The Pearls - RUYI

Chapter 23 - Angel

After Ruyi left Jia in her tent to recuperate, the horn had sounded to signify the collection of the dead. Night was about to fall. The battle would continue tomorrow.

At night, the field was eerily silent, broken only by the sounds of injured soldiers, crying out in pain. Her tent was overcrowded, filled with the scent of blood, sweat, and medicine. She barely slept that night, slipping in and out of consciousness. Exhaustion weighed on her eyelids, but thoughts of her brother haunted her.

Ang slept beside her, too exhausted to stay awake. He had worked incredibly hard all day, helping her lift bodies, clean wounds, move the dead. She couldn't believe this young boy had already been through so much. She brushed his hair gently off his forehead, overcome with sadness.

"A bit of this always helps," Bolin said quietly. Taking a seat beside her, he handed her a white bottle. She held it up in question. "Just have some."

She took a sip from the bottle and immediately started coughing. Her throat burned. "What is that?" she whispered in disgust. Bolin's lips curled up into a smile, despite his sad eyes. "Something to warm you. Trust me, it'll help." Ruyi nodded, before taking another sip. It was better this time.

* * *

The next morning, the battle seemed to grow in its intensity, like a flame reignited. The soldiers' cry was a lion's roar, ripping through the country and thundering in Ruyi's ears. Perhaps it was the rage accumulated from the day before, the fury of having lost their brothers on the battlefield. But as Ruyi peered through the flaps of her tent, she saw her soldiers fighting with more aggression than she had ever seen before.

Swords slicing through the air, men side by side. A terrible, terrible beauty.

The high-pitched whinny of a horse caught Ruyi's attention. A gasp caught her in her throat. It was Delun's horse, frightened, frantic. It reared upwards in panic as an arrow pierced its leg. Where was Delun? Why wasn't he on his horse?

Ruyi scanned the field frantically for Delun's black armour, his towering figure.

"Ruyi, what are you doing?" Ang asked, from behind her. But Ruyi ignored him, keeping the tent flap open. She took one step forward, searching frantically.

"Ruyi? Come back inside!" Ang called, but his voice was drowned out by the sound of the battle.

An arrow flew just in front of Ruyi's face, before stabbing into the ground, but Ruyi hardly seemed to notice.

Where was he? Where was Delun?

Then she found him.

Close to where his horse had been. On the ground, clutching at his thigh, blood seeping through his fingers. There was chaos all around him. He was weaponless, sword nowhere to be found. Panic squeezed Ruyi's heart.

She looked back into the tent, saw that all the patients were attended to. Then she looked forward again. She steeled herself. Enlai was gone. But Delun would survive.

She rushed forward into the battle.

"RUYI!" Ang's voice faded away into the background as she was engulfed in the chaos of war. She weaved through the fighting, dodging blades and spears. She prayed that no one noticed her, too engrossed in their combat.

Once she reached him, she dropped to his side, kneeling and holding his face in his hands. His eyes were closed, he was breathing heavily.

"Delun! Delun, listen to me. You need to get to the tent! Can you hear me?" She tapped his cheeks, looking around wildly to make sure no one had spotted her.

"Ruyi?" Delun's eyes blinked open. Once he registered her face, his expression became alert, terrified.

"Ruyi, what are you doing here! Get back to the tent!" He tried to shove her up but grunted in pain.

"You're bleeding out," Ruyi cried, tying a clean cloth around his thigh and securing it tightly.

"We don't have time for this. I'll help you up, let's go!" She said, gripping his hands and hoisting him up.

"My sword," Delun said, panting in pain. His face was strained, sweat dripping down his temple. "Ruyi, my sword," he repeated, pointing at his sword a couple of metres away, dripping in blood.

She rushed forward to grab it and pushed it into his palm. She pulled his arm over her shoulder and held his waist. "Let's go."

The journey back to the tent was a blur. Ruyi could barely remember what happened in the days and weeks afterwards. All she could remember was staring intensely at the beige tent up ahead, pushing forward, holding Delun tightly, his warm body stuck to her side. She didn't remember Delun using his sword to deflect incoming Qing soldiers, slicing away, blocking arrows.

The tent flap opened fully as they neared, a terrified look on Bolin's face. He rushed forward to collect Delun, barely upright by then, dragging him inside. Then Ang pulled her in.

"You will never, ever do that again," Bolin said severely, "You hear me?"

"Save him first," Ruyi gasped out, numb all over, exhausted from carrying Delun. "Yell at me later."

Bolin shook his head before getting to work. He stopped the bleeding and fed Delun yu jin before letting him sleep. Ruyi helped clean his other wounds and dressed his cuts.

Bolin was watching her intently, before finally shaking his head. There was almost a look of respect in those wise eyes. "I won't even bother reprimanding you," he said. "When General Lang wakes up, he's going to have your hide."

As it turned out, Bolin was right.

* * *

"You would be dead if I didn't come!" Ruyi yelled, pacing in front of the General. "And sit down! Your stitches will rip."

Delun ignored her and gripped her shoulders, stopping her from moving. He turned her roughly towards him. "You broke the rules, you defied my orders!" His voice was icy. He gripped her chin and forced her to look up at him. Despite his cold tone, Ruyi knew that he had been terrified for her. His eyes held all that she needed to know.

She lost the vigour to fight him, was simply thankful that he was still alive. The exhaustion had begun to catch up to her. Tears pricked at her eyes as she thought about how close it had been, how close she was to losing him. She had already lost Enlai. She wouldn't lose him too.

"I would do it again," Ruyi whispered, swiping at her eyes angrily. She stared up at her General as if daring him to continue. She couldn't stop crying. Why couldn't she stop crying?

Delun's eyes softened and he crushed her to his chest. She began to cry in earnest now, shaking in his arms.

"I'm alright. I'm sorry," he said, pressing a kiss into her hair. His heart broke for the woman in his arms, who had lost so much, and who remained defiant despite it all. He held her tightly, stroking her hair until the shaking stopped.

"I was terrified for you," he whispered, still unable to shake the image of Ruyi in the middle of the battlefield. How easily she could have died. He squeezed his eyes shut to get rid of the image.

"You can't always protect me," Ruyi said, looking up at him. He gently wiped her tear-streaked face.

"I know. But I can try."