Motu Proprio (The King and the Neko) - Volume HaiYin

Lost, And Found

The patter of running feet unnerved him, so he hunkered down behind a stack of crates, right where the shadows were darkest. He wasn't afraid of the dark - he was more afraid of getting caught.

The sound still came nearer, and he tried to shrink further into his small form, trying not to let out a sniffle. He was getting teary-eyed again, remembering why he made a mad dash between the alleyways, away from the guards. They mustn't catch him, mustn't catch him, or he wouldn't be able to search for his mother.

His mother, he sadly thought, tears finally rolling down his cheeks. He cupped hands over his own mouth, desperately trying not to let out the impending sobs.

"Hello," a voice suddenly came above him, and he looked up in shock at the round-eyed boy who peered down at him from the top of the crates.

His emotions going haywire, five-year-old Gu Hai finally wailed for his mother.

Bai Luoyin froze as the boy he'd been following started crying. Then he scrambled off the crates, nimbly landing infront of the boy, but that seemed to only set him off further, as the crying got louder.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he himself cried over the noise, hoping to get heard. "I didn't mean to scare you! Sshh, shh..." he tried to shush the boy, the same way the adults around him constantly did at him.

His eyes widened when the boy just put up pudgy fists over his eyes, and Bai Luoyin could tell he was about to wail even louder. He does the same himself, when he particularly wanted his Papa to give in to his demands. Thinking quick, he also did the same as his Papa did to shut him up.

Gu Hai was about to launch another round of wailing when that was abruptly cut off by the taste of candy in his mouth. Or at least what tasted like candy, as his small face scrunched up while he opened his eyes.

The boy is crouched infront of him now, looking expectantly. Gu Hai still sniffled, a fist rubbing across his nose mixing tears and snot, while the other fist curled over the other end of the candy stick.

"Well?" the boy asked impatiently, as Gu Hai just continued to stare. "How does it taste?"

Gu Hai was waiting to be called Your Highness before he could answer.

The boy did no such thing, frowning instead, before reaching out and knocking lightly on Gu Hai's forehead. "Don't you know how to speak? Has nobody ever taught you anything else other than calling Mama?"

Gu Hai decided that maybe the boy forgot that he, Gu Hai, was supposed to be called Your Highness, or that he wasn't supposed to be knocked on the head. "It's sweet." His answer came out with a hiccup.

Just then, the sound of running made Gu Hai freeze, and Bai Luoyin noticed it. With a capacity for empathy quiet large for a boy his age, he silently stood up and held out his hand, which the other boy took as he stood.

They ran deeper into the alleys.

=====

Nobody knew why the Second Prince was in a foul mood all the way until they reached the Shou Stronghold, least of all Captain You Qi, who for some reason had become the subject of the Second Prince's ire.

The Captain headed the Army escort chosen to accompany the Imperial party for the duration of The Crown Trials. He was the logical choice once his duties as the General's aide was suspended. And up until this new assignment as Commander of the Army Imperial Corps, he has had limited interaction with the Second Prince. No matter how much he wracked his brains, he could not pinpoint a single event where he might have offended the Second Prince.

Not unless kicking Gu Hai out of the Army tents was the reason. Captain-Commander Sun Jingwei had given him a crash course on The Crown Trials protocol which had included a rule about heirs not showing bias to certain groups. He was enlightened by the animosity the Palace Guards sent his and his soldiers way, especially the Captain-ranked guards, and it had considerably lessened the past few days once Gu Hai stopped taking quarters with the soldiers.