A Crown for a Tail

The Rescuer

Never had Bai Qian been so hurt.  Her heart was broken and her mind a mess as she walked a wind swept beach in the Mortal Realm.  It was the middle of winter, but she didn't feel the sharp sting of the cold air that whipped about her barely covered body, or even the spray of the ice cold water that threatened to completely drench the light gown she was wearing.  She was utterly numb to it all as she tried to rationalize his choice.

Having left the Immortal Realm almost a week ago, after hiding out at a friends tavern in the East, she eventually found herself in the Mortal Realm wandering aimlessly and without a thought to anyone, including her family or the stress she was putting them through as she first roamed the streets, ignoring the Mortal stares and gasps as she walked fully among them in her true form completely oblivious to the attention she was drawing to herself.

Several times the Mortals had tried to accost her, but each time, she used her magic to disappear from sight, causing alarm and fear everywhere she went,actions that were punishable in the Immortal world.  Now on a beach where her feet had carried her, she continued to roam without cause or direction.

"You said you loved me, yet you still went to her." her voice cried out in pain against the wind that carried it away, along with her tearful crying.

"Why Ye Hua?" she screamed.  Kicking at the sand in anger, she continued to walk slowly on a beach so cold and bitter, that not even the sea gulls had bothered to venture out.  And it was because she was out in the cold, barely dressed and crying, that she drew the attention of several home owners who watched her warily from behind their closed window shades.

Stumbling on the sand, she took no notice of her weakening body that was chilled from the dense cold that was seeping into her skin, and not being in the right state of mind, she did not regulate her body temperature, instead she allowed the bitter iciness to take hold, until she collapsed from sheer exhaustion and the onset of hypothermia. 

Eventually, having seen enough and afraid for the girls safety being out in the cold alone and obviously in desperate need, one brave soul risked the bitter chill to run out and pull her off the beach before she froze to death.

Lifting her gently up into his arms, the young man quickly carried her small frail body back to his beach house.  Placing her gently onto his own bed, he quickly covered her lightly dressed form with a thick eider quilt before moving to the hearth to add more wood.  

She was ice cold and barely lucid, but he felt, with warmth and care, she would be alright.  So brewing a strong cup of hot tea, he held the cup with one hand, while the other gently cradled her head, then raising the cup, he forced her to take a few sips to help warm her body, before allowing her to sink back down, where she instantly fell into an exhausted sleep, oblivious to his kindness or the warm home he had brought her into.

Her last thoughts as she lost consciousness, was of Ye Hua, and the pain in her heart that he had caused.  

Leaving her to rest, he went back to reading his book at the window seat, he had been fully engrossed in before his attention was caught by the fluttering of her gown out the window.  

A gown that was so beautiful, he couldn't help but wonder what the material was, it was obviously a material of the very wealthy, and her jewellery, though simple was also gold, a commodity that so few owned in their world and if they did, they certainly didn't wear it so openly or on the beach. 

And nor did he miss her stunning beauty either.  She was the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on, but seeing as she was in some kind of trouble going by the tears and pale complexion that did not look healthy, he was more concerned for her well being for now.