic heartbeat and heavy breathing almost drowning out the yells behind her. Almost.

She dove into the forest, hoping the mob would slow with more obstacles. She weaved past the trees, never once looking behind to check the distance she put between her and the others.

A spear flew through the air, piercing her cloak and digging into the ground. The cloth pulled at her throat, throwing her to the ground. Coughing, she untied the cloak, struggled to her feet, and resumed her escape.

She ran and ran—but suddenly, she skirted to a stop. She teetered over the edge of a river, barely managing to prevent falling into the depths by grabbing a nearby tree branch. The river: wild, the waves crashing against each other, lapping the land as if to consume it, blocked her path. There was no end in sight, to her left or right; even the surface across was too far. She wanted to keep going, but there was no more escape.

Yingxue looked behind her. The shouts were scattered, but they were getting closer. Where could she go?

She looked for anything that could work as a float. Driftwood, maybe? The river's rushing waves, the senseless shouting, her relentless gasps, and the buzzing adrenaline filled her mind in a cacophony of sound. She could hardly think. She just needed anything that she could hold on to.

Through the fog of noise, one thought remained clear: she would die here. Even if she jumped, the waterfall to the west was impossible to leave alive.

"She's over here!" a woman yelled.

Torches appeared, either alone or in clusters. The fire looked almost pretty, like spirits dancing in the treetops, but their warm glow lit glinting weapons of bronze. The peoples' expressions contorted, their hatred undisguised.

Yingxue faced the river once more, the churning waves looking much friendlier than the people behind her. In the sky, a glimmer caught her eye. Three women rapidly descended a stairway, but not fast enough.

Yingxue waved goodbye to Xiaoxin.

Xiaoxin screamed.

Yingxue jumped.