The Unbroken (The Untamed Fanfic)

::Chapter 5 (1/2)::

((End of Ep. 5 / Start of Ep. 6))
{Wen Mei}

After spending the night in my brother's room, well, mostly watching over him since I couldn't sleep. I walked out of the room to get a small breather.

I was in the midst of stretching when I noticed Jiang Cheng walk out of his room. Out of curiosity, I decided to follow him and see what he was going to do, or where he was going.

I followed him across a bridge when a lady selling combs asked him if he wanted to buy one. He shook his head and politely declined her offer.

"Sir, don't go. A comb is an emblem of lovesickness. It's the best gift for a girl." She added.

He looked in deep thought then turned to her and approached the table.

I stood next to him wondering which comb he was going to pick.

"Which one are you getting?" I asked, to which he jumped away in fright not expecting me to be there.

"What are you doing here? Why aren't you with your brother?"

"I was with them but when I left the room to stretch I saw you leave. So... who's the girl?" I questioned, slightly knowing the answer.

"W-well." He began as his cheeks started to become a rosy color.

"Yes?" I urged him to go on.

"It's for... it's for-, you know what, never mind." He pointed at a dark cherry comb.

"I'll choose that one." He told the lady behind the table.

"Oh, that's a pretty one." I commented in agreement.

He shook his head, then pointed at something else.

"I'll take that one as well."

It was a wooden box.

The lady wrapped the comb in a cloth and placed it on top of the box. He gave her the money and she passed the items to him.

"Thanks for shopping, young sir." She smiled.

He put the comb in his bag and turned to me.

"Here you go. I didn't know if you had your brushes just put in your bag or anything. It's better to have them in a box, that way you don't lose or break them." He informed me as he passed the box.

"There you are! We were looking all over you." Lan Xiao exclaimed as her brothers, Wei Wuxian, and my siblings followed her on the bridge.

"Oh." I gave a short answer.

"Is that my bag?" I asked my brother as he gave me a happy smile.

"Yeah!" He nodded.

I was about to reach for it but he moved away.

"It's okay, I'll hold it for you."

"Thank you." I replied.

"What's that?" Lan Xiao asked as she neared me with my book and brush in her hands.

"O-oh. Jiang Cheng got it for me. He said it would be better if I put my brushes in here." I answered as I slightly held up the box with gratitude.

"Are we going to be leaving here already?" Jiang Cheng commented as he noticed everyone holding their bags.

"Yes, we're going back to Cloud Recesses." My sister agreed in which Jiang Cheng stared at her with pink cheeks.

'Yeah, he likes her.' I thought to myself with a smile.

"What happened?" My brother asked me as he seemed to catch my smile.

"Huh? Nothing happened." I shook my head in reply.

~~~

《The Next Day》

"It's a nice day today." Lan Xiao commented while I drew some flowers in my book.

We were currently in Cloud Recesses and I decided to try to draw as many flowers that were from here.

"Don't you think?" She asked. I stopped drawing and looked around to soak in the scenery. The sun was out but it wasn't too hot. The birds were chirping and an occasional pair of butterflies would appear now and then.

I breathed in and nodded in agreement.

"It is a nice day."

"Have we been everywhere?" She questioned when she noticed that I was almost finished.

"I'm pretty sure we have." I agreed as I went back to drawing the flowers.

Lan Xiao continued to observe the drawing when we suddenly heard people yelling.

The both of us looked in the direction of where the loud noises came from and I quickly put my stuff away in my bag to follow Lan Xiao.

As we ran towards the sounds I noticed a familiar red outfit that stood out from the white and blue. It was my brother but for some reason, he was frozen on spot.

"Ning? Are you okay?" I asked as I gently grabbed his shoulders. He gasped, snapping out of a trance, and pushed me away from him.

"Ouch." I grit my teeth in pain as I landed on my hands.

"Mei!" Lan Xiao helped me up. "Are you alright?"

"I'm sorry! I-I don't know what came over me! I didn't mean to hurt you!" My brother cried out as he hurried over to check if I got hurt.

"It's okay. I thought something happened to you since you were standing there." I replied as I saw the guilty expression on his face.

It was quiet for a while as he moved his attention to his feet.

"I'm okay. I'm not hurt." I assured him as I placed both of my hands on his cheeks and lifted his face up.

"You see?" I smiled.

"Okay..." He trailed off with a small smile.

"What happened? What's going on with everyone?" Lan Xiao asked him as she noticed a group of people pass by.

"Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian disappeared. They told us to go search for them since they've been gone for a day." He informed.

"They're missing?!" Lan Xiao exclaimed as she began to pace around.

"Didn't we just see them the other day?" She added.

"Calm down. Let's go look for them, they might still be around." I suggested.

She seemed to slow down, then took a couple of breaths.

"Okay, let's go look for them."