The Vicissitudes of Life - XiYao [EN]

2 | An unexpected encounter

During the night it hadn't stopped snowing once and as Lan Xichen was startled awake in the early morning hours by yet another nightmare, the howling of the wind had increased as well. After trying to meditate, braiding his hair and eating leftover vegetable soup from the night before, the wind was quite literally shaking the hut, gnawing on its edges like an untamed beast. A short glance outside confirmed, that a snow storm was approaching and Lan Xichen decided to bring more firewood inside the hut, just in case he wouldn't be able to leave again, once the storm had reached its full potential.

He dressed in his warmest robe and a fur coat, put on a pair of mittens and slipped on his thickest boots. The red colored scarf, a handmade gift from Wei Wuxian, was pulled up to cover everything beneath his eyes.
Then he opened the door.

The wind hit him with all its might, nearly toppling him over, robbing him of his breath for just a moment. He'd forgotten how unforgiving the winters in the mountains were.
A thousand tiny needles, prickling on every inch of his exposed face, as Xichen waded through the snow that had already reached kneed depth. It took him mere minutes to reach the stack of wood and go back inside the hut — each time carrying as many logs as he possibly could, just to make his way outside again — but by then his teeth were clattering.

He was on his way to the stack again (once more wouldn't hurt) when a sudden movement, on the edge of the forest, caught his attention. Or rather, a color that wasn't white caught his attention. A yellow dot swaying in the wind, like an ignited lantern. Considering the brute force of the wind, he knew immediately that it couldn't possibly be a lantern — the thin paper would've been shredded into pieces long ago.

With both hands shielding his face from the never ending attack of the piercing snowflakes, he squinted his eyes, trying to get a better glimpse at the object. The blurred dot appeared to move closer towards him, until Lan Xichen could make out that there was not only yellow, but black and red mixed into it as well and... suddenly his blood froze.

It is a human! Hundreds of questions bombarded Lan Xichen's mind. What were they doing outside during a snow storm? How had they even manged to find this remote place? Had they lost their way? How could they still be alive if the storm had—

Abruptly, he came back to his senses.
They need immediate shelter!

Lan Xichen began moving, as quickly as he could, the wind and deep snow significantly slowing down his steps. He was less than ten meters away from the swaying person, when he recognized the robe, and all the air inside his lungs escaped at once. Nie robes.

Then everything else began to fall in place. Slender figure, hip-long dark hair, an ornamented headpiece. It was— No, there was no possibility it was him! It couldn't be!

Contradicting to his thoughts, Lan Xichen's legs began to move faster even, something he hadn't deemed possible. It was still too slow and in a sudden rush of emotion he felt like he was trapped, for the thousandst time, in one of his nightmares. Trying to run but being held back, trying to scream but an invisible force holding down his voice, trying to reach him, touch him, only to curl his fingers around thin air in the end. Despite this time, his fist curled tightly into damp, yellow cloth as he finally, finally got hold of something.

Someone.

"A-YAO!"

❅❅❅

a/n — If anyone knows what the correct name for the “ornamented headpiece” that Jin Guangyao wears is, please let me know.
Nao^^