Alice in Dreamland (梦境中的爱丽丝)

Fair-y Fight Part2

*Authors Note: I wanted to share a special update today because it's a very special day: my birthday! (insert happy celebratory noises, lmao.) I want to thank all of my readers for taking the time to enjoy my story—it truly means the world to me. And to any future readers, thank you as well! If you're reading this, just know that you really do mean a lot to me. Writing this story has been incredibly meaningful, even if it hasn't always turned out exactly as I'd hoped. But I believe that the hard work I'm putting in now will pay off later in the series. For now, I want to cherish what I have and express my gratitude. So, thank you again!!(๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و*

Shen Luyu still didn't dare to stand up. He knew being stuck in such a position on the ground wasn't much help as opposed to standing up, but the ground felt safer and brought him a hell of a lot more comfort than standing stock still in the middle of an oncoming fight.

More debris flew through the air, and the sounds of metal pressed together only grew louder as Shen Luyu desperately tried his best to squirm away from what lay ahead. In the end, he knocked into a dead tree branch. It was moderately thick and stable, so Shen Luyu clutched onto it and held it close to his person. If he ever found himself cornered and forced to use it, he knew he'd have sufficient tools to protect himself.

Digging his hand into the branch, Shen Luyu felt one of the stray wood chips splinter his skin, making him wince. Shen Luyu clasped his hands together, massaging them in an attempt to ease the pain, and cautiously avoided the area where the thin splinter had pierced his skin.

He held his hand close to his face as he couldn't see much, with the fog hindering his eyesight. Once he found the wood chip, he carefully dug it out with his free hand. He winced again when he pulled it out and didn't bother to muffle the sound with his hand, understandably so. Since crawling away from the area closer to the fight, the noises he'd been hearing only seemed to draw farther and farther away and didn't seem to hold much of a threat; thus, he disregarded whether the noise he made was loud.

There was still an overwhelming edge that had lingered in the pit of his stomach, and while the reassurance of being far enough away that he couldn't clearly hear what was going on, he still kept himself ready for any possible danger that he might be put in. Or that was what he thought until he heard a voice calling his name.

"Shen Luyu, where are you?! Don't tell me you died already, and you haven't even done anything!" It was Feng Lian's voice!

Never before had he ever felt inclined to feel as eased and relaxed when he heard that voice, but hearing it now felt like the weight of one hundred tons was lifted off his shoulders.

God he wasn't, but sometimes he could really carry himself with such grace and convenience that Shen Luyu couldn't help but think that he might be one!

Before Shen Luyu could even utter a sigh of relief, the fog around him had split like a wave crashing into the jagged rocks upon the shore, and so he shrieked. He didn't even have time to process what was happening before he could clearly see Feng Lian standing ten meters away from himself, battling two palm-top fairy's. Ten meters too close.

The fairy from before had somehow managed to evade the makeshift cage Feng Lian had placed him in and was now attacking him in tow with another fairy that seemed two times the more fierce.

One blink, and Shen Luyu could already tell trouble was brewing. He had known from before things were looking grim. Feng Lian had been duking it out with these two for about five minutes, and Shen Luyu had sat idly by.

Although Shen Luyu could admit even with his presence there, it would most likely be seen at best as a hindrance, he couldn't help but scold himself. If he could just figure out any way to help the other know that he had the knowledge of what was going on and was no longer ignorant, then he could finally see!

Doing something, really anything, was a given at this point. The fairy duo had already spotted him through the disunited fog. Hence, it was only a matter of time before they used themselves to gain an advantage over Feng Lian (not that Shen Luyu severed much of a purpose in Feng Lian's eyes, but still!).

For now, he found it easier to stand up even if his legs felt like lead suspended, eventually dragging him down. It held reassurance that if he were to be targeted, he'd at least be able to try to move out of the way—it meant getting less hurt, which was undoubtedly the outcome he'd prefer, so he stood his ground, maybe not so tall, and maybe not as proud, but who cared?

Now that Shen Luyu was up on his feet and the fog had sifted through a bit further, he had the perfect view of Feng Lian's head—above his hair, the place atop the very peak of his body held two twin ears... cat ears?!

What the fuck...

What the fuck!!!

Shen Luyu supposed it made sense given that this world literally had the ability to wield magic, more importantly, literal bite-size human-ish beings, but this? It was completely unexpected, unprovoked, if you will. Shen Luyu had been under the impression that he and Feng Lian's species were at least a little akin, so his reaction was more than nearly justified.

Keeping his eyes trained on the fluffy ears that twitched at the faintest of sounds around them made Shen Luyu want to utter a bray cackle, one of pure surprise and the other of pure irony. He could tell that Feng Lian sensed his disposition, too, when he saw the tips of Feng Lian's real ears tinge a pink shade.

"Enough!" Feng Lian howled, exasperated by Shen Luyu's practically nonexistent teasing.