My Arch Nemesis (ZiLing/LongLing)

IV ; Never to Part

"I see, then let them be for now. Sooner or later, he will tell to me for himself," spoked the Great Dragon.

"Understood."

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The time is now six days away from the due to Zilong's answer about his next step in life, also a week since Ling's return to the Dragon Altar.

A ripple echoes through the still surface of the pond, clear skies reflected on the same surface. Summer had always been the most fitting season to train in these lands. So, the dragon warrior and his childhood companion had agreed to meet up and spar. Not even a minute after arriving, the dragon warrior set eyes on a familiar figure. The cool, amazing, pretty, Ling, that he knows oh, so well.

"Ling," he greeted with a joyful grin.

"Zilong," Ling replied, ever so indifferent.

"It's been a while since I've sparred with anyone."

"Why's that?"

"No one's quite on par with me these days. Opponents are quite hard to come by."

"I see. I'll be sure to put up a good effort then."

"Be my guest," the brunet says as he charges at the other with his renowned spear, whilst the finch just barely manages to dodge in time due to the sudden attack.

"Your reflexes are as good as ever, love~" he grinned.

Ling scoffs at the regard and waves his sword at Zilong, only to be blocked and countered with another stunt. This pattern repeated itself over and over.

Fast forward to two hours later, the two lovers could be spotted taking shade under a tree. One was polishing his sword and the latter was lightly dozing off against the bark of the tree. One of the many perks of a sunny day is that although the sun burns, the breeze tends to blow harsher and breezier. This phenomenon caused the leaves to rustle above them. A few of them even fell down to greet the ground.

The dragon warrior, who was sleeping soundlessly now, had a leaf latched onto his hair. As Ling was about to reach out and retrieve it, he retracted his hand in a single instance before the tree bark behind them was hit by some condensed yin energy in the shape of an arrow. The arrow barely missed Ling's hand, it was quite a close call. This disturbance also awoke Zilong from his slumber.

Zilong quickly regained his composure and said aloud, "Who goes there? Show yourself!"

Instead of a direct reply, the arrow morphed into some sort of dark liquid. Ling reached out to touch it. Yet it disappeared as it came in contact with Ling's fingertip. It was as if it seeped through his skin and was now taking effect on his body.

"Hey, you okay?" Zilong called out to Ling for assurance.

Ling felt his voice go weak and he couldn't muster up a proper reply. His head was spinning about and aching.

"Ling? Ling!"

Slowly, he felt his vision dip and his consciousness gave out.

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Chirp chirp...

Birds flew across the sky he was staring at.

Why was everything so... blurry?

Ling reached out to rub his eyes, hoping he'd see a bit better. It was also here that he discovered himself drenched wet by the riverbank. He sat up on the flowing water, feeling his legs shuffle the many pebbles under the water. He summed up that he was out for quite a while as the sun was already setting right before his very self. But, where is Zilong? Ling was plenty sure he was with him before he passed out.