scarlet heart | exo

Panic

Zitao's eyes closed, and he realised the wetness against his stomach... The redness rapidly blossoming on his chest...

It was not his.

The blood was not his.

Xuefeng had materialised in front of him, and her hands were flailing wildly, before they eventually found themselves on his forearms.

She turned to face him, and for a moment, she seemed alright, just a little winded.

But before either of them could brace themselves for it-- 

Xuefeng's legs gave out from under her.

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The world spun. It was a variety of colors as everything blended together in one big mess of hushed voices, cold wind and something else. Something warm.

Colors. Sounds. Smells. Pain.

A pair of strong arms were cradling her tenderly.

Zitao...

"Where is the medic? Where is he?!"

There was another voice, a little less rough, but laced with worry all the same. "Xuefeng, I'm going to take the arrow out. It's going to hurt."

Out of half-closed eyes, she could just barely see the horrifying black-feathered thing sticking out of her stomach, and suddenly Zitao was leaning over her, blocking her view.

The other voice spoke again-- Luhan's, she realised.

"One."

"Two."

Xuefeng gnashed her teeth together with all the strength that she could muster.

"Three."

Xuefeng screamed, a feral howl that echoed back into her ears. The noise terrified her, she didn't know that she was capable of making such a sound.

Her back arched instinctively, before she realised that even such a simple action could bring the pain to an intensity that was almost unbearable. She wished she could have blacked out and stop feeling, but she couldn't.

And there was something else. Normal arrow wounds shouldn't hurt like this. Something flowed around her stomach... Blood? Was it blood? A small whimper found its way through her lips as it flared in parts of her stomach.

Make it stop...

"Don't try to suppress the pain. If you want to scream or cry, just do it," instructed Luhan. His voice was surprisingly calm, and Xuefeng tried to focus her vision on him.

Colors. Swirling around.

Breathing felt like air through a straw, and that straw was being snapped by something. It felt as if... As if someone was pressing the straw down.

She blinked, trying to escape the wave of nausea coming up, threatening to push her into the sea of unconsciousness.

There was so much noise. Someone else was shouting, everyone was shouting. Someone had caught something, or someone, and...

It was too much effort to try and listen.

"What is that, Luhan?" Zitao's voice was shaking. "What's that?"

"I-It's... Oh my goodness. It's poison."

Hysterics. Frantic shouting.

She couldn't bring herself to differentiate between voices and people. But she was sure that they were talking about her, and the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.

This was the assassination attempt, this was the poisoned arrow that would have severely injured Zitao. But instead of making its way into his body, she had stepped in its way, so now it was her, her, who was going to suffer from it.

And she realised with a start, Zitao might have survived, but she, she might die.

It hurt so much, she wouldn't be too surprised if she did die.

"Why hasn't the medic arrived yet?" growled Zitao.

"He's at the other side of the camp, it will take a few minutes for us to find him, and another few minutes for him to come over!"

"She might not be able to wait till then," stated Luhan. "At the very least, we have to get the poison out of her, before too much of it enters her bloodstream--"

Before Luhan could finish, Zitao had already ripped the bloodstained mess of fabric and had placed his lips around the wound.

"No, Zitao!" Luhan tried to pull him off, but he was having none of it.

Xuefeng was spacing between consciousness and unconsciousness, until she felt a tightness around the wound. Realising that it was Zitao, she fought weakly, making pitiful mewling sounds.

Stop it Zitao... Don't... She tried to open her mouth, but another spray of crimson came up and she coughed roughly, trying to empty her windpipe of the red liquid.

"I don't care, Luhan! Are you going to help me or not?!"

Zitao bent down again and took in the disgusting mixture of metallic blood and bitter poison, spitting it into the grass. After a moment's hesitation, Luhan cupped the wound with his hands, applying pressure.

"Tao..." She was grasping onto his arm weakly. She wanted, needed, to tell him something. His scared mind didn't register the weak hold, and she pulled tighter. "Tao!"

His head snapped up, all of his attention focused on her. A faint dribble of blood flowed down from his mouth. He looked desperate, almost feral, she knew what she had to say.

"Wh— what did I say..." Her voice was growing fainter. "Smile?"

His eyes widened and he tightened his grasp. "You're going to be fine. You hear me? You're going to be okay." But he was shaking, and it didn't look like he believed it himself.

"Tao... I... I love you..."

"Come on Xue, breathe. Breathe! It's going to be fine, you're going to be fine. Don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes, keep looking at me, keep looking at me, keep your eyes open..." He pleaded.

But, try as she might, Xuefeng couldn't fight it any longer.

She felt everything slip. The voices, the smells, the sounds and the colors... It all faded to white, and the faint ringing voice in her ears grew softer and softer...

And darkness overcame her.

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